Skip to content
-
May 2 in History
- 1194 – King Richard I of England gives Portsmouth its first Royal Charter
- 1230 – William de Braose is hanged by Prince Llywelyn the Great.
- 1335 – Otto the Merry, Duke of Austria, becomes Duke of Carinthia.
- 1536 – Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, is arrested and imprisoned on charges of adultery, incest, treason and witchcraft.
- 1559 – John Knox returns from exile to Scotland to become the leader of the nascent Scottish Reformation.
- 1568 – Mary, Queen of Scots, escapes from Loch Leven Castle.
- 1611 – The King James Version of the Bible is published for the first time in London, England, by printer Robert Barker.
- 1625 – Afonso Mendes, appointed by Pope Gregory XV as Latin Patriarch of Ethiopia, arrives at Beilul from Goa.
- 1670 – King Charles II of England grants a permanent charter to the Hudson’s Bay Company to open up the fur trade in North America.
- 1672 – John Maitland becomes Duke of Lauderdale and Earl of March.
- 1808 – Outbreak of the Peninsular War: The people of Madrid rise up in rebellion against French occupation. Francisco de Goya later memorializes this event in his painting The Second of May 1808.
- 1812 – The Siege of Cuautla during the Mexican War of Independence ends with both sides claiming victory after Mexican rebels under José María Morelos y Pavón abandon the city after 72 days under siege by royalist Spanish troops under Félix María Calleja.
- 1816 – Marriage of Léopold of Saxe-Coburg and Princess Charlotte of Wales.
- 1829 – After anchoring nearby, Captain Charles Fremantle of HMS Challenger, declares the Swan River Colony in Australia.
- 1863 – American Civil War: Stonewall Jackson is wounded by friendly fire while returning to camp after reconnoitering during the Battle of Chancellorsville. He succumbs to pneumonia eight days later.
- 1866 – Peruvian defenders fight off the Spanish fleet at the Battle of Callao.
- 1876 – The April Uprising breaks out in Ottoman Bulgaria.
- 1879 – The Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party is founded in Madrid by Pablo Iglesias.
- 1885 – Cree and Assiniboine warriors win the Battle of Cut Knife, their largest victory over Canadian forces during the North-West Rebellion.
- 1889 – Menelik II, Emperor of Ethiopia, signs the Treaty of Wuchale, giving Italy control over Eritrea.
- 1906 – Closing ceremony of the Intercalated Games in Athens, Greece.
- 1918 – General Motors acquires the Chevrolet Motor Company of Delaware.
- 1920 – The first game of the Negro National League baseball is played in Indianapolis.
- 1933 – Germany’s independent labor unions are replaced by the German Labour Front.
- 1941 – Following the coup d’état against Iraq Crown Prince ‘Abd al-Ilah earlier that year, the United Kingdom launches the Anglo-Iraqi War to restore him to power.
- 1945 – World War II: The Soviet Union announces the fall of Berlin.
- 1945 – World War II: The surrender of Caserta comes into effect, by which German troops in Italy cease fighting.
- 1945 – World War II: The US 82nd Airborne Division liberates Wöbbelin concentration camp finding 1000 dead prisoners, most of whom starved to death.
- 1945 – World War II: A death march from Dachau to the Austrian border is halted by the segregated, all-Nisei 522nd Field Artillery Battalion of the U.S. Army in southern Bavaria, saving several hundred prisoners.
- 1952 – A De Havilland Comet makes the first jetliner flight with fare-paying passengers, from London to Johannesburg.
- 1955 – Tennessee Williams wins the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
- 1963 – Berthold Seliger launches a rocket with three stages and a maximum flight altitude of more than 100 kilometres near Cuxhaven. It is the only sounding rocket developed in Germany.
- 1964 – Vietnam War: An explosion sinks the American aircraft carrier USNS Card while it is docked at Saigon. Two Viet Cong combat swimmers had placed explosives on the ship’s hull. She is raised and returned to service less than seven months later.
- 1964 – First ascent of Shishapangma, the fourteenth highest mountain in the world and the lowest of the Eight-thousanders.
- 1969 – The British ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 departs on her maiden voyage to New York City.
- 1972 – In the early morning hours a fire breaks out at the Sunshine Mine located between Kellogg and Wallace, Idaho, killing 91 workers.
- 1982 – Falklands War: The British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sinks the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano.
- 1986 – Chernobyl disaster: The City of Chernobyl is evacuated six days after the disaster.
- 1989 – Cold War: Hungary begins dismantling its border fence with Austria, which allows a number of East Germans to defect.
- 1994 – A bus crashes in Gdańsk, Poland killing 32 people.
- 1995 – During the Croatian War of Independence, the Army of the Republic of Serb Krajina fires cluster bombs at Zagreb, killing seven and wounding over 175 civilians.
- 1998 – The European Central Bank is founded in Brussels in order to define and execute the European Union’s monetary policy.
- 1999 – Panamanian general election, 1999: Mireya Moscoso becomes the first woman to be elected President of Panama.
- 2000 – President Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military.
- 2004 – The Yelwa massacre concludes. It began on 4 February 2004 when armed Muslims killed 78 Christians at Yelwa. In response, about 630 Muslims were killed by Christians on May 2nd.
- 2008 – Cyclone Nargis makes landfall in Burma killing over 138,000 people and leaving millions of people homeless.
- 2008 – Chaitén Volcano begins erupting in Chile, forcing the evacuation of more than 4,500 people.
- 2011 – Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the September 11 attacks and the FBI’s most wanted man, is killed by the United States special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
- 2011 – An E. coli outbreak strikes Europe, mostly in Germany, leaving more than 30 people dead and many others sick from the bacteria outbreak.
- 2012 – A pastel version of The Scream, by Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, sells for $120 million in a New York City auction, setting a new world record for a work of art at auction.
- 2014 – Two mudslides in Badakhshan, Afghanistan, leave up to 2,500 people missing.
Births on May 2
- 1360 – Yongle Emperor of China (d. 1424)
- 1402 – Eleanor of Aragon, Queen of Portugal (d. 1445)
- 1451 – René II, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1508)
- 1458 – Eleanor of Viseu (d. 1525)
- 1476 – Charles I, Duke of Münsterberg-Oels, Count of Kladsko, Governor of Bohemia and Silesia (d. 1536)
- 1533 – Philip II, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen (d. 1596)
- 1551 – William Camden, English historian and topographer (d. 1623)
- 1567 – Sebald de Weert, Dutch captain, vice-admiral of the Dutch East India Company (d. 1603)
- 1579 – Tokugawa Hidetada, Japanese shōgun (d. 1632)
- 1601 – Athanasius Kircher, German priest and scholar (d. 1680)
- 1660 – Alessandro Scarlatti, Italian composer (d. 1725)
- 1695 – Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni, Italian-French painter and architect (d. 1766)
- 1702 – Friedrich Christoph Oetinger, German theologian and theosopher (d. 1782)
- 1707 – Jean-Baptiste Barrière, French cellist and composer (d. 1747)
- 1729 – Catherine the Great of Russia (d. 1796)
- 1737 – William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, Irish-English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1805)
- 1740 – Elias Boudinot, American lawyer and politician, 10th President of the Continental Congress (d. 1821)
- 1750 – John André, English soldier and spy (d. 1780)
- 1752 – Ludwig August Lebrun, German oboe player and composer (d. 1790)
- 1754 – Vicente Martín y Soler, Spanish composer (d. 1806)
- 1772 – Novalis, German author and poet (d. 1801)
- 1773 – Henrik Steffens, Norwegian philosopher and poet (d. 1845)
- 1797 – Abraham Pineo Gesner, Canadian physician and geologist (d. 1864)
- 1802 – Heinrich Gustav Magnus, German chemist and physicist (d. 1870)
- 1806 – Catherine Labouré, French nun and saint (d. 1876)
- 1810 – Hans Christian Lumbye, Danish composer and conductor (d. 1874)
- 1813 – Caroline Leigh Gascoigne, English novelist and poet (d. 1883)
- 1815 – William Buell Richards, Canadian lawyer and judge, 1st Chief Justice of Canada (d. 1889)
- 1822 – Jane Miller Thengberg, Scottish-Swedish governess and educator (d. 1902)
- 1828 – Désiré Charnay, French archaeologist and photographer (d. 1915)
- 1830 – Otto Staudinger, German entomologist and author (d. 1900)
- 1843 – Elijah McCoy, Canadian-American engineer (d. 1929)
- 1859 – Jerome K. Jerome, English author and playwright (d. 1927)
- 1860 – John Scott Haldane, Scottish physiologist, physician, and academic (d. 1936)
- 1860 – Theodor Herzl, Austro-Hungarian Zionist philosopher, journalist and author (d. 1904)
- 1865 – Clyde Fitch, American playwright (d. 1909)
- 1867 – Giuseppe Morello, Italian-American mobster (d. 1930)
- 1873 – Jurgis Baltrušaitis, Lithuanian poet, critic, and translator (d. 1944)
- 1879 – James F. Byrnes, American stenographer and politician, 49th United States Secretary of State (d. 1972)
- 1880 – Bill Horr, American football player, discus thrower, and coach (d. 1955)
- 1882 – Isabel González, Puerto Rican activist who helped pave the way for Puerto Ricans’ American citizenship (d. 1971)
- 1885 – Hedda Hopper, American actress and gossip columnist (d. 1966)
- 1886 – Gottfried Benn, German author and poet (d. 1956)
- 1887 – Vernon Castle, English-American dancer (d. 1918)
- 1887 – Eddie Collins, American baseball player and manager (d. 1951)
- 1889 – Ki Hajar Dewantara, Indonesian philosopher, academic, and politician (d. 1959)
- 1890 – E. E. Smith, American engineer and author (d. 1965)
- 1892 – Manfred von Richthofen, German captain and pilot (d. 1918)
- 1894 – Norma Talmadge, leading US actress of the silent era (d. 1957)
- 1894 – Joseph Henry Woodger, English biologist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1981)
- 1895 – Lorenz Hart, American playwright and lyricist (d. 1943)
- 1897 – John Frederick Coots, American songwriter (d. 1985)
- 1898 – Henry Hall, English bandleader, composer, and actor (d. 1989)
- 1901 – Bob Wyatt, English cricketer (d. 1995)
- 1901 – Edouard Zeckendorf, Belgian doctor, army officer and mathematician (d. 1983)
- 1901 – Willi Bredel, German writer (d. 1964)
- 1902 – Brian Aherne, English actor (d. 1986)
- 1902 – Werner Finck, German Kabarett comedian, actor and author (d. 1978)
- 1903 – Benjamin Spock, American rower, pediatrician, and author (d. 1998)
- 1904 – Bill Brandt, German-English photographer and journalist (d. 1983)
- 1905 – Alan Rawsthorne, British composer (d. 1971)
- 1905 – Charlotte Armstrong, American author (d. 1969)
- 1906 – Philippe Halsman, Latvian-American photographer (d. 1979)
- 1907 – Pinky Lee, American comedian and television host (d. 1993)
- 1908 – Frank Rowlett, American cryptologist (d. 1998)
- 1909 – Teddy Stauffer, Swiss bandleader, musician, and actor (d. 1991)
- 1910 – Alexander Bonnyman, Jr., American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1943)
- 1910 – Edmund Bacon, American urban planner, architect, educator, and author (d. 2005)
- 1912 – Axel Springer, German journalist and publisher, founded Axel Springer AG (d. 1985)
- 1912 – Karl Adam, German rowing coaches (d. 1976)
- 1912 – Marten Toonder, Dutch comic strip creator (d. 2005)
- 1912 – Nigel Patrick, English actor and director (d. 1981)
- 1913 – Pietro Frua, Italian coachbuilder and car designer (d. 1983)
- 1913 – Aydın Sayılı, Turkish historian and academic (d. 1993)
- 1915 – Doris Fisher, American singer-songwriter (d. 2003)
- 1915 – Peggy Mount, English actress (d. 2001)
- 1917 – Albert Castelyns, Belgian water polo player and bobsledder
- 1917 – Văn Tiến Dũng, Vietnamese general and politician, 6th Minister of Defence for Vietnam (d. 2002)
- 1920 – Jean-Marie Auberson, Swiss violinist and conductor (d. 2004)
- 1920 – Otto Buchsbaum, Austrian-Brazilian journalist and activist (d. 2000)
- 1920 – Vasantrao Deshpande, Indian singer and sitar player (d. 1983)
- 1920 – Guinn Smith, American pole vaulter, soldier, and pilot (d. 2004)
- 1920 – Jacob Gilboa, Israeli composer (d. 2007)
- 1921 – B. B. Lal, Indian archaeologist
- 1921 – Satyajit Ray, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1992)
- 1922 – Roscoe Lee Browne, American actor and director (d. 2007)
- 1922 – A. M. Rosenthal, Canadian-born American journalist and author (d. 2006)
- 1922 – Serge Reggiani, Italian-born French singer and actor (d. 2004)
- 1923 – Patrick Hillery, Irish physician and politician, 6th President of Ireland (d. 2008)
- 1923 – Albert Nordengen, Norwegian banker and politician (d. 2004)
- 1924 – Jamal Abro, Pakistani lawyer and author (d. 2004)
- 1924 – Theodore Bikel, Austrian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2015)
- 1924 – Arthur Clues, Australian rugby league player (d. 1998)
- 1924 – Hugh Cortazzi, English soldier, historian, and diplomat, British Ambassador to Japan (d. 2018)
- 1925 – John Neville, English-Canadian actor (d. 2011)
- 1926 – Gérard D. Levesque, Canadian lawyer and politician, 5th Deputy Premier of Quebec (d. 1993)
- 1927 – Ray Barrett, Australian actor and singer (d. 2009)
- 1927 – Amos Kenan, Israeli columnist, painter, sculptor, playwright and novelist (d. 2009)
- 1927 – Michael Broadbent, British wine critic and writer (d. 2020)
- 1928 – Hans Trass, Estonian ecologist and botanist (d. 2017)
- 1928 – Georges-Arthur Goldschmidt, French writer and translator of German origin
- 1928 – Horst Stein, German conductor (d. 2008)
- 1929 – Édouard Balladur, Turkish-French economist and politician, 162nd Prime Minister of France
- 1929 – James Dillion, American discus thrower (d. 2010)
- 1929 – Link Wray, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2005)
- 1929 – Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, Druk Gyalpo of Bhutan (d. 1972)
- 1930 – Yoram Kaniuk, Israeli painter and critic (d. 2013)
- 1930 – Marco Pannella, Italian journalist and politician (d. 2016)
- 1931 – Phil Bruns, American actor and stuntman (d. 2012)
- 1931 – Martha Grimes, American author and poet
- 1932 – Maury Allen, American journalist, actor, and author (d. 2010)
- 1933 – Bunk Gardner, American musician
- 1933 – Harry Woolf, Baron Woolf, English lawyer and judge, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
- 1934 – Manfred Durniok, German film producer, director and screenwriter (d. 2003)
- 1935 – Luis Suárez Miramontes, Spanish footballer and manager
- 1935 – Faisal II of Iraq, the last King of Iraq (d.1958)
- 1936 – Norma Aleandro, Argentinian actress, director, and screenwriter
- 1936 – Engelbert Humperdinck, English singer and pianist
- 1936 – Michael Rabin, American violinist (d. 1972)
- 1937 – Klaus Enders, German motorcycle sidecar racer (d. 2019)
- 1937 – Lorenzo Music, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2001)
- 1937 – Gisela Elsner, German writer (d. 1992)
- 1938 – Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho (d. 1996)
- 1939 – Sumio Iijima, Japanese physicist and engineer
- 1939 – Ernesto Castano, Italian football player
- 1940 – Jules Albert Wijdenbosch, Surinamese politician
- 1941 – Tony Adamowicz, American race car driver (d. 2016)
- 1941 – Bruce Cameron, Scottish bishop
- 1941 – Clay Carroll, American baseball player
- 1941 – Eddy Louiss, French jazz musician (d. 2015)
- 1942 – Jacques Rogge, Belgian businessman
- 1942 – Wojciech Pszoniak, Polish film and theater actor
- 1944 – Robert G. W. Anderson, English chemist, historian, and curator
- 1945 – Randy Cain, American soul singer (d. 2009)
- 1945 – Judge Dread, English singer-songwriter (d. 1998)
- 1945 – Bianca Jagger, Nicaraguan-American model, actress, and activist
- 1945 – Goldy McJohn, Canadian keyboard player (d. 2017)
- 1946 – Peter L. Benson, American psychologist and academic (d. 2011)
- 1946 – Lesley Gore, American singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
- 1946 – David Suchet, English actor
- 1947 – James Dyson, English businessman, founded the Dyson Company
- 1947 – Lynda Myles, English screenwriter and producer
- 1947 – Philippe Herreweghe, Belgian conductor
- 1948 – Larry Gatlin, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
- 1949 – Alan Titchmarsh, English gardener and author
- 1949 – Alfons Schuhbeck, German celebrity chef, author and businessman
- 1950 – Simon Gaskell, English chemist and academic
- 1950 – Duncan Gay, Australian businessman and politician
- 1950 – Lou Gramm, American singer-songwriter
- 1950 – Richard Ground, English lawyer and judge (d. 2014)
- 1950 – Fausto Silva, Brazilian television presenter
- 1951 – John Glascock, English singer and bass player (d. 1979)
- 1952 – Chris Anderson, Australian rugby league player and coach
- 1952 – Christine Baranski, American actress and singer
- 1952 – Isla St Clair, Scottish singer and actress
- 1953 – Valery Gergiev, Russian conductor and director
- 1953 – Jamaal Wilkes, American basketball player
- 1954 – Elliot Goldenthal, American composer and conductor
- 1954 – Dawn Primarolo, English politician
- 1954 – Stephen Venables, English mountaineer and author
- 1955 – Willie Miller, Scottish footballer
- 1955 – Donatella Versace, Italian fashion designer
- 1956 – Régis Labeaume, Canadian businessman and politician, 41st Mayor of Quebec City
- 1958 – Yasushi Akimoto, Japanese songwriter and producer
- 1958 – Stanislav Levý, Czech footballer and manager
- 1958 – David O’Leary, English-Irish footballer and manager
- 1959 – Alan Best, Canadian animator, director, and producer
- 1959 – Tony Wakeford, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1960 – Stephen Daldry, English director and producer
- 1961 – Steve James, English snooker player
- 1961 – Sophie Thibault, Canadian journalist
- 1961 – Phil Vickery, English chef and author
- 1962 – Elizabeth Berridge, American actress
- 1962 – Michael Grandage, English director and producer
- 1962 – Jimmy White, English snooker player
- 1965 – Félix José, Dominican-American baseball player
- 1966 – Uwe Freiler, German footballer
- 1966 – Margus Kolga, Estonian diplomat
- 1966 – Belinda Stronach, Canadian businesswoman, philanthropist, and politician
- 1967 – Bengt Åkerblom, Swedish ice hockey player (d. 1995)
- 1967 – Mika Brzezinski, American journalist and author
- 1967 – David Rocastle, English footballer (d. 2001)
- 1968 – Jeff Agoos, Swiss-American soccer player, manager, and sportscaster
- 1968 – Julia Hartley-Brewer, English broadcaster and columnist
- 1968 – Ziana Zain, Malaysian singer-songwriter and actress
- 1969 – Brian Lara, Trinidadian cricketer
- 1970 – Marco Walker, Swiss footballer and coach
- 1971 – Musashimaru Kōyō, Samoan-American sumo wrestler, the 67th Yokozuna
- 1971 – Fatima Yusuf, Nigerian sprinter
- 1972 – Paul Adcock, English footballer
- 1972 – Ahti Heinla, Estonian programmer and businessman, co-developed Skype
- 1972 – Dwayne Johnson, American-Canadian wrestler, actor, and producer
- 1973 – Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, German director and screenwriter
- 1974 – Horacio Carbonari, Argentinian footballer and manager
- 1974 – Andy Johnson, English-Welsh footballer
- 1974 – Janek Meet, Estonian footballer
- 1975 – David Beckham, English footballer, coach, and model
- 1975 – Joe Wilkinson, English comedian, actor and writer
- 1976 – Jeff Gutt, American singer-songwriter
- 1977 – Brian Cardinal, American basketball player
- 1977 – Jan Fitschen, German runner
- 1977 – Luke Hudson, American baseball player
- 1977 – Fredrik Malm, Swedish journalist and politician
- 1977 – Jenna von Oÿ, American actress and singer
- 1977 – Kalle Palander, Finnish skier
- 1978 – Melvin Ely, American basketball player
- 1978 – Mike Weaver, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1979 – Jason Chimera, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1979 – Ioannis Kanotidis, Greek footballer
- 1979 – Defne Joy Foster, Turkish-American actress, presenter and VJ (d. 2011)
- 1980 – Tim Borowski, German footballer
- 1980 – Pierre-Luc Gagnon, Canadian skateboarder
- 1980 – Ellie Kemper, American actress, comedian and writer
- 1980 – Zat Knight, English footballer
- 1980 – Artūras Masiulis, Lithuanian basketball player
- 1980 – Troy Murphy, American basketball player
- 1980 – Lassaâd Ouertani, Tunisian footballer (d. 2013)
- 1980 – Brad Richards, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1980 – Vincent Tong, Canadian actor, singer, voice actor and director
- 1981 – Robert Buckley, American actor
- 1981 – Chris Kirkland, English footballer
- 1981 – Tiago Mendes, Portuguese footballer
- 1981 – Matt Murray, English footballer
- 1981 – Rina Satō, Japanese voice actress and singer
- 1982 – Timothy Benjamin, Welsh sprinter
- 1982 – Johan Botha, South African cricketer
- 1983 – Alessandro Diamanti, Italian footballer
- 1983 – Maynor Figueroa, Honduran footballer
- 1983 – Tina Maze, Slovenian skier
- 1983 – Daniel Sordo, Spanish race car driver
- 1983 – Ove Vanebo, Norwegian politician
- 1984 – Saulius Mikoliūnas, Lithuanian footballer
- 1984 – Thabo Sefolosha, Swiss basketball player
- 1985 – Lily Allen, English singer-songwriter and actress
- 1985 – Kyle Busch, American race car driver
- 1985 – Ashley Harkleroad, American tennis player
- 1985 – Sarah Hughes, American figure skater
- 1987 – Saara Aalto, Finnish singer and actress
- 1987 – Nana Kitade, Japanese singer-songwriter and actress
- 1987 – Pat McAfee, American football player
- 1987 – Kris Russell, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1987 – Justin Young, English singer and songwriter
- 1988 – Neftalí Feliz, Dominican baseball player
- 1988 – Stephen Henderson, Irish footballer
- 1989 – Jeanette Pohlen, American basketball player
- 1990 – Kay Panabaker, American actress
- 1990 – Paul George, American basketball player
- 1991 – Jeong Jinwoon, South Korean actor and singer
- 1992 – Sunmi, South Korean singer
- 1992 – María Teresa Torró Flor, Spanish tennis player
- 1993 – Owain Doull, Welsh track cyclist
- 1993 – Isyana Sarasvati, Indonesian singer
- 1993 – Huang Zitao, Chinese singer and rapper
- 1996 – Cherprang Areekul, Thai singer
- 1996 – Julian Brandt, German footballer
- 1996 – Schuyler Bailar, American swimmer
- 2015 – Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, British royal, and fourth in line to the British throne
Deaths on May 2
- 373 – Athanasius of Alexandria, Egyptian bishop and saint (b. 298)
- 649 – Marutha of Tikrit, Persian theologian of the Syriac Orthodox Church (b. 565)
- 821 – Liu Zong, general of the Tang Dynasty
- 907 – Boris I of Bulgaria
- 1219 – Leo I, King of Armenia (b. 1150)
- 1230 – William de Braose, English son of Reginald de Braose (b. 1197)
- 1293 – Meir of Rothenburg, German rabbi (b. c.1215)
- 1300 – Blanche of Artois (b. 1248)
- 1450 – William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, English admiral (b. 1396)
- 1519 – Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor, and architect (b. 1452)
- 1564 – Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, Italian cardinal (b. 1500)
- 1627 – Lodovico Grossi da Viadana, Italian composer and educator (b. 1560)
- 1667 – George Wither, English poet and author (b. 1588)
- 1683 – Stjepan Gradić, Croatian philosopher and mathematician (b. 1613)
- 1711 – Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester, English politician, First Lord of the Treasury (b. 1641)
- 1799 – Juan Vicente de Güemes, 2nd Count of Revillagigedo (b. 1740)
- 1802 – Herman Willem Daendels, Dutch general and politician, Governor-General of the Dutch Gold Coast (b. 1762)
- 1810 – Henry Jerome de Salis, English priest (b. 1740)
- 1819 – Mary Moser, English painter and academic (b. 1744)
- 1857 – Alfred de Musset, French dramatist, poet, and novelist (b. 1810)
- 1864 – Giacomo Meyerbeer, German composer and educator (b. 1791)
- 1880 – Eberhard Anheuser, German-American businessman, co-founded Anheuser-Busch (b. 1805)
- 1880 – Tom Wills, Australian cricketer, co-created Australian rules football (b. 1835)
- 1885 – Terézia Zakoucs, Hungarian-Slovene author (b. 1817)
- 1915 – Clara Immerwahr, German chemist (b. 1870)
- 1918 – Jüri Vilms, Estonian lawyer and politician (b. 1889)
- 1925 – Antun Branko Šimić, Croatian and Bosnian-Herzegovinian poet (b. 1898)
- 1927 – Ernest Starling, English physiologist and academic (b. 1866)
- 1929 – Charalambos Tseroulis, Greek general and politician, Greek Minister for Military Affairs (b. 1879)
- 1941 – Penelope Delta, Greek author (b. 1874)
- 1945 – Martin Bormann, German politician (b. 1900)
- 1945 – Joe Corbett, American baseball player and journalist (b. 1875)
- 1947 – Dorothea Binz, German SS officer (b. 1920)
- 1953 – Wallace Bryant, American archer (b. 1863)
- 1957 – Joseph McCarthy, American captain, lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1908)
- 1963 – Ronald Barnes, 3rd Baron Gorell, English cricketer, peer, politician, poet, author and newspaper editor (b. 1884)
- 1964 – Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, American-English politician (b. 1879)
- 1969 – Franz von Papen, German general and politician, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1879)
- 1972 – J. Edgar Hoover, American 1st director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (b. 1895)
- 1974 – James O. Richardson, American admiral (b. 1878)
- 1977 – Nicholas Magallanes, American principal dancer and charter member of the New York City Ballet (b. 1922)
- 1979 – Giulio Natta, Italian chemist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
- 1980 – Clarrie Grimmett, New Zealand-Australian cricketer (b. 1891)
- 1980 – George Pal, Hungarian-American animator and producer (b. 1908)
- 1983 – Norm Van Brocklin, American football player and coach (b. 1926)
- 1984 – Jack Barry, American game show host and producer, co-founded Barry & Enright Productions (b. 1918)
- 1984 – Bob Clampett, American animator, director, and producer (b. 1913)
- 1985 – Attilio Bettega, Italian race car driver (b. 1951)
- 1985 – Larry Clinton, American trumpet player and bandleader (b. 1909)
- 1986 – Sergio Cresto, American race car driver (b. 1956)
- 1986 – Henri Toivonen, Finnish race car driver (b. 1956)
- 1989 – Veniamin Kaverin, Russian author (b. 1902)
- 1989 – Giuseppe Siri, Italian cardinal (b. 1906)
- 1990 – David Rappaport, English-American actor (b. 1951)
- 1991 – Gauri Shankar Rai, Indian Politician(b.1924)
- 1991 – Ronald McKie, Australian journalist and author (b. 1909)
- 1992 – Wilbur Mills, American lawyer and politician (b. 1909)
- 1993 – André Moynet, French race car driver, pilot, and politician (b. 1921)
- 1994 – Dorothy Marie Donnelly, American poet and author (b. 1903)
- 1995 – John Bunting, Australian public servant and diplomat, (b. 1918)
- 1995 – Michael Hordern, English actor (b. 1911)
- 1997 – John Eccles, Australian neurophysiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
- 1997 – Paulo Freire, Brazilian philosopher and academic (b. 1921)
- 1998 – hide, Japanese singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1964)
- 1998 – Justin Fashanu, English footballer (b. 1961)
- 1998 – Gene Raymond, American actor (b. 1908)
- 1998 – Lord Voldemort, English wizard and terrorist (b. 1926)
- 1999 – Douglas Harkness, Canadian colonel and politician (b. 1903)
- 1999 – Oliver Reed, English actor (b. 1938)
- 2000 – Sundar Popo, Indo-Trinidadian musician (b. 1943)
- 2002 – W. T. Tutte, English-Canadian mathematician and academic (b. 1917)
- 2005 – Wee Kim Wee, Singaporean journalist and politician, 4th President of Singapore (b. 1915)
- 2006 – Louis Rukeyser, American journalist and author (b. 1933)
- 2007 – Brad McGann, New Zealand director and screenwriter (b. 1964)
- 2008 – Beverlee McKinsey, American actress (b. 1940)
- 2008 – Izold Pustõlnik, Ukrainian-Estonian astronomer and academic (b. 1938)
- 2009 – Marilyn French, American author and academic (b. 1929)
- 2009 – Kiyoshiro Imawano, Japanese singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (b. 1951)
- 2009 – Jack Kemp, American football player and politician, 9th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (b. 1935)
- 2010 – Lynn Redgrave, English-American actress and singer (b. 1943)
- 2011 – Osama bin Laden, Saudi Arabian terrorist, founder of Al-Qaeda (b. 1957)
- 2012 – Fernando Lopes, Portuguese director and screenwriter (b. 1935)
- 2012 – Zenaida Manfugás, Cuban-born American-naturalized pianist (b. 1932)
- 2012 – Tufan Miñnullin, Russian playwright and politician (b. 1936)
- 2012 – Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih, Indonesian physician and politician, Indonesian Minister of Health (b. 1955)
- 2012 – Akira Tonomura, Japanese physicist, author, and academic (b. 1942)
- 2013 – Ernie Field, English boxer (b. 1943)
- 2013 – Jeff Hanneman, American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1964)
- 2013 – Joseph P. McFadden, American bishop (b. 1947)
- 2013 – Dvora Omer, Israeli author and educator (b. 1932)
- 2013 – Ivan Turina, Croatian footballer (b. 1980)
- 2013 – Charles Banks Wilson, American painter and illustrator (b. 1918)
- 2014 – Tomás Balduino, Brazilian bishop (b. 1922)
- 2014 – Žarko Petan, Slovenian director, playwright, and screenwriter (b. 1929)
- 2014 – Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., American actor (b. 1918)
- 2015 – Stuart Archer, English colonel and architect (b. 1915)
- 2015 – Michael Blake, American author and screenwriter (b. 1945)
- 2015 – Guy Carawan, American singer and musicologist (b. 1927)
- 2015 – Maya Plisetskaya, Russian-Lithuanian ballerina, choreographer, actress, and director (b. 1925)
- 2015 – Ruth Rendell, English author (b. 1930)
- 2016 – Afeni Shakur, American music businesswoman, activist, and Black Panther (b. 1947)
- 2020 – Arif Wazir, Pakistani politician, leader of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (b. 1982)
Holidays and observances on May 2
- Christian feast day:
- Athanasius of Alexandria (Western Christianity)
- Boris I of Bulgaria (Bulgarian Orthodox Church)
- Germanus of Normandy
- May 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- International Harry Potter Day
- The last day of the Festival of Ridván (Bahá’í Faith) (Note that this date is non-Gregorian and may change according to the March equinox, see List of observances set by the Baháʼí calendar)
- Anniversary of the Dos de Mayo Uprising (Community of Madrid, Spain)
- Birth Anniversary of Third Druk Gyalpo (Bhutan)
- Flag Day (Poland)
- Indonesia National Education Day
- Teachers’ Day (Iran) (Note that this date is non-Gregorian and may change according to the March Equinox, see List of observances set by the Solar Hijri calendar)
-
April 22 in History
- 238 – Year of the Six Emperors: The Roman Senate outlaws emperor Maximinus Thrax for his bloodthirsty proscriptions in Rome and nominates two of its members, Pupienus and Balbinus, to the throne.
- 1500 – Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral lands in Brazil.
- 1519 – Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés establishes a settlement at Veracruz, Mexico.
- 1529 – Treaty of Zaragoza divides the eastern hemisphere between Spain and Portugal along a line 297.5 leagues (1,250 kilometres (780 mi)) east of the Moluccas.
- 1622 – The Capture of Ormuz by the East India Company ends Portuguese control of Hormuz Island.
- 1809 – The second day of the Battle of Eckmühl: The Austrian army is defeated by the First French Empire army led by Napoleon and driven over the Danube in Regensburg.
- 1836 – Texas Revolution: A day after the Battle of San Jacinto, forces under Texas General Sam Houston identify Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna among the captives of the battle when some of his fellow soldiers mistakenly give away his identity.
- 1864 – The U.S. Congress passes the Coinage Act of 1864 that mandates that the inscription In God We Trust be placed on all coins minted as United States currency.
- 1876 – The first game in the history of the National League was played at the Jefferson Street Grounds in Philadelphia. This game is often pointed to as the beginning of Major League Baseball.
- 1889 – At noon, thousands rush to claim land in the Land Rush of 1889. Within hours the cities of Oklahoma City and Guthrie are formed with populations of at least 10,000.
- 1898 – Spanish–American War: The USS Nashville captures a Spanish merchant ship.
- 1906 – The 1906 Intercalated Games, now recognized as part of the official Olympic Games, open in Athens.
- 1915 – The use of poison gas in World War I escalates when chlorine gas is released as a chemical weapon in the Second Battle of Ypres.
- 1930 – The United Kingdom, Japan and the United States sign the London Naval Treaty regulating submarine warfare and limiting shipbuilding.
- 1944 – The 1st Air Commando Group using Sikorsky R-4 helicopters stage the first use of helicopters in combat with combat search and rescue operations in the China Burma India Theater.
- 1944 – World War II: Operation Persecution is initiated: Allied forces land in the Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura) area of New Guinea.
- 1944 – World War II: In Greenland, the Allied Sledge Patrol attack the German Bassgeiger weather station.
- 1945 – World War II: Prisoners at the Jasenovac concentration camp revolt. Five hundred twenty are killed and around eighty escape.
- 1948 – Arab–Israeli War: The port city of Haifa is captured by Jewish forces.
- 1951 – Korean War: The Chinese People’s Volunteer Army begin assaulting positions defended by the Royal Australian Regiment and the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry at the Battle of Kapyong.
- 1954 – Red Scare: Witnesses begin testifying and live television coverage of the Army–McCarthy hearings begins.
- 1969 – British yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston wins the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race and completes the first solo non-stop circumnavigation of the world.
- 1969 – The formation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) is announced at a mass rally in Calcutta.
- 1970 – The first Earth Day is celebrated.
- 1972 – Increased American bombing in Vietnam prompts anti-war protests in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco.
- 1977 – Optical fiber is first used to carry live telephone traffic.
- 1983 – The German magazine Stern claims the “Hitler Diaries” had been found in wreckage in East Germany; the diaries are subsequently revealed to be forgeries.
- 1992 – In a series of explosions in Guadalajara, Mexico, 206 people are killed, nearly 500 injured and 15,000 left homeless.
- 1993 – Eighteen-year-old Stephen Lawrence is murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus in Well Hall, Eltham.
- 1997 – Haouch Khemisti massacre in Algeria where 93 villagers are killed.
- 2000 – In a pre-dawn raid, federal agents seize six-year-old Elián González from his relatives’ home in Miami.
- 2004 – Two fuel trains collide in Ryongchon, North Korea, killing up to 150 people.
- 2005 – Japan’s Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi apologizes for Japan’s war record.
- 2008 – The United States Air Force retires the remaining F-117 Nighthawk aircraft in service.
- 2013 – The Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrest and charge two men with plotting to disrupt a Toronto area train service in a plot claimed to be backed by Al-Qaeda elements.
- 2014 – More than 60 people are killed and 80 are seriously injured in a train crash in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Katanga Province.
- 2016 – The Paris Agreement is signed, an agreement to help fight global warming.
- 2019 – The 2019 Luzon earthquake kills at least 18 people in the Philippines.
Births on April 22
- 1412 – Reinhard III, Count of Hanau (1451–1452) (d. 1452)
- 1444 – Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk (d. 1503)
- 1451 – Isabella I of Castile (d. 1504)
- 1518 – Antoine of Navarre (d. 1562)
- 1592 – Wilhelm Schickard, German astronomer and mathematician (d. 1635)
- 1610 – Pope Alexander VIII (d. 1691)
- 1658 – Giuseppe Torelli, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1709)
- 1690 – John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, English politician, Lord President of the Council (d. 1763)
- 1707 – Henry Fielding, English novelist and playwright (d. 1754)
- 1711 – Paul II Anton, Prince Esterházy, Austrian soldier (d. 1762)
- 1724 – Immanuel Kant, German anthropologist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1804)
- 1732 – John Johnson, English architect and surveyor (d. 1814)
- 1744 – James Sullivan, American lawyer and politician, 7th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1808)
- 1757 – Alessandro Rolla, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1841)
- 1766 – Germaine de Staël, French author and political philosopher (d. 1817)
- 1812 – Solomon Caesar Malan, Swiss-English orientalist (d. 1894)
- 1816 – Charles-Denis Bourbaki, French general (d. 1897)
- 1830 – Emily Davies, British suffragist and educator, co-founder and an early Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge University
- 1832 – Julius Sterling Morton, American journalist and politician, 3rd United States Secretary of Agriculture (d. 1902)
- 1844 – Lewis Powell, American soldier, attempted assassin of William H. Seward (d. 1865)
- 1852 – William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (d. 1912)
- 1858 – Ethel Smyth, English composer (d. 1944)
- 1854 – Henri La Fontaine, Belgian lawyer and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1943)
- 1860 – Ada Rehan, Irish-American actress (d. 1916)
- 1870 – Vladimir Lenin, Russian revolutionary and founder of Soviet Russia (d. 1924)
- 1872 – Princess Margaret of Prussia (d. 1954)
- 1873 – Ellen Glasgow, American author (d. 1945)
- 1876 – Róbert Bárány, Austrian-Swedish otologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1936)
- 1876 – Georg Lurich, Estonian wrestler and strongman (d. 1920)
- 1879 – Bernhard Gregory, Estonian-German chess player (d. 1939)
- 1884 – Otto Rank, Austrian-American psychologist and academic (d. 1939)
- 1886 – Izidor Cankar, Slovenian historian, author, and diplomat (d. 1958)
- 1889 – Richard Glücks, German SS officer (d. 1945)
- 1891 – Laura Gilpin, American photographer (d. 1979)
- 1891 – Vittorio Jano, Italian engineer (d. 1965)
- 1891 – Harold Jeffreys, English mathematician, geophysicist, and astronomer (d. 1989)
- 1891 – Nicola Sacco, Italian-American anarchist (d. 1927)
- 1892 – Vernon Johns, African-American minister and activist (d. 1965)
- 1899 – Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-born novelist and critic (d. 1977)
- 1900 – Nellie Beer, British politician, Lord Mayor of Manchester from 1966–67 (d. 1988)
- 1904 – J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist and academic (d. 1967)
- 1905 – Robert Choquette, American-Canadian author, poet, and diplomat (d. 1991)
- 1906 – Eric Fenby, English composer and educator (d. 1997)
- 1906 – Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten (d. 1947)
- 1908 – Ivan Yefremov, Russian paleontologist and author (d. 1972)
- 1909 – Rita Levi-Montalcini, Sephardic Jewish-Italian neurologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012)
- 1909 – Indro Montanelli, Italian journalist and historian (d. 2001)
- 1909 – Spyros Markezinis, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2000)
- 1910 – Norman Steenrod, American mathematician and academic (d. 1971)
- 1912 – Kathleen Ferrier, English operatic singer (d. 1953)
- 1912 – Kaneto Shindo, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
- 1914 – Baldev Raj Chopra, Indian director and producer (d. 2008)
- 1914 – Jan de Hartog, Dutch-American author and playwright (d. 2002)
- 1914 – José Quiñones Gonzales, Peruvian soldier and pilot (d. 1941)
- 1914 – Michael Wittmann, German SS officer (d. 1944)
- 1916 – Hanfried Lenz, German mathematician and academic (d. 2013)
- 1916 – Yehudi Menuhin, American-Swiss violinist and conductor (d. 1999)
- 1917 – Yvette Chauviré, French ballerina (d. 2016)
- 1917 – Sidney Nolan, Australian painter (d. 1992)
- 1918 – William Jay Smith, American poet and academic (d. 2015)
- 1918 – Mickey Vernon, American baseball player and coach (d. 2008)
- 1919 – Donald J. Cram, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2001)
- 1919 – Carl Lindner, Jr., American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2011)
- 1922 – Richard Diebenkorn, American soldier and painter (d. 1993)
- 1922 – Charles Mingus, American bassist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1979)
- 1922 – Wolf V. Vishniac, American microbiologist and academic (d. 1973)
- 1923 – Peter Kane Dufault, American soldier, pilot, and poet (d. 2013)
- 1923 – Bettie Page, American model and actress (d. 2008)
- 1923 – Aaron Spelling, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2006)
- 1924 – Nam Duck-woo, South Korean politician, 12th Prime Minister of South Korea (d. 2013)
- 1926 – Charlotte Rae, American actress and singer (d. 2018)
- 1926 – James Stirling, Scottish architect, designed the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart and Seeley Historical Library (d. 1992)
- 1927 – Laurel Aitken, Cuban-Jamaican singer (d. 2005)
- 1929 – Michael Atiyah, English-Lebanese mathematician and academic (d. 2019)
- 1929 – Robert Wade-Gery, English diplomat, British High Commissioner to India (d. 2015)
- 1930 – Enno Penno, Estonian politician, Prime Minister of Estonia in exile (d. 2016)
- 1931 – John Buchanan, Canadian lawyer and politician, 20th Premier of Nova Scotia (d. 2019)
- 1931 – Ronald Hynd, English dancer and choreographer
- 1933 – Anthony Llewellyn, Welsh-American chemist and astronaut (d. 2013)
- 1935 – Christopher Ball, English linguist and academic
- 1935 – Paul Chambers, African-American bassist and composer (d. 1969)
- 1935 – Bhama Srinivasan, Indian-American mathematician and academic
- 1936 – Glen Campbell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2017)
- 1936 – Pierre Hétu, Canadian pianist and conductor (d. 1998)
- 1937 – Jack Nicholson, American actor and producer
- 1937 – Jack Nitzsche, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and conductor (d. 2000)
- 1938 – Alan Bond, English-Australian businessman (d. 2015)
- 1938 – Gani Fawehinmi, Nigerian lawyer and activist (d. 2009)
- 1938 – Issey Miyake, Japanese fashion designer
- 1938 – Adam Raphael, English journalist and author
- 1939 – Mel Carter, American singer and actor
- 1939 – John Foley, English general and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey
- 1939 – Ray Guy, Canadian journalist and author (d. 2013)
- 1939 – Jason Miller, American actor and playwright (d. 2001)
- 1939 – Theodor Waigel, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of Finance
- 1941 – Greville Howard, Baron Howard of Rising, English politician
- 1942 – Giorgio Agamben, Italian philosopher and academic
- 1942 – Mary Prior, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Bristol
- 1943 – Keith Crisco, American businessman and politician (d. 2014)
- 1943 – Janet Evanovich, American author
- 1943 – Louise Glück, American poet
- 1943 – John Maples, Baron Maples, English lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence (d. 2012)
- 1943 – Scott W. Williams, American mathematician and professor
- 1944 – Steve Fossett, American businessman, pilot, and sailor (d. 2007)
- 1944 – Doug Jarrett, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2014)
- 1944 – Joshua Rifkin, American conductor and musicologist
- 1945 – Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Indian civil servant and politician, 22nd Governor of West Bengal
- 1945 – Demetrio Stratos, Egyptian-Italian singer-songwriter (d. 1979)
- 1946 – Steven L. Bennett, American captain and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1972)
- 1946 – Paul Davies, English physicist and author
- 1946 – Louise Harel, Canadian lawyer and politician
- 1946 – Archy Kirkwood, Baron Kirkwood of Kirkhope, Scottish lawyer and politician
- 1946 – Nicholas Stern, Baron Stern of Brentford, English economist and academic
- 1946 – John Waters, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1948 – John Pritchard, English bishop
- 1949 – Spencer Haywood, American basketball player
- 1950 – Peter Frampton, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1950 – Jancis Robinson, English journalist and critic
- 1951 – Paul Carrack, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1951 – Aivars Kalējs, Latvian organist, composer, and pianist
- 1951 – Ana María Shua, Argentinian author and poet
- 1952 – François Berléand, French actor
- 1952 – Dave Loveridge, New Zealand rugby player
- 1952 – Phil Smith, American basketball player (d. 2002)
- 1953 – Valeri Bondarenko, Estonian footballer and coach
- 1953 – Richard Broadbent, English businessman
- 1955 – David Collier, English businessman
- 1957 – Donald Tusk, Polish journalist and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Poland
- 1959 – Keith Boanas, English footballer and manager
- 1959 – Terry Francona, American baseball player, coach, and manager
- 1959 – Catherine Mary Stewart, Canadian actress
- 1959 – Ryan Stiles, American-Canadian actor and producer
- 1960 – Lloyd Honeyghan, Jamaican-English boxer
- 1960 – Mart Laar, Estonian historian and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Estonia
- 1960 – Randall L. Stephenson, American businessman
- 1961 – Alo Mattiisen, Estonian composer (d. 1996)
- 1961 – Ann McKechin, Scottish lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
- 1961 – Dewey Nicks, American photographer and director
- 1962 – Danièle Sauvageau, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1963 – Rosalind Gill, English sociologist and academic
- 1963 – Magnús Ver Magnússon, Icelandic weightlifter and strongman
- 1964 – Paul Baxter, English footballer
- 1965 – Miguel Leal, Portuguese footballer and manager
- 1965 – Peter Zezel, Canadian ice hockey and soccer player (d. 2009)
- 1966 – Mickey Morandini, American baseball player and manager
- 1966 – Jeffrey Dean Morgan, American actor
- 1967 – David J. C. MacKay, English physicist, engineer, and academic
- 1967 – Sherri Shepherd, American actress and talk show panelist
- 1967 – Harvey Williams, American football player
- 1968 – Jo Angel, Australian cricketer
- 1968 – Bimbo Coles, American basketball player and coach
- 1968 – Zarley Zalapski, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1969 – Dion Dublin, English footballer and sportscaster
- 1970 – Erkki Bahovski, Estonian journalist
- 1971 – Eric Mabius, American actor
- 1971 – Spencer Prior, English footballer
- 1972 – Sabine Appelmans, Belgian tennis player
- 1972 – Owen Finegan, Australian rugby player and coach
- 1972 – Milka Duno, Venezuelan race car driver and engineer
- 1972 – Sergei Hohlov-Simson, Estonian footballer and manager
- 1972 – Willie Robertson, American hunter and businessman
- 1973 – Adem Poric, English-Australian footballer
- 1973 – Ofer Talker, Israeli footballer and manager
- 1974 – Shavo Odadjian, Armenian-American bass player, songwriter, and producer
- 1975 – Greg Moore, Canadian race car driver (d. 1999)
- 1975 – Carlos Sastre, Spanish cyclist
- 1975 – Anders Nyström, Swedish guitarist and songwriter
- 1976 – Dan Cloutier, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1976 – Paul Henderson, Australian footballer
- 1976 – Michał Żewłakow, Polish footballer
- 1977 – Mark van Bommel, Dutch footballer
- 1978 – Paul Malakwen Kosgei, Kenyan runner and coach
- 1978 – David Masters, English cricketer
- 1978 – Matt Orford, Australian rugby league player
- 1978 – Jason Stollsteimer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1978 – Esteban Tuero, Argentinian race car driver
- 1979 – Zoltán Gera, Hungarian international footballer and manager
- 1979 – Daniel Johns, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1980 – Igor Budan, Croatian footballer
- 1980 – Clarke Dermody, New Zealand rugby player
- 1980 – Nicolas Douchez, French footballer
- 1980 – Courtney Friel, American journalist
- 1980 – Carlos Hernández, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1980 – Quincy Timberlake, Kenyan-Australian activist, engineer, and politician
- 1980 – Rutledge Wood, American racing analyst and television personality
- 1981 – Madis Kallas, Estonian decathlete and activist
- 1981 – Rafael Sperafico, Brazilian race car driver (d. 2007)
- 1981 – Jonathan Trott, South African-English cricketer
- 1982 – Kaká, Brazilian footballer
- 1982 – Cassidy Freeman, American actress and musician
- 1982 – Joel Monaghan, Australian rugby league player
- 1982 – David Purcey, American baseball player
- 1982 – Aidas Reklys, Lithuanian figure skater
- 1982 – Aleksander Saharov, Estonian footballer
- 1982 – Noriko Shitaya, Japanese voice actress
- 1983 – Remi Ayodele, American football player
- 1983 – Sam W. Heads, English-American entomologist and palaeontologist
- 1983 – Jos Hooiveld, Dutch footballer
- 1983 – Matt Jones, American football player
- 1983 – Vangelis Mantzios, Greek footballer
- 1984 – Amelle Berrabah, English singer-songwriter
- 1985 – Kristin Fairlie, Canadian actress
- 1986 – Amber Heard, American actress and producer
- 1986 – Marshawn Lynch, American football player
- 1986 – Dušan Šakota, Serbian-Greek basketball player
- 1987 – David Luiz, Brazilian footballer
- 1987 – David Mateos, Spanish footballer
- 1988 – Dee Gordon, American baseball player
- 1989 – DeJuan Blair, American basketball player
- 1989 – Jasper Cillessen, Dutch footballer
- 1989 – Aron Gunnarsson, Icelandic footballer
- 1990 – Óscar González, Mexican boxer (d. 2014)
- 1990 – Machine Gun Kelly, American rapper and actor
- 1991 – Jordi Murphy, Irish international rugby player
- 1991 – Braydon Smith, Australian boxer (d. 2015)
- 1992 – Kenny Stills, American football player
- 1992 – Joonas Vaino, Estonian basketball player
- 1993 – Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, Australian footballer
- 1993 – Ngani Laumape, New Zealand rugby player
- 1993 – Marcel Ritzmaier, Austrian footballer
Deaths on April 22
- 296 – Pope Caius
- 536 – Pope Agapetus I
- 591 – Peter III of Raqqa
- 613 – Saint Theodore of Sykeon
- 846 – Wuzong, Chinese emperor (b. 814)
- 1208 – Philip of Poitou, Prince-Bishop of Durham
- 1322 – Francis of Fabriano, Italian writer (b. 1251)
- 1355 – Eleanor of Woodstock, countess regent of Guelders, eldest daughter of King Edward II of England (b. 1318)
- 1585 – Henry of Saxe-Lauenburg, Prince-Archbishop of Bremen, Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück and Paderborn (b. 1550)
- 1616 – Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1547)
- 1672 – Georg Stiernhielm, Swedish linguist and poet (b. 1598)
- 1699 – Hans Erasmus Aßmann, German poet (b. 1646)
- 1758 – Antoine de Jussieu, French botanist and physician (b. 1686)
- 1778 – James Hargreaves, British inventor (b. 1720)
- 1806 – Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, French admiral (b. 1763)
- 1821 – Gregory V of Constantinople, Greek patriarch and saint (b. 1746)
- 1833 – Richard Trevithick, English engineer and explorer (b. 1771)
- 1850 – Friedrich Robert Faehlmann, Estonian philologist and physician (b. 1798)
- 1854 – Nicolás Bravo, Mexican general and politician, 11th President of Mexico (b. 1786)
- 1871 – Martín Carrera, Mexican general and president (1855) (b. 1806)
- 1877 – James P. Kirkwood, Scottish-American engineer (b. 1807)
- 1892 – Édouard Lalo, French violinist and composer (b. 1823)
- 1893 – Chaim Aronson, Lithuanian businessman and author (b. 1825)
- 1894 – Kostas Krystallis, Greek author and poet (b. 1868)
- 1896 – Thomas Meik, English engineer, founded Halcrow Group (b. 1812)
- 1908 – Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Scottish-English merchant and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1836)
- 1925 – André Caplet, French composer and conductor (b. 1878)
- 1929 – Henry Lerolle, French painter and art collector (b. 1848)
- 1932 – Ferenc Oslay, Hungarian-Slovene historian and author (b. 1883)
- 1933 – Henry Royce, English engineer and businessman, co-founded Rolls-Royce Limited (b. 1863)
- 1944 – Nikolaos Roussen, Greek captain (b. 1913)
- 1945 – Wilhelm Cauer, German mathematician and academic (b. 1900)
- 1945 – Käthe Kollwitz, German painter and sculptor (b. 1867)
- 1946 – Lionel Atwill, English-American actor (b. 1885)
- 1946 – Harlan F. Stone, American lawyer and jurist, 12th Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1872)
- 1949 – Charles Middleton, American actor (b. 1874)
- 1950 – Charles Hamilton Houston, American lawyer and academic (b. 1895)
- 1951 – Horace Donisthorpe, English myrmecologist and coleopterist (b. 1870)
- 1956 – Walt Faulkner, American race car driver (b. 1918)
- 1968 – Stephen H. Sholes, American record producer (b. 1911)
- 1978 – Will Geer, American actor (b. 1902)
- 1980 – Jane Froman, American actress and singer (b. 1907)
- 1980 – Fritz Strassmann, German chemist and physicist (b. 1902)
- 1983 – Earl Hines, American pianist and bandleader (b. 1903)
- 1984 – Ansel Adams, American photographer and environmentalist (b. 1902)
- 1985 – Paul Hugh Emmett, American chemist and academic (b. 1900)
- 1985 – Jacques Ferron, Canadian physician and author (b. 1921)
- 1986 – Mircea Eliade, Romanian historian and author (b. 1907)
- 1987 – Erika Nõva, Estonian architect (b. 1905)
- 1988 – Grigori Kuzmin, Russian-Estonian astronomer and academic (b. 1917)
- 1988 – Irene Rich, American actress (b. 1891)
- 1989 – Emilio G. Segrè, Italian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
- 1990 – Albert Salmi, American actor (b. 1928)
- 1994 – Richard Nixon, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 37th President of the United States (b. 1913)
- 1995 – Jane Kenyon, American poet and author (b. 1947)
- 1996 – Erma Bombeck, American journalist and author (b. 1927)
- 1996 – Jug McSpaden, American golfer and architect (b. 1908)
- 1998 – Kitch Christie, South African rugby player and coach (b. 1940)
- 1999 – Chan Canasta, Polish-English magician (b. 1920)
- 1999 – Munir Ahmad Khan, Pakistani nuclear engineer (b. 1926)
- 2002 – Linda Lovelace, American porn actress and activist (b. 1949)
- 2003 – Felice Bryant, American songwriter (b. 1925)
- 2003 – James H. Critchfield, American CIA officer (b. 1917)
- 2003 – Martha Griffiths, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 58th Lieutenant Governor of Michigan (b. 1912)
- 2003 – Mike Larrabee, American runner (b. 1933)
- 2004 – Jason Dunham, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1981)
- 2004 – Pat Tillman, American football player and soldier (b. 1976)
- 2005 – Erika Fuchs, German translator (b. 1906)
- 2005 – Philip Morrison, American physicist and academic (b. 1915)
- 2005 – Eduardo Paolozzi, Scottish sculptor and artist (b. 1924)
- 2006 – Henriette Avram, American computer scientist and academic (b. 1919)
- 2006 – D’Iberville Fortier, Canadian diplomat (b. 1926)
- 2006 – Alida Valli, Italian actress (b. 1921)
- 2007 – Juanita Millender-McDonald, American educator and politician (b. 1938)
- 2008 – Cameron Argetsinger, American race car driver and lawyer (b. 1921)
- 2008 – Ed Chynoweth, Canadian businessman (b. 1941)
- 2009 – Jack Cardiff, British cinematographer, director and photographer (b. 1914)
- 2010 – Richard Barrett, American lawyer and activist (b. 1943)
- 2011 – Hazel Dickens, American singer-songwriter, bassist and guitarist (b. 1935)
- 2012 – John Amabile, American football player and coach (b. 1939)
- 2012 – Bill Granger, American author (b. 1941)
- 2012 – Buzz Potamkin, American director and producer (b. 1945)
- 2012 – George Rathmann, American chemist, biologist, and businessman (b. 1927)
- 2013 – Dave Gold, American businessman, founded 99 Cents Only Stores (b. 1932)
- 2013 – George Stanley Gordon, American businessman (b. 1926)
- 2013 – Richie Havens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1941)
- 2013 – Lalgudi Jayaraman, Indian violinist and composer (b. 1930)
- 2013 – Mike Smith, English footballer (b. 1935)
- 2013 – Robert Suderburg, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1936)
- 2013 – J. S. Verma, Indian judge, 27th Chief Justice of India (b. 1933)
- 2014 – Allen Jacobs, American football player and coach (b. 1941)
- 2014 – Jovan Krkobabić, Serbian politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Mohammad Naseem, Pakistani-English activist (b. 1924)
- 2014 – Werner Potzernheim, German cyclist (b. 1927)
- 2014 – Oswaldo Vigas, Venezuelan painter (b. 1926)
- 2015 – Dick Balharry, Scottish environmentalist and photographer (b. 1937)
- 2015 – Gennadi Vengerov, Belarusian-Russian actor (b. 1959)
- 2017 – Erin Moran, American actress (b. 1960)
- 2017 – Donna Leanne Williams, Australian writer, artist, activist (b. 1963)
Holidays and observances on April 22
- Christian feast day:
- Acepsimas of Hnaita and companions (Catholic Church)
- Arwald
- Epipodius and Alexander
- Hudson Stuck (Episcopal Church)
- John Muir (Episcopal Church)
- Opportuna of Montreuil
- Pope Caius
- Pope Soter
- St Senorina
- April 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Discovery Day (Brazil)
- Earth Day (International observance) and its related observance:
- International Mother Earth Day
- Holocaust Remembrance Day (Serbia)
- From 2018 onwards, a national day of commemoration for the murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence (United Kingdom)
-
March 5 in History
- 363 – Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sasanian Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death.
- 1046 – Nasir Khusraw begins the seven-year Middle Eastern journey which he will later describe in his book Safarnama.
- 1279 – The Livonian Order is defeated in the Battle of Aizkraukle by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
- 1496 – King Henry VII of England issues letters patent to John Cabot and his sons, authorising them to explore unknown lands.
- 1616 – Nicolaus Copernicus’s book On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres is added to the Index of Forbidden Books 73 years after it was first published.
- 1766 – Antonio de Ulloa, the first Spanish governor of Louisiana, arrives in New Orleans.
- 1770 – Boston Massacre: Five Americans, including Crispus Attucks, are fatally shot by British troops in an event that would contribute to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War (also known as the American War of Independence) five years later.
- 1811 – Peninsular War: A French force under the command of Marshal Victor is routed while trying to prevent an Anglo-Spanish-Portuguese army from lifting the Siege of Cádiz in the Battle of Barrosa.
- 1824 – First Anglo-Burmese War: The British officially declare war on Burma.
- 1836 – Samuel Colt patents the first production-model revolver, the .34-caliber.
- 1850 – The Britannia Bridge across the Menai Strait between the island of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales is opened.
- 1860 – Parma, Tuscany, Modena and Romagna vote in referendums to join the Kingdom of Sardinia.
- 1868 – Mefistofele, an opera by Arrigo Boito, receives its premiere performance at La Scala.
- 1872 – George Westinghouse patents the air brake.
- 1906 – Moro Rebellion: United States Army troops bring overwhelming force against the native Moros in the First Battle of Bud Dajo, leaving only six survivors.
- 1912 – Italo-Turkish War: Italian forces are the first to use airships for military purposes, employing them for reconnaissance behind Turkish lines.
- 1931 – The British Raj: Gandhi–Irwin Pact is signed.
- 1933 – Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party receives 43.9% at the Reichstag elections, which allows the Nazis to later pass the Enabling Act and establish a dictatorship.
- 1936 – First flight of K5054, the first prototype Supermarine Spitfire advanced monoplane fighter aircraft in the United Kingdom.
- 1940 – Six high-ranking members of Soviet politburo, including Joseph Stalin, sign an order for the execution of 25,700 Polish intelligentsia, including 14,700 Polish POWs, in what will become known as the Katyn massacre.
- 1942 – World War II: Japanese forces capture Batavia, capital of Dutch East Indies, which is left undefended after the withdrawal of the KNIL garrison and Australian Blackforce battalion to Buitenzorg and Bandung.
- 1943 – First Flight of the Gloster Meteor, Britain’s first combat jet aircraft.
- 1944 – World War II: The Red Army begins the Uman–Botoșani Offensive in the western Ukrainian SSR.
- 1946 – Cold War: Winston Churchill coins the phrase “Iron Curtain” in his speech at Westminster College, Missouri.
- 1953 – Joseph Stalin, the longest serving leader of the Soviet Union, dies at his Volynskoe dacha in Moscow after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage four days earlier.
- 1960 – Indonesian President Sukarno dismissed the Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat (DPR), 1955 democratically elected parliament, and replaced with DPR-GR, the parliament of his own selected members.
- 1963 – American country music stars Patsy Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Cowboy Copas and their pilot Randy Hughes are killed in a plane crash in Camden, Tennessee.
- 1965 – March Intifada: A Leftist uprising erupts in Bahrain against British colonial presence.
- 1966 – BOAC Flight 911, a Boeing 707 aircraft, breaks apart in mid-air due to clear-air turbulence and crashes into Mount Fuji, Japan, killing all 124 people on board.
- 1970 – The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons goes into effect after ratification by 43 nations.
- 1974 – Yom Kippur War: Israeli forces withdraw from the west bank of the Suez Canal.
- 1978 – The Landsat 3 is launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
- 1979 – Soviet probes Venera 11, Venera 12 and the German-American solar satellite Helios II all are hit by “off the scale” gamma rays leading to the discovery of soft gamma repeaters.
- 1981 – The ZX81, a pioneering British home computer, is launched by Sinclair Research and would go on to sell over 11⁄2 million units around the world.
- 1982 – Soviet probe Venera 14 lands on Venus.
- 2003 – In Haifa, 17 Israeli civilians are killed in the Haifa bus 37 suicide bombing.
- 2012 – Tropical Storm Irina kills over 75 as it passes through Madagascar.
Births on March 5
- 1133 – Henry II of England (d. 1189)
- 1224 – Saint Kinga of Poland (d. 1292)
- 1324 – David II of Scotland (d. 1371)
- 1326 – Louis I of Hungary (d. 1382)
- 1340 – Cansignorio della Scala, Lord of Verona (d. 1375)
- 1451 – William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, English Earl (d. 1491)
- 1512 – Gerardus Mercator, Flemish mathematician, cartographer, and philosopher (d. 1594)
- 1523 – Rodrigo de Castro Osorio, Spanish cardinal (d. 1600)
- 1527 – Ulrich, Duke of Mecklenburg (d. 1603)
- 1539 – Christoph Pezel, German theologian (d. 1604)
- 1563 – John Coke, English civil servant and politician (d. 1644)
- 1575 – William Oughtred, English minister and mathematician (d. 1660)
- 1585 – John George I, Elector of Saxony (d. 1656)
- 1585 – Frederick I, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg (d. 1638)
- 1637 – Jan van der Heyden, Dutch painter and engineer (d. 1712)
- 1658 – Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, French explorer and politician, 3rd Colonial Governor of Louisiana (d. 1730)
- 1693 – Johann Jakob Wettstein, Swiss theologian and scholar (d. 1754)
- 1696 – Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Italian painter (d. 1770)
- 1703 – Vasily Trediakovsky, Russian poet and playwright (d. 1768)
- 1713 – Edward Cornwallis, English general and politician, Governor of Gibraltar (d. 1776)
- 1713 – Frederick Cornwallis, English archbishop (d. 1783)
- 1723 – Princess Mary of Great Britain (d. 1773)
- 1733 – Vincenzo Galeotti, Italian-Danish dancer and choreographer (d. 1816)
- 1739 – Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge, American colonel and physician (d. 1819)
- 1748 – Jonas Carlsson Dryander, Swedish botanist and biologist (d. 1810)
- 1748 – William Shield, English violinist and composer (d. 1829)
- 1750 – Jean-Baptiste-Gaspard d’Ansse de Villoison, French scholar and academic (d. 1805)
- 1751 – Jan Křtitel Kuchař, Czech organist, composer, and educator (d. 1829)
- 1774 – Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse, Danish organist and composer (d. 1842)
- 1779 – Benjamin Gompertz, English mathematician and statistician (d. 1865)
- 1785 – Carlo Odescalchi, Italian cardinal (d. 1841)
- 1794 – Jacques Babinet, French physicist, mathematician, and astronomer (d. 1872)
- 1794 – Robert Cooper Grier, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1870)
- 1814 – Wilhelm von Giesebrecht, German historian and academic (d. 1889)
- 1800 – Georg Friedrich Daumer, German poet and philosopher (d. 1875)
- 1815 – John Wentworth, American journalist and politician, 19th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1888)
- 1817 – Austen Henry Layard, English archaeologist, academic, and politician, Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (d. 1894)
- 1830 – Étienne-Jules Marey, French physiologist and chronophotographer (d. 1904)
- 1830 – Charles Wyville Thomson, Scottish historian and zoologist (d. 1882)
- 1834 – Félix de Blochausen, Luxembourgian politician, 6th Prime Minister of Luxembourg (d. 1915)
- 1834 – Marietta Piccolomini, Italian soprano (d. 1899)
- 1853 – Howard Pyle, American author and illustrator (d. 1911)
- 1862 – Siegbert Tarrasch, German chess player and theoretician (d. 1934)
- 1867 – Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, Canadian lawyer and politician, 14th Premier of Quebec (d. 1952)
- 1869 – Michael von Faulhaber, German cardinal (d. 1952)
- 1870 – Frank Norris, American journalist and author (d. 1902)
- 1870 – Evgeny Paton, French-Ukrainian engineer (d. 1953)
- 1871 – Rosa Luxemburg, Polish-Russian economist and philosopher (d. 1919)
- 1871 – Konstantinos Pallis, Greek general and politician, Minister Governor-General of Macedonia (d. 1941)
- 1873 – Olav Bjaaland, Norwegian skier and explorer (d. 1961)
- 1874 – Henry Travers, English-American actor (d. 1965)
- 1875 – Harry Lawson, Australian politician, 27th Premier of Victoria (d. 1952)
- 1876 – Thomas Inskip, 1st Viscount Caldecote, English lawyer and politician, 8th Lord Chief Justice of England (d. 1947)
- 1876 – Elisabeth Moore, American tennis player (d. 1959)
- 1879 – William Beveridge, Bangladeshi-English economist and academic (d. 1963)
- 1879 – Andres Larka, Estonian general and politician, 1st Estonian Minister of War (d. 1943)
- 1880 – Sergei Natanovich Bernstein, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1968)
- 1882 – Dora Marsden, English author and activist (d. 1960)
- 1883 – Pauline Sperry, American mathematician (d. 1967)
- 1885 – Marius Barbeau, Canadian ethnographer and academic (d. 1969)
- 1886 – Dong Biwu, Chinese judge and politician, Chairman of the People’s Republic of China (d. 1975)
- 1886 – Freddie Welsh, Welsh boxer (d. 1927)
- 1887 – Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazilian guitarist and composer (d. 1959)
- 1894 – Henry Daniell, English-American actor (d. 1963)
- 1898 – Zhou Enlai, Chinese politician, 1st Premier of the People’s Republic of China (d. 1976)
- 1898 – Misao Okawa, Japanese super-centenarian (d. 2015)
- 1900 – Lilli Jahn, Jewish German doctor (d. 1944)
- 1900 – Johanna Langefeld, German guard and supervisor of three Nazi concentration camps (d. 1974)
- 1901 – Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg (d. 1971)
- 1901 – Julian Przyboś, Polish poet, essayist and translator (d. 1970)
- 1904 – Karl Rahner, German priest and theologian (d. 1984)
- 1905 – László Benedek, Hungarian-American director and cinematographer (d. 1992)
- 1908 – Fritz Fischer, German historian and author (d. 1999)
- 1908 – Irving Fiske, American author and playwright (d. 1990)
- 1908 – Rex Harrison, English actor (d. 1990)
- 1910 – Momofuku Ando, Taiwanese-Japanese businessman, founded Nissin Foods (d. 2007)
- 1910 – Ennio Flaiano, Italian author, screenwriter, and critic (d. 1972)
- 1912 – Jack Marshall, New Zealand colonel, lawyer, and politician, 28th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1988)
- 1915 – Henry Hicks, Canadian academic and politician, 16th Premier of Nova Scotia (d. 1990)
- 1915 – Laurent Schwartz, French mathematician and academic (d. 2002)
- 1918 – Milt Schmidt, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 2017)
- 1918 – Red Storey, Canadian football player, referee, and sportscaster (d. 2006)
- 1918 – James Tobin, American economist and academic (d. 2002)
- 1920 – José Aboulker, Algerian surgeon and activist (d. 2009)
- 1920 – Virginia Christine, American actress (d. 1996)
- 1920 – Rachel Gurney, English actress (d. 2001)
- 1920 – Wang Zengqi, Chinese writer (d. 1997)
- 1921 – Elmer Valo, American baseball player and coach (d. 1998)
- 1922 – James Noble, American actor (d. 2016)
- 1922 – Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1975)
- 1923 – Juan A. Rivero, Puerto Rican biologist and academic (d. 2014)
- 1923 – Laurence Tisch, American businessman, co-founded the Loews Corporation (d. 2003)
- 1924 – Roger Marche, French footballer (d. 1997)
- 1927 – Jack Cassidy, American actor and singer (d. 1976)
- 1927 – Robert Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford, Scottish businessman and politician
- 1928 – J. Hillis Miller, American academic and critic
- 1929 – Erik Carlsson, Swedish race car driver (d. 2015)
- 1929 – J. B. Lenoir, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1967)
- 1930 – John Ashley, Canadian ice hockey player and referee (d. 2008)
- 1930 – Del Crandall, American baseball player and manager
- 1931 – Fred, French author and illustrator (d. 2013)
- 1931 – Barry Tuckwell, Australian horn player and educator (d. 2020)
- 1932 – Paul Sand, American actor
- 1933 – Walter Kasper, German cardinal and theologian
- 1934 – Daniel Kahneman, Israeli-American economist and psychologist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1935 – Letizia Battaglia, Italian photographer and journalist
- 1935 – Philip K. Chapman, Australian-American astronaut and engineer
- 1936 – Canaan Banana, Zimbabwean minister and politician, 1st President of Zimbabwe (d. 2003)
- 1936 – Dale Douglass, American golfer
- 1936 – Dean Stockwell, American actor
- 1937 – Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigerian general and politician, 5th President of Nigeria
- 1938 – Paul Evans, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1938 – Lynn Margulis, American biologist and academic (d. 2011)
- 1938 – Fred Williamson, American football player, actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1939 – Samantha Eggar, English actress
- 1939 – Tony Rundle, Australian politician, 40th Premier of Tasmania
- 1939 – Benyamin Sueb, Indonesian actor and comedian (d. 1995)
- 1939 – Peter Woodcock, Canadian serial killer (d. 2010)
- 1939 – Pierre Wynants, Belgian chef
- 1940 – Tom Butler, English bishop
- 1940 – Ken Irvine, Australian rugby league player (d. 1990)
- 1940 – Graham McRae, New Zealand race car driver
- 1940 – Sepp Piontek, German footballer and manager
- 1941 – Des Wilson, New Zealand-English businessman and activist
- 1942 – Felipe González, Spanish lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Spain
- 1942 – Mike Resnick, American author and editor (d. 2020)
- 1942 – David Watkins, Welsh rugby player
- 1943 – Lucio Battisti, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1998)
- 1944 – Peter Brandes, Danish painter and sculptor
- 1944 – Roy Gutman, American journalist and author
- 1945 – Wilf Tranter, English footballer
- 1946 – Richard Bell, Canadian pianist (d. 2007)
- 1946 – Guerrino Boatto, Italian illustrator and painter (d. 2018)
- 1946 – Graham Hawkins, English footballer and manager (d. 2016)
- 1946 – Murray Head, English actor and singer
- 1947 – Clodagh Rodgers, Northern Irish singer and actress
- 1947 – Kent Tekulve, American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1948 – Paquirri, Spanish bullfighter (d. 1984)
- 1948 – Eddy Grant, Guyanese-British singer-songwriter and musician
- 1948 – Richard Hickox, English conductor and scholar (d. 2008)
- 1948 – Elaine Paige, English singer and actress
- 1948 – Jan van Beveren, Dutch footballer and coach (d. 2011)
- 1949 – Bernard Arnault, French businessman, philanthropist, and art collector
- 1949 – Franz Josef Jung, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of Defence
- 1949 – Tom Russell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1951 – Rodney Hogg, Australian cricketer and coach
- 1952 – Petar Borota, Serbian footballer and coach (d. 2010)
- 1952 – Mike Squires, American baseball player and scout
- 1953 – Katarina Frostenson, Swedish poet and author
- 1953 – Michael J. Sandel, American philosopher and academic
- 1953 – Tokyo Sexwale, South African businessman and politician, 1st Premier of Gauteng
- 1954 – Marsha Warfield, American actress
- 1954 – João Lourenço, Angolan president
- 1955 – Penn Jillette, American magician, actor, and author
- 1956 – Teena Marie, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2010)
- 1956 – Christopher Snowden, English engineer and academic
- 1957 – Mark E. Smith, English singer, songwriter and musician (d. 2018)
- 1957 – Ray Suarez, American journalist and author
- 1958 – Volodymyr Bezsonov, Ukrainian footballer and manager
- 1958 – Bob Forward, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1958 – Andy Gibb, English-Australian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1988)
- 1959 – Vazgen Sargsyan, Armenian colonel and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Armenia (d. 1999)
- 1960 – Paul Drayson, Baron Drayson, English businessman and politician, Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology
- 1963 – Joel Osteen, American pastor, author, and television host
- 1964 – Bertrand Cantat, French singer-songwriter
- 1964 – Gerald Vanenburg, Dutch footballer and manager
- 1965 – José Semedo, Portuguese footballer and coach
- 1966 – Oh Eun-sun, South Korean mountaineer
- 1966 – Bob Halkidis, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1966 – Michael Irvin, American football player, sportscaster, and actor
- 1966 – Aasif Mandvi, Indian-American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1966 – Zachery Stevens, American singer-songwriter
- 1968 – Gordon Bajnai, Hungarian businessman and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Hungary
- 1968 – Theresa Villiers, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
- 1969 – Paul Blackthorne, English actor and producer
- 1969 – Danny King, English author and playwright
- 1969 – Moussa Saïb, Algerian footballer and manager
- 1969 – M.C. Solaar, Afro-French rapper
- 1970 – Mike Brown, American basketball player and coach
- 1970 – John Frusciante, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1970 – Yuu Watase, Japanese illustrator
- 1971 – Greg Berry, English footballer and coach
- 1971 – Jeffrey Hammonds, American baseball player and scout
- 1971 – Yuri Lowenthal, American voice actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1971 – Filip Meirhaeghe, Belgian cyclist
- 1971 – Mark Protheroe, Australian rugby league player
- 1973 – Yannis Anastasiou, Greek footballer and manager
- 1973 – Nelly Arcan, Canadian author (d. 2009)
- 1973 – Juan Esnáider, Argentinian footballer and manager
- 1973 – Ryan Franklin, American baseball player
- 1973 – Nicole Pratt, Australian tennis player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1973 – Špela Pretnar, Slovenian skier
- 1974 – Kevin Connolly, American actor and director
- 1974 – Jens Jeremies, German footballer
- 1974 – Eva Mendes, American model and actress
- 1975 – Luciano Burti, Brazilian race car driver and sportscaster
- 1975 – Sasho Petrovski, Australian footballer
- 1975 – Chris Silverwood, English cricketer and coach
- 1976 – Neil Jackson, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1976 – Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Lithuanian basketball player and coach
- 1976 – Paul Konerko, American baseball player
- 1976 – Norm Maxwell, New Zealand rugby player
- 1977 – Taismary Agüero, Cuban-Italian volleyball player
- 1978 – Jared Crouch, Australian footballer
- 1978 – Mike Hessman, American baseball player and coach
- 1978 – Kimberly McCullough, American actress, singer, and dancer
- 1978 – Carlos Ochoa, Mexican footballer
- 1979 – Martin Axenrot, Swedish drummer
- 1979 – Lee Mears, English rugby player
- 1980 – Shay Carl, American businessman, co-founded Maker Studios
- 1981 – Barret Jackman, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1981 – Paul Martin, American ice hockey player
- 1982 – Dan Carter, New Zealand rugby player
- 1982 – Philipp Haastrup, German footballer
- 1983 – Édgar Dueñas, Mexican footballer
- 1984 – Branko Cvetković, Serbian basketball player
- 1984 – Guillaume Hoarau, French footballer
- 1985 – David Marshall, Scottish footballer
- 1985 – Brad Mills, American baseball player
- 1985 – Kenichi Matsuyama, Japanese actor
- 1986 – Alexandre Barthe, French footballer
- 1986 – Matty Fryatt, English footballer
- 1987 – Anna Chakvetadze, Russian tennis player
- 1987 – Chris Cohen, English footballer
- 1988 – Liassine Cadamuro-Bentaïba, Algerian footballer
- 1990 – Danny Drinkwater, English footballer
- 1990 – Mason Plumlee, American basketball player
- 1990 – Alex Smithies, English footballer
- 1991 – Ramiro Funes Mori, Argentinian footballer
- 1991 – Daniil Trifonov, Russian pianist and composer
- 1993 – El Hadji Ba, French footballer
- 1993 – Joshua Coyne, American violinist and composer
- 1993 – Harry Maguire, English footballer
- 1994 – Daria Gavrilova, Russian-Australian tennis player
- 1994 – Kyle Schwarber, American baseball player
- 1996 – Taylor Hill, American model
- 1996 – Emmanuel Mudiay, Congolese basketball player
- 1997 – Milena Venega, Cuban rower
- 1998 – Bo Bichette, American baseball player
- 1999 – Madison Beer, American singer, songwriter and producer.
- 2007 – Roman Griffin Davis, British actor, second youngest Golden Globe recipient.
Deaths on March 5
- 254 – Pope Lucius I (b. 200)
- 824 – Suppo I, Frankish nobleman
- 1239 – Hermann Balk, German knight
- 1410 – Matthew of Kraków, Polish reformer (b. 1335)
- 1417 – Manuel III Megas Komnenos, Emperor of Trebizond (b. 1364)
- 1534 – Antonio da Correggio, Italian painter and educator (b. 1489)
- 1539 – Nuno da Cunha, Portuguese admiral and politician, Governor of Portuguese India (b. 1487)
- 1599 – Guido Panciroli, Italian historian and jurist (b. 1523)
- 1611 – Shimazu Yoshihisa, Japanese daimyō (b. 1533)
- 1622 – Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma (b. 1569)
- 1695 – Henry Wharton, English writer and librarian (b. 1664)
- 1726 – Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, English politician, Lord President of the Council (b. 1655)
- 1770 – Crispus Attucks, American slave (b. 1723)
- 1778 – Thomas Arne, English composer and educator (b. 1710)
- 1815 – Franz Mesmer, German physician and astrologist (b. 1734)
- 1827 – Pierre-Simon Laplace, French mathematician and astronomer (b. 1749)
- 1827 – Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist and academic (b. 1745)
- 1829 – John Adams, English sailor and mutineer (b. 1766)
- 1849 – David Scott, Scottish historical painter (b. 1806)
- 1876 – Marie d’Agoult, German-French historian and author (b. 1805)
- 1893 – Hippolyte Taine, French historian and critic (b. 1828)
- 1895 – Nikolai Leskov, Russian author, playwright, and journalist (b. 1831)
- 1895 – Sir Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baronet, English general and scholar (b. 1810)
- 1907 – Friedrich Blass, German philologist, scholar, and academic (b. 1843)
- 1925 – Johan Jensen, Danish mathematician and engineer (b. 1859)
- 1927 – Franz Mertens, Polish-Austrian mathematician and academic (b. 1840)
- 1929 – David Dunbar Buick, Scottish-American businessman, founded Buick (b. 1854)
- 1934 – Reşit Galip, Turkish academic and politician, 6th Turkish Minister of National Education (b. 1893)
- 1935 – Roque Ruaño, Spanish priest and engineer (b. 1877)
- 1940 – Cai Yuanpei, Chinese philosopher and academic (b. 1868)
- 1944 – Max Jacob, French poet and author (b. 1876)
- 1945 – Lena Baker, African American maid and murderer (b. 1900)
- 1947 – Alfredo Casella, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1883)
- 1950 – Edgar Lee Masters, American poet, author, and playwright (b. 1868)
- 1950 – Roman Shukhevych, Ukrainian general and politician (b. 1907)
- 1953 – Herman J. Mankiewicz, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1897)
- 1953 – Sergei Prokofiev, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1891)
- 1953 – Joseph Stalin, Soviet dictator and politician of Georgian descent, 2nd leader of the Soviet Union (b. 1878)
- 1955 – Antanas Merkys, Lithuanian lawyer and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Lithuania (b. 1888)
- 1963 – Patsy Cline, American singer-songwriter (b. 1932)
- 1963 – Cowboy Copas, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1913)
- 1963 – Hawkshaw Hawkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1921)
- 1965 – Chen Cheng, Chinese general and politician, 27th Premier of the Republic of China (b. 1897)
- 1965 – Pepper Martin, American baseball player and manager (b. 1904)
- 1966 – Anna Akhmatova, Ukrainian-Russian poet, author, and translator (b. 1889)
- 1967 – Mischa Auer, Russian-American actor (b. 1905)
- 1967 – Mohammad Mosaddegh, Iranian political scientist and politician, 60th Prime Minister of Iran (b. 1882)
- 1967 – Georges Vanier, Canadian general and politician, 19th Governor General of Canada (b. 1888)
- 1971 – Allan Nevins, American journalist and author (b. 1890)
- 1973 – Robert C. O’Brien, American journalist and author (b. 1918)
- 1974 – John Samuel Bourque, Canadian colonel and politician (b. 1894)
- 1974 – Billy De Wolfe, American actor (b. 1907)
- 1974 – Sol Hurok, Ukrainian-American businessman (b. 1888)
- 1976 – Otto Tief, Estonian lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Estonia (b. 1889)
- 1977 – Tom Pryce, Welsh race car driver (b. 1949)
- 1980 – Jay Silverheels, Canadian-American actor (b. 1912)
- 1981 – Yip Harburg, American songwriter and composer (b. 1896)
- 1982 – John Belushi, American actor (b. 1949)
- 1984 – Pierre Cochereau, French organist and composer (b. 1924)
- 1984 – Tito Gobbi, Italian operatic baritone (b. 1913)
- 1984 – William Powell, American actor (b. 1892)
- 1988 – Alberto Olmedo, Argentine comedian and actor (b. 1933)
- 1990 – Gary Merrill, American actor and director (b. 1915)
- 1995 – Vivian Stanshall, English singer-songwriter and musician (b. 1943)
- 1996 – Whit Bissell, American character actor (b. 1909)
- 1997 – Samm Sinclair Baker, American writer (b. 1909)
- 1997 – Jean Dréville, French director and screenwriter (b. 1906)
- 1999 – Richard Kiley, American actor and singer (b. 1922)
- 2000 – Lolo Ferrari, French dancer, actress and singer (b. 1963)
- 2005 – David Sheppard, English cricketer and bishop (b. 1929)
- 2008 – Joseph Weizenbaum, German computer scientist and author (b. 1923)
- 2010 – Charles B. Pierce, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1938)
- 2010 – Richard Stapley, British actor and writer (b. 1923)
- 2011 – Manolis Rasoulis, Greek singer-songwriter (b. 1945)
- 2012 – Paul Haines, New Zealand-Australian author (b. 1970)
- 2012 – Philip Madoc, Welsh-English actor (b. 1934)
- 2012 – Robert B. Sherman, American songwriter and screenwriter (b. 1925)
- 2012 – William O. Wooldridge, American sergeant (b. 1922)
- 2013 – Paul Bearer, American wrestler and manager (b. 1954)
- 2013 – Hugo Chávez, Venezuelan colonel and politician, President of Venezuela (b. 1954)
- 2013 – Duane Gish, American biochemist and academic (b. 1921)
- 2014 – Geoff Edwards, American actor and game show host (b. 1931)
- 2014 – Ailsa McKay, Scottish economist and academic (b. 1963)
- 2014 – Leopoldo María Panero, Spanish poet and translator (b. 1948)
- 2014 – Ola L. Mize, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1931)
- 2015 – Vlada Divljan, Serbian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1958)
- 2015 – Edward Egan, American cardinal (b. 1932)
- 2016 – Hassan Al-Turabi, Sudanese activist and politician (b. 1932)
- 2016 – Ray Tomlinson, American computer programmer and engineer (b. 1941)
- 2016 – Al Wistert, American football player and coach (b. 1920)
- 2017 – Kurt Moll, German opera singer (b. 1938)
Holidays and observances on March 5
- Christian feast day:
- Ciarán of Saigir
- John Joseph of the Cross
- Piran
- Theophilus, bishop of Caesarea
- Thietmar of Minden
- March 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Custom Chief’s Day (Vanuatu)
- Day of Physical Culture and Sport (Azerbaijan)
- Learn from Lei Feng Day (China)
- St Piran’s Day (Cornwall)
-
February 3 in History
- 1112 – Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states.
- 1451 – Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire.
- 1488 – Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal lands in Mossel Bay after rounding the Cape of Good Hope, becoming the first known European to travel so far south.
- 1509 – The Portuguese navy defeats a joint fleet of the Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Venice, the Sultan of Gujarat, the Mamlûk Burji Sultanate of Egypt, the Zamorin of Calicut, and the Republic of Ragusa at the Battle of Diu in Diu, India.
- 1661 – Maratha forces under Chattrapati Shivaji defeat the Mughals in the Battle of Umberkhind.
- 1690 – The colony of Massachusetts issues the first paper money in the Americas.
- 1706 – During the Battle of Fraustadt Swedish forces defeat a superior Saxon-Polish-Russian force by deploying a double envelopment.
- 1781 – American Revolutionary War: British forces seize the Dutch-owned Caribbean island Sint Eustatius.
- 1783 – Spain–United States relations are first established.
- 1787 – Militia led by General Benjamin Lincoln crush the remnants of Shays’ Rebellion in Petersham, Massachusetts.
- 1807 – A British military force, under Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty captures the Spanish Empire city of Montevideo, now the capital of Uruguay.
- 1809 – The Territory of Illinois is created by the 10th United States Congress.
- 1813 – José de San Martín defeats a Spanish royalist army at the Battle of San Lorenzo, part of the Argentine War of Independence.
- 1830 – The London Protocol of 1830 establishes the full independence and sovereignty of Greece from the Ottoman Empire as the final result of the Greek War of Independence.
- 1834 – Wake Forest University is established (as Wake Forest Institute) in North Carolina, United States.
- 1870 – The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing voting rights to male citizens regardless of race.
- 1913 – The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect an income tax.
- 1916 – The Centre Block of the Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada burns down with the loss of 7 lives.
- 1917 – First World War: The American entry into World War I begins when diplomatic relations with Germany are severed due to its unrestricted submarine warfare.
- 1918 – The Twin Peaks Tunnel in San Francisco, California begins service as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world at 11,920 feet (3,633 meters) long.
- 1930 – Communist Party of Vietnam is founded at a “Unification Conference” held in Kowloon, British Hong Kong.
- 1931 – The Hawke’s Bay earthquake, New Zealand’s worst natural disaster, kills 258.
- 1933 – Adolf Hitler announces that the expansion of Lebensraum into Eastern Europe, and its ruthless Germanisation, are the ultimate geopolitical objectives of Third Reich foreign policy.
- 1943 – The SS Dorchester is sunk by a German U-boat. Only 230 of 902 men aboard survive.
- 1944 – World War II: During the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, U.S. Army and Marine forces seize Kwajalein Atoll from the defending Japanese garrison.
- 1945 – World War II: As part of Operation Thunderclap, 1,000 B-17s of the Eighth Air Force bomb Berlin, a raid which kills between 2,500 and 3,000 and dehouses another 120,000.
- 1945 – World War II: The United States and the Philippine Commonwealth begin a month-long battle to retake Manila from Japan.
- 1953 – The Batepá massacre occurred in São Tomé when the colonial administration and Portuguese landowners unleashed a wave of violence against the native creoles known as forros.
- 1958 – Founding of the Benelux Economic Union, creating a testing ground for a later European Economic Community.
- 1959 – Rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson are killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.
- 1960 – British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan speaks of “a wind of change”, signalling that his Government was likely to support decolonisation.
- 1961 – The United States Air Forces begins Operation Looking Glass, and over the next 30 years, a “Doomsday Plane” is always in the air, with the capability of taking direct control of the United States’ bombers and missiles in the event of the destruction of the SAC’s command post.
- 1966 – The Soviet Union’s Luna 9 becomes the first spacecraft to make a soft landing on the Moon, and the first spacecraft to take pictures from the surface of the Moon.
- 1971 – New York Police Officer Frank Serpico is shot during a drug bust in Brooklyn and survives to later testify against police corruption.
- 1972 – The first day of the seven-day 1972 Iran blizzard, which would kill at least 4,000 people, making it the deadliest snowstorm in history.
- 1984 – John Buster and the research team at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center announce history’s first embryo transfer, from one woman to another resulting in a live birth.
- 1984 – Space Shuttle program: STS-41-B is launched using Space Shuttle Challenger.
- 1989 – After a stroke two weeks previously, South African President P. W. Botha resigns as leader of the National Party, but stays on as president for six more months.
- 1989 – A military coup overthrows Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of Paraguay since 1954.
- 1994 – Space Shuttle program: STS-60 is launched, carrying Sergei Krikalev, the first Russian cosmonaut to fly aboard the Shuttle.
- 1995 – Astronaut Eileen Collins becomes the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle as mission STS-63 gets underway from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
- 1998 – Cavalese cable car disaster: a United States military pilot causes the death of 20 people when his low-flying plane cuts the cable of a cable-car near Trento, Italy.
- 2007 – A Baghdad market bombing kills at least 135 people and injures a further 339.
- 2014 – Two people are shot and killed and 29 students are taken hostage at a high school in Moscow, Russia.
Births on February 3
- 1338 – Joanna of Bourbon (d. 1378)
- 1392 – Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland, English nobleman and military commander (d. 1455)
- 1428 – Helena Palaiologina, Queen of Cyprus (d. 1458)
- 1478 – Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham (d. 1521)
- 1504 – Scipione Rebiba, Italian cardinal (d. 1577)
- 1677 – Jan Santini Aichel, Czech architect, designed the Karlova Koruna Chateau (d. 1723)
- 1689 – Blas de Lezo, Spanish admiral (d. 1741)
- 1690 – Richard Rawlinson, English minister and historian (d. 1755)
- 1721 – Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz, Prussian general (d. 1773)
- 1736 – Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, Austrian composer and theorist (d. 1809)
- 1747 – Samuel Osgood, American soldier and politician, 1st United States Postmaster General (d. 1813)
- 1757 – Joseph Forlenze, Italian ophthalmologist and surgeon (d. 1833)
- 1763 – Caroline von Wolzogen, German author (d. 1847)
- 1777 – John Cheyne, Scottish physician and author (d. 1836)
- 1790 – Gideon Mantell, English scientist (d. 1852)
- 1795 – Antonio José de Sucre, Venezuelan general and politician, 2nd President of Bolivia (d. 1830)
- 1807 – Joseph E. Johnston, American general and politician (d. 1891)
- 1809 – Felix Mendelssohn, German pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1847)
- 1811 – Horace Greeley, American journalist and politician (d. 1872)
- 1816 – Ram Singh Kuka, Indian credited with starting the Non-cooperation movement
- 1817 – Achille Ernest Oscar Joseph Delesse, French geologist and mineralogist (d. 1881)
- 1817 – Émile Prudent, French pianist and composer (d. 1863)
- 1821 – Elizabeth Blackwell, American physician and educator (d. 1910)
- 1824 – Ranald MacDonald, American explorer and educator (d. 1894)
- 1826 – Walter Bagehot, English journalist and businessman (d. 1877)
- 1830 – Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1903)
- 1842 – Sidney Lanier, American composer and poet (d. 1881)
- 1843 – William Cornelius Van Horne, American-Canadian businessman (d. 1915)
- 1857 – Giuseppe Moretti, Italian sculptor, designed the Vulcan statue (d. 1935)
- 1859 – Hugo Junkers, German engineer, designed the Junkers J 1 (d. 1935)
- 1862 – James Clark McReynolds, American lawyer and judge (d. 1946)
- 1867 – Charles Henry Turner, American biologist, educator and zoologist (d. 1923)
- 1872 – Lou Criger, American baseball player and manager (d. 1934)
- 1874 – Gertrude Stein, American novelist, poet, playwright, (d. 1946)
- 1878 – Gordon Coates, New Zealand soldier and politician, 21st Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1943)
- 1887 – Georg Trakl, Austrian pharmacist and poet (d. 1914)
- 1889 – Artur Adson, Estonian poet, playwright, and critic (d. 1977)
- 1889 – Carl Theodor Dreyer, Danish director and screenwriter (d. 1968)
- 1892 – Juan Negrín, Spanish physician and politician, 67th Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1956)
- 1893 – Gaston Julia, Algerian-French mathematician and academic (d. 1978)
- 1894 – Norman Rockwell, American painter and illustrator (d. 1978)
- 1898 – Alvar Aalto, Finnish architect, designed the Finlandia Hall and Aalto Theatre (d. 1976)
- 1899 – Café Filho, Brazilian journalist, lawyer, and politician, 18th President of Brazil (d. 1970)
- 1900 – Mabel Mercer, English-American singer (d. 1984)
- 1903 – Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton, Scottish soldier, pilot, and politician (d. 1973)
- 1904 – Pretty Boy Floyd, American gangster (d. 1934)
- 1905 – Paul Ariste, Estonian linguist and academic (d. 1990)
- 1905 – Arne Beurling, Swedish-American mathematician and academic (d. 1986)
- 1906 – George Adamson, Indian-English author and activist (d. 1989)
- 1907 – James A. Michener, American author and philanthropist (d. 1997)
- 1909 – André Cayatte, French lawyer and director (d. 1989)
- 1909 – Simone Weil, French mystic and philosopher (d. 1943)
- 1911 – Jehan Alain, French organist and composer (d. 1940)
- 1912 – Jacques Soustelle, French anthropologist and politician (d. 1990)
- 1914 – Mary Carlisle, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2018)
- 1915 – Johannes Kotkas, Estonian wrestler and hammer thrower (d. 1998)
- 1917 – Shlomo Goren, Polish-Israeli rabbi and general (d. 1994)
- 1918 – Joey Bishop, American actor and producer (d. 2007)
- 1918 – Helen Stephens, American runner, baseball player, and manager (d. 1994)
- 1920 – Russell Arms, American actor and singer (d. 2012)
- 1920 – Tony Gaze, Australian race car driver and pilot (d. 2013)
- 1920 – Henry Heimlich, American physician and author (d. 2016)
- 1924 – E. P. Thompson, English historian and author (d. 1993)
- 1924 – Martial Asselin, Canadian lawyer and politician, 25th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 2013)
- 1925 – Shelley Berman, American actor and comedian (d. 2017)
- 1925 – John Fiedler, American actor (d. 2005)
- 1926 – Hans-Jochen Vogel, German soldier and politician, 8th Mayor of Berlin
- 1927 – Kenneth Anger, American actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1927 – Blas Ople, Filipino journalist and politician, 21st President of the Senate of the Philippines (d. 2003)
- 1933 – Paul Sarbanes, American lawyer and politician
- 1934 – Juan Carlos Calabró, Argentinian actor and screenwriter (d. 2013)
- 1935 – Johnny “Guitar” Watson, American blues, soul, and funk singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1996)
- 1936 – Elizabeth Peer, American journalist (d. 1984)
- 1936 – Bob Simpson, Australian cricketer and coach
- 1937 – Billy Meier, Swiss author and photographer
- 1938 – Victor Buono, American actor (d. 1982)
- 1938 – Emile Griffith, American boxer and trainer (d. 2013)
- 1939 – Michael Cimino, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
- 1940 – Fran Tarkenton, American football player and sportscaster
- 1941 – Dory Funk, Jr., American wrestler and trainer
- 1941 – Howard Phillips, American lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
- 1943 – Blythe Danner, American actress
- 1943 – Dennis Edwards, American soul/R&B singer (d. 2018)
- 1943 – Eric Haydock, English bass player (d. 2019)
- 1943 – Shawn Phillips, American-South African singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1945 – Johnny Cymbal, Scottish-American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1993)
- 1945 – Bob Griese, American football player and sportscaster
- 1947 – Paul Auster, American novelist, essayist, and poet
- 1947 – Stephen McHattie, Canadian actor and director
- 1948 – Henning Mankell, Swedish author and playwright (d. 2015)
- 1949 – Jim Thorpe, American golfer
- 1950 – Morgan Fairchild, American actress
- 1950 – Grant Goldman, Australian radio and television host (d. 2020)
- 1951 – Eugenijus Riabovas, Lithuanian footballer and manager
- 1951 – Michael Ruppert, American journalist and author (d. 2014)
- 1952 – Fred Lynn, American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1954 – Tiger Williams, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1956 – John Jefferson, American football player and coach
- 1956 – Nathan Lane, American actor and comedian
- 1957 – Eric Lander, American mathematician, geneticist, and academic
- 1958 – Joe F. Edwards, Jr., American commander, pilot, and astronaut
- 1958 – Douglas Holtz-Eakin, American economist
- 1958 – Greg Mankiw, American economist and academic
- 1959 – Óscar Iván Zuluaga, Colombian economist and politician, 67th Colombian Minister of Finance
- 1960 – Tim Chandler, American bass player (d. 2018)
- 1960 – Marty Jannetty, American wrestler and trainer
- 1960 – Joachim Löw, German footballer and manager
- 1960 – Kerry Von Erich, American wrestler (d. 1993)
- 1961 – Linda Eder, American singer and actress
- 1963 – Raghuram Rajan, Indian economist and academic
- 1964 – Indrek Tarand, Estonian historian, journalist, and politician
- 1965 – Maura Tierney, American actress and producer
- 1966 – Frank Coraci, American director and screenwriter
- 1966 – Danny Morrison, New Zealand cricketer and sportscaster
- 1967 – Tim Flowers, English footballer and coach
- 1967 – Mixu Paatelainen, Finnish footballer and coach
- 1968 – Vlade Divac, Serbian-American basketball player and sportscaster
- 1968 – Marwan Khoury, Lebanese singer, songwriter, and composer
- 1969 – Beau Biden, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 44th Attorney General of Delaware (d. 2015)
- 1969 – Retief Goosen, South African golfer
- 1970 – Óscar Córdoba, Colombian footballer
- 1970 – Warwick Davis, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1971 – Hong Seok-cheon, South Korean actor
- 1972 – Jesper Kyd, Danish pianist and composer
- 1973 – Ilana Sod, Mexican journalist and producer
- 1976 – Isla Fisher, Omani-Australian actress
- 1977 – Daddy Yankee, American-Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, rapper, actor and record producer
- 1977 – Marek Židlický, Czech ice hockey player
- 1978 – Joan Capdevila, Spanish footballer
- 1979 – Paul Franks, English cricketer and coach
- 1982 – Becky Bayless, American wrestler
- 1982 – Marie-Ève Drolet, Canadian speed skater
- 1984 – Elizabeth Holmes, American fraudster, founder of Theranos
- 1985 – Angela Fong, Canadian wrestler and actress
- 1985 – Andrei Kostitsyn, Belarusian ice hockey player
- 1986 – Lucas Duda, American baseball player
- 1986 – Mathieu Giroux, Canadian speed skater
- 1986 – Kanako Yanagihara, Japanese actress
- 1988 – Cho Kyuhyun, South Korean singer
- 1989 – Slobodan Rajković, Serbian footballer
- 1990 – Sean Kingston, American-Jamaican singer-songwriter
- 1990 – Martin Taupau, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1991 – Corey Norman, Australian rugby league player
- 1992 – Olli Aitola, Finnish ice hockey player
Deaths on February 3
- AD 6 – Ping, emperor of the Han Dynasty (b. 9 BC)
- 456 – Sihyaj Chan K’awiil II, ruler of Tikal
- 639 – K’inich Yo’nal Ahk I, ruler of Piedras Negras
- 699 – Werburgh, English nun and saint
- 865 – Ansgar, Frankish archbishop (b. 801)
- 929 – Guy, margrave of Tuscany
- 938 – Zhou Ben, Chinese general (b. 862)
- 994 – William IV, duke of Aquitaine (b. 937)
- 1014 – Sweyn Forkbeard, king of Denmark and England (b. 960)
- 1116 – Coloman, king of Hungary
- 1161 – Inge I, king of Norway (b. 1135)
- 1252 – Sviatoslav III, Russian Grand Prince (b. 1196)
- 1399 – John of Gaunt, Belgian-English politician, Lord High Steward (b. 1340)
- 1428 – Ashikaga Yoshimochi, Japanese shōgun (b. 1386)
- 1451 – Murad II, Ottoman sultan (b. 1404)
- 1468 – Johannes Gutenberg, German publisher, invented the Printing press (b. 1398)
- 1537 – Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare (b. 1513)
- 1566 – George Cassander, Flemish theologian and author (b. 1513)
- 1618 – Philip II, duke of Pomerania (b. 1573)
- 1619 – Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham, English politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1564)
- 1737 – Tommaso Ceva, Italian mathematician and academic (b. 1648)
- 1802 – Pedro Rodríguez, Spanish statesman and economist (b. 1723)
- 1813 – Juan Bautista Cabral, Argentinian sergeant (b. 1789)
- 1820 – Gia Long, Vietnamese emperor (b. 1762)
- 1832 – George Crabbe, English surgeon and poet (b. 1754)
- 1862 – Jean-Baptiste Biot, French physicist, astronomer, and mathematician (b. 1774)
- 1866 – François-Xavier Garneau, Canadian poet, author, and historian (b. 1809)
- 1873 – Isaac Baker Brown, English gynecologist and surgeon (b. 1811)
- 1922 – John Butler Yeats, Irish painter and illustrator (b. 1839)
- 1924 – Woodrow Wilson, American historian, academic, and politician, 28th President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1856)
- 1929 – Agner Krarup Erlang, Danish mathematician and engineer (b. 1878)
- 1935 – Hugo Junkers, German engineer, designed the Junkers J 1 (b. 1859)
- 1944 – Yvette Guilbert, French singer and actress (b. 1865)
- 1945 – Roland Freisler, German lawyer and judge (b. 1893)
- 1947 – Marc Mitscher, American admiral and pilot (b. 1887)
- 1952 – Harold L. Ickes, American journalist and politician, 32nd United States Secretary of the Interior (b. 1874)
- 1955 – Vasily Blokhin, Russian general (b. 1895)
- 1956 – Émile Borel, French mathematician and academic (b. 1871)
- 1956 – Johnny Claes, English-Belgian race car driver and trumpet player (b. 1916)
- 1959 – The Day the Music Died
- The Big Bopper, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1930)
- Buddy Holly, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1936)
- Ritchie Valens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1941)
- 1960 – Fred Buscaglione, Italian singer and actor (b. 1921)
- 1961 – William Morrison, 1st Viscount Dunrossil, Scottish-Australian captain and politician, 14th Governor-General of Australia (b. 1893)
- 1961 – Anna May Wong, American actress (b. 1905)
- 1963 – Benjamin R. Jacobs (b. 1879)
- 1967 – Joe Meek, English songwriter and producer (b. 1929)
- 1969 – C. N. Annadurai, Indian journalist and politician, 7th Chief Minister of Madras State (b. 1909)
- 1969 – Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambican activist and academic (b. 1920)
- 1975 – William D. Coolidge, American physicist and engineer (b. 1873)
- 1975 – Umm Kulthum, Egyptian singer-songwriter and actress (b. 1904)
- 1985 – Frank Oppenheimer, American physicist and academic (b. 1912)
- 1989 – John Cassavetes, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1929)
- 1989 – Lionel Newman, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1916)
- 1991 – Nancy Kulp, American actress (b. 1921)
- 1993 – Françoys Bernier, Canadian pianist and conductor (b. 1927)
- 1996 – Audrey Meadows, American actress and banker (b. 1922)
- 1999 – Gwen Guthrie, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1950)
- 2005 – Zurab Zhvania, Georgian biologist and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Georgia (b. 1963)
- 2005 – Ernst Mayr, German-American biologist and ornithologist (b. 1904)
- 2006 – Al Lewis, American actor and activist (b. 1923)
- 2009 – Sheng-yen, Chinese monk and scholar, founded the Dharma Drum Mountain (b. 1930)
- 2010 – Dick McGuire, American basketball player and coach (b. 1926)
- 2010 – Frances Reid, American actress (b. 1914)
- 2011 – Maria Schneider, French actress (b. 1952)
- 2012 – Toh Chin Chye, Singaporean academic and politician, 1st Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore (b. 1921)
- 2012 – Ben Gazzara, American actor and director (b. 1930)
- 2012 – Terence Hildner, American general (b. 1962)
- 2012 – Raj Kanwar, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1961)
- 2012 – Zalman King, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1942)
- 2012 – Andrzej Szczeklik, Polish physician and academic (b. 1938)
- 2013 – Cardiss Collins, American politician (b. 1931)
- 2013 – Oscar Feltsman, Ukrainian-Russian composer and producer (b. 1921)
- 2013 – James Muri, American soldier and pilot (b. 1918)
- 2013 – Jam Mohammad Yousaf, Pakistani politician, Chief Minister of Balochistan (b. 1954)
- 2015 – Martin Gilbert, English historian, author, and academic (b. 1936)
- 2015 – Mary Healy, American actress and singer (b. 1918)
- 2015 – Charlie Sifford, American golfer (b. 1922)
- 2015 – Nasim Hasan Shah, Pakistani lawyer and judge, 12th Chief Justice of Pakistan (b. 1929)
- 2016 – Balram Jakhar, Indian lawyer and politician, 23rd Governor of Madhya Pradesh (b. 1923)
- 2016 – József Kasza, Serbian politician and economist (b. 1945)
- 2016 – Saulius Sondeckis, Lithuanian violinist and conductor (b. 1928)
- 2017 – Dritëro Agolli, Albanian poet, writer and politician (b. 1931)
- 2019 – Julie Adams, American actress (b. 1926)
- 2019 – Kristoff St. John, American actor (b. 1966)
- 2020 – George Steiner, French-American philosopher, author, and critic (b. 1929)
Holidays and observances on February 3
- Christian feast day:
- Aaron the Illustrious (Syriac Orthodox Church)
- Ansgar
- Berlinda of Meerbeke
- Blaise
- Celsa and Nona
- Claudine Thévenet
- Dom Justo Takayama (Philippines and Japan)
- Hadelin
- Margaret of England
- Werburgh
- February 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Day of the Virgin of Suyapa (Honduras)
- Earliest day on which Shrove Tuesday can fall, while March 9 is the latest; celebrated on Tuesday before Ash Wednesday (Christianity)
- Four Chaplains Day (United States, also considered a Feast Day by the Episcopal Church)
- Communist Party of Vietnam Foundation Anniversary (Vietnam)
- Heroes’ Day (Mozambique)
- Martyrs’ Day (São Tomé and Príncipe)
- Setsubun (Japan)
- Veterans’ Day (Thailand)
-
January 14 in History
- 1236 – King Henry III of England marries Eleanor of Provence.
- 1301 – Andrew III of Hungary dies, ending the Árpád dynasty in Hungary.
- 1343 – Arnošt of Pardubice becomes the last bishop of Prague and, subsequently, the first Archbishop of Prague.
- 1539 – Spain annexes Cuba.
- 1639 – The “Fundamental Orders”, the first written constitution that created a government, is adopted in Connecticut.
- 1761 – The Third Battle of Panipat is fought in India between the Afghans under Ahmad Shah Durrani and the Marathas.
- 1784 – American Revolutionary War: Ratification Day, United States – Congress ratifies the Treaty of Paris with Great Britain.
- 1814 – Treaty of Kiel: Frederick VI of Denmark cedes the Kingdom of Norway to Charles XIII of Sweden in return for Pomerania.
- 1822 – Greek War of Independence: Acrocorinth is captured by Theodoros Kolokotronis and Demetrios Ypsilantis.
- 1858 – Napoleon III of France escapes an assassination attempt made by Felice Orsini and his accomplices in Paris.
- 1907 – An earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica kills more than 1,000 people.
- 1911 – Roald Amundsen’s South Pole expedition makes landfall on the eastern edge of the Ross Ice Shelf.
- 1939 – Norway claims Queen Maud Land in Antarctica.
- 1943 – World War II: Japan begins Operation Ke, the successful operation to evacuate its forces from Guadalcanal during the Guadalcanal Campaign.
- 1943 – World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill begin the Casablanca Conference to discuss strategy and study the next phase of the war.
- 1950 – The first prototype of the MiG-17 makes its maiden flight.
- 1952 – NBC’s long-running morning news program Today debuts, with host Dave Garroway.
- 1953 – Josip Broz Tito is inaugurated as the first President of Yugoslavia.
- 1954 – The Hudson Motor Car Company merges with Nash-Kelvinator Corporation forming the American Motors Corporation.
- 1957 – Kripalu Maharaj was named fifth Jagadguru (world teacher) after giving seven days of speeches before 500 Hindu scholars.
- 1960 – The Reserve Bank of Australia, the country’s central bank and banknote issuing authority, is established.
- 1967 – Counterculture of the 1960s: The Human Be-In takes place in San Francisco, California’s Golden Gate Park, launching the Summer of Love.
- 1967 – The New York Times reports that the U.S. Army is conducting secret germ warfare experiments.
- 1969 – USS Enterprise fire: An accidental explosion aboard the USS Enterprise near Hawaii kills 28 people.
- 1972 – Queen Margrethe II of Denmark ascends the throne, the first Queen of Denmark since 1412 and the first Danish monarch not named Frederick or Christian since 1513.
- 1973 – Elvis Presley’s concert Aloha from Hawaii is broadcast live via satellite, and sets the record as the most watched broadcast by an individual entertainer in television history.
- 1993 – In Poland’s worst peacetime maritime disaster, ferry MS Jan Heweliusz sinks off the coast of Rügen, drowning 55 passengers and crew; nine crew-members are saved.
- 2000 – A United Nations tribunal sentences five Roman Catholic Bosnian Croats to up to 25 years in prison for the 1993 killing of more than 100 Bosnian Muslims.
- 2004 – The national flag of the Republic of Georgia, the so-called “five cross flag”, is restored to official use after a hiatus of some 500 years.
- 2010 – Yemen declares an open war against the terrorist group al-Qaeda.
- 2011 – Former president of Tunisia, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali flees his country to Saudi Arabia after a series of street demonstrations against his regime and corrupt policies, asking for freedom, rights and democracy, considered as the anniversary of the Tunisian Revolution and the birth of the Arab Spring.
Births onJanuary 14
- 83 BC – Mark Antony, Roman general and politician (d. 30 BCE)
- 1131 – Valdemar I of Denmark (d. 1182)
- 1273 – Joan I of Navarre, queen regnant of Navarre, queen consort of France (d. 1305)
- 1451 – Franchinus Gaffurius, Italian composer and theorist (d. 1522)
- 1477 – Hermann of Wied, German archbishop (d. 1552)
- 1476 – Anne St Leger, Baroness de Ros, English baroness (d. 1526)
- 1507 – Catherine of Austria, Queen of Portugal (d. 1578)
- 1507 – Luca Longhi, Italian painter (d. 1580)
- 1551 – Abu’l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, Grand vizier of emperor Akbar (d. 1602)
- 1552 – Alberico Gentili, Italian-English academic and jurist (d. 1608)
- 1615 – John Biddle, English minister and theologian (d. 1662)
- 1683 – Gottfried Silbermann, German instrument maker (d. 1753)
- 1684 – Johann Matthias Hase, German mathematician, astronomer, and cartographer (d. 1742)
- 1684 – Jean-Baptiste van Loo, French painter (d. 1745)
- 1699 – Jakob Adlung, German organist, historian, and theorist (d. 1762)
- 1700 – Picander, German poet and playwright (d. 1764)
- 1702 – Emperor Nakamikado of Japan (d. 1737)
- 1705 – Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier, French sailor, explorer, and politician (d. 1786)
- 1741 – Benedict Arnold, American-British general (d. 1801)
- 1767 – Maria Theresa of Austria (d. 1827)
- 1780 – Henry Baldwin, American judge and politician (d. 1844)
- 1792 – Christian de Meza, Danish general (d. 1865)
- 1793 – John C. Clark, American lawyer and politician (d. 1852)
- 1798 – Johan Rudolph Thorbecke, Dutch historian, jurist, and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 1872)
- 1800 – Ludwig Ritter von Köchel, Austrian composer, botanist, and publisher (d. 1877)
- 1806 – Charles Hotham, English-Australian soldier and politician, 1st Governor of Victoria (d. 1855)
- 1806 – Matthew Fontaine Maury, American astronomer, oceanographer, and historian (d. 1873)
- 1818 – Zachris Topelius, Finnish author and journalist (d. 1898)
- 1819 – Dimitrie Bolintineanu, Romanian poet and politician (d. 1872)
- 1824 – Vladimir Stasov, Russian critic (d. 1906)
- 1834 – Duncan Gillies, Scottish-Australian politician, 14th Premier of Victoria (d. 1903)
- 1836 – Henri Fantin-Latour, French painter and lithographer (d. 1904)
- 1841 – Berthe Morisot, French painter (d. 1895)
- 1845 – Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, English politician, 34th Governor-General of India (d. 1927)
- 1850 – Pierre Loti, French captain and author (d. 1923)
- 1856 – J. F. Archibald, Australian journalist and publisher, co-founded The Bulletin (d. 1919)
- 1861 – Mehmed VI, Ottoman sultan (d. 1926)
- 1862 – Carrie Derick, Canadian botanist and geneticist (d. 1941)
- 1863 – Manuel de Oliveira Gomes da Costa, Portuguese general and politician, 10th President of Portugal (d. 1929)
- 1863 – Richard F. Outcault, American author and illustrator (d. 1928)
- 1869 – Robert Fournier-Sarlovèze, French polo player and politician (d. 1937)
- 1870 – George Pearce, Australian carpenter and politician (d. 1952)
- 1875 – Albert Schweitzer, French-Gabonese physician and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1965)
- 1882 – Hendrik Willem van Loon, Dutch-American historian and journalist (d. 1944)
- 1883 – Nina Ricci, Italian-French fashion designer (d. 1970)
- 1886 – Hugh Lofting, English author and poet, created Doctor Dolittle (d. 1947)
- 1887 – Hugo Steinhaus, Polish mathematician and academic (d. 1972)
- 1892 – Martin Niemöller, German pastor and theologian (d. 1984)
- 1892 – Hal Roach, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1992)
- 1892 – George Wilson, English footballer (d. 1961)
- 1894 – Ecaterina Teodoroiu, Romanian soldier and nurse (d. 1917)
- 1896 – John Dos Passos, American novelist, poet, and playwright (d. 1970)
- 1897 – Hasso von Manteuffel, German general and politician (d. 1978)
- 1899 – Carlos P. Romulo, Filipino soldier and politician, President of the United Nations General Assembly (d. 1985)
- 1901 – Bebe Daniels, American actress (d. 1971)
- 1901 – Alfred Tarski, Polish-American mathematician and philosopher (d. 1983)
- 1904 – Cecil Beaton, English photographer, painter, and costume designer (d. 1980)
- 1904 – Emily Hahn, American journalist and author (d. 1997)
- 1904 – Babe Siebert, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1939)
- 1905 – Mildred Albert, American fashion commentator, TV and radio personality, and fashion show producer (d. 1991)
- 1905 – Takeo Fukuda, Japanese politician, 67th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1995)
- 1906 – William Bendix, American actor (d. 1964)
- 1907 – Georges-Émile Lapalme, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 1985)
- 1908 – Russ Columbo, American singer, violinist, and actor (d. 1934)
- 1909 – Brenda Forbes, English-American actress (d. 1996)
- 1909 – Joseph Losey, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1984)
- 1911 – Anatoly Rybakov, Russian-American author (d. 1998)
- 1912 – Tillie Olsen, American short story writer (d. 2007)
- 1914 – Harold Russell, Canadian-American soldier and actor (d. 2002)
- 1914 – Selahattin Ülkümen, Turkish diplomat (d. 2003)
- 1915 – Mark Goodson, American game show producer, created Family Feud and The Price Is Right (d. 1992)
- 1919 – Giulio Andreotti, Italian journalist and politician, 41st Prime Minister of Italy (d. 2013)
- 1919 – Andy Rooney, American soldier, journalist, critic, and television personality (d. 2011)
- 1920 – Bertus de Harder, Dutch footballer and manager (d. 1982)
- 1921 – Murray Bookchin, American author and philosopher (d. 2006)
- 1921 – Kenneth Bulmer, American author (d. 2005)
- 1922 – Diana Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington (d. 2010)
- 1923 – Gerald Arpino, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2008)
- 1923 – Fred Beckey, American mountaineer and author (d. 2017)
- 1924 – Carole Cook, American actress and singer
- 1925 – Jean-Claude Beton, Algerian-French engineer and businessman, founded Orangina (d. 2013)
- 1925 – Moscelyne Larkin, American ballerina (d. 2012)
- 1925 – Yukio Mishima, Japanese author, poet, and playwright (d. 1970)
- 1926 – Frank Aletter, American actor (d. 2009)
- 1926 – Warren Mitchell, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2015)
- 1926 – Tom Tryon, American actor and author (d. 1991)
- 1927 – Zuzana Růžičková, Czech harpsichord player (d. 2017)
- 1928 – Lars Forssell, Swedish author, poet, and songwriter (d. 2007)
- 1928 – Hans Kornberg, German-English biologist and academic (d. 2019)
- 1928 – Garry Winogrand, American photographer and author (d. 1984)
- 1930 – Johnny Grande, American pianist and accordion player (d. 2006)
- 1930 – Kenny Wheeler, Canadian-English trumpet player and composer (d. 2014)
- 1931 – Frank Costigan, Australian lawyer and politician (d. 2009)
- 1931 – Martin Holdgate, English biologist and academic
- 1932 – Don Garlits, American race car driver and engineer
- 1933 – Stan Brakhage, American director and producer (d. 2003)
- 1934 – Richard Briers, English actor (d. 2013)
- 1934 – Alberto Rodriguez Larreta, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1977)
- 1936 – Clarence Carter, American blues and soul singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer
- 1937 – J. Bernlef, Dutch author and poet (d. 2012)
- 1937 – Ken Higgs, English cricketer and coach (d. 2016)
- 1937 – Leo Kadanoff, American physicist and academic (d. 2015)
- 1937 – Rao Gopal Rao, Indian actor, producer, and politician (d. 1994)
- 1937 – Sonny Siebert, American baseball player
- 1937 – Billie Jo Spears, American country singer (d. 2011)
- 1938 – Morihiro Hosokawa, Japanese journalist and politician, 79th Prime Minister of Japan
- 1938 – Jack Jones, American singer and actor
- 1938 – Allen Toussaint, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (d. 2015)
- 1939 – Kurt Moylan, Guamanian businessman and politician, 1st Lieutenant Governor of Guam
- 1940 – Julian Bond, American academic and politician (d. 2015)
- 1940 – Ron Kostelnik, American football player (d. 1993)
- 1940 – Siegmund Nimsgern, German opera singer
- 1940 – Trevor Nunn, English director and composer
- 1940 – Vasilka Stoeva, Bulgarian discus thrower
- 1941 – Nicholas Brooks, English historian (d. 2014)
- 1941 – Faye Dunaway, American actress and producer
- 1941 – Gibby Gilbert, American golfer
- 1941 – Milan Kučan, Slovenian politician, 1st President of Slovenia
- 1942 – Dave Campbell, American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1942 – Gerben Karstens, Dutch cyclist
- 1943 – Angelo Bagnasco, Italian cardinal
- 1943 – Mariss Jansons, Latvian conductor (d. 2019)
- 1943 – Shannon Lucid, American biochemist and astronaut
- 1943 – Holland Taylor, American actress and playwright
- 1944 – Marjoe Gortner, American actor and evangelist
- 1944 – Graham Marsh, Australian golfer and architect
- 1944 – Nina Totenberg, American journalist
- 1945 – Kathleen Chalfant, American actress
- 1945 – Maina Gielgud, English ballerina and director
- 1947 – Taylor Branch, American historian and author
- 1947 – Bev Perdue, American educator and politician, 73rd Governor of North Carolina
- 1947 – Bill Werbeniuk, Canadian snooker player (d. 2003)
- 1948 – T Bone Burnett, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1948 – Muhriz of Negeri Sembilan, Yamtuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan
- 1948 – Carl Weathers, American football player and actor
- 1949 – Lawrence Kasdan, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1949 – Mary Robison, American short story writer and novelist
- 1949 – İlyas Salman, Turkish actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1949 – Lamar Williams, American bass player (d. 1983)
- 1950 – Rambhadracharya, Indian religious leader, scholar, and author
- 1950 – Arthur Byron Cover, American author and screenwriter
- 1951 – O. Panneerselvam, Indian politician, 7th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
- 1952 – Sydney Biddle Barrows, American businesswoman and author
- 1952 – Maureen Dowd, American journalist and author
- 1952 – Konstantinos Iosifidis, Greek footballer and manager
- 1952 – Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, Romanian engineer and politician, 60th Prime Minister of Romania
- 1953 – David Clary, English chemist and academic
- 1953 – Denzil Douglas, Caribbean educator and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis
- 1953 – Hans Westerhoff, Dutch biologist and academic
- 1956 – Étienne Daho, Algerian-French singer-songwriter and producer
- 1957 – Anchee Min, Chinese-American painter, photographer, and author
- 1959 – Geoff Tate, German-American singer-songwriter and musician
- 1961 – Rob Hall, New Zealand mountaineer (d. 1996)
- 1963 – Steven Soderbergh, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1964 – Beverly Kinch, English long jumper and sprinter
- 1964 – Shepard Smith, American television journalist
- 1965 – Marc Delissen, Dutch field hockey player, coach, and lawyer
- 1965 – Bob Essensa, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1965 – Slick Rick, English-American rapper and producer
- 1966 – Rob Flello, English lawyer and politician
- 1966 – Terry Angus, English footballer, central defender
- 1966 – Marco Hietala, Finnish singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
- 1966 – Rene Simpson, Canadian-American tennis player (d. 2013)
- 1966 – Dan Schneider, American TV-producer
- 1967 – Leonardo Ortolani, Italian author and illustrator, created Rat-Man
- 1967 – Emily Watson, English actress
- 1968 – LL Cool J, American rapper and actor
- 1968 – Ruel Fox, English-Montserratian footballer, Midfielder, Manager and Chairman
- 1969 – Jason Bateman, American actor, director, and producer
- 1969 – Martin Bicknell, English cricketer
- 1969 – Dave Grohl, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and drummer
- 1971 – Lasse Kjus, Norwegian skier
- 1971 – Bert Konterman, Dutch footballer and manager
- 1971 – Antonios Nikopolidis, Greek footballer and manager
- 1972 – Kyle Brady, American football player and sportscaster
- 1972 – Dion Forster, South African minister, theologian, and author
- 1972 – James Key, English engineer
- 1973 – Giancarlo Fisichella, Italian race car driver
- 1973 – Paul Tisdale, English footballer and manager
- 1974 – David Flitcroft, English footballer and manager
- 1975 – Georgina Cates, English actress
- 1976 – Vincenzo Chianese, Italian footballer
- 1977 – Narain Karthikeyan, Indian race car driver
- 1977 – Terry Ryan, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1978 – Shawn Crawford, American sprinter
- 1979 – Karen Elson, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and model
- 1979 – Evans Soligo, Italian footballer
- 1980 – Clive Clarke, Irish footballer
- 1980 – Cory Gibbs, American soccer player
- 1981 – Abdelmalek Cherrad, Algerian footballer
- 1981 – Hyleas Fountain, American heptathlete
- 1981 – Concepción Montaner, Spanish long jumper
- 1981 – Chiharu Niiyama, Japanese actress and model
- 1981 – Jadranka Đokić, Croatian actress
- 1982 – Braith Anasta, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
- 1982 – Marc Broussard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1982 – Chris Heighington, Australian-English rugby league player
- 1982 – Léo Lima, Brazilian footballer
- 1982 – Thomas Longosiwa, Kenyan runner
- 1982 – Víctor Valdés, Spanish footballer
- 1983 – Cesare Bovo, Italian footballer
- 1983 – Jason Krejza, Australian cricketer
- 1984 – Erick Aybar, American baseball player
- 1984 – Erika Matsuo, Japanese violinist
- 1984 – Mike Pelfrey, American baseball player
- 1985 – Joel Rosario, Dominican-American jockey
- 1985 – Shawn Sawyer, Canadian figure skater
- 1986 – Yohan Cabaye, French footballer
- 1986 – Alessio Cossu, Italian footballer
- 1987 – Atsushi Hashimoto, Japanese actor
- 1987 – Jess Fishlock, Welsh footballer
- 1988 – Kacey Barnfield, English actress
- 1988 – Jack P. Shepherd, English actor
- 1989 – Frankie Bridge, English singer-songwriter and dancer
- 1989 – Adam Clayton, English footballer
- 1989 – Mattia Marchi, Italian footballer
- 1989 – Liu Xiaodong, Chinese footballer
- 1990 – Lelisa Desisa, Ethiopian runner
- 1990 – Grant Gustin, American actor and singer
- 1990 – Áron Szilágyi, Hungarian fencer
- 1992 – Robbie Brady, Irish footballer
- 1992 – Chieh-Yu Hsu, American tennis player
- 1993 – Daniel Bessa, Brazilian footballer
- 1994 – Kane Elgey, Australian rugby league player
- 1994 – Abi Phillips, English singer-songwriter and actress
- 1994 – Kai, South Korean singer, model, actor and dancer
- 1995 – Georgios Diamantakos, Greek basketball player
- 1995 – Alex Johnston, Australian rugby league player
Deaths on January 14
- 769 – Cui Huan, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty
- 927 – Wang Yanhan, king of Min (Ten Kingdoms)
- 937 – Zhang Yanlang, Chinese official
- 973 – Ekkehard I, Frankish monk and poet
- 1092 – Vratislaus II of Bohemia
- 1163 – Ladislaus II of Hungary (b. 1131)
- 1236 – Saint Sava, Serbian archbishop and saint (b. 1175)
- 1301 – Andrew III of Hungary (b. 1265)
- 1331 – Odoric of Pordenone, Italian priest and explorer (b. 1286)
- 1465 – Thomas Beckington, English statesman and prelate
- 1476 – John de Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk (b. 1444)
- 1555 – Jacques Dubois, French anatomist (b. 1478)
- 1640 – Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry, English lawyer, judge, and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (b. 1578)
- 1648 – Caspar Barlaeus, Dutch historian, poet, and theologian (b. 1584)
- 1676 – Francesco Cavalli, Italian organist and composer (b. 1602)
- 1679 – Jacques de Billy, French mathematician and academic (b. 1602)
- 1701 – Tokugawa Mitsukuni, Japanese daimyō (b. 1628)
- 1742 – Edmond Halley, English astronomer, geophysicist, mathematician, meteorologist, and physicist (b. 1656)
- 1753 – George Berkeley, Anglo-Irish philosopher and author (b. 1685)
- 1766 – Frederick V of Denmark (b. 1723)
- 1776 – Edward Cornwallis, English general and politician, Governor of Gibraltar (b. 1713)
- 1786 – Michael Arne, English organist and composer (b. 1741)
- 1786 – Meshech Weare, American lawyer and politician, 1st Governor of New Hampshire (b. 1713)
- 1823 – Athanasios Kanakaris, Greek politician (b. 1760)
- 1825 – George Dance the Younger, English architect and surveyor (b. 1741)
- 1833 – Seraphim of Sarov, Russian monk and saint (b. 1759)
- 1867 – Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, French painter and illustrator (b. 1780)
- 1874 – Johann Philipp Reis, German physicist and academic, invented the Reis telephone (b. 1834)
- 1883 – Napoléon Coste, French guitarist and composer (b. 1806)
- 1888 – Stephen Heller, Hungarian pianist and composer (b. 1813)
- 1889 – Ema Pukšec, Croatian soprano (b. 1834)
- 1892 – Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (b. 1864)
- 1892 – Alexander J. Davis, American architect (b. 1803)
- 1898 – Lewis Carroll, English novelist, poet, and mathematician (b. 1832)
- 1901 – Mandell Creighton, English bishop and historian (b. 1843)
- 1901 – Charles Hermite, French mathematician and theorist (b. 1822)
- 1905 – Ernst Abbe, German physicist and engineer (b. 1840)
- 1907 – Sir James Fergusson, 6th Baronet, Scottish soldier and politician, 6th Governor of New Zealand (b. 1832)
- 1908 – Holger Drachmann, Danish poet and playwright (b. 1846)
- 1915 – Richard Meux Benson, English priest and saint, founded the Society of St. John the Evangelist (b. 1824)
- 1919 – Platon, Estonian bishop and saint (b. 1869)
- 1920 – John Francis Dodge, American businessman, co-founded the Dodge Automobile Company (b. 1864)
- 1926 – August Sedláček, Czech historian and author (b. 1843)
- 1934 – Ioan Cantacuzino, Romanian physician and bacteriologist (b. 1863)
- 1937 – Jaishankar Prasad, Indian poet, author, and playwright (b. 1889)
- 1942 – Porfirio Barba-Jacob, Colombian poet and author (b. 1883)
- 1943 – Laura E. Richards, American author and poet (b. 1850)
- 1944 – Mehmet Emin Yurdakul, Turkish author and politician (b. 1869)
- 1949 – Harry Stack Sullivan, American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst (b. 1892)
- 1951 – Gregorios Xenopoulos, Greek author, journalist, and playwright (b. 1867)
- 1952 – Artur Kapp, Estonian composer and conductor (b. 1878)
- 1957 – Humphrey Bogart, American actor (b. 1899)
- 1959 – Eivind Berggrav, Norwegian bishop and translator (b. 1884)
- 1961 – Barry Fitzgerald, Irish actor (b. 1888)
- 1962 – M. Visvesvaraya, Indian engineer, scholar, and politician (b. 1860)
- 1965 – Jeanette MacDonald, American actress and singer (b. 1903)
- 1966 – Sergei Korolev, Ukrainian-Russian engineer and academic (b. 1906)
- 1968 – Dorothea Mackellar, Australian poet and author (b. 1885)
- 1970 – William Feller, Croatian-American mathematician and academic (b. 1906)
- 1970 – Asım Gündüz, Turkish general (b. 1880)
- 1972 – Horst Assmy, German footballer (b. 1933)
- 1972 – Frederick IX of Denmark (b. 1899)
- 1976 – Abdul Razak Hussein, Malaysian lawyer and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Malaysia (b. 1922)
- 1977 – Anthony Eden, English soldier and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1897)
- 1977 – Peter Finch, English-Australian actor (b. 1916)
- 1977 – Anaïs Nin, French-American essayist and memoirist (b. 1903)
- 1978 – Harold Abrahams, English sprinter, lawyer, and journalist (b. 1899)
- 1978 – Kurt Gödel, Austrian-American mathematician and philosopher (b. 1906)
- 1978 – Robert Heger, German conductor and composer (b. 1886)
- 1978 – Blossom Rock, American actress (b. 1895)
- 1980 – Robert Ardrey, American-South African author, playwright, and screenwriter (b. 1908)
- 1981 – John O’Grady, Australian author and poet (b. 1907)
- 1981 – G. Lloyd Spencer, American lieutenant and politician (b. 1893)
- 1984 – Ray Kroc, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1902)
- 1986 – Donna Reed, American actress (b. 1921)
- 1987 – Turgut Demirağ, Turkish director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1921)
- 1987 – Douglas Sirk, German-Swiss director and screenwriter (b. 1900)
- 1988 – Georgy Malenkov, Russian engineer and politician, 5th Premier of the Soviet Union (b. 1902)
- 1991 – Gordon Bryant, Australian educator and politician (b. 1914)
- 1995 – Alexander Gibson, Scottish conductor (b. 1926)
- 1996 – Onno Tunç, Armenian-Turkish composer (b. 1948)
- 1997 – Dollard Ménard, Canadian general (b. 1913)
- 2000 – Leonard Weisgard, American author and illustrator (b. 1916)
- 2004 – Uta Hagen, German-American actress (b. 1919)
- 2004 – Ron O’Neal, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1937)
- 2005 – Charlotte MacLeod, Canadian-American author (b. 1922)
- 2005 – Conroy Maddox, English painter and educator (b. 1912)
- 2005 – Rudolph Moshammer, German fashion designer (b. 1940)
- 2005 – Jesús Rafael Soto, Venezuelan sculptor and painter (b. 1923)
- 2006 – Henri Colpi, French director and screenwriter (b. 1921)
- 2006 – Jim Gary, American sculptor (b. 1939)
- 2006 – Shelley Winters, American actress (b. 1920)
- 2007 – Vassilis Photopoulos, Greek painter, director, and set designer (b. 1934)
- 2008 – Judah Folkman, American physician, biologist, and academic (b. 1933)
- 2009 – Jan Kaplický, Czech architect, designed the Selfridges Building (b. 1937)
- 2009 – Ricardo Montalbán, Mexican actor (b. 1920)
- 2010 – Antonio Fontán, Spanish journalist and academic (b. 1923)
- 2011 – Georgia Carroll, American singer, model and actress (b. 1919)
- 2012 – Txillardegi, Spanish linguist and politician (b. 1929)
- 2012 – Dan Evins, American businessman, founded Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (b. 1935)
- 2012 – Arfa Karim, Pakistani student and computer prodigy, youngest Microsoft Certified Professional in 2004 (b. 1995)
- 2012 – Giampiero Moretti, Italian entrepreneur and race car driver (b. 1940)
- 2012 – Rosy Varte, Armenian-French actress (b. 1923)
- 2013 – Conrad Bain, Canadian-American actor (b. 1923)
- 2014 – Jon Bing, Norwegian author, scholar, and academic (b. 1944)
- 2014 – Juan Gelman, Argentinian poet and author (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Flavio Testi, Italian composer and musicologist (b. 1923)
- 2015 – Bob Boyd, American basketball player and coach (b. 1930)
- 2015 – Zhang Wannian, Chinese general (b. 1928)
- 2016 – Alan Rickman, English actor (b. 1946)
- 2017 – Zhou Youguang, Chinese sociologist, (b. 1906)
- 2018 – Spanky Manikan, Filipino veteran actor (b. 1942)
- 2018 – Cyrille Regis, French Guianan-English footballer (b. 1958)
Holidays and observances on January 14
- Christian feast day:
- Barba’shmin
- Blessed Devasahayam Pillai (Latin Church)
- Divina Pastora (Barquisimeto)
- Eivind Berggrav (Lutheran)
- Felix of Nola
- Macrina the Elder
- Odoric of Pordenone
- January 14 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Defender of the Motherland Day (Uzbekistan)
- Feast of the Ass (Medieval Christianity)
- Flag Day (Georgia)
- National Forest Conservation Day (Thailand)
- Old New Year, and its related observance:
- Azhyrnykhua (Abkhazia)
- Yennayer (Berbers)
- Ratification Day (United States)
- Revolution and Youth Day (Tunisia)
- Sidereal winter solstice celebrations in South and Southeast Asian cultures; marking the transition of the Sun to Capricorn, and the first day of the six months Uttarayana period. (see April 14):
- Magh Bihu (Assam)
- Maghe Sankranti (Nepal)
- Maghi (Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh)
- Makar Sankranti (India)
- The first day of Pongal,
- Uttarayan (Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Rajasthan)
-
January 7 in History
- 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)