• 27 BCE – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus is granted the title Augustus by the Roman Senate, marking the beginning of the Roman Empire.
• 378 – General Siyaj K’ak’ conquers Tikal, enlarging the domain of King Spearthrower Owl of Teotihuacán.
• 550 – Gothic War: The Ostrogoths, under King Totila, conquer Rome after a long siege, by bribing the Isaurian garrison.
• 929 – Emir Abd-ar-Rahman III established the Caliphate of Córdoba.
• 1120 – The Council of Nablus is held, establishing the earliest surviving written laws of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.
• 1362 – Saint Marcellus’s flood kills at least 25,000 people on the shores of the North Sea.
• 1412 – The Medici family is appointed official banker of the Papacy.
• 1492 – The first grammar of the Spanish language (Gramática de la lengua castellana) is presented to Queen Isabella I.
• 1547 – Grand Duke Ivan IV of Muscovy becomes the first Tsar of Russia, replacing the 264-year-old Grand Duchy of Moscow with the Tsardom of Russia.
• 1556 – Philip II becomes King of Spain.
• 1572 – Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk is tried for treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot to restore Catholicism in England.
• 1605 – The first edition of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (Book One of Don Quixote) by Miguel de Cervantes is published in Madrid, Spain.
• 1707 – The Scottish Parliament ratifies the Act of Union, paving the way for the creation of Great Britain.
• 1757 – Forces of the Maratha Empire defeat a 5,000-strong army of the Durrani Empire in the Battle of Narela.
• 1780 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cape St. Vincent.
• 1786 – Virginia enacts the Statute for Religious Freedom authored by Thomas Jefferson.
• 1809 – Peninsular War: The British defeat the French at the Battle of La Coruña.
• 1847 – John C. Frémont is appointed Governor of the new California Territory.
• 1862 – Hartley Colliery disaster: Two hundred and four men and boys killed in a mining disaster, prompting a change in UK law which henceforth required all collieries to have at least two independent means of escape.
• 1878 – Russo-Turkish War (1877–78): Battle of Philippopolis: Captain Aleksandr Burago with a squadron of Russian Imperial army dragoons liberates Plovdiv from Ottoman rule.
• 1883 – The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, establishing the United States Civil Service, is enacted by Congress.
• 1900 – The United States Senate accepts the Anglo-German treaty of 1899 in which the United Kingdom renounces its claims to the Samoan islands.
• 1909 – Ernest Shackleton’s expedition finds the magnetic South Pole.
• 1919 – Nebraska becomes the 36th state to approve the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. With the necessary three-quarters of the states approving the amendment, Prohibition is constitutionally mandated in the United States one year later.
• 1920 – Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated was founded on the campus of Howard University.
• 1920 – The League of Nations holds its first council meeting in Paris, France.
• 1921 – The Marxist Left in Slovakia and the Transcarpathian Ukraine holds its founding congress in Ľubochňa.
• 1942 – Crash of TWA Flight 3, killing all 22 aboard, including film star Carole Lombard.
• 1945 – Adolf Hitler moves into his underground bunker, the so-called Führerbunker.
• 1964 – Hello, Dolly! opened on Broadway, beginning a run of 2,844 performances.
• 1969 – Czech student Jan Palach commits suicide by self-immolation in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in protest against the Soviets’ crushing of the Prague Spring the year before.
• 1969 – Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 perform the first-ever docking of manned spacecraft in orbit, the first-ever transfer of crew from one space vehicle to another, and the only time such a transfer was accomplished with a space walk.
• 1979 – The last Iranian Shah flees Iran with his family for good and relocates to Egypt.
• 1991 – Coalition Forces go to war with Iraq, beginning the Gulf War.
• 1992 – El Salvador officials and rebel leaders sign the Chapultepec Peace Accords in Mexico City, Mexico ending the 12-year Salvadoran Civil War that claimed at least 75,000 lives.
• 2001 – Congolese President Laurent-Désiré Kabila is assassinated by one of his own bodyguards.
• 2001 – US President Bill Clinton awards former President Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor for his service in the Spanish–American War.
• 2002 – The UN Security Council unanimously establishes an arms embargo and the freezing of assets of Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda, and the remaining members of the Taliban.
• 2003 – The Space Shuttle Columbia takes off for mission STS-107 which would be its final one. Columbia disintegrated 16 days later on re-entry.
• 2006 – Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is sworn in as Liberia’s new president. She becomes Africa’s first female elected head of state.
• 2016 – Thirty-three out of 126 freed hostages are injured and 23 killed in terrorist attacks in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on a hotel and a nearby restaurant.
• 2018 – Myanmar police open fire on a group of ethnic Rakhine protesters, killing seven and wounding twelve.
• 2020 – The impeachment of Donald John Trump formally moves into its trial phase in the United States Senate.

Births on January 16

• 972 – Sheng Zong, emperor of the Liao Dynasty (d. 1031)
• 1093 – Isaac Komnenos, son of Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos (d. 1152)
• 1245 – Edmund Crouchback, English politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (d. 1296)
• 1362 – Robert de Vere, duke of Ireland (d. 1392)
• 1409 – René of Anjou, king of Naples (d. 1480)
• 1477 – Johannes Schöner, German astronomer and cartographer (d. 1547)
• 1501 – Anthony Denny, confidant of Henry VIII of England (d. 1559)
• 1516 – Bayinnaung, king of Burma (d. 1581)
• 1558 – Jakobea of Baden, Margravine of Baden by birth, Duchess of Jülich-Cleves-Berg by marriage (d. 1597)
• 1616 – François de Vendôme, duke of Beaufort (d. 1669)
• 1626 – Lucas Achtschellinck, Belgian painter and educator (d. 1699)
• 1630 – Guru Har Rai, Sikh Guru (d. 1661)
• 1634 – Dorothe Engelbretsdatter, Norwegian author and poet (d. 1716)
• 1675 – Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon, French soldier and diplomat (d. 1755)
• 1691 – Peter Scheemakers, Belgian sculptor and educator (d. 1781)
• 1728 – Niccolò Piccinni, Italian composer and educator (d. 1800)
• 1749 – Vittorio Alfieri, Italian poet and playwright (d. 1803)
• 1757 – Richard Goodwin Keats, English admiral and politician, 3rd Commodore-Governor of Newfoundland (d. 1834)
• 1807 – Charles Henry Davis, American admiral (d. 1877)
• 1815 – Henry Halleck, American lawyer, general, and scholar (d. 1872)
• 1821 – John C. Breckinridge, American general and politician, 14th Vice President of the United States (d. 1875)
• 1834 – Robert R. Hitt, American lawyer and politician, 13th United States Assistant Secretary of State (d. 1906)
• 1836 – Francis II of the Two Sicilies (d. 1894)
• 1838 – Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist (d. 1917)
• 1851 – William Hall-Jones, English-New Zealand politician, 16th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1936)
• 1853 – Johnston Forbes-Robertson, English actor and manager (d. 1937)
• 1853 – Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton, Greek-English general (d. 1947)
• 1853 – André Michelin, French businessman, co-founded the Michelin Tyre Company (d. 1931)
• 1870 – Jüri Jaakson, Estonian businessman and politician, State Elder of Estonia (d. 1942)
• 1872 – Henri Büsser, French organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1973)
• 1874 – Robert W. Service, English-Canadian poet and author (d. 1958)
• 1875 – Leonor Michaelis, German biochemist and physician (d. 1949)
• 1876 – Claude Buckenham, English cricketer and footballer (d. 1937)
• 1878 – Harry Carey, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1947)
• 1880 – Samuel Jones, American high jumper (d. 1954)
• 1882 – Margaret Wilson, American author (d. 1973)
• 1885 – Zhou Zuoren, Chinese author and translator (d. 1967)
• 1888 – Osip Brik, Russian avant garde writer and literary critic (d. 1945)
• 1892 – Homer Burton Adkins, American chemist (d. 1949)
• 1893 – Daisy Kennedy, Australian-English violinist (d. 1981)
• 1894 – Irving Mills, American publisher (d. 1985)
• 1895 – Evripidis Bakirtzis, Greek soldier and politician (d. 1947)
• 1895 – T. M. Sabaratnam, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (d. 1966)
• 1895 – Nat Schachner, American lawyer, chemist, and author (d. 1955)
• 1897 – Carlos Pellicer, Mexican poet and academic (d. 1977)
• 1898 – Margaret Booth, American producer and editor (d. 2002)
• 1898 – Irving Rapper, American film director and producer (d. 1999)
• 1900 – Kiku Amino, Japanese author and translator (d. 1978)
• 1900 – Edith Frank, German-Dutch mother of Anne Frank (d. 1945)
• 1901 – Fulgencio Batista, Cuban colonel and politician, 9th President of Cuba (d. 1973)
• 1902 – Eric Liddell, Scottish runner, rugby player, and missionary (d. 1945)
• 1903 – William Grover-Williams, English-French race car driver (d. 1945)
• 1905 – Ernesto Halffter, Spanish composer and conductor (d. 1989)
• 1906 – Johannes Brenner, Estonian footballer and pilot (d. 1975)
• 1906 – Diana Wynyard, English actress (d. 1964)
• 1907 – Alexander Knox, Canadian-English actor and screenwriter (d. 1995)
• 1907 – Paul Nitze, American banker and politician, 10th United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 2004)
• 1908 – Sammy Crooks, English footballer (d. 1981)
• 1908 – Ethel Merman, American actress and singer (d. 1984)
• 1908 – Günther Prien, German captain (d. 1941)
• 1909 – Clement Greenberg, American art critic (d. 1994)
• 1910 – Dizzy Dean, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1974)
• 1911 – Ivan Barrow, Jamaican cricketer (d. 1979)
• 1911 – Eduardo Frei Montalva, Chilean lawyer and politician, 28th President of Chile (d. 1982)
• 1911 – Roger Lapébie, French cyclist (d. 1996)
• 1914 – Roger Wagner, French-American conductor and educator (d. 1992)
• 1915 – Leslie H. Martinson, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
• 1916 – Eddie Burns, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 2004)
• 1916 – Philip Lucock, English-Australian minister and politician (d. 1996)
• 1917 – Carl Karcher, American businessman, founded Carl’s Jr. (d. 2008)
• 1918 – Nel Benschop, Dutch poet and educator (d. 2005)
• 1918 – Allan Ekelund, Swedish director, producer, and production manager (d. 2009)
• 1918 – Clem Jones, Australian surveyor and politician, 8th Lord Mayor of Brisbane (d. 2007)
• 1918 – Stirling Silliphant, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1996)
• 1919 – Jerome Horwitz, American chemist and academic (d. 2012)
• 1920 – Alberto Crespo, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1991)
• 1920 – Elliott Reid, American actor and screenwriter (d. 2013)
• 1921 – Francesco Scavullo, American photographer (d. 2004)
• 1923 – Gene Feist, American director and playwright, co-founded the Roundabout Theatre Company (d. 2014)
• 1923 – Anthony Hecht, American poet (d. 2004)
• 1924 – Katy Jurado, Mexican actress (d. 2002)
• 1925 – Peter Hirsch, German-English metallurgist and academic
• 1925 – James Robinson Risner, American general and pilot (d. 2013)
• 1928 – William Kennedy, American novelist and journalist
• 1928 – Pilar Lorengar, Spanish soprano and actress (d. 1996)
• 1929 – Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah, Sri Lankan anthropologist and academic (d. 2014)
• 1930 – Mary Ann McMorrow, American lawyer and judge (d. 2013)
• 1930 – Norman Podhoretz, American journalist and author
• 1931 – John Enderby, English physicist and academic
• 1931 – Robert L. Park, American physicist and academic
• 1931 – Johannes Rau, German journalist and politician, 8th Federal President of Germany (d. 2006)
• 1932 – Victor Ciocâltea, Romanian chess player (d. 1983)
• 1932 – Dian Fossey, American zoologist and anthropologist (d. 1985)
• 1933 – Susan Sontag, American novelist, essayist, and critic (d. 2004)
• 1934 – Bob Bogle, American rock guitarist and bass player (d. 2009)
• 1934 – Marilyn Horne, American soprano and actress
• 1935 – A. J. Foyt, American race car driver
• 1935 – Udo Lattek, German footballer, manager, and sportscaster (d. 2015)
• 1936 – Michael White, Scottish actor and producer (d. 2016)
• 1937 – Luiz Bueno, Brazilian race car driver (d. 2011)
• 1937 – Francis George, American cardinal (d. 2015)
• 1938 – Marina Vaizey, American journalist and critic
• 1939 – Ralph Gibson, American photographer
• 1941 – Christine Truman, English tennis player and sportscaster
• 1942 – René Angélil, Canadian singer and manager (d. 2016)
• 1942 – Barbara Lynn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1943 – Gavin Bryars, English bassist and composer
• 1943 – Ronnie Milsap, American singer and pianist
• 1944 – Dieter Moebius, Swiss-German keyboard player and producer (d. 2015)
• 1944 – Jim Stafford, American singer-songwriter and actor
• 1944 – Jill Tarter, American astronomer and biologist
• 1944 – Judy Baar Topinka, American journalist and politician (d. 2014)
• 1945 – Wim Suurbier, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1946 – Kabir Bedi, Indian actor
• 1946 – Katia Ricciarelli, Italian soprano and actress
• 1947 – Elaine Murphy, Baroness Murphy, English academic and politician
• 1947 – Harvey Proctor, English politician
• 1947 – Laura Schlessinger, American physiologist, talk show host, and author
• 1948 – John Carpenter, American director, producer, screenwriter, and composer
• 1948 – Ants Laaneots, Estonian general
• 1948 – Cliff Thorburn, Canadian snooker player
• 1948 – Ruth Reichl, American journalist and critic
• 1949 – Anne F. Beiler, American businesswoman, founded Auntie Anne’s
• 1949 – R. F. Foster, Irish historian and academic
• 1949 – Andrew Refshauge, Australian physician and politician, 13th Deputy Premier of New South Wales
• 1950 – Debbie Allen, American actress, dancer, and choreographer
• 1950 – Robert Schimmel, American comedian, actor, and producer (d. 2010)
• 1952 – Fuad II, King of Egypt
• 1952 – Piercarlo Ghinzani, Italian race car driver and manager
• 1952 – L. Blaine Hammond, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
• 1952 – Julie Anne Peters, American engineer and author
• 1953 – Robert Jay Mathews, American militant, founded The Order (d. 1984)
• 1954 – Wolfgang Schmidt, German discus thrower
• 1954 – Vasili Zhupikov, Russian footballer and coach (d. 2015)
• 1955 – Jerry M. Linenger, American captain, physician, and astronaut
• 1956 – Wayne Daniel, Barbadian cricketer
• 1956 – Martin Jol, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1956 – Greedy Smith, Australian singer-songwriter and keyboardist (d. 2019)
• 1957 – Jurijs Andrejevs, Latvian footballer and manager
• 1957 – Ricardo Darín, Argentinian actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1957 – Mark Pawsey, English businessman and politician
• 1958 – Anatoli Boukreev, Russian mountaineer and explorer (d. 1997)
• 1958 – Lena Ek, Swedish lawyer and politician, 9th Swedish Minister for the Environment
• 1958 – Andris Šķēle, Latvian businessman and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Latvia
• 1959 – Lisa Milroy, Canadian painter and educator
• 1959 – Sade, Nigerian-English singer-songwriter and producer
• 1961 – Kenneth Sivertsen, Norwegian guitarist and composer (d. 2006)
• 1962 – Joel Fitzgibbon, Australian electrician and politician, 51st Australian Minister of Defence
• 1962 – Maxine Jones, American R&B singer–songwriter and actress
• 1963 – James May, British journalist/co-host of Top Gear
• 1964 – Gail Graham, Canadian golfer
• 1966 – Jack McDowell, American baseball player
• 1968 – Rebecca Stead, American author
• 1969 – Neil Back, English rugby player and coach
• 1969 – Marinus Bester, German footballer
• 1969 – Stevie Jackson, Scottish guitarist and songwriter
• 1969 – Roy Jones Jr., American boxer
• 1970 – Ron Villone, American baseball player and coach
• 1971 – Sergi Bruguera, Spanish tennis player and coach
• 1971 – Josh Evans, American film producer, screenwriter and actor
• 1971 – Jonathan Mangum, American actor
• 1972 – Ruben Bagger, Danish footballer
• 1972 – Ang Christou, Australian footballer
• 1972 – Yuri Alekseevich Drozdov, Russian footballer and manager
• 1972 – Ezra Hendrickson, Vincentian footballer and manager
• 1972 – Joe Horn, American football player and coach
• 1974 – Marlon Anderson, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1974 – John Hopoate, Tongan-Australian rugby league player and boxer
• 1974 – Kate Moss, English model and fashion designer
• 1976 – Viktor Maslov, Russian race car driver
• 1976 – Martina Moravcová, Slovak swimmer
• 1977 – Jeff Foster, American basketball player
• 1978 – Alfredo Amézaga, Mexican baseball player
• 1979 – Aaliyah, American singer and actress (d. 2001)
• 1979 – Brenden Morrow, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1979 – Jason Ward, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1980 – Lin-Manuel Miranda, American actor, playwright, and composer
• 1980 – Albert Pujols, Dominican-American baseball player
• 1981 – Jamie Lundmark, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1981 – Paul Rofe, Australian cricketer
• 1981 – Bobby Zamora, English footballer, striker
• 1982 – Preston, English singer-songwriter
• 1982 – Tuncay, Turkish footballer
• 1983 – Emanuel Pogatetz, Austrian footballer
• 1983 – Andriy Rusol, Ukrainian footballer
• 1984 – Stephan Lichtsteiner, Swiss footballer
• 1984 – Miroslav Radović, Serbian footballer
• 1985 – Joe Flacco, American football player
• 1985 – Jayde Herrick, Australian cricketer
• 1985 – Gintaras Januševičius, Russian-Lithuanian pianist
• 1985 – Twins Jonathan and Simon Richter, Danish-Gambian footballers
• 1985 – Sidharth Malhotra, Indian actor
• 1986 – Johannes Rahn, German footballer
• 1986 – Mark Trumbo, American baseball player
• 1986 – Reto Ziegler, Swiss footballer, left back
• 1987 – Jake Epstein, Canadian actor
• 1987 – Charlotte Henshaw, English swimmer
• 1988 – Nicklas Bendtner, Danish footballer
• 1988 – Jorge Torres Nilo, Mexican footballer
• 1991 – Matt Duchene, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1993 – Hannes Anier, Estonian footballer
• 1993 – Amandine Hesse, French tennis player
• 1994 – Chris Smith, Australian rugby league player
• 1995 – Mikaela Turik, Australian-Canadian cricketer
• 1998 – Cameron Murray, Australian rugby league player
• 2003 – Adriana Hernández, Mexican rhythmic gymnast

Deaths on January 16

• 654 – Gao Jifu, Chinese politician and chancellor (b. 596)
• 957 – Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ali al-Madhara’i, Tulunid vizier (b. 871)
• 970 – Polyeuctus of Constantinople, Byzantine patriarch (b. 956)
• 1263 – Shinran Shonin, Japanese founder of the Jodo Shinshu branch of Pure Land Buddhism
• 1289 – Buqa, Mongol minister
• 1327 – Nikephoros Choumnos, Byzantine monk, scholar, and politician (b. 1250)
• 1354 – Joanna of Châtillon, duchess of Athens (b. c.1285)
• 1373 – Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford (b. 1342)
• 1391 – Muhammed V of Granada, Nasrid emir (b. 1338)
• 1400 – John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter, English politician, Lord Great Chamberlain (b. 1352)
• 1443 – Erasmo of Narni, Italian mercenary (b. 1370)
• 1545 – George Spalatin, German priest and reformer (b. 1484)
• 1547 – Johannes Schöner, German astronomer and cartographer (b. 1477)
• 1554 – Christiern Pedersen, Danish publisher and scholar (b. 1480)
• 1585 – Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln, English admiral and politician (b. 1512)
• 1595 – Murad III, Ottoman sultan (b. 1546)
• 1659 – Charles Annibal Fabrot, French lawyer (b. 1580)
• 1710 – Higashiyama, Japanese emperor (b. 1675)
• 1711 – Joseph Vaz, Indian-Sri Lankan priest and saint (b. 1651)
• 1747 – Barthold Heinrich Brockes, German poet and playwright (b. 1680)
• 1748 – Arnold Drakenborch, Dutch lawyer and scholar (b. 1684)
• 1750 – Ivan Trubetskoy, Russian field marshal and politician (b. 1667)
• 1752 – Francis Blomefield, English historian and author (b. 1705)
• 1794 – Edward Gibbon, English historian and politician (b. 1737)
• 1809 – John Moore, Scottish general and politician (b. 1761)
• 1817 – Alexander J. Dallas, Jamaican-American lawyer and politician, 6th United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1759)
• 1834 – Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette, French mathematician and academic (b. 1769)
• 1856 – Thaddeus William Harris, American entomologist and botanist (b. 1795)
• 1864 – Anton Schindler, Austrian secretary and author (b. 1795)
• 1865 – Edmond François Valentin About, French journalist and author (b. 1828)
• 1879 – Octave Crémazie, Canadian-French poet and bookseller (b. 1827)
• 1886 – Amilcare Ponchielli, Italian composer and academic (b. 1834)
• 1891 – Léo Delibes, French pianist and composer (b. 1836)
• 1898 – Charles Pelham Villiers, English lawyer and politician (b. 1802)
• 1901 – Jules Barbier, French poet and playwright (b. 1825)
• 1901 – Arnold Böcklin, Swiss painter and academic (b. 1827)
• 1901 – Hiram Rhodes Revels, American soldier, minister, and politician (b. 1822)
• 1906 – Marshall Field, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Marshall Field’s (b. 1834)
• 1917 – George Dewey, American admiral (b. 1837)
• 1919 – Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 5th President of Brazil (b. 1848)
• 1933 – Bekir Sami Kunduh, Turkish politician (b. 1867)
• 1936 – Albert Fish, American serial killer, rapist and cannibal (b. 1870)
• 1938 – Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay Indian author and playwright (b. 1876)
• 1942 – Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (b. 1850)
• 1942 – Villem Grünthal-Ridala, Estonian poet and linguist (b. 1885)
• 1942 – Carole Lombard, American actress and comedian (b. 1908)
• 1942 – Ernst Scheller, German lawyer and politician, Mayor of Marburg (b. 1899)
• 1957 – Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone, English general and politician, 16th Governor General of Canada (b. 1874)
• 1957 – Arturo Toscanini, Italian cellist and conductor (b. 1867)
• 1959 – Phan Khôi, Vietnamese journalist and author (b. 1887)
• 1960 – Arthur Darby, English rugby player (b. 1876)
• 1961 – Max Schöne, German swimmer (b. 1880)
• 1962 – Frank Hurley, Australian photographer, director, producer, and cinematographer (b. 1885)
• 1962 – Ivan Meštrović, Croatian sculptor and architect, designed the Monument to the Unknown Hero (b. 1883)
• 1967 – Robert J. Van de Graaff, American physicist and academic (b. 1901)
• 1968 – Bob Jones Sr., American evangelist, founded Bob Jones University (b. 1883)
• 1968 – Panagiotis Poulitsas, Greek archaeologist and judge (b. 1881)
• 1969 – Vernon Duke, Russian-American composer and songwriter (b. 1903)
• 1971 – Philippe Thys, Belgian cyclist (b. 1890)
• 1972 – Teller Ammons, American soldier and politician, 28th Governor of Colorado (b. 1895)
• 1972 – Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., American singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, and actor, created Alvin and the Chipmunks (b. 1919)
• 1973 – Edgar Sampson, American musician and composer (b. 1907)
• 1975 – Israel Abramofsky, Russian-American painter (b. 1888)
• 1978 – A. V. Kulasingham, Sri Lankan journalist, lawyer, and politician (b. 1890)
• 1981 – Bernard Lee, English actor (b. 1908)
• 1983 – Virginia Mauret, American musician and dancer
• 1986 – Herbert W. Armstrong, American evangelist, author, and publisher (b. 1892)
• 1987 – Bertram Wainer, Australian physician and activist (b. 1928)
• 1988 – Andrija Artuković, Croatian politician, war criminal, and Porajmos perpetrator, 1st Minister of Interior of the Independent State of Croatia (b. 1899)
• 1995 – Eric Mottram, English poet and critic (b. 1924)
• 1996 – Marcia Davenport, American author and critic (b. 1903)
• 1996 – Kaye Webb, English journalist and publisher (b. 1914)
• 1999 – Jim McClelland, Australian lawyer, jurist, and politician, 12th Minister for Industry and Science (b. 1915)
• 2000 – Robert R. Wilson, American physicist and academic (b. 1914)
• 2001 – Auberon Waugh, English author and journalist (b. 1939)
• 2002 – Robert Hanbury Brown, English astronomer and physicist (b. 1916)
• 2003 – Richard Wainwright, English politician (b. 1918)
• 2004 – Kalevi Sorsa, Finnish politician 34th Prime Minister of Finland (b. 1930)
• 2005 – Marjorie Williams, American journalist and author (b. 1958)
• 2006 – Stanley Biber, American soldier and physician (b. 1923)
• 2007 – Benny Parsons, American race car driver and sportscaster (b. 1941)
• 2009 – Joe Erskine, American boxer and runner (b. 1930)
• 2009 – John Mortimer, English lawyer and author (b. 1923)
• 2009 – Andrew Wyeth, American painter (b. 1917)
• 2010 – Glen Bell, American businessman, founded Taco Bell (b. 1923)
• 2010 – Jyoti Basu, Indian lawyer and politician, 9th Chief Minister of West Bengal (b. 1914)
• 2010 – Takumi Shibano, Japanese author and translator (b. 1926)
• 2012 – Joe Bygraves, Jamaican-English boxer (b. 1931)
• 2012 – Jimmy Castor, American singer-songwriter and saxophonist (b. 1940)
• 2012 – Sigursteinn Gíslason, Icelandic footballer and manager (b. 1968)
• 2012 – Lorna Kesterson, American journalist and politician (b. 1925)
• 2012 – Gustav Leonhardt, Dutch pianist, conductor, and musicologist (b. 1928)
• 2013 – Wayne D. Anderson, American baseball player and coach (b. 1930)
• 2013 – André Cassagnes, French technician and toy maker, created the Etch A Sketch (b. 1926)
• 2013 – Gussie Moran, American tennis player and sportscaster (b. 1923)
• 2013 – Pauline Phillips, American journalist and radio host, created Dear Abby (b. 1918)
• 2013 – Glen P. Robinson, American businessman, founded Scientific Atlanta (b. 1923)
• 2014 – Gary Arlington, American author and illustrator (b. 1938)
• 2014 – Ruth Duccini, American actress (b. 1918)
• 2014 – Dave Madden, Canadian-American actor (b. 1931)
• 2014 – Hiroo Onoda, Japanese lieutenant (b. 1922)
• 2015 – Miriam Akavia, Polish-Israeli author and translator (b. 1927)
• 2015 – Yao Beina, Chinese singer (b. 1981)
• 2016 – Joannis Avramidis, Greek sculptor (b. 1922)
• 2016 – Ted Marchibroda, American football player and coach (b. 1931)
• 2017 – Eugene Cernan, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1934)
• 2018 – Ed Doolan, British radio presenter (b. 1941)
• 2018 – Oliver Ivanović, Kosovo Serb politician (b. 1953)
• 2019 – John C. Bogle, American businessman, investor, and philanthropist (b. 1929)
• 2019 – Lorna Doom, American musician (b. 1958)
• 2019 – Chris Wilson, Australian musician (b. 1956)
• 2020 – Christopher Tolkien, British academic and editor (died 2020)

Holidays and observances on January 16

• Christian feast day:
  • Pope Benjamin (Coptic)
  • Berard of Carbio
  • Blaise (Armenian Apostolic)
  • Fursey
  • Joseph Vaz
  • Honoratus of Arles
  • Pope Marcellus I
  • Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (Coptic Church)
  • Titian of Oderzo
  • Eve of Saint Anthony observed with ritual bonfires in San Bartolomé de Pinares
  • January 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• National Religious Freedom Day (United States)
• Teacher’s Day (Myanmar)
• Teachers’ Day (Thailand)