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On This Day

January 7 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 1325 – Alfonso IV becomes King of Portugal.
  • 1558 – French troops, led by Francis, Duke of Guise, take Calais, the last continental possession of England.
  • 1608 – Fire destroys Jamestown, Virginia.
  • 1610 – Galileo Galilei makes his first observation of the four Galilean moons: Ganymede, Callisto, Io and Europa, although he is not able to distinguish the last two until the following day.
  • 1738 – A peace treaty is signed between Peshwa Bajirao and Jai Singh II following Maratha victory in the Battle of Bhopal.
  • 1782 – The first American commercial bank, the Bank of North America, opens.
  • 1785 – Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American John Jeffries travel from Dover, England, to Calais, France, in a gas balloon.
  • 1835 – HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin on board, drops anchor off the Chonos Archipelago.
  • 1894 – Thomas Edison makes a kinetoscopic film of someone sneezing. On the same day, his employee, William Kennedy Dickson, receives a patent for motion picture film.
  • 1904 – The distress signal “CQD” is established only to be replaced two years later by “SOS”.
  • 1919 – Montenegrin guerrilla fighters rebel against the planned annexation of Montenegro by Serbia, but fail.
  • 1920 – The New York State Assembly refuses to seat five duly elected Socialist assemblymen.
  • 1922 – Dáil Éireann ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by a 64–57 vote.
  • 1927 – The first transatlantic telephone service is established from New York City to London.
  • 1928 – A disastrous flood of the River Thames kills 14 people and causes extensive damage to much of riverside London.
  • 1931 – Guy Menzies flies the first solo non-stop trans-Tasman flight (from Australia to New Zealand) in 11 hours and 45 minutes, crash-landing on New Zealand’s west coast.
  • 1935 – Benito Mussolini and French Foreign minister Pierre Laval sign the Franco-Italian Agreement.
  • 1940 – Winter War: Battle of Raate Road – The Finnish 9th Division finally defeat the numerically superior Soviet forces on the Raate-Suomussalmi road.
  • 1948 – Kentucky Air National Guard pilot Thomas Mantell crashes while in pursuit of a supposed UFO.
  • 1954 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York at the head office of IBM.
  • 1955 – Contralto Marian Anderson becomes the first person of color to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in Giuseppe Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera.
  • 1959 – The United States recognizes the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro.
  • 1968 – Surveyor Program: Surveyor 7, the last spacecraft in the Surveyor series, lifts off from launch complex 36A, Cape Canaveral.
  • 1973 – In his second shooting spree of the week, Mark Essex fatally shoots seven people and wounds five others at Howard Johnson’s Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana, before being shot to death by police officers.
  • 1979 – Third Indochina War: Cambodian–Vietnamese War: Phnom Penh falls to the advancing Vietnamese troops, driving out Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.
  • 1980 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter authorizes legislation giving $1.5 billion in loans to bail out the Chrysler Corporation.
  • 1984 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
  • 1985 – Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency launches Sakigake, Japan’s first interplanetary spacecraft and the first deep space probe to be launched by any country other than the United States or the Soviet Union.
  • 1991 – Roger Lafontant, former leader of the Tonton Macoute in Haiti under François Duvalier, attempts a coup d’état, which ends in his arrest.
  • 1993 – The Fourth Republic of Ghana is inaugurated with Jerry Rawlings as President.
  • 1993 – Bosnian War: The Bosnian Army executes a surprise attack at the village of Kravica in Srebrenica.
  • 1999 – The Senate trial in the impeachment of U.S. President Bill Clinton begins.
  • 2012 – A hot air balloon crashes near Carterton, New Zealand, killing all 11 people on board.
  • 2015 – Two gunmen commit mass murder at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris, shooting twelve people execution style, and wounding eleven others.
  • 2015 – A car bomb explodes outside a police college in the Yemeni capital Sana’a with at least 38 people reported dead and more than 63 injured.
  • 2020 – The 6.4Mw  2019–20 Puerto Rico earthquakes kill four and injure nine in southern Puerto Rico.

Births on January 7

  • 889 – Li Bian, emperor of Southern Tang (d. 943)
  • 1355 – Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester, English politician, Lord High Constable of England (d. 1397)
  • 1502 – Pope Gregory XIII (d. 1585)
  • 1634 – Adam Krieger, German organist and composer (d. 1666)
  • 1647 – William Louis, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1677)
  • 1685 – Jonas Alströmer, Swedish agronomist and businessman (d. 1761)
  • 1706 – Johann Heinrich Zedler, German publisher (d. 1751)
  • 1713 – Giovanni Battista Locatelli, Italian director and manager (d. 1785)
  • 1718 – Israel Putnam, American general (d. 1790)
  • 1746 – George Elphinstone, 1st Viscount Keith, Scottish admiral and politician (d. 1823)
  • 1768 – Joseph Bonaparte, Italian king (d. 1844)
  • 1797 – Mariano Paredes, Mexican general and 16th president (1845-1846) (d. 1849)
  • 1800 – Millard Fillmore, American politician, 13th President of the United States (d. 1874)
  • 1814 – Robert Nicoll, Scottish poet (d.1837)
  • 1815 – Elizabeth Louisa Foster Mather, American writer (d.1882)
  • 1827 – Sandford Fleming, Scottish-Canadian engineer, created Universal Standard Time (d. 1915)
  • 1830 – Albert Bierstadt, American painter (d. 1902)
  • 1831 – Heinrich von Stephan, German postman, founded the Universal Postal Union (d. 1897)
  • 1832 – James Munro, Scottish-Australian publisher and politician, 15th Premier of Victoria (d. 1908)
  • 1834 – Johann Philipp Reis, German physicist and academic, invented the Reis telephone (d. 1874)
  • 1837 – Thomas Henry Ismay, English businessman, founded the White Star Line Shipping Company (d. 1899)
  • 1844 – Bernadette Soubirous, French nun and saint (d. 1879)
  • 1858 – Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, Belarusian lexicographer and journalist (d. 1922)
  • 1863 – Anna Murray Vail, American botanist and first librarian of the New York Botanical Garden (d. 1955)
  • 1871 – Émile Borel, French mathematician and politician (d. 1956)
  • 1873 – Charles Péguy, French poet and journalist (d. 1914)
  • 1873 – Adolph Zukor, Hungarian-American film producer, co-founded Paramount Pictures (d. 1976)
  • 1875 – Gustav Flatow, German gymnast (d. 1945)
  • 1876 – William Hurlstone, English pianist and composer (d. 1906)
  • 1877 – William Clarence Matthews, American baseball player, coach, and lawyer (d. 1928)
  • 1889 – Vera de Bosset, Russian-American ballerina (d. 1982)
  • 1891 – Zora Neale Hurston, American novelist, short story writer, and folklorist (d. 1960)
  • 1895 – Hudson Fysh, Australian pilot and businessman, co-founded Qantas Airways Limited (d. 1974)
  • 1899 – Al Bowlly, Mozambican-English singer-songwriter (disputed; d. 1941)
  • 1899 – Francis Poulenc, French pianist and composer (d. 1963)
  • 1900 – John Brownlee, Australian actor and singer (d. 1969)
  • 1906 – Red Allen, American trumpet player (d. 1967)
  • 1910 – Orval Faubus, American soldier and politician, 36th Governor of Arkansas (d. 1994)
  • 1912 – Charles Addams, American cartoonist, created The Addams Family (d. 1988)
  • 1913 – Johnny Mize, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 1993)
  • 1916 – W. L. Jeyasingham, Sri Lankan geographer and academic (d. 1989)
  • 1916 – Babe Pratt, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1988)
  • 1920 – Vincent Gardenia, Italian-American actor (d. 1992)
  • 1921 – Esmeralda Arboleda Cadavid, Colombian politician (d. 1997)
  • 1921 – Chester Kallman, American poet and translator (d. 1975)
  • 1922 – Alvin Dark, American baseball player and manager (d. 2014)
  • 1922 – Jean-Pierre Rampal, French flute player (d. 2000)
  • 1923 – Hugh Kenner, Canadian scholar and critic (d. 2003)
  • 1925 – Gerald Durrell, Indian-English zookeeper, conservationist and author, founded Durrell Wildlife Park (d. 1995)
  • 1926 – Kim Jong-pil, South Korean lieutenant and politician, 11th Prime Minister of South Korea (d. 2018)
  • 1928 – William Peter Blatty, American author and screenwriter (d. 2017)
  • 1929 – Robert Juniper, Australian painter and sculptor (d. 2012)
  • 1929 – Terry Moore, American actress
  • 1931 – Mirja Hietamies, Finnish skier (d. 2013)
  • 1933 – Elliott Kastner, American-English film producer (d. 2010)
  • 1934 – Jean Corbeil, Canadian lawyer and politician, 29th Canadian Minister of Labour (d. 2002)
  • 1934 – Tassos Papadopoulos, Cypriot lawyer and politician, 5th President of Cyprus (d. 2008)
  • 1935 – Li Shengjiao, Chinese diplomat and international jurist (d. 2017)
  • 1935 – Kenny Davern, American clarinet player and saxophonist (d. 2006)
  • 1935 – Valeri Kubasov, Russian engineer and astronaut (d. 2014)
  • 1941 – Iona Brown, English violinist and conductor (d. 2004)
  • 1941 – John E. Walker, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1942 – Vasily Alekseyev, Russian-German weightlifter and coach (d. 2011)
  • 1943 – Sadako Sasaki, Japanese survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, known for one thousand origami cranes (d. 1955)
  • 1944 – Mike McGear, British performing artist and rock photographer
  • 1944 – Kotaro Suzumura, Japanese economist and academic (d. 2020)
  • 1945 – Raila Odinga, Kenyan engineer and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Kenya
  • 1946 – Jann Wenner, American publisher, co-founded Rolling Stone
  • 1947 – Tony Elliott, English publisher, founded Time Out
  • 1948 – Kenny Loggins, American singer-songwriter
  • 1948 – Ichirou Mizuki, Japanese singer-songwriter
  • 1950 – Juan Gabriel, Mexican singer-songwriter (d. 2016)
  • 1952 – Sammo Hung, Hong Kong actor, director, producer, and martial artist
  • 1953 – Robert Longo, American painter and sculptor
  • 1954 – Alan Butcher, English cricketer and coach
  • 1955 – Mamata Shankar, Indian-Bengali actress
  • 1956 – David Caruso, American actor
  • 1957 – Katie Couric, American television journalist, anchor, and author
  • 1959 – Angela Smith, Baroness Smith of Basildon, English accountant and politician
  • 1959 – Kathy Valentine, American bass player and songwriter
  • 1960 – Loretta Sanchez, American politician
  • 1961 – John Thune, American lawyer and politician
  • 1962 – Aleksandr Dugin, Russian political analyst and strategist known for his fascist views
  • 1962 – Ron Rivera, American football player and coach
  • 1964 – Nicolas Cage, American actor
  • 1965 – Alessandro Lambruschini, Italian runner
  • 1967 – Nick Clegg, English academic and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
  • 1969 – Marco Simone, Italian footballer and manager
  • 1970 – Andy Burnham, English politician
  • 1971 – Jeremy Renner, American actor
  • 1972 – Donald Brashear, American-Canadian ice hockey player and mixed martial artist
  • 1974 – Alenka Bikar, Slovenian sprinter and politician
  • 1976 – Vic Darchinyan, Armenian-Australian boxer
  • 1976 – Alfonso Soriano, Dominican baseball player
  • 1977 – Sofi Oksanen, Finnish author and playwright
  • 1979 – Aloe Blacc, American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, businessman and philanthropist.
  • 1982 – Francisco Rodríguez, Venezuelan baseball player
  • 1982 – Hannah Stockbauer, German swimmer
  • 1983 – Edwin Encarnación, Dominican baseball player
  • 1985 – Lewis Hamilton, English racing driver
  • 1986 – Wayne Routledge, English footballer winger
  • 1987 – Stefan Babović, Serbian footballer
  • 1987 – Lyndsy Fonseca, American actress
  • 1987 – Davide Astori, Italian footballer (d. 2018)
  • 1990 – Gregor Schlierenzauer, Austrian ski jumper
  • 1991 – Eden Hazard, Belgian footballer
  • 1991 – Caster Semenya, South African sprinter

Deaths on January 7

  • 312 – Lucian of Antioch, Christian martyr, saint, and theologian (b. 240)
  • 838 – Babak Khorramdin, Iranian leader of the Khurramite uprising against the Abbasid Caliphate
  • 856 – Aldric, bishop of Le Mans
  • 1131 – Canute Lavard, Danish prince and saint (b. 1096)
  • 1285 – Charles I of Naples (b. 1226)
  • 1325 – Denis of Portugal (b. 1261)
  • 1355 – Inês de Castro, Castilian noblewoman (b. 1325)
  • 1400 – John Montagu, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, English Earl (b. 1350)
  • 1451 – Amadeus VIII of Savoy a.k.a. Antipope Felix V (b. 1383)
  • 1529 – Peter Vischer the Elder, German sculptor (b. 1455)
  • 1536 – Catherine of Aragon (b. 1485)
  • 1566 – Louis de Blois, Flemish monk and author (b. 1506)
  • 1619 – Nicholas Hilliard, English painter and goldsmith (b. 1547)
  • 1625 – Ruggiero Giovannelli, Italian composer and author (b. 1560)
  • 1655 – Pope Innocent X (b. 1574)
  • 1658 – Theophilus Eaton, American farmer and politician, 1st Governor of the New Haven Colony (b. 1590)
  • 1694 – Charles Gerard, 1st Earl of Macclesfield, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire (b. 1618)
  • 1700 – Raffaello Fabretti, Italian scholar and author (b. 1618)
  • 1715 – François Fénelon, French archbishop, theologian, and poet (b. 1651)
  • 1758 – Allan Ramsay, Scottish poet and playwright (b. 1686)
  • 1767 – Thomas Clap, American minister and academic (b. 1703)
  • 1770 – Carl Gustaf Tessin, Swedish politician and diplomat (b. 1695)
  • 1812 – Joseph Dennie, American journalist and author (b. 1768)
  • 1830 – John Thomas Campbell, Irish-Australian public servant and politician (b. 1770)
  • 1830 – Thomas Lawrence, English painter and educator (b. 1769)
  • 1858 – Mustafa Reşid Pasha, Ottoman politician, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1800)
  • 1864 – Caleb Blood Smith, American journalist and politician, 6th U.S. Secretary of the Interior (b. 1808)
  • 1892 – Tewfik Pasha, Egyptian ruler (b. 1852)
  • 1893 – Josef Stefan, Slovenian physicist and mathematician (b. 1835)
  • 1919 – Henry Ware Eliot, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Washington University in St. Louis (b. 1843)
  • 1920 – Edmund Barton, Australian judge and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1849)
  • 1927 – Nikolaos Kalogeropoulos, Greek politician, 99th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1851)
  • 1931 – Edward Channing, American historian and author (b. 1856)
  • 1932 – André Maginot, French sergeant and politician (b. 1877)
  • 1936 – Guy d’Hardelot, French pianist and composer (b. 1858)
  • 1941 – Charles Finger, English journalist and author (b. 1869)
  • 1943 – Nikola Tesla, Serbian-American physicist and engineer (b. 1856)
  • 1951 – René Guénon, French-Egyptian philosopher and author (b. 1886)
  • 1960 – Dorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers, English tennis player and coach (b. 1878)
  • 1963 – Arthur Edward Moore, New Zealand-Australian farmer and politician, 23rd Premier of Queensland (b. 1876)
  • 1964 – Reg Parnell, English racing driver and manager (b. 1911)
  • 1967 – David Goodis, American author and screenwriter (b. 1917)
  • 1967 – Carl Schuricht, German-Swiss conductor (b. 1880)
  • 1968 – J. L. B. Smith, South African chemist and academic (b. 1897)
  • 1972 – John Berryman, American poet and scholar (b. 1914)
  • 1981 – Alvar Lidell, English journalist and radio announcer(b. 1908)
  • 1981 – Eric Robinson, Australian businessman and politician, 2nd Australian Minister for Finance (b. 1926)
  • 1984 – Alfred Kastler, German-French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
  • 1986 – Juan Rulfo, Mexican author, screenwriter, and photographer (b. 1917)
  • 1988 – Zara Cisco Brough, American Nipmuc Indian chief and fashion designer (b.1919)
  • 1988 – Trevor Howard, English actor (b. 1913)
  • 1989 – Hirohito, Japanese emperor (b. 1901)
  • 1990 – Bronko Nagurski, Canadian-American football player and wrestler (b. 1908)
  • 1992 – Richard Hunt, American puppeteer and voice actor (b. 1951)
  • 1995 – Murray Rothbard, American economist, historian, and theorist (b. 1926)
  • 1996 – Károly Grósz, Hungarian politician, 51st Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1930)
  • 1998 – Owen Bradley, American record producer (b. 1915)
  • 1998 – Vladimir Prelog, Croatian-Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
  • 2000 – Gary Albright, American wrestler (b. 1963)
  • 2001 – James Carr, American singer (b. 1942)
  • 2002 – Avery Schreiber, American comedian and actor (b. 1935)
  • 2004 – Ingrid Thulin, Swedish actress (b. 1926)
  • 2005 – Pierre Daninos, French author (b. 1913)
  • 2006 – Heinrich Harrer, Austrian mountaineer, geographer, and author (b. 1912)
  • 2007 – Bobby Hamilton, American race car driver and businessman (b. 1957)
  • 2007 – Magnus Magnusson, Icelandic journalist, author, and academic (b. 1929)
  • 2008 – Alwyn Schlebusch, South African academic and politician, Vice State President of South Africa (b. 1917)
  • 2012 – Tony Blankley, British-born American child actor, journalist and pundit (b. 1948)
  • 2014 – Run Run Shaw, Chinese-Hong Kong businessman and philanthropist, founded Shaw Brothers Studio and TVB (b. 1907)
  • 2015 – Mompati Merafhe, Botswana general and politician, Vice-President of Botswana (b. 1936)
  • 2015 – Rod Taylor, Australian-American actor and screenwriter (b. 1930)
  • 2015 – Georges Wolinski, Tunisian-French cartoonist (b. 1934)
  • 2016 – Bill Foster, American basketball player and coach (b. 1929)
  • 2016 – John Johnson, American basketball player (b. 1947)
  • 2016 – Kitty Kallen, American singer (b. 1921)
  • 2016 – Judith Kaye, American lawyer and jurist (b. 1938)
  • 2016 – Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of Home Affairs (b. 1936)
  • 2017 – Mário Soares, Portuguese politician; 16th President of Portugal (b. 1924)
  • 2018 – Jim Anderton, Former New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister (b. 1938)
  • 2018 – France Gall, French singer (b. 1947)

Holidays and observances on January 7

  • Christian Feast Day:
    • André Bessette (Canada)
    • Canute Lavard
    • Charles of Sezze
    • Felix and Januarius
    • Lucian of Antioch
    • Raymond of Penyafort
    • Synaxis of John the Forerunner & Baptist (Julian Calendar)
    • January 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Christmas (Eastern Orthodox Churches and Oriental Orthodox Churches using the Julian Calendar, Rastafari)
    • Christmas in Russia
    • Christmas in Ukraine
    • Remembrance Day of the Dead (Armenia)
  • Distaff Day (medieval Europe)
  • Earliest day on which Plough Monday can fall, while January 13 is the latest; celebrated on Monday after Epiphany (Europe).
  • Nanakusa no sekku (Japan)
  • Pioneer’s Day (Liberia)
  • Tricolour day or Festa del Tricolore (Italy)
  • Victory from Genocide Day (Cambodia)

January 7 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

January 6 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 1066 – Following the death of Edward the Confessor on the previous day, the Witan meets to confirm Harold Godwinson as the new King of England; Harold is crowned the same day, sparking a succession crisis that will eventually lead to the Norman conquest of England.
  • 1205 – Philip of Swabia undergoes a second coronation as King of the Romans.
  • 1322 – Stephen Uroš III is crowned King of Serbia, having defeated his half-brother Stefan Konstantin in battle. His son is crowned “young king” in the same ceremony.
  • 1355 – Charles IV of Bohemia is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy as King of Italy in Milan.
  • 1449 – Constantine XI is crowned Byzantine Emperor at Mystras.
  • 1492 – The Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella enter Granada at the conclusion of the Granada War.
  • 1536 – The first European school of higher learning in the Americas, Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco, is founded by Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza and Bishop Juan de Zumárraga in Mexico City.
  • 1540 – King Henry VIII of England marries Anne of Cleves.
  • 1579 – The Union of Arras unites the southern Netherlands under the Duke of Parma (Ottavio Farnese), governor in the name of King Philip II of Spain.
  • 1641 – Arauco War: The first Parliament of Quillín is celebrated, putting a temporary hold on hostilities between Mapuches and Spanish in Chile.
  • 1661 – English Restoration: The Fifth Monarchists unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London, England. The revolt is suppressed after a few days.
  • 1721 – The Committee of Inquiry on the South Sea Bubble publishes its findings, revealing details of fraud among company directors and corrupt politicians.
  • 1781 – In the Battle of Jersey, the British defeat the last attempt by France to invade Jersey in the Channel Islands.
  • 1809 – Combined British, Portuguese and colonial Brazilian forces begin the Invasion of Cayenne during the Napoleonic Wars.
  • 1838 – Alfred Vail and colleagues demonstrate a telegraph system using dots and dashes (this is the forerunner of Morse code).
  • 1839 – The Night of the Big Wind, the most damaging storm in 300 years, sweeps across Ireland, damaging or destroying more than 20% of the houses in Dublin.
  • 1847 – Samuel Colt obtains his first contract for the sale of revolver pistols to the United States government.
  • 1870 – The inauguration of the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria.
  • 1893 – The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress. The charter is signed by President Benjamin Harrison.
  • 1900 – Second Boer War: Having already besieged the fortress at Ladysmith, Boer forces attack it, but are driven back by British defenders.
  • 1907 – Maria Montessori opens her first school and daycare center for working-class children in Rome, Italy.
  • 1912 – New Mexico is admitted to the Union as the 47th U.S. state.
  • 1912 – German geophysicist Alfred Wegener first presents his theory of continental drift.
  • 1929 – King Alexander of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes suspends his country’s constitution (the January 6th Dictatorship).
  • 1929 – Mother Teresa arrives by sea in Calcutta, India, to begin her work among India’s poorest and sick people.
  • 1930 – The first diesel-powered automobile trip is completed, from Indianapolis, Indiana, to New York, New York.
  • 1941 – United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers his Four Freedoms speech in the State of the Union address.
  • 1946 – The first general election ever in Vietnam is held.
  • 1947 – Pan American Airlines becomes the first commercial airline to offer a round-the-world ticket.
  • 1950 – The United Kingdom recognizes the People’s Republic of China. The Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with the UK in response.
  • 1951 – Korean War: Beginning of the Ganghwa massacre, in the course of which an estimated 200–1,300 South Korean communist sympathizers are slaughtered.
  • 1960 – National Airlines Flight 2511 is destroyed in mid-air by a bomb, while en route from New York City to Miami.
  • 1960 – The Associations Law comes into force in Iraq, allowing registration of political parties
  • 1967 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and ARVN troops launch “Operation Deckhouse Five” in the Mekong River delta.
  • 1974 – In response to the 1973 oil crisis, daylight saving time commences nearly four months early in the United States.
  • 1989 – Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh are sentenced to death for conspiracy in the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi; the two men are executed the same day.
  • 1992 – President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia flees the country as a result of the military coup.
  • 1993 – Indian Border Security Force units kill 55 Kashmiri civilians in Sopore, Jammu and Kashmir, in revenge after militants ambushed a BSF patrol.
  • 1994 – American figure skater Nancy Kerrigan is attacked and injured by an assailant hired by her rival Tonya Harding’s ex-husband during the U.S. Figure Skating Championships that they were both taking part in.
  • 1995 – A chemical fire in an apartment complex in Manila, Philippines, leads to the discovery of plans for Project Bojinka, a mass-terrorist attack.
  • 2005 – American Civil Rights Movement: Edgar Ray Killen is indicted for the 1964 murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner.
  • 2005 – A train collision in Graniteville, South Carolina, United States, releases about 60 tons of chlorine gas.
  • 2012 – Twenty-six people are killed and 63 wounded when a suicide bomber blows himself up at a police station in Damascus.
  • 2017 – Five people are killed and six others injured in a mass shooting at Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport in Broward County, Florida.
  • 2019 – Forty people are killed in a gold mine collapse in northern Afghanistan.

Births on January 6

  • 1256 – Gertrude the Great, German mystic (d. 1302)
  • 1367 – Richard II of England (d. 1400)
  • 1384 – Edmund Holland, 4th Earl of Kent (d. 1408)
  • 1412 – Joan of Arc, French martyr and saint (d. 1431)
  • 1486 – Martin Agricola, German composer and theorist (d. 1556)
  • 1488 – Helius Eobanus Hessus, German poet (d. 1540)
  • 1493 – Olaus Petri, Swedish clergyman (d. 1552)
  • 1500 – John of Ávila, Spanish mystic and saint (d. 1569)
  • 1525 – Caspar Peucer, German physician and scholar (d. 1602)
  • 1538 – Jane Dormer, Duchess of Feria (d. 1612)
  • 1561 – Thomas Fincke, Danish mathematician and physicist (d. 1656)
  • 1587 – Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares (d. 1645)
  • 1595 – Claude Favre de Vaugelas, French educator and courtier (d. 1650)
  • 1617 – Christoffer Gabel, Danish politician (d. 1673)
  • 1632 – Anne Hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton, Scottish peeress (d. 1716)
  • 1655 – Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg (d. 1720)
  • 1673 – James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, English academic and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire (d. 1744)
  • 1695 – Giuseppe Sammartini, Italian oboe player and composer (d. 1750)
  • 1702 – José de Nebra, Spanish composer (d. 1768)
  • 1714 – Percivall Pott, English surgeon (d. 1788)
  • 1745 – Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier, French co-inventor of the hot air balloon (d. 1799)
  • 1766 – José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, Paraguayan lawyer and politician, first dictator of Paraguay (d. 1840)
  • 1785 – Andreas Moustoxydis, Greek historian and philologist (d. 1860)
  • 1793 – James Madison Porter, American lawyer and politician, 18th United States Secretary of War (d. 1862)
  • 1795 – Anselme Payen, French chemist and academic (d. 1871)
  • 1799 – Jedediah Smith, American hunter, explorer, and author (d. 1831)
  • 1803 – Henri Herz, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1888)
  • 1807 – Joseph Petzval, German-Hungarian mathematician and physicist (d. 1891)
  • 1808 – Joseph Pitty Couthouy, American conchologist and paleontologist (d. 1864)
  • 1811 – Charles Sumner, American lawyer and politician (d. 1874)
  • 1822 – Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist and businessman (d. 1890)
  • 1832 – Gustave Doré, French painter and sculptor (d. 1883)
  • 1838 – Max Bruch, German composer and conductor (d. 1920)
  • 1842 – Clarence King, American geologist, mountaineer, and critic (d. 1901)
  • 1856 – Giuseppe Martucci, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1909)
  • 1857 – Hugh Mahon, Irish-Australian publisher and politician, 10th Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs (d. 1931)
  • 1857 – William Russell, American lawyer and politician, 37th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1896)
  • 1859 – Samuel Alexander, Australian-English philosopher and academic (d. 1938)
  • 1861 – Victor Horta, Belgian architect, designed Hôtel van Eetvelde (d. 1947)
  • 1861 – George Lloyd, English-Canadian bishop and theologian (d. 1940)
  • 1870 – Gustav Bauer, German journalist and politician, 11th Chancellor of Germany (d. 1944)
  • 1872 – Alexander Scriabin, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1915)
  • 1874 – Fred Niblo, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1948)
  • 1878 – Adeline Genée, Danish-born British ballerina (d. 1970)
  • 1878 – Carl Sandburg, American poet and historian (d. 1967)
  • 1880 – Tom Mix, American cowboy and actor (d. 1940)
  • 1881 – Ion Minulescu, Romanian author, poet, and critic (d. 1944)
  • 1882 – Fan S. Noli, Albanian-American bishop and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Albania (d. 1965)
  • 1882 – Sam Rayburn, American lawyer and politician, 48th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1961)
  • 1883 – Kahlil Gibran, Lebanese-American poet, painter, and philosopher (d. 1931)
  • 1898 – James Fitzmaurice, Irish soldier and pilot (d. 1965)
  • 1899 – Heinrich Nordhoff, German engineer (d. 1968)
  • 1900 – Maria of Yugoslavia, Queen of Yugoslavia from 1922 to 1934 (d. 1961)
  • 1903 – Maurice Abravanel, Greek-American pianist and conductor (d. 1993)
  • 1910 – Wright Morris, American author and photographer (d. 1998)
  • 1910 – Yiannis Papaioannou, Greek composer and educator (d. 1989)
  • 1912 – Jacques Ellul, French philosopher and critic (d. 1994)
  • 1912 – Danny Thomas, American actor, comedian, producer and humanitarian (d. 1991)
  • 1913 – Edward Gierek, Polish lawyer and politician (d. 2001)
  • 1913 – Loretta Young, American actress (d. 2000)
  • 1914 – Godfrey Edward Arnold, Austrian-American physician and academic (d. 1989)
  • 1915 – Don Edwards, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (d. 2015)
  • 1915 – John C. Lilly, American psychoanalyst, physician, and philosopher (d. 2001)
  • 1915 – Alan Watts, English-American philosopher and author (d. 1973)
  • 1916 – Park Mok-wol, influential Korean poet and academic (d. 1978)
  • 1917 – Koo Chen-fu, Taiwanese businessman and diplomat (d. 2005)
  • 1920 – John Maynard Smith, English biologist and geneticist (d. 2004)
  • 1920 – Sun Myung Moon, Korean religious leader; founder of the Unification Church (d. 2012)
  • 1920 – Early Wynn, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 1999)
  • 1921 – Marianne Grunberg-Manago, Russian-French biochemist and academic (d. 2013)
  • 1921 – Cary Middlecoff, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 1998)
  • 1923 – Vladimir Kazantsev, Russian runner (d. 2007)
  • 1923 – Norman Kirk, New Zealand engineer and politician, 29th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1974)
  • 1923 – Jacobo Timerman, Argentinian journalist and author (d. 1999)
  • 1924 – Kim Dae-jung, South Korean soldier and politician, 8th President of South Korea, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2009)
  • 1924 – Earl Scruggs, American banjo player (d. 2012)
  • 1925 – John DeLorean, American engineer and businessman, founded the DeLorean Motor Company (d. 2005)
  • 1926 – Ralph Branca, American baseball player (d. 2016)
  • 1926 – Mickey Hargitay, Hungarian-American actor and bodybuilder (d. 2006)
  • 1927 – Jesse Leonard Steinfeld, American physician and academic, 11th Surgeon General of the United States (d. 2014)
  • 1928 – Capucine, French actress and model (d. 1990)
  • 1931 – E. L. Doctorow, American novelist, playwright, and short story writer (d. 2015)
  • 1931 – Graeme Hole, Australian cricketer (d. 1990)
  • 1931 – Dickie Moore, Canadian ice hockey player and businessman (d. 2015)
  • 1932 – Stuart A. Rice, American chemist and academic
  • 1933 – Oleg Grigoryevich Makarov, Russian engineer and astronaut (d. 2003)
  • 1934 – Sylvia Syms, English actress
  • 1935 – Nino Tempo, American musician, singer, and actor
  • 1936 – Darlene Hard, American tennis player
  • 1936 – Julio María Sanguinetti, Uruguayan journalist, lawyer and politician, 29th President of Uruguay
  • 1937 – Ludvík Daněk, Czech discus thrower (d. 1998)
  • 1937 – Lou Holtz, American football player, coach, and sportscaster
  • 1937 – Doris Troy, American singer-songwriter (d. 2004)
  • 1938 – Adriano Celentano, Italian singer-songwriter, actor, and director
  • 1938 – Adrienne Clarke, Australian botanist and academic
  • 1938 – Larisa Shepitko, Soviet film director, screenwriter, and actress (d. 1979)
  • 1939 – Valeriy Lobanovskyi, Ukrainian footballer and manager (d. 2002)
  • 1939 – Murray Rose, English-Australian swimmer and sportscaster (d. 2012)
  • 1940 – Van McCoy, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1979)
  • 1943 – Terry Venables, English footballer and manager
  • 1944 – Bonnie Franklin, American actress and singer (d. 2013)
  • 1944 – Alan Stivell, French singer-songwriter and harp player
  • 1944 – Rolf M. Zinkernagel, Swiss immunologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1945 – Barry John, Welsh rugby player
  • 1946 – Syd Barrett, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2006)
  • 1947 – Sandy Denny, English folk-rock singer-songwriter (d 1978)
  • 1948 – Guy Gardner, American colonel and astronaut
  • 1948 – Dayle Hadlee, New Zealand cricketer
  • 1949 – Mike Boit, Kenyan runner and academic (estimated date)
  • 1949 – Carolyn D. Wright, American poet and academic (d. 2016)
  • 1950 – Louis Freeh, American lawyer and jurist, 10th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
  • 1951 – Don Gullett, American baseball player and coach
  • 1951 – Kim Wilson, American singer-songwriter and harmonica player
  • 1953 – Malcolm Young, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2017)
  • 1954 – Anthony Minghella, English director and screenwriter (d. 2008)
  • 1955 – Rowan Atkinson, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1956 – Elizabeth Strout, American novelist and short story writer
  • 1956 – Justin Welby, English archbishop
  • 1956 – Clive Woodward, English rugby player and coach
  • 1957 – Michael Foale, British-American astrophysicist and astronaut
  • 1957 – Nancy Lopez, American golfer and sportscaster
  • 1959 – Kapil Dev, Indian cricketer
  • 1960 – Paul Azinger, American golfer and sportscaster
  • 1960 – Kari Jalonen, Finnish ice hockey player and coach
  • 1960 – Nigella Lawson, English chef and author
  • 1960 – Howie Long, American football player and sports commentator
  • 1961 – Georges Jobé, Belgian motocross racer (d. 2012)
  • 1961 – Peter Whittle, British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster
  • 1963 – Norm Charlton, American baseball player and coach
  • 1963 – Paul Kipkoech, Kenyan runner (d. 1995)
  • 1964 – Jacqueline Moore, American wrestler and manager
  • 1965 – Bjørn Lomborg, Danish author and academic
  • 1966 – Sharon Cuneta, Filipino singer and actress
  • 1966 – Attilio Lombardo, Italian footballer and manager
  • 1967 – A. R. Rahman, Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, musician and philanthropist
  • 1968 – John Singleton, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2019)
  • 1969 – Norman Reedus, American actor and model
  • 1970 – Julie Chen, American television journalist, presenter, and producer
  • 1970 – Radoslav Látal, Czech footballer and manager
  • 1973 – Vasso Karantasiou, Greek beach volleyball player
  • 1976 – Richard Zedník, Slovak ice hockey player
  • 1981 – Asante Samuel, American football player
  • 1982 – Eddie Redmayne, English actor and model
  • 1984 – Kate McKinnon, American actress and comedian
  • 1986 – Paul McShane, Irish footballer
  • 1986 – Petter Northug, Norwegian skier
  • 1989 – Andy Carroll, English footballer
  • 1991 – Will Barton, American basketball player
  • 1994 – Lim Jae-beom, South Korean singer and actor (Got7)

Deaths on January 6

  • 786 – Abo of Tiflis, Iraqi martyr and saint (b. 756)
  • 1088 – Berengar of Tours, French scholar and theologian (b. 999)
  • 1148 – Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke (b. 1100)
  • 1233 – Matilda of Chester, Countess of Huntingdon, Anglo-Norman noblewoman (b. 1171)
  • 1275 – Raymond of Penyafort, Catalan archbishop and saint (b. 1175)
  • 1350 – Giovanni I di Murta, second doge of the Republic of Genoa
  • 1358 – Gertrude van der Oosten, Beguine mystic
  • 1406 – Roger Walden, English bishop
  • 1448 – Christopher of Bavaria, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (b. 1418)
  • 1477 – Jean VIII, Count of Vendôme
  • 1481 – Ahmed Khan bin Küchük, Mongolian ruler
  • 1537 – Alessandro de’ Medici, Duke of Florence (b. 1510)
  • 1537 – Baldassare Peruzzi, Italian architect and painter, designed the Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne (b. 1481)
  • 1616 – Philip Henslowe, English impresario (b. 1550)
  • 1646 – Elias Holl, German architect, designed the Augsburg Town Hall (b. 1573)
  • 1689 – Seth Ward, English bishop, mathematician, and astronomer (b. 1617)
  • 1693 – Mehmed IV, Ottoman sultan (b. 1642)
  • 1711 – Philips van Almonde, Dutch admiral (b. 1646)
  • 1718 – Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, Italian lawyer and jurist (b. 1664)
  • 1725 – Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Japanese actor and playwright (b. 1653)
  • 1731 – Étienne François Geoffroy, French physician and chemist (b. 1672)
  • 1734 – John Dennis, English playwright and critic (b. 1657)
  • 1813 – Louis Baraguey d’Hilliers, French general (b. 1764)
  • 1829 – Josef Dobrovský, Czech philologist and historian (b. 1753)
  • 1831 – Rodolphe Kreutzer, French violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1766)
  • 1840 – Frances Burney, English author and playwright (b. 1752)
  • 1852 – Louis Braille, French educator, invented Braille (b. 1809)
  • 1855 – Giacomo Beltrami, Italian jurist, explorer, and author (b. 1779)
  • 1882 – Richard Henry Dana, Jr., American lawyer and politician (b. 1815)
  • 1884 – Gregor Mendel, Czech geneticist and botanist (b. 1822)
  • 1885 – Bharatendu Harishchandra, Indian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1850)
  • 1896 – Thomas W. Knox, American journalist and author (b. 1835)
  • 1902 – Lars Hertervig, Norwegian painter (b. 1830)
  • 1913 – Frederick Hitch, English soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1856)
  • 1917 – Hendrick Peter Godfried Quack, Dutch economist and historian (b. 1834)
  • 1918 – Georg Cantor, German mathematician and philosopher (b. 1845)
  • 1919 – Theodore Roosevelt, American colonel and politician, 26th President of the United States (b. 1858)
  • 1921 – Devil Anse Hatfield, American guerrilla leader (b. 1839)
  • 1922 – Jakob Rosanes, Ukrainian-German mathematician and chess player (b. 1842)
  • 1928 – Alvin Kraenzlein, American hurdler and long jumper (b. 1876)
  • 1933 – Vladimir de Pachmann, Ukrainian-German pianist (b. 1848)
  • 1934 – Herbert Chapman, English footballer and manager (b. 1878)
  • 1937 – André Bessette, Canadian saint (b. 1845)
  • 1939 – Gustavs Zemgals, Latvian journalist and politician, 2nd President of Latvia (b. 1871)
  • 1941 – Charley O’Leary, American baseball player and coach (b. 1882)
  • 1942 – Emma Calvé, French soprano and actress (b. 1858)
  • 1942 – Henri de Baillet-Latour, Belgian businessman, 3rd President of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1876)
  • 1944 – Jacques Rosenbaum, Estonian-German architect (b. 1878)
  • 1944 – Ida Tarbell, American journalist, reformer, and educator (b. 1857)
  • 1945 – Vladimir Vernadsky, Russian mineralogist and chemist (b. 1863)
  • 1949 – Victor Fleming, American director, producer, and cinematographer (b. 1883)
  • 1966 – Jean Lurçat, French painter (b. 1892)
  • 1972 – Chen Yi, Chinese general and politician, 2nd Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China (b. 1901)
  • 1974 – David Alfaro Siqueiros, Mexican painter (b. 1896)
  • 1978 – Burt Munro, New Zealand motorcycle racer (b. 1899)
  • 1981 – A. J. Cronin, Scottish physician and author (b. 1896)
  • 1984 – Ernest Laszlo, Hungarian-American cinematographer (b. 1898)
  • 1990 – Ian Charleson, Scottish-English actor (b. 1949)
  • 1990 – Pavel Cherenkov, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
  • 1993 – Dizzy Gillespie, American singer-songwriter and trumpet player (b. 1917)
  • 1993 – Rudolf Nureyev, Russian-French dancer and choreographer (b. 1938)
  • 1995 – Joe Slovo, Lithuanian-South African lawyer and politician (b. 1926)
  • 1999 – Michel Petrucciani, French-American pianist (b. 1962)2000 – Don Martin, American cartoonist (b. 1931)
  • 2004 – Pierre Charles, Dominican educator and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Dominica (b. 1954)
  • 2004 – Francesco Scavullo, American photographer (b. 1921)
  • 2005 – Eileen Desmond, Irish civil servant and politician, 12th Irish Minister for Health (b. 1932)
  • 2005 – Lois Hole, Canadian academic and politician, 15th Lieutenant Governor of Alberta (b. 1929)
  • 2005 – Tarquinio Provini, Italian motorcycle racer (b. 1933)
  • 2005 – Louis Robichaud, Canadian lawyer and politician, 25th Premier of New Brunswick (b. 1925)
  • 2006 – Lou Rawls, American singer-songwriter (b. 1933)
  • 2007 – Roberta Wohlstetter, American political scientist, historian, and academic (b. 1912)
  • 2008 – Shmuel Berenbaum, Rabbi of Mir Yeshiva (Brooklyn)
  • 2009 – Ron Asheton, American guitarist, songwriter, and actor (probable; b. 1948)
  • 2011 – Uche Okafor, Nigerian footballer, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1967)
  • 2012 – Bob Holness, South African-English radio and television host (b. 1928)
  • 2012 – Spike Pola, Australian footballer and soldier (b. 1914)
  • 2013 – Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Pakistani scholar and politician (b. 1938)
  • 2013 – Ruth Carter Stevenson, American art collector, founded the Amon Carter Museum of American Art (b. 1923)
  • 2013 – Gerard Helders, Dutch jurist and politician (b. 1905)
  • 2013 – Cho Sung-min, South Korean baseball player (b. 1973)
  • 2014 – Marina Ginestà, French Resistance soldier and photographer (b. 1919)
  • 2014 – Nelson Ned, Brazilian singer-songwriter (b. 1947)
  • 2014 – Julian Rotter, American psychologist and academic (b. 1916)
  • 2015 – Arthur Jackson, American lieutenant and target shooter (b. 1918)
  • 2015 – Basil John Mason, English meteorologist and academic (b. 1923)
  • 2016 – Pat Harrington, Jr., American actor and screenwriter (b. 1929)
  • 2016 – Florence King, American journalist and author (b. 1936)
  • 2016 – Christy O’Connor Jnr, Irish golfer and architect (b. 1948)
  • 2016 – Silvana Pampanini, Italian model, actress, and director, Miss Italy 1946 (b. 1925)
  • 2017 – Octavio Lepage, Venezuelan politician, President of Venezuela (b. 1923)
  • 2017 – Om Puri, Indian actor (b. 1950)
  • 2019 – José Ramón Fernández, Cuban revolution leader (b. 1923)
  • 2019 – Lamin Sanneh, Gambian-born American professor (b. 1942)
  • 2019 – W. Morgan Sheppard, British actor (b. 1932)
  • 2019 – Paul Streeten, Austrian-born British economics professor (b. 1917)

Holidays and observances on January 6

  • Armed Forces Day (Iraq)
  • Christian Feast day:
    • André Bessette (Roman Catholic Church)
    • January 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Epiphany or Three Kings’ Day (Western Christianity) or Theophany (Eastern Christianity), and its related observances:
    • Befana Day (Italy)
    • Christmas (Armenian Apostolic Church)
    • Christmas Eve (Russia)
    • Christmas Eve (Ukraine)
    • Christmas Eve (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
    • Christmas Eve (North Macedonia)
    • Little Christmas (Ireland)
    • Þrettándinn (Iceland)
    • Three Wise Men Day
  • Pathet Lao Day (Laos)

January 6 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

January 5 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 1477 – Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is defeated and killed in a conflict with René II, Duke of Lorraine; the Burgundy subsequently becomes part of France.
  • 1675 – Battle of Colmar: The French army beats Brandenburg.
  • 1757 – Louis XV of France survives an assassination attempt by Robert-François Damiens, the last person to be executed in France by drawing and quartering, the traditional and gruesome form of capital punishment used for regicides.
  • 1781 – American Revolutionary War: Richmond, Virginia, is burned by British naval forces led by Benedict Arnold.
  • 1875 – The Palais Garnier, one of the most famous opera houses in the world, is inaugurated in Paris.
  • 1895 – Dreyfus affair: French army officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil’s Island.
  • 1911 – Kappa Alpha Psi, the world’s third oldest and largest black fraternity, is founded at Indiana University.
  • 1912 – The 6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Prague Party Conference) opens. In the course of the conference, Vladimir Lenin and his supporters break from the rest of the party to form the Bolshevik movement.
  • 1913 – First Balkan War: The Battle of Lemnos begins; Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it did not venture for the rest of the war.
  • 1914 – The Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and minimum daily wage of $5 in salary plus bonuses.
  • 1919 – The German Workers’ Party, which would become the Nazi Party, is founded in Munich.
  • 1925 – Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming becomes the first female governor in the United States.
  • 1933 – Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge begins in San Francisco Bay.
  • 1941 – 37-year-old pilot Amy Johnson, the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia, disappears after bailing out of her plane over the River Thames, and is presumed dead.
  • 1944 – The Daily Mail becomes the first major London newspaper to be published on both sides of the Atlantic.
  • 1945 – The Soviet Union recognizes the new pro-Soviet Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland.
  • 1949 – In his “State of the Union” address, United States President Harry S. Truman unveils his Fair Deal program.
  • 1950 – In the Sverdlovsk air disaster, all 19 of those on board are killed, including almost the entire national ice hockey team (VVS Moscow) of the Soviet Air Force – 11 players, as well as a team doctor and a masseur.
  • 1953 – The play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett receives its première in Paris.
  • 1957 – In a speech given to the United States Congress, United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces the establishment of what will later be called the Eisenhower Doctrine
  • 1968 – Alexander Dubček comes to power in Czechoslovakia, effectively beginning the “Prague Spring”
  • 1969 – The Venera 5 space probe is launched at 06:28:08 UTCfrom Baikonur.
  • 1970 – The 7.1 Mw  Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). Between 10,000 and 15,000 people are known to have been killed and about another 26,000 are injured.
  • 1974 – The warmest reliably measured temperature within the Antarctic Circle, of +59 °F (+15 °C), is recorded at Vanda Station.
  • 1975 – The Tasman Bridge in Tasmania, Australia, is struck by the bulk ore carrier Lake Illawarra, killing twelve people.
  • 1976 – The Khmer Rouge proclaim the Constitution of Democratic Kampuchea.
  • 1976 – The Troubles: Gunmen shoot dead ten Protestant civilians after stopping their minibus at Kingsmill in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, UK, allegedly as retaliation for a string of attacks on Catholic civilians in the area by Loyalists, particularly the killing of six Catholics the night before.
  • 1991 – Georgian forces enter Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, Georgia, opening the 1991–92 South Ossetia War.
  • 1991 – Somali Civil War: The United States Embassy to Somalia in Mogadishu is evacuated by helicopter airlift days after the outbreak of violence in Mogadishu.
  • 1993 – The oil tanker MV Braer runs aground on the coast of the Shetland Islands, spilling 84,700 tons of crude oil.
  • 2014 – A launch of the communication satellite GSAT-14 aboard the GSLV MK.II D5 marks the first successful flight of an Indian cryogenic engine.

Births on January 5

  • 1209 – Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, English prince, nominal King of Germany (d. 1272)
  • 1530 – Gaspar de Bono, monk of the Order of the Minims (d. 1571)
  • 1548 – Francisco Suárez, Spanish priest, philosopher, and theologian (d. 1617)
  • 1587 – Xu Xiake, Chinese geographer and explorer (d. 1641)
  • 1592 – Shah Jahan, Mughal emperor (d. 1666)
  • 1620 – Miklós Zrínyi, Croatian military commander (d. 1664)
  • 1640 – Paolo Lorenzani, Italian composer (d. 1713)
  • 1735 – Claude Martin, French-English general and explorer (d. 1800)
  • 1767 – Jean-Baptiste Say, French economist and academic (d. 1832)
  • 1779 – Stephen Decatur, American commander (d. 1820)
  • 1779 – Zebulon Pike, American general and explorer (d. 1813)
  • 1781 – Gaspar Flores de Abrego, three terms mayor of San Antonio, in Spanish Texas (d. 1836)
  • 1793 – Harvey Putnam, American lawyer and politician (d. 1855)
  • 1808 – Anton Füster, Austrian priest and activist (d. 1881)
  • 1834 – William John Wills, English surgeon and explorer (d. 1861)
  • 1838 – Camille Jordan, French mathematician and academic (d. 1922)
  • 1846 – Rudolf Christoph Eucken, German philosopher and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1926)
  • 1846 – Mariam Baouardy, Syrian Roman Catholic nun; later canonized (d. 1878)
  • 1855 – King Camp Gillette, American businessman, founded the Gillette Company (d. 1932)
  • 1864 – Bob Caruthers, American baseball player and manager (d. 1911)
  • 1867 – Dimitrios Gounaris, Greek lawyer and politician, 94th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1922)
  • 1871 – Frederick Converse, American composer and academic (d. 1940)
  • 1874 – Joseph Erlanger, American physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1965)
  • 1876 – Konrad Adenauer, German lawyer and politician, Chancellor of West Germany (d. 1967)
  • 1879 – Hans Eppinger, Austrian physician and academic (d. 1946)
  • 1880 – Nikolai Medtner, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1951)
  • 1881 – Pablo Gargallo, Spanish sculptor and painter (d. 1934)
  • 1882 – Herbert Bayard Swope, American journalist (d. 1958)
  • 1885 – Humbert Wolfe, Italian-English poet and civil servant (d. 1940)
  • 1886 – Markus Reiner, Israeli physicist and engineer (d. 1976)
  • 1892 – Agnes von Kurowsky, American nurse (d. 1984)
  • 1893 – Paramahansa Yogananda, Indian-American guru and philosopher (d. 1952)
  • 1897 – Kiyoshi Miki, Japanese philosopher and author (d. 1945)
  • 1900 – Yves Tanguy, French-American painter (d. 1955)
  • 1902 – Hubert Beuve-Méry, French journalist (d. 1989)
  • 1902 – Stella Gibbons, English journalist and author (d. 1989)
  • 1903 – Harold Gatty, Australian pilot and navigator (d. 1957)
  • 1904 – Jeane Dixon, American astrologer and psychic (d. 1997)
  • 1904 – Erika Morini, Austrian violinist (d. 1995)
  • 1906 – Kathleen Kenyon, English archaeologist and academic (d. 1978)
  • 1907 – Volmari Iso-Hollo, Finnish athlete (d. 1969)
  • 1908 – George Dolenz, Italian-American actor (d. 1963)
  • 1909 – Lucienne Bloch, Swiss-American sculptor, painter, and photographer (d. 1995)
  • 1909 – Stephen Cole Kleene, American mathematician and computer scientist (d. 1994)
  • 1910 – Jack Lovelock, New Zealand runner and journalist (d. 1949)
  • 1911 – Jean-Pierre Aumont, French actor and screenwriter (d. 2001)
  • 1914 – Nicolas de Staël, Russian-French painter and illustrator (d. 1955)
  • 1914 – George Reeves, American actor and director (d. 1959)
  • 1915 – Arthur H. Robinson, Canadian geographer and cartographer (d. 2004)
  • 1917 – Francis L. Kellogg, American businessman and diplomat (d. 2006)
  • 1917 – Wieland Wagner, German director and producer (d. 1966)
  • 1917 – Jane Wyman, American actress (d. 2007)
  • 1919 – Hector Abhayavardhana, Sri Lankan theorist and politician (d. 2012)
  • 1919 – Severino Gazzelloni, Italian flute player (d. 1992)
  • 1920 – Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Italian pianist and educator (d. 1995)
  • 1921 – Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Swiss author and playwright (d. 1990)
  • 1921 – Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Luxembourgish soldier and aristocrat (d. 2019)
  • 1921 – John H. Reed, American politician and diplomat, 67th Governor of Maine (d. 2012)
  • 1922 – Anthony Synnot, Australian admiral (d. 2001)
  • 1923 – Sam Phillips, American radio host and producer, founded Sun Records (d. 2003)
  • 1926 – Veikko Karvonen, Finnish runner (d. 2007)
  • 1926 – W. D. Snodgrass, American poet (d. 2009)
  • 1926 – Hosea Williams, American businessman and activist (d. 2000)
  • 1927 – Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, American guru and author, founded Iraivan Temple (d. 2001)
  • 1928 – Imtiaz Ahmed, Pakistani cricketer (d. 2016)
  • 1928 – Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistani lawyer and politician, 4th President of Pakistan (d. 1979)
  • 1928 – Walter Mondale, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 42nd Vice President of the United States
  • 1929 – Aulis Rytkönen, Finnish footballer and manager (d. 2014)
  • 1931 – Alvin Ailey, American dancer and choreographer, founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (d. 1989)
  • 1931 – Alfred Brendel, Austrian pianist, poet, and author
  • 1931 – Robert Duvall, American actor and director
  • 1932 – Umberto Eco, Italian novelist, literary critic, and philosopher (d. 2016)
  • 1932 – Chuck Noll, American football player and coach (d. 2014)
  • 1934 – Phil Ramone, South African-American songwriter and producer, co-founded A & R Recording (d. 2013)
  • 1934 – Murli Manohar Joshi, Indian politician
  • 1936 – Florence King, American journalist and memoirist (d. 2016)
  • 1938 – Juan Carlos I of Spain
  • 1938 – Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Kenyan author and playwright
  • 1939 – M. E. H. Maharoof, Sri Lankan politician (d. 1997)
  • 1940 – Athol Guy, Australian singer-songwriter and bassist
  • 1941 – Bob Cunis, New Zealand cricketer (d. 2008)
  • 1941 – Chuck McKinley, American tennis player (d. 1986)
  • 1941 – Hayao Miyazaki, Japanese animator, director, and screenwriter
  • 1941 – Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Indian cricketer and coach (d. 2011)
  • 1942 – Maurizio Pollini, Italian pianist and conductor
  • 1942 – Charlie Rose, American journalist and talk show host
  • 1943 – Mary Gaudron, Australian lawyer and judge
  • 1943 – Murtaz Khurtsilava, Georgian footballer and manager
  • 1944 – Ed Rendell, American politician, 45th Governor of Pennsylvania
  • 1946 – Diane Keaton, American actress, director, and businesswoman
  • 1947 – Mike DeWine, American lawyer and politician, 70th Governor of Ohio
  • 1950 – Ioan P. Culianu, Romanian historian, philosopher, and author (d. 1991)
  • 1950 – Peter Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith, English lawyer and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales
  • 1950 – John Manley, Canadian lawyer and politician, 8th Deputy Prime Minister of Canada
  • 1950 – Chris Stein, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
  • 1952 – Uli Hoeneß, German footballer and manager
  • 1953 – Pamela Sue Martin, American actress
  • 1953 – Mike Rann, English-Australian journalist and politician, 44th Premier of South Australia
  • 1953 – George Tenet, American civil servant and academic, 18th Director of Central Intelligence
  • 1954 – Alex English, American basketball player and coach
  • 1954 – László Krasznahorkai, Hungarian author and screenwriter
  • 1955 – Mamata Banerjee, Indian lawyer and politician, Chief Minister of West Bengal
  • 1956 – Frank-Walter Steinmeier, German academic and politician, 14th Vice-Chancellor of Germany
  • 1958 – Ron Kittle, American baseball player and manager
  • 1959 – Nancy Delahunt, Canadian curler
  • 1960 – Glenn Strömberg, Swedish footballer and sportscaster
  • 1961 – Iris DeMent, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1962 – Suzy Amis, American actress and model
  • 1962 – Danny Jackson, American baseball player and manager
  • 1963 – Jeff Fassero, American baseball player and coach
  • 1965 – Vinnie Jones, English/Welsh footballer and actor
  • 1965 – Patrik Sjöberg, Swedish high jumper
  • 1968 – Carrie Ann Inaba, American actress, dancer, and choreographer
  • 1968 – Joé Juneau, Canadian ice hockey player and engineer
  • 1969 – Marilyn Manson, American singer-songwriter, actor, and director
  • 1969 – Shaun Micheel, American golfer
  • 1971 – Stian Carstensen, Norwegian multi-instrumentalist and composer
  • 1972 – Sakis Rouvas, Greek singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
  • 1973 – Uday Chopra, Bollywood actor and filmmaker
  • 1974 – Iwan Thomas, Welsh sprinter and coach
  • 1975 – Bradley Cooper, American actor and producer
  • 1975 – Warrick Dunn, American football player
  • 1975 – Mike Grier, American ice hockey player and scout
  • 1976 – Diego Tristán, Spanish footballer
  • 1978 – January Jones, American actress
  • 1979 – Kyle Calder, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1979 – Giuseppe Gibilisco, Italian pole vaulter
  • 1981 – Deadmau5 (Joel Thomas Zimmerman), Canadian musician
  • 1982 – Janica Kostelić, Croatian skier
  • 1984 – Derrick Atkins, Bahamian sprinter
  • 1985 – Diego Vera, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1986 – Deepika Padukone, Indian actress
  • 1988 – Azizulhasni Awang, Malaysian track cyclist
  • 1988 – Luke Daniels, English footballer
  • 1989 – Krisztián Németh, Hungarian footballer
  • 1990 – Mark Nicholls, Australian rugby league player

Deaths on January 5

  • 842 – Al-Mu’tasim, Abbasid caliph (b. 796)
  • 941 – Zhang Yanhan, Chinese chancellor (b. 884)
  • 1066 – Edward the Confessor, English king (b. 1004)
  • 1173 – Bolesław IV the Curly, High Duke of Poland (b. 1120)
  • 1382 – Philippa Plantagenet, Countess of Ulster (b. 1355)
  • 1400 – John Montacute, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, English politician (b. 1350)
  • 1430 – Philippa of England, Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (b. 1394)
  • 1477 – Charles, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1433)
  • 1524 – Marko Marulić, Croatian poet (b. 1450)
  • 1527 – Felix Manz, Swiss martyr (b. 1498)
  • 1578 – Giulio Clovio, Dalmatian painter (b. 1498)
  • 1580 – Anna Sibylle of Hanau-Lichtenberg, German noblewoman (b. 1542)
  • 1589 – Catherine de’ Medici, queen of Henry II of France (b. 1519)
  • 1713 – Jean Chardin, French explorer and author (b. 1643)
  • 1740 – Antonio Lotti, Italian composer and educator (b. 1667)
  • 1762 – Empress Elizabeth of Russia (b. 1709)
  • 1771 – John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford, English politician, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (b. 1710)
  • 1796 – Samuel Huntington, American jurist and politician, 18th Governor of Connecticut (b. 1731)
  • 1823 – George Johnston, Scottish-Australian colonel and politician, Lieutenant Governor of New South Wales (b. 1764)
  • 1845 – Robert Smirke, English painter and illustrator (b. 1753)
  • 1846 – Alfred Thomas Agate, American painter and illustrator (b. 1812)
  • 1858 – Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, Austrian field marshal (b. 1766)
  • 1860 – John Neumann, Czech-American bishop and saint (b. 1811)
  • 1883 – Charles Tompson, Australian poet and public servant (b. 1806)
  • 1885 – Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, Norwegian author and scholar (b. 1812)
  • 1888 – Henri Herz, Austrian pianist and composer (b. 1803)
  • 1899 – Ezra Otis Kendall, American professor, astronomer and mathematician (b. 1818)
  • 1904 – Karl Alfred von Zittel, German paleontologist and geologist (b. 1839)
  • 1910 – Léon Walras, French-Swiss economist and academic (b. 1834)
  • 1917 – Isobel Lilian Gloag, English painter (b. 1865)
  • 1922 – Ernest Shackleton, Anglo-Irish sailor and explorer (b. 1874)
  • 1933 – Calvin Coolidge, American lawyer and politician, 30th President of the United States (b. 1872)
  • 1942 – Tina Modotti, Italian photographer, model, actress, and activist (b. 1896)
  • 1943 – George Washington Carver, American botanist, educator, and inventor (b. 1864)
  • 1951 – Soh Jaipil, South Korean-American journalist and activist (b. 1864)
  • 1951 – Andrei Platonov, Russian journalist and author (b. 1899)
  • 1952 – Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow, Scottish colonel and politician, 46th Governor-General of India (b. 1887)
  • 1952 – Hristo Tatarchev, Bulgarian-Italian physician and activist (b. 1869)
  • 1954 – Rabbit Maranville, American baseball player and manager (b. 1891)
  • 1956 – Mistinguett, French actress and singer (b. 1875)
  • 1963 – Rogers Hornsby, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1896)
  • 1970 – Max Born, German physicist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1882)
  • 1970 – Roberto Gerhard, Catalan composer and scholar (b. 1896)
  • 1971 – Douglas Shearer, Canadian-American sound designer and engineer (b. 1899)
  • 1972 – Tevfik Rüştü Aras, Turkish physician and politician, 6th Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1883)
  • 1974 – Lev Oborin, Russian pianist and educator (b. 1907)
  • 1976 – John A. Costello, Irish lawyer and politician, 3rd Taoiseach of Ireland (b. 1891)
  • 1978 – Wyatt Emory Cooper, American author and screenwriter (b. 1927)
  • 1979 – Billy Bletcher, American actor, singer, and screenwriter (b. 1894
  • 1979 – Charles Mingus, American bassist, composer, bandleader (b. 1922)
  • 1981 – Harold Urey, American chemist and astronomer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1893)
  • 1981 – Lanza del Vasto, Italian poet and philosopher (b. 1901)
  • 1982 – Hans Conried, American actor (b. 1917)
  • 1982 – Edmund Herring, Australian general and politician, 7th Chief Justice of Victoria (b. 1892)1985 – Robert L. Surtees, American cinematographer (b. 1906)1987 – Margaret Laurence, Canadian author and academic (b. 1926)
  • 1987 – Herman Smith-Johannsen, Norwegian-Canadian skier (b. 1875)
  • 1990 – Arthur Kennedy, American actor (b. 1914)
  • 1991 – Vasko Popa, Serbian poet and academic (b. 1922)
  • 1994 – Tip O’Neill, American lawyer and politician, 55th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1912)
  • 1997 – André Franquin, Belgian author and illustrator (b. 1924)
  • 1997 – Burton Lane, American composer and songwriter (b. 1912)
  • 1998 – Sonny Bono, American singer-songwriter, producer, actor, and politician (b. 1935)
  • 2000 – Kumar Ponnambalam, Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer and politician (b. 1938)
  • 2003 – Roy Jenkins, Welsh politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1920)
  • 2004 – Norman Heatley, English biologist and chemist, co-developed penicillin (b. 1911)
  • 2006 – Merlyn Rees, Welsh educator and politician, Home Secretary (b. 1920)
  • 2007 – Momofuku Ando, Taiwanese-Japanese businessman, founded Nissin Foods (b. 1910)
  • 2009 – Griffin Bell, American lawyer and politician, 72nd United States Attorney General (b. 1918)
  • 2010 – Willie Mitchell, American singer-songwriter, trumpet player, and producer (b. 1928)
  • 2010 – Kenneth Noland, American painter (b. 1924)
  • 2012 – Isaac Díaz Pardo, Spanish painter and sculptor (b. 1920)
  • 2012 – Frederica Sagor Maas, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (b. 1900)
  • 2014 – Eusébio, Mozambican-Portuguese footballer and manager (b. 1942)
  • 2014 – Carmen Zapata, American actress (b. 1927)
  • 2015 – Jean-Pierre Beltoise, French racing driver and motorcycle racer (b. 1937)
  • 2015 – Bernard Joseph McLaughlin, American bishop (b. 1912)
  • 2016 – Pierre Boulez, French pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1925)
  • 2017 – Jill Saward, English rape victim and activist (b. 1965)
  • 2018 – Asghar Khan, Pakistani three star general and politician (b. 1921)
  • 2018 – Thomas Bopp, American astronomer best known as the co-discoverer of comet Hale–Bopp (b. 1949)
  • 2018 – Karin von Aroldingen, German ballerina (b. 1941)
  • 2019 – Bernice Sandler, American women’s rights activist (b. 1928)
  • 2019 – Dragoslav Šekularac, Serbian footballer and manager (b. 1937)

Holidays and observances on January 5

  • Christian Feast day:
    • Charles of Mount Argus
    • John Neumann (Catholic Church)
    • Pope Telesphorus
    • Simeon Stylites (Latin Church)
    • January 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival (Harbin, China
  • Joma Shinji (Japan)
  • National Bird Day (United States)
  • The Twelfth day of Christmas and the Twelfth Night of Christmas. (Western Christianity)

January 5 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

January 4 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 46 BC – Julius Caesar fights Titus Labienus in the Battle of Ruspina.
  • 871 – Battle of Reading: Æthelred of Wessex and his brother Alfred are defeated by a Danish invasion army.
  • 1649 – English Civil War: The Rump Parliament votes to put Charles I on trial.
  • 1717 – The Netherlands, Great Britain, and France sign the Triple Alliance in an attempt to maintain the Treaty of Utrecht; Britain having signed a preliminary alliance with France on November 28 (November 17, 1716).
  • 1762 – Great Britain declares war on Spain, thus entering the Seven Years’ War.
  • 1798 – Constantine Hangerli arrives in Bucharest, Wallachia, as its new Prince, invested by the Ottoman Empire.
  • 1853 – After having been kidnapped and sold into slavery in the American South, Solomon Northup regains his freedom; his memoir Twelve Years a Slave later becomes a national bestseller.
  • 1854 – The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the Samarang.
  • 1863 – The New Apostolic Church, a Christian and chiliastic church, is established in Hamburg, Germany.
  • 1878 – Russo-Turkish War (1877–78): Sofia is liberated from Ottoman rule and designated the capital of Liberated Bulgaria.
  • 1884 – The Fabian Society is founded in London, United Kingdom.
  • 1885 – Sino-French War: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing force at Núi Bop in northern Vietnam.
  • 1896 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state.
  • 1903 – Topsy, an elephant, is electrocuted by the owners of Luna Park, Coney Island. The Edison film company records the film Electrocuting an Elephant of Topsy’s death.
  • 1912 – The Scout Association is incorporated throughout the British Empire by the royal charter.
  • 1918 – The Finnish Declaration of Independence is recognized by Russia, Sweden, Germany and France.
  • 1944 – World War II: Operation Carpetbagger, involving the dropping of arms and supplies to resistance fighters in Europe, begins.
  • 1948 – Burma gains its independence from the United Kingdom becoming an independent republic, named the Union of Burma, with Sao Shwe Thaik as its first President and U Nu its first Prime Minister.
  • 1951 – Korean War: Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul.
  • 1956 – The Greek National Radical Union is formed by Konstantinos Karamanlis.
  • 1958 – Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, falls to Earth from orbit.
  • 1959 – Luna 1 becomes the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon.
  • 1972 – Rose Heilbron becomes the first female judge to sit at the Old Bailey in London, UK.
  • 1976 – The Troubles: The Ulster Volunteer Force shoots dead six Irish Catholic civilians in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The next day, gunmen would shoot dead ten Protestant civilians nearby in retaliation.
  • 1987 – The Maryland train collision: An Amtrak train en route to Boston from Washington, D.C., collides with Conrail engines in Chase, Maryland, United States, killing 16 people.
  • 1989 – Second Gulf of Sidra incident: A pair of Libyan MiG-23 “Floggers” are shot down by a pair of US Navy F-14 Tomcats during an air-to-air confrontation.
  • 1990 – In Pakistan’s deadliest train accident an overloaded passenger train collides with an empty freight train, resulting in 307 deaths and 700 injuries.
  • 1998 – A massive ice storm hits eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, continuing through January 10 and causing widespread destruction.
  • 1999 – Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura is sworn in as governor of Minnesota, United States.
  • 2004 – Spirit, a NASA Mars rover, lands successfully on Mars at 04:35 UTC.
  • 2004 – Mikheil Saakashvili is elected President of Georgia following the November 2003 Rose Revolution.
  • 2006 – Ehud Olmert becomes acting Prime Minister of Israel after the incumbent, Ariel Sharon, suffers a second, apparently more serious stroke.
  • 2007 – The 110th United States Congress convenes, electing Nancy Pelosi as the first female Speaker of the House in U.S. history.
  • 2010 – The Burj Khalifa, the current tallest building in the world, officially opens in Dubai.
  • 2013 – A gunman kills eight people in a house-to-house rampage in Kawit, Cavite, Philippines.
  • 2018 – Hennenman–Kroonstad train crash: A passenger train operated by Shosholoza Meyl collides with a truck on a level crossing at Geneva Station between Hennenman and Kroonstad, Free State, South Africa. Twenty people are killed and 260 injured.

Births on January 4

  • 659 – Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin (d.680)
  • 1077 – Emperor Zhezong of China (d. 1100)
  • 1334 – Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy (d. 1383)
  • 1467 – Bodo VIII, Count of Stolberg-Wernigerode (d. 1538)
  • 1581 – James Ussher, Irish archbishop and historian (d. 1656)
  • 1643 – Isaac Newton, English mathematician and physicist (d. 1727)
  • 1654 – Lars Roberg, Swedish physician and academic (d. 1742)
  • 1672 – Hugh Boulter, English-Irish archbishop (d. 1742)
  • 1710 – Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Italian composer, violinist, and organist (d. 1736)
  • 1720 – Johann Friedrich Agricola, German organist and composer (d. 1774)
  • 1785 – Jacob Grimm, German philologist and mythologist (d. 1863)
  • 1809 – Louis Braille, French educator, invented Braille (d. 1852)
  • 1813 – Isaac Pitman, English linguist and educator (d. 1897)
  • 1832 – George Tryon, English admiral (d. 1893)
  • 1838 – General Tom Thumb, American circus performer (d. 1883)
  • 1839 – Carl Humann, German archaeologist, architect, and engineer (d. 1896)
  • 1848 – Katsura Tarō, Japanese general and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1913)
  • 1858 – Carter Glass, American publisher and politician, 47th United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1946)
  • 1864 – Clara Emilia Smitt, Swedish doctor and author (d. 1928)
  • 1869 – Tommy Corcoran, American baseball player and umpire (d. 1960)
  • 1874 – Josef Suk, Czech violinist and composer (d. 1935)
  • 1877 – Marsden Hartley, American painter and poet (d. 1943)
  • 1878 – A. E. Coppard, English poet and short story writer (d. 1957)
  • 1878 – Augustus John, Welsh painter and illustrator (d. 1961)
  • 1881 – Wilhelm Lehmbruck, German sculptor (d. 1919)
  • 1883 – Max Eastman, American author and poet (d. 1969)
  • 1883 – Johanna Westerdijk, Dutch pathologist and academic (d. 1961)
  • 1884 – Guy Pène du Bois, American painter, critic, and educator (d. 1958)
  • 1889 – M. Patanjali Sastri, Indian lawyer and jurist, 2nd Chief Justice of India (d. 1963)
  • 1891 – Edward Brooker, English-Australian sergeant and politician, 31st Premier of Tasmania (d. 1948)
  • 1895 – Leroy Grumman, American engineer and businessman, co-founded Grumman Aeronautical Engineering Co. (d. 1982)
  • 1896 – Everett Dirksen, American politician (d. 1969)
  • 1896 – André Masson, French painter and illustrator (d. 1987)
  • 1897 – Chen Cheng, Chinese politician, Vice President of the Republic of China (d. 1965)
  • 1900 – James Bond, American ornithologist and zoologist (d. 1989)
  • 1901 – C. L. R. James, Trinidadian journalist and theorist (d. 1989)
  • 1902 – John A. McCone, American businessman and politician, 6th Director of Central Intelligence (d. 1991)
  • 1905 – Sterling Holloway, American actor (d. 1992)
  • 1913 – Malietoa Tanumafili II, Samoan ruler (d. 2007)
  • 1916 – Lionel Newman, American pianist and composer (d. 1989)
  • 1916 – Robert Parrish, American actor and director (d. 1995)
  • 1920 – William Colby, American intelligence officer, 10th Director of Central Intelligence (d. 1996)
  • 1924 – Marianne Werner, German shot putter
  • 1925 – Veikko Hakulinen, Finnish skier and technician (d. 2003)
  • 1927 – Paul Desmarais, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (d. 2013)
  • 1927 – Barbara Rush, American actress
  • 1929 – Günter Schabowski, German journalist and politician (d. 2015)
  • 1930 – Sorrell Booke, American actor and director (d. 1994)
  • 1930 – Don Shula, American football player and coach (d. 2020)
  • 1931 – William Deane, Australian judge and politician, 22nd Governor-General of Australia
  • 1931 – Nora Iuga, Romanian poet, writer and translator
  • 1931 – Coşkun Özarı, Turkish footballer and coach (d. 2011)
  • 1932 – Clint Hill, American secret service agent and author
  • 1932 – Carlos Saura, Spanish director and screenwriter
  • 1934 – Rudolf Schuster, Slovak politician, 2nd President of Slovakia
  • 1935 – Floyd Patterson, American boxer (d. 2006)
  • 1937 – Grace Bumbry, American operatic soprano
  • 1937 – Dyan Cannon, American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1940 – Gao Xingjian, Chinese novelist, playwright, and critic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1940 – Brian Josephson, Welsh physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1941 – George P. Cosmatos, Italian-Canadian director and screenwriter (d. 2005)
  • 1941 – Kalpnath Rai, Indian politician (d. 1999)
  • 1942 – Bolaji Akinyemi, Nigerian political scientist, academic, and politician
  • 1942 – John McLaughlin, English guitarist and songwriter
  • 1943 – Doris Kearns Goodwin, American historian and author
  • 1943 – Hwang Sok-yong, South Korean author and educator
  • 1945 – Richard R. Schrock, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1946 – Arthur Conley, American singer-songwriter (d. 2003)
  • 1947 – Marie-Thérèse Letablier, French sociologist and academic
  • 1948 – Kostas Davourlis, Greek footballer (d. 1992)
  • 1948 – Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé, Malian civil servant and politician, Prime Minister of Mali
  • 1950 – Khondakar Ashraf Hossain, Bangladesh poet and academic (d. 2013)
  • 1953 – Norberto Alonso, Argentinian footballer
  • 1954 – Tina Knowles, American fashion designer, founded House of Deréon
  • 1956 – Ann Magnuson, American actress and performance artist
  • 1956 – Zehava Gal-On, Israeli politician
  • 1956 – Bernard Sumner, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1957 – Patty Loveless, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1958 – Matt Frewer, American-Canadian actor
  • 1960 – Michael Stipe, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1963 – Dave Foley, Canadian comedian, actor, director, and producer
  • 1963 – Martina Proeber, German diver
  • 1964 – Susan Devoy, New Zealand squash player
  • 1965 – Guy Forget, French tennis player
  • 1965 – Craig Revel Horwood, Australian-English dancer, choreographer, and director
  • 1965 – Julia Ormond, English actress and producer
  • 1966 – Deana Carter, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1967 – David Toms, American golfer and philanthropist
  • 1975 – Paul Watson, English footballer and physiotherapist
  • 1978 – Dominik Hrbatý, Slovak tennis player
  • 1980 – Miguel Monteiro, Portuguese footballer
  • 1985 – Kari Aalvik Grimsbø, Norwegian handball player
  • 1985 – Gökhan Gönül, Turkish footballer
  • 1985 – Al Jefferson, American basketball player
  • 1986 – James Milner, English footballer
  • 1986 – Younès Kaboul, French footballer
  • 1989 – Graham Rahal, American race car driver
  • 1990 – Toni Kroos, German footballer
  • 1992 – Kris Bryant, American baseball player
  • 1994 – Derrick Henry, American football player
  • 1997 – Ante Žižić, Croatian basketball player
  • 1998 – Liza Soberano, Filipina actress

Deaths on January 4

  • 871 – Æthelwulf, Saxon ealdorman
  • 874 – Hasan al-Askari, eleventh of the Twelve Imams (probable; b. 846)
  • 1248 – Sancho II of Portugal (b. 1209)
  • 1344 – Robert de Lisle, 1st Baron Lisle, English peer (b. 1288)
  • 1399 – Nicholas Eymerich, Catalan theologian and inquisitor
  • 1424 – Muzio Sforza, Italian condottiero
  • 1428 – Frederick I, Elector of Saxony (b. 1370)
  • 1584 – Tobias Stimmer, Swiss painter and illustrator (b. 1539)
  • 1604 – Ferenc Nádasdy, Hungarian noble (b. 1555)
  • 1695 – François-Henri de Montmorency, duc de Luxembourg, French general (b. 1628)
  • 1752 – Gabriel Cramer, Swiss mathematician and physicist (b. 1704)
  • 1761 – Stephen Hales, English clergyman and physiologist (b. 1677)
  • 1782 – Ange-Jacques Gabriel, French architect, designed École Militaire (b. 1698)
  • 1786 – Moses Mendelssohn, German philosopher, and theologian (b. 1729)
  • 1804 – Charlotte Lennox, English author and poet (b. 1730)
  • 1821 – Elizabeth Ann Seton, American nun and saint (b. 1774)
  • 1825 – Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies (b. 1751)
  • 1863 – Roger Hanson, American general (b. 1827)
  • 1874 – Thomas Gregson, English-Australian lawyer and politician, 2nd Premier of Tasmania (b. 1798)
  • 1877 – Cornelius Vanderbilt, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1794)
  • 1880 – Anselm Feuerbach, German painter and educator (b. 1829)
  • 1880 – Edward William Cooke, English painter and illustrator (b. 1811)
  • 1882 – John William Draper, English-American physician, chemist, and photographer (b. 1811)
  • 1883 – Antoine Chanzy, French general (b. 1823)
  • 1891 – Antoine Labelle, Canadian priest (b. 1833)
  • 1896 – Joseph Hubert Reinkens, German bishop and academic (b. 1821)
  • 1900 – Stanisław Mieroszewski, Polish-born politician, writer, historian and member of the Imperial Council of Austria (b. 1827)
  • 1901 – Nikolaos Gyzis, Greek painter and academic (b. 1842)
  • 1904 – Anna Winlock, American astronomer and academic (b. 1857)
  • 1910 – Léon Delagrange, French pilot and sculptor (b. 1873)
  • 1912 – Clarence Dutton, American geologist and soldier (b. 1841)
  • 1919 – Georg von Hertling, German academic and politician, 7th Chancellor of the German Empire (b. 1843)
  • 1920 – Benito Pérez Galdós, Spanish author and playwright (b. 1843)
  • 1924 – Alfred Grünfeld, Austrian pianist and composer (b. 1852)
  • 1925 – Nellie Cashman, American nurse, restaurateur, entrepreneur, and gold prospector (b. 1845)
  • 1927 – Süleyman Nazif, Turkish poet and civil servant (b. 1870)
  • 1931 – Art Acord, American actor and stuntman (b. 1890)
  • 1931 – Louise, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom (b. 1867)
  • 1931 – Mohammad Ali Jouhar, Indian journalist, activist, and scholar (b. 1878)
  • 1940 – Flora Finch, English-American actress and producer (b. 1867)
  • 1941 – Henri Bergson, French philosopher and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1859)
  • 1943 – Jerzy Iwanow-Szajnowicz, Greek-Polish swimmer and water polo player (b. 1911)
  • 1944 – Kaj Munk, Danish playwright and pastor (b. 1898)
  • 1960 – Albert Camus, French novelist, philosopher, and journalist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1913)
  • 1961 – Erwin Schrödinger, Austrian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1887)
  • 1962 – Hans Lammers, German jurist and politician (b. 1879)
  • 1965 – T. S. Eliot, American-English poet, playwright, and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)
  • 1967 – Donald Campbell, English racing driver and world speed record holder (b. 1921)
  • 1969 – Paul Chambers, American bassist and composer (b. 1935)
  • 1975 – Carlo Levi, Italian painter, author, and activist (b. 1902)
  • 1985 – Brian Horrocks, Indian-English general (b. 1895)
  • 1986 – Christopher Isherwood, English-American author and academic (b. 1904)
  • 1986 – Phil Lynott, Irish singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (b. 1949)
  • 1988 – Lily Laskine, French harp player (b. 1893)
  • 1990 – Harold Eugene Edgerton, American engineer and academic (b. 1903)
  • 1990 – Henry Bolte, Australian sergeant and politician, 38th Premier of Victoria (b. 1908)
  • 1994 – R. D. Burman, Indian film composer and music director (b. 1939
  • 1995 – Eduardo Mata, Mexican conductor and composer (b. 1942)
  • 1995 – Sol Tax, American anthropologist and academic (b. 1907)
  • 1997 – Harry Helmsley, American businessman (b. 1909)
  • 1998 – Mae Questel, American actress (b. 1908)
  • 1999 – Iron Eyes Cody, American actor and stuntman (b. 1904)
  • 2000 – Spyros Markezinis, Greek lawyer and politician, 170th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1909)
  • 2000 – Tom Fears, Mexican-American football player and coach (b. 1922)
  • 2001 – Les Brown, American bandleader and composer (b. 1912)
  • 2004 – Brian Gibson, English director and screenwriter (b. 1944)
  • 2004 – Joan Aiken, English author (b. 1924)
  • 2004 – John Toland, American historian and author (b. 1912)
  • 2005 – Bud Poile, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (b. 1924)
  • 2005 – Frank Harary, American mathematician and academic (b. 1921)
  • 2005 – Humphrey Carpenter, English radio host and author (b. 1946)
  • 2005 – Robert Heilbroner, American economist and historian (b. 1919)
  • 2006 – Irving Layton, Romanian-Canadian poet and academic (b. 1912)
  • 2006 – Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Emirati politician, 1st Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (b. 1946)
  • 2006 – Milton Himmelfarb, American sociographer, author, and academic (b. 1918)
  • 2007 – Helen Hill, American director and producer (b. 1970)
  • 2007 – Steve Krantz, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1923)
  • 2007 – Marais Viljoen, South African politician, 5th State President of South Africa (b. 1915)
  • 2008 – Xavier Chamorro Cardenal, Nicaraguan journalist (b. 1932)
  • 2009 – Gert Jonke, Austrian poet, playwright, and author (b. 1946)
  • 2010 – Johan Ferrier, Surinamese educator and politician, 1st President of Suriname (b. 1910)
  • 2010 – Tsutomu Yamaguchi, Japanese engineer (b. 1916)
  • 2011 – Coen Moulijn, Dutch footballer (b. 1937)
  • 2011 – Gerry Rafferty, Scottish singer-songwriter (b. 1947)
  • 2011 – Salmaan Taseer, Pakistani businessman and politician, 26th Governor of Punjab, Pakistan (b. 1944)
  • 2012 – Eve Arnold, American photographer and journalist (b. 1912)
  • 2012 – Rod Robbie, English-Canadian architect, designed the Canadian Pavilion and Rogers Centre (b. 1928)
  • 2013 – Anwar Shamim, Pakistani general (b. 1931)
  • 2013 – Zoran Žižić, Montenegrin politician, 4th Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (b. 1951)
  • 2015 – Pino Daniele, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1955)
  • 2016 – S. H. Kapadia, Indian lawyer, judge, and politician, 38th Chief Justice of India (b. 1947)
  • 2016 – Stephen W. Bosworth, American academic and diplomat, United States Ambassador to South Korea (b. 1939)
  • 2017 – Milt Schmidt, Canadian ice hockey player, coach and general manager (b. 1918)
  • 2017 – Georges Prêtre, French orchestral and opera conductor (b. 1924)
  • 2019 – Harold Brown, 14th United States Secretary of Defense (b. 1927)
  • 2020 – Tom Long, Australian actor (b. 1968)

Holidays and observances on January 4

  • Christian feast day:
    • Angela of Foligno
    • Elizabeth Ann Seton
    • Ferréol of Uzès
    • Mavilus
    • Pharaildis of Ghent
    • Rigobert
    • January 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • The eleventh of the Twelve Days of Christmas. (Western Christianity)
  • Independence Day (Myanmar), celebrates the independence of Myanmar from the United Kingdom in 1948.
  • Colonial Martyrs Repression Day (Angola)
  • Day of the Martyrs (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
  • Ogoni Day (Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People)
  • Tokyo Dome Show: The annual Wrestle Kingdom event run by New Japan Pro Wrestling
  • World Braille Day

January 4 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

January 3 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 250 – Emperor Decius orders everyone in the Roman Empire (except Jews) to make sacrifices to the Roman gods.
  • 1521 – Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.
  • 1653 – By the Coonan Cross Oath, the Eastern Church in India cuts itself off from colonial Portuguese tutelage.
  • 1749 – Benning Wentworth issues the first of the New Hampshire Grants, leading to the establishment of Vermont.
  • 1749 – The first issue of Berlingske, Denmark’s oldest continually operating newspaper, is published.
  • 1777 – American General George Washington defeats British General Lord Cornwallis at the Battle of Princeton.
  • 1815 – Austria, the United Kingdom, and France form a secret defensive alliance against Prussia and Russia.
  • 1833 – The United Kingdom claims sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.
  • 1848 – Joseph Jenkins Roberts is sworn in as the first president of Liberia.
  • 1861 – American Civil War: Delaware votes not to secede from the United States.
  • 1868 – Meiji Restoration in Japan: The Tokugawa shogunate is abolished; agents of Satsuma and Chōshū seize power.
  • 1870 – Construction work begins on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, United States.
  • 1871 – In the Battle of Bapaume, an engagement in the Franco-Prussian War, General Louis Faidherbe’s forces bring about a Prussian retreat.
  • 1885 – Sino-French War: Beginning of the Battle of Núi Bop
  • 1911 – A magnitude 7.7 earthquake destroys the city of Almaty in Russian Turkestan.
  • 1911 – A gun battle in the East End of London left two dead and sparked a political row over the involvement of then-Home Secretary Winston Churchill.
  • 1913 – An Atlantic coast storm sets the lowest confirmed barometric pressure reading for a non-tropical system in the continental United States.
  • 1925 – Benito Mussolini announces he is taking dictatorial powers over Italy.
  • 1933 – Minnie D. Craig becomes the first woman elected as Speaker of the North Dakota House of Representatives, the first woman to hold a Speaker position anywhere in the United States.
  • 1938 – The March of Dimes is established as a foundation to combat infant polio by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
  • 1944 – World War II: Top Ace Major Greg “Pappy” Boyington is shot down in his Vought F4U Corsair by Captain Masajiro Kawato flying a Mitsubishi A6M Zero.
  • 1945 – World War II: Admiral Chester W. Nimitz is placed in command of all U.S. Naval forces in preparation for planned assaults against Iwo Jima and Okinawa in Japan.
  • 1946 – Popular Canadian American jockey George Woolf dies in a freak accident during a race; the annual George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award is created to honor him.
  • 1947 – Proceedings of the U.S. Congress are televised for the first time.
  • 1949 – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the central bank of the Philippines, is established.
  • 1953 – Frances P. Bolton and her son, Oliver from Ohio, become the first mother and son to serve simultaneously in the U.S. Congress.
  • 1956 – A fire damages the top part of the Eiffel Tower.
  • 1957 – The Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch.
  • 1958 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
  • 1959 – Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. state.
  • 1961 – Cold War: The United States severs diplomatic relations with Cuba over the latter’s nationalization of American assets.
  • 1961 – The SL-1 nuclear reactor is destroyed by a steam explosion in the only reactor incident in the United States to cause immediate fatalities.
  • 1961 – A protest by agricultural workers in Baixa de Cassanje, Portuguese Angola, turns into a revolt, opening the Angolan War of Independence, the first of the Portuguese Colonial Wars.
  • 1962 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro.
  • 1976 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, comes into force.
  • 1977 – Apple Computer is incorporated.
  • 1990 – United States invasion of Panama: Manuel Noriega, former leader of Panama, surrenders to American forces.
  • 1993 – In Moscow, Russia, George H. W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin sign the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).
  • 1994 – More than seven million people from the former apartheid Homelands receive South African citizenship.
  • 1994 – Baikal Airlines Flight 130 crashes near Irkutsk, Russia, resulting in 125 deaths.
  • 1999 – The Mars Polar Lander is launched by NASA.
  • 2000 – Final daily edition of the Peanuts comic strip.
  • 2002 – Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Israeli forces seize the Palestinian freighter Karine A in the Red Sea, finding 50 tons of weapons.
  • 2004 – Flash Airlines Flight 604 crashes into the Red Sea, resulting in 148 deaths, making it one of the deadliest aviation accidents in Egyptian history.
  • 2009 – The first block of the blockchain of the decentralized payment system Bitcoin, called the Genesis block, was established by the creator of the system, Satoshi Nakamoto.
  • 2015 – Boko Haram militants raze the entire town of Baga in north-east Nigeria, starting the Baga massacre and killing as many as 2,000 people.
  • 2016 – Following the fallout caused by the execution of Nimr al-Nimr, Iran ends its diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia.
  • 2019 – Chang’e 4 makes the first soft landing on the far side of the Moon, deploying the Yutu-2 lunar rover.
  • 2020 – Iranian General Qasem Soleimani is killed by an American airstrike near Baghdad International Airport.

Births on January 3

  • 106 BC – Cicero, Roman philosopher, lawyer, and politician (d. 43 BC)
  • 169 – Lü Bu, Chinese general and warlord (d. 199)
  • 1196 – Emperor Tsuchimikado of Japan (d. 1231)
  • 1509 – Gian Girolamo Albani, Italian cardinal (d. 1591)
  • 1611 – James Harrington, English political theorist (d. 1677)
  • 1698 – Pietro Metastasio, Italian poet and songwriter (d. 1782)
  • 1710 – Richard Gridley, American soldier and engineer (d. 1796)
  • 1722 – Fredrik Hasselqvist, Swedish biologist and explorer (d. 1752)
  • 1731 – Angelo Emo, Venetian admiral and statesman (d. 1792)
  • 1760 – Veerapandiya Kattabomman, Indian ruler (d. 1799)
  • 1775 – Francis Caulfeild, 2nd Earl of Charlemont (d. 1863)
  • 1778 – Antoni Melchior Fijałkowski, Polish archbishop (d. 1861)
  • 1793 – Lucretia Mott, American activist (d. 1880)
  • 1802 – Charles Pelham Villiers, English lawyer and politician (d. 1898)
  • 1803 – Douglas William Jerrold, English journalist and playwright (d. 1857)
  • 1806 – Henriette Sontag, German soprano and actress (d. 1854)
  • 1810 – Antoine Thomson d’Abbadie, French geographer, ethnologist, linguist, and astronomer (d. 1897)
  • 1816 – Samuel C. Pomeroy, American businessman and politician (d. 1891)
  • 1819 – Charles Piazzi Smyth, Italian-Scottish astronomer and academic (d. 1900)
  • 1821 – Karel Dežman, Slovenian archaeologist, botanist, and politician, Mayor of Ljubljana (d. 1889)
  • 1831 – Savitribai Phule, Indian poet, educator, and activist (d. 1897)
  • 1836 – Sakamoto Ryōma, Japanese samurai and rebel leader (d. 1867)
  • 1840 – Father Damien, Flemish priest and missionary (d. 1889)
  • 1847 – Ettore Marchiafava, Italian physician (d. 1935)
  • 1853 – Sophie Elkan, Swedish writer (d. 1921)
  • 1855 – Hubert Bland, English businessman (d. 1914)
  • 1861 – Ernest Renshaw, English tennis player (d. 1899)
  • 1861 – William Renshaw, English tennis player (d. 1904)
  • 1862 – Matthew Nathan, English soldier and politician, 13th Governor of Queensland (d. 1939)
  • 1865 – Henry Lytton, English actor (d. 1936)
  • 1870 – Henry Handel Richardson, Australian-English author (d. 1946)
  • 1873 – Ichizō Kobayashi, Japanese businessman and art collector, founded the Hankyu Hanshin Holdings (d. 1957)
  • 1875 – Alexandros Diomidis, Greek banker and politician, 145th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1950)
  • 1876 – Wilhelm Pieck, German carpenter and politician, 1st President of the German Democratic Republic (d. 1960)
  • 1877 – Josephine Hull, American actress (d. 1957)
  • 1880 – Francis Browne, Irish Jesuit priest and photographer (d. 1960)
  • 1883 – Clement Attlee, English soldier, lawyer, and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1967)
  • 1883 – Duncan Gillis, Canadian discus thrower and hammer thrower (d. 1963)
  • 1884 – Raoul Koczalski, Polish pianist and composer (d. 1948)
  • 1885 – Harry Elkins Widener, American businessman (d. 1912)
  • 1886 – John Gould Fletcher, American poet and author (d. 1950)
  • 1886 – Arthur Mailey, Australian cricketer (d. 1967)
  • 1887 – August Macke, German-French painter (d. 1914)
  • 1892 – J.R.R. Tolkien, English writer, poet, and philologist (d. 1973)
  • 1894 – ZaSu Pitts, American actress (d. 1963)
  • 1897 – Marion Davies, American actress and comedian (d. 1961)
  • 1898 – Carolyn Haywood, American author and illustrator (d. 1990)
  • 1898 – Carlos Keller, Chilean historian, academic, and politician (d. 1974)
  • 1900 – Donald J. Russell, American businessman (d. 1985)
  • 1901 – Ngô Đình Diệm, Vietnamese lawyer and politician, 1st President of the Republic of Vietnam (d. 1963)
  • 1905 – Dante Giacosa, Italian engineer (d. 1996)
  • 1905 – Anna May Wong, American actress (d. 1961)
  • 1907 – Ray Milland, Welsh-American actor and director (d. 1986)
  • 1909 – Victor Borge, Danish-American pianist and conductor (d. 2000)
  • 1910 – Frenchy Bordagaray, American baseball player and manager (d. 2000)
  • 1911 – John Sturges, American director and producer (d. 1992)
  • 1912 – Federico Borrell García, Spanish soldier (d. 1936)
  • 1912 – Renaude Lapointe, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 2002)
  • 1912 – Armand Lohikoski, American-Finnish actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2005)
  • 1915 – Jack Levine, American painter and soldier (d. 2010)
  • 1916 – Betty Furness, American actress and television journalist (d. 1994)
  • 1916 – Fred Haas, American golfer (d. 2004)
  • 1917 – Albert Mol, Dutch author and actor (d. 2002)
  • 1917 – Vernon A. Walters, American general and diplomat, 17th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 2002)
  • 1917 – Roger Williams Straus, Jr., American journalist and publisher, co-founded Farrar, Straus and Giroux (d. 2004)
  • 1919 – Herbie Nichols, American pianist and composer (d. 1963)
  • 1920 – Siegfried Buback, German lawyer and politician, Attorney General of Germany (d. 1977)
  • 1920 – Renato Carosone, Italian singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2001)
  • 1921 – Chetan Anand, Indian director and screenwriter (d. 1997)
  • 1921 – Isabella Bashmakova, Russian historian of mathematics (d. 2005)
  • 1922 – Bill Travers, English actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1994)
  • 1923 – Hank Stram, American football coach and sportscaster (d. 2005)
  • 1924 – Otto Beisheim, German businessman and philanthropist, founded Metro AG (d. 2013)
  • 1924 – André Franquin, Belgian author and illustrator (d. 1997)
  • 1924 – Nell Rankin, American soprano and educator (d. 2005)
  • 1925 – Jill Balcon, English actress (d. 2009)
  • 1926 – W. Michael Blumenthal, American economist and politician, 64th United States Secretary of the Treasury
  • 1926 – George Martin, English composer, conductor, and producer (d. 2016)
  • 1928 – Abdul Rahman Ya’kub, Malaysian lawyer and politician, 3rd Chief Minister of Sarawak (d. 2015)
  • 1929 – Sergio Leone, Italian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1989)
  • 1929 – Ernst Mahle, German-Brazilian composer and conductor
  • 1929 – Gordon Moore, American businessman, co-founder of Intel Corporation
  • 1930 – Robert Loggia, American actor and director (d. 2015)
  • 1932 – Dabney Coleman, American actor
  • 1932 – Eeles Landström, Finnish pole vaulter and politician
  • 1933 – Geoffrey Bindman, English lawyer
  • 1933 – Anne Stevenson, American-English poet and author
  • 1934 – Marpessa Dawn, American-French actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2008)
  • 1934 – Carla Anderson Hills, American lawyer and politician, 5th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
  • 1935 – Raymond Garneau, Canadian businessman and politician
  • 1937 – Glen A. Larson, American director, producer, and screenwriter, created Battlestar Galactica (d. 2014)
  • 1938 – Robin Butler, Baron Butler of Brockwell, English academic and politician
  • 1938 – K. Ganeshalingam, Sri Lankan accountant and politician, Mayor of Colombo (d. 2006)
  • 1939 – Arik Einstein, Israeli singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2013)
  • 1939 – Bobby Hull, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1940 – Leo de Berardinis, Italian actor and director (d. 2008)
  • 1940 – Bernard Blaut, Polish footballer and coach (d. 2007)
  • 1941 – Malcolm Dick, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1942 – John Marsden, Australian lawyer and activist (d. 2006)
  • 1942 – John Thaw, English actor and producer, played Inspector Morse (d. 2002)
  • 1943 – Van Dyke Parks, American singer-songwriter, musician, composer, author, and actor
  • 1944 – Blanche d’Alpuget, Australian author
  • 1945 – Stephen Stills, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1946 – John Paul Jones, English bass player, songwriter, and producer
  • 1946 – Michalis Kritikopoulos, Greek footballer (d. 2002)
  • 1947 – Fran Cotton, English rugby player
  • 1947 – Zulema, American singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
  • 1948 – Ian Nankervis, Australian footballer
  • 1950 – Victoria Principal, American actress and businesswoman
  • 1950 – Linda Steiner, American journalist and academic
  • 1950 – Vesna Vulović, Serbian plane crash survivor and Guinness World Record holder
  • 1951 – Linda Dobbs, English lawyer and judge
  • 1951 – Gary Nairn, Australian surveyor and politician, 14th Special Minister of State
  • 1952 – Esperanza Aguirre, Spanish civil servant and politician, 3rd President of the Community of Madrid
  • 1952 – Gianfranco Fini, Italian journalist and politician, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 1952 – Jim Ross, American professional wrestling commentator
  • 1953 – Justin Fleming, Australian playwright and author
  • 1953 – Mohammed Waheed Hassan, Maldivian educator and politician, 5th President of the Maldives
  • 1953 – Peter Taylor, English football winger and manager
  • 1956 – Mel Gibson, American-Australian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1958 – Shim Hyung-rae, South Korean actor, director, and producer
  • 1960 – Russell Spence, English racing driver
  • 1962 – Darren Daulton, American baseball player (d. 2017)
  • 1962 – Gavin Hastings, Scottish rugby player
  • 1963 – Stewart Hosie, Scottish businessman and politician
  • 1963 – Aamer Malik, Pakistani cricketer
  • 1963 – Alex Wheatle, English author and playwright
  • 1964 – Bruce LaBruce, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1964 – Cheryl Miller, American basketball player and coach
  • 1966 – Chetan Sharma, Indian cricketer
  • 1969 – Michael Caines, English chef
  • 1969 – Lorenzo Fertitta, American entrepreneur, casino executive and sports promoter
  • 1969 – Jarmo Lehtinen, Finnish racing driver
  • 1969 – Michael Schumacher, German racing driver
  • 1969 – Gerda Weissensteiner, Italian luger and bobsledder
  • 1971 – Cory Cross, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1971 – Lee Il-hwa, South Korean actress
  • 1973 – Dan Harmon, American screenwriter and producer
  • 1974 – Robert-Jan Derksen, Dutch golfer
  • 1974 – Alessandro Petacchi, Italian cyclist
  • 1975 – Jason Marsden, American actor
  • 1975 – Thomas Bangalter, French DJ, musician (Daft Punk), and producer
  • 1975 – Danica McKellar, American actress, writer, and mathematician
  • 1976 – Angelos Basinas, Greek footballer
  • 1976 – Nicholas Gonzalez, American actor and producer
  • 1977 – Lee Bowyer, English footballer and coach
  • 1977 – A. J. Burnett, American baseball player
  • 1977 – Mayumi Iizuka, Japanese voice actress and singer
  • 1978 – Dimitra Kalentzou, Greek basketball player
  • 1978 – Dominic Wood, English comedian and former magician
  • 1980 – Bryan Clay, American decathlete
  • 1980 – Angela Ruggiero, American ice hockey player
  • 1980 – David Tyree, American football player
  • 1980 – Kurt Vile, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1980 – Mary Wineberg, American sprinter
  • 1981 – Eli Manning, American football playe
  • 1982 – Peter Clarke, English footballer
  • 1982 – Lasse Nilsson, Swedish footballer
  • 1982 – Park Ji-yoon, South Korean singer and actress
  • 1984 – Billy Mehmet, English-Irish footballer
  • 1985 – Linas Kleiza, Lithuanian basketball player
  • 1985 – Evan Moore, American football player
  • 1986 – Dana Hussain, Iraqi sprinter
  • 1986 – Greg Nwokolo, Indonesian footballer
  • 1986 – Dmitry Starodubtsev, Russian pole vaulter
  • 1987 – Reto Berra, Swiss professional ice hockey goaltender
  • 1987 – Kim Ok-bin, South Korean actress and singer
  • 1988 – Ikechi Anya, Scottish-Nigerian footballer
  • 1988 – Matt Frattin, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1988 – J. R. Hildebrand, American racing driver
  • 1989 – Ben Matulino, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1989 – Kōhei Uchimura, Japanese artistic gymnast
  • 1990 – Yoichiro Kakitani, Japanese footballer
  • 1991 – Jerson Cabral, Dutch footballer
  • 1991 – Özgür Çek, Turkish footballer
  • 1991 – Sébastien Faure, French footballer
  • 1991 – Dane Gagai, Australian rugby league player
  • 1994 – Isaquias Queiroz, Brazilian sprint canoeist
  • 1997 – Kyron McMaster, British Virgin Islands hurdler
  • 2003 – Greta Thunberg, Swedish environmental activist

Deaths on January 3

  • 236 – Anterus, the pope of the Catholic Church
  • 323 – Yuan of Yin, Chinese emperor (b. 276)
  • 1027 – Fujiwara no Yukinari, Japanese calligrapher (b. 972)
  • 1028 – Fujiwara no Michinaga, Japanese nobleman (b. 966)
  • 1098 – Walkelin, Norman bishop of Winchester
  • 1322 – Philip V, king of France (b. 1292)
  • 1437 – Catherine of Valois, queen consort of Henry V (b. 1401)
  • 1501 – Ali-Shir Nava’i, Turkic poet, linguist, and mystic (b. 1441)
  • 1543 – Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, Portuguese explorer and navigator (b. 1499)
  • 1571 – Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1505)
  • 1641 – Jeremiah Horrocks, English astronomer and mathematician (b. 1618)
  • 1656 – Mathieu Molé, French politician (b. 1584)
  • 1670 – George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1608)
  • 1701 – Louis I, prince of Monaco (b. 1642)
  • 1705 – Luca Giordano, Italian painter and illustrator (b. 1634)
  • 1743 – Ferdinando Galli-Bibiena, Italian painter and architect (b. 1657)
  • 1777 – William Leslie, Scottish captain (b. 1751)
  • 1779 – Claude Bourgelat, French surgeon and lawyer (b. 1712)
  • 1785 – Baldassare Galuppi, Italian composer (b. 1706)
  • 1795 – Josiah Wedgwood, English potter, founded the Wedgwood Company (b. 1730)
  • 1826 – Louis-Gabriel Suchet, French general (b. 1770)
  • 1871 – Kuriakose Elias Chavara, Indian priest and saint (b. 1805)
  • 1875 – Pierre Larousse, French lexicographer and publisher (b. 1817)
  • 1882 – William Harrison Ainsworth, English author (b. 1805)
  • 1895 – James Merritt Ives, American lithographer and businessman, co-founded Currier and Ives (b. 1824)
  • 1903 – Alois Hitler, Austrian civil servant (b. 1837)
  • 1911 – Alexandros Papadiamantis, Greek author and poet (b. 1851)
  • 1915 – James Elroy Flecker, English poet, author, and playwright (b. 1884)
  • 1916 – Grenville M. Dodge, American general and politician (b. 1831)
  • 1922 – Wilhelm Voigt, German criminal (b. 1849)
  • 1923 – Jaroslav Hašek, Czech journalist and author (b. 1883)
  • 1927 – Carl David Tolmé Runge, German physicist and mathematician (b. 1856)
  • 1931 – Joseph Joffre, French general (b. 1852)
  • 1933 – Wilhelm Cuno, German lawyer and politician, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1876)
  • 1933 – Jack Pickford, Canadian-American actor, director, and producer (b. 1896)
  • 1943 – Walter James, Australian lawyer and politician, 5th Premier of Western Australia (b. 1863)
  • 1944 – Jurgis Baltrušaitis, Lithuanian poet, critic, and translator (b. 1873)
  • 1945 – Edgar Cayce, American psychic and author (b. 1877)
  • 1945 – Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski, Polish journalist and explorer (b. 1879)
  • 1946 – William Joyce, American-British pro-Axis propaganda broadcaster (b. 1906)
  • 1956 – Alexander Gretchaninov, Russian-American pianist and composer (b. 1864)
  • 1956 – Dimitrios Vergos, Greek wrestler, weightlifter, and shot putter (b. 1886)
  • 1956 – Joseph Wirth, German educator and politician, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1876)
  • 1958 – Cafer Tayyar Eğilmez, Turkish general (b. 1877)
  • 1959 – Edwin Muir, Scottish poet, author, and translator (b. 1887)
  • 1960 – Eric P. Kelly, American journalist, author, and academic (b. 1884)
  • 1962 – Hermann Lux, German footballer and manager (b. 1893)
  • 1965 – Milton Avery, American painter (b. 1885)
  • 1966 – Sammy Younge Jr., American civil rights activist (b. 1944)
  • 1967 – Mary Garden, Scottish-American soprano and actress (b. 1874)
  • 1967 – Reginald Punnett, British scientist (b. 1875)
  • 1967 – Jack Ruby, American businessman and murderer (b. 1911)
  • 1969 – Jean Focas, Greek-French astronomer (b. 1909)
  • 1969 – Tzavalas Karousos, Greek-French actor (b. 1904)
  • 1970 – Gladys Aylward, English missionary and humanitarian (b. 1902)
  • 1972 – Mohan Rakesh, Indian author and playwright (b. 1925)
  • 1975 – Victor Kraft, Austrian philosopher from the Vienna Circle (b. 1880)
  • 1975 – James McCormack, American general (b. 1910)
  • 1977 – William Gropper, American lithographer, cartoonist, and painter (b. 1897)
  • 1979 – Conrad Hilton, American businessman, founded the Hilton Hotels & Resorts (b. 1887)
  • 1980 – Joy Adamson, Austrian-Kenyan author (b. 1910)
  • 1980 – George Sutherland Fraser, Scottish poet and academic (b. 1915)
  • 1981 – Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone (b. 1883)
  • 1988 – Rose Ausländer, Ukrainian-German poet and author (b. 1901)
  • 1989 – Sergei Sobolev, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1909)
  • 1992 – Judith Anderson, British actress (b. 1897)
  • 2002 – Satish Dhawan, Indian engineer (b. 1920)
  • 2003 – Jimmy Stewart, Scottish racing driver (b. 1931)
  • 2005 – Koo Chen-fu, Taiwanese businessman and diplomat (b. 1917)
  • 2005 – Egidio Galea, Maltese Roman Catholic priest, missionary, and educator (b. 1918)
  • 2005 – Jyotindra Nath Dixit, Indian diplomat, 2nd Indian National Security Adviser (b. 1936)
  • 2006 – Steve Rogers, Australian rugby player and coach (b. 1954)
  • 2006 – Bill Skate, Papua New Guinean politician, 5th Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea (b. 1954)
  • 2007 – János Fürst, Hungarian violinist and conductor (b. 1935)
  • 2007 – William Verity, Jr., American businessman and politician, 27th United States Secretary of Commerce (b. 1917)
  • 2008 – Choi Yo-sam, South Korean boxer (b. 1972)
  • 2009 – Betty Freeman, American philanthropist and photographer (b. 1921)
  • 2009 – Pat Hingle, American actor (b. 1923)
  • 2009 – Hisayasu Nagata, Japanese politician (b. 1969)
  • 2010 – Gustavo Becerra-Schmidt, Chilean-German composer and academic (b. 1925)
  • 2010 – Mary Daly, American theologian and scholar (b. 1928)
  • 2012 – Vicar, Chilean cartoonist (b. 1934)
  • 2012 – Robert L. Carter, American lawyer and judge (b. 1917)
  • 2012 – Winifred Milius Lubell, American author and illustrator (b. 1914)
  • 2012 – Josef Škvorecký, Czech-Canadian author and publisher (b. 1924)
  • 2012 – Bob Weston, English guitarist and songwriter (b. 1947)
  • 2013 – Alfie Fripp, English soldier and pilot (b. 1913)
  • 2013 – Ivan Mackerle, Czech cryptozoologist, explorer, and author (b. 1942)
  • 2013 – William Maxson, American general (b. 1930)
  • 2013 – Sergiu Nicolaescu, Romanian actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1930)
  • 2014 – Phil Everly, American singer and guitarist (b. 1939)
  • 2014 – George Goodman, American economist and author (b. 1930)
  • 2014 – Saul Zaentz, American film producer (b. 1921)
  • 2015 – Martin Anderson, American economist and academic (b. 1936)
  • 2015 – Edward Brooke, American captain and politician, 47th Massachusetts Attorney General (b. 1919)
  • 2016 – Paul Bley, Canadian-American pianist and composer (b. 1932)
  • 2016 – Peter Naur, Danish computer scientist, astronomer, and academic (b. 1928)
  • 2016 – Bill Plager, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1945)
  • 2016 – Igor Sergun, Russian general and diplomat (b. 1957)
  • 2017 – H. S. Mahadeva Prasad, Indian politician (b. 1958)
  • 2018 – Colin Brumby, Australian composer (b. 1933)
  • 2019 – Herb Kelleher, American businessman, co-founder of Southwest Airlines (b. 1931)
  • 2020 – Qasem Soleimani, Iranian major general, commander of the Iranian Quds Force (b. 1957)

Holidays and observances on January 3

  • Anniversary of the 1966 Coup d’état (Burkina Faso)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Daniel of Padua
    • Genevieve
    • Holy Name of Jesus
    • Kuriakose Elias Chavara (Syro-Malabar Catholic Church)
    • Pope Anterus
    • William Passavant (Episcopal Church)
    • January 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Ministry of Religious Affairs Day (Indonesia)
  • Tamaseseri Festival (Hakozaki Shrine, Fukuoka, Japan)
  • The first day of Nakhatsenendyan toner, celebrated until January 5 (Armenia).
  • The tenth of the Twelve Days of Christmas (Western Christianity)

January 3 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

January 2 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 366 – The Alemanni cross the frozen Rhine in large numbers, invading the Roman Empire.
  • 533 – Mercurius becomes Pope John II, the first pope to adopt a new name upon elevation to the papacy.
  • 1492 – Reconquista: The Emirate of Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, surrenders.
  • 1680 – Trunajaya rebellion: Amangkurat II of Mataram and his bodyguards execute the rebel leader Trunajaya. a month after the rebel leader was captured by the Dutch East India Company.
  • 1777 – American Revolutionary War: American forces under the command of George Washington repulsed a British attack at the Battle of the Assunpink Creek near Trenton, New Jersey.
  • 1788 – Georgia becomes the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution.
  • 1791 – Big Bottom massacre in the Ohio Country, North America, marking the beginning of the Northwest Indian War.
  • 1818 – The British Institution of Civil Engineers is founded by a group of six engineers; Thomas Telford would later become its first president.
  • 1833 – Captain James Onslow, in the Clio, arrives at Port Egmont to reassert British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.
  • 1865 – Uruguayan War: The Siege of Paysandú ends as the Brazilians and Coloradans capture Paysandú, Uruguay.
  • 1900 – American statesman and diplomat John Hay announces the Open Door Policy to promote trade with China.
  • 1920 – The second Palmer Raid, ordered by the US Department of Justice, results in 6,000 suspected communists and anarchists being arrested and held without trial.
  • 1941 – World War II: German bombing severely damages the Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom.
  • 1942 – The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) obtains the conviction of 33 members of a German spy ring headed by Fritz Joubert Duquesne in the largest espionage case in United States history—the Duquesne Spy Ring.
  • 1942 – World War II: Manila is captured by Japanese forces, enabling them to control the Philippines.
  • 1949 – Luis Muñoz Marín is inaugurated as the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico.
  • 1954 – India establishes its highest civilian awards, the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan.
  • 1955 – Following the assassination of the Panamanian president José Antonio Remón Cantera, his deputy, José Ramón Guizado, takes power, but is quickly deposed after his involvement in Cantera’s death is discovered.
  • 1959 – Luna 1, the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and to orbit the Sun, is launched by the Soviet Union.
  • 1963 – Vietnam War: The Viet Cong wins its first major victory, at the Battle of Ap Bac.
  • 1967 – Ronald Reagan, past movie actor and future President of the United States, is sworn in as Governor of California.
  • 1971 – The second Ibrox disaster kills 66 fans at a Rangers-Celtic association football (soccer) match.
  • 1974 – United States President Richard Nixon signs a bill lowering the maximum U.S. speed limit to 55 MPH in order to conserve gasoline during an OPEC embargo.
  • 1975 – At the opening of a new railway line, a bomb blast at Samastipur, Bihar, India, fatally wounds Lalit Narayan Mishra, Minister of Railways.
  • 1975 – The Federal Rules of Evidence are approved by the United States Congress.
  • 1976 – The Gale of January 1976 begins, resulting in coastal flooding around the southern North Sea coasts, affecting countries from Ireland to Yugoslavia and causing at least 82 deaths and US$1.3 billion in damage.
  • 1978 – On the orders of the President of Pakistan, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, paramilitary forces opened fire on peaceful protesting workers in Multan, Pakistan; it is known as 1978 massacre at Multan Colony Textile Mills.
  • 1981 – One of the largest investigations by a British police force ends when serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, the “Yorkshire Ripper”, is arrested in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
  • 1991 – Sharon Pratt Kelly becomes the first African American woman mayor of a major city and first woman Mayor of the District of Columbia.
  • 1993 – Sri Lankan Civil War: The Sri Lanka Navy kill 35–100 civilians on the Jaffna Lagoon.
  • 2004 – Stardust successfully flies past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that are returned to Earth.

Births on January 2

  • 869 – Yōzei, Japanese emperor (d. 949)
  • 1462 – Piero di Cosimo, Italian painter (d. 1522)
  • 1509 – Henry of Stolberg, German nobleman (d. 1572)
  • 1642 – Mehmed IV, Ottoman sultan (d. 1693)
  • 1647 – Nathaniel Bacon, English-American rebel leader (d. 1676)
  • 1699 – Osman III, Ottoman sultan (d. 1757)
  • 1713 – Marie Dumesnil, French actress (d. 1803)
  • 1727 – James Wolfe, English general (d. 1759)
  • 1732 – František Brixi, Czech organist and composer (d. 1771)
  • 1777 – Christian Daniel Rauch, German sculptor and educator (d. 1857)
  • 1803 – Guglielmo Libri Carucci dalla Sommaja, Italian mathematician and academic (d. 1869)
  • 1822 – Rudolf Clausius, Polish-German physicist and mathematician (d. 1888)
  • 1827 – Pyotr Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky, Russian geographer and statistician (d. 1914)
  • 1833 – Frederick A. Johnson, American banker and politician (d. 1893)
  • 1836 – Mendele Mocher Sforim, Russian author (d. 1917)
  • 1836 – Queen Emma of Hawaii (d. 1885)
  • 1837 – Mily Balakirev, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1910)
  • 1857 – M. Carey Thomas, American educator and activist (d. 1935)
  • 1860 – Dugald Campbell Patterson, Canadian engineer (d. 1931)
  • 1860 – William Corless Mills, American historian and curator (d. 1928)
  • 1866 – Gilbert Murray, Australian-English playwright and scholar (d. 1957)
  • 1870 – Ernst Barlach, German sculptor and playwright (d. 1938)
  • 1870 – Tex Rickard, American boxing promoter and businessman (d. 1929)
  • 1873 – Antonie Pannekoek, Dutch astronomer and theorist (d. 1960)
  • 1873 – Thérèse of Lisieux, French nun and saint (d. 1897)
  • 1878 – Mannathu Padmanabha Pillai, Indian activist, founded the Nair Service Society (d. 1970)
  • 1884 – Ben-Zion Dinur, Russian-Israeli historian and politician, 4th Israeli Minister of Education (d. 1973)
  • 1885 – Gordon Flowerdew, Canadian lieutenant, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1918)
  • 1886 – Apsley Cherry-Garrard, English explorer and author (d. 1959)
  • 1889 – Bertram Stevens, Australian accountant and politician, 25th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1973)
  • 1891 – Giovanni Michelucci, Italian architect and urban planner, designed the Firenze Santa Maria Novella railway station (d. 1990)
  • 1892 – Seiichiro Kashio, Japanese tennis player (d. 1962)
  • 1892 – Artur Rodziński, Polish-American conductor (d. 1958)
  • 1895 – Folke Bernadotte, Swedish diplomat (d. 1948)
  • 1896 – Dziga Vertov, Polish-Russian director and screenwriter (d. 1954)
  • 1896 – Lawrence Wackett, Australian commander and engineer (d. 1982)
  • 1897 – Theodore Plucknett, English legal historian (d. 1965)
  • 1900 – Una Ledingham, British physician, known for research on diabetes in pregnancy (d. 1965)
  • 1901 – Bob Marshall, American activist, co-founded The Wilderness Society (d. 1939)
  • 1902 – Dan Keating, Irish Republican Army volunteer (d. 2007)
  • 1903 – Kane Tanaka, Japanese supercentenarian, oldest verified living person
  • 1904 – Walter Heitler, German physicist and chemist (d. 1981)
  • 1905 – Luigi Zampa, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 1991)
  • 1905 – Michael Tippett, English composer and conductor (d. 1998)
  • 1909 – Barry Goldwater, American politician, businessman, and author (d. 1998)
  • 1909 – Riccardo Cassin, Italian mountaineer and author (d. 2009)[
  • 1913 – Anna Lee, English-American actress (d. 2004)[79]
  • 1913 – Juanita Jackson Mitchell, American lawyer and activist (d. 1992)
  • 1917 – Vera Zorina, German-Norwegian actress and dancer (d. 2003)
  • 1918 – Willi Graf, German physician and activist (d. 1943)
  • 1919 – Beatrice Hicks, American engineer (d. 1979)
  • 1920(probable) – Isaac Asimov, American writer and professor of biochemistry (d. 1992)
  • 1921 – Glen Harmon, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2007)
  • 1926 – Gino Marchetti, American football player (d. 2019)
  • 1928 – Dan Rostenkowski, American politician (d. 2010)
  • 1929 – Tellervo Koivisto, Finnish politician, former First Lady of Finland
  • 1931 – Toshiki Kaifu, Japanese lawyer and politician, 76th Prime Minister of Japan
  • 1934 – John Hollowbread, English footballer, goalkeeper (d. 2007)
  • 1936 – Roger Miller, American singer-songwriter, musician, and actor (d. 1992)
  • 1938 – David Bailey, English photographer and painter
  • 1938 – Lynn Conway, American computer scientist and electrical engineer
  • 1938 – Robert Smithson, American sculptor and photographer (d. 1973)
  • 1940 – Jim Bakker, American televangelist
  • 1940 – Saud bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Arabian economist and politician, Saudi Arabian Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2015)
  • 1942 – Dennis Hastert, American educator and politician, 59th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
  • 1942 – Thomas Hammarberg, Swedish lawyer and diplomat
  • 1943 – Janet Akyüz Mattei, Turkish-American astronomer (d. 2004)
  • 1944 – Charlie Davis, Trinidadian cricketer
  • 1944 – Norodom Ranariddh, Cambodian field marshal and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Cambodia
  • 1944 – Péter Eötvös, Hungarian composer and conductor
  • 1947 – Calvin Hill, American football player
  • 1947 – David Shapiro, American poet, historian, and critic
  • 1947 – Jack Hanna, American zoologist and author
  • 1949 – Christopher Durang, American playwright and screenwriter
  • 1949 – Iris Marion Young, American political scientist and academic (d. 2006)
  • 1952 – Indulis Emsis, Latvian biologist and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Latvia
  • 1954 – Henry Bonilla, American broadcaster and politician
  • 1954 – Évelyne Trouillot, Haitian playwright and author
  • 1959 – Kirti Azad, Indian cricketer and politician
  • 1961 – Craig James, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1961 – Gabrielle Carteris, American actress
  • 1961 – Paula Hamilton, English model
  • 1961 – Robert Wexler, American lawyer and politician
  • 1963 – David Cone, American baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1963 – Edgar Martínez, American baseball player
  • 1964 – Pernell Whitaker, American boxer (d. 2019)
  • 1965 – Francois Pienaar, South African rugby player
  • 1967 – Jón Gnarr, Icelandic actor and politician; 20th Mayor of Reykjavik City
  • 1967 – Tia Carrere, American actress
  • 1968 – Anky van Grunsven, Dutch dressage champion
  • 1968 – Cuba Gooding, Jr., American actor and producer
  • 1969 – Christy Turlington, American model
  • 1969 – István Bagyula, Hungarian pole vaulter
  • 1969 – William Fox-Pitt, English horse rider and journalist
  • 1970 – Eric Whitacre, American composer and conductor
  • 1971 – Renée Elise Goldsberry, American actress
  • 1971 – Taye Diggs, American actor and singer
  • 1972 – Mattias Norström, Swedish ice hockey player and manager
  • 1972 – Rodney MacDonald, Canadian educator and politician, 26th Premier of Nova Scotia
  • 1972 – Shiraz Minwalla, Indian theoretical physicist and string theorist
  • 1974 – Ludmila Formanová, Czech runner
  • 1974 – Tomáš Řepka, Czech footballer
  • 1975 – Reuben Thorne, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1977 – Brian Boucher, American ice hockey player and sportscaster
  • 1977 – Stefan Koubek, Austrian tennis player
  • 1979 – Jonathan Greening English footballer
  • 1981 – Maxi Rodríguez, Argentinian footballer
  • 1983 – Kate Bosworth, American actress
  • 1987 – Robert Milsom, English footballe
  • 1988 – Damien Tussac, French-German rugby player
  • 1992 – Korbin Sims, Australian-Fijian rugby league player
  • 1992 – Paulo Gazzaniga, Argentinian footballer, goalkeeper
  • 1998 – Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Dutch footballer

Deaths on January 2

  • 951 – Liu Chengyou, Emperor Yin of the Later Han
  • 951 – Su Fengji, Chinese official and chancellor
  • 1096 – William de St-Calais, Bishop of Durham and chief counsellor of William II of England[
  • 1169 – Bertrand de Blanchefort, sixth Grand Master of the Knights Templar (b. c. 1109)1184 – Theodora Komnene, Duchess of Austria, daughter of Andronikos Komnenos
  • 1298 – Lodomer, Hungarian prelate, Archbishop of Esztergom
  • 1470 – Heinrich Reuß von Plauen, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order
  • 1512 – Svante Nilsson, Sweden politician (b. 1460)
  • 1514 – William Smyth, English bishop and academic (b. 1460)
  • 1543 – Francesco Canova da Milano, Italian composer (b. 1497)
  • 1557 – Pontormo, Italian painter and educator (b. 1494)
  • 1613 – Salima Sultan Begum, Empress of the Mughal Empire (b. 1539)
  • 1614 – Luisa Carvajal y Mendoza, Spanish mystical poet and Catholic martyr (b. 1566)
  • 1726 – Domenico Zipoli, Italian organist and composer (b. 1688)
  • 1763 – John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, English statesman (b. 1690)
  • 1850 – Manuel de la Peña y Peña, Mexican lawyer and 20th President (1847) (b. 1789)
  • 1861 – Frederick William IV of Prussia (b. 1795)
  • 1892 – George Biddell Airy, English mathematician and astronomer (b. 1801)
  • 1904 – James Longstreet, American general and diplomat (b. 1821)
  • 1913 – Léon Teisserenc de Bort, French meteorologist (b. 1855)
  • 1915 – Karl Goldmark, Hungarian violinist and composer (b. 1830)
  • 1917 – Léon Flameng, French cyclist (b. 1877)
  • 1920 – Paul Adam, French author (b. 1862)
  • 1924 – Sabine Baring-Gould, English author and scholar (b. 1834)
  • 1939 – Roman Dmowski, Polish politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1864)
  • 1941 – Mischa Levitzki, Russian-American pianist and composer (b. 1898)
  • 1946 – Joe Darling, Australian cricketer and politician (b. 1870)
  • 1950 – James Dooley, Irish-Australian politician, 21st Premier of New South Wales (b. 1877)
  • 1951 – William Campion, English colonel and politician, 21st Governor of Western Australia (b. 1870)
  • 1953 – Guccio Gucci, Italian businessman and fashion designer, founder of Gucci (b. 1881)
  • 1960 – Paul Sauvé, Canadian lawyer and politician, 17th Premier of Quebec (b. 1907)
  • 1963 – Dick Powell, American actor, singer, and director (b. 1904)
  • 1963 – Jack Carson, Canadian-American actor (b. 1910)
  • 1974 – Tex Ritter, American actor (b. 1905)
  • 1975 – Siraj Sikder, Bangladesh revolutionary leader (b. 1944)
  • 1977 – Erroll Garner, American pianist and composer (b. 1921)
  • 1986 – Una Merkel, American actress (b. 1903)
  • 1987 – Harekrushna Mahatab, Indian journalist and politician, 1st Chief Minister of Odisha (b. 1899)
  • 1989 – Safdar Hashmi, Indian actor, director, and playwright (b. 1954)
  • 1990 – Alan Hale Jr., American film and television actor (b. 1921)
  • 1990 – Evangelos Averoff, Greek historian and politician, Greek Minister for National Defence (b. 1910)
  • 1994 – Dixy Lee Ray, American biologist and politician; 17th Governor of Washington (b. 1914)
  • 1994 – Pierre-Paul Schweitzer, French lawyer and businessman (b. 1915)
  • 1995 – Nancy Kelly, American actress (b. 1921)
  • 1995 – Siad Barre, Somalian general and politician; 3rd President of Somalia (b. 1919)
  • 1999 – Rolf Liebermann, Swiss-French composer and manager (b. 1910)
  • 1999 – Sebastian Haffner, German journalist and author (b. 1907)[
  • 2000 – Elmo Zumwalt, American admiral (b. 1920)
  • 2000 – Patrick O’Brian, English author and translator (b. 1914)
  • 2001 – William P. Rogers, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 55th United States Secretary of State (b. 1913)
  • 2005 – Maclyn McCarty, American geneticist and physician (b. 1911)
  • 2006 – Cecilia Muñoz-Palma, Filipino lawyer and jurist (b. 1913)
  • 2006 – Osa Massen, Danish-American actress (b. 1914)
  • 2007 – A. Richard Newton, Australian-American engineer and academic (b. 1951)
  • 2007 – Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, American historian and author (b. 1941)
  • 2007 – Teddy Kollek, Hungarian-Israeli politician, Mayor of Jerusalem (b. 1911)
  • 2008 – George MacDonald Fraser, Scottish journalist and author (b. 1925)
  • 2008 – Lee S. Dreyfus, American sailor, academic, and politician, 40th Governor of Wisconsin (b. 1926)
  • 2009 – Inger Christensen, Danish poet and author (b. 1935)
  • 2009 – Dnyaneshwar Agashe, Indian businessman and cricketer (b. 1942)
  • 2010 – David R. Ross, Scottish historian and author (b. 1958)
  • 2011 – Anne Francis, American actress (b. 1930)
  • 2011 – Bali Ram Bhagat, Indian politician; 16th Governor of Rajasthan (b. 1922)
  • 2011 – Pete Postlethwaite, English actor (b. 1946)
  • 2012 – Gordon Hirabayashi, American-Canadian sociologist and academic (b. 1918)
  • 2012 – Silvana Gallardo, American actress and producer (b. 1953)
  • 2012 – William P. Carey, American businessman and philanthropist, founded W. P. Carey (b. 1930)
  • 2013 – Gerda Lerner, Austrian-American historian, author, and academic (b. 1920)
  • 2013 – Teresa Torańska, Polish journalist and author (b. 1944)
  • 2014 – Bernard Glasser, American director and producer (b. 1924)
  • 2014 – Elizabeth Jane Howard, English author and screenwriter (b. 1923)
  • 2015 – Tihomir Novakov, Serbian-American physicist and academic (b. 1929)
  • 2016 – Ardhendu Bhushan Bardhan, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1924)
  • 2016 – Frances Cress Welsing, American psychiatrist and author (b. 1935)
  • 2016 – Nimr al-Nimr, Saudi Arabian religious leader (b. 1959)
  • 2016 – Gisela Mota Ocampo, mayor of Temixco, Morelos, Mexico, assassinated (b. 1982)
  • 2017 – Jean Vuarnet, French ski racer (b. 1933)
  • 2017 – John Berger, English art critic, novelist and painter (b. 1926)
  • 2018 – Guida Maria, Portuguese actress (b. 1950)
  • 2018 – Thomas S. Monson, American religious leader, 16th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1927)
  • 2019 – Daryl Dragon, American musician (b. 1942)
  • 2019 – Bob Einstein, American actor and comedian (b. 1942)
  • 2019 – Gene Okerlund, American wrestling announcer (b. 1942)

Holidays and observances on January 2

  • Ancestry Day (Haiti)
  • Berchtold’s Day (Switzerland and Liechtenstein)
  • Carnival Day (Saint Kitts and Nevis)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Basil the Great (Catholic Church and Church of England)
    • Defendens of Thebes
    • Earliest day on which the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus is observed, while January 5 is the latest; celebrated on Sunday between January 2 and 5. (Roman Catholic Church, 1960 calendar)
    • Gregory of Nazianzus (Catholic Church)
    • Johann Konrad Wilhelm Löhe (Lutheran Church)
    • Macarius of Alexandria
    • Seraphim of Sarov (repose) (Eastern Orthodox Church)
    • Vedanayagam Samuel Azariah (Episcopal Church)
    • January 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Nyinlong (Bhutan)
  • The first day of Blacks and Whites’ Carnival, celebrated until January 7. (southern Colombia)
  • The first day of the Carnival of Riosucio, celebrated until January 8 every 2 years. (Riosucio)
  • The ninth of the Twelve Days of Christmas (Western Christianity)
  • The second day of New Year (a holiday in Kazakhstan, North Macedonia, Mauritius, Montenegro, New Zealand, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Ukraine):
    • New Year Holiday (Scotland), if it is a Sunday, the day moves to January 3
    • Kaapse Klopse (Cape Town, South Africa)
  • The victory of Armed Forces Day (Cuba)

January 2 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

January 1 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /

During the Middle Ages under the influence of the Catholic Church, many countries in western Europe decided to move the start of the year to one of several important Christian festivals – December 25 (the Nativity of Jesus), March 1, March 25 (the Annunciation), or even Easter. The Byzantine Empire began its numbered year on September 1.

In England, January 1 was celebrated as the New Year festival, but from the 12th century to 1752 the year in England began on March 25 (Lady Day). So, for example, the Parliamentary record notes the execution of Charles I as occurring on January 30, 1648, (as the year did not end until March 24), although modern histories adjust the start of the year to January 1 and record the execution as occurring in 1649.

Most western European countries changed the start of the year to January 1 before they adopted the Gregorian calendar. For example, Scotland changed the start of the Scottish New Year to January 1 in 1600. England, Ireland and the British colonies changed the start of the year to January 1 in 1752. Later that year in September, the Gregorian calendar was introduced throughout Britain and the British colonies. These two reforms were implemented by the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750.

January 1 became the official start of the year as follows:

Julian calendar:

  • 1544 Holy Roman Empire (Germany)
  • 1556 Spain, Portugal
  • 1559 Prussia, Sweden
  • 1564 France
  • 1576 Southern Netherlands
  • 1579 Duchy of Lorraine
  • 1583 Northern Netherlands
  • 1600 Scotland
  • 1700 Russia
  • 1752 Great Britain (excluding Scotland) and its colonies
  • 1804 Serbia

Gregorian calendar:

  • 1750 Tuscany
  • 1797 Republic of Venice
  • 1918 Ottoman Empire
  • 1941 Thailand

Events on January 1

Pre-Julian Roman calendar

  • 153 BC – For the first time, Roman consuls begin their year in office on January 1.

Early Julian calendar (before Augustus’ leap year correction)

  • 45 BC – The Julian calendar takes effect as the civil calendar of the Roman Empire, establishing January 1 as the new date of the new year.
  • 42 BC – The Roman Senate posthumously deifies Julius Caesar.

Julian calendar

  • 193 – The Senate chooses Pertinax against his will to succeed Commodus as Roman emper]or.
  • 404 – Saint Telemachus tries to stop a gladiatorial fight in a Roman amphitheatre, and is stoned to death by the crowd. This act impresses the Christian Emperor Honorius, who issues a historic ban on gladiatorial fights.
  • 417 – Emperor Honorius forces Galla Placidia into marriage to Constantius, his famous general (magister militum) (probable).
  • 1001 – Grand Prince Stephen I of Hungary is named the first King of Hungary by Pope Sylvester II (probable).
  • 1068 – Romanos IV Diogenes marries Eudokia Makrembolitissa and is crowned Byzantine Emperor.
  • 1259 – Michael VIII Palaiologos is proclaimed co-emperor of the Empire of Nicaea with his ward John IV Laskaris.
  • 1438 – Albert II of Habsburg is crowned King of Hungary.
  • 1502 – The present-day location of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is first explored by the Portuguese.
  • 1515 – Twenty-year-old Francis, Duke of Brittany, succeeds to the French throne following the death of his father-in-law, Louis XII.
  • 1527 – Croatian nobles elect Ferdinand I of Austria as King of Croatia in the Parliament on Cetin.
  • 1583 to 1700 – see January 11
  • 1600 – Scotland recognises January 1 as the start of the year, instead of March 25.
  • 1651 – Charles II is crowned King of Scotland.
  • 1700 – Russia begins using the Anno Domini era instead of the Anno Mundi era of the Byzantine Empire.
  • 1701 to 1800 – see January 12
  • 1801 to 1900 – see January 13
  • 1901 to 2100 – see January 14

Gregorian calendar

  • 1707 – John V is proclaimed King of Portugal and the Algarves in Lisbon.
  • 1739 – Bouvet Island, the world’s remotest island is discovered by French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier.
  • 1772 – The first traveler’s cheques, which could be used in 90 European cities, were issued by the London Credit Exchange Company.
  • 1773 – The hymn that became known as “Amazing Grace”, then titled “1 Chronicles 17:16–17” is first used to accompany a sermon led by John Newton in the town of Olney, Buckinghamshire, England.
  • 1776 – American Revolutionary War: Norfolk, Virginia is burned by combined Royal Navy and Continental Army action.
  • 1776 – General George Washington hoists the first United States flag; the Grand Union Flag at Prospect Hill.
  • 1781 – American Revolutionary War: One thousand five hundred soldiers of the 6th Pennsylvania Regiment under General Anthony Wayne’s command rebel against the Continental Army’s winter camp in Morristown, New Jersey in the Pennsylvania Line Mutiny of 1781.
  • 1788 – First edition of The Times of London, previously The Daily Universal Register, is published.
  • 1801 – The legislative union of Kingdom of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ireland is completed, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland is proclaimed.
  • 1801 – Ceres, the largest and first known object in the Asteroid belt, is discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi.
  • 1803 – Emperor Gia Long orders all bronze wares of the Tây Sơn dynasty to be collected and melted into nine cannons for the Royal Citadel in Huế, Vietnam.
  • 1804 – French rule ends in Haiti. Haiti becomes the first black-majority republic and second independent country in North America after the United States.
  • 1806 – The French Republican Calendar is abolished.
  • 1808 – The United States bans the importation of slaves.
  • 1810 – Major-General Lachlan Macquarie officially becomes Governor of New South Wales.
  • 1822 – The Greek Constitution of 1822 is adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus.
  • 1847 – The world’s first “Mercy” Hospital is founded in Pittsburgh, United States, by a group of Sisters of Mercy from Ireland; the name will go on to grace over 30 major hospitals throughout the world.
  • 1860 – The first Polish stamp is issued, replacing the Russian stamps previously in use.
  • 1861 – Liberal forces supporting Benito Juárez enter Mexico City.
  • 1863 – American Civil War: The Emancipation Proclamation takes effect in Confederate territory.
  • 1877 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom is proclaimed Empress of India.
  • 1885 – Twenty-five nations adopt Sandford Fleming’s proposal for standard time (and also, time zones).
  • 1890 – Eritrea is consolidated into a colony by the Italian government
  • 1892 – Ellis Island begins processing immigrants into the United States.
  • 1898 – New York, New York annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York. The four initial boroughs, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx, are joined on January 25 by Staten Island to create the modern city of five boroughs.
  • 1899 – Spanish rule ends in Cuba.
  • 1901 – Nigeria becomes a British protectorate
  • 1901 – The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia; Edmund Barton is appointed the first Prime Minister
  • 1902 – The first American college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl between Michigan and Stanford, is held in Pasadena, California.
  • 1910 – Captain David Beatty is promoted to Rear admiral, and becomes the youngest admiral in the Royal Navy (except for Royal family members) since Horatio Nelson.
  • 1912 – The Republic of China is established.
  • 1914 – The SPT Airboat Line becomes the world’s first scheduled airline to use a winged aircraft.
  • 1923 – Britain’s Railways are grouped into the Big Four: LNER, GWR, SR, and LMS.
  • 1927 – New Mexican oil legislation goes into effect, leading to the formal outbreak of the Cristero War.
  • 1928 – Boris Bazhanov defects through Iran. He is the only assistant of Joseph Stalin’s secretariat to have defected from the Eastern Bloc.
  • 1929 – The former municipalities of Point Grey, British Columbia and South Vancouver, British Columbia are amalgamated into Vancouver.
  • 1932 – The United States Post Office Department issues a set of 12 stamps commemorating the 200th anniversary of George Washington’s birth.
  • 1934 – Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay becomes a United States federal prison.
  • 1934 – A “Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring” comes into effect in Nazi Germany.
  • 1942 – The Declaration by United Nations is signed by twenty-six nations.
  • 1945 – World War II: In retaliation for the Malmedy massacre, U.S. troops kill 60 German POWs at Chenogne.
  • 1945 – World War II: The German Luftwaffe launches Operation Bodenplatte, a massive, but failed attempt to knock out Allied air power in northern Europe in a single blow.
  • 1947 – Cold War: The American and British occupation zones in Allied-occupied Germany, after World War II, merge to form the Bizone, which later (with the French zone) became part of West Germany.
  • 1947 – The Canadian Citizenship Act 1946 comes into effect, converting British subjects into Canadian citizens.Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King becomes the first Canadian citizen.
  • 1948 – The British railway network is nationalized to form British Railways.
  • 1949 – United Nations cease-fire takes effect in Kashmir from one minute before midnight. War between India and Pakistan stops accordingly.
  • 1956 – Sudan achieves independence from Egypt and the United Kingdom.
  • 1957 – George Town, Penang, is made a city by a royal charter of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.
  • 1958 – European Economic Community is established.
  • 1959 – Cuban Revolution: Fulgencio Batista, dictator of Cuba, is overthrown by Fidel Castro’s forces.
  • 1960 – Cameroon achieves independence from France and the United Kingdom.
  • 1962 – Western Samoa achieves independence from New Zealand; its name is changed to the Independent State of Western Samoa.
  • 1964 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is divided into the independent republics of Zambia and Malawi, and the British-controlled Rhodesia.
  • 1965 – The People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan is founded in Kabul, Afghanistan.
  • 1970 – The defined beginning of Unix time, at 00:00:00.
  • 1971 – Cigarette advertisements are banned on American television.
  • 1973 – Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom are admitted into the European Economic Community.
  • 1976 – A bomb explodes on board Middle East Airlines Flight 438 over Qaisumah, Saudi Arabia, killing all 81 people on board.
  • 1978 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747, crashes into the Arabian Sea, due to instrument failure, spatial disorientation, and pilot error, off the coast of Bombay, India, killing all 213 people on board.
  • 1979 – Normal diplomatic relations are established between the People’s Republic of China and the United States.
  • 1981 – Greece is admitted into the European Community.
  • 1982 – Peruvian Javier Pérez de Cuéllar becomes the first Latin American to hold the title of Secretary-General of the United Nations.
  • 1983 – The ARPANET officially changes to using TCP/IP, the Internet Protocol, effectively creating the Internet.
  • 1984 – The original American Telephone & Telegraph Company is divested of its 22 Bell System companies as a result of the settlement of the 1974 United States Department of Justice antitrust suit against AT&T.
  • 1984 – Brunei becomes independent of the United Kingdom.
  • 1985 – The first British mobile phone call is made by Michael Harrison to his father Sir Ernest Harrison, chairman of Vodafone.
  • 1987 – The Isleta Pueblo tribe elect Verna Williamson to be their first female governor.
  • 1988 – The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America comes into existence, creating the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States.
  • 1989 – The Montreal Protocol comes into force, stopping the use of chemicals contributing to ozone depletion.
  • 1990 – David Dinkins is sworn in as New York City’s first black mayor.
  • 1993 – Dissolution of Czechoslovakia: Czechoslovakia is divided into the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic.
  • 1994 – The Zapatista Army of National Liberation initiates twelve days of armed conflict in the Mexican state of Chiapas.
  • 1994 – The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) comes into effect.
  • 1995 – The World Trade Organization comes into being.
  • 1995 – The Draupner wave in the North Sea in Norway is detected, confirming the existence of freak waves.
  • 1995 – Austria, Finland and Sweden join the EU.
  • 1998 – Following a currency reform, Russia begins to circulate new rubles to stem inflation and promote confidence.
  • 1999 – Euro currency is introduced in 11 member nations of the European Union (with the exception of the United Kingdom, Denmark, Greece and Sweden; Greece later adopts the euro).
  • 2004 – In a vote of confidence, General Pervez Musharraf wins 658 out of 1,170 votes in the Electoral College of Pakistan, and according to Article 41(8) of the Constitution of Pakistan, is “deemed to be elected” to the office of President until October 2007.
  • 2007 – Bulgaria and Romania join the EU.
  • 2007 – Adam Air Flight 574 breaks apart in mid-air and crashes near the Makassar Strait, Indonesia killing all 102 people on board.
  • 2009 – Sixty-six people die in a nightclub fire in Bangkok, Thailand.
  • 2010 – A suicide car bomber detonates at a volleyball tournament in Lakki Marwat, Pakistan, killing 105 and injuring 100 more.
  • 2011 – A bomb explodes as Coptic Christians in Alexandria, Egypt, leave a new year service, killing 23 people.
  • 2011 – Estonia officially adopts the Euro currency and becomes the 17th Eurozone country.
  • 2013 – At least 60 people are killed and 200 injured in a stampede after celebrations at Félix Houphouët-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
  • 2015 – The Eurasian Economic Union comes into effect, creating a political and economic union between Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
  • 2017 – An attack on a nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey, during New Year’s celebrations, kills at least 39 people and injures more than 60 others

Births on January 1

  • 766 – Ali al-Ridha (d. 818) 8th Imam of Twelver Shia Islam
  • 1431 – Pope Alexander VI (d. 1503)
  • 1449 – Lorenzo de’ Medici, Italian politician (d. 1492)
  • 1467 – Sigismund I the Old, Polish king (d. 1548)
  • 1484 – Huldrych Zwingli, Swiss pastor and theologian (d. 1531)
  • 1511 – Henry, Duke of Cornwall, first-born child of Henry VIII of England (d. 1511)
  • 1557 – Stephen Bocskay, Prince of Transylvania (d. 1606)
  • 1600 – Friedrich Spanheim, Dutch theologian and academic (d. 1649)
  • 1628 – Christoph Bernhard, German composer and theorist (d. 1692)
  • 1655 – Christian Thomasius, German jurist and philosopher (d. 1728)
  • 1684 – Arnold Drakenborch, Dutch scholar and author (d. 1748)
  • 1704 – Soame Jenyns, English author, poet, and politician (d. 1787)
  • 1711 – Baron Franz von der Trenck, Austrian soldier (d. 1749)
  • 1714 – Giovanni Battista Mancini, Italian soprano and author (d. 1800)
  • 1714 – Kristijonas Donelaitis, Lithuanian pastor and poet (d. 1780)
  • 1735 – Paul Revere, American silversmith and engraver (d. 1818)
  • 1745 – Anthony Wayne, American general and politician (d. 1796)
  • 1752 – Betsy Ross, American seamstress, credited with designing the Flag of the United States (d. 1836)
  • 1768 – Maria Edgeworth, Anglo-Irish author (d. 1849)
  • 1769 – Marie-Louise Lachapelle, French obstetrician (d. 1821)
  • 1774 – André Marie Constant Duméril, French zoologist and academic (d. 1860)
  • 1779 – William Clowes, English publisher (d. 1847)
  • 1803 – Edward Dickinson, American politician and father of poet Emily Dickinson (d. 1874)
  • 1806 – Lionel Kieseritzky, Estonian-French chess player (d. 1853)
  • 1809 – Achille Guenée, French lawyer and entomologist (d. 1880)
  • 1813 – George Bliss, American politician (d. 1868)
  • 1814 – Hong Xiuquan, Chinese rebellion leader and king (d. 1864)
  • 1818 – William Gamble, Irish-born American general (d. 1866)
  • 1819 – Arthur Hugh Clough, English-Italian poet and academic (d. 1861)
  • 1819 – George Foster Shepley, American general (d. 1878)
  • 1823 – Sándor Petőfi, Hungarian poet and activist (d. 1849)
  • 1833 – Robert Lawson, Scottish-New Zealand architect, designed the Otago Boys’ High School and Knox Church (d. 1902)
  • 1834 – Ludovic Halévy, French author and playwright (d. 1908)
  • 1839 – Ouida, English-Italian author and activist (d. 1908)
  • 1848 – John W. Goff, Irish-American lawyer and politician (d. 1924)
  • 1852 – Eugène-Anatole Demarçay, French chemist and academic (d. 1904)
  • 1854 – James George Frazer, Scottish anthropologist and academic (d. 1941)
  • 1854 – Thomas Waddell, Irish-Australian politician, 15th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1940)
  • 1857 – Tim Keefe, American baseball player (d. 1933)
  • 1859 – Michael Joseph Owens, American inventor (d. 1923)
  • 1859 – Thibaw Min, Burmese king (d. 1916)
  • 1860 – Michele Lega, Italian cardinal (d. 1935)
  • 1863 – Pierre de Coubertin, French historian, and educator, founded the International Olympic Committee (d. 1937)
  • 1864 – Alfred Stieglitz, American photographer, and curator (d. 1946)
  • 1864 – Qi Baishi, Chinese painter (d. 1957)
  • 1867 – Mary Ackworth Evershed, English astronomer and scholar (d. 1949)
  • 1874 – Frank Knox, American publisher, and politician, 46th United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 1944)
  • 1874 – Gustave Whitehead, German-American pilot and engineer (d. 1927)
  • 1877 – Alexander von Staël-Holstein, German sinologist and orientalist (d. 1937)
  • 1878 – Agner Krarup Erlang, Danish mathematician, statistician, and engineer (d. 1929)
  • 1879 – E. M. Forster, English author and playwright (d. 1970)
  • 1879 – William Fox, Hungarian-American screenwriter and producer, founded the Fox Film Corporation and Fox Theatres (d. 1952)
  • 1883 – William J. Donovan, American general, lawyer, and politician (d. 1959)
  • 1884 – Chikuhei Nakajima, Japanese lieutenant, engineer, and politician, founded Nakajima Aircraft Company (d. 1949)
  • 1887 – Wilhelm Canaris, German admiral (d. 1945)
  • 1888 – Georgios Stanotas, Greek general (d. 1965)
  • 1888 – John Garand, Canadian-American engineer, designed the M1 Garand rifle (d. 1974)
  • 1889 – Charles Bickford, American actor (d. 1967)
  • 1890 – Anton Melik, Slovenian geographer and academic (d. 1966)
  • 1891 – Sampurnanand, Indian educator and politician, 3rd Governor of Rajasthan (d. 1969)
  • 1892 – Mahadev Desai, Indian author and activist (d. 1942)
  • 1892 – Manuel Roxas, Filipino lawyer and politician, 5th President of the Philippines (d. 1948)
  • 1893 – Mordechai Frizis, Greek colonel (d. 1940)
  • 1894 – Satyendra Nath Bose, Indian physicist, and mathematician (d. 1974)
  • 1894 – Edward Joseph Hunkeler, American clergyman (d. 1970)
  • 1895 – J. Edgar Hoover, American law enforcement official; 1st Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (d. 1972)
  • 1900 – Chiune Sugihara, Japanese soldier and diplomat (d. 1986)
  • 1900 – Xavier Cugat, Spanish-American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1990)
  • 1902 – Buster Nupen, Norwegian-South African cricketer and lawyer (d. 1977)
  • 1902 – Hans von Dohnányi, German jurist and political dissident (d. 1945)
  • 1904 – Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry, Pakistani lawyer and politician, 5th President of Pakistan (d. 1982)
  • 1905 – Stanisław Mazur, Ukrainian-Polish mathematician and theorist (d. 1981)
  • 1906 – Manuel Silos, Filipino filmmaker, and actor (d. 1988)
  • 1907 – Kinue Hitomi, Japanese sprinter and long jumper (d. 1931)
  • 1909 – Dana Andrews, American actor (d. 1992)
  • 1909 – Stepan Bandera, Ukrainian soldier and politician (d. 1959)
  • 1911 – Audrey Wurdemann, American poet and author (d. 1960)
  • 1911 – Basil Dearden, English director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1971)
  • 1911 – Hank Greenberg, American baseball player (d. 1986)
  • 1911 – Roman Totenberg, Polish-American violinist and educator (d. 2012)
  • 1912 – Boris Vladimirovich Gnedenko, Russian mathematician and historian (d. 1995)
  • 1912 – Kim Philby, British spy (d. 1988)
  • 1912 – Nikiforos Vrettakos, Greek poet and academic (d. 1991)
  • 1914 – Noor Inayat Khan, British SOE agent (d. 1944)
  • 1917 – Shannon Bolin, American actress and singer (d. 2016)
  • 1918 – Patrick Anthony Porteous, Scottish colonel, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 2000)
  • 1918 – Willy den Ouden, Dutch swimmer (d. 1997)
  • 1919 – Carole Landis, American actress (d. 1948)
  • 1919 – J. D. Salinger, American soldier and author (d. 2010)
  • 1919 – Rocky Graziano, American boxer and actor (d. 1990)
  • 1920 – Osvaldo Cavandoli, Italian cartoonist (d. 2007)
  • 1921 – César Baldaccini, French sculptor and academic (d. 1998)
  • 1921 – Ismail al-Faruqi, Palestinian-American philosopher and academic (d. 1986)
  • 1921 – Regina Bianchi, Italian actress (d. 2013)
  • 1922 – Ernest Hollings, American soldier, and politician, 106th Governor of South Carolina (d. 2019)
  • 1923 – Valentina Cortese, Italian actress (d. 2019)
  • 1923 – Milt Jackson, American jazz vibraphonist and composer (d. 1999)
  • 1924 – Francisco Macías Nguema, Equatorial Guinean politician, 1st President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea (d. 1979)
  • 1925 – Matthew Beard, American child actor (d. 1981)
  • 1925 – Paul Bomani, Tanzanian politician and diplomat, 1st Tanzanian Minister of Finance (d. 2005)
  • 1926 – Kazys Petkevičius, Lithuanian basketball player and coach (d. 2008)
  • 1927 – Doak Walker, American football player and businessman (d. 1998)
  • 1927 – James Reeb, American clergyman and political activist (d. 1965)
  • 1927 – Maurice Béjart, French-Swiss dancer, choreographer, and director (d. 2007)
  • 1927 – Vernon L. Smith, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1928 – Ernest Tidyman, American author and screenwriter (d. 1984)
  • 1928 – Gerhard Weinberg, German-American historian, author, and academic
  • 1929 – Larry L. King, American journalist, author, and playwright (d. 2012)
  • 1930 – Frederick Wiseman, American director and producer
  • 1930 – Gaafar Nimeiry, Egyptian-Sudanese politician, 4th President of the Sudan (d. 2009)
  • 1932 – Giuseppe Patanè, Italian conductor (d. 1989)
  • 1933 – James Hormel, American philanthropist and diplomat.
  • 1933 – Joe Orton, English dramatist (d. 1967)
  • 1934 – Alan Berg, American lawyer and radio host (d. 1984
  • 1934 – Lakhdar Brahimi, Algerian politician, Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 1935 – Om Prakash Chautala, Indian politician
  • 1936 – James Sinegal, American businessman, co-founded Costco
  • 1939 – Michèle Mercier, French actress
  • 1939 – Phil Read, English motorcycle racer and businessman
  • 1939 – Senfronia Thompson, American politician
  • 1941 – Younoussi Touré, Malian politician, Prime Minister of Mali
  • 1942 – Alassane Ouattara, Ivorian economist and politician, President of the Ivory Coast (doubtful)
  • 1942 – Anthony Hamilton-Smith, 3rd Baron Colwyn, English dentist and politician
  • 1942 – Country Joe McDonald, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1942 – Dennis Archer, American lawyer and politician, 67th Mayor of Detroit
  • 1942 – Gennadi Sarafanov, Russian pilot and cosmonaut (d. 2005)
  • 1943 – Don Novello, American comedian, screenwriter and producer.
  • 1943 – Tony Knowles, American soldier and politician, 7th Governor of Alaska.
  • 1943 – Vladimir Šeks, Croatian lawyer and politician, 16th Speaker of the Croatian Parliament
  • 1944 – Mati Unt, Estonian author, playwright, and director (d. 2005)
  • 1944 – Omar al-Bashir, Sudanese field marshal and politician, 7th President of Sudan
  • 1944 – Teresa Torańska, Polish journalist and author (d. 2013)
  • 1944 – Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Pakistani field hockey player and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Pakistan
  • 1945 – Jacky Ickx, Belgian racing driver
  • 1945 – Victor Ashe, American politician and former United States Ambassador to Poland
  • 1946 – Claude Steele, American social psychologist and academic
  • 1946 – Rivellino, Brazilian footballer and manager
  • 1947 – Jon Corzine, American sergeant and politician, 54th Governor of New Jersey
  • 1948 – Devlet Bahçeli, Turkish economist, academic, and politician, 57th Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey
  • 1948 – Dick Quax, New Zealand runner and politician (d. 2018)
  • 1948 – Pavel Grachev, Russian general and politician, 1st Russian Minister of Defence (d. 2012)
  • 1949 – Borys Tarasyuk, Ukrainian politician and diplomat
  • 1952 – Shaji N. Karun, Indian director and cinematographer
  • 1953 – Gary Johnson, American businessman and politician, 29th Governor of New Mexico
  • 1954 – Bob Menendez, American lawyer and politician
  • 1954 – Dennis O’Driscoll, Irish poet and critic (d. 2012)
  • 1954 – Yannis Papathanasiou, Greek engineer and politician, Greek Minister of Finance
  • 1955 – LaMarr Hoyt, American baseball player
  • 1955 – Mary Beard, English classicist, academic and presenter
  • 1956 – Sergei Avdeyev, Russian engineer and astronaut
  • 1956 – Christine Lagarde, French lawyer and politician; Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
  • 1957 – Evangelos Venizelos, Greek lawyer and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Greece
  • 1958 – Grandmaster Flash, Barbadian rapper and DJ
  • 1959 – Abdul Ahad Mohmand, Afghan colonel, pilot, and astronaut
  • 1959 – Azali Assoumani, Comorian colonel and politician, President of the Comoros
  • 1959 – Panagiotis Giannakis, Greek basketball player and coach
  • 1962 – Anton Muscatelli, Italian-Scottish economist and academic
  • 1963 – Jean-Marc Gounon, French racing driver
  • 1964 – Dedee Pfeiffer, American actress
  • 1966 – Anna Burke, Australian businesswoman and politician, 28th Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives
  • 1966 – Ivica Dačić, Serbian journalist and politician, 95th Prime Minister of Serbia
  • 1966 – Tihomir Orešković, Croatian–Canadian businessman, 11th Prime Minister of Croatia
  • 1968 – Davor Šuker, Croatian footballer
  • 1971 – Bobby Holík, Czech-American ice hockey player and coach
  • 1971 – Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia, Indian politician
  • 1971 – Sammie Henson, American wrestler and coach
  • 1972 – Lilian Thuram, French footballer
  • 1974 – Christian Paradis, Canadian lawyer and politician, 9th Canadian Minister of Industry
  • 1975 – Becky Kellar-Duke, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1975 – Chris Anstey, Australian basketball player and coach
  • 1975 – Fernando Tatís, Dominican baseball player
  • 1975 – Joe Cannon, American soccer player and sportscaster
  • 1979 – Vidya Balan, Indian actress
  • 1981 – Zsolt Baumgartner, Hungarian racing driver
  • 1981 – Mladen Petrić, Croatian footballer
  • 1982 – David Nalbandian, Argentinian tennis player
  • 1982 – Egidio Arévalo Ríos, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1983 – Melaine Walker, Jamaican hurdler
  • 1983 – Park Sung-hyun, South Korean archer
  • 1983 – Calum Davenport, English footballer
  • 1984 – Paolo Guerrero, Peruvian footballer
  • 1985 – Steven Davis, Northern Irish footballer
  • 1985 – Tiago Splitter, Brazilian basketball player
  • 1986 – Pablo Cuevas, Uruguayan tennis player
  • 1986 – Ramses Barden, American football player
  • 1987 – Meryl Davis, American ice dancer1987 – Patric Hörnqvist, Swedish ice hockey player
  • 1988 – Marcel Gecov, Czech footballer
  • 1989 – Jason Pierre-Paul, American football player
  • 1991 – Darius Slay, American football player

Deaths on January 1

  • 138 – Lucius Aelius, adopted son and intended successor of Hadrian (b. 101)
  • 404 – Telemachus, Christian monk and martyr
  • 466 – Qianfei, Chinese emperor of the Liu Song Dynasty (b. 449)
  • 898 – Odo I, Frankish king (b. 860)
  • 951 – Ramiro II, king of León and Galicia1031 – William of Volpiano, Italian abbot (b. 962)
  • 1189 – Henry of Marcy, Cistercian abbot (b. c. 1136)
  • 1204 – Haakon III, king of Norway (b. 1182)
  • 1387 – Charles II, king of Navarre (b. 1332)
  • 1496 – Charles d’Orléans, count of Angoulême (b. 1459)
  • 1515 – Louis XII, king of France (b. 1462)
  • 1559 – Christian III, king of Denmark (b. 1503)
  • 1560 – Joachim du Bellay, French poet and critic (b. 1522)
  • 1617 – Hendrik Goltzius, Dutch painter and illustrator (b. 1558)
  • 1697 – Filippo Baldinucci, Florentine historian and author (b. 1625)
  • 1716 – William Wycherley, English playwright and poet (b. 1641)
  • 1748 – Johann Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician and academic (b. 1667)
  • 1780 – Johann Ludwig Krebs, German organist and composer (b. 1713)
  • 1782 – Johann Christian Bach, German composer (b. 1735)
  • 1789 – Fletcher Norton, 1st Baron Grantley, English lawyer and politician, British Speaker of the House of Commons (b. 1716)
  • 1793 – Francesco Guardi, Italian painter and educator (b. 1712)
  • 1817 – Martin Heinrich Klaproth, German chemist and academic (b. 1743)
  • 1846 – John Torrington, English sailor and explorer (b. 1825)
  • 1853 – Gregory Blaxland, Australian farmer and explorer (b. 1778)
  • 1862 – Mikhail Ostrogradsky, Ukrainian mathematician and physicist (b. 1801)
  • 1881 – Louis Auguste Blanqui, French activist (b. 1805)
  • 1892 – Roswell B. Mason, American lawyer and politician, 25th Mayor of Chicago (b. 1805)
  • 1894 – Heinrich Hertz, German physicist and academic (b. 1857)
  • 1896 – Alfred Ely Beach, American publisher and lawyer, created the Beach Pneumatic Transit (b. 1826)
  • 1906 – Hugh Nelson, Scottish-Australian farmer and politician, 11th Premier of Queensland (b. 1833)
  • 1918 – William Wilfred Campbell, Canadian poet and author (b. 1858)
  • 1921 – Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg, German lawyer and politician, 5th Chancellor of Germany (b. 1856)
  • 1929 – Mustafa Necati, Turkish civil servant and politician, Turkish Minister of Environment and Urban Planning (b. 1894)
  • 1931 – Martinus Beijerinck, Dutch microbiologist and botanist (b. 1851)
  • 1937 – Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, Indian religious leader, founded the Gaudiya Math (b. 1874)
  • 1940 – Panuganti Lakshminarasimha Rao, Indian author and educator (b. 1865)
  • 1944 – Edwin Lutyens, English architect, designed the Castle Drogo and Thiepval Memorial (b. 1869)
  • 1944 – Charles Turner, Australian cricketer (b. 1862)
  • 1953 – Hank Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1923)
  • 1954 – Duff Cooper, English politician and diplomat, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1890)
  • 1954 – Leonard Bacon, American poet and critic (b. 1887)
  • 1955 – Arthur C. Parker, American archaeologist and historian (b. 1881)
  • 1960 – Margaret Sullavan, American actress (b. 1909)
  • 1966 – Vincent Auriol, French journalist and politician, 16th President of the French Republic (b. 1884)
  • 1969 – Barton MacLane, American actor, playwright and screenwriter (b. 1902)
  • 1971 – Amphilochius of Pochayiv, Ukrainian saint (b. 1894)
  • 1972 – Maurice Chevalier, French actor and singer (b. 1888)
  • 1978 – Carle Hessay, German-Canadian painter (b. 1911)
  • 1980 – Pietro Nenni, Italian journalist and politician, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1891)
  • 1981 – Hephzibah Menuhin, American-Australian pianist (b. 1920)
  • 1982 – Victor Buono, American actor (b. 1938)
  • 1984 – Alexis Korner, French-English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1928)
  • 1992 – Grace Hopper, American computer scientist and admiral, co-developed COBOL (b. 1906)
  • 1994 – Arthur Porritt, Baron Porritt, New Zealand physician and politician, 11th Governor-General of New Zealand (b. 1900)
  • 1994 – Cesar Romero, American actor (b. 1907)
  • 1994 – Edward Arthur Thompson, Irish historian and academic (b. 1914)
  • 1995 – Eugene Wigner, Hungarian-American physicist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
  • 1996 – Arleigh Burke, American admiral (b. 1901)
  • 1996 – Arthur Rudolph, German-American engineer (b. 1906)
  • 1997 – Townes Van Zandt, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1944)
  • 1998 – Helen Wills, American tennis player and coach (b. 1905)
  • 2000 – Betty Archdale, English-Australian cricketer and educator (b. 1907)
  • 2001 – Ray Walston, American actor (b. 1914)
  • 2002 – Julia Phillips, American film producer and author (b. 1944)
  • 2003 – Joe Foss, American soldier, pilot, and politician, 20th Governor of South Dakota (b. 1915)
  • 2005 – Shirley Chisholm, American educator and politician (b. 1924)
  • 2006 – Harry Magdoff, American economist and journalist (b. 1913)
  • 2007 – Roland Levinsky, South African-English biochemist and academic (b. 1943)
  • 2007 – Tillie Olsen, American short story writer (b. 1912)
  • 2008 – Pratap Chandra Chunder, Indian educator and politician (b. 1919)
  • 2009 – Claiborne Pell, American politician (b. 1918)
  • 2010 – Lhasa de Sela, American-Mexican singer-songwriter (b. 1972)
  • 2012 – Kiro Gligorov, Bulgarian-Macedonian lawyer and politician, 1st President of the Republic of Macedonia (b. 1917)
  • 2012 – Nay Win Maung, Burmese physician, businessman, and activist (b. 1962)
  • 2012 – Tommy Mont, American football player and coach (b. 1922)
  • 2013 – Christopher Martin-Jenkins, English journalist (b. 1945)
  • 2013 – Patti Page, American singer and actress (b. 1927)
  • 2014 – Higashifushimi Kunihide, Japanese monk and educator (b. 1910)
  • 2014 – Juanita Moore, American actress (b. 1914)
  • 2014 – William Mgimwa, Tanzanian banker and politician, 13th Tanzanian Minister of Finance (b. 1950)
  • 2015 – Boris Morukov, Russian physician and astronaut (b. 1950)
  • 2015 – Donna Douglas, American actress (b. 1932)
  • 2015 – Mario Cuomo, American lawyer and politician, 52nd Governor of New York (b. 1932)
  • 2015 – Omar Karami, Lebanese lawyer and politician, 58th Prime Minister of Lebanon (b. 1934)
  • 2016 – Dale Bumpers, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 38th Governor of Arkansas (b. 1925)
  • 2016 – Fazu Aliyeva, Russian poet and journalist (b. 1932)
  • 2016 – Vilmos Zsigmond, Hungarian-American cinematographer and producer (b. 1930)
  • 2017 – Derek Parfit, British philosopher (b. 1942)
  • 2017 – Tony Atkinson, British economist (b. 1944)
  • 2017 – Yvon Dupuis, Canadian politician (b. 1926)
  • 2018 – Robert Mann, American violinist (b. 1920)
  • 2019 – Pegi Young, American singer, songwriter, environmentalist, educator and philanthropist (b. 1952)
  • 2019 – Paul Neville, Australian politician (b. 1940)
  • 2020 – David Stern, American lawyer and businessman (b. 1942)
  • 2020 – Alexander Frater, British travel writer and journalist (b. 1937)
  • 2020 – Barry McDonald, Australian rugby union player (b. 1940)

Holidays and observances on January 1

  • Christian feast day:
    • Adalard of Corbie
    • Basil the Great (Eastern Orthodox Church)
    • Feast of the Circumcision of Christ
      • Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus (Anglican Communion, Lutheran Church)
      • Feast of Fools (Medieval Europe)
    • Fulgentius of Ruspe
    • Giuseppe Maria Tomasi
    • Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, the Octave Day of Christmas, considered a holy day of obligation in some countries (Catholic Church); and its related observances:
      • World Day of Peace
    • Telemachus
    • Zygmunt Gorazdowski
    • January 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which Handsel Monday can fall, while January 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday of the year (Scotland)
  • The second day of Hogmanay (Scotland) December 31-January 1, in some cases until January 2.
  • The last day of Kwanzaa (African-Americans)
  • The eighth of the Twelve Days of Christmas (Western Christianity)
  • Constitution Day (Italy)
  • Dissolution of Czechoslovakia-related observances:
    • Day of the Establishment of the Slovak Republic (Slovakia)
    • Restoration Day of the Independent Czech State (Czech Republic)
  • Emancipation Day (United States)
  • Euro Day (European Union)
  • Flag Day (Lithuania) commemorates raising of the Lithuanian flag on Gediminas’ Tower in 1919
  • Founding Day (Taiwan) commemorates the establishment of the Provisional Government in Nanjing
  • Global Family Day
  • Independence Day (Brunei, Cameroon, Haiti, Sudan)
  • International Nepali Dhoti and Nepali Topi Day
  • Jump-up Day (Montserrat)
  • Kalpataru Day (Ramakrishna Movement)
  • Kamakura Ebisu, January 1–3 (Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan)
  • National Bloody Mary Day (United States)
  • National Tree Planting Day (Tanzania)
  • New Year’s Day (Gregorian calendar)
    • Japanese New Year
    • Novy God Day (Russia)
    • Sjoogwachi (Okinawa Islands)
  • Polar Bear Swim Day (Canada and United States)
  • Public Domain Day (multiple countries)
  • Triumph of the Revolution (Cuba)

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