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On Jan. 26, 1918, soon after the Bolsheviks seized control in Russia, the former Russian state of Ukraine declares its total independence. In 1922, Ukraine became part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; it would not regain its independence until the USSR’s collapse in 1991.- On Jan. 25, 1924, the first Winter Olympics begins at Chamonix in the French Alps. Spectators were thrilled by the ski jump and bobsled, two of 12 events involving six sports.
- On Jan. 24, 1943, German Gen. Friedrich von Paulus, commander in chief of the German 6th Army at Stalingrad, urgently requests permission from Adolf Hitler to surrender. Hitler refused. Of more than 280,000 men under Paulus’ command, half were already dead or dying. Paulus held out until Jan. 31, when he finally surrendered.
- On Jan. 23, 1968, the USS Pueblo, a Navy intelligence ship, is engaged in a routine surveillance of the North Korean coast when it is captured by North Korean patrol boats. Eleven months later, negotiators reached a settlement to resolve the crisis and free the surviving 82 crewmen.
- On Jan. 21, 1977, U.S. President Jimmy Carter grants an unconditional pardon to hundreds of thousands of men who evaded the draft during the Vietnam War. Some 100,000 young Americans went abroad in the late 1960s and early ’70s to avoid military service.
- On Jan. 20, 1980, bleachers at a bullring in Sincelejo, Colombia, collapse, resulting in the deaths of 222 people. The deadliest tragedy at a sporting event in Colombia’s history was the result of overcrowding and poor construction.
- On Jan. 22, 2003, the U.S. Census Bureau releases detailed statistics on race and ethnicity showing that the Hispanic population was the country’s largest minority group. Some 29% of immigrants in the U.S. had come from Mexico alone.
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