Walter Krueger (26 January 1881 – 20 August 1967) was an American soldier who commanded the Sixth United States Army in the South West Pacific Area during World War II, rising from private to general in his army career. A child immigrant born in Flatow, West Prussia, he served in the Spanish–American War and the Philippine–American War and was promoted to second lieutenant in 1901. When the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, he was assigned to the 84th Infantry Division as assistant chief of staff, later as chief of staff. In October 1918, he commanded the Tank Corps. Between the wars, he served in various roles, and in 1941 he assumed command of the Third Army. In 1943 he was sent to the South West Pacific Area as commander of the Sixth Army, which he led in a series of victorious campaigns against the Japanese. In the Battle of Luzon in 1945 he was finally able to maneuver his army as he had in 1941 against a Japanese army under Tomoyuki Yamashita. (This article is part of a featured topic: Command in the South West Pacific Area.)

Statue of Robert Burns
in Milwaukee

• ... that U.S. general Arthur MacArthur gave an address at the unveiling of a monument (pictured) to Scottish poet Robert Burns in Milwaukee?
• ... that Israeli wildlife photographer Roie Galitz won first place at the Siena International Photo Awards in the "Fragile Ice" category for his picture of a sleeping polar bear?
• ... that the 1989 film Begotten was made to resemble what the director called "a time that predates spoken language"?
• ... that audio engineer Bill Hare has been called "the Dr. Dre of a cappella recording"?
• ... that the Marine Cemetery, made from plastic bottles collected from an Indian beach, is dedicated to nine endangered aquatic species?
• ... that BECAUSE is the longest-running and largest conference for the bisexual community in the United States?
• ... that Gabriela Rodríguez de Bukele, the current first lady of El Salvador, is the first person in the country to hold a doctorate in prenatal psychology?
• ... that within six hours of Alabama radio station WFPA being served an eviction notice, the tower had been dismantled?

Coronaviruses viewed under an electron microscope

• An earthquake in Elazığ, Turkey, kills at least twenty-nine people and injures more than a thousand others.
• In China, a new strain of coronavirus (examples pictured) infects more than two thousand people, killing more than fifty.
• Mikhail Mishustin is appointed Prime Minister of Russia following the resignation of Dmitry Medvedev and his cabinet.

January 26: Australia Day (1788); Republic Day in India (1950)

Audie Murphy

• 1564 – Livonian War: A Lithuanian surprise attack resulted in a decisive defeat of numerically superior Russian forces.
• 1841 – Commodore Gordon Bremer took formal possession of Hong Kong Island for the United Kingdom at Possession Point.
• 1945 – Audie Murphy (pictured) engaged in action at the Colmar Pocket that won him a Medal of Honor and made him one of the most famous and decorated U.S. soldiers of War II.
• 1972 – Flight 367 exploded in mid-air over Czechoslovakia; the only survivor of the 28 on board, flight attendant Vesna Vulović, fell 10,160 m (33,330 ft), setting the record for surviving the highest fall without a parachute.
• 2001 – An earthquake in the Indian state of Gujarat killed at least 13,000 people, injured another 167,000 and destroyed nearly 400,000 homes.

Georg Mohr (d. 1697) · Giuseppe Genco Russo (b. 1893) · Angela Davis (b. 1944)