1521

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

    • 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 28 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 814 – The death of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, brings about the accession of his son Louis the Pious as ruler of the Frankish Empire.
    • 1069 – Robert de Comines, appointed Earl of Northumbria by William the Conqueror, rides into Durham, England, where he is defeated and killed by rebels. This incident leads to the Harrying of the North.
    • 1077 – Walk to Canossa: The excommunication of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, is lifted after he humbles himself before Pope Gregory VII at Canossa in Italy.
    • 1521 – The Diet of Worms begins, lasting until May 25.
    • 1547 – Edward VI, the nine-year-old son of Henry VIII, becomes King of England on his father’s death.
    • 1568 – The Edict of Torda prohibited the persecution of individuals on the religious ground in John Sigismund Zápolya’s Eastern Hungarian Kingdom.
    • 1573 – Articles of the Warsaw Confederation are signed, sanctioning freedom of religion in Poland.
    • 1624 – Sir Thomas Warner founds the first British colony in the Caribbean, on the island of Saint Kitts.
    • 1671 – Original city of Panama (founded in 1519) was destroyed by a fire when privateer Henry Morgan sacked and set fire to it. The site of the previously devastated city is still in ruins (see Panama Viejo).
    • 1724 – The Russian Academy of Sciences is founded in St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, and implemented by Senate decree. It is called the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences until 1917.
    • 1754 – Sir Horace Walpole coins the word serendipity in a letter to a friend.
    • 1813 – Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is first published in the United Kingdom.
    • 1846 – The Battle of Aliwal, India, is won by British troops commanded by Sir Harry Smith.
    • 1851 – Northwestern University becomes the first chartered university in Illinois.
    • 1855 – A locomotive on the Panama Canal Railway runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean for the first time.
    • 1871 – Franco-Prussian War: The Siege of Paris ends in French defeat and an armistice.
    • 1878 – Yale Daily News becomes the first independent daily college newspaper in the United States.
    • 1896 – Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent, becomes the first person to be convicted of speeding. He was fined one shilling, plus costs, for speeding at 8 mph (13 km/h), thereby exceeding the contemporary speed limit of 2 mph (3.2 km/h).
    • 1902 – The Carnegie Institution of Washington is founded in Washington, D.C. with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie.
    • 1908 – Members of the Portuguese Republican Party fail in their attempted coup d’état against the administrative dictatorship of Prime Minister João Franco.
    • 1909 – United States troops leave Cuba with the exception of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base after being there since the Spanish–American War.
    • 1915 – An act of the U.S. Congress creates the United States Coast Guard as a branch of the United States Armed Forces.
    • 1918 – Finnish Civil War: The Red Guard rebels seize control of the capital, Helsinki; members of the Senate of Finland go underground.
    • 1920 – Foundation of the Spanish Legion.
    • 1922 – Knickerbocker Storm, Washington D.C.’s biggest snowfall, causes the city’s greatest loss of life when the roof of the Knickerbocker Theatre collapses.
    • 1932 – Japanese forces attack Shanghai.
    • 1933 – The name Pakistan is coined by Choudhry Rahmat Ali Khan and is accepted by Indian Muslims who then thereby adopted it further for the Pakistan Movement seeking independence.
    • 1935 – Iceland becomes the first Western country to legalize therapeutic abortion.
    • 1938 – The World Land Speed Record on a public road is broken by Rudolf Caracciola in the Mercedes-Benz W195 at a speed of 432.7 kilometres per hour (268.9 mph).
    • 1941 – Franco-Thai War: Final air battle of the conflict. A Japanese-mediated armistice goes into effect later in the day.
    • 1945 – World War II: Supplies begin to reach the Republic of China over the newly reopened Burma Road.
    • 1956 – Elvis Presley makes his first national television appearance.
    • 1958 – The Lego company patents the design of its Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today.
    • 1960 – The National Football League announced expansion teams for Dallas to start in the 1960 NFL season and Minneapolis-St. Paul for 1961 NFL season.
    • 1964 – An unarmed United States Air Force T-39 Sabreliner on a training mission is shot down over Erfurt, East Germany, by a Soviet MiG-19.
    • 1965 – The current design of the Flag of Canada is chosen by an act of Parliament.
    • 1977 – The first day of the Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977 which dumps 10 feet (3.0 m) of snow in one day in Upstate New York, with Buffalo, Syracuse, Watertown, and surrounding areas are most affected.
    • 1980 – USCGC Blackthorn collides with the tanker Capricorn while leaving Tampa, Florida and capsizes, killing 23 Coast Guard crewmembers.
    • 1981 – Ronald Reagan lifts remaining domestic petroleum price and allocation controls in the United States helping to end the 1979 energy crisis and begin the 1980s oil glut.
    • 1982 – US Army general James L. Dozier is rescued by Italian anti-terrorism forces from captivity by the Red Brigades.
    • 1984 – Tropical Storm Domoina makes landfall in southern Mozambique, eventually causing 214 deaths and some of the most severe flooding so far recorded in the region.
    • 1985 – Supergroup USA for Africa (United Support of Artists for Africa) records the hit single We Are the World, to help raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief.
    • 1986 – Space Shuttle program: STS-51-L mission: Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrates after liftoff, killing all seven astronauts on board.
    • 1988 – In R v Morgentaler the Supreme Court of Canada strikes down all anti-abortion laws.
    • 2002 – TAME Flight 120, a Boeing 727-100 crashes in the Andes mountains in southern Colombia, killing 94.
    • 2006 – The roof of one of the buildings at the Katowice International Fair in Poland collapses due to the weight of snow, killing 65 and injuring more than 170 others.

    Births on January 28

    • 1312 – Joan II, queen of Navarre (d. 1349)
    • 1368 – Razadarit, king of Hanthawaddy (d. 1421)
    • 1457 – Henry VII, king of England (d. 1509)
    • 1533 – Paul Luther, German scientist (d. 1593)
    • 1540 – Ludolph van Ceulen, German-Dutch mathematician and academic (d. 1610)
    • 1582 – John Barclay, French-Scottish poet and author (d. 1621)
    • 1600 – Clement IX, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1669)
    • 1608 – Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, Italian physiologist and physicist (d. 1679)
    • 1611 – Johannes Hevelius, Polish astronomer and politician (d. 1687)
    • 1622 – Adrien Auzout, French astronomer and instrument maker (d. 1691)
    • 1693 – Gregor Werner, Austrian composer (d. 1766)
    • 1701 – Charles Marie de La Condamine, French mathematician and geographer (d. 1774)
    • 1706 – John Baskerville, English printer and typographer (d. 1775)
    • 1712 – Tokugawa Ieshige, Japanese shōgun (d. 1761)
    • 1717 – Mustafa III, Ottoman sultan (d. 1774)
    • 1719 – Johann Elias Schlegel, German poet and critic (d. 1749)
    • 1726 – Christian Felix Weiße, German poet and playwright (d. 1802)
    • 1755 – Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring, Polish-German physician, anthropologist, and paleontologist (d. 1830)
    • 1784 – George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, Scottish politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1860)
    • 1797 – Charles Gray Round, English lawyer and politician (d. 1867)
    • 1818 – George S. Boutwell, American lawyer and politician, 28th United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1905)
    • 1822 – Alexander Mackenzie, Scottish-Canadian soldier, journalist, and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1892)
    • 1833 – Charles George Gordon, English general and politician (d. 1885)
    • 1841 – Henry Morton Stanley, Welsh-American explorer and journalist (d. 1904)
    • 1843 – Mihkel Veske, Estonian poet and linguist (d. 1890)
    • 1853 – José Martí, Cuban journalist, poet, and theorist (d. 1895)
    • 1853 – Vladimir Solovyov, Russian philosopher, poet, and critic (d. 1900)
    • 1855 – William Seward Burroughs I, American businessman, founded the Burroughs Corporation (d. 1898)
    • 1858 – Tannatt William Edgeworth David, Welsh-Australian geologist and explorer (d. 1934)
    • 1861 – Julián Felipe, Filipino composer and educator (d. 1944)
    • 1863 – Ernest William Christmas, Australian-American painter (d. 1918)
    • 1864 – Charles Williams Nash, American businessman, founded Nash Motors (d. 1948)
    • 1865 – Lala Lajpat Rai, Indian author and politician (d. 1928)
    • 1865 – Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg, Finnish lawyer, judge, and politician, 1st President of Finland (d. 1952)
    • 1873 – Colette, French novelist and journalist (d. 1954)
    • 1873 – Monty Noble, Australian cricketer (d. 1940)
    • 1874 – Alex Smith, Scottish golfer (d. 1930)
    • 1875 – Julián Carrillo, Mexican violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1965)
    • 1878 – Walter Kollo, German composer and conductor (d. 1940)
    • 1880 – Herbert Strudwick, English cricketer and coach (d. 1970)
    • 1884 – Auguste Piccard, Swiss physicist and explorer (d. 1962)
    • 1885 – Vahan Terian, Armenian poet and activist (d. 1920)
    • 1886 – Marthe Bibesco, Romanian-French author and poet (d. 1973)
    • 1886 – Hidetsugu Yagi, Japanese engineer and academic (d. 1976)
    • 1887 – Arthur Rubinstein, Polish-American pianist and educator (d. 1982)
    • 1897 – Valentin Kataev, Russian author and playwright (d. 1986)
    • 1900 – Alice Neel, American painter (d. 1984)
    • 1903 – Aleksander Kamiński, Polish author and educator (d. 1978)
    • 1903 – Kathleen Lonsdale, Irish crystallographer and 1st female FRS (d. 1971)
    • 1906 – Pat O’Callaghan, Irish athlete (d. 1991)
    • 1906 – Markos Vafiadis, Greek general and politician (d. 1992)
    • 1908 – Paul Misraki, Turkish-French composer and historian (d. 1998)
    • 1909 – John Thomson, Scottish footballer (d. 1931)
    • 1910 – John Banner, Austrian actor (d. 1973)
    • 1911 – Johan van Hulst, Dutch politician, academic and author, Yad Vashem recipient (d. 2018)
    • 1912 – Jackson Pollock, American painter (d. 1956)
    • 1918 – Harry Corbett, English puppeteer, actor, and screenwriter (d. 1989)
    • 1918 – Trevor Skeet, New Zealand-English lawyer and politician (d. 2004)
    • 1919 – Gabby Gabreski, American colonel and pilot (d. 2002)
    • 1921 – Vytautas Norkus, Lithuanian–American basketball player (d. 2014)
    • 1922 – Anna Gordy Gaye, American songwriter and producer, co-founded Anna Records (d. 2014)
    • 1922 – Robert W. Holley, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1993)
    • 1924 – Marcel Broodthaers, Belgian painter and poet (d. 1976)
    • 1925 – Raja Ramanna, Indian physicist and politician (d. 2004)
    • 1926 – Jimmy Bryan, American race car driver (d. 1960)
    • 1927 – Per Oscarsson, Swedish actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2010)
    • 1927 – Ronnie Scott, English saxophonist (d. 1996)
    • 1927 – Hiroshi Teshigahara, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2001)
    • 1927 – Vera Williams, American author and illustrator (d. 2015)
    • 1929 – Acker Bilk, English singer and clarinet player (d. 2014)
    • 1929 – Nikolai Parshin, Russian footballer and manager (d. 2012)
    • 1929 – Claes Oldenburg, Swedish-American sculptor and illustrator
    • 1929 – Edith M. Flanigen, American chemist
    • 1930 – Kurt Biedenkopf, German academic and politician, 54th President of the German Bundesrat
    • 1930 – Roy Clarke, English screenwriter, comedian and soldier
    • 1933 – Jack Hill, American director and screenwriter
    • 1934 – Juan Manuel Bordeu, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1990)
    • 1935 – David Lodge, English author and critic
    • 1936 – Alan Alda, American actor, director, and writer
    • 1937 – Karel Čáslavský, Czech historian and television host (d. 2013)
    • 1938 – Tomas Lindahl, Swedish-English biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1938 – Leonid Zhabotinsky, Ukrainian weightlifter and coach (d. 2016)
    • 1939 – John M. Fabian, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
    • 1940 – Carlos Slim, Mexican businessman and philanthropist, founded Grupo Carso
    • 1942 – Sjoukje Dijkstra, Dutch figure skater
    • 1942 – Erkki Pohjanheimo, Finnish director and producer
    • 1943 – Dick Taylor, English guitarist and songwriter
    • 1944 – Rosalía Mera, Spanish businesswoman, co-founded Inditex and Zara (d. 2013)
    • 1944 – John Tavener, English composer (d. 2013)
    • 1945 – Frank Doubleday, American actor (d. 2018)
    • 1945 – Maxwell Fuller, Australian chess player (d. 2013)
    • 1945 – Marthe Keller, Swiss actress and director
    • 1945 – John Perkins, American author and activist
    • 1947 – Jeanne Shaheen, American educator and politician, 78th Governor of New Hampshire
    • 1948 – Bob Moses, American drummer
    • 1948 – Charles Taylor, Liberian politician, 22nd President of Liberia
    • 1949 – Mike Moore, New Zealand union leader and politician, 34th Prime Minister of New Zealand
    • 1949 – Gregg Popovich, American basketball player and coach
    • 1950 – Barbi Benton, American actress, singer and model
    • 1950 – Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Bahraini king
    • 1950 – David C. Hilmers, American colonel, physician, and astronaut
    • 1950 – Naila Kabeer, Bangladeshi-English economist and academic
    • 1951 – Brian Bilbray, American politician
    • 1951 – Leonid Kadeniuk, Ukrainian general, pilot, and astronaut
    • 1951 – Billy Bass Nelson, American R&B/funk bass player
    • 1952 – Richard Glatzer, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2015)
    • 1953 – Colin Campbell, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1954 – Peter Lampe, German theologian and historian
    • 1954 – Bruno Metsu, French footballer and manager (d. 2013)
    • 1954 – Rick Warren, American pastor and author
    • 1955 – Vinod Khosla, Indian-American businessman, co-founded Sun Microsystems
    • 1955 – Nicolas Sarkozy, French lawyer and politician, 23rd President of France
    • 1956 – Richard Danielpour, American composer and educator
    • 1956 – Peter Schilling, German singer-songwriter
    • 1957 – Mark Napier, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
    • 1957 – Nick Price, Zimbabwean-South African golfer
    • 1957 – Frank Skinner, English comedian, actor, and author
    • 1959 – Frank Darabont, American director and producer
    • 1960 – Loren Legarda, Filipino journalist and politician
    • 1961 – Normand Rochefort, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1962 – Sam Phillips, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1964 – David Lawrence, English cricketer
    • 1966 – Seiji Mizushima, Japanese director and producer
    • 1967 – Billy Brownless, Australian footballer and sportscaster
    • 1968 – Sarah McLachlan, Canadian singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
    • 1968 – Rakim, American rapper
    • 1969 – Giorgio Lamberti, Italian swimmer
    • 1969 – Mo Rocca, American comedian and television journalist
    • 1969 – Linda Sánchez, American lawyer and politician
    • 1972 – Mark Regan, English rugby player
    • 1972 – Nicky Southall, English footballer and manager
    • 1972 – Léon van Bon, Dutch cyclist
    • 1974 – Tony Delk, American basketball player and coach
    • 1974 – Jermaine Dye, American baseball player
    • 1974 – Ramsey Nasr, Dutch author and poet
    • 1974 – Magglio Ordóñez, Venezuelan baseball player and politician
    • 1975 – Pedro Pinto, Portuguese-American journalist
    • 1975 – Junior Spivey, American baseball player and coach
    • 1976 – Sireli Bobo, Fijian rugby player
    • 1976 – Mark Madsen, American basketball player and coach
    • 1976 – Rick Ross, American rapper and producer
    • 1976 – Miltiadis Sapanis, Greek footballer
    • 1977 – Sandis Buškevics, Latvian basketball player and coach
    • 1977 – Daunte Culpepper, American football player
    • 1977 – Joey Fatone, American singer, dancer, and television personality
    • 1977 – Takuma Sato, Japanese race car driver
    • 1978 – Gianluigi Buffon, Italian footballer
    • 1978 – Jamie Carragher, English footballer and sportscaster
    • 1978 – Papa Bouba Diop, Senegalese footballer
    • 1978 – Stephen Farrelly, Irish professional wrestler
    • 1978 – Big Freedia, New Orleans musician, “Queen of Bounce”
    • 1980 – Nick Carter, American singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1980 – Yasuhito Endō, Japanese footballer
    • 1980 – Michael Hastings, American journalist and author (d. 2013)
    • 1980 – Brian Fallon, American singer-songwriter
    • 1981 – Elijah Wood, American actor and producer
    • 1984 – Ben Clucas, English race car driver
    • 1984 – Stephen Gostkowski, American football player
    • 1984 – Andre Iguodala, American basketball player
    • 1984 – Anne Panter, English field hockey player
    • 1985 – J. Cole, American singer
    • 1985 – Daniel Carcillo, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1985 – Lauris Dārziņš, Latvian ice hockey player
    • 1985 – Arnold Mvuemba, French footballer
    • 1985 – Libby Trickett, Australian swimmer
    • 1986 – Jessica Ennis-Hill, English heptathlete and hurdler
    • 1986 – Nathan Outteridge, Australian sailor
    • 1986 – Asad Shafiq, Pakistani cricketer
    • 1988 – Paul Henry, English footballer
    • 1988 – Seiya Sanada, Japanese wrestler
    • 1989 – Siem de Jong, Dutch footballer
    • 1991 – Carl Klingberg, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1992 – Sergio Araujo, Argentinian footballer
    • 1998 – Ariel Winter, American actress

    Deaths on January 28

    • 592 – Guntram, French king (b. 532)
    • 814 – Charlemagne, Holy Roman emperor (pleurisy; b. 742)
    • 919 – Zhou Dewei, Chinese general
    • 929 – Gao Jixing, founder of Chinese Jingnan (b. 858)
    • 947 – Jing Yanguang, Chinese general (b. 892)
    • 1061 – Spytihněv II, Duke of Bohemia (b. 1031)
    • 1142 – Yue Fei, Chinese general (b. 1103)
    • 1256 – William II, Count of Holland, King of Germany (b. 1227)
    • 1271 – Isabella of Aragon, Queen of France (b. 1247)
    • 1290 – Dervorguilla of Galloway, Scottish noble, mother of king John Balliol of Scotland (b. c. 1210)
    • 1443 – Robert le Maçon, French diplomat (b. 1365)
    • 1501 – John Dynham, 1st Baron Dynham, English baron and Lord High Treasurer (b. 1433)
    • 1547 – Henry VIII, king of England (b. 1491)
    • 1613 – Thomas Bodley, English diplomat and scholar, founded the Bodleian Library (b. 1545)
    • 1621 – Pope Paul V (b. 1550)
    • 1666 – Tommaso Dingli, Maltese architect and sculptor (b. 1591)
    • 1672 – Pierre Séguier, French politician, Lord Chancellor of France (b. 1588)
    • 1681 – Richard Allestree, English priest and academic (b. 1619)
    • 1687 – Johannes Hevelius, Polish astronomer and politician (b. 1611)
    • 1688 – Ferdinand Verbiest, Flemish Jesuit missionary in China (b. 1623)
    • 1697 – Sir John Fenwick, 3rd Baronet, English general and politician (b. 1645)
    • 1754 – Ludvig Holberg, Norwegian-Danish historian and philosopher (b. 1684)
    • 1782 – Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d’Anville, French geographer and cartographer (b. 1697)
    • 1832 – Augustin Daniel Belliard, French general (b. 1769)
    • 1859 – F. J. Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1782)
    • 1864 – Émile Clapeyron, French physicist and engineer (b. 1799)
    • 1873 – John Hart, English-Australian politician, 10th Premier of South Australia (b. 1809)
    • 1903 – Augusta Holmès, French pianist and composer (b. 1847)
    • 1912 – Gustave de Molinari, Belgian economist and theorist (b. 1819)
    • 1918 – John McCrae, Canadian soldier, physician, and author (b. 1872)
    • 1921 – Mustafa Suphi, Turkish journalist and politician (b. 1883)
    • 1930 – Emmy Destinn, Czech soprano and poet (b. 1878)
    • 1935 – Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, Russian composer and conductor (b. 1859)
    • 1937 – Anastasios Metaxas, Greek architect and target shooter (b. 1862)
    • 1938 – Bernd Rosemeyer, German race car driver (b. 1909)
    • 1939 – W. B. Yeats, Irish poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
    • 1942 – Edward Siegler, American gymnast and triathlete (b. 1881)
    • 1945 – Roza Shanina, Russian sergeant and sniper (b. 1924)
    • 1947 – Reynaldo Hahn, Venezuelan-French composer, conductor, and critic (b. 1875)
    • 1948 – Hans Aumeier, German SS officer (b. 1906)
    • 1949 – Jean-Pierre Wimille, French race car driver (b. 1908)
    • 1950 – Nikolai Luzin, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1883)
    • 1953 – James Scullin, Australian journalist and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1876)
    • 1953 – Neyzen Tevfik, Turkish philosopher and poet (b. 1879)
    • 1959 – Walter Beall, American baseball player (b. 1899)
    • 1960 – Zora Neale Hurston, American novelist, short story writer, and folklorist (b. 1891)
    • 1963 – Gustave Garrigou, French cyclist (b. 1884)
    • 1965 – Tich Freeman, English cricketer (b. 1888)
    • 1965 – Maxime Weygand, Belgian-French general (b. 1867)
    • 1971 – Donald Winnicott, English paediatrician and psychoanalyst (b. 1896)
    • 1973 – John Banner, Austrian actor (b. 1910)
    • 1976 – Marcel Broodthaers, Belgian painter and poet (b. 1924)
    • 1978 – Ward Moore, American author (b. 1903)
    • 1983 – Billy Fury. English pop star (b. 1940)
    • 1983 – Frank Forde, Australian educator and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1890)
    • 1986 – Space Shuttle Challenger crew
      • Gregory Jarvis, American captain, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1944)
      • Christa McAuliffe, American educator and astronaut (b. 1948)
      • Ronald McNair, American physicist and astronaut (b. 1950)
      • Ellison Onizuka, American engineer and astronaut (b. 1946)
      • Judith Resnik, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1949)
      • Dick Scobee, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1939)
      • Michael J. Smith, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1945)
    • 1988 – Klaus Fuchs, German physicist and politician (b. 1911)
    • 1989 – Choekyi Gyaltsen, 10th Panchen Lama (b. 1938)
    • 1993 – Helen Sawyer Hogg, Canadian astronomer and academic (b. 1905)
    • 1996 – Joseph Brodsky, Russian-American poet and essayist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1940)
    • 1996 – Burne Hogarth, American cartoonist and author (b. 1911)
    • 1996 – Jerry Siegel, American author and illustrator, co-created Superman (b. 1914)
    • 1998 – Shotaro Ishinomori, Japanese author and illustrator (b. 1938)
    • 1999 – Valery Gavrilin, Russian composer (b. 1939)
    • 2001 – Ranko Marinković, Croatian author and playwright (b. 1913)
    • 2002 – Gustaaf Deloor, Belgian cyclist and soldier (b. 1913)
    • 2002 – Astrid Lindgren, Swedish author and screenwriter (b. 1907)
    • 2002 – Ayşe Nur Zarakolu, Turkish author and activist (b. 1946)
    • 2003 – Mieke Pullen, Dutch runner (b. 1957)
    • 2004 – Lloyd M. Bucher, American captain (b. 1927)
    • 2004 – Mel Pritchard, English drummer (b. 1948)
    • 2005 – Jim Capaldi, English singer-songwriter and drummer (b. 1944)
    • 2007 – Carlo Clerici, Swiss cyclist (b. 1929)
    • 2007 – Robert Drinan, American priest, lawyer, and politician (b. 1920)
    • 2007 – Yelena Romanova, Russian runner (b. 1963)
    • 2007 – Karel Svoboda, Czech composer (b. 1938)
    • 2009 – Billy Powell, American keyboard player and songwriter (b. 1952)
    • 2012 – Roman Juszkiewicz, Polish astronomer and astrophysicist (b. 1952)
    • 2012 – Don Starkell, Canadian adventurer and author (b. 1932)
    • 2013 – Florentino Fernández, Cuban-American boxer and coach (b. 1936)
    • 2013 – Hattie N. Harrison, American educator and politician (b. 1928)
    • 2013 – Oldřich Kulhánek, Czech painter, illustrator, and stage designer (b. 1940)
    • 2014 – John Cacavas, American composer and conductor (b. 1930)
    • 2014 – Harry Gamble, American football player, coach, and manager (b. 1930)
    • 2014 – Dwight Gustafson, American composer and conductor (b. 1930)
    • 2014 – Nigel Jenkins, Welsh poet, journalist, and geographer (b. 1949)
    • 2014 – Jorge Obeid, Argentinian engineer and politician, Governor of Santa Fe (b. 1947)
    • 2015 – Suraj Abdurrahman, Nigerian general, architect, and engineer (b. 1954)
    • 2015 – Yves Chauvin, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1930)
    • 2015 – Lionel Gilbert, Australian historian, author, and academic (b. 1924)
    • 2016 – Signe Toly Anderson, American singer (b. 1941)
    • 2016 – Paul Kantner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1941)
    • 2016 – Franklin Gene Bissell, American football player and coach (b. 1926)
    • 2016 – Buddy Cianci, American lawyer and politician, 32nd Mayor of Providence (b. 1941)
    • 2016 – Bob Tizard, New Zealand lawyer and politician, 6th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1924)
    • 2017 – Alexander Chancellor, British journalist (b. 1940)
    • 2017 – Geoff Nicholls, British musician (b. 1948)
    • 2019 – Pepe Smith, Filipino rock musician (b. 1947)

    Holidays and observances on January 28

    • Christian feast day:
      • Joseph Freinademetz
      • Julian of Cuenca
      • Thomas Aquinas
      • January 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Army Day (Armenia)
    • Data Privacy Day

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

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

    Births on January 3

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

    Deaths on January 3

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

    Holidays and observances on January 3

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