1601

  • February 8 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    February 8 in History

    • 421 – Constantius III becomes co-Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
    • 1238 – The Mongols burn the Russian city of Vladimir.
    • 1250 – Seventh Crusade: Crusaders engage Ayyubid forces in the Battle of Al Mansurah.
    • 1347 – The Byzantine civil war of 1341–47 ends with a power-sharing agreement between John VI Kantakouzenos and John V Palaiologos.
    • 1575 – Leiden University is founded, and given the motto Praesidium Libertatis.
    • 1587 – Mary, Queen of Scots, is executed on suspicion of having been involved in the Babington Plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.
    • 1590 – Luis de Carvajal y de la Cueva is tortured by the Inquisition in Mexico, charged with concealing the practice Judaism of his sister and her children.
    • 1601 – Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, rebels against Queen Elizabeth I and the revolt is quickly crushed.
    • 1693 – The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, is granted a charter by King William III and Queen Mary II.
    • 1807 – After two days of bitter fighting, the Russians under Bennigsen and the Prussians under L’Estocq concede the Battle of Eylau to Napoleon.
    • 1817 – Las Heras crosses the Andes with an army to join San Martín and liberate Chile from Spain.
    • 1837 – Richard Johnson becomes the first Vice President of the United States chosen by the United States Senate.
    • 1865 – Delaware refuses to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Slavery was outlawed in the United States, including Delaware, when the Amendment was ratified by the requisite number of states on December 6, 1865. Delaware ratified the Thirteenth Amendment on February 12, 1901, which was the ninety-second anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln.
    • 1879 – Sandford Fleming first proposes adoption of Universal Standard Time at a meeting of the Royal Canadian Institute.
    • 1879 – The England cricket team led by Lord Harris is attacked in a riot during a match in Sydney.
    • 1885 – The first government-approved Japanese immigrants arrived in Hawaii.
    • 1887 – The Dawes Act authorizes the President of the United States to survey Native American tribal land and divide it into individual allotments.
    • 1904 – Battle of Port Arthur: A surprise torpedo attack by the Japanese at Port Arthur, China starts the Russo-Japanese War.
    • 1904 – Aceh War: Dutch Colonial Army’s Marechaussee regiment led by General G.C.E. van Daalen launch military campaign to capture Gayo Highland, Alas Highland, and Batak Highland in Dutch East Indies’ Northern Sumatra region, which ends with genocide to Acehnese and Bataks people.
    • 1910 – The Boy Scouts of America is incorporated by William D. Boyce.
    • 1915 – D. W. Griffith’s controversial film The Birth of a Nation premieres in Los Angeles.
    • 1922 – United States President Warren G. Harding introduces the first radio set in the White House.
    • 1924 – Capital punishment: The first state execution in the United States by gas chamber takes place in Nevada.
    • 1942 – World War II: Japan invades Singapore.
    • 1942 – World War II: Dutch Colonial Army General Destruction Unit (AVC, Algemene Vernielings Corps) burns Banjarmasin, South Borneo to avoid Japanese capture.
    • 1945 – World War II: The United Kingdom and Canada commence Operation Veritable to occupy the west bank of the Rhine.
    • 1945 – World War II: Mikhail Devyataev escapes with nine other Soviet inmates from a Nazi concentration camp in Peenemünde on the island of Usedom by hijacking the camp commandant’s Heinkel He 111.
    • 1946 – The first portion of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, the first serious challenge to the popularity of the Authorized King James Version, is published.
    • 1946 – The People’s Republic of Korea is dissolved in the North, establishing the communist-controlled Provisional People’s Committee of North Korea.
    • 1950 – Cold War: The Stasi, the secret police of East Germany, is established.
    • 1955 – The Government of Sindh, Pakistan, abolishes the Jagirdari system in the province. One million acres (4000 km2) of land thus acquired is to be distributed among the landless peasants.
    • 1960 – Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom issues an Order-in-Council, stating that she and her family would be known as the House of Windsor, and that her descendants will take the name Mountbatten-Windsor.
    • 1962 – Charonne massacre. Nine trade unionists are killed by French police at the instigation of Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, then chief of the Paris Prefecture of Police.
    • 1963 – Travel, financial and commercial transactions by United States citizens to Cuba are made illegal by the John F. Kennedy administration.
    • 1963 – The regime of Prime Minister of Iraq, Brigadier General Abd al-Karim Qasim is overthrown by the Ba’ath Party.
    • 1965 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean and explodes, killing everyone aboard.
    • 1968 – American civil rights movement: The Orangeburg massacre: An attack on black students from South Carolina State University who are protesting racial segregation at the town’s only bowling alley, leaves three or four dead in Orangeburg, South Carolina.
    • 1971 – The NASDAQ stock market index opens for the first time.
    • 1971 – South Vietnamese ground troops launch an incursion into Laos to try to cut off the Ho Chi Minh trail and stop communist infiltration.
    • 1974 – After 84 days in space, the crew of Skylab 4, the last crew to visit American space station Skylab, returns to Earth.
    • 1978 – Proceedings of the United States Senate are broadcast on radio for the first time.
    • 1981 – Twenty-one association football spectators are trampled to death at Karaiskakis Stadium in Neo Faliro, Greece, after a football match between Olympiacos F.C. and AEK Athens F.C.
    • 1983 – The Melbourne dust storm hits Australia’s second largest city. The result of the worst drought on record and a day of severe weather conditions, a 320 metres (1,050 ft) deep dust cloud envelops the city, turning day to night.
    • 1986 – Hinton train collision: Twenty-three people are killed when a VIA Rail passenger train collides with a 118-car Canadian National freight train near the town of Hinton, Alberta, west of Edmonton. It is the worst rail accident in Canada until the Lac-Mégantic, Quebec derailment in 2013 which killed forty-seven people.
    • 1989 – Independent Air Flight 1851 strikes Pico Alto mountain while on approach to Santa Maria Airport (Azores) killing all 144 passengers on board.
    • 1993 – General Motors sues NBC after Dateline NBC allegedly rigs two crashes intended to demonstrate that some GM pickups can easily catch fire if hit in certain places. NBC settles the lawsuit the next day.
    • 1993 – An Iran Air Tours Tupolev Tu-154 and an Iranian Air Force Sukhoi Su-24 collide in mid-air near Qods, Iran, killing all 133 people on board both aircraft.
    • 1996 – The U.S. Congress passes the Communications Decency Act.
    • 2005 – Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Tamil politician and former MP A. Chandranehru dies of injuries sustained in an ambush the previous day.
    • 2010 – A freak storm in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan triggers a series of at least 36 avalanches, burying over two miles of road, killing at least 172 people and trapping over 2,000 travelers.
    • 2013 – A blizzard disrupts transportation and leaves hundreds of thousands of people without electricity in the Northeastern United States and parts of Canada.
    • 2014 – A hotel fire in Medina, Saudi Arabia kills 15 Egyptian pilgrims with 130 others injured.

    Births on February 8

    • 120 – Vettius Valens, Greek astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer (probable; d. 175)
    • 412 – Proclus, Greek mathematician and philosopher (probable; d. 485)
    • 882 – Muhammad ibn Tughj al-Ikhshid, Egyptian commander and politician, Abbasid Governor of Egypt (d. 946)
    • 1191 – Yaroslav II of Vladimir (d. 1246)
    • 1291 – Afonso IV of Portugal (d. 1357)
    • 1405 – Constantine XI Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (d. 1453)
    • 1487 – Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1550)
    • 1514 – Daniele Barbaro, Venetian churchman, diplomat and scholar (d. 1570)
    • 1552 – Agrippa d’Aubigné, French poet and soldier (d. 1630)
    • 1577 – Robert Burton, English priest, physician, and scholar (d. 1640)
    • 1591 – Guercino, Italian painter (d. 1666)
    • 1685 – Charles-Jean-François Hénault, French historian and author (d. 1770)
    • 1700 – Daniel Bernoulli, Dutch-Swiss mathematician and physicist (d. 1782)
    • 1720 – Emperor Sakuramachi of Japan (d. 1750)
    • 1741 – André Grétry, Belgian-French organist and composer (d. 1813)
    • 1762 – Gia Long, Vietnamese emperor (d. 1820)
    • 1764 – Joseph Leopold Eybler, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1846)
    • 1792 – Caroline Augusta of Bavaria (d. 1873)
    • 1798 – Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich of Russia (d. 1849)
    • 1807 – Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, English sculptor and zoologist (d. 1889)
    • 1817 – Richard S. Ewell, American general (d. 1872)
    • 1819 – John Ruskin, English author, critic, and academic (d. 1900)
    • 1820 – William Tecumseh Sherman, American general (d. 1891)
    • 1822 – Maxime Du Camp, French photographer and journalist (d. 1894)
    • 1825 – Henry Walter Bates, English geographer, biologist, and explorer (d. 1892)
    • 1828 – Jules Verne, French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1905)
    • 1829 – Vital-Justin Grandin, French-Canadian bishop and missionary (d. 1902)
    • 1830 – Abdülaziz of the Ottoman Empire (d. 1876)
    • 1834 – Dmitri Mendeleev, Russian chemist and academic (d. 1907)
    • 1850 – Kate Chopin, American author (d. 1904)
    • 1860 – Adella Brown Bailey, American politician and suffragist (d. 1937)
    • 1866 – Moses Gomberg, Ukrainian-American chemist and academic (d. 1947)
    • 1876 – Paula Modersohn-Becker, German painter (d. 1907)
    • 1878 – Martin Buber, Austrian-Israeli philosopher and academic (d. 1965)
    • 1880 – Franz Marc, German soldier and painter (d. 1916)
    • 1880 – Viktor Schwanneke, German actor and director (d. 1931)
    • 1882 – Thomas Selfridge, American lieutenant and pilot (d. 1908)
    • 1883 – Joseph Schumpeter, Czech-American economist and political scientist (d. 1950)
    • 1884 – Snowy Baker, Australian boxer, rugby player, and actor (d. 1953)
    • 1886 – Charlie Ruggles, American actor (d. 1970)
    • 1888 – Edith Evans, English actress (d. 1976)
    • 1888 – Giuseppe Ungaretti, Egyptian-Italian soldier, journalist, and poet (d. 1970)
    • 1890 – Claro M. Recto, Filipino lawyer, jurist, and politician (d. 1960)
    • 1893 – Ba Maw, Burmese lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Burma (d. 1977)
    • 1894 – King Vidor, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1982)
    • 1897 – Zakir Hussain, Indian academic and politician, 3rd president of India (d. 1969)
    • 1899 – Lonnie Johnson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1970)
    • 1903 – Greta Keller, Austrian-American singer and actress (d. 1977)
    • 1903 – Tunku Abdul Rahman, 1st Prime Minister of Malaysia (d. 1990)
    • 1906 – Chester Carlson, American physicist and lawyer, invented Xerography (d. 1968)
    • 1909 – Elisabeth Murdoch, Australian philanthropist (d. 2012)
    • 1911 – Elizabeth Bishop, American poet and author (d. 1979)
    • 1913 – Betty Field, American actress (d. 1973)
    • 1913 – Danai Stratigopoulou, Greek singer-songwriter (d. 2009)
    • 1914 – Bill Finger, American author and screenwriter, co-created Batman (d. 1974)
    • 1915 – Georges Guétary, Egyptian-French singer, dancer, and actor (d. 1997)
    • 1918 – Freddie Blassie, American wrestler and manager (d. 2003)
    • 1921 – Barney Danson, Canadian colonel and politician, 21st Canadian Minister of National Defence (d. 2011)
    • 1921 – Nexhmije Hoxha, Albanian politician (d. 2020)
    • 1921 – Lana Turner, American actress (d. 1995)
    • 1922 – Audrey Meadows, American actress and banker (d. 1996)
    • 1925 – Jack Lemmon, American actor (d. 2001)
    • 1926 – Neal Cassady, American author and poet (d. 1968)
    • 1926 – Birgitte Reimer, Danish film actress
    • 1930 – Alejandro Rey, Argentinian-American actor and director (d. 1987)
    • 1931 – James Dean, American actor (d. 1955)
    • 1932 – Cliff Allison, English racing driver and businessman (d. 2005)
    • 1932 – John Williams, American pianist, composer, and conductor
    • 1933 – Elly Ameling, Dutch soprano
    • 1937 – Joe Raposo, American pianist and composer (d. 1989)
    • 1937 – Harry Wu, Chinese human rights activist (d. 2016)
    • 1939 – Jose Maria Sison, Filipino activist and theorist
    • 1940 – Sophie Lihau-Kanza, Congolese politician (d. 1999)
    • 1940 – Ted Koppel, English-American journalist
    • 1941 – Nick Nolte, American actor and producer
    • 1941 – Tom Rush, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1941 – Jagjit Singh, Indian singer-songwriter (d. 2011)
    • 1942 – Robert Klein, American comedian, actor, and singer
    • 1942 – Terry Melcher, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2004)
    • 1944 – Roger Lloyd-Pack, English actor (d. 2014)
    • 1944 – Sebastião Salgado, Brazilian photographer and journalist
    • 1947 – J. Richard Gott, American astronomer and academic
    • 1948 – Dan Seals, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2009)
    • 1949 – Brooke Adams, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1949 – Niels Arestrup, French actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1952 – Marinho Chagas, Brazilian footballer and coach (d. 2014)
    • 1953 – Mary Steenburgen, American actress
    • 1954 – Joe Maddon, American baseball coach and manager
    • 1955 – John Grisham, American lawyer and author
    • 1955 – Jim Neidhart, American wrestler (d. 2018)
    • 1956 – Marques Johnson, American basketball player and sportscaster
    • 1957 – Karine Chemla, French historian of mathematics and sinologist
    • 1958 – Sherri Martel, American wrestler and manager (d. 2007)
    • 1958 – Marina Silva, Brazilian environmentalist and politician
    • 1959 – Heinz Gunthardt, Swiss tennis player
    • 1959 – Andrew Hoy, Australian equestrian rider
    • 1959 – Mauricio Macri, Argentinian businessman and politician, President of Argentina
    • 1960 – Benigno Aquino III, Filipino politician, 15th President of the Philippines
    • 1960 – Dino Ciccarelli, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1961 – Vince Neil, American singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1963 – Mohammad Azharuddin, Indian cricketer and politician
    • 1964 – Arlie Petters, Belizean-American mathematical physicist and academic
    • 1964 – Santosh Sivan, Indian director, cinematographer, producer, and actor
    • 1964 – Trinny Woodall, English fashion designer and author
    • 1966 – Kirk Muller, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1966 – Hristo Stoichkov, Bulgarian footballer and manager
    • 1968 – Gary Coleman, American actor (d. 2010)
    • 1969 – Pauly Fuemana, New Zealand-Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2010)
    • 1969 – Mary Robinette Kowal, American puppeteer and author
    • 1969 – Mary McCormack, American actress and producer
    • 1970 – Stephanie Courtney, American actress and comedian
    • 1970 – John Filan, Australian footballer and coach
    • 1970 – Alonzo Mourning, American basketball player and executive
    • 1971 – Aidy Boothroyd, English footballer and manager
    • 1971 – Mika Karppinen, Swedish-Finnish drummer and songwriter
    • 1972 – Big Show, American wrestler and actor
    • 1974 – Seth Green, American actor, voice artist, comedian, producer, writer, and director
    • 1976 – Khaled Mashud, Bangladeshi cricketer
    • 1976 – Nicolas Vouilloz, French rally driver and mountain biker
    • 1977 – Roman Kostomarov, Russian ice dancer
    • 1978 – Mick de Brenni, Australian politician
    • 1979 – Aaron Cook, American baseball player
    • 1980 – William Jackson Harper, American actor
    • 1981 – Steve Gohouri, Ivorian footballer (d. 2015)
    • 1981 – Myriam Montemayor Cruz, Mexican singer
    • 1983 – Jermaine Anderson, Canadian basketball player
    • 1983 – Cory Jane, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1983 – Jim Verraros, American singer and actor
    • 1984 – Manuel Osborne-Paradis, Canadian skier
    • 1984 – Cecily Strong, American actress
    • 1984 – Panagiotis Vasilopoulos, Greek basketball player
    • 1985 – Petra Cetkovská, Czech tennis player
    • 1985 – Jeremy Davis, American bass player and songwriter
    • 1987 – Javi García, Spanish footballer
    • 1987 – Carolina Kostner, Italian figure skater
    • 1988 – Keegan Meth, Zimbabwean cricketer
    • 1989 – Zac Guildford, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1989 – Julio Jones, American football player
    • 1989 – Courtney Vandersloot, American basketball player
    • 1990 – Emily Scarratt, English rugby union player
    • 1990 – Klay Thompson, American professional basketball player
    • 1991 – Aristidis Soiledis, Greek footballer
    • 1991 – Roberto Soriano, Italian footballer
    • 1991 – Nam Woo-hyun, South Korean singer and actor with the boy band Infinite.
    • 1992 – Bruno Martins Indi, Portuguese-Dutch footballer
    • 1992 – Carl Jenkinson, English-Finnish footballer
    • 1994 – Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Turkish footballer
    • 1994 – Nikki Yanofsky, Canadian singer-songwriter
    • 1995 – Joshua Kimmich, German footballer
    • 1996 – Kenedy, Brazilian footballer

    Deaths on February 8

    • 538 – Severus of Antioch, patriarch of Antioch
    • 1135 – Elvira of Castile, Queen of Sicily (b.c. 1100)
    • 1204 – Alexios IV Angelos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1182)
    • 1229 – Ali ibn Hanzala, sixth Dāʿī al-Muṭlaq of Tayyibi Isma’ilism
    • 1250 – Robert I, Count of Artois (b. 1216)
    • 1250 – William II Longespée, English martyr (b. 1212)
    • 1265 – Hulagu Khan, Mongol ruler (b. 1217)
    • 1285 – Theodoric of Landsberg (b. 1242)
    • 1296 – Przemysł II of Poland (b. 1257)
    • 1314 – Helen of Anjou, queen of Serbia (b. 1236)
    • 1382 – Blanche of France, Duchess of Orléans (b. 1328)
    • 1537 – Saint Gerolamo Emiliani, Italian humanitarian (b. 1481)
    • 1587 – Mary, Queen of Scots (b. 1542)
    • 1599 – Robert Rollock, Scottish theologian and academic (b. 1555)
    • 1623 – Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire (b. 1546)
    • 1676 – Alexis of Russia (b. 1629)
    • 1696 – Ivan V of Russia (b. 1666)
    • 1709 – Giuseppe Torelli, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1658)
    • 1725 – Peter the Great, Russian emperor (b. 1672)
    • 1749 – Jan van Huysum, Dutch painter (b. 1682)
    • 1750 – Aaron Hill, English playwright and poet (b. 1685)
    • 1768 – George Dance the Elder, English architect, designed St Leonard’s and St Botolph’s Aldgate (b. 1695)
    • 1772 – Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha (b. 1719)
    • 1849 – François Habeneck, French violinist and conductor (b. 1781)
    • 1849 – France Prešeren, Slovenian poet and lawyer (b. 1800)
    • 1856 – Agostino Bassi, Italian entomologist and academic (b. 1773)
    • 1907 – Hendrik Willem Bakhuis Roozeboom, Dutch chemist and academic (b. 1854)
    • 1910 – Hans Jæger, Norwegian philosopher and activist (b. 1854)
    • 1914 – Dayrolles Eveleigh-de-Moleyns, 4th Baron Ventry, Irish hereditary peer (b. 1828)
    • 1915 – François Langelier, Canadian journalist, lawyer, and politician, 10th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (b. 1838)
    • 1921 – George Formby Sr, English actor and singer (b. 1876)
    • 1921 – Peter Kropotkin, Russian zoologist, geographer, and philologist (b. 1842)
    • 1928 – Theodor Curtius, German chemist (b. 1857)
    • 1932 – Yordan Milanov, Bulgarian architect, designed the Sveti Sedmochislenitsi Church (b. 1867)
    • 1935 – Eemil Nestor Setälä, Finnish linguist and politician, Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs (b. 1864)
    • 1936 – Charles Curtis, American lawyer and politician, 31st Vice President of the United States (b. 1860)
    • 1945 – Italo Santelli, Italian fencer and coach (b. 1866)
    • 1956 – Connie Mack, American baseball player and manager (b. 1862)
    • 1957 – Walther Bothe, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1891)
    • 1957 – John von Neumann, Hungarian-American mathematician and physicist (b. 1903)
    • 1959 – William J. Donovan, American head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) (b. 1883)
    • 1960 – J. L. Austin, English philosopher and academic (b. 1911)
    • 1960 – Giles Gilbert Scott, English architect and engineer, designed the Red telephone box and Liverpool Cathedral (b. 1880)
    • 1963 – George Dolenz, Italian-American actor (b. 1908)
    • 1964 – Ernst Kretschmer, German psychiatrist and author (b. 1888)
    • 1968 – Maurice Maillot, French actor (b. 1906)
    • 1972 – Markos Vamvakaris, Greek singer-songwriter and bouzouki player (b. 1905)
    • 1975 – Robert Robinson, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1886)
    • 1977 – Eivind Groven, Norwegian composer and theorist (b. 1901)
    • 1979 – Dennis Gabor, Hungarian-English physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1900)
    • 1980 – Nikos Xilouris, Greek singer-songwriter (b. 1936)
    • 1982 – John Hay Whitney, American financier and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (b. 1904)
    • 1985 – William Lyons, English businessman, co-founded Swallow Sidecar Company (b. 1901)
    • 1987 – Harriet E. MacGibbon, American actress (b. 1905)
    • 1990 – Del Shannon, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1934)
    • 1992 – Stanley Armour Dunham, American sergeant (b. 1918)
    • 1992 – Denny Wright, British guitarist (b. 1924)
    • 1994 – Raymond Scott, American pianist and composer (b. 1908)
    • 1996 – Del Ennis, American baseball player (b. 1925)
    • 1997 – Corey Scott, American motorcycle stunt rider (b. 1968)
    • 1998 – Halldór Laxness, Icelandic author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
    • 1998 – Enoch Powell, English soldier and politician, Secretary of State for Health (b. 1912)
    • 1998 – Julian Simon, American economist and author (b. 1932)
    • 1999 – Iris Murdoch, Irish-born British novelist and philosopher (b. 1919)
    • 2000 – Sid Abel, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1918)
    • 2000 – Derrick Thomas, American football player (b. 1967)
    • 2001 – Ivo Caprino, Norwegian director and screenwriter (b. 1920)
    • 2002 – Ong Teng Cheong, Singaporean architect and politician, 5th President of Singapore (b. 1936)
    • 2004 – Julius Schwartz, American journalist and author (b. 1915)
    • 2005 – A. Chandranehru, Sri Lankan sailor and politician (b. 1944)
    • 2006 – Elton Dean, English saxophonist, songwriter, and producer (b. 1945)
    • 2006 – Thierry Fortineau, French actor (b. 1953)
    • 2006 – Akira Ifukube, Japanese composer (b. 1914)
    • 2007 – Anna Nicole Smith, American model and actress (b. 1967)
    • 2007 – Ian Stevenson, Canadian-American psychiatrist and academic (b. 1918)
    • 2008 – Ruby Garrard Woodson, American educator and cultural historian (b. 1931)
    • 2010 – John Murtha, American colonel and politician (b. 1932)
    • 2011 – Tony Malinosky, American baseball player and soldier (b. 1909)
    • 2012 – Wando, Brazilian singer-songwriter (b. 1945)
    • 2012 – Gunther Plaut, German-Canadian rabbi and author (b. 1912)
    • 2012 – Luis Alberto Spinetta, Argentinian singer-songwriter (b. 1950)
    • 2013 – Giovanni Cheli, Italian cardinal (b. 1918)
    • 2013 – James DePreist, American conductor and educator (b. 1936)
    • 2013 – Maureen Dragone, American journalist and author (b. 1920)
    • 2013 – Nevin Scrimshaw, American scientist (b. 1918)
    • 2014 – Els Borst, Dutch physician and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1932)
    • 2014 – Maicon Pereira de Oliveira, Brazilian footballer (b. 1988)
    • 2014 – Nancy Holt, American sculptor and painter (b. 1938)
    • 2015 – Rauni-Leena Luukanen-Kilde, Finnish physician and parapsychologist (b. 1939)
    • 2016 – Amelia Bence, Argentine actress (b. 1914)
    • 2016 – Nida Fazli, Indian poet and songwriter (b. 1938)
    • 2016 – Margaret Forster, English historian, author, and critic (b. 1938)
    • 2016 – Violette Verdy, French ballerina (b. 1933)
    • 2017 – Peter Mansfield, English physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1933)
    • 2017 – Rina Matsuno, Japanese idol singer (Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku) (b. 1998)
    • 2017 – Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, English socialite, television presenter, model, and charity patron (b. 1971)
    • 2017 – Alan Simpson, English scriptwriter (b. 1929)

    Holidays and observances on February 8

    • Christian feast day:
      • Cuthmann of Steyning
      • Elffled of Whitby
      • Gerolamo Emiliani
      • Josephine Bakhita
      • Juventius of Pavia
      • Meingold of Huy
      • Stephen of Muret
      • February 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Earliest day on which Feast of Orthodoxy can fall, while March 14 is the latest; celebrated 42 days before Easter. (Orthodoxy)
    • Parinirvana Day (some Mahayana Buddhism traditions, most celebrate on February 15)
    • Prešeren Day (Slovenia)
    • Propose Day

  • January 20 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution.
    • 649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom.
    • 1265 – The first English parliament to include not only Lords but also representatives of the major towns holds its first meeting in the Palace of Westminster, now commonly known as the “Houses of Parliament”.
    • 1320 – Duke Wladyslaw Lokietek becomes king of Poland.
    • 1356 – Edward Balliol surrenders his claim to the Scottish throne to Edward III in exchange for an English pension.
    • 1523 – Christian II is forced to abdicate as King of Denmark and Norway.
    • 1567 – Battle of Rio de Janeiro: Portuguese forces under the command of Estácio de Sá definitively drive the French out of Rio de Janeiro.
    • 1576 – The Mexican city of León is founded by order of the viceroy Don Martín Enríquez de Almanza.
    • 1649 – The High Court of Justice for the trial of Charles I begins its proceedings.
    • 1783 – The Kingdom of Great Britain signed preliminary articles of peace with France, setting the stage to the official end of hostilities in the American Revolutionary War later that year.
    • 1785 – Invading Siamese forces attempt to exploit the political chaos in Vietnam, but are ambushed and annihilated at the Mekong river by the Tây Sơn in the Battle of Rạch Gầm-Xoài Mút.
    • 1788 – The third and main part of First Fleet arrives at Botany Bay. Arthur Phillip decides that Port Jackson is a more suitable location for a colony.
    • 1839 – In the Battle of Yungay, Chile defeats an alliance between Peru and Bolivia.
    • 1841 – Hong Kong Island is occupied by the British.
    • 1877 – The last day of the Constantinople Conference results in agreement for political reforms in the Balkans.
    • 1887 – The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base.
    • 1921 – The British K-class submarine HMS K5 sinks in the English Channel; all 56 on board die.
    • 1921 – The first Constitution of Turkey is adopted, making fundamental changes in the source and exercise of sovereignty by consecrating the principle of national sovereignty.
    • 1929 – The first full-length talking motion picture filmed outdoors, In Old Arizona, is released.
    • 1936 – King George V of the United Kingdom dies. His eldest son succeeds to the throne, becoming Edward VIII. The title Prince of Wales is not used for another 22 years.
    • 1937 – Franklin D. Roosevelt and John Nance Garner are sworn in for their second terms as U.S. President and U.S. Vice President; it is the first time a Presidential Inauguration takes place on January 20 since the 20th Amendment changed the dates of presidential terms.
    • 1941 – A German officer is killed in Bucharest, Romania, sparking a rebellion and pogrom by the Iron Guard, killing 125 Jews and 30 soldiers.
    • 1942 – World War II: At the Wannsee Conference held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee, senior Nazi German officials discuss the implementation of the “Final Solution to the Jewish question”.
    • 1945 – World War II: The provisional government of Béla Miklós in Hungary agrees to an armistice with the Allies.
    • 1945 – World War II: Germany begins the evacuation of 1.8 million people from East Prussia, a task which will take nearly two months.
    • 1949 – Point Four Program a program for economic aid to poor countries announced by United States President Harry S. Truman in his inaugural address for a full term as President.
    • 1953 – Dwight D. Eisenhower is inaugurated as the 34th President of the United States of America.
    • 1954 – In the United States, the National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations.
    • 1961 – John F. Kennedy is inaugurated the 35th President of the United States of America, becoming the second youngest man to take the office, and the first Catholic.
    • 1969 – Richard Nixon is inaugurated the 37th President of the United States of America.
    • 1972 – Pakistan launched its nuclear weapons program, a few weeks after its defeat in the Bangladesh Liberation War, as well as the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
    • 1977 – Jimmy Carter is inaugurated the 39th President of the United States of America.
    • 1981 – Ronald Reagan is inaugurated the 40th President of the United States of America. Twenty minutes later, Iran releases 52 American hostages.
    • 1986 – In the United States, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.
    • 1989 – George H. W. Bush is inaugurated the 41st President of the United States of America.
    • 1990 – Protests in Azerbaijan, part of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union.
    • 1991 – Sudan’s government imposes Islamic law nationwide, worsening the civil war between the country’s Muslim north and Christian south.
    • 1992 – Air Inter Flight 148, an Airbus A320-111, crashes into a mountain near Strasbourg, France killing 87 of the 96 people on board.
    • 1993 – Bill Clinton is inaugurated the 42nd President of the United States of America.
    • 2001 – George W. Bush is inaugurated the 43rd President of the United States of America.
    • 2001 – President of the Philippines Joseph Estrada is ousted in a nonviolent 4-day revolution, and is succeeded by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
    • 2009 – Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America, becoming the first African-American President of the United States.
    • 2009 – A protest movement in Iceland culminates as the 2009 Icelandic financial crisis protests start.
    • 2017 – Donald Trump is inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States of America, becoming the oldest person to assume the office.
    • 2018 – A group of four or five gunmen attack The Inter-Continental Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, sparking a 12-hour battle. The attack kills 40 people and injures many others.

    Births on January 20

    • 225 – Gordian III, Roman emperor (d. 244)
    • 1029 – Alp Arslan, Seljuk sultan (probable; d. 1072)
    • 1292 – Elizabeth of Bohemia, queen consort of Bohemia (d. 1330)
    • 1436 – Ashikaga Yoshimasa, Japanese shōgun (d. 1490)
    • 1488 – John George, Marquess of Montferrat, Italian noble (d. 1533)
    • 1488 – Sebastian Münster, German scholar, cartographer, and cosmographer (d. 1552)
    • 1499 – Sebastian Franck, German humanist (probable; d. 1543)
    • 1502 – Sebastian de Aparicio, Spanish-Mexican rancher and missionary (d. 1600)
    • 1526 – Rafael Bombelli, Italian mathematician (d. 1572)
    • 1554 – Sebastian of Portugal (d. 1578)
    • 1569 – Heribert Rosweyde, Jesuit hagiographer (d. 1629)
    • 1573 – Simon Marius, German astronomer and academic (d. 1624)
    • 1586 – Johann Hermann Schein, German composer (d. 1630)
    • 1664 – Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, Italian lawyer and jurist (d. 1718)
    • 1703 – Joseph-Hector Fiocco, Flemish violinist and composer (d. 1741)
    • 1716 – Jean-Jacques Barthélemy, French archaeologist and numismatist (d. 1795)
    • 1716 – Charles III of Spain (d. 1788)
    • 1732 – Richard Henry Lee, American lawyer and politician, President of the Continental Congress (d. 1794)
    • 1741 – Carl Linnaeus the Younger, Swedish botanist and author (d. 1783)
    • 1755 – Sir Albemarle Bertie, 1st Baronet, English admiral (d. 1824)
    • 1762 – Jérôme-Joseph de Momigny, Belgian-French composer and theorist (d. 1842)
    • 1775 – André-Marie Ampère, French physicist and mathematician (d. 1836)
    • 1781 – Joseph Hormayr, Baron zu Hortenburg, Austrian-German historian and politician (d. 1848)
    • 1783 – Friedrich Dotzauer, German cellist and composer (d. 1860)
    • 1799 – Anson Jones, American physician and politician, 5th President of the Republic of Texas (d. 1858)
    • 1804 – Eugène Sue, French author and politician (d. 1857)
    • 1812 – Thomas Meik, Scottish engineer (d. 1896)
    • 1814 – David Wilmot, American politician, sponsor of Wilmot Proviso (d. 1868)
    • 1834 – George D. Robinson, American lawyer and politician, 34th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1896)
    • 1855 – Ernest Chausson, French composer (d. 1899)
    • 1856 – Harriot Stanton Blatch, U.S. suffragist and organizer (d. 1940)
    • 1865 – Yvette Guilbert, French singer and actress (d. 1944)
    • 1870 – Guillaume Lekeu, Belgian pianist and composer (d. 1894)
    • 1873 – Johannes V. Jensen, Danish author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1950)
    • 1874 – Steve Bloomer, English footballer and coach (d. 1938)
    • 1876 – Josef Hofmann, Polish-American pianist and composer (d. 1957)
    • 1878 – Finlay Currie, Scottish-English actor (d. 1968)
    • 1879 – Ruth St. Denis, American dancer and educator (d. 1968)
    • 1880 – Walter W. Bacon, American accountant and politician, 60th Governor of Delaware (d. 1962)
    • 1882 – Johnny Torrio, Italian-American mob boss (d. 1957)
    • 1883 – Enoch L. Johnson, American mob boss (d. 1968)
    • 1883 – Forrest Wilson, American journalist and author (d. 1942)
    • 1888 – Lead Belly, American folk/blues musician and songwriter (d. 1949)
    • 1889 – Allan Haines Loughead, American engineer and businessman, founded the Alco Hydro-Aeroplane Company (d. 1969)
    • 1891 – Mischa Elman, Ukrainian-American violinist (d. 1967)
    • 1893 – Georg Åberg, Swedish triple jumper (d. 1946)
    • 1894 – Harold Gray, American cartoonist, created Little Orphan Annie (d. 1968)
    • 1894 – Walter Piston, American composer, theorist, and academic (d. 1976)
    • 1895 – Gábor Szegő, Hungarian mathematician and academic (d. 1985)
    • 1896 – George Burns, American actor, comedian, and producer (d. 1996)
    • 1898 – U Razak, Burmese educator and politician (d. 1947)
    • 1899 – Clarice Cliff, English potter (d. 1972)
    • 1899 – Kenjiro Takayanagi, Japanese engineer (d. 1990)
    • 1900 – Dorothy Annan, English painter, potter, and muralist (d. 1983)
    • 1900 – Colin Clive, English actor (d. 1937)
    • 1902 – Leon Ames, American actor (d. 1993)
    • 1902 – Kevin Barry, Irish Republican Army volunteer (d. 1920)
    • 1906 – Aristotle Onassis, Greek shipping magnate (d. 1975)
    • 1907 – Paula Wessely, Austrian actress and producer (d. 2000)
    • 1908 – Fleur Cowles, American author and illustrator (d. 2009)
    • 1909 – Gōgen Yamaguchi, Japanese martial artist (d. 1989)
    • 1910 – Joy Adamson, Austria-born Kenyan painter and author (d. 1980)
    • 1913 – W. Cleon Skousen, American author and academic (d. 2006)
    • 1915 – Ghulam Ishaq Khan, Pakistani businessman and politician, 7th President of Pakistan (d. 2006)
    • 1918 – Juan García Esquivel, Mexican pianist, composer, and bandleader (d. 2002)
    • 1918 – Nevin Scrimshaw, American scientist (d. 2013)
    • 1920 – Federico Fellini, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 1993)
    • 1920 – DeForest Kelley, American actor (d. 1999)
    • 1920 – Thorleif Schjelderup, Norwegian ski jumper and author (d. 2006)
    • 1921 – Telmo Zarra, Spanish footballer (d. 2006)
    • 1922 – Ray Anthony, American trumpet player, composer, bandleader, and actor
    • 1922 – Don Mankiewicz, American author and screenwriter (d. 2015)
    • 1923 – Slim Whitman, American country and western singer-songwriter and musician (d. 2013)
    • 1924 – Yvonne Loriod, French pianist and composer (d. 2010)
    • 1925 – Jamiluddin Aali, Pakistani poet, playwright, and critic (d. 2015)
    • 1925 – Ernesto Cardenal, Nicaraguan priest, poet, and politician (d. 2020)
    • 1926 – Patricia Neal, American actress (d. 2010)
    • 1926 – David Tudor, American pianist and composer (d. 1996)
    • 1927 – Qurratulain Hyder, Indian-Pakistani journalist and academic (d. 2007)
    • 1928 – Antonio de Almeida, French conductor and musicologist (d. 1997)
    • 1929 – Arte Johnson, American actor and comedian (d. 2019)
    • 1929 – Masaharu Kawakatsu, Japanese biologist
    • 1929 – Fireball Roberts, American race car driver (d. 1964)
    • 1930 – Buzz Aldrin, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
    • 1931 – David Lee, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1931 – Hachidai Nakamura, Japanese pianist and composer (d. 1992)
    • 1932 – Lou Fontinato, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2016)
    • 1934 – Hennie Aucamp, South African poet, author, and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1934 – Tom Baker, English actor
    • 1935 – Dorothy Provine, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2010)
    • 1937 – Bailey Howell, American basketball player
    • 1938 – Derek Dougan, Irish-English footballer and journalist (d. 2007)
    • 1939 – Paul Coverdell, American captain and politician (d. 2000)
    • 1939 – Chandra Wickramasinghe, Sri Lankan-English mathematician, astronomer, and biologist
    • 1940 – Carol Heiss, American figure skater and actress
    • 1940 – Krishnam Raju, Indian actor and politician
    • 1940 – Mandé Sidibé, Malian economist and politician, Prime Minister of Mali (d. 2009)
    • 1942 – Linda Moulton Howe, American journalist and producer
    • 1944 – José Luis Garci, Spanish director and producer
    • 1944 – Farhad Mehrad, Iranian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2002)
    • 1944 – Pat Parker, African American poet
    • 1945 – Christopher Martin-Jenkins, English journalist and sportscaster (d. 2013)
    • 1945 – Eric Stewart, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1946 – David Lynch, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1946 – Vladimír Merta, Czech singer-songwriter, guitarist, and journalist
    • 1947 – Cyrille Guimard, French cyclist and sportscaster
    • 1948 – Nancy Kress, American author and academic
    • 1948 – Natan Sharansky, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Israel
    • 1949 – Göran Persson, Swedish lawyer and politician, 31st Prime Minister of Sweden
    • 1950 – Daniel Benzali, Brazilian-American actor
    • 1950 – William Mgimwa, Tanzanian banker and politician, 13th Tanzanian Minister of Finance (d. 2014)
    • 1950 – Mahamane Ousmane, Nigerien politician, President of Niger
    • 1951 – Iván Fischer, Hungarian conductor and composer
    • 1952 – Nikos Sideris, Greek psychiatrist and poet
    • 1952 – Paul Stanley, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1952 – John Witherow, South African-English journalist and author
    • 1953 – Jeffrey Epstein, American financier and convicted sex offender (d. 2019)
    • 1954 – Alison Seabeck, English lawyer and politician
    • 1955 – McKeeva Bush, Caymanian politician, Premier of the Cayman Islands
    • 1956 – Maria Larsson, Swedish educator and politician, Swedish Minister of Health and Social Affairs
    • 1956 – Bill Maher, American comedian, political commentator, media critic, television host, and producer
    • 1956 – John Naber, American swimmer
    • 1957 – Andy Sheppard, English saxophonist and composer
    • 1958 – Lorenzo Lamas, American actor, director, and producer
    • 1959 – Tami Hoag, American author
    • 1959 – R. A. Salvatore, American author
    • 1960 – Apa Sherpa, Nepalese-American mountaineer
    • 1960 – Scott Thunes, American bass player
    • 1960 – Will Wright, American video game designer, co-founded Maxis
    • 1963 – James Denton, American actor
    • 1963 – Mark Ryden, American painter and illustrator
    • 1964 – Ozzie Guillén, Venezuelan-American baseball player and manager
    • 1964 – Ron Harper, American basketball player and coach
    • 1964 – Jack Lewis, American soldier and author
    • 1964 – Kazushige Nojima, Japanese screenwriter and songwriter
    • 1964 – Aquilino Pimentel III, Filipino lawyer and politician
    • 1964 – Fareed Zakaria, Indian-American journalist and author
    • 1965 – Colin Calderwood, Scottish footballer defender and manager
    • 1965 – Sophie, Countess of Wessex
    • 1965 – Warren Joyce, English footballer and manager
    • 1965 – John Michael Montgomery, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1965 – Anton Weissenbacher, Romanian footballer
    • 1966 – Rainn Wilson, American actor
    • 1967 – Stacey Dash, American actress and television journalist
    • 1967 – Kellyanne Conway, American political strategist and pundit
    • 1968 – Nick Anderson, American basketball player and sportscaster
    • 1968 – Junior Murray, Grenadian cricketer
    • 1969 – Patrick K. Kroupa, American computer hacker and activist, co-founded MindVox
    • 1969 – Nicky Wire, Welsh singer-songwriter and bass player
    • 1970 – Edwin McCain, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1970 – Skeet Ulrich, American actor
    • 1971 – Derrick Green, American singer
    • 1971 – Gary Barlow, English singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
    • 1971 – Ger McDonnell, Irish mountaineer and engineer (d. 2008)
    • 1971 – Jung Woong-in, South Korean actor
    • 1971 – Questlove, American drummer, DJ, and producer
    • 1971 – Wakanohana Masaru, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 66th Yokozuna
    • 1972 – Nikki Haley, American accountant and politician, 116th Governor of South Carolina
    • 1973 – Stephen Crabb, Scottish-Welsh politician, Secretary of State for Wales
    • 1973 – Queen Mathilde of Belgium
    • 1974 – David Dei, Italian footballer and coach
    • 1975 – Norberto Fontana, Argentinian racing driver
    • 1975 – Zac Goldsmith, English journalist and politician
    • 1976 – Kirsty Gallacher, Scottish journalist and sportscaster
    • 1976 – Michael Myers, American football player
    • 1976 – Gretha Smit, Dutch speed skater
    • 1977 – Paul Adams, South African cricketer and coach
    • 1978 – Salvatore Aronica, Italian footballer
    • 1978 – Sonja Kesselschläger, German heptathlete
    • 1978 – Allan Søgaard, Danish footballer
    • 1979 – Choo Ja-hyun, South Korean actress
    • 1979 – Will Young, English singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1980 – Karl Anderson, American wrestler
    • 1980 – Philippe Cousteau, Jr., American-French oceanographer and journalist
    • 1980 – Philippe Gagnon, Canadian swimmer
    • 1980 – Kim Jeong-hoon, South Korean singer and actor
    • 1980 – Petra Rampre, Slovenian tennis player
    • 1980 – Matthew Tuck, Welsh singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1981 – Freddy Guzmán, Dominican baseball player
    • 1981 – Owen Hargreaves, English footballer
    • 1981 – Jason Richardson, American basketball player
    • 1982 – Ruchi Sanghvi, Indian computer engineer
    • 1982 – Fredrik Strømstad, Norwegian footballer
    • 1983 – Geovany Soto, Puerto Rican-American baseball player
    • 1983 – Mari Yaguchi, Japanese singer and actress
    • 1984 – Malek Jaziri, Tunisian tennis player
    • 1985 – Marina Inoue, Japanese voice actress and singer
    • 1985 – Tanel Sokk, Estonian basketball player
    • 1987 – Janin Lindenberg, German sprinter
    • 1987 – Marco Simoncelli, Italian motorcycle racer (d. 2011)
    • 1988 – Uwa Elderson Echiéjilé, Nigerian footballer
    • 1988 – Jeffrén Suárez, Spanish footballer
    • 1989 – Nick Foles, American football player
    • 1989 – Washington Santana da Silva, Brazilian footballer
    • 1989 – Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1990 – Ray Thompson, Australian rugby league player
    • 1991 – Ciara Hanna, American actress and model
    • 1991 – Tom Cairney, Scottish footballer, midfielder
    • 1991 – Polona Hercog, Slovenian tennis player
    • 1991 – Jolyon Palmer, English racing driver
    • 1992 – Jorge Zárate, Mexican footballer
    • 1993 – Lorenzo Crisetig, Italian footballer
    • 1994 – Seán Kavanagh, Irish footballer, defender
    • 1994 – Lucas Piazon, Brazilian footballer
    • 1995 – Joey Badass, American rapper and actor
    • 1995 – Calum Chambers, English footballer, defender

    Deaths on January 20

    • 820 – Al-Shafi‘i, Arab scholar and jurist (b. 767)
    • 842 – Theophilos, Byzantine emperor (b. 813)
    • 882 – Louis the Younger, king of the East Frankish Kingdom
    • 924 – Li Jitao, Chinese general of Later Tang
    • 928 – Zhao Guangfeng, Chinese official and chancellor
    • 1029 – Heonae, Korean queen and regent (b. 964)
    • 1095 – Wulfstan, bishop of Worcester
    • 1156 – Henry, English bishop and saint
    • 1189 – Shi Zong, Chinese emperor of Jin (b. 1123)
    • 1191 – Frederick VI, duke of Swabia (b. 1167)
    • 1191 – Theobald V, count of Blois (b. 1130)
    • 1265 – John Maunsell, English Lord Chancellor
    • 1336 – John de Bohun, 5th Earl of Hereford (b. 1306)
    • 1343 – Robert, king of Naples (b. 1275)
    • 1479 – John II, king of Sicily (b. 1398)
    • 1568 – Myles Coverdale, English bishop and translator (b. 1488)
    • 1612 – Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1552)
    • 1663 – Isaac Ambrose, English minister and author (b. 1604)
    • 1666 – Anne of Austria, Queen and regent of France (b. 1601)
    • 1707 – Humphrey Hody, English scholar and theologian (b. 1659)
    • 1709 – François de la Chaise, French priest (b. 1624)
    • 1751 – John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol, English politician (b. 1665)
    • 1770 – Charles Yorke, English lawyer and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1722)
    • 1779 – David Garrick, English actor, producer, playwright, and manager (b. 1717)
    • 1810 – Benjamin Chew, American lawyer and judge (b. 1721)
    • 1819 – Charles IV, Spanish king (b. 1748)
    • 1837 – John Soane, English architect, designed the Bank of England (b. 1753)
    • 1841 – Jørgen Jørgensen, Danish explorer (b. 1780)
    • 1841 – Minh Mạng, Vietnamese emperor (b. 1791)
    • 1848 – Christian VIII, Danish king (b. 1786)
    • 1850 – Adam Oehlenschläger, Danish poet and playwright (b. 1779)
    • 1852 – Ōnomatsu Midorinosuke, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 6th Yokozuna (b. 1794)
    • 1873 – Basil Moreau, French priest, founded the Congregation of Holy Cross (b. 1799)
    • 1875 – Jean-François Millet, French painter and educator (b. 1814)
    • 1891 – Kalākaua, king of Hawaii (b. 1836)
    • 1900 – John Ruskin, English painter and critic (b. 1819)
    • 1901 – Zénobe Gramme, Belgian engineer, invented the Gramme machine (b. 1826)
    • 1907 – Agnes Mary Clerke, Irish astronomer and author (b. 1842)
    • 1908 – John Ordronaux, American surgeon and academic (b. 1830)
    • 1913 – José Guadalupe Posada, Mexican engraver and illustrator (b. 1852)
    • 1915 – Arthur Guinness, 1st Baron Ardilaun, Irish businessman, philanthropist, and politician (b. 1840)
    • 1920 – Georg Lurich, Estonian-Russian wrestler and strongman (b. 1876)
    • 1921 – Mary Watson Whitney, American astronomer and academic (b. 1847)
    • 1924 – Henry “Ivo” Crapp, Australian footballer and umpire (b. 1872)
    • 1936 – George V of the United Kingdom (b. 1865)
    • 1940 – Omar Bundy, American general (b. 1861)
    • 1944 – James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist and academic (b. 1860)
    • 1947 – Josh Gibson, American baseball player (b. 1911)
    • 1947 – Andrew Volstead, American member of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1860)
    • 1954 – Warren Bardsley, Australian cricketer (b. 1882)
    • 1954 – Fred Root, English cricketer and umpire (b. 1890)
    • 1955 – Robert P. T. Coffin, American author and poet (b. 1892)
    • 1962 – Robinson Jeffers, American poet and philosopher (b. 1887)
    • 1965 – Alan Freed, American radio host (b. 1922)
    • 1971 – Broncho Billy Anderson, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1880)
    • 1971 – Minanogawa Tōzō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 34th Yokozuna (b. 1903)
    • 1973 – Lorenz Böhler, Austrian physician and surgeon (b. 1885)
    • 1973 – Amílcar Cabral, Guinea Bissauan-Cape Verdian engineer and politician (b. 1924)
    • 1977 – Dimitrios Kiousopoulos, Greek jurist and politician, 151st Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1892)
    • 1980 – William Roberts, English soldier and painter (b. 1895)
    • 1983 – Garrincha, Brazilian footballer (b. 1933)
    • 1984 – Johnny Weissmuller, American swimmer and actor (b. 1904)
    • 1988 – Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Pakistani activist and politician (b. 1890)
    • 1988 – Dora Stratou, Greek dancer and choreographer (b. 1903)
    • 1989 – Alamgir Kabir, Bangladeshi director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1938)
    • 1990 – Barbara Stanwyck, American actress (b. 1907)
    • 1993 – Audrey Hepburn, British actress and humanitarian activist (b. 1929)
    • 1994 – Matt Busby, Scottish footballer and coach (b. 1909)
    • 1994 – Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, first Kenyan Vice-President (b. 1911)
    • 1996 – Gerry Mulligan, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1927)
    • 2002 – Carrie Hamilton, American actress and singer (b. 1963)
    • 2003 – Al Hirschfeld, American painter and illustrator (b. 1903)
    • 2003 – Nedra Volz, American actress (b. 1908)
    • 2004 – Alan Brown, English racing driver (b. 1919)
    • 2004 – T. Nadaraja, Sri Lankan lawyer and academic (b. 1917)
    • 2005 – Per Borten, Norwegian lawyer and politician, 18th Prime Minister of Norway (b. 1913)
    • 2005 – Jan Nowak-Jeziorański, Polish journalist and politician (b. 1913)
    • 2005 – Miriam Rothschild, English zoologist, entomologist, and author (b. 1908)
    • 2009 – Stéphanos II Ghattas, Egyptian patriarch (b. 1920)
    • 2012 – Etta James, American singer-songwriter (b. 1938)
    • 2012 – John Levy, American bassist and manager (b. 1912)
    • 2012 – Ioannis Kefalogiannis, Greek politician, Greek Minister of the Interior (b. 1933)
    • 2012 – Alejandro Rodriguez, Venezuelan-American pediatrician and psychiatrist (b. 1918)
    • 2013 – Pavlos Matesis, Greek author and playwright (b. 1933)
    • 2013 – Toyo Shibata, Japanese poet and author (b. 1911)
    • 2014 – Claudio Abbado, Italian conductor (b. 1933)
    • 2014 – Otis G. Pike, American judge and politician (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – Jonas Trinkūnas, Lithuanian ethnologist and academic (b. 1939)
    • 2015 – Edgar Froese, Russian-German keyboard player and songwriter (b. 1944)
    • 2016 – Mykolas Burokevičius, Lithuanian carpenter and politician (b. 1927)
    • 2016 – Edmonde Charles-Roux, French journalist and author (b. 1920)
    • 2018 – Paul Bocuse, French chef (b. 1926)
    • 2018 – Naomi Parker Fraley, American naval machiner (b. 1921)
    • 2020 – Jaroslav Kubera, Czech politician (b. 1947)
    • 2020 – Tom Fisher Railsback, American politician, member of the Illinois and U.S. House of Representatives

    Holidays and observances on January 20

    • Armed Forces Day (Mali)
    • Army Day (Laos)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Abadios
      • Blessed Basil Moreau
      • Eustochia Smeralda Calafato
      • Euthymius the Great
      • Fabian
      • Manchán of Lemanaghan
      • Maria Cristina of the Immaculate Conception Brando
      • Richard Rolle (Church of England)
      • Sebastian
      • Stephen Min Kuk-ka (one of The Korean Martyrs)
      • January 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Heroes’ Day (Cape Verde)
    • Inauguration Day, held every four years in odd-numbered years immediately following years divisible by 4, except for the public ceremony when January 20 falls on Sunday (the public ceremony is held the following day; however, the terms of offices still begin on the 20th) (United States of America, not a federal holiday for all government employees but only for those working in the Capital region)
    • Martyrs’ Day (Azerbaijan)

  • January 13 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 532 – The Nika riots break out, during the racing season at the Hippodrome in Constantinople, as a result of discontent with the rule of the Emperor Justinian I.
    • 1435 – Sicut Dudum, forbidding the enslavement of the Guanche natives in Canary Islands by the Spanish, is promulgated by Pope Eugene IV.
    • 1547 – Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, is sentenced to death for treason, on the grounds of having quartered his arms to make them similar to those of the King, Henry VIII of England.
    • 1793 – Nicolas Jean Hugon de Bassville, representative of Revolutionary France, lynched by a mob in Rome
    • 1797 – French Revolutionary Wars: A naval battle between a French ship of the line and two British frigates off the coast of Brittany ends with the French vessel running aground, resulting in over 900 deaths.
    • 1815 – War of 1812: British troops capture Fort Peter in St. Marys, Georgia, the only battle of the war to take place in the state.
    • 1822 – The design of the Greek flag is adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus.
    • 1833 – United States President Andrew Jackson writes to Vice President Martin Van Buren expressing his opposition to South Carolina’s defiance of federal authority in the Nullification Crisis.
    • 1840 – The steamship Lexington burns and sinks four miles off the coast of Long Island with the loss of 139 lives.
    • 1842 – Dr. William Brydon, an assistant surgeon in the British East India Company Army during the First Anglo-Afghan War, becomes famous for being the sole survivor of an army of 4,500 men and 12,000 camp followers when he reaches the safety of a garrison in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.
    • 1847 – The Treaty of Cahuenga ends the Mexican–American War in California.
    • 1849 – Establishment of the Colony of Vancouver Island.
    • 1849 – Second Anglo-Sikh War – Battle of Chillianwala: British forces retreat from the Sikhs.
    • 1879 – In Mozart Gardens Brooklyn Ada Anderson completed a great feat of pedestrianism – 2700 quarter miles in 2700 quarter hours, earning her $8000.
    • 1888 – The National Geographic Society is founded in Washington, D.C.
    • 1893 – The Independent Labour Party of the United Kingdom holds its first meeting.
    • 1893 – U.S. Marines land in Honolulu, Hawaii from the USS Boston to prevent the queen from abrogating the Bayonet Constitution.
    • 1895 – First Italo-Ethiopian War: the war’s opening battle, the Battle of Coatit, occurs; it is an Italian victory.
    • 1898 – Émile Zola’s J’accuse…! exposes the Dreyfus affair.
    • 1908 – The Rhoads Opera House fire in Boyertown, Pennsylvania kills 171 people.
    • 1910 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; a live performance of the operas Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci are sent out over the airwaves from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.
    • 1915 – The 6.7 Mw  Avezzano earthquake shakes the Province of L’Aquila in Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing between 29,978–32,610.
    • 1920 – The Reichstag Bloodbath of January 13, 1920, the bloodiest demonstration in German history.
    • 1935 – A plebiscite in Saarland shows that 90.3% of those voting wish to join Nazi Germany.
    • 1939 – The Black Friday bushfires burn 20,000 square kilometers of land in Australia, claiming the lives of 71 people.
    • 1942 – Henry Ford patents a plastic automobile, which is 30% lighter than a regular car.
    • 1942 – World War II: First use of an aircraft ejection seat by a German test pilot in a Heinkel He 280 jet fighter.
    • 1950 – British submarine HMS Truculent collides with an oil tanker in the Thames Estuary, killing 64 men.
    • 1950 – Finland forms diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China.
    • 1951 – First Indochina War: The Battle of Vĩnh Yên begins.
    • 1953 – An article appears in Pravda accusing some of the most prestigious and prominent doctors, mostly Jews, in the Soviet Union of taking part in a vast plot to poison members of the top Soviet political and military leadership.
    • 1958 – The Moroccan Army of Liberation ambushes a Spanish patrol in the Battle of Edchera.
    • 1963 – Coup d’état in Togo results in the assassination of president Sylvanus Olympio.
    • 1964 – Anti-Muslim riots break out in Calcutta, resulting in 100 deaths.
    • 1964 – In Manchester, New Hampshire, fourteen-year-old Pamela Mason is murdered. Edward Coolidge is tried and convicted of the crime, but the conviction is set aside by the landmark Fourth Amendment case Coolidge v. New Hampshire (1971).
    • 1966 – Robert C. Weaver becomes the first African American Cabinet member when he is appointed United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
    • 1968 – Johnny Cash performs live at Folsom State Prison.
    • 1972 – Prime Minister Kofi Abrefa Busia and President Edward Akufo-Addo of Ghana are ousted in a bloodless military coup by Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong.
    • 1978 – United States Food and Drug Administration requires all blood donations to be labeled “paid” or “volunteer” donors.
    • 1982 – Shortly after takeoff, Air Florida Flight 90, a Boeing 737 jet, crashes into Washington, D.C.’s 14th Street Bridge and falls into the Potomac River, killing 78 including four motorists.
    • 1985 – A passenger train plunges into a ravine in Ethiopia, killing 428 in the worst railroad disaster in Africa.
    • 1986 – A month-long violent struggle begins in Aden, South Yemen between supporters of Ali Nasir Muhammad and Abdul Fattah Ismail, resulting in thousands of casualties.
    • 1988 – Lee Teng-hui becomes the first native Taiwanese President of the Republic of China.
    • 1990 – Douglas Wilder becomes the first elected African American governor as he takes office as Governor of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia.
    • 1991 – Soviet Union troops attack Lithuanian independence supporters in Vilnius, killing 14 people and wounding around 1000 others.
    • 1993 – Space Shuttle program: Endeavour heads for space for the third time as STS-54 launches from the Kennedy Space Center.
    • 1993 – The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is signed.
    • 1998 – Alfredo Ormando sets himself on fire in St. Peter’s Square, protesting against homophobia.
    • 2001 – An earthquake hits El Salvador, killing more than 800.
    • 2012 – The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia sinks off the coast of Italy due to the captain Francesco Schettino’s negligence and irresponsibility. There are 32 confirmed deaths.
    • 2018 – A false emergency alert warning of an impending missile strike in Hawaii caused widespread panic in the state.
    • 2020 – Taal Volcano in the Philippines spews lava fountains while erupting in the crater.

    Births on January 13

    • 5 BC – Guangwu of Han, Chinese emperor (d. 57)
    • 101 – Lucius Aelius, Roman adopted son of Hadrian (d. 138)
    • 915 – Al-Hakam II, Umayyad caliph (d. 976)
    • 1334 – Henry II, king of Castile and León (d. 1379)
    • 1338 – Jeong Mong-ju, Korean civil minister, diplomat and scholar (d. 1392)
    • 1400 – Infante John, Constable of Portugal (d. 1442)
    • 1477 – Henry Percy, 5th Earl of Northumberland (d. 1527)
    • 1505 – Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg (d. 1571)
    • 1562 – Mark Alexander Boyd, Scottish poet and soldier (d. 1601)
    • 1596 – Jan van Goyen, Dutch painter and illustrator (d. 1656)
    • 1610 – Maria Anna of Bavaria, archduchess of Austria (d. 1665)
    • 1616 – Antoinette Bourignon, French-Flemish mystic and author (d. 1680)
    • 1651 – Henry Booth, 1st Earl of Warrington, English soldier and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (d. 1694)
    • 1683 – Christoph Graupner, German harpsichord player and composer (d. 1760)
    • 1720 – Richard Hurd, English bishop (d. 1808)
    • 1749 – Maler Müller, German poet, painter, and playwright (d. 1825)
    • 1787 – John Davis, American lawyer and politician, 14th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1854)
    • 1804 – Paul Gavarni, French illustrator (d. 1866)
    • 1805 – Thomas Dyer, American lawyer and politician, 18th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1862)
    • 1808 – Salmon P. Chase, American jurist and politician, 6th Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1873)
    • 1810 – Ernestine Rose, American suffragist, abolitionist, and freethinker (d. 1892)
    • 1812 – Victor de Laprade, French poet and critic (d. 1883)
    • 1832 – Horatio Alger, Jr., American novelist and journalist (d. 1899)
    • 1845 – Félix Tisserand, French astronomer and academic (d. 1896)
    • 1858 – Oskar Minkowski, Lithuanian-German biologist and academic (d. 1931)
    • 1859 – Kostis Palamas, Greek poet and playwright (d. 1943)
    • 1861 – Max Nonne, German neurologist and academic (d. 1959)
    • 1864 – Wilhelm Wien, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928)
    • 1865 – Princess Marie of Orléans (d. 1908)
    • 1866 – Vasily Kalinnikov, Russian bassoon player and composer (d. 1901)
    • 1866 – George Gurdjieff, Russian-French mystic and philosopher (d. 1949)
    • 1869 – Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta (d. 1931)
    • 1870 – Ross Granville Harrison, American biologist and anatomist (d. 1959)
    • 1878 – Lionel Groulx, Canadian priest and historian (d. 1967)
    • 1881 – Essington Lewis, Australian engineer and businessman (d. 1961)
    • 1883 – Nathaniel Cartmell, American runner and coach (d. 1967)
    • 1885 – Alfred Fuller, Canadian-American businessman, founded the Fuller Brush Company (d. 1973)
    • 1886 – Art Ross, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (d. 1964)
    • 1887 – Sophie Tucker, Russian-born American singer and actress (d. 1966)
    • 1890 – Jüri Uluots, Estonian journalist, lawyer, and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Estonia (d. 1945)
    • 1892 – Ermanno Aebi, Italian-Swiss footballer (d. 1976)
    • 1893 – Charles Arnison, English lieutenant and pilot (d. 1974)
    • 1893 – Roy Cazaly, Australian footballer and coach (d. 1963)
    • 1893 – Clark Ashton Smith, American poet, sculptor, painter, and author (d. 1961)
    • 1893 – Chaim Soutine, Belarusian-French painter (d. 1943)
    • 1900 – Shimizugawa Motokichi, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1967)
    • 1900 – Gertrude Mary Cox, American mathematician (d. 1978)
    • 1901 – A. B. Guthrie, Jr., American novelist, screenwriter, historian (d. 1991)
    • 1901 – Mieczysław Żywczyński, Polish priest and historian (d. 1978)
    • 1902 – Karl Menger, Austrian-American mathematician from the Vienna Circle (d. 1985)
    • 1904 – Richard Addinsell, English composer (d. 1977)
    • 1904 – Nathan Milstein, Ukrainian-American violinist and composer (d. 1992)
    • 1904 – Dick Rowley, Irish footballer, centre forward (d. 1984)
    • 1905 – Kay Francis, American actress (d. 1968)
    • 1905 – Jack London, English sprinter and pianist (d. 1966)
    • 1906 – Zhou Youguang, Chinese linguist, sinologist, and academic (d. 2017)
    • 1909 – Helm Glöckler, German race car driver (d. 1993)
    • 1910 – Yannis Tsarouchis, Greek painter and illustrator (d. 1989)
    • 1911 – Joh Bjelke-Petersen, New Zealand-Australian farmer and politician, 31st Premier of Queensland (d. 2005)
    • 1914 – Osa Massen, Danish-American actress (d. 2006)
    • 1914 – Ted Willis, Baron Willis, English author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1992)
    • 1919 – Robert Stack, American actor (d. 2003)
    • 1921 – Necati Cumalı, Greek-Turkish author and poet (d. 2001)
    • 1921 – Dachine Rainer, American-English author and poet (d. 2000)
    • 1921 – Arthur Stevens, English footballer, outside right (d. 2007}
    • 1922 – Albert Lamorisse, French director and producer (d. 1970)
    • 1923 – Daniil Shafran, Russian cellist (d. 1997)
    • 1923 – Willem Slijkhuis, Dutch runner (d. 2003)
    • 1924 – Paul Feyerabend, Austrian-Swiss philosopher and academic (d. 1994)
    • 1924 – Roland Petit, French dancer and choreographer (d. 2011)
    • 1925 – Rosemary Murphy, American actress (d. 2014)
    • 1925 – Vanita Smythe, American singer and actress (d. 1994)
    • 1925 – Ron Tauranac, Australian engineer and businessman
    • 1925 – Gwen Verdon, American actress and dancer (d. 2000)
    • 1926 – Michael Bond, English soldier and author, created Paddington Bear (d. 2017)
    • 1926 – Carolyn Gold Heilbrun, American author and academic (d. 2003)
    • 1926 – Melba Liston, American trombonist and composer (d. 1999)
    • 1927 – Brock Adams, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 5th United States Secretary of Transportation (d. 2004)
    • 1927 – Liz Anderson, American singer-songwriter (d. 2011)
    • 1927 – Sydney Brenner, South African biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2019)
    • 1929 – Joe Pass, American guitarist and composer (d. 1994)
    • 1930 – Frances Sternhagen, American actress
    • 1931 – Ian Hendry, English actor (d. 1984)
    • 1931 – Charles Nelson Reilly, American actor, comedian, director, game show panelist, and television personality (d. 2007)
    • 1932 – Barry Bishop, American mountaineer, photographer, and scholar (d. 1994)
    • 1933 – Tom Gola, American basketball player, coach, and politician (d. 2014)
    • 1935 – Rip Taylor, American actor and comedian (d. 2019)
    • 1936 – Renato Bruson, Italian opera singer
    • 1937 – Guy Dodson, New Zealand-English biochemist and academic (d. 2012)
    • 1938 – Cabu, French cartoonist (d. 2015)
    • 1938 – Daevid Allen, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2015)
    • 1938 – Richard Anthony, Egyptian-French singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
    • 1938 – Dave Edwards, American captain and politician (d. 2013)
    • 1938 – Tord Grip, Swedish footballer and manager
    • 1938 – Anna Home, English screenwriter and producer
    • 1939 – Edgardo Cozarinsky, Argentinian author, screenwriter, and director
    • 1939 – Jacek Gmoch, Polish footballer and coach
    • 1939 – Cesare Maniago, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1940 – Edmund White, American novelist, memoirist, and essayist
    • 1941 – Pasqual Maragall, Spanish academic and politician, 127th President of the Generalitat de Catalunya
    • 1941 – Meinhard Nehmer, German bobsledder
    • 1943 – William Duckworth, American composer and author (d. 2012)
    • 1943 – Richard Moll, American actor
    • 1945 – Gordon McVie, English oncologist and author
    • 1945 – Peter Simpson, English footballer
    • 1946 – Ordal Demokan, Turkish physicist and academic (d. 2004)
    • 1946 – Eero Koivistoinen, Finnish saxophonist, composer, and conductor
    • 1947 – John Lees, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1947 – Jacek Majchrowski, Polish historian, lawyer, and politician
    • 1947 – Carles Rexach, Spanish footballer and coach
    • 1948 – Gaj Singh, Indian lawyer and politician
    • 1949 – Rakesh Sharma, Indian commander, pilot, and astronaut
    • 1949 – Brandon Tartikoff, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1997)
    • 1950 – Clive Betts, English economist and politician
    • 1950 – Bob Forsch, American baseball player (d. 2011)
    • 1950 – Gholam Hossein Mazloumi, Iranian footballer and manager (d. 2014)
    • 1952 – Stephen Glover, English journalist, co-founded The Independent
    • 1953 – Silvana Gallardo, American actress and producer (d. 2012)
    • 1954 – Richard Blackford, English composer
    • 1954 – Trevor Rabin, South African-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1955 – Paul Kelly, Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1955 – Jay McInerney, American novelist and critic
    • 1955 – Anne Pringle, English diplomat, British Ambassador to Russia
    • 1957 – Claudia Emerson, American poet and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1957 – Mary Glindon, English lawyer and politician
    • 1957 – Mark O’Meara, American golfer
    • 1957 – Lorrie Moore, American short story writer
    • 1958 – Francisco Buyo, Spanish footballer and manager
    • 1958 – Juan Pedro de Miguel, Spanish handball player (d. 2016)
    • 1959 – Winnie Byanyima, Ugandan engineer, politician, and diplomat
    • 1960 – Eric Betzig, American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1960 – Matthew Bourne, English choreographer and director
    • 1961 – Wayne Coyne, American singer-songwriter and musician
    • 1961 – Kelly Hrudey, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
    • 1961 – Julia Louis-Dreyfus, American actress, comedian, and producer
    • 1962 – Trace Adkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1962 – Paul Higgins, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1964 – Penelope Ann Miller, American actress
    • 1966 – Patrick Dempsey, American actor and race car driver
    • 1966 – Leo Visser, Dutch speed skater and pilot
    • 1968 – Mike Whitlow, English footballer and coach
    • 1969 – Stefania Belmondo, Italian skier
    • 1969 – Stephen Hendry, Scottish snooker player and journalist
    • 1970 – Frank Kooiman, Dutch footballer
    • 1970 – Marco Pantani, Italian cyclist (d. 2004)
    • 1970 – Shonda Rhimes, American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1972 – Mark Bosnich, Australian footballer and sportscaster
    • 1972 – Nicole Eggert, American actress
    • 1972 – Vitaly Scherbo, Belarusian gymnast
    • 1973 – Nikolai Khabibulin, Russian ice hockey player
    • 1973 – Gigi Galli, Italian race driver
    • 1974 – Sergei Brylin, Russian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1975 – Rune Eriksen, Norwegian guitarist and composer
    • 1975 – Mailis Reps, Estonian academic and politician, 31st Estonian Minister of Education and Research
    • 1975 – Andrew Yang, American entrepreneur, founder of Venture for America, and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate
    • 1976 – Mario Yepes, Colombian footballer
    • 1977 – Orlando Bloom, English actor and producer
    • 1977 – Mi-Hyun Kim, South Korean golfer
    • 1977 – Elliot Mason, English trombonist and keyboard player
    • 1977 – James Posey, American basketball player and coach
    • 1978 – Nate Silver, American journalist and statistician, developed PECOTA
    • 1979 – Katy Brand, English actress and screenwriter
    • 1980 – Krzysztof Czerwiński, Polish organist and conductor
    • 1980 – Nils-Eric Johansson, Swedish footballer
    • 1980 – Akira Kaji, Japanese footballer
    • 1980 – Wolfgang Loitzl, Austrian ski jumper
    • 1980 – Mirko Soltau, German footballer
    • 1981 – Reggie Brown, American football player
    • 1981 – Darrell Rasner, American baseball player
    • 1981 – Yujiro Takahashi, Japanese wrestler
    • 1982 – Kamran Akmal, Pakistan cricketer
    • 1982 – Guillermo Coria, Argentinian tennis player
    • 1982 – Constantinos Makrides, Cypriot footballer
    • 1982 – Ruth Wilson, English actress
    • 1983 – Ender Arslan, Turkish basketball player
    • 1983 – Sebastian Kneißl, German footballer
    • 1983 – Mauricio Martín Romero, Argentinian footballer
    • 1984 – Matteo Cavagna, Italian footballer
    • 1984 – Kamghe Gaba, German sprinter
    • 1984 – Nick Mangold, American football player
    • 1985 – Luke Robinson, American wrestler
    • 1986 – Joannie Rochette, Canadian figure skater
    • 1987 – Stefano Del Sante, Italian footballer
    • 1987 – Jack Johnson, American ice hockey player
    • 1987 – Florica Leonida, Romanian gymnast
    • 1987 – Steven Michaels, Australian rugby league player
    • 1987 – Daniel Oss, Italian cyclist
    • 1987 – Marc Staal, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1987 – Sven Wetzel, German rugby player
    • 1988 – Josh Freeman, American football player
    • 1989 – Morgan Burnett, American football player
    • 1989 – Doug Martin, American football player
    • 1990 – Vincenzo Fiorillo, Italian footballer
    • 1990 – Liam Hemsworth, Australian actor
    • 1991 – Rob Kiernan, English-Irish footballer
    • 1992 – Adam Matthews, Welsh footballer
    • 1992 – Dinah Pfizenmaier, German tennis player
    • 1993 – Max Whitlock, English artistic gymnast
    • 1997 – Micah Hart, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1997 – Connor McDavid, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1997 – Ivan Provorov, Russian ice hockey player

    Deaths on January 13

    • 86 BC – Gaius Marius, Roman general and politician (b. 157 BC)
    • 533 – Remigius, French bishop and saint (b. 437)
    • 614 – Mungo, English-Scottish bishop and saint
    • 703 – Jitō, Japanese emperor (b. 645)
    • 858 – Æthelwulf, king of Wessex
    • 888 – Charles the Fat, Frankish king and emperor (b. 839)
    • 927 – Berno of Cluny, Frankish monk and abbot
    • 1001 – Fujiwara no Teishi, Japanese empress (b. 977)
    • 1147 – Robert de Craon, Grand Master of the Knights Templar
    • 1151 – Suger, French historian and politician (b. 1081)
    • 1177 – Henry II, count palatine and duke of Austria (b. 1107)
    • 1321 – Bonacossa Borri, Italian noblewoman (b. 1254)
    • 1330 – Frederick I, duke and king of Germany
    • 1363 – Meinhard III, German nobleman (b. 1344)
    • 1400 – Thomas le Despenser, 1st Earl of Gloucester, English politician (b. 1373)
    • 1599 – Edmund Spenser, English poet, Chief Secretary for Ireland (b. 1552)
    • 1612 – Jane Dormer, English lady-in-waiting (b. 1538)
    • 1625 – Jan Brueghel the Elder, Flemish painter (b. 1568)
    • 1684 – Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk, English nobleman (b. 1628)
    • 1691 – George Fox, English religious leader, founded the Religious Society of Friends (b. 1624)
    • 1717 – Maria Sibylla Merian, German entomologist and illustrator (b. 1647)
    • 1775 – Johann Georg Walch, German theologian and author (b. 1693)
    • 1790 – Luc Urbain de Bouëxic, French admiral (b. 1712)
    • 1796 – John Anderson, Scottish philosopher and educator (b. 1726)
    • 1832 – Thomas Lord, English cricketer, founded Lord’s Cricket Ground (b. 1755)
    • 1838 – Ferdinand Ries, German pianist and composer (b. 1784)
    • 1860 – William Mason, American surgeon and politician (b. 1786)
    • 1864 – Stephen Foster, American composer and songwriter (b. 1826)
    • 1872 – William Scamp, English architect and engineer (b. 1801)
    • 1882 – Wilhelm Mauser, German engineer and businessman, co-founded the Mauser Company (b. 1834)
    • 1885 – Schuyler Colfax, American journalist and politician, 17th Vice President of the United States (b. 1823)
    • 1889 – Solomon Bundy, American lawyer and politician (b. 1823)
    • 1905 – George Thorn, Australian farmer and politician, 6th Premier of Queensland (b. 1838)
    • 1906 – Alexander Stepanovich Popov, Russian physicist and academic (b. 1859)
    • 1907 – Jakob Hurt, Estonian theologist and linguist (b. 1839)
    • 1915 – Mary Slessor, Scottish-Nigerian missionary (b. 1848)
    • 1916 – Victoriano Huerta, Mexican military officer and president, 1913–1914 (b. 1850)
    • 1923 – Alexandre Ribot, French academic and politician, Prime Minister of France (b. 1842)
    • 1924 – Georg Hermann Quincke, German physicist and academic (b. 1834)
    • 1929 – Wyatt Earp, American police officer (b. 1848)
    • 1929 – H. B. Higgins, Irish-Australian judge and politician, 3rd Attorney-General for Australia (b. 1851)
    • 1934 – Paul Ulrich Villard, French physicist and chemist (b. 1860)
    • 1941 – James Joyce, Irish novelist, short story writer, and poet (b. 1882)
    • 1943 – Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Swiss painter and sculptor (b. 1889)
    • 1956 – Lyonel Feininger, German-American painter and illustrator (b. 1871)
    • 1957 – A. E. Coppard English poet and short story writer (b. 1878)
    • 1958 – Jesse L. Lasky, American film producer, co-founded Paramount Pictures (b. 1880)
    • 1962 – Ernie Kovacs, American actor and game show host (b. 1919)
    • 1963 – Sylvanus Olympio, Togolese businessman and politician, President of Togo (b. 1902)
    • 1967 – Anatole de Grunwald, Russian-English screenwriter and producer (b. 1910)
    • 1971 – Robert Still, English composer and educator (b. 1910)
    • 1973 – Sabahattin Eyüboğlu, Turkish screenwriter and producer (b. 1908)
    • 1974 – Raoul Jobin, Canadian tenor and educator (b. 1906)
    • 1974 – Salvador Novo, Mexican playwright and poet (b. 1904)
    • 1976 – Margaret Leighton, English actress (b. 1922)
    • 1977 – Henri Langlois, Turkish-French historian, co-founded the Cinémathèque Française (b. 1914)
    • 1978 – Hubert Humphrey, American pharmacist, academic, and politician, 38th Vice President of the United States (b. 1911)
    • 1978 – Joe McCarthy, American baseball player and manager (b. 1887)
    • 1979 – Donny Hathaway, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (b. 1945)
    • 1979 – Marjorie Lawrence, Australian-American soprano (b. 1907)
    • 1980 – Andre Kostelanetz, Russian-American conductor (b. 1901)
    • 1982 – Marcel Camus, French director and screenwriter (b. 1912)
    • 1983 – René Bonnet, French race car driver and engineer (b. 1904)
    • 1986 – Abdul Fattah Ismail, Yemeni educator and politician, 4th President of South Yemen (b. 1939)
    • 1986 – Kevin Longbottom, Australian rugby league player (b. 1940)
    • 1988 – Chiang Ching-kuo, Chinese politician, President of the Republic of China (b. 1910)
    • 1993 – Camargo Guarnieri, Brazilian composer and conductor (b. 1907)
    • 1995 – Max Harris, Australian journalist, poet, and author (b. 1921)
    • 2002 – Frank Shuster, Canadian actor, comedian, and screenwriter (b. 1916)
    • 2003 – Norman Panama, American director and screenwriter (b. 1914)
    • 2004 – Arne Næss, Jr., Norwegian businessman and mountaineer (b. 1937)
    • 2005 – Earl Cameron, Canadian journalist (b. 1915)
    • 2005 – Nell Rankin, American soprano and actress (b. 1924)
    • 2006 – Frank Fixaris, American journalist and sportscaster (b. 1934)
    • 2006 – Marc Potvin, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (b. 1967)
    • 2007 – Michael Brecker, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1949)
    • 2007 – Danny Oakes, American race car driver (b. 1911)
    • 2008 – Johnny Podres, American baseball player and coach (b. 1932)
    • 2009 – Dai Llewellyn, Welsh humanitarian activist and politician (b. 1946)
    • 2009 – Patrick McGoohan, Irish-American actor, director, and producer (b. 1928)
    • 2009 – Mansour Rahbani, Lebanese poet, composer, and producer (b. 1925)
    • 2009 – W. D. Snodgrass, American poet (b. 1926)
    • 2009 – Nancy Bird Walton, Australian pilot (b. 1915)
    • 2010 – Teddy Pendergrass, American singer-songwriter (b. 1950)
    • 2011 – Albert Heijn, Dutch businessman (b. 1927)
    • 2012 – Rauf Denktaş, Turkish-Cypriot lawyer and politician, 1st President of Northern Cyprus (b. 1924)
    • 2012 – Guido Dessauer, German physicist and engineer (b. 1915)
    • 2012 – Miljan Miljanić, Serbian footballer and manager (b. 1930)
    • 2013 – Diogenes Allen, American philosopher and theologian (b. 1932)
    • 2013 – Rodney Mims Cook, Sr., American lieutenant and politician (b. 1924)
    • 2013 – Chia-Chiao Lin, Chinese-American mathematician and academic (b. 1916)
    • 2014 – Bobby Collins, Scottish footballer and manager (b. 1931)
    • 2014 – Randal Tye Thomas, American journalist and politician (b. 1978)
    • 2014 – Waldemar von Gazen, German general and lawyer (b. 1917)
    • 2015 – Mark Juddery, Australian journalist and author (b. 1971)
    • 2015 – Robert White, American soldier and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Paraguay (b. 1926)
    • 2016 – Brian Bedford, English-American actor and director (b. 1935)
    • 2016 – Giorgio Gomelsky, Georgian-American director, producer, songwriter, and manager (b. 1934)
    • 2016 – Lawrence Phillips, American football player (b. 1975)
    • 2017 – Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, English photographer and sometime member of the British royal family (b. 1930)
    • 2017 – Dick Gautier, American actor (b. 1931)
    • 2017 – Magic Alex, Greek electronics engineer (b. 1942)
    • 2019 – Phil Masinga, South African footballer (b. 1969)

    Holidays and observances on January 13

    • Christian feast day:
      • Blessed Veronica of Milan
      • Elian
      • Hilary of Poitiers
      • Mungo
      • St. Knut’s Day or Tjugondag Knut, the last day of Christmas. (Sweden and Finland)
      • January 13 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Constitution Day (Mongolia)
    • Democracy Day (Cape Verde)
    • Korean-American Day (Korean-American community, United States)
    • Liberation Day (Togo)
    • Old New Year’s Eve (Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Serbia, Montenegro, Republic of Srpska, North Macedonia), and its related observances:
      • Malanka (Ukraine, Russia, Belarus)
    • Sidereal winter solstice’s eve celebrations in South and Southeast Asian cultures; the last day of the six-month Dakshinayana period (see January 14):
      • Bhogi (Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu)
      • Lohri (Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh)
      • Uruka (Assam)
    • Stephen Foster Memorial Day (United States)
    • Yennayer (Berbers)

  • January 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)

  • January 8 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    January 8 in History

    • 307 – Jin Huaidi becomes emperor of China in succession to his father, Jin Huidi, despite a challenge from his uncle, Sima Ying
    • 871 – Alfred the Great leads a West Saxon army to repel an invasion by Danelaw Vikings.
    • 1297 – François Grimaldi, disguised as a monk, leads his men to capture the fortress protecting the Rock of Monaco, establishing his family as the rulers of Monaco
    • 1454 – The papal bull Romanus Pontifex awards the Kingdom of Portugal exclusive trade and colonization rights to all of Africa south of Cape Bojador
    • 1499 – Louis XII of France marries Anne of Brittany in accordance with a law set by his predecessor, Charles VIII.
    • 1547 – The first Lithuanian-language book, the Catechism of Martynas Mažvydas, is published in Königsberg.
    • 1735 – The premiere of George Frideric Handel’s Ariodante takes place at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
    • 1746 – Second Jacobite rising: Bonnie Prince Charlie occupies Stirling.
    • 1790 – George Washington delivers the first State of the Union address in New York City.
    • 1806 – Cape Colony in southern Africa becomes a British colony as a result of the Battle of Blaauwberg.
    • 1811 – An unsuccessful slave revolt is led by Charles Deslondes in the north American settlements of St. Charles and St. James, Louisiana.
    • 1815 – War of 1812: Battle of New Orleans: Andrew Jackson leads American forces in victory over the British.
    • 1828 – The Democratic Party of the United States is organized.
    • 1835 – The United States national debt is zero for the only time.
    • 1863 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Springfield.
    • 1867 – African American men are granted the right to vote in Washington, D.C.
    • 1877 – Crazy Horse and his warriors fight their last battle against the United States Cavalry at Wolf Mountain, Montana Territory.
    • 1889 – Herman Hollerith is issued US patent #395,791 for the ‘Art of Applying Statistics’ — his punched card calculator.
    • 1904 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system.
    • 1912 – The African National Congress is founded, under the name South African Native National Congress (SANNC).
    • 1918 – U.S. President Woodrow Wilson announces his “Fourteen Points” for the aftermath of World War I.
    • 1920 – The steel strike of 1919 ends in failure for the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers labor union.
    • 1926 – Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuỵ ascends the throne to become the last monarch of Vietnam.
    • 1926 – Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz.
    • 1936 – Kashf-e hijab decree is made and immediately enforced by Reza Shah, Iran’s head of state, banning the wearing of Islamic veils in public.
    • 1940 – World War II: Britain introduces food rationing.
    • 1945 – World War II: Philippine Commonwealth troops under the Philippine Commonwealth Army units enter the province of Ilocos Sur in Northern Luzon and attack Japanese Imperial forces.
    • 1956 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. missionaries are killed by the Huaorani of Ecuador shortly after making contact with them.
    • 1959 – Charles de Gaulle is proclaimed as the first President of the French Fifth Republic.
    • 1961 – In France a referendum supports Charles de Gaulle’s policies in Algeria.
    • 1963 – Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is exhibited in the United States for the first time, at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
    • 1964 – President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a “War on Poverty” in the United States.
    • 1972 – Bowing to international pressure, President of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto releases Bengali leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from prison, who had been arrested after declaring the independence of Bangladesh.
    • 1973 – Soviet space mission Luna 21 is launched.
    • 1973 – Watergate scandal: The trial of seven men accused of illegal entry into Democratic Party headquarters at Watergate begins.
    • 1975 – Ella T. Grasso becomes Governor of Connecticut, the first woman to serve as a Governor in the United States other than by succeeding her husband.
    • 1977 – Three bombs explode in Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union, within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
    • 1981 – A local farmer reports a UFO sighting in Trans-en-Provence, France, claimed to be “perhaps the most completely and carefully documented sighting of all time”.
    • 1982 – Breakup of the Bell System: AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions.
    • 1989 – Kegworth air disaster: British Midland Flight 92, a Boeing 737-400, crashes into the M1 motorway, killing 47 of the 126 people on board.
    • 1994 – Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov on Soyuz TM-18 leaves for Mir. He would stay on the space station until March 22, 1995, for a record 437 days in space.
    • 1996 – An Antonov An-32 cargo aircraft crashes into a crowded market in Kinshasa, Zaire, killing up to 223 on the ground; two of six crew members are also killed.
    • 2002 – President George W. Bush signs into law the No Child Left Behind Act.
    • 2003 – Turkish Airlines Flight 634 crashes near Diyarbakır Airport, Turkey, killing the entire crew and 70 of the 75 passengers.
    • 2003 – Air Midwest Flight 5481 crashes at Charlotte-Douglas Airport, Charlotte, North Carolina, killing all 21 people on board.
    • 2004 – The RMS Queen Mary 2, then the largest ocean liner ever built, is christened by her namesake’s granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
    • 2005 – The nuclear sub USS San Francisco collides at full speed with an undersea mountain south of Guam. One man is killed, but the sub surfaces and is repaired.
    • 2009 – A 6.1-magnitude earthquake in northern Costa Rica kills 15 people and injures 32.
    • 2010 – Gunmen from an offshoot the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda attack a bus carrying the Togo national football team on its way to the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, killing three.
    • 2011 – The attempted assassination of Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords and subsequent shooting in Casas Adobes, Arizona, in which five people were shot dead.
    • 2016 – Joaquín Guzmán, widely regarded as the world’s most powerful drug trafficker, is recaptured following his escape from a maximum security prison in Mexico.
    • 2020 – Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 crashes immediately after takeoff at Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport; all 176 on board are killed. The plane was shot down by an Iranian anti-aircraft missile.

    Births on January 8

    • 1037 – Su Dongpo, Chinese calligrapher and poet (d. 1101)
    • 1345 – Kadi Burhan al-Din, poet, kadi, and ruler of Sivas (d. 1398)
    • 1462 – Walraven II van Brederode, Dutch nobleman (d. 1531)
    • 1529 – John Frederick II, duke of Saxony (d. 1595)
    • 1556 – Uesugi Kagekatsu, Japanese daimyō (d. 1623)
    • 1583 – Simon Episcopius, Dutch theologian and academic (d. 1643)
    • 1587 – Johannes Fabricius, German astronomer and academic (d. 1616)
    • 1587 – Jan Pieterszoon Coen, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1629
    • 1589 – Ivan Gundulić, Croatian poet and playwright (d. 1638)
    • 1601 – Baltasar Gracián, Spanish priest and author (d. 1658)
    • 1628 – François-Henri de Montmorency, duc de Luxembourg, French general (d. 1695)
    • 1632 – Samuel von Pufendorf, German economist and jurist (d. 1694)
    • 1635 – Luis Manuel Fernández de Portocarrero, Spanish cardinal (d. 1709)
    • 1638 – Elisabetta Sirani, Italian painter (d. 1665)
    • 1735 – John Carroll, American archbishop, founder of Georgetown University (d. 1815)
    • 1763 – Edmond-Charles Genêt, French-American translator and diplomat (d. 1834)
    • 1786 – Nicholas Biddle, American banker and financier (d. 1844)
    • 1788 – Rudolf of Austria, Austrian archduke and archbishop (d. 1831)
    • 1792 – Lowell Mason, American composer and educator (d. 1872)
    • 1805 – John Bigler, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, 3rd Governor of California (d. 1871)
    • 1805 – Orson Hyde, American religious leader, 3rd President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (d. 1878)
    • 1812 – Sigismond Thalberg, Swiss pianist and composer (d. 1871)
    • 1817 – Theophilus Shepstone, English-South African politician (d. 1893)
    • 1821 – James Longstreet, American general and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Turkey (d. 1904)
    • 1823 – Alfred Russel Wallace, Welsh geographer, biologist, and explorer (d. 1913)
    • 1824 – Wilkie Collins, English novelist, playwright, and short story writer (d. 1889)
    • 1824 – Francisco González Bocanegra, Mexican poet and composer (d. 1861)
    • 1830 – Hans von Bülow, German pianist and composer (d. 1894)
    • 1836 – Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Dutch-English painter and academic (d. 1912)
    • 1843 – Frederick Abberline, English police officer (d. 1929)
    • 1843 – Karl Eduard Heusner, German admiral (d. 1891)
    • 1852 – James Milton Carroll, American pastor and author (d. 1931)
    • 1854 – Fanny Bullock Workman, American mountaineer, geographer, and cartographer (d. 1925)
    • 1860 – Emma Booth, English author (d. 1903)
    • 1862 – Frank Nelson Doubleday, American publisher, founded the Doubleday Publishing Company (d. 1934)
    • 1864 – Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (d. 1892)
    • 1865 – Winnaretta Singer, American philanthropist (d. 1943)
    • 1866 – William G. Conley, American educator and politician, 18th Governor of West Virginia (d. 1940)
    • 1867 – Emily Greene Balch, American economist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1961)
    • 1870 – Miguel Primo de Rivera, Spanish general and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1930)
    • 1871 – James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, Irish captain and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Northern Ireland (d. 1940)
    • 1873 – Iuliu Maniu, Romanian lawyer and politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Romania (d. 1953)
    • 1876 – Arturs Alberings, Latvian lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Latvia (d. 1934)
    • 1879 – Charles Bryant, English-American actor and director (d. 1948)
    • 1881 – Henrik Shipstead, American dentist and politician (d. 1960)
    • 1881 – Linnie Marsh Wolfe, American librarian and author (d. 1945)
    • 1883 – Pavel Filonov, Russian painter and poet (d. 1941)
    • 1883 – Patrick J. Hurley, American general, politician, and diplomat, 51st United States Secretary of War (d. 1963)
    • 1885 – John Curtin, Australian journalist and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1945)
    • 1885 – Mór Kóczán, Hungarian javelin thrower and pastor (d. 1972)
    • 1885 – A. J. Muste, Dutch-American pastor and activist (d. 1967)
    • 1888 – Richard Courant, German-American mathematician and academic (d. 1972)
    • 1891 – Walther Bothe, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
    • 1891 – Storm Jameson, English journalist and author (d. 1986)
    • 1891 – Bronislava Nijinska, Russian dancer and choreographer (d. 1972) name=”Jöckle1995″>Clemens Jöckle (1995). Encyclopedia of Saints. Alpine Fine Arts Collection. p. 319. ISBN 978-0-88168-226-7.</ref>
    • 1896 – Jaromír Weinberger, Czech-American composer and academic (d. 1967)
    • 1897 – Dennis Wheatley, English soldier and author (d. 1977)
    • 1899 – S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (d. 1959)
    • 1900 – Dorothy Adams, American character actress (d. 1988)
    • 1900 – Merlyn Myer, Australian philanthropist (d. 1982)
    • 1902 – Georgy Malenkov, Russian engineer and politician (d. 1988)
    • 1902 – Carl Rogers, American psychologist and academic (d. 1987)
    • 1904 – Karl Brandt, German physician and SS officer (d. 1948)
    • 1904 – Tampa Red, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 1981)
    • 1905 – Carl Gustav Hempel, German philosopher from the Vienna and the Berlin Circle (d. 1997)
    • 1905 – Giacinto Scelsi, Italian composer and poet (d. 1988)
    • 1906 – Serge Poliakoff, Russian-French painter (d. 1969)
    • 1907 – Keizō Hayashi, Japanese general and civil servant (d. 1991)
    • 1908 – Fearless Nadia, Australian-Indian actress and stuntwoman (d. 1996)
    • 1908 – William Hartnell, English actor (d. 1975)
    • 1909 – Ashapoorna Devi, Indian author and poet (d. 1995)
    • 1909 – Willy Millowitsch, German actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1999)
    • 1909 – Bruce Mitchell, South African cricketer (d. 1995)
    • 1909 – Evelyn Wood, American author and educator (d. 1995)
    • 1910 – Galina Ulanova, Russian actress and ballerina (d. 1998)
    • 1911 – Gypsy Rose Lee, American actress, dancer, and author (d. 1970)
    • 1912 – José Ferrer, Puerto Rican-American actor and director (d. 1992)
    • 1912 – Lawrence Walsh, Canadian-American lawyer, judge, and politician, 4th United States Deputy Attorney General (d. 2014)
    • 1915 – Walker Cooper, American baseball player and manager (d. 1991)
    • 1917 – Peter Matthew Hillsman Taylor, American novelist, short story writer, and playwright (d. 1994)
    • 1922 – Dale D. Myers, American engineer (d. 2015)
    • 1923 – Larry Storch, American actor and comedian
    • 1923 – Giorgio Tozzi, American opera singer and actor (d. 2011)
    • 1923 – Johnny Wardle, English cricketer (d. 1985)
    • 1923 – Joseph Weizenbaum, German-American computer scientist and author (d. 2008)
    • 1924 – Benjamin Lees, Chinese-American soldier and composer (d. 2010)
    • 1924 – Ron Moody, English actor and singer (d. 2015)
    • 1925 – Mohan Rakesh, Indian author and playwright (d. 1972)
    • 1926 – Evelyn Lear, American operatic soprano (d. 2012)
    • 1926 – Lazzaro Donati, Italian artist (d. 1977)
    • 1926 – Kerwin Mathews, American actor (d. 2007)
    • 1926 – Kelucharan Mohapatra, Indian dancer and choreographer (d. 2004)
    • 1926 – Hanae Mori, Japanese fashion designer
    • 1926 – Soupy Sales, American comedian and actor (d. 2009)
    • 1927 – Charles Tomlinson, English poet and academic (d. 2015)
    • 1928 – Slade Gorton, American colonel, lawyer, and politician, 14th Attorney General of Washington
    • 1928 – Gaston Miron, Canadian poet and author (d. 1996)
    • 1928 – Luther Perkins, American country guitarist (d. 1968)
    • 1929 – Saeed Jaffrey, Indian-British actor (d. 2015)
    • 1931 – Bill Graham, German-American businessman (d. 1991)
    • 1931 – Clarence Benjamin Jones, American lawyer and scholar
    • 1933 – Nolan Miller, American fashion and jewelry designer (d. 2012)
    • 1933 – Charles Osgood, American soldier and journalist
    • 1933 – Jean-Marie Straub, French director and screenwriter
    • 1933 – Willie Tasby, American baseball player
    • 1934 – Jacques Anquetil, French cyclist (d. 1987)
    • 1934 – Gene Freese, American baseball player and manager (d. 2013)
    • 1934 – Roy Kinnear, British actor (d. 1988)
    • 1934 – Alexandra Ripley, American author (d. 2004)
    • 1935 – Lewis H. Lapham, American publisher, founded Lapham’s Quarterly
    • 1935 – Elvis Presley, American singer, guitarist, and actor (d. 1977)
    • 1936 – Zdeněk Mácal, Czech-American conductor
    • 1936 – Robert May, Baron May of Oxford, Australian-English zoologist, ecologist, and academic (d. 2020)
    • 1937 – Shirley Bassey, Welsh singer
    • 1938 – Bob Eubanks, American game show host and producer
    • 1938 – Yevgeny Nesterenko, Russian opera singer and educator
    • 1939 – Carolina Herrera, Venezuelan-American fashion designer
    • 1939 – Ruth Maleczech, American actress (d. 2013)
    • 1939 – Alan Wilson, English mathematician and academic
    • 1940 – Mark Bretscher, English biologist and academic
    • 1940 – Cristy Lane, American country and gospel singer
    • 1941 – Graham Chapman, English actor and screenwriter (d. 1989)
    • 1942 – Stephen Hawking, English physicist and author (d. 2018)
    • 1942 – Junichirō Koizumi, Japanese politician, 56th Prime Minister of Japan
    • 1942 – Yvette Mimieux, American actress
    • 1942 – Royce Waltman, American basketball player and coach (d. 2014)
    • 1943 – Charles Murray, American political scientist and author
    • 1944 – Terry Brooks, American lawyer and author
    • 1945 – Nancy Bond, American author and academic
    • 1945 – Phil Beal, English footballer, defender
    • 1945 – Kadir Topbaş, Turkish architect and politician, 31st Mayor of Istanbul
    • 1946 – Robby Krieger, American guitarist and songwriter
    • 1946 – Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, Mexican drug lord
    • 1947 – Don Bendell, American rancher and author
    • 1947 – David Bowie, English singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (d. 2016)
    • 1947 – David Gates, American journalist and novelist
    • 1947 – Antti Kalliomäki, Finnish pole vaulter and politician
    • 1947 – Luke Williams, New Zealand-American wrestler
    • 1948 – Gillies MacKinnon, Scottish director and screenwriter
    • 1949 – Lawrence Rowe, Jamaican cricketer
    • 1951 – Kenny Anthony, Saint Lucian politician, 5th Prime Minister of Saint Lucia
    • 1951 – Karen Tei Yamashita, American author and academic
    • 1952 – Vladimir Feltsman, Russian-American pianist and educator
    • 1952 – Peter McCullagh, Irish mathematician and academic
    • 1953 – Bruce Sutter, American baseball player
    • 1954 – Konstantinos Kypriotis, Greek martial artist (d. 1995)
    • 1955 – Spiros Livathinos, Greek footballer and coach
    • 1955 – Mike Reno, Canadian singer and drummer
    • 1957 – Nacho Duato, Spanish dancer and choreographer
    • 1958 – Betsy DeVos, American businesswoman and politician, 11th Secretary of Education
    • 1958 – Rey Misterio, Sr., Mexican wrestler, trainer, and actor
    • 1959 – Kim Duk-koo, South Korean boxer (d. 1982)
    • 1959 – Paul Hester, Australian drummer (d. 2005)
    • 1960 – Dave Weckl, American drummer
    • 1961 – Calvin Smith, American sprinter
    • 1966 – Willie Anderson, American basketball player
    • 1966 – Igor Vyazmikin, Russian ice hockey player (d. 2009)
    • 1966 – Andrew Wood, American singer-songwriter (d. 1990)
    • 1967 – Torsten Gowitzke, German footballer and manager
    • 1967 – Steven Jacobs, Australian television host and actor
    • 1967 – R. Kelly, American singer-songwriter, record producer, and former professional basketball player
    • 1967 – Tom Watson, English politician
    • 1971 – Jason Giambi, American baseball player
    • 1971 – Jesper Jansson, Swedish footballer
    • 1971 – Pascal Zuberbühler, Swiss footballer and coach
    • 1972 – Paul Clement, English footballer, coach, and manager
    • 1972 – Giuseppe Favalli, Italian footballer
    • 1973 – Mike Cameron, American baseball player
    • 1975 – Harris Jayaraj, Indian composer and producer
    • 1976 – Kenneth Andam, Ghanaian sprinter and businessman
    • 1976 – Carl Pavano, American baseball player
    • 1977 – Amber Benson, American actress, writer, director, and producer
    • 1977 – Francesco Coco, Italian footballer
    • 1979 – Seol Ki-hyeon, South Korean footballer and manager
    • 1979 – Adrian Mutu, Romanian footballer
    • 1979 – Stipe Pletikosa, Croatian footballer
    • 1979 – Sarah Polley, Canadian actress, director, and screenwriter
    • 1980 – Adam Goodes, Australian footballer
    • 1980 – Rachel Nichols, American actress and producer
    • 1981 – Jeff Francis, Canadian baseball player
    • 1981 – Trent Waterhouse, Australian rugby league player
    • 1982 – Gaby Hoffmann, American actress
    • 1983 – Jon Daly, Irish footballer
    • 1984 – Jeff Francoeur, American baseball player
    • 1984 – Jeon Ji-ae, South Korean actress
    • 1984 – Kim Jong-un, North Korean soldier and politician, 3rd Supreme Leader of North Korea (probable)
    • 1986 – David Silva, Spanish footballer
    • 1988 – Adrián López, Spanish footballer
    • 1988 – Michael Mancienne, English footballer
    • 1989 – Aaron Cruden, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1991 – Josh Hazlewood, Australian cricketer
    • 1991 – Stefan Johansen, Norwegian footballer
    • 1991 – Stefan Savić, Montenegrin footballer
    • 1991 – Shin Ji-min, South Korean singer and rapper
    • 1992 – Stefanie Dolson, American basketball player
    • 1992 – Koke, Spanish footballer
    • 1992 – Apostolos Vellios, Greek footballer

    Deaths on January 8

    • 307 – Hui of Jin, Chinese emperor (b. 259)
    • 482 – Severinus of Noricum, Italian apostle and saint
    • 871 – Bagsecg, Viking warrior and leader
    • 926 – Athelm, archbishop of Canterbury
    • 1079 – Adèle of France, countess of Flanders (b. 1009)
    • 1107 – Edgar, king of Scotland (b. 1074)
    • 1198 – Celestine III, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1106)
    • 1332 – Andronikos III, emperor of Trebizond
    • 1337 – Giotto, Italian painter and architect, designed Scrovegni Chapel and Giotto’s Campanile (b. 1266)
    • 1354 – Charles de La Cerda, French nobleman (b. 1327)
    • 1424 – Stephen Zaccaria, archbishop of Patras
    • 1456 – Lawrence Giustiniani, Italian bishop and saint (b. 1381)
    • 1464 – Thomas Ebendorfer, Austrian historian and academic (b. 1385)
    • 1538 – Beatrice of Portugal, duchess of Savoy (b. 1504)
    • 1557 – Albert Alcibiades, margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (b. 1522)
    • 1570 – Philibert de l’Orme, French sculptor and architect, designed the Château d’Anet (b. 1510)
    • 1598 – John George, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1525)
    • 1642 – Galileo Galilei, Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher (b. 1564)
    • 1664 – Moses Amyraut, French physician and theologian (b. 1596)
    • 1707 – John Dalrymple, 1st Earl of Stair, Scottish soldier and politician, Scottish Secretary of State (b. 1648)
    • 1713 – Arcangelo Corelli, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1653)
    • 1775 – John Baskerville, English printer and type designer (b. 1706)
    • 1789 – Jack Broughton, English boxer (b. 1703)
    • 1794 – Justus Möser, German lawyer and jurist (b. 1720)
    • 1815 – Edward Pakenham, Anglo-Irish general and politician (b. 1778)
    • 1825 – Eli Whitney, American engineer and theorist, invented the cotton gin (b. 1765)
    • 1853 – Mihály Bertalanits, Slovene-Hungarian poet and educator (b. 1788)
    • 1854 – William Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford, English field marshal and politician, Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance (b. 1768)
    • 1865 – Aimé, duc de Clermont-Tonnerre, French general and politician, French Minister of Defence (b. 1779)
    • 1874 – Charles Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg, French historian and archaeologist (b. 1814)
    • 1878 – Nikolay Nekrasov, Russian poet and critic (b. 1821)
    • 1878 – Gauchito Gil, Argentinian saint (b. 1847)
    • 1880 – Emperor Norton, English-American businessman (b. 1811)
    • 1883 – Miska Magyarics, Slovene-Hungarian poet (b. 1825)
    • 1896 – William Rainey Marshall, American banker and politician, 5th Governor of Minnesota (b. 1825)
    • 1896 – Paul Verlaine, French poet and writer (b. 1844)
    • 1901 – John Barry, Irish soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1873)
    • 1912 – Friedrich Schrempf, German journalist and politician (b. 1858)
    • 1914 – Simon Bolivar Buckner, American general and 30th Governor of Kentucky (b. 1823)
    • 1916 – Rembrandt Bugatti, Italian sculptor (b. 1884)
    • 1916 – Ada Rehan, Irish-American actress (b. 1860)
    • 1918 – Johannes Pääsuke, Estonian photographer and director (b. 1892)
    • 1918 – Ellis H. Roberts, American journalist and politician, 20th Treasurer of the United States (b. 1827)
    • 1920 – Josef Josephi, Polish-born singer and actor (b.1852)
    • 1925 – George Bellows, American painter (b.1882)
    • 1934 – Andrei Bely, Russian novelist, poet, and critic (b. 1880)
    • 1934 – Alexandre Stavisky, Ukrainian-French financier (b. 1886)
    • 1935 – Rauf Yekta, Turkish musicologist and author (b. 1871)
    • 1938 – Johnny Gruelle, American author and illustrator (b. 1880)
    • 1941 – Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, English general (b. 1857)
    • 1942 – Joseph Franklin Rutherford, American lawyer and religious leader (b. 1869)
    • 1943 – Richard Hillary, Australian pilot and author (b. 1919)
    • 1943 – Andres Larka, Estonian general and politician, 1st Estonian Minister of War (b. 1879)
    • 1944 – William Kissam Vanderbilt II, American lieutenant and sailor (b. 1878)
    • 1945 – Karl Ernst Krafft, Swiss astrologer and author (b. 1900)
    • 1948 – Kurt Schwitters, German painter and graphic designer (b. 1887)
    • 1950 – Joseph Schumpeter, Czech-American economist and academic (b. 1883)
    • 1952 – Antonia Maury, American astronomer and astrophysicist (b. 1866)
    • 1953 – Hugh Binney, English admiral and politician, 16th Governor of Tasmania (b. 1883)
    • 1954 – Eduard Wiiralt, Estonian-French painter and illustrator (b. 1898)
    • 1956 – Jim Elliot, American missionary and martyr (b. 1928)
    • 1958 – Mary Colter, American architect, designed the Desert View Watchtower (b. 1869)
    • 1961 – Schoolboy Rowe, American baseball player and coach (b. 1910)
    • 1963 – Kay Sage, American painter (b. 1898)
    • 1969 – Albert Hill, English runner and coach (b. 1889)
    • 1969 – Elmar Kaljot, Estonian footballer and coach (b. 1901)
    • 1970 – Georges Guibourg, French actor, singer, and playwright (b. 1891)
    • 1972 – Kenneth Patchen, American poet and author (b. 1911)
    • 1975 – Richard Tucker, American tenor (b. 1913)
    • 1976 – Zhou Enlai, Chinese soldier and politician, 1st Premier of the People’s Republic of China (b. 1898)
    • 1976 – Robert Forgan, Scottish-English physician and politician (b. 1891)
    • 1979 – Sara Carter, American singer-songwriter and harp player (b. 1898)
    • 1980 – John Mauchly, American physicist and academic (b. 1907)
    • 1981 – Matthew Beard, American actor (b. 1925)
    • 1982 – Grégoire Aslan, Swiss-English actor and screenwriter (b. 1908)
    • 1983 – Gerhard Barkhorn, German general and pilot (b. 1919)
    • 1983 – Tom McCall, American journalist and politician, 30th Governor of Oregon (b. 1913)
    • 1983 – Gale Page, American actress (b. 1910)
    • 1984 – Eerik Kumari, Estonian ornithologist and academic (b. 1912)
    • 1986 – Pierre Fournier, French cellist and educator (b. 1906)
    • 1990 – Bernard Krigstein, American illustrator (b. 1919)
    • 1990 – Terry-Thomas, English actor and comedian (b. 1911)
    • 1991 – Steve Clark, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1960)
    • 1994 – Pat Buttram, American actor and comedian (b. 1915)
    • 1994 – Harvey Haddix, American baseball player and coach (b. 1925)
    • 1996 – Metin Göktepe, Turkish photographer and journalist (b. 1968)
    • 1996 – François Mitterrand, French sergeant and politician, 21st President of France (b. 1916)
    • 1996 – Howard Taubman, American author and critic (b. 1907)
    • 1997 – Melvin Calvin, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
    • 1998 – Michael Tippett, English composer and conductor (b. 1905)
    • 2002 – Alexander Prokhorov, Australian-Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
    • 2002 – Dave Thomas, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Wendy’s (b. 1932)
    • 2003 – Ron Goodwin, English composer and conductor (b. 1925)
    • 2004 – John A. Gambling, American radio host (b. 1930)
    • 2006 – Tony Banks, Baron Stratford, Northern Irish broadcaster and politician, Minister for Sport and the Olympics (b. 1943)
    • 2007 – Jane Bolin, American lawyer and judge (b. 1908)
    • 2007 – Arthur Cockfield, Baron Cockfield, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (b. 1916)
    • 2007 – Yvonne De Carlo, Canadian-American actress and singer (b. 1922)
    • 2007 – David Ervine, Northern Irish politician and activist (b. 1953)
    • 2007 – Iwao Takamoto, American animator, director, and producer (b. 1925)
    • 2008 – George Moore, Australian jockey and trainer (b. 1923)
    • 2009 – Lasantha Wickrematunge, Sri Lankan Journalist (b. 1958)
    • 2010 – Art Clokey, American animator, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1921)
    • 2011 – Jiří Dienstbier, Czech journalist and politician (b. 1937)
    • 2011 – Thorbjørn Svenssen, Norwegian footballer (b. 1924)
    • 2012 – Dave Alexander, American singer and pianist (b. 1938)
    • 2012 – T. J. Hamblin, English haematologist and academic (b. 1943)
    • 2012 – John Madin, English architect, designed the Birmingham Central Library (b. 1924)
    • 2012 – Bernhard Schrader, German chemist and academic (b. 1931)
    • 2012 – Alexis Weissenberg, Bulgarian-French pianist and educator (b. 1929)
    • 2013 – Kenojuak Ashevak, Canadian sculptor and illustrator (b. 1927)
    • 2013 – Jeanne Manford, American educator and activist, co-founded PFLAG (b. 1920)
    • 2013 – Alasdair Milne, Indian-English director and producer (b. 1930)
    • 2014 – Vicente T. Blaz, American general and politician (b. 1928)
    • 2014 – Madeline Gins, American poet and architect (b. 1941)
    • 2014 – Irma Heijting-Schuhmacher, Dutch-Australian swimmer (b. 1925)
    • 2014 – Antonino P. Roman, Filipino lawyer and politician (b. 1939)
    • 2015 – Andraé Crouch, American singer-songwriter, producer, and pastor (b. 1942)
    • 2015 – Kep Enderby, Australian lawyer, judge, and politician, 23rd Attorney-General for Australia (b. 1926)
    • 2015 – Patsy Garrett, American actress and singer (b. 1921)
    • 2016 – Maria Teresa de Filippis, Italian racing driver (b. 1926)
    • 2016 – German Moreno, Filipino television host, actor, comedian and talent manager (b. 1933)
    • 2017 – Nicolai Gedda, Swedish operatic tenor (b. 1925)
    • 2017 – James Mancham, Seychellois politician (b. 1939)
    • 2017 – Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Iranian politician (b. 1934)
    • 2017 – Peter Sarstedt, Indian-British singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1941)
    • 2020 – Pat Dalton, Australian rules footballer (b. 1942)
    • 2020 – Buck Henry, American actor, screenwriter, and director (b. 1930)

    Holidays and observances on January 8

    • Babinden (Belarus, Russia)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Abo of Tiflis
      • Apollinaris Claudius
      • Blessed Eurosia Fabris
      • Gauchito Gil (Folk Catholicism)
      • Gudula
      • Harriet Bedell (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • Lawrence Giustiniani
      • Lucian of Beauvais
      • Maximus of Pavia
      • Our Lady of Prompt Succor (Roman Catholic Church)
      • Pega (Anglican and Roman Catholic churches)
      • Severinus of Noricum
      • Thorfinn of Hamar
      • January 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Commonwealth Day (Northern Mariana Islands)
    • Earliest day on which Children’s Day can fall, while January 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Saturday in January. (Thailand)
    • Earliest day on which Lee–Jackson Day can fall, while January 14 is the latest; celebrated on Friday before Martin Luther King Jr. Day. (Virginia)
    • Typing Day (International observance)