1761

• 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