1752

  • January 19 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 379 – Emperor Gratian elevates Flavius Theodosius at Sirmium to Augustus, and gives him authority over all the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire.
    • 649 – Conquest of Kucha: The forces of Kucha surrender after a forty-day siege led by Tang dynasty general Ashina She’er, establishing Tang control over the northern Tarim Basin in Xinjiang.
    • 1419 – Hundred Years’ War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England, completing his reconquest of Normandy.
    • 1511 – The Italian city-fortress of Mirandola surrenders to the French.
    • 1520 – Sten Sture the Younger, the Regent of Sweden, is mortally wounded at the Battle of Bogesund and dies on February 3.
    • 1607 – San Agustin Church in Manila is officially completed; it is the oldest church still standing in the Philippines.
    • 1764 – John Wilkes is expelled from the British House of Commons for seditious libel.
    • 1764 – Bolle Willum Luxdorph records in his diary that a mail bomb, possibly the world’s first, has severely injured the Danish Colonel Poulsen, residing at Børglum Abbey.
    • 1788 – The second group of ships of the First Fleet arrive at Botany Bay.
    • 1795 – The Batavian Republic is proclaimed in the Netherlands, bringing to an end the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands.
    • 1806 – Britain occupies the Dutch Cape Colony after the Battle of Blaauwberg.
    • 1817 – An army of 5,423 soldiers, led by General José de San Martín, crosses the Andes from Argentina to liberate Chile and then Peru.
    • 1829 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust: The First Part of the Tragedy receives its premiere performance.
    • 1839 – The British East India Company captures Aden.
    • 1853 – Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Il trovatore receives its premiere performance in Rome.
    • 1861 – American Civil War: Georgia joins South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama in declaring secession from the United States.
    • 1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Mill Springs: The Confederacy suffers its first significant defeat in the conflict.
    • 1871 – Franco-Prussian War: In the Siege of Paris, Prussia wins the Battle of St. Quentin. Meanwhile, the French attempt to break the siege in the Battle of Buzenval will end unsuccessfully the following day.
    • 1883 – The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires, built by Thomas Edison, begins service at Roselle, New Jersey.
    • 1899 – Anglo-Egyptian Sudan is formed.
    • 1915 – Georges Claude patents the neon discharge tube for use in advertising.
    • 1915 – German strategic bombing during World War I: German zeppelins bomb the towns of Great Yarmouth and King’s Lynn in the United Kingdom killing at least 20 people, in the first major aerial bombardment of a civilian target.
    • 1917 – Silvertown explosion: A blast at a munitions factory in London kills 73 and injures over 400. The resulting fire causes over £2,000,000 worth of damage.
    • 1920 – The United States Senate votes against joining the League of Nations.
    • 1920 – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is founded.
    • 1937 – Howard Hughes sets a new air record by flying from Los Angeles to New York City in 7 hours, 28 minutes, 25 seconds.
    • 1940 – You Nazty Spy!, the first Hollywood film of any kind to satirize Adolf Hitler and the Nazis premieres, starring The Three Stooges, with Moe Howard as the character “Moe Hailstone” satirizing Hitler.
    • 1941 – World War II: HMS Greyhound and other escorts of convoy AS-12 sink Italian submarine Neghelli with all hands 40 miles (64 km) northeast of Falkonera.
    • 1942 – World War II: The Japanese conquest of Burma begins.
    • 1945 – World War II: Soviet forces liberate the Łódź Ghetto. Of more than 200,000 inhabitants in 1940, less than 900 had survived the Nazi occupation.
    • 1946 – General Douglas MacArthur establishes the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo to try Japanese war criminals.
    • 1953 – Almost 72 percent of all television sets in the United States are tuned into I Love Lucy to watch Lucy give birth.
    • 1960 – Japan and the United States sign the US–Japan Mutual Security Treaty
    • 1969 – Student Jan Palach dies after setting himself on fire three days earlier in Prague’s Wenceslas Square to protest about the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union in 1968. His funeral turns into another major protest.
    • 1974 – China gains control over all the Paracel Islands after a military engagement between the naval forces of China and South Vietnam
    • 1977 – President Gerald Ford pardons Iva Toguri D’Aquino (a.k.a. “Tokyo Rose”).
    • 1978 – The last Volkswagen Beetle made in Germany leaves VW’s plant in Emden. Beetle production in Latin America continues until 2003.
    • 1981 – Iran hostage crisis: United States and Iranian officials sign an agreement to release 52 American hostages after 14 months of captivity.
    • 1983 – Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie is arrested in Bolivia.
    • 1983 – The Apple Lisa, the first commercial personal computer from Apple Inc. to have a graphical user interface and a computer mouse, is announced.
    • 1986 – The first IBM PC computer virus is released into the wild. A boot sector virus dubbed (c)Brain, it was created by the Farooq Alvi Brothers in Lahore, Pakistan, reportedly to deter unauthorized copying of the software they had written.
    • 1991 – Gulf War: Iraq fires a second Scud missile into Israel, causing 15 injuries.
    • 1993 – Czech Republic and Slovakia join the United Nations.
    • 1995 – After being struck by lightning the crew of Bristow Flight 56C are forced to ditch. All 18 aboard are later rescued.
    • 1996 – The barge North Cape oil spill occurs as an engine fire forces the tugboat Scandia ashore on Moonstone Beach in South Kingstown, Rhode Island.
    • 1997 – Yasser Arafat returns to Hebron after more than 30 years and joins celebrations over the handover of the last Israeli-controlled West Bank city.
    • 1999 – British Aerospace agrees to acquire the defence subsidiary of the General Electric Company plc, forming BAE Systems in November 1999.
    • 2007 – Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink is assassinated in front of his newspaper’s Istanbul office by 17-year-old Turkish ultra-nationalist Ogün Samast.
    • 2007 – Four-man Team N2i, using only skis and kites, completes a 1,093-mile (1,759 km) trek to reach the Antarctic pole of inaccessibility for the first time since 1965 and for the first time ever without mechanical assistance.
    • 2012 – The Hong Kong-based file-sharing website Megaupload is shut down by the FBI.
    • 2014 – A bomb attack on an army convoy in the city of Bannu kills at least 26 Pakistani soldiers and injures 38 others.

    Births on January 19

    • 399 – Pulcheria, Byzantine empress and saint (d. 453)
    • 1200 – Dōgen Zenji, founder of Sōtō Zen (d. 1253)
    • 1544 – Francis II of France (d. 1560)
    • 1617 – Lucas Faydherbe, Flemish sculptor and architect (d. 1697)
    • 1628 – Charles Stanley, 8th Earl of Derby, English noble (d. 1672)
    • 1676 – John Weldon, English organist and composer (d. 1736)
    • 1721 – Jean-Philippe Baratier, German scholar and author (d. 1740)
    • 1736 – James Watt, Scottish-English chemist and engineer (d. 1819)
    • 1737 – Giuseppe Millico, Italian soprano, composer, and educator (d. 1802)
    • 1739 – Joseph Bonomi the Elder, Italian architect, designed Longford Hall and Barrells Hall (d. 1808)
    • 1752 – James Morris III, American captain (d. 1820)
    • 1757 – Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf (d. 1831)
    • 1788 – Pavel Kiselyov, Russian general and politician (d. 1874)
    • 1790 – Per Daniel Amadeus Atterbom, Swedish poet and academic (d. 1855)
    • 1798 – Auguste Comte, French economist, sociologist, and philosopher (d. 1857)
    • 1807 – Robert E. Lee, American general and academic (d. 1870)
    • 1808 – Lysander Spooner, American philosopher and author (d. 1887)
    • 1809 – Edgar Allan Poe, American short story writer, poet, and critic (d. 1849)
    • 1810 – Talhaiarn, Welsh poet and architect (d.1869)
    • 1813 – Henry Bessemer, English engineer and businessman (d. 1898)
    • 1832 – Ferdinand Laub, Czech violinist and composer (d. 1875)
    • 1833 – Alfred Clebsch, German mathematician and academic (d. 1872)
    • 1839 – Paul Cézanne, French painter (d. 1906)
    • 1848 – Arturo Graf, Italian poet, of German ancestry (d. 1913).
    • 1848 – John Fitzwilliam Stairs, Canadian businessman and politician (d. 1904)
    • 1848 – Matthew Webb, English swimmer and diver (d. 1883)
    • 1851 – Jacobus Kapteyn, Dutch astronomer and academic (d. 1922)
    • 1852 – Thomas Price, Welsh-Australian politician, 24th Premier of South Australia (d. 1909)
    • 1863 – Werner Sombart, German economist and sociologist (d. 1941)
    • 1866 – Harry Davenport, American stage and film actor (d. 1949)
    • 1871 – Dame Gruev, Bulgarian educator and activist, co-founded the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (d. 1906)
    • 1874 – Hitachiyama Taniemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 19th Yokozuna (d. 1922)
    • 1876 – Wakashima Gonshirō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 21st Yokozuna (d. 1943)
    • 1876 – Dragotin Kette, Slovenian poet and author (d. 1899)
    • 1878 – Herbert Chapman, English footballer and manager (d. 1934)
    • 1879 – Boris Savinkov, Russian soldier and author (d. 1925)
    • 1882 – John Cain Sr., Australian politician, 34th Premier of Victoria (d. 1957)
    • 1883 – Hermann Abendroth, German conductor (d. 1956)
    • 1887 – Alexander Woollcott, American actor, playwright, and critic (d. 1943)
    • 1889 – Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Swiss painter and sculptor (d. 1943)
    • 1892 – Ólafur Thors, Icelandic lawyer and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Iceland (d. 1964)
    • 1893 – Magda Tagliaferro, Brazilian pianist and educator (d. 1986)
    • 1903 – Boris Blacher, German composer and playwright (d. 1975)
    • 1905 – Stanley Hawes, English-Australian director and producer (d. 1991)
    • 1907 – Briggs Cunningham, American race car driver, sailor, and businessman (d. 2003)
    • 1908 – Ish Kabibble, American comedian and cornet player (d. 1994)
    • 1908 – Aleksandr Gennadievich Kurosh, Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 1971)
    • 1911 – Choor Singh, Indian-Singaporean lawyer and judge (d. 2009)
    • 1912 – Leonid Kantorovich, Russian mathematician and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
    • 1913 – Rex Ingamells, Australian author and poet (d. 1955)
    • 1913 – Rudolf Wanderone, American professional pocket billiards player (d. 1996)
    • 1918 – John H. Johnson, American publisher, founded the Johnson Publishing Company (d. 2005)
    • 1920 – Bernard Dunstan, English painter and educator (d. 2017)
    • 1920 – Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Peruvian politician and diplomat, 135th Prime Minister of Peru (d. 2020)
    • 1921 – Patricia Highsmith, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1995)
    • 1922 – Arthur Morris, Australian cricketer and journalist (d. 2015)
    • 1922 – Miguel Muñoz, Spanish footballer and manager (d. 1990)
    • 1923 – Jean Stapleton, American actress and singer (d. 2013)
    • 1924 – Nicholas Colasanto, American actor and director (d. 1985)
    • 1924 – Jean-François Revel, French philosopher (d. 2006)
    • 1925 – Nina Bawden, English author (d. 2012)
    • 1926 – Hans Massaquoi, German-American journalist and author (d. 2013)
    • 1926 – Fritz Weaver, American actor (d. 2016)
    • 1930 – Tippi Hedren, American model, actress, and animal rights-welfare activist
    • 1930 – John Waite, South African cricketer (d. 2011)
    • 1931 – Robert MacNeil, Canadian-American journalist and author
    • 1932 – Russ Hamilton, English singer-songwriter (d. 2008)
    • 1932 – Richard Lester, American-English director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1932 – Harry Lonsdale, American chemist, businessman, and politician (d. 2014)
    • 1933 – George Coyne, American priest, astronomer, and theologian
    • 1935 – Johnny O’Keefe, Australian singer-songwriter (d. 1978)
    • 1936 – Ziaur Rahman, Bangladeshi general and politician, 7th President of Bangladesh (d. 1981)
    • 1936 – Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, American singer, harmonica player, and drummer (d. 2011)
    • 1936 – Fred J. Lincoln, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2013)
    • 1937 – John Lions, Australian computer scientist and academic (d. 1998)
    • 1939 – Phil Everly, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2014)
    • 1940 – Paolo Borsellino, Italian lawyer and judge (d. 1992)
    • 1940 – Mike Reid, English comedian, actor, and author (d. 2007)
    • 1941 – Colin Gunton, English theologian and academic (d. 2003)
    • 1941 – Pat Patterson, Canadian wrestler, trainer, and referee
    • 1942 – Michael Crawford, English actor and singer
    • 1942 – Paul-Eerik Rummo, Estonian poet and politician
    • 1943 – Larry Clark, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1943 – Janis Joplin, American singer-songwriter (d. 1970)
    • 1943 – Princess Margriet of the Netherlands
    • 1944 – Shelley Fabares, American actress and singer
    • 1944 – Thom Mayne, American architect and academic, designed the San Francisco Federal Building and Phare Tower
    • 1944 – Dan Reeves, American football player and coach
    • 1945 – Trevor Williams, English singer-songwriter and bass player
    • 1946 – Julian Barnes, English novelist, short story writer, essayist, and critic
    • 1946 – Dolly Parton, American singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1947 – Frank Aarebrot, Norwegian political scientist and academic (d. 2017)
    • 1947 – Paula Deen, American chef and author
    • 1947 – Rod Evans, English singer-songwriter
    • 1948 – Nancy Lynch, American computer scientist and academic
    • 1948 – Frank McKenna, Canadian politician and diplomat, 27th Premier of New Brunswick
    • 1948 – Mal Reilly, English rugby league player and coach
    • 1949 – Arend Langenberg, Dutch voice actor and radio host (d. 2012)
    • 1949 – Robert Palmer, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2003)
    • 1950 – Sébastien Dhavernas, Canadian actor
    • 1951 – Martha Davis, American singer
    • 1952 – Dewey Bunnell, British-American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1952 – Nadiuska, German television actress
    • 1952 – Bruce Jay Nelson, American computer scientist (d. 1999)
    • 1953 – Desi Arnaz, Jr., American actor and singer
    • 1953 – Richard Legendre, Canadian tennis player and politician
    • 1953 – Wayne Schimmelbusch, Australian footballer and coach
    • 1954 – Katey Sagal, American actress and singer
    • 1954 – Cindy Sherman, American photographer and director
    • 1954 – Esther Shkalim, Israeli poet and Mizrahi feminist
    • 1955 – Paul Rodriguez, Mexican-American comedian and actor
    • 1956 – Carman, American singer-songwriter, actor, and television host
    • 1956 – Susan Solomon, American atmospheric chemist
    • 1957 – Ottis Anderson, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1957 – Roger Ashton-Griffiths, English actor, screenwriter and film director
    • 1957 – Kenneth McClintock, Puerto Rican public servant and politician, 22nd Secretary of State of Puerto Rico
    • 1958 – Thomas Kinkade, American painter (d. 2012)
    • 1959 – Danese Cooper, American computer scientist and programmer
    • 1959 – Jeff Pilson, American bass player, songwriter, and actor
    • 1961 – William Ragsdale, American actor
    • 1961 – Wayne Hemingway, English fashion designer, co-founded Red or Dead
    • 1962 – Hans Daams, Dutch cyclist
    • 1962 – Chris Sabo, American baseball player and coach
    • 1962 – Jeff Van Gundy, American basketball player and coach
    • 1963 – Michael Adams, American basketball player and coach
    • 1963 – Martin Bashir, English journalist
    • 1963 – John Bercow, English politician, Speaker of the House of Commons
    • 1964 – Janine Antoni, Bahamian sculptor and photographer
    • 1964 – Ricardo Arjona, Guatemalan singer-songwriter and basketball player
    • 1966 – Sylvain Côté, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1966 – Stefan Edberg, Swedish tennis player and coach
    • 1966 – Lena Philipsson, Swedish singer-songwriter
    • 1968 – David Bartlett, Australian politician, 43rd Premier of Tasmania
    • 1968 – Whitfield Crane, American singer-songwriter
    • 1969 – Edwidge Danticat, Haitian-American novelist and short story writer
    • 1969 – Luc Longley, Australian basketball player and coach
    • 1969 – Predrag Mijatović, Montenegrin footballer and manager
    • 1969 – Junior Seau, American football player (d. 2012)
    • 1969 – Steve Staunton, Irish footballer and manager
    • 1970 – Steffen Freund, German footballer defensive midfielder and manager
    • 1970 – Kathleen Smet, Belgian triathlete
    • 1970 – Udo Suzuki, Japanese comedian and singer
    • 1971 – Phil Nevin, American baseball player
    • 1971 – Shawn Wayans, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1971 – John Wozniak, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1972 – Ron Killings, American wrestler and rapper
    • 1972 – Troy Wilson, Australian footballer and race car driver
    • 1972 – Sergei Zjukin, Estonian chess player and coach
    • 1972 – Yoon Hae-young, South Korean actress
    • 1973 – Antero Manninen, Finnish cellist
    • 1973 – Yevgeny Sadovyi, Russian swimmer and coach
    • 1974 – Dainius Adomaitis, Lithuanian basketball player and coach
    • 1974 – Frank Caliendo, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter
    • 1974 – Ian Laperrière, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1974 – Jaime Moreno, Bolivian footballer and manager
    • 1975 – Natalie Cook, Australian volleyball player
    • 1975 – Zdeňka Málková, Czech tennis player
    • 1976 – Natale Gonnella, Italian footballer
    • 1976 – Tarso Marques, Brazilian race car driver
    • 1977 – Benjamin Ayres, Canadian actor, director, and photographer
    • 1979 – Svetlana Khorkina, Russian gymnast and sportscaster
    • 1979 – Josu Sarriegi, Spanish footballer
    • 1979 – Wiley, English rapper and producer
    • 1980 – Jenson Button, English race car driver
    • 1980 – Pasha Kovalev, Russian-American dancer and choreographer
    • 1980 – Luke Macfarlane, Canadian-American actor and singer
    • 1980 – Arvydas Macijauskas, Lithuanian basketball player
    • 1980 – Michael Vandort, Sri Lankan cricketer
    • 1981 – Paolo Bugia, Filipino basketball player
    • 1981 – Asier del Horno, Spanish footballer
    • 1981 – Lucho González, Argentinian footballer
    • 1982 – Pete Buttigieg, American politician
    • 1982 – Mike Komisarek, American ice hockey player
    • 1982 – Jodie Sweetin, American actress and singer
    • 1982 – Shane Tronc, Australian rugby league player
    • 1982 – Kim Yoo-suk, South Korean pole vaulter
    • 1982 – Robin tom Rink, German singer-songwriter
    • 1983 – Hikaru Utada, American-Japanese singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1984 – Fabio Catacchini, Italian footballer
    • 1984 – Karun Chandhok, Indian race car driver
    • 1984 – Jimmy Kébé, Malian footballer
    • 1984 – Thomas Vanek, Austrian ice hockey player
    • 1985 – Jake Allen, American football player
    • 1985 – Pascal Behrenbruch, German decathlete
    • 1985 – Benny Feilhaber, American soccer player
    • 1985 – Esteban Guerrieri, Argentinian race car driver
    • 1985 – Rika Ishikawa, Japanese singer and actress
    • 1985 – Elliott Ward, English footballer
    • 1985 – Aleksandr Yevgenyevich Nikulin, Russian footballer
    • 1986 – Claudio Marchisio, Italian footballer
    • 1986 – Oleksandr Miroshnychenko, Ukrainian footballer
    • 1986 – Moussa Sow, Senegalese footballer
    • 1987 – Edgar Manucharyan, Armenian footballer
    • 1988 – JaVale McGee, American basketball player
    • 1988 – Tyler Breeze, Canadian wrestler
    • 1990 – Tatiana Búa, Argentine tennis player
    • 1991 – Petra Martić, Croatian tennis player
    • 1991 – Erin Sanders, American actress
    • 1992 – Shawn Johnson, American gymnast
    • 1992 – Logan Lerman, American actor
    • 1992 – Mac Miller, American rapper (d. 2018)
    • 1993 – Erick Torres Padilla, Mexican footballer
    • 1994 – Matthias Ginter, German footballer
    • 1994 – Alfie Mawson, English footballer, centre back

    Deaths on January 19

    • 520 – John of Cappadocia, patriarch of Constantinople
    • 639 – Dagobert I, Frankish king (b. 603)
    • 914 – García I, king of León
    • 1003 – Kilian of Cologne, Irish abbot
    • 1302 – Al-Hakim I, caliph of Cairo
    • 1401 – Robert Bealknap, British justice
    • 1526 – Isabella of Austria, Danish queen (b. 1501)
    • 1547 – Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, English poet (b. 1516)
    • 1565 – Diego Laynez, Spanish Jesuit theologian (b. 1512)
    • 1571 – Paris Bordone, Venetian painter (b. 1495)
    • 1576 – Hans Sachs, German poet and playwright (b. 1494)
    • 1636 – Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, Flemish painter (b.1561)
    • 1661 – Thomas Venner, English rebel leader (b. 1599)
    • 1729 – William Congreve, English playwright and poet (b. 1670)
    • 1755 – Jean-Pierre Christin, French physicist, mathematician, and astronomer (b. 1683)
    • 1757 – Thomas Ruddiman, Scottish scholar and academic (b. 1674)
    • 1766 – Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni, Italian-French architect and painter (b. 1695)
    • 1785 – Jonathan Toup, English scholar and critic (b. 1713)
    • 1833 – Ferdinand Hérold, French pianist and composer (b. 1791)
    • 1847 – Charles Bent, American soldier and politician, 1st Governor of New Mexico (b. 1799)
    • 1847 – Athanasios Christopoulos, Greek poet (b. 1772)
    • 1851 – Esteban Echeverría, Argentinian poet and author (b. 1805)
    • 1853 – Karl Faber, German historian and academic (b. 1773)
    • 1865 – Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, French philosopher and politician (b. 1809)
    • 1869 – Carl Reichenbach, German chemist and philosopher (b. 1788)
    • 1874 – August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, German poet and scholar (b. 1798)
    • 1878 – Henri Victor Regnault, French physicist and chemist (b. 1810)
    • 1905 – Debendranath Tagore, Indian philosopher and author (b. 1817)
    • 1906 – Bartolomé Mitre, Argentinian historian and politician, 6th President of Argentina (b. 1821)
    • 1908 – Roberto Bompiani, Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1821)
    • 1929 – Liang Qichao, Chinese journalist, philosopher, and scholar (b. 1873)
    • 1930 – Frank P. Ramsey, British mathematician, philosopher and economist (b. 1903)
    • 1938 – Branislav Nušić, Serbian author, playwright, and journalist (b. 1864)
    • 1945 – Gustave Mesny, French general (b. 1886)
    • 1948 – Tony Garnier, French architect and urban planner, designed the Stade de Gerland (b. 1869)
    • 1954 – Theodor Kaluza, German mathematician and physicist (b. 1885)
    • 1957 – József Dudás, Romanian-Hungarian activist and politician (b. 1912)
    • 1963 – Clement Smoot, American golfer (b. 1884)
    • 1964 – Firmin Lambot, Belgian cyclist (b. 1886)
    • 1965 – Arnold Luhaäär, Estonian weightlifter (b. 1905)
    • 1968 – Ray Harroun, American race car driver and engineer (b. 1879)
    • 1972 – Michael Rabin, American violinist (b. 1936)
    • 1973 – Max Adrian, Irish-English actor (b. 1903)
    • 1975 – Thomas Hart Benton, American painter and educator (b. 1889)
    • 1976 – Hidetsugu Yagi, Japanese engineer and academic (b. 1886)
    • 1979 – Moritz Jahn, German novelist and poet (b. 1884)
    • 1980 – William O. Douglas, American lawyer and jurist (b. 1898)
    • 1981 – Francesca Woodman, American photographer (b. 1958)
    • 1982 – Elis Regina, Brazilian soprano (b. 1945)
    • 1984 – Max Bentley, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1920)
    • 1987 – Lawrence Kohlberg, American psychologist and academic (b. 1927)
    • 1990 – Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Indian guru and mystic (b. 1931)
    • 1990 – Alberto Semprini, English pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1908)
    • 1990 – Herbert Wehner, German politician, 6th Minister of Intra-German Relations (b. 1906)
    • 1991 – Marcel Chaput, Canadian biochemist and journalist (b. 1918)
    • 1995 – Gene MacLellan, Canadian singer-songwriter (b. 1938)
    • 1996 – Don Simpson, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1943)
    • 1997 – James Dickey, American poet and novelist (b. 1923)
    • 1998 – Carl Perkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1932)
    • 1999 – Ivan Francescato, Italian rugby player (b. 1967)
    • 2000 – Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum, Bahá’í Hand of the Cause of God and wife of Shoghi Effendi (b. 1910)
    • 2000 – Bettino Craxi, Italian lawyer and politician, 45th Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1934)
    • 2000 – Hedy Lamarr, Austrian-American actress, singer, and mathematician (b. 1913)
    • 2001 – Dario Vittori, Italian-Argentinian actor and producer (b. 1921)
    • 2002 – Vavá, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1934)
    • 2003 – Milton Flores, Honduran footballer (b. 1974)
    • 2003 – Françoise Giroud, French journalist, screenwriter, and politician, French Minister of Culture (b. 1916)
    • 2004 – Harry E. Claiborne, American lawyer and judge (b. 1917)
    • 2004 – David Hookes, Australian cricketer and coach (b. 1955)
    • 2005 – K. Sello Duiker, South African author and screenwriter (b. 1974)
    • 2006 – Anthony Franciosa, American actor (b. 1928)
    • 2006 – Wilson Pickett, American singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
    • 2006 – Awn Alsharif Qasim, Sudanese author and scholar (b. 1933)
    • 2006 – Geoff Rabone, New Zealand cricketer and pilot (b. 1921)
    • 2007 – Hrant Dink, Turkish-Armenian journalist and activist (b. 1954)
    • 2007 – Denny Doherty, Canadian singer-songwriter (b. 1940)
    • 2007 – Murat Nasyrov, Russian singer-songwriter (b. 1969)
    • 2008 – Suzanne Pleshette, American actress (b. 1937)
    • 2008 – John Stewart, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1939)
    • 2008 – Don Wittman, Canadian sportscaster (b. 1936)
    • 2010 – Bill McLaren, Scottish rugby player and sportscaster (b. 1923)
    • 2012 – Peter Åslin, Swedish ice hockey player (b. 1962)
    • 2012 – Sarah Burke, Canadian skier (b. 1982)
    • 2012 – Winston Riley, Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1943)
    • 2012 – Rudi van Dantzig, Dutch ballet dancer and choreographer (b. 1933)
    • 2013 – Taihō Kōki, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 48th Yokozuna (b. 1940)
    • 2013 – Stan Musial, American baseball player and manager (b. 1920)
    • 2013 – Frank Pooler, American conductor and composer (b. 1926)
    • 2013 – Earl Weaver, American baseball player and manager (b. 1930)
    • 2013 – Toktamış Ateş, Turkish academician, political commentator, columnist and writer (b. 1944)
    • 2014 – Azaria Alon, Ukrainian-Israeli environmentalist, co-founded the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (b. 1918)
    • 2014 – Christopher Chataway, English runner, journalist, and politician (b. 1931)
    • 2015 – Justin Capră, Romanian engineer and academic (b. 1933)
    • 2015 – Michel Guimond, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1953)
    • 2015 – Ward Swingle, American-French singer-songwriter and conductor (b. 1927)
    • 2016 – Richard Levins, American ecologist and geneticist (b. 1930)
    • 2016 – Ettore Scola, Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1931)
    • 2016 – Sheila Sim, English actress (b. 1922)
    • 2017 – Miguel Ferrer, American actor (b. 1955)

    Holidays and observances on January 19

    • Birthday of Edgar Allan Poe (commemorated by the Poe Toaster at his grave in Baltimore)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Bassianus of Lodi
      • Henry of Uppsala
      • Marius, Martha, Audifax, and Abachum
      • Mark of Ephesus (Eastern Orthodox Church)
      • Pontianus of Spoleto
      • Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester
      • January 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Confederate Heroes Day (Texas), and its related observance:
      • Robert E. Lee Day (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi)
    • Feast of Sultán (Sovereignty), first day of the 17th month of the Bahá’í calendar (Bahá’í Faith) (only if Nowruz falls on March 21, otherwise the dates shifts)
    • Husband’s Day (Iceland)
    • Kokborok Day (Tripura, India)
    • Theophany / Epiphany (Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy), and its related observances:
      • Timkat, or 20 during Leap Year (Ethiopian Orthodox)
      • Vodici or Baptism of Jesus (North Macedonia)

  • January 18 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 474 – Seven-year-old Leo II succeeds his maternal grandfather Leo I as Byzantine emperor. He dies ten months later.
    • 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople fail.
    • 1126 – Emperor Huizong abdicates the Chinese throne in favour of his son Emperor Qinzong.
    • 1486 – King Henry VII of England marries Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV uniting the House of Lancaster and the House of York.
    • 1562 – Pope Pius IV reopens the Council of Trent for its third and final session.
    • 1591 – King Naresuan of Siam kills Crown Prince Mingyi Swa of Burma in single combat, for which this date is now observed as Royal Thai Armed Forces day.
    • 1670 – Henry Morgan captures Panama.
    • 1701 – Frederick I crowns himself King of Prussia in Königsberg.
    • 1778 – James Cook is the first known European to discover the Hawaiian Islands, which he names the “Sandwich Islands”.
    • 1788 – The first elements of the First Fleet carrying 736 convicts from Great Britain to Australia arrive at Botany Bay.
    • 1806 – Jan Willem Janssens surrenders the Dutch Cape Colony to the British.
    • 1866 – Wesley College is established in Melbourne, Australia.
    • 1871 – Wilhelm I of Germany is proclaimed Kaiser Wilhelm in the Hall of Mirrors of the Palace of Versailles (France) towards the end of the Franco-Prussian War. Wilhelm already had the title of German Emperor since the constitution of 1 January 1871, but he had hesitated to accept the title.
    • 1886 – Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England.
    • 1896 – An X-ray generating machine is exhibited for the first time by H. L. Smith.
    • 1911 – Eugene B. Ely lands on the deck of the USS Pennsylvania anchored in San Francisco Bay, the first time an aircraft landed on a ship.
    • 1913 – First Balkan War: A Greek flotilla defeats the Ottoman Navy in the Naval Battle of Lemnos, securing the islands of the Northern Aegean Sea for Greece.
    • 1915 – Japan issues the “Twenty-One Demands” to the Republic of China in a bid to increase its power in East Asia.
    • 1919 – World War I: The Paris Peace Conference opens in Versailles, France.
    • 1919 – Ignacy Jan Paderewski becomes Prime Minister of the newly independent Poland.
    • 1941 – World War II: British troops launch a general counter-offensive against Italian East Africa.
    • 1943 – Warsaw Ghetto Uprising: The first uprising of Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto.
    • 1945 – World War II: Liberation of Kraków, Poland by the Red Army.
    • 1958 – Willie O’Ree, the first Black Canadian National Hockey League player, makes his NHL debut with the Boston Bruins.
    • 1960 – Capital Airlines Flight 20 crashes into a farm in Charles City County, Virginia, killing all 50 aboard, the third fatal Capital Airlines crash in as many years.
    • 1967 – Albert DeSalvo, the “Boston Strangler”, is convicted of numerous crimes and is sentenced to life imprisonment.
    • 1969 – United Airlines Flight 266 crashes into Santa Monica Bay killing all 32 passengers and six crew members.
    • 1974 – A Disengagement of Forces agreement is signed between the Israeli and Egyptian governments, ending conflict on the Egyptian front of the Yom Kippur War.
    • 1976 – Lebanese Christian militias kill at least 1,000 in Karantina, Beirut.
    • 1977 – Scientists identify a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious Legionnaires’ disease.
    • 1977 – Australia’s worst rail disaster occurs at Granville, Sydney killing 83.
    • 1977 – SFR Yugoslavia’s Prime minister, Džemal Bijedić, his wife and six others are killed in a plane crash in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
    • 1978 – The European Court of Human Rights finds the United Kingdom’s government guilty of mistreating prisoners in Northern Ireland, but not guilty of torture.
    • 1981 – Phil Smith and Phil Mayfield parachute off a Houston skyscraper, becoming the first two people to BASE jump from objects in all four categories: buildings, antennae, spans (bridges), and earth (cliffs).
    • 1983 – The International Olympic Committee restores Jim Thorpe’s Olympic medals to his family.
    • 1990 – Washington, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry is arrested for drug possession in an FBI sting.
    • 1993 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is officially observed for the first time in all 50 US states.
    • 2002 – The Sierra Leone Civil War is declared over.
    • 2003 – A bushfire kills four people and destroys more than 500 homes in Canberra, Australia.
    • 2005 – The Airbus A380, the world’s largest commercial jet, is unveiled at a ceremony in Toulouse, France
    • 2007 – The strongest storm in the United Kingdom in 17 years kills 14 people and Germany sees the worst storm since 1999 with 13 deaths. Cyclone Kyrill causes at least 44 deaths across 20 countries in Western Europe.
    • 2008 – The Euphronios Krater is unveiled in Rome after being returned to Italy by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
    • 2018 – A bus catches fire on the Samara–Shymkent road in Yrgyz District, Aktobe, Kazakhstan. The fire kills 52 passengers, with three passengers and two drivers escaping.

    Births on January 18

    • 1404 – Sir Philip Courtenay, British noble (d. 1463)
    • 1457 – Antonio Trivulzio, seniore, Roman Catholic cardinal (d. 1508)
    • 1519 – Isabella Jagiellon, Queen of Hungary (d. 1559)
    • 1540 – Catherine, Duchess of Braganza (d. 1614)
    • 1641 – François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois, French politician, Secretary of State for War (d. 1691)
    • 1659 – Damaris Cudworth Masham, English philosopher and theologian (d. 1708)
    • 1672 – Antoine Houdar de la Motte, French author (d. 1731)
    • 1688 – Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1765)
    • 1689 – Montesquieu, French lawyer and philosopher (d. 1755)
    • 1701 – Johann Jakob Moser, German jurist (d. 1785)
    • 1743 – Louis Claude de Saint-Martin, French mystic and philosopher (d. 1803)
    • 1751 – Ferdinand Kauer, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1831)
    • 1752 – John Nash, English architect (d. 1835)
    • 1764 – Samuel Whitbread, English politician (d. 1815)
    • 1779 – Peter Mark Roget, English physician, lexicographer, and theologian (d. 1869)
    • 1782 – Daniel Webster, American lawyer and politician, 14th United States Secretary of State (d. 1852)
    • 1793 – Pratap Singh Bhosle, Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire (d. 1847)
    • 1815 – Constantin von Tischendorf, German theologian and scholar (d. 1874)
    • 1835 – César Cui, Russian general, composer, and critic (d. 1918)
    • 1840 – Henry Austin Dobson, English poet and author (d. 1921)
    • 1841 – Emmanuel Chabrier, French pianist and composer (d. 1894)
    • 1842 – A. A. Ames, American physician and politician, Mayor of Minneapolis (d. 1911)
    • 1848 – Ioan Slavici, Romanian journalist and author (d. 1925)
    • 1849 – Edmund Barton, Australian judge and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1920)
    • 1850 – Seth Low, American academic and politician, 92nd Mayor of New York City (d. 1916)
    • 1853 – Marthinus Nikolaas Ras, South African farmer, soldier, and gun-maker (d. 1900)
    • 1854 – Thomas A. Watson, American assistant to Alexander Graham Bell (d. 1934)
    • 1856 – Daniel Hale Williams, American surgeon and cardiologist (d. 1931)
    • 1867 – Rubén Darío, Nicaraguan poet, journalist, and diplomat (d. 1916)
    • 1868 – Kantarō Suzuki, Japanese admiral and politician, 42nd Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1948)
    • 1877 – Sam Zemurray, Russian-American businessman, founded the Cuyamel Fruit Company (d. 1961)
    • 1879 – Henri Giraud, French general and politician (d. 1949)
    • 1880 – Paul Ehrenfest, Austrian-Dutch physicist and academic (d. 1933)
    • 1880 – Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster, Italian cardinal (d. 1954)
    • 1881 – Gaston Gallimard, French publisher, founded Éditions Gallimard (d. 1975)
    • 1882 – A. A. Milne, English author, poet, and playwright (d. 1956)
    • 1886 – Clara Nordström, Swedish-German author and translator (d. 1962)
    • 1888 – Thomas Sopwith, English ice hockey player, sailor, and pilot (d. 1989)
    • 1892 – Oliver Hardy, American actor and comedian (d. 1957)
    • 1892 – Bill Meanix, American hurdler and coach (d. 1957)
    • 1892 – Paul Rostock, German surgeon and academic (d. 1956)
    • 1893 – Jorge Guillén, Spanish poet, critic, and academic (d. 1984)
    • 1894 – Toots Mondt, American wrestler and promoter (d. 1976)
    • 1896 – C. M. Eddy Jr., American author (d. 1967)
    • 1896 – Ville Ritola, Finnish-American runner (d. 1982)
    • 1898 – Albert Kivikas, Estonian journalist and author (d. 1978)
    • 1901 – Ivan Petrovsky, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1973)
    • 1903 – Berthold Goldschmidt, German pianist and composer (d. 1996)
    • 1904 – Anthony Galla-Rini, American accordion player and composer (d. 2006)
    • 1904 – Cary Grant, English-American actor (d. 1986)
    • 1905 – Joseph Bonanno, Italian-American mob boss (d. 2002)
    • 1907 – János Ferencsik, Hungarian conductor (d. 1984)
    • 1908 – Jacob Bronowski, Polish-English mathematician, historian, and television host (d. 1974)
    • 1910 – Kenneth E. Boulding, English economist and academic (d. 1993)
    • 1911 – José María Arguedas, Peruvian anthropologist, author, and poet (d. 1969)
    • 1911 – Danny Kaye, American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 1987)
    • 1913 – Carroll Cloar, American artist (d. 1993)
    • 1913 – Giannis Papaioannou, Greek composer (d. 1972)
    • 1914 – Arno Schmidt, German author and translator (d. 1979)
    • 1914 – Vitomil Zupan, Slovene author, poet, and playwright (d. 1987)
    • 1915 – Syl Apps, Canadian pole vaulter, ice hockey player, and politician (d. 1998)
    • 1915 – Santiago Carrillo, Spanish soldier and politician (d. 2012)
    • 1915 – Vassilis Tsitsanis, Greek singer-songwriter and bouzouki player (d. 1984)
    • 1917 – Nicholas Oresko, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2013)
    • 1917 – Wang Yung-ching, Taiwanese-American businessman (d. 2008)
    • 1918 – Gustave Gingras, Canadian-English physician and educator (d. 1996)
    • 1919 – Toni Turek, German footballer (d. 1984)
    • 1921 – Yoichiro Nambu, Japanese-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2015)
    • 1923 – John Graham, General Officer Commanding (GOC) Wales (d. 2012)
    • 1923 – Gerrit Voorting, Dutch cyclist (d. 2015)
    • 1925 – Gilles Deleuze, French metaphysician and philosopher (d. 1995)
    • 1925 – John V. Evans, American soldier and politician, 27th Governor of Idaho (d. 2014)
    • 1925 – Sol Yurick, American soldier and author (d. 2013)
    • 1926 – Randolph Bromery, American geologist and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1927 – Sundaram Balachander, Indian actor, singer, and veena player (d. 1990)
    • 1928 – Alexander Gomelsky, Soviet and Russian professional basketball coach (d. 2005)
    • 1931 – Chun Doo-hwan, South Korean general and politician, 5th President of South Korea
    • 1932 – Robert Anton Wilson, American psychologist, author, poet, and playwright (d. 2007)
    • 1933 – Emeka Anyaoku, Nigerian politician, 8th Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs
    • 1933 – David Bellamy, English botanist, author and academic (d. 2019)
    • 1933 – John Boorman, English director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1933 – Ray Dolby, American engineer and businessman, founded Dolby Laboratories (d. 2013)
    • 1933 – William Goodhart, Baron Goodhart, English lawyer and politician (d. 2017)
    • 1933 – Frank McMullen, New Zealand rugby player (d. 2004)
    • 1933 – Jean Vuarnet, French ski racer (d. 2017)
    • 1934 – Raymond Briggs, English author and illustrator
    • 1935 – Albert Millaire, Canadian actor and director (d. 2018)
    • 1935 – Jon Stallworthy, English poet, critic, and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1935 – Gad Yaacobi, Israeli academic and diplomat, 10th Israel Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 2007)
    • 1936 – David Howell, Baron Howell of Guildford, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Transport
    • 1937 – John Hume, Northern Irish educator and politician, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1938 – Curt Flood, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1997)
    • 1938 – Anthony Giddens, English sociologist and academic
    • 1938 – Werner Olk, German footballer and manager
    • 1938 – Hargus “Pig” Robbins, American Country Music Hall of Fame session keyboard and piano player
    • 1940 – Pedro Rodriguez, Mexican race car driver (d. 1971)
    • 1941 – Denise Bombardier, Canadian journalist and author
    • 1941 – Bobby Goldsboro, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1941 – David Ruffin, American singer (The Temptations) (d. 1991)
    • 1943 – Paul Freeman, English actor
    • 1943 – Kay Granger, American educator and politician
    • 1943 – Dave Greenslade, English keyboard player and composer
    • 1943 – Charlie Wilson, American businessman and politician (d. 2013)
    • 1944 – Paul Keating, Australian economist and politician, 24th Prime Minister of Australia
    • 1944 – Carl Morton, American baseball player (d. 1983)
    • 1944 – Kei Ogura, Japanese singer-songwriter and composer
    • 1944 – Alexander Van der Bellen, President of Austria
    • 1945 – Rocco Forte, English businessman and philanthropist
    • 1946 – Perro Aguayo, Mexican wrestler (d. 2019)
    • 1946 – Joseph Deiss, Swiss economist and politician, 156th President of the Swiss Confederation
    • 1946 – Henrique Rosa, Bissau-Guinean politician, President of Guinea-Bissau (d. 2013)
    • 1947 – Sachio Kinugasa, Japanese baseball player and journalist (d. 2018)
    • 1947 – Takeshi Kitano, Japanese actor and director
    • 1949 – Bill Keller, American journalist
    • 1949 – Philippe Starck, French interior designer
    • 1950 – Gianfranco Brancatelli, Italian race car driver
    • 1950 – Gilles Villeneuve, Canadian race car driver (d. 1982)
    • 1951 – Bram Behr, Surinamese journalist and activist (d. 1982)
    • 1951 – Bob Latchford, English footballer
    • 1952 – Michael Behe, American biochemist, author, and academic
    • 1952 – R. Stevie Moore, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1953 – Brett Hudson, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1953 – Peter Moon, Australian comedian and actor
    • 1955 – Kevin Costner, American actor, director, and producer
    • 1956 – Paul Deighton, Baron Deighton, English banker and politician
    • 1960 – Mark Rylance, English actor, director, and playwright
    • 1961 – Peter Beardsley, English footballer and manager
    • 1961 – Bob Hansen, American basketball player and sportscaster
    • 1961 – Mark Messier, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1961 – Jeff Yagher, American actor and sculptor
    • 1962 – Alison Arngrim, Canadian-American actress
    • 1963 – Maxime Bernier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 7th Minister of Foreign Affairs for Canada
    • 1963 – Ian Crook, English footballer, central midfielder and manager
    • 1963 – Carl McCoy, English singer-songwriter
    • 1963 – Martin O’Malley, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 61st Governor of Maryland
    • 1964 – Brady Anderson, American baseball player
    • 1964 – Richard Dunwoody, Northern Irish jockey and sportscaster
    • 1964 – Virgil Hill, American boxer
    • 1964 – Jane Horrocks, English actress and singer
    • 1966 – Alexander Khalifman, Russian chess player and author
    • 1966 – Kazufumi Miyazawa, Japanese singer
    • 1966 – André Ribeiro, Brazilian race car driver
    • 1967 – Dean Bailey, Australian footballer and coach (d. 2014)
    • 1967 – Iván Zamorano, Chilean footballer
    • 1969 – Dave Bautista, American wrestler, mixed martial artist, and actor
    • 1969 – Jesse L. Martin, American actor and singer
    • 1969 – Jim O’Rourke, American guitarist and producer
    • 1970 – Peter Van Petegem, Belgian cyclist
    • 1971 – Amy Barger, American astronomer
    • 1971 – Jonathan Davis, American singer-songwriter
    • 1971 – Christian Fittipaldi, Brazilian race car driver
    • 1971 – Pep Guardiola, Spanish footballer and manager
    • 1971 – Binyavanga Wainaina, Kenyan writer (d. 2019)
    • 1972 – Vinod Kambli, Indian cricketer, sportscaster, and actor
    • 1972 – Mike Lieberthal, American baseball player
    • 1972 – Kjersti Plätzer, Norwegian race walker
    • 1973 – Burnie Burns, American actor, director, and producer, co-founded Rooster Teeth Productions
    • 1973 – Luke Goodwin, Australian rugby league player and coach
    • 1973 – Benjamin Jealous, American civic leader and activist
    • 1973 – Anthony Koutoufides, Australian footballer
    • 1973 – Crispian Mills, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and director
    • 1973 – Rolando Schiavi, Argentinian footballer and coach
    • 1974 – Christian Burns, English singer-songwriter
    • 1975 – Leslie Knope, Protagonist of Parks and Recreation (fictional)
    • 1976 – Laurence Courtois, Belgian tennis player
    • 1976 – Marcelo Gallardo, Argentinian footballer and coach
    • 1976 – Damien Leith, Irish-Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1977 – Richard Archer, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1978 – Brian Falkenborg, American baseball player
    • 1978 – Thor Hushovd, Norwegian cyclist
    • 1978 – Bogdan Lobonț, Romanian footballer
    • 1979 – Ruslan Fedotenko, Ukrainian ice hockey player
    • 1979 – Paulo Ferreira, Portuguese footballer
    • 1979 – Brian Gionta, American ice hockey player
    • 1979 – Kenyatta Jones, American football player (d. 2018)
    • 1980 – Estelle, English singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1980 – Robert Green, English footballer
    • 1980 – Kert Haavistu, Estonian footballer and manager
    • 1980 – Julius Peppers, American football player
    • 1980 – Jason Segel, American actor and screenwriter
    • 1981 – Otgonbayar Ershuu, Mongolian painter and illustrator
    • 1981 – Olivier Rochus, Belgian tennis player
    • 1981 – Khari Stephenson, Jamaican footballer
    • 1981 – Kang Dong-won, South Korean actor
    • 1982 – Quinn Allman, American guitarist and producer
    • 1982 – Mary Jepkosgei Keitany, Kenyan runner
    • 1983 – Amir Blumenfeld, Israeli-American comedian, actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1983 – Samantha Mumba, Irish singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1984 – Kristy Lee Cook, American singer-songwriter
    • 1984 – Ioannis Drymonakos, Greek swimmer
    • 1984 – Makoto Hasebe, Japanese footballer
    • 1984 – Michael Kearney, American biochemist and academic
    • 1984 – Seung-Hui Cho, South Korean student who perpetrated the 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech (d. 2007)
    • 1984 – Benji Schwimmer, American dancer and choreographer
    • 1984 – Viktoria Shklover, Estonian figure skater
    • 1985 – Dale Begg-Smith, Canadian-Australian skier
    • 1985 – Mark Briscoe, American wrestler
    • 1985 – Riccardo Montolivo, Italian footballer
    • 1985 – Hyun Woo, South Korean actor
    • 1986 – Marya Roxx, Estonian-American singer-songwriter
    • 1986 – Ikusaburo Yamazaki, Japanese actor and singer
    • 1987 – Johan Djourou, Swiss footballer
    • 1987 – Christopher Liebig, German rugby player
    • 1987 – Grigoris Makos, Greek footballer
    • 1988 – Ronnie Day, American singer-songwriter
    • 1988 – Angelique Kerber, German tennis player
    • 1988 – Anastasios Kissas, Greek footballer
    • 1988 – Boy van Poppel, Dutch cyclist
    • 1989 – Rubén Miño, Spanish footballer
    • 1990 – Nacho, Spanish footballer
    • 1990 – Hayle Ibrahimov, Ethiopian-Azerbaijani runner
    • 1990 – Gift Ngoepe, South African baseball player
    • 1991 – Diego Simões, Brazilian footballer
    • 1992 – Francesco Bardi, Italian footballer
    • 1993 – Sean Keenan, Australian actor
    • 1994 – Kang Ji-young, South Korean singer
    • 1994 – Ilona Kremen, Belarusian tennis player
    • 1995 – Bryce Alford, American basketball player
    • 1998 – Aitana Bonmatí, Spanish footballer

    Deaths on January 18

    • 52 BC – Publius Clodius Pulcher, Roman politician (b. 93 BC)
    • 474 – Leo I, Byzantine emperor (b. 401)
    • 748 – Odilo, duke of Bavaria
    • 896 – Khumarawayh ibn Ahmad ibn Tulun, ruler of the Tulunids, murdered (b. 864)
    • 1213 – Tamar of Georgia (b. 1160)
    • 1253 – King Henry I of Cyprus (b. 1217)
    • 1271 – Saint Margaret of Hungary (b. 1242)
    • 1326 – Robert FitzWalter, 1st Baron FitzWalter, English baron (b. 1247)
    • 1357 – Maria of Portugal, infanta (b. 1313)
    • 1367 – Peter I of Portugal (b. 1320)
    • 1411 – Jobst of Moravia, ruler of Moravia, King of the Romans
    • 1425 – Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, English politician (b. 1391)
    • 1471 – Emperor Go-Hanazono of Japan (b. 1419)
    • 1479 – Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1417)
    • 1547 – Pietro Bembo, Italian cardinal and scholar (b. 1470)
    • 1586 – Margaret of Parma (b. 1522)
    • 1589 – Magnus Heinason, Faroese naval hero (b. 1545)
    • 1677 – Jan van Riebeeck, Dutch politician, founded Cape Town (b. 1619)
    • 1756 – Francis George of Schönborn-Buchheim, Archbishop-Elector of Trier (b. 1682)
    • 1783 – Jeanne Quinault, French actress and playwright (b. 1699)
    • 1803 – Ippolit Bogdanovich, Russian poet and academic (b. 1743)
    • 1849 – Panoutsos Notaras, Greek politician (b. 1752)
    • 1862 – John Tyler, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 10th President of the United States (b. 1790)
    • 1873 – Edward Bulwer-Lytton, English author, poet, playwright, and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (b. 1803)
    • 1878 – Antoine César Becquerel, French physicist and academic (b. 1788)
    • 1886 – Baldassare Verazzi, Italian painter (b. 1819)
    • 1892 – Anton Anderledy, Swiss religious leader, 23rd Superior General of the Society of Jesus (b. 1819)
    • 1896 – Charles Floquet, French lawyer and politician, 55th Prime Minister of France (b. 1828)
    • 1923 – Wallace Reid, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1891)
    • 1936 – Hermanus Brockmann, Dutch rower (b. 1871)
    • 1936 – Rudyard Kipling, English author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
    • 1940 – Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer, Polish author, poet, and playwright (b. 1865)
    • 1951 – Amy Carmichael, Irish missionary and humanitarian (b. 1867)
    • 1952 – Curly Howard, American actor (b. 1903)
    • 1954 – Sydney Greenstreet, English-American actor (b. 1879)
    • 1955 – Saadat Hasan Manto, Pakistani author and screenwriter (b. 1912)
    • 1956 – Makbule Atadan, Turkish lawyer and politician (b. 1885)
    • 1956 – Konstantin Päts, Estonian journalist, lawyer, and politician, 1st President of Estonia (b. 1874)
    • 1963 – Hugh Gaitskell, English academic and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1906)
    • 1966 – Kathleen Norris, American journalist and author (b. 1880)
    • 1967 – Goose Tatum, American basketball player and soldier (b. 1921)
    • 1969 – Hans Freyer, German sociologist and philosopher (b. 1887)
    • 1970 – David O. McKay, American religious leader, 9th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1873)
    • 1971 – Virgil Finlay, American illustrator (b. 1914)
    • 1973 – Irina Nikolaevna Levchenko, Russian tank commander (b. 1924)
    • 1975 – Gertrude Olmstead, American actress (b. 1897)
    • 1978 – Hasan Askari, Pakistani philosopher and author (b. 1919)
    • 1980 – Cecil Beaton, English fashion designer and photographer (b. 1904)
    • 1984 – Panteleimon Ponomarenko, Belarusian general and politician (b. 1902)
    • 1984 – Vassilis Tsitsanis, Greek singer-songwriter and bouzouki player (b. 1915)
    • 1989 – Bruce Chatwin, English-French author (b. 1940)
    • 1990 – Melanie Appleby, English singer (b. 1966)
    • 1990 – Rusty Hamer, American actor (b. 1947)
    • 1993 – Dionysios Zakythinos, Greek historian, academic, and politician (b. 1905)
    • 1995 – Adolf Butenandt, German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
    • 1995 – Ron Luciano, American baseball player and umpire (b. 1937)
    • 1996 – N. T. Rama Rao, Indian actor, director, producer, and politician, 10th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (b. 1923)
    • 1997 – Paul Tsongas, American lawyer and politician (b. 1941)
    • 1998 – Dan Georgiadis, Greek footballer and manager (b. 1922)
    • 2000 – Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, Austrian architect (b. 1897)
    • 2003 – Ed Farhat, American wrestler and trainer (b. 1924)
    • 2003 – Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Indian poet and author (b. 1907)
    • 2005 – Lamont Bentley, American actor and rapper (b. 1973)
    • 2006 – Jan Twardowski, Polish priest and poet (b. 1915)
    • 2007 – Brent Liles, American bass player (b. 1963)
    • 2008 – Georgia Frontiere, American businesswoman and philanthropist (b. 1927)
    • 2008 – Frank Lewin, American composer and theorist (b. 1925)
    • 2008 – Lois Nettleton, American actress (b. 1927)
    • 2008 – John Stroger, American politician (b. 1929)
    • 2009 – Tony Hart, English painter and television host (b. 1925)
    • 2009 – Nora Kovach, Hungarian-American ballerina (b. 1931)
    • 2009 – Danai Stratigopoulou, Greek singer-songwriter (b. 1913)
    • 2009 – Grigore Vieru, Romanian poet and author (b. 1935)
    • 2010 – Kate McGarrigle, Canadian musician and singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
    • 2010 – Robert B. Parker, American author and academic (b. 1932)
    • 2011 – Sargent Shriver, American politician and diplomat, 21st United States Ambassador to France (b. 1915)
    • 2012 – Anthony Gonsalves, Indian composer and educator (b. 1927)
    • 2012 – Georg Lassen, German captain (b. 1915)
    • 2012 – Yuri Rasovsky, American playwright and producer, founded The National Radio Theater of Chicago (b. 1944)
    • 2013 – Sean Fallon, Irish footballer and manager (b. 1922)
    • 2013 – Jim Horning, American computer scientist and academic (b. 1942)
    • 2013 – Jon Mannah, Australian rugby league player (b. 1989)
    • 2013 – Lewis Marnell, Australian skateboarder (b. 1982)
    • 2013 – Ron Nachman, Israeli lawyer and politician (b. 1942)
    • 2014 – Kathryn Abbe, American photographer and author (b. 1919)
    • 2014 – Michael Botmang, Nigerian politician, 17th Governor of Plateau State (b. 1938)
    • 2014 – Dennis Frederiksen, American singer-songwriter (b. 1951)
    • 2014 – Andy Graver, English footballer (b. 1927)
    • 2014 – Sarah Marshall, English actress (b. 1933)
    • 2014 – Eugenio Cruz Vargas, Chilean poet and painter (b. 1923)
    • 2015 – Alberto Nisman, Argentinian lawyer and prosecutor (b. 1963)
    • 2015 – Christine Valmy, Romanian cosmetologist and author (b. 1926)
    • 2015 – Piet van der Sanden, Dutch journalist and politician (b. 1924)
    • 2015 – Tony Verna, American director and producer, invented instant replay (b. 1933)
    • 2016 – Johnny Bach, American basketball player and coach (b. 1924)
    • 2016 – Glenn Frey, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (b. 1948)
    • 2016 – T. S. Sinnathuray, Judge of the High Court of Singapore (b. 1930)
    • 2016 – Michel Tournier, French journalist and author (b. 1924)
    • 2017 – Peter Abrahams, South African-Jamaican writer (b. 1919)
    • 2017 – David P. Buckson, American lawyer and politician, Governor of Delaware (b. 1920)
    • 2017 – Rachael Heyhoe Flint, Baroness Heyhoe Flint, English cricketer, businesswoman and philanthropist (b. 1939)
    • 2017 – Roberta Peters, American coloratura soprano (b. 1930)
    • 2019 – John Coughlin, American figure skater (b. 1985)

    Holidays and observances on January 18

    • Christian feast day:
      • Amy Carmichael (Church of England)
      • Athanasius of Alexandria (Eastern Orthodox Church)
      • Confession of Peter (Eastern Orthodox, some Anglican and Lutheran Churches)
      • Cyril of Alexandria
      • Deicolus
      • Margaret of Hungary
      • Prisca
      • Volusianus of Tours
      • January 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Royal Thai Armed Forces Day (Thailand)
    • Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (January 18–25) (Christianity)

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

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

    Births on January 16

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

    Deaths on January 16

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

    Holidays and observances on January 16

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

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

    • 49 BC – Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signalling the start of civil war.
    • AD 9 – The Western Han dynasty ends when Wang Mang claims that the divine Mandate of Heaven called for the end of the dynasty and the beginning of his own, the Xin dynasty.
    • AD 69 – Lucius Calpurnius Piso Licinianus is appointed by Galba as deputy Roman Emperor.
    • 236 – Pope Fabian succeeds Anterus to become the twentieth pope of Rome.
    • 1072 – Robert Guiscard conquers Palermo in Sicily for the Normans.
    • 1430 – Philip the Good, the Duke of Burgundy, establishes the Order of the Golden Fleece, the most prestigious, exclusive, and expensive order of chivalry in the world.
    • 1475 – Stephen III of Moldavia defeats the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Vaslui.
    • 1645 – Archbishop William Laud is beheaded for treason at the Tower of London.
    • 1776 – American Revolution: Thomas Paine publishes his pamphlet Common Sense.
    • 1791 – The Siege of Dunlap’s Station begins near Cincinnati during the Northwest Indian War.
    • 1806 – Two British brigades occupy Cape Town after the Battle of Blaauwberg.
    • 1812 – The first steamboat on the Ohio River or the Mississippi River arrives in New Orleans, 82 days after departing from Pittsburgh.
    • 1861 – American Civil War: Florida becomes the third state to secede from the Union.
    • 1863 – The Metropolitan Railway, the world’s oldest underground railway, opens between Paddington and Farringdon, marking the beginning of the London Underground.
    • 1870 – John D. Rockefeller incorporates Standard Oil.
    • 1901 – The first great Texas oil gusher is discovered at Spindletop in Beaumont, Texas.
    • 1916 – World War I: In the Erzurum Offensive, Russia defeats the Ottoman Empire.
    • 1920 – The Treaty of Versailles takes effect, officially ending World War I.
    • 1920 – League of Nations Covenant enters into force. On January 16 the organization holds its first council meeting, in Paris.
    • 1927 – Fritz Lang’s futuristic film Metropolis is released in Germany.
    • 1941 – World War II: The Greek army captures Kleisoura.
    • 1946 – The first General Assembly of the United Nations opens in London. Fifty-one nations are represented.
    • 1946 – The United States Army Signal Corps successfully conducts Project Diana, bouncing radio waves off the Moon and receiving the reflected signals.
    • 1954 – BOAC Flight 781, a de Havilland DH.106 Comet 1, explodes and falls into the Tyrrhenian Sea killing 35 people.
    • 1962 – Apollo program: NASA announces plans to build the C-5 rocket launch vehicle, which became known as the Saturn V Moon rocket, which launched every Apollo Moon mission.
    • 1966 – Tashkent Declaration, a peace agreement between India and Pakistan signed that resolved the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.
    • 1972 – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman returns to the newly independent Bangladesh as president after spending over nine months in prison in Pakistan.
    • 1981 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensive, gaining control of most of Morazán and Chalatenango departments
    • 1984 – Holy See–United States relations: The United States and Holy See (Vatican City) re-establish full diplomatic relations after almost 117 years, overturning the United States Congress’s 1867 ban on public funding for such a diplomatic envoy.
    • 1985 – Sandinista Daniel Ortega becomes president of Nicaragua and vows to continue the transformation to socialism and alliance with the Soviet Union and Cuba; American policy continues to support the Contras in their revolt against the Nicaraguan government.
    • 1990 – Time Warner is formed by the merger of Time Inc. and Warner Communications.
    • 2007 – A general strike begins in Guinea in an attempt to get President Lansana Conté to resign.
    • 2012 – A bombing in Khyber Agency, Pakistan, kills at least 30 people and 78 others injured.
    • 2013 – More than 100 people are killed and 270 injured in several bomb blasts in Pakistan.
    • 2015 – A traffic accident between an oil tanker truck and passenger coach en route to Shikarpur from Karachi on the Pakistan National Highway Link Road near Gulshan-e-Hadeed, Karachi, killing at least 62 people.

    Births on January 10

    • 626 – Husayn ibn Ali the third Shia Imam (d. 680)
    • 1392 – Johanna van Polanen, Dutch noblewoman (d. 1445)
    • 1480 – Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy (d. 1530)
    • 1538 – Louis of Nassau (d. 1574)
    • 1607 – Isaac Jogues, French priest and missionary (d. 1646)
    • 1644 – Louis François, duc de Boufflers, French general (d. 1711)
    • 1654 – Joshua Barnes, English historian and scholar (d. 1712)
    • 1702 – Johannes Zick, German painter (d. 1762)
    • 1715 – Christian August Crusius, German philosopher and theologian (d. 1775)
    • 1729 – Lazzaro Spallanzani, Italian priest, biologist, and physiologist (d. 1799)
    • 1745 – Isaac Titsingh, Dutch surgeon, scholar, and diplomat (d. 1812)
    • 1750 – Thomas Erskine, 1st Baron Erskine, Scottish-English lawyer and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (d. 1823)
    • 1760 – Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg, German composer and conductor (d. 1802)
    • 1769 – Michel Ney, French general (d. 1815)
    • 1776 – George Birkbeck, English physician and academic, founded Birkbeck, University of London (d. 1841)
    • 1780 – Martin Lichtenstein, German physician and explorer (d. 1857)
    • 1802 – Carl Ritter von Ghega, Italian-Austrian engineer, designed the Semmering railway (d. 1860)
    • 1810 – Ferdinand Barbedienne, French engineer (d. 1892)
    • 1810 – Jeremiah S. Black, American jurist and politician, 23rd United States Secretary of State (d. 1883)
    • 1810 – William Haines, English-Australian politician, 1st Premier of Victoria (d. 1866)
    • 1812 – Georg Hermann Nicolai, German architect and academic (d. 1881)
    • 1828 – Herman Koeckemann, German bishop and missionary (d. 1892)
    • 1829 – Epameinondas Deligeorgis, Greek lawyer, journalist and politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1879)
    • 1834 – John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton, Italian-English historian and politician (d. 1902)
    • 1836 – Charles Ingalls, American farmer and carpenter (d. 1902)
    • 1840 – Louis-Nazaire Bégin, Canadian cardinal (d. 1925)
    • 1842 – Luigi Pigorini, Italian paleontologist, archaeologist, and ethnographer (d. 1925)
    • 1843 – Frank James, American soldier and criminal (d. 1915)
    • 1848 – Reinhold Sadler, American merchant and politician, 9th Governor of Nevada (d. 1906)
    • 1849 – Robert Crosbie, Canadian theosophist, founded the United Lodge of Theosophists (d. 1919)
    • 1850 – John Wellborn Root, American architect, designed the Rookery Building and Monadnock Building (d. 1891)
    • 1854 – Ramón Corral, Mexican general and politician, 6th Vice President of Mexico (d. 1912)
    • 1858 – Heinrich Zille, German illustrator and photographer (d. 1929)
    • 1859 – Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia, Spanish philosopher and academic (d. 1909)
    • 1860 – Charles G. D. Roberts, Canadian poet and author (d. 1943)
    • 1864 – Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia (d. 1931)
    • 1873 – Algernon Maudslay, English sailor (d. 1948)
    • 1873 – Jack O’Neill, Irish-American baseball player (d. 1935)
    • 1873 – George Orton, Canadian runner and hurdler (d. 1958)
    • 1875 – Issai Schur, German mathematician and academic (d. 1941)
    • 1877 – Frederick Gardner Cottrell, American physical chemist, inventor and philanthropist (d. 1948)
    • 1878 – John McLean, American hurdler, football player, and coach (d. 1955)
    • 1880 – Manuel Azaña, Spanish jurist and politician, 7th President of Spain (d. 1940)
    • 1883 – Francis X. Bushman, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1966)
    • 1883 – Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy, Russian journalist, author, and poet (d. 1945)
    • 1887 – Robinson Jeffers, American poet and philosopher (d. 1962)
    • 1890 – Pina Menichelli, Italian actress (d. 1984)
    • 1891 – Heinrich Behmann, German mathematician and academic (d. 1970)
    • 1891 – Ann Shoemaker, American actress (d. 1978)
    • 1892 – Dumas Malone, American historian and author (d. 1986)
    • 1892 – Melchior Wańkowicz, Polish soldier, journalist, and author (d. 1974)
    • 1893 – Albert Jacka, Australian captain, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1932)
    • 1894 – Pingali Lakshmikantam, Indian poet and author (d. 1972)
    • 1895 – Percy Cerutty, Australian athletics coach (d. 1975)
    • 1896 – Yong Mun Sen, Malaysian watercolour painter (d. 1962)
    • 1898 – Katharine Burr Blodgett, American physicist and engineer (d. 1979)
    • 1900 – Violette Cordery, English racing driver (d. 1983)
    • 1902 – Dobriša Cesarić, Croatian poet and translator (d. 1980)
    • 1903 – Barbara Hepworth, English sculptor (d. 1975)
    • 1903 – Pud Thurlow, Australian cricketer (d. 1975)
    • 1903 – Voldemar Väli, Estonian wrestler (d. 1997)
    • 1904 – Ray Bolger, American actor and dancer (d. 1987)
    • 1905 – Albert Arlen, Australian pianist, composer, actor, and playwright (d. 1993)
    • 1907 – Gordon Kidd Teal, American engineer and inventor (d. 2003)
    • 1908 – Paul Henreid, Italian-American actor and director (d. 1992)
    • 1910 – Jean Martinon, French conductor and composer (d. 1976)
    • 1911 – Binod Bihari Chowdhury, Bangladeshi activist (d. 2013)
    • 1911 – Norman Heatley, English biologist and chemist (d. 2004)
    • 1912 – Maria Mandl, Austrian SS guard (d. 1948)
    • 1913 – Franco Bordoni, Italian racing driver and pilot (d. 1975)
    • 1913 – Gustáv Husák, Slovak politician, 9th President of Czechoslovakia (d. 1991)
    • 1913 – Mehmet Shehu, Albanian soldier and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Albania (d. 1981)
    • 1914 – Pierre Cogan, French cyclist (d. 2013)
    • 1914 – Yu Kuo-hwa, Chinese politician, 23rd Premier of the Republic of China (d. 2000)
    • 1915 – Dean Dixon, American-Swiss conductor (d. 1976)
    • 1915 – Cynthia Freeman, American author (d. 1988)
    • 1916 – Sune Bergström, Swedish biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
    • 1916 – Eldzier Cortor, American painter (d. 2015)
    • 1916 – Don Metz, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2007)
    • 1917 – Jerry Wexler, American journalist and producer (d. 2008)
    • 1918 – Les Bennett, English footballer and manager (d. 1999)
    • 1918 – Arthur Chung, Guyanese lawyer and politician, 1st President of Guyana (d. 2008)
    • 1918 – Harry Merkel, German racing driver (d. 1995)
    • 1919 – Terukuni Manzō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 38th Yokozuna (d. 1977)
    • 1919 – Milton Parker, American businessman, co-founded the Carnegie Deli (d. 2009)
    • 1920 – Rosella Hightower, American ballerina (d. 2008)
    • 1920 – Roberto M. Levingston, Argentinian general and politician, 36th President of Argentina (d. 2015)
    • 1920 – Max Patkin, American baseball player and clown (d. 1999)
    • 1921 – Rodger Ward, American aviator, race car driver and sportscaster (d. 2004)
    • 1922 – Billy Liddell, Scottish-English footballer (d. 2001)
    • 1924 – Earl Bakken, American inventor (d. 2018)
    • 1924 – Ludmilla Chiriaeff, Canadian ballerina, choreographer, and director (d. 1996)
    • 1925 – Billie Sol Estes, American financier and businessman (d. 2013)
    • 1926 – Musallam Bseiso, Palestinian journalist and politician (d. 2017)
    • 1927 – Gisele MacKenzie, Canadian-American singer and actress (d. 2003)
    • 1927 – Johnnie Ray, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1990)
    • 1927 – Otto Stich, Swiss lawyer and politician, 140th President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 2012)
    • 1928 – Philip Levine, American poet and academic (d. 2015)
    • 1928 – Peter Mathias, English historian and academic (d. 2016)
    • 1929 – Tony Soper, English ornithologist and author
    • 1930 – Roy E. Disney, American businessman (d. 2009)
    • 1931 – Peter Barnes, English playwright and screenwriter (d. 2004)
    • 1931 – Rosalind Howells, Baroness Howells of St Davids, Grenadian-English academic and politician
    • 1931 – Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, Malaysian cleric and politician, 12th Menteri Besar of Kelantan (d. 2015)
    • 1931 – John Zizioulas, Greek metropolitan
    • 1934 – Leonid Kravchuk, Ukrainian politician, 1st President of Ukraine
    • 1935 – Ronnie Hawkins, American rockabilly singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1935 – Sherrill Milnes, American opera singer and educator
    • 1936 – Stephen E. Ambrose, American historian and author (d. 2002)
    • 1936 – Walter Bodmer, German-English geneticist and academic
    • 1936 – Robert Woodrow Wilson, American physicist and astronomer, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1937 – Daniel Walker Howe, American historian and academic
    • 1937 – Thomas Penfield Jackson, American soldier, lawyer, and judge (d. 2013)
    • 1938 – Donald Knuth, American computer scientist and mathematician
    • 1938 – Frank Mahovlich, Canadian ice hockey player and politician
    • 1938 – Willie McCovey, American baseball player (d. 2018)
    • 1939 – Jared Carter, American poet and author
    • 1939 – David Horowitz, American activist and author
    • 1939 – William Levy, American-Dutch journalist, author, and poet
    • 1939 – Scott McKenzie, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2012)
    • 1939 – Sal Mineo, American actor (d. 1976)
    • 1940 – K. J. Yesudas, Indian singer and music director
    • 1940 – Godfrey Hewitt, English geneticist and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1941 – Tom Clarke, Scottish politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
    • 1942 – Graeme Gahan, Australian footballer and coach
    • 1943 – Jim Croce, American singer-songwriter (d. 1973)
    • 1944 – Jeffrey Catherine Jones, American comics and fantasy artist (d. 2011)
    • 1944 – Frank Sinatra, Jr., American singer and actor (d. 2016)
    • 1945 – John Fahey, New Zealand-Australian lawyer and politician, 38th Premier of New South Wales
    • 1945 – Rod Stewart, British singer-songwriter
    • 1945 – Gunther von Hagens, German anatomist, invented plastination
    • 1946 – Aynsley Dunbar, English drummer and songwriter
    • 1947 – George Alec Effinger, American author (d. 2002)
    • 1947 – James Morris, American opera singer
    • 1947 – Peer Steinbrück, German politician, German Minister of Finance
    • 1947 – Tiit Vähi, Estonian engineer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Estonia
    • 1948 – Donald Fagen, American singer-songwriter and musician
    • 1948 – Bernard Thévenet, French cyclist and sportscaster
    • 1949 – Kemal Derviş, Turkish economist and politician, Turkish Minister of Economy
    • 1949 – George Foreman, American boxer, actor, and businessman
    • 1949 – Linda Lovelace, American porn actress and activist (d. 2002)
    • 1950 – Roy Blunt, American academic and politician
    • 1952 – Scott Thurston, American guitarist and songwriter
    • 1953 – Pat Benatar, American singer-songwriter
    • 1953 – Bobby Rahal, American race car driver
    • 1955 – Michael Schenker, German guitarist, songwriter, and producer
    • 1956 – Shawn Colvin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1956 – Antonio Muñoz Molina, Spanish author
    • 1958 – Eddie Cheever, American race car driver
    • 1958 – Anatoly Pisarenko, Ukrainian weightlifter and trainer
    • 1959 – Chandra Cheeseborough, American sprinter and coach
    • 1959 – Chris Van Hollen, American lawyer and politician
    • 1959 – Fran Walsh, New Zealand screenwriter and producer
    • 1960 – Gurinder Chadha, Kenyan-English director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1960 – Brian Cowen, Irish lawyer and politician, 12th Taoiseach of Ireland
    • 1960 – John Mann, English lawyer and politician
    • 1960 – Benoît Pelletier, Canadian lawyer and politician
    • 1961 – Janet Jones, American actress
    • 1961 – Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Italian-American violinist, author, and educator
    • 1962 – Michael Fortier, Canadian lawyer and politician
    • 1962 – Kathryn S. McKinley, American computer scientist and academic
    • 1963 – Malcolm Dunford, New Zealand-Australian footballer
    • 1963 – Kira Ivanova, Russian figure skater (d. 2001)
    • 1964 – Brad Roberts, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1967 – Maciej Śliwowski, Polish footballer
    • 1969 – Simone Bagel-Trah, German businessperson
    • 1970 – Buff Bagwell, American wrestler and actor
    • 1970 – Alisa Marić, Serbian chess player and politician, Serbian Minister of Youth and Sports
    • 1972 – Mohammed Benzakour, Moroccan-Dutch journalist, poet, and author
    • 1973 – Glenn Robinson, American basketball player
    • 1973 – Félix Trinidad, Puerto Rican-American boxer
    • 1974 – Jemaine Clement, New Zealand comedian, actor, and musician
    • 1974 – Davide Dionigi, Italian footballer and manager
    • 1974 – Steve Marlet, French footballer, forward and coach
    • 1974 – Bob Peeters, Belgian footballer and manager
    • 1974 – Hrithik Roshan, Indian actor
    • 1975 – Jake Delhomme, American football player
    • 1976 – Adam Kennedy, American baseball player
    • 1976 – Ian Poulter, English golfer
    • 1978 – Johan van der Wath, South African cricketer
    • 1979 – Simone Cavalli, Italian footballer
    • 1980 – Sarah Shahi, American actress
    • 1980 – DeShaun Foster, American football player
    • 1981 – James Coppinger, English footballer
    • 1981 – Jared Kushner, American real estate investor and political figure
    • 1982 – Julien Brellier, French footballer
    • 1982 – Tomasz Brzyski, Polish footballer
    • 1984 – Marouane Chamakh, Moroccan footballer
    • 1984 – Trent Cutler, Australian rugby league player
    • 1984 – Ariane Friedrich, German high jumper
    • 1984 – Kalki Koechlin, Indian actress
    • 1986 – Kirsten Flipkens, Belgian tennis player
    • 1986 – Hideaki Ikematsu, Japanese footballer
    • 1986 – Kenneth Vermeer, Dutch footballer
    • 1987 – César Cielo, Brazilian swimmer
    • 1988 – Leonard Patrick Komon, Kenyan runner
    • 1988 – Vladimir Zharkov, Russian ice hockey player
    • 1989 – Emily Meade, American actress
    • 1989 – Kyle Reimers, Australian footballer
    • 1990 – Mirko Bortolotti, Italian racing driver
    • 1990 – Ishiura Masakatsu, Japanese sumo wrestler
    • 1990 – Cody Walker, Australian rugby league player
    • 1990 – John Carlson, American ice hockey player
    • 1991 – Chad Townsend, Australian rugby league player

    Deaths on January 10

    • 259 – Polyeuctus, Roman saint
    • 314 – Miltiades, pope of the Catholic Church
    • 681 – Agatho, pope of the Catholic Church
    • 976 – John I Tzimiskes, Byzantine emperor (b. 925)
    • 987 – Pietro I Orseolo, doge of Venice (b. 928)
    • 1055 – Bretislav I, duke of Bohemia
    • 1094 – Al-Mustansir Billah, Egyptian caliph (b. 1029)
    • 1218 – Hugh I, king of Cyprus
    • 1276 – Gregory X, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1210)
    • 1322 – Petrus Aureolus, scholastic philosopher
    • 1358 – Abu Inan Faris, Marinid ruler of Morocco (b. 1329)
    • 1552 – Johann Cochlaeus, German humanist and controversialist (b. 1479)
    • 1645 – William Laud, English archbishop and academic (b. 1573)
    • 1654 – Nicholas Culpeper, English botanist, physician, and astrologer (b. 1616)
    • 1698 – Louis-Sébastien Le Nain de Tillemont, French priest and historian (b. 1637)
    • 1754 – Edward Cave, English publisher, founded The Gentleman’s Magazine (b. 1691)
    • 1761 – Edward Boscawen, English admiral and politician (b. 1711)
    • 1778 – Carl Linnaeus, Swedish botanist and physician (b. 1707)
    • 1794 – Georg Forster, German-Polish ethnologist and journalist (b. 1754)
    • 1811 – Joseph Chénier, French poet, playwright, and politician (b. 1764)
    • 1824 – Victor Emmanuel I, duke of Savoy and king of Sardinia (b. 1759)
    • 1828 – François de Neufchâteau, French poet, academic, and politician, French Minister of the Interior (b. 1750)
    • 1829 – Gregorio Funes, Argentinian clergyman, historian, and educator (b. 1749)
    • 1833 – Adrien-Marie Legendre, French mathematician and theorist (b. 1752)
    • 1843 – Dimitrie Macedonski, Greek-Romanian captain and politician (b. 1780)
    • 1851 – Karl Freiherr von Müffling, Prussian field marshal (b. 1775)
    • 1855 – Mary Russell Mitford, English author and playwright (b. 1787)
    • 1862 – Samuel Colt, American engineer and businessman, founded Colt’s Manufacturing Company (b. 1814)
    • 1863 – Lyman Beecher, American minister and activist, co-founded the American Temperance Society (b. 1775)
    • 1895 – Eli Whitney Blake, Jr., American chemist, physicist, and academic (b. 1836)
    • 1895 – Benjamin Godard, French violinist and composer (b. 1849)
    • 1901 – James Robert Dickson, English-Australian businessman and politician, 1st Australian Minister for Defence (b. 1832)
    • 1904 – Jean-Léon Gérôme, French painter and sculptor (b. 1824)
    • 1905 – Kārlis Baumanis, Latvian composer (b. 1835)
    • 1917 – Buffalo Bill, American soldier and hunter (b. 1846)
    • 1917 – Feliks Leparsky, Russian fencer and captain (b. 1875)
    • 1920 – Sali Nivica, Albanian journalist and politician (b. 1890)
    • 1922 – Frank Tudor, Australian politician, 6th Australian Minister for Trade and Investment (b. 1866)
    • 1926 – Eino Leino, Finnish poet and journalist (b. 1878)
    • 1935 – Edwin Flack, Australian tennis player and runner (b. 1873)
    • 1935 – Charlie McGahey, English cricketer and footballer (b. 1871)
    • 1941 – Frank Bridge, English viola player and composer (b. 1879)
    • 1941 – John Lavery, Irish painter and academic (b. 1856)
    • 1941 – Joe Penner, Hungarian-American actor (b. 1904)
    • 1941 – Issai Schur, Belarusian-German mathematician and academic (b. 1875)
    • 1949 – Erich von Drygalski, German geographer and geophysicist (b. 1865)
    • 1951 – Sinclair Lewis, American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1885)
    • 1951 – Yoshio Nishina, Japanese physicist and academic (b. 1890)
    • 1954 – Chester Wilmot, American journalist and historian (b. 1911)
    • 1956 – Zonia Baber, American geographer and geologist (b. 1862)
    • 1957 – Gabriela Mistral, Chilean poet and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1889)
    • 1957 – Laura Ingalls Wilder, American novelist (b. 1867)
    • 1959 – Şükrü Kaya, Turkish jurist and politician, Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1883)
    • 1960 – Jack Laviolette, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (b. 1879)
    • 1961 – Dashiell Hammett, American detective novelist and screenwriter (b. 1894)
    • 1967 – Charles E. Burchfield, American painter (b. 1893)
    • 1968 – Ali Fuat Cebesoy, Turkish general and politician, 6th Speaker of the Parliament of Turkey (b. 1882)
    • 1969 – Sampurnanand, Indian educator and politician, 2nd Governor of Rajasthan (b. 1891)
    • 1970 – Pavel Belyayev, Russian pilot and astronaut (b. 1925)
    • 1971 – Coco Chanel, French fashion designer, founded Chanel (b. 1883)
    • 1971 – Ignazio Giunti, Italian race car driver (b. 1941)
    • 1972 – Aksel Larsen, Danish lawyer and politician (b. 1897)
    • 1976 – Howlin’ Wolf, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1910)
    • 1978 – Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal, Nicaraguan journalist and author (b. 1924)
    • 1978 – Don Gillis, American composer and conductor (b. 1912)
    • 1978 – Hannah Gluckstein, British painter (b. 1895)
    • 1980 – Hughie Critz, American baseball player and scout (b. 1900)
    • 1980 – George Meany, American plumber and trade union leader (b. 1894)
    • 1980 – Bo Rein, American football player and coach (b. 1945)
    • 1981 – Fawn M. Brodie, American historian and author (b. 1915)
    • 1984 – Souvanna Phouma, Laotian politician, 8th Prime Minister of Laos (b. 1901)
    • 1986 – Jaroslav Seifert, Czech journalist and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)
    • 1987 – Marion Hutton, American singer (b. 1919)
    • 1987 – David Robinson, English businessman and philanthropist (b. 1904)
    • 1989 – Herbert Morrison, American journalist and producer (b. 1905)
    • 1990 – Tochinishiki Kiyotaka, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 44th Yokozuna (b. 1925)
    • 1992 – Roberto Bonomi, Argentinian race car driver (b. 1919)
    • 1995 – Kathleen Tynan, Canadian-English journalist, author, and screenwriter (b. 1937)
    • 1997 – Elspeth Huxley, Kenyan-English journalist and author (b. 1907)
    • 1997 – Sheldon Leonard, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1907)
    • 1997 – Alexander R. Todd, Baron Todd, Scottish-English biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1907)
    • 1999 – Edward Williams, Australian lieutenant, pilot, and judge (b. 1921)
    • 2000 – Sam Jaffe, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1901)
    • 2004 – Spalding Gray, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1941)
    • 2005 – Wasyly, Ukrainian-Canadian bishop (b. 1909)
    • 2005 – Jack Horner, American journalist (b. 1912)
    • 2005 – Princess Joséphine Charlotte of Belgium (b. 1927)
    • 2007 – Carlo Ponti, Italian film producer (b. 1912)
    • 2007 – Bradford Washburn, American explorer, photographer, and cartographer (b. 1910)
    • 2008 – Christopher Bowman, American figure skater and actor (b. 1967)
    • 2008 – Maila Nurmi, Finnish-American actress, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1922)
    • 2010 – Patcha Ramachandra Rao, Indian metallurgist, educator and administrator (b. 1942)
    • 2011 – Margaret Whiting, American singer (b. 1924)
    • 2012 – Jean Pigott, Canadian businesswoman and politician (b. 1924)
    • 2012 – Gevork Vartanian, Russian intelligence agent (b. 1924)
    • 2013 – George Gruntz, Swiss pianist and composer (b. 1932)
    • 2013 – Claude Nobs, Swiss businessman, founded the Montreux Jazz Festival (b. 1936)
    • 2014 – Petr Hlaváček, Czech shoemaker and academic (b. 1950)
    • 2014 – Zbigniew Messner, Polish economist and politician, 9th Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland (b. 1929)
    • 2014 – Larry Speakes, American journalist, 16th White House Press Secretary (b. 1939)
    • 2015 – Junior Malanda, Belgian footballer (b. 1994)
    • 2015 – Taylor Negron, American actor, playwright, and painter (b. 1957)
    • 2015 – Francesco Rosi, Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1922)
    • 2015 – Robert Stone, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1937)
    • 2016 – Wim Bleijenberg, Dutch footballer and manager (b. 1930)
    • 2016 – David Bowie, English singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (b. 1947)
    • 2016 – George Jonas, Hungarian-Canadian journalist, author, and poet (b. 1935)
    • 2017 – Buddy Greco, American jazz and pop singer and pianist (b. 1926)
    • 2017 – Clare Hollingworth, English journalist (b. 1911)
    • 2020 – Qaboos bin Said, Ruler Of Oman (b. 1940)

    Holidays and observances on January 10

    • Christian feast day:
      • Gregory of Nyssa
      • Leonie Aviat
      • Obadiah (Coptic Church)
      • Peter Orseolo
      • Pope Agatho (Roman Catholic)
      • William Laud (Anglican Communion)
      • William of Donjeon
      • January 10 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Fête du Vodoun (Benin)
    • Margaret Thatcher Day (Falkland Islands)
    • Majority Rule Day (Bahamas)

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

    • 1066 – Following the death of Edward the Confessor on the previous day, the Witan meets to confirm Harold Godwinson as the new King of England; Harold is crowned the same day, sparking a succession crisis that will eventually lead to the Norman conquest of England.
    • 1205 – Philip of Swabia undergoes a second coronation as King of the Romans.
    • 1322 – Stephen Uroš III is crowned King of Serbia, having defeated his half-brother Stefan Konstantin in battle. His son is crowned “young king” in the same ceremony.
    • 1355 – Charles IV of Bohemia is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy as King of Italy in Milan.
    • 1449 – Constantine XI is crowned Byzantine Emperor at Mystras.
    • 1492 – The Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella enter Granada at the conclusion of the Granada War.
    • 1536 – The first European school of higher learning in the Americas, Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco, is founded by Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza and Bishop Juan de Zumárraga in Mexico City.
    • 1540 – King Henry VIII of England marries Anne of Cleves.
    • 1579 – The Union of Arras unites the southern Netherlands under the Duke of Parma (Ottavio Farnese), governor in the name of King Philip II of Spain.
    • 1641 – Arauco War: The first Parliament of Quillín is celebrated, putting a temporary hold on hostilities between Mapuches and Spanish in Chile.
    • 1661 – English Restoration: The Fifth Monarchists unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London, England. The revolt is suppressed after a few days.
    • 1721 – The Committee of Inquiry on the South Sea Bubble publishes its findings, revealing details of fraud among company directors and corrupt politicians.
    • 1781 – In the Battle of Jersey, the British defeat the last attempt by France to invade Jersey in the Channel Islands.
    • 1809 – Combined British, Portuguese and colonial Brazilian forces begin the Invasion of Cayenne during the Napoleonic Wars.
    • 1838 – Alfred Vail and colleagues demonstrate a telegraph system using dots and dashes (this is the forerunner of Morse code).
    • 1839 – The Night of the Big Wind, the most damaging storm in 300 years, sweeps across Ireland, damaging or destroying more than 20% of the houses in Dublin.
    • 1847 – Samuel Colt obtains his first contract for the sale of revolver pistols to the United States government.
    • 1870 – The inauguration of the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria.
    • 1893 – The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress. The charter is signed by President Benjamin Harrison.
    • 1900 – Second Boer War: Having already besieged the fortress at Ladysmith, Boer forces attack it, but are driven back by British defenders.
    • 1907 – Maria Montessori opens her first school and daycare center for working-class children in Rome, Italy.
    • 1912 – New Mexico is admitted to the Union as the 47th U.S. state.
    • 1912 – German geophysicist Alfred Wegener first presents his theory of continental drift.
    • 1929 – King Alexander of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes suspends his country’s constitution (the January 6th Dictatorship).
    • 1929 – Mother Teresa arrives by sea in Calcutta, India, to begin her work among India’s poorest and sick people.
    • 1930 – The first diesel-powered automobile trip is completed, from Indianapolis, Indiana, to New York, New York.
    • 1941 – United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers his Four Freedoms speech in the State of the Union address.
    • 1946 – The first general election ever in Vietnam is held.
    • 1947 – Pan American Airlines becomes the first commercial airline to offer a round-the-world ticket.
    • 1950 – The United Kingdom recognizes the People’s Republic of China. The Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with the UK in response.
    • 1951 – Korean War: Beginning of the Ganghwa massacre, in the course of which an estimated 200–1,300 South Korean communist sympathizers are slaughtered.
    • 1960 – National Airlines Flight 2511 is destroyed in mid-air by a bomb, while en route from New York City to Miami.
    • 1960 – The Associations Law comes into force in Iraq, allowing registration of political parties
    • 1967 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and ARVN troops launch “Operation Deckhouse Five” in the Mekong River delta.
    • 1974 – In response to the 1973 oil crisis, daylight saving time commences nearly four months early in the United States.
    • 1989 – Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh are sentenced to death for conspiracy in the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi; the two men are executed the same day.
    • 1992 – President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia flees the country as a result of the military coup.
    • 1993 – Indian Border Security Force units kill 55 Kashmiri civilians in Sopore, Jammu and Kashmir, in revenge after militants ambushed a BSF patrol.
    • 1994 – American figure skater Nancy Kerrigan is attacked and injured by an assailant hired by her rival Tonya Harding’s ex-husband during the U.S. Figure Skating Championships that they were both taking part in.
    • 1995 – A chemical fire in an apartment complex in Manila, Philippines, leads to the discovery of plans for Project Bojinka, a mass-terrorist attack.
    • 2005 – American Civil Rights Movement: Edgar Ray Killen is indicted for the 1964 murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner.
    • 2005 – A train collision in Graniteville, South Carolina, United States, releases about 60 tons of chlorine gas.
    • 2012 – Twenty-six people are killed and 63 wounded when a suicide bomber blows himself up at a police station in Damascus.
    • 2017 – Five people are killed and six others injured in a mass shooting at Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport in Broward County, Florida.
    • 2019 – Forty people are killed in a gold mine collapse in northern Afghanistan.

    Births on January 6

    • 1256 – Gertrude the Great, German mystic (d. 1302)
    • 1367 – Richard II of England (d. 1400)
    • 1384 – Edmund Holland, 4th Earl of Kent (d. 1408)
    • 1412 – Joan of Arc, French martyr and saint (d. 1431)
    • 1486 – Martin Agricola, German composer and theorist (d. 1556)
    • 1488 – Helius Eobanus Hessus, German poet (d. 1540)
    • 1493 – Olaus Petri, Swedish clergyman (d. 1552)
    • 1500 – John of Ávila, Spanish mystic and saint (d. 1569)
    • 1525 – Caspar Peucer, German physician and scholar (d. 1602)
    • 1538 – Jane Dormer, Duchess of Feria (d. 1612)
    • 1561 – Thomas Fincke, Danish mathematician and physicist (d. 1656)
    • 1587 – Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares (d. 1645)
    • 1595 – Claude Favre de Vaugelas, French educator and courtier (d. 1650)
    • 1617 – Christoffer Gabel, Danish politician (d. 1673)
    • 1632 – Anne Hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton, Scottish peeress (d. 1716)
    • 1655 – Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg (d. 1720)
    • 1673 – James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, English academic and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire (d. 1744)
    • 1695 – Giuseppe Sammartini, Italian oboe player and composer (d. 1750)
    • 1702 – José de Nebra, Spanish composer (d. 1768)
    • 1714 – Percivall Pott, English surgeon (d. 1788)
    • 1745 – Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier, French co-inventor of the hot air balloon (d. 1799)
    • 1766 – José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, Paraguayan lawyer and politician, first dictator of Paraguay (d. 1840)
    • 1785 – Andreas Moustoxydis, Greek historian and philologist (d. 1860)
    • 1793 – James Madison Porter, American lawyer and politician, 18th United States Secretary of War (d. 1862)
    • 1795 – Anselme Payen, French chemist and academic (d. 1871)
    • 1799 – Jedediah Smith, American hunter, explorer, and author (d. 1831)
    • 1803 – Henri Herz, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1888)
    • 1807 – Joseph Petzval, German-Hungarian mathematician and physicist (d. 1891)
    • 1808 – Joseph Pitty Couthouy, American conchologist and paleontologist (d. 1864)
    • 1811 – Charles Sumner, American lawyer and politician (d. 1874)
    • 1822 – Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist and businessman (d. 1890)
    • 1832 – Gustave Doré, French painter and sculptor (d. 1883)
    • 1838 – Max Bruch, German composer and conductor (d. 1920)
    • 1842 – Clarence King, American geologist, mountaineer, and critic (d. 1901)
    • 1856 – Giuseppe Martucci, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1909)
    • 1857 – Hugh Mahon, Irish-Australian publisher and politician, 10th Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs (d. 1931)
    • 1857 – William Russell, American lawyer and politician, 37th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1896)
    • 1859 – Samuel Alexander, Australian-English philosopher and academic (d. 1938)
    • 1861 – Victor Horta, Belgian architect, designed Hôtel van Eetvelde (d. 1947)
    • 1861 – George Lloyd, English-Canadian bishop and theologian (d. 1940)
    • 1870 – Gustav Bauer, German journalist and politician, 11th Chancellor of Germany (d. 1944)
    • 1872 – Alexander Scriabin, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1915)
    • 1874 – Fred Niblo, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1948)
    • 1878 – Adeline Genée, Danish-born British ballerina (d. 1970)
    • 1878 – Carl Sandburg, American poet and historian (d. 1967)
    • 1880 – Tom Mix, American cowboy and actor (d. 1940)
    • 1881 – Ion Minulescu, Romanian author, poet, and critic (d. 1944)
    • 1882 – Fan S. Noli, Albanian-American bishop and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Albania (d. 1965)
    • 1882 – Sam Rayburn, American lawyer and politician, 48th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1961)
    • 1883 – Kahlil Gibran, Lebanese-American poet, painter, and philosopher (d. 1931)
    • 1898 – James Fitzmaurice, Irish soldier and pilot (d. 1965)
    • 1899 – Heinrich Nordhoff, German engineer (d. 1968)
    • 1900 – Maria of Yugoslavia, Queen of Yugoslavia from 1922 to 1934 (d. 1961)
    • 1903 – Maurice Abravanel, Greek-American pianist and conductor (d. 1993)
    • 1910 – Wright Morris, American author and photographer (d. 1998)
    • 1910 – Yiannis Papaioannou, Greek composer and educator (d. 1989)
    • 1912 – Jacques Ellul, French philosopher and critic (d. 1994)
    • 1912 – Danny Thomas, American actor, comedian, producer and humanitarian (d. 1991)
    • 1913 – Edward Gierek, Polish lawyer and politician (d. 2001)
    • 1913 – Loretta Young, American actress (d. 2000)
    • 1914 – Godfrey Edward Arnold, Austrian-American physician and academic (d. 1989)
    • 1915 – Don Edwards, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (d. 2015)
    • 1915 – John C. Lilly, American psychoanalyst, physician, and philosopher (d. 2001)
    • 1915 – Alan Watts, English-American philosopher and author (d. 1973)
    • 1916 – Park Mok-wol, influential Korean poet and academic (d. 1978)
    • 1917 – Koo Chen-fu, Taiwanese businessman and diplomat (d. 2005)
    • 1920 – John Maynard Smith, English biologist and geneticist (d. 2004)
    • 1920 – Sun Myung Moon, Korean religious leader; founder of the Unification Church (d. 2012)
    • 1920 – Early Wynn, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 1999)
    • 1921 – Marianne Grunberg-Manago, Russian-French biochemist and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1921 – Cary Middlecoff, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 1998)
    • 1923 – Vladimir Kazantsev, Russian runner (d. 2007)
    • 1923 – Norman Kirk, New Zealand engineer and politician, 29th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1974)
    • 1923 – Jacobo Timerman, Argentinian journalist and author (d. 1999)
    • 1924 – Kim Dae-jung, South Korean soldier and politician, 8th President of South Korea, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2009)
    • 1924 – Earl Scruggs, American banjo player (d. 2012)
    • 1925 – John DeLorean, American engineer and businessman, founded the DeLorean Motor Company (d. 2005)
    • 1926 – Ralph Branca, American baseball player (d. 2016)
    • 1926 – Mickey Hargitay, Hungarian-American actor and bodybuilder (d. 2006)
    • 1927 – Jesse Leonard Steinfeld, American physician and academic, 11th Surgeon General of the United States (d. 2014)
    • 1928 – Capucine, French actress and model (d. 1990)
    • 1931 – E. L. Doctorow, American novelist, playwright, and short story writer (d. 2015)
    • 1931 – Graeme Hole, Australian cricketer (d. 1990)
    • 1931 – Dickie Moore, Canadian ice hockey player and businessman (d. 2015)
    • 1932 – Stuart A. Rice, American chemist and academic
    • 1933 – Oleg Grigoryevich Makarov, Russian engineer and astronaut (d. 2003)
    • 1934 – Sylvia Syms, English actress
    • 1935 – Nino Tempo, American musician, singer, and actor
    • 1936 – Darlene Hard, American tennis player
    • 1936 – Julio María Sanguinetti, Uruguayan journalist, lawyer and politician, 29th President of Uruguay
    • 1937 – Ludvík Daněk, Czech discus thrower (d. 1998)
    • 1937 – Lou Holtz, American football player, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1937 – Doris Troy, American singer-songwriter (d. 2004)
    • 1938 – Adriano Celentano, Italian singer-songwriter, actor, and director
    • 1938 – Adrienne Clarke, Australian botanist and academic
    • 1938 – Larisa Shepitko, Soviet film director, screenwriter, and actress (d. 1979)
    • 1939 – Valeriy Lobanovskyi, Ukrainian footballer and manager (d. 2002)
    • 1939 – Murray Rose, English-Australian swimmer and sportscaster (d. 2012)
    • 1940 – Van McCoy, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1979)
    • 1943 – Terry Venables, English footballer and manager
    • 1944 – Bonnie Franklin, American actress and singer (d. 2013)
    • 1944 – Alan Stivell, French singer-songwriter and harp player
    • 1944 – Rolf M. Zinkernagel, Swiss immunologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1945 – Barry John, Welsh rugby player
    • 1946 – Syd Barrett, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2006)
    • 1947 – Sandy Denny, English folk-rock singer-songwriter (d 1978)
    • 1948 – Guy Gardner, American colonel and astronaut
    • 1948 – Dayle Hadlee, New Zealand cricketer
    • 1949 – Mike Boit, Kenyan runner and academic (estimated date)
    • 1949 – Carolyn D. Wright, American poet and academic (d. 2016)
    • 1950 – Louis Freeh, American lawyer and jurist, 10th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
    • 1951 – Don Gullett, American baseball player and coach
    • 1951 – Kim Wilson, American singer-songwriter and harmonica player
    • 1953 – Malcolm Young, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2017)
    • 1954 – Anthony Minghella, English director and screenwriter (d. 2008)
    • 1955 – Rowan Atkinson, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1956 – Elizabeth Strout, American novelist and short story writer
    • 1956 – Justin Welby, English archbishop
    • 1956 – Clive Woodward, English rugby player and coach
    • 1957 – Michael Foale, British-American astrophysicist and astronaut
    • 1957 – Nancy Lopez, American golfer and sportscaster
    • 1959 – Kapil Dev, Indian cricketer
    • 1960 – Paul Azinger, American golfer and sportscaster
    • 1960 – Kari Jalonen, Finnish ice hockey player and coach
    • 1960 – Nigella Lawson, English chef and author
    • 1960 – Howie Long, American football player and sports commentator
    • 1961 – Georges Jobé, Belgian motocross racer (d. 2012)
    • 1961 – Peter Whittle, British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster
    • 1963 – Norm Charlton, American baseball player and coach
    • 1963 – Paul Kipkoech, Kenyan runner (d. 1995)
    • 1964 – Jacqueline Moore, American wrestler and manager
    • 1965 – Bjørn Lomborg, Danish author and academic
    • 1966 – Sharon Cuneta, Filipino singer and actress
    • 1966 – Attilio Lombardo, Italian footballer and manager
    • 1967 – A. R. Rahman, Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, musician and philanthropist
    • 1968 – John Singleton, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2019)
    • 1969 – Norman Reedus, American actor and model
    • 1970 – Julie Chen, American television journalist, presenter, and producer
    • 1970 – Radoslav Látal, Czech footballer and manager
    • 1973 – Vasso Karantasiou, Greek beach volleyball player
    • 1976 – Richard Zedník, Slovak ice hockey player
    • 1981 – Asante Samuel, American football player
    • 1982 – Eddie Redmayne, English actor and model
    • 1984 – Kate McKinnon, American actress and comedian
    • 1986 – Paul McShane, Irish footballer
    • 1986 – Petter Northug, Norwegian skier
    • 1989 – Andy Carroll, English footballer
    • 1991 – Will Barton, American basketball player
    • 1994 – Lim Jae-beom, South Korean singer and actor (Got7)

    Deaths on January 6

    • 786 – Abo of Tiflis, Iraqi martyr and saint (b. 756)
    • 1088 – Berengar of Tours, French scholar and theologian (b. 999)
    • 1148 – Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke (b. 1100)
    • 1233 – Matilda of Chester, Countess of Huntingdon, Anglo-Norman noblewoman (b. 1171)
    • 1275 – Raymond of Penyafort, Catalan archbishop and saint (b. 1175)
    • 1350 – Giovanni I di Murta, second doge of the Republic of Genoa
    • 1358 – Gertrude van der Oosten, Beguine mystic
    • 1406 – Roger Walden, English bishop
    • 1448 – Christopher of Bavaria, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (b. 1418)
    • 1477 – Jean VIII, Count of Vendôme
    • 1481 – Ahmed Khan bin Küchük, Mongolian ruler
    • 1537 – Alessandro de’ Medici, Duke of Florence (b. 1510)
    • 1537 – Baldassare Peruzzi, Italian architect and painter, designed the Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne (b. 1481)
    • 1616 – Philip Henslowe, English impresario (b. 1550)
    • 1646 – Elias Holl, German architect, designed the Augsburg Town Hall (b. 1573)
    • 1689 – Seth Ward, English bishop, mathematician, and astronomer (b. 1617)
    • 1693 – Mehmed IV, Ottoman sultan (b. 1642)
    • 1711 – Philips van Almonde, Dutch admiral (b. 1646)
    • 1718 – Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, Italian lawyer and jurist (b. 1664)
    • 1725 – Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Japanese actor and playwright (b. 1653)
    • 1731 – Étienne François Geoffroy, French physician and chemist (b. 1672)
    • 1734 – John Dennis, English playwright and critic (b. 1657)
    • 1813 – Louis Baraguey d’Hilliers, French general (b. 1764)
    • 1829 – Josef Dobrovský, Czech philologist and historian (b. 1753)
    • 1831 – Rodolphe Kreutzer, French violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1766)
    • 1840 – Frances Burney, English author and playwright (b. 1752)
    • 1852 – Louis Braille, French educator, invented Braille (b. 1809)
    • 1855 – Giacomo Beltrami, Italian jurist, explorer, and author (b. 1779)
    • 1882 – Richard Henry Dana, Jr., American lawyer and politician (b. 1815)
    • 1884 – Gregor Mendel, Czech geneticist and botanist (b. 1822)
    • 1885 – Bharatendu Harishchandra, Indian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1850)
    • 1896 – Thomas W. Knox, American journalist and author (b. 1835)
    • 1902 – Lars Hertervig, Norwegian painter (b. 1830)
    • 1913 – Frederick Hitch, English soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1856)
    • 1917 – Hendrick Peter Godfried Quack, Dutch economist and historian (b. 1834)
    • 1918 – Georg Cantor, German mathematician and philosopher (b. 1845)
    • 1919 – Theodore Roosevelt, American colonel and politician, 26th President of the United States (b. 1858)
    • 1921 – Devil Anse Hatfield, American guerrilla leader (b. 1839)
    • 1922 – Jakob Rosanes, Ukrainian-German mathematician and chess player (b. 1842)
    • 1928 – Alvin Kraenzlein, American hurdler and long jumper (b. 1876)
    • 1933 – Vladimir de Pachmann, Ukrainian-German pianist (b. 1848)
    • 1934 – Herbert Chapman, English footballer and manager (b. 1878)
    • 1937 – André Bessette, Canadian saint (b. 1845)
    • 1939 – Gustavs Zemgals, Latvian journalist and politician, 2nd President of Latvia (b. 1871)
    • 1941 – Charley O’Leary, American baseball player and coach (b. 1882)
    • 1942 – Emma Calvé, French soprano and actress (b. 1858)
    • 1942 – Henri de Baillet-Latour, Belgian businessman, 3rd President of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1876)
    • 1944 – Jacques Rosenbaum, Estonian-German architect (b. 1878)
    • 1944 – Ida Tarbell, American journalist, reformer, and educator (b. 1857)
    • 1945 – Vladimir Vernadsky, Russian mineralogist and chemist (b. 1863)
    • 1949 – Victor Fleming, American director, producer, and cinematographer (b. 1883)
    • 1966 – Jean Lurçat, French painter (b. 1892)
    • 1972 – Chen Yi, Chinese general and politician, 2nd Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China (b. 1901)
    • 1974 – David Alfaro Siqueiros, Mexican painter (b. 1896)
    • 1978 – Burt Munro, New Zealand motorcycle racer (b. 1899)
    • 1981 – A. J. Cronin, Scottish physician and author (b. 1896)
    • 1984 – Ernest Laszlo, Hungarian-American cinematographer (b. 1898)
    • 1990 – Ian Charleson, Scottish-English actor (b. 1949)
    • 1990 – Pavel Cherenkov, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
    • 1993 – Dizzy Gillespie, American singer-songwriter and trumpet player (b. 1917)
    • 1993 – Rudolf Nureyev, Russian-French dancer and choreographer (b. 1938)
    • 1995 – Joe Slovo, Lithuanian-South African lawyer and politician (b. 1926)
    • 1999 – Michel Petrucciani, French-American pianist (b. 1962)2000 – Don Martin, American cartoonist (b. 1931)
    • 2004 – Pierre Charles, Dominican educator and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Dominica (b. 1954)
    • 2004 – Francesco Scavullo, American photographer (b. 1921)
    • 2005 – Eileen Desmond, Irish civil servant and politician, 12th Irish Minister for Health (b. 1932)
    • 2005 – Lois Hole, Canadian academic and politician, 15th Lieutenant Governor of Alberta (b. 1929)
    • 2005 – Tarquinio Provini, Italian motorcycle racer (b. 1933)
    • 2005 – Louis Robichaud, Canadian lawyer and politician, 25th Premier of New Brunswick (b. 1925)
    • 2006 – Lou Rawls, American singer-songwriter (b. 1933)
    • 2007 – Roberta Wohlstetter, American political scientist, historian, and academic (b. 1912)
    • 2008 – Shmuel Berenbaum, Rabbi of Mir Yeshiva (Brooklyn)
    • 2009 – Ron Asheton, American guitarist, songwriter, and actor (probable; b. 1948)
    • 2011 – Uche Okafor, Nigerian footballer, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1967)
    • 2012 – Bob Holness, South African-English radio and television host (b. 1928)
    • 2012 – Spike Pola, Australian footballer and soldier (b. 1914)
    • 2013 – Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Pakistani scholar and politician (b. 1938)
    • 2013 – Ruth Carter Stevenson, American art collector, founded the Amon Carter Museum of American Art (b. 1923)
    • 2013 – Gerard Helders, Dutch jurist and politician (b. 1905)
    • 2013 – Cho Sung-min, South Korean baseball player (b. 1973)
    • 2014 – Marina Ginestà, French Resistance soldier and photographer (b. 1919)
    • 2014 – Nelson Ned, Brazilian singer-songwriter (b. 1947)
    • 2014 – Julian Rotter, American psychologist and academic (b. 1916)
    • 2015 – Arthur Jackson, American lieutenant and target shooter (b. 1918)
    • 2015 – Basil John Mason, English meteorologist and academic (b. 1923)
    • 2016 – Pat Harrington, Jr., American actor and screenwriter (b. 1929)
    • 2016 – Florence King, American journalist and author (b. 1936)
    • 2016 – Christy O’Connor Jnr, Irish golfer and architect (b. 1948)
    • 2016 – Silvana Pampanini, Italian model, actress, and director, Miss Italy 1946 (b. 1925)
    • 2017 – Octavio Lepage, Venezuelan politician, President of Venezuela (b. 1923)
    • 2017 – Om Puri, Indian actor (b. 1950)
    • 2019 – José Ramón Fernández, Cuban revolution leader (b. 1923)
    • 2019 – Lamin Sanneh, Gambian-born American professor (b. 1942)
    • 2019 – W. Morgan Sheppard, British actor (b. 1932)
    • 2019 – Paul Streeten, Austrian-born British economics professor (b. 1917)

    Holidays and observances on January 6

    • Armed Forces Day (Iraq)
    • Christian Feast day:
      • André Bessette (Roman Catholic Church)
      • January 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Epiphany or Three Kings’ Day (Western Christianity) or Theophany (Eastern Christianity), and its related observances:
      • Befana Day (Italy)
      • Christmas (Armenian Apostolic Church)
      • Christmas Eve (Russia)
      • Christmas Eve (Ukraine)
      • Christmas Eve (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
      • Christmas Eve (North Macedonia)
      • Little Christmas (Ireland)
      • Þrettándinn (Iceland)
      • Three Wise Men Day
    • Pathet Lao Day (Laos)

  • January 4 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 46 BC – Julius Caesar fights Titus Labienus in the Battle of Ruspina.
    • 871 – Battle of Reading: Æthelred of Wessex and his brother Alfred are defeated by a Danish invasion army.
    • 1649 – English Civil War: The Rump Parliament votes to put Charles I on trial.
    • 1717 – The Netherlands, Great Britain, and France sign the Triple Alliance in an attempt to maintain the Treaty of Utrecht; Britain having signed a preliminary alliance with France on November 28 (November 17, 1716).
    • 1762 – Great Britain declares war on Spain, thus entering the Seven Years’ War.
    • 1798 – Constantine Hangerli arrives in Bucharest, Wallachia, as its new Prince, invested by the Ottoman Empire.
    • 1853 – After having been kidnapped and sold into slavery in the American South, Solomon Northup regains his freedom; his memoir Twelve Years a Slave later becomes a national bestseller.
    • 1854 – The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the Samarang.
    • 1863 – The New Apostolic Church, a Christian and chiliastic church, is established in Hamburg, Germany.
    • 1878 – Russo-Turkish War (1877–78): Sofia is liberated from Ottoman rule and designated the capital of Liberated Bulgaria.
    • 1884 – The Fabian Society is founded in London, United Kingdom.
    • 1885 – Sino-French War: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing force at Núi Bop in northern Vietnam.
    • 1896 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state.
    • 1903 – Topsy, an elephant, is electrocuted by the owners of Luna Park, Coney Island. The Edison film company records the film Electrocuting an Elephant of Topsy’s death.
    • 1912 – The Scout Association is incorporated throughout the British Empire by the royal charter.
    • 1918 – The Finnish Declaration of Independence is recognized by Russia, Sweden, Germany and France.
    • 1944 – World War II: Operation Carpetbagger, involving the dropping of arms and supplies to resistance fighters in Europe, begins.
    • 1948 – Burma gains its independence from the United Kingdom becoming an independent republic, named the Union of Burma, with Sao Shwe Thaik as its first President and U Nu its first Prime Minister.
    • 1951 – Korean War: Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul.
    • 1956 – The Greek National Radical Union is formed by Konstantinos Karamanlis.
    • 1958 – Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, falls to Earth from orbit.
    • 1959 – Luna 1 becomes the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon.
    • 1972 – Rose Heilbron becomes the first female judge to sit at the Old Bailey in London, UK.
    • 1976 – The Troubles: The Ulster Volunteer Force shoots dead six Irish Catholic civilians in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The next day, gunmen would shoot dead ten Protestant civilians nearby in retaliation.
    • 1987 – The Maryland train collision: An Amtrak train en route to Boston from Washington, D.C., collides with Conrail engines in Chase, Maryland, United States, killing 16 people.
    • 1989 – Second Gulf of Sidra incident: A pair of Libyan MiG-23 “Floggers” are shot down by a pair of US Navy F-14 Tomcats during an air-to-air confrontation.
    • 1990 – In Pakistan’s deadliest train accident an overloaded passenger train collides with an empty freight train, resulting in 307 deaths and 700 injuries.
    • 1998 – A massive ice storm hits eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, continuing through January 10 and causing widespread destruction.
    • 1999 – Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura is sworn in as governor of Minnesota, United States.
    • 2004 – Spirit, a NASA Mars rover, lands successfully on Mars at 04:35 UTC.
    • 2004 – Mikheil Saakashvili is elected President of Georgia following the November 2003 Rose Revolution.
    • 2006 – Ehud Olmert becomes acting Prime Minister of Israel after the incumbent, Ariel Sharon, suffers a second, apparently more serious stroke.
    • 2007 – The 110th United States Congress convenes, electing Nancy Pelosi as the first female Speaker of the House in U.S. history.
    • 2010 – The Burj Khalifa, the current tallest building in the world, officially opens in Dubai.
    • 2013 – A gunman kills eight people in a house-to-house rampage in Kawit, Cavite, Philippines.
    • 2018 – Hennenman–Kroonstad train crash: A passenger train operated by Shosholoza Meyl collides with a truck on a level crossing at Geneva Station between Hennenman and Kroonstad, Free State, South Africa. Twenty people are killed and 260 injured.

    Births on January 4

    • 659 – Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin (d.680)
    • 1077 – Emperor Zhezong of China (d. 1100)
    • 1334 – Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy (d. 1383)
    • 1467 – Bodo VIII, Count of Stolberg-Wernigerode (d. 1538)
    • 1581 – James Ussher, Irish archbishop and historian (d. 1656)
    • 1643 – Isaac Newton, English mathematician and physicist (d. 1727)
    • 1654 – Lars Roberg, Swedish physician and academic (d. 1742)
    • 1672 – Hugh Boulter, English-Irish archbishop (d. 1742)
    • 1710 – Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Italian composer, violinist, and organist (d. 1736)
    • 1720 – Johann Friedrich Agricola, German organist and composer (d. 1774)
    • 1785 – Jacob Grimm, German philologist and mythologist (d. 1863)
    • 1809 – Louis Braille, French educator, invented Braille (d. 1852)
    • 1813 – Isaac Pitman, English linguist and educator (d. 1897)
    • 1832 – George Tryon, English admiral (d. 1893)
    • 1838 – General Tom Thumb, American circus performer (d. 1883)
    • 1839 – Carl Humann, German archaeologist, architect, and engineer (d. 1896)
    • 1848 – Katsura Tarō, Japanese general and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1913)
    • 1858 – Carter Glass, American publisher and politician, 47th United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1946)
    • 1864 – Clara Emilia Smitt, Swedish doctor and author (d. 1928)
    • 1869 – Tommy Corcoran, American baseball player and umpire (d. 1960)
    • 1874 – Josef Suk, Czech violinist and composer (d. 1935)
    • 1877 – Marsden Hartley, American painter and poet (d. 1943)
    • 1878 – A. E. Coppard, English poet and short story writer (d. 1957)
    • 1878 – Augustus John, Welsh painter and illustrator (d. 1961)
    • 1881 – Wilhelm Lehmbruck, German sculptor (d. 1919)
    • 1883 – Max Eastman, American author and poet (d. 1969)
    • 1883 – Johanna Westerdijk, Dutch pathologist and academic (d. 1961)
    • 1884 – Guy Pène du Bois, American painter, critic, and educator (d. 1958)
    • 1889 – M. Patanjali Sastri, Indian lawyer and jurist, 2nd Chief Justice of India (d. 1963)
    • 1891 – Edward Brooker, English-Australian sergeant and politician, 31st Premier of Tasmania (d. 1948)
    • 1895 – Leroy Grumman, American engineer and businessman, co-founded Grumman Aeronautical Engineering Co. (d. 1982)
    • 1896 – Everett Dirksen, American politician (d. 1969)
    • 1896 – André Masson, French painter and illustrator (d. 1987)
    • 1897 – Chen Cheng, Chinese politician, Vice President of the Republic of China (d. 1965)
    • 1900 – James Bond, American ornithologist and zoologist (d. 1989)
    • 1901 – C. L. R. James, Trinidadian journalist and theorist (d. 1989)
    • 1902 – John A. McCone, American businessman and politician, 6th Director of Central Intelligence (d. 1991)
    • 1905 – Sterling Holloway, American actor (d. 1992)
    • 1913 – Malietoa Tanumafili II, Samoan ruler (d. 2007)
    • 1916 – Lionel Newman, American pianist and composer (d. 1989)
    • 1916 – Robert Parrish, American actor and director (d. 1995)
    • 1920 – William Colby, American intelligence officer, 10th Director of Central Intelligence (d. 1996)
    • 1924 – Marianne Werner, German shot putter
    • 1925 – Veikko Hakulinen, Finnish skier and technician (d. 2003)
    • 1927 – Paul Desmarais, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (d. 2013)
    • 1927 – Barbara Rush, American actress
    • 1929 – Günter Schabowski, German journalist and politician (d. 2015)
    • 1930 – Sorrell Booke, American actor and director (d. 1994)
    • 1930 – Don Shula, American football player and coach (d. 2020)
    • 1931 – William Deane, Australian judge and politician, 22nd Governor-General of Australia
    • 1931 – Nora Iuga, Romanian poet, writer and translator
    • 1931 – Coşkun Özarı, Turkish footballer and coach (d. 2011)
    • 1932 – Clint Hill, American secret service agent and author
    • 1932 – Carlos Saura, Spanish director and screenwriter
    • 1934 – Rudolf Schuster, Slovak politician, 2nd President of Slovakia
    • 1935 – Floyd Patterson, American boxer (d. 2006)
    • 1937 – Grace Bumbry, American operatic soprano
    • 1937 – Dyan Cannon, American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1940 – Gao Xingjian, Chinese novelist, playwright, and critic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1940 – Brian Josephson, Welsh physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1941 – George P. Cosmatos, Italian-Canadian director and screenwriter (d. 2005)
    • 1941 – Kalpnath Rai, Indian politician (d. 1999)
    • 1942 – Bolaji Akinyemi, Nigerian political scientist, academic, and politician
    • 1942 – John McLaughlin, English guitarist and songwriter
    • 1943 – Doris Kearns Goodwin, American historian and author
    • 1943 – Hwang Sok-yong, South Korean author and educator
    • 1945 – Richard R. Schrock, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1946 – Arthur Conley, American singer-songwriter (d. 2003)
    • 1947 – Marie-Thérèse Letablier, French sociologist and academic
    • 1948 – Kostas Davourlis, Greek footballer (d. 1992)
    • 1948 – Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé, Malian civil servant and politician, Prime Minister of Mali
    • 1950 – Khondakar Ashraf Hossain, Bangladesh poet and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1953 – Norberto Alonso, Argentinian footballer
    • 1954 – Tina Knowles, American fashion designer, founded House of Deréon
    • 1956 – Ann Magnuson, American actress and performance artist
    • 1956 – Zehava Gal-On, Israeli politician
    • 1956 – Bernard Sumner, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1957 – Patty Loveless, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1958 – Matt Frewer, American-Canadian actor
    • 1960 – Michael Stipe, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1963 – Dave Foley, Canadian comedian, actor, director, and producer
    • 1963 – Martina Proeber, German diver
    • 1964 – Susan Devoy, New Zealand squash player
    • 1965 – Guy Forget, French tennis player
    • 1965 – Craig Revel Horwood, Australian-English dancer, choreographer, and director
    • 1965 – Julia Ormond, English actress and producer
    • 1966 – Deana Carter, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1967 – David Toms, American golfer and philanthropist
    • 1975 – Paul Watson, English footballer and physiotherapist
    • 1978 – Dominik Hrbatý, Slovak tennis player
    • 1980 – Miguel Monteiro, Portuguese footballer
    • 1985 – Kari Aalvik Grimsbø, Norwegian handball player
    • 1985 – Gökhan Gönül, Turkish footballer
    • 1985 – Al Jefferson, American basketball player
    • 1986 – James Milner, English footballer
    • 1986 – Younès Kaboul, French footballer
    • 1989 – Graham Rahal, American race car driver
    • 1990 – Toni Kroos, German footballer
    • 1992 – Kris Bryant, American baseball player
    • 1994 – Derrick Henry, American football player
    • 1997 – Ante Žižić, Croatian basketball player
    • 1998 – Liza Soberano, Filipina actress

    Deaths on January 4

    • 871 – Æthelwulf, Saxon ealdorman
    • 874 – Hasan al-Askari, eleventh of the Twelve Imams (probable; b. 846)
    • 1248 – Sancho II of Portugal (b. 1209)
    • 1344 – Robert de Lisle, 1st Baron Lisle, English peer (b. 1288)
    • 1399 – Nicholas Eymerich, Catalan theologian and inquisitor
    • 1424 – Muzio Sforza, Italian condottiero
    • 1428 – Frederick I, Elector of Saxony (b. 1370)
    • 1584 – Tobias Stimmer, Swiss painter and illustrator (b. 1539)
    • 1604 – Ferenc Nádasdy, Hungarian noble (b. 1555)
    • 1695 – François-Henri de Montmorency, duc de Luxembourg, French general (b. 1628)
    • 1752 – Gabriel Cramer, Swiss mathematician and physicist (b. 1704)
    • 1761 – Stephen Hales, English clergyman and physiologist (b. 1677)
    • 1782 – Ange-Jacques Gabriel, French architect, designed École Militaire (b. 1698)
    • 1786 – Moses Mendelssohn, German philosopher, and theologian (b. 1729)
    • 1804 – Charlotte Lennox, English author and poet (b. 1730)
    • 1821 – Elizabeth Ann Seton, American nun and saint (b. 1774)
    • 1825 – Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies (b. 1751)
    • 1863 – Roger Hanson, American general (b. 1827)
    • 1874 – Thomas Gregson, English-Australian lawyer and politician, 2nd Premier of Tasmania (b. 1798)
    • 1877 – Cornelius Vanderbilt, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1794)
    • 1880 – Anselm Feuerbach, German painter and educator (b. 1829)
    • 1880 – Edward William Cooke, English painter and illustrator (b. 1811)
    • 1882 – John William Draper, English-American physician, chemist, and photographer (b. 1811)
    • 1883 – Antoine Chanzy, French general (b. 1823)
    • 1891 – Antoine Labelle, Canadian priest (b. 1833)
    • 1896 – Joseph Hubert Reinkens, German bishop and academic (b. 1821)
    • 1900 – Stanisław Mieroszewski, Polish-born politician, writer, historian and member of the Imperial Council of Austria (b. 1827)
    • 1901 – Nikolaos Gyzis, Greek painter and academic (b. 1842)
    • 1904 – Anna Winlock, American astronomer and academic (b. 1857)
    • 1910 – Léon Delagrange, French pilot and sculptor (b. 1873)
    • 1912 – Clarence Dutton, American geologist and soldier (b. 1841)
    • 1919 – Georg von Hertling, German academic and politician, 7th Chancellor of the German Empire (b. 1843)
    • 1920 – Benito Pérez Galdós, Spanish author and playwright (b. 1843)
    • 1924 – Alfred Grünfeld, Austrian pianist and composer (b. 1852)
    • 1925 – Nellie Cashman, American nurse, restaurateur, entrepreneur, and gold prospector (b. 1845)
    • 1927 – Süleyman Nazif, Turkish poet and civil servant (b. 1870)
    • 1931 – Art Acord, American actor and stuntman (b. 1890)
    • 1931 – Louise, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom (b. 1867)
    • 1931 – Mohammad Ali Jouhar, Indian journalist, activist, and scholar (b. 1878)
    • 1940 – Flora Finch, English-American actress and producer (b. 1867)
    • 1941 – Henri Bergson, French philosopher and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1859)
    • 1943 – Jerzy Iwanow-Szajnowicz, Greek-Polish swimmer and water polo player (b. 1911)
    • 1944 – Kaj Munk, Danish playwright and pastor (b. 1898)
    • 1960 – Albert Camus, French novelist, philosopher, and journalist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1913)
    • 1961 – Erwin Schrödinger, Austrian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1887)
    • 1962 – Hans Lammers, German jurist and politician (b. 1879)
    • 1965 – T. S. Eliot, American-English poet, playwright, and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)
    • 1967 – Donald Campbell, English racing driver and world speed record holder (b. 1921)
    • 1969 – Paul Chambers, American bassist and composer (b. 1935)
    • 1975 – Carlo Levi, Italian painter, author, and activist (b. 1902)
    • 1985 – Brian Horrocks, Indian-English general (b. 1895)
    • 1986 – Christopher Isherwood, English-American author and academic (b. 1904)
    • 1986 – Phil Lynott, Irish singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (b. 1949)
    • 1988 – Lily Laskine, French harp player (b. 1893)
    • 1990 – Harold Eugene Edgerton, American engineer and academic (b. 1903)
    • 1990 – Henry Bolte, Australian sergeant and politician, 38th Premier of Victoria (b. 1908)
    • 1994 – R. D. Burman, Indian film composer and music director (b. 1939
    • 1995 – Eduardo Mata, Mexican conductor and composer (b. 1942)
    • 1995 – Sol Tax, American anthropologist and academic (b. 1907)
    • 1997 – Harry Helmsley, American businessman (b. 1909)
    • 1998 – Mae Questel, American actress (b. 1908)
    • 1999 – Iron Eyes Cody, American actor and stuntman (b. 1904)
    • 2000 – Spyros Markezinis, Greek lawyer and politician, 170th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1909)
    • 2000 – Tom Fears, Mexican-American football player and coach (b. 1922)
    • 2001 – Les Brown, American bandleader and composer (b. 1912)
    • 2004 – Brian Gibson, English director and screenwriter (b. 1944)
    • 2004 – Joan Aiken, English author (b. 1924)
    • 2004 – John Toland, American historian and author (b. 1912)
    • 2005 – Bud Poile, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (b. 1924)
    • 2005 – Frank Harary, American mathematician and academic (b. 1921)
    • 2005 – Humphrey Carpenter, English radio host and author (b. 1946)
    • 2005 – Robert Heilbroner, American economist and historian (b. 1919)
    • 2006 – Irving Layton, Romanian-Canadian poet and academic (b. 1912)
    • 2006 – Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Emirati politician, 1st Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (b. 1946)
    • 2006 – Milton Himmelfarb, American sociographer, author, and academic (b. 1918)
    • 2007 – Helen Hill, American director and producer (b. 1970)
    • 2007 – Steve Krantz, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1923)
    • 2007 – Marais Viljoen, South African politician, 5th State President of South Africa (b. 1915)
    • 2008 – Xavier Chamorro Cardenal, Nicaraguan journalist (b. 1932)
    • 2009 – Gert Jonke, Austrian poet, playwright, and author (b. 1946)
    • 2010 – Johan Ferrier, Surinamese educator and politician, 1st President of Suriname (b. 1910)
    • 2010 – Tsutomu Yamaguchi, Japanese engineer (b. 1916)
    • 2011 – Coen Moulijn, Dutch footballer (b. 1937)
    • 2011 – Gerry Rafferty, Scottish singer-songwriter (b. 1947)
    • 2011 – Salmaan Taseer, Pakistani businessman and politician, 26th Governor of Punjab, Pakistan (b. 1944)
    • 2012 – Eve Arnold, American photographer and journalist (b. 1912)
    • 2012 – Rod Robbie, English-Canadian architect, designed the Canadian Pavilion and Rogers Centre (b. 1928)
    • 2013 – Anwar Shamim, Pakistani general (b. 1931)
    • 2013 – Zoran Žižić, Montenegrin politician, 4th Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (b. 1951)
    • 2015 – Pino Daniele, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1955)
    • 2016 – S. H. Kapadia, Indian lawyer, judge, and politician, 38th Chief Justice of India (b. 1947)
    • 2016 – Stephen W. Bosworth, American academic and diplomat, United States Ambassador to South Korea (b. 1939)
    • 2017 – Milt Schmidt, Canadian ice hockey player, coach and general manager (b. 1918)
    • 2017 – Georges Prêtre, French orchestral and opera conductor (b. 1924)
    • 2019 – Harold Brown, 14th United States Secretary of Defense (b. 1927)
    • 2020 – Tom Long, Australian actor (b. 1968)

    Holidays and observances on January 4

    • Christian feast day:
      • Angela of Foligno
      • Elizabeth Ann Seton
      • Ferréol of Uzès
      • Mavilus
      • Pharaildis of Ghent
      • Rigobert
      • January 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • The eleventh of the Twelve Days of Christmas. (Western Christianity)
    • Independence Day (Myanmar), celebrates the independence of Myanmar from the United Kingdom in 1948.
    • Colonial Martyrs Repression Day (Angola)
    • Day of the Martyrs (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
    • Ogoni Day (Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People)
    • Tokyo Dome Show: The annual Wrestle Kingdom event run by New Japan Pro Wrestling
    • World Braille Day

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

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

    Births on January 3

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

    Deaths on January 3

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

    Holidays and observances on January 3

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

  • January 1 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    During the Middle Ages under the influence of the Catholic Church, many countries in western Europe decided to move the start of the year to one of several important Christian festivals – December 25 (the Nativity of Jesus), March 1, March 25 (the Annunciation), or even Easter. The Byzantine Empire began its numbered year on September 1.

    In England, January 1 was celebrated as the New Year festival, but from the 12th century to 1752 the year in England began on March 25 (Lady Day). So, for example, the Parliamentary record notes the execution of Charles I as occurring on January 30, 1648, (as the year did not end until March 24), although modern histories adjust the start of the year to January 1 and record the execution as occurring in 1649.

    Most western European countries changed the start of the year to January 1 before they adopted the Gregorian calendar. For example, Scotland changed the start of the Scottish New Year to January 1 in 1600. England, Ireland and the British colonies changed the start of the year to January 1 in 1752. Later that year in September, the Gregorian calendar was introduced throughout Britain and the British colonies. These two reforms were implemented by the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750.

    January 1 became the official start of the year as follows:

    Julian calendar:

    • 1544 Holy Roman Empire (Germany)
    • 1556 Spain, Portugal
    • 1559 Prussia, Sweden
    • 1564 France
    • 1576 Southern Netherlands
    • 1579 Duchy of Lorraine
    • 1583 Northern Netherlands
    • 1600 Scotland
    • 1700 Russia
    • 1752 Great Britain (excluding Scotland) and its colonies
    • 1804 Serbia

    Gregorian calendar:

    • 1750 Tuscany
    • 1797 Republic of Venice
    • 1918 Ottoman Empire
    • 1941 Thailand

    Events on January 1

    Pre-Julian Roman calendar

    • 153 BC – For the first time, Roman consuls begin their year in office on January 1.

    Early Julian calendar (before Augustus’ leap year correction)

    • 45 BC – The Julian calendar takes effect as the civil calendar of the Roman Empire, establishing January 1 as the new date of the new year.
    • 42 BC – The Roman Senate posthumously deifies Julius Caesar.

    Julian calendar

    • 193 – The Senate chooses Pertinax against his will to succeed Commodus as Roman emper]or.
    • 404 – Saint Telemachus tries to stop a gladiatorial fight in a Roman amphitheatre, and is stoned to death by the crowd. This act impresses the Christian Emperor Honorius, who issues a historic ban on gladiatorial fights.
    • 417 – Emperor Honorius forces Galla Placidia into marriage to Constantius, his famous general (magister militum) (probable).
    • 1001 – Grand Prince Stephen I of Hungary is named the first King of Hungary by Pope Sylvester II (probable).
    • 1068 – Romanos IV Diogenes marries Eudokia Makrembolitissa and is crowned Byzantine Emperor.
    • 1259 – Michael VIII Palaiologos is proclaimed co-emperor of the Empire of Nicaea with his ward John IV Laskaris.
    • 1438 – Albert II of Habsburg is crowned King of Hungary.
    • 1502 – The present-day location of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is first explored by the Portuguese.
    • 1515 – Twenty-year-old Francis, Duke of Brittany, succeeds to the French throne following the death of his father-in-law, Louis XII.
    • 1527 – Croatian nobles elect Ferdinand I of Austria as King of Croatia in the Parliament on Cetin.
    • 1583 to 1700 – see January 11
    • 1600 – Scotland recognises January 1 as the start of the year, instead of March 25.
    • 1651 – Charles II is crowned King of Scotland.
    • 1700 – Russia begins using the Anno Domini era instead of the Anno Mundi era of the Byzantine Empire.
    • 1701 to 1800 – see January 12
    • 1801 to 1900 – see January 13
    • 1901 to 2100 – see January 14

    Gregorian calendar

    • 1707 – John V is proclaimed King of Portugal and the Algarves in Lisbon.
    • 1739 – Bouvet Island, the world’s remotest island is discovered by French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier.
    • 1772 – The first traveler’s cheques, which could be used in 90 European cities, were issued by the London Credit Exchange Company.
    • 1773 – The hymn that became known as “Amazing Grace”, then titled “1 Chronicles 17:16–17” is first used to accompany a sermon led by John Newton in the town of Olney, Buckinghamshire, England.
    • 1776 – American Revolutionary War: Norfolk, Virginia is burned by combined Royal Navy and Continental Army action.
    • 1776 – General George Washington hoists the first United States flag; the Grand Union Flag at Prospect Hill.
    • 1781 – American Revolutionary War: One thousand five hundred soldiers of the 6th Pennsylvania Regiment under General Anthony Wayne’s command rebel against the Continental Army’s winter camp in Morristown, New Jersey in the Pennsylvania Line Mutiny of 1781.
    • 1788 – First edition of The Times of London, previously The Daily Universal Register, is published.
    • 1801 – The legislative union of Kingdom of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ireland is completed, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland is proclaimed.
    • 1801 – Ceres, the largest and first known object in the Asteroid belt, is discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi.
    • 1803 – Emperor Gia Long orders all bronze wares of the Tây Sơn dynasty to be collected and melted into nine cannons for the Royal Citadel in Huế, Vietnam.
    • 1804 – French rule ends in Haiti. Haiti becomes the first black-majority republic and second independent country in North America after the United States.
    • 1806 – The French Republican Calendar is abolished.
    • 1808 – The United States bans the importation of slaves.
    • 1810 – Major-General Lachlan Macquarie officially becomes Governor of New South Wales.
    • 1822 – The Greek Constitution of 1822 is adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus.
    • 1847 – The world’s first “Mercy” Hospital is founded in Pittsburgh, United States, by a group of Sisters of Mercy from Ireland; the name will go on to grace over 30 major hospitals throughout the world.
    • 1860 – The first Polish stamp is issued, replacing the Russian stamps previously in use.
    • 1861 – Liberal forces supporting Benito Juárez enter Mexico City.
    • 1863 – American Civil War: The Emancipation Proclamation takes effect in Confederate territory.
    • 1877 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom is proclaimed Empress of India.
    • 1885 – Twenty-five nations adopt Sandford Fleming’s proposal for standard time (and also, time zones).
    • 1890 – Eritrea is consolidated into a colony by the Italian government
    • 1892 – Ellis Island begins processing immigrants into the United States.
    • 1898 – New York, New York annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York. The four initial boroughs, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx, are joined on January 25 by Staten Island to create the modern city of five boroughs.
    • 1899 – Spanish rule ends in Cuba.
    • 1901 – Nigeria becomes a British protectorate
    • 1901 – The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia; Edmund Barton is appointed the first Prime Minister
    • 1902 – The first American college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl between Michigan and Stanford, is held in Pasadena, California.
    • 1910 – Captain David Beatty is promoted to Rear admiral, and becomes the youngest admiral in the Royal Navy (except for Royal family members) since Horatio Nelson.
    • 1912 – The Republic of China is established.
    • 1914 – The SPT Airboat Line becomes the world’s first scheduled airline to use a winged aircraft.
    • 1923 – Britain’s Railways are grouped into the Big Four: LNER, GWR, SR, and LMS.
    • 1927 – New Mexican oil legislation goes into effect, leading to the formal outbreak of the Cristero War.
    • 1928 – Boris Bazhanov defects through Iran. He is the only assistant of Joseph Stalin’s secretariat to have defected from the Eastern Bloc.
    • 1929 – The former municipalities of Point Grey, British Columbia and South Vancouver, British Columbia are amalgamated into Vancouver.
    • 1932 – The United States Post Office Department issues a set of 12 stamps commemorating the 200th anniversary of George Washington’s birth.
    • 1934 – Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay becomes a United States federal prison.
    • 1934 – A “Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring” comes into effect in Nazi Germany.
    • 1942 – The Declaration by United Nations is signed by twenty-six nations.
    • 1945 – World War II: In retaliation for the Malmedy massacre, U.S. troops kill 60 German POWs at Chenogne.
    • 1945 – World War II: The German Luftwaffe launches Operation Bodenplatte, a massive, but failed attempt to knock out Allied air power in northern Europe in a single blow.
    • 1947 – Cold War: The American and British occupation zones in Allied-occupied Germany, after World War II, merge to form the Bizone, which later (with the French zone) became part of West Germany.
    • 1947 – The Canadian Citizenship Act 1946 comes into effect, converting British subjects into Canadian citizens.Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King becomes the first Canadian citizen.
    • 1948 – The British railway network is nationalized to form British Railways.
    • 1949 – United Nations cease-fire takes effect in Kashmir from one minute before midnight. War between India and Pakistan stops accordingly.
    • 1956 – Sudan achieves independence from Egypt and the United Kingdom.
    • 1957 – George Town, Penang, is made a city by a royal charter of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.
    • 1958 – European Economic Community is established.
    • 1959 – Cuban Revolution: Fulgencio Batista, dictator of Cuba, is overthrown by Fidel Castro’s forces.
    • 1960 – Cameroon achieves independence from France and the United Kingdom.
    • 1962 – Western Samoa achieves independence from New Zealand; its name is changed to the Independent State of Western Samoa.
    • 1964 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is divided into the independent republics of Zambia and Malawi, and the British-controlled Rhodesia.
    • 1965 – The People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan is founded in Kabul, Afghanistan.
    • 1970 – The defined beginning of Unix time, at 00:00:00.
    • 1971 – Cigarette advertisements are banned on American television.
    • 1973 – Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom are admitted into the European Economic Community.
    • 1976 – A bomb explodes on board Middle East Airlines Flight 438 over Qaisumah, Saudi Arabia, killing all 81 people on board.
    • 1978 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747, crashes into the Arabian Sea, due to instrument failure, spatial disorientation, and pilot error, off the coast of Bombay, India, killing all 213 people on board.
    • 1979 – Normal diplomatic relations are established between the People’s Republic of China and the United States.
    • 1981 – Greece is admitted into the European Community.
    • 1982 – Peruvian Javier Pérez de Cuéllar becomes the first Latin American to hold the title of Secretary-General of the United Nations.
    • 1983 – The ARPANET officially changes to using TCP/IP, the Internet Protocol, effectively creating the Internet.
    • 1984 – The original American Telephone & Telegraph Company is divested of its 22 Bell System companies as a result of the settlement of the 1974 United States Department of Justice antitrust suit against AT&T.
    • 1984 – Brunei becomes independent of the United Kingdom.
    • 1985 – The first British mobile phone call is made by Michael Harrison to his father Sir Ernest Harrison, chairman of Vodafone.
    • 1987 – The Isleta Pueblo tribe elect Verna Williamson to be their first female governor.
    • 1988 – The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America comes into existence, creating the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States.
    • 1989 – The Montreal Protocol comes into force, stopping the use of chemicals contributing to ozone depletion.
    • 1990 – David Dinkins is sworn in as New York City’s first black mayor.
    • 1993 – Dissolution of Czechoslovakia: Czechoslovakia is divided into the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic.
    • 1994 – The Zapatista Army of National Liberation initiates twelve days of armed conflict in the Mexican state of Chiapas.
    • 1994 – The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) comes into effect.
    • 1995 – The World Trade Organization comes into being.
    • 1995 – The Draupner wave in the North Sea in Norway is detected, confirming the existence of freak waves.
    • 1995 – Austria, Finland and Sweden join the EU.
    • 1998 – Following a currency reform, Russia begins to circulate new rubles to stem inflation and promote confidence.
    • 1999 – Euro currency is introduced in 11 member nations of the European Union (with the exception of the United Kingdom, Denmark, Greece and Sweden; Greece later adopts the euro).
    • 2004 – In a vote of confidence, General Pervez Musharraf wins 658 out of 1,170 votes in the Electoral College of Pakistan, and according to Article 41(8) of the Constitution of Pakistan, is “deemed to be elected” to the office of President until October 2007.
    • 2007 – Bulgaria and Romania join the EU.
    • 2007 – Adam Air Flight 574 breaks apart in mid-air and crashes near the Makassar Strait, Indonesia killing all 102 people on board.
    • 2009 – Sixty-six people die in a nightclub fire in Bangkok, Thailand.
    • 2010 – A suicide car bomber detonates at a volleyball tournament in Lakki Marwat, Pakistan, killing 105 and injuring 100 more.
    • 2011 – A bomb explodes as Coptic Christians in Alexandria, Egypt, leave a new year service, killing 23 people.
    • 2011 – Estonia officially adopts the Euro currency and becomes the 17th Eurozone country.
    • 2013 – At least 60 people are killed and 200 injured in a stampede after celebrations at Félix Houphouët-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
    • 2015 – The Eurasian Economic Union comes into effect, creating a political and economic union between Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
    • 2017 – An attack on a nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey, during New Year’s celebrations, kills at least 39 people and injures more than 60 others

    Births on January 1

    • 766 – Ali al-Ridha (d. 818) 8th Imam of Twelver Shia Islam
    • 1431 – Pope Alexander VI (d. 1503)
    • 1449 – Lorenzo de’ Medici, Italian politician (d. 1492)
    • 1467 – Sigismund I the Old, Polish king (d. 1548)
    • 1484 – Huldrych Zwingli, Swiss pastor and theologian (d. 1531)
    • 1511 – Henry, Duke of Cornwall, first-born child of Henry VIII of England (d. 1511)
    • 1557 – Stephen Bocskay, Prince of Transylvania (d. 1606)
    • 1600 – Friedrich Spanheim, Dutch theologian and academic (d. 1649)
    • 1628 – Christoph Bernhard, German composer and theorist (d. 1692)
    • 1655 – Christian Thomasius, German jurist and philosopher (d. 1728)
    • 1684 – Arnold Drakenborch, Dutch scholar and author (d. 1748)
    • 1704 – Soame Jenyns, English author, poet, and politician (d. 1787)
    • 1711 – Baron Franz von der Trenck, Austrian soldier (d. 1749)
    • 1714 – Giovanni Battista Mancini, Italian soprano and author (d. 1800)
    • 1714 – Kristijonas Donelaitis, Lithuanian pastor and poet (d. 1780)
    • 1735 – Paul Revere, American silversmith and engraver (d. 1818)
    • 1745 – Anthony Wayne, American general and politician (d. 1796)
    • 1752 – Betsy Ross, American seamstress, credited with designing the Flag of the United States (d. 1836)
    • 1768 – Maria Edgeworth, Anglo-Irish author (d. 1849)
    • 1769 – Marie-Louise Lachapelle, French obstetrician (d. 1821)
    • 1774 – André Marie Constant Duméril, French zoologist and academic (d. 1860)
    • 1779 – William Clowes, English publisher (d. 1847)
    • 1803 – Edward Dickinson, American politician and father of poet Emily Dickinson (d. 1874)
    • 1806 – Lionel Kieseritzky, Estonian-French chess player (d. 1853)
    • 1809 – Achille Guenée, French lawyer and entomologist (d. 1880)
    • 1813 – George Bliss, American politician (d. 1868)
    • 1814 – Hong Xiuquan, Chinese rebellion leader and king (d. 1864)
    • 1818 – William Gamble, Irish-born American general (d. 1866)
    • 1819 – Arthur Hugh Clough, English-Italian poet and academic (d. 1861)
    • 1819 – George Foster Shepley, American general (d. 1878)
    • 1823 – Sándor Petőfi, Hungarian poet and activist (d. 1849)
    • 1833 – Robert Lawson, Scottish-New Zealand architect, designed the Otago Boys’ High School and Knox Church (d. 1902)
    • 1834 – Ludovic Halévy, French author and playwright (d. 1908)
    • 1839 – Ouida, English-Italian author and activist (d. 1908)
    • 1848 – John W. Goff, Irish-American lawyer and politician (d. 1924)
    • 1852 – Eugène-Anatole Demarçay, French chemist and academic (d. 1904)
    • 1854 – James George Frazer, Scottish anthropologist and academic (d. 1941)
    • 1854 – Thomas Waddell, Irish-Australian politician, 15th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1940)
    • 1857 – Tim Keefe, American baseball player (d. 1933)
    • 1859 – Michael Joseph Owens, American inventor (d. 1923)
    • 1859 – Thibaw Min, Burmese king (d. 1916)
    • 1860 – Michele Lega, Italian cardinal (d. 1935)
    • 1863 – Pierre de Coubertin, French historian, and educator, founded the International Olympic Committee (d. 1937)
    • 1864 – Alfred Stieglitz, American photographer, and curator (d. 1946)
    • 1864 – Qi Baishi, Chinese painter (d. 1957)
    • 1867 – Mary Ackworth Evershed, English astronomer and scholar (d. 1949)
    • 1874 – Frank Knox, American publisher, and politician, 46th United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 1944)
    • 1874 – Gustave Whitehead, German-American pilot and engineer (d. 1927)
    • 1877 – Alexander von Staël-Holstein, German sinologist and orientalist (d. 1937)
    • 1878 – Agner Krarup Erlang, Danish mathematician, statistician, and engineer (d. 1929)
    • 1879 – E. M. Forster, English author and playwright (d. 1970)
    • 1879 – William Fox, Hungarian-American screenwriter and producer, founded the Fox Film Corporation and Fox Theatres (d. 1952)
    • 1883 – William J. Donovan, American general, lawyer, and politician (d. 1959)
    • 1884 – Chikuhei Nakajima, Japanese lieutenant, engineer, and politician, founded Nakajima Aircraft Company (d. 1949)
    • 1887 – Wilhelm Canaris, German admiral (d. 1945)
    • 1888 – Georgios Stanotas, Greek general (d. 1965)
    • 1888 – John Garand, Canadian-American engineer, designed the M1 Garand rifle (d. 1974)
    • 1889 – Charles Bickford, American actor (d. 1967)
    • 1890 – Anton Melik, Slovenian geographer and academic (d. 1966)
    • 1891 – Sampurnanand, Indian educator and politician, 3rd Governor of Rajasthan (d. 1969)
    • 1892 – Mahadev Desai, Indian author and activist (d. 1942)
    • 1892 – Manuel Roxas, Filipino lawyer and politician, 5th President of the Philippines (d. 1948)
    • 1893 – Mordechai Frizis, Greek colonel (d. 1940)
    • 1894 – Satyendra Nath Bose, Indian physicist, and mathematician (d. 1974)
    • 1894 – Edward Joseph Hunkeler, American clergyman (d. 1970)
    • 1895 – J. Edgar Hoover, American law enforcement official; 1st Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (d. 1972)
    • 1900 – Chiune Sugihara, Japanese soldier and diplomat (d. 1986)
    • 1900 – Xavier Cugat, Spanish-American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1990)
    • 1902 – Buster Nupen, Norwegian-South African cricketer and lawyer (d. 1977)
    • 1902 – Hans von Dohnányi, German jurist and political dissident (d. 1945)
    • 1904 – Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry, Pakistani lawyer and politician, 5th President of Pakistan (d. 1982)
    • 1905 – Stanisław Mazur, Ukrainian-Polish mathematician and theorist (d. 1981)
    • 1906 – Manuel Silos, Filipino filmmaker, and actor (d. 1988)
    • 1907 – Kinue Hitomi, Japanese sprinter and long jumper (d. 1931)
    • 1909 – Dana Andrews, American actor (d. 1992)
    • 1909 – Stepan Bandera, Ukrainian soldier and politician (d. 1959)
    • 1911 – Audrey Wurdemann, American poet and author (d. 1960)
    • 1911 – Basil Dearden, English director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1971)
    • 1911 – Hank Greenberg, American baseball player (d. 1986)
    • 1911 – Roman Totenberg, Polish-American violinist and educator (d. 2012)
    • 1912 – Boris Vladimirovich Gnedenko, Russian mathematician and historian (d. 1995)
    • 1912 – Kim Philby, British spy (d. 1988)
    • 1912 – Nikiforos Vrettakos, Greek poet and academic (d. 1991)
    • 1914 – Noor Inayat Khan, British SOE agent (d. 1944)
    • 1917 – Shannon Bolin, American actress and singer (d. 2016)
    • 1918 – Patrick Anthony Porteous, Scottish colonel, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 2000)
    • 1918 – Willy den Ouden, Dutch swimmer (d. 1997)
    • 1919 – Carole Landis, American actress (d. 1948)
    • 1919 – J. D. Salinger, American soldier and author (d. 2010)
    • 1919 – Rocky Graziano, American boxer and actor (d. 1990)
    • 1920 – Osvaldo Cavandoli, Italian cartoonist (d. 2007)
    • 1921 – César Baldaccini, French sculptor and academic (d. 1998)
    • 1921 – Ismail al-Faruqi, Palestinian-American philosopher and academic (d. 1986)
    • 1921 – Regina Bianchi, Italian actress (d. 2013)
    • 1922 – Ernest Hollings, American soldier, and politician, 106th Governor of South Carolina (d. 2019)
    • 1923 – Valentina Cortese, Italian actress (d. 2019)
    • 1923 – Milt Jackson, American jazz vibraphonist and composer (d. 1999)
    • 1924 – Francisco Macías Nguema, Equatorial Guinean politician, 1st President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea (d. 1979)
    • 1925 – Matthew Beard, American child actor (d. 1981)
    • 1925 – Paul Bomani, Tanzanian politician and diplomat, 1st Tanzanian Minister of Finance (d. 2005)
    • 1926 – Kazys Petkevičius, Lithuanian basketball player and coach (d. 2008)
    • 1927 – Doak Walker, American football player and businessman (d. 1998)
    • 1927 – James Reeb, American clergyman and political activist (d. 1965)
    • 1927 – Maurice Béjart, French-Swiss dancer, choreographer, and director (d. 2007)
    • 1927 – Vernon L. Smith, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1928 – Ernest Tidyman, American author and screenwriter (d. 1984)
    • 1928 – Gerhard Weinberg, German-American historian, author, and academic
    • 1929 – Larry L. King, American journalist, author, and playwright (d. 2012)
    • 1930 – Frederick Wiseman, American director and producer
    • 1930 – Gaafar Nimeiry, Egyptian-Sudanese politician, 4th President of the Sudan (d. 2009)
    • 1932 – Giuseppe Patanè, Italian conductor (d. 1989)
    • 1933 – James Hormel, American philanthropist and diplomat.
    • 1933 – Joe Orton, English dramatist (d. 1967)
    • 1934 – Alan Berg, American lawyer and radio host (d. 1984
    • 1934 – Lakhdar Brahimi, Algerian politician, Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs
    • 1935 – Om Prakash Chautala, Indian politician
    • 1936 – James Sinegal, American businessman, co-founded Costco
    • 1939 – Michèle Mercier, French actress
    • 1939 – Phil Read, English motorcycle racer and businessman
    • 1939 – Senfronia Thompson, American politician
    • 1941 – Younoussi Touré, Malian politician, Prime Minister of Mali
    • 1942 – Alassane Ouattara, Ivorian economist and politician, President of the Ivory Coast (doubtful)
    • 1942 – Anthony Hamilton-Smith, 3rd Baron Colwyn, English dentist and politician
    • 1942 – Country Joe McDonald, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1942 – Dennis Archer, American lawyer and politician, 67th Mayor of Detroit
    • 1942 – Gennadi Sarafanov, Russian pilot and cosmonaut (d. 2005)
    • 1943 – Don Novello, American comedian, screenwriter and producer.
    • 1943 – Tony Knowles, American soldier and politician, 7th Governor of Alaska.
    • 1943 – Vladimir Šeks, Croatian lawyer and politician, 16th Speaker of the Croatian Parliament
    • 1944 – Mati Unt, Estonian author, playwright, and director (d. 2005)
    • 1944 – Omar al-Bashir, Sudanese field marshal and politician, 7th President of Sudan
    • 1944 – Teresa Torańska, Polish journalist and author (d. 2013)
    • 1944 – Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Pakistani field hockey player and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Pakistan
    • 1945 – Jacky Ickx, Belgian racing driver
    • 1945 – Victor Ashe, American politician and former United States Ambassador to Poland
    • 1946 – Claude Steele, American social psychologist and academic
    • 1946 – Rivellino, Brazilian footballer and manager
    • 1947 – Jon Corzine, American sergeant and politician, 54th Governor of New Jersey
    • 1948 – Devlet Bahçeli, Turkish economist, academic, and politician, 57th Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey
    • 1948 – Dick Quax, New Zealand runner and politician (d. 2018)
    • 1948 – Pavel Grachev, Russian general and politician, 1st Russian Minister of Defence (d. 2012)
    • 1949 – Borys Tarasyuk, Ukrainian politician and diplomat
    • 1952 – Shaji N. Karun, Indian director and cinematographer
    • 1953 – Gary Johnson, American businessman and politician, 29th Governor of New Mexico
    • 1954 – Bob Menendez, American lawyer and politician
    • 1954 – Dennis O’Driscoll, Irish poet and critic (d. 2012)
    • 1954 – Yannis Papathanasiou, Greek engineer and politician, Greek Minister of Finance
    • 1955 – LaMarr Hoyt, American baseball player
    • 1955 – Mary Beard, English classicist, academic and presenter
    • 1956 – Sergei Avdeyev, Russian engineer and astronaut
    • 1956 – Christine Lagarde, French lawyer and politician; Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
    • 1957 – Evangelos Venizelos, Greek lawyer and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Greece
    • 1958 – Grandmaster Flash, Barbadian rapper and DJ
    • 1959 – Abdul Ahad Mohmand, Afghan colonel, pilot, and astronaut
    • 1959 – Azali Assoumani, Comorian colonel and politician, President of the Comoros
    • 1959 – Panagiotis Giannakis, Greek basketball player and coach
    • 1962 – Anton Muscatelli, Italian-Scottish economist and academic
    • 1963 – Jean-Marc Gounon, French racing driver
    • 1964 – Dedee Pfeiffer, American actress
    • 1966 – Anna Burke, Australian businesswoman and politician, 28th Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives
    • 1966 – Ivica Dačić, Serbian journalist and politician, 95th Prime Minister of Serbia
    • 1966 – Tihomir Orešković, Croatian–Canadian businessman, 11th Prime Minister of Croatia
    • 1968 – Davor Šuker, Croatian footballer
    • 1971 – Bobby Holík, Czech-American ice hockey player and coach
    • 1971 – Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia, Indian politician
    • 1971 – Sammie Henson, American wrestler and coach
    • 1972 – Lilian Thuram, French footballer
    • 1974 – Christian Paradis, Canadian lawyer and politician, 9th Canadian Minister of Industry
    • 1975 – Becky Kellar-Duke, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1975 – Chris Anstey, Australian basketball player and coach
    • 1975 – Fernando Tatís, Dominican baseball player
    • 1975 – Joe Cannon, American soccer player and sportscaster
    • 1979 – Vidya Balan, Indian actress
    • 1981 – Zsolt Baumgartner, Hungarian racing driver
    • 1981 – Mladen Petrić, Croatian footballer
    • 1982 – David Nalbandian, Argentinian tennis player
    • 1982 – Egidio Arévalo Ríos, Uruguayan footballer
    • 1983 – Melaine Walker, Jamaican hurdler
    • 1983 – Park Sung-hyun, South Korean archer
    • 1983 – Calum Davenport, English footballer
    • 1984 – Paolo Guerrero, Peruvian footballer
    • 1985 – Steven Davis, Northern Irish footballer
    • 1985 – Tiago Splitter, Brazilian basketball player
    • 1986 – Pablo Cuevas, Uruguayan tennis player
    • 1986 – Ramses Barden, American football player
    • 1987 – Meryl Davis, American ice dancer1987 – Patric Hörnqvist, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1988 – Marcel Gecov, Czech footballer
    • 1989 – Jason Pierre-Paul, American football player
    • 1991 – Darius Slay, American football player

    Deaths on January 1

    • 138 – Lucius Aelius, adopted son and intended successor of Hadrian (b. 101)
    • 404 – Telemachus, Christian monk and martyr
    • 466 – Qianfei, Chinese emperor of the Liu Song Dynasty (b. 449)
    • 898 – Odo I, Frankish king (b. 860)
    • 951 – Ramiro II, king of León and Galicia1031 – William of Volpiano, Italian abbot (b. 962)
    • 1189 – Henry of Marcy, Cistercian abbot (b. c. 1136)
    • 1204 – Haakon III, king of Norway (b. 1182)
    • 1387 – Charles II, king of Navarre (b. 1332)
    • 1496 – Charles d’Orléans, count of Angoulême (b. 1459)
    • 1515 – Louis XII, king of France (b. 1462)
    • 1559 – Christian III, king of Denmark (b. 1503)
    • 1560 – Joachim du Bellay, French poet and critic (b. 1522)
    • 1617 – Hendrik Goltzius, Dutch painter and illustrator (b. 1558)
    • 1697 – Filippo Baldinucci, Florentine historian and author (b. 1625)
    • 1716 – William Wycherley, English playwright and poet (b. 1641)
    • 1748 – Johann Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician and academic (b. 1667)
    • 1780 – Johann Ludwig Krebs, German organist and composer (b. 1713)
    • 1782 – Johann Christian Bach, German composer (b. 1735)
    • 1789 – Fletcher Norton, 1st Baron Grantley, English lawyer and politician, British Speaker of the House of Commons (b. 1716)
    • 1793 – Francesco Guardi, Italian painter and educator (b. 1712)
    • 1817 – Martin Heinrich Klaproth, German chemist and academic (b. 1743)
    • 1846 – John Torrington, English sailor and explorer (b. 1825)
    • 1853 – Gregory Blaxland, Australian farmer and explorer (b. 1778)
    • 1862 – Mikhail Ostrogradsky, Ukrainian mathematician and physicist (b. 1801)
    • 1881 – Louis Auguste Blanqui, French activist (b. 1805)
    • 1892 – Roswell B. Mason, American lawyer and politician, 25th Mayor of Chicago (b. 1805)
    • 1894 – Heinrich Hertz, German physicist and academic (b. 1857)
    • 1896 – Alfred Ely Beach, American publisher and lawyer, created the Beach Pneumatic Transit (b. 1826)
    • 1906 – Hugh Nelson, Scottish-Australian farmer and politician, 11th Premier of Queensland (b. 1833)
    • 1918 – William Wilfred Campbell, Canadian poet and author (b. 1858)
    • 1921 – Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg, German lawyer and politician, 5th Chancellor of Germany (b. 1856)
    • 1929 – Mustafa Necati, Turkish civil servant and politician, Turkish Minister of Environment and Urban Planning (b. 1894)
    • 1931 – Martinus Beijerinck, Dutch microbiologist and botanist (b. 1851)
    • 1937 – Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, Indian religious leader, founded the Gaudiya Math (b. 1874)
    • 1940 – Panuganti Lakshminarasimha Rao, Indian author and educator (b. 1865)
    • 1944 – Edwin Lutyens, English architect, designed the Castle Drogo and Thiepval Memorial (b. 1869)
    • 1944 – Charles Turner, Australian cricketer (b. 1862)
    • 1953 – Hank Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1923)
    • 1954 – Duff Cooper, English politician and diplomat, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1890)
    • 1954 – Leonard Bacon, American poet and critic (b. 1887)
    • 1955 – Arthur C. Parker, American archaeologist and historian (b. 1881)
    • 1960 – Margaret Sullavan, American actress (b. 1909)
    • 1966 – Vincent Auriol, French journalist and politician, 16th President of the French Republic (b. 1884)
    • 1969 – Barton MacLane, American actor, playwright and screenwriter (b. 1902)
    • 1971 – Amphilochius of Pochayiv, Ukrainian saint (b. 1894)
    • 1972 – Maurice Chevalier, French actor and singer (b. 1888)
    • 1978 – Carle Hessay, German-Canadian painter (b. 1911)
    • 1980 – Pietro Nenni, Italian journalist and politician, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1891)
    • 1981 – Hephzibah Menuhin, American-Australian pianist (b. 1920)
    • 1982 – Victor Buono, American actor (b. 1938)
    • 1984 – Alexis Korner, French-English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1928)
    • 1992 – Grace Hopper, American computer scientist and admiral, co-developed COBOL (b. 1906)
    • 1994 – Arthur Porritt, Baron Porritt, New Zealand physician and politician, 11th Governor-General of New Zealand (b. 1900)
    • 1994 – Cesar Romero, American actor (b. 1907)
    • 1994 – Edward Arthur Thompson, Irish historian and academic (b. 1914)
    • 1995 – Eugene Wigner, Hungarian-American physicist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
    • 1996 – Arleigh Burke, American admiral (b. 1901)
    • 1996 – Arthur Rudolph, German-American engineer (b. 1906)
    • 1997 – Townes Van Zandt, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1944)
    • 1998 – Helen Wills, American tennis player and coach (b. 1905)
    • 2000 – Betty Archdale, English-Australian cricketer and educator (b. 1907)
    • 2001 – Ray Walston, American actor (b. 1914)
    • 2002 – Julia Phillips, American film producer and author (b. 1944)
    • 2003 – Joe Foss, American soldier, pilot, and politician, 20th Governor of South Dakota (b. 1915)
    • 2005 – Shirley Chisholm, American educator and politician (b. 1924)
    • 2006 – Harry Magdoff, American economist and journalist (b. 1913)
    • 2007 – Roland Levinsky, South African-English biochemist and academic (b. 1943)
    • 2007 – Tillie Olsen, American short story writer (b. 1912)
    • 2008 – Pratap Chandra Chunder, Indian educator and politician (b. 1919)
    • 2009 – Claiborne Pell, American politician (b. 1918)
    • 2010 – Lhasa de Sela, American-Mexican singer-songwriter (b. 1972)
    • 2012 – Kiro Gligorov, Bulgarian-Macedonian lawyer and politician, 1st President of the Republic of Macedonia (b. 1917)
    • 2012 – Nay Win Maung, Burmese physician, businessman, and activist (b. 1962)
    • 2012 – Tommy Mont, American football player and coach (b. 1922)
    • 2013 – Christopher Martin-Jenkins, English journalist (b. 1945)
    • 2013 – Patti Page, American singer and actress (b. 1927)
    • 2014 – Higashifushimi Kunihide, Japanese monk and educator (b. 1910)
    • 2014 – Juanita Moore, American actress (b. 1914)
    • 2014 – William Mgimwa, Tanzanian banker and politician, 13th Tanzanian Minister of Finance (b. 1950)
    • 2015 – Boris Morukov, Russian physician and astronaut (b. 1950)
    • 2015 – Donna Douglas, American actress (b. 1932)
    • 2015 – Mario Cuomo, American lawyer and politician, 52nd Governor of New York (b. 1932)
    • 2015 – Omar Karami, Lebanese lawyer and politician, 58th Prime Minister of Lebanon (b. 1934)
    • 2016 – Dale Bumpers, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 38th Governor of Arkansas (b. 1925)
    • 2016 – Fazu Aliyeva, Russian poet and journalist (b. 1932)
    • 2016 – Vilmos Zsigmond, Hungarian-American cinematographer and producer (b. 1930)
    • 2017 – Derek Parfit, British philosopher (b. 1942)
    • 2017 – Tony Atkinson, British economist (b. 1944)
    • 2017 – Yvon Dupuis, Canadian politician (b. 1926)
    • 2018 – Robert Mann, American violinist (b. 1920)
    • 2019 – Pegi Young, American singer, songwriter, environmentalist, educator and philanthropist (b. 1952)
    • 2019 – Paul Neville, Australian politician (b. 1940)
    • 2020 – David Stern, American lawyer and businessman (b. 1942)
    • 2020 – Alexander Frater, British travel writer and journalist (b. 1937)
    • 2020 – Barry McDonald, Australian rugby union player (b. 1940)

    Holidays and observances on January 1

    • Christian feast day:
      • Adalard of Corbie
      • Basil the Great (Eastern Orthodox Church)
      • Feast of the Circumcision of Christ
        • Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus (Anglican Communion, Lutheran Church)
        • Feast of Fools (Medieval Europe)
      • Fulgentius of Ruspe
      • Giuseppe Maria Tomasi
      • Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, the Octave Day of Christmas, considered a holy day of obligation in some countries (Catholic Church); and its related observances:
        • World Day of Peace
      • Telemachus
      • Zygmunt Gorazdowski
      • January 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Earliest day on which Handsel Monday can fall, while January 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday of the year (Scotland)
    • The second day of Hogmanay (Scotland) December 31-January 1, in some cases until January 2.
    • The last day of Kwanzaa (African-Americans)
    • The eighth of the Twelve Days of Christmas (Western Christianity)
    • Constitution Day (Italy)
    • Dissolution of Czechoslovakia-related observances:
      • Day of the Establishment of the Slovak Republic (Slovakia)
      • Restoration Day of the Independent Czech State (Czech Republic)
    • Emancipation Day (United States)
    • Euro Day (European Union)
    • Flag Day (Lithuania) commemorates raising of the Lithuanian flag on Gediminas’ Tower in 1919
    • Founding Day (Taiwan) commemorates the establishment of the Provisional Government in Nanjing
    • Global Family Day
    • Independence Day (Brunei, Cameroon, Haiti, Sudan)
    • International Nepali Dhoti and Nepali Topi Day
    • Jump-up Day (Montserrat)
    • Kalpataru Day (Ramakrishna Movement)
    • Kamakura Ebisu, January 1–3 (Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan)
    • National Bloody Mary Day (United States)
    • National Tree Planting Day (Tanzania)
    • New Year’s Day (Gregorian calendar)
      • Japanese New Year
      • Novy God Day (Russia)
      • Sjoogwachi (Okinawa Islands)
    • Polar Bear Swim Day (Canada and United States)
    • Public Domain Day (multiple countries)
    • Triumph of the Revolution (Cuba)