1582

  • February 10 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 1258 – Mongol invasions: Baghdad falls to the Mongols, bringing the Islamic Golden Age to an end.
    • 1306 – In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn sparking the revolution in the Wars of Scottish Independence.
    • 1355 – The St Scholastica Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead in two days.
    • 1502 – Vasco da Gama sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal, on his second voyage to India.
    • 1567 – Lord Darnley, second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, is found strangled following an explosion at the Kirk o’ Field house in Edinburgh, Scotland, a suspected assassination.
    • 1712 – Huilliches in Chiloé rebel against Spanish encomenderos.
    • 1763 – French and Indian War: The Treaty of Paris ends the war and France cedes Quebec to Great Britain.
    • 1814 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Champaubert ends in French victory over the Russians and the Prussians.
    • 1840 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom marries Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
    • 1846 – First Anglo-Sikh War: Battle of Sobraon: British defeat Sikhs in the final battle of the war.
    • 1861 – Jefferson Davis is notified by telegraph that he has been chosen as provisional President of the Confederate States of America.
    • 1862 – American Civil War: A Union naval flotilla destroys the bulk of the Confederate Mosquito Fleet in the Battle of Elizabeth City on the Pasquotank River in North Carolina.
    • 1906 – HMS Dreadnought, the first of a revolutionary new breed of battleships is christened and launched by King Edward VII.
    • 1920 – Józef Haller de Hallenburg performs symbolic wedding of Poland to the sea, celebrating restitution of Polish access to open sea.
    • 1920 – About 75 % of the population in Zone I votes to join Denmark in the 1920 Schleswig plebiscites.
    • 1923 – Texas Tech University is founded as Texas Technological College in Lubbock, Texas
    • 1930 – The Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng launches the failed Yên Bái mutiny in hope to overthrow French protectorate over Vietnam.
    • 1933 – In round 13 of a boxing match at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, Primo Carnera knocks out Ernie Schaaf. Schaaf dies four days later.
    • 1936 – Second Italo-Abyssinian War: Italian troops launched the Battle of Amba Aradam against Ethiopian defenders.
    • 1939 – Spanish Civil War: The Nationalists conclude their conquest of Catalonia and seal the border with France.
    • 1940 – The Soviet Union begins mass deportations of Polish citizens from occupied eastern Poland to Siberia.
    • 1940 – Cartoon characters Tom and Jerry make their debut with Puss Gets the Boot.
    • 1942 – World War II: Imperial Japanese Army capture Banjarmasin, capital of Borneo in Dutch East Indies.
    • 1943 – World War II: Attempting to completely lift the Siege of Leningrad, the Soviet Red Army engages German troops and Spanish volunteers in the Battle of Krasny Bor.
    • 1947 – The Paris Peace Treaties are signed by Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Finland and the Allies of World War II.
    • 1954 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower warns against United States intervention in Vietnam.
    • 1962 – Cold War: Captured American U2 spy-plane pilot Gary Powers is exchanged for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel.
    • 1962 – Roy Lichtenstein’s first solo exhibition opened, and it included Look Mickey, which featured his first employment of Ben-Day dots, speech balloons and comic imagery sourcing, all of which he is now known for.
    • 1964 – Melbourne–Voyager collision: The aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne collides with and sinks the destroyer HMAS Voyager off the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, killing 82.
    • 1967 – The 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified.
    • 1972 – Ras Al Khaimah joins the United Arab Emirates, now making up seven emirates.
    • 1984 – Kenyan soldiers kill an estimated 5000 ethnic Somali Kenyans in the Wagalla massacre.
    • 1989 – Ron Brown is elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee becoming the first African American to lead a major American political party.
    • 1996 – IBM supercomputer Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov in chess for the first time.
    • 2003 – France and Belgium break the NATO procedure of silent approval concerning the timing of protective measures for Turkey in case of a possible war with Iraq.
    • 2007 – Then Illinois senator Barack Obama announces his candidacy for president in the 2008 elections, which he later goes on to win.
    • 2009 – The communications satellites Iridium 33 and Kosmos 2251 collide in orbit, destroying both.
    • 2013 – Thirty-six people are killed and 39 others are injured in a stampede in Allahabad, India, during the Kumbh Mela festival.
    • 2016 – South Korea decides to stop the operation of the Kaesong joint industrial complex with North Korea in response to the launch of Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4.
    • 2018 – 19 people are killed and 66 injured when a Kowloon Motor Bus double-decker on route 872 in Hong Kong overturns.

    Births on February 10

    • 1486 – George of the Palatinate, German bishop (d. 1529)
    • 1499 – Thomas Platter, Swiss author and scholar (d. 1582)
    • 1514 – Domenico Bollani, Bishop of Milan (d. 1579)
    • 1606 – Christine of France, Duchess of Savoy (d. 1663)
    • 1609 – John Suckling, English poet and playwright (d. 1642)
    • 1627 – Cornelis de Bie, Flemish poet and jurist (d. 1715)
    • 1685 – Aaron Hill, English poet and playwright (d. 1750)
    • 1696 – Johann Melchior Molter, German violinist and composer (d. 1765)
    • 1744 – William Cornwallis, English admiral and politician (d. 1819)
    • 1766 – Benjamin Smith Barton, American botanist and physician (d. 1815)
    • 1775 – Charles Lamb, English poet and essayist (d. 1834)
    • 1785 – Claude-Louis Navier, French physicist and engineer (d. 1836)
    • 1795 – Ary Scheffer, Dutch-French painter and academic (d. 1858)
    • 1797 – George Chichester, 3rd Marquess of Donegall (d. 1883)
    • 1821 – Roberto Bompiani, Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1908)
    • 1824 – Samuel Plimsoll, English merchant and politician (d. 1898)
    • 1842 – Agnes Mary Clerke, Irish astronomer and author (d. 1907)
    • 1843 – Adelina Patti, Italian-French opera singer (d. 1919)
    • 1846 – Lord Charles Beresford, Irish admiral and politician (d. 1919)
    • 1846 – Ira Remsen, American chemist and academic (d. 1927)
    • 1847 – Nabinchandra Sen, Bangladeshi poet and author (d. 1909)
    • 1859 – Alexandre Millerand, French lawyer and politician, 12th President of France (d. 1943)
    • 1867 – Robert Garran, Australian lawyer and public servant (d. 1957)
    • 1868 – Prince Waldemar of Prussia (d. 1879)
    • 1868 – William Allen White, American journalist and author (d. 1944)
    • 1869 – Royal Cortissoz, American art critic (d. 1948)
    • 1879 – Ernst Põdder, Estonian general (d. 1932)
    • 1881 – Pauline Brunius, Swedish actress and director (d. 1954)
    • 1883 – Edith Clarke, American electrical engineer (d. 1959)
    • 1883 – H.V. Hordern, Australian cricketer (d. 1938)
    • 1889 – Cevdet Sunay, Turkish general and politician, 5th President of Turkey (d. 1982)
    • 1890 – Fanny Kaplan, Ukrainian-Russian activist (d. 1918)
    • 1890 – Boris Pasternak, Russian poet, novelist, and literary translator Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1960)
    • 1892 – Alan Hale Sr., American actor and director (d. 1950)
    • 1893 – Jimmy Durante, American actor, singer, and pianist (d. 1980)
    • 1893 – Bill Tilden, American tennis player and coach (d. 1953)
    • 1894 – Harold Macmillan, English captain and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1986)
    • 1897 – Judith Anderson, Australian actress (d. 1992)
    • 1897 – John Franklin Enders, American virologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1985)
    • 1898 – Bertolt Brecht, German director, playwright, and poet (d. 1956)
    • 1898 – Joseph Kessel, French journalist and author (d. 1979)
    • 1901 – Stella Adler, American actress and educator (d. 1992)
    • 1902 – Walter Houser Brattain, Chinese-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)
    • 1903 – Waldemar Hoven, German physician (d. 1948)
    • 1903 – Matthias Sindelar, Austrian footballer and manager (d. 1939)
    • 1904 – John Farrow, Australian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1963)
    • 1905 – Walter A. Brown, American businessman, founded the Boston Celtics (d. 1964)
    • 1905 – Chick Webb, American drummer and bandleader (d. 1939)
    • 1906 – Lon Chaney Jr., American actor (d. 1973)
    • 1907 – Anthony Cottrell, New Zealand rugby player (d. 1988)
    • 1908 – Jean Coulthard, Canadian composer and educator (d. 2000)
    • 1909 – Min Thu Wun, Burmese poet, scholar, and politician (d. 2004)
    • 1910 – Dominique Pire, Belgian friar, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1969)
    • 1914 – Larry Adler, American harmonica player, composer, and actor (d. 2001)
    • 1915 – Vladimir Zeldin, Russian actor (d. 2016)
    • 1919 – Ioannis Charalambopoulos, Greek colonel and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2014)
    • 1920 – Alex Comfort, English physician and author (d. 2000)
    • 1920 – Neva Patterson, American actress (d. 2010)
    • 1920 – José Manuel Castañón, Spanish lawyer and author (d. 2001)
    • 1922 – Árpád Göncz, Hungarian author, playwright, and politician, 1st President of Hungary (d. 2015)
    • 1922 – José Gabriel da Costa later known as Mestre Gabriel, Brazilian spiritual leader, founder of the União do Vegetal (d. 1971)
    • 1923 – Allie Sherman, American football player and coach (d. 2015)
    • 1924 – Max Ferguson, Canadian radio host and actor (d. 2013)
    • 1924 – Bud Poile, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2005)
    • 1925 – Pierre Mondy, French actor and director (d. 2012)
    • 1926 – Sidney Bryan Berry, American general (d. 2013)
    • 1926 – Danny Blanchflower, Northern Irish soldier, footballer and manager (d. 1993)
    • 1927 – Leontyne Price, American operatic soprano
    • 1929 – Jerry Goldsmith, American composer and conductor (d. 2004)
    • 1929 – Jim Whittaker, American mountaineer
    • 1929 – Lou Whittaker, American mountaineer
    • 1930 – E. L. Konigsburg, American author and illustrator (d. 2013)
    • 1930 – Robert Wagner, American actor and producer
    • 1931 – James Edward Maceo West, American inventor and acoustician
    • 1932 – Barrie Ingham, English-American actor (d. 2015)
    • 1933 – Richard Schickel, American journalist, author, and critic (d. 2017)
    • 1933 – Faramarz Payvar, Iranian santur player and composer (d. 2009)
    • 1935 – Theodore Antoniou, Greek composer and conductor (d. 2018)
    • 1937 – Anne Anderson, Scottish physiologist and academic (d. 1983)
    • 1937 – Roberta Flack, American singer-songwriter and pianist
    • 1939 – Adrienne Clarkson, Hong Kong-Canadian journalist and politician, 26th Governor General of Canada
    • 1939 – Deolinda Rodríguez de Almeida, Angolan nationalist (d. 1967)
    • 1940 – Mary Rand, English sprinter and long jumper
    • 1940 – Kenny Rankin, American singer-songwriter (d. 2009)
    • 1941 – Michael Apted, English director and producer
    • 1944 – Peter Allen, Australian singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (d. 1992)
    • 1944 – Frank Keating, American lawyer and politician, 25th Governor of Oklahoma
    • 1944 – Frances Moore Lappé, American author and activist
    • 1944 – Rufus Reid, American bassist and composer
    • 1945 – Delma S. Arrigoitia, Puerto Rican historian, author, educator and lawyer
    • 1947 – Louise Arbour, Canadian lawyer and jurist
    • 1947 – Butch Morris, American cornet player, composer, and conductor (d. 2013)
    • 1947 – Nicholas Owen, English journalist
    • 1949 – Nigel Olsson, English rock drummer and singer-songwriter
    • 1950 – Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexican economist and politician (d. 1994)
    • 1950 – Mark Spitz, American swimmer
    • 1951 – Bob Iger, American media executive
    • 1952 – Lee Hsien Loong, Singaporean general and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Singapore
    • 1955 – Jim Cramer, American television personality, pundit, and author
    • 1955 – Greg Norman, Australian golfer and sportscaster
    • 1956 – Enele Sopoaga, Tuvaluan politician, 12th Prime Minister of Tuvalu
    • 1957 – Katherine Freese, American astrophysicist and academic
    • 1959 – John Calipari, American basketball player and coach
    • 1960 – Jim Kent, American biologist, computer programmer, academic
    • 1961 – Alexander Payne, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1961 – George Stephanopoulos, American television journalist
    • 1962 – Randy Velischek, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1962 – Cliff Burton, American heavy metal bassist (d. 1986)
    • 1963 – Lenny Dykstra, American baseball player
    • 1964 – Glenn Beck, American journalist, producer, and author
    • 1966 – Natalie Bennett, Australian-English journalist and politician
    • 1966 – Daryl Johnston, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1967 – Laura Dern, American actress, director, and producer
    • 1967 – Jacky Durand, French cyclist and sportscaster
    • 1967 – Vince Gilligan, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1968 – Peter Popovic, Swedish ice hockey player and coach
    • 1968 – Garrett Reisman, American engineer and astronaut
    • 1969 – Joe Mangrum, American painter and sculptor
    • 1969 – James Small, South African rugby player (d. 2019)
    • 1970 – Melissa Doyle, Australian journalist and author
    • 1970 – Noureddine Naybet, Moroccan international footballer, central defender and manager
    • 1970 – Åsne Seierstad, Norwegian journalist and author
    • 1971 – Lorena Rojas, Mexican actress and singer (d. 2015)
    • 1972 – Michael Kasprowicz, Australian cricketer
    • 1973 – Martha Lane Fox, Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho, English businesswoman and politician
    • 1974 – Elizabeth Banks, American actress
    • 1974 – Ty Law, American football player
    • 1974 – Ivri Lider, Israeli singer
    • 1974 – Henry Paul, New Zealand rugby player and coach
    • 1976 – Lance Berkman, American baseball player and coach
    • 1976 – Keeley Hawes, English actress
    • 1977 – Salif Diao, Senegalese footballer
    • 1979 – Joey Hand, American race car driver
    • 1980 – César Izturis, Venezuelan baseball player
    • 1980 – Enzo Maresca, Italian footballer
    • 1980 – Mike Ribeiro, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1981 – Uzo Aduba, American actress
    • 1981 – Stephanie Beatriz, American actress
    • 1981 – Andrew Johnson, English international footballer, forward and club ambassador
    • 1981 – Holly Willoughby, English model and television host
    • 1982 – Justin Gatlin, American sprinter
    • 1982 – Tarmo Neemelo, Estonian footballer
    • 1982 – Hamad Al-Tayyar, Kuwaiti footballer
    • 1982 – Iafeta Paleaaesina, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1983 – Vic Fuentes, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1984 – Greg Bird, Australian rugby league player
    • 1984 – Alex Gordon, American baseball player
    • 1984 – Kim Hyo-jin, South Korean actress
    • 1985 – Selçuk İnan, Turkish footballer
    • 1985 – Paul Millsap, American basketball player
    • 1986 – Jeff Adrien, American basketball player
    • 1986 – Josh Akognon, American basketball player
    • 1986 – Radamel Falcao, Colombian footballer
    • 1986 – Roberto Jiménez Gago, Spanish footballer
    • 1986 – Viktor Troicki, Serbian tennis player
    • 1987 – Jakub Kindl, Czech ice hockey player
    • 1987 – Facundo Roncaglia, Argentinian footballer
    • 1988 – Francesco Acerbi, Italian footballer
    • 1989 – Liam Hendriks, Australian baseball player
    • 1990 – Barbara Guarischi, Italian cyclist
    • 1990 – Choi Soo-young, South Korean singer-songwriter, actress, and dancer
    • 1991 – Rebecca Dempster, Scottish footballer
    • 1991 – Emma Roberts, American actress
    • 1992 – Haruka Nakagawa, Japanese singer and actress
    • 1992 – Reinhold Yabo, German footballer
    • 1993 – Max Kepler, German baseball player
    • 1993 – Filip Twardzik, Czech footballer
    • 1993 – Luis Madrigal, Mexican footballer
    • 1994 – Kang Seul-gi, South Korean singer and member of Red Velvet
    • 1995 – Carolane Soucisse, Canadian ice dancer
    • 1996 – Emanuel Mammana, Argentinian footballer
    • 1997 – Lilly King, American swimmer
    • 1997 – Chloë Grace Moretz, American actress
    • 1997 – Nadia Podoroska, Argentinian tennis player
    • 2000 – Yara Shahidi, American actress and model

    Deaths on February 10

    • 547 – Scholastica, Christian nun
    • 1127 – William IX, Duke of Aquitaine (b. 1071)
    • 1163 – Baldwin III of Jerusalem (b. 1130)
    • 1242 – Emperor Shijō of Japan (b. 1231)
    • 1242 – Saint Verdiana, Italian recluse (b. 1182)
    • 1280 – Margaret II, Countess of Flanders (b. 1202)
    • 1306 – John “the Red” Comyn, Scottish nobleman
    • 1307 – Temür Khan, Emperor Chengzong of Yuan (b. 1265)
    • 1346 – Blessed Clare of Rimini (b. 1282)
    • 1471 – Frederick II, Margrave of Brandenburg (b. 1413)
    • 1524 – Catherine of Saxony, Archduchess of Austria (b. 1468)
    • 1526 – John V, Count of Oldenburg, German noble (b. 1460)
    • 1567 – Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, consort of Mary, Queen of Scots (b. 1545)
    • 1576 – Wilhelm Xylander, German scholar, translator, and academic (b. 1532)
    • 1686 – William Dugdale, English genealogist and historian (b. 1605)
    • 1755 – Montesquieu, French lawyer and philosopher (b. 1689)
    • 1782 – Friedrich Christoph Oetinger, German theologian and author (b. 1702)
    • 1829 – Pope Leo XII (b. 1760)
    • 1837 – Alexander Pushkin, Russian poet and author (b. 1799)
    • 1854 – José Joaquín de Herrera, Mexican politician and general. President three times (1844–1854) (b. 1792)
    • 1857 – David Thompson, English-Canadian surveyor and explorer (b. 1770)
    • 1865 – Heinrich Lenz, Estonian-Italian physicist and academic (b. 1804)
    • 1879 – Honoré Daumier, French illustrator and painter (b. 1808)
    • 1887 – Ellen Wood, English author (b. 1814)
    • 1891 – Sofia Kovalevskaya, Russian-Swedish mathematician and physicist (b. 1850)
    • 1904 – John A. Roche, American lawyer and politician, 30th Mayor of Chicago (b. 1844)
    • 1906 – Ezra Butler Eddy, American-Canadian businessman and politician (b. 1827)
    • 1912 – Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, English surgeon and academic (b. 1827)
    • 1913 – Konstantinos Tsiklitiras, Greek long jumper (b. 1888)
    • 1917 – John William Waterhouse, English soldier and painter (b. 1849)
    • 1918 – Abdul Hamid II, Ottoman sultan (b. 1842)
    • 1918 – Ernesto Teodoro Moneta, Italian soldier and journalist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1833)
    • 1920 – Henry Strangways, English-Australian politician, 12th Premier of South Australia (b. 1832)
    • 1923 – Wilhelm Röntgen, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1845)
    • 1928 – José Sánchez del Río, Mexican martyr and saint (b. 1913)
    • 1932 – Edgar Wallace, English author and screenwriter (b. 1875)
    • 1939 – Pope Pius XI (b. 1857)
    • 1944 – E. M. Antoniadi, Greek-French astronomer and chess player (b. 1870)
    • 1945 – Anacleto Díaz, Filipino lawyer and jurist (b. 1878)
    • 1950 – Marcel Mauss, French sociologist and anthropologist (b. 1872)
    • 1956 – Leonora Speyer, American poet and violinist (b. 1872)
    • 1956 – Emmanouil Tsouderos, Greek banker and politician, 132nd Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1882)
    • 1957 – Laura Ingalls Wilder, American author (b. 1867)
    • 1960 – Aloysius Stepinac, Croatian cardinal (b. 1898)
    • 1966 – Billy Rose, American composer and songwriter (b. 1899)
    • 1967 – Dionysios Kokkinos, Greek historian and author (b. 1884)
    • 1975 – Nikos Kavvadias, Greek sailor and poet (b. 1910)
    • 1979 – Edvard Kardelj, Slovene general and politician, 2nd Foreign Minister of Yugoslavia (b. 1910)
    • 1992 – Alex Haley, American soldier, journalist, and author (b. 1921)
    • 1993 – Fred Hollows, New Zealand-Australian ophthalmologist and academic (b. 1929)
    • 1995 – Paul Monette, American author, poet, and activist (b. 1945)
    • 1997 – Brian Connolly, Scottish musician, lead singer The Sweet (b. 1945)
    • 2000 – Jim Varney, American actor, comedian and writer (b. 1949)
    • 2001 – Abraham Beame, American academic and politician, 104th Mayor of New York City (b. 1906)
    • 2001 – Buddy Tate, American saxophonist and clarinet player (b. 1913)
    • 2002 – Dave Van Ronk, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1936)
    • 2003 – Edgar de Evia, Mexican-American photographer (b. 1910)
    • 2003 – Albert J. Ruffo, American lawyer and politician, Mayor of San Jose (b. 1908)
    • 2003 – Ron Ziegler, American politician, 14th White House Press Secretary (b. 1939)
    • 2005 – Arthur Miller, American actor, playwright, and author (b. 1915)
    • 2006 – James Yancey, American record producer and rapper (b. 1974)
    • 2008 – Roy Scheider, American actor and boxer (b. 1932)
    • 2010 – Fred Schaus, American basketball player and coach (b. 1925)
    • 2010 – Charles Wilson, American lieutenant and politician (b. 1933)
    • 2011 – Trevor Bailey, English cricketer and journalist (b. 1923)
    • 2012 – Lloyd Morrison, New Zealand banker and businessman, founded H. R. L. Morrison & Co (b. 1957)
    • 2012 – Jeffrey Zaslow, American journalist and author (b. 1958)
    • 2013 – W. Watts Biggers, American author, screenwriter, and animator (b. 1927)
    • 2013 – David Hartman, American-Israeli rabbi and philosopher, founded the Shalom Hartman Institute (b. 1931)
    • 2014 – Stuart Hall, Jamaican-English sociologist and theorist (b. 1932)
    • 2014 – Shirley Temple, American actress and diplomat (b. 1928)
    • 2015 – Naseer Aruri, Palestinian scholar and activist (b. 1934)
    • 2015 – Karl Josef Becker, German cardinal and theologian (b. 1928)
    • 2015 – Deng Liqun, Chinese theorist and politician (b. 1915)
    • 2016 – Fatima Surayya Bajia, Indian-Pakistani author and playwright (b. 1930)
    • 2017 – Mike Ilitch, American businessman (b. 1929)
    • 2019 – Carmen Argenziano, American actor (b. 1943)
    • 2019 – Jan-Michael Vincent, American actor (b. 1944)

    Holidays and observances on February 10

    • Christian feast day:
      • Austrebertha
      • Charalambos
      • José Sánchez del Río
      • Scholastica
      • February 10 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Feast of St. Paul’s Shipwreck (Malta)
    • Fenkil Day (Eritrea)
    • Kurdish Authors Union Day (Iraqi Kurdistan)
    • National Memorial Day of the Exiles and Foibe (Italy)

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

    February 6 in History

    • AD 60 – The earliest date for which the day of the week is known. A graffito in Pompeii identifies this day as a dies Solis (Sunday). In modern reckoning, this date would have been a Wednesday.
    • 1579 – The Archdiocese of Manila is made a diocese by a papal bull with Domingo de Salazar being its first bishop.
    • 1685 – James II of England and VII of Scotland is proclaimed King upon the death of his brother Charles II.
    • 1694 – The warrior queen Dandara, leader of the runaway slaves in Quilombo dos Palmares, Brazil, is captured and commits suicide rather than be returned to a life of slavery.
    • 1778 – American Revolutionary War: In Paris the Treaty of Alliance and the Treaty of Amity and Commerce are signed by the United States and France signaling official recognition of the new republic.
    • 1778 –New York became the third state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.
    • 1788 – Massachusetts becomes the sixth state to ratify the United States Constitution.
    • 1806 – Battle of San Domingo: British naval victory against the French in the Caribbean.
    • 1819 – Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founds Singapore.
    • 1820 – The first 86 African American immigrants sponsored by the American Colonization Society depart New York to start a settlement in present-day Liberia.
    • 1833 – Otto becomes the first modern King of Greece.
    • 1840 – Signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, establishing New Zealand as a British colony.
    • 1843 – The first minstrel show in the United States, The Virginia Minstrels, opens (Bowery Amphitheatre in New York City).
    • 1851 – The largest Australian bushfires in a populous region in recorded history take place in the state of Victoria.
    • 1862 – American Civil War: Forces under the command of Ulysses S. Grant and Andrew H. Foote give the Union its first victory of the war, capturing Fort Henry, Tennessee in the Battle of Fort Henry.
    • 1899 – Spanish–American War: The Treaty of Paris, a peace treaty between the United States and Spain, is ratified by the United States Senate.
    • 1900 – The Permanent Court of Arbitration, an international arbitration court at The Hague, is created when the Senate of the Netherlands ratifies an 1899 peace conference decree.
    • 1918 – British women over the age of 30 who meet minimum property qualifications, get the right to vote when Representation of the People Act 1918 is passed by Parliament.
    • 1919 – The American Legion is founded.
    • 1919 – The five-day Seattle General Strike begins, as more than 65,000 workers in the city of Seattle, Washington, walk off the job.
    • 1922 – The Washington Naval Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C., limiting the naval armaments of United States, Britain, Japan, France, and Italy.
    • 1934 – Far-right leagues rally in front of the Palais Bourbon in an attempted coup against the French Third Republic, creating a political crisis in France.
    • 1951 – The Canadian Army enters combat in the Korean War.
    • 1951 – The Broker, a Pennsylvania Railroad passenger train derails near Woodbridge Township, New Jersey. The accident kills 85 people and injures over 500 more. The wreck is one of the worst rail disasters in American history.
    • 1952 – Elizabeth II becomes Queen of the United Kingdom and her other Realms and Territories and Head of the Commonwealth upon the death of her father, George VI. At the exact moment of succession, she was in a tree house at the Treetops Hotel in Kenya.
    • 1958 – Eight Manchester United F.C. players and 15 other passengers are killed in the Munich air disaster.
    • 1959 – Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments files the first patent for an integrated circuit.
    • 1959 – At Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first successful test firing of a Titan intercontinental ballistic missile is accomplished.
    • 1976 – In testimony before a United States Senate subcommittee, Lockheed Corporation president Carl Kotchian admits that the company had paid out approximately $3 million in bribes to the office of Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka.
    • 1978 – The Blizzard of 1978, one of the worst Nor’easters in New England history, hit the region, with sustained winds of 65 mph and snowfall of four inches an hour.
    • 1981 – The National Resistance Army of Uganda launches an attack on a Ugandan Army installation in the central Mubende District to begin the Ugandan Bush War.
    • 1987 – Justice Mary Gaudron becomes the first woman to be appointed to the High Court of Australia.
    • 1988 – Michael Jordan makes his signature slam dunk from the free throw line inspiring Air Jordan and the Jumpman logo.
    • 1989 – The Round Table Talks start in Poland, thus marking the beginning of the overthrow of communism in Eastern Europe.
    • 1996 – Willamette Valley Flood: Floods in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, United States, causes over US$500 million in property damage throughout the Pacific Northwest.
    • 1996 – Birgenair Flight 301 crashed off the coast of the Dominican Republic, killing all 189 people on board. This is the deadliest aviation accident involving a Boeing 757.
    • 1998 – Washington National Airport is renamed Ronald Reagan National Airport.
    • 2000 – Second Chechen War: Russia captures Grozny, Chechnya, forcing the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria government into exile.
    • 2006 – Stephen Harper becomes Prime Minister of Canada.
    • 2016 – An earthquake of magnitude 6.6 strikes southern Taiwan, killing 117 people.
    • 2018 – SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, a super heavy launch vehicle, makes its maiden flight.

    Births on February 6

    • 885 – Emperor Daigo of Japan (d. 930)
    • 1402 – Louis I, Landgrave of Hesse, Landgrave of Hesse (d. 1458)
    • 1452 – Joanna, Princess of Portugal (d. 1490)
    • 1453 – Girolamo Benivieni, Florentine poet (d. 1542)
    • 1465 – Scipione del Ferro, Italian mathematician and theorist (d. 1526)
    • 1536 – Sassa Narimasa, Japanese samurai (d. 1588)
    • 1577 – Beatrice Cenci, Italian murderer (d. 1599)
    • 1582 – Mario Bettinus, Italian mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher (d. 1657)
    • 1608 – António Vieira, Portuguese priest and philosopher (d. 1697)
    • 1611 – Chongzhen Emperor of China (d. 1644)
    • 1612 – Antoine Arnauld, French mathematician, theologian, and philosopher (d. 1694)
    • 1643 – Johann Kasimir Kolbe von Wartenberg, Prussian politician, 1st Minister President of Prussia (d. 1712)
    • 1649 – Augusta Marie of Holstein-Gottorp, German noblewoman (d. 1728)
    • 1664 – Mustafa II, Ottoman sultan (d. 1703)
    • 1665 – Anne, Queen of Great Britain, Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland (d. 1714)
    • 1665 – Anne, Queen of Great Britain (d. 1714)
    • 1695 – Nicolaus II Bernoulli, Swiss-Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 1726)
    • 1719 – Alberto Pullicino, Maltese painter (d. 1759)
    • 1726 – Patrick Russell, Scottish surgeon and zoologist (d. 1805)
    • 1732 – Charles Lee, English-American general (d. 1782)
    • 1736 – Franz Xaver Messerschmidt, German-Austrian sculptor (d. 1783)
    • 1744 – Pierre-Joseph Desault, French anatomist and surgeon (d. 1795)
    • 1748 – Adam Weishaupt, German philosopher and academic, founded the Illuminati (d. 1830)
    • 1753 – Évariste de Parny, French poet and author (d. 1814)
    • 1756 – Aaron Burr, American colonel and politician, 3rd Vice President of the United States (d. 1836)
    • 1758 – Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Belarusian-Polish poet, playwright, and politician (d. 1841)
    • 1769 – Ludwig von Wallmoden-Gimborn, Austrian general (d. 1862)
    • 1772 – George Murray, Scottish general and politician, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies (d. 1830)
    • 1778 – Ugo Foscolo, Italian author and poet (d. 1827)
    • 1781 – John Keane, 1st Baron Keane, Irish general and politician, Governor of Saint Lucia (d. 1844)
    • 1796 – John Stevens Henslow, English botanist and geologist (d. 1861)
    • 1797 – Joseph von Radowitz, Prussian general and politician, Foreign Minister of Prussia (d. 1853)
    • 1799 – Imre Frivaldszky, Hungarian botanist and entomologist (d. 1870)
    • 1800 – Achille Devéria, French painter and lithographer (d. 1857)
    • 1802 – Charles Wheatstone, English-French physicist and cryptographer (d. 1875)
    • 1811 – Henry Liddell, English priest, author, and academic (d. 1898)
    • 1814 – Auguste Chapdelaine, French missionary and saint (d. 1856)
    • 1818 – William M. Evarts, American lawyer and politician, 27th United States Secretary of State (d. 1901)
    • 1820 – Thomas C. Durant, American railroad tycoon (d. 1885)
    • 1829 – Joseph Auguste Émile Vaudremer, French architect, designed the La Santé Prison and Saint-Pierre-de-Montrouge (d. 1914)
    • 1832 – John Brown Gordon, American general and politician, 53rd Governor of Georgia (d. 1904)
    • 1833 – José María de Pereda, Spanish author and academic (d. 1906)
    • 1833 – J. E. B. Stuart, American general (d. 1864)
    • 1834 – Edwin Klebs, German-Swiss pathologist and academic (d. 1913)
    • 1834 – Ema Pukšec, Croatian-German soprano (d. 1889)
    • 1834 – Wilhelm von Scherff, German general and author (d. 1911)
    • 1838 – Henry Irving, English actor and manager (d. 1905)
    • 1838 – Israel Meir Kagan, Lithuanian-Polish rabbi and author (d. 1933)
    • 1839 – Eduard Hitzig, German neurologist and psychiatrist (d. 1907)
    • 1842 – Alexandre Ribot, French academic and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1923)
    • 1843 – Inoue Kowashi, Japanese scholar and politician (d. 1895)
    • 1843 – Frederic William Henry Myers, English poet and philologist, co-founded the Society for Psychical Research (d. 1901)
    • 1845 – Isidor Straus, German-American businessman and politician (d. 1912)
    • 1847 – Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, American architect, designed the Plaza Hotel (d. 1918)
    • 1852 – C. Lloyd Morgan, English zoologist and psychologist (d. 1936)
    • 1852 – Vasily Safonov, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1918)
    • 1861 – Nikolay Zelinsky, Russian chemist and academic (d. 1953)
    • 1864 – John Henry Mackay, Scottish-German philosopher and author (d. 1933)
    • 1866 – Karl Sapper, German linguist and explorer (d. 1945)
    • 1872 – Robert Maillart, Swiss engineer, designed the Salginatobel Bridge and Schwandbach Bridge (d. 1940)
    • 1874 – Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, Indian religious leader, founded the Gaudiya Math (d. 1937)
    • 1875 – Leonid Gobyato, Russian general (d. 1915)
    • 1876 – Henry Blogg, English fisherman and sailor (d. 1954)
    • 1879 – Othon Friesz, French painter (d. 1949)
    • 1879 – Magnús Guðmundsson, Icelandic lawyer and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Iceland (d. 1937)
    • 1879 – Edwin Samuel Montagu, English politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (d. 1924)
    • 1879 – Carl Ramsauer, German physicist and author (d. 1955)
    • 1880 – Nishinoumi Kajirō II, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 25th Yokozuna (d. 1931)
    • 1884 – Marcel Cohen, French linguist and scholar (d. 1974)
    • 1887 – Josef Frings, German cardinal (d. 1978)
    • 1890 – Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Pakistani activist and politician (d. 1988)
    • 1890 – James McGirr, Australian politician, 28th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1957)
    • 1892 – Maximilian Fretter-Pico, German general (d. 1984)
    • 1892 – William P. Murphy, American physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)
    • 1893 – Muhammad Zafarullah Khan, Pakistani politician and diplomat, 1st Minister of Foreign Affairs for Pakistan (d. 1985)
    • 1894 – Eric Partridge, New Zealand-English lexicographer and academic (d. 1979)
    • 1894 – Kirpal Singh, Indian spiritual master (d. 1974)
    • 1895 – Robert La Follette Jr., American politician (d. 1953)
    • 1895 – María Teresa Vera, Cuban singer, guitarist and composer (d. 1965)
    • 1895 – Babe Ruth, American baseball player and coach (d. 1948)
    • 1898 – Harry Haywood, American soldier and politician (d. 1985)
    • 1899 – Ramon Novarro, Mexican-American actor, singer, and director (d. 1968)
    • 1901 – Ben Lyon, American actor (d. 1979)
    • 1902 – George Brunies, American trombonist (d. 1974)
    • 1903 – Claudio Arrau, Chilean pianist and composer (d. 1991)
    • 1905 – Władysław Gomułka, Polish politician (d. 1982)
    • 1905 – Jan Werich, Czech actor and playwright (d. 1980)
    • 1906 – Joseph Schull, Canadian playwright and historian (d. 1980)
    • 1908 – Amintore Fanfani, Italian journalist and politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1999)
    • 1908 – Edward Lansdale, American general and CIA agent (d. 1987)
    • 1908 – Geo Bogza, Romanian poet and journalist (d. 1993)
    • 1908 – Michael Maltese, American actor, screenwriter, and composer (d. 1981)
    • 1910 – Roman Czerniawski, Polish air force officer and spy (d. 1985)
    • 1910 – Irmgard Keun, German author (d. 1982)
    • 1910 – Carlos Marcello, Tunisian-American gangster (d. 1993)
    • 1911 – Ronald Reagan, American actor and politician, 40th President of the United States (d. 2004)
    • 1912 – Eva Braun, German wife of Adolf Hitler (d. 1945)
    • 1912 – Christopher Hill, English historian and author (d. 2003)
    • 1913 – Mary Leakey, English-Kenyan archaeologist and anthropologist (d. 1996)
    • 1914 – Thurl Ravenscroft, American voice actor and singer (d. 2005)
    • 1915 – Kavi Pradeep, Indian poet and songwriter (d. 1998)
    • 1916 – John Crank, English mathematician and physicist (d. 2006)
    • 1917 – Louis-Philippe de Grandpré, Canadian lawyer and jurist (d. 2008)
    • 1917 – Zsa Zsa Gabor, Hungarian-American actress and socialite (d. 2016)
    • 1918 – Lothar-Günther Buchheim, German author and painter (d. 2007)
    • 1919 – Takashi Yanase, Japanese poet and illustrator, created Anpanman (d. 2013)
    • 1921 – Carl Neumann Degler, American historian and author (d. 2014)
    • 1921 – Bob Scott, New Zealand rugby player (d. 2012)
    • 1922 – Patrick Macnee, English-American actor and costume designer (d. 2015)
    • 1922 – Denis Norden, English actor, screenwriter, and television host (d. 2018)
    • 1922 – Haskell Wexler, American director, producer, and cinematographer (d. 2015)
    • 1923 – Gyula Lóránt, Hungarian footballer and manager (d. 1981)
    • 1924 – Billy Wright, English footballer and manager (d. 1994)
    • 1924 – Jin Yong, Hong Kong author and publisher, founded Ming Pao (d. 2018)
    • 1925 – Walker Edmiston, American actor and puppeteer (d. 2007)
    • 1927 – Gerard K. O’Neill, American physicist and astronomer (d. 1992)
    • 1928 – Allan H. Meltzer, American economist and academic (d. 2017)
    • 1929 – Colin Murdoch, New Zealand pharmacist and veterinarian, invented the tranquilliser gun (d. 2008)
    • 1929 – Oscar Sambrano Urdaneta, Venezuelan author and critic (d. 2011)
    • 1929 – Valentin Yanin, Russian historian and author (d. 2020)
    • 1930 – Jun Kondo, Japanese physicist and academic
    • 1931 – Rip Torn, American actor (d. 2019)
    • 1931 – Fred Trueman, English cricketer (d. 2006)
    • 1931 – Mamie Van Doren, American actress and model
    • 1931 – Ricardo Vidal, Filipino cardinal (d. 2017)
    • 1932 – Camilo Cienfuegos, Cuban soldier and anarchist (d. 1959)
    • 1932 – François Truffaut, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1984)
    • 1933 – Leslie Crowther, English comedian, actor, and game show host (d. 1996)
    • 1936 – Kent Douglas, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2009)
    • 1938 – Fred Mifflin, Canadian admiral and politician, 19th Minister of Veterans Affairs (d. 2013)
    • 1939 – Jean Beaudin, Canadian director and screenwriter (d. 2019)
    • 1939 – Mike Farrell, American actor, director, producer, activist and public speaker
    • 1939 – Jair Rodrigues, Brazilian singer (d. 2014)
    • 1940 – Tom Brokaw, American journalist and author
    • 1940 – Petr Hájek, Czech mathematician and academic (d. 2016)
    • 1940 – Jimmy Tarbuck, English comedian and actor
    • 1941 – Stephen Albert, American pianist and composer (d. 1992)
    • 1941 – Dave Berry, English pop singer
    • 1941 – Gigi Perreau, American actress and director
    • 1942 – Sarah Brady, American activist and author (d. 2015)
    • 1942 – Charlie Coles, American basketball player and coach (d. 2013)
    • 1942 – Ahmad-Jabir Ahmadov Ismail oghlu, Azerbaijani philosopher and academic
    • 1942 – James Loewen, American sociologist and historian
    • 1942 – Tommy Roberts, English fashion designer (d. 2012)
    • 1943 – Fabian Forte, American pop singer and actor
    • 1943 – Gayle Hunnicutt, American actress
    • 1944 – Christine Boutin, French politician, French Minister of Housing and Urban Development
    • 1944 – Willie Tee, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer (d. 2007)
    • 1944 – Michael Tucker, American actor and producer
    • 1945 – Bob Marley, Jamaican singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1981)
    • 1946 – Richie Hayward, American drummer and songwriter (d. 2010)
    • 1946 – Kate McGarrigle, Canadian musician and singer-songwriter (d. 2010)
    • 1946 – Jim Turner, American captain and politician
    • 1947 – Bill Staines, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1947 – Charlie Hickcox, American swimmer (d .2010)
    • 1949 – Mike Batt, English singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1949 – Manuel Orantes, Spanish tennis player
    • 1949 – Jim Sheridan, Irish director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1950 – Natalie Cole, American singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2015)
    • 1950 – Timothy M. Dolan, American cardinal
    • 1950 – Punky Meadows, American rock guitarist and songwriter
    • 1952 – Ric Charlesworth, Australian cricketer, coach, and politician
    • 1952 – Viktor Giacobbo, Swiss actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1952 – Ricardo La Volpe, Argentinian footballer, manager, and coach
    • 1955 – Avram Grant, Israeli football manager
    • 1955 – Michael Pollan, American journalist, author, and academic
    • 1955 – Bruno Stolorz, French rugby player and coach
    • 1956 – Jerry Marotta, American drummer
    • 1957 – Andres Lipstok, Estonian economist and politician, Estonian Minister of Economic Affairs
    • 1957 – Kathy Najimy, American actress and comedian
    • 1957 – Simon Phillips, English drummer and producer
    • 1957 – Robert Townsend, American actor and director
    • 1958 – Cecily Adams, American actress and casting director (d. 2004)
    • 1960 – Jeremy Bowen, Welsh journalist
    • 1960 – Megan Gallagher, American actress
    • 1961 – Michael Bolt, Australian rugby league player
    • 1961 – Cam Cameron, American football player and coach
    • 1961 – Bill Lester, American race car driver
    • 1961 – Yury Onufriyenko, Ukrainian-Russian colonel, pilot, and astronaut
    • 1962 – Stavros Lambrinidis, Greek lawyer and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Greece
    • 1962 – Axl Rose, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1963 – David Capel, English cricketer
    • 1963 – Scott Gordon, American ice hockey player and coach
    • 1963 – Quentin Letts, English journalist and critic
    • 1964 – Laurent Cabannes, French rugby player
    • 1964 – Gordon Downie, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2017)
    • 1964 – Colin Miller, Australian cricketer and sportscaster
    • 1964 – Andrey Zvyagintsev, Russian actor and director
    • 1965 – Jan Svěrák, Czech actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1966 – Rick Astley, English singer-songwriter
    • 1967 – Anita Cochran, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1967 – Izumi Sakai, Japanese singer-songwriter (d. 2007)
    • 1968 – Adolfo Valencia, Colombian footballer
    • 1968 – Akira Yamaoka, Japanese composer and producer
    • 1969 – David Hayter, American actor and screenwriter
    • 1969 – Masaharu Fukuyama, Japanese singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
    • 1969 – Tim Sherwood, English international footballer midfielder and manager
    • 1969 – Bob Wickman, American baseball player
    • 1970 – Per Frandsen, Danish footballer and manager
    • 1970 – Tim Herron, American golfer
    • 1971 – Brad Hogg, Australian cricketer
    • 1971 – Carlos Rogers, American basketball player
    • 1972 – Stefano Bettarini, Italian footballer
    • 1972 – David Binn, American football player
    • 1974 – Aljo Bendijo, Filipino journalist
    • 1975 – Chad Allen, American baseball player and coach
    • 1975 – Orkut Büyükkökten, Turkish computer scientist and engineer, created Orkut
    • 1975 – Tomoko Kawase, Japanese singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1976 – Tanja Frieden, Swiss snowboarder and educator
    • 1976 – Kim Zmeskal, American gymnast and coach
    • 1977 – Josh Stewart, American actor
    • 1978 – Yael Naim, French-Israeli singer-songwriter
    • 1979 – Dan Bălan, Moldovan singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1980 – Kerry Jeremy, Antiguan cricketer
    • 1980 – Kim Poirier, Canadian actress, singer, and producer
    • 1980 – Luke Ravenstahl, American politician, 58th Mayor of Pittsburgh
    • 1981 – Ricky Barnes, American golfer
    • 1981 – Calum Best, American-English model and actor
    • 1981 – Shim Eun-jin, South Korean singer and actress
    • 1981 – Alison Haislip, American actress and producer
    • 1981 – Jens Lekman, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1981 – Ty Warren, American football player
    • 1982 – Tank, Taiwanese singer-songwriter
    • 1982 – Alice Eve, English actress
    • 1982 – Elise Ray, American gymnast
    • 1983 – Melrose Bickerstaff, American model and fashion designer
    • 1983 – Brodie Croyle, American football player
    • 1983 – Dimas Delgado, Spanish footballer
    • 1983 – S. Sreesanth, Indian cricketer
    • 1983 – Jamie Whincup, Australian race car driver
    • 1984 – Darren Bent, English international footballer, forward
    • 1984 – Piret Järvis, Estonian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1984 – Antoine Wright, American basketball player
    • 1985 – Ben Creagh, Australian rugby league player
    • 1985 – Kris Humphries, American basketball player
    • 1986 – Dane DeHaan, American actor
    • 1986 – Yunho, South Korean singer and actor
    • 1988 – Bailey Hanks, American actress, singer, and dancer
    • 1989 – Craig Cathcart, Northern Irish footballer
    • 1989 – Jonny Flynn, American basketball player
    • 1990 – Adam Henrique, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1990 – Jermaine Kearse, American football player
    • 1990 – Aida Rybalko, Lithuanian figure skater
    • 1991 – Tobias Eisenbauer, Austrian ice dancer
    • 1991 – Ida Njåtun, Norwegian speed skater
    • 1991 – Eva Wacanno, Dutch tennis player
    • 1991 – Fei Yu, Chinese footballer
    • 1992 – Víctor Mañón, Mexican footballer
    • 1993 – Teresa Scanlan, Miss America 2011
    • 1993 – Tinashe, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
    • 1994 – Charlie Heaton, British actor and musician
    • 1995 – Leon Goretzka, German footballer
    • 1995 – Sam McQueen, English footballer

    Deaths on February 6

    • 743 – Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, Umayyad caliph (b. 691)
    • 797 – Donnchad Midi, Irish king (b. 733)
    • 891 – Photios I of Constantinople (b. 810)
    • 1140 – Thurstan, Archbishop of York
    • 1155 – King Sigurd II of Norway (b. 1133)
    • 1215 – Hōjō Tokimasa, Japanese shikken of the Kamakura bakufu (b. 1138)
    • 1378 – Joanna of Bourbon (b. 1338)
    • 1411 – Esau de’ Buondelmonti, ruler of Epirus
    • 1497 – Johannes Ockeghem, Flemish composer and educator (b. 1410)
    • 1515 – Aldus Manutius, Italian publisher, founded the Aldine Press (b. 1449)
    • 1519 – Lorenz von Bibra, Prince-Bishop of the Bishopric of Würzburg (b. 1459)
    • 1539 – John III, Duke of Cleves (b. 1491)
    • 1585 – Edmund Plowden, English lawyer and scholar (b. 1518)
    • 1593 – Jacques Amyot, French author and translator (b. 1513)
    • 1593 – Emperor Ōgimachi of Japan (b. 1517)
    • 1597 – Franciscus Patricius, Italian philosopher and scientist (b. 1529)
    • 1612 – Christopher Clavius, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1538)
    • 1617 – Prospero Alpini, Italian physician and botanist (b. 1553)
    • 1625 – Philipp Julius, Duke of Pomerania (b. 1584)
    • 1685 – Charles II of England (b. 1630)
    • 1695 – Ahmed II, Ottoman sultan (b. 1643)
    • 1740 – Pope Clement XII (b. 1652)
    • 1775 – William Dowdeswell, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1721)
    • 1783 – Capability Brown, English gardener and architect (b. 1716)
    • 1793 – Carlo Goldoni, Italian-French playwright (b. 1707)
    • 1804 – Joseph Priestley, English chemist and theologian (b. 1733)
    • 1807 – John Reid, Scottish general (b. 1721)
    • 1833 – Pierre André Latreille, French zoologist and entomologist (b. 1762)
    • 1834 – Richard Lemon Lander, English explorer (b. 1804)
    • 1865 – Isabella Beeton, English author of Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management (b. 1836)
    • 1899 – Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (b. 1874)
    • 1899 – Leo von Caprivi, German general and politician, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1831)
    • 1902 – John Colton, English-Australian politician, 13th Premier of South Australia (b. 1823)
    • 1916 – Rubén Darío, Nicaraguan poet, journalist, and diplomat (b. 1867)
    • 1918 – Gustav Klimt, Austrian painter and illustrator (b. 1862)
    • 1929 – Maria Christina of Austria (b. 1858)
    • 1931 – Motilal Nehru, Indian lawyer and politician, President of the Indian National Congress (b. 1861)
    • 1932 – John Earle, Australian politician, 22nd Premier of Tasmania (b. 1865)
    • 1938 – Marianne von Werefkin, Russian-Swiss painter (b. 1860)
    • 1942 – Jaan Soots, Estonian general and politician, 7th Estonian Minister of War (b. 1880)
    • 1951 – Gabby Street, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1882)
    • 1952 – George VI of the United Kingdom (b. 1895)
    • 1958 – victims of the Munich air disaster
      • – Geoff Bent, English footballer (b. 1932)
      • – Roger Byrne, English footballer (b. 1929)
      • – Eddie Colman, English footballer (b. 1936)
      • – Walter Crickmer, English footballer and manager (b. 1900)
      • – Mark Jones, English footballer (b. 1933)
      • – David Pegg, English footballer (b. 1935)
      • – Frank Swift, English footballer and journalist (b. 1913)
      • – Tommy Taylor, English footballer (b. 1932)
    • 1963 – Piero Manzoni, Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1933)
    • 1964 – Emilio Aguinaldo, Filipino general and politician, 1st President of the Philippines (b. 1869)
    • 1967 – Martine Carol, French actress (b. 1920)
    • 1972 – Julian Steward, American anthropologist (b. 1902)
    • 1976 – Ritwik Ghatak, Bangladeshi-Indian director and screenwriter (b. 1925)
    • 1976 – Vince Guaraldi, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1928)
    • 1981 – Hugo Montenegro, American composer and conductor (b. 1925)
    • 1982 – Ben Nicholson, British painter (b. 1894)
    • 1985 – James Hadley Chase, English-Swiss soldier and author (b. 1906)
    • 1986 – Frederick Coutts, Scottish 8th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1899)
    • 1986 – Dandy Nichols, English actress (b. 1907)
    • 1986 – Minoru Yamasaki, American architect, designed the World Trade Center (b. 1912)
    • 1987 – Julien Chouinard, Canadian lawyer and jurist (b. 1929)
    • 1989 – Barbara W. Tuchman, American historian and author (b. 1912)
    • 1990 – Jimmy Van Heusen, American pianist and composer (b. 1913)
    • 1991 – Salvador Luria, Italian biologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912)
    • 1991 – Danny Thomas, American actor, producer, and humanitarian (b. 1914)
    • 1993 – Arthur Ashe, American tennis player and sportscaster (b. 1943)
    • 1994 – Joseph Cotten, American actor (b. 1905)
    • 1994 – Jack Kirby, American author and illustrator (b. 1917)
    • 1995 – James Merrill, American poet and playwright (b. 1926)
    • 1998 – Falco, Austrian pop-rock musician (b. 1957)
    • 1999 – Don Dunstan, Australian lawyer and politician, 35th Premier of South Australia (b. 1926)
    • 1999 – Jimmy Roberts, American tenor (b. 1924)
    • 2000 – Phil Walters, American race car driver (b. 1916)
    • 2001 – Filemon Lagman, Filipino theoretician and activist (b. 1953)
    • 2002 – Max Perutz, Austrian-English biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1914)
    • 2004 – Gerald Bouey, Canadian lieutenant and economist (b. 1920)
    • 2005 – Karl Haas, German-American pianist, conductor, and radio host (b. 1913)
    • 2007 – Lew Burdette, American baseball player and coach (b. 1926)
    • 2007 – Frankie Laine, American singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1913)
    • 2007 – Willye White, American runner and long jumper (b. 1939)
    • 2008 – Tony Rolt, English race car driver and engineer (b. 1918)
    • 2009 – Philip Carey, American actor (b. 1925)
    • 2009 – James Whitmore, American actor (b. 1921)
    • 2011 – Gary Moore, Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1952)
    • 2012 – David Rosenhan, American psychologist and academic (b. 1929)
    • 2012 – Antoni Tàpies, Spanish painter and sculptor (b. 1923)
    • 2012 – Janice E. Voss, American engineer and astronaut (b. 1956)
    • 2013 – Chokri Belaid, Tunisian lawyer and politician (b. 1964)
    • 2013 – Menachem Elon, German-Israeli academic and jurist (b. 1923)
    • 2014 – Vasiľ Biľak, Slovak politician (b. 1917)
    • 2014 – Ralph Kiner, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1922)
    • 2014 – Maxine Kumin, American author and poet (b. 1925)
    • 2014 – Vaçe Zela, Albanian-Swiss singer and guitarist (b. 1939)
    • 2015 – André Brink, South African author and playwright (b. 1935)
    • 2015 – Alan Nunnelee, American lawyer and politician (b. 1958)
    • 2015 – Pedro León Zapata, Venezuelan cartoonist (b. 1929)
    • 2016 – Dan Gerson, American screenwriter (b. 1966)
    • 2016 – Dan Hicks, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1941)
    • 2017 – Irwin Corey, American comedian and actor (b. 1914)
    • 2017 – Inge Keller, German actress (b. 1923)
    • 2017 – Alec McCowen, English actor (b. 1925)
    • 2017 – Joost van der Westhuizen, South African rugby union footballer (b. 1971)

    Holidays and observances on February 6

    • Christian feast day:
      • Amand
      • Dorothea of Caesarea
      • Hildegund, O.Praem.
      • Jacut
      • Mateo Correa Magallanes (one of Saints of the Cristero War)
      • Mél of Ardagh
      • Paul Miki and Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan
      • Relindis (Renule) of Maaseik
      • Vedastus
      • February 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation (United Nations)
    • Ronald Reagan Day (California, United States)
    • Sami National Day (Russia, Finland, Norway and Sweden)
    • Waitangi Day, celebrates the founding of New Zealand in 1840.

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

    • 661 – The Rashidun Caliphate is effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last caliph.
    • 945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to become monks by Constantine VII, who becomes the sole emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
    • 1500 – Vicente Yáñez Pinzón becomes the first European to set foot on Brazil.
    • 1531 – The 6.4–7.1 Mw Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people.
    • 1564 – The Council of Trent establishes an official distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.
    • 1564 – The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Tsardom of Russia in the Battle of Ula during the Livonian War.
    • 1565 – Battle of Talikota, fought between the Vijayanagara Empire and the Deccan sultanates, leads to the subjugation, and eventual destruction of the last Hindu kingdom in India, and the consolidation of Islamic rule over much of the Indian subcontinent.
    • 1699 – For the first time, the Ottoman Empire permanently cedes territory to the Christian powers.
    • 1700 – The 8.7–9.2 Mw Cascadia earthquake takes place off the west coast of North America, as evidenced by Japanese records.
    • 1736 – Stanislaus I of Poland abdicates his throne.
    • 1788 – The British First Fleet, led by Arthur Phillip, sails into Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) to establish Sydney, the first permanent European settlement on Australia. Commemorated as Australia Day.
    • 1808 – The Rum Rebellion is the only successful (albeit short-lived) armed takeover of the government in New South Wales.
    • 1837 – Michigan is admitted as the 26th U.S. state.
    • 1838 – Tennessee enacts the first prohibition law in the United States.
    • 1841 – James Bremer takes formal possession of Hong Kong Island at what is now Possession Point, establishing British Hong Kong.
    • 1855 – Point No Point Treaty is signed in Washington Territory.
    • 1856 – First Battle of Seattle. Marines from the USS Decatur drive off American Indian attackers after all day battle with settlers.
    • 1861 – American Civil War: The state of Louisiana secedes from the Union.
    • 1863 – American Civil War: General Ambrose Burnside is relieved of command of the Army of the Potomac after the disastrous Fredericksburg campaign. He is replaced by Joseph Hooker.
    • 1863 – American Civil War: Governor of Massachusetts John Albion Andrew receives permission from the Secretary of War to raise a militia organization for men of African descent.
    • 1870 – Reconstruction Era: Virginia rejoins the Union.
    • 1885 – Troops loyal to The Mahdi conquer Khartoum, killing the Governor-General Charles George Gordon.
    • 1905 – The world’s largest diamond ever, the Cullinan weighing 3,106.75 carats (0.621350 kg), is found at the Premier Mine near Pretoria in South Africa.
    • 1911 – Glenn Curtiss flies the first successful American seaplane.
    • 1915 – The Rocky Mountain National Park is established by an act of the U.S. Congress.
    • 1918 – Finnish Civil War: A group of Red Guards hangs a red lantern atop the tower of Helsinki Workers’ Hall to symbolically mark the start of the war.
    • 1920 – Former Ford Motor Company executive Henry Leland launches the Lincoln Motor Company which he later sold to his former employer.
    • 1926 – The first demonstration of the television by John Logie Baird.
    • 1930 – The Indian National Congress declares 26 January as Independence Day or as the day for Poorna Swaraj (“Complete Independence”) which occurred 17 years later.
    • 1934 – The Apollo Theater reopens in Harlem, New York City.
    • 1934 – German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact is signed.
    • 1939 – Spanish Civil War: Catalonia Offensive: Troops loyal to nationalist General Francisco Franco and aided by Italy take Barcelona.
    • 1942 – World War II: The first United States forces arrive in Europe landing in Northern Ireland.
    • 1945 – World War II: The Red Army begins encircling the German Fourth Army near Heiligenbeil in East Prussia, which will end in destruction of the 4th Army two months later.
    • 1945 – World War II: Audie Murphy displays valor and bravery in action for which he will later be awarded the Medal of Honor.
    • 1949 – The Hale telescope at Palomar Observatory sees first light under the direction of Edwin Hubble, becoming the largest aperture optical telescope (until BTA-6 is built in 1976).
    • 1950 – The Constitution of India comes into force, forming a republic. Rajendra Prasad is sworn in as its first President of India. Observed as Republic Day in India.
    • 1952 – Black Saturday in Egypt: rioters burn Cairo’s central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses.
    • 1956 – the Soviet Union cedes Porkkala back to Finland.
    • 1961 – John F. Kennedy appoints Janet G. Travell to be the first woman Physician to the President.
    • 1962 – Ranger 3 is launched to study the Moon. The space probe later misses the moon by 22,000 miles (35,400 km).
    • 1965 – Hindi becomes the official language of India.
    • 1972 – JAT Fight 367 is destroyed by a terrorist bomb, killing 27 of the 28 people on board the DC-9. Flight attendant Vesna Vulović survives with critical injuries.
    • 1980 – Egypt–Israel relations are formally established.
    • 1986 – The Ugandan government of Tito Okello is overthrown by the National Resistance Army, led by Yoweri Museveni.
    • 1991 – Mohamed Siad Barre is removed from power in Somalia, ending centralized government, and is succeeded by Ali Mahdi.
    • 1992 – Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia will stop targeting United States cities with nuclear weapons.
    • 1998 – Lewinsky scandal: On American television, U.S. President Bill Clinton denies having had “sexual relations” with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
    • 2001 – The 7.7 Mw Gujarat earthquake shakes Western India with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), leaving 13,805–20,023 dead and about 166,800 injured.
    • 2009 – Rioting breaks out in Antananarivo, Madagascar, sparking a political crisis that will result in the replacement of President Marc Ravalomanana with Andry Rajoelina.
    • 2015 – An aircraft crashes at Los Llanos Air Base in Albacete, Spain, killing 11 people and injuring 21 others.
    • 2020 – A Sikorsky S-76B flying from John Wayne Airport to Camarillo Airport crashes in Calabasas, 30 miles west of Los Angeles, killing all nine people on board including former five time NBA champion Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Bryant.

    Births on January 26

    • 183 – Lady Zhen, wife of Cao Pi (d. 221)
    • 1436 – Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset, Lancastrian military commander (d. 1464)
    • 1467 – Guillaume Budé, French scholar (d. 1540)
    • 1495 – Emperor Go-Nara of Japan (d. 1557)
    • 1541 – Florent Chrestien, French poet and translator (d. 1596)
    • 1549 – Jakob Ebert, German theologian (d. 1614)
    • 1582 – Giovanni Lanfranco, Italian painter (d. 1647)
    • 1595 – Antonio Maria Abbatini, Italian composer (d. 1679)
    • 1624 – George William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1705)
    • 1657 – William Wake, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1737)
    • 1708 – William Hayes, English organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1777)
    • 1714 – Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, French sculptor and educator (d. 1785)
    • 1715 – Claude Adrien Helvétius, French philosopher (d. 1771)
    • 1716 – George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville, English general and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (d. 1785)
    • 1722 – Alexander Carlyle, Scottish minister and author (d. 1805)
    • 1763 – Charles XIV John of Sweden (d. 1844)
    • 1781 – Ludwig Achim von Arnim, German poet and author (d. 1831)
    • 1813 – Juan Pablo Duarte, Dominican philosopher and poet (d. 1876)
    • 1824 – Emil Czyrniański, Polish chemist (d. 1888)
    • 1832 – George Shiras, Jr., American lawyer and jurist (d. 1924)
    • 1842 – François Coppée, French poet and author (d. 1908)
    • 1852 – Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, Italian-French explorer (d. 1905)
    • 1857 – 12th Dalai Lama (d. 1875)
    • 1861 – Louis Anquetin, French painter (d. 1932)
    • 1864 – József Pusztai, Slovene-Hungarian poet and journalist (d. 1934)
    • 1866 – John Cady, American golfer (d. 1933)
    • 1877 – Kees van Dongen, Dutch painter (d. 1968)
    • 1878 – Dave Nourse, English-South African cricketer and coach (d. 1948)
    • 1880 – Douglas MacArthur, American general, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1964)
    • 1885 – Michael Considine, Irish-Australian politician (d. 1959)
    • 1885 – Harry Ricardo, English engineer and academic (d. 1974)
    • 1885 – Per Thorén, Swedish figure skater (d. 1962)
    • 1887 – François Faber, French-Luxembourgian cyclist (d. 1915)
    • 1887 – Marc Mitscher, American admiral and pilot (d. 1947)
    • 1887 – Dimitris Pikionis, Greek architect and academic (d. 1968)
    • 1891 – Frank Costello, Italian-American mob boss (d. 1973)
    • 1891 – August Froehlich, German priest and martyr (d. 1942)
    • 1891 – Wilder Penfield, American-Canadian neurosurgeon and academic (d. 1976)
    • 1892 – Bessie Coleman, American pilot (d. 1926)
    • 1893 – Giuseppe Genco Russo, Italian mob boss (d. 1976)
    • 1899 – Günther Reindorff, Russian-Estonian graphic designer and illustrator (d. 1974)
    • 1900 – Karl Ristenpart, German conductor (d. 1967)
    • 1902 – Menno ter Braak, Dutch author (d. 1940)
    • 1904 – Ancel Keys, American physiologist and nutritionist (d. 2004)
    • 1904 – Seán MacBride, Irish lawyer and politician, Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988)
    • 1905 – Charles Lane, American actor and singer (d. 2007)
    • 1905 – Maria von Trapp, Austrian-American singer (d. 1987)
    • 1907 – Henry Cotton, English golfer (d. 1987)
    • 1907 – Dimitrios Holevas, Greek priest and philologist (d. 2001)
    • 1908 – Jill Esmond, English actress (d. 1990)
    • 1908 – Rupprecht Geiger, German painter and sculptor (d. 2009)
    • 1908 – Stéphane Grappelli, French violinist (d. 1997)
    • 1910 – Jean Image, Hungarian-French animator, director, and screenwriter (d. 1989)
    • 1911 – Polykarp Kusch, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1993)
    • 1911 – Norbert Schultze, German composer and conductor (d. 2002)
    • 1913 – Jimmy Van Heusen, American pianist and composer (d. 1990)
    • 1914 – Dürrüşehvar Sultan, Imperial Princess of the Ottoman Empire (d. 2006)
    • 1915 – William Hopper, American actor (d. 1970)
    • 1917 – Louis Zamperini, American runner and captain (d. 2014)
    • 1918 – Nicolae Ceaușescu, Romanian dictator, 1st President of Romania (d. 1989)
    • 1918 – Philip José Farmer, American author (d. 2009)
    • 1919 – Valentino Mazzola, Italian footballer (d. 1949)
    • 1919 – Bill Nicholson, English footballer and manager (d. 2004)
    • 1919 – Hyun Soong-jong, South Korean politician, 24th Prime Minister of South Korea (d. 2020)
    • 1920 – Hans Holzer, Austrian-American paranormal researcher and author (d. 2009)
    • 1921 – Eddie Barclay, French record producer, founded Barclay Records (d. 2005)
    • 1921 – Akio Morita, Japanese businessman, co-founded Sony (d. 1999)
    • 1922 – Michael Bentine, English actor and screenwriter (d. 1996)
    • 1922 – Seán Flanagan, Irish footballer and politician, 7th Irish Minister for Health (d. 1993)
    • 1922 – Gil Merrick, English footballer (d. 2010)
    • 1923 – Patrick J. Hannifin, American admiral (d. 2014)
    • 1923 – Anne Jeffreys, American actress and singer (d. 2017)
    • 1924 – Alice Babs, Swedish singer and actress (b. 1924)
    • 1924 – Annette Strauss, American philanthropist and politician, Mayor of Dallas (d. 1998)
    • 1925 – David Jenkins, English bishop and theologian (d. 2016)
    • 1925 – Joan Leslie, American actress (d. 2015)
    • 1925 – Paul Newman, American actor, activist, director, race car driver, and businessman, co-founded Newman’s Own (d. 2008)
    • 1925 – Ben Pucci, American football player and sportscaster (d. 2013)
    • 1925 – Claude Ryan, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 2004)
    • 1926 – Farman Fatehpuri, Pakistani linguist and scholar (d. 2013)
    • 1926 – Joseph Bacon Fraser, Jr., American architect and businessman, co-founded the Sea Pines Company (d. 2014)
    • 1927 – José Azcona del Hoyo, Honduran businessman and politician, President of Honduras (d. 2005)
    • 1927 – Bob Nieman, American baseball player and scout (d. 1985)
    • 1927 – Hubert Schieth, German footballer and manager (d. 2013)
    • 1928 – Roger Vadim, French actor and director (d. 2000)
    • 1929 – Jules Feiffer, American cartoonist, playwright, screenwriter, and educator
    • 1934 – Roger Landry, Canadian businessman and publisher (d. 2020)
    • 1934 – Charles Marowitz, American director, playwright, and critic (d. 2014)
    • 1934 – Huey “Piano” Smith, American pianist and songwriter
    • 1934 – Bob Uecker, American baseball player, sportscaster and actor
    • 1935 – Corrado Augias, Italian journalist and politician
    • 1935 – Henry Jordan, American football player (d. 1977)
    • 1935 – Paula Rego, Portuguese-born British visual artist
    • 1936 – Sal Buscema, American illustrator
    • 1937 – Joseph Saidu Momoh, Sierra Leonean soldier and politician, 2nd President of Sierra Leone (d. 2003)
    • 1937 – Francisco Gonzales, former 1960 Summer Olympics yachting team member and murderer
    • 1938 – Henry Jaglom, English-American director and screenwriter
    • 1940 – Séamus Hegarty, Irish bishop
    • 1940 – Frank Large, English footballer, centre forward and cricketer (d. 2003)
    • 1943 – César Gutiérrez, Venezuelan baseball player and manager (d. 2005)
    • 1943 – Jack Warner, Trinidadian businessman and politician
    • 1944 – Angela Davis, American activist, academic, and author
    • 1944 – Jerry Sandusky, American football coach and criminal
    • 1945 – Jacqueline du Pré, English cellist (d. 1987)
    • 1945 – David Purley, English race car driver (d. 1985)
    • 1946 – Christopher Hampton, Portuguese-English director, screenwriter, and playwright
    • 1946 – Gene Siskel, American journalist and film critic (d. 1999)
    • 1946 – Susan Friedlander, American mathematician
    • 1947 – Patrick Dewaere, French actor and composer (d. 1982)
    • 1947 – Les Ebdon, English chemist and academic
    • 1947 – Redmond Morris, 4th Baron Killanin, Irish director, producer, and production manager
    • 1947 – Michel Sardou, French singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1948 – Alda Facio, Costa Rican jurist, writer and teacher
    • 1949 – Jonathan Carroll, American author
    • 1949 – David Strathairn, American actor
    • 1950 – Jörg Haider, Austrian lawyer and politician, Governor of Carinthia (d. 2008)
    • 1951 – David Briggs, Australian guitarist, songwriter, and producer
    • 1951 – Andy Hummel, American singer-songwriter and bass player (d. 2010)
    • 1951 – Anne Mills, English economist and academic
    • 1953 – Alik L. Alik, Micronesian politician, 7th Vice President of the Federated States of Micronesia
    • 1953 – Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Danish politician and diplomat, 39th Prime Minister of Denmark
    • 1953 – Lucinda Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1954 – Kim Hughes, Australian cricketer
    • 1955 – Eddie Van Halen, Dutch-American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
    • 1957 – Road Warrior Hawk, American wrestler (d. 2003)
    • 1958 – Anita Baker, American singer-songwriter
    • 1958 – Ellen DeGeneres, American comedian, actress, and talk show host
    • 1961 – Wayne Gretzky, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1961 – Tom Keifer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1962 – Guo Jian, Chinese-Australian painter, sculptor, and photographer
    • 1962 – Tim May, Australian cricketer
    • 1962 – Oscar Ruggeri, Argentinian footballer and manager
    • 1963 – José Mourinho, Portuguese footballer and manager
    • 1963 – Simon O’Donnell, Australian footballer, cricketer, and sportscaster
    • 1963 – Tony Parks, English footballer and manager
    • 1963 – Andrew Ridgeley, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1964 – Adam Crozier, Scottish businessman
    • 1965 – Thomas Östros, Swedish businessman and politician
    • 1965 – Natalia Yurchenko, Russian gymnast and coach
    • 1966 – Kazushige Nagashima, Japanese baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1967 – Anatoly Komm, Russian chef and businessman
    • 1967 – Col Needham, English businessman, co-founded Internet Movie Database
    • 1968 – Jupiter Apple, Brazilian singer-songwriter, film director, and actor (d. 2015)
    • 1969 – George Dikeoulakos, Greek-Romanian basketball player and coach
    • 1970 – Kirk Franklin, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1973 – Larissa Lowing, Canadian artistic gymnast
    • 1973 – Melvil Poupaud, French actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1973 – Brendan Rodgers, Northern Irish footballer and manager
    • 1973 – Mayu Shinjo, Japanese author and illustrator
    • 1977 – Vince Carter, American basketball player
    • 1977 – Justin Gimelstob, American tennis player and coach
    • 1978 – Corina Morariu, American tennis player and sportscaster
    • 1981 – José de Jesús Corona, Mexican footballer
    • 1981 – Gustavo Dudamel, Venezuelan violinist, composer, and conductor
    • 1981 – Juan José Haedo, Argentinian cyclist
    • 1981 – Colin O’Donoghue, Irish actor
    • 1982 – Reggie Hodges, American football player
    • 1983 – Petri Oravainen, Finnish footballer
    • 1983 – Eric Werner, American ice hockey player
    • 1984 – Ryan Hoffman, Australian rugby league player
    • 1984 – Iain Turner, Scottish footballer
    • 1984 – Luo Xuejuan, Chinese swimmer
    • 1985 – Heather Stanning, English rower
    • 1986 – Gerald Green, American basketball player
    • 1986 – Kim Jae-joong, South Korean singer, songwriter, actor, director and designer.
    • 1986 – Mustapha Yatabaré, French-Malian footballer
    • 1987 – Sebastian Giovinco, Italian footballer
    • 1988 – Dimitrios Chondrokoukis, Greek high jumper
    • 1989 – MarShon Brooks, American basketball player
    • 1989 – Emily Hughes, American figure skater
    • 1990 – Sergio Pérez, Mexican race car driver
    • 1990 – Peter Sagan, Slovak professional cyclist
    • 1990 – Nina Zander, German tennis player
    • 1991 – Tom Meechan, English footballer
    • 1992 – Sasha Banks, American professional wrestler
    • 1993 – Lana Clelland, Scottish footballer
    • 1993 – Florian Thauvin, French footballer
    • 1995 – Sione Katoa, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1997 – Gedion Zelalem, German-born American soccer player
    • 2001 – Latalia Bevan, Welsh artistic gymnast

    Deaths on January 26

    • 724 – Yazid II, Umayyad caliph (b. 687)
    • 738 – John of Dailam, Syrian monk and saint (b. 660)
    • 910 – Luo Yin, Chinese statesman and poet
    • 946 – Eadgyth, Queen consort of Germany (b.c 910)
    • 1186 – Ismat ad-Din Khatun, wife of Saladin
    • 1390 – Adolph IX, Count of Holstein-Kiel (b.c 1327)
    • 1567 – Nicholas Wotton, English courtier and diplomat (b. 1497)
    • 1568 – Lady Catherine Grey, Countess of Hertford (b. 1540)
    • 1620 – Amar Singh I, ruler of Mewar (b. 1559)
    • 1630 – Henry Briggs, English mathematician and astronomer (b. 1556)
    • 1636 – Jean Hotman, Marquis de Villers-St-Paul, French diplomat (b. 1552)
    • 1641 – Lawrence Hyde, English lawyer (b. 1562)
    • 1697 – Georg Mohr, Danish mathematician and theorist (b. 1640)
    • 1744 – Ludwig Andreas von Khevenhüller, Austrian field marshal (b. 1683)
    • 1750 – Albert Schultens, Dutch philologist and academic (b. 1686)
    • 1779 – Thomas Hudson, English painter (b. 1701)
    • 1795 – Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, German harpsichord player and composer (b. 1732)
    • 1799 – Gabriel Christie, Scottish general (b. 1722)
    • 1823 – Edward Jenner, English physician and immunologist (b. 1749)
    • 1824 – Théodore Géricault, French painter and lithographer (b. 1791)
    • 1831 – Sangolli Rayanna, Indian soldier (b. 1798)
    • 1831 – Anton Delvig, Russian poet and journalist (b. 1798)
    • 1849 – Thomas Lovell Beddoes, English poet, playwright, and physician (b. 1803)
    • 1855 – Gérard de Nerval, French poet and translator (b. 1808)
    • 1860 – Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient, opera singer (b. 1804)
    • 1869 – Duncan Gordon Boyes, English soldier; Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1846)
    • 1870 – Victor de Broglie, French politician, 9th Prime Minister of France (b. 1785)
    • 1885 – Edward Davy, English-Australian physician and engineer (b. 1806)
    • 1885 – Charles George Gordon, English general and politician (b. 1833)
    • 1886 – David Rice Atchison, American general and politician (b. 1807)
    • 1887 – Anandi Gopal Joshi, One of the first female Indian physicians (b. 1865)
    • 1891 – Nicolaus Otto, German engineer, invented the Internal combustion engine (b. 1833)
    • 1893 – Abner Doubleday, American general (b. 1819)
    • 1895 – Arthur Cayley, English mathematician and academic (b. 1825)
    • 1904 – Whitaker Wright, English businessman (b. 1846)
    • 1926 – John Flannagan, American priest and academic (b. 1860)
    • 1932 – William Wrigley, Jr., American businessman, founded the Wrigley Company (b. 1861)
    • 1942 – Felix Hausdorff, German mathematician and academic (b. 1868)
    • 1943 – Harry H. Laughlin, American sociologist and eugenicist (b. 1880)
    • 1943 – Nikolai Vavilov, Russian botanist and geneticist (b. 1887)
    • 1946 – Oskar Kallas, Estonian linguist and diplomat (b. 1868)
    • 1946 – Adriaan van Maanen, Dutch-American astronomer and academic (b. 1884)
    • 1947 – Grace Moore, American soprano and actress (b. 1898)
    • 1948 – Kâzım Karabekir, Turkish general and politician, 5th Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (b. 1882)
    • 1948 – Fred Conrad Koch, American biochemist and endocrinologist (born 1876)
    • 1948 – John Lomax, American musicologist and academic (b. 1867)
    • 1952 – Khorloogiin Choibalsan, Mongolian general and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Mongolia (b. 1895)
    • 1953 – Athanase David, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1882)
    • 1957 – Helene Costello, American actress (b. 1906)
    • 1962 – Lucky Luciano, Italian-American mob boss (b. 1897)
    • 1968 – Merrill C. Meigs, American publisher (b. 1883)
    • 1973 – Edward G. Robinson, Romanian-American actor (b. 1893)
    • 1975 – Donald Sheldon, American bush pilot (b. 1921)
    • 1976 – João Branco Núncio, Portuguese bullfighter (b. 1901)
    • 1977 – Filopimin Finos, Greek production manager and producer, founded Finos Film (b. 1908)
    • 1979 – Nelson Rockefeller, American businessman and politician, 41st Vice President of the United States (b. 1908)
    • 1980 – Simon Kapwepwe, Zambian politician, 2nd Vice President of Zambia (b. 1922)
    • 1983 – Bear Bryant, American football player and coach (b. 1913)
    • 1985 – Kenny Clarke, American jazz drummer and bandleader (b. 1914)
    • 1990 – Bob Gerard, English race car driver and businessman (b. 1914)
    • 1990 – Lewis Mumford, American sociologist and historian (b. 1895)
    • 1992 – José Ferrer, Puerto Rican-American actor (b. 1912)
    • 1993 – Jan Gies, Dutch businessman and humanitarian (b. 1905)
    • 1993 – Robert Jacobsen, Danish sculptor and painter (b. 1912)
    • 1993 – Jeanne Sauvé, Canadian journalist and politician, 23rd Governor General of Canada (b. 1922)
    • 1996 – Georg Alexander, Duke of Mecklenburg (b. 1921)
    • 1996 – Harold Brodkey, American author and academic (b. 1930)
    • 1996 – Frank Howard, American football player and coach (b. 1909)
    • 1996 – Henry Lewis, American bassist and conductor (b. 1932)
    • 1997 – Jeane Dixon, American astrologer and psychic (b. 1904)
    • 2000 – Don Budge, American tennis player and coach (b. 1915)
    • 2000 – Kathleen Hale, English author and illustrator (b. 1898)
    • 2000 – A. E. van Vogt, Canadian-American author (b. 1912)
    • 2001 – Al McGuire, American basketball player and coach (b. 1928)
    • 2003 – Valeriy Brumel, Russian high jumper (b. 1942)
    • 2003 – Hugh Trevor-Roper, English historian and academic (b. 1917)
    • 2003 – George Younger, 4th Viscount Younger of Leckie, Scottish banker and politician, Secretary of State for Scotland (b. 1931)
    • 2004 – Fred Haas, American golfer (b. 1916)
    • 2006 – Khan Abdul Wali Khan, Pakistani politician (b. 1917)
    • 2007 – Gump Worsley, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929)
    • 2008 – Viktor Schreckengost, American sculptor and designer (b. 1906)
    • 2010 – Louis Auchincloss, American novelist and essayist (b. 1917)
    • 2011 – David Kato Kisule, Ugandan teacher and LGBT rights activist, considered a father of Uganda’s gay rights movement (b. 1964)
    • 2011 – Charlie Louvin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1927)
    • 2012 – Roberto Mieres, Argentinian race car driver (b. 1924)
    • 2013 – Christine M. Jones, American educator and politician (b. 1929)
    • 2013 – Stefan Kudelski, Polish-Swiss engineer, invented the Nagra (b. 1929)
    • 2013 – Padma Kant Shukla, Indian physicist and academic (b. 1950)
    • 2013 – Shōtarō Yasuoka, Japanese author (b. 1920)
    • 2014 – Tom Gola, American basketball player, coach, and politician (b. 1933)
    • 2014 – Paula Gruden, Slovenian-Australian poet and translator (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – José Emilio Pacheco, Mexican poet and author (b. 1939)
    • 2014 – Ralph T. Troy, American banker and politician (b. 1935)
    • 2015 – Cleven “Goodie” Goudeau, American art director and cartoonist (b. 1932)
    • 2015 – Tom Uren, Australian soldier and politician (b. 1921)
    • 2016 – Sahabzada Yaqub Khan, Pakistani politician and diplomat, 14th Pakistani Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1920)
    • 2016 – Abe Vigoda, American actor (b. 1921)
    • 2017 – Mike Connors, American actor (b. 1925)
    • 2017 – Tam Dalyell, Scottish politician (b. 1932)
    • 2017 – Lindy Delapenha, Jamaican footballer and sports journalist (b. 1927)
    • 2017 – Barbara Hale, American actress (b. 1922)
    • 2020 – John Altobelli, American college baseball coach (b. 1963)
    • 2020 – Kobe Bryant, American basketball player (b. 1978)

    Holidays and observances on January 26

    • Christian feast day:
      • Alberic
      • Founders of Cîteaux (Alberic of Cîteaux, Robert of Molesme, Stephen Harding)
      • Blessed Gabriele Allegra
      • Paula
      • Timothy and Titus
      • January 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Australia Day (Australia)
    • Duarte Day (Dominican Republic)
    • Engineer’s Day (Panama)
    • International Customs Day
    • Liberation Day (Uganda)
    • Republic Day (India)

  • January 15 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 69 – Otho seizes power in Rome, proclaiming himself Emperor of Rome, beginning a reign of only three months.
    • 1541 – King Francis I of France gives Jean-François Roberval a commission to settle the province of New France (Canada) and provide for the spread of the “Holy Catholic faith”.
    • 1559 – Elizabeth I is crowned Queen of England in Westminster Abbey, London.
    • 1582 – Truce of Yam-Zapolsky: Russia cedes Livonia to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
    • 1759 – The British Museum opens to the public.
    • 1777 – American Revolutionary War: New Connecticut (present day Vermont) declares its independence.
    • 1782 – Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris addresses the U.S. Congress to recommend establishment of a national mint and decimal coinage.
    • 1815 – War of 1812: American frigate USS President, commanded by Commodore Stephen Decatur, is captured by a squadron of four British frigates.
    • 1818 – A paper by David Brewster is read to the Royal Society, belatedly announcing his discovery of what we now call the biaxial class of doubly-refracting crystals. On the same day, Augustin-Jean Fresnel signs a “supplement” (submitted four days later) on reflection of polarized light.
    • 1822 – Greek War of Independence: Demetrios Ypsilantis is elected president of the legislative assembly.
    • 1865 – American Civil War: Fort Fisher in North Carolina falls to the Union, thus cutting off the last major seaport of the Confederacy.
    • 1867 – Forty people die when ice covering the boating lake at Regent’s Park, London, collapses.
    • 1870 – A political cartoon for the first time symbolizes the Democratic Party with a donkey (“A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion” by Thomas Nast for Harper’s Weekly).
    • 1876 – The first newspaper in Afrikaans, Die Afrikaanse Patriot, is published in Paarl.
    • 1889 – The Coca-Cola Company, then known as the Pemberton Medicine Company, is incorporated in Atlanta.
    • 1892 – James Naismith publishes the rules of basketball.
    • 1908 – The Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority becomes the first Greek-letter organization founded and established by African American college women.
    • 1910 – Construction ends on the Buffalo Bill Dam in Wyoming, United States, which was the highest dam in the world at the time, at 325 ft (99 m).
    • 1911 – Palestinian Arabic-language Falastin newspaper founded.
    • 1919 – Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, two of the most prominent socialists in Germany, are tortured and murdered by the Freikorps at the end of the Spartacist uprising.
    • 1919 – Great Molasses Flood: A wave of molasses released from an exploding storage tank sweeps through Boston, Massachusetts, killing 21 and injuring 150.
    • 1934 – The 8.0 Mw  Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing an estimated 6,000–10,700 people.
    • 1936 – The first building to be completely covered in glass, built for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company, is completed in Toledo, Ohio.
    • 1937 – Spanish Civil War: Nationalists and Republican both withdraw after suffering heavy losses, ending the Second Battle of the Corunna Road.
    • 1943 – World War II: The Soviet counter-offensive at Voronezh begins.
    • 1943 – The Pentagon is dedicated in Arlington, Virginia.
    • 1947 – The Black Dahlia murder: the dismembered corpse of Elizabeth Short was found in Los Angeles.
    • 1949 – Chinese Civil War: The Communist forces take over Tianjin from the Nationalist Government.
    • 1962 – The Derveni papyrus, Europe’s oldest surviving manuscript dating to 340 BC, is found in northern Greece.
    • 1962 – Netherlands New Guinea Conflict: Indonesian Navy fast patrol boat RI Macan Tutul commanded by Commodore Yos Sudarso sunk in Arafura Sea by the Dutch Navy.
    • 1966 – The First Nigerian Republic, led by Abubakar Tafawa Balewa is overthrown in a military coup d’état.
    • 1967 – The first Super Bowl is played in Los Angeles. The Green Bay Packers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 35–10.
    • 1969 – The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 5.
    • 1970 – Nigerian Civil War: Biafran rebels surrender following an unsuccessful 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria.
    • 1970 – Muammar Gaddafi is proclaimed premier of Libya.
    • 1973 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, President Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.
    • 1975 – The Alvor Agreement is signed, ending the Angolan War of Independence and giving Angola independence from Portugal.
    • 1976 – Gerald Ford’s would-be assassin, Sara Jane Moore, is sentenced to life in prison.
    • 1981 – Pope John Paul II receives a delegation from Solidarity (Polish trade union) at the Vatican led by Lech Wałęsa.
    • 1991 – The United Nations deadline for the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait expires, preparing the way for the start of Operation Desert Storm.
    • 1991 – Elizabeth II, in her capacity as Queen of Australia, signs letters patent allowing Australia to become the first Commonwealth realm to institute its own Victoria Cross in its honours system.
    • 2001 – Wikipedia, a free wiki content encyclopedia, goes online.
    • 2005 – ESA’s SMART-1 lunar orbiter discovers elements such as calcium, aluminum, silicon, iron, and other surface elements on the Moon.
    • 2007 – Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, former Iraqi intelligence chief and half-brother of Saddam Hussein, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former chief judge of the Revolutionary Court, are executed by hanging in Iraq.
    • 2009 – US Airways Flight 1549 ditches safely in the Hudson River after the plane collides with birds less than two minutes after take-off.
    • 2013 – A train carrying Egyptian Army recruits derails near Giza, Greater Cairo, killing 19 and injuring 120 others.
    • 2015 – The Swiss National Bank abandons the cap on the franc’s value relative to the euro, causing turmoil in international financial markets
    • 2016 – The Kenyan Army suffers its worst defeat ever in a battle with Al-Shabaab Islamic insurgents in El-Adde, Somalia. An estimated 150 Kenyan soldiers are killed in the battle.
    • 2019 – Somali militants attack the DusitD2 hotel in Nairobi, Kenya killing at least 21 people and injuring 19.
    • 2019 – Theresa May’s UK government suffers the biggest government defeat in modern times, when 432 MPs voting against the proposed European Union withdrawal agreement, giving her opponents a majority of 230.

    Births on January 15

    • 961 – Seongjong of Goryeo, Korean ruler (d. 997)
    • 1432 – Afonso V of Portugal (d. 1481)
    • 1462 – Edzard I, Count of East Frisia, German noble (d. 1528)
    • 1481 – Ashikaga Yoshizumi, Japanese shōgun (d. 1511)
    • 1538 – Maeda Toshiie, Japanese general (d. 1599)
    • 1595 – Henry Carey, 2nd Earl of Monmouth, English politician (d. 1661)
    • 1622 – Molière, French actor and playwright (d. 1673)
    • 1623 – Algernon Sidney, British philosopher (d. 1683)
    • 1671 – Abraham de la Pryme, English archaeologist and historian (d. 1704)
    • 1674 – Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, French poet and playwright (d. 1762)
    • 1716 – Philip Livingston, American merchant and politician (d. 1778)
    • 1747 – John Aikin, English surgeon and author (d. 1822)
    • 1754 – Richard Martin, Irish activist and politician, co-founded the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (d. 1834)
    • 1791 – Franz Grillparzer, Austrian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1872)
    • 1795 – Alexander Griboyedov, Russian playwright, composer, and poet (d. 1829)
    • 1803 – Marjorie Fleming, Scottish poet and author (d. 1811)
    • 1809 – Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, French economist and politician (d. 1865)
    • 1812 – Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, Norwegian author and scholar (d. 1885)
    • 1815 – William Bickerton, English-American religious leader, 3rd President of the Church of Jesus Christ (d. 1905)
    • 1834 – Samuel Arza Davenport, American lawyer and politician (d. 1911)
    • 1841 – Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, English captain and politician, 6th Governor General of Canada (d. 1908)
    • 1842 – Josef Breuer, Austrian physician and psychiatrist (d. 1925)
    • 1842 – Mary MacKillop, Australian nun and saint, co-founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart (d. 1909)
    • 1850 – Leonard Darwin, English soldier, eugenicist, and politician (d. 1943)
    • 1850 – Mihai Eminescu, Romanian journalist, author, and poet (d. 1889)
    • 1850 – Sofia Kovalevskaya, Russian-Swedish mathematician and physicist (d. 1891)
    • 1855 – Jacques Damala, Greek-French soldier and actor (d. 1889)
    • 1858 – Giovanni Segantini, Italian painter (d. 1899)
    • 1859 – Archibald Peake, English-Australian politician, 25th Premier of South Australia (d. 1920)
    • 1863 – Wilhelm Marx, German lawyer and politician, 17th Chancellor of Germany (d. 1946)
    • 1866 – Nathan Söderblom, Swedish archbishop, historian, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1931)
    • 1869 – Ruby Laffoon, American lawyer and politician, 43rd Governor of Kentucky (d. 1941)
    • 1869 – Stanisław Wyspiański, Polish poet, playwright, and painter (d. 1907)
    • 1870 – Pierre S. du Pont, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1954)
    • 1872 – Arsen Kotsoyev, Russian author and translator (d. 1944)
    • 1875 – Thomas Burke, American sprinter, coach, and journalist (d. 1929)
    • 1877 – Lewis Terman, American psychologist, eugenicist, and academic (d. 1956)
    • 1878 – Johanna Müller-Hermann, Austrian composer (d. 1941)
    • 1879 – Mazo de la Roche, Canadian author and playwright (d. 1961)
    • 1882 – Henry Burr, Canadian singer, radio performer, and producer (d. 1941)
    • 1885 – Lorenz Böhler, Austrian physician and author (d. 1973)
    • 1885 – Grover Lowdermilk, American baseball player (d. 1968)
    • 1890 – Michiaki Kamada, Japanese admiral (d. 1947)
    • 1891 – Ray Chapman, American baseball player (d. 1920)
    • 1891 – Osip Mandelstam, Russian poet and translator (d. 1938)
    • 1893 – Ivor Novello, Welsh singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1951)
    • 1895 – Artturi Ilmari Virtanen, Finnish chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
    • 1896 – Marjorie Bennett, Australian-American actress (d. 1982)
    • 1902 – Nâzım Hikmet, Greek-Turkish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1963)
    • 1902 – Saud of Saudi Arabia (d. 1969)
    • 1903 – Paul A. Dever, American lieutenant and politician, 58th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1958)
    • 1907 – Janusz Kusociński, Polish runner and soldier (d. 1940)
    • 1908 – Edward Teller, Hungarian-American physicist and academic (d. 2003)
    • 1909 – Jean Bugatti, German-French engineer (d. 1939)
    • 1909 – Gene Krupa, American drummer, composer, and actor (d. 1973)
    • 1912 – Michel Debré, French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1996)
    • 1913 – Eugène Brands, Dutch painter (d. 2002)
    • 1913 – Lloyd Bridges, American actor (d. 1998)
    • 1913 – Miriam Hyde, Australian pianist and composer (d. 2005)
    • 1913 – Alexander Marinesko, Ukrainian-Russian lieutenant (d. 1963)
    • 1914 – Stefan Bałuk, Polish general (d. 2014)
    • 1914 – Hugh Trevor-Roper, English historian and academic (d. 2003)
    • 1917 – K. A. Thangavelu, Indian film actor and comedian (d. 1994)
    • 1918 – João Figueiredo, Brazilian general and politician, 30th President of Brazil (d. 1999)
    • 1918 – Édouard Gagnon, Canadian cardinal (d. 2007)
    • 1918 – Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egyptian colonel and politician, 2nd President of Egypt (d. 1970)
    • 1919 – Maurice Herzog, French mountaineer and politician, French Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports (d. 2012)
    • 1919 – George Cadle Price, Belizean politician, 1st Prime Minister of Belize (d. 2011)
    • 1920 – Bob Davies, American basketball player and coach (d. 1990)
    • 1920 – Steve Gromek, American baseball player (d. 2002)
    • 1920 – John O’Connor, American cardinal (d. 2000)
    • 1921 – Babasaheb Bhosale, Indian lawyer and politician, 8th Chief Minister of Maharashtra (d. 2007)
    • 1921 – Frank Thornton, English actor (d. 2013)
    • 1922 – Sylvia Lawler, English geneticist (d. 1996)
    • 1922 – Eric Willis, Australian sergeant and politician, 34th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1999)
    • 1923 – Ivor Cutler, Scottish pianist, songwriter, and poet (d. 2006)
    • 1923 – Lee Teng-hui, Taiwanese-Chinese economist and politician, 4th President of the Republic of China
    • 1924 – George Lowe, New Zealand-English mountaineer and explorer (d. 2013)
    • 1925 – Ruth Slenczynska, American pianist and composer
    • 1925 – Ignacio López Tarso, Mexican actor
    • 1926 – Maria Schell, Austrian-Swiss actress (d. 2005)
    • 1927 – Phyllis Coates, American actress
    • 1928 – W. R. Mitchell, English journalist and author (d. 2015)
    • 1929 – Earl Hooker, American guitarist (d. 1970)
    • 1929 – Martin Luther King, Jr., American minister and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (assassinated in 1968)
    • 1930 – Eddie Graham, American wrestler and promoter (d. 1985)
    • 1931 – Lee Bontecou, American painter and sculptor
    • 1932 – Lou Jones, American sprinter (d. 2006)
    • 1933 – Frank Bough, English journalist and radio host
    • 1933 – Ernest J. Gaines, American author and academic (d. 2019)
    • 1933 – Peter Maitlis, English chemist and academic
    • 1934 – V. S. Ramadevi, Indian civil servant and politician, 13th Governor of Karnataka (d. 2013)
    • 1937 – Margaret O’Brien, American actress and singer
    • 1938 – Ashraf Aman, Pakistani engineer and mountaineer
    • 1938 – Estrella Blanca, Mexican wrestler
    • 1938 – Chuni Goswami, Indian footballer and cricketer
    • 1939 – Per Ahlmark, Swedish journalist and politician, 1st Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 2018)
    • 1939 – Tony Bullimore, British sailor
    • 1941 – Captain Beefheart, American singer-songwriter, musician, and artist (d. 2010)
    • 1942 – Frank Joseph Polozola, American academic and judge (d. 2013)
    • 1943 – George Ambrum, Australian rugby league player (d. 1986)
    • 1943 – Margaret Beckett, English metallurgist and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
    • 1943 – Stuart E. Eizenstat, American lawyer and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the European Union
    • 1943 – Mike Marshall, American baseball player
    • 1944 – Jenny Nimmo, English author
    • 1945 – Ko Chun-hsiung, Taiwanese actor, director, and politician (d. 2015)
    • 1945 – Vince Foster, American lawyer and political figure (d. 1993)
    • 1945 – William R. Higgins, American colonel (d. 1990)
    • 1945 – Princess Michael of Kent
    • 1945 – David Pleat, English footballer, manager, and sportscaster
    • 1946 – Charles Brown, American actor (d. 2004)
    • 1947 – Mary Hogg, English lawyer and judge
    • 1947 – Andrea Martin, American-Canadian actress, singer, and screenwriter
    • 1948 – Ronnie Van Zant, American singer-songwriter (d. 1977)
    • 1949 – Luis Alvarado, Puerto Rican-American baseball player (d. 2001)
    • 1949 – Alasdair Liddell, English businessman (d. 2012)
    • 1949 – Ian Stewart, Scottish runner
    • 1949 – Howard Twitty, American golfer
    • 1950 – Marius Trésor, French footballer and coach
    • 1952 – Boris Blank, Swiss singer-songwriter
    • 1952 – Andrzej Fischer, Polish footballer
    • 1953 – Randy White, American football player
    • 1954 – Jose Dalisay, Jr., Filipino poet, author, and screenwriter
    • 1955 – Nigel Benson, English author and illustrator
    • 1955 – Andreas Gursky, German photographer
    • 1955 – Khalid Islambouli, Egyptian lieutenant (d. 1982)
    • 1956 – Vitaly Kaloyev, Russian architect
    • 1956 – Mayawati, Indian educator and politician, 23rd Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
    • 1956 – Marc Trestman, American football player and coach
    • 1957 – David Ige, American politician
    • 1957 – Marty Lyons, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1957 – Andrew Tyrie, English journalist and politician
    • 1957 – Mario Van Peebles, American actor and director
    • 1958 – Ken Judge, Australian footballer and coach (d. 2016)
    • 1958 – Boris Tadić, Serbian psychologist and politician, 16th President of Serbia
    • 1959 – Greg Dowling, Australian rugby league player
    • 1959 – Pavle Kozjek, Slovenian mountaineer and photographer (d. 2008)
    • 1959 – Pete Trewavas, English bass player and songwriter
    • 1961 – Serhiy N. Morozov, Ukrainian footballer and coach
    • 1961 – Yves Pelletier, Canadian actor and director
    • 1963 – Conrad Lant, English singer-songwriter and bass player
    • 1963 – Bruce Schneier, American cryptographer and author
    • 1964 – Osmo Tapio Räihälä, Finnish composer
    • 1965 – Maurizio Fondriest, Italian cyclist
    • 1965 – Bernard Hopkins, American boxer and coach
    • 1965 – James Nesbitt, Northern Irish actor
    • 1966 – Lisa Lisa, American R&B singer
    • 1967 – Ted Tryba, American golfer
    • 1968 – Chad Lowe, American actor, director, and producer
    • 1969 – Delino DeShields, American baseball player and manager
    • 1970 – Shane McMahon, American wrestler and businessman
    • 1971 – Regina King, American actress
    • 1972 – Shelia Burrell, American heptathlete
    • 1972 – Christos Kostis, Greek footballer
    • 1972 – Claudia Winkleman, English journalist and critic
    • 1973 – Essam El Hadary, Egyptian footballer
    • 1973 – Suparno Satpathy, Indian socio-political leader
    • 1974 – Séverine Deneulin, international development academic
    • 1974 – Ray King, American baseball player
    • 1975 – Mary Pierce, Canadian-American tennis player and coach
    • 1976 – Doug Gottlieb, American basketball player and sportscaster
    • 1976 – Iryna Lishchynska, Ukrainian runner
    • 1976 – Scott Murray, Scottish rugby player
    • 1976 – Florentin Petre, Romanian footballer and manager
    • 1978 – Eddie Cahill, American actor
    • 1978 – Franco Pellizotti, Italian cyclist
    • 1978 – Ryan Sidebottom, English cricketer
    • 1979 – Drew Brees, American football player
    • 1979 – Michalis Morfis, Cypriot footballer
    • 1979 – Martin Petrov, Bulgarian footballer
    • 1980 – Matt Holliday, American baseball player
    • 1981 – El Hadji Diouf, Senegalese football player
    • 1981 – Pitbull, American rapper and producer
    • 1981 – Dylan Armstrong, Canadian shot putter and hammer thrower
    • 1981 – Vanessa Henke, German tennis player
    • 1981 – Sean Lamont, Scottish rugby player
    • 1982 – Benjamin Agosto, American skater
    • 1982 – Armando Galarraga, Venezuelan baseball player
    • 1982 – Brett Lebda, American ice hockey player
    • 1982 – Ari Pulkkinen, Finnish pianist and composer
    • 1982 – Francis Zé, Cameroonian footballer
    • 1983 – Jermaine Pennant, English footballer
    • 1983 – Hugo Viana, Portuguese footballer
    • 1984 – Ben Shapiro, American author and commentator
    • 1985 – René Adler, German footballer
    • 1985 – Enrico Patrizio, Italian rugby player
    • 1985 – Kenneth Emil Petersen, Danish footballer
    • 1986 – Fred Davis, American football player
    • 1987 – Greg Inglis, Australian rugby league player
    • 1987 – Tsegaye Kebede, Ethiopian runner
    • 1987 – David Knight, English footballer
    • 1987 – Kelleigh Ryan, Canadian fencer
    • 1987 – Michael Seater, Canadian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1988 – Daniel Caligiuri, German footballer
    • 1988 – Skrillex, American DJ and producer
    • 1989 – Alexei Cherepanov, Russian ice hockey player (d. 2008)
    • 1990 – Paul Blake, English sprinter
    • 1990 – Fernando Forestieri, Italian footballer
    • 1990 – Robert Trznadel, Polish footballer
    • 1991 – Marc Bartra, Spanish footballer
    • 1991 – Nicolai Jørgensen, Danish footballer
    • 1991 – Darya Klishina, Russian long jumper
    • 1991 – James Mitchell, Australian basketball player
    • 1992 – Joël Veltman, Dutch footballer
    • 1994 – Eric Dier, English footballer
    • 1998 – Alexandra Eade, Australian artistic gymnast
    • 2004 – Grace VanderWaal, American singer-songwriter

    Deaths on January 15

    • AD 69 – Galba, Roman emperor (b. 3 BC)
    • 378 – Chak Tok Ich’aak I, Mayan ruler
    • 570 – Íte of Killeedy, Irish nun and saint (b. 475)
    • 849 – Theophylact, Byzantine emperor (b. 793)
    • 936 – Rudolph of France (b. 880)
    • 950 – Wang Jingchong, Chinese general
    • 1149 – Berengaria of Barcelona, queen consort of Castile (b. 1116)
    • 1568 – Nicolaus Olahus, Romanian archbishop (b. 1493)
    • 1569 – Catherine Carey, lady-in-waiting to Elizabeth I of England (b. 1524)
    • 1584 – Martha Leijonhufvud, Swedish noblewoman (b. 1520)
    • 1595 – Murad III, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1546)
    • 1623 – Paolo Sarpi, Italian lawyer, historian, and scholar (b. 1552)
    • 1672 – John Cosin, English bishop and academic (b. 1594)
    • 1683 – Philip Warwick, English politician (b. 1609)
    • 1775 – Giovanni Battista Sammartini, Italian organist and composer (b. 1700)
    • 1790 – John Landen, English mathematician and theorist (b. 1719)
    • 1804 – Dru Drury, English entomologist and author (b. 1725)
    • 1813 – Anton Bernolák, Slovak linguist and priest (b. 1762)
    • 1815 – Emma, Lady Hamilton, English-French mistress of Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson (b. 1761)
    • 1855 – Henri Braconnot, French chemist and pharmacist (b. 1780)
    • 1864 – Isaac Nathan, English-Australian composer and journalist (b. 1792)
    • 1866 – Massimo d’Azeglio, Piedmontese-Italian statesman, novelist and painter (b. 1798)
    • 1876 – Eliza McCardle Johnson, American wife of Andrew Johnson, 18th First Lady of the United States (b. 1810)
    • 1885 – Leopold Damrosch, German-American composer and conductor (b. 1832)
    • 1893 – Fanny Kemble, English actress (b. 1809)
    • 1896 – Mathew Brady, American photographer and journalist (b. 1822)
    • 1905 – George Thorn, Australian politician, 6th Premier of Queensland (b. 1838)
    • 1909 – Arnold Janssen, German priest and missionary (b. 1837)
    • 1916 – Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian playwright and translator (b. 1850)
    • 1919 – Karl Liebknecht, German politician (b. 1871)
    • 1919 – Rosa Luxemburg, German economist, theorist, and philosopher (b. 1871)
    • 1926 – Enrico Toselli, Italian pianist and composer (b. 1883)
    • 1929 – George Cope, American painter (b. 1855)
    • 1936 – Henry Forster, 1st Baron Forster, English cricketer and politician, 7th Governor-General of Australia (b. 1866)
    • 1937 – Anton Holban, Romanian author, theoretician, and educator (b. 1902)
    • 1945 – Wilhelm Wirtinger, Austrian-German mathematician and theorist (b. 1865)
    • 1948 – Josephus Daniels, American publisher and diplomat, 41st United States Secretary of the Navy (b. 1862)
    • 1950 – Henry H. Arnold, American general (b. 1886)
    • 1951 – Ernest Swinton, British Army officer (b. 1868)
    • 1951 – Nikolai Vekšin, Estonian-Russian captain and sailor (b. 1887)
    • 1952 – Ned Hanlon, Australian sergeant and politician, 26th Premier of Queensland (b. 1887)
    • 1955 – Yves Tanguy, French-American painter (b. 1900)
    • 1959 – Regina Margareten, Hungarian businesswoman (b. 1863)
    • 1964 – Jack Teagarden, American singer-songwriter and trombonist (b. 1905)
    • 1967 – David Burliuk, Ukrainian author and illustrator (b. 1882)
    • 1968 – Bill Masterton, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1938)
    • 1970 – Frank Clement, English race car driver (b. 1886)
    • 1970 – William T. Piper, American engineer and businessman, founded Piper Aircraft (b. 1881)
    • 1972 – Daisy Ashford, English author (b. 1881)
    • 1973 – Coleman Francis, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1919)
    • 1973 – Ivan Petrovsky, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1901)
    • 1974 – Harold D. Cooley, American lawyer and politician (b. 1897)
    • 1981 – Graham Whitehead, English race car driver (b. 1922)
    • 1982 – Red Smith, American journalist (b. 1905)
    • 1983 – Armin Öpik, Estonian-Australian paleontologist and geologist (b. 1898)
    • 1983 – Shepperd Strudwick, American actor (b. 1907)
    • 1984 – Fazıl Küçük, Cypriot journalist and politician (b. 1906)
    • 1987 – Ray Bolger, American actor, singer, and dancer (b. 1904)
    • 1988 – Seán MacBride, Irish republican activist and politician, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
    • 1990 – Gordon Jackson, Scottish-English actor (b. 1923)
    • 1990 – Peggy van Praagh, English ballerina, choreographer, and director (b. 1910)
    • 1993 – Sammy Cahn, American songwriter (b. 1913)
    • 1994 – Georges Cziffra, Hungarian-French pianist and composer (b. 1921)
    • 1994 – Harry Nilsson, American singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
    • 1994 – Harilal Upadhyay, Indian author, poet, and astrologist (b. 1916)
    • 1996 – Les Baxter, American pianist and composer (b. 1922)
    • 1996 – Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho (b. 1938)
    • 1998 – Gulzarilal Nanda, Indian economist and politician, Prime Minister of India (b. 1898)
    • 1998 – Junior Wells, American singer-songwriter and harmonica player (b. 1934)
    • 1999 – Betty Box, English composer and producer (b. 1915)
    • 2000 – Georges-Henri Lévesque, Canadian-Dominican priest and sociologist (b. 1903)
    • 2001 – Leo Marks, English cryptographer, playwright, and screenwriter (b. 1920)
    • 2002 – Michael Anthony Bilandic, American politician, 49th Mayor of Chicago (b. 1923)
    • 2002 – Eugène Brands, Dutch painter (b. 1913)
    • 2003 – Doris Fisher, American singer-songwriter (b. 1915)
    • 2004 – Olivia Goldsmith, American author (b. 1949)
    • 2005 – Victoria de los Ángeles, Spanish soprano and actress (b. 1923)
    • 2005 – Walter Ernsting, German author (b. 1920)
    • 2005 – Elizabeth Janeway, American author and critic (b. 1913)
    • 2005 – Ruth Warrick, American actress (b. 1916)
    • 2006 – Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Kuwaiti ruler (b. 1926)
    • 2007 – Awad Hamed al-Bandar, Iraqi lawyer and judge (b. 1945)
    • 2007 – Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, Iraqi intelligence officer (b. 1951)
    • 2007 – James Hillier, Canadian-American computer scientist and academic, co-invented the electron microscope (b. 1915)
    • 2007 – Pura Santillan-Castrence, Filipino educator and diplomat (b. 1905)
    • 2007 – Bo Yibo, Chinese commander and politician, Vice Premier of the People’s Republic of China (b. 1908)
    • 2008 – Robert V. Bruce, American historian, author, and academic (b. 1923)
    • 2008 – Brad Renfro, American actor (b. 1982)
    • 2009 – Lincoln Verduga Loor, Ecuadorian journalist and politician (b. 1917)
    • 2011 – Nat Lofthouse, English footballer and manager (b. 1925)
    • 2011 – Pierre Louis-Dreyfus, French soldier, race car driver, and businessman (b. 1908)
    • 2011 – Susannah York, English actress and activist (b. 1939)
    • 2012 – Ed Derwinski, American soldier and politician, 1st United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs (b. 1926)
    • 2012 – Manuel Fraga Iribarne, Spanish lawyer and politician, 3rd President of the Xunta of Galicia (b. 1922)
    • 2012 – Carlo Fruttero, Italian journalist and author (b. 1926)
    • 2012 – Samuel Jaskilka, American general (b. 1919)
    • 2012 – Ib Spang Olsen, Danish author and illustrator (b. 1921)
    • 2012 – Hulett C. Smith, American lieutenant and politician, 27th Governor of West Virginia (b. 1918)
    • 2013 – Nagisa Oshima, Japanese director and screenwriter (b. 1932)
    • 2013 – John Thomas, American high jumper (b. 1941)
    • 2014 – Curtis Bray, American football player and coach (b. 1970)
    • 2014 – John Dobson, Chinese-American astronomer and author (b. 1915)
    • 2014 – Roger Lloyd-Pack, English actor (b. 1944)
    • 2015 – Ervin Drake, American songwriter and composer (b. 1919)
    • 2015 – Kim Fowley, American singer-songwriter, producer, and manager (b. 1939)
    • 2015 – Ray Nagel, American football player and coach (b. 1927)
    • 2016 – Francisco X. Alarcón, American poet and educator (b. 1954)
    • 2016 – Ken Judge, Australian footballer and coach (b. 1958)
    • 2016 – Manuel Velázquez, Spanish footballer (b. 1943)
    • 2017 – Jimmy Snuka, Fijian professional wrestler (b. 1943)
    • 2018 – Dolores O’Riordan, Irish pop singer (b. 1971)
    • 2019 – Carol Channing, American actress (b. 1921)
    • 2019 – Ida Kleijnen, Dutch chef (b. 1936)

    Holidays and observances on January 15

    • Arbor Day (Egypt)
    • Armed Forces Day (Nigeria)
    • Army Day (India)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Abeluzius (Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church)
      • Arnold Janssen
      • Francis Ferdinand de Capillas (one of Martyr Saints of China)
      • Ita
      • Our Lady of the Poor
      • Macarius of Egypt (Western Christianity)
      • Maurus and Placidus (Order of Saint Benedict)
      • Paul the Hermit
      • January 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Earliest day on which Martin Luther King Jr. Day can fall (the 15th being his birthday), while January 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Monday in January. (United States)
    • Earliest day on which Sinulog Festival can fall, while January 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Sunday in January. (Philippines)
    • John Chilembwe Day (Malawi)
    • Korean Alphabet Day (North Korea)
    • Ocean Duty Day (Indonesia)
    • Sagichō at Tsurugaoka Hachimangū. (Kamakura, Japan)
    • Teacher’s Day (Venezuela)
    • The second day of the sidereal winter solstice festivals in India (see January 14):
      • Thai Pongal, Tamil harvest festival