1785

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

    • 1258 – Mongol invasions: Baghdad falls to the Mongols, bringing the Islamic Golden Age to an end.
    • 1306 – In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn sparking the revolution in the Wars of Scottish Independence.
    • 1355 – The St Scholastica Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead in two days.
    • 1502 – Vasco da Gama sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal, on his second voyage to India.
    • 1567 – Lord Darnley, second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, is found strangled following an explosion at the Kirk o’ Field house in Edinburgh, Scotland, a suspected assassination.
    • 1712 – Huilliches in Chiloé rebel against Spanish encomenderos.
    • 1763 – French and Indian War: The Treaty of Paris ends the war and France cedes Quebec to Great Britain.
    • 1814 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Champaubert ends in French victory over the Russians and the Prussians.
    • 1840 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom marries Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
    • 1846 – First Anglo-Sikh War: Battle of Sobraon: British defeat Sikhs in the final battle of the war.
    • 1861 – Jefferson Davis is notified by telegraph that he has been chosen as provisional President of the Confederate States of America.
    • 1862 – American Civil War: A Union naval flotilla destroys the bulk of the Confederate Mosquito Fleet in the Battle of Elizabeth City on the Pasquotank River in North Carolina.
    • 1906 – HMS Dreadnought, the first of a revolutionary new breed of battleships is christened and launched by King Edward VII.
    • 1920 – Józef Haller de Hallenburg performs symbolic wedding of Poland to the sea, celebrating restitution of Polish access to open sea.
    • 1920 – About 75 % of the population in Zone I votes to join Denmark in the 1920 Schleswig plebiscites.
    • 1923 – Texas Tech University is founded as Texas Technological College in Lubbock, Texas
    • 1930 – The Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng launches the failed Yên Bái mutiny in hope to overthrow French protectorate over Vietnam.
    • 1933 – In round 13 of a boxing match at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, Primo Carnera knocks out Ernie Schaaf. Schaaf dies four days later.
    • 1936 – Second Italo-Abyssinian War: Italian troops launched the Battle of Amba Aradam against Ethiopian defenders.
    • 1939 – Spanish Civil War: The Nationalists conclude their conquest of Catalonia and seal the border with France.
    • 1940 – The Soviet Union begins mass deportations of Polish citizens from occupied eastern Poland to Siberia.
    • 1940 – Cartoon characters Tom and Jerry make their debut with Puss Gets the Boot.
    • 1942 – World War II: Imperial Japanese Army capture Banjarmasin, capital of Borneo in Dutch East Indies.
    • 1943 – World War II: Attempting to completely lift the Siege of Leningrad, the Soviet Red Army engages German troops and Spanish volunteers in the Battle of Krasny Bor.
    • 1947 – The Paris Peace Treaties are signed by Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Finland and the Allies of World War II.
    • 1954 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower warns against United States intervention in Vietnam.
    • 1962 – Cold War: Captured American U2 spy-plane pilot Gary Powers is exchanged for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel.
    • 1962 – Roy Lichtenstein’s first solo exhibition opened, and it included Look Mickey, which featured his first employment of Ben-Day dots, speech balloons and comic imagery sourcing, all of which he is now known for.
    • 1964 – Melbourne–Voyager collision: The aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne collides with and sinks the destroyer HMAS Voyager off the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, killing 82.
    • 1967 – The 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified.
    • 1972 – Ras Al Khaimah joins the United Arab Emirates, now making up seven emirates.
    • 1984 – Kenyan soldiers kill an estimated 5000 ethnic Somali Kenyans in the Wagalla massacre.
    • 1989 – Ron Brown is elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee becoming the first African American to lead a major American political party.
    • 1996 – IBM supercomputer Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov in chess for the first time.
    • 2003 – France and Belgium break the NATO procedure of silent approval concerning the timing of protective measures for Turkey in case of a possible war with Iraq.
    • 2007 – Then Illinois senator Barack Obama announces his candidacy for president in the 2008 elections, which he later goes on to win.
    • 2009 – The communications satellites Iridium 33 and Kosmos 2251 collide in orbit, destroying both.
    • 2013 – Thirty-six people are killed and 39 others are injured in a stampede in Allahabad, India, during the Kumbh Mela festival.
    • 2016 – South Korea decides to stop the operation of the Kaesong joint industrial complex with North Korea in response to the launch of Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4.
    • 2018 – 19 people are killed and 66 injured when a Kowloon Motor Bus double-decker on route 872 in Hong Kong overturns.

    Births on February 10

    • 1486 – George of the Palatinate, German bishop (d. 1529)
    • 1499 – Thomas Platter, Swiss author and scholar (d. 1582)
    • 1514 – Domenico Bollani, Bishop of Milan (d. 1579)
    • 1606 – Christine of France, Duchess of Savoy (d. 1663)
    • 1609 – John Suckling, English poet and playwright (d. 1642)
    • 1627 – Cornelis de Bie, Flemish poet and jurist (d. 1715)
    • 1685 – Aaron Hill, English poet and playwright (d. 1750)
    • 1696 – Johann Melchior Molter, German violinist and composer (d. 1765)
    • 1744 – William Cornwallis, English admiral and politician (d. 1819)
    • 1766 – Benjamin Smith Barton, American botanist and physician (d. 1815)
    • 1775 – Charles Lamb, English poet and essayist (d. 1834)
    • 1785 – Claude-Louis Navier, French physicist and engineer (d. 1836)
    • 1795 – Ary Scheffer, Dutch-French painter and academic (d. 1858)
    • 1797 – George Chichester, 3rd Marquess of Donegall (d. 1883)
    • 1821 – Roberto Bompiani, Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1908)
    • 1824 – Samuel Plimsoll, English merchant and politician (d. 1898)
    • 1842 – Agnes Mary Clerke, Irish astronomer and author (d. 1907)
    • 1843 – Adelina Patti, Italian-French opera singer (d. 1919)
    • 1846 – Lord Charles Beresford, Irish admiral and politician (d. 1919)
    • 1846 – Ira Remsen, American chemist and academic (d. 1927)
    • 1847 – Nabinchandra Sen, Bangladeshi poet and author (d. 1909)
    • 1859 – Alexandre Millerand, French lawyer and politician, 12th President of France (d. 1943)
    • 1867 – Robert Garran, Australian lawyer and public servant (d. 1957)
    • 1868 – Prince Waldemar of Prussia (d. 1879)
    • 1868 – William Allen White, American journalist and author (d. 1944)
    • 1869 – Royal Cortissoz, American art critic (d. 1948)
    • 1879 – Ernst Põdder, Estonian general (d. 1932)
    • 1881 – Pauline Brunius, Swedish actress and director (d. 1954)
    • 1883 – Edith Clarke, American electrical engineer (d. 1959)
    • 1883 – H.V. Hordern, Australian cricketer (d. 1938)
    • 1889 – Cevdet Sunay, Turkish general and politician, 5th President of Turkey (d. 1982)
    • 1890 – Fanny Kaplan, Ukrainian-Russian activist (d. 1918)
    • 1890 – Boris Pasternak, Russian poet, novelist, and literary translator Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1960)
    • 1892 – Alan Hale Sr., American actor and director (d. 1950)
    • 1893 – Jimmy Durante, American actor, singer, and pianist (d. 1980)
    • 1893 – Bill Tilden, American tennis player and coach (d. 1953)
    • 1894 – Harold Macmillan, English captain and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1986)
    • 1897 – Judith Anderson, Australian actress (d. 1992)
    • 1897 – John Franklin Enders, American virologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1985)
    • 1898 – Bertolt Brecht, German director, playwright, and poet (d. 1956)
    • 1898 – Joseph Kessel, French journalist and author (d. 1979)
    • 1901 – Stella Adler, American actress and educator (d. 1992)
    • 1902 – Walter Houser Brattain, Chinese-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)
    • 1903 – Waldemar Hoven, German physician (d. 1948)
    • 1903 – Matthias Sindelar, Austrian footballer and manager (d. 1939)
    • 1904 – John Farrow, Australian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1963)
    • 1905 – Walter A. Brown, American businessman, founded the Boston Celtics (d. 1964)
    • 1905 – Chick Webb, American drummer and bandleader (d. 1939)
    • 1906 – Lon Chaney Jr., American actor (d. 1973)
    • 1907 – Anthony Cottrell, New Zealand rugby player (d. 1988)
    • 1908 – Jean Coulthard, Canadian composer and educator (d. 2000)
    • 1909 – Min Thu Wun, Burmese poet, scholar, and politician (d. 2004)
    • 1910 – Dominique Pire, Belgian friar, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1969)
    • 1914 – Larry Adler, American harmonica player, composer, and actor (d. 2001)
    • 1915 – Vladimir Zeldin, Russian actor (d. 2016)
    • 1919 – Ioannis Charalambopoulos, Greek colonel and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2014)
    • 1920 – Alex Comfort, English physician and author (d. 2000)
    • 1920 – Neva Patterson, American actress (d. 2010)
    • 1920 – José Manuel Castañón, Spanish lawyer and author (d. 2001)
    • 1922 – Árpád Göncz, Hungarian author, playwright, and politician, 1st President of Hungary (d. 2015)
    • 1922 – José Gabriel da Costa later known as Mestre Gabriel, Brazilian spiritual leader, founder of the União do Vegetal (d. 1971)
    • 1923 – Allie Sherman, American football player and coach (d. 2015)
    • 1924 – Max Ferguson, Canadian radio host and actor (d. 2013)
    • 1924 – Bud Poile, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2005)
    • 1925 – Pierre Mondy, French actor and director (d. 2012)
    • 1926 – Sidney Bryan Berry, American general (d. 2013)
    • 1926 – Danny Blanchflower, Northern Irish soldier, footballer and manager (d. 1993)
    • 1927 – Leontyne Price, American operatic soprano
    • 1929 – Jerry Goldsmith, American composer and conductor (d. 2004)
    • 1929 – Jim Whittaker, American mountaineer
    • 1929 – Lou Whittaker, American mountaineer
    • 1930 – E. L. Konigsburg, American author and illustrator (d. 2013)
    • 1930 – Robert Wagner, American actor and producer
    • 1931 – James Edward Maceo West, American inventor and acoustician
    • 1932 – Barrie Ingham, English-American actor (d. 2015)
    • 1933 – Richard Schickel, American journalist, author, and critic (d. 2017)
    • 1933 – Faramarz Payvar, Iranian santur player and composer (d. 2009)
    • 1935 – Theodore Antoniou, Greek composer and conductor (d. 2018)
    • 1937 – Anne Anderson, Scottish physiologist and academic (d. 1983)
    • 1937 – Roberta Flack, American singer-songwriter and pianist
    • 1939 – Adrienne Clarkson, Hong Kong-Canadian journalist and politician, 26th Governor General of Canada
    • 1939 – Deolinda Rodríguez de Almeida, Angolan nationalist (d. 1967)
    • 1940 – Mary Rand, English sprinter and long jumper
    • 1940 – Kenny Rankin, American singer-songwriter (d. 2009)
    • 1941 – Michael Apted, English director and producer
    • 1944 – Peter Allen, Australian singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (d. 1992)
    • 1944 – Frank Keating, American lawyer and politician, 25th Governor of Oklahoma
    • 1944 – Frances Moore Lappé, American author and activist
    • 1944 – Rufus Reid, American bassist and composer
    • 1945 – Delma S. Arrigoitia, Puerto Rican historian, author, educator and lawyer
    • 1947 – Louise Arbour, Canadian lawyer and jurist
    • 1947 – Butch Morris, American cornet player, composer, and conductor (d. 2013)
    • 1947 – Nicholas Owen, English journalist
    • 1949 – Nigel Olsson, English rock drummer and singer-songwriter
    • 1950 – Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexican economist and politician (d. 1994)
    • 1950 – Mark Spitz, American swimmer
    • 1951 – Bob Iger, American media executive
    • 1952 – Lee Hsien Loong, Singaporean general and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Singapore
    • 1955 – Jim Cramer, American television personality, pundit, and author
    • 1955 – Greg Norman, Australian golfer and sportscaster
    • 1956 – Enele Sopoaga, Tuvaluan politician, 12th Prime Minister of Tuvalu
    • 1957 – Katherine Freese, American astrophysicist and academic
    • 1959 – John Calipari, American basketball player and coach
    • 1960 – Jim Kent, American biologist, computer programmer, academic
    • 1961 – Alexander Payne, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1961 – George Stephanopoulos, American television journalist
    • 1962 – Randy Velischek, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1962 – Cliff Burton, American heavy metal bassist (d. 1986)
    • 1963 – Lenny Dykstra, American baseball player
    • 1964 – Glenn Beck, American journalist, producer, and author
    • 1966 – Natalie Bennett, Australian-English journalist and politician
    • 1966 – Daryl Johnston, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1967 – Laura Dern, American actress, director, and producer
    • 1967 – Jacky Durand, French cyclist and sportscaster
    • 1967 – Vince Gilligan, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1968 – Peter Popovic, Swedish ice hockey player and coach
    • 1968 – Garrett Reisman, American engineer and astronaut
    • 1969 – Joe Mangrum, American painter and sculptor
    • 1969 – James Small, South African rugby player (d. 2019)
    • 1970 – Melissa Doyle, Australian journalist and author
    • 1970 – Noureddine Naybet, Moroccan international footballer, central defender and manager
    • 1970 – Åsne Seierstad, Norwegian journalist and author
    • 1971 – Lorena Rojas, Mexican actress and singer (d. 2015)
    • 1972 – Michael Kasprowicz, Australian cricketer
    • 1973 – Martha Lane Fox, Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho, English businesswoman and politician
    • 1974 – Elizabeth Banks, American actress
    • 1974 – Ty Law, American football player
    • 1974 – Ivri Lider, Israeli singer
    • 1974 – Henry Paul, New Zealand rugby player and coach
    • 1976 – Lance Berkman, American baseball player and coach
    • 1976 – Keeley Hawes, English actress
    • 1977 – Salif Diao, Senegalese footballer
    • 1979 – Joey Hand, American race car driver
    • 1980 – César Izturis, Venezuelan baseball player
    • 1980 – Enzo Maresca, Italian footballer
    • 1980 – Mike Ribeiro, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1981 – Uzo Aduba, American actress
    • 1981 – Stephanie Beatriz, American actress
    • 1981 – Andrew Johnson, English international footballer, forward and club ambassador
    • 1981 – Holly Willoughby, English model and television host
    • 1982 – Justin Gatlin, American sprinter
    • 1982 – Tarmo Neemelo, Estonian footballer
    • 1982 – Hamad Al-Tayyar, Kuwaiti footballer
    • 1982 – Iafeta Paleaaesina, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1983 – Vic Fuentes, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1984 – Greg Bird, Australian rugby league player
    • 1984 – Alex Gordon, American baseball player
    • 1984 – Kim Hyo-jin, South Korean actress
    • 1985 – Selçuk İnan, Turkish footballer
    • 1985 – Paul Millsap, American basketball player
    • 1986 – Jeff Adrien, American basketball player
    • 1986 – Josh Akognon, American basketball player
    • 1986 – Radamel Falcao, Colombian footballer
    • 1986 – Roberto Jiménez Gago, Spanish footballer
    • 1986 – Viktor Troicki, Serbian tennis player
    • 1987 – Jakub Kindl, Czech ice hockey player
    • 1987 – Facundo Roncaglia, Argentinian footballer
    • 1988 – Francesco Acerbi, Italian footballer
    • 1989 – Liam Hendriks, Australian baseball player
    • 1990 – Barbara Guarischi, Italian cyclist
    • 1990 – Choi Soo-young, South Korean singer-songwriter, actress, and dancer
    • 1991 – Rebecca Dempster, Scottish footballer
    • 1991 – Emma Roberts, American actress
    • 1992 – Haruka Nakagawa, Japanese singer and actress
    • 1992 – Reinhold Yabo, German footballer
    • 1993 – Max Kepler, German baseball player
    • 1993 – Filip Twardzik, Czech footballer
    • 1993 – Luis Madrigal, Mexican footballer
    • 1994 – Kang Seul-gi, South Korean singer and member of Red Velvet
    • 1995 – Carolane Soucisse, Canadian ice dancer
    • 1996 – Emanuel Mammana, Argentinian footballer
    • 1997 – Lilly King, American swimmer
    • 1997 – Chloë Grace Moretz, American actress
    • 1997 – Nadia Podoroska, Argentinian tennis player
    • 2000 – Yara Shahidi, American actress and model

    Deaths on February 10

    • 547 – Scholastica, Christian nun
    • 1127 – William IX, Duke of Aquitaine (b. 1071)
    • 1163 – Baldwin III of Jerusalem (b. 1130)
    • 1242 – Emperor Shijō of Japan (b. 1231)
    • 1242 – Saint Verdiana, Italian recluse (b. 1182)
    • 1280 – Margaret II, Countess of Flanders (b. 1202)
    • 1306 – John “the Red” Comyn, Scottish nobleman
    • 1307 – Temür Khan, Emperor Chengzong of Yuan (b. 1265)
    • 1346 – Blessed Clare of Rimini (b. 1282)
    • 1471 – Frederick II, Margrave of Brandenburg (b. 1413)
    • 1524 – Catherine of Saxony, Archduchess of Austria (b. 1468)
    • 1526 – John V, Count of Oldenburg, German noble (b. 1460)
    • 1567 – Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, consort of Mary, Queen of Scots (b. 1545)
    • 1576 – Wilhelm Xylander, German scholar, translator, and academic (b. 1532)
    • 1686 – William Dugdale, English genealogist and historian (b. 1605)
    • 1755 – Montesquieu, French lawyer and philosopher (b. 1689)
    • 1782 – Friedrich Christoph Oetinger, German theologian and author (b. 1702)
    • 1829 – Pope Leo XII (b. 1760)
    • 1837 – Alexander Pushkin, Russian poet and author (b. 1799)
    • 1854 – José Joaquín de Herrera, Mexican politician and general. President three times (1844–1854) (b. 1792)
    • 1857 – David Thompson, English-Canadian surveyor and explorer (b. 1770)
    • 1865 – Heinrich Lenz, Estonian-Italian physicist and academic (b. 1804)
    • 1879 – Honoré Daumier, French illustrator and painter (b. 1808)
    • 1887 – Ellen Wood, English author (b. 1814)
    • 1891 – Sofia Kovalevskaya, Russian-Swedish mathematician and physicist (b. 1850)
    • 1904 – John A. Roche, American lawyer and politician, 30th Mayor of Chicago (b. 1844)
    • 1906 – Ezra Butler Eddy, American-Canadian businessman and politician (b. 1827)
    • 1912 – Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, English surgeon and academic (b. 1827)
    • 1913 – Konstantinos Tsiklitiras, Greek long jumper (b. 1888)
    • 1917 – John William Waterhouse, English soldier and painter (b. 1849)
    • 1918 – Abdul Hamid II, Ottoman sultan (b. 1842)
    • 1918 – Ernesto Teodoro Moneta, Italian soldier and journalist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1833)
    • 1920 – Henry Strangways, English-Australian politician, 12th Premier of South Australia (b. 1832)
    • 1923 – Wilhelm Röntgen, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1845)
    • 1928 – José Sánchez del Río, Mexican martyr and saint (b. 1913)
    • 1932 – Edgar Wallace, English author and screenwriter (b. 1875)
    • 1939 – Pope Pius XI (b. 1857)
    • 1944 – E. M. Antoniadi, Greek-French astronomer and chess player (b. 1870)
    • 1945 – Anacleto Díaz, Filipino lawyer and jurist (b. 1878)
    • 1950 – Marcel Mauss, French sociologist and anthropologist (b. 1872)
    • 1956 – Leonora Speyer, American poet and violinist (b. 1872)
    • 1956 – Emmanouil Tsouderos, Greek banker and politician, 132nd Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1882)
    • 1957 – Laura Ingalls Wilder, American author (b. 1867)
    • 1960 – Aloysius Stepinac, Croatian cardinal (b. 1898)
    • 1966 – Billy Rose, American composer and songwriter (b. 1899)
    • 1967 – Dionysios Kokkinos, Greek historian and author (b. 1884)
    • 1975 – Nikos Kavvadias, Greek sailor and poet (b. 1910)
    • 1979 – Edvard Kardelj, Slovene general and politician, 2nd Foreign Minister of Yugoslavia (b. 1910)
    • 1992 – Alex Haley, American soldier, journalist, and author (b. 1921)
    • 1993 – Fred Hollows, New Zealand-Australian ophthalmologist and academic (b. 1929)
    • 1995 – Paul Monette, American author, poet, and activist (b. 1945)
    • 1997 – Brian Connolly, Scottish musician, lead singer The Sweet (b. 1945)
    • 2000 – Jim Varney, American actor, comedian and writer (b. 1949)
    • 2001 – Abraham Beame, American academic and politician, 104th Mayor of New York City (b. 1906)
    • 2001 – Buddy Tate, American saxophonist and clarinet player (b. 1913)
    • 2002 – Dave Van Ronk, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1936)
    • 2003 – Edgar de Evia, Mexican-American photographer (b. 1910)
    • 2003 – Albert J. Ruffo, American lawyer and politician, Mayor of San Jose (b. 1908)
    • 2003 – Ron Ziegler, American politician, 14th White House Press Secretary (b. 1939)
    • 2005 – Arthur Miller, American actor, playwright, and author (b. 1915)
    • 2006 – James Yancey, American record producer and rapper (b. 1974)
    • 2008 – Roy Scheider, American actor and boxer (b. 1932)
    • 2010 – Fred Schaus, American basketball player and coach (b. 1925)
    • 2010 – Charles Wilson, American lieutenant and politician (b. 1933)
    • 2011 – Trevor Bailey, English cricketer and journalist (b. 1923)
    • 2012 – Lloyd Morrison, New Zealand banker and businessman, founded H. R. L. Morrison & Co (b. 1957)
    • 2012 – Jeffrey Zaslow, American journalist and author (b. 1958)
    • 2013 – W. Watts Biggers, American author, screenwriter, and animator (b. 1927)
    • 2013 – David Hartman, American-Israeli rabbi and philosopher, founded the Shalom Hartman Institute (b. 1931)
    • 2014 – Stuart Hall, Jamaican-English sociologist and theorist (b. 1932)
    • 2014 – Shirley Temple, American actress and diplomat (b. 1928)
    • 2015 – Naseer Aruri, Palestinian scholar and activist (b. 1934)
    • 2015 – Karl Josef Becker, German cardinal and theologian (b. 1928)
    • 2015 – Deng Liqun, Chinese theorist and politician (b. 1915)
    • 2016 – Fatima Surayya Bajia, Indian-Pakistani author and playwright (b. 1930)
    • 2017 – Mike Ilitch, American businessman (b. 1929)
    • 2019 – Carmen Argenziano, American actor (b. 1943)
    • 2019 – Jan-Michael Vincent, American actor (b. 1944)

    Holidays and observances on February 10

    • Christian feast day:
      • Austrebertha
      • Charalambos
      • José Sánchez del Río
      • Scholastica
      • February 10 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Feast of St. Paul’s Shipwreck (Malta)
    • Fenkil Day (Eritrea)
    • Kurdish Authors Union Day (Iraqi Kurdistan)
    • National Memorial Day of the Exiles and Foibe (Italy)

  • February 2 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 506 – Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths promulgates the Breviary of Alaric (Breviarium Alaricianum or Lex Romana Visigothorum), a collection of “Roman law”.
    • 880 – Battle of Lüneburg Heath: King Louis III is defeated by the Norse Great Heathen Army at Lüneburg Heath in Saxony.
    • 962 – Translatio imperii: Pope John XII crowns Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, the first Holy Roman Emperor in nearly 40 years.
    • 1032 – Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor becomes king of Burgundy.
    • 1141 – The Battle of Lincoln, at which Stephen, King of England is defeated and captured by the allies of Empress Matilda.
    • 1207 – Terra Mariana, eventually comprising present-day Latvia and Estonia, is established.
    • 1438 – Nine leaders of the Transylvanian peasant revolt are executed at Torda.
    • 1461 – Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Mortimer’s Cross is fought in Herefordshire, England.
    • 1536 – Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires, Argentina.
    • 1645 – Scotland in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms: Battle of Inverlochy.
    • 1653 – New Amsterdam (later renamed The City of New York) is incorporated.
    • 1709 – Alexander Selkirk is rescued after being shipwrecked on a desert island, inspiring Daniel Defoe’s adventure book Robinson Crusoe.
    • 1848 – Mexican–American War: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed.
    • 1850 – Brigham Young declares war on Timpanogos in the Battle at Fort Utah.
    • 1868 – Pro-Imperial forces captured Osaka Castle from the Tokugawa shogunate and burned it to the ground.
    • 1876 – The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs of Major League Baseball is formed.
    • 1887 – In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania the first Groundhog Day is observed.
    • 1899 – The Australian Premiers’ Conference held in Melbourne decides to locate Australia’s capital city, Canberra, between Sydney and Melbourne.
    • 1901 – Funeral of Queen Victoria.
    • 1909 – The Paris Film Congress opens. An attempt by European producers to form an equivalent to the MPCC cartel in the United States.
    • 1913 – Grand Central Terminal is opened in New York City.
    • 1920 – The Tartu Peace Treaty is signed between Estonia and Russia.
    • 1922 – Ulysses by James Joyce is published.
    • 1925 – Serum run to Nome: Dog sleds reach Nome, Alaska with diphtheria serum, inspiring the Iditarod race.
    • 1934 – The Export-Import Bank of the United States is incorporated.
    • 1935 – Leonarde Keeler administers polygraph tests to two murder suspects, the first time polygraph evidence was admitted in U.S. courts.
    • 1942 – The Osvald Group is responsible for the first, active event of anti-Nazi resistance in Norway, to protest the inauguration of Vidkun Quisling.
    • 1943 – World War II: The Battle of Stalingrad comes to an end when Soviet troops accept the surrender of the last organized German troops in the city.
    • 1959 – Nine experienced ski hikers in the northern Ural Mountains in the Soviet Union die under mysterious circumstances.
    • 1966 – Pakistan suggests a six-point agenda with Kashmir after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.
    • 1971 – Idi Amin replaces President Milton Obote as leader of Uganda.
    • 1971 – The international Ramsar Convention for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands is signed in Ramsar, Mazandaran, Iran.
    • 1980 – Reports surface that the FBI is targeting allegedly corrupt Congressmen in the Abscam operation.
    • 1982 – Hama massacre: The government of Syria attacks the town of Hama.
    • 1987 – After the 1986 People Power Revolution, the Philippines enacts a new constitution.
    • 1989 – Soviet–Afghan War: The last Soviet armoured column leaves Kabul.
    • 1990 – Apartheid: F. W. de Klerk announces the unbanning of the African National Congress and promises to release Nelson Mandela.
    • 2000 – First digital cinema projection in Europe (Paris) realized by Philippe Binant with the DLP CINEMA technology developed by Texas Instruments.
    • 2002 – Wedding of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, and Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti
    • 2004 – Swiss tennis player Roger Federer becomes the No. 1 ranked men’s singles player, a position he will hold for a record 237 weeks.
    • 2005 – The Government of Canada introduces the Civil Marriage Act. This legislation would become law on July 20, 2005, legalizing same-sex marriage.
    • 2007 – Police officer Filippo Raciti is killed when a clash breaks out in the Sicily derby between Catania and Palermo, in the Serie A, the top flight of Italian football. This event led to major changes in stadium regulations in Italy.
    • 2012 – The ferry MV Rabaul Queen sinks off the coast of Papua New Guinea near the Finschhafen District, with an estimated 146-165 dead.

    Births on February 2

    • 1208 – James I of Aragon (d. 1276)
    • 1282 – Maud Chaworth, Countess of Leicester (d. 1322).
    • 1425 (or 1426) – Eleanor of Navarre, Queen regnant of Navarre (d. 1479)
    • 1443 – Elisabeth of Bavaria, Electress of Saxony (d. 1486)
    • 1455 – John, King of Denmark (d. 1513)
    • 1457 – Peter Martyr d’Anghiera, Italian-Spanish historian and author (d. 1526)
    • 1467 – Columba of Rieti, Italian Dominican sister (d. 1501)
    • 1494 – Bona Sforza, queen of Sigismund I of Poland (d. 1557)
    • 1502 – Damião de Góis, Portuguese philosopher and historian (d. 1574)
    • 1506 – René de Birague, Italian-French cardinal and politician (d. 1583)
    • 1509 – John of Leiden, Dutch Anabaptist leader (d. 1536)
    • 1522 – Lodovico Ferrari, Italian mathematician and academic (d. 1565)
    • 1536 – Piotr Skarga, Polish writer (d. 1612)
    • 1551 – Nicolaus Reimers, German astronomer (d. 1600)
    • 1576 – Alix Le Clerc, French Canoness Regular and foundress (d. 1622)
    • 1585 – Judith Quiney, William Shakespeare’s youngest daughter (d. 1662)
    • 1585 – Hamnet Shakespeare, William Shakespeare’s only son (baptised; d. 1596)
    • 1588 – Georg II of Fleckenstein-Dagstuhl, German nobleman (d. 1644)
    • 1600 – Gabriel Naudé, French librarian and scholar (d. 1653)
    • 1611 – Ulrik of Denmark, Danish prince-bishop (d. 1633)
    • 1613 – Noël Chabanel, French missionary and saint (d. 1649)
    • 1621 – Johannes Schefferus, Swedish author and hymn-writer (d. 1679)
    • 1650 – Pope Benedict XIII (d. 1730)
    • 1650 – Nell Gwyn, English actress, mistress of King Charles II of England (d. 1687)
    • 1651 – William Phips, Royal governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (d. 1695)
    • 1669 – Louis Marchand, French organist and composer (d. 1732)
    • 1677 – Jean-Baptiste Morin, French composer (d. 1745)
    • 1695 – William Borlase, English geologist and archaeologist (d. 1772)
    • 1695 – François de Chevert, French general (d. 1769)
    • 1700 – Johann Christoph Gottsched, German author and critic (d. 1766)
    • 1711 – Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg (d. 1794)
    • 1714 – Gottfried August Homilius, German organist and composer (d. 1785)
    • 1717 – Ernst Gideon von Laudon, Austrian field marshal (d. 1790)
    • 1754 – Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, French general and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1838)
    • 1782 – Henri de Rigny, French admiral and politician, French Minister of War (d. 1835)
    • 1786 – Jacques Philippe Marie Binet, French mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (d. 1856)
    • 1802 – Jean-Baptiste Boussingault, French chemist and academic (d. 1887)
    • 1803 – Albert Sidney Johnston, American general (d. 1862)
    • 1829 – Alfred Brehm, German zoologist and illustrator (d. 1884)
    • 1829 – William Stanley, English engineer and philanthropist (d. 1909)
    • 1841 – François-Alphonse Forel, Swiss limnologist and hydrologist (d. 1912)
    • 1842 – Julian Sochocki, Polish-Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1927)
    • 1849 – Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav, Slovak poet and playwright (d. 1921)
    • 1851 – José Guadalupe Posada, Mexican illustrator and engraver (d. 1913)
    • 1856 – Frederick William Vanderbilt, American railway magnate (d. 1938)
    • 1856 – Makar Yekmalyan, Armenian composer (d. 1905)
    • 1857 – Jan Drozdowski, Polish pianist and music teacher (d. 1918)
    • 1860 – Curtis Guild, Jr., American journalist and politician, 43rd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1915)
    • 1861 – Solomon R. Guggenheim, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (d. 1949)
    • 1862 – Émile Coste, French fencer (d. 1927)
    • 1862 – Cornelius McKane, American physician, educator, and hospital founder (d. 1912)
    • 1866 – Enrique Simonet, Spanish painter and academic (d. 1927)
    • 1873 – Leo Fall, Austrian composer (d. 1925)
    • 1873 – Konstantin von Neurath, German politician and diplomat, 13th German Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1956)
    • 1875 – Fritz Kreisler, Austrian-American violinist and composer (d. 1962)
    • 1877 – Frank L. Packard, Canadian author (d. 1942)
    • 1878 – Joe Lydon, American boxer (d. 1937)
    • 1880 – Frederick Lane, Australian swimmer (d. 1969)
    • 1881 – Orval Overall, American baseball player and manager (d. 1947)
    • 1882 – Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark (d. 1944)
    • 1882 – James Joyce, Irish novelist, short story writer, and poet (d. 1941)
    • 1883 – Johnston McCulley, American author and screenwriter, created Zorro (d. 1958)
    • 1883 – Julia Nava de Ruisánchez, Mexican activist and writer (d. 1964)
    • 1886 – William Rose Benét, American poet and author (d. 1950)
    • 1887 – Ernst Hanfstaengl, German businessman (d. 1975)
    • 1889 – Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, French general (d. 1952)
    • 1890 – Charles Correll, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1972)
    • 1892 – Tochigiyama Moriya, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 27th Yokozuna (d. 1959)
    • 1893 – Cornelius Lanczos, Hungarian mathematician and physicist (d. 1974)
    • 1893 – Raoul Riganti, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1970)
    • 1893 – Damdin Sükhbaatar, Mongolian soldier and politician (d. 1924)
    • 1895 – George Halas, American football player and coach (d. 1983)
    • 1895 – Robert Philipp, American painter (d. 1981)
    • 1895 – George Sutcliffe, Australian public servant (d. 1964)
    • 1896 – Kazimierz Kuratowski, Polish mathematician and logician (d. 1980)
    • 1897 – Howard Deering Johnson, American businessman, founded Howard Johnson’s (d. 1972)
    • 1897 – Gertrude Blanch, Russian-American mathematician (d. 1996)
    • 1900 – Anni Frind, German lyric soprano (d. 1987)
    • 1900 – Willie Kamm, American baseball player and manager (d. 1988)
    • 1901 – Jascha Heifetz, Lithuanian-born American violinist and educator (d. 1987)
    • 1902 – Newbold Morris, American lawyer and politician (d. 1966)
    • 1902 – John Tonkin, Australian politician, 20th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1995)
    • 1904 – Bozorg Alavi, Iranian author and activist (d. 1997)
    • 1905 – Ayn Rand, Russian-born American novelist and philosopher (d. 1982)
    • 1908 – Wes Ferrell, American baseball player and manager (d. 1976)
    • 1909 – Frank Albertson, American actor (d. 1964)
    • 1911 – Jack Pizzey, Australian politician, 29th Premier of Queensland (d. 1968)
    • 1912 – Millvina Dean, English civil servant and cartographer (d. 2009)
    • 1912 – Burton Lane, American songwriter and composer (d. 1997)
    • 1913 – Poul Reichhardt, Danish actor and singer (d. 1985)
    • 1914 – Eric Kierans, Canadian economist and politician, 1st Canadian Minister of Communications (d. 2004)
    • 1915 – Abba Eban, South African-Israeli politician and diplomat, 1st Israel Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 2002)
    • 1915 – Stan Leonard, Canadian golfer (d. 2005)
    • 1915 – Khushwant Singh, Indian journalist and author (d. 2014)
    • 1916 – Xuân Diệu, Vietnamese poet and author (d. 1985)
    • 1917 – Mary Ellis, British World War II ferry pilot (d. 2018)
    • 1917 – Đỗ Mười, Vietnamese politician, 5th Prime Minister of Vietnam (d. 2018)
    • 1918 – Hella Haasse, Indonesian-Dutch author (d. 2011)
    • 1919 – Lisa Della Casa, Swiss soprano and actress (d. 2012)
    • 1919 – Georg Gawliczek, German footballer and manager (d. 1999)
    • 1920 – George Hardwick, English footballer and coach (d. 2004)
    • 1920 – John Russell, American Olympic equestrian
    • 1920 – Arthur Willis, English footballer, full-back, player-manager (d. 1987)
    • 1922 – Kunwar Digvijay Singh, Indian field hockey player (d. 1978)
    • 1922 – Robert Chef d’Hôtel, French athlete (d. 2019)
    • 1922 – James L. Usry, American politician, first African-American mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey (d. 2002)
    • 1922 – Stoyanka Mutafova, Bulgarian actress (d. 2019)
    • 1923 – Jean Babilée, French dancer and choreographer (d. 2014)
    • 1923 – James Dickey, American poet and novelist (d. 1997)
    • 1923 – Svetozar Gligorić, Serbian and Yugoslav chess grandmaster (d.2012)
    • 1923 – Bonita Granville, American actress and producer (d. 1988)
    • 1923 – Red Schoendienst, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2018)
    • 1923 – Liz Smith, American journalist and author (d. 2017)
    • 1923 – Clem Windsor, Australian rugby player and surgeon (d. 2007)
    • 1924 – Elfi von Dassanowsky, Austrian-American singer, pianist, producer (d. 2007)
    • 1924 – Sonny Stitt, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1982)
    • 1925 – Elaine Stritch, American actress and singer (d. 2014)
    • 1926 – Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, French academic and politician, 20th President of France
    • 1927 – Stan Getz, American saxophonist (d. 1991)
    • 1927 – Doris Sams, American baseball player (d. 2012)
    • 1928 – Ciriaco De Mita, 47th Prime minister of Italy
    • 1928 – Jay Handlan, American basketball player and engineer (d. 2013)
    • 1928 – Tommy Harmer, English footballer, inside forward, youth team coach (d. 2007)
    • 1929 – Sheila Matthews Allen, American actress and producer (d. 2013)
    • 1929 – George Band, English engineer and mountaineer (d. 2011)
    • 1929 – Věra Chytilová, Czech actress, director, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
    • 1929 – John Henry Holland, American computer scientist and academic (d. 2015)
    • 1929 – Waldemar Kmentt, Austrian operatic tenor (d. 2015)
    • 1931 – Dries van Agt, Dutch politician, diplomat and jurist, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
    • 1931 – Les Dawson, English comedian and author (d. 1993)
    • 1931 – Glynn Edwards, Malaysian-English actor (d. 2018)
    • 1931 – John Paul Harney, Canadian educator and politician
    • 1931 – Judith Viorst, American journalist and author
    • 1932 – Arthur Lyman, American jazz vibraphone and marimba player (d. 2002)
    • 1932 – Robert Mandan, American actor (d. 2018)
    • 1933 – M’el Dowd, American actress and singer (d. 2012)
    • 1933 – Tony Jay, English-American actor (d. 2006)
    • 1933 – Orlando “Cachaíto” López, Cuban bassist and composer (d. 2009)
    • 1933 – Than Shwe, Burmese general and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Burma
    • 1935 – Pete Brown, American golfer (d. 2015)
    • 1935 – Evgeny Velikhov, Russian physicist and academic
    • 1936 – Duane Jones, American actor (d. 1988)
    • 1936 – Metin Oktay, Turkish footballer and manager (d. 1991)
    • 1937 – Don Buford, American baseball player and coach
    • 1937 – Eric Arturo Delvalle, Panamanian lawyer and politician, President of Panama (d. 2015)
    • 1937 – Anthony Haden-Guest, British journalist, poet, and critic
    • 1937 – Remak Ramsay, American actor
    • 1937 – Tom Smothers, American comedian, actor, and activist
    • 1937 – Alexandra Strelchenko, Russian Singer (d. 2019)
    • 1938 – Norman Fowler, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Transport
    • 1938 – Gene MacLellan, Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 1995)
    • 1939 – Jackie Burroughs, English-born Canadian actress (d. 2010)
    • 1939 – Mary-Dell Chilton, American chemist and inventor and one of the founders of modern plant biotechnology
    • 1939 – Dale T. Mortensen, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2014)
    • 1940 – Alan Caddy, English guitarist and producer (d. 2000)
    • 1940 – Thomas M. Disch, American author and poet (d. 2008)
    • 1940 – Wayne Fontes, American football player and coach
    • 1940 – David Jason, English actor, director, and producer
    • 1941 – Terry Biddlecombe, English jockey (d. 2014)
    • 1942 – Bo Hopkins, American actor
    • 1942 – Graham Nash, English-American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1944 – Andrew Davis, English organist and conductor
    • 1944 – Geoffrey Hughes, English actor (d. 2012)
    • 1944 – Ursula Oppens, American pianist and educator
    • 1945 – John Eatwell, Baron Eatwell, English economist and academic
    • 1946 – John Armitt, English engineer and businessman
    • 1946 – Alpha Oumar Konaré, Malian academic and politician, 3rd President of Mali
    • 1946 – Constantine Papadakis, Greek-American businessman and academic (d. 2009)
    • 1947 – Greg Antonacci, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2017)
    • 1947 – Farrah Fawcett, American actress and producer (d. 2009)
    • 1948 – Ina Garten, American chef and author
    • 1948 – Al McKay, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
    • 1948 – Roger Williamson, English race car driver (d. 1973)
    • 1949 – Duncan Bannatyne, Scottish businessman and philanthropist
    • 1949 – Yasuko Namba, Japanese mountaineer (d. 1996)
    • 1949 – Brent Spiner, American actor and singer
    • 1949 – Ross Valory, American rock bass player and songwriter
    • 1950 – Osamu Kido, Japanese wrestler
    • 1950 – Libby Purves, British journalist and author
    • 1950 – Barbara Sukowa, German actress
    • 1950 – Genichiro Tenryu, Japanese wrestler
    • 1951 – Vangelis Alexandris, Greek basketball player and coach
    • 1951 – Ken Bruce, Scottish radio host
    • 1952 – John Cornyn, American lawyer and politician, 49th Attorney General of Texas
    • 1952 – Rick Dufay, French-American guitarist and songwriter
    • 1952 – Park Geun-hye, South Korean politician, 11th President of South Korea
    • 1952 – Ralph Merkle, American computer scientist and academic
    • 1952 – Carol Ann Susi, American actress (d. 2014)
    • 1953 – Duane Chapman, American bounty hunter
    • 1953 – Jerry Sisk, Jr., American gemologist, co-founded Jewelry Television (d. 2013)
    • 1954 – Christie Brinkley, American actress, model, and businesswoman
    • 1954 – Hansi Hinterseer, Austrian skier and actor
    • 1954 – Nelson Ne’e, Solomon Islander politician (d. 2013)
    • 1954 – John Tudor, American baseball player
    • 1955 – Leszek Engelking, Polish poet and author
    • 1955 – Bob Schreck, American author
    • 1955 – Michael Talbott, American actor
    • 1955 – Kim Zimmer, American actress
    • 1956 – Adnan Oktar, Turkish theorist and author
    • 1957 – Phil Barney, Algerian-French singer-songwriter
    • 1958 – Michel Marc Bouchard, Canadian playwright
    • 1961 – Abraham Iyambo, Namibian politician (d. 2013)
    • 1961 – Lauren Lane, American actress and academic
    • 1962 – Philippe Claudel, French author, director, and screenwriter
    • 1962 – Andy Fordham, English darts player
    • 1962 – Paul Kilgus, American baseball player
    • 1962 – Kate Raison, Australian actress
    • 1962 – Michael T. Weiss, American actor
    • 1963 – Eva Cassidy, American singer and guitarist (d. 1996)
    • 1963 – Kjell Dahlin, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1963 – Andrej Kiska, Slovak entrepreneur and philanthropist, President of Slovakia
    • 1963 – Philip Laats, Belgian martial artist
    • 1963 – Vigleik Storaas, Norwegian pianist
    • 1965 – Carl Airey, English footballer
    • 1965 – Naoki Sano, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist
    • 1966 – Andrei Chesnokov, Russian tennis player and coach
    • 1966 – Robert DeLeo, American bass player, songwriter, and producer
    • 1966 – Adam Ferrara, American actor and comedian
    • 1966 – Michael Misick, Caicos Islander politician, Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands
    • 1967 – Artūrs Irbe, Latvian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1967 – Laurent Nkunda, Congolese general
    • 1968 – Sean Elliott, American basketball player and sportscaster
    • 1968 – Scott Erickson, American baseball player and coach
    • 1969 – Dana International, Israeli singer-songwriter
    • 1969 – Valeri Karpin, Estonian-Russian footballer and manager
    • 1970 – Roar Strand, Norwegian footballer
    • 1970 – Jennifer Westfeldt, American actress and singer
    • 1971 – Michelle Gayle, English singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1971 – Arly Jover, Spanish actress
    • 1971 – Isaac Kungwane, South African footballer and sportscaster (d. 2014)
    • 1971 – Jason Taylor, Australian rugby league player and coach
    • 1971 – Hwang Seok-jeong, South Korean actress
    • 1972 – Melvin Mora, Venezuelan baseball player
    • 1972 – Aleksey Naumov, Russian footballer
    • 1973 – Andrei Luzgin, Estonian tennis player and coach
    • 1973 – Aleksander Tammert, Estonian discus thrower
    • 1973 – Marissa Jaret Winokur, American actress and singer
    • 1975 – Todd Bertuzzi, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1975 – Donald Driver, American football player
    • 1975 – Ieroklis Stoltidis, Greek footballer
    • 1976 – Ryan Farquhar, Northern Irish motorcycle racer
    • 1976 – James Hickman, English swimmer
    • 1976 – Ana Roces, Filipino actress
    • 1977 – Shakira, Colombian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
    • 1977 – Libor Sionko, Czech footballer
    • 1978 – Adam Christopher, New Zealand writer
    • 1978 – Eden Espinosa, American actress and singer
    • 1978 – Annabel Ellwood, Australian tennis player
    • 1978 – Barry Ferguson, Scottish footballer and manager
    • 1978 – Rich Sommer, American actor
    • 1978 – Faye White, English footballer
    • 1979 – Urmo Aava, Estonian race car driver
    • 1979 – Fani Chalkia, Greek hurdler and sprinter
    • 1979 – Christine Lampard, Irish television host
    • 1979 – Klaus Mainzer, German rugby player
    • 1979 – Shamita Shetty, Indian actress
    • 1979 – Irini Terzoglou, Greek shot putter
    • 1980 – Angela Finger-Erben, German journalist
    • 1980 – Teddy Hart, Canadian wrestler
    • 1980 – Oleguer Presas, Spanish footballer
    • 1981 – Emre Aydın, Turkish singer-songwriter
    • 1981 – Michelle Bass, English model and singer
    • 1981 – Salem al-Hazmi, Saudi Arabian terrorist, hijacker of American Airlines Flight 77 (d. 2001)
    • 1982 – Sergio Castaño Ortega, Spanish footballer
    • 1982 – Kelly Mazzante, American basketball player
    • 1982 – Kan Mi-youn, South Korean singer, model, and host
    • 1983 – Ronny Cedeño, Venezuelan baseball player
    • 1983 – Carolina Klüft, Swedish heptathlete and jumper
    • 1983 – Jordin Tootoo, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1983 – Vladimir Voskoboinikov, Estonian footballer
    • 1983 – Alex Westaway, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1984 – Brian Cage, American wrestler
    • 1984 – Mao Miyaji, Japanese actress
    • 1984 – Rudi Wulf, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1985 – Masoud Azizi, Afghan sprinter
    • 1985 – Renn Kiriyama, Japanese actor
    • 1985 – Kristo Saage, Estonian basketball player
    • 1985 – Silvestre Varela, Portuguese footballer
    • 1986 – Gemma Arterton, English actress and singer
    • 1986 – Miwa Asao, Japanese volleyball player
    • 1987 – Anthony Fainga’a, Australian rugby player
    • 1987 – Saia Fainga’a, Australian rugby player
    • 1987 – Faydee, Australian singer
    • 1987 – Athena Imperial, Filipino journalist, Miss Earth-Water 2011
    • 1987 – Mimi Page, American singer-songwriter and composer
    • 1987 – Gerard Piqué, Spanish footballer
    • 1987 – Javon Ringer, American football player
    • 1987 – Jill Scott, English footballer
    • 1987 – Victoria Song, Chinese singer and actress
    • 1987 – Martin Spanjers, American actor and producer
    • 1988 – Zosia Mamet, American actress
    • 1989 – Harrison Smith, American football player
    • 1989 – Southside, American record producer
    • 1991 – Nathan Delfouneso, English footballer
    • 1991 – Gregory Mertens, Belgian footballer (d. 2015)
    • 1991 – Shohei Nanba, Japanese actor
    • 1992 – Lammtarra, American race horse (d. 2014)
    • 1992 – Joonas Tamm, Estonian footballer
    • 1993 – Ravel Morrison, English footballer
    • 1993 – Bobby Decordova-Reid, English born Jamaican international footballer, forward
    • 1995 – Paul Digby, English footballer
    • 1995 – Aleksander Jagiełło, Polish footballer
    • 1995 – Arfa Karim, Pakstani student and computer prodigy (d. 2012)
    • 1996 – Harry Winks, English international footballer, midfielder

    Deaths on February 2

    • 619 – Laurence of Canterbury, English archbishop and saint
    • 880 – Bruno, duke of Saxony
    • 1124 – Bořivoj II, Duke of Bohemia (b. 1064)
    • 1218 – Konstantin of Rostov (b. 1186)
    • 1237 – Joan, Lady of Wales
    • 1250 – Eric XI of Sweden (b. 1216)
    • 1294 – Louis II, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1229)
    • 1347 – Thomas Bek, Bishop of Lincoln, was the bishop of Lincoln (b. 1282)
    • 1348 – Narymunt, Prince of Pinsk
    • 1435 – Joan II of Naples, Queen of Naples (b. 1371)
    • 1446 – Vittorino da Feltre, Italian humanist (b. 1378)
    • 1448 – Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Egyptian jurist and scholar (b. 1372)
    • 1461 – Owen Tudor, Welsh founder of the Tudor dynasty (b. c. 1400)
    • 1512 – Hatuey, Caribbean tribal chief
    • 1529 – Baldassare Castiglione, Italian soldier and diplomat (b. 1478)
    • 1580 – Bessho Nagaharu, Japanese daimyō (b. 1558)
    • 1594 – Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Italian composer and educator (b. 1525)
    • 1648 – George Abbot, English author and politician (b. 1603)
    • 1660 – Gaston, Duke of Orléans (b. 1608)
    • 1660 – Govert Flinck, Dutch painter (b. 1615)
    • 1661 – Lucas Holstenius, German geographer and historian (b. 1596)
    • 1675 – Ivan Belostenec, Croatian linguist and lexicographer (b. 1594)
    • 1688 – Abraham Duquesne, French admiral (b. 1610)
    • 1704 – Guillaume de l’Hôpital, French mathematician and academic (b. 1661)
    • 1712 – Martin Lister, English physician and geologist (b. 1639)
    • 1714 – John Sharp, English archbishop (b. 1643)
    • 1723 – Antonio Maria Valsalva, Italian anatomist and physician (b. 1666)
    • 1768 – Robert Smith, English mathematician and theorist (b. 1689)
    • 1769 – Pope Clement XIII (b. 1693)
    • 1802 – Welbore Ellis, 1st Baron Mendip, English politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (b. 1713)
    • 1804 – George Walton, American lawyer and politician, Governor of Georgia (b. 1749)
    • 1831 – Vincenzo Dimech, Maltese sculptor (b. 1768)
    • 1836 – Letizia Ramolino, Italian noblewoman (b. 1750)
    • 1861 – Théophane Vénard, French Catholic missionary (b. 1829)
    • 1881 – Henry Parker, English-Australian politician, 3rd Premier of New South Wales (b. 1808)
    • 1904 – Ernest Cashel, American-Canadian criminal (b. 1882)
    • 1904 – William Collins Whitney, American financier and politician, 31st United States Secretary of the Navy (b. 1841)
    • 1905 – Henri Germain, French banker and politician, founded Le Crédit Lyonnais (b. 1824)
    • 1907 – Dmitri Mendeleev, Russian chemist and academic (b. 1834)
    • 1909 – Carlo Acton, Italian pianist and composer (b. 1829)
    • 1913 – Gustaf de Laval, Swedish engineer (b. 1845)
    • 1918 – John L. Sullivan, American boxer (b. 1858)
    • 1919 – Julius Kuperjanov, Estonian lieutenant (b. 1894)
    • 1925 – Antti Aarne, Finnish historian and academic (b. 1867)
    • 1925 – Jaap Eden, Dutch speed skater and cyclist (b. 1873)
    • 1926 – Vladimir Sukhomlinov, Russian general and politician (b. 1848)
    • 1932 – Agha Petros, Assyrian general and politician (b. 1880)
    • 1939 – Bernhard Gregory, Estonian-German chess player (b. 1879)
    • 1942 – Ado Birk, Estonian lawyer and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Estonia (b. 1883)
    • 1942 – Daniil Kharms, Russian poet and playwright (b. 1905)
    • 1942 – Hugh D. McIntosh, Australian businessman (b. 1876)
    • 1945 – Alfred Delp, German priest and philosopher (b. 1907)
    • 1945 – Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, German economist and politician (b. 1884)
    • 1945 – Johannes Popitz, German lawyer and politician (b. 1884)
    • 1948 – Thomas W. Lamont, American banker and philanthropist (b. 1870)
    • 1948 – Bevil Rudd, South African runner and journalist (b. 1894)
    • 1950 – Constantin Carathéodory, Greek mathematician and academic (b. 1873)
    • 1952 – Callistratus of Georgia, Georgian patriarch (b. 1866)
    • 1954 – Hella Wuolijoki, Estonian-Finnish author and politician (b. 1886)
    • 1956 – Charley Grapewin, American actor (b. 1869)
    • 1956 – Truxtun Hare, American football player and hammer thrower (b. 1878)
    • 1956 – Pyotr Konchalovsky, Russian painter (b. 1876)
    • 1957 – Grigory Landsberg, Russian physicist and academic (b. 1890)
    • 1962 – Shlomo Hestrin, Canadian-Israeli biochemist and academic (b. 1914)
    • 1966 – Hacı Ömer Sabancı, Turkish businessman (b. 1906)
    • 1968 – Tullio Serafin, Italian conductor and director (b. 1878)
    • 1969 – Boris Karloff, English actor (b. 1887)
    • 1970 – Lawrence Gray, American actor (b. 1898)
    • 1970 – Bertrand Russell, English mathematician and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1872)
    • 1972 – Natalie Clifford Barney, American author, poet, and playwright (b. 1876)
    • 1973 – Hendrik Elias, Belgian academic and politician, 9th Mayor of Ghent (b. 1902)
    • 1974 – Imre Lakatos, Hungarian-English mathematician and philosopher (b. 1922)
    • 1975 – Gustave Lanctot, Canadian historian and academic (b. 1883)
    • 1979 – Jim Burke, Australian cricketer (b. 1930)
    • 1979 – Sid Vicious, English singer and bass player (b. 1957)
    • 1980 – William Howard Stein, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
    • 1982 – Paul Desruisseaux, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1905)
    • 1983 – Sam Chatmon, American singer and guitarist (b. 1897)
    • 1986 – Anita Cobby, Australian murder victim (b. 1959)
    • 1986 – Gino Hernandez, American wrestler (b. 1957)
    • 1987 – Carlos José Castilho, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1927)
    • 1987 – Alistair MacLean, Scottish novelist and screenwriter (b. 1922)
    • 1988 – Marcel Bozzuffi, French actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1929)
    • 1989 – Ondrej Nepela, Slovak figure skater and coach (b. 1951)
    • 1989 – Arnold Nordmeyer, New Zealand minister and politician, 30th New Zealand Minister of Finance (b. 1901)
    • 1990 – Paul Ariste, Estonian linguist and academic (b. 1905)
    • 1990 – Joe Erskine, Welsh boxer (b. 1934)
    • 1992 – Bert Parks, American actor, singer, television personality; Miss America telecast presenter (b. 1914)
    • 1993 – François Reichenbach, French director and screenwriter (b. 1921)
    • 1994 – Marija Gimbutas, Lithuanian-American archeologist (b. 1921)
    • 1995 – Thomas Hayward, American tenor and actor (b. 1917)
    • 1995 – Fred Perry, English-Australian tennis player (b. 1909)
    • 1995 – Donald Pleasence, English-French actor (b. 1919)
    • 1996 – Gene Kelly, American actor, singer, dancer, and director (b. 1912)
    • 1997 – Erich Eliskases, Austrian chess player (b. 1913)
    • 1997 – Sanford Meisner, American actor and coach (b. 1904)
    • 1998 – Haroun Tazieff, German-French geologist and cinematographer (b. 1914)
    • 1999 – David McComb, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1962)
    • 2002 – Paul Baloff, American singer-songwriter (b. 1960)
    • 2002 – Claude Brown, American author (b. 1937)
    • 2003 – Lou Harrison, American composer and educator (b. 1917)
    • 2004 – Bernard McEveety, American director and producer (b. 1924)
    • 2005 – Birgitte Federspiel, Danish actress (b. 1925)
    • 2005 – Max Schmeling, German boxer (b. 1905)
    • 2007 – Vijay Arora, Indian actor (b. 1944)
    • 2007 – Billy Henderson, American singer (b. 1939)
    • 2007 – Joe Hunter, American pianist (b. 1927)
    • 2007 – Filippo Raciti, Italian police officer (b. 1967)
    • 2007 – Eric Von Schmidt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1931)
    • 2007 – Masao Takemoto, Japanese gymnast (b. 1919)
    • 2008 – Barry Morse, Canadian actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1918)
    • 2008 – Katoucha Niane, Guinean model and author (b. 1960)
    • 2011 – Edward Amy, Canadian general (b. 1918)
    • 2011 – Defne Joy Foster, Turkish actress (b. 1975)
    • 2011 – Margaret John, Welsh actress (b. 1926)
    • 2012 – Joyce Barkhouse, Canadian author (b. 1913)
    • 2012 – Frederick William Danker, American lexicographer and scholar (b. 1920)
    • 2012 – George Esper, American journalist and academic (b. 1932)
    • 2012 – Dorothy Gilman, American author (b. 1923)
    • 2012 – James F. Lloyd, American pilot and politician (b. 1922)
    • 2013 – Abraham Iyambo, Namibian politician (b. 1961)
    • 2013 – John Kerr, American actor and lawyer (b. 1931)
    • 2013 – Chris Kyle, American soldier and sniper (b. 1974)
    • 2013 – Lino Oviedo, Paraguayan general and politician (b. 1943)
    • 2013 – Pepper Paire, American baseball player (b. 1924)
    • 2013 – P. Shanmugam, Indian politician, 13th Chief Minister of Puducherry (b. 1927)
    • 2013 – Walt Sweeney, American football player (b. 1941)
    • 2013 – Guy F. Tozzoli, American architect (b. 1922)
    • 2014 – Gerd Albrecht, German conductor (b. 1935)
    • 2014 – Tommy Aquino, American motorcycle racer (b. 1992)
    • 2014 – Nicholas Brooks, English historian (b. 1941)
    • 2014 – Eduardo Coutinho, Brazilian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1933)
    • 2014 – Philip Seymour Hoffman, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1967)
    • 2014 – Luis Raúl, Puerto Rican comedian and actor (b. 1962)
    • 2014 – Bunny Rugs, Jamaican singer (b. 1948)
    • 2014 – Nigel Walker, English footballer (b. 1959)
    • 2015 – Joseph Alfidi, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1949)
    • 2015 – Dave Bergman, American baseball player (b. 1953)
    • 2015 – Andriy Kuzmenko, Ukrainian singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1968)
    • 2015 – Molade Okoya-Thomas, Nigerian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1935)
    • 2015 – Stewart Stern, American screenwriter (b. 1922)
    • 2015 – The Jacka, American rapper and producer (b. 1977)
    • 2016 – Bob Elliott, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1923)

    Holidays and observances on February 2

    • Anniversary of Treaty of Tartu (Estonia)
    • Christian Feast Day:
      • Adalbard
      • Cornelius the Centurion
      • Martyrs of Ebsdorf
      • February 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Constitution Day (Philippines)
    • Day of Youth (Azerbaijan)
    • Earliest day on which Shrove Monday can fall, while March 8 is the latest; celebrated on Monday before Ash Wednesday (Christianity), and its related observances:
      • Bun Day (Iceland)
      • Fastelavn (Denmark/Norway)
      • Nickanan Night (Cornwall)
      • Rosenmontag (Germany)
    • Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple or Candlemas (Western Christianity), and its related observances:
      • A quarter day in the Christian calendar (due to Candlemas). (Scotland)
      • Celebration of Yemanja or Our Lady of Navigators (Candomblé)
      • Le Jour des Crêpes (France)
      • Our Lady of the Candles (Filipino Catholics)
      • Virgin of Candelaria (Tenerife, Spain)
    • Groundhog Day (United States and Canada), and its related observances:
      • Marmot Day (Alaska)
    • Inventor’s Day (Thailand)
    • Trader’s Day (Poland)
    • Victory of the Battle of Stalingrad (Russia)
    • World Wetlands Day

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

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

    Births on January 31

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

    Deaths on January 31

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

    Holidays and observances on January 31

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

  • January 27 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • AD 98 – Trajan succeeds his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor; under his rule, the Roman Empire will reach its maximum extent.
    • 1186 – Henry VI, the son and heir of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I, marries Constance of Sicily.
    • 1302 – Dante Alighieri is exiled from Florence.
    • 1343 – Pope Clement VI issues the papal bull Unigenitus to justify the power of the pope and the use of indulgences. Nearly 200 years later, Martin Luther would protest this.
    • 1606 – Gunpowder Plot: The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators begins, ending with their execution on January 31.
    • 1695 – Mustafa II becomes the Ottoman sultan and Caliph of Islam in Istanbul on the death of Ahmed II. Mustafa rules until his abdication in 1703.
    • 1776 – American Revolutionary War: Henry Knox’s “noble train of artillery” arrives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
    • 1785 – The University of Georgia is founded, the first public university in the United States.
    • 1820 – A Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev discovers the Antarctic continent, approaching the Antarctic coast.
    • 1825 – The U.S. Congress approves Indian Territory (in what is present-day Oklahoma), clearing the way for forced relocation of the Eastern Indians on the “Trail of Tears”.
    • 1868 – Boshin War: The Battle of Toba–Fushimi begins, between forces of the Tokugawa shogunate and pro-Imperial factions; it will end in defeat for the shogunate, and is a pivotal point in the Meiji Restoration.
    • 1869 – Boshin War: Tokugawa rebels establish the Ezo Republic in Hokkaidō.
    • 1880 – Thomas Edison receives a patent for his incandescent lamp.
    • 1916 – World War I: The British government passed a legislation that introduced conscription in the United Kingdom.
    • 1918 – Beginning of the Finnish Civil War.
    • 1927 – Ibn Saud takes the title of King of Nejd.
    • 1939 – First flight of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning.
    • 1943 – World War II: The Eighth Air Force sorties ninety-one B-17s and B-24s to attack the U-boat construction yards at Wilhelmshaven, Germany. This was the first American bombing attack on Germany.
    • 1944 – World War II: The 900-day Siege of Leningrad is lifted.
    • 1945 – World War II: The Soviet 322nd Rifle Division liberates the remaining inmates of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
    • 1951 – Nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site begins with Operation Ranger.
    • 1961 – The Soviet submarine S-80 sinks when its snorkel malfunctions, flooding the boat.
    • 1967 – Apollo program: Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee are killed in a fire during a test of their Apollo 1 spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
    • 1967 – Cold War: The Soviet Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom sign the Outer Space Treaty in Washington, D.C., banning deployment of nuclear weapons in space, and limiting use of the Moon and other celestial bodies to peaceful purposes.
    • 1973 – The Paris Peace Accords officially end the Vietnam War. Colonel William Nolde is killed in action becoming the conflict’s last recorded American combat casualty.
    • 1980 – Through cooperation between the U.S. and Canadian governments, six American diplomats secretly escape hostilities in Iran in the culmination of the Canadian Caper.
    • 1983 – The pilot shaft of the Seikan Tunnel, the world’s longest sub-aqueous tunnel (53.85 km) between the Japanese islands of Honshū and Hokkaidō, breaks through.
    • 1996 – In a military coup, Colonel Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara deposes the first democratically elected president of Niger, Mahamane Ousmane.
    • 1996 – Germany first observes the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
    • 2002 – An explosion at a military storage facility in Lagos, Nigeria, kills at least 1,100 people and displaces over 20,000 others.
    • 2003 – The first selections for the National Recording Registry are announced by the Library of Congress.
    • 2010 – The 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis ends when Porfirio Lobo Sosa becomes the new President of Honduras.
    • 2011 – Arab Spring: The Yemeni Revolution begins as over 16,000 protestors demonstrate in Sana’a.
    • 2013 – Two hundred and forty-two people die in a nightclub fire in the Brazilian city of Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul.

    Births on January 27

    • 1365 – Edward of Angoulême, English noble (d. 1370)
    • 1443 – Albert III, Duke of Saxony (d. 1500)
    • 1546 – Joachim III Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg (d. 1608)
    • 1571 – Abbas I of Persia (d. 1629)
    • 1585 – Hendrick Avercamp, Dutch painter (d. 1634)
    • 1603 – Sir Harbottle Grimston, 2nd Baronet, English lawyer and politician, Speaker of the House of Commons (d. 1685)
    • 1603 – Humphrey Mackworth, English politician, lawyer and judge (d. 1654)
    • 1621 – Thomas Willis, English physician and anatomist (d. 1675)
    • 1662 – Richard Bentley, English scholar and theologian (d. 1742)
    • 1663 – George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington, Royal Navy admiral (d. 1733)
    • 1687 – Johann Balthasar Neumann, German engineer and architect, designed Würzburg Residence and Basilica of the Fourteen Holy Helpers (d. 1753)
    • 1701 – Johann Nikolaus von Hontheim, German historian and theologian (d. 1790)
    • 1708 – Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia (d. 1728)
    • 1741 – Hester Thrale, Welsh author (d. 1821)
    • 1756 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1791)
    • 1775 – Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, German-Swiss philosopher and academic (d. 1854)
    • 1790 – Juan Álvarez, Mexican general and president (1855) (d. 1867)
    • 1795 – Eli Whitney Blake, American engineer, invented the Mortise lock (d. 1886)
    • 1803 – Eunice Hale Waite Cobb, American writer, public speaker, and activist (d. 1880)
    • 1805 – Maria Anna of Bavaria (d. 1877)
    • 1805 – Samuel Palmer, English painter and etcher (d. 1881)
    • 1806 – Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga, Spanish composer and educator (d. 1826)
    • 1808 – David Strauss, German theologian and author (d. 1874)
    • 1814 – Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, French architect, designed the Lausanne Cathedral (d. 1879)
    • 1821 – John Chivington, American colonel and pastor (d. 1892)
    • 1823 – Édouard Lalo, French violinist and composer (d. 1892)
    • 1824 – Urbain Johnson, Canadian farmer and political figure (d. 1917)
    • 1826 – Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, Russian journalist and author (d. 1889)
    • 1826 – Richard Taylor, American general, historian, and politician (d. 1879)
    • 1832 – Lewis Carroll, English novelist, poet, and mathematician (d. 1898)
    • 1832 – Carl Friedrich Schmidt, Estonian-Russian geologist and botanist (d. 1908)
    • 1836 – Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, Austrian journalist and author (d. 1895)
    • 1842 – Arkhip Kuindzhi, Ukrainian-Russian painter (d. 1910)
    • 1848 – Tōgō Heihachirō, Japanese admiral (d. 1934)
    • 1850 – John Collier, English painter and author (d. 1934)
    • 1850 – Samuel Gompers, English-American labor leader (d. 1924)
    • 1850 – Edward Smith, English captain (d. 1912)
    • 1858 – Neel Doff, Dutch-Belgian author (d. 1942)
    • 1859 – Wilhelm II, German Emperor (d. 1941)
    • 1869 – Will Marion Cook, American violinist and composer (d. 1944)
    • 1878 – Dorothy Scarborough, American author (d. 1935)
    • 1885 – Jerome Kern, American composer and songwriter (d. 1945)
    • 1885 – Seison Maeda, Japanese painter (d. 1977)
    • 1886 – Radhabinod Pal, Indian academic and jurist (d. 1967)
    • 1889 – Balthasar van der Pol, Dutch physicist and academic (d. 1959)
    • 1891 – Ilya Ehrenburg, Russian journalist and author (d. 1967)
    • 1893 – Soong Ching-ling, Chinese politician, Honorary President of the People’s Republic of China (d. 1981)
    • 1895 – Joseph Rosenstock, Polish-American conductor and manager (d. 1985)
    • 1895 – Harry Ruby, American composer and screenwriter (d. 1974)
    • 1900 – Hyman G. Rickover, American admiral (d. 1986)
    • 1901 – Willy Fritsch, German actor (d. 1973)
    • 1901 – Art Rooney, American football player and coach, founded the Pittsburgh Steelers (d. 1988)
    • 1903 – John Eccles, Australian-Swiss neurophysiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1997)
    • 1903 – Otto P. Weyland, American general (d. 1979)
    • 1904 – James J. Gibson, American psychologist and academic (d. 1979)
    • 1905 – Howard McNear, American actor (d. 1969)
    • 1908 – William Randolph Hearst, Jr., American journalist and publisher (d. 1993)
    • 1910 – Edvard Kardelj, Slovene general, economist, and politician, 2nd Foreign Minister of Yugoslavia (d. 1979)
    • 1912 – Arne Næss, Norwegian philosopher and environmentalist (d. 2009)
    • 1912 – Francis Rogallo, American engineer, invented the Rogallo wing (d. 2009)
    • 1915 – Jules Archer, American historian and author (d. 2008)
    • 1915 – Jacques Hnizdovsky, Ukrainian-American painter, sculptor, and illustrator (d. 1985)
    • 1918 – Skitch Henderson, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2005)
    • 1918 – Elmore James, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1963)
    • 1918 – William Seawell, American general (d. 2005)
    • 1919 – Tom Addington, English captain (d. 2011)
    • 1919 – Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., American singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, and actor, created Alvin and the Chipmunks (d. 1972)
    • 1920 – Hiroyoshi Nishizawa, Japanese lieutenant and pilot (d. 1944)
    • 1920 – Helmut Zacharias, German violinist and composer (d. 2002)
    • 1921 – Donna Reed, American actress (d. 1986)
    • 1924 – Rauf Denktaş, Cypriot lawyer and politician, 1st President of Northern Cyprus (d. 2012)
    • 1924 – Brian Rix, English actor, producer, and politician (d. 2016)
    • 1924 – Harvey Shapiro, American poet (d. 2013)
    • 1926 – Fritz Spiegl, Austrian flute player and journalist (d. 2003)
    • 1926 – Ingrid Thulin, Swedish actress (d. 2004)
    • 1928 – Michael Craig, Indian-English actor and screenwriter
    • 1928 – Hans Modrow, Polish-German lawyer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of East Germany
    • 1929 – Mohamed Al-Fayed, Egyptian-Swiss businessman
    • 1929 – Gastón Suárez, Bolivian author and playwright (d. 1984)
    • 1930 – Bobby “Blue” Bland, American blues singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
    • 1931 – Mordecai Richler, Canadian author and screenwriter (d. 2001)
    • 1931 – Nigel Vinson, Baron Vinson, English lieutenant and businessman
    • 1932 – Boris Shakhlin, Russian-Ukrainian gymnast (d. 2008)
    • 1933 – Jerry Buss, American chemist and businessman (d. 2013)
    • 1934 – Édith Cresson, French politician and diplomat, 160th Prime Minister of France
    • 1934 – George Follmer, American race car driver
    • 1935 – Steve Demeter, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2013)
    • 1936 – Troy Donahue, American actor (d. 2001)
    • 1936 – Samuel C. C. Ting, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1937 – Fred Åkerström, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1985)
    • 1940 – Ahmet Kurtcebe Alptemoçin, Turkish engineer and politician, 35th Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs
    • 1940 – James Cromwell, American actor
    • 1940 – Terry Harper, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1940 – Petru Lucinschi, Romanian activist and politician, 2nd President of Moldova
    • 1940 – Reynaldo Rey, American actor and screenwriter (d. 2015)
    • 1941 – Beatrice Tinsley, New Zealand astronomer and cosmologist (d. 1981)
    • 1942 – Maki Asakawa, Japanese singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2010)
    • 1942 – Tasuku Honjo, Japanese immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate in Physiology or Medicine
    • 1942 – John Witherspoon, American actor and comedian (d. 2019)
    • 1942 – Kate Wolf, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1986)
    • 1943 – Julia Cumberlege, Baroness Cumberlege, English businesswoman and politician
    • 1944 – Peter Akinola, Nigerian archbishop
    • 1944 – Mairead Maguire, Northern Irish activist, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1944 – Nick Mason, English drummer, songwriter, and producer
    • 1945 – Harold Cardinal, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2005)
    • 1946 – Christopher Hum, English academic and diplomat, British Ambassador to China
    • 1946 – Nedra Talley, American singer
    • 1947 – Björn Afzelius, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1999)
    • 1947 – Vyron Polydoras, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister for Public Order
    • 1947 – Cal Schenkel, American painter and illustrator
    • 1947 – Philip Sugden, English historian and author (d. 2014)
    • 1947 – Perfecto Yasay Jr., Filipino lawyer and Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines
    • 1948 – Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian-American dancer, choreographer, and actor
    • 1948 – Jean-Philippe Collard, French pianist
    • 1951 – Seth Justman, American keyboard player and songwriter
    • 1951 – Cees van der Knaap, Dutch soldier and politician
    • 1952 – Brian Gottfried, American tennis player
    • 1952 – Billy Johnson, American football player and coach
    • 1952 – Tam O’Shaughnessy, American tennis player, psychologist, and academic
    • 1952 – G. E. Smith, American guitarist and songwriter
    • 1954 – Peter Laird, American author and illustrator
    • 1954 – Ed Schultz, American talk show host and sportscaster (d. 2018)
    • 1955 – Brian Engblom, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
    • 1955 – John Roberts, American lawyer and judge, 17th Chief Justice of the United States
    • 1956 – Mimi Rogers, American actress
    • 1957 – Janick Gers, English guitarist and songwriter
    • 1957 – Frank Miller, American illustrator, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1958 – James Grippando, American lawyer and author
    • 1958 – Alan Milburn, English businessman and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
    • 1959 – Cris Collinsworth, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1959 – Göran Hägglund, Swedish lawyer and politician, 28th Swedish Minister for Social Affairs
    • 1959 – Keith Olbermann, American journalist and author
    • 1960 – Fiona O’Donnell, Canadian-Scottish politician
    • 1961 – Narciso Rodriguez, American fashion designer
    • 1961 – Margo Timmins, Canadian singer-songwriter
    • 1962 – Roberto Paci Dalò, Italian director and composer
    • 1963 – George Monbiot, English-Welsh author and activist
    • 1964 – Patrick van Deurzen, Dutch composer and academic
    • 1964 – Bridget Fonda, American actress
    • 1964 – Shahin Shahablou, Iranian photographer (d. 2020)
    • 1965 – Alan Cumming, Scottish-American actor
    • 1965 – Mike Newell, English footballer and manager
    • 1965 – Ignacio Noé, Argentinian author and illustrator
    • 1965 – Attila Sekerlioglu, Austrian footballer and manager
    • 1966 – Tamlyn Tomita, Japanese-American actress and singer
    • 1967 – Dave Manson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1968 – Tracy Lawrence, American country singer
    • 1968 – Mike Patton, American singer, composer, and voice artist
    • 1968 – Matt Stover, American football player
    • 1969 – Michael Kulas, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1969 – Patton Oswalt, American comedian and actor
    • 1969 – Shane Thomson, New Zealand cricketer
    • 1970 – Bradley Clyde, Australian rugby league player
    • 1970 – Dean Headley, English cricketer and coach
    • 1971 – Patrice Brisebois, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1972 – Bibi Gaytán, Mexican singer and actress
    • 1973 – Valyantsin Byalkevich, Belarusian footballer and manager (d. 2014)
    • 1974 – Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Norwegian skier and biathlete
    • 1974 – Andrei Pavel, Romanian tennis player and coach
    • 1974 – Chaminda Vaas, Sri Lankan cricketer and coach
    • 1976 – Ahn Jung-hwan, South Korean footballer
    • 1976 – Clint Ford, American actor, voice actor and novelist
    • 1976 – Danielle George MBE FIET, Professor of Radio frequency engineering at the University of Manchester
    • 1976 – Fred Taylor, American football player
    • 1976 – Michael K. Winder, American businessman and politician
    • 1978 – Pete Laforest, Canadian-American baseball player and manager
    • 1979 – Rosamund Pike, English actress
    • 1979 – Daniel Vettori, New Zealand cricketer and coach
    • 1980 – Chanda Gunn, American ice hockey player and coach
    • 1980 – Marat Safin, Russian tennis player and politician
    • 1981 – Alicia Molik, Australian tennis player and sportscaster
    • 1981 – Tony Woodcock, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1982 – Eva Asderaki, Greek tennis umpire
    • 1983 – Carlo Colaiacovo, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1983 – Paulo Colaiacovo, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1983 – Gavin Floyd, American baseball player
    • 1987 – Katy Rose, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1987 – Anton Shunin, Russian footballer
    • 1987 – Ashley Grace, American singer-songwriter
    • 1988 – Kerlon, Brazilian footballer
    • 1989 – Alberto Botía, Spanish footballer
    • 1991 – Christian Bickel, German footballer
    • 1991 – Sebastine Ikahihifo, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1992 – Stefano Pettinari, Italian footballer
    • 1995 – Harrison Reed, English footballer midfielder

    Deaths on January 27

    • AD 98 – Nerva, Roman emperor (b. 35)
    • 457 – Marcian, Byzantine emperor (b. 392)
    • 555 – Yuan Di, emperor of the Liang Dynasty (b. 508)
    • 672 – Pope Vitalian
    • 847 – Pope Sergius II (b. 790)
    • 906 – Liu Can, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty
    • 931 – Ruotger, archbishop of Trier
    • 947 – Zhang Yanze, Chinese general and governor
    • 1062 – Adelaide of Hungary, (b. c. 1040)
    • 1311 – Külüg Khan, Emperor Wuzong of Yuan
    • 1377 – Frederick the Simple, King of Sicily
    • 1490 – Ashikaga Yoshimasa, Japanese shōgun (b. 1435)
    • 1504 – Ludovico II, Marquess of Saluzzo (b. 1438)
    • 1540 – Angela Merici, Italian educator and saint, founded the Company of St. Ursula (b. 1474)
    • 1592 – Gian Paolo Lomazzo, Italian painter (b. 1538)
    • 1596 – Francis Drake, English captain and explorer (b. 1540)
    • 1629 – Hieronymus Praetorius, German organist and composer (b. 1560)
    • 1638 – Gonzalo de Céspedes y Meneses, Spanish author and poet (b. 1585)
    • 1651 – Abraham Bloemaert, Dutch painter and illustrator (b. 1566)
    • 1689 – Robert Aske, English merchant and philanthropist (b. 1619)
    • 1731 – Bartolomeo Cristofori, Italian instrument maker, invented the Piano (b. 1655)
    • 1733 – Thomas Woolston, English theologian and author (b. 1669)
    • 1740 – Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon (b. 1692)
    • 1770 – Philippe Macquer, French historian (b. 1720)
    • 1794 – Antoine Philippe de La Trémoille, French general (b. 1765)
    • 1812 – John Perkins, Anglo-Jamaican captain
    • 1814 – Johann Gottlieb Fichte, German philosopher and academic (b. 1762)
    • 1816 – Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood, English admiral and politician (b. 1724)
    • 1851 – John James Audubon, French-American ornithologist and painter (b. 1789)
    • 1860 – János Bolyai, Romanian-Hungarian mathematician and academic (b. 1802)
    • 1880 – Edward Middleton Barry, English architect and academic, co-designed the Halifax Town Hall and the Royal Opera House (b. 1830)
    • 1901 – Giuseppe Verdi, Italian composer (b. 1813)
    • 1910 – Thomas Crapper, English plumber and businessman (b. 1836)
    • 1919 – Endre Ady, Hungarian poet and journalist (b. 1877)
    • 1921 – Maurice Buckley, Australian sergeant (b. 1891)
    • 1922 – Nellie Bly, American journalist and author (b. 1864)
    • 1927 – Jurgis Matulaitis-Matulevičius, Lithuanian bishop (b. 1871)
    • 1931 – Nishinoumi Kajirō II, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 25th Yokozuna (b. 1880)
    • 1940 – Isaac Babel, Russian short story writer, journalist, and playwright (b. 1894)
    • 1942 – Kaarel Eenpalu, Estonian journalist and politician, Prime Minister of Estonia (b. 1888)
    • 1951 – Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Finnish field marshal and politician, 6th President of Finland (b. 1867)
    • 1956 – Erich Kleiber, Austrian conductor and director (b. 1890)
    • 1961 – Bernard Friedberg, Austrian scholar and author (b. 1876)
    • 1963 – John Farrow, Australian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1904)
    • 1965 – Abraham Walkowitz, American painter (b. 1878)
    • 1967 – crew of Apollo 1
      • Roger B. Chaffee, American pilot, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1935)
      • Gus Grissom, American pilot and astronaut (b. 1926)
      • Ed White, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1930)
    • 1967 – Alphonse Juin, Algerian-French general (b. 1888)
    • 1970 – Rocco D’Assunta, Italian actor, comedian and playwright (b. 1904)
    • 1971 – Jacobo Árbenz, Guatemalan captain and politician, President of Guatemala (b. 1913)
    • 1972 – Mahalia Jackson, American singer (b. 1911)
    • 1973 – William Nolde, American colonel (b. 1929)
    • 1974 – Georgios Grivas, Cypriot general (b. 1898)
    • 1975 – Bill Walsh, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1913)
    • 1983 – Louis de Funès, French actor and screenwriter (b. 1914)
    • 1986 – Lilli Palmer, German-American actress (b. 1914)
    • 1987 – Norman McLaren, Scottish-Canadian animator and director (b. 1914)
    • 1988 – Massa Makan Diabaté, Malian historian, author, and playwright (b. 1938)
    • 1989 – Thomas Sopwith, English ice hockey player and pilot (b. 1888)
    • 1993 – André the Giant, French professional wrestler and actor (b. 1946)
    • 1994 – Claude Akins, American actor (b. 1918)
    • 1996 – Ralph Yarborough, American colonel, lawyer, and politician (b. 1903)
    • 2000 – Friedrich Gulda, Austrian pianist and composer (b. 1930)
    • 2003 – Henryk Jabłoński, Polish historian and politician, President of Poland (b. 1909)
    • 2004 – Salvador Laurel, Filipino lawyer and politician, 10th Vice President of the Philippines (b. 1928)
    • 2004 – Jack Paar, American talk show host and author (b. 1918)
    • 2006 – Gene McFadden, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1948)
    • 2006 – Johannes Rau, German journalist and politician, 8th President of Germany (b. 1931)
    • 2007 – Yang Chuan-kwang, Taiwanese decathlete, long jumper, and hurdler (b. 1933)
    • 2008 – Suharto, Indonesian general and politician, 2nd President of Indonesia (b. 1921)
    • 2008 – Gordon B. Hinckley, American religious leader and author, 15th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1910)
    • 2008 – Louie Welch, American businessman and politician, 54th Mayor of Houston (b. 1918)
    • 2009 – John Updike, American novelist, short story writer, and critic (b. 1932)
    • 2009 – R. Venkataraman, Indian lawyer and politician, 8th President of India (b. 1910)
    • 2010 – Zelda Rubinstein, American actress (b. 1933)
    • 2010 – J. D. Salinger, American soldier and author (b. 1919)
    • 2010 – Howard Zinn, American historian, author, and activist (b. 1922)
    • 2011 – Charlie Callas, American comedian and musician (b. 1927)
    • 2012 – Greg Cook, American football player and sportscaster (b. 1946)
    • 2012 – Ted Dicks, English composer and screenwriter (b. 1928)
    • 2012 – Jeannette Hamby, American nurse and politician (b. 1933)
    • 2012 – Kevin White, American politician, 51st Mayor of Boston (b. 1929)
    • 2013 – Ivan Bodiul, Ukrainian-Russian politician (b. 1918)
    • 2013 – Stanley Karnow, American journalist and historian (b. 1925)
    • 2014 – Pete Seeger, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and activist (b. 1919)
    • 2014 – Epimaco Velasco, Filipino lawyer and politician, Governor of Cavite (b. 1935)
    • 2014 – Paul Zorner, German soldier and pilot (b. 1920)
    • 2015 – Rocky Bridges, American baseball player and coach (b. 1927)
    • 2015 – David Landau, English-Israeli journalist (b. 1947)
    • 2015 – Joseph Rotman, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1935)
    • 2015 – Charles Hard Townes, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
    • 2015 – Larry Winters, American wrestler and trainer (b. 1956)
    • 2016 – Carlos Loyzaga, Filipino basketball player and coach (b. 1930)
    • 2017 – Emmanuelle Riva, French actress (b. 1927)
    • 2017 – Arthur H. Rosenfeld, American physicist (b. 1926)
    • 2018 – Ingvar Kamprad, Founder of IKEA (b. 1926)
    • 2018 – Mort Walker, American cartoonist (b. 1923)
    • 2019 – Countess Maya von Schönburg-Glauchau, German socialite (b. 1958)

    Holidays and observances on January 27

    • Christian feast day:
      • Angela Merici
      • Blessed Paul Joseph Nardini
      • Devota (Monaco)
      • Enrique de Ossó y Cercelló
      • John Chrysostom (translation of relics) (Anglican, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox)
      • Sava (Serbia)
      • January 27 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Day of the lifting of the siege of Leningrad (Russia)
    • Liberation of the remaining inmates of Auschwitz-related observances:
      • Holocaust Memorial Day (UK)
      • International Holocaust Remembrance Day
      • Memorial Day (Italy)
      • Other Holocaust Memorial Days observances

  • January 26 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 661 – The Rashidun Caliphate is effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last caliph.
    • 945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to become monks by Constantine VII, who becomes the sole emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
    • 1500 – Vicente Yáñez Pinzón becomes the first European to set foot on Brazil.
    • 1531 – The 6.4–7.1 Mw Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people.
    • 1564 – The Council of Trent establishes an official distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.
    • 1564 – The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Tsardom of Russia in the Battle of Ula during the Livonian War.
    • 1565 – Battle of Talikota, fought between the Vijayanagara Empire and the Deccan sultanates, leads to the subjugation, and eventual destruction of the last Hindu kingdom in India, and the consolidation of Islamic rule over much of the Indian subcontinent.
    • 1699 – For the first time, the Ottoman Empire permanently cedes territory to the Christian powers.
    • 1700 – The 8.7–9.2 Mw Cascadia earthquake takes place off the west coast of North America, as evidenced by Japanese records.
    • 1736 – Stanislaus I of Poland abdicates his throne.
    • 1788 – The British First Fleet, led by Arthur Phillip, sails into Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) to establish Sydney, the first permanent European settlement on Australia. Commemorated as Australia Day.
    • 1808 – The Rum Rebellion is the only successful (albeit short-lived) armed takeover of the government in New South Wales.
    • 1837 – Michigan is admitted as the 26th U.S. state.
    • 1838 – Tennessee enacts the first prohibition law in the United States.
    • 1841 – James Bremer takes formal possession of Hong Kong Island at what is now Possession Point, establishing British Hong Kong.
    • 1855 – Point No Point Treaty is signed in Washington Territory.
    • 1856 – First Battle of Seattle. Marines from the USS Decatur drive off American Indian attackers after all day battle with settlers.
    • 1861 – American Civil War: The state of Louisiana secedes from the Union.
    • 1863 – American Civil War: General Ambrose Burnside is relieved of command of the Army of the Potomac after the disastrous Fredericksburg campaign. He is replaced by Joseph Hooker.
    • 1863 – American Civil War: Governor of Massachusetts John Albion Andrew receives permission from the Secretary of War to raise a militia organization for men of African descent.
    • 1870 – Reconstruction Era: Virginia rejoins the Union.
    • 1885 – Troops loyal to The Mahdi conquer Khartoum, killing the Governor-General Charles George Gordon.
    • 1905 – The world’s largest diamond ever, the Cullinan weighing 3,106.75 carats (0.621350 kg), is found at the Premier Mine near Pretoria in South Africa.
    • 1911 – Glenn Curtiss flies the first successful American seaplane.
    • 1915 – The Rocky Mountain National Park is established by an act of the U.S. Congress.
    • 1918 – Finnish Civil War: A group of Red Guards hangs a red lantern atop the tower of Helsinki Workers’ Hall to symbolically mark the start of the war.
    • 1920 – Former Ford Motor Company executive Henry Leland launches the Lincoln Motor Company which he later sold to his former employer.
    • 1926 – The first demonstration of the television by John Logie Baird.
    • 1930 – The Indian National Congress declares 26 January as Independence Day or as the day for Poorna Swaraj (“Complete Independence”) which occurred 17 years later.
    • 1934 – The Apollo Theater reopens in Harlem, New York City.
    • 1934 – German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact is signed.
    • 1939 – Spanish Civil War: Catalonia Offensive: Troops loyal to nationalist General Francisco Franco and aided by Italy take Barcelona.
    • 1942 – World War II: The first United States forces arrive in Europe landing in Northern Ireland.
    • 1945 – World War II: The Red Army begins encircling the German Fourth Army near Heiligenbeil in East Prussia, which will end in destruction of the 4th Army two months later.
    • 1945 – World War II: Audie Murphy displays valor and bravery in action for which he will later be awarded the Medal of Honor.
    • 1949 – The Hale telescope at Palomar Observatory sees first light under the direction of Edwin Hubble, becoming the largest aperture optical telescope (until BTA-6 is built in 1976).
    • 1950 – The Constitution of India comes into force, forming a republic. Rajendra Prasad is sworn in as its first President of India. Observed as Republic Day in India.
    • 1952 – Black Saturday in Egypt: rioters burn Cairo’s central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses.
    • 1956 – the Soviet Union cedes Porkkala back to Finland.
    • 1961 – John F. Kennedy appoints Janet G. Travell to be the first woman Physician to the President.
    • 1962 – Ranger 3 is launched to study the Moon. The space probe later misses the moon by 22,000 miles (35,400 km).
    • 1965 – Hindi becomes the official language of India.
    • 1972 – JAT Fight 367 is destroyed by a terrorist bomb, killing 27 of the 28 people on board the DC-9. Flight attendant Vesna Vulović survives with critical injuries.
    • 1980 – Egypt–Israel relations are formally established.
    • 1986 – The Ugandan government of Tito Okello is overthrown by the National Resistance Army, led by Yoweri Museveni.
    • 1991 – Mohamed Siad Barre is removed from power in Somalia, ending centralized government, and is succeeded by Ali Mahdi.
    • 1992 – Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia will stop targeting United States cities with nuclear weapons.
    • 1998 – Lewinsky scandal: On American television, U.S. President Bill Clinton denies having had “sexual relations” with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
    • 2001 – The 7.7 Mw Gujarat earthquake shakes Western India with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), leaving 13,805–20,023 dead and about 166,800 injured.
    • 2009 – Rioting breaks out in Antananarivo, Madagascar, sparking a political crisis that will result in the replacement of President Marc Ravalomanana with Andry Rajoelina.
    • 2015 – An aircraft crashes at Los Llanos Air Base in Albacete, Spain, killing 11 people and injuring 21 others.
    • 2020 – A Sikorsky S-76B flying from John Wayne Airport to Camarillo Airport crashes in Calabasas, 30 miles west of Los Angeles, killing all nine people on board including former five time NBA champion Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Bryant.

    Births on January 26

    • 183 – Lady Zhen, wife of Cao Pi (d. 221)
    • 1436 – Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset, Lancastrian military commander (d. 1464)
    • 1467 – Guillaume Budé, French scholar (d. 1540)
    • 1495 – Emperor Go-Nara of Japan (d. 1557)
    • 1541 – Florent Chrestien, French poet and translator (d. 1596)
    • 1549 – Jakob Ebert, German theologian (d. 1614)
    • 1582 – Giovanni Lanfranco, Italian painter (d. 1647)
    • 1595 – Antonio Maria Abbatini, Italian composer (d. 1679)
    • 1624 – George William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1705)
    • 1657 – William Wake, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1737)
    • 1708 – William Hayes, English organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1777)
    • 1714 – Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, French sculptor and educator (d. 1785)
    • 1715 – Claude Adrien Helvétius, French philosopher (d. 1771)
    • 1716 – George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville, English general and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (d. 1785)
    • 1722 – Alexander Carlyle, Scottish minister and author (d. 1805)
    • 1763 – Charles XIV John of Sweden (d. 1844)
    • 1781 – Ludwig Achim von Arnim, German poet and author (d. 1831)
    • 1813 – Juan Pablo Duarte, Dominican philosopher and poet (d. 1876)
    • 1824 – Emil Czyrniański, Polish chemist (d. 1888)
    • 1832 – George Shiras, Jr., American lawyer and jurist (d. 1924)
    • 1842 – François Coppée, French poet and author (d. 1908)
    • 1852 – Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, Italian-French explorer (d. 1905)
    • 1857 – 12th Dalai Lama (d. 1875)
    • 1861 – Louis Anquetin, French painter (d. 1932)
    • 1864 – József Pusztai, Slovene-Hungarian poet and journalist (d. 1934)
    • 1866 – John Cady, American golfer (d. 1933)
    • 1877 – Kees van Dongen, Dutch painter (d. 1968)
    • 1878 – Dave Nourse, English-South African cricketer and coach (d. 1948)
    • 1880 – Douglas MacArthur, American general, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1964)
    • 1885 – Michael Considine, Irish-Australian politician (d. 1959)
    • 1885 – Harry Ricardo, English engineer and academic (d. 1974)
    • 1885 – Per Thorén, Swedish figure skater (d. 1962)
    • 1887 – François Faber, French-Luxembourgian cyclist (d. 1915)
    • 1887 – Marc Mitscher, American admiral and pilot (d. 1947)
    • 1887 – Dimitris Pikionis, Greek architect and academic (d. 1968)
    • 1891 – Frank Costello, Italian-American mob boss (d. 1973)
    • 1891 – August Froehlich, German priest and martyr (d. 1942)
    • 1891 – Wilder Penfield, American-Canadian neurosurgeon and academic (d. 1976)
    • 1892 – Bessie Coleman, American pilot (d. 1926)
    • 1893 – Giuseppe Genco Russo, Italian mob boss (d. 1976)
    • 1899 – Günther Reindorff, Russian-Estonian graphic designer and illustrator (d. 1974)
    • 1900 – Karl Ristenpart, German conductor (d. 1967)
    • 1902 – Menno ter Braak, Dutch author (d. 1940)
    • 1904 – Ancel Keys, American physiologist and nutritionist (d. 2004)
    • 1904 – Seán MacBride, Irish lawyer and politician, Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988)
    • 1905 – Charles Lane, American actor and singer (d. 2007)
    • 1905 – Maria von Trapp, Austrian-American singer (d. 1987)
    • 1907 – Henry Cotton, English golfer (d. 1987)
    • 1907 – Dimitrios Holevas, Greek priest and philologist (d. 2001)
    • 1908 – Jill Esmond, English actress (d. 1990)
    • 1908 – Rupprecht Geiger, German painter and sculptor (d. 2009)
    • 1908 – Stéphane Grappelli, French violinist (d. 1997)
    • 1910 – Jean Image, Hungarian-French animator, director, and screenwriter (d. 1989)
    • 1911 – Polykarp Kusch, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1993)
    • 1911 – Norbert Schultze, German composer and conductor (d. 2002)
    • 1913 – Jimmy Van Heusen, American pianist and composer (d. 1990)
    • 1914 – Dürrüşehvar Sultan, Imperial Princess of the Ottoman Empire (d. 2006)
    • 1915 – William Hopper, American actor (d. 1970)
    • 1917 – Louis Zamperini, American runner and captain (d. 2014)
    • 1918 – Nicolae Ceaușescu, Romanian dictator, 1st President of Romania (d. 1989)
    • 1918 – Philip José Farmer, American author (d. 2009)
    • 1919 – Valentino Mazzola, Italian footballer (d. 1949)
    • 1919 – Bill Nicholson, English footballer and manager (d. 2004)
    • 1919 – Hyun Soong-jong, South Korean politician, 24th Prime Minister of South Korea (d. 2020)
    • 1920 – Hans Holzer, Austrian-American paranormal researcher and author (d. 2009)
    • 1921 – Eddie Barclay, French record producer, founded Barclay Records (d. 2005)
    • 1921 – Akio Morita, Japanese businessman, co-founded Sony (d. 1999)
    • 1922 – Michael Bentine, English actor and screenwriter (d. 1996)
    • 1922 – Seán Flanagan, Irish footballer and politician, 7th Irish Minister for Health (d. 1993)
    • 1922 – Gil Merrick, English footballer (d. 2010)
    • 1923 – Patrick J. Hannifin, American admiral (d. 2014)
    • 1923 – Anne Jeffreys, American actress and singer (d. 2017)
    • 1924 – Alice Babs, Swedish singer and actress (b. 1924)
    • 1924 – Annette Strauss, American philanthropist and politician, Mayor of Dallas (d. 1998)
    • 1925 – David Jenkins, English bishop and theologian (d. 2016)
    • 1925 – Joan Leslie, American actress (d. 2015)
    • 1925 – Paul Newman, American actor, activist, director, race car driver, and businessman, co-founded Newman’s Own (d. 2008)
    • 1925 – Ben Pucci, American football player and sportscaster (d. 2013)
    • 1925 – Claude Ryan, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 2004)
    • 1926 – Farman Fatehpuri, Pakistani linguist and scholar (d. 2013)
    • 1926 – Joseph Bacon Fraser, Jr., American architect and businessman, co-founded the Sea Pines Company (d. 2014)
    • 1927 – José Azcona del Hoyo, Honduran businessman and politician, President of Honduras (d. 2005)
    • 1927 – Bob Nieman, American baseball player and scout (d. 1985)
    • 1927 – Hubert Schieth, German footballer and manager (d. 2013)
    • 1928 – Roger Vadim, French actor and director (d. 2000)
    • 1929 – Jules Feiffer, American cartoonist, playwright, screenwriter, and educator
    • 1934 – Roger Landry, Canadian businessman and publisher (d. 2020)
    • 1934 – Charles Marowitz, American director, playwright, and critic (d. 2014)
    • 1934 – Huey “Piano” Smith, American pianist and songwriter
    • 1934 – Bob Uecker, American baseball player, sportscaster and actor
    • 1935 – Corrado Augias, Italian journalist and politician
    • 1935 – Henry Jordan, American football player (d. 1977)
    • 1935 – Paula Rego, Portuguese-born British visual artist
    • 1936 – Sal Buscema, American illustrator
    • 1937 – Joseph Saidu Momoh, Sierra Leonean soldier and politician, 2nd President of Sierra Leone (d. 2003)
    • 1937 – Francisco Gonzales, former 1960 Summer Olympics yachting team member and murderer
    • 1938 – Henry Jaglom, English-American director and screenwriter
    • 1940 – Séamus Hegarty, Irish bishop
    • 1940 – Frank Large, English footballer, centre forward and cricketer (d. 2003)
    • 1943 – César Gutiérrez, Venezuelan baseball player and manager (d. 2005)
    • 1943 – Jack Warner, Trinidadian businessman and politician
    • 1944 – Angela Davis, American activist, academic, and author
    • 1944 – Jerry Sandusky, American football coach and criminal
    • 1945 – Jacqueline du Pré, English cellist (d. 1987)
    • 1945 – David Purley, English race car driver (d. 1985)
    • 1946 – Christopher Hampton, Portuguese-English director, screenwriter, and playwright
    • 1946 – Gene Siskel, American journalist and film critic (d. 1999)
    • 1946 – Susan Friedlander, American mathematician
    • 1947 – Patrick Dewaere, French actor and composer (d. 1982)
    • 1947 – Les Ebdon, English chemist and academic
    • 1947 – Redmond Morris, 4th Baron Killanin, Irish director, producer, and production manager
    • 1947 – Michel Sardou, French singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1948 – Alda Facio, Costa Rican jurist, writer and teacher
    • 1949 – Jonathan Carroll, American author
    • 1949 – David Strathairn, American actor
    • 1950 – Jörg Haider, Austrian lawyer and politician, Governor of Carinthia (d. 2008)
    • 1951 – David Briggs, Australian guitarist, songwriter, and producer
    • 1951 – Andy Hummel, American singer-songwriter and bass player (d. 2010)
    • 1951 – Anne Mills, English economist and academic
    • 1953 – Alik L. Alik, Micronesian politician, 7th Vice President of the Federated States of Micronesia
    • 1953 – Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Danish politician and diplomat, 39th Prime Minister of Denmark
    • 1953 – Lucinda Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1954 – Kim Hughes, Australian cricketer
    • 1955 – Eddie Van Halen, Dutch-American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
    • 1957 – Road Warrior Hawk, American wrestler (d. 2003)
    • 1958 – Anita Baker, American singer-songwriter
    • 1958 – Ellen DeGeneres, American comedian, actress, and talk show host
    • 1961 – Wayne Gretzky, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1961 – Tom Keifer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1962 – Guo Jian, Chinese-Australian painter, sculptor, and photographer
    • 1962 – Tim May, Australian cricketer
    • 1962 – Oscar Ruggeri, Argentinian footballer and manager
    • 1963 – José Mourinho, Portuguese footballer and manager
    • 1963 – Simon O’Donnell, Australian footballer, cricketer, and sportscaster
    • 1963 – Tony Parks, English footballer and manager
    • 1963 – Andrew Ridgeley, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1964 – Adam Crozier, Scottish businessman
    • 1965 – Thomas Östros, Swedish businessman and politician
    • 1965 – Natalia Yurchenko, Russian gymnast and coach
    • 1966 – Kazushige Nagashima, Japanese baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1967 – Anatoly Komm, Russian chef and businessman
    • 1967 – Col Needham, English businessman, co-founded Internet Movie Database
    • 1968 – Jupiter Apple, Brazilian singer-songwriter, film director, and actor (d. 2015)
    • 1969 – George Dikeoulakos, Greek-Romanian basketball player and coach
    • 1970 – Kirk Franklin, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1973 – Larissa Lowing, Canadian artistic gymnast
    • 1973 – Melvil Poupaud, French actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1973 – Brendan Rodgers, Northern Irish footballer and manager
    • 1973 – Mayu Shinjo, Japanese author and illustrator
    • 1977 – Vince Carter, American basketball player
    • 1977 – Justin Gimelstob, American tennis player and coach
    • 1978 – Corina Morariu, American tennis player and sportscaster
    • 1981 – José de Jesús Corona, Mexican footballer
    • 1981 – Gustavo Dudamel, Venezuelan violinist, composer, and conductor
    • 1981 – Juan José Haedo, Argentinian cyclist
    • 1981 – Colin O’Donoghue, Irish actor
    • 1982 – Reggie Hodges, American football player
    • 1983 – Petri Oravainen, Finnish footballer
    • 1983 – Eric Werner, American ice hockey player
    • 1984 – Ryan Hoffman, Australian rugby league player
    • 1984 – Iain Turner, Scottish footballer
    • 1984 – Luo Xuejuan, Chinese swimmer
    • 1985 – Heather Stanning, English rower
    • 1986 – Gerald Green, American basketball player
    • 1986 – Kim Jae-joong, South Korean singer, songwriter, actor, director and designer.
    • 1986 – Mustapha Yatabaré, French-Malian footballer
    • 1987 – Sebastian Giovinco, Italian footballer
    • 1988 – Dimitrios Chondrokoukis, Greek high jumper
    • 1989 – MarShon Brooks, American basketball player
    • 1989 – Emily Hughes, American figure skater
    • 1990 – Sergio Pérez, Mexican race car driver
    • 1990 – Peter Sagan, Slovak professional cyclist
    • 1990 – Nina Zander, German tennis player
    • 1991 – Tom Meechan, English footballer
    • 1992 – Sasha Banks, American professional wrestler
    • 1993 – Lana Clelland, Scottish footballer
    • 1993 – Florian Thauvin, French footballer
    • 1995 – Sione Katoa, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1997 – Gedion Zelalem, German-born American soccer player
    • 2001 – Latalia Bevan, Welsh artistic gymnast

    Deaths on January 26

    • 724 – Yazid II, Umayyad caliph (b. 687)
    • 738 – John of Dailam, Syrian monk and saint (b. 660)
    • 910 – Luo Yin, Chinese statesman and poet
    • 946 – Eadgyth, Queen consort of Germany (b.c 910)
    • 1186 – Ismat ad-Din Khatun, wife of Saladin
    • 1390 – Adolph IX, Count of Holstein-Kiel (b.c 1327)
    • 1567 – Nicholas Wotton, English courtier and diplomat (b. 1497)
    • 1568 – Lady Catherine Grey, Countess of Hertford (b. 1540)
    • 1620 – Amar Singh I, ruler of Mewar (b. 1559)
    • 1630 – Henry Briggs, English mathematician and astronomer (b. 1556)
    • 1636 – Jean Hotman, Marquis de Villers-St-Paul, French diplomat (b. 1552)
    • 1641 – Lawrence Hyde, English lawyer (b. 1562)
    • 1697 – Georg Mohr, Danish mathematician and theorist (b. 1640)
    • 1744 – Ludwig Andreas von Khevenhüller, Austrian field marshal (b. 1683)
    • 1750 – Albert Schultens, Dutch philologist and academic (b. 1686)
    • 1779 – Thomas Hudson, English painter (b. 1701)
    • 1795 – Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, German harpsichord player and composer (b. 1732)
    • 1799 – Gabriel Christie, Scottish general (b. 1722)
    • 1823 – Edward Jenner, English physician and immunologist (b. 1749)
    • 1824 – Théodore Géricault, French painter and lithographer (b. 1791)
    • 1831 – Sangolli Rayanna, Indian soldier (b. 1798)
    • 1831 – Anton Delvig, Russian poet and journalist (b. 1798)
    • 1849 – Thomas Lovell Beddoes, English poet, playwright, and physician (b. 1803)
    • 1855 – Gérard de Nerval, French poet and translator (b. 1808)
    • 1860 – Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient, opera singer (b. 1804)
    • 1869 – Duncan Gordon Boyes, English soldier; Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1846)
    • 1870 – Victor de Broglie, French politician, 9th Prime Minister of France (b. 1785)
    • 1885 – Edward Davy, English-Australian physician and engineer (b. 1806)
    • 1885 – Charles George Gordon, English general and politician (b. 1833)
    • 1886 – David Rice Atchison, American general and politician (b. 1807)
    • 1887 – Anandi Gopal Joshi, One of the first female Indian physicians (b. 1865)
    • 1891 – Nicolaus Otto, German engineer, invented the Internal combustion engine (b. 1833)
    • 1893 – Abner Doubleday, American general (b. 1819)
    • 1895 – Arthur Cayley, English mathematician and academic (b. 1825)
    • 1904 – Whitaker Wright, English businessman (b. 1846)
    • 1926 – John Flannagan, American priest and academic (b. 1860)
    • 1932 – William Wrigley, Jr., American businessman, founded the Wrigley Company (b. 1861)
    • 1942 – Felix Hausdorff, German mathematician and academic (b. 1868)
    • 1943 – Harry H. Laughlin, American sociologist and eugenicist (b. 1880)
    • 1943 – Nikolai Vavilov, Russian botanist and geneticist (b. 1887)
    • 1946 – Oskar Kallas, Estonian linguist and diplomat (b. 1868)
    • 1946 – Adriaan van Maanen, Dutch-American astronomer and academic (b. 1884)
    • 1947 – Grace Moore, American soprano and actress (b. 1898)
    • 1948 – Kâzım Karabekir, Turkish general and politician, 5th Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (b. 1882)
    • 1948 – Fred Conrad Koch, American biochemist and endocrinologist (born 1876)
    • 1948 – John Lomax, American musicologist and academic (b. 1867)
    • 1952 – Khorloogiin Choibalsan, Mongolian general and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Mongolia (b. 1895)
    • 1953 – Athanase David, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1882)
    • 1957 – Helene Costello, American actress (b. 1906)
    • 1962 – Lucky Luciano, Italian-American mob boss (b. 1897)
    • 1968 – Merrill C. Meigs, American publisher (b. 1883)
    • 1973 – Edward G. Robinson, Romanian-American actor (b. 1893)
    • 1975 – Donald Sheldon, American bush pilot (b. 1921)
    • 1976 – João Branco Núncio, Portuguese bullfighter (b. 1901)
    • 1977 – Filopimin Finos, Greek production manager and producer, founded Finos Film (b. 1908)
    • 1979 – Nelson Rockefeller, American businessman and politician, 41st Vice President of the United States (b. 1908)
    • 1980 – Simon Kapwepwe, Zambian politician, 2nd Vice President of Zambia (b. 1922)
    • 1983 – Bear Bryant, American football player and coach (b. 1913)
    • 1985 – Kenny Clarke, American jazz drummer and bandleader (b. 1914)
    • 1990 – Bob Gerard, English race car driver and businessman (b. 1914)
    • 1990 – Lewis Mumford, American sociologist and historian (b. 1895)
    • 1992 – José Ferrer, Puerto Rican-American actor (b. 1912)
    • 1993 – Jan Gies, Dutch businessman and humanitarian (b. 1905)
    • 1993 – Robert Jacobsen, Danish sculptor and painter (b. 1912)
    • 1993 – Jeanne Sauvé, Canadian journalist and politician, 23rd Governor General of Canada (b. 1922)
    • 1996 – Georg Alexander, Duke of Mecklenburg (b. 1921)
    • 1996 – Harold Brodkey, American author and academic (b. 1930)
    • 1996 – Frank Howard, American football player and coach (b. 1909)
    • 1996 – Henry Lewis, American bassist and conductor (b. 1932)
    • 1997 – Jeane Dixon, American astrologer and psychic (b. 1904)
    • 2000 – Don Budge, American tennis player and coach (b. 1915)
    • 2000 – Kathleen Hale, English author and illustrator (b. 1898)
    • 2000 – A. E. van Vogt, Canadian-American author (b. 1912)
    • 2001 – Al McGuire, American basketball player and coach (b. 1928)
    • 2003 – Valeriy Brumel, Russian high jumper (b. 1942)
    • 2003 – Hugh Trevor-Roper, English historian and academic (b. 1917)
    • 2003 – George Younger, 4th Viscount Younger of Leckie, Scottish banker and politician, Secretary of State for Scotland (b. 1931)
    • 2004 – Fred Haas, American golfer (b. 1916)
    • 2006 – Khan Abdul Wali Khan, Pakistani politician (b. 1917)
    • 2007 – Gump Worsley, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929)
    • 2008 – Viktor Schreckengost, American sculptor and designer (b. 1906)
    • 2010 – Louis Auchincloss, American novelist and essayist (b. 1917)
    • 2011 – David Kato Kisule, Ugandan teacher and LGBT rights activist, considered a father of Uganda’s gay rights movement (b. 1964)
    • 2011 – Charlie Louvin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1927)
    • 2012 – Roberto Mieres, Argentinian race car driver (b. 1924)
    • 2013 – Christine M. Jones, American educator and politician (b. 1929)
    • 2013 – Stefan Kudelski, Polish-Swiss engineer, invented the Nagra (b. 1929)
    • 2013 – Padma Kant Shukla, Indian physicist and academic (b. 1950)
    • 2013 – Shōtarō Yasuoka, Japanese author (b. 1920)
    • 2014 – Tom Gola, American basketball player, coach, and politician (b. 1933)
    • 2014 – Paula Gruden, Slovenian-Australian poet and translator (b. 1921)
    • 2014 – José Emilio Pacheco, Mexican poet and author (b. 1939)
    • 2014 – Ralph T. Troy, American banker and politician (b. 1935)
    • 2015 – Cleven “Goodie” Goudeau, American art director and cartoonist (b. 1932)
    • 2015 – Tom Uren, Australian soldier and politician (b. 1921)
    • 2016 – Sahabzada Yaqub Khan, Pakistani politician and diplomat, 14th Pakistani Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1920)
    • 2016 – Abe Vigoda, American actor (b. 1921)
    • 2017 – Mike Connors, American actor (b. 1925)
    • 2017 – Tam Dalyell, Scottish politician (b. 1932)
    • 2017 – Lindy Delapenha, Jamaican footballer and sports journalist (b. 1927)
    • 2017 – Barbara Hale, American actress (b. 1922)
    • 2020 – John Altobelli, American college baseball coach (b. 1963)
    • 2020 – Kobe Bryant, American basketball player (b. 1978)

    Holidays and observances on January 26

    • Christian feast day:
      • Alberic
      • Founders of Cîteaux (Alberic of Cîteaux, Robert of Molesme, Stephen Harding)
      • Blessed Gabriele Allegra
      • Paula
      • Timothy and Titus
      • January 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Australia Day (Australia)
    • Duarte Day (Dominican Republic)
    • Engineer’s Day (Panama)
    • International Customs Day
    • Liberation Day (Uganda)
    • Republic Day (India)

  • January 23 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 393 – Roman Emperor Theodosius I proclaims his eight-year-old son Honorius co-emperor.
    • 971 – Using crossbows, Song dynasty troops soundly defeat a war elephant corps of the Southern Han at Shao.
    • 1264 – In the conflict between King Henry III of England and his rebellious barons led by Simon de Montfort, King Louis IX of France issues the Mise of Amiens, a one-sided decision in favour of Henry that later leads to the Second Barons’ War.
    • 1368 – In a coronation ceremony, Zhu Yuanzhang ascends the throne of China as the Hongwu Emperor, initiating Ming dynasty rule over China that would last for three centuries.
    • 1546 – Having published nothing for eleven years, François Rabelais publishes the Tiers Livre, his sequel to Gargantua and Pantagruel.
    • 1556 – The deadliest earthquake in history, the Shaanxi earthquake, hits Shaanxi province, China. The death toll may have been as high as 830,000.
    • 1570 – James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, regent for the infant King James VI of Scotland, is assassinated by firearm, the first recorded instance of such.
    • 1571 – The Royal Exchange opens in London.
    • 1579 – The Union of Utrecht forms a Protestant republic in the Netherlands.
    • 1656 – Blaise Pascal publishes the first of his Lettres provinciales.
    • 1719 – The Principality of Liechtenstein is created within the Holy Roman Empire.
    • 1789 – Georgetown College, the first Catholic university in the United States, is founded in Georgetown, Maryland (now a part of Washington, D.C.).
    • 1793 – Second Partition of Poland.
    • 1795 – After an extraordinary charge across the frozen Zuiderzee, the French cavalry captured 14 Dutch ships and 850 guns, in a rare occurrence of a battle between ships and cavalry.
    • 1846 – Slavery in Tunisia is abolished.
    • 1849 – Elizabeth Blackwell is awarded her M.D. by the Geneva Medical College of Geneva, New York, becoming the United States’ first female doctor.
    • 1870 – In Montana, U.S. cavalrymen kill 173 Native Americans, mostly women and children, in what becomes known as the Marias Massacre.
    • 1879 – Anglo-Zulu War: the Battle of Rorke’s Drift ends.
    • 1899 – The Malolos Constitution is inaugurated, establishing the First Philippine Republic. Emilio Aguinaldo is sworn in as its first President.
    • 1900 – Second Boer War: The Battle of Spion Kop between the forces of the South African Republic and the Orange Free State and British forces ends in a British defeat.
    • 1904 – Ålesund Fire: the Norwegian coastal town Ålesund is devastated by fire, leaving 10,000 people homeless and one person dead. Kaiser Wilhelm II funds the rebuilding of the town in Jugendstil style.
    • 1909 – RMS Republic, a passenger ship of the White Star Line, becomes the first ship to use the CQD distress signal after colliding with another ship, the SS Florida, off the Massachusetts coastline, an event that kills six people. The Republic sinks the next day.
    • 1912 – The International Opium Convention is signed at The Hague.
    • 1920 – The Netherlands refuses to surrender the exiled Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany to the Allies.
    • 1937 – The trial of the anti-Soviet Trotskyist center sees seventeen mid-level Communists accused of sympathizing with Leon Trotsky and plotting to overthrow Joseph Stalin’s regime.
    • 1941 – Charles Lindbergh testifies before the U.S. Congress and recommends that the United States negotiate a neutrality pact with Adolf Hitler.
    • 1942 – World War II: The Battle of Rabaul commences Japan’s invasion of Australia’s Territory of New Guinea.
    • 1943 – World War II: Troops of the British Eighth Army capture Tripoli in Libya from the German–Italian Panzer Army.
    • 1945 – World War II: German admiral Karl Dönitz launches Operation Hannibal.
    • 1950 – The Knesset resolves that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.
    • 1957 – American inventor Walter Frederick Morrison sells the rights to his flying disc to the Wham-O toy company, which later renames it the “Frisbee”.
    • 1958 – After a general uprising and rioting in the streets, President Marcos Pérez Jiménez leaves Venezuela.
    • 1960 – The bathyscaphe USS Trieste breaks a depth record by descending to 10,911 metres (35,797 ft) in the Pacific Ocean.
    • 1961 – The Portuguese luxury cruise ship Santa Maria is hijacked by opponents of the Estado Novo regime with the intention of waging war until dictator António de Oliveira Salazar is overthrown.
    • 1963 – The Guinea-Bissau War of Independence officially begins when PAIGC guerrilla fighters attack the Portuguese army stationed in Tite.
    • 1964 – The 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution, prohibiting the use of poll taxes in national elections, is ratified.
    • 1967 – Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Ivory Coast are established.
    • 1967 – Milton Keynes (England) is founded as a new town by Order in Council, with a planning brief to become a city of 250,000 people. Its initial designated area enclosed three existing towns and twenty one villages. The area to be developed was largely farmland, with evidence of continuous settlement dating back to the Bronze Age.
    • 1968 – USS Pueblo (AGER-2) is attacked and seized by naval forces of North Korea.
    • 1973 – United States President Richard Nixon announces that a peace accord has been reached in Vietnam.
    • 1986 – The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts its first members: Little Richard, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley.
    • 1997 – Madeleine Albright becomes the first woman to serve as United States Secretary of State.
    • 1998 – Netscape announced Mozilla, with the intention to release Communicator code as open source.
    • 2001 – Five people attempt to set themselves on fire in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, an act that many people later claim is staged by the Communist Party of China to frame Falun Gong and thus escalate their persecution.
    • 2002 – U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl is kidnapped in Karachi, Pakistan and subsequently murdered.
    • 2003 – A very weak signal from Pioneer 10 is detected for the last time, but no usable data can be extracted.
    • 2018 – A 7.9 Mw  earthquake occurs in the Gulf of Alaska. It is tied as the sixth-largest earthquake ever recorded in the United States, but there are no reports of significant damage or fatalities.
    • 2018 – A double car bombing in Benghazi, Libya, kills at least 33 people and wounds “dozens” of others. The victims include both military personnel and civilians, according to local officials.

    Births on January 23

    • 599 – Tai Zong, emperor of the Tang Dynasty (d. 649)
    • 1350 – Vincent Ferrer, Spanish missionary and saint (d. 1419)
    • 1378 – Louis III, Elector Palatine (d. 1436)
    • 1514 – Hai Rui, Chinese politician (d. 1587)
    • 1585 – Mary Ward, English Catholic Religious Sister (d. 1645)
    • 1622 – Abraham Diepraam, Dutch painter (d. 1670)
    • 1719 – John Landen, English mathematician and theorist (d. 1790)
    • 1737 – John Hancock, American general and politician, 1st Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1793)
    • 1745 – William Jessop, English engineer, built the Cromford Canal (d. 1814)
    • 1752 – Muzio Clementi, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1832)
    • 1780 – Georgios Karaiskakis, Greek general (d. 1827)
    • 1783 – Stendhal, French novelist (d. 1842)
    • 1786 – Auguste de Montferrand, French-Russian architect, designed Saint Isaac’s Cathedral and Alexander Column (d. 1858)
    • 1799 – Alois Negrelli, Tyrolean engineer and railroad pioneer active in the Austrian Empire (d. 1858)
    • 1809 – Surendra Sai, Indian activist (d. 1884)
    • 1813 – Camilla Collett, Norwegian novelist and activist (d. 1895)
    • 1828 – Saigō Takamori, Japanese samurai (d. 1877)
    • 1832 – Édouard Manet, French painter (d. 1883)
    • 1833 – Muthu Coomaraswamy, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (d. 1879)
    • 1838 – Marianne Cope, German-American nun and saint (d. 1918)
    • 1840 – Ernst Abbe, German physicist and engineer (d. 1905)
    • 1846 – Nikolay Umov, Russian physicist and mathematician (d. 1915)
    • 1855 – John Browning, American weapons designer, founded the Browning Arms Company (d. 1926)
    • 1857 – Andrija Mohorovičić, Croatian meteorologist and seismologist (d. 1936)
    • 1862 – David Hilbert, Russian-German mathematician and academic (d. 1943)
    • 1862 – Frank Shuman, American inventor and engineer (d. 1918)
    • 1872 – Paul Langevin, French physicist and academic (d. 1946)
    • 1872 – Jože Plečnik, Slovenian architect, designed Plečnik Parliament (d. 1957)
    • 1876 – Otto Diels, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1954)
    • 1878 – Rutland Boughton, English composer (d. 1960)
    • 1880 – Antonio Díaz Soto y Gama, Mexican politician (d. 1967)
    • 1889 – Claribel Kendall, American mathematician (d.1965)
    • 1894 – Jyotirmoyee Devi, Indian author (d. 1988)
    • 1896 – Alf Blair, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 1944)
    • 1896 – Alf Hall, English-South African cricketer (d. 1964)
    • 1897 – Subhas Chandra Bose, Indian activist and politician (d. 1945)
    • 1897 – Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, Austrian architect (d. 2000)
    • 1897 – Ieva Simonaitytė, Lithuanian author (d. 1978)
    • 1897 – William Stephenson, Canadian captain and spy (d. 1989)
    • 1898 – Georg Kulenkampff, German violinist (d. 1948)
    • 1898 – Randolph Scott, American actor (d. 1987)
    • 1898 – Freda Utley, English scholar and author (d. 1978)
    • 1899 – Glen Kidston, English race car driver and pilot (d. 1931)
    • 1900 – William Ifor Jones, Welsh organist and conductor (d. 1988)
    • 1901 – Arthur Wirtz, American businessman (d. 1983)
    • 1903 – Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, Colombian lawyer and politician, 16th Minister of National Education of Colombia (d. 1948)
    • 1905 – Erich Borchmeyer, German sprinter (d. 2000)
    • 1907 – Dan Duryea, American actor and singer (d. 1968)
    • 1907 – Hideki Yukawa, Japanese physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1981)
    • 1910 – Django Reinhardt, Belgian guitarist and composer (d. 1953)
    • 1912 – Boris Pokrovsky, Russian director and manager (d. 2009)
    • 1913 – Jean-Michel Atlan, Algerian-French painter (d. 1960)
    • 1913 – Wally Parks, American businessman, founded the National Hot Rod Association (d. 2007)
    • 1915 – Herma Bauma, Austrian javelin thrower and handball player (d. 2003)
    • 1915 – W. Arthur Lewis, Saint Lucian-Barbadian economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991)
    • 1915 – Potter Stewart, American lawyer and judge (d. 1985)
    • 1916 – David Douglas Duncan, American photographer and journalist (d. 2018)
    • 1916 – Airey Neave, English colonel, lawyer, and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (d. 1979)
    • 1918 – Gertrude B. Elion, American biochemist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1999)
    • 1918 – Florence Rush, American social worker and theorist (d. 2008)
    • 1919 – Frances Bay, Canadian-American actress (d. 2011)
    • 1919 – Hans Hass, Austrian biologist and diver (d. 2013)
    • 1919 – Ernie Kovacs, American actor and game show host (d. 1962)
    • 1919 – Bob Paisley, English footballer and manager (d. 1996)
    • 1920 – Gottfried Böhm, German architect
    • 1920 – Henry Eriksson, Swedish runner (d. 2000)
    • 1920 – Walter Frederick Morrison, American businessman, invented the Frisbee (d. 2010)
    • 1922 – Leon Golub, American painter and academic (d. 2004)
    • 1922 – Tom Lewis, Australian politician, 33rd Premier of New South Wales (d. 2016)
    • 1923 – Horace Ashenfelter, American runner (d. 2018)
    • 1923 – Cot Deal, American baseball player and coach (d. 2013)
    • 1923 – Walter M. Miller, Jr., American soldier and author (d. 1996)
    • 1924 – Frank Lautenberg, American soldier, businessman, and politician (d. 2013)
    • 1925 – Marty Paich, American pianist, composer, producer, and conductor (d. 1995)
    • 1926 – Bal Thackeray, Indian journalist, cartoonist, and politician (d. 2012)
    • 1927 – Lars-Eric Lindblad, Swedish-American businessman and explorer (d. 1994)
    • 1927 – Fred Williams, Australian painter (d. 1982)
    • 1928 – Chico Carrasquel, Venezuelan baseball player and manager (d. 2005)
    • 1928 – Jeanne Moreau, French actress (d. 2017)
    • 1929 – Myron Cope, American journalist and sportscaster (d. 2008)
    • 1929 – Phillip Knightley, Australian journalist, author, and critic (d. 2016)
    • 1929 – John Polanyi, German-Canadian chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1930 – Filaret, Patriarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan
    • 1930 – Mervyn Rose, Australian tennis player (d. 2017)
    • 1930 – Derek Walcott, Saint Lucian poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2017)
    • 1932 – George Allen, English footballer (d. 2016)
    • 1932 – Larri Thomas, American actress and dancer (d. 2013)
    • 1933 – Bill Hayden, Australian politician, 21st Governor General of Australia
    • 1933 – Chita Rivera, American actress, singer, and dancer
    • 1934 – Pierre Bourgault, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 2003)
    • 1935 – Mike Agostini, Trinidadian sprinter (d. 2016)
    • 1935 – Tom Reamy, American author (d. 1977)
    • 1935 – Teresa Żylis-Gara, Polish operatic soprano
    • 1936 – Brian Howe, Australian minister and politician, 8th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
    • 1936 – Jerry Kramer, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1936 – Cécile Ousset, French pianist
    • 1938 – Giant Baba, Japanese wrestler and promoter, founded All Japan Pro Wrestling (d. 1999)
    • 1938 – Georg Baselitz, German painter and sculptor
    • 1939 – Ed Roberts, American disability rights activist (d. 1995)
    • 1940 – Alan Cheuse, American writer and critic (d. 2015)
    • 1940 – Joe Dowell, American pop singer (d. 2016)
    • 1941 – Jock R. Anderson, Australian economist and academic
    • 1941 – João Ubaldo Ribeiro, Brazilian journalist, author, and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1942 – Laurie Mayne, Australian cricketer
    • 1942 – Herman Tjeenk Willink, Dutch judge and politician
    • 1942 – Phil Clarke, New Zealand rugby union player
    • 1943 – Gary Burton, American vibraphone player and composer
    • 1943 – Özhan Canaydın, Turkish basketball player and businessman (d. 2010)
    • 1943 – Gil Gerard, American actor and producer
    • 1944 – Rutger Hauer, Dutch actor, director, and producer (d. 2019)
    • 1945 – Mike Harris, Canadian politician, 22nd Premier of Ontario
    • 1946 – Arnoldo Alemán, Nicaraguan lawyer and politician, President of Nicaragua
    • 1946 – Boris Berezovsky, Russian-English businessman and mathematician (d. 2013)
    • 1946 – Zvonko Bušić, Croatian terrorist, hijacker of TWA Flight 355 (d. 2013)
    • 1946 – Don Whittington, American race car driver
    • 1947 – Tom Carper, American captain and politician, 71st Governor of Delaware
    • 1947 – Megawati Sukarnoputri, Indonesian politician, 5th President of Indonesia
    • 1948 – Anita Pointer, American R&B/soul singer-songwriter
    • 1950 – Richard Dean Anderson, American actor, producer, and composer
    • 1950 – Bill Cunningham, American bass and keyboard player
    • 1950 – Guida Maria, Portuguese actress (d. 2018)
    • 1950 – Suzanne Scotchmer, American economist and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1950 – Luis Alberto Spinetta, Argentinian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and poet (d. 2012)
    • 1951 – Margaret Bailes, American sprinter
    • 1951 – Chesley Sullenberger, American captain and pilot
    • 1952 – Omar Henry, South African cricketer
    • 1953 – John Luther Adams, American composer
    • 1953 – Alister McGrath, Irish priest, historian, and theologian
    • 1953 – Antonio Villaraigosa, American politician, 41st Mayor of Los Angeles
    • 1953 – Robin Zander, American rock singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1954 – Trevor Hohns, Australian cricketer
    • 1957 – Caroline, Princess of Hanover
    • 1958 – Sergey Litvinov, Russian hammer thrower (d. 2018)
    • 1959 – Clive Bull, English radio host
    • 1960 – Jean-François Sauvé, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1960 – Greg Ritchie, Australian cricketer
    • 1961 – Neil Henry, Australian rugby league player and coach
    • 1961 – Yelena Sinchukova, Russian long jumper
    • 1962 – David Arnold, English composer
    • 1962 – Aivar Lillevere, Estonian footballer and coach
    • 1962 – Elvira Lindo, Spanish journalist and author
    • 1964 – Jonatha Brooke, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1964 – Mariska Hargitay, American actress and producer
    • 1964 – Bharrat Jagdeo, Guyanese economist and politician, 7th President of Guyana
    • 1964 – Mario Roberge, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1965 – Louie Clemente, American drummer
    • 1966 – Damien Hardman, Australian surfer
    • 1966 – Haywoode Workman, American basketball player and referee
    • 1967 – Owen Cunningham, Australian rugby league player
    • 1968 – Taro Hakase, Japanese violinist and composer
    • 1968 – Petr Korda, Czech-Monacan tennis player
    • 1969 – Andrei Kanchelskis, Ukrainian-Russian footballer and manager
    • 1969 – Brendan Shanahan, Canadian ice hockey player and actor
    • 1969 – Susen Tiedtke, German long jumper
    • 1970 – Spyridon Vasdekis, Greek long jumper
    • 1971 – Scott Gibbs, Welsh-South African rugby player and sportscaster
    • 1971 – Kevin Mawae, American football player and coach
    • 1971 – Marc Nelson, American singer-songwriter
    • 1971 – Adam Parore, New Zealand cricketer and mountaineer
    • 1971 – Claire Rankin, Canadian actress
    • 1971 – Lisa Snowdon, English television and radio presenter and fashion model
    • 1972 – Ewen Bremner, Scottish actor
    • 1973 – Tomas Holmström, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1974 – Glen Chapple, English cricketer
    • 1974 – Rebekah Elmaloglou, Australian actress
    • 1974 – Yosvani Pérez, Cuban baseball player
    • 1974 – Richard T. Slone, English painter
    • 1974 – Tiffani Thiessen, American actress
    • 1975 – Nick Harmer, German musician
    • 1975 – Phil Dawson, American football player
    • 1976 – Brandon Duckworth, American baseball player and scout
    • 1976 – Anne Margrethe Hausken, Norwegian orienteering competitor
    • 1976 – Alex Shaffer, American skier
    • 1979 – Larry Hughes, American basketball player
    • 1979 – Dawn O’Porter, Scottish-English fashion designer and journalist
    • 1979 – Juan Rincón, Venezuelan baseball player and coach
    • 1981 – Rob Friend, Canadian soccer player
    • 1982 – Wily Mo Peña, Dominican baseball player
    • 1982 – Oceana Mahlmann, German singer and songwriter
    • 1982 – Andrew Rock, American sprinter
    • 1983 – Irving Saladino, Panamanian long jumper
    • 1984 – Robbie Farah, Australian rugby league player
    • 1984 – Arjen Robben, Dutch footballer
    • 1985 – Dong Fangzhuo, Chinese footballer
    • 1985 – Doutzen Kroes, Dutch model and actress
    • 1985 – Yevgeny Lukyanenko, Russian pole vaulter
    • 1985 – Aselefech Mergia, Ethiopian runner
    • 1985 – Jeff Samardzija, American baseball player
    • 1985 – San E, South Korean rapper
    • 1986 – Gelete Burka, Ethiopian runner
    • 1986 – Marc Laird, Scottish footballer
    • 1986 – José Enrique, Spanish footballer
    • 1986 – Michael Stevens, American YouTuber and educator
    • 1986 – Steven Taylor, English footballer
    • 1986 – Sandro Viletta, Swiss skier
    • 1987 – Leo Komarov, Finnish ice hockey player
    • 1988 – Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Australian-New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1990 – Şener Özbayraklı, Turkish footballer
    • 1990 – Alex Silva, Canadian wrestler
    • 1990 – Martyn Waghorn, English footballer
    • 1992 – Reina Triendl, Japanese model and actress
    • 1994 – Addison Russell, American baseball player
    • 1995 – Luke Bateman, Australian rugby league player
    • 1995 – Tuimoala Lolohea, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1998 – XXXTentacion, American rapper (d. 2018)

    Deaths on January 23

    • 667 – Ildefonsus, bishop of Toledo
    • 989 – Adalbero, archbishop of Reims
    • 1002 – Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 980)
    • 1199 – Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur, Moroccan caliph (b. 1160)
    • 1252 – Isabella, Queen of Armenia
    • 1297 – Florent of Hainaut, Prince of Achaea (b. c. 1255)
    • 1423 – Margaret of Bavaria, Burgundian regent (b. 1363)
    • 1516 – Ferdinand II of Aragon (b. 1452)
    • 1548 – Bernardo Pisano, Italian priest, scholar, and composer (b. 1490)
    • 1549 – Johannes Honter, Romanian-Hungarian cartographer and theologian (b. 1498)
    • 1567 – Jiajing Emperor of China (b. 1507)
    • 1570 – James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, Scottish politician (b. 1531)
    • 1620 – John Croke, English politician and judge (b. 1553)
    • 1622 – William Baffin, English explorer and navigator (b. 1584)
    • 1650 – Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke (b. 1584)
    • 1744 – Giambattista Vico, Italian historian and philosopher (b. 1668)
    • 1785 – Matthew Stewart, Scottish mathematician and academic (b. 1717)
    • 1789 – Frances Brooke, English author and playwright (b. 1724)
    • 1789 – John Cleland, English author (b. 1709)
    • 1800 – Edward Rutledge, American captain and politician, 39th Governor of South Carolina (b. 1749)
    • 1803 – Arthur Guinness, Irish brewer, founded Guinness (b. 1725)
    • 1805 – Claude Chappe, French engineer (b. 1763)
    • 1806 – William Pitt the Younger, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1759)
    • 1810 – Johann Wilhelm Ritter, German chemist and physicist (b. 1776)
    • 1812 – Robert Craufurd, Scottish general and politician (b. 1764)
    • 1820 – Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (b. 1767)
    • 1833 – Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, English admiral and politician (b. 1757)
    • 1837 – John Field, Irish pianist and composer (b. 1782)
    • 1866 – Thomas Love Peacock, English author and poet (b. 1785)
    • 1875 – Charles Kingsley English priest and author (b. 1819)
    • 1883 – Gustave Doré, French engraver and illustrator (b. 1832)
    • 1893 – Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II, American lawyer and politician, 16th United States Secretary of the Interior (b. 1825)
    • 1893 – José Zorrilla, Spanish poet and playwright (b. 1817)
    • 1921 – Mykola Leontovych, Ukrainian composer and conductor (b. 1877)
    • 1922 – René Beeh, Alsatian painter and draughtsman (b. 1886)
    • 1922 – Arthur Nikisch, Hungarian conductor and academic (b. 1855)
    • 1923 – Max Nordau, Austrian physician and author (b. 1849)
    • 1931 – Anna Pavlova, Russian-English ballerina (b. 1881)
    • 1937 – Orso Mario Corbino, Italian physicist and politician (b. 1876)
    • 1939 – Matthias Sindelar, Austrian footballer and manager (b. 1903)
    • 1943 – Alexander Woollcott, American actor, playwright, and critic (b. 1887)
    • 1944 – Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter and illustrator (b. 1863)
    • 1947 – Pierre Bonnard, French painter (b. 1867)
    • 1956 – Alexander Korda, Hungarian-English director and producer (b. 1893)
    • 1963 – Józef Gosławski, Polish sculptor (b. 1908)
    • 1966 – T. M. Sabaratnam, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (d. 1895)
    • 1971 – Fritz Feigl, Austrian-Brazilian chemist and academic (b. 1871)
    • 1973 – Alexander Onassis, American-Greek businessman (b. 1948)
    • 1973 – Kid Ory, American trombonist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1886)
    • 1976 – Paul Robeson, American actor, singer, and activist (b. 1898)
    • 1977 – Toots Shor, American businessman, founded Toots Shor’s Restaurant (b. 1903)
    • 1978 – Terry Kath, American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1946)
    • 1978 – Jack Oakie, American actor (b. 1903)
    • 1980 – Giovanni Michelotti, Italian engineer (b. 1921)
    • 1981 – Samuel Barber, American pianist and composer (b. 1910)
    • 1983 – Fred Bakewell, English cricketer and coach (b. 1908)
    • 1984 – Muin Bseiso, Palestinian-Egyptian poet and critic (b. 1926)
    • 1985 – James Beard, American chef and cookbook author for whom the James Beard Foundation Awards are named (b.1905)
    • 1986 – Joseph Beuys, German sculptor and painter (b. 1921)
    • 1988 – Charles Glen King, American biochemist and academic (b. 1896)
    • 1989 – Salvador Dalí, Spanish painter and sculptor (b. 1904)
    • 1989 – Lars-Erik Torph, Swedish race car driver (b. 1961)
    • 1990 – Allen Collins, American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1952)
    • 1991 – Northrop Frye, Canadian author and critic (b. 1912)
    • 1992 – Freddie Bartholomew, American actor (b. 1924)
    • 1993 – Keith Laumer, American soldier, author, and diplomat (b. 1925)
    • 1994 – Nikolai Ogarkov, Russian field marshal (b. 1917)
    • 1994 – Brian Redhead, English journalist and author (b. 1929)
    • 1999 – Joe D’Amato, Italian director and cinematographer (b. 1936)
    • 1999 – Jay Pritzker, American businessman, co-founded the Hyatt Corporation (b. 1922)
    • 2002 – Paul Aars, American race car driver (b. 1934)
    • 2002 – Pierre Bourdieu, French sociologist, anthropologist, and philosopher (b. 1930)
    • 2002 – Robert Nozick, American philosopher, author, and academic (b. 1938)
    • 2003 – Nell Carter, American actress and singer (b. 1948)
    • 2004 – Bob Keeshan, American television personality and producer (b. 1927)
    • 2004 – Helmut Newton, German-Australian photographer (b. 1920)
    • 2005 – Morys Bruce, 4th Baron Aberdare, English lieutenant and politician (b. 1921)
    • 2005 – Johnny Carson, American talk show host, television personality, and producer (b. 1925)
    • 2007 – Syed Hussein Alatas, Malaysian sociologist and politician (b. 1928)
    • 2007 – E. Howard Hunt, American CIA officer (b. 1918)
    • 2007 – Ryszard Kapuściński, Polish journalist and author (b. 1932)
    • 2009 – Robert W. Scott, American farmer and politician, 67th Governor of North Carolina (b. 1929)
    • 2010 – Kermit Tyler, American colonel and pilot (b. 1913)
    • 2010 – Earl Wild, American pianist and composer (b. 1915)
    • 2011 – Jack LaLanne, American fitness instructor, author, and television host (b. 1914)
    • 2012 – Wesley E. Brown, American lawyer and jurist (b. 1907)
    • 2012 – Maurice Meisner, American historian, author, and academic (b. 1931)
    • 2012 – Bingham Ray, American businessman, co-founded October Films (b. 1954)
    • 2013 – Józef Glemp, Polish cardinal (b. 1929)
    • 2013 – Peter van der Merwe, South African cricketer and referee (b. 1937)
    • 2013 – Jean-Félix-Albert-Marie Vilnet, French bishop (b. 1922)
    • 2014 – Yuri Izrael, Russian meteorologist and journalist (b. 1930)
    • 2014 – Riz Ortolani, Italian composer and conductor (b. 1926)
    • 2015 – Ernie Banks, American baseball player and coach (b. 1931)
    • 2015 – Prosper Ego, Dutch activist, founded the Oud-Strijders Legioen (b. 1927)
    • 2015 – Abdullah of Saudi Arabia (b. 1924)
    • 2016 – Jimmy Bain, Scottish bassist (b. 1947)
    • 2016 – Bobby Wanzer, American basketball player and coach (b. 1921)
    • 2017 – Bobby Freeman, American singer, songwriter and record producer (b. 1940)
    • 2017 – Gorden Kaye, English actor (b. 1941)
    • 2018 – Hugh Masekela, South African trumpeter, composer and singer (b. 1939)
    • 2018 – Nicanor Parra, Chilean poet (b. 1914)
    • 2018 – Wyatt Tee Walker, American civil rights activist and pastor (b. 1928)

    Holidays and observances on January 23

    • Bounty Day (Pitcairn Islands)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Abakuh
      • Marianne of Molokai
      • Emerentiana
      • Espousals of the Blessed Virgin Mary
      • Ildefonsus of Toledo
      • Phillips Brooks (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • January 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s Jayanti (Orissa, Tripura, and West Bengal, India)
    • World Freedom Day (Taiwan and South Korea)

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

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

    Births on January 20

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

    Deaths on January 20

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

    Holidays and observances on January 20

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

  • January 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 7 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 1325 – Alfonso IV becomes King of Portugal.
    • 1558 – French troops, led by Francis, Duke of Guise, take Calais, the last continental possession of England.
    • 1608 – Fire destroys Jamestown, Virginia.
    • 1610 – Galileo Galilei makes his first observation of the four Galilean moons: Ganymede, Callisto, Io and Europa, although he is not able to distinguish the last two until the following day.
    • 1738 – A peace treaty is signed between Peshwa Bajirao and Jai Singh II following Maratha victory in the Battle of Bhopal.
    • 1782 – The first American commercial bank, the Bank of North America, opens.
    • 1785 – Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American John Jeffries travel from Dover, England, to Calais, France, in a gas balloon.
    • 1835 – HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin on board, drops anchor off the Chonos Archipelago.
    • 1894 – Thomas Edison makes a kinetoscopic film of someone sneezing. On the same day, his employee, William Kennedy Dickson, receives a patent for motion picture film.
    • 1904 – The distress signal “CQD” is established only to be replaced two years later by “SOS”.
    • 1919 – Montenegrin guerrilla fighters rebel against the planned annexation of Montenegro by Serbia, but fail.
    • 1920 – The New York State Assembly refuses to seat five duly elected Socialist assemblymen.
    • 1922 – Dáil Éireann ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by a 64–57 vote.
    • 1927 – The first transatlantic telephone service is established from New York City to London.
    • 1928 – A disastrous flood of the River Thames kills 14 people and causes extensive damage to much of riverside London.
    • 1931 – Guy Menzies flies the first solo non-stop trans-Tasman flight (from Australia to New Zealand) in 11 hours and 45 minutes, crash-landing on New Zealand’s west coast.
    • 1935 – Benito Mussolini and French Foreign minister Pierre Laval sign the Franco-Italian Agreement.
    • 1940 – Winter War: Battle of Raate Road – The Finnish 9th Division finally defeat the numerically superior Soviet forces on the Raate-Suomussalmi road.
    • 1948 – Kentucky Air National Guard pilot Thomas Mantell crashes while in pursuit of a supposed UFO.
    • 1954 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York at the head office of IBM.
    • 1955 – Contralto Marian Anderson becomes the first person of color to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in Giuseppe Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera.
    • 1959 – The United States recognizes the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro.
    • 1968 – Surveyor Program: Surveyor 7, the last spacecraft in the Surveyor series, lifts off from launch complex 36A, Cape Canaveral.
    • 1973 – In his second shooting spree of the week, Mark Essex fatally shoots seven people and wounds five others at Howard Johnson’s Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana, before being shot to death by police officers.
    • 1979 – Third Indochina War: Cambodian–Vietnamese War: Phnom Penh falls to the advancing Vietnamese troops, driving out Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.
    • 1980 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter authorizes legislation giving $1.5 billion in loans to bail out the Chrysler Corporation.
    • 1984 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
    • 1985 – Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency launches Sakigake, Japan’s first interplanetary spacecraft and the first deep space probe to be launched by any country other than the United States or the Soviet Union.
    • 1991 – Roger Lafontant, former leader of the Tonton Macoute in Haiti under François Duvalier, attempts a coup d’état, which ends in his arrest.
    • 1993 – The Fourth Republic of Ghana is inaugurated with Jerry Rawlings as President.
    • 1993 – Bosnian War: The Bosnian Army executes a surprise attack at the village of Kravica in Srebrenica.
    • 1999 – The Senate trial in the impeachment of U.S. President Bill Clinton begins.
    • 2012 – A hot air balloon crashes near Carterton, New Zealand, killing all 11 people on board.
    • 2015 – Two gunmen commit mass murder at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris, shooting twelve people execution style, and wounding eleven others.
    • 2015 – A car bomb explodes outside a police college in the Yemeni capital Sana’a with at least 38 people reported dead and more than 63 injured.
    • 2020 – The 6.4Mw  2019–20 Puerto Rico earthquakes kill four and injure nine in southern Puerto Rico.

    Births on January 7

    • 889 – Li Bian, emperor of Southern Tang (d. 943)
    • 1355 – Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester, English politician, Lord High Constable of England (d. 1397)
    • 1502 – Pope Gregory XIII (d. 1585)
    • 1634 – Adam Krieger, German organist and composer (d. 1666)
    • 1647 – William Louis, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1677)
    • 1685 – Jonas Alströmer, Swedish agronomist and businessman (d. 1761)
    • 1706 – Johann Heinrich Zedler, German publisher (d. 1751)
    • 1713 – Giovanni Battista Locatelli, Italian director and manager (d. 1785)
    • 1718 – Israel Putnam, American general (d. 1790)
    • 1746 – George Elphinstone, 1st Viscount Keith, Scottish admiral and politician (d. 1823)
    • 1768 – Joseph Bonaparte, Italian king (d. 1844)
    • 1797 – Mariano Paredes, Mexican general and 16th president (1845-1846) (d. 1849)
    • 1800 – Millard Fillmore, American politician, 13th President of the United States (d. 1874)
    • 1814 – Robert Nicoll, Scottish poet (d.1837)
    • 1815 – Elizabeth Louisa Foster Mather, American writer (d.1882)
    • 1827 – Sandford Fleming, Scottish-Canadian engineer, created Universal Standard Time (d. 1915)
    • 1830 – Albert Bierstadt, American painter (d. 1902)
    • 1831 – Heinrich von Stephan, German postman, founded the Universal Postal Union (d. 1897)
    • 1832 – James Munro, Scottish-Australian publisher and politician, 15th Premier of Victoria (d. 1908)
    • 1834 – Johann Philipp Reis, German physicist and academic, invented the Reis telephone (d. 1874)
    • 1837 – Thomas Henry Ismay, English businessman, founded the White Star Line Shipping Company (d. 1899)
    • 1844 – Bernadette Soubirous, French nun and saint (d. 1879)
    • 1858 – Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, Belarusian lexicographer and journalist (d. 1922)
    • 1863 – Anna Murray Vail, American botanist and first librarian of the New York Botanical Garden (d. 1955)
    • 1871 – Émile Borel, French mathematician and politician (d. 1956)
    • 1873 – Charles Péguy, French poet and journalist (d. 1914)
    • 1873 – Adolph Zukor, Hungarian-American film producer, co-founded Paramount Pictures (d. 1976)
    • 1875 – Gustav Flatow, German gymnast (d. 1945)
    • 1876 – William Hurlstone, English pianist and composer (d. 1906)
    • 1877 – William Clarence Matthews, American baseball player, coach, and lawyer (d. 1928)
    • 1889 – Vera de Bosset, Russian-American ballerina (d. 1982)
    • 1891 – Zora Neale Hurston, American novelist, short story writer, and folklorist (d. 1960)
    • 1895 – Hudson Fysh, Australian pilot and businessman, co-founded Qantas Airways Limited (d. 1974)
    • 1899 – Al Bowlly, Mozambican-English singer-songwriter (disputed; d. 1941)
    • 1899 – Francis Poulenc, French pianist and composer (d. 1963)
    • 1900 – John Brownlee, Australian actor and singer (d. 1969)
    • 1906 – Red Allen, American trumpet player (d. 1967)
    • 1910 – Orval Faubus, American soldier and politician, 36th Governor of Arkansas (d. 1994)
    • 1912 – Charles Addams, American cartoonist, created The Addams Family (d. 1988)
    • 1913 – Johnny Mize, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 1993)
    • 1916 – W. L. Jeyasingham, Sri Lankan geographer and academic (d. 1989)
    • 1916 – Babe Pratt, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1988)
    • 1920 – Vincent Gardenia, Italian-American actor (d. 1992)
    • 1921 – Esmeralda Arboleda Cadavid, Colombian politician (d. 1997)
    • 1921 – Chester Kallman, American poet and translator (d. 1975)
    • 1922 – Alvin Dark, American baseball player and manager (d. 2014)
    • 1922 – Jean-Pierre Rampal, French flute player (d. 2000)
    • 1923 – Hugh Kenner, Canadian scholar and critic (d. 2003)
    • 1925 – Gerald Durrell, Indian-English zookeeper, conservationist and author, founded Durrell Wildlife Park (d. 1995)
    • 1926 – Kim Jong-pil, South Korean lieutenant and politician, 11th Prime Minister of South Korea (d. 2018)
    • 1928 – William Peter Blatty, American author and screenwriter (d. 2017)
    • 1929 – Robert Juniper, Australian painter and sculptor (d. 2012)
    • 1929 – Terry Moore, American actress
    • 1931 – Mirja Hietamies, Finnish skier (d. 2013)
    • 1933 – Elliott Kastner, American-English film producer (d. 2010)
    • 1934 – Jean Corbeil, Canadian lawyer and politician, 29th Canadian Minister of Labour (d. 2002)
    • 1934 – Tassos Papadopoulos, Cypriot lawyer and politician, 5th President of Cyprus (d. 2008)
    • 1935 – Li Shengjiao, Chinese diplomat and international jurist (d. 2017)
    • 1935 – Kenny Davern, American clarinet player and saxophonist (d. 2006)
    • 1935 – Valeri Kubasov, Russian engineer and astronaut (d. 2014)
    • 1941 – Iona Brown, English violinist and conductor (d. 2004)
    • 1941 – John E. Walker, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1942 – Vasily Alekseyev, Russian-German weightlifter and coach (d. 2011)
    • 1943 – Sadako Sasaki, Japanese survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, known for one thousand origami cranes (d. 1955)
    • 1944 – Mike McGear, British performing artist and rock photographer
    • 1944 – Kotaro Suzumura, Japanese economist and academic (d. 2020)
    • 1945 – Raila Odinga, Kenyan engineer and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Kenya
    • 1946 – Jann Wenner, American publisher, co-founded Rolling Stone
    • 1947 – Tony Elliott, English publisher, founded Time Out
    • 1948 – Kenny Loggins, American singer-songwriter
    • 1948 – Ichirou Mizuki, Japanese singer-songwriter
    • 1950 – Juan Gabriel, Mexican singer-songwriter (d. 2016)
    • 1952 – Sammo Hung, Hong Kong actor, director, producer, and martial artist
    • 1953 – Robert Longo, American painter and sculptor
    • 1954 – Alan Butcher, English cricketer and coach
    • 1955 – Mamata Shankar, Indian-Bengali actress
    • 1956 – David Caruso, American actor
    • 1957 – Katie Couric, American television journalist, anchor, and author
    • 1959 – Angela Smith, Baroness Smith of Basildon, English accountant and politician
    • 1959 – Kathy Valentine, American bass player and songwriter
    • 1960 – Loretta Sanchez, American politician
    • 1961 – John Thune, American lawyer and politician
    • 1962 – Aleksandr Dugin, Russian political analyst and strategist known for his fascist views
    • 1962 – Ron Rivera, American football player and coach
    • 1964 – Nicolas Cage, American actor
    • 1965 – Alessandro Lambruschini, Italian runner
    • 1967 – Nick Clegg, English academic and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
    • 1969 – Marco Simone, Italian footballer and manager
    • 1970 – Andy Burnham, English politician
    • 1971 – Jeremy Renner, American actor
    • 1972 – Donald Brashear, American-Canadian ice hockey player and mixed martial artist
    • 1974 – Alenka Bikar, Slovenian sprinter and politician
    • 1976 – Vic Darchinyan, Armenian-Australian boxer
    • 1976 – Alfonso Soriano, Dominican baseball player
    • 1977 – Sofi Oksanen, Finnish author and playwright
    • 1979 – Aloe Blacc, American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, businessman and philanthropist.
    • 1982 – Francisco Rodríguez, Venezuelan baseball player
    • 1982 – Hannah Stockbauer, German swimmer
    • 1983 – Edwin Encarnación, Dominican baseball player
    • 1985 – Lewis Hamilton, English racing driver
    • 1986 – Wayne Routledge, English footballer winger
    • 1987 – Stefan Babović, Serbian footballer
    • 1987 – Lyndsy Fonseca, American actress
    • 1987 – Davide Astori, Italian footballer (d. 2018)
    • 1990 – Gregor Schlierenzauer, Austrian ski jumper
    • 1991 – Eden Hazard, Belgian footballer
    • 1991 – Caster Semenya, South African sprinter

    Deaths on January 7

    • 312 – Lucian of Antioch, Christian martyr, saint, and theologian (b. 240)
    • 838 – Babak Khorramdin, Iranian leader of the Khurramite uprising against the Abbasid Caliphate
    • 856 – Aldric, bishop of Le Mans
    • 1131 – Canute Lavard, Danish prince and saint (b. 1096)
    • 1285 – Charles I of Naples (b. 1226)
    • 1325 – Denis of Portugal (b. 1261)
    • 1355 – Inês de Castro, Castilian noblewoman (b. 1325)
    • 1400 – John Montagu, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, English Earl (b. 1350)
    • 1451 – Amadeus VIII of Savoy a.k.a. Antipope Felix V (b. 1383)
    • 1529 – Peter Vischer the Elder, German sculptor (b. 1455)
    • 1536 – Catherine of Aragon (b. 1485)
    • 1566 – Louis de Blois, Flemish monk and author (b. 1506)
    • 1619 – Nicholas Hilliard, English painter and goldsmith (b. 1547)
    • 1625 – Ruggiero Giovannelli, Italian composer and author (b. 1560)
    • 1655 – Pope Innocent X (b. 1574)
    • 1658 – Theophilus Eaton, American farmer and politician, 1st Governor of the New Haven Colony (b. 1590)
    • 1694 – Charles Gerard, 1st Earl of Macclesfield, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire (b. 1618)
    • 1700 – Raffaello Fabretti, Italian scholar and author (b. 1618)
    • 1715 – François Fénelon, French archbishop, theologian, and poet (b. 1651)
    • 1758 – Allan Ramsay, Scottish poet and playwright (b. 1686)
    • 1767 – Thomas Clap, American minister and academic (b. 1703)
    • 1770 – Carl Gustaf Tessin, Swedish politician and diplomat (b. 1695)
    • 1812 – Joseph Dennie, American journalist and author (b. 1768)
    • 1830 – John Thomas Campbell, Irish-Australian public servant and politician (b. 1770)
    • 1830 – Thomas Lawrence, English painter and educator (b. 1769)
    • 1858 – Mustafa Reşid Pasha, Ottoman politician, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1800)
    • 1864 – Caleb Blood Smith, American journalist and politician, 6th U.S. Secretary of the Interior (b. 1808)
    • 1892 – Tewfik Pasha, Egyptian ruler (b. 1852)
    • 1893 – Josef Stefan, Slovenian physicist and mathematician (b. 1835)
    • 1919 – Henry Ware Eliot, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Washington University in St. Louis (b. 1843)
    • 1920 – Edmund Barton, Australian judge and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1849)
    • 1927 – Nikolaos Kalogeropoulos, Greek politician, 99th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1851)
    • 1931 – Edward Channing, American historian and author (b. 1856)
    • 1932 – André Maginot, French sergeant and politician (b. 1877)
    • 1936 – Guy d’Hardelot, French pianist and composer (b. 1858)
    • 1941 – Charles Finger, English journalist and author (b. 1869)
    • 1943 – Nikola Tesla, Serbian-American physicist and engineer (b. 1856)
    • 1951 – René Guénon, French-Egyptian philosopher and author (b. 1886)
    • 1960 – Dorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers, English tennis player and coach (b. 1878)
    • 1963 – Arthur Edward Moore, New Zealand-Australian farmer and politician, 23rd Premier of Queensland (b. 1876)
    • 1964 – Reg Parnell, English racing driver and manager (b. 1911)
    • 1967 – David Goodis, American author and screenwriter (b. 1917)
    • 1967 – Carl Schuricht, German-Swiss conductor (b. 1880)
    • 1968 – J. L. B. Smith, South African chemist and academic (b. 1897)
    • 1972 – John Berryman, American poet and scholar (b. 1914)
    • 1981 – Alvar Lidell, English journalist and radio announcer(b. 1908)
    • 1981 – Eric Robinson, Australian businessman and politician, 2nd Australian Minister for Finance (b. 1926)
    • 1984 – Alfred Kastler, German-French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
    • 1986 – Juan Rulfo, Mexican author, screenwriter, and photographer (b. 1917)
    • 1988 – Zara Cisco Brough, American Nipmuc Indian chief and fashion designer (b.1919)
    • 1988 – Trevor Howard, English actor (b. 1913)
    • 1989 – Hirohito, Japanese emperor (b. 1901)
    • 1990 – Bronko Nagurski, Canadian-American football player and wrestler (b. 1908)
    • 1992 – Richard Hunt, American puppeteer and voice actor (b. 1951)
    • 1995 – Murray Rothbard, American economist, historian, and theorist (b. 1926)
    • 1996 – Károly Grósz, Hungarian politician, 51st Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1930)
    • 1998 – Owen Bradley, American record producer (b. 1915)
    • 1998 – Vladimir Prelog, Croatian-Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
    • 2000 – Gary Albright, American wrestler (b. 1963)
    • 2001 – James Carr, American singer (b. 1942)
    • 2002 – Avery Schreiber, American comedian and actor (b. 1935)
    • 2004 – Ingrid Thulin, Swedish actress (b. 1926)
    • 2005 – Pierre Daninos, French author (b. 1913)
    • 2006 – Heinrich Harrer, Austrian mountaineer, geographer, and author (b. 1912)
    • 2007 – Bobby Hamilton, American race car driver and businessman (b. 1957)
    • 2007 – Magnus Magnusson, Icelandic journalist, author, and academic (b. 1929)
    • 2008 – Alwyn Schlebusch, South African academic and politician, Vice State President of South Africa (b. 1917)
    • 2012 – Tony Blankley, British-born American child actor, journalist and pundit (b. 1948)
    • 2014 – Run Run Shaw, Chinese-Hong Kong businessman and philanthropist, founded Shaw Brothers Studio and TVB (b. 1907)
    • 2015 – Mompati Merafhe, Botswana general and politician, Vice-President of Botswana (b. 1936)
    • 2015 – Rod Taylor, Australian-American actor and screenwriter (b. 1930)
    • 2015 – Georges Wolinski, Tunisian-French cartoonist (b. 1934)
    • 2016 – Bill Foster, American basketball player and coach (b. 1929)
    • 2016 – John Johnson, American basketball player (b. 1947)
    • 2016 – Kitty Kallen, American singer (b. 1921)
    • 2016 – Judith Kaye, American lawyer and jurist (b. 1938)
    • 2016 – Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of Home Affairs (b. 1936)
    • 2017 – Mário Soares, Portuguese politician; 16th President of Portugal (b. 1924)
    • 2018 – Jim Anderton, Former New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister (b. 1938)
    • 2018 – France Gall, French singer (b. 1947)

    Holidays and observances on January 7

    • Christian Feast Day:
      • André Bessette (Canada)
      • Canute Lavard
      • Charles of Sezze
      • Felix and Januarius
      • Lucian of Antioch
      • Raymond of Penyafort
      • Synaxis of John the Forerunner & Baptist (Julian Calendar)
      • January 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Christmas (Eastern Orthodox Churches and Oriental Orthodox Churches using the Julian Calendar, Rastafari)
      • Christmas in Russia
      • Christmas in Ukraine
      • Remembrance Day of the Dead (Armenia)
    • Distaff Day (medieval Europe)
    • Earliest day on which Plough Monday can fall, while January 13 is the latest; celebrated on Monday after Epiphany (Europe).
    • Nanakusa no sekku (Japan)
    • Pioneer’s Day (Liberia)
    • Tricolour day or Festa del Tricolore (Italy)
    • Victory from Genocide Day (Cambodia)