On this day in History - January 20

1783 – The Kingdom of Great Britain signs preliminary articles of peace with the Kingdom of France, setting the stage for the official end of hostilities in the American Revolutionary War later that year.

1909 – Newly formed automaker General Motors (GM) buys into the Oakland Motor Car Company, which later becomes GM's long-running Pontiac division.

1961 – John F. Kennedy is inaugurated as the 35th President of the United States of America, becoming the youngest man to be elected into that office, and the first Roman Catholic.

1986 – In the United States, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.