1. In 1861, Alabama seceded from the Union on January 11th, but it wasn't until January 21st that it officially became a member of the Confederacy.

2. On January 21, 1922, noted Civil Rights advocate and journalist Daisy Bates was born in Huttig, Arkansas. Bates played a major role in the Little Rock Nine crisis and was instrumental in the desegregation of Central High School in 1957.

3. In 1937, heavy snowfall and a sudden drop in temperature caused a massive ice storm that crippled Birmingham and other parts of Alabama on January 21st. Many buildings collapsed under the weight of the ice and hundreds of people were injured.

4. On January 21, 1960, Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting the city's segregation laws. This event would eventually lead to the famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail," in which King argued for the importance of peaceful activism in the fight for Civil Rights.

5. In 1985, a tornado outbreak struck several southern states including Alabama on January 21st. The storms claimed 29 lives and caused over $70 million in damages across the state.