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January 24 in History
- AD 41 – Claudius is proclaimed Roman Emperor by the Praetorian Guard after they assassinate the previous emperor, his nephew Caligula.
- 914 – Start of the First Fatimid invasion of Egypt.
- 1438 – The Council of Basel suspends Pope Eugene IV.
- 1458 – Matthias Corvinus is elected King of Hungary.
- 1536 – King Henry VIII of England suffers an accident while jousting, leading to a brain injury that historians say may have influenced his later erratic behaviour and possible impotence.
- 1679 – King Charles II of England dissolves the Cavalier Parliament.
- 1742 – Charles VII Albert becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
- 1758 – During the Seven Years’ War the leading burghers of Königsberg submit to Elizabeth of Russia, thus forming Russian Prussia (until 1763).
- 1817 – Crossing of the Andes: Many soldiers of Juan Gregorio de las Heras are captured during the Action of Picheuta.
- 1835 – Slaves in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, stage a revolt, which is instrumental in ending slavery there 50 years later.
- 1848 – California Gold Rush: James W. Marshall finds gold at Sutter’s Mill near Sacramento.
- 1857 – The University of Calcutta is formally founded as the first fully fledged university in South Asia.
- 1859 – The United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia (later named Romania) is formed as a personal union under the rule of Domnitor Alexandru Ioan Cuza.
- 1900 – Second Boer War: Boers stop a British attempt to break the Siege of Ladysmith in the Battle of Spion Kop.
- 1908 – The first Boy Scout troop is organized in England by Robert Baden-Powell.
- 1915 – World War I: British Grand Fleet battle cruisers under Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty engage Rear-Admiral Franz von Hipper’s battle cruisers in the Battle of Dogger Bank.
- 1916 – In Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., the Supreme Court of the United States declares the federal income tax constitutional.
- 1918 – The Gregorian calendar is introduced in Russia by decree of the Council of People’s Commissars effective February 14 (New Style).
- 1933 – The 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, changing the beginning and end of terms for all elected federal offices.
- 1939 – The deadliest earthquake in Chilean history strikes Chillán, killing approximately 28,000 people.
- 1942 – World War II: The Allies bombard Bangkok, leading Thailand, then under Japanese control, to declare war against the United States and United Kingdom.
- 1943 – World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill conclude a conference in Casablanca.
- 1946 – The United Nations General Assembly passes its first resolution to establish the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission.
- 1960 – Algerian War: Some units of European volunteers in Algiers stage an insurrection known as the “barricades week”, during which they seize government buildings and clash with local police.
- 1961 – Goldsboro B-52 crash: A bomber carrying two H-bombs breaks up in mid-air over North Carolina. The uranium core of one weapon remains lost.
- 1968 – Vietnam War: The 1st Australian Task Force launches Operation Coburg against the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong during wider fighting around Long Bình and Biên Hòa.
- 1972 – Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi is found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been since the end of World War II.
- 1977 – The Atocha massacre occurs in Madrid during the Spanish transition to democracy.
- 1978 – Soviet satellite Kosmos 954, with a nuclear reactor on board, burns up in Earth’s atmosphere, scattering radioactive debris over Canada’s Northwest Territories. Only 1% is recovered.
- 1984 – Apple Computer places the Macintosh personal computer on sale in the United States.
- 1989 – Notorious serial killer Ted Bundy, with over 30 known victims, is executed by the electric chair at the Florida State Prison.
- 1990 – Japan launches Hiten, the country’s first lunar probe, the first robotic lunar probe since the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 in 1976, and the first lunar probe launched by a country other than Soviet Union or the United States.
- 2003 – The United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation.
- 2009 – Cyclone Klaus makes landfall near Bordeaux, France, causing 26 deaths as well as extensive disruptions to public transport and power supplies.
- 2011 – At least 35 are killed and 180 injured in a bombing at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport.
Births on January 24
- AD 76 – Hadrian, Roman emperor (d. 138)
- 1287 – Richard de Bury, English bishop and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (d. 1345)
- 1444 – Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan (d. 1476)
- 1540 – Edmund Campion, English priest and martyr (d. 1581)
- 1547 – Joanna of Austria, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Austrian Archduchess (d. 1578)
- 1602 – Mildmay Fane, 2nd Earl of Westmorland, English politician (d. 1666)
- 1619 – Yamazaki Ansai, Japanese philosopher (d. 1682)
- 1643 – Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset, English poet and politician, Lord Chamberlain of Great Britain (d. 1706)
- 1664 – John Vanbrugh, English architect and dramatist (d. 1726)
- 1670 – William Congreve, English playwright and poet (d. 1729)
- 1672 – Margrave Albert Frederick of Brandenburg-Schwedt, German Lieutenant General (d. 1731)
- 1674 – Thomas Tanner, English bishop (d. 1735)
- 1679 – Christian Wolff, German philosopher and academic (d. 1754)
- 1684 – Charles Alexander, Duke of Württemberg, German noble (d. 1737)
- 1705 – Farinelli, Italian castrato singer (d. 1782)
- 1709 – Dom Bédos de Celles, French monk and organist (d. 1779)
- 1712 – Frederick the Great, Prussian king (d. 1786)
- 1732 – Pierre Beaumarchais, French playwright and financier (d. 1799)
- 1739 – Jean Nicolas Houchard, French General of the French Revolution (d. 1793)
- 1746 – Gustav III of Sweden (d. 1792)
- 1749 – Charles James Fox, English businessman and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (d. 1806)
- 1754 – Andrew Ellicott, American soldier and surveyor (d. 1820)
- 1761 – Louis Klein, French general (d. 1845)
- 1763 – Louis Alexandre Andrault de Langeron, French-Ukrainian general and politician (d. 1831)
- 1776 – E. T. A. Hoffmann, German jurist, author, and composer (d. 1822)
- 1787 – Christian Ludwig Brehm, German pastor and ornithologist (d. 1864)
- 1804 – Delphine de Girardin, French author (d. 1855)
- 1814 – Duchess Helene of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, French Crown Princess (d. 1858)
- 1814 – John Colenso, British mathematician (d. 1883)
- 1816 – Wilhelm Henzen, German philologist and epigraphist (d. 1887)
- 1828 – Ferdinand Cohn, German biologist (d. 1898)
- 1829 – Yechiel Michel Epstein, Rabbi and posek (d. 1908)
- 1836 – Signe Rink, Greenland-born Danish writer and ethnologist (d. 1909)
- 1843 – Josip Stadler, Croatian archbishop (d. 1918)
- 1848 – Vasily Surikov, Russian painter (d. 1916)
- 1850 – Hermann Ebbinghaus, German psychologist (d. 1909)
- 1853 – Sigbert Josef Maria Ganser, German psychiatrist (d. 1931)
- 1856 – Friedrich Grünanger, Transylvanian Hungarian-German architect (d. 1929)
- 1858 – Constance Naden, English poet and philosopher (d. 1889)
- 1862 – Edith Wharton, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1937)
- 1863 – August Adler, Czech and Austrian mathematician (d. 1923)
- 1864 – Marguerite Durand, French actress, journalist, and activist (d. 1936)
- 1864 – Gaetano Giardino, Italian soldier and Marshal of Italy (d. 1935)
- 1866 – Jaan Poska, Estonian lawyer and politician, 1st Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1920)
- 1870 – Herbert Kilpin, English footballer (d. 1916)
- 1871 – Jiří Karásek ze Lvovic, Czech poet, writer and literary critic (d. 1951)
- 1871 – Thomas Jaggar, American volcanologist (d. 1953)
- 1872 – Yuly Aykhenvald, Russian literary critic (d. 1928)
- 1872 – Konstantin Bogaevsky, Russian painter (d. 1943)
- 1872 – Morris Travers, English chemist and academic (d. 1961)
- 1873 – Dmitry Ushakov, Russian philologist and lexicographer (d. 1942)
- 1882 – Harold D. Babcock, American astronomer (d. 1968)
- 1882 – Ödön Bodor, Hungarian athlete (d. 1927)
- 1886 – Henry King, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1982)
- 1887 – Jean-Henri Humbert, French botanist (d. 1967)
- 1888 – Vicki Baum, Austrian author and screenwriter (d. 1960)
- 1888 – Ernst Heinkel, German engineer and businessman, founded the Heinkel Aircraft Manufacturing Company (d. 1958)
- 1889 – Victor Eftimiu, Romanian poet and playwright (d. 1972)
- 1889 – Charles Hawes, American historian and author (d. 1923)
- 1889 – Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke, German general of paratroop forces during World War II (d. 1968)
- 1891 – Walter Model, German field marshal (d. 1945)
- 1892 – Franz Aigner, Austrian weightlifter (d. 1970)
- 1895 – Eugen Roth, German poet and songwriter (d. 1976)
- 1897 – Paul Fejos, Hungarian-born American director (d. 1963)
- 1899 – Hoyt Vandenberg, U.S. Air Force general (d. 1954)
- 1900 – René Guillot, French writer (d. 1969)
- 1901 – Harry Calder, South African cricketer (d. 1995)
- 1901 – Cassandre, French painter (d. 1968)
- 1901 – Edward Turner, English engineer (d. 1973)
- 1905 – J. Howard Marshall, American lawyer and businessman (d. 1995)
- 1906 – Wilfred Jackson, American animator and composer (d. 1988)
- 1907 – Ismail Nasiruddin of Terengganu, fourth Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia (d. 1979)
- 1907 – Maurice Couve de Murville, French soldier and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1999)
- 1907 – Jean Daetwyler, Swiss composer and musician (d. 1994)
- 1909 – Martin Lings, English author and scholar (d. 2005)
- 1910 – Doris Haddock, American political activist (d. 2010)
- 1912 – Frederick Ashworth, American admiral (d. 2005)
- 1913 – Norman Dello Joio, American organist and composer (d. 2008)
- 1913 – Ray Stehr, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 1983)
- 1915 – Vítězslava Kaprálová, Czech composer and conductor (d. 1940)
- 1915 – Robert Motherwell, American painter and academic (d. 1991)
- 1916 – Rafael Caldera, Venezuelan lawyer and politician, 65th President of Venezuela (d. 2009)
- 1916 – Gene Mako, Hungarian-American tennis player and actor (d. 2013)
- 1917 – Ernest Borgnine, American actor (d. 2012)
- 1917 – Wilhelmus Demarteau, Dutch prelate of the Roman Catholic Church (d. 2012)
- 1918 – Gottfried von Einem, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1996)
- 1918 – Oral Roberts, American evangelist, founded Oral Roberts University and Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association (d. 2009)
- 1919 – Coleman Francis, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1973)
- 1919 – Leon Kirchner, American composer and educator (d. 2009)
- 1920 – Jimmy Forrest, American saxophonist (d. 1980)
- 1920 – Jerry Maren, American actor (d. 2018)
- 1922 – Daniel Boulanger, French actor and screenwriter (d. 2014)
- 1922 – Neil Franklin, English footballer (d. 1996)
- 1923 – Geneviève Asse, French painter
- 1925 – Gus Mortson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2015)
- 1925 – Maria Tallchief, American ballerina and actress (d. 2013)
- 1926 – Ruth Asawa, American sculptor (d. 2013)
- 1926 – Georges Lautner, French director and screenwriter (d. 2013)
- 1927 – Sir Patrick Macnaghten, 11th Baronet, Scottish lieutenant (d. 2007)
- 1927 – Paula Hawkins, American politician (d. 2009)
- 1928 – Desmond Morris, English zoologist, ethologist, and painter
- 1928 – Michel Serrault, French actor (d. 2007)
- 1930 – Terence Bayler, New Zealand actor (d. 2016)
- 1930 – Mahmoud Farshchian, Iranian-Persian painter and academic
- 1930 – John Romita Sr., American comic book artist
- 1931 – Lars Hörmander, Swedish mathematician and academic (d. 2012)
- 1931 – Ib Nørholm, Danish composer and organist
- 1932 – Éliane Radigue, French electronic music composer
- 1933 – Kamran Baghirov, the 12th First Secretary of Azerbaijan Communist Party (d. 2000)
- 1933 – Asim Ferhatović, Bosnian footballer (d. 1987)
- 1934 – Leonard Goldberg, American producer (d. 2019)
- 1934 – Stanisław Grochowiak, Polish poet and dramatist (d. 1976)
- 1935 – Eric Ashton, English rugby player and coach (d. 2008)
- 1935 – Shivabalayogi, Indian religious leader (d. 1994)
- 1936 – Doug Kershaw, American fiddle player and singer
- 1937 – Trevor Edwards, Welsh footballer
- 1938 – Julius Hemphill, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1995)
- 1939 – Renate Garisch-Culmberger, German shot putter
- 1939 – Ray Stevens, American singer-songwriter and actor
- 1940 – Vito Acconci, American designer (d. 2017)
- 1940 – Joachim Gauck, German pastor and politician, 11th President of Germany
- 1941 – Neil Diamond, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1941 – Aaron Neville, American singer
- 1941 – Dan Shechtman, Israeli chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1942 – Ingo Friedrich, German Member of the European Parliament
- 1942 – Gary Hart, American wrestler and manager (d. 2008)
- 1943 – Peter Struck, German lawyer and politician, 13th German Federal Minister of Defence (d. 2012)
- 1943 – Barry Mealand, English footballer, right back (d. 2013)
- 1943 – Sharon Tate, American model and actress (d. 1969)
- 1943 – Tony Trimmer, English race car driver
- 1943 – Manuel Velázquez, Spanish footballer (d. 2016)
- 1944 – David Gerrold, American science fiction screenwriter and author
- 1944 – Gian-Franco Kasper, Swiss ski official
- 1945 – John Garamendi, American football player and politician, 1st United States Deputy Secretary of the Interior
- 1945 – Subhash Ghai, Indian director, producer and screenwriter
- 1945 – Eva Janko, Austrian javelin thrower
- 1946 – Michael Ontkean, Canadian actor
- 1947 – Giorgio Chinaglia, Italian footballer (d. 2012)
- 1947 – Michio Kaku, American physicist and academic
- 1947 – Masashi Ozaki, Japanese baseball player and golfer
- 1947 – Warren Zevon, American singer-songwriter (d. 2003)
- 1948 – Elliott Abrams, American diplomat, lawyer and political scientist
- 1948 – Michael Des Barres, English singer-songwriter and actor
- 1949 – John Belushi, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1982)
- 1949 – Bart Gordon, American lawyer
- 1949 – Nadezhda Ilyina, Russian athlete and mother of Russian tennis player Nadia Petrova (d. 2013)
- 1949 – Rihoko Yoshida, Japanese voice actress
- 1950 – Daniel Auteuil, French actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1951 – Yakov Smirnoff, Ukrainian-American comedian and actor
- 1953 – Yuri Bashmet, Russian violinist, viola player, and conductor
- 1953 – Moon Jae-in, 19th President of South Korea
- 1954 – Jo Gartner, Austrian race car driver (d. 1986)
- 1955 – Jim Montgomery, American swimmer
- 1955 – Alan Sokal, American physicist and author
- 1955 – Lynda Weinman, American businesswoman and author
- 1956 – Agus Martowardojo, governor of Bank Indonesia
- 1957 – Mark Eaton, American basketball player and sportscaster
- 1957 – Ade Edmondson, English comedian and musician
- 1958 – Kim Eui-kon, Korean wrestler
- 1958 – Jools Holland, English singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1958 – Frank Ullrich, German biathlete
- 1959 – Akira Maeda, Japanese wrestler, mixed martial artist, and actor
- 1959 – Michel Preud’homme, Belgian footballer and manager
- 1961 – Jorge Barrios, Uruguayan footballer
- 1961 – Guido Buchwald, German footballer and manager
- 1961 – Christa Kinshofer, German ski racer
- 1961 – Nastassja Kinski, German-American actress and producer
- 1961 – William Van Dijck, Belgian runner
- 1963 – Arnold Vanderlyde, Dutch boxer
- 1964 – Annika Dahlman, Swedish cross country skier
- 1965 – Robin Dutt, German footballer
- 1965 – Carlos Saldanha, Brazilian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1965 – Margaret Urlich, New Zealand singer-songwriter
- 1965 – Pagonis Vakalopoulos, Greek footballer and manager
- 1965 – Kim Sung-moon, South Korean wrestler
- 1966 – Julie Dreyfus, French actress
- 1966 – Karin Viard, French actress
- 1967 – Michael Kiske, German singer
- 1967 – Mark Kozelek, American singer and musician
- 1967 – Phil LaMarr, American actor, singer, and screenwriter
- 1967 – John Myung, American bass player and songwriter
- 1968 – Fernando Escartín, Spanish cyclist
- 1968 – Antony Garrett Lisi, American theoretical physicist
- 1968 – Mary Lou Retton, American gymnast
- 1968 – Tymerlan Huseynov, Ukrainian footballer
- 1969 – Yoo Ho-jeong, South Korean actress
- 1969 – Carlos Rômulo Gonçalves e Silva, bishop of Montenegro
- 1970 – Roberto Bonano, Argentine footballer
- 1970 – Neil Johnson, Zimbabwean cricketer
- 1970 – Matthew Lillard, American actor
- 1971 – José Carlos Fernandez, Bolivian footballer
- 1972 – Beth Hart, American blues-rock singer and piano player
- 1974 – Cyril Despres, French rally racer
- 1974 – Ed Helms, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1974 – Melissa Tkautz, Australian actress and singer
- 1974 – Rokia Traoré, Malian singer
- 1975 – Gianluca Basile, Italian former professional basketball player
- 1975 – Rónald Gómez, Costa Rican footballer and manager
- 1975 – Reto Hug, Swiss triathlonist
- 1975 – Henna Raita, Finnish alpine skier
- 1976 – Shae-Lynn Bourne, Canadian ice dancer, coach, and choreographer
- 1976 – Cindy Pieters, Belgian cyclist
- 1977 – Andrija Gerić, Serbian volleyball player
- 1977 – Michelle Hunziker, Swiss-Dutch actress, model and singer
- 1978 – Veerle Baetens, Belgian actress and singer
- 1978 – Mark Hildreth, Canadian actor and musician
- 1978 – Kristen Schaal, American actress, voice artist, comedian and writer
- 1979 – Tatyana Ali, American actress and singer
- 1979 – Leandro Desábato, Argentinian footballer
- 1979 – Busy Signal, Jamaican dancehall reggae artist
- 1979 – Nik Wallenda, American acrobat
- 1980 – Jofre Mateu, Spanish footballer
- 1980 – Suzy, Portuguese singer
- 1981 – Mario Eggimann, Swiss footballer
- 1981 – Zaur Hashimov, Azerbaijani footballer and manager
- 1981 – Elena Kolomina, Kazakhstani cross country skier
- 1982 – Céline Deville, French footballer
- 1982 – Daveed Diggs, American actor, rapper and singer
- 1982 – Claudia Heill, Austrian judoka
- 1982 – Aitor Hernández, Spanish racing cyclist
- 1983 – Davide Biondini, Italian footballer
- 1983 – Wyatt Crockett, New Zealand rugby player
- 1983 – Evgeny Drattsev, Russian swimmer
- 1983 – Craig Horner, Australian actor and musician
- 1983 – Shaun Maloney, Scottish footballer
- 1983 – Scott Speed, American race car driver
- 1984 – Emerse Faé, French-born Ivorian footballer
- 1984 – Yotam Halperin, Israeli basketball player
- 1984 – Jung Jin-sun, South Korean fencer
- 1984 – Scott Kazmir, American baseball player
- 1984 – Paulo Sérgio Moreira Gonçalves, Portuguese footballer
- 1985 – Fabiana Claudino, Brazilian volleyball player
- 1985 – Trey Gilder, American basketball player
- 1986 – Cristiano Araújo, Brazilian singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
- 1986 – Mohammad Bagheri Motamed, Iranian taekwondo practitioner
- 1986 – Mischa Barton, English-American actress
- 1986 – Vladislav Ivanov, Russian footballer
- 1986 – Michael Kightly, English footballer
- 1986 – Ricky Ullman, Israeli-American actor
- 1987 – Wayne Hennessey, Welsh footballer
- 1987 – Luis Suárez, Uruguayan footballer
- 1987 – Davide Valsecchi, Italian racing driver
- 1987 – Kia Vaughn, American born Czech basketball player
- 1987 – Guan Xin, Chinese basketball player
- 1988 – Selina Jörg, German snowboarder
- 1989 – Serdar Kesimal, Turkish footballer
- 1989 – Gong Lijiao, Chinese shot putter
- 1989 – Ki Sung-yueng, South Korean footballer
- 1990 – Mao Abe, Japanese singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1991 – Zhan Beleniuk, Ukrainian Greco-Roman wrestler
- 1991 – Tatiana Kashirina, Russian weightlifter
- 1991 – Zé Luís, Cape Verdean footballer
- 1991 – Li Xuerui, Chinese badminton player
- 1992 – Becky Downie, English gymnast
- 1992 – Phiwa Nkambule, South African entrepreneur
- 1992 – Felitciano Zschusschen, Curaçao footballer
- 1994 – Tommie Hoban, English footballer
- 1995 – Dylan Everett, Canadian actor
- 1997 – Nirei Fukuzumi, Japanese racer
- 1999 – Vitalie Damașcan, Moldovan footballer
- 2012 – Princess Athena of Denmark, younger child of Prince Joachim and Princess Marie of Denmark
Deaths onJanuary 24
- AD 41 – Caligula, Roman emperor (b. 12)
- 817 – Pope Stephen IV (b. 770)
- 901 – Liu Jishu, general of the Tang Dynasty
- 1046 – Eckard II, Margrave of Meissen (b. c. 985)
- 1125 – David IV of Georgia (b. 1073)
- 1336 – Alfonso IV of Aragon (b. 1299)
- 1376 – Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel, English commander (b. 1306)
- 1473 – Conrad Paumann, German organist and composer (b. 1410)
- 1525 – Franciabigio, Florentine painter (b. 1482)
- 1595 – Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria (b. 1529)
- 1626 – Samuel Argall, English captain and politician, Colonial Governor of Virginia (b. 1572)
- 1639 – Jörg Jenatsch, Swiss pastor and politician (b. 1596)
- 1666 – Johann Andreas Herbst, German composer and theorist (b. 1588)
- 1709 – George Rooke, English admiral and politician (b. 1650)
- 1877 – Johann Christian Poggendorff, German physicist and journalist (b. 1796)
- 1881 – James Collinson, English painter (b. 1825)
- 1883 – Friedrich von Flotow, German composer (b. 1812)
- 1895 – Lord Randolph Churchill, English lawyer and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1849)
- 1920 – Amedeo Modigliani, Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1884)
- 1939 – Maximilian Bircher-Benner, Swiss physician, created Muesli (b. 1867)
- 1943 – John Burns, English trade union leader and politician, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (b. 1858)
- 1960 – Edwin Fischer, Swiss pianist and conductor (b. 1886)
- 1961 – Alfred Carlton Gilbert, American pole vaulter and businessman, founded the A. C. Gilbert Company (b. 1884)
- 1962 – André Lhote, French sculptor and painter (b. 1885)
- 1962 – Stanley Lord, English naval captain (b. 1877)
- 1962 – Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, Turkish author, poet, and scholar (b. 1901)
- 1965 – Winston Churchill, English colonel and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874)
- 1966 – Homi J. Bhabha, Indian physicist and academic (b. 1909)
- 1970 – Caresse Crosby, American fashion designer and publisher, co-founded the Black Sun Press (b. 1891)
- 1971 – Bill W., American activist, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (b. 1895)
- 1973 – J. Carrol Naish, American actor (b. 1896)
- 1975 – Larry Fine, American comedian (b. 1902)
- 1982 – Alfredo Ovando Candía, Bolivian general and politician, 56th President of Bolivia (b. 1918)
- 1983 – George Cukor, American director and producer (b. 1899)
- 1986 – L. Ron Hubbard, American religious leader and author, founded the Church of Scientology (b. 1911)
- 1986 – Gordon MacRae, American actor and singer (b. 1921)
- 1988 – Werner Fenchel, German-Danish mathematician and academic (b. 1905)
- 1989 – Ted Bundy, American serial killer (b. 1946)
- 1990 – Madge Bellamy, American actress (b. 1899)
- 1991 – Jack Schaefer, American journalist and author (b. 1907)
- 1992 – Ken Darby, American composer and conductor (b. 1909)
- 1993 – Gustav Ernesaks, Estonian composer and conductor (b. 1908)
- 1993 – Thurgood Marshall, American lawyer and jurist, 32nd United States Solicitor General (b. 1908)
- 2002 – Elie Hobeika, Lebanese commander and politician (b. 1956)
- 2003 – Gianni Agnelli, Italian businessman (b. 1921)
- 2004 – Leônidas, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1913)
- 2006 – Schafik Handal, Salvadoran politician (b. 1930)
- 2007 – Krystyna Feldman, Polish actress (b. 1916)
- 2007 – İsmail Cem İpekçi, Turkish journalist and politician, 45th Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1940)
- 2007 – Guadalupe Larriva, Ecuadorian academic and politician (b. 1956)
- 2007 – Emiliano Mercado del Toro, Puerto Rican-American soldier (b. 1891)
- 2010 – Pernell Roberts, American actor (b. 1928)
- 2011 – Bernd Eichinger, German director and producer (b. 1949)
- 2014 – Shulamit Aloni, Israeli lawyer and politician, 11th Israeli Minister of Education (b. 1928)
- 2014 – Rafael Pineda Ponce, Honduran academic and politician (b. 1930)
- 2015 – Otto Carius, German lieutenant and pharmacist (b. 1922)
- 2016 – Fredrik Barth, German-Norwegian anthropologist and academic (b. 1928)
- 2016 – Marvin Minsky, American computer scientist and academic (b. 1927)
- 2016 – Henry Worsley, English colonel and explorer (b. 1960)
- 2017 – Butch Trucks, American drummer (b. 1947)
- 2018 – Mark E. Smith, British singer-songwriter (b. 1957)
- 2019 – Rosemary Bryant Mariner, American United States Naval Aviator (b. 1953)
Holidays and observances on January 24
- Christian feast day:
- Babylas of Antioch
- Cadoc (Wales)
- Exuperantius of Cingoli
- Felician of Foligno
- Francis de Sales
- Pratulin Martyrs (Greek Catholic Church)
- January 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Earliest day on which Saturday of Souls can fall, while February 27 (or 28 during Leap Year) is the latest; observed 57 days before Easter. (Eastern Orthodox)
- Feast of Our Lady of Peace (Roman Catholic Church), and its related observances:
- Feria de Alasitas (La Paz)
- Unification Day (Romania)
- Uttar Pradesh Day (Uttar Pradesh, India)
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January 13 in History
- 532 – The Nika riots break out, during the racing season at the Hippodrome in Constantinople, as a result of discontent with the rule of the Emperor Justinian I.
- 1435 – Sicut Dudum, forbidding the enslavement of the Guanche natives in Canary Islands by the Spanish, is promulgated by Pope Eugene IV.
- 1547 – Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, is sentenced to death for treason, on the grounds of having quartered his arms to make them similar to those of the King, Henry VIII of England.
- 1793 – Nicolas Jean Hugon de Bassville, representative of Revolutionary France, lynched by a mob in Rome
- 1797 – French Revolutionary Wars: A naval battle between a French ship of the line and two British frigates off the coast of Brittany ends with the French vessel running aground, resulting in over 900 deaths.
- 1815 – War of 1812: British troops capture Fort Peter in St. Marys, Georgia, the only battle of the war to take place in the state.
- 1822 – The design of the Greek flag is adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus.
- 1833 – United States President Andrew Jackson writes to Vice President Martin Van Buren expressing his opposition to South Carolina’s defiance of federal authority in the Nullification Crisis.
- 1840 – The steamship Lexington burns and sinks four miles off the coast of Long Island with the loss of 139 lives.
- 1842 – Dr. William Brydon, an assistant surgeon in the British East India Company Army during the First Anglo-Afghan War, becomes famous for being the sole survivor of an army of 4,500 men and 12,000 camp followers when he reaches the safety of a garrison in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.
- 1847 – The Treaty of Cahuenga ends the Mexican–American War in California.
- 1849 – Establishment of the Colony of Vancouver Island.
- 1849 – Second Anglo-Sikh War – Battle of Chillianwala: British forces retreat from the Sikhs.
- 1879 – In Mozart Gardens Brooklyn Ada Anderson completed a great feat of pedestrianism – 2700 quarter miles in 2700 quarter hours, earning her $8000.
- 1888 – The National Geographic Society is founded in Washington, D.C.
- 1893 – The Independent Labour Party of the United Kingdom holds its first meeting.
- 1893 – U.S. Marines land in Honolulu, Hawaii from the USS Boston to prevent the queen from abrogating the Bayonet Constitution.
- 1895 – First Italo-Ethiopian War: the war’s opening battle, the Battle of Coatit, occurs; it is an Italian victory.
- 1898 – Émile Zola’s J’accuse…! exposes the Dreyfus affair.
- 1908 – The Rhoads Opera House fire in Boyertown, Pennsylvania kills 171 people.
- 1910 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; a live performance of the operas Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci are sent out over the airwaves from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.
- 1915 – The 6.7 Mw Avezzano earthquake shakes the Province of L’Aquila in Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing between 29,978–32,610.
- 1920 – The Reichstag Bloodbath of January 13, 1920, the bloodiest demonstration in German history.
- 1935 – A plebiscite in Saarland shows that 90.3% of those voting wish to join Nazi Germany.
- 1939 – The Black Friday bushfires burn 20,000 square kilometers of land in Australia, claiming the lives of 71 people.
- 1942 – Henry Ford patents a plastic automobile, which is 30% lighter than a regular car.
- 1942 – World War II: First use of an aircraft ejection seat by a German test pilot in a Heinkel He 280 jet fighter.
- 1950 – British submarine HMS Truculent collides with an oil tanker in the Thames Estuary, killing 64 men.
- 1950 – Finland forms diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China.
- 1951 – First Indochina War: The Battle of Vĩnh Yên begins.
- 1953 – An article appears in Pravda accusing some of the most prestigious and prominent doctors, mostly Jews, in the Soviet Union of taking part in a vast plot to poison members of the top Soviet political and military leadership.
- 1958 – The Moroccan Army of Liberation ambushes a Spanish patrol in the Battle of Edchera.
- 1963 – Coup d’état in Togo results in the assassination of president Sylvanus Olympio.
- 1964 – Anti-Muslim riots break out in Calcutta, resulting in 100 deaths.
- 1964 – In Manchester, New Hampshire, fourteen-year-old Pamela Mason is murdered. Edward Coolidge is tried and convicted of the crime, but the conviction is set aside by the landmark Fourth Amendment case Coolidge v. New Hampshire (1971).
- 1966 – Robert C. Weaver becomes the first African American Cabinet member when he is appointed United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
- 1968 – Johnny Cash performs live at Folsom State Prison.
- 1972 – Prime Minister Kofi Abrefa Busia and President Edward Akufo-Addo of Ghana are ousted in a bloodless military coup by Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong.
- 1978 – United States Food and Drug Administration requires all blood donations to be labeled “paid” or “volunteer” donors.
- 1982 – Shortly after takeoff, Air Florida Flight 90, a Boeing 737 jet, crashes into Washington, D.C.’s 14th Street Bridge and falls into the Potomac River, killing 78 including four motorists.
- 1985 – A passenger train plunges into a ravine in Ethiopia, killing 428 in the worst railroad disaster in Africa.
- 1986 – A month-long violent struggle begins in Aden, South Yemen between supporters of Ali Nasir Muhammad and Abdul Fattah Ismail, resulting in thousands of casualties.
- 1988 – Lee Teng-hui becomes the first native Taiwanese President of the Republic of China.
- 1990 – Douglas Wilder becomes the first elected African American governor as he takes office as Governor of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia.
- 1991 – Soviet Union troops attack Lithuanian independence supporters in Vilnius, killing 14 people and wounding around 1000 others.
- 1993 – Space Shuttle program: Endeavour heads for space for the third time as STS-54 launches from the Kennedy Space Center.
- 1993 – The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is signed.
- 1998 – Alfredo Ormando sets himself on fire in St. Peter’s Square, protesting against homophobia.
- 2001 – An earthquake hits El Salvador, killing more than 800.
- 2012 – The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia sinks off the coast of Italy due to the captain Francesco Schettino’s negligence and irresponsibility. There are 32 confirmed deaths.
- 2018 – A false emergency alert warning of an impending missile strike in Hawaii caused widespread panic in the state.
- 2020 – Taal Volcano in the Philippines spews lava fountains while erupting in the crater.
Births on January 13
- 5 BC – Guangwu of Han, Chinese emperor (d. 57)
- 101 – Lucius Aelius, Roman adopted son of Hadrian (d. 138)
- 915 – Al-Hakam II, Umayyad caliph (d. 976)
- 1334 – Henry II, king of Castile and León (d. 1379)
- 1338 – Jeong Mong-ju, Korean civil minister, diplomat and scholar (d. 1392)
- 1400 – Infante John, Constable of Portugal (d. 1442)
- 1477 – Henry Percy, 5th Earl of Northumberland (d. 1527)
- 1505 – Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg (d. 1571)
- 1562 – Mark Alexander Boyd, Scottish poet and soldier (d. 1601)
- 1596 – Jan van Goyen, Dutch painter and illustrator (d. 1656)
- 1610 – Maria Anna of Bavaria, archduchess of Austria (d. 1665)
- 1616 – Antoinette Bourignon, French-Flemish mystic and author (d. 1680)
- 1651 – Henry Booth, 1st Earl of Warrington, English soldier and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (d. 1694)
- 1683 – Christoph Graupner, German harpsichord player and composer (d. 1760)
- 1720 – Richard Hurd, English bishop (d. 1808)
- 1749 – Maler Müller, German poet, painter, and playwright (d. 1825)
- 1787 – John Davis, American lawyer and politician, 14th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1854)
- 1804 – Paul Gavarni, French illustrator (d. 1866)
- 1805 – Thomas Dyer, American lawyer and politician, 18th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1862)
- 1808 – Salmon P. Chase, American jurist and politician, 6th Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1873)
- 1810 – Ernestine Rose, American suffragist, abolitionist, and freethinker (d. 1892)
- 1812 – Victor de Laprade, French poet and critic (d. 1883)
- 1832 – Horatio Alger, Jr., American novelist and journalist (d. 1899)
- 1845 – Félix Tisserand, French astronomer and academic (d. 1896)
- 1858 – Oskar Minkowski, Lithuanian-German biologist and academic (d. 1931)
- 1859 – Kostis Palamas, Greek poet and playwright (d. 1943)
- 1861 – Max Nonne, German neurologist and academic (d. 1959)
- 1864 – Wilhelm Wien, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928)
- 1865 – Princess Marie of Orléans (d. 1908)
- 1866 – Vasily Kalinnikov, Russian bassoon player and composer (d. 1901)
- 1866 – George Gurdjieff, Russian-French mystic and philosopher (d. 1949)
- 1869 – Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta (d. 1931)
- 1870 – Ross Granville Harrison, American biologist and anatomist (d. 1959)
- 1878 – Lionel Groulx, Canadian priest and historian (d. 1967)
- 1881 – Essington Lewis, Australian engineer and businessman (d. 1961)
- 1883 – Nathaniel Cartmell, American runner and coach (d. 1967)
- 1885 – Alfred Fuller, Canadian-American businessman, founded the Fuller Brush Company (d. 1973)
- 1886 – Art Ross, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (d. 1964)
- 1887 – Sophie Tucker, Russian-born American singer and actress (d. 1966)
- 1890 – Jüri Uluots, Estonian journalist, lawyer, and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Estonia (d. 1945)
- 1892 – Ermanno Aebi, Italian-Swiss footballer (d. 1976)
- 1893 – Charles Arnison, English lieutenant and pilot (d. 1974)
- 1893 – Roy Cazaly, Australian footballer and coach (d. 1963)
- 1893 – Clark Ashton Smith, American poet, sculptor, painter, and author (d. 1961)
- 1893 – Chaim Soutine, Belarusian-French painter (d. 1943)
- 1900 – Shimizugawa Motokichi, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1967)
- 1900 – Gertrude Mary Cox, American mathematician (d. 1978)
- 1901 – A. B. Guthrie, Jr., American novelist, screenwriter, historian (d. 1991)
- 1901 – Mieczysław Żywczyński, Polish priest and historian (d. 1978)
- 1902 – Karl Menger, Austrian-American mathematician from the Vienna Circle (d. 1985)
- 1904 – Richard Addinsell, English composer (d. 1977)
- 1904 – Nathan Milstein, Ukrainian-American violinist and composer (d. 1992)
- 1904 – Dick Rowley, Irish footballer, centre forward (d. 1984)
- 1905 – Kay Francis, American actress (d. 1968)
- 1905 – Jack London, English sprinter and pianist (d. 1966)
- 1906 – Zhou Youguang, Chinese linguist, sinologist, and academic (d. 2017)
- 1909 – Helm Glöckler, German race car driver (d. 1993)
- 1910 – Yannis Tsarouchis, Greek painter and illustrator (d. 1989)
- 1911 – Joh Bjelke-Petersen, New Zealand-Australian farmer and politician, 31st Premier of Queensland (d. 2005)
- 1914 – Osa Massen, Danish-American actress (d. 2006)
- 1914 – Ted Willis, Baron Willis, English author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1992)
- 1919 – Robert Stack, American actor (d. 2003)
- 1921 – Necati Cumalı, Greek-Turkish author and poet (d. 2001)
- 1921 – Dachine Rainer, American-English author and poet (d. 2000)
- 1921 – Arthur Stevens, English footballer, outside right (d. 2007}
- 1922 – Albert Lamorisse, French director and producer (d. 1970)
- 1923 – Daniil Shafran, Russian cellist (d. 1997)
- 1923 – Willem Slijkhuis, Dutch runner (d. 2003)
- 1924 – Paul Feyerabend, Austrian-Swiss philosopher and academic (d. 1994)
- 1924 – Roland Petit, French dancer and choreographer (d. 2011)
- 1925 – Rosemary Murphy, American actress (d. 2014)
- 1925 – Vanita Smythe, American singer and actress (d. 1994)
- 1925 – Ron Tauranac, Australian engineer and businessman
- 1925 – Gwen Verdon, American actress and dancer (d. 2000)
- 1926 – Michael Bond, English soldier and author, created Paddington Bear (d. 2017)
- 1926 – Carolyn Gold Heilbrun, American author and academic (d. 2003)
- 1926 – Melba Liston, American trombonist and composer (d. 1999)
- 1927 – Brock Adams, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 5th United States Secretary of Transportation (d. 2004)
- 1927 – Liz Anderson, American singer-songwriter (d. 2011)
- 1927 – Sydney Brenner, South African biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2019)
- 1929 – Joe Pass, American guitarist and composer (d. 1994)
- 1930 – Frances Sternhagen, American actress
- 1931 – Ian Hendry, English actor (d. 1984)
- 1931 – Charles Nelson Reilly, American actor, comedian, director, game show panelist, and television personality (d. 2007)
- 1932 – Barry Bishop, American mountaineer, photographer, and scholar (d. 1994)
- 1933 – Tom Gola, American basketball player, coach, and politician (d. 2014)
- 1935 – Rip Taylor, American actor and comedian (d. 2019)
- 1936 – Renato Bruson, Italian opera singer
- 1937 – Guy Dodson, New Zealand-English biochemist and academic (d. 2012)
- 1938 – Cabu, French cartoonist (d. 2015)
- 1938 – Daevid Allen, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2015)
- 1938 – Richard Anthony, Egyptian-French singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
- 1938 – Dave Edwards, American captain and politician (d. 2013)
- 1938 – Tord Grip, Swedish footballer and manager
- 1938 – Anna Home, English screenwriter and producer
- 1939 – Edgardo Cozarinsky, Argentinian author, screenwriter, and director
- 1939 – Jacek Gmoch, Polish footballer and coach
- 1939 – Cesare Maniago, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1940 – Edmund White, American novelist, memoirist, and essayist
- 1941 – Pasqual Maragall, Spanish academic and politician, 127th President of the Generalitat de Catalunya
- 1941 – Meinhard Nehmer, German bobsledder
- 1943 – William Duckworth, American composer and author (d. 2012)
- 1943 – Richard Moll, American actor
- 1945 – Gordon McVie, English oncologist and author
- 1945 – Peter Simpson, English footballer
- 1946 – Ordal Demokan, Turkish physicist and academic (d. 2004)
- 1946 – Eero Koivistoinen, Finnish saxophonist, composer, and conductor
- 1947 – John Lees, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1947 – Jacek Majchrowski, Polish historian, lawyer, and politician
- 1947 – Carles Rexach, Spanish footballer and coach
- 1948 – Gaj Singh, Indian lawyer and politician
- 1949 – Rakesh Sharma, Indian commander, pilot, and astronaut
- 1949 – Brandon Tartikoff, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1997)
- 1950 – Clive Betts, English economist and politician
- 1950 – Bob Forsch, American baseball player (d. 2011)
- 1950 – Gholam Hossein Mazloumi, Iranian footballer and manager (d. 2014)
- 1952 – Stephen Glover, English journalist, co-founded The Independent
- 1953 – Silvana Gallardo, American actress and producer (d. 2012)
- 1954 – Richard Blackford, English composer
- 1954 – Trevor Rabin, South African-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1955 – Paul Kelly, Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1955 – Jay McInerney, American novelist and critic
- 1955 – Anne Pringle, English diplomat, British Ambassador to Russia
- 1957 – Claudia Emerson, American poet and academic (d. 2014)
- 1957 – Mary Glindon, English lawyer and politician
- 1957 – Mark O’Meara, American golfer
- 1957 – Lorrie Moore, American short story writer
- 1958 – Francisco Buyo, Spanish footballer and manager
- 1958 – Juan Pedro de Miguel, Spanish handball player (d. 2016)
- 1959 – Winnie Byanyima, Ugandan engineer, politician, and diplomat
- 1960 – Eric Betzig, American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1960 – Matthew Bourne, English choreographer and director
- 1961 – Wayne Coyne, American singer-songwriter and musician
- 1961 – Kelly Hrudey, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
- 1961 – Julia Louis-Dreyfus, American actress, comedian, and producer
- 1962 – Trace Adkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1962 – Paul Higgins, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1964 – Penelope Ann Miller, American actress
- 1966 – Patrick Dempsey, American actor and race car driver
- 1966 – Leo Visser, Dutch speed skater and pilot
- 1968 – Mike Whitlow, English footballer and coach
- 1969 – Stefania Belmondo, Italian skier
- 1969 – Stephen Hendry, Scottish snooker player and journalist
- 1970 – Frank Kooiman, Dutch footballer
- 1970 – Marco Pantani, Italian cyclist (d. 2004)
- 1970 – Shonda Rhimes, American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1972 – Mark Bosnich, Australian footballer and sportscaster
- 1972 – Nicole Eggert, American actress
- 1972 – Vitaly Scherbo, Belarusian gymnast
- 1973 – Nikolai Khabibulin, Russian ice hockey player
- 1973 – Gigi Galli, Italian race driver
- 1974 – Sergei Brylin, Russian ice hockey player and coach
- 1975 – Rune Eriksen, Norwegian guitarist and composer
- 1975 – Mailis Reps, Estonian academic and politician, 31st Estonian Minister of Education and Research
- 1975 – Andrew Yang, American entrepreneur, founder of Venture for America, and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate
- 1976 – Mario Yepes, Colombian footballer
- 1977 – Orlando Bloom, English actor and producer
- 1977 – Mi-Hyun Kim, South Korean golfer
- 1977 – Elliot Mason, English trombonist and keyboard player
- 1977 – James Posey, American basketball player and coach
- 1978 – Nate Silver, American journalist and statistician, developed PECOTA
- 1979 – Katy Brand, English actress and screenwriter
- 1980 – Krzysztof Czerwiński, Polish organist and conductor
- 1980 – Nils-Eric Johansson, Swedish footballer
- 1980 – Akira Kaji, Japanese footballer
- 1980 – Wolfgang Loitzl, Austrian ski jumper
- 1980 – Mirko Soltau, German footballer
- 1981 – Reggie Brown, American football player
- 1981 – Darrell Rasner, American baseball player
- 1981 – Yujiro Takahashi, Japanese wrestler
- 1982 – Kamran Akmal, Pakistan cricketer
- 1982 – Guillermo Coria, Argentinian tennis player
- 1982 – Constantinos Makrides, Cypriot footballer
- 1982 – Ruth Wilson, English actress
- 1983 – Ender Arslan, Turkish basketball player
- 1983 – Sebastian Kneißl, German footballer
- 1983 – Mauricio Martín Romero, Argentinian footballer
- 1984 – Matteo Cavagna, Italian footballer
- 1984 – Kamghe Gaba, German sprinter
- 1984 – Nick Mangold, American football player
- 1985 – Luke Robinson, American wrestler
- 1986 – Joannie Rochette, Canadian figure skater
- 1987 – Stefano Del Sante, Italian footballer
- 1987 – Jack Johnson, American ice hockey player
- 1987 – Florica Leonida, Romanian gymnast
- 1987 – Steven Michaels, Australian rugby league player
- 1987 – Daniel Oss, Italian cyclist
- 1987 – Marc Staal, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1987 – Sven Wetzel, German rugby player
- 1988 – Josh Freeman, American football player
- 1989 – Morgan Burnett, American football player
- 1989 – Doug Martin, American football player
- 1990 – Vincenzo Fiorillo, Italian footballer
- 1990 – Liam Hemsworth, Australian actor
- 1991 – Rob Kiernan, English-Irish footballer
- 1992 – Adam Matthews, Welsh footballer
- 1992 – Dinah Pfizenmaier, German tennis player
- 1993 – Max Whitlock, English artistic gymnast
- 1997 – Micah Hart, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1997 – Connor McDavid, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1997 – Ivan Provorov, Russian ice hockey player
Deaths on January 13
- 86 BC – Gaius Marius, Roman general and politician (b. 157 BC)
- 533 – Remigius, French bishop and saint (b. 437)
- 614 – Mungo, English-Scottish bishop and saint
- 703 – Jitō, Japanese emperor (b. 645)
- 858 – Æthelwulf, king of Wessex
- 888 – Charles the Fat, Frankish king and emperor (b. 839)
- 927 – Berno of Cluny, Frankish monk and abbot
- 1001 – Fujiwara no Teishi, Japanese empress (b. 977)
- 1147 – Robert de Craon, Grand Master of the Knights Templar
- 1151 – Suger, French historian and politician (b. 1081)
- 1177 – Henry II, count palatine and duke of Austria (b. 1107)
- 1321 – Bonacossa Borri, Italian noblewoman (b. 1254)
- 1330 – Frederick I, duke and king of Germany
- 1363 – Meinhard III, German nobleman (b. 1344)
- 1400 – Thomas le Despenser, 1st Earl of Gloucester, English politician (b. 1373)
- 1599 – Edmund Spenser, English poet, Chief Secretary for Ireland (b. 1552)
- 1612 – Jane Dormer, English lady-in-waiting (b. 1538)
- 1625 – Jan Brueghel the Elder, Flemish painter (b. 1568)
- 1684 – Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk, English nobleman (b. 1628)
- 1691 – George Fox, English religious leader, founded the Religious Society of Friends (b. 1624)
- 1717 – Maria Sibylla Merian, German entomologist and illustrator (b. 1647)
- 1775 – Johann Georg Walch, German theologian and author (b. 1693)
- 1790 – Luc Urbain de Bouëxic, French admiral (b. 1712)
- 1796 – John Anderson, Scottish philosopher and educator (b. 1726)
- 1832 – Thomas Lord, English cricketer, founded Lord’s Cricket Ground (b. 1755)
- 1838 – Ferdinand Ries, German pianist and composer (b. 1784)
- 1860 – William Mason, American surgeon and politician (b. 1786)
- 1864 – Stephen Foster, American composer and songwriter (b. 1826)
- 1872 – William Scamp, English architect and engineer (b. 1801)
- 1882 – Wilhelm Mauser, German engineer and businessman, co-founded the Mauser Company (b. 1834)
- 1885 – Schuyler Colfax, American journalist and politician, 17th Vice President of the United States (b. 1823)
- 1889 – Solomon Bundy, American lawyer and politician (b. 1823)
- 1905 – George Thorn, Australian farmer and politician, 6th Premier of Queensland (b. 1838)
- 1906 – Alexander Stepanovich Popov, Russian physicist and academic (b. 1859)
- 1907 – Jakob Hurt, Estonian theologist and linguist (b. 1839)
- 1915 – Mary Slessor, Scottish-Nigerian missionary (b. 1848)
- 1916 – Victoriano Huerta, Mexican military officer and president, 1913–1914 (b. 1850)
- 1923 – Alexandre Ribot, French academic and politician, Prime Minister of France (b. 1842)
- 1924 – Georg Hermann Quincke, German physicist and academic (b. 1834)
- 1929 – Wyatt Earp, American police officer (b. 1848)
- 1929 – H. B. Higgins, Irish-Australian judge and politician, 3rd Attorney-General for Australia (b. 1851)
- 1934 – Paul Ulrich Villard, French physicist and chemist (b. 1860)
- 1941 – James Joyce, Irish novelist, short story writer, and poet (b. 1882)
- 1943 – Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Swiss painter and sculptor (b. 1889)
- 1956 – Lyonel Feininger, German-American painter and illustrator (b. 1871)
- 1957 – A. E. Coppard English poet and short story writer (b. 1878)
- 1958 – Jesse L. Lasky, American film producer, co-founded Paramount Pictures (b. 1880)
- 1962 – Ernie Kovacs, American actor and game show host (b. 1919)
- 1963 – Sylvanus Olympio, Togolese businessman and politician, President of Togo (b. 1902)
- 1967 – Anatole de Grunwald, Russian-English screenwriter and producer (b. 1910)
- 1971 – Robert Still, English composer and educator (b. 1910)
- 1973 – Sabahattin Eyüboğlu, Turkish screenwriter and producer (b. 1908)
- 1974 – Raoul Jobin, Canadian tenor and educator (b. 1906)
- 1974 – Salvador Novo, Mexican playwright and poet (b. 1904)
- 1976 – Margaret Leighton, English actress (b. 1922)
- 1977 – Henri Langlois, Turkish-French historian, co-founded the Cinémathèque Française (b. 1914)
- 1978 – Hubert Humphrey, American pharmacist, academic, and politician, 38th Vice President of the United States (b. 1911)
- 1978 – Joe McCarthy, American baseball player and manager (b. 1887)
- 1979 – Donny Hathaway, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (b. 1945)
- 1979 – Marjorie Lawrence, Australian-American soprano (b. 1907)
- 1980 – Andre Kostelanetz, Russian-American conductor (b. 1901)
- 1982 – Marcel Camus, French director and screenwriter (b. 1912)
- 1983 – René Bonnet, French race car driver and engineer (b. 1904)
- 1986 – Abdul Fattah Ismail, Yemeni educator and politician, 4th President of South Yemen (b. 1939)
- 1986 – Kevin Longbottom, Australian rugby league player (b. 1940)
- 1988 – Chiang Ching-kuo, Chinese politician, President of the Republic of China (b. 1910)
- 1993 – Camargo Guarnieri, Brazilian composer and conductor (b. 1907)
- 1995 – Max Harris, Australian journalist, poet, and author (b. 1921)
- 2002 – Frank Shuster, Canadian actor, comedian, and screenwriter (b. 1916)
- 2003 – Norman Panama, American director and screenwriter (b. 1914)
- 2004 – Arne Næss, Jr., Norwegian businessman and mountaineer (b. 1937)
- 2005 – Earl Cameron, Canadian journalist (b. 1915)
- 2005 – Nell Rankin, American soprano and actress (b. 1924)
- 2006 – Frank Fixaris, American journalist and sportscaster (b. 1934)
- 2006 – Marc Potvin, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (b. 1967)
- 2007 – Michael Brecker, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1949)
- 2007 – Danny Oakes, American race car driver (b. 1911)
- 2008 – Johnny Podres, American baseball player and coach (b. 1932)
- 2009 – Dai Llewellyn, Welsh humanitarian activist and politician (b. 1946)
- 2009 – Patrick McGoohan, Irish-American actor, director, and producer (b. 1928)
- 2009 – Mansour Rahbani, Lebanese poet, composer, and producer (b. 1925)
- 2009 – W. D. Snodgrass, American poet (b. 1926)
- 2009 – Nancy Bird Walton, Australian pilot (b. 1915)
- 2010 – Teddy Pendergrass, American singer-songwriter (b. 1950)
- 2011 – Albert Heijn, Dutch businessman (b. 1927)
- 2012 – Rauf Denktaş, Turkish-Cypriot lawyer and politician, 1st President of Northern Cyprus (b. 1924)
- 2012 – Guido Dessauer, German physicist and engineer (b. 1915)
- 2012 – Miljan Miljanić, Serbian footballer and manager (b. 1930)
- 2013 – Diogenes Allen, American philosopher and theologian (b. 1932)
- 2013 – Rodney Mims Cook, Sr., American lieutenant and politician (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Chia-Chiao Lin, Chinese-American mathematician and academic (b. 1916)
- 2014 – Bobby Collins, Scottish footballer and manager (b. 1931)
- 2014 – Randal Tye Thomas, American journalist and politician (b. 1978)
- 2014 – Waldemar von Gazen, German general and lawyer (b. 1917)
- 2015 – Mark Juddery, Australian journalist and author (b. 1971)
- 2015 – Robert White, American soldier and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Paraguay (b. 1926)
- 2016 – Brian Bedford, English-American actor and director (b. 1935)
- 2016 – Giorgio Gomelsky, Georgian-American director, producer, songwriter, and manager (b. 1934)
- 2016 – Lawrence Phillips, American football player (b. 1975)
- 2017 – Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, English photographer and sometime member of the British royal family (b. 1930)
- 2017 – Dick Gautier, American actor (b. 1931)
- 2017 – Magic Alex, Greek electronics engineer (b. 1942)
- 2019 – Phil Masinga, South African footballer (b. 1969)
Holidays and observances on January 13
- Christian feast day:
- Blessed Veronica of Milan
- Elian
- Hilary of Poitiers
- Mungo
- St. Knut’s Day or Tjugondag Knut, the last day of Christmas. (Sweden and Finland)
- January 13 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Constitution Day (Mongolia)
- Democracy Day (Cape Verde)
- Korean-American Day (Korean-American community, United States)
- Liberation Day (Togo)
- Old New Year’s Eve (Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Serbia, Montenegro, Republic of Srpska, North Macedonia), and its related observances:
- Malanka (Ukraine, Russia, Belarus)
- Sidereal winter solstice’s eve celebrations in South and Southeast Asian cultures; the last day of the six-month Dakshinayana period (see January 14):
- Bhogi (Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu)
- Lohri (Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh)
- Uruka (Assam)
- Stephen Foster Memorial Day (United States)
- Yennayer (Berbers)
-
January 8 in History
- 307 – Jin Huaidi becomes emperor of China in succession to his father, Jin Huidi, despite a challenge from his uncle, Sima Ying
- 871 – Alfred the Great leads a West Saxon army to repel an invasion by Danelaw Vikings.
- 1297 – François Grimaldi, disguised as a monk, leads his men to capture the fortress protecting the Rock of Monaco, establishing his family as the rulers of Monaco
- 1454 – The papal bull Romanus Pontifex awards the Kingdom of Portugal exclusive trade and colonization rights to all of Africa south of Cape Bojador
- 1499 – Louis XII of France marries Anne of Brittany in accordance with a law set by his predecessor, Charles VIII.
- 1547 – The first Lithuanian-language book, the Catechism of Martynas Mažvydas, is published in Königsberg.
- 1735 – The premiere of George Frideric Handel’s Ariodante takes place at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
- 1746 – Second Jacobite rising: Bonnie Prince Charlie occupies Stirling.
- 1790 – George Washington delivers the first State of the Union address in New York City.
- 1806 – Cape Colony in southern Africa becomes a British colony as a result of the Battle of Blaauwberg.
- 1811 – An unsuccessful slave revolt is led by Charles Deslondes in the north American settlements of St. Charles and St. James, Louisiana.
- 1815 – War of 1812: Battle of New Orleans: Andrew Jackson leads American forces in victory over the British.
- 1828 – The Democratic Party of the United States is organized.
- 1835 – The United States national debt is zero for the only time.
- 1863 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Springfield.
- 1867 – African American men are granted the right to vote in Washington, D.C.
- 1877 – Crazy Horse and his warriors fight their last battle against the United States Cavalry at Wolf Mountain, Montana Territory.
- 1889 – Herman Hollerith is issued US patent #395,791 for the ‘Art of Applying Statistics’ — his punched card calculator.
- 1904 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system.
- 1912 – The African National Congress is founded, under the name South African Native National Congress (SANNC).
- 1918 – U.S. President Woodrow Wilson announces his “Fourteen Points” for the aftermath of World War I.
- 1920 – The steel strike of 1919 ends in failure for the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers labor union.
- 1926 – Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuỵ ascends the throne to become the last monarch of Vietnam.
- 1926 – Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz.
- 1936 – Kashf-e hijab decree is made and immediately enforced by Reza Shah, Iran’s head of state, banning the wearing of Islamic veils in public.
- 1940 – World War II: Britain introduces food rationing.
- 1945 – World War II: Philippine Commonwealth troops under the Philippine Commonwealth Army units enter the province of Ilocos Sur in Northern Luzon and attack Japanese Imperial forces.
- 1956 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. missionaries are killed by the Huaorani of Ecuador shortly after making contact with them.
- 1959 – Charles de Gaulle is proclaimed as the first President of the French Fifth Republic.
- 1961 – In France a referendum supports Charles de Gaulle’s policies in Algeria.
- 1963 – Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is exhibited in the United States for the first time, at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
- 1964 – President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a “War on Poverty” in the United States.
- 1972 – Bowing to international pressure, President of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto releases Bengali leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from prison, who had been arrested after declaring the independence of Bangladesh.
- 1973 – Soviet space mission Luna 21 is launched.
- 1973 – Watergate scandal: The trial of seven men accused of illegal entry into Democratic Party headquarters at Watergate begins.
- 1975 – Ella T. Grasso becomes Governor of Connecticut, the first woman to serve as a Governor in the United States other than by succeeding her husband.
- 1977 – Three bombs explode in Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union, within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
- 1981 – A local farmer reports a UFO sighting in Trans-en-Provence, France, claimed to be “perhaps the most completely and carefully documented sighting of all time”.
- 1982 – Breakup of the Bell System: AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions.
- 1989 – Kegworth air disaster: British Midland Flight 92, a Boeing 737-400, crashes into the M1 motorway, killing 47 of the 126 people on board.
- 1994 – Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov on Soyuz TM-18 leaves for Mir. He would stay on the space station until March 22, 1995, for a record 437 days in space.
- 1996 – An Antonov An-32 cargo aircraft crashes into a crowded market in Kinshasa, Zaire, killing up to 223 on the ground; two of six crew members are also killed.
- 2002 – President George W. Bush signs into law the No Child Left Behind Act.
- 2003 – Turkish Airlines Flight 634 crashes near Diyarbakır Airport, Turkey, killing the entire crew and 70 of the 75 passengers.
- 2003 – Air Midwest Flight 5481 crashes at Charlotte-Douglas Airport, Charlotte, North Carolina, killing all 21 people on board.
- 2004 – The RMS Queen Mary 2, then the largest ocean liner ever built, is christened by her namesake’s granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
- 2005 – The nuclear sub USS San Francisco collides at full speed with an undersea mountain south of Guam. One man is killed, but the sub surfaces and is repaired.
- 2009 – A 6.1-magnitude earthquake in northern Costa Rica kills 15 people and injures 32.
- 2010 – Gunmen from an offshoot the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda attack a bus carrying the Togo national football team on its way to the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, killing three.
- 2011 – The attempted assassination of Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords and subsequent shooting in Casas Adobes, Arizona, in which five people were shot dead.
- 2016 – Joaquín Guzmán, widely regarded as the world’s most powerful drug trafficker, is recaptured following his escape from a maximum security prison in Mexico.
- 2020 – Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 crashes immediately after takeoff at Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport; all 176 on board are killed. The plane was shot down by an Iranian anti-aircraft missile.
Births on January 8
- 1037 – Su Dongpo, Chinese calligrapher and poet (d. 1101)
- 1345 – Kadi Burhan al-Din, poet, kadi, and ruler of Sivas (d. 1398)
- 1462 – Walraven II van Brederode, Dutch nobleman (d. 1531)
- 1529 – John Frederick II, duke of Saxony (d. 1595)
- 1556 – Uesugi Kagekatsu, Japanese daimyō (d. 1623)
- 1583 – Simon Episcopius, Dutch theologian and academic (d. 1643)
- 1587 – Johannes Fabricius, German astronomer and academic (d. 1616)
- 1587 – Jan Pieterszoon Coen, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1629
- 1589 – Ivan Gundulić, Croatian poet and playwright (d. 1638)
- 1601 – Baltasar Gracián, Spanish priest and author (d. 1658)
- 1628 – François-Henri de Montmorency, duc de Luxembourg, French general (d. 1695)
- 1632 – Samuel von Pufendorf, German economist and jurist (d. 1694)
- 1635 – Luis Manuel Fernández de Portocarrero, Spanish cardinal (d. 1709)
- 1638 – Elisabetta Sirani, Italian painter (d. 1665)
- 1735 – John Carroll, American archbishop, founder of Georgetown University (d. 1815)
- 1763 – Edmond-Charles Genêt, French-American translator and diplomat (d. 1834)
- 1786 – Nicholas Biddle, American banker and financier (d. 1844)
- 1788 – Rudolf of Austria, Austrian archduke and archbishop (d. 1831)
- 1792 – Lowell Mason, American composer and educator (d. 1872)
- 1805 – John Bigler, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, 3rd Governor of California (d. 1871)
- 1805 – Orson Hyde, American religious leader, 3rd President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (d. 1878)
- 1812 – Sigismond Thalberg, Swiss pianist and composer (d. 1871)
- 1817 – Theophilus Shepstone, English-South African politician (d. 1893)
- 1821 – James Longstreet, American general and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Turkey (d. 1904)
- 1823 – Alfred Russel Wallace, Welsh geographer, biologist, and explorer (d. 1913)
- 1824 – Wilkie Collins, English novelist, playwright, and short story writer (d. 1889)
- 1824 – Francisco González Bocanegra, Mexican poet and composer (d. 1861)
- 1830 – Hans von Bülow, German pianist and composer (d. 1894)
- 1836 – Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Dutch-English painter and academic (d. 1912)
- 1843 – Frederick Abberline, English police officer (d. 1929)
- 1843 – Karl Eduard Heusner, German admiral (d. 1891)
- 1852 – James Milton Carroll, American pastor and author (d. 1931)
- 1854 – Fanny Bullock Workman, American mountaineer, geographer, and cartographer (d. 1925)
- 1860 – Emma Booth, English author (d. 1903)
- 1862 – Frank Nelson Doubleday, American publisher, founded the Doubleday Publishing Company (d. 1934)
- 1864 – Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (d. 1892)
- 1865 – Winnaretta Singer, American philanthropist (d. 1943)
- 1866 – William G. Conley, American educator and politician, 18th Governor of West Virginia (d. 1940)
- 1867 – Emily Greene Balch, American economist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1961)
- 1870 – Miguel Primo de Rivera, Spanish general and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1930)
- 1871 – James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, Irish captain and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Northern Ireland (d. 1940)
- 1873 – Iuliu Maniu, Romanian lawyer and politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Romania (d. 1953)
- 1876 – Arturs Alberings, Latvian lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Latvia (d. 1934)
- 1879 – Charles Bryant, English-American actor and director (d. 1948)
- 1881 – Henrik Shipstead, American dentist and politician (d. 1960)
- 1881 – Linnie Marsh Wolfe, American librarian and author (d. 1945)
- 1883 – Pavel Filonov, Russian painter and poet (d. 1941)
- 1883 – Patrick J. Hurley, American general, politician, and diplomat, 51st United States Secretary of War (d. 1963)
- 1885 – John Curtin, Australian journalist and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1945)
- 1885 – Mór Kóczán, Hungarian javelin thrower and pastor (d. 1972)
- 1885 – A. J. Muste, Dutch-American pastor and activist (d. 1967)
- 1888 – Richard Courant, German-American mathematician and academic (d. 1972)
- 1891 – Walther Bothe, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
- 1891 – Storm Jameson, English journalist and author (d. 1986)
- 1891 – Bronislava Nijinska, Russian dancer and choreographer (d. 1972) name=”Jöckle1995″>Clemens Jöckle (1995). Encyclopedia of Saints. Alpine Fine Arts Collection. p. 319. ISBN 978-0-88168-226-7.</ref>
- 1896 – Jaromír Weinberger, Czech-American composer and academic (d. 1967)
- 1897 – Dennis Wheatley, English soldier and author (d. 1977)
- 1899 – S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (d. 1959)
- 1900 – Dorothy Adams, American character actress (d. 1988)
- 1900 – Merlyn Myer, Australian philanthropist (d. 1982)
- 1902 – Georgy Malenkov, Russian engineer and politician (d. 1988)
- 1902 – Carl Rogers, American psychologist and academic (d. 1987)
- 1904 – Karl Brandt, German physician and SS officer (d. 1948)
- 1904 – Tampa Red, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 1981)
- 1905 – Carl Gustav Hempel, German philosopher from the Vienna and the Berlin Circle (d. 1997)
- 1905 – Giacinto Scelsi, Italian composer and poet (d. 1988)
- 1906 – Serge Poliakoff, Russian-French painter (d. 1969)
- 1907 – Keizō Hayashi, Japanese general and civil servant (d. 1991)
- 1908 – Fearless Nadia, Australian-Indian actress and stuntwoman (d. 1996)
- 1908 – William Hartnell, English actor (d. 1975)
- 1909 – Ashapoorna Devi, Indian author and poet (d. 1995)
- 1909 – Willy Millowitsch, German actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1999)
- 1909 – Bruce Mitchell, South African cricketer (d. 1995)
- 1909 – Evelyn Wood, American author and educator (d. 1995)
- 1910 – Galina Ulanova, Russian actress and ballerina (d. 1998)
- 1911 – Gypsy Rose Lee, American actress, dancer, and author (d. 1970)
- 1912 – José Ferrer, Puerto Rican-American actor and director (d. 1992)
- 1912 – Lawrence Walsh, Canadian-American lawyer, judge, and politician, 4th United States Deputy Attorney General (d. 2014)
- 1915 – Walker Cooper, American baseball player and manager (d. 1991)
- 1917 – Peter Matthew Hillsman Taylor, American novelist, short story writer, and playwright (d. 1994)
- 1922 – Dale D. Myers, American engineer (d. 2015)
- 1923 – Larry Storch, American actor and comedian
- 1923 – Giorgio Tozzi, American opera singer and actor (d. 2011)
- 1923 – Johnny Wardle, English cricketer (d. 1985)
- 1923 – Joseph Weizenbaum, German-American computer scientist and author (d. 2008)
- 1924 – Benjamin Lees, Chinese-American soldier and composer (d. 2010)
- 1924 – Ron Moody, English actor and singer (d. 2015)
- 1925 – Mohan Rakesh, Indian author and playwright (d. 1972)
- 1926 – Evelyn Lear, American operatic soprano (d. 2012)
- 1926 – Lazzaro Donati, Italian artist (d. 1977)
- 1926 – Kerwin Mathews, American actor (d. 2007)
- 1926 – Kelucharan Mohapatra, Indian dancer and choreographer (d. 2004)
- 1926 – Hanae Mori, Japanese fashion designer
- 1926 – Soupy Sales, American comedian and actor (d. 2009)
- 1927 – Charles Tomlinson, English poet and academic (d. 2015)
- 1928 – Slade Gorton, American colonel, lawyer, and politician, 14th Attorney General of Washington
- 1928 – Gaston Miron, Canadian poet and author (d. 1996)
- 1928 – Luther Perkins, American country guitarist (d. 1968)
- 1929 – Saeed Jaffrey, Indian-British actor (d. 2015)
- 1931 – Bill Graham, German-American businessman (d. 1991)
- 1931 – Clarence Benjamin Jones, American lawyer and scholar
- 1933 – Nolan Miller, American fashion and jewelry designer (d. 2012)
- 1933 – Charles Osgood, American soldier and journalist
- 1933 – Jean-Marie Straub, French director and screenwriter
- 1933 – Willie Tasby, American baseball player
- 1934 – Jacques Anquetil, French cyclist (d. 1987)
- 1934 – Gene Freese, American baseball player and manager (d. 2013)
- 1934 – Roy Kinnear, British actor (d. 1988)
- 1934 – Alexandra Ripley, American author (d. 2004)
- 1935 – Lewis H. Lapham, American publisher, founded Lapham’s Quarterly
- 1935 – Elvis Presley, American singer, guitarist, and actor (d. 1977)
- 1936 – Zdeněk Mácal, Czech-American conductor
- 1936 – Robert May, Baron May of Oxford, Australian-English zoologist, ecologist, and academic (d. 2020)
- 1937 – Shirley Bassey, Welsh singer
- 1938 – Bob Eubanks, American game show host and producer
- 1938 – Yevgeny Nesterenko, Russian opera singer and educator
- 1939 – Carolina Herrera, Venezuelan-American fashion designer
- 1939 – Ruth Maleczech, American actress (d. 2013)
- 1939 – Alan Wilson, English mathematician and academic
- 1940 – Mark Bretscher, English biologist and academic
- 1940 – Cristy Lane, American country and gospel singer
- 1941 – Graham Chapman, English actor and screenwriter (d. 1989)
- 1942 – Stephen Hawking, English physicist and author (d. 2018)
- 1942 – Junichirō Koizumi, Japanese politician, 56th Prime Minister of Japan
- 1942 – Yvette Mimieux, American actress
- 1942 – Royce Waltman, American basketball player and coach (d. 2014)
- 1943 – Charles Murray, American political scientist and author
- 1944 – Terry Brooks, American lawyer and author
- 1945 – Nancy Bond, American author and academic
- 1945 – Phil Beal, English footballer, defender
- 1945 – Kadir Topbaş, Turkish architect and politician, 31st Mayor of Istanbul
- 1946 – Robby Krieger, American guitarist and songwriter
- 1946 – Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, Mexican drug lord
- 1947 – Don Bendell, American rancher and author
- 1947 – David Bowie, English singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (d. 2016)
- 1947 – David Gates, American journalist and novelist
- 1947 – Antti Kalliomäki, Finnish pole vaulter and politician
- 1947 – Luke Williams, New Zealand-American wrestler
- 1948 – Gillies MacKinnon, Scottish director and screenwriter
- 1949 – Lawrence Rowe, Jamaican cricketer
- 1951 – Kenny Anthony, Saint Lucian politician, 5th Prime Minister of Saint Lucia
- 1951 – Karen Tei Yamashita, American author and academic
- 1952 – Vladimir Feltsman, Russian-American pianist and educator
- 1952 – Peter McCullagh, Irish mathematician and academic
- 1953 – Bruce Sutter, American baseball player
- 1954 – Konstantinos Kypriotis, Greek martial artist (d. 1995)
- 1955 – Spiros Livathinos, Greek footballer and coach
- 1955 – Mike Reno, Canadian singer and drummer
- 1957 – Nacho Duato, Spanish dancer and choreographer
- 1958 – Betsy DeVos, American businesswoman and politician, 11th Secretary of Education
- 1958 – Rey Misterio, Sr., Mexican wrestler, trainer, and actor
- 1959 – Kim Duk-koo, South Korean boxer (d. 1982)
- 1959 – Paul Hester, Australian drummer (d. 2005)
- 1960 – Dave Weckl, American drummer
- 1961 – Calvin Smith, American sprinter
- 1966 – Willie Anderson, American basketball player
- 1966 – Igor Vyazmikin, Russian ice hockey player (d. 2009)
- 1966 – Andrew Wood, American singer-songwriter (d. 1990)
- 1967 – Torsten Gowitzke, German footballer and manager
- 1967 – Steven Jacobs, Australian television host and actor
- 1967 – R. Kelly, American singer-songwriter, record producer, and former professional basketball player
- 1967 – Tom Watson, English politician
- 1971 – Jason Giambi, American baseball player
- 1971 – Jesper Jansson, Swedish footballer
- 1971 – Pascal Zuberbühler, Swiss footballer and coach
- 1972 – Paul Clement, English footballer, coach, and manager
- 1972 – Giuseppe Favalli, Italian footballer
- 1973 – Mike Cameron, American baseball player
- 1975 – Harris Jayaraj, Indian composer and producer
- 1976 – Kenneth Andam, Ghanaian sprinter and businessman
- 1976 – Carl Pavano, American baseball player
- 1977 – Amber Benson, American actress, writer, director, and producer
- 1977 – Francesco Coco, Italian footballer
- 1979 – Seol Ki-hyeon, South Korean footballer and manager
- 1979 – Adrian Mutu, Romanian footballer
- 1979 – Stipe Pletikosa, Croatian footballer
- 1979 – Sarah Polley, Canadian actress, director, and screenwriter
- 1980 – Adam Goodes, Australian footballer
- 1980 – Rachel Nichols, American actress and producer
- 1981 – Jeff Francis, Canadian baseball player
- 1981 – Trent Waterhouse, Australian rugby league player
- 1982 – Gaby Hoffmann, American actress
- 1983 – Jon Daly, Irish footballer
- 1984 – Jeff Francoeur, American baseball player
- 1984 – Jeon Ji-ae, South Korean actress
- 1984 – Kim Jong-un, North Korean soldier and politician, 3rd Supreme Leader of North Korea (probable)
- 1986 – David Silva, Spanish footballer
- 1988 – Adrián López, Spanish footballer
- 1988 – Michael Mancienne, English footballer
- 1989 – Aaron Cruden, New Zealand rugby player
- 1991 – Josh Hazlewood, Australian cricketer
- 1991 – Stefan Johansen, Norwegian footballer
- 1991 – Stefan Savić, Montenegrin footballer
- 1991 – Shin Ji-min, South Korean singer and rapper
- 1992 – Stefanie Dolson, American basketball player
- 1992 – Koke, Spanish footballer
- 1992 – Apostolos Vellios, Greek footballer
Deaths on January 8
- 307 – Hui of Jin, Chinese emperor (b. 259)
- 482 – Severinus of Noricum, Italian apostle and saint
- 871 – Bagsecg, Viking warrior and leader
- 926 – Athelm, archbishop of Canterbury
- 1079 – Adèle of France, countess of Flanders (b. 1009)
- 1107 – Edgar, king of Scotland (b. 1074)
- 1198 – Celestine III, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1106)
- 1332 – Andronikos III, emperor of Trebizond
- 1337 – Giotto, Italian painter and architect, designed Scrovegni Chapel and Giotto’s Campanile (b. 1266)
- 1354 – Charles de La Cerda, French nobleman (b. 1327)
- 1424 – Stephen Zaccaria, archbishop of Patras
- 1456 – Lawrence Giustiniani, Italian bishop and saint (b. 1381)
- 1464 – Thomas Ebendorfer, Austrian historian and academic (b. 1385)
- 1538 – Beatrice of Portugal, duchess of Savoy (b. 1504)
- 1557 – Albert Alcibiades, margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (b. 1522)
- 1570 – Philibert de l’Orme, French sculptor and architect, designed the Château d’Anet (b. 1510)
- 1598 – John George, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1525)
- 1642 – Galileo Galilei, Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher (b. 1564)
- 1664 – Moses Amyraut, French physician and theologian (b. 1596)
- 1707 – John Dalrymple, 1st Earl of Stair, Scottish soldier and politician, Scottish Secretary of State (b. 1648)
- 1713 – Arcangelo Corelli, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1653)
- 1775 – John Baskerville, English printer and type designer (b. 1706)
- 1789 – Jack Broughton, English boxer (b. 1703)
- 1794 – Justus Möser, German lawyer and jurist (b. 1720)
- 1815 – Edward Pakenham, Anglo-Irish general and politician (b. 1778)
- 1825 – Eli Whitney, American engineer and theorist, invented the cotton gin (b. 1765)
- 1853 – Mihály Bertalanits, Slovene-Hungarian poet and educator (b. 1788)
- 1854 – William Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford, English field marshal and politician, Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance (b. 1768)
- 1865 – Aimé, duc de Clermont-Tonnerre, French general and politician, French Minister of Defence (b. 1779)
- 1874 – Charles Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg, French historian and archaeologist (b. 1814)
- 1878 – Nikolay Nekrasov, Russian poet and critic (b. 1821)
- 1878 – Gauchito Gil, Argentinian saint (b. 1847)
- 1880 – Emperor Norton, English-American businessman (b. 1811)
- 1883 – Miska Magyarics, Slovene-Hungarian poet (b. 1825)
- 1896 – William Rainey Marshall, American banker and politician, 5th Governor of Minnesota (b. 1825)
- 1896 – Paul Verlaine, French poet and writer (b. 1844)
- 1901 – John Barry, Irish soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1873)
- 1912 – Friedrich Schrempf, German journalist and politician (b. 1858)
- 1914 – Simon Bolivar Buckner, American general and 30th Governor of Kentucky (b. 1823)
- 1916 – Rembrandt Bugatti, Italian sculptor (b. 1884)
- 1916 – Ada Rehan, Irish-American actress (b. 1860)
- 1918 – Johannes Pääsuke, Estonian photographer and director (b. 1892)
- 1918 – Ellis H. Roberts, American journalist and politician, 20th Treasurer of the United States (b. 1827)
- 1920 – Josef Josephi, Polish-born singer and actor (b.1852)
- 1925 – George Bellows, American painter (b.1882)
- 1934 – Andrei Bely, Russian novelist, poet, and critic (b. 1880)
- 1934 – Alexandre Stavisky, Ukrainian-French financier (b. 1886)
- 1935 – Rauf Yekta, Turkish musicologist and author (b. 1871)
- 1938 – Johnny Gruelle, American author and illustrator (b. 1880)
- 1941 – Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, English general (b. 1857)
- 1942 – Joseph Franklin Rutherford, American lawyer and religious leader (b. 1869)
- 1943 – Richard Hillary, Australian pilot and author (b. 1919)
- 1943 – Andres Larka, Estonian general and politician, 1st Estonian Minister of War (b. 1879)
- 1944 – William Kissam Vanderbilt II, American lieutenant and sailor (b. 1878)
- 1945 – Karl Ernst Krafft, Swiss astrologer and author (b. 1900)
- 1948 – Kurt Schwitters, German painter and graphic designer (b. 1887)
- 1950 – Joseph Schumpeter, Czech-American economist and academic (b. 1883)
- 1952 – Antonia Maury, American astronomer and astrophysicist (b. 1866)
- 1953 – Hugh Binney, English admiral and politician, 16th Governor of Tasmania (b. 1883)
- 1954 – Eduard Wiiralt, Estonian-French painter and illustrator (b. 1898)
- 1956 – Jim Elliot, American missionary and martyr (b. 1928)
- 1958 – Mary Colter, American architect, designed the Desert View Watchtower (b. 1869)
- 1961 – Schoolboy Rowe, American baseball player and coach (b. 1910)
- 1963 – Kay Sage, American painter (b. 1898)
- 1969 – Albert Hill, English runner and coach (b. 1889)
- 1969 – Elmar Kaljot, Estonian footballer and coach (b. 1901)
- 1970 – Georges Guibourg, French actor, singer, and playwright (b. 1891)
- 1972 – Kenneth Patchen, American poet and author (b. 1911)
- 1975 – Richard Tucker, American tenor (b. 1913)
- 1976 – Zhou Enlai, Chinese soldier and politician, 1st Premier of the People’s Republic of China (b. 1898)
- 1976 – Robert Forgan, Scottish-English physician and politician (b. 1891)
- 1979 – Sara Carter, American singer-songwriter and harp player (b. 1898)
- 1980 – John Mauchly, American physicist and academic (b. 1907)
- 1981 – Matthew Beard, American actor (b. 1925)
- 1982 – Grégoire Aslan, Swiss-English actor and screenwriter (b. 1908)
- 1983 – Gerhard Barkhorn, German general and pilot (b. 1919)
- 1983 – Tom McCall, American journalist and politician, 30th Governor of Oregon (b. 1913)
- 1983 – Gale Page, American actress (b. 1910)
- 1984 – Eerik Kumari, Estonian ornithologist and academic (b. 1912)
- 1986 – Pierre Fournier, French cellist and educator (b. 1906)
- 1990 – Bernard Krigstein, American illustrator (b. 1919)
- 1990 – Terry-Thomas, English actor and comedian (b. 1911)
- 1991 – Steve Clark, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1960)
- 1994 – Pat Buttram, American actor and comedian (b. 1915)
- 1994 – Harvey Haddix, American baseball player and coach (b. 1925)
- 1996 – Metin Göktepe, Turkish photographer and journalist (b. 1968)
- 1996 – François Mitterrand, French sergeant and politician, 21st President of France (b. 1916)
- 1996 – Howard Taubman, American author and critic (b. 1907)
- 1997 – Melvin Calvin, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
- 1998 – Michael Tippett, English composer and conductor (b. 1905)
- 2002 – Alexander Prokhorov, Australian-Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
- 2002 – Dave Thomas, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Wendy’s (b. 1932)
- 2003 – Ron Goodwin, English composer and conductor (b. 1925)
- 2004 – John A. Gambling, American radio host (b. 1930)
- 2006 – Tony Banks, Baron Stratford, Northern Irish broadcaster and politician, Minister for Sport and the Olympics (b. 1943)
- 2007 – Jane Bolin, American lawyer and judge (b. 1908)
- 2007 – Arthur Cockfield, Baron Cockfield, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (b. 1916)
- 2007 – Yvonne De Carlo, Canadian-American actress and singer (b. 1922)
- 2007 – David Ervine, Northern Irish politician and activist (b. 1953)
- 2007 – Iwao Takamoto, American animator, director, and producer (b. 1925)
- 2008 – George Moore, Australian jockey and trainer (b. 1923)
- 2009 – Lasantha Wickrematunge, Sri Lankan Journalist (b. 1958)
- 2010 – Art Clokey, American animator, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1921)
- 2011 – Jiří Dienstbier, Czech journalist and politician (b. 1937)
- 2011 – Thorbjørn Svenssen, Norwegian footballer (b. 1924)
- 2012 – Dave Alexander, American singer and pianist (b. 1938)
- 2012 – T. J. Hamblin, English haematologist and academic (b. 1943)
- 2012 – John Madin, English architect, designed the Birmingham Central Library (b. 1924)
- 2012 – Bernhard Schrader, German chemist and academic (b. 1931)
- 2012 – Alexis Weissenberg, Bulgarian-French pianist and educator (b. 1929)
- 2013 – Kenojuak Ashevak, Canadian sculptor and illustrator (b. 1927)
- 2013 – Jeanne Manford, American educator and activist, co-founded PFLAG (b. 1920)
- 2013 – Alasdair Milne, Indian-English director and producer (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Vicente T. Blaz, American general and politician (b. 1928)
- 2014 – Madeline Gins, American poet and architect (b. 1941)
- 2014 – Irma Heijting-Schuhmacher, Dutch-Australian swimmer (b. 1925)
- 2014 – Antonino P. Roman, Filipino lawyer and politician (b. 1939)
- 2015 – Andraé Crouch, American singer-songwriter, producer, and pastor (b. 1942)
- 2015 – Kep Enderby, Australian lawyer, judge, and politician, 23rd Attorney-General for Australia (b. 1926)
- 2015 – Patsy Garrett, American actress and singer (b. 1921)
- 2016 – Maria Teresa de Filippis, Italian racing driver (b. 1926)
- 2016 – German Moreno, Filipino television host, actor, comedian and talent manager (b. 1933)
- 2017 – Nicolai Gedda, Swedish operatic tenor (b. 1925)
- 2017 – James Mancham, Seychellois politician (b. 1939)
- 2017 – Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Iranian politician (b. 1934)
- 2017 – Peter Sarstedt, Indian-British singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1941)
- 2020 – Pat Dalton, Australian rules footballer (b. 1942)
- 2020 – Buck Henry, American actor, screenwriter, and director (b. 1930)
Holidays and observances on January 8
- Babinden (Belarus, Russia)
- Christian feast day:
- Abo of Tiflis
- Apollinaris Claudius
- Blessed Eurosia Fabris
- Gauchito Gil (Folk Catholicism)
- Gudula
- Harriet Bedell (Episcopal Church (USA))
- Lawrence Giustiniani
- Lucian of Beauvais
- Maximus of Pavia
- Our Lady of Prompt Succor (Roman Catholic Church)
- Pega (Anglican and Roman Catholic churches)
- Severinus of Noricum
- Thorfinn of Hamar
- January 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Commonwealth Day (Northern Mariana Islands)
- Earliest day on which Children’s Day can fall, while January 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Saturday in January. (Thailand)
- Earliest day on which Lee–Jackson Day can fall, while January 14 is the latest; celebrated on Friday before Martin Luther King Jr. Day. (Virginia)
- Typing Day (International observance)