January 20th, 1982…
During an Ozzy Osbourne concert in Des Moines, Iowa, an audience member threw an unconscious bat onto the stage. Thinking it was one of his rubber fakes, Ozzy picked it up and bit off its head. The singer was taken to the hospital where he was given a rabies injection.
January 21st, 1977…
U.S. President Jimmy Carter pardons the Vietnam draft dodgers. This pardoned those who violated the draft between August 4, 1964 and March 28, 1973. It is estimated that over 500,000 men had dodged the draft. However, this did not pardon military personnel who went AWOL.
January 22, 1973, Roe v. Wade….
U.S. Supreme Court rules that a state may not prevent a woman from having an abortion during the first six months of pregnancy. The ruling was based on the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, contending that it provides a “right to privacy” that protects a pregnant woman’s right to choose whether or not to have an abortion. The ruling also tied state regulation of abortion to the three trimesters of pregnancy: during the first trimester, governments could not prohibit abortions at all; during the second trimester, governments could require reasonable health regulations; during the third trimester, abortions could be prohibited entirely so long as the laws contained exceptions for cases when they were necessary to save the life or health of the mother.