1597

  • February 12 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 1429 – English forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army besieging Orléans in the Battle of the Herrings.
    • 1502 – Isabella I issues an edict outlawing Islam in the Crown of Castile, forcing virtually all her Muslim subjects to convert to Christianity.
    • 1541 – Santiago, Chile is founded by Pedro de Valdivia.
    • 1593 – Japanese invasion of Korea: Approximately 3,000 Joseon defenders led by general Kwon Yul successfully repel more than 30,000 Japanese forces in the Siege of Haengju.
    • 1689 – The Convention Parliament declares that the flight to France in 1688 by James II, the last Roman Catholic British monarch, constitutes an abdication.
    • 1733 – Georgia Day: Englishman James Oglethorpe founds Georgia, the 13th colony of the Thirteen Colonies, by settling at Savannah.
    • 1771 – Gustav III becomes the King of Sweden.
    • 1817 – An Argentine/Chilean patriotic army, after crossing the Andes, defeats Spanish troops at the Battle of Chacabuco.
    • 1818 – Bernardo O’Higgins formally approves the Chilean Declaration of Independence near Concepción, Chile.
    • 1825 – The Creek cede the last of their lands in Georgia to the United States government by the Treaty of Indian Springs, and migrate west.
    • 1832 – Ecuador annexes the Galápagos Islands.
    • 1855 – Michigan State University is established.
    • 1894 – Anarchist Émile Henry hurls a bomb into the Cafe Terminus in Paris, killing one person and wounding 20.
    • 1909 – The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded.
    • 1909 – New Zealand’s worst maritime disaster of the 20th century happens when the SS Penguin, an inter-island ferry, sinks and explodes at the entrance to Wellington Harbour.
    • 1912 – The Xuantong Emperor, the last Emperor of China, abdicates.
    • 1915 – In Washington, D.C., the first stone of the Lincoln Memorial is put into place.
    • 1921 – Bolsheviks launch a revolt in Georgia as a preliminary to the Red Army invasion of Georgia.
    • 1924 – George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue received its premiere in a concert titled “An Experiment in Modern Music”, in Aeolian Hall, New York, by Paul Whiteman and his band, with Gershwin playing the piano.
    • 1935 – USS Macon, one of the two largest helium-filled airships ever created, crashes into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California and sinks.
    • 1946 – World War II: Operation Deadlight ends after scuttling 121 of 154 captured U-boats.
    • 1946 – African American United States Army veteran Isaac Woodard is severely beaten by a South Carolina police officer to the point where he loses his vision in both eyes. The incident later galvanizes the civil rights movement and partially inspires Orson Welles’ film Touch of Evil.
    • 1947 – The largest observed iron meteorite until that time creates an impact crater in Sikhote-Alin, in the Soviet Union.
    • 1947 – Christian Dior unveils a “New Look”, helping Paris regain its position as the capital of the fashion world.
    • 1961 – The Soviet Union launches Venera 1 towards Venus.
    • 1963 – Construction begins on the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri.
    • 1965 – Malcolm X visits Smethwick in Birmingham following the racially-charged 1964 United Kingdom general election.
    • 1968 – Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất massacre.
    • 1974 – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970, is exiled from the Soviet Union.
    • 1983 – One hundred women protest in Lahore, Pakistan against military dictator Zia-ul-Haq’s proposed Law of Evidence. The women were tear-gassed, baton-charged and thrown into lock-up. The women were successful in repealing the law.
    • 1988 – Cold War: The 1988 Black Sea bumping incident: The U.S. missile cruiser USS Yorktown (CG-48) is intentionally rammed by the Soviet frigate Bezzavetnyy in the Soviet territorial waters, while Yorktown claims innocent passage.
    • 1990 – Carmen Lawrence becomes the first female Premier in Australian history when she becomes Premier of Western Australia.
    • 1992 – The current Constitution of Mongolia comes into effect.
    • 1993 – Two-year-old James Bulger is abducted from New Strand Shopping Centre by two ten-year-old boys, who later torture and murder him.
    • 1994 – Four thieves break into the National Gallery of Norway and steal Edvard Munch’s iconic painting The Scream.
    • 1999 – United States President Bill Clinton is acquitted by the United States Senate in his impeachment trial.
    • 2001 – NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touches down in the “saddle” region of 433 Eros, becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.
    • 2002 – The trial of Slobodan Milošević, the former President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, begins at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands. He dies four years later before its conclusion.
    • 2002 – An Iran Airtour Tupolev Tu-154 crashes in the mountains outside Khorramabad, Iran while descending for a landing at Khorramabad Airport, killing 119.
    • 2004 – The city of San Francisco begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in response to a directive from Mayor Gavin Newsom.
    • 2009 – Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashes into a house in Clarence Center, New York while on approach to Buffalo Niagara International Airport, killing all on board and one on the ground.
    • 2016 – Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill sign an Ecumenical Declaration in the first such meeting between leaders of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches since their split in 1054.
    • 2019 – The country known as the Republic of Macedonia renames itself the Republic of North Macedonia in accordance with the Prespa agreement, settling a long-standing naming dispute with Greece.

    Births on February 12

    • AD 41 – Britannicus, Roman son of Claudius (d. 55)
    • 528 – Daughter of Emperor Xiaoming of Northern Wei, nominal empress regnant of Northern Wei
    • 661 – Princess Ōku of Japan (d. 702)
    • 1074 – Conrad II of Italy (d. 1101)
    • 1218 – Kujo Yoritsune, Japanese shōgun (d. 1256)
    • 1322 – John Henry, Margrave of Moravia (d. 1375)
    • 1443 – Giovanni II Bentivoglio, Italian noble (d. 1508)
    • 1480 – Frederick II of Legnica, Duke of Legnica (d. 1547)
    • 1540 – Won Gyun, Korean general and admiral (d. 1597)
    • 1567 – Thomas Campion, English composer, poet, and physician (d. 1620)
    • 1584 – Caspar Barlaeus, Dutch historian, poet, and theologian (d. 1648)
    • 1602 – Michelangelo Cerquozzi, Italian painter (d. 1660)
    • 1606 – John Winthrop the Younger, English-American lawyer and politician, Governor of Connecticut (d. 1676)
    • 1608 – Daniello Bartoli, Italian Jesuit priest (d. 1685)
    • 1637 – Jan Swammerdam, Dutch biologist and zoologist (d. 1680)
    • 1663 – Cotton Mather, English-American minister and author (d. 1728)
    • 1665 – Rudolf Jakob Camerarius, German botanist and physician (d. 1721)
    • 1704 – Charles Pinot Duclos, French author (d. 1772)
    • 1706 – Johann Joseph Christian, German Baroque sculptor and woodcarver (d. 1777)
    • 1728 – Étienne-Louis Boullée, French architect (d. 1799)
    • 1753 – François-Paul Brueys d’Aigalliers, French admiral (d. 1798)
    • 1761 – Jan Ladislav Dussek, Czech pianist and composer (d. 1812)
    • 1768 – Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1835)
    • 1775 – Louisa Adams, English-American wife of John Quincy Adams, 6th First Lady of the United States (d. 1852)
    • 1777 – Bernard Courtois, French chemist and academic (d. 1838)
    • 1777 – Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, German author and poet (d. 1843)
    • 1785 – Pierre Louis Dulong, French physicist and chemist (d. 1838)
    • 1787 – Norbert Provencher, Canadian bishop and missionary (d. 1853)
    • 1788 – Carl Reichenbach, German chemist and philosopher (d. 1869)
    • 1791 – Peter Cooper, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Cooper Union (d. 1883)
    • 1794 – Alexander Petrov, Russian chess player and composer (d. 1867)
    • 1794 – Valentín Canalizo, Mexican general and politician. 14th President (1843-1844) (d. 1850)
    • 1804 – Heinrich Lenz, German-Italian physicist and academic (d. 1865)
    • 1809 – Charles Darwin, English geologist and theorist (d. 1882)
    • 1809 – Abraham Lincoln, American lawyer and politician, 16th President of the United States (d. 1865)
    • 1819 – William Wetmore Story, American sculptor, architect, poet and editor
    • 1824 – Dayananda Saraswati, Indian monk and philosopher, founded Arya Samaj (d. 1883)
    • 1828 – George Meredith, English novelist and poet (d. 1909)
    • 1837 – Thomas Moran, British-American painter and printmaker of the Hudson River School (d. 1926)
    • 1857 – Eugène Atget, French photographer (d. 1927)
    • 1857 – Bobby Peel, English cricketer and coach (d. 1943)
    • 1861 – Lou Andreas-Salomé, Russian-German psychoanalyst and author (d. 1937)
    • 1866 – Lev Shestov, Russian philosopher (d. 1938)
    • 1869 – Kiến Phúc, Vietnamese emperor (d. 1884)
    • 1870 – Marie Lloyd, English actress and singer (d. 1922)
    • 1876 – 13th Dalai Lama (d. 1933)
    • 1877 – Louis Renault, French engineer and businessman, co-founded Renault (d. 1944)
    • 1880 – George Preca, Maltese priest and saint (d. 1962)
    • 1880 – John L. Lewis, American miner and union leader (d. 1969)
    • 1881 – Anna Pavlova, Russian-English ballerina and actress (d. 1931)
    • 1882 – Walter Nash, English-New Zealand lawyer and politician, 27th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1968)
    • 1884 – Max Beckmann, German painter and sculptor (d. 1950)
    • 1884 – Johan Laidoner, Estonian-Russian general (d. 1953)
    • 1884 – Alice Roosevelt Longworth, American author (d. 1980)
    • 1884 – Marie Vassilieff, Russian-French painter (d. 1957)
    • 1885 – Julius Streicher, German publisher, founded Der Stürmer (d. 1946)
    • 1889 – Bhante Dharmawara, Cambodian monk, lawyer, and judge (d. 1999)
    • 1893 – Omar Bradley, American general (d. 1981)
    • 1895 – Kristian Djurhuus, Faroese lawyer and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (d. 1984)
    • 1897 – Charles Groves Wright Anderson, South African-Australian colonel and politician (d. 1988)
    • 1897 – Lincoln LaPaz, American astronomer and academic (d. 1985)
    • 1898 – Wallace Ford, English-American actor and singer (d. 1966)
    • 1900 – Roger J. Traynor, American lawyer and jurist, 23rd Chief Justice of California (d. 1983)
    • 1902 – William Collier, Jr., American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1987)
    • 1903 – Jorge Basadre, Peruvian historian (d. 1980)
    • 1903 – Chick Hafey, American baseball player and manager (d. 1973)
    • 1904 – Ted Mack, American radio and television host (d. 1976)
    • 1907 – Joseph Kearns, American actor (d. 1962)
    • 1908 – Jean Effel, French painter, caricaturist, illustrator and journalist (d. 1982)
    • 1908 – Jacques Herbrand, French mathematician and philosopher (d. 1931)
    • 1909 – Zoran Mušič, Slovene painter and illustrator (d. 2005)
    • 1909 – Sigmund Rascher, German physician (d. 1945)
    • 1911 – Charles Mathiesen, Norwegian speed skater (d. 1994)
    • 1912 – R. F. Delderfield, English author and playwright (d. 1972)
    • 1914 – Tex Beneke, American singer, saxophonist, and bandleader (d. 2000)
    • 1914 – Johanna von Caemmerer, German mathematician (d. 1971)
    • 1915 – Lorne Greene, Canadian-American actor (d. 1987)
    • 1915 – Olivia Hooker, African-American sailor (d. 2018)
    • 1916 – Joseph Alioto, American lawyer and politician, 36th Mayor of San Francisco (d. 1998)
    • 1917 – Al Cervi, American basketball player and coach (d. 2009)
    • 1917 – Dom DiMaggio, American baseball player (d. 2009)
    • 1918 – Norman Farberow, American psychologist and academic (d. 2015)
    • 1918 – Julian Schwinger, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
    • 1919 – Forrest Tucker, American actor (d. 1986)
    • 1920 – Raymond Mhlaba, South African anti-apartheid and ANC activist (d. 2005)
    • 1922 – Hussein Onn, Malaysian lawyer and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Malaysia (d. 1990)
    • 1923 – Franco Zeffirelli, Italian director, producer, and politician (d. 2019)
    • 1925 – Sir Anthony Berry, British Conservative politician (d. 1984)
    • 1925 – Joan Mitchell, American-French painter (d. 1992)
    • 1926 – Rolf Brem, Swiss sculptor and illustrator (d. 2014)
    • 1926 – Joe Garagiola, Sr., American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2016)
    • 1926 – Charles Van Doren, American academic (d. 2019)
    • 1928 – Vincent Montana, Jr., American drummer and composer (d. 2013)
    • 1930 – John Doyle, Irish hurler and politician (d. 2010)
    • 1930 – Arlen Specter, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (d. 2012)
    • 1931 – Janwillem van de Wetering, Dutch-American author and translator (d. 2008)
    • 1932 – Axel Jensen, Norwegian author and poet (d. 2003)
    • 1932 – Julian Simon, American economist, author, and academic (d. 1998)
    • 1933 – Costa-Gavras, Greek-French director and producer
    • 1933 – Brian Carlson, Australian rugby league player (d. 1987)
    • 1934 – Annette Crosbie, Scottish actress
    • 1934 – Anne Osborn Krueger, American economist and academic
    • 1934 – Bill Russell, American basketball player and coach
    • 1935 – Gene McDaniels, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2011)
    • 1936 – Alan Ebringer, Australian immunologist, professor at King’s College in the University of London
    • 1938 – Judy Blume, Jewish-American author and educator
    • 1939 – Leon Kass, American physician, scientist, and educator
    • 1939 – Ray Manzarek, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer (d. 2013)
    • 1941 – Hubert Marcoux, Canadian solo sailor and author (d. 2009)
    • 1941 – Dominguinhos, Brazilian singer-songwriter and accordion player (d. 2013)
    • 1941 – Naomi Uemura, Japanese mountaineer and explorer (d. 1984)
    • 1942 – Ehud Barak, Israeli general and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Israel
    • 1942 – Pat Dobson, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2006)
    • 1945 – Maud Adams, Swedish model and actress
    • 1945 – David D. Friedman, American economist, physicist, and scholar
    • 1946 – Jean Eyeghé Ndong, Gabonese politician, Prime Minister of Gabon
    • 1946 – Ajda Pekkan, Turkish singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1948 – Ray Kurzweil, American computer scientist and engineer
    • 1948 – Nicholas Soames, English politician, Minister of State for the Armed Forces
    • 1950 – Angelo Branduardi, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1950 – Steve Hackett, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1950 – Michael Ironside, Canadian actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1952 – Simon MacCorkindale, English actor, director, and producer (d. 2010)
    • 1952 – Michael McDonald, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player
    • 1953 – Joanna Kerns, American actress and director
    • 1954 – Joseph Jordania, Georgian-Australian musicologist and academic
    • 1954 – Tzimis Panousis, Greek comedian, singer, and author (d. 2018)
    • 1954 – Phil Zimmermann, American cryptographer and programmer
    • 1955 – Bill Laswell, American bass player and producer
    • 1955 – Chet Lemon, American baseball player and coach
    • 1956 – Arsenio Hall, American actor and talk show host
    • 1956 – Ad Melkert, Dutch lawyer and politician, Dutch Minister of Social Affairs and Employment
    • 1956 – Brian Robertson, Scottish rock guitarist and songwriter
    • 1958 – Outback Jack, Australian-American wrestler
    • 1961 – Jim Harris, Canadian environmentalist and politician
    • 1961 – Michel Martelly, Haitian singer and politician, 56th President of Haiti
    • 1961 – Di Farmer, Queensland Member of Parliament
    • 1964 – Omar Hakim, American drummer, producer, arranger, and composer
    • 1965 – Rubén Amaro, Jr., American baseball player and manager
    • 1965 – Christine Elise, American actress and producer
    • 1965 – David Westlake, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1966 – Paul Crook, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
    • 1968 – Josh Brolin, American actor
    • 1968 – Chynna Phillips, American singer and actress
    • 1969 – Darren Aronofsky, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1969 – Alemayehu Atomsa, Ethiopian educator and politician (d. 2014)
    • 1969 – Steve Backley, English javelin thrower
    • 1969 – Anneli Drecker, Norwegian singer and actress
    • 1969 – Hong Myung-bo, South Korean footballer and manager
    • 1970 – Jim Creeggan, Canadian singer-songwriter and bass player
    • 1970 – Bryan Roy, Dutch footballer and manager
    • 1970 – Judd Winick, American author and illustrator
    • 1971 – Scott Menville, American voice actor, singer, actor and musician
    • 1973 – Gianni Romme, Dutch speed skater
    • 1973 – Tara Strong, Canadian voice actress and singer
    • 1974 – Naseem Hamed, English boxer
    • 1976 – Christian Cullen, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1977 – Jimmy Conrad, American soccer player and manager
    • 1978 – Paul Anderson, English actor
    • 1978 – Brett Hodgson, Australian rugby league player and coach
    • 1979 – Antonio Chatman, American football player
    • 1979 – Jesse Spencer, Australian actor and violinist
    • 1980 – Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spanish tennis player
    • 1980 – Sarah Lancaster, American actress
    • 1980 – Christina Ricci, American actress and producer
    • 1980 – Gucci Mane, American rapper
    • 1981 – Wade McKinnon, Australian rugby league player
    • 1982 – Jonas Hiller, Swiss ice hockey player
    • 1982 – Louis Tsatoumas, Greek long jumper
    • 1982 – Anthony Tuitavake, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1983 – Carlton Brewster, American football player and coach
    • 1984 – Brad Keselowski, American race car driver
    • 1984 – Andrei Sidorenkov, Estonian footballer
    • 1984 – Peter Vanderkaay, American swimmer
    • 1988 – DeMarco Murray, American football player
    • 1988 – Nicolás Otamendi, Argentine footballer
    • 1988 – Mike Posner, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1990 – Robert Griffin III, American football player
    • 1991 – Patrick Herrmann, German footballer
    • 1994 – Arman Hall, American sprinter
    • 1999 – Maggie Coles-Lyster, Canadian cyclist
    • 2000 – Kim Ji-min, South Korean actress

    Deaths on February 12

    • 821 – Benedict of Aniane, French monk and saint (b. 747)
    • 890 – Henjō, Japanese priest and poet (b. 816)
    • 981 – Ælfstan, bishop of Ramsbury
    • 901 – Antony II, patriarch of Constantinople
    • 914 – Li, empress of Yan
    • 941 – Wulfhelm, Archbishop of Canterbury
    • 1247 – Ermesinde, Countess of Luxembourg, ruler (b. 1185)
    • 1266 – Amadeus of the Amidei, Italian saint
    • 1517 – Catherine of Navarre (b. 1468)
    • 1538 – Albrecht Altdorfer, German painter, engraver, and architect (b. 1480)
    • 1554 – Lord Guildford Dudley, English son of Jane Dudley, Duchess of Northumberland (b. 1536; executed)
    • 1554 – Lady Jane Grey, de facto monarch of England and Ireland for nine days (b. 1537; executed)
    • 1571 – Nicholas Throckmorton, English politician and diplomat (b. 1515)
    • 1590 – François Hotman, French lawyer and author (b. 1524)
    • 1600 – Edward Denny, Knight Banneret of Bishop’s Stortford, English soldier, privateer and adventurer (b. 1547)
    • 1612 – Jodocus Hondius, Flemish cartographer (b. 1563)
    • 1624 – George Heriot, Scottish goldsmith and philanthropist, founded George Heriot’s School (b. 1563)
    • 1713 – Jahandar Shah, Mughal emperor (b. 1664)
    • 1728 – Agostino Steffani, Italian priest and composer (b. 1653)
    • 1763 – Pierre de Marivaux, French author and playwright (b. 1688)
    • 1771 – Adolf Frederick, King of Sweden (b. 1710)
    • 1789 – Ethan Allen, American farmer, general, and politician (b. 1738)
    • 1799 – Lazzaro Spallanzani, Italian biologist and physiologist (b. 1729)
    • 1804 – Immanuel Kant, German anthropologist, philosopher, and academic (b. 1724)
    • 1834 – Friedrich Schleiermacher, German philosopher and scholar (b. 1768)
    • 1886 – Randolph Caldecott, English-American painter and illustrator (b. 1846)
    • 1894 – Hans von Bülow, German pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1830)
    • 1896 – Ambroise Thomas, French composer and academic (b. 1811)
    • 1912 – Gerhard Armauer Hansen, Norwegian physician (b. 1841)
    • 1915 – Émile Waldteufel, French pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1837)
    • 1916 – Richard Dedekind, German mathematician, philosopher, and academic (b. 1831)
    • 1929 – Lillie Langtry, English singer and actress (b. 1853)
    • 1931 – Samad bey Mehmandarov, Azerbaijani-Russian general and politician, 3rd Azerbaijani Minister of Defense (b. 1855)
    • 1935 – Auguste Escoffier, French chef and author (b. 1846)
    • 1942 – Eugene Esmonde, Irish-English lieutenant and pilot, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1909)
    • 1942 – Avraham Stern, Polish-Israeli militant leader (b. 1907)
    • 1942 – Grant Wood, American painter and academic (b. 1891)
    • 1947 – Moses Gomberg, Ukrainian-American chemist and academic (b. 1866)
    • 1949 – Hassan al-Banna, Egyptian educator, founded the Muslim Brotherhood (b. 1906)
    • 1954 – Dziga Vertov, Polish-Russian director and screenwriter (b. 1896)
    • 1958 – Douglas Hartree, English mathematician and physicist (b. 1897)
    • 1960 – Oskar Anderson, Bulgarian-German mathematician and academic (b. 1887)
    • 1970 – Clare Turlay Newberry, American author and illustrator (b. 1903)
    • 1971 – James Cash Penney, American businessman and philanthropist, founded J. C. Penney (b. 1875)
    • 1975 – Carl Lutz, Swiss vice-consul to Hungary during WWII, credited with saving over 62,000 Jews (b. 1895)
    • 1976 – Sal Mineo, American actor (b. 1939)
    • 1977 – Herman Dooyeweerd, Dutch philosopher and scholar (b. 1894)
    • 1979 – Jean Renoir, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1894)
    • 1980 – Muriel Rukeyser, American poet and activist (b. 1913)
    • 1982 – Victor Jory, Canadian-American actor (b. 1902)
    • 1983 – Eubie Blake, American pianist and composer (b. 1887)
    • 1984 – Anna Anderson, Polish-American woman, who claimed to be Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia (b. 1896)
    • 1984 – Julio Cortázar, Belgian-Argentinian author and poet (b. 1914)
    • 1985 – Nicholas Colasanto, American actor and director (b. 1924)
    • 1989 – Thomas Bernhard, Austrian playwright and author (b. 1931)
    • 1991 – Roger Patterson, American bass player (b. 1968)
    • 1992 – Bep van Klaveren, Dutch boxer (b. 1907)
    • 1994 – Donald Judd, American painter and sculptor (b. 1928)
    • 1995 – Philip Taylor Kramer, American bass player (b. 1952)
    • 1998 – Gardner Ackley, American economist and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Italy (b. 1915)
    • 2000 – Tom Landry, American football player and coach (b. 1924)
    • 2000 – Charles M. Schulz, American cartoonist, created Peanuts (b. 1922)
    • 2001 – Kristina Söderbaum, Swedish-German actress and producer (b. 1912)
    • 2002 – John Eriksen, Danish footballer (b. 1957)
    • 2005 – Dorothy Stang, American-Brazilian nun and missionary (b. 1931)
    • 2007 – Ann Barzel, American writer and dance critic (b. 1905)
    • 2007 – Peggy Gilbert, American saxophonist and bandleader (b. 1905)
    • 2008 – David Groh, American actor (b. 1939)
    • 2009 – victims of Colgan Air Flight 3407:
      • Alison Des Forges, American historian and activist (b. 1942)
      • Beverly Eckert, American activist (b. 1951)
      • Mat Mathews, Dutch accordion player (b. 1924)
      • Coleman Mellett, American guitarist (b. 1974)
      • Gerry Niewood, American saxophonist (b. 1943)
    • 2010 – Nodar Kumaritashvili, Georgian luger (b. 1988)
    • 2011 – Peter Alexander, Austrian singer and actor (b. 1926)
    • 2011 – Betty Garrett, American actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1919)
    • 2011 – Kenneth Mars, American actor and comedian (b. 1935)
    • 2012 – Zina Bethune, American actress, dancer, and choreographer (b. 1945)
    • 2012 – Denis Flannery, Australian rugby player and coach (b. 1928)
    • 2012 – David Kelly, Irish actor (b. 1929)
    • 2012 – John Severin, American illustrator (b. 1921)
    • 2013 – Sattam bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Arabian prince (b. 1941)
    • 2013 – Reginald Turnill, English journalist and author (b. 1915)
    • 2013 – Hennadiy Udovenko, Ukrainian politician and diplomat, 2nd Minister of Foreign Affairs for Ukraine (b. 1931)
    • 2014 – Sid Caesar, American actor and comedian (b. 1922)
    • 2014 – John Pickstone, English historian and author (b. 1944)
    • 2015 – Movita Castaneda, American actress and singer (b. 1916)
    • 2015 – Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, Malaysian cleric and politician, 12th Menteri Besar of Kelantan (b. 1931)
    • 2015 – Gary Owens, American radio host and voice actor (b. 1934)
    • 2015 – Steve Strange, Welsh singer (b. 1959)
    • 2016 – Dominique D’Onofrio, Italian-Belgian footballer and coach (b. 1953)
    • 2016 – Yannis Kalaitzis, Greek cartoonist (b. 1945)
    • 2016 – Yan Su, Chinese general and composer (b. 1930)
    • 2017 – Al Jarreau, American singer (b. 1940)
    • 2017 – Anna Marguerite McCann, first female American underwater archaeologist (b. 1933)
    • 2017 – Ren Xinmin, Chinese rocket scientist (b. 1915)
    • 2019 – Gordon Banks, English footballer (b. 1937)
    • 2019 – Lyndon LaRouche, American political activist (b. 1922)
    • 2019 – Pedro Morales, Puerto Rican professional wrestler and commentator (b. 1942)
    • 2020 – Christie Blatchford, Canadian newspaper columnist, journalist and broadcaster (b. 1951)

    Holidays and observances on February 12

    • Christian feast day:
      • Benedict of Aniane
      • Damian of Alexandria
      • Julian the Hospitaller
      • Martyrs of Abitinae
      • February 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Darwin Day (International)
    • Georgia Day (Georgia (U.S. state))
    • Lincoln’s Birthday (United States)
    • National Freedom to Marry Day (United States)
    • Red Hand Day (United Nations)
    • Union Day (Myanmar)
    • Youth Day (Venezuela)

  • 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.

  • February 5 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • AD 62 – Earthquake in Pompeii, Italy.
    • 756 – An Lushan, leader of a revolt against the Tang Dynasty, declares himself emperor and establishes the state of Yan.
    • 789 – Idris I reaches Volubilis and founds the Idrisid dynasty, ceding Morocco from the Abbasid caliphate and founding the first Moroccan state.
    • 1576 – Henry of Navarre abjures Catholicism at Tours and rejoins the Protestant forces in the French Wars of Religion.
    • 1597 – A group of early Japanese Christians are killed by the new government of Japan for being seen as a threat to Japanese society.
    • 1649 – Charles Stuart, the son of King Charles I, is declared King Charles II of England and Scotland by the Scottish Parliament.
    • 1778 – South Carolina becomes the second state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.
    • 1782 – Spanish defeat British forces and capture Menorca.
    • 1783 – In Calabria, a sequence of strong earthquakes begins.
    • 1807 – HMS Blenheim and HMS Java disappear off the coast of Rodrigues.
    • 1810 – Peninsular War: Siege of Cádiz begins.
    • 1818 – Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte ascends to the thrones of Sweden and Norway.
    • 1849 – University of Wisconsin–Madison’s first class meets at Madison Female Academy.
    • 1852 – The New Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia, one of the largest and oldest museums in the world, opens to the public.
    • 1859 – Alexandru Ioan Cuza, Prince of Moldavia, is also elected as the prince of Wallachia, joining the two principalities as a personal union called the United Principalities, an autonomous region within the Ottoman Empire, which ushered the birth of the modern Romanian state.
    • 1862 – Moldavia and Wallachia formally unite to create the Romanian United Principalities.
    • 1869 – The largest alluvial gold nugget in history, called the “Welcome Stranger”, is found in Moliagul, Victoria, Australia.
    • 1885 – King Leopold II of Belgium establishes the Congo as a personal possession.
    • 1905 – In Mexico, the General Hospital of Mexico is inaugurated, started with four basic specialties.
    • 1907 – Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland announces the creation of Bakelite, the world’s first synthetic plastic.
    • 1913 – Greek military aviators, Michael Moutoussis and Aristeidis Moraitinis perform the first naval air mission in history, with a Farman MF.7 hydroplane.
    • 1917 – The current constitution of Mexico is adopted, establishing a federal republic with powers separated into independent executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
    • 1917 – The Congress of the United States passes the Immigration Act of 1917 over President Woodrow Wilson’s veto.
    • 1918 – Stephen W. Thompson shoots down a German airplane; this is the first aerial victory by the U.S. military.
    • 1918 – SS Tuscania is torpedoed off the coast of Ireland; it is the first ship carrying American troops to Europe to be torpedoed and sunk.
    • 1919 – Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D. W. Griffith launch United Artists.
    • 1924 – The Royal Greenwich Observatory begins broadcasting the hourly time signals known as the Greenwich Time Signal.
    • 1933 – Mutiny on Royal Netherlands Navy warship HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën off the coast of Sumatra, Dutch East Indies.
    • 1939 – Generalísimo Francisco Franco becomes the 68th “Caudillo de España“, or Leader of Spain.
    • 1941 – World War II: Allied forces begin the Battle of Keren to capture Keren, Eritrea.
    • 1945 – World War II: General Douglas MacArthur returns to Manila.
    • 1958 – Gamal Abdel Nasser is nominated to be the first president of the United Arab Republic.
    • 1958 – A hydrogen bomb known as the Tybee Bomb is lost by the US Air Force off the coast of Savannah, Georgia, never to be recovered.
    • 1962 – French President Charles de Gaulle calls for Algeria to be granted independence.
    • 1963 – The European Court of Justice’s ruling in Van Gend en Loos v Nederlandse Administratie der Belastingen establishes the principle of direct effect, one of the most important, if not the most important, decisions in the development of European Union law.
    • 1971 – Astronauts land on the moon in the Apollo 14 mission.
    • 1975 – Riots break in Lima, Peru after the police forces go on strike the day before. The uprising (locally known as the Limazo) is bloodily suppressed by the military dictatorship.
    • 1985 – Ugo Vetere, then the mayor of Rome, and Chedli Klibi, then the mayor of Carthage meet in Tunis to sign a treaty of friendship officially ending the Third Punic War which lasted 2,131 years.
    • 1988 – Manuel Noriega is indicted on drug smuggling and money laundering charges.
    • 1994 – Byron De La Beckwith is convicted of the 1963 murder of civil rights leader Medgar Evers.
    • 1994 – Markale massacres, more than 60 people are killed and some 200 wounded as a mortar shell explodes in a downtown marketplace in Sarajevo.
    • 1997 – The so-called Big Three banks in Switzerland announce the creation of a $71 million fund to aid Holocaust survivors and their families.
    • 2000 – Russian forces massacre at least 60 civilians in the Novye Aldi suburb of Grozny, Chechnya.
    • 2004 – Rebels from the Revolutionary Artibonite Resistance Front capture the city of Gonaïves, starting the 2004 Haiti rebellion.
    • 2008 – A major tornado outbreak across the Southern United States kills 57.
    • 2020 – United States President Donald Trump is acquitted by the United States Senate in his impeachment trial.

    Births on February 5

    • 976 – Sanjō, emperor of Japan (d. 1017)
    • 1321 – John II, marquess of Montferrat (d. 1372)
    • 1438 – Philip II, duke of Savoy (d. 1497)
    • 1505 – Aegidius Tschudi, Swiss statesman and historian (d. 1572)
    • 1519 – René of Châlon, prince of Orange (d. 1544)
    • 1525 – Juraj Drašković, Croatian Catholic cardinal (d. 1587)
    • 1533 – Andreas Dudith, Croatian-Hungarian nobleman and diplomat (d. 1589)
    • 1534 – Giovanni de’ Bardi, Italian soldier, composer, and critic (d. 1612)
    • 1589 – Esteban Manuel de Villegas, Spanish poet and educator (d. 1669)
    • 1594 – Biagio Marini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1663)
    • 1605 – Bernard of Corleone, Italian saint (d. 1667)
    • 1608 – Gaspar Schott, German mathematician and physicist (d. 1666)
    • 1626 – Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné, French author (d. 1696)
    • 1650 – Anne Jules de Noailles, French general (d. 1708)
    • 1703 – Gilbert Tennent, Irish-American minister (d. 1764)
    • 1723 – John Witherspoon, Scottish-American minister and academic (d. 1794)
    • 1725 – James Otis, Jr., American lawyer and politician (d. 1783)
    • 1748 – Christian Gottlob Neefe, German composer and conductor (d. 1798)
    • 1788 – Robert Peel, English lieutenant and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1850)
    • 1795 – Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger, Austrian mineralogist, geologist, and physicist (d. 1871)
    • 1804 – Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Finnish poet and hymn-writer (d. 1877)
    • 1808 – Carl Spitzweg, German painter and poet (d. 1885)
    • 1810 – Ole Bull, Norwegian violinist and composer (d. 1880)
    • 1827 – Peter Lalor, Irish-Australian activist and politician (d. 1889)
    • 1837 – Dwight L. Moody, American evangelist and publisher, founded Moody Church, Moody Bible Institute, and Moody Publishers (d. 1899)
    • 1840 – John Boyd Dunlop, Scottish businessman, co-founded Dunlop Rubber (d. 1921)
    • 1840 – Hiram Maxim, American engineer, invented the Maxim gun (d. 1916)
    • 1847 – Eduard Magnus Jakobson, Estonian missionary and engraver (d. 1903)
    • 1848 – Joris-Karl Huysmans, French author and critic (d. 1907)
    • 1848 – Ignacio Carrera Pinto, Chilean lieutenant (d. 1882)
    • 1852 – Terauchi Masatake, Japanese field marshal and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1919)
    • 1866 – Domhnall Ua Buachalla, Irish politician, 3rd and last Governor-General of the Irish Free State (d. 1963)
    • 1870 – Charles Edmund Brock, British painter and book illustrator (d. 1938)
    • 1876 – Ernie McLea, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1931)
    • 1878 – André Citroën, French engineer and businessman, founded Citroën (d. 1935)
    • 1880 – Gabriel Voisin, French pilot and engineer (d. 1973)
    • 1889 – Patsy Hendren, English cricketer and footballer (d. 1962)
    • 1889 – Ernest Tyldesley, English cricketer (d. 1962)
    • 1889 – Recep Peker, Turkish officer and politician (d. 1950)
    • 1891 – Renato Petronio, Italian rower (d. 1976)
    • 1892 – Elizabeth Ryan, American tennis player (d. 1979)
    • 1897 – Dirk Stikker, Dutch businessman and politician, 3rd Secretary General of NATO (d. 1979)
    • 1900 – Adlai Stevenson II, American soldier, politician, and diplomat, 5th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 1965)
    • 1903 – Koto Matsudaira, Japanese diplomat, ambassador to the United Nations (d. 1994)
    • 1903 – Joan Whitney Payson, American businesswoman and philanthropist (d. 1975)
    • 1906 – John Carradine, American actor (d. 1988)
    • 1907 – Birgit Dalland, Norwegian politician (d. 2007)
    • 1907 – Pierre Pflimlin, French politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 2000)
    • 1908 – Marie Baron, Dutch swimmer and diver (d. 1948)
    • 1908 – Peg Entwistle, Welsh-American actress (d. 1932)
    • 1908 – Daisy and Violet Hilton, English conjoined twins (d. 1969)
    • 1908 – Eugen Weidmann, German criminal (d. 1939)
    • 1909 – Grażyna Bacewicz, Polish violinist and composer (d. 1969)
    • 1910 – Charles Philippe Leblond, French-Canadian biologist and academic (d. 2007)
    • 1910 – Francisco Varallo, Argentinian footballer (d. 2010)
    • 1911 – Jussi Björling, Swedish tenor (d. 1960)
    • 1914 – William S. Burroughs, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist (d. 1997)
    • 1914 – Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, English physiologist, biophysicist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
    • 1915 – Robert Hofstadter, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1990)
    • 1917 – Edward J. Mortola, American academic and president of Pace University (d. 2002)
    • 1917 – Isuzu Yamada, Japanese actress (d. 2012)
    • 1919 – Red Buttons, American actor (d. 2006)
    • 1919 – Tim Holt, American actor (d. 1973)
    • 1919 – Andreas Papandreou, Greek economist and politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1996)
    • 1921 – Ken Adam, German-born English production designer and art director (d. 2016)
    • 1923 – Claude King, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
    • 1923 – James E. Bowman, American physician and academic (d. 2011)
    • 1924 – Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy, Indian cardinal (d. 2014)
    • 1927 – Robert Allen, American pianist and composer (d. 2000)
    • 1927 – Jacob Veldhuyzen van Zanten, Dutch captain and pilot (d. 1977)
    • 1928 – Tage Danielsson, Swedish author, actor, and director (d. 1985)
    • 1928 – Andrew Greeley, American priest, sociologist, and author (d. 2013)
    • 1928 – P. J. Vatikiotis, Israeli-American historian and political scientist (d. 1997)
    • 1929 – Hal Blaine, American session drummer (d. 2019)
    • 1929 – Luc Ferrari, French pianist and composer (d. 2005)
    • 1929 – Fred Sinowatz, Austrian politician, 19th Chancellor of Austria (d. 2008)
    • 1932 – Cesare Maldini, Italian footballer and manager (d. 2016)
    • 1933 – Jörn Donner, Finnish director and screenwriter (d. 2020)
    • 1933 – B. S. Johnson, English author, poet, and critic (d. 1973)
    • 1934 – Hank Aaron, American baseball player
    • 1934 – Don Cherry, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1935 – Alex Harvey, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1982)
    • 1935 – Johannes Geldenhuys, South African military commander (d. 2018)
    • 1936 – K. S. Nissar Ahmed, Indian poet and academic
    • 1937 – Stuart Damon, American actor and singer
    • 1937 – Larry Hillman, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1937 – Gaston Roelants, Belgian runner
    • 1937 – Alar Toomre, Estonian-American astronomer and mathematician
    • 1937 – Wang Xuan, Chinese computer scientist and academic (d. 2006)
    • 1938 – Rafael Nieto Navia, Colombian lawyer, jurist, and diplomat
    • 1939 – Brian Luckhurst, English cricketer (d. 2005)
    • 1940 – H. R. Giger, Swiss painter, sculptor, and set designer (d. 2014)
    • 1940 – Luke Graham, American wrestler (d. 2006)
    • 1941 – Stephen J. Cannell, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2010)
    • 1941 – Henson Cargill, American country music singer (d. 2007)
    • 1941 – David Selby, American actor and playwright
    • 1941 – Barrett Strong, American soul singer-songwriter and pianist
    • 1941 – Kaspar Villiger, Swiss engineer and politician, 85th President of the Swiss Confederation
    • 1941 – Cory Wells, American pop-rock singer (d. 2015)
    • 1942 – Roger Staubach, American football player, sportscaster, and businessman
    • 1943 – Nolan Bushnell, American engineer and businessman, founded Atari, Inc.
    • 1943 – Michael Mann, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1943 – Craig Morton, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1943 – Dušan Uhrin, Czech and Slovak footballer and manager
    • 1944 – J. R. Cobb, American guitarist and songwriter
    • 1944 – Henfil, Brazilian journalist, author, and illustrator (d. 1988)
    • 1944 – Al Kooper, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1944 – Tamanoumi Masahiro, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 51st Yokozuna (d. 1971)
    • 1945 – Douglas Hogg, English lawyer and politician, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
    • 1946 – Amnon Dankner, Israeli journalist and author (d. 2013)
    • 1946 – Charlotte Rampling, English actress
    • 1947 – Mary L. Cleave, American engineer and astronaut
    • 1947 – Clemente Mastella, Italian politician, Italian Minister of Justice
    • 1947 – Darrell Waltrip, American race car driver and sportscaster
    • 1948 – Sven-Göran Eriksson, Swedish footballer and manager
    • 1948 – Christopher Guest, American actor and director
    • 1948 – Barbara Hershey, American actress
    • 1948 – Errol Morris, American director and producer
    • 1948 – Tom Wilkinson, English actor
    • 1949 – Kurt Beck, German politician
    • 1949 – Yvon Vallières, Canadian educator and politician
    • 1950 – Jonathan Freeman, American actor and singer
    • 1950 – Rafael Puente, Mexican footballer
    • 1951 – Nikolay Merkushkin, Mordovian engineer and politician, 1st Head of the Republic of Mordovia
    • 1952 – Daniel Balavoine, French singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1986)
    • 1952 – Vladimir Moskovkin, Ukrainian-Russian geographer, economist, and academic
    • 1953 – Freddie Aguilar, Filipino singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1953 – John Beilein, American basketball player and coach
    • 1953 – Gustavo Benítez, Paraguayan footballer and manager
    • 1954 – Cliff Martinez, American drummer and songwriter
    • 1954 – Frank Walker, Australian journalist and author
    • 1955 – Mike Heath, American baseball player and manager
    • 1956 – Vinnie Colaiuta, American drummer
    • 1956 – Héctor Rebaque, Mexican race car driver
    • 1956 – David Wiesner, American author and illustrator
    • 1956 – Mao Daichi, Japanese actress
    • 1957 – Jüri Tamm, Estonian hammer thrower and politician
    • 1959 – Jennifer Granholm, Canadian-American lawyer and politician, 47th Governor of Michigan
    • 1960 – Aris Christofellis, Greek soprano and musicologist
    • 1960 – Bonnie Crombie, Canadian businesswoman and politician, 6th Mayor of Mississauga
    • 1960 – Micky Hazard, English footballer, central midfielder
    • 1961 – Savvas Kofidis, Greek footballer and manager
    • 1961 – Tim Meadows, American actor and screenwriter
    • 1962 – Jennifer Jason Leigh, American actress, screenwriter, producer and director
    • 1963 – Steven Shainberg, American film director and producer
    • 1964 – Laura Linney, American actress
    • 1964 – Ha Seungmoo, Korean Poet, Pastor, Historical theologian
    • 1964 – Duff McKagan, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
    • 1965 – Tarik Benhabiles, Algerian-French tennis player and coach
    • 1965 – Gheorghe Hagi, Romanian footballer and manager
    • 1965 – Keith Moseley, American bass player and songwriter
    • 1965 – Quique Sánchez Flores, Spanish footballer and manager
    • 1966 – José María Olazábal, Spanish golfer
    • 1966 – Rok Petrovič, Slovenian skier (d. 1993)
    • 1967 – Chris Parnell, American actor and comedian
    • 1968 – Roberto Alomar, Puerto Rican-American baseball player and coach
    • 1968 – Marcus Grönholm, Finnish race car driver
    • 1969 – Bobby Brown, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor
    • 1969 – Michael Sheen, Welsh actor and director
    • 1969 – Derek Stephen Prince, American voice actor
    • 1970 – Jean-Marc Jaumin, Belgian basketball player and coach
    • 1970 – Darren Lehmann, Australian cricketer and coach
    • 1971 – Michel Breistroff, French ice hockey player (d. 1996)
    • 1971 – Sara Evans, American country singer
    • 1972 – Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark
    • 1972 – Brad Fittler, Australian rugby league player, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1973 – Richard Matvichuk, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1973 – Trijntje Oosterhuis, Dutch singer-songwriter
    • 1973 – Luke Ricketson, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
    • 1974 – Michael Maguire, Australian rugby league player and coach
    • 1975 – Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Dutch footballer and manager
    • 1976 – John Aloisi, Australian footballer and manager
    • 1976 – Abhishek Bachchan, Indian actor
    • 1977 – Ben Ainslie, English sailor
    • 1977 – Adam Dykes, Australian rugby league player
    • 1977 – Adam Everett, American baseball player and coach
    • 1978 – Brian Russell, American football player
    • 1978 – Samuel Sánchez, Spanish cyclist
    • 1979 – Nate Holzapfel, American entrepreneur and television personality
    • 1980 – Brad Fitzpatrick, American programmer, created LiveJournal
    • 1980 – Jo Swinson, Scottish politician
    • 1981 – Mia Hansen-Løve, French director and screenwriter
    • 1981 – Loukas Vyntra, Czech-Greek footballer
    • 1982 – Laura del Rio, Spanish footballer
    • 1982 – Kevin Everett, American football player
    • 1982 – Tomáš Kopecký, Slovak ice hockey player
    • 1982 – Rodrigo Palacio, Argentinian footballer
    • 1983 – Anja Hammerseng-Edin, Norwegian handball player
    • 1984 – Carlos Tevez, Argentinian footballer
    • 1985 – Lloyd Johansson, Australian rugby player
    • 1985 – Laurence Maroney, American football player
    • 1985 – Paul Vandervort, American actor, film producer, and former model
    • 1985 – Cristiano Ronaldo, Portuguese footballer
    • 1986 – Vedran Ćorluka, Croatian footballer, centre back
    • 1986 – Marcos Díaz, Argentinian footballer
    • 1986 – Kevin Gates, American rapper, singer, and entrepreneur
    • 1986 – Sekope Kepu, Australian rugby player
    • 1986 – Billy Sharp, English footballer
    • 1986 – Reed Sorenson, American race car driver
    • 1986 – Carlos Villanueva, Chilean footballer
    • 1987 – Darren Criss, American actor, singer, and entrepreneur
    • 1987 – Curtis Jerrells, American basketball player
    • 1987 – Alex Kuznetsov, Ukrainian-American tennis player
    • 1987 – Linus Omark, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1987 – Donald Sanford, American-Israeli sprinter
    • 1988 – Karin Ontiveros, Mexican model
    • 1989 – Marina Melnikova, Russian tennis player
    • 1990 – Dmitry Andreikin, Russian chess player
    • 1990 – Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Indian cricketer
    • 1990 – Jordan Rhodes, Scottish footballer
    • 1991 – Nabil Bahoui, Swedish footballer
    • 1991 – Gerald Tusha, Albanian footballer
    • 1992 – Stefan de Vrij, Dutch footballer
    • 1992 – Neymar, Brazilian footballer
    • 1993 – Leilani Latu, Australian rugby league player
    • 1993 – Ty Rattie, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1995 – Adnan Januzaj, Belgian-Albanian footballer
    • 1996 – Stina Blackstenius, Swedish footballer
    • 1997 – Patrick Roberts, English footballer
    • 2016 – Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck, Bhutanese prince

    Deaths on February 5

    • 523 – Avitus of Vienne, Gallo-Roman bishop
    • 806 – Kanmu, emperor of Japan (b. 736)
    • 994 – William IV, duke of Aquitaine (b. 937)
    • 1015 – Adelaide, German abbess and saint
    • 1036 – Alfred Aetheling, Anglo-Saxon prince
    • 1146 – Zafadola, Arab emir of Zaragoza
    • 1578 – Giovanni Battista Moroni, Italian painter (b. 1520)
    • 1661 – Shunzhi, Chinese emperor of the Qing Dynasty (b. 1638)
    • 1705 – Philipp Spener, German theologian and author (b. 1635)
    • 1751 – Henri François d’Aguesseau, French jurist and politician, Chancellor of France (b. 1668)
    • 1754 – Nicolaas Kruik, Dutch astronomer and cartographer (b. 1678)
    • 1766 – Count Leopold Joseph von Daun, Austrian field marshal (b. 1705)
    • 1775 – Eusebius Amort, German theologian and academic (b. 1692)
    • 1790 – William Cullen, Scottish physician and chemist (b. 1710)
    • 1807 – Pasquale Paoli, Corsican commander and politician (b. 1725)
    • 1818 – Charles XIII, king of Sweden (b. 1748)
    • 1881 – Thomas Carlyle, Scottish philosopher, historian, and academic (b. 1795)
    • 1882 – Adolfo Rivadeneyra, Spanish orientalist and diplomat (b. 1841)
    • 1892 – Emilie Flygare-Carlén, Swedish author (b. 1807)
    • 1915 – Ross Barnes, American baseball player and manager (b. 1850)
    • 1917 – Jaber II Al-Sabah, Kuwaiti ruler (b. 1860)
    • 1922 – Christiaan de Wet, South African general and politician, State President of the Orange Free State (b. 1854)
    • 1922 – Slavoljub Eduard Penkala, Croatian engineer, invented the mechanical pencil (b. 1871)
    • 1927 – Inayat Khan, Indian mystic and educator (b. 1882)
    • 1931 – Athanasios Eftaxias, Greek politician, 118th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1849)
    • 1933 – Josiah Thomas, English-Australian miner and politician (b. 1863)
    • 1937 – Lou Andreas-Salomé, Russian-German psychoanalyst and author (b. 1861)
    • 1938 – Hans Litten, German lawyer and jurist (b. 1903)
    • 1941 – Banjo Paterson, Australian journalist, author, and poet (b. 1864)
    • 1941 – Otto Strandman, Estonian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Estonia (b. 1875)
    • 1946 – George Arliss, English actor and playwright (b. 1868)
    • 1948 – Johannes Blaskowitz, German general (b. 1883)
    • 1952 – Adela Verne, English pianist and composer (b. 1877)
    • 1954 – Hossein Sami’i, Iranian politician, diplomat, writer and poet (b. 1876)
    • 1955 – Victor Houteff, Bulgarian religious reformer and author (b. 1885)
    • 1957 – Sami Ibrahim Haddad, Lebanese surgeon and author (b. 1890)
    • 1962 – Jacques Ibert, French-Swiss composer (b. 1890)
    • 1967 – Leon Leonwood Bean, American businessman, founded L.L.Bean (b. 1872)
    • 1969 – Thelma Ritter, American actress (b. 1902)
    • 1970 – Rudy York, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1913)
    • 1971 – Lew “Sneaky Pete” Robinson, drag racer (b. 1933)
    • 1972 – Marianne Moore, American poet, author, critic, and translator (b. 1887)
    • 1976 – Rudy Pompilli, American saxophonist (Bill Haley & His Comets) (b. 1926)
    • 1977 – Oskar Klein, Swedish physicist and academic (b. 1894)
    • 1981 – Ella T. Grasso, American politician, 83rd Governor of Connecticut (b. 1919)
    • 1982 – Neil Aggett, Kenyan-South African physician and union leader (b. 1953)
    • 1983 – Margaret Oakley Dayhoff, American chemist and academic (b. 1925)
    • 1987 – William Collier, Jr., American actor and producer (b. 1902)
    • 1989 – Joe Raposo, American pianist and composer (b. 1937)
    • 1991 – Dean Jagger, American actor (b. 1903)
    • 1992 – Miguel Rolando Covian, Argentinian-Brazilian physiologist and academic (b. 1913)
    • 1993 – Seán Flanagan, Irish footballer and politician, 7th Irish Minister for Health (b. 1922)
    • 1993 – Joseph L. Mankiewicz, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1909)
    • 1993 – William Pène du Bois, American author and illustrator (b. 1916)
    • 1995 – Doug McClure, American actor (b. 1935)
    • 1997 – Pamela Harriman, English-American diplomat, 58th United States Ambassador to France (b. 1920)
    • 1997 – René Huyghe, French historian and author (b. 1906)
    • 1998 – Tim Kelly, American guitarist (b. 1963)
    • 1999 – Wassily Leontief, Russian-American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
    • 2000 – Claude Autant-Lara, French director and screenwriter (b. 1901)
    • 2004 – John Hench, American animator (b. 1908)
    • 2005 – Gnassingbé Eyadéma, Togolese general and politician, President of Togo (b. 1937)
    • 2005 – Michalina Wisłocka, Polish gynecologist and sexologist (b. 1921)
    • 2006 – Norma Candal, Puerto Rican-American actress (b. 1927)
    • 2007 – Leo T. McCarthy, New Zealand-American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 43rd Lieutenant Governor of California (b. 1930)
    • 2007 – Alfred Worm, Austrian journalist, author, and academic (b. 1945)
    • 2008 – Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Indian guru, founded Transcendental Meditation (b. 1918)
    • 2010 – Brendan Burke, Canadian ice hockey player and activist (b. 1988)
    • 2010 – Harry Schwarz, South African lawyer, anti-apartheid leader, and diplomat, 13th South Africa Ambassador to United States (b. 1924)
    • 2011 – Brian Jacques, English author and radio host (b. 1939)
    • 2011 – Peggy Rea, American actress and casting director (b. 1921)
    • 2012 – Sam Coppola, American actor (b. 1932)
    • 2012 – Al De Lory, American keyboard player, conductor, and producer (b. 1930)
    • 2012 – John Turner Sargent, Sr., American publisher (b. 1924)
    • 2012 – Jo Zwaan, Dutch sprinter (b. 1922)
    • 2013 – Reinaldo Gargano, Uruguayan journalist and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Uruguay (b. 1934)
    • 2013 – Egil Hovland, Norwegian composer and conductor (b. 1924)
    • 2013 – Tom McGuigan, New Zealand soldier and politician, 23rd New Zealand Minister of Health (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – Robert A. Dahl, American political scientist and academic (b. 1915)
    • 2015 – K. N. Choksy, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, Minister of Finance of Sri Lanka (b. 1933)
    • 2015 – Marisa Del Frate, Italian actress and singer (b. 1931)
    • 2015 – Val Logsdon Fitch, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1923)
    • 2015 – Herman Rosenblat, Polish-American author (b. 1929)
    • 2016 – Ciriaco Cañete, Filipino martial artist (b. 1919)
    • 2020 – Kirk Douglas, American actor (b. 1916)

    Holidays and observances on February 5

    • Christian feast day:
      • Adelaide of Vilich
      • Agatha of Sicily
      • Avitus of Vienne
      • Bertulf (Bertoul) of Renty
      • Ingenuinus (Jenewein)
      • Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan (in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Anglican Church in Japan)
      • February 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Constitution Day (Mexico)
    • Crown Princess Mary’s birthday (Denmark)
    • Kashmir Solidarity Day (Pakistan)
    • Liberation Day (San Marino)
    • Runeberg’s Birthday (Finland)
    • Unity Day (Burundi)

  • January 31 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 314 – Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as a successor to the late Pope Miltiades.
    • 1208 – The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on the throne as King Eric X of Sweden.
    • 1504 – The Treaty of Lyon ends the Italian War, confirming French domination of northern Italy, while Spain receives the Kingdom of Naples.
    • 1578 – Eighty Years’ War and Anglo-Spanish War: The Battle of Gembloux is a victory for Spanish forces led by Don John of Austria over a rebel army of Dutch, Flemish, English, Scottish, German, French and Walloons.
    • 1606 – Gunpowder Plot: Four of the conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, are executed for treason by hanging, drawing and quartering, for plotting against Parliament and King James.
    • 1747 – The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital.
    • 1814 – Gervasio Antonio de Posadas becomes Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (present-day Argentina).
    • 1846 – After the Milwaukee Bridge War, the United States towns of Juneautown and Kilbourntown unify to create the City of Milwaukee.
    • 1848 – John C. Frémont is court-martialed for mutiny and disobeying orders.
    • 1862 – Alvan Graham Clark discovers the white dwarf star Sirius B, a companion of Sirius, through an 18.5-inch (47 cm) telescope now located at Northwestern University.
    • 1865 – American Civil War: The United States Congress passes the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, abolishing slavery and submits it to the states for ratification.
    • 1865 – American Civil War: Confederate General Robert E. Lee becomes general-in-chief.
    • 1891 – History of Portugal: The first attempt at a Portuguese republican revolution breaks out in the northern city of Porto.
    • 1897 – Czechoslav Trade Union Association is founded in Prague.
    • 1900 – Datu Muhammad Salleh is killed in Kampung Teboh, Tambunan, ending the Mat Salleh Rebellion.
    • 1915 – World War I: Germany is the first to make large-scale use of poison gas in warfare in the Battle of Bolimów against Russia.
    • 1917 – World War I: Germany announces that its U-boats will resume unrestricted submarine warfare after a two-year hiatus.
    • 1918 – A series of accidental collisions on a misty Scottish night leads to the loss of two Royal Navy submarines with over a hundred lives, and damage to another five British warships.
    • 1919 – The Battle of George Square takes place in Glasgow, Scotland, during a campaign for shorter working hours.
    • 1928 – Leon Trotsky is exiled to Alma-Ata.
    • 1930 – 3M begins marketing Scotch Tape.
    • 1942 – World War II: Allied forces are defeated by the Japanese at the Battle of Malaya and retreat to Singapore.
    • 1943 – World War II: German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus surrenders to the Soviets at Stalingrad, followed 2 days later by the remainder of his Sixth Army, ending one of the war’s fiercest battles.
    • 1944 – World War II: American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.
    • 1944 – World War II: During the Anzio campaign, the 1st Ranger Battalion (Darby’s Rangers) is destroyed behind enemy lines in a heavily outnumbered encounter at Battle of Cisterna, Italy.
    • 1945 – US Army private Eddie Slovik is executed for desertion, the first such execution of an American soldier since the Civil War.
    • 1945 – World War II: About 3,000 inmates from the Stutthof concentration camp are forcibly marched into the Baltic Sea at Palmnicken (now Yantarny, Russia) and executed.
    • 1945 – World War II: The end of fighting in the Battle of Hill 170 during the Burma Campaign, in which the British 3 Commando Brigade repulsed a Japanese counterattack on their positions and precipitated a general retirement from the Arakan Peninsula.
    • 1946 – Cold War: Yugoslavia’s new constitution, modeling that of the Soviet Union, establishes six constituent republics (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia).
    • 1946 – The Democratic Republic of Vietnam introduces the đồng to replace the French Indochinese piastre at par.
    • 1949 – These Are My Children, the first television daytime soap opera, is broadcast by the NBC station in Chicago.
    • 1950 – Cold War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman announces a program to develop the hydrogen bomb.
    • 1951 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 90 relating to Korean War is adopted.
    • 1953 – A North Sea flood causes over 1,800 deaths in the Netherlands and over 300 in the United Kingdom.
    • 1957 – Eight people (5 total crew from 2 aircraft and 3 on the ground) in Pacoima, California are killed following the mid-air collision between a Douglas DC-7 airliner and a Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighter jet.
    • 1958 – Cold War: Space Race: The first successful American satellite detects the Van Allen radiation belt.
    • 1961 – Project Mercury: Mercury-Redstone 2: Ham the Chimp travels into outer space.
    • 1966 – The Soviet Union launches the unmanned Luna 9 spacecraft as part of the Luna program.
    • 1968 – Vietnam War: Viet Cong guerrillas attack the United States embassy in Saigon, and other attacks, in the early morning hours, later grouped together as the Tet Offensive.
    • 1968 – Nauru gains independence from Australia.
    • 1971 – Apollo program: Apollo 14: Astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell, aboard a Saturn V, lift off for a mission to the Fra Mauro Highlands on the Moon.
    • 1971 – The Winter Soldier Investigation, organized by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War to publicize war crimes and atrocities by Americans and allies in Vietnam, begins in Detroit.
    • 1978 – The Crown of St. Stephen (also known as the Holy Crown of Hungary) goes on public display after being returned to Hungary from the United States, where it was held after World War II.
    • 1996 – An explosives-filled truck rams into the gates of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in Colombo, killing at least 86 people and injuring 1,400.
    • 2000 – Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crash: An MD-83, experiencing horizontal stabilizer problems, crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Point Mugu, California, killing all 88 aboard.
    • 2001 – In the Netherlands, a Scottish court convicts Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and acquits another Libyan citizen for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.
    • 2009 – In Kenya, at least 113 people are killed and over 200 injured following an oil spillage ignition in Molo, days after a massive fire at a Nakumatt supermarket in Nairobi killed at least 25 people.
    • 2018 – Both a blue moon and a total lunar eclipse occur.
    • 2019 – Abdullah of Pahang is sworn in as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
    • 2020 – The United Kingdom’s membership within the European Union ceases in accordance with Article 50, after 47 years of being a member state.

    Births on January 31

    • 1512 – Henry, King of Portugal (d. 1580)
    • 1543 – Tokugawa Ieyasu, Japanese shōgun (d. 1616)
    • 1583 – Peter Bulkley, English and later American Puritan (d. 1659)
    • 1597 – John Francis Regis, French priest and saint (d. 1640)
    • 1607 – James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby (d. 1651)
    • 1624 – Arnold Geulincx, Flemish philosopher and academic (d. 1669)
    • 1673 – Louis de Montfort, French priest and saint (d. 1716)
    • 1686 – Hans Egede, Norwegian missionary and explorer (d. 1758)
    • 1752 – Gouverneur Morris, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to France (d. 1816)
    • 1759 – François Devienne, French flute player and composer (d. 1803)
    • 1769 – André-Jacques Garnerin, French balloonist and the inventor of the frameless parachute (d. 1823)
    • 1785 – Magdalena Dobromila Rettigová, Czech cook book author (d. 1845)
    • 1797 – Franz Schubert, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1828)
    • 1799 – Rodolphe Töpffer, Swiss teacher, author, painter, cartoonist, and caricaturist (d. 1846)
    • 1820 – William B. Washburn, American politician, 28th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1887)
    • 1835 – Lunalilo of Hawaii (d. 1874)
    • 1854 – David Emmanuel, Romanian mathematician and academic (d. 1941)
    • 1865 – Henri Desgrange, French cyclist and journalist (d. 1940)
    • 1865 – Shastriji Maharaj, Indian spiritual leader, founded BAPS (d. 1951)
    • 1868 – Theodore William Richards, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928)
    • 1872 – Zane Grey, American author (d. 1939)
    • 1881 – Irving Langmuir, American chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
    • 1884 – Theodor Heuss, German journalist and politician, 1st President of the Federal Republic of Germany (d. 1963)
    • 1884 – Mammad Amin Rasulzade, Azerbaijani scholar and politician, 1st President of The Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan (d. 1955)
    • 1889 – Frank Foster, English cricketer (d. 1958)
    • 1892 – Eddie Cantor, American singer-songwriter, actor, and dancer (d. 1964)
    • 1894 – Isham Jones, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1956)
    • 1896 – Sofya Yanovskaya, Russian mathematician and historian (d. 1966)
    • 1900 – Betty Parsons, American artist, art dealer and collector (d. 1982)
    • 1902 – Nat Bailey, Canadian businessman, founded White Spot (d. 1978)
    • 1902 – Tallulah Bankhead, American actress (d. 1968)
    • 1902 – Alva Myrdal, Swedish sociologist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
    • 1902 – Julian Steward, American anthropologist (d. 1972)
    • 1905 – John O’Hara, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1970)
    • 1909 – Miron Grindea, Romanian-English journalist (d. 1995)
    • 1913 – Don Hutson, American football player and coach (d. 1997)
    • 1914 – Jersey Joe Walcott, American boxer and police officer (d. 1994)
    • 1915 – Bobby Hackett, American trumpet player and cornet player (d. 1976)
    • 1915 – Alan Lomax, American historian, author, and scholar (d. 2002)
    • 1915 – Thomas Merton, American monk and author (d. 1968)
    • 1915 – Garry Moore, American comedian and game show host (d. 1993)
    • 1916 – Frank Parker, American tennis player (d. 1997)
    • 1917 – Fred Bassetti, American architect and academic, founded Bassetti Architects (d. 2013)
    • 1919 – Jackie Robinson, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1972)
    • 1920 – Stewart Udall, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 37th United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 2010)
    • 1920 – Bert Williams, English footballer (d. 2004)
    • 1921 – John Agar, American actor (d. 2002)
    • 1921 – Carol Channing, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2019)
    • 1921 – E. Fay Jones, American architect, designed the Thorncrown Chapel (d. 2004)
    • 1921 – Mario Lanza, American tenor and actor (d. 1959)
    • 1922 – Joanne Dru, American actress (d. 1996)
    • 1923 – Norman Mailer, American journalist and author (d. 2007)
    • 1925 – Benjamin Hooks, American minister, lawyer, and activist (d. 2010)
    • 1926 – Tom Alston, American baseball player (d. 1993)
    • 1926 – Chuck Willis, American singer-songwriter (d. 1958)
    • 1927 – Norm Prescott, American animator, producer, and composer, co-founded Filmation Studios (d. 2005)
    • 1928 – Irma Wyman, American computer scientist and engineer (d. 2015)
    • 1929 – Rudolf Mössbauer, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2011)
    • 1929 – Jean Simmons, English-American actress (d. 2010)
    • 1930 – Joakim Bonnier, Swedish race car driver (d. 1972)
    • 1930 – Al De Lory, American composer, conductor, and producer (d. 2012)
    • 1931 – Ernie Banks, American baseball player and coach (d. 2015)
    • 1931 – Christopher Chataway, English runner, journalist, and politician (d. 2014)
    • 1932 – Miron Babiak, Polish sea captain (d. 2013)
    • 1933 – Camille Henry, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1997)
    • 1933 – Morton Mower, American cardiologist and inventor
    • 1934 – Ernesto Brambilla, Italian motorcycle racer and race car driver
    • 1934 – Gene DeWeese, American author (d. 2012)
    • 1934 – James Franciscus, American actor and producer (d. 1991)
    • 1934 – Bob Turner, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2005)
    • 1935 – Kenzaburō Ōe, Japanese author and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1936 – Can Bartu, Turkish former basketball and football player
    • 1937 – Regimantas Adomaitis, Lithuanian actor
    • 1937 – Andrée Boucher, Canadian educator and politician, 39th Mayor of Quebec City (d. 2007)
    • 1937 – Philip Glass, American composer
    • 1937 – Suzanne Pleshette, American actress (d. 2008)
    • 1938 – Beatrix of the Netherlands
    • 1938 – Lynn Carlin, American actress
    • 1938 – James G. Watt, American lawyer and politician, 43rd United States Secretary of the Interior
    • 1940 – Kitch Christie, South African rugby player and coach (d. 1998)
    • 1940 – Stuart Margolin, American actor and director
    • 1941 – Dick Gephardt, American lawyer and politician
    • 1941 – Gerald McDermott, American author and illustrator (d. 2012)
    • 1941 – Jessica Walter, American actress
    • 1942 – Daniela Bianchi, Italian actress
    • 1942 – Derek Jarman, English director, stage designer, and author (d. 1994)
    • 1944 – John Inverarity, Australian cricketer and coach
    • 1945 – Rynn Berry, American historian and author (d. 2014)
    • 1945 – Brenda Hale, Baroness Hale of Richmond, English lawyer, judge, and academic
    • 1945 – Joseph Kosuth, American sculptor and theorist
    • 1946 – Terry Kath, American guitarist and singer-songwriter (Chicago) (d. 1978)
    • 1946 – Medin Zhega, Albanian footballer and manager (d. 2012)
    • 1947 – Nolan Ryan, American baseball player
    • 1947 – Matt Minglewood, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1947 – Glynn Turman, American actor
    • 1948 – Volkmar Groß, German footballer (d. 2014)
    • 1948 – Muneo Suzuki, Japanese politician
    • 1949 – Johan Derksen, Dutch footballer and journalist
    • 1949 – Norris Church Mailer, American model and educator (d. 2010)
    • 1949 – Ken Wilber, American sociologist, philosopher, and author
    • 1950 – Denise Fleming, American author and illustrator
    • 1950 – Alexander Korzhakov, Russian general and bodyguard
    • 1950 – Janice Rebibo, American-Israeli author and poet (d. 2015)
    • 1951 – Harry Wayne Casey, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
    • 1954 – Faoud Bacchus, Guyanese cricketer
    • 1954 – Adrian Vandenberg, Dutch guitarist and songwriter
    • 1955 – Virginia Ruzici, Romanian tennis player and manager
    • 1956 – Guido van Rossum, Dutch programmer, creator of the Python programming language
    • 1956 – John Lydon, English singer-songwriter
    • 1957 – Shirley Babashoff, American swimmer
    • 1958 – Armin Reichel, German footballer and manager
    • 1959 – Anthony LaPaglia, Australian actor and producer
    • 1959 – Kelly Lynch, American model and actress
    • 1960 – Akbar Ganji, Iranian journalist and author
    • 1960 – Grant Morrison, Scottish author and screenwriter
    • 1960 – Željko Šturanović, Montenegrin politician, 31st Prime Minister of Montenegro (d. 2014)
    • 1961 – Elizabeth Barker, Baroness Barker, English politician
    • 1961 – Fatou Bensouda, Gambian lawyer and judge
    • 1961 – Lloyd Cole, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1963 – Craig Coleman, Australian rugby league player and coach
    • 1963 – Gwen Graham, American lawyer and politician
    • 1964 – Martha MacCallum, American journalist
    • 1964 – Dawn Prince-Hughes, American scientist
    • 1965 – Giorgos Gasparis, Greek basketball player and coach
    • 1965 – Ofra Harnoy, Israeli-Canadian cellist
    • 1965 – Peter Sagal, American author and radio host
    • 1966 – Umar Alisha, Indian journalist and philanthropist
    • 1966 – Thant Myint-U, Myanmar historian, diplomat, conservationist, and former presidential advisor.
    • 1966 – Dexter Fletcher, English actor and director
    • 1967 – Fat Mike, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
    • 1968 – John Collins, Scottish footballer, midfielder and manager
    • 1968 – Matt King, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1968 – Ulrica Messing, Swedish politician, 2nd Swedish Minister for Infrastructure
    • 1968 – Patrick Stevens, Belgian sprinter
    • 1969 – Dov Charney, Canadian-American fashion designer and businessman, founded American Apparel
    • 1969 – Daniel Moder, American cinematographer
    • 1970 – Minnie Driver, English singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1970 – Danny Michel, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1971 – Patricia Velásquez, Venezuelan model and actress
    • 1973 – Portia de Rossi, Australian-American actress
    • 1974 – Othella Harrington, American basketball player and coach
    • 1974 – Ariel Pestano, Cuban baseball player
    • 1975 – Fred Coleman, American football player and coach
    • 1975 – Preity Zinta, Indian actress, producer, and television host
    • 1976 – Traianos Dellas, Greek footballer and manager
    • 1976 – Buddy Rice, American race car driver
    • 1976 – Paul Scheer, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1977 – Suchitra Singh, Indian cricketer
    • 1977 – Kerry Washington, American actress
    • 1978 – Fabián Caballero, Argentinian footballer and manager
    • 1979 – Daniel Tammet, English author and educator
    • 1980 – James Adomian, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter
    • 1980 – Gary Doherty, Irish footballer, centre forward
    • 1980 – Shim Yi-young, South Korean actress
    • 1981 – Julio Arca, Argentinian footballer
    • 1981 – Mark Cameron, Australian cricketer
    • 1981 – Justin Timberlake, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor
    • 1982 – Maret Ani, Estonian tennis player
    • 1982 – Yuniesky Betancourt, Cuban baseball player
    • 1982 – Andreas Görlitz, German footballer
    • 1982 – Salvatore Masiello, Italian footballer
    • 1982 – Allan McGregor, Scottish footballer
    • 1982 – Jānis Sprukts, Latvian ice hockey player
    • 1982 – Yukimi Nagano, Swedish singer-songwriter
    • 1982 – Brad Thompson, American baseball player
    • 1983 – James Sutton, English actor
    • 1983 – Fabio Quagliarella, Italian footballer
    • 1984 – Vernon Davis, American football player
    • 1984 – Josh Johnson, Canadian-American baseball player
    • 1984 – Jeremy Wariner, American runner
    • 1984 – Alessandro Zanni, Italian rugby player
    • 1985 – Adam Federici, Australian footballer
    • 1985 – Mario Williams, American football player
    • 1986 – Walter Dix, American sprinter
    • 1986 – Megan Ellison, American film producer, founded Annapurna Pictures
    • 1986 – George Elokobi, Cameroonian footballer
    • 1986 – Yves Ma-Kalambay, Belgian footballer
    • 1986 – Pauline Parmentier, French tennis player
    • 1987 – Marcus Mumford, American-English singer-songwriter
    • 1988 – Brett Pitman, English footballer
    • 1988 – Taijo Teniste, Estonian footballer
    • 1990 – Jacopo Fortunato, Italian footballer
    • 1990 – Jacob Markström, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1990 – Kota Yabu, Japanese idol, singer-songwriter, model, actor

    Deaths on January 31

    • 632 – Máedóc of Ferns, Irish bishop and saint (b. 550)
    • 876 – Hemma of Altdorf, Frankish queen
    • 985 – Ryōgen, Japanese monk and abbot (b. 912)
    • 1030 – William V, duke of Aquitaine (b. 969)
    • 1216 – Theodore II, patriarch of Constantinople
    • 1398 – Sukō, emperor of Japan (b. 1334)
    • 1418 – Mircea I, prince of Wallachia (b. 1355)
    • 1435 – Xuande, emperor of China (b. 1398)
    • 1561 – Bairam Khan, Mughalan general (b. 1501)
    • 1561 – Menno Simons, Dutch minister and theologian (b. 1496)
    • 1580 – Henry, king of Portugal (b. 1512)
    • 1606 – Guy Fawkes, English conspirator, leader of the Gunpowder Plot (b. 1570)
    • 1606 – Ambrose Rookwood, English Gunpowder Plot conspirator (b. 1578)
    • 1606 – Thomas Wintour, English Gunpowder Plot conspirator (b. 1571)
    • 1615 – Claudio Acquaviva, Italian priest, 5th Superior General of the Society of Jesus (b. 1543)
    • 1632 – Jost Bürgi, Swiss clockmaker and mathematician (b. 1552)
    • 1665 – Johannes Clauberg, German philosopher and theologian (b. 1622)
    • 1686 – Jean Mairet, French playwright (b. 1604)
    • 1720 – Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford, English politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1654)
    • 1729 – Jacob Roggeveen, Dutch explorer (b. 1659)
    • 1736 – Filippo Juvarra, Italian architect and set designer, designed the Basilica of Superga (b. 1678)
    • 1790 – Thomas Lewis, Irish-born American lawyer and surveyor (b. 1718)
    • 1794 – Mariot Arbuthnot, English admiral and politician, 12th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia (b. 1711)
    • 1811 – Manuel Alberti, Argentinian priest and journalist (b. 1763)
    • 1815 – José Félix Ribas, Venezuelan soldier (b. 1775)
    • 1828 – Alexander Ypsilantis, Greek general (b. 1792)
    • 1836 – John Cheyne, English physician and author (b. 1777)
    • 1844 – Henri Gatien Bertrand, French general (b. 1773)
    • 1856 – 11th Dalai Lama (b. 1838)
    • 1870 – Cilibi Moise, Moldavian-Romanian journalist and author (b. 1812)
    • 1888 – John Bosco, Italian priest and educator, founded the Salesian Society (b. 1815)
    • 1892 – Charles Spurgeon, English pastor and author (b. 1834)
    • 1900 – John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry, Scottish nobleman (b. 1844)
    • 1907 – Timothy Eaton, Canadian businessman, founded Eaton’s (b. 1834)
    • 1923 – Eligiusz Niewiadomski, Polish painter and critic (b. 1869)
    • 1933 – John Galsworthy, English novelist and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867)
    • 1942 – Henry Larkin, American baseball player and manager (b. 1860)
    • 1944 – Jean Giraudoux, French author and playwright (b. 1882)
    • 1954 – Edwin Howard Armstrong, American engineer, invented FM radio (b. 1890)
    • 1954 – Vivian Woodward, English captain and footballer (b. 1879)
    • 1955 – John Mott, American activist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
    • 1956 – A. A. Milne, English author, poet, and playwright, created Winnie-the-Pooh (b. 1882)
    • 1958 – Karl Selter, Estonian politician, 14th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1898)
    • 1960 – Auguste Herbin, French painter (b. 1882)
    • 1961 – Krishna Singh, Indian politician, 1st Chief Minister of Bihar (b. 1887)
    • 1966 – Arthur Percival, English general (b. 1887)
    • 1967 – Eddie Tolan, American sprinter and educator (b. 1908)
    • 1969 – Meher Baba, Indian spiritual master (b. 1894)
    • 1971 – Viktor Zhirmunsky, Russian historian and linguist (b. 1891)
    • 1973 – Ragnar Frisch, Norwegian economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1895)
    • 1974 – Samuel Goldwyn, Polish-American film producer, co-founded Goldwyn Pictures (b. 1882)
    • 1976 – Ernesto Miranda, American criminal (b. 1941)
    • 1976 – Evert Taube, Swedish author and composer (b. 1890)
    • 1985 – Reginald Baker, English-Australian film producer (b. 1896)
    • 1985 – Tatsuzō Ishikawa, Japanese author (b. 1905)
    • 1987 – Yves Allégret, French director and screenwriter (b. 1907)
    • 1989 – William Stephenson, Canadian captain and spy (b. 1896)
    • 1990 – Eveline Du Bois-Reymond Marcus, German zoologist and academic (b. 1901)
    • 1990 – Rashad Khalifa, Egyptian-American biochemist and academic (b. 1935)
    • 1995 – George Abbott, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1887)
    • 1997 – John Joseph Scanlan, Irish-American bishop (b. 1930)
    • 1999 – Giant Baba, Japanese wrestler and trainer, co-founded All Japan Pro Wrestling (b. 1938)
    • 1999 – Norm Zauchin, American baseball player (b. 1929)
    • 2000 – Gil Kane, Latvian-American author and illustrator (b. 1926)
    • 2001 – Gordon R. Dickson, Canadian-American author (b. 1923)
    • 2002 – Gabby Gabreski, American colonel and pilot (b. 1919)
    • 2004 – Eleanor Holm, American swimmer and actress (b. 1913)
    • 2004 – Suraiya, Indian actress and playback singer (b. 1929)
    • 2006 – Moira Shearer, Scottish actress and ballerina (b. 1926)
    • 2007 – Molly Ivins, American journalist and author (b. 1944)
    • 2007 – Adelaide Tambo, South African activist and politician (b. 1929)
    • 2008 – František Čapek, Czechoslovakian canoeist (b. 1914)
    • 2011 – Bartolomeu Anania, Romanian bishop and poet (b. 1921)
    • 2011 – Mark Ryan, English guitarist and playwright (b. 1959)
    • 2012 – Mani Ram Bagri, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1920)
    • 2012 – Anthony Bevilacqua, American cardinal (b. 1923)
    • 2012 – Tristram Potter Coffin, American author, scholar, and academic (b. 1922)
    • 2012 – Dorothea Tanning, American painter and sculptor (b. 1910)
    • 2013 – Rubén Bonifaz Nuño, Mexican poet and scholar (b. 1923)
    • 2013 – Hassan Habibi, Iranian lawyer and politician, 1st Vice President of Iran (b. 1937)
    • 2014 – Francis M. Fesmire, American cardiologist and physician (b. 1959)
    • 2014 – Anna Gordy Gaye, American songwriter and producer, co-founded Anna Records (b. 1922)
    • 2014 – Abdirizak Haji Hussein, Somalian politician, 4th Prime Minister of Somalia (b. 1924)
    • 2014 – Miklós Jancsó, Hungarian director and screenwriter (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – Joseph Willcox Jenkins, American composer, conductor, and educator (b. 1928)
    • 2014 – Christopher Jones, American actor (b. 1941)
    • 2015 – Vic Howe, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929)
    • 2015 – Udo Lattek, German footballer, coach, and journalist (b. 1935)
    • 2015 – Lizabeth Scott, American actress (b. 1922)
    • 2015 – Richard von Weizsäcker, German captain and politician, 6th President of Germany (b. 1920)
    • 2016 – Gil Carmichael, American businessman and politician (b. 1927)
    • 2016 – Terry Wogan, Irish-British radio and television host (b. 1938)
    • 2017 – Rob Stewart, Canadian filmmaker (b. 1979)
    • 2018 – Rasual Butler, American professional basketball player (b. 1979)
    • 2018 – Leah LaBelle, American singer (b. 1986)

    Holidays and observances on January 31

    • Christian feast day:
      • Domitius (Domice) of Amiens
      • Francis Xavier Bianchi
      • Geminianus
      • John Bosco
      • Julius of Novara
      • Blessed Ludovica
      • Máedóc (Mogue, Aiden)
      • Marcella
      • Samuel Shoemaker (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • Tysul
      • Ulphia
      • Wilgils
      • January 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Amartithi (Meherabad, India, followers of Meher Baba)
    • Independence Day (Nauru), celebrates independence from Australia in 1968.
    • Street Children’s Day (Austria)

  • January 29 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 904 – Sergius III is consecrated pope, after coming out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher.
    • 946 – Caliph Al-Mustakfi is blinded and deposed by Emir Mu’izz al-Dawla, ruler of the Buyid Empire. He is succeeded by Al-Muti as caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate.
    • 1258 – First Mongol invasion of Đại Việt: Đại Việt defeats the Mongols at the battle of Đông Bộ Đầu, forcing the Mongols to withdraw from the country.
    • 1814 – War of the Sixth Coalition: France defeats Russia and Prussia in the Battle of Brienne.
    • 1819 – Stamford Raffles lands on the island of Singapore.
    • 1845 – “The Raven” is published in The Evening Mirror in New York, the first publication with the name of the author, Edgar Allan Poe.
    • 1850 – Henry Clay introduces the Compromise of 1850 to the U.S. Congress.
    • 1856 – Queen Victoria issues a Warrant under the Royal sign-manual that establishes the Victoria Cross to recognise acts of valour by British military personnel during the Crimean War.
    • 1861 – Kansas is admitted as the 34th U.S. state.
    • 1863 – The Bear River Massacre: A detachment of California Volunteers led by Colonel Patrick Edward Connor engage the Shoshone at Bear River, Washington Territory, killing hundreds of men, women and children.
    • 1886 – Karl Benz patents the first successful gasoline-driven automobile.
    • 1891 – Liliuokalani is proclaimed the last monarch and only queen regnant of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
    • 1907 – Charles Curtis of Kansas becomes the first Native American U.S. Senator.
    • 1911 – Mexican Revolution: Mexicali is captured by the Mexican Liberal Party, igniting the Magonista rebellion of 1911.
    • 1916 – World War I: Paris is first bombed by German zeppelins.
    • 1918 – Ukrainian–Soviet War: The Bolshevik Red Army, on its way to besiege Kiev, is met by a small group of military students at the Battle of Kruty.
    • 1918 – Ukrainian–Soviet War: An armed uprising organized by the Bolsheviks in anticipation of the encroaching Red Army begins at the Kiev Arsenal, which will be put down six days later.
    • 1936 – The first inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame are announced.
    • 1940 – Three trains on the Nishinari Line; present Sakurajima Line, in Osaka, Japan, collide and explode while approaching Ajikawaguchi Station. One hundred and eighty-one people are killed.
    • 1941 – Alexandros Koryzis becomes Prime Minister of Greece upon the sudden death of his predecessor, dictator Ioannis Metaxas.
    • 1943 – World War II: The first day of the Battle of Rennell Island, USS Chicago (CA-29) is torpedoed and heavily damaged by Japanese bombers.
    • 1944 – World War II: Approximately 38 people are killed and about a dozen injured when the Polish village of Koniuchy (present-day Kaniūkai, Lithuania) is attacked by Soviet partisan units.
    • 1944 – In Bologna, Italy, the Anatomical theatre of the Archiginnasio is completely destroyed in an air-raid, during the Second World War.
    • 1948 – The Pakistan Socialist Party is founded in Karachi.
    • 1959 – The first Melodifestivalen is held in Cirkus, Stockholm, Sweden.
    • 1963 – The first inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame are announced.
    • 1967 – The “ultimate high” of the hippie era, the Mantra-Rock Dance, takes place in San Francisco and features Janis Joplin, Grateful Dead, and Allen Ginsberg.
    • 1980 – The Rubik’s Cube makes its international debut at the Ideal Toy Corp. in Earl’s Court, London.
    • 1989 – Cold War: Hungary establishes diplomatic relations with South Korea, making it the first Eastern Bloc nation to do so.
    • 1991 – Gulf War: The Battle of Khafji, the first major ground engagement of the war, as well as its deadliest, begins.
    • 1996 – President Jacques Chirac announces a “definitive end” to French nuclear weapons testing.
    • 2001 – Thousands of student protesters in Indonesia storm parliament and demand that President Abdurrahman Wahid resign due to alleged involvement in corruption scandals.
    • 2002 – In his State of the Union address, President George W. Bush describes “regimes that sponsor terror” as an Axis of evil, in which he includes Iraq, Iran and North Korea.
    • 2005 – The first direct commercial flights from mainland China (from Guangzhou) to Taiwan since 1949 arrived in Taipei. Shortly afterwards, a China Airlines flight lands in Beijing.
    • 2009 – The Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt rules that people who do not adhere to one of the three government-recognised religions, while not allowed to list any belief outside of those three, are still eligible to receive government identity documents.
    • 2009 – Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich is removed from office following his conviction of several corruption charges, including the alleged solicitation of personal benefit in exchange for an appointment to the United States Senate as a replacement for then-U.S. president-elect Barack Obama.
    • 2013 – SCAT Airlines Flight 760 crashes near the Kazakh city of Almaty, killing 21 people.
    • 2013 – Alabama bunker hostage crisis: After shooting and killing of school bus driver, 66 years old Charles Albert Poland, Jr, by 65 year old Vietnam War era veteran, Jimmy Lee Dykes.
    • 2017 – Quebec City mosque shooting: Alexandre Bissonnette opens fire at mosque in Sainte-Foy, Quebec, killing six and wounding 19 others in a spree shooting.

    Births on January 29

    • 919 – Shi Zong, emperor of the Liao Dynasty (d. 951)
    • 1455 – Johann Reuchlin, German-born humanist and scholar (d. 1522)
    • 1475 – Giuliano Bugiardini, Italian painter (d. 1555)
    • 1499 – Katharina von Bora, wife of Martin Luther; formerly a Roman Catholic nun (d. 1552)
    • 1525 – Lelio Sozzini, Italian humanist and reformer (d. 1562)
    • 1584 – Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange (d. 1647)
    • 1591 – Franciscus Junius, pioneer of Germanic philology (d. 1677)
    • 1602 – Countess Amalie Elisabeth of Hanau-Münzenberg (d. 1651)
    • 1632 – Johann Georg Graevius, German scholar and critic (d. 1703)
    • 1650 – Juan de Galavís, Spanish Roman Catholic archbishop of Santo Domingo and Bogotá (d. 1739)
    • 1688 – Emanuel Swedenborg, Swedish astronomer, philosopher, and theologian (d. 1772)
    • 1711 – Giuseppe Bonno, Austrian composer (d. 1788)
    • 1715 – Georg Christoph Wagenseil, Austrian organist and composer (d. 1777)
    • 1717 – Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, English field marshal and politician, 19th Governor General of Canada (d. 1797)
    • 1718 – Paul Rabaut, French pastor (d. 1794)
    • 1737 – Thomas Paine, prominent for publishing Common Sense (1776), which established him as one of the Founding Fathers of the United States (d. 1809)
    • 1749 – Christian VII of Denmark (d. 1808)
    • 1754 – Moses Cleaveland, American general, lawyer, and politician, founded Cleveland, Ohio (d. 1806)
    • 1756 – Henry Lee III, American general and politician, 9th Governor of Virginia (d. 1818)
    • 1761 – Albert Gallatin, Swiss-American ethnologist, linguist, and politician, 4th United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1849)
    • 1782 – Daniel Auber, French composer (d. 1871)
    • 1801 – Johannes Bernardus van Bree, Dutch violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1857)
    • 1810 – Ernst Kummer, Polish-German mathematician and academic (d. 1893)
    • 1810 – Mary Whitwell Hale, American teacher, school founder, and hymnwriter (d. 1862)
    • 1843 – William McKinley, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 25th President of the United States (d. 1901)
    • 1846 – Karol Olszewski, Polish chemist, mathematician, and physicist (d. 1915)
    • 1852 – Frederic Hymen Cowen, Jamaican-English pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1935)
    • 1858 – Henry Ward Ranger, American painter and academic (d. 1916)
    • 1860 – Anton Chekhov, Russian playwright and short story writer (d. 1904)
    • 1861 – Florida Ruffin Ridley, African-American civil rights activist, teacher, editor, and writer (d. 1943)
    • 1862 – Frederick Delius, English composer (d. 1934)
    • 1866 – Julio Peris Brell, Spanish painter (d. 1944)
    • 1866 – Romain Rolland, French historian, author, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1944)
    • 1867 – Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, Spanish journalist and author (d. 1928)
    • 1870 – Süleyman Nazif, Turkish poet and civil servant (d. 1927)
    • 1874 – John D. Rockefeller, Jr., American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1960)
    • 1876 – Havergal Brian, English composer (d. 1972)
    • 1877 – Georges Catroux, French general and diplomat (d. 1969)
    • 1880 – W. C. Fields, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter (d. 1946)
    • 1881 – Alice Catherine Evans, American microbiologist (d. 1975)
    • 1884 – Juhan Aavik, Estonian-Swedish composer and conductor (d. 1982)
    • 1888 – Sydney Chapman, English mathematician and geophysicist (d. 1970)
    • 1888 – Wellington Koo, Chinese statesman (d. 1985)
    • 1891 – Elizaveta Gerdt, Russian ballerina and educator (d. 1975)
    • 1891 – R. Norris Williams, Swiss-American tennis player and banker (d. 1968)
    • 1892 – Ernst Lubitsch, German American film director, producer, writer, and actor (d. 1947)
    • 1895 – Muna Lee, American poet and author (d. 1965)
    • 1901 – Allen B. DuMont, American engineer and broadcaster, founded the DuMont Television Network (d. 1965)
    • 1901 – E. P. Taylor, Canadian businessman and horse breeder (d. 1989)
    • 1903 – Yeshayahu Leibowitz, Russian-Israeli biochemist and philosopher (d. 1994)
    • 1905 – Barnett Newman, American painter and etcher (d. 1970)
    • 1906 – Joe Primeau, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1989)
    • 1913 – Victor Mature, American actor (d. 1999)
    • 1915 – Bill Peet, American author and illustrator (d. 2002)
    • 1915 – John Serry Sr., Italian-American concert accordionist and composer (d.2003)
    • 1917 – John Raitt, American actor and singer (d. 2005)
    • 1918 – John Forsythe, American actor (d. 2010)
    • 1921 – Geraldine Pittman Woods, American science administrator and embryologist (d. 1999)
    • 1923 – Jack Burke Jr., American golfer
    • 1923 – Paddy Chayefsky, American author and screenwriter (d. 1981)
    • 1926 – Abdus Salam, Pakistani-British physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
    • 1926 – Amelita Ramos, 11th First Lady of the Philippines
    • 1927 – Edward Abbey, American environmentalist and author (d. 1989)
    • 1929 – Elio Petri, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 1982)
    • 1929 – Joseph Kruskal, American mathematician and computer scientist (d. 2010)
    • 1931 – Leslie Bricusse, English playwright and composer
    • 1931 – Ferenc Mádl, Hungarian academic and politician, 2nd President of Hungary (d. 2011)
    • 1932 – Raman Subba Row, English cricketer and referee
    • 1932 – Tommy Taylor, English footballer (d. 1958)
    • 1933 – Sacha Distel, French singer and guitarist (d. 2004)
    • 1934 – Branko Miljković, Serbian poet and academic (d. 1961)
    • 1936 – Veturi Sundararama Murthy, Indian poet and songwriter (d. 2010)
    • 1937 – Hassan Habibi, Iranian lawyer and politician, 1st Vice President of Iran (d. 2013)
    • 1937 – Bobby Scott, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (d. 1990)
    • 1939 – Germaine Greer, Australian journalist and author
    • 1940 – Katharine Ross, American actress and author
    • 1940 – Kunimitsu Takahashi, Japanese motorcycle racer and race car driver
    • 1941 – Robin Morgan, American actress, journalist, and author
    • 1943 – Tony Blackburn, English radio and television host
    • 1943 – Pat Quinn, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2014)
    • 1944 – Andrew Loog Oldham, English record producer and manager
    • 1944 – Patrick Lipton Robinson, Jamaican lawyer and judge
    • 1944 – Pauline van der Wildt, Dutch swimmer
    • 1945 – Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, Malian academic and politician, Prime Minister of Mali
    • 1945 – Jim Nicholson, Northern Irish politician
    • 1945 – Tom Selleck, American actor and businessman
    • 1946 – Bettye LaVette, American singer-songwriter
    • 1947 – Linda B. Buck, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1947 – David Byron, English singer-songwriter (d. 1985)
    • 1947 – Marián Varga, Slovak organist and composer
    • 1948 – Raymond Keene, English chess player and author
    • 1949 – doris davenport, American poet and teacher
    • 1949 – Evgeny Lovchev, Russian footballer and manager
    • 1949 – Tommy Ramone, Hungarian-American drummer and producer (d. 2014)
    • 1950 – Ann Jillian, American actress and singer
    • 1950 – Jody Scheckter, South African race car driver and sportscaster
    • 1951 – Fereydoon Forooghi, Iranian singer-songwriter (d. 2001)
    • 1951 – Andy Roberts, Caribbean cricketer
    • 1953 – Peter Baumann, German keyboard player and songwriter
    • 1953 – Charlie Wilson, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1953 – Teresa Teng, Taiwanese singer (d. 1995)
    • 1954 – Christian Bjelland IV, Norwegian businessman and art collector
    • 1954 – Terry Kinney, American actor and director
    • 1954 – Oprah Winfrey, American talk show host, actress, and producer, founded Harpo Productions
    • 1956 – Jan Jakub Kolski, Polish director, screenwriter, and cinematographer
    • 1957 – Philippe Dintrans, French rugby player
    • 1957 – Ron Franscell, American author and journalist
    • 1957 – Grażyna Miller, Italian journalist and poet
    • 1959 – Mike Foligno, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1960 – Gia Carangi, American supermodel (d. 1986)
    • 1960 – Greg Louganis, American diver and author
    • 1961 – Petra Thümer, German swimmer and photographer
    • 1962 – Nicholas Turturro, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1964 – John Anthony Gallagher, English-New Zealand rugby player
    • 1965 – Dominik Hašek, Czech ice hockey player
    • 1965 – Peter Lundgren, Swedish tennis player and coach
    • 1966 – Romário, Brazilian footballer, manager, and politician
    • 1967 – Stacey King, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1968 – Edward Burns, American actor, director, and producer
    • 1968 – Susi Erdmann, German luger and bobsledder
    • 1970 – Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Indian colonel and politician
    • 1970 – Heather Graham, American actress
    • 1970 – Jörg Hoffmann, German swimmer
    • 1970 – Paul Ryan, American economist and politician, 62nd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
    • 1970 – Mohammed Yusuf, Nigerian Islamist leader, founded Boko Haram (d. 2009)
    • 1975 – Sara Gilbert, American actress, producer, and talk show host
    • 1980 – Ivan Klasnic, German-Croatian footballer
    • 1982 – Adam Lambert, American singer, songwriter and actor
    • 1984 – Natalie du Toit, South African swimmer
    • 1984 – Nuno Morais, Portuguese footballer
    • 1985 – Marc Gasol, Spanish basketball player
    • 1987 – José Abreu, Cuban baseball player
    • 1988 – Tatyana Chernova, Russian heptathlete
    • 1988 – Shay Logan, English footballer
    • 1988 – Aydın Yılmaz, Turkish footballer
    • 1989 – Kevin Shattenkirk, American ice hockey player
    • 1993 – Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, Japanese singer

    Deaths on January 29

    • 661 – Ali, cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad (b. 601)
    • 702 – Princess Ōku of Japan (b. 661)
    • 757 – An Lushan, Chinese general (b. 703)
    • 870 – Salih ibn Wasif, Muslim general
    • 1119 – Pope Gelasius II (b. 1060)
    • 1327 – Adolf, Count Palatine of the Rhine (b. 1300)
    • 1465 – Louis, Duke of Savoy (b. 1413)
    • 1597 – Elias Ammerbach, German organist and composer (b. 1530)
    • 1608 – Frederick I, Duke of Württemberg (b. 1557)
    • 1647 – Francis Meres, English priest and author (b. 1565)
    • 1678 – Jerónimo Lobo, Portuguese missionary and author (b. 1593)
    • 1706 – Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset, English poet and courtier (b. 1638)
    • 1737 – George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney, Scottish-English field marshal and politician, Colonial Governor of Virginia (b. 1666)
    • 1743 – André-Hercule de Fleury, French cardinal (b. 1653)
    • 1763 – Louis Racine, French poet (b. 1692)
    • 1820 – George III of the United Kingdom (b. 1738)
    • 1829 – Paul François Jean Nicolas, vicomte de Barras, French captain and politician (b. 1755)
    • 1829 – István Pauli, Hungarian-Slovenian priest and poet (b. 1760)
    • 1870 – Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1797)
    • 1871 – Philippe-Joseph Aubert de Gaspé, Canadian author (b. 1786)
    • 1888 – Edward Lear, English poet and illustrator (b. 1812)
    • 1899 – Alfred Sisley, French-English painter (b. 1839)
    • 1906 – Christian IX of Denmark (b. 1818)
    • 1928 – Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, Scottish field marshal (b. 1861)
    • 1931 – Henri Mathias Berthelot, French general during World War I (b. 1861)
    • 1933 – Sara Teasdale, American poet (b. 1884)
    • 1934 – Fritz Haber, Polish-German chemist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1868)
    • 1941 – Ioannis Metaxas, Greek general and politician, 130th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1871)
    • 1944 – William Allen White, American journalist and author (b. 1868)
    • 1946 – Harry Hopkins, American businessman and politician, 8th United States Secretary of Commerce (b. 1890)
    • 1948 – Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta (b. 1900)
    • 1950 – Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Kuwaiti ruler (b. 1885)
    • 1951 – Frank Tarrant, Australian cricketer and umpire (b. 1880)
    • 1956 – H. L. Mencken, American journalist and critic (b. 1880)
    • 1959 – Winifred Brunton, South African painter and illustrator (b. 1880)
    • 1962 – Fritz Kreisler, Austrian-American violinist and composer (b. 1875)
    • 1963 – Robert Frost, American poet and playwright (b. 1874)
    • 1964 – Alan Ladd, American actor (b. 1913)
    • 1969 – Allen Welsh Dulles, American banker, lawyer, and diplomat, 5th Director of Central Intelligence (b. 1893)
    • 1970 – B. H. Liddell Hart, French-English soldier, historian, and journalist (b. 1895)
    • 1977 – Freddie Prinze, American comedian and actor (b. 1954)
    • 1978 – Frank Nicklin, Australian politician, 28th Premier of Queensland (b. 1895)
    • 1980 – Jimmy Durante, American entertainer (b. 1893)
    • 1991 – Yasushi Inoue, Japanese author and poet (b. 1907)
    • 1992 – Willie Dixon, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1915)
    • 1993 – Adetokunbo Ademola, Nigerian lawyer and jurist, 2nd Chief Justice of Nigeria (b. 1906)
    • 1994 – Ulrike Maier, Austrian skier (b. 1967)
    • 1999 – Lili St. Cyr, American model and dancer (b. 1918)
    • 2002 – Harold Russell, Canadian-American soldier and actor (b. 1914)
    • 2003 – Frank Moss, American lawyer and politician (b. 1911)
    • 2004 – Janet Frame, New Zealand author and poet (b. 1924)
    • 2005 – Ephraim Kishon, Israeli author, screenwriter, and director (b. 1924)
    • 2006 – Nam June Paik, South Korean-American artist, (b. 1932)
    • 2008 – Bengt Lindström, Swedish painter and sculptor (b. 1925)
    • 2008 – Margaret Truman, American singer and author (b. 1924)
    • 2009 – Hélio Gracie, Brazilian martial artist (b. 1913)
    • 2011 – Milton Babbitt, American composer, educator, and theorist (b. 1916)
    • 2012 – Ranjit Singh Dyal, Indian general and politician, 10th Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry (b. 1928)
    • 2012 – Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, Italian lawyer and politician, 9th President of Italy (b. 1918)
    • 2012 – Camilla Williams, American soprano and educator (b. 1919)
    • 2014 – François Cavanna, French journalist and author (b. 1923)
    • 2015 – Colleen McCullough, Australian neuroscientist, author, and academic (b. 1937)
    • 2015 – Rod McKuen, American singer-songwriter and poet (b. 1933)
    • 2015 – Alexander Vraciu, American commander and pilot (b. 1918)
    • 2016 – Jean-Marie Doré, Guinean lawyer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Guinea (b. 1938)
    • 2016 – Jacques Rivette, French director, screenwriter, and critic (b. 1928)
    • 2019 – George Fernandes, Indian politician (b. 1930)
    • 2019 – James Ingram, American musician (b. 1952)

    Holidays and observances on January 29

    • Christian feast day:
      • Andrei Rublev (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • Aquilinus of Milan
      • Constantius of Perugia
      • Dallán Forgaill
      • Gildas
      • Juniper
      • Sabinian of Troyes
      • Sulpitius I of Bourges
      • Valerius of Trèves
      • January 29 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Earliest day on which Fat Thursday can fall, while March 4 is the latest; celebrated on Thursday before Ash Wednesday. (Christianity)
    • Kansas Day (Kansas, United States)

  • January 16 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

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

    Births on January 16

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

    Deaths on January 16

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

    Holidays and observances on January 16

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

  • January 12 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 1528 – Gustav I of Sweden is crowned King of Sweden, having already reigned since his election in June 1523.
    • 1554 – Bayinnaung, who would go on to assemble the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia, is crowned King of Burma.
    • 1616 – The city of Belém, Brazil is founded on the Amazon River delta, by Portuguese captain Francisco Caldeira Castelo Branco.
    • 1808 – John Rennie’s scheme to defend St Mary’s Church, Reculver, founded in 669, from coastal erosion is abandoned in favour of demolition, despite the church being an exemplar of Anglo-Saxon architecture and sculpture.
    • 1808 – The organizational meeting leading to the creation of the Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is held in Edinburgh.
    • 1848 – The Palermo rising takes place in Sicily against the Bourbon Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
    • 1866 – The Royal Aeronautical Society is formed in London.
    • 1872 – Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first imperial coronation in that city in over 200 years.
    • 1895 – The National Trust is founded in the United Kingdom.
    • 1911 – The University of the Philippines College of Law is formally established; three future Philippine presidents are among the first enrollees.
    • 1915 – The United States House of Representatives rejects a proposal to require states to give women the right to vote.
    • 1916 – Both Oswald Boelcke and Max Immelmann, for achieving eight aerial victories each over Allied aircraft, receive the German Empire’s highest military award, the Pour le Mérite as the first German aviators to earn it.
    • 1918 – The Minnie Pit Disaster coal mining accident occurs in Halmer End, Staffordshire, in which 155 men and boys die.
    • 1921 – Acting to restore confidence in baseball after the Black Sox Scandal, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis is elected as Major League Baseball’s first commissioner.
    • 1932 – Hattie Caraway becomes the first woman elected to the United States Senate.
    • 1942 – World War II: United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt creates the National War Labor Board.
    • 1945 – World War II: The Red Army begins the Vistula–Oder Offensive.
    • 1962 – Vietnam War: Operation Chopper, the first American combat mission in the war, takes place.
    • 1964 – Rebels in Zanzibar begin a revolt known as the Zanzibar Revolution and proclaim a republic.
    • 1966 – Lyndon B. Johnson states that the United States should stay in South Vietnam until Communist aggression there is ended.
    • 1967 – Dr. James Bedford becomes the first person to be cryonically preserved with intent of future resuscitation.
    • 1969 – The New York Jets of the American Football League defeat the Baltimore Colts of the National Football League to win Super Bowl III in what is considered to be one of the greatest upsets in sports history.
    • 1970 – Biafra capitulates, ending the Nigerian Civil War.
    • 1971 – The Harrisburg Seven: Rev. Philip Berrigan and five other activists are indicted on charges of conspiring to kidnap Henry Kissinger and of plotting to blow up the heating tunnels of federal buildings in Washington, D.C.
    • 1976 – The United Nations Security Council votes 11–1 to allow the Palestine Liberation Organization to participate in a Security Council debate (without voting rights).
    • 1986 – Space Shuttle program: Congressman Bill Nelson lifts off from Kennedy Space Center aboard Columbia on mission STS-61-C as a payload specialist.
    • 1990 – A seven-day pogrom breaks out against the Armenian civilian population of Baku, Azerbaijan, during which Armenians were beaten, tortured, murdered, and expelled from the city.
    • 1991 – Persian Gulf War: An act of the U.S. Congress authorizes the use of American military force to drive Iraq out of Kuwait.
    • 1998 – Nineteen European nations agree to forbid human cloning.
    • 2001 – Downtown Disney opens to the public as part of the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California.
    • 2004 – The world’s largest ocean liner, RMS Queen Mary 2, makes its maiden voyage.
    • 2005 – Deep Impact launches from Cape Canaveral on a Delta II rocket.
    • 2006 – A stampede during the Stoning of the Devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills at least 362 Muslim pilgrims.
    • 2010 – An earthquake in Haiti occurs, killing between 220,000 and 300,000 people and destroying much of the capital Port-au-Prince.
    • 2012 – Violent protests occur in Bucharest, Romania, as two-day-old demonstrations continue against President Traian Băsescu’s economic austerity measures. Clashes are reported in numerous Romanian cities between protesters and law enforcement officers.
    • 2015 – Government raids kill 143 Boko Haram fighters in Kolofata, Cameroon.
    • 2016 – Ten people are killed and 15 wounded in a bombing near the Blue Mosque in Istanbul.
    • 2020 – Taal Volcano in the Philippines erupts, and kills 39 people.

    Births on January 12

    • 1483 – Henry III of Nassau-Breda (d. 1538)
    • 1562 – Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy (d. 1630)
    • 1576 – Petrus Scriverius, Dutch historian and scholar (d. 1660)
    • 1577 – Jan Baptist van Helmont, Flemish chemist and physician (d. 1644)
    • 1588 – John Winthrop, English lawyer and politician, 2nd Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (d. 1649)
    • 1591 – Jusepe de Ribera, Spanish painter (d. 1652)
    • 1597 – François Duquesnoy, Flemish sculptor and educator (d. 1643)
    • 1598 – Jijabai Shahaji Bhosale, venerated mother of Indian king Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (d. 1674)
    • 1628 – Charles Perrault, French author and academic (d. 1703)
    • 1673 – Rosalba Carriera, Italian painter (d. 1757)
    • 1711 – Gaetano Latilla, Italian composer (d. 1788)
    • 1715 – Jacques Duphly, French organist and composer (d. 1789)
    • 1716 – Antonio de Ulloa, Spanish general and politician, 1st Spanish Governor of Louisiana (d. 1795)
    • 1721 – Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Prussian field marshal (d. 1792)
    • 1723 – Samuel Langdon, American minister, theologian, and academic (d. 1797)
    • 1724 – Frances Brooke, English author and playwright (d. 1789)
    • 1729 – Edmund Burke, Irish philosopher, academic, and politician (d. 1797)
    • 1746 – Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, Swiss philosopher and educator (d. 1827)
    • 1751 – Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies (d. 1825)
    • 1772 – Mikhail Speransky, Russian academic and politician (d. 1839)
    • 1786 – Sir Robert Inglis, 2nd Baronet, English politician (d. 1855)
    • 1792 – Johan August Arfwedson, Swedish chemist and academic (d. 1841)
    • 1797 – Gideon Brecher, Austrian physician and author (d. 1873)
    • 1799 – Priscilla Susan Bury, British botanist (d. 1872)
    • 1822 – Étienne Lenoir, Belgian engineer, designed the internal combustion engine (d. 1900)
    • 1837 – Adolf Jensen, German pianist and composer (d. 1879)
    • 1849 – Jean Béraud, Russian-French painter and academic (d. 1935)
    • 1853 – Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro, Italian mathematician (d. 1925)
    • 1856 – John Singer Sargent, American painter and academic (d. 1925)
    • 1863 – Swami Vivekananda, Indian monk and philosopher (d. 1902)
    • 1869 – Bhagwan Das, Indian philosopher, academic, and politician (d. 1958)
    • 1873 – Spyridon Louis, Greek runner (d. 1940)
    • 1874 – Laura Adams Armer, American author and photographer (d. 1963)
    • 1876 – Fevzi Çakmak, Turkish field marshal and politician, Prime Minister of the Turkish Provisional Government (d. 1950)
    • 1876 – Jack London, American novelist and journalist (d. 1916)
    • 1876 – Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Italian composer and educator (d. 1948)
    • 1877 – Frank J. Corr, American lawyer and politician, 45th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1934)
    • 1878 – Ferenc Molnár, Hungarian-American author and playwright (d. 1952)
    • 1879 – Ray Harroun, American race car driver and engineer (d. 1968)
    • 1879 – Anton Uesson, Estonian engineer and politician, 17th Mayor of Tallinn (d. 1942)
    • 1882 – Milton Sills, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1930)
    • 1884 – Texas Guinan, American entertainer and bootlegger (d. 1933)
    • 1889 – Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad, Indian-Pakistani spiritual leader (d. 1965)
    • 1890 – Johannes Vares, Estonian poet, physician, and politician (d. 1946)
    • 1892 – Mikhail Gurevich, Russian engineer and businessman, co-founded the Russian Aircraft Corporation (d. 1976)
    • 1893 – Hermann Göring, German commander, pilot, and politician, Minister President of Prussia (d. 1946)
    • 1893 – Alfred Rosenberg, Estonian-German architect and politician, Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories (d. 1946)
    • 1894 – Georges Carpentier, French boxer and actor (d. 1975)
    • 1895 – Leo Aryeh Mayer, Polish-Israeli scholar and academic (d. 1959)
    • 1896 – David Wechsler, Romanian-American psychologist and author (d. 1981)
    • 1899 – Pierre Bernac, French opera singer and educator (d. 1979)
    • 1899 – Paul Hermann Müller, Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1965)
    • 1901 – Karl Künstler, German SS officer (d. 1945)
    • 1903 – Igor Kurchatov, Russian physicist and academic (d. 1960)
    • 1903 – Andrew J. Transue, American politician and attorney (Morissette v. United States) (d. 1995)
    • 1904 – Mississippi Fred McDowell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1972)
    • 1905 – Nihal Atsız, Turkish author, poet, and philosopher (d. 1975)
    • 1905 – James Bennett Griffin, American archaeologist and academic (d. 1997)
    • 1905 – Tex Ritter, American actor and singer (d. 1974)
    • 1906 – Emmanuel Levinas, Lithuanian-French historian, philosopher, and academic (d. 1995)
    • 1907 – Sergei Korolev, Russian colonel and engineer (d. 1966)
    • 1908 – Jean Delannoy, French actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2008)
    • 1908 – Clement Hurd, American illustrator (d. 1988)
    • 1910 – Patsy Kelly, American actress and comedian (d. 1981)
    • 1910 – Luise Rainer, German-English actress (d. 2014)
    • 1912 – Richard Kuremaa, Estonian footballer (d. 1991)
    • 1914 – Mieko Kamiya, Japanese psychiatrist and psychologist (d. 1979)
    • 1915 – Paul Jarrico, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1997)
    • 1915 – Joseph-Aurèle Plourde, Canadian archbishop and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1916 – Ruth R. Benerito, American chemist and inventor (d. 2013)
    • 1916 – Mary Wilson, Baroness Wilson of Rievaulx, British poet and Spouse of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 2018)
    • 1916 – P. W. Botha, South African politician, 8th Prime Minister of South Africa (d. 2006)
    • 1917 – Walter Hendl, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2007)
    • 1917 – Jimmy Skinner, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2007)
    • 1920 – James Farmer, American activist, and politician, co-founded Congress of Racial Equality (d. 1999)
    • 1920 – Jerzy Zubrzycki, Polish-Australian sociologist and academic (d. 2009)
    • 1922 – Tadeusz Żychiewicz, Polish journalist and historian (d. 1994)
    • 1923 – Ira Hayes, American marine who raised the U.S. flag on Iwo Jima (d. 1955)
    • 1924 – Olivier Gendebien, Belgian racing driver and businessman (d. 1998)
    • 1925 – Bill Burrud, American television host, producer, and actor (d. 1990)
    • 1926 – Morton Feldman, American composer and academic (d. 1987)
    • 1926 – Ray Price, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
    • 1928 – Ruth Brown, American R&B singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2006)
    • 1929 – Alasdair MacIntyre, Scottish-American philosopher and academic
    • 1929 – Jaakko Hintikka, Finnish philosopher and logician (d. 2015)
    • 1930 – Tim Horton, Canadian ice hockey player and businessman, founded Tim Hortons (d. 1974)
    • 1930 – Jennifer Johnston, Irish author and playwright
    • 1930 – Glenn Yarbrough, American singer and actor (d. 2016)
    • 1933 – Pavlos Matesis, Greek author and playwright (d. 2013)
    • 1934 – Alan Sharp, Scottish-American author and screenwriter (d. 2013)
    • 1934 – Mick Sullivan, English rugby player and coach (d. 2016)
    • 1935 – Teresa del Conde, Mexican historian and critic (d. 2017)
    • 1935 – Kreskin, American mentalist
    • 1936 – Jennifer Hilton, Baroness Hilton of Eggardon, English police officer and politician
    • 1936 – Raimonds Pauls, Latvian pianist and composer
    • 1936 – Brajanath Ratha, Indian poet and activist (d. 2014)
    • 1936 – Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of Home Affairs (d. 2016)
    • 1937 – Shirley Eaton, English actress
    • 1938 – Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Pakistani scholar and politician (d. 2013)
    • 1940 – Bob Hewitt, Australian-South African tennis player
    • 1940 – Ronald Shannon Jackson, American drummer and composer (d. 2013)
    • 1940 – Dick Motz, New Zealand cricketer (d. 2007)
    • 1941 – Long John Baldry, English-Canadian singer-songwriter and voice actor (d. 2005)
    • 1941 – Fiona Caldicott, English psychiatrist and psychotherapist
    • 1941 – Chet Jastremski, American swimmer and physician (d. 2014)
    • 1942 – Bernardine Dohrn, American domestic terrorist, political activist and academic
    • 1944 – Hans Henning Atrott, German author and theorist
    • 1944 – Joe Frazier, American boxer (d. 2011)
    • 1944 – Cynthia Robinson, American R&B trumpet player and singer (d 2015)
    • 1945 – Maggie Bell, Scottish singer-songwriter
    • 1946 – Hazel Cosgrove, Lady Cosgrove, Scottish lawyer and judge
    • 1946 – George Duke, American keyboard player, composer, and educator (d. 2013)
    • 1947 – Richard Carwardine, English historian and academic
    • 1947 – Tom Dempsey, American football player and educator
    • 1947 – Sally Hamwee, Baroness Hamwee, English politician
    • 1948 – Kenny Allen, English footballer
    • 1948 – Anthony Andrews, English actor and producer
    • 1948 – Gordon Campbell, Canadian educator and politician, 34th Premier of British Columbia
    • 1948 – Brendan Foster, English runner and sportscaster
    • 1948 – William Nicholson, English author and screenwriter
    • 1949 – Kentarō Haneda, Japanese pianist and composer (d. 2007)
    • 1949 – Ottmar Hitzfeld, German footballer and manager
    • 1949 – Hamadi Jebali, Tunisian engineer, journalist, and politician, 19th Prime Minister of Tunisia
    • 1949 – Haruki Murakami, Japanese novelist, short-story writer, and essayist
    • 1950 – Sheila Jackson Lee, American lawyer, judge, and politician
    • 1950 – Göran Lindblad, Swedish dentist and politician
    • 1950 – Bob McEwen, American businessman and politician
    • 1950 – Dorrit Moussaieff, Israeli-Icelandic jewelry designer and businesswoman, 5th First Lady of Iceland
    • 1951 – Kirstie Alley, American actress and producer
    • 1951 – Chris Bell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1978)
    • 1951 – Rush Limbaugh, American talk show host and author
    • 1951 – Drew Pearson, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1952 – Phil Perry, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1952 – Ricky Van Shelton, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1952 – John Walker, New Zealand runner and politician
    • 1952 – Walter Mosley, American novelist
    • 1953 – Mary Harron, Canadian director and screenwriter
    • 1954 – Howard Stern, American radio host, actor, and author
    • 1954 – Martin Kylhammar, Swedish professor of culture and society
    • 1955 – Tom Ardolino, American rock drummer (NRBQ) (d. 2012)
    • 1956 – Nikolai Noskov, Russian rock singer and singer-songwriter
    • 1957 – John Lasseter, American animator, director, and producer
    • 1957 – Jeremy Sams, English director, playwright, and composer
    • 1958 – Christiane Amanpour, English-born Iranian-American journalist
    • 1958 – Curt Fraser, American-Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1959 – B. Brian Blair, American wrestler and politician
    • 1959 – Per Gessle, Swedish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1960 – Oliver Platt, Canadian-American actor
    • 1960 – Dominique Wilkins, French-American basketball player and manager
    • 1961 – Simon Russell Beale, Malaysia-born English actor and historian
    • 1962 – Joe Quesada, American author and illustrator
    • 1962 – Richie Richardson, Antiguan cricketer
    • 1962 – Luna Vachon, American-Canadian wrestler and manager (d. 2010)
    • 1963 – François Girard, Canadian director and screenwriter
    • 1963 – Nando Reis, Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1964 – Jeff Bezos, American computer scientist and businessman, founded Amazon.com
    • 1965 – Raekwon, American rapper
    • 1965 – Rob Zombie, American singer-songwriter, producer, actor, and director
    • 1966 – Olivier Martinez, French actor
    • 1966 – Craig Parry, Australian golfer
    • 1967 – Vendela Kirsebom, Norwegian-Swedish model and actress
    • 1968 – Junichi Masuda, Japanese director, producer, and composer
    • 1968 – Heather Mills, English businesswoman, activist and model
    • 1968 – Mauro Silva, Brazilian footballer
    • 1969 – David Mitchell, English novelist
    • 1969 – Margaret Nagle, American screenwriter and producer
    • 1970 – Zack de la Rocha, American singer-songwriter
    • 1971 – Scott Burrell, American basketball player and coach
    • 1972 – Priyanka Gandhi, Indian politician
    • 1972 – Espen Knutsen, Norwegian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1972 – Paul Wilson, Australian cricketer and umpire
    • 1973 – Brian Culbertson, American pianist and producer
    • 1973 – Hande Yener, Turkish singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
    • 1974 – Melanie C, English singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1974 – Tor Arne Hetland, Norwegian skier
    • 1975 – Jason Freese, American saxophonist, songwriter, and producer
    • 1975 – Jocelyn Thibault, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1977 – Yoandy Garlobo, Cuban baseball player
    • 1978 – Luis Ayala, Mexican baseball player
    • 1978 – Maurizio Zaffiri, Italian rugby player
    • 1979 – Marián Hossa, Slovak ice hockey player
    • 1979 – Lee Bo-young, South Korean actress and model
    • 1979 – Grzegorz Rasiak, Polish footballer
    • 1979 – David Zabriskie, American cyclist
    • 1980 – Bobby Crosby, American baseball player
    • 1981 – Amerie, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
    • 1981 – João Paulo Daniel, Brazilian footballer
    • 1981 – Dan Klecko, American football player
    • 1981 – Angus Macdonald, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1981 – Luis Ernesto Pérez, Mexican footballer
    • 1982 – Paul-Henri Mathieu, French tennis player
    • 1982 – Hans Van Alphen, Belgian decathlete
    • 1982 – Dean Whitehead, English footballer
    • 1982 – Dontrelle Willis, American baseball player
    • 1984 – Daniel Sepulveda, American football player
    • 1984 – Jonathan Zydko, French footballer
    • 1985 – Artem Milevskiy, Ukrainian footballer
    • 1985 – Issa Rae, American actress, writer, director, producer and web series creator
    • 1985 – Borja Valero, Spanish footballer
    • 1986 – Kehoma Brenner, German rugby player
    • 1986 – Miguel Ángel Nieto, Spanish footballer
    • 1987 – Naya Rivera, American actress and singer
    • 1987 – Salvatore Sirigu, Italian footballer
    • 1988 – Claude Giroux, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1989 – Thiemo-Jérôme Kialka, German footballer
    • 1989 – Axel Witsel, Belgian footballer
    • 1991 – Pixie Lott, English singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
    • 1991 – Matt Srama, Australian rugby league player
    • 1992 – Ishak Belfodil, Algerian footballer
    • 1992 – Samuele Longo, Italian footballer
    • 1993 – Zayn Malik, English singer-songwriter
    • 1993 – Simone Pecorini, Italian footballer
    • 1993 – Do Kyungsoo, South Korean singer and member of boy band EXO
    • 1995 – Sarah Mehain, Canadian Paralympic swimmer
    • 1995 – Alessio Romagnoli, Italian footballer

    Deaths of January 12

    • 690 – Benedict Biscop, English scholar and saint, founded the Monkwearmouth–Jarrow Abbey (b. 628)
    • 914 – Ahmad Samani, Samanid emir
    • 947 – Sang Weihan, Chinese chief of staff (b. 898)
    • 1140 – Louis I, Landgrave of Thuringia
    • 1167 – Aelred of Rievaulx, English monk and saint (b. 1110)
    • 1320 – John Dalderby, bishop of Lincoln
    • 1321 – Marie of Brabant, Queen of France (b. 1256)
    • 1405 – Eleanor Maltravers, English noblewoman (b. 1345)
    • 1519 – Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1459)
    • 1665 – Pierre de Fermat, French mathematician and lawyer (b. 1601)
    • 1674 – Giacomo Carissimi, Italian priest and composer (b. 1605)
    • 1700 – Marguerite Bourgeoys, French-Canadian nun and saint, founded the Congregation of Notre Dame of Montreal (b. 1620)
    • 1720 – William Ashhurst, English banker and politician, Lord Mayor of London (b. 1647)
    • 1732 – John Horsley, English-Scottish historian and author (b. 1685)
    • 1735 – John Eccles, English composer (b. 1668)
    • 1759 – Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange (b. 1709)
    • 1765 – Johann Melchior Molter, German violinist and composer (b. 1696)
    • 1777 – Hugh Mercer, Scottish-American general and physician (b. 1726)
    • 1778 – François Bigot, French politician (b. 1703)
    • 1781 – Richard Challoner, English bishop (b. 1691)
    • 1829 – Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel, German philosopher, poet, and critic (b. 1772)
    • 1833 – Marie-Antoine Carême, French chef (b. 1784)
    • 1834 – William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, English academic and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1759)
    • 1856 – Ľudovít Štúr, Slovak philologist and politician (b. 1815)
    • 1861 – Václav Hanka, Czech philologist and author (b. 1791)
    • 1892 – James Caulfeild, 3rd Earl of Charlemont, Irish politician, Lord Lieutenant of Tyrone (b. 1820)
    • 1892 – William Reeves, Irish bishop and historian (b. 1815)
    • 1899 – Hiram Walker, American businessman, founded Canadian Club (b. 1816)
    • 1909 – Hermann Minkowski, Lithuanian-German mathematician and academic (b. 1864)
    • 1911 – Andreas Papagiannakopoulos, Greek journalist, judge, and politician (b. 1845)
    • 1916 – Georgios Theotokis, Greek lawyer and politician, 80th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1844)
    • 1921 – Gervase Elwes, English tenor and actor (b. 1866)
    • 1926 – Austin Chapman, Australian businessman and politician, 4th Australian Minister for Defence (b. 1864)
    • 1934 – Paul Kochanski, Polish violinist and composer (b. 1887)
    • 1938 – Oscar Florianus Bluemner, German-American painter and illustrator (b. 1867)
    • 1940 – Ralph Hitz, Austrian-American hotelier (b. 1891)
    • 1940 – Edward Smith, English lieutenant, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1898)
    • 1943 – Jan Campert, Dutch journalist and critic (b. 1902)
    • 1944 – Lance C. Wade, American commander and pilot (b. 1915)
    • 1958 – Charles Hatfield, American meteorologist (b. 1875)
    • 1960 – Nevil Shute, English engineer and author (b. 1899)
    • 1962 – Ariadna Tyrkova-Williams, Russian journalist and activist (b. 1869)
    • 1965 – Lorraine Hansberry, American author, playwright, and director (b. 1936)
    • 1967 – Burhan Asaf Belge, Turkish diplomat (b. 1887)
    • 1971 – John Tovey, 1st Baron Tovey, English admiral (b. 1885)
    • 1973 – Roy Franklin Nichols, American historian and academic (b. 1896)
    • 1974 – Princess Patricia of Connaught (b. 1886)
    • 1976 – Agatha Christie, English crime novelist, short story writer, and playwright (b. 1890)
    • 1977 – Henri-Georges Clouzot, French director and screenwriter (b. 1907)
    • 1983 – Nikolai Podgorny, Ukrainian engineer and politician (b. 1903)
    • 1988 – Connie Mulder, South African politician (b. 1925)
    • 1988 – Piero Taruffi, Italian racing driver and motorcycle racer (b. 1906)
    • 1990 – Laurence J. Peter, Canadian-American author and educator (b. 1919)
    • 1991 – Robert Jackson, Australian public servant and diplomat (b. 1911)
    • 1992 – Kumar Gandharva, a Hindustani classical singer (b. 1924)
    • 1994 – Gustav Naan, Estonian physicist and philosopher (b. 1919)
    • 1996 – Joachim Nitsche, German mathematician and academic (b. 1926)
    • 1997 – Jean-Edern Hallier, French author (b. 1936)
    • 1997 – Charles Brenton Huggins, Canadian-American physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)
    • 1998 – Roger Clark, English racing driver (b. 1939)
    • 1999 – Doug Wickenheiser, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1961)
    • 2000 – Marc Davis, American animator and screenwriter (b. 1913)
    • 2000 – Bobby Phills, American basketball player (b. 1969)
    • 2001 – Luiz Bonfá, Brazilian guitarist and composer (b. 1922)
    • 2001 – William Redington Hewlett, American engineer and businessman, co-founded Hewlett-Packard (b. 1913)
    • 2002 – Cyrus Vance, American lawyer and politician, 57th U.S. Secretary of State (b. 1917)
    • 2003 – Dean Amadon, American ornithologist and author (b. 1912)
    • 2003 – Kinji Fukasaku, Japanese actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1930)
    • 2003 – Leopoldo Galtieri, Argentine general and politician, 44th President of Argentina (b. 1926)
    • 2003 – Maurice Gibb, Manx-Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1949)
    • 2003 – Alan Nunn May, English physicist and spy (b. 1911)
    • 2004 – Olga Ladyzhenskaya, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1921)
    • 2005 – Amrish Puri, Indian actor (b. 1932)
    • 2006 – Pablita Velarde, Santa Clara Pueblo (Native American) painter (b. 1918)
    • 2007 – Alice Coltrane, American pianist and composer (b. 1937)
    • 2007 – James Killen, Australian soldier, lawyer, and politician, 38th Australian Minister for Defence (b. 1925)
    • 2008 – Max Beck, American intersex advocate (b. 1966)
    • 2009 – Claude Berri, French actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1934)
    • 2010 – Daniel Bensaïd, French philosopher and author (b. 1946)
    • 2010 – Hasib Sabbagh, Palestinian businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Consolidated Contractors Company (b. 1920)
    • 2012 – Bjørn G. Andersen, Norwegian geologist and academic (b. 1924)
    • 2012 – Glenda Dickerson, American director, choreographer, and educator (b. 1945)
    • 2012 – Bill Janklow, American lawyer and politician, 27th Governor of South Dakota (b. 1939)
    • 2012 – Charles H. Price II, American businessman and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (b. 1931)
    • 2012 – Jim Stanley, American football player and coach (b. 1935)
    • 2013 – Precious Bryant, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1942)
    • 2013 – Eugene Patterson, American journalist and activist (b. 1923)
    • 2014 – Alexandra Bastedo, English actress (b. 1946)
    • 2014 – Connie Binsfeld, American educator and politician, 58th Lieutenant Governor of Michigan (b. 1924)
    • 2014 – George Dement, American soldier, businessman, and politician (b. 1922)
    • 2015 – Trevor Colbourn, American historian and academic (b. 1927)
    • 2015 – Robert Gover, American journalist and author (b. 1929)
    • 2015 – Carl Long, American baseball player (b. 1935)
    • 2015 – Elena Obraztsova, Russian soprano and actress (b. 1939)
    • 2015 – Inge Vermeulen, Brazilian-Dutch field hockey player (b. 1985)
    • 2017 – William Peter Blatty, American writer and filmmaker (b. 1928)
    • 2017 – Graham Taylor, former Grimsby Town player and former manager of the England football team. (b. 1944)
    • 2018 – Keith Jackson, American sports commentator and journalist (b. 1928)
    • 2020 – Sir Roger Scruton, English philosopher, and writer (b. 1944)

    Holidays and observances on January 12

    • Christian feast day:
      • Aelred of Rievaulx
      • Benedict Biscop
      • Bernard of Corleone
      • Marguerite Bourgeoys
      • Tatiana
      • January 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Earliest day on which Lee–Jackson Day can fall while January 18 is the latest, celebrated on the Friday before Martin Luther King Day. (Commonwealth of Virginia)
    • Memorial Day (Turkmenistan)
    • National Youth Day (India)
    • Prosecutor General’s Day (Russia)
    • Zanzibar Revolution Day (Tanzania)