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1815

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

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 10 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

February 9 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /

February 9 in History

  • 474 – Zeno is crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
  • 1003 – Boleslaus III is restored to authority with armed support from Bolesław I the Brave of Poland.
  • 1555 – Bishop of Gloucester John Hooper is burned at the stake.
  • 1621 – Gregory XV becomes Pope, the last Pope elected by acclamation.
  • 1654 – The Capture of Fort Rocher takes place during the Anglo-Spanish War.
  • 1775 – American Revolutionary War: The British Parliament declares Massachusetts in rebellion.
  • 1778 – Rhode Island becomes the fourth US state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.
  • 1788 – The Habsburg Empire joins the Russo-Turkish War in the Russian camp.
  • 1825 – After no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes in the US presidential election of 1824, the United States House of Representatives elects John Quincy Adams as President of the United States.
  • 1849 – The new Roman Republic is declared.
  • 1861 – American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is elected the Provisional President of the Confederate States of America by the Confederate convention at Montgomery, Alabama.
  • 1870 – US president Ulysses S. Grant signs a joint resolution of Congress establishing the U.S. Weather Bureau.
  • 1889 – US president Grover Cleveland signs a bill elevating the United States Department of Agriculture to a Cabinet-level agency.
  • 1895 – William G. Morgan creates a game called Mintonette, which soon comes to be referred to as volleyball.
  • 1900 – The Davis Cup competition is established.
  • 1904 – Russo-Japanese War: Battle of Port Arthur concludes.
  • 1907 – The Mud March is the first large procession organised by the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS).
  • 1913 – A group of meteors is visible across much of the eastern seaboard of North and South America, leading astronomers to conclude the source had been a small, short-lived natural satellite of the Earth.
  • 1920 – Under the terms of the Svalbard Treaty, international diplomacy recognizes Norwegian sovereignty over Arctic archipelago Svalbard, and designates it as demilitarized.
  • 1922 – Brazil becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
  • 1934 – The Balkan Entente is formed.
  • 1941 – World War II: The Cathedral of San Lorenzo in Genoa, Italy, is struck by a bomb which fails to detonate.
  • 1942 – World War II: Top United States military leaders hold their first formal meeting to discuss American military strategy in the war.
  • 1942 – Year-round Daylight saving time (aka War Time) is re-instated in the United States as a wartime measure to help conserve energy resources.
  • 1943 – World War II: Allied authorities declare Guadalcanal secure after Imperial Japan evacuates its remaining forces from the island, ending the Battle of Guadalcanal.
  • 1945 – World War II: Battle of the Atlantic: HMS Venturer sinks U-864 off the coast of Fedje, Norway, in a rare instance of submarine-to-submarine combat.
  • 1945 – World War II: A force of Allied aircraft unsuccessfully attacked a German destroyer in Førdefjorden, Norway.
  • 1950 – Second Red Scare: US Senator Joseph McCarthy accuses the United States Department of State of being filled with Communists.
  • 1951 – Korean War: The two-day Geochang massacre begins as a battalion of the 11th Division of the South Korean Army kills 719 unarmed citizens in Geochang, in the South Gyeongsang district of South Korea
  • 1959 – The R-7 Semyorka, the first intercontinental ballistic missile, becomes operational at Plesetsk, USSR.
  • 1964 – The Beatles make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, performing before a “record-busting” audience of 73 million viewers across the USA.
  • 1965 – The United States Marine Corps sends a MIM-23 Hawk missile battalion to South Vietnam, the first American troops in-country without an official advisory or training mission.
  • 1971 – The 6.5–6.7 Mw  Sylmar earthquake hits the Greater Los Angeles Area with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing 64 and injuring 2,000.
  • 1971 – Satchel Paige becomes the first Negro League player to be voted into the USA’s Baseball Hall of Fame.
  • 1971 – Apollo program: Apollo 14 returns to Earth after the third manned Moon landing.
  • 1975 – The Soyuz 17 Soviet spacecraft returns to Earth.
  • 1976 – Aeroflot Flight 3739, a Tupolev Tu-104, crashes during takeoff from Irkutsk Airport, killing 24.
  • 1978 – The Budd Company unveils its first SPV-2000 self-propelled railcar in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
  • 1986 – Halley’s Comet last appeared in the inner Solar System.
  • 1991 – Voters in Lithuania vote for independence.
  • 1996 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army declares the end to its 18-month ceasefire and explodes a large bomb in London’s Canary Wharf, killing two people.
  • 1996 – Copernicium is discovered, by Sigurd Hofmann, Victor Ninov et al.
  • 2016 – Two passenger trains collided in the German town of Bad Aibling in the state of Bavaria. Twelve people died, and 85 others were injured.
  • 2018 – Winter Olympics: Opening ceremony is performed in Pyeongchang County in South Korea.

Births on February 9

  • 1060 – Honorius II, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1130)
  • 1274 – Louis of Toulouse, French bishop (d. 1297)
  • 1313 – Maria of Portugal, Queen of Castile, Portuguese infanta (d. 1357)
  • 1344 – Meinhard III, count of Tyrol (d. 1363)
  • 1441 – Ali-Shir Nava’i, Turkic poet, linguist, and painter (d. 1501)
  • 1533 – Shimazu Yoshihisa, Japanese daimyō (d. 1611)
  • 1579 – Johannes Meursius, Dutch classical scholar (d. 1639)
  • 1651 – Procopio Cutò, French entrepreneur (d. 1727)
  • 1666 – George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney, Scottish field marshal (d. 1737)
  • 1711 – Luis Vicente de Velasco e Isla, Spanish sailor and commander (d. 1762)
  • 1737 – Thomas Paine, English-American philosopher, author, and activist (d. 1809)
  • 1741 – Henri-Joseph Rigel, German-French composer (d. 1799)
  • 1748 – Sir John Duckworth, 1st Baronet, English admiral and politician, Commodore Governor of Newfoundland (d. 1817)
  • 1763 – Louis I, Grand Duke of Baden (d. 1830)
  • 1769 – George W. Campbell, Scottish-American lawyer and politician, 5th United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1848)
  • 1773 – William Henry Harrison, American general and politician, 9th President of the United States (d. 1841)
  • 1775 – Farkas Bolyai, Hungarian mathematician and academic (d. 1856)
  • 1781 – Johann Baptist von Spix, German biologist and explorer (d. 1826)
  • 1783 – Vasily Zhukovsky, Russian poet and translator (d. 1852)
  • 1789 – Franz Xaver Gabelsberger, German engineer, invented Gabelsberger shorthand (d. 1849)
  • 1800 – Hyrum Smith, American religious leader (d. 1844)
  • 1814 – Samuel J. Tilden, American lawyer and politician, 28th Governor of New York (d. 1886)
  • 1815 – Federico de Madrazo, Spanish painter (d.1894)
  • 1834 – Felix Dahn, German lawyer, historian, and author (d. 1912)
  • 1826 – Keʻelikōlani, Hawaiian royal and governor (d. 1883)
  • 1837 – José Burgos, Filipino priest and revolutionary (d. 1872)
  • 1839 – Silas Adams, American colonel, lawyer, and politician (d. 1896)
  • 1846 – Wilhelm Maybach, German engineer and businessman, founded Maybach (d. 1929)
  • 1846 – Whitaker Wright, English businessman and financier (d. 1904)
  • 1847 – Hugh Price Hughes, Welsh-English clergyman and theologian (d. 1902)
  • 1854 – Aletta Jacobs, Dutch physician and suffrage activist (d. 1929)
  • 1856 – Hara Takashi, Japanese politician, 10th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1921)
  • 1859 – Akiyama Yoshifuru, Japanese general (d. 1930)
  • 1863 – Anthony Hope, English author and playwright (d. 1933)
  • 1864 – Miina Härma, Estonian organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1941)
  • 1865 – Mrs. Patrick Campbell, English-French actress (d. 1940)
  • 1865 – Erich von Drygalski, German geographer and geophysicist (d. 1949)
  • 1867 – Natsume Sōseki, Japanese author and poet (d. 1916)
  • 1871 – Howard Taylor Ricketts, American pathologist and physician (d. 1910)
  • 1874 – Amy Lowell, American poet, critic, and educator (d. 1925)
  • 1876 – Arthur Edward Moore, New Zealand-Australian politician, 23rd Premier of Queensland (d. 1963)
  • 1878 – Jack Kirwan, Irish international footballer (d. 1959)
  • 1880 – Lipót Fejér, Hungarian mathematician and academic (d. 1959)
  • 1883 – Jules Berry, French actor and director (d. 1951)
  • 1885 – Alban Berg, Austrian composer and educator (d. 1935)
  • 1885 – Clarence H. Haring, American historian and author (d. 1960)
  • 1889 – Larry Semon, American actor, producer, director and screenwriter (d. 1928)
  • 1891 – Ronald Colman, English-American actor (d. 1958)
  • 1892 – Peggy Wood, American actress (d. 1978)
  • 1893 – Georgios Athanasiadis-Novas, Greek lawyer and politician, 163rd Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1987)
  • 1895 – Hermann Brill, German lawyer and politician, 8th Minister-President of Thuringia (d. 1959)
  • 1896 – Alberto Vargas, Peruvian-American painter and illustrator (d. 1982)
  • 1897 – Charles Kingsford Smith, Australian captain and pilot (d. 1935)
  • 1898 – Jūkichi Yagi, Japanese poet and educator (d. 1927)
  • 1901 – Brian Donlevy, American actor (d. 1972)
  • 1901 – James Murray, American actor (d. 1936)
  • 1905 – David Cecil, 6th Marquess of Exeter, English hurdler and politician (d. 1981)
  • 1906 – André Kostolany, Hungarian-French economist and journalist (d. 1999)
  • 1907 – Trường Chinh, Vietnamese politician, 4th President of Vietnam (d. 1988)
  • 1907 – Harold Scott MacDonald Coxeter, English-Canadian mathematician and academic (d. 2003)
  • 1909 – Heather Angel, English-American actress (d. 1986)
  • 1909 – Carmen Miranda, Portuguese-Brazilian actress, singer, and dancer (d. 1955)
  • 1909 – Dean Rusk, American colonel and politician, 54th United States Secretary of State (d. 1994)
  • 1910 – Jacques Monod, French biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1976)
  • 1911 – William Orlando Darby, American general (d. 1945)
  • 1912 – Futabayama Sadaji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 35th Yokozuna (d. 1968)
  • 1912 – Ginette Leclerc, French actress (d. 1992)
  • 1914 – Ernest Tubb, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1984)
  • 1916 – Tex Hughson, American baseball player (d. 1993)
  • 1918 – Lloyd Noel Ferguson, African American chemist (d. 2011)
  • 1920 – Fred Allen, New Zealand rugby player and coach (d. 2012)
  • 1922 – Kathryn Grayson, American actress and soprano (d. 2010)
  • 1922 – Jim Laker, English cricketer and sportscaster (d. 1986)
  • 1922 – C. P. Krishnan Nair, Indian businessman, founded The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts (d. 2014)
  • 1922 – Robert E. Ogren, American zoologist (d. 2005)
  • 1923 – Brendan Behan, Irish rebel, poet, and playwright (d. 1964)
  • 1923 – Tonie Nathan, American radio host, producer, and politician (d. 2014)
  • 1925 – John B. Cobb, American philosopher and theologian
  • 1925 – Burkhard Heim, German physicist and academic (d. 2001)
  • 1926 – Garret FitzGerald, Irish lawyer and politician, 7th Taoiseach of Ireland (d. 2011)
  • 1927 – Richard A. Long, American historian and author (d. 2013)
  • 1928 – Frank Frazetta, American painter and illustrator (d. 2010)
  • 1928 – Rinus Michels, Dutch footballer and coach (d. 2005)
  • 1928 – Roger Mudd, American journalist
  • 1929 – A. R. Antulay, Indian social worker and politician, 8th Chief Minister of Maharashtra (d. 2014)
  • 1929 – Clement Meadmore, Australian-American sculptor (d. 2005)
  • 1930 – Garner Ted Armstrong, American evangelist and author (d. 2003)
  • 1931 – Thomas Bernhard, Austrian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1989)
  • 1931 – Josef Masopust, Czech footballer and coach (d. 2015)
  • 1931 – Robert Morris, American sculptor and painter (d. 2018)
  • 1932 – Tatsuro Hirooka, Japanese baseball player and manager
  • 1932 – Gerhard Richter, German painter and photographer
  • 1935 – Lionel Fanthorpe, English-Welsh priest, journalist, and author
  • 1936 – Clive Swift, English actor and singer-songwriter (d. 2019)
  • 1937 – Clete Boyer, American baseball player and manager (d. 2007)
  • 1938 – Ron Logan, Disney theatrical producer and professor
  • 1939 – Mahala Andrews, British vertebrae palaeontologist (d. 1997)
  • 1939 – Barry Mann, American pianist, songwriter, and producer
  • 1939 – Janet Suzman, South African-British actress and director
  • 1940 – Brian Bennett, English drummer and songwriter
  • 1940 – J. M. Coetzee, South African-Australian novelist, essayist, and linguist, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1941 – Kermit Gosnell, American abortionist and serial killer
  • 1941 – Sheila Kuehl, American actress, lawyer, gay rights activist, and politician
  • 1942 – Carole King, American singer-songwriter and pianist
  • 1943 – Barbara Lewis, American soul/R&B singer-songwriter
  • 1943 – Joe Pesci, American actor
  • 1943 – Joseph Stiglitz, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1944 – Derryn Hinch, New Zealand-Australian radio and television host and politician
  • 1944 – Alice Walker, American novelist, short story writer, and poet
  • 1945 – Mia Farrow, American actress, activist, and former fashion model
  • 1945 – Yoshinori Ohsumi, Japanese cell biologist, 2016 Nobel Prize Laureate in Physiology or Medicine
  • 1945 – Carol Wood, American mathematician and academic
  • 1946 – Bob Eastwood, American golfer
  • 1946 – Vince Papale, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1946 – Jim Webb, American captain and politician, 18th United States Secretary of the Navy
  • 1947 – Carla Del Ponte, Swiss lawyer and diplomat
  • 1947 – Joe Ely, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1947 – Major Harris, American R&B singer (d. 2012)
  • 1947 – Alexis Smirnoff, Canadian-American wrestler and actor (d. 2019)
  • 1948 – Guy Standing, English economist and academic
  • 1949 – Bernard Gallacher, Scottish golfer and journalist
  • 1949 – Judith Light, American actress
  • 1950 – Richard F. Colburn, American sergeant and politician
  • 1951 – David Pomeranz, American singer, musician, and composer
  • 1952 – Danny White, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1953 – Ciarán Hinds, Irish actor
  • 1953 – Ezechiele Ramin, Italian missionary, priest, and martyr (d. 1985)
  • 1953 – Gabriel Rotello, American journalist and author, founded OutWeek
  • 1954 – Jo Duffy, American author
  • 1954 – Chris Gardner, American businessman and philanthropist
  • 1954 – Kevin Warwick, English cybernetics scientist
  • 1955 – Jerry Beck, American historian and author
  • 1955 – Jimmy Pursey, English singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1955 – Charles Shaughnessy, English actor
  • 1956 – Mookie Wilson, American baseball player and coach
  • 1957 – Terry McAuliffe, American businessman and politician, 72nd Governor of Virginia
  • 1957 – Gordon Strachan, Scottish footballer and manager
  • 1958 – Sandy Lyle, Scottish golfer
  • 1958 – Chris Nilan, American ice hockey player, coach, and radio host
  • 1960 – Holly Johnson, English singer-songwriter and bass player
  • 1960 – David Simon, American journalist, author, screenwriter, and television producer
  • 1960 – Peggy Whitson, American biochemist and astronaut
  • 1961 – John Kruk, American baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1962 – Anik Bissonnette, Canadian ballerina
  • 1963 – Brian Greene, American physicist
  • 1963 – Peter Rowsthorn, Australian comedian and actor
  • 1963 – Travis Tritt, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
  • 1964 – Debrah Miceli, Italian-American wrestler and manager
  • 1964 – Dewi Morris, English rugby player
  • 1964 – Ernesto Valverde, Spanish footballer and manager
  • 1964 – Alejandro Ávila, Mexican telenovela actor
  • 1964 – Ernesto Valverde, Spanish footballer and manager
  • 1965 – Dieter Baumann, German runner
  • 1966 – Harald Eia, Norwegian comedian, actor, and screenwriter
  • 1967 – Todd Pratt, American baseball player and coach
  • 1967 – Dan Shulman, Canadian sportscaster
  • 1967 – Gaston Browne, Antiguan and Barbudan Prime Minister
  • 1968 – Alejandra Guzmán, Mexican singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1968 – Derek Strong, American basketball player and race car driver
  • 1968 – Gloria Trevi, Mexican singer and actress
  • 1969 – Jimmy Smith, American football player
  • 1970 – Glenn McGrath, Australian cricketer and sportscaster
  • 1971 – Matt Gogel, American golfer
  • 1971 – Johan Mjällby, Swedish footballer and manager
  • 1972 – Darren Ferguson, Scottish footballer and manager
  • 1973 – Svetlana Boginskaya, Belarusian gymnast
  • 1973 – Colin Egglesfield, American actor
  • 1973 – Makoto Shinkai, Japanese animator, director, and screenwriter
  • 1974 – Jordi Cruyff, Dutch footballer and manager
  • 1974 – Brad Maynard, American football player
  • 1974 – Amber Valletta, American model
  • 1974 – John Wallace, American basketball player and coach
  • 1975 – Kurt Asle Arvesen, Norwegian cyclist and coach
  • 1975 – Clinton Grybas, Australian journalist and sportscaster (d. 2008)
  • 1975 – Vladimir Guerrero, Dominican-American baseball player
  • 1976 – Charlie Day, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1978 – A. J. Buckley, Irish-Canadian actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1979 – Akinori Iwamura, Japanese baseball player
  • 1979 – Irina Slutskaya, Russian figure skater
  • 1980 – Angelos Charisteas, Greek footballer
  • 1980 – Margarita Levieva, Russian-American actress
  • 1980 – Manu Raju, American journalist
  • 1981 – Tom Hiddleston, English actor, producer, and musical performer
  • 1981 – Daisuke Sekimoto, Japanese wrestler
  • 1982 – Domingo Cisma, Spanish footballer
  • 1982 – Jameer Nelson, American basketball player
  • 1982 – Ami Suzuki, Japanese singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1982 – Chris Weale, English footballer and manager
  • 1983 – Mikel Arruabarrena, Spanish footballer
  • 1984 – Maurice Ager, American basketball player, singer, and producer
  • 1984 – Shōhōzan Yūya, Japanese sumo wrestler
  • 1985 – David Gallagher, American actor
  • 1987 – Sam Coulson, English guitarist
  • 1987 – Michael B. Jordan, American actor
  • 1987 – Davide Lanzafame, Italian footballer
  • 1987 – Magdalena Neuner, German biathlete
  • 1988 – Lotte Friis, Danish swimmer
  • 1989 – Maxime Dufour-Lapointe, Canadian skier
  • 1990 – Tariq Sims, Australian-Fijian rugby league player
  • 1991 – Logan Ryan, American football player
  • 1992 – Kyle Feldt, Australian rugby league player
  • 1992 – Mitchell Frei, Australian rugby league player
  • 1992 – Avan Jogia, Canadian actor
  • 1993 – Niclas Füllkrug, German footballer
  • 1995 – André Burakovsky, Swedish ice hockey player
  • 1995 – Mario Pašalić, Croatian footballer
  • 1997 – Saquon Barkley, American football player

Deaths on February 9

  • 966 – Ono no Michikaze, Japanese calligrapher (b. 894)
  • 967 – Sayf al-Dawla, emir of Aleppo (b. 916)
  • 978 – Luitgarde, duchess consort of Normandy
  • 1011 – Bernard I, Duke of Saxony
  • 1014 – Yang Yanzhao, Chinese general
  • 1135 – Tai Zong, Chinese emperor (b. 1075)
  • 1199 – Minamoto no Yoritomo, Japanese shōgun (b. 1147)
  • 1251 – Matthias II, duke of Lorraine
  • 1407 – William I, margrave of Meissen (b. 1343)
  • 1450 – Agnès Sorel, French mistress of Charles VII of France (b. 1421)
  • 1555 – John Hooper, English bishop and martyr (b. 1495)
  • 1555 – Rowland Taylor, English priest and martyr (b. 1510)
  • 1588 – Álvaro de Bazán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz, Spanish admiral (b. 1526)
  • 1600 – John Frederick, Duke of Pomerania (b. 1542)
  • 1619 – Lucilio Vanini, Italian physician and philosopher (b. 1585)
  • 1640 – Murad IV, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1612)
  • 1670 – Frederick III of Denmark (b. 1609)
  • 1675 – Gerrit Dou, Dutch painter (b. 1613)
  • 1709 – François Louis, Prince of Conti (b. 1664)
  • 1777 – Seth Pomeroy, American general and gunsmith (b. 1706)
  • 1803 – Jean François de Saint-Lambert, French soldier, poet, and philosopher (b. 1716)
  • 1857 – Dionysios Solomos, Greek poet and translator (b. 1798)
  • 1874 – Jules Michelet, French historian, philosopher, and academic (b. 1798)
  • 1881 – Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist, and philosopher (b. 1821)
  • 1891 – Johan Jongkind, Dutch painter (b. 1819)
  • 1903 – Charles Gavan Duffy, Irish-Australian politician, 8th Premier of Victoria (b. 1816)
  • 1906 – Paul Laurence Dunbar, American author, poet, and playwright (b. 1872)
  • 1928 – William Gillies, Australian politician, 21st Premier of Queensland (b. 1868)
  • 1930 – Richard With, Norwegian captain and businessman, founded Hurtigruten (b. 1846)
  • 1932 – Junnosuke Inoue, Japanese businessman and banker (b. 1869)
  • 1932 – A.K. Golam Jilani, Bangladeshi soldier and activist (b. 1904)
  • 1945 – Ella D. Barrier, American educator (b. 1852)
  • 1950 – Ted Theodore, Australian politician, 20th Premier of Queensland (b. 1884)
  • 1951 – Eddy Duchin, American pianist, bandleader, and actor (b. 1910)
  • 1957 – Miklós Horthy, Hungarian admiral and politician, Regent of Hungary (b. 1868)
  • 1960 – Alexandre Benois, Russian painter and critic (b. 1870)
  • 1960 – Ernő Dohnányi, Hungarian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1877)
  • 1965 – Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah, Bangladeshi theologian and educator (b. 1874)
  • 1966 – Sophie Tucker, Russian-born American singer (b. 1884)
  • 1969 – George “Gabby” Hayes, American actor and singer (b. 1885)
  • 1976 – Percy Faith, Canadian composer and conductor (b. 1908)
  • 1977 – Sergey Ilyushin, Russian engineer and businessman, founded the Ilyushin Design Company (b. 1894)
  • 1978 – Costante Girardengo, Italian cyclist and coach (b. 1893)
  • 1979 – Allen Tate, American poet and academic (b. 1899)
  • 1980 – Tom Macdonald, Welsh journalist and author (b. 1900)
  • 1981 – M. C. Chagla, Indian jurist and politician, Indian Minister of External Affairs (b. 1900)
  • 1981 – Bill Haley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1925)
  • 1984 – Yuri Andropov, Russian lawyer and politician (b. 1914)
  • 1989 – Osamu Tezuka, Japanese illustrator, animator, and producer (b. 1928)
  • 1994 – Howard Martin Temin, American geneticist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1934)
  • 1995 – J. William Fulbright, American lawyer and politician (b. 1905)
  • 1995 – David Wayne, American actor (b. 1914)
  • 1998 – Maurice Schumann, French journalist and politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1911)
  • 2001 – Herbert A. Simon, American political scientist, economist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
  • 2002 – Isabelle Holland, Swiss-American author (b. 1920)
  • 2002 – Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (b. 1930)
  • 2003 – Masatoshi Gündüz Ikeda, Japanese-Turkish mathematician and academic (b. 1926)
  • 2004 – Claude Ryan, Canadian journalist and politician (b. 1925)
  • 2005 – Robert Kearns, American engineer, invented the windscreen wiper (b. 1927)
  • 2006 – Freddie Laker, English pilot and businessman, founded Laker Airways (b. 1922)
  • 2007 – Hank Bauer, American baseball player and manager (b. 1922)
  • 2007 – Ian Richardson, Scottish actor (b. 1934)
  • 2008 – Christopher Hyatt, American occultist and author (b. 1943)
  • 2008 – Jazeh Tabatabai, Iranian painter, poet, and sculptor (b. 1931)
  • 2009 – Orlando “Cachaíto” López, Cuban bassist and composer (b. 1933)
  • 2010 – Walter Frederick Morrison, American businessman, invented the Frisbee (b. 1920)
  • 2011 – Miltiadis Evert, Greek lawyer and politician, 69th Mayor of Athens (b. 1939)
  • 2012 – O. P. Dutta, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1922)
  • 2012 – John Hick, English philosopher and academic (b. 1922)
  • 2012 – Joe Moretti, Scottish-South African guitarist and songwriter (b. 1938)
  • 2013 – Richard Artschwager, American painter, illustrator, and sculptor (b. 1923)
  • 2013 – Keiko Fukuda, Japanese-American martial artist and trainer (b. 1913)
  • 2013 – Jimmy Smyth, Irish hurler (b. 1931)
  • 2014 – Gabriel Axel, Danish actor, director, and producer (b. 1918)
  • 2014 – Hal Herring, American football player and coach (b. 1924)
  • 2014 – Logan Scott-Bowden, English general (b. 1920)
  • 2015 – Liu Han, Chinese businessman and philanthropist (b. 1965)
  • 2015 – Ed Sabol, American film producer, co-founded NFL Films (b. 1916)
  • 2016 – Sushil Koirala, Nepalese politician, 37th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1939)
  • 2016 – Zdravko Tolimir, Bosnian Serb military commander (b. 1948)
  • 2017 – André Salvat, French Army colonel (b. 1920)
  • 2018 – Reg E. Cathey, American actor of stage, film, and television (b. 1958)
  • 2018 – Nebojša Glogovac, Serbian actor (b. 1969)
  • 2018 – Jóhann Jóhannsson, Icelandic composer (b. 1969)
  • 2018 – John Gavin, American actor and United States ambassador to Mexico (b. 1931)
  • 2020 – Sergiy Vilkomir, Ukrainian-born computer scientist (b. 1956)

Holidays and observances on February 9

  • Christian feast day:
    • Alto of Altomünster
    • Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich
    • Ansbert of Rouen
    • Apollonia
    • Bracchio
    • Blessed Leopold of Alpandeire
    • Maron (Maronite Church)
    • Miguel Febres Cordero
    • Nebridius
    • Sabinus of Canosa
    • Teilo (Wales)
    • February 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which Clean Monday can fall, while March 15 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday of Great Lent. (Eastern Christianity)
  • Earliest day on which People’s Sunday can fall, while March 15 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday of Lent. (Malta)
  • St. Maroun’s Day (public holiday in Lebanon)

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

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 31 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

January 25 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • AD 41 – After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman Emperor by the Senate.
  • 750 – In the Battle of the Zab, the Abbasid rebels defeat the Umayyad Caliphate, leading to overthrow of the dynasty.
  • 1348 – A strong earthquake strikes the South Alpine region of Friuli in modern Italy, causing considerable damage to buildings as far away as Rome.
  • 1494 – Alfonso II becomes King of Naples.
  • 1515 – Coronation of Francis I of France takes place at Reims Cathedral, where the new monarch is anointed with the oil of Clovis and girt with the sword of Charlemagne.
  • 1533 – Henry VIII of England secretly marries his second wife Anne Boleyn.
  • 1554 – São Paulo, Brazil, is founded by Jesuit priests.
  • 1573 – Battle of Mikatagahara: In Japan, Takeda Shingen defeats Tokugawa Ieyasu.
  • 1575 – Luanda, the capital of Angola, is founded by the Portuguese navigator Paulo Dias de Novais.
  • 1704 – The Battle of Ayubale results in the destruction of most of the Spanish missions in Florida.
  • 1755 – Moscow University is established on Tatiana Day.
  • 1765 – Port Egmont, the first British settlement in the Falkland Islands near the southern tip of South America, is founded.
  • 1787 – Shays’s Rebellion: The rebellion’s largest confrontation, outside the Springfield Armory, results in the killing of four rebels and the wounding of twenty.
  • 1791 – The British Parliament passes the Constitutional Act of 1791 and splits the old Province of Quebec into Upper Canada and Lower Canada.
  • 1792 – The London Corresponding Society is founded.
  • 1858 – The Wedding March by Felix Mendelssohn is played at the marriage of Queen Victoria’s daughter, Victoria, and Friedrich of Prussia, and becomes a popular wedding processional.
  • 1879 – The Bulgarian National Bank is founded.
  • 1881 – Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell form the Oriental Telephone Company.
  • 1890 – Nellie Bly completes her round-the-world journey in 72 days.
  • 1909 – Richard Strauss’s opera Elektra receives its debut performance at the Dresden State Opera.
  • 1915 – Alexander Graham Bell inaugurates U.S. transcontinental telephone service, speaking from New York to Thomas Watson in San Francisco.
  • 1918 – The Ukrainian People’s Republic declares independence from Soviet Russia.
  • 1924 – The 1924 Winter Olympics opens in Chamonix, in the French Alps, inaugurating the Winter Olympic Games.
  • 1932 – Second Sino-Japanese War: The Chinese National Revolutionary Army begins the defense of Harbin.
  • 1937 – The Guiding Light debuts on NBC radio from Chicago. In 1952 it moves to CBS television, where it remains until September 18, 2009.
  • 1941 – Pope Pius XII elevates the Apostolic Vicariate of the Hawaiian Islands to the dignity of a diocese. It becomes the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu.
  • 1942 – World War II: Thailand declares war on the United States and United Kingdom.
  • 1945 – World War II: The Battle of the Bulge ends.
  • 1946 – The United Mine Workers rejoins the American Federation of Labor.
  • 1946 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 1 relating to Military Staff Committee is adopted.
  • 1947 – Thomas Goldsmith Jr. files a patent for a “Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device”, the first ever electronic game.
  • 1949 – The first Emmy Awards are presented; the venue is the Hollywood Athletic Club.
  • 1960 – The National Association of Broadcasters reacts to the “payola” scandal by threatening fines for any disc jockeys who accept money for playing particular records.
  • 1961 – In Washington, D.C., President John F. Kennedy delivers the first live presidential television news conference.
  • 1961 – 101 Dalmatians premiered from Walt Disney Productions.
  • 1964 – Blue Ribbon Sports, which would later become Nike, is founded by University of Oregon track and field athletes.
  • 1969 – Brazilian Army captain Carlos Lamarca deserts in order to fight against the military dictatorship, taking with him ten machine guns and 63 rifles.
  • 1971 – Charles Manson and three female “Family” members are found guilty of the 1969 Tate–LaBianca murders.
  • 1971 – Idi Amin leads a coup deposing Milton Obote and becomes Uganda’s president.
  • 1979 – Pope John Paul II starts his first official papal visits outside Italy to The Bahamas, Dominican Republic, and Mexico.
  • 1980 – Mother Teresa is honored with India’s highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna.
  • 1986 – The National Resistance Movement topples the government of Tito Okello in Uganda.
  • 1993 – Five people are shot outside the CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Two are killed and three wounded.
  • 1994 – The spacecraft Clementine by BMDO and NASA is launched.
  • 1995 – The Norwegian rocket incident: Russia almost launches a nuclear attack after it mistakes Black Brant XII, a Norwegian research rocket, for a US Trident missile.
  • 1996 – Billy Bailey becomes the last person to be hanged in the U.S.A.
  • 1998 – During a historic visit to Cuba, Pope John Paul II demands political reforms and the release of political prisoners while condemning US attempts to isolate the country.
  • 1998 – A suicide attack by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on Sri Lanka’s Temple of the Tooth kills eight and injures 25 others.
  • 1999 – A 6.0 magnitude earthquake hits western Colombia killing at least 1,000.
  • 2003 – Invasion of Iraq: A group of people leave London, England, for Baghdad, Iraq, to serve as human shields, intending to prevent the U.S.-led coalition troops from bombing certain locations.
  • 2005 – A stampede at the Mandhradevi temple in Maharashtra, India kills at least 258.
  • 2006 – Mexican professional wrestler Juana Barraza is arrested in connection with the serial killing of at least ten elderly women.
  • 2010 – Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 crashes into the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Na’ameh, Lebanon, killing 90.
  • 2011 – The first wave of the Egyptian revolution begins throughout the country, marked by street demonstrations, rallies, acts of civil disobedience, riots, labour strikes, and violent clashes.
  • 2013 – At least 50 people are killed and 120 people are injured in a prison riot in Barquisimeto, Venezuela.
  • 2015 – A clash in Mamasapano, Maguindanao in the Philippines killing 44 members of Special Action Force (SAF), at least 18 from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and five from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
  • 2019 – A mining company’s dam collapses in Brumadinho, Brazil, a south-eastern city, killing at least 7 people and leaving 200 missing.

Births on January 25

  • 750 – Leo IV the Khazar, Byzantine emperor (d. 780)
  • 1408 – Katharina of Hanau, German countess regent (d. 1460)
  • 1459 – Paul Hofhaimer, Austrian organist and composer (d. 1537)
  • 1477 – Anne of Brittany (probable;d. 1514)
  • 1509 – Giovanni Morone, Italian cardinal (d. 1580)
  • 1526 – Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (d. 1586)
  • 1615 – Govert Flinck, Dutch painter (d. 1660)
  • 1618 – Nicolaes Visscher I, Dutch engraver and cartographer (d. 1679)
  • 1627 – Robert Boyle, Irish-English chemist and physicist (d. 1691)
  • 1634 – Gaspar Fagel, Dutch politician and diplomat (d. 1688)
  • 1635 – Daniel Casper von Lohenstein, German writer, diplomat and lawyer (d. 1683)
  • 1640 – William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire, English soldier and politician, Lord Steward of the Household (d. 1707)
  • 1736 – Joseph-Louis Lagrange, Italian-French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1813)
  • 1739 – Charles François Dumouriez, French general and politician, French Minister of Defence (d. 1823)
  • 1743 – Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi, German philosopher and author (d. 1819)
  • 1750 – Johann Gottfried Vierling, German organist and composer (d. 1813)
  • 1755 – Paolo Mascagni, Italian physician and anatomist (probable;d. 1815)
  • 1759 – Robert Burns, Scottish poet and songwriter (d. 1796)
  • 1783 – William Colgate, English-American businessman and philanthropist, founded Colgate-Palmolive (d. 1857)
  • 1794 – François-Vincent Raspail, French chemist, physician, physiologist, and lawyer (d. 1878)
  • 1796 – William MacGillivray, Scottish ornithologist and biologist (d. 1852)
  • 1813 – J. Marion Sims, American gynecologist and physician (d. 1883)
  • 1816 – Anna Gardner, American abolitionist and teacher (d. 1901)
  • 1822 – Charles Reed Bishop, American businessman, philanthropist, and politician, founded the Bishop Museum (d. 1915)
  • 1822 – William McDougall, Canadian lawyer and politician, Lieutenant Governor of the Northwest Territories (d. 1905)
  • 1823 – José María Iglesias, Mexican politician and interim President (1876–1877) (d. 1891)
  • 1824 – Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Indian poet and playwright (d. 1873)
  • 1841 – John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, English admiral (d. 1920)
  • 1858 – Mikimoto Kōkichi, Japanese businessman (d. 1954)
  • 1860 – Charles Curtis, American lawyer and politician, 31st Vice President of the United States (d. 1936)
  • 1864 – Julije Kempf, Croatian historian and author (d. 1934)
  • 1868 – Juventino Rosas, Mexican violinist and composer (d. 1894)
  • 1874 – W. Somerset Maugham, British playwright, novelist, and short story writer (d. 1965)
  • 1878 – Ernst Alexanderson, Swedish-American engineer (d. 1975)
  • 1882 – Virginia Woolf, English novelist, essayist, short story writer, and critic (d. 1941)
  • 1885 – Kitahara Hakushū, Japanese poet and author (d. 1942)
  • 1886 – Wilhelm Furtwängler, German conductor and composer (d. 1954)
  • 1895 – Florence Mills, American singer, dancer, and actress (d. 1927)
  • 1899 – Sleepy John Estes, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1977)
  • 1899 – Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian lawyer and politician, 46th Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 1972)
  • 1900 – István Fekete, Hungarian author (d. 1970)
  • 1900 – Yōjirō Ishizaka, Japanese author and educator (d. 1986)
  • 1900 – Theodosius Dobzhansky, Ukrainian geneticist and pioneer of evolutionary biology (d. 1975)
  • 1901 – Martín de Álzaga, Argentinian race car driver and pilot (d. 1982)
  • 1901 – Mildred Dunnock, American actress (d. 1991)
  • 1905 – Maurice Roy, Canadian cardinal (d. 1985)
  • 1905 – Margery Sharp, English author and educator (d. 1991)
  • 1906 – Toni Ulmen, German race car driver and motorcycle racer (d. 1976)
  • 1908 – Hsieh Tung-min, Taiwanese politicians and Vice President of the Republic of China (d. 2001)
  • 1910 – Edgar V. Saks, Estonian historian, author, and politician, Estonian Minister of Education (d. 1984)
  • 1913 – Huang Hua, Chinese translator and politician, 5th Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China (d. 2010)
  • 1913 – Witold Lutosławski, Polish composer and conductor (d. 1994)
  • 1913 – Luis Marden, American photographer and journalist (d. 2003)
  • 1914 – William Strickland, American conductor and organist (d. 1991)
  • 1915 – Ewan MacColl, English singer-songwriter, actor and producer (d. 1989)
  • 1916 – Pop Ivy, American football player and coach (d. 2003)
  • 1917 – Ilya Prigogine, Russian-Belgian chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2003)
  • 1917 – Jânio Quadros, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 22nd President of Brazil (d. 1992)
  • 1919 – Edwin Newman, American journalist and author (d. 2010)
  • 1921 – Samuel T. Cohen, American physicist and academic (d. 2010)
  • 1921 – Josef Holeček, Czechoslovakian canoeist (d. 2005)
  • 1922 – Raymond Baxter, English television host and pilot (d. 2006)
  • 1923 – Arvid Carlsson, Swedish pharmacologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2018)
  • 1923 – Shirley Ardell Mason, American psychiatric patient (d. 1998)
  • 1923 – Sally Starr, American actress and television host (d. 2013)
  • 1923 – Jean Taittinger, French politician, French Minister of Justice (d. 2012)
  • 1924 – Lou Groza, American football player and coach (d. 2000)
  • 1924 – Husein Mehmedov, Bulgarian-Turkish wrestler and coach (d. 2014)
  • 1924 – Speedy West, American guitarist and producer (d. 2003)
  • 1925 – Gordy Soltau, American football player and sportscaster (d. 2014)
  • 1925 – Giorgos Zampetas, Greek bouzouki player and songwriter (d. 1992)
  • 1926 – Dick McGuire, American basketball player and coach (d. 2010)
  • 1927 – Antônio Carlos Jobim, Brazilian singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1994)
  • 1928 – Jérôme Choquette, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2017)
  • 1928 – Eduard Shevardnadze, Georgian general and politician, 2nd President of Georgia (d. 2014)
  • 1928 – Cor van der Hart, Dutch footballer and manager (d. 2006)
  • 1929 – Elizabeth Allen, American actress and singer (d. 2006)
  • 1929 – Robert Faurisson, English-French author and academic (d. 2018)
  • 1929 – Benny Golson, American saxophonist and composer
  • 1930 – Tanya Savicheva, Russian child diarist (d. 1944)
  • 1931 – Dean Jones, American actor and singer (d. 2015)
  • 1933 – Corazon Aquino, Filipino politician, 11th President of the Philippines (d. 2009)
  • 1935 – Conrad Burns, American soldier, journalist, and politician (d. 2016)
  • 1935 – António Ramalho Eanes, Portuguese general and politician, 16th President of Portugal
  • 1936 – Diana Hyland, American actress (d. 1977)
  • 1936 – Onat Kutlar, Turkish author and poet (d. 1995)
  • 1937 – Ange-Félix Patassé, Central African engineer and politician, President of the Central African Republic (d. 2011)
  • 1938 – Shotaro Ishinomori, Japanese author and illustrator (d. 1998)
  • 1938 – Etta James, American singer (d. 2012)
  • 1938 – Leiji Matsumoto, Japanese author, illustrator, and animator
  • 1938 – Vladimir Vysotsky, Russian singer-songwriter, actor, and poet (d. 1980)
  • 1941 – Buddy Baker, American race car driver and sportscaster (d. 2015)
  • 1942 – Carl Eller, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1942 – Eusébio, Mozambican-Portuguese footballer (d. 2014)
  • 1943 – Tobe Hooper, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2017)
  • 1945 – Leigh Taylor-Young, American actress
  • 1945 – Dave Walker, English singer and guitarist
  • 1946 – Doc Bundy, American race car driver and technician
  • 1947 – Ángel Nieto, Spanish motorcycle racer (d. 2017)
  • 1947 – Tostão, Brazilian footballer, journalist, and physician
  • 1948 – Ros Kelly, Australian educator and politician, 1st Australian Minister for Defence Science and Personnel
  • 1948 – Georgy Shishkin, Russian painter and illustrator
  • 1949 – John Cooper Clarke, English poet and critic
  • 1949 – Paul Nurse, English geneticist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1950 – Gloria Naylor, American novelist (d. 2016)
  • 1951 – Steve Prefontaine, American runner (d. 1975)
  • 1952 – Peter Tatchell, Australian-English journalist and activist
  • 1952 – Timothy White, American journalist, author, and critic (d. 2002)
  • 1954 – Ricardo Bochini, Argentinian footballer and manager
  • 1954 – Kay Cottee, Australian sailor
  • 1954 – Renate Dorrestein, Dutch journalist and author (d. 2018)
  • 1956 – Andy Cox, English guitarist
  • 1956 – Dinah Manoff, American actress
  • 1957 – Eskil Erlandsson, Swedish technologist and politician, Swedish Minister for Rural Affairs
  • 1957 – Andrew Harris, American politician
  • 1957 – Jenifer Lewis, American actress and singer
  • 1958 – Franco Pancheri, Italian footballer and manager
  • 1961 – Vivian Balakrishnan, Singaporean ophthalmologist and politician, Singaporean Ministry of National Development
  • 1962 – Chris Chelios, American ice hockey player and manager
  • 1963 – Fernando Haddad, Brazilian academic and politician, 61st Mayor of São Paulo
  • 1963 – Molly Holzschlag, American computer scientist and author
  • 1964 – Billy Andrade, American golfer
  • 1964 – Stephen Pate, Australian cyclist
  • 1965 – Esa Tikkanen, Finnish ice hockey player and coach
  • 1966 – Chet Culver, American educator and politician, 41st Governor of Iowa
  • 1966 – Yiannos Ioannou, Cypriot footballer and manager
  • 1967 – Nelson Asaytono, Filipino basketball player
  • 1967 – David Ginola, French footballer, forward
  • 1967 – Randy McKay, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1968 – Eric Orie, Dutch footballer and manager
  • 1969 – Sergei Ovchinnikov, Russian volleyball player and coach (d. 2012)
  • 1970 – Stephen Chbosky, American author, screenwriter, and director
  • 1970 – Chris Mills, American basketball player
  • 1970 – Milt Stegall, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1971 – Luca Badoer, Italian race car driver
  • 1971 – Philip Coppens, Belgian journalist and author (d. 2012)
  • 1971 – Ana Ortiz, American actress
  • 1972 – Shinji Takehara, Japanese boxer
  • 1973 – Geoff Johns, American author, screenwriter, and producer
  • 1974 – Robert Budreau, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1974 – Emily Haines, Canadian singer-songwriter and keyboard player
  • 1974 – Attilio Nicodemo, Italian footballer
  • 1975 – Duncan Jupp, Anglo-Scottish footballer, defender
  • 1975 – Mia Kirshner, Canadian actress
  • 1976 – Stephanie Bellars, American wrestler and manager
  • 1976 – Mário Haberfeld, Brazilian race car driver
  • 1976 – Dimitris Nalitzis, Greek footballer
  • 1977 – Michael Brown, English footballer, midfielder, manager and pundit
  • 1978 – Ahmet Dursun, Turkish footballer
  • 1978 – Denis Menchov, Russian cyclist
  • 1978 – Derrick Turnbow, American baseball player
  • 1979 – Rodrigo Ribeiro, Brazilian race car driver
  • 1980 – Alayna Burns, Australian track cyclist
  • 1980 – Xavi, Spanish footballer
  • 1981 – Francis Jeffers, English footballer
  • 1981 – Alicia Keys, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actress
  • 1981 – Toše Proeski, Macedonian singer (d. 2007)
  • 1984 – Stefan Kießling, German footballer
  • 1984 – Robinho, Brazilian footballer
  • 1984 – Fara Williams, English footballer
  • 1985 – Brent Celek, American football player
  • 1985 – Patrick Willis, American football player
  • 1985 – Hwang Jung-eum, South Korean actress
  • 1986 – Chris O’Grady, English footballer
  • 1987 – Maria Kirilenko, Russian tennis player
  • 1988 – Tatiana Golovin, French tennis player
  • 1988 – Ryota Ozawa, Japanese actor
  • 1990 – Apostolos Giannou, Greek-Australian footballer
  • 1990 – Lee Jun-ho, South Korean singer and actor (2PM)
  • 1991 – Nigel Melker, Dutch race car driver

Deaths onJanuary 25

  • 390 – Gregory Nazianzus, theologian and Patriarch of Constantinople (b. 329)
  • 477 – Gaiseric, king of the Vandals (b. 389)
  • 750 – Ibrahim ibn al-Walid, Umayyad caliph
  • 844 – Pope Gregory IV (b. 795)
  • 863 – Charles of Provence, Frankish king (b. 845)
  • 951 – Ma Xiguang, ruler of Chu (Ten Kingdoms)
  • 1003 – Lothair I, Margrave of the Nordmark
  • 1067 – Emperor Yingzong of Song (b. 1032)
  • 1138 – Antipope Anacletus II
  • 1139 – Godfrey I, Count of Louvain and Duke of Lower Lorraine (as Godfrey VI)
  • 1366 – Henry Suso, German priest and mystic (b. 1300)
  • 1413 – Maud de Ufford, Countess of Oxford (b. 1345)
  • 1431 – Charles II, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1364)
  • 1492 – Ygo Gales Galama, Frisian warlord and rebel (b. 1443)
  • 1494 – Ferdinand I of Naples (b. 1423)
  • 1559 – Christian II of Denmark (b. 1481)
  • 1578 – Mihrimah Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1522)
  • 1586 – Lucas Cranach the Younger, German painter (b. 1515)
  • 1640 – Robert Burton, English physician and scholar (b. 1577)
  • 1670 – Nicholas Francis, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1612)
  • 1726 – Guillaume Delisle, French cartographer (b. 1675)
  • 1733 – Sir Gilbert Heathcote, 1st Baronet, English banker and politician, Lord Mayor of London (b. 1652)
  • 1751 – Paul Dudley, American lawyer, jurist, and politician (b. 1675)
  • 1852 – Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, Russian admiral, cartographer, and explorer (b. 1778)
  • 1872 – Richard S. Ewell, American general (b. 1817)
  • 1881 – Konstantin Thon, Russian architect, designed the Grand Kremlin Palace and Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (b. 1794)
  • 1884 – Périclès Pantazis, Greek-Belgian painter (b. 1849)
  • 1891 – Theo van Gogh, Art dealer, the brother of Vincent van Gogh (b. 1857)
  • 1900 – Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, German Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein (b. 1835)
  • 1907 – René Pottier, French cyclist (b. 1879)
  • 1908 – Ouida, English-Italian author (b. 1839)
  • 1908 – Mikhail Chigorin, Russian chess player and theoretician (b. 1850)
  • 1910 – W. G. Read Mullan, American Jesuit and academic (1860)
  • 1912 – Dmitry Milyutin, Russian field marshal and politician (b. 1816)
  • 1925 – Juan Vucetich, Croatian-Argentinian anthropologist and police officer (b. 1858)
  • 1939 – Charles Davidson Dunbar, Scottish soldier and bagpipe player (b. 1870)
  • 1947 – Al Capone, American gangster and mob boss (b. 1899)
  • 1949 – Makino Nobuaki, Japanese politician, 15th Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs (b. 1861)
  • 1957 – Ichizō Kobayashi, Japanese businessman, founded Hankyu Hanshin Holdings (b. 1873)
  • 1957 – Kiyoshi Shiga, Japanese physician and bacteriologist (b. 1871)
  • 1958 – Cemil Topuzlu, Turkish surgeon and politician, Mayor of Istanbul (b. 1866)
  • 1958 – Robert R. Young, American businessman and financier (b. 1897)
  • 1960 – Diana Barrymore, American actress (b. 1921)
  • 1966 – Saul Adler, Belarusian-English microbiologist and parasitologist (b. 1895)
  • 1968 – Louie Myfanwy Thomas, Welsh writer (b. 1908)
  • 1970 – Jane Bathori, French soprano (b. 1877)
  • 1970 – Eiji Tsuburaya, Japanese director and producer (b. 1901)
  • 1971 – Barry III, Guinean lawyer and politician (b. 1923)
  • 1972 – Erhard Milch, German field marshal (b. 1892)
  • 1975 – Charlotte Whitton, Canadian journalist and politician, 46th Mayor of Ottawa (b. 1896)
  • 1978 – Skender Kulenović, Bosnian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1910)
  • 1981 – Adele Astaire, American actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1896)
  • 1982 – Mikhail Suslov, Russian economist and politician (b. 1902)
  • 1985 – Ilias Iliou, Greek jurist and politician (b. 1904)
  • 1987 – Frank J. Lynch, American lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1922)
  • 1988 – Colleen Moore, American actress (b. 1899)
  • 1990 – Ava Gardner, American actress (b. 1922)
  • 1991 – Frank Soo, English footballer and manager (b. 1914)
  • 1992 – Mir Khalil ur Rehman, Founder and editor of the Jang Group of Newspapers (b. 1927)
  • 1994 – Stephen Cole Kleene, American mathematician, computer scientist, and academic (b. 1909)
  • 1996 – Jonathan Larson, American playwright and composer (b. 1960)
  • 1997 – Dan Barry, American author and illustrator (b. 1923)
  • 1999 – Sarah Louise Delany, American author and educator (b. 1889)
  • 1999 – Robert Shaw, American conductor (b. 1916)
  • 2001 – Alice Ambrose, American philosopher and logician (b. 1906)
  • 2002 – Cliff Baxter, employee at Enron (b. 1958)
  • 2003 – Sheldon Reynolds, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1923)
  • 2003 – Samuel Weems, American lawyer and author (b. 1936)
  • 2004 – Fanny Blankers-Koen, Dutch runner and hurdler (b. 1918)
  • 2004 – Miklós Fehér, Hungarian footballer (b. 1979)
  • 2005 – Stanisław Albinowski, Polish economist and journalist (b. 1923)
  • 2005 – William Augustus Bootle, American lawyer and judge (b. 1902)
  • 2005 – Philip Johnson, American architect, designed the PPG Place and Crystal Cathedral (b. 1906)
  • 2005 – Manuel Lopes, Cape Verdean author and poet (b. 1907)
  • 2005 – Netti Witziers-Timmer, Dutch runner (b. 1923)
  • 2009 – Eleanor F. Helin, American astronomer (b. 1932)
  • 2009 – Ewald Kooiman, Dutch organist and educator (b. 1938)
  • 2009 – Kim Manners, American director and producer (b. 1951)
  • 2010 – Ali Hassan al-Majid, Iraqi general and politician, Iraqi Minister of Defence (b. 1941)
  • 2011 – Vassilis C. Constantakopoulos Greek captain and businessman (b. 1935)
  • 2011 – Vincent Cronin, Welsh historian and author (b. 1924)
  • 2012 – Paavo Berglund, Finnish violinist and conductor (b. 1929)
  • 2012 – Jacques Maisonrouge, French businessman (b. 1924)
  • 2012 – Franco Pacini, Italian astrophysicist and academic (b. 1939)
  • 2012 – Robert Sheran, American lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1916)
  • 2013 – Martial Asselin, Canadian lawyer and politician, 25th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (b. 1924)
  • 2013 – Kevin Heffernan, Irish footballer and manager (b. 1929)
  • 2013 – Aase Nordmo Løvberg, Norwegian soprano and actress (b. 1923)
  • 2014 – Arthur Doyle, American singer-songwriter, saxophonist, and flute player (b. 1944)
  • 2014 – Heini Halberstam, Czech-English mathematician and academic (b. 1926)
  • 2014 – Dave Strack, American basketball player and coach (b. 1923)
  • 2015 – John Leggett, American author and academic (b. 1917)
  • 2015 – Richard McBrien, American priest, theologian, and academic (b. 1936)
  • 2015 – Bill Monbouquette, American baseball player and coach (b. 1936)
  • 2015 – Demis Roussos, Egyptian-Greek singer (b. 1946)
  • 2017 – Stephen P. Cohen, Canadian academic (b. 1945)
  • 2017 – Robert Garcia, American politician (b. 1933)
  • 2017 – John Hurt, English actor (b. 1940)
  • 2017 – Harry Mathews, American novelist and poet (b. 1930)
  • 2017 – Marcel Prud’homme, Canadian politician (b. 1934)
  • 2017 – Mary Tyler Moore, American actress, dancer, and producer (b. 1936)
  • 2018 – Neagu Djuvara, Romanian historian, essayist, philosopher, journalist, novelist and diplomat (b. 1916)

Holidays and observances on January 25

  • Burns Night (Scotland and Scottish community)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Dydd Santes Dwynwen (Wales)
    • Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul (Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran churches, which concludes the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity)
    • Gregory the Theologian (Eastern (Byzantine) Catholic Church)
    • The last day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Christian ecumenism)
    • January 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which the first day of Carnival of Cádiz can fall, while February 28 is the latest; celebrated two Sundays before Ash Wednesday until Ash Wednesday (Cádiz)
  • Earliest day on which the Liberation of Auschwitz Memorial can fall, while January 31 is the latest; observed on the last Sunday in January (Netherlands)
  • National Nutrition Day (Indonesia)
  • National Police Day (Egypt)
  • National Voters’ Day (India)
  • Revolution Day 2011 (Egypt)
  • Tatiana Day or Russian Students Day (Russia, Eastern Orthodox)

January 25 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

January 21- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 763 – Following the Battle of Bakhamra between Alids and Abbasids near Kufa, the Alid rebellion ends with the death of Ibrahim, brother of Isa ibn Musa.
  • 1525 – The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is founded when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz’s mother in Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union.
  • 1535 – Following the Affair of the Placards, the French king leads an anti-Protestant procession through Paris.
  • 1720 – Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Stockholm.
  • 1749 – The Teatro Filarmonico in Verona is destroyed by fire, as a result of a torch being left behind in the box of a nobleman after a performance. It is rebuilt in 1754.
  • 1774 – Abdul Hamid I becomes Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and Caliph of Islam.
  • 1789 – The first American novel, The Power of Sympathy or the Triumph of Nature Founded in Truth by William Hill Brown, is printed in Boston.
  • 1793 – After being found guilty of treason by the French National Convention, Louis XVI of France is executed by guillotine.
  • 1854 – The RMS Tayleur sinks off Lambay Island on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Australia with great loss of life.
  • 1861 – American Civil War: Jefferson Davis resigns from the United States Senate.
  • 1893 – The Tati Concessions Land, formerly part of Matabeleland, is formally annexed to the Bechuanaland Protectorate, now Botswana.
  • 1908 – New York City passes the Sullivan Ordinance, making it illegal for women to smoke in public, only to have the measure vetoed by the mayor.
  • 1911 – The first Monte Carlo Rally takes place.
  • 1915 – Kiwanis International is founded in Detroit.
  • 1919 – A revolutionary Irish parliament is founded and declares the independence of the Irish Republic. One of the first engagements of the Irish War of Independence takes place.
  • 1925 – Albania declares itself a republic.
  • 1931 – Sir Isaac Isaacs is sworn in as the first Australian-born Governor-General of Australia.
  • 1941 – Sparked by the murder of a German officer in Bucharest, Romania the day before, members of the Iron Guard engaged in a rebellion and pogrom killing 125 Jews.
  • 1948 – The Flag of Quebec is adopted and flown for the first time over the National Assembly of Quebec. The day is marked annually as Québec Flag Day.
  • 1950 – American lawyer and government official Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury.
  • 1954 – The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, is launched in Groton, Connecticut by Mamie Eisenhower, the First Lady of the United States.
  • 1960 – Little Joe 1B, a Mercury spacecraft, lifts off from Wallops Island, Virginia with Miss Sam, a female rhesus monkey on board.
  • 1960 – Avianca Flight 671 crashes at Montego Bay, Jamaica airport, killing 37 people.
  • 1960 – A coal mine collapses at Holly Country, South Africa, killing 435 miners.
  • 1968 – Vietnam War: Battle of Khe Sanh: One of the most publicized and controversial battles of the war begins.
  • 1968 – A B-52 bomber crashes near Thule Air Base, contaminating the area after its nuclear payload ruptures. One of the four bombs remains unaccounted for after the cleanup operation is complete.
  • 1971 – The current Emley Moor transmitting station, the tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom, begins transmitting UHF broadcasts.
  • 1976 – Commercial service of Concorde begins with the London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio routes.
  • 1980 – Iran Air Flight 291 crashes in the Alborz Mountains while on approach to Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, Iran, killing 128 people.
  • 1981 – Production of the iconic DeLorean sports car begins in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
  • 1985 – Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 crashes near Reno–Tahoe International Airport in Reno, Nevada, killing 70 people.
  • 1997 – The U.S. House of Representatives votes 395–28 to reprimand Newt Gingrich for ethics violations, making him the first Speaker of the House to be so disciplined.
  • 1999 – War on Drugs: In one of the largest drug busts in American history, the United States Coast Guard intercepts a ship with over 4,300 kilograms (9,500 lb) of cocaine on board.
  • 2000 – Ecuador: After the Ecuadorian Congress is seized by indigenous organizations, Col. Lucio Gutiérrez, Carlos Solorzano and Antonio Vargas depose President Jamil Mahuad. Gutierrez is later replaced by Gen. Carlos Mendoza, who resigns and allows Vice-President Gustavo Noboa to succeed Mahuad.
  • 2003 – A 7.6 magnitude earthquake strikes the Mexican state of Colima, killing 29 and leaving approximately 10,000 people homeless.
  • 2004 – NASA’s MER-A (the Mars Rover Spirit) ceases communication with mission control. The problem lies in the management of its flash memory and is fixed remotely from Earth on February 6.
  • 2005 – In Belmopan, Belize, the unrest over the government’s new taxes erupts into riots.
  • 2009 – Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip, officially ending a three-week war it had with Hamas. However, intermittent fire by both sides continues in the weeks to follow.
  • 2011 – Anti government demonstrations take place in Tirana, Albania. Five people lose their lives from gunshots, allegedly fired from armed police protecting the Prime Minister’s office. To date, no one has been held accountable for the deaths.
  • 2017 – Over 400 cities across America and 160+ countries worldwide participate in a large-scale women’s march, on Donald Trump’s first full day as President of the United States.
  • 2018 – Rocket Lab’s Electron becomes the first rocket to reach orbit using an electric pump-fed engine and deploys three CubeSats.

Births on January 21

  • 1264 – Alexander, Prince of Scotland (d. 1284)
  • 1277 – Galeazzo I Visconti, lord of Milan
  • 1338 – Charles V of France (d. 1380)
  • 1493 – Giovanni Poggio, Italian cardinal and diplomat (d. 1556)
  • 1598 – Matsudaira Tadamasa, Japanese samurai and daimyō (d. 1645)
  • 1612 – Henry Casimir I of Nassau-Dietz, count of Nassau-Dietz (d. 1640)
  • 1636 – Melchiorre Cafà, Maltese Baroque sculptor (baptised; d. 1667)
  • 1655 – Antonio Molinari, Italian painter (d. 1704)
  • 1659 – Adriaen van der Werff, Dutch painter (d. 1722)
  • 1675 – Duchess Sibylle of Saxe-Lauenburg, Margravine of Baden-Baden (d. 1733)
  • 1714 – Anna Morandi Manzolini, Spanish anatomist (d. 1774)
  • 1717 – Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa, Spanish military officer and governor of Cuba (d. 1779)
  • 1721 – James Murray, Scottish-English general and politician, Governor of Minorca (d. 1794)
  • 1724 – Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée, French rococo painter (d. 1805)
  • 1732 – Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg, son of Karl Alexander, Duke of Württemberg, and Princess Maria Augusta of Thurn and Taxis (d. 1797)
  • 1738 – Ethan Allen, American general (d. 1789)
  • 1741 – Chaim of Volozhin, Orthodox rabbi (d. 1821)
  • 1763 – Augustin Robespierre, younger brother of French Revolutionary leader Maximilien Robespierre (d. 1794)
  • 1775 – Manuel Garcia, Spanish opera singer and composer (d. 1832)
  • 1784 – Peter De Wint, English painter (d. 1849)
  • 1788 – William Henry Smyth, Royal Navy officer, hydrographer, astronomer and numismatist
  • 1796 – Princess Marie of Hesse-Kassel, consort of George, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (d. 1880)
  • 1797 – Joseph Méry, French author and journalist (d. 1866)
  • 1800 – Theodor Fliedner, German Lutheran minister (d. 1864)
  • 1801 – John Batman, Australian entrepreneur and explorer (d. 1839)
  • 1804 – Moritz von Schwind, Austrian painter (d. 1871)
  • 1808 – Juan Crisóstomo Torrico, 16th President of Peru (d. 1875)
  • 1810 – Pierre Louis Charles de Failly, French general (d. 1892)
  • 1811 – James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn, British statesman (d. 1885)
  • 1813 – John C. Frémont, American general, explorer, and politician, 5th Territorial Governor of Arizona (d. 1890)
  • 1813 – Giuseppe Montanelli, Italian statesman and author (d. 1862)
  • 1814 – Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, German bibliographer and historian (d. 1885)
  • 1815 – Horace Wells, American dentist (d. 1848)
  • 1820 – Joseph Wolf, German ornithologist and illustrator (d. 1899)
  • 1820 – Egide Walschaerts, Belgian mechanical engineer (d. 1901)
  • 1824 – Stonewall Jackson, American general (d. 1863)
  • 1827 – Ivan Mikheevich Pervushin, Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 1900)
  • 1829 – Oscar II of Sweden (d. 1907)
  • 1839 – Caterina Volpicelli, Italian Roman Catholic nun (d. 1894)
  • 1840 – Sophia Jex-Blake, English physician and feminist (d. 1912)
  • 1841 – Édouard Schuré, French philosopher and author (d. 1929)
  • 1843 – Émile Levassor, French engineer (d. 1897)
  • 1845 – Harriet Backer, Norwegian painter (d. 1932)
  • 1846 – Pieter Hendrik Schoute, Dutch mathematician and academic (d. 1923)
  • 1846 – Albert Lavignac, French music scholar (d. 1916)
  • 1847 – Joseph Achille Le Bel, French chemist (d. 1930)
  • 1848 – Henri Duparc, French soldier and composer (d. 1933)
  • 1851 – Giuseppe Allamano, Italian Roman Catholic priest (d. 1926)
  • 1854 – Karl Julius Beloch, German classical and economic historian (d. 1929)
  • 1854 – Eusapia Palladino, Italian Spiritualist (d. 1918)
  • 1855 – Princess Maria Luisa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, the youngest daughter of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies (d. 1874)
  • 1860 – Karl Staaff, Swedish lawyer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1915)
  • 1864 – Israel Zangwill, British author (d. 1926)
  • 1865 – Heinrich Albers-Schonberg, German gynecologist and radiologist (d. 1921)
  • 1867 – Ludwig Thoma, German paramedic and author (d. 1921)
  • 1867 – Maxime Weygand, Belgian-French general (d. 1965)
  • 1868 – Felix Hoffmann, German chemist (d. 1946)
  • 1869 – Grigori Rasputin, Russian Mystic (d. 1916)
  • 1871 – Olga Preobrajenska, Russian ballerina (d. 1962)
  • 1873 – Arturo Labriola, Italian revolutionary syndicalist (d. 1959)
  • 1874 – René-Louis Baire, French mathematician (d. 1932)
  • 1875 – Paul E. Kahle, German orientalist (d. 1964)
  • 1877 – Baldassarre Negroni, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 1948)
  • 1878 – Vahan Tekeyan, Armenian poet and activist (d. 1948)
  • 1879 – Joseph Roffo, French rugby player and tug of war competitor (d. 1933)
  • 1880 – George Van Biesbroeck, Belgian–American astronomer (d. 1974)
  • 1881 – Ernst Fast, Swedish runner (d. 1959)
  • 1881 – André Godard, French archaeologist, architect and historian (d. 1965)
  • 1881 – Ivan Ribar, Yugoslav politician (d. 1968)
  • 1882 – Pavel Florensky, Russian mathematician and theologian (d. 1937)
  • 1882 – Francis Gailey, Australian-American swimmer (d. 1972)
  • 1883 – Olav Aukrust, Norwegian poet and educator (d. 1929)
  • 1883 – Mathias Hynes, British tug of war competitor (d. 1926)
  • 1885 – Duncan Grant, British painter and designer (d. 1978)
  • 1885 – Umberto Nobile, Italian engineer and explorer (d. 1978)
  • 1885 – Harold A. Wilson, English runner (d. 1932)
  • 1886 – John M. Stahl, American director and producer (d. 1950)
  • 1887 – Wolfgang Köhler, German psychologist and phenomenologist (d. 1967)
  • 1887 – Ernest Holmes, American New Thought writer (d. 1960)
  • 1887 – Georges Vézina, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1926)
  • 1889 – Pitirim Sorokin, American sociologist and political activist (d. 1968)
  • 1891 – Albert Battel, German Army lieutenant and lawyer (d. 1952)
  • 1891 – Francisco Lázaro, Portuguese marathon runner (d. 1912)
  • 1895 – Cristóbal Balenciaga, Spanish fashion designer, founded Balenciaga (d. 1972)
  • 1895 – Daniel Chalonge, French astrophysicist and astronomer (d. 1977)
  • 1895 – Noe Itō, Japanese anarchist, author and feminist (d. 1923)
  • 1896 – Guy Gilpatric, American pilot and journalist (d. 1950)
  • 1896 – Paula Hitler, younger sister of Adolf Hitler (d. 1960)
  • 1896 – J. Carrol Naish, American actor (d. 1973)
  • 1896 – Masa Perttilä, Finnish wrestler (d. 1968)
  • 1897 – René Iché, French sculptor (d. 1954)
  • 1898 – Rudolph Maté, Polish-Hungarian-American cinematographer, producer and director (d. 1964)
  • 1898 – Ahmad Shah Qajar, Shah of Persia (d. 1930)
  • 1898 – Eduard Zintl, German chemist (d. 1941)
  • 1899 – John Bodkin Adams, British general practitioner and convict (d. 1983)
  • 1899 – Gyula Mándi, Hungarian footballer and manager (d. 1969)
  • 1899 – Edith Tolkien, wife and muse of J. R. R. Tolkien (d. 1971)
  • 1899 – Alexander Tcherepnin, Russian-American pianist and composer (d. 1977)
  • 1900 – Elof Ahrle, Swedish actor and director (d. 1965)
  • 1900 – Anselm Franz, Austrian engineer (d. 1994)
  • 1900 – Bernhard Rensch, German evolutionary biologist (d. 1990)
  • 1900 – Fernando Quiroga Palacios, Spanish Cardinal (d. 1971)
  • 1901 – Ricardo Zamora, Spanish footballer and manager (d. 1978)
  • 1903 – William Lyon, American film editor (d. 1974)
  • 1903 – Raymond Suvigny, French weightlifter (d. 1945)
  • 1904 – Puck van Heel, Dutch footballer (d. 1984)
  • 1904 – John Porter, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1997)
  • 1905 – Christian Dior, French fashion designer, founded Christian Dior S.A. (d. 1957)
  • 1905 – Karl Wallenda, German-American acrobat and tightrope walker, founded The Flying Wallendas (d. 1978)
  • 1906 – Leo Halle, Dutch footballer (d. 1992)
  • 1906 – Igor Moiseyev, Russian choreographer (d. 2007)
  • 1907 – Carlo Cavagnoli, Italian boxer (d. 1991)
  • 1907 – Jānis Mendriks, Latvian Catholic priest (d. 1953)
  • 1909 – Todor Skalovski, Macedonian composer and conductor (d. 2004)
  • 1909 – Teofilo Spasojević, Serbian footballer (d. 1970)
  • 1910 – Hideo Shinojima, Japanese footballer (d. 1975)
  • 1910 – Albert Rosellini, American lawyer and politician, 15th Governor of Washington (d. 2011)
  • 1910 – Rosa Kellner, German athlete (d. 1984)
  • 1910 – Károly Takács, Hungarian shooter (d. 1976)
  • 1911 – Dick Garrard, Australian wrestler (d. 2003)
  • 1911 – Lee Yoo-hyung, Korean footballer and manager (d. 2003)
  • 1912 – Konrad Emil Bloch, German-American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2000)
  • 1915 – André Lichnerowicz, French mathematician (d. 1998)
  • 1915 – Orazio Mariani, Italian sprinter (d. 1981)
  • 1916 – Pietro Rava, Italian footballer (d. 2006)
  • 1916 – Zypora Spaisman, Polish midwife; American and Yiddish-language actress; producer of the Yiddish stage (d. 2002)
  • 1917 – Erling Persson, H&M founder (d. 2002)
  • 1918 – Jimmy Hagan, English footballer (d. 1998)
  • 1918 – Richard Winters, American soldier (d. 2011)
  • 1918 – Antonio Janigro, Italian cellist and conductor (d. 1989)
  • 1919 – Eric Brown, Scottish-English captain and pilot (d. 2016)
  • 1920 – Errol Barrow, first Prime Minister of Barbados (d. 1987)
  • 1921 – Lincoln Alexander, Canadian lawyer and politician, 23rd Canadian Minister of Labour (d. 2012)
  • 1922 – Telly Savalas, American actor (d. 1994)
  • 1922 – Paul Scofield, English actor (d. 2008)
  • 1922 – Predrag Vranicki, Croatian Marxist Humanist, and member of the Praxis school in the 1960s in Yugoslavia (d. 2002)
  • 1923 – Lola Flores, Spanish singer, dancer, and actress (d. 1995)
  • 1923 – Alberto de Mendoza, Argentine actor (d. 2011)
  • 1923 – Pahiño, Spanish footballer (d. 2012)
  • 1924 – Benny Hill, English actor, singer, and screenwriter (d. 1992)
  • 1925 – Charles Aidman, American actor (d. 1993)
  • 1925 – Alex Forbes, Scottish footballer (d. 2014)
  • 1925 – Eva Ibbotson, Austrian-English author (d. 2010)
  • 1925 – Arnold Skaaland, American wrestler and manager (d. 2007)
  • 1926 – Clive Donner, British director (d. 2010)
  • 1926 – Franco Evangelisti, Italian composer (d. 1980)
  • 1926 – Steve Reeves, American bodybuilder (d. 2000)
  • 1926 – Roger Taillibert, French architect (d. 2019)
  • 1926 – Robert J. White, American neurosurgeon (d. 2010)
  • 1927 – Rudolf Kraus, German footballer (d. 2003)
  • 1928 – Gene Sharp, American political scientist and academic, founded the Albert Einstein Institution (d. 2018)
  • 1928 – Reynaldo Bignone, Argentinian general and politician, 41st President of Argentina (d. 2018)
  • 1929 – Radley Metzger, American filmmaker (d. 2017)
  • 1930 – Mainza Chona, Zambian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Zambia (d. 2001)
  • 1931 – Yoshiko Kuga, Japanese actress
  • 1933 – Habib Thiam, Senegalese politician (d. 2017)
  • 1933 – Tony Marchi, English footballer, wing half
  • 1934 – Audrey Dalton, Irish actress
  • 1934 – Antonio Karmany, Spanish cyclist
  • 1934 – Alfonso Portugal, Mexican footballer (d. 2016)
  • 1934 – Ann Wedgeworth, American actress (d. 2017)
  • 1936 – Dick Davies, American basketball player (d. 2012)
  • 1937 – Judit Ágoston-Mendelényi, Hungarian fencer (d. 2013)
  • 1937 – Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria, the youngest son of Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria
  • 1938 – Sandy Barr, American wrestler and referee (d. 2007)
  • 1938 – Romano Fogli, Italian footballer
  • 1938 – Wolfman Jack, American radio host (d. 1995)
  • 1938 – Nicholas Phillips, Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers, English lawyer and judge, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
  • 1939 – Paul Genevay, French sprinter
  • 1939 – Friedel Lutz, German footballer
  • 1939 – Steve Paxton, American dancer and choreographer
  • 1939 – Viacheslav Platonov, Russian volleyball player and coach (d. 2005)
  • 1940 – Jack Nicklaus, American golfer and sportscaster
  • 1940 – Patrick Robinson, British novelist
  • 1941 – Sattam bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Arabian prince (d. 2013)
  • 1941 – Plácido Domingo, Spanish tenor and conductor
  • 1941 – Richie Havens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
  • 1941 – Mike Medavoy, Chinese-American film producer, co-founded Orion Pictures
  • 1941 – Ivan Putski, Polish-American wrestler and bodybuilder
  • 1941 – Elaine Showalter, American author and critic
  • 1942 – Freddy Breck, German singer, producer, and news anchor (d. 2008)
  • 1942 – Eugène Camara, Prime Minister of Guinea (d. 2019)
  • 1942 – Han Pil-hwa, North Korean speed skater
  • 1942 – Mac Davis, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
  • 1942 – Edwin Starr, American singer-songwriter (d. 2003)
  • 1942 – Michael G. Wilson, American producer and screenwriter
  • 1943 – Zdravko Hebel, Croatian water polo player (d. 2017)
  • 1943 – Arnar Jónsson, Icelandic actor
  • 1943 – Alfons Peeters, Belgian footballer (d. 2015)
  • 1943 – Kenzo Yokoyama, Japanese footballer
  • 1944 – Uto Ughi, Italian violinist
  • 1945 – Pete Kircher, English drummer
  • 1945 – Martin Shaw, English actor and producer
  • 1946 – Ichiro Hosotani, Japanese footballer
  • 1946 – Nella Martinetti, Swiss singer (d. 2011)
  • 1946 – Tomás Pineda, El Salvadoran footballer
  • 1946 – Miguel Reina, Spanish footballer
  • 1947 – Jill Eikenberry, American actress
  • 1947 – Andrzej Bachleda, Polish former alpine skier
  • 1947 – Dorian M. Goldfeld, American mathematician
  • 1947 – Pye Hastings, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1947 – Michel Jonasz, French singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1947 – Joseph Nicolosi, American clinical psychologist (d. 2017)
  • 1947 – Giuseppe Savoldi, Italian footballer
  • 1947 – Roberto Zywica, Argentine footballer
  • 1948 – Zygmunt Kukla, Polish footballer (d. 2016)
  • 1948 – Hugo Tocalli, Argentine footballer
  • 1949 – Trương Tấn Sang, Vietnamese politician and 7th President of Vietnam
  • 1949 – Clifford Ray, American basketball coach and player
  • 1950 – Marion Becker, German javelin thrower
  • 1950 – Gary Locke, American politician and diplomat, 36th United States Secretary of Commerce
  • 1950 – José Marín, Spanish racewalker
  • 1950 – Billy Ocean, Trinidadian-English singer-songwriter
  • 1950 – Agnes van Ardenne, Dutch politician and diplomat, Dutch Minister for Development Cooperation
  • 1951 – Eric Holder, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 82nd United States Attorney General
  • 1952 – Marco Camenisch, Swiss activist and murderer
  • 1952 – Werner Grissmann, Austrian alpine skier
  • 1952 – Mikhail Umansky, Russian chess player (d. 2010)
  • 1953 – Paul Allen, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Microsoft (d. 2018)
  • 1953 – Felipe Yáñez, Spanish cyclist
  • 1954 – Thomas de Maizière, German politician of the Christian Democratic Union
  • 1954 – Idrissa Ouedraogo, Burkinabé director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2018)
  • 1954 – Phil Thompson, English footballer and coach
  • 1955 – Peter Fleming, American tennis player
  • 1955 – Jeff Koons, American painter and sculptor
  • 1955 – Nello Musumeci, Italian politician and President of Sicily
  • 1956 – Robby Benson, American actor and director
  • 1956 – Geena Davis, American actress and producer
  • 1958 – Matt Salmon, American politician
  • 1958 – Hussein Saeed, Iraqi footballer
  • 1958 – Sergei Walter, Ukrainian politician (d. 2015)
  • 1958 – Michael Wincott, Canadian actor
  • 1959 – Sergei Alifirenko, Russian pistol shooter
  • 1959 – Alex McLeish, Scottish footballer and manager
  • 1960 – Sidney Lowe, American basketball player
  • 1960 – Mike Terrana, American hard rock and heavy metal drummer
  • 1961 – Kevin Cramer, American politician
  • 1961 – Cornelia Pröll, Austrian alpine skier
  • 1961 – Ivo Pukanić Croatian journalist (d. 2008)
  • 1961 – Gary Shaw, English footballer
  • 1961 – Piotr Ugrumov, Russian cyclist
  • 1962 – Tyler Cowen, American economist and academic
  • 1962 – Isabelle Nanty, French actress, director and screenwriter
  • 1962 – Gabriele Pin, Italian footballer and coach
  • 1962 – Zoran Thaler, Slovenian politician
  • 1962 – Erik Verlinde, Dutch theoretical physicist
  • 1962 – Marie Trintignant, French actress (d. 2003)
  • 1963 – Hakeem Olajuwon, Nigerian-American basketball player
  • 1963 – Detlef Schrempf, German basketball player and coach
  • 1964 – Andreas Bauer, German ski jumper
  • 1964 – Tony Dolan, English musician and actor
  • 1964 – Gérald Passi, French footballer
  • 1964 – Ricardo Serna, Spanish footballer
  • 1964 – Aleksandar Šoštar, Serbian water polo player
  • 1964 – Danny Wallace, English footballer
  • 1965 – Robert Del Naja, British artist, musician and singer
  • 1965 – Jam Master Jay, American DJ, rapper, and producer (d. 2002)
  • 1965 – Masahiro Wada, Japanese footballer
  • 1967 – Artashes Minasian, Armenian chess player
  • 1967 – Alfred Jermaniš, Slovenian footballer
  • 1967 – Gorō Miyazaki, Japanese film director and landscaper
  • 1968 – Dmitry Fomin, Soviet and Russian volleyball player
  • 1968 – Ilya Smirin, Israeli chess Grandmaster
  • 1968 – Artur Dmitriev, Soviet and Russian ice skater
  • 1968 – Sébastien Lifshitz, French director
  • 1968 – Charlotte Ross, American actress
  • 1969 – John Ducey, American actor
  • 1969 – Eduard Hämäläinen, Finnish-Belarusian decathlete
  • 1969 – Karina Lombard, French-American actress and singer
  • 1969 – Tsubaki Nekoi, Japanese comic artist
  • 1970 – Alen Bokšić, former Croatian footballer
  • 1970 – Marina Foïs, French actress
  • 1970 – Ken Leung, American actor
  • 1970 – Oren Peli, Israeli-American director, producer and screenwriter
  • 1971 – Uni Arge, Faroese footballer and entertainer
  • 1971 – Rafael Berges, Spanish footballer
  • 1971 – Doug Edwards, American basketball player
  • 1971 – Dmitri Khlestov, Russian footballer
  • 1971 – Dylan Kussman, American actor
  • 1971 – Sergey Klevchenya, Russian speed skater
  • 1971 – Doug Weight, American ice hockey player and coach
  • 1972 – Billel Dziri, Algerian footballer and manager
  • 1972 – Rick Falkvinge, Swedish businessman and politician
  • 1972 – Sead Kapetanović, Bosnian footballer
  • 1972 – Yasunori Mitsuda, Japanese composer and producer
  • 1972 – Cat Power, American singer, musician and actress
  • 1972 – Shawn Rojeski, American curler
  • 1972 – Sabina Valbusa, Italian cross-country skier
  • 1973 – Rob Hayles, English cyclist
  • 1973 – Chris Kilmore, American musician and DJ
  • 1973 – Edvinas Krungolcas, Lithuanian modern pentathlete
  • 1973 – Flavio Maestri, Peruvian footballer
  • 1974 – Malena Alterio, Spanish actress
  • 1974 – Maxwell Atoms, American animator, screenwriter and voice actor
  • 1974 – Kim Dotcom, German-Finnish Internet entrepreneur and political activist
  • 1974 – Arthémon Hatungimana, Burundian middle distance runner
  • 1974 – Vincent Laresca, American actor
  • 1974 – Ulrich Le Pen, French footballer
  • 1974 – Marco Zanotti, Italian cyclist
  • 1975 – Nicky Butt, English footballer and coach
  • 1975 – Casey FitzRandolph, American speedskater
  • 1975 – Yuji Ide, Japanese race car driver
  • 1975 – Ito, Spanish footballer and manager
  • 1975 – Willem Korsten, Dutch footballer, left winger
  • 1975 – Jason Moran, American jazz pianist, composer and educator
  • 1975 – Florin Șerban, Romanian director
  • 1975 – Alyaksandr Yermakovich, Belarusian footballer and manager
  • 1976 – Aivaras Abromavičius, Lithuanian-Ukrainian banker and politician; 15th Ukrainian Minister of Economic Development
  • 1976 – Raivis Belohvoščiks, Latvian cyclist
  • 1976 – Emma Bunton, English singer
  • 1976 – Lars Eidinger, German actor
  • 1976 – Giorgio Frezzolini, Italian footballer
  • 1976 – Igors Stepanovs, Latvian footballer
  • 1977 – Hussein Abdulghani, Saudi Arabian footballer
  • 1977 – Bradley Carnell, South African footballer
  • 1977 – John DeSantis, Canadian actor
  • 1977 – Kirsten Klose, German hammer thrower
  • 1977 – Denis Lunghi, Italian cyclist
  • 1977 – Ulrike Maisch, German runner
  • 1977 – Phil Neville, English footballer and manager
  • 1977 – Michael Ruffin, American basketball player
  • 1977 – Jerry Trainor, American actor, director, and producer
  • 1978 – Faris Al-Sultan, German triathlete
  • 1978 – Peter von Allmen, Swiss cross-country skier
  • 1978 – Hernán Rodrigo López, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1978 – Andrei Zyuzin, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1979 – Quinton Jacobs, Namibian footballer
  • 1979 – Byung-hyun Kim, South Korean baseball player
  • 1979 – Spider Loc, American rapper and actor
  • 1979 – Melendi, Spanish singer
  • 1979 – Brian O’Driscoll, Irish rugby player
  • 1979 – Sebastian Schindzielorz, German footballer
  • 1980 – Troy Dumais, American diver
  • 1980 – Karsten Forsterling, Australian rower
  • 1980 – Dave Kitson, English footballer and manager
  • 1980 – Lee Kyung-won, South Korean badminton player
  • 1980 – Kevin McKenna, Canadian soccer player
  • 1980 – Nana Mizuki, Japanese singer-songwriter and voice actress
  • 1980 – Alexander Os, former Norwegian biathlete
  • 1980 – Xavier Pons, Spanish rally diver
  • 1980 – Mari Possa, El Salvadoran pornographic actress
  • 1980 – Bratislav Ristić, Serbian footballer
  • 1981 – Gillian Chung, Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1981 – Ivan Ergić, Serbian footballer
  • 1981 – Roberto Guana Italian footballer
  • 1981 – Wu Hanxiong, Chinese fencer
  • 1981 – Dany Heatley, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1981 – Andy Lee, South Korean singer and actor
  • 1981 – Izabella Miko, Polish actress, dancer, and producer
  • 1981 – Shawn Redhage, American-Australian basketball player
  • 1981 – Michel Teló, Brazilian singer-songwriter
  • 1981 – Jung Ryeo-won, South Korean actress
  • 1981 – David F. Sandberg, Swedish filmmaker
  • 1982 – Richard José Blanco, Venezuelan footballer
  • 1982 – Adriano Ferreira Martins, Brazilian footballer
  • 1982 – Nicolas Mahut, French tennis player
  • 1982 – Sarah Ourahmoune, French boxer
  • 1982 – Simon Rolfes, German footballer
  • 1982 – Dean Whitehead, English footballer
  • 1983 – Alex Acker, American basketball player
  • 1983 – Monique Adamczak, Australian tennis player
  • 1983 – Victor Leandro Bagy, Brazilian footballer
  • 1983 – Ranko Despotović, Serbian footballer
  • 1983 – Svetlana Khodchenkova, Russian actress
  • 1983 – Marieke van den Ham, Dutch water polo player
  • 1983 – Billy Mwanza, Zambian footballer
  • 1983 – Maryse Ouellet, French-Canadian wrestler
  • 1983 – Álvaro Quirós, Spanish golfer
  • 1983 – Francesca Segat, Italian swimmer
  • 1983 – Moritz Volz, German footballer, right back, football pundit and scout
  • 1983 – Kelly VanderBeek, Canadian alpine skier
  • 1984 – Leonardo Burián, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1984 – Luke Grimes, American actor
  • 1984 – Amy Hastings, American track and fielder
  • 1984 – Alex Koslov, Moldovan-American wrestler
  • 1984 – Dejan Milovanović, Serbian footballer
  • 1984 – Wes Morgan, Jamaican footballer
  • 1984 – Haloti Ngata, American footballer
  • 1985 – Markus Berger, Austrian footballer
  • 1985 – Artur Beterbiev, Russian boxer
  • 1985 – Aura Dione, Danish singer and songwriter
  • 1985 – Nick Gehlfuss, American actor
  • 1985 – Salvatore Giunta, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient
  • 1985 – Yumi Hara, Japanese voice actress and singer
  • 1985 – Sasha Pivovarova, Russian model and actress
  • 1985 – Rodrigo San Miguel, Spanish basketball player
  • 1985 – Ri Se-gwang, North Korean artistic gymnast
  • 1985 – Dmitri Sokolov, Russian basketball player
  • 1985 – Ryan Suter, American ice hockey player
  • 1986 – César Arzo, Spanish footballer
  • 1986 – Edson Barboza, Brazilian mixed martial artist
  • 1986 – João Gomes Júnior, Brazilian swimmer
  • 1986 – Javi López, Spanish footballer
  • 1986 – Gina Mambrú, volleyball player from Dominican Republic
  • 1986 – Jonathan Quick, American ice hockey player
  • 1986 – Mike Taylor, American basketball player
  • 1986 – Óscar Vílchez, Peruvian footballer
  • 1986 – Sushant Singh Rajput, Indian actor
  • 1987 – Ioannis Athanasoulas, Greek basketball player
  • 1987 – Andrei Cojocari, Moldovan footballer
  • 1987 – Alexander Dercho, German footballer
  • 1987 – Aida Hadzialic, Swedish politician
  • 1987 – Shaun Keeling, South African rower
  • 1987 – Augustine Kiprono Choge, Kenyan runner
  • 1987 – Kevin Kratz, German footballer
  • 1987 – Danny Munyao, Zambian footballer
  • 1987 – Henrico Drost, Dutch footballer
  • 1987 – Darren Helm, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1987 – Will Johnson, Canadian footballer
  • 1987 – Mulopo Kudimbana, Congolese footballer
  • 1987 – Nyasha Mushekwi, Zimbabwean footballer
  • 1987 – Dominik Roels, German cyclist
  • 1987 – Maša Zec Peškirič, Slovenian tennis player
  • 1987 – Ikumi Yoshimatsu, Japanese actress
  • 1988 – Glaiza de Castro, Filipino actress and singer
  • 1988 – Ashton Eaton, American decathlete
  • 1988 – Rolands Freimanis, Latvian basketball player
  • 1988 – Vanessa Hessler, Italian-American model and actress
  • 1988 – Aleksandar Lazevski, Macedonian footballer
  • 1988 – Ángel Mena, Ecuadorian footballer
  • 1988 – Valérie Tétreault, Canadian tennis player
  • 1988 – Pieter Timmers, Belgian swimmer
  • 1988 – Nemanja Tomić, Serbian footballer
  • 1988 – Ben Turner, English footballer
  • 1989 – Doğuş Balbay, Turkish basketball player
  • 1989 – Kayla Banwarth, American indoor volleyball player
  • 1989 – Férébory Doré, Congolese footballer
  • 1989 – Sergey Fesikov, Russian swimmer
  • 1989 – Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Armenian footballer
  • 1989 – Matteo Pelucchi, Italian cyclist
  • 1989 – Zhang Shuai, Chinese tennis player
  • 1990 – Arash Afshin, Iranian footballer
  • 1990 – Diogo Amado, Portuguese footballer
  • 1990 – Andriy Bohdanov, Ukrainian footballer
  • 1990 – Kelly Rohrbach, American model and actress
  • 1990 – André Martins, Portuguese footballer
  • 1990 – Knowledge Musona, Zimbabwean footballer
  • 1990 – Jacob Smith, American actor
  • 1990 – Doni Tata Pradita, Indonesian motorcycle racer
  • 1991 – Ali Al-Busaidi, Omani footballer
  • 1991 – Javier Calvo, Spanish actor and director
  • 1991 – Mohammad Ghadir, Arab-Israeli footballer
  • 1991 – Jan Hirt, Czech cyclist
  • 1991 – Mateusz Mika, Polish volleyball player
  • 1991 – Alfredo Ortuño, Spanish footballer
  • 1991 – Marta Pagnini, Italian gymnast
  • 1991 – Craig Roberts, Welsh actor and director
  • 1991 – Luis Alfonso Rodríguez, Mexican footballer
  • 1992 – Verónica Cepede Royg, Paraguayan tennis player
  • 1992 – Sven Erik Bystrøm, Norwegian cyclist
  • 1992 – James Duckworth, Australian tennis player
  • 1992 – Kwame Karikari, Ghanaian footballer
  • 1992 – Nicolás Mezquida, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1992 – Roland Szolnoki, Hungarian footballer
  • 1993 – Clément Mignon, French swimmer
  • 1993 – Muralha, Brazilian footballer
  • 1993 – Chiara Pierobon, Italian cyclist (d. 2015)
  • 1994 – Amin Affane, Swedish footballer
  • 1994 – Laura Robson, Australian-English tennis player
  • 1994 – Kang Seung-yoon, South Korean singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1994 – Nils Allen “Booboo” Stewart Jr., American actor
  • 1994 – Lim Kim, South Korean singer and actress
  • 1995 – Yulia Belorukova, Russian cross-country skier
  • 1995 – Nguyễn Công Phượng, Vietnamese footballer
  • 1995 – Marine Johannes, French basketball player
  • 1995 – Alanna Kennedy, Australian footballer player
  • 1996 – Marco Asensio, Spanish footballer
  • 1996 – Aldo Kalulu, French footballer
  • 1996 – Cristian Pavón, Argentine footballer
  • 1997 – Jeremy Shada, American actor, musician and singer
  • 1998 – Borna Sosa, Croatian footballer
  • 1999 – Rubina Ali, Indian actress
  • 2003 – Natalie Garcia, rhythmic gymnast
  • 2004 – Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway, 2nd in line for the Norwegian throne

Deaths on January 21

  • 420 – Yazdegerd I, king of the Sassanid Empire
  • 496 – Epiphanius of Pavia, Italian bishop and saint (b. 438)
  • 917 – Erchanger, Duke of Swabia (b. 880)
  • 918 – Liu Zhijun, Chinese general
  • 939 – Yang Pu, Chinese emperor (b. 900)
  • 942 – An Chongrong, Chinese general (Five Dynasties)
  • 945 – Yang Tan, Chinese general and governor
  • 1118 – Pope Paschal II (b. 1050)
  • 1203 – Agnes II, Abbess of Quedlinburg (b. 1139)
  • 1320 – Árni Helgason, Icelandic bishop (b. c. 1260)
  • 1527 – Juan de Grijalva, Spanish explorer (b. 1489)
  • 1546 – Azai Sukemasa, Japanese daimyō (b. 1491)
  • 1609 – Joseph Justus Scaliger, French historian and scholar (b. 1540)
  • 1638 – Ignazio Donati, Italian composer (b. 1570)
  • 1670 – Claude Duval, French highwayman (b. 1643)
  • 1683 – Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1621)
  • 1699 – Obadiah Walker, English historian and academic (b. 1616)
  • 1706 – Adrien Baillet, French scholar and critic (b. 1649)
  • 1710 – Johann Georg Gichtel, German mystic and critic (b. 1638)
  • 1722 – Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1661)
  • 1731 – Ignjat Đurđević, Croatian poet and translator (b. 1675)
  • 1773 – Alexis Piron, French playwright and author (b. 1689)
  • 1774 – Mustafa III, Ottoman sultan (b. 1717)
  • 1775 – Yemelyan Pugachev, Russian rebel (b. 1742)
  • 1789 – Baron d’Holbach, French-German philosopher and author (b. 1723)
  • 1793 – Louis XVI of France (b. 1754)
  • 1795 – Samuel Wallis, English navigator and explorer (b. 1728)
  • 1809 – Josiah Hornblower, American engineer and politician (b. 1729)
  • 1814 – Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, French botanist and author (b. 1737)
  • 1823 – Cayetano José Rodríguez, Argentinian cleric, journalist, and poet (b. 1761)
  • 1831 – Ludwig Achim von Arnim, German poet and author (b. 1781)
  • 1851 – Albert Lortzing, German actor and composer (b. 1801)
  • 1862 – Božena Němcová, Austrian-Czech author and poet (b. 1820)
  • 1870 – Alexander Herzen, Russian philosopher and author (b. 1812)
  • 1872 – Franz Grillparzer, Austrian playwright and poet (b. 1791)
  • 1881 – Wilhelm Matthias Naeff, Swiss lawyer and politician (b. 1802)
  • 1891 – Calixa Lavallée, Canadian-American lieutenant and composer (b. 1842)
  • 1901 – Elisha Gray, American engineer, co-founded Western Electric (b. 1835)
  • 1914 – Theodor Kittelsen, Norwegian painter and illustrator (b. 1857)
  • 1918 – Jan Drozdowski, Polish pianist and music teacher (b. 1857)
  • 1919 – Gojong of Korea (b. 1852)
  • 1919 – Ahmed Muhtar Pasha, Ottoman general and politician, 277th Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1839)
  • 1924 – Vladimir Lenin, Russian lawyer and politician (b. 1870)
  • 1926 – Camillo Golgi, Italian physician and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1843)
  • 1928 – George Washington Goethals, American general and engineer (b. 1858)
  • 1931 – Felix Blumenfeld, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1863)
  • 1932 – Lytton Strachey, English writer and critic (b. 1880)
  • 1933 – George Moore, Irish author, poet, and critic (b. 1852)
  • 1937 – Marie Prevost, Canadian-American actress and singer (b. 1898)
  • 1938 – Georges Méliès, French actor, director, and producer (b. 1861)
  • 1945 – Rash Behari Bose, Indian soldier and engineer (b. 1886)
  • 1948 – Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Italian composer and educator (b. 1876)
  • 1950 – George Orwell, British novelist, essayist, and critic (b. 1903)
  • 1955 – Archie Hahn, German-American runner and coach (b. 1880)
  • 1956 – Sam Langford, Canadian-American boxer (b. 1883)
  • 1959 – Cecil B. DeMille, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1881)
  • 1959 – Frances Gertrude McGill, pioneering Canadian forensic pathologist (b. 1882)
  • 1959 – Carl Switzer, American child actor and hunting guide (b. 1927)
  • 1960 – Matt Moore, Irish-American actor and director (b. 1888)
  • 1961 – Blaise Cendrars, Swiss author and poet (b. 1887)
  • 1963 – Acharya Shivpujan Sahay, Indian author, poet, and academic (b. 1893)
  • 1963 – Spiros Xenos, Greek-Swedish painter (b. 1881)
  • 1965 – Gwynne Evans, American swimmer and water polo player (b. 1880)
  • 1967 – Ann Sheridan, American actress (b. 1915)
  • 1968 – Will Lang, Jr., American journalist (b. 1914)
  • 1977 – Sandro Penna, Italian poet and journalist (b. 1906)
  • 1978 – Freda Utley, English scholar and author (b. 1898)
  • 1983 – Lamar Williams, American bass player (b. 1949)
  • 1984 – Giannis Skarimpas, Greek playwright and poet (b. 1893)
  • 1984 – Jackie Wilson, American singer (b. 1934)
  • 1985 – James Beard, American chef and author (b. 1903)
  • 1985 – Eddie Graham, American wrestler and promoter (b. 1930)
  • 1987 – Charles Goodell, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (b. 1926)
  • 1988 – Vincent Lingiari, Australian Aboriginal rights activist (b. 1919)
  • 1989 – Carl Furillo, American baseball player (b. 1922)
  • 1989 – Billy Tipton, American pianist and saxophonist (b. 1914)
  • 1993 – Charlie Gehringer, American baseball player and manager (b. 1903)
  • 1994 – Bassel al-Assad, Son of the former President of the Syrian Arab Republic Hafez al-Assad (b. 1962)
  • 1998 – Jack Lord, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1920)
  • 1999 – Susan Strasberg, American actress (b. 1938)
  • 2002 – Peggy Lee, American singer (b. 1920)
  • 2003 – Paul Haines, American-Canadian poet and songwriter (b. 1933)
  • 2003 – Paul Kuusberg, Estonian journalist and author (b. 1916)
  • 2004 – Yordan Radichkov, Bulgarian author and playwright (b. 1929)
  • 2005 – Theun de Vries, Dutch author and poet (b. 1907)
  • 2005 – John L. Hess, American journalist and critic (b. 1917)
  • 2005 – Kaljo Raid, Estonian cellist, composer, and pastor (b. 1921)
  • 2006 – Ibrahim Rugova, Kosovo journalist and politician, 1st President of Kosovo (b. 1944)
  • 2009 – Krista Kilvet, Estonian journalist, politician and diplomat (b. 1946)
  • 2010 – Paul Quarrington, Canadian author, playwright, guitarist, and composer (b. 1953)
  • 2011 – Theoni V. Aldredge, Greek-American costume designer (b. 1922)
  • 2011 – Dennis Oppenheim, American sculptor and photographer (b. 1938)
  • 2011 – E. V. V. Satyanarayana, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1958)
  • 2013 – Ahmet Mete Işıkara, Turkish geophysicist and academic (b. 1941)
  • 2013 – Chumpol Silpa-archa, Thai academic and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand (b. 1940)
  • 2013 – Michael Winner, English director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1935)
  • 2015 – Marcus Borg, American scholar, theologian, and author (b. 1942)
  • 2015 – Leon Brittan, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (b. 1939)
  • 2015 – Johnnie Lewis, Liberian lawyer and politician, 18th Chief Justice of Liberia (b. 1946)
  • 2016 – Bill Johnson, American skier (b. 1960)
  • 2016 – Mrinalini Sarabhai, a 1992-Padma Bhushan award winner Indian classical dancer, choreographer and instructor. (b. 1918)
  • 2019 – Kaye Ballard, American actress (b. 1925)
  • 2019 – Henri, Count of Paris, Head of the House of Orléans (b. 1933)
  • 2019 – Emiliano Sala, Argentine footballer (b. 1990)
  • 2019 – Harris Wofford, American politician, author and civil rights activist (b. 1926)
  • 2020 – Terry Jones, Welsh actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1942)
  • 2020 – Morgan Wootten, American high school basketball coach (b. 1931)

Holidays and observances on January 21

  • Babinden (Bulgaria, Serbia)
  • Birthday of Princess Ingrid Alexandra (Norway)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Agnes
    • Demiana (Coptic Church)
    • Fructuosus
    • John Yi Yun-il (one of The Korean Martyrs)
    • Meinrad of Einsiedeln
    • January 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Errol Barrow Day (Barbados)
  • Flag Day (Quebec)
  • Grandmother’s Day (Poland)
  • Lady of Altagracia Day (Dominican Republic)
  • Lincoln Alexander Day (Canada)

January 21- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

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 18 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

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

Births on January 16

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

Deaths on January 16

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

Holidays and observances on January 16

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

January 16 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

January 15 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 69 – Otho seizes power in Rome, proclaiming himself Emperor of Rome, beginning a reign of only three months.
  • 1541 – King Francis I of France gives Jean-François Roberval a commission to settle the province of New France (Canada) and provide for the spread of the “Holy Catholic faith”.
  • 1559 – Elizabeth I is crowned Queen of England in Westminster Abbey, London.
  • 1582 – Truce of Yam-Zapolsky: Russia cedes Livonia to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
  • 1759 – The British Museum opens to the public.
  • 1777 – American Revolutionary War: New Connecticut (present day Vermont) declares its independence.
  • 1782 – Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris addresses the U.S. Congress to recommend establishment of a national mint and decimal coinage.
  • 1815 – War of 1812: American frigate USS President, commanded by Commodore Stephen Decatur, is captured by a squadron of four British frigates.
  • 1818 – A paper by David Brewster is read to the Royal Society, belatedly announcing his discovery of what we now call the biaxial class of doubly-refracting crystals. On the same day, Augustin-Jean Fresnel signs a “supplement” (submitted four days later) on reflection of polarized light.
  • 1822 – Greek War of Independence: Demetrios Ypsilantis is elected president of the legislative assembly.
  • 1865 – American Civil War: Fort Fisher in North Carolina falls to the Union, thus cutting off the last major seaport of the Confederacy.
  • 1867 – Forty people die when ice covering the boating lake at Regent’s Park, London, collapses.
  • 1870 – A political cartoon for the first time symbolizes the Democratic Party with a donkey (“A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion” by Thomas Nast for Harper’s Weekly).
  • 1876 – The first newspaper in Afrikaans, Die Afrikaanse Patriot, is published in Paarl.
  • 1889 – The Coca-Cola Company, then known as the Pemberton Medicine Company, is incorporated in Atlanta.
  • 1892 – James Naismith publishes the rules of basketball.
  • 1908 – The Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority becomes the first Greek-letter organization founded and established by African American college women.
  • 1910 – Construction ends on the Buffalo Bill Dam in Wyoming, United States, which was the highest dam in the world at the time, at 325 ft (99 m).
  • 1911 – Palestinian Arabic-language Falastin newspaper founded.
  • 1919 – Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, two of the most prominent socialists in Germany, are tortured and murdered by the Freikorps at the end of the Spartacist uprising.
  • 1919 – Great Molasses Flood: A wave of molasses released from an exploding storage tank sweeps through Boston, Massachusetts, killing 21 and injuring 150.
  • 1934 – The 8.0 Mw  Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing an estimated 6,000–10,700 people.
  • 1936 – The first building to be completely covered in glass, built for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company, is completed in Toledo, Ohio.
  • 1937 – Spanish Civil War: Nationalists and Republican both withdraw after suffering heavy losses, ending the Second Battle of the Corunna Road.
  • 1943 – World War II: The Soviet counter-offensive at Voronezh begins.
  • 1943 – The Pentagon is dedicated in Arlington, Virginia.
  • 1947 – The Black Dahlia murder: the dismembered corpse of Elizabeth Short was found in Los Angeles.
  • 1949 – Chinese Civil War: The Communist forces take over Tianjin from the Nationalist Government.
  • 1962 – The Derveni papyrus, Europe’s oldest surviving manuscript dating to 340 BC, is found in northern Greece.
  • 1962 – Netherlands New Guinea Conflict: Indonesian Navy fast patrol boat RI Macan Tutul commanded by Commodore Yos Sudarso sunk in Arafura Sea by the Dutch Navy.
  • 1966 – The First Nigerian Republic, led by Abubakar Tafawa Balewa is overthrown in a military coup d’état.
  • 1967 – The first Super Bowl is played in Los Angeles. The Green Bay Packers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 35–10.
  • 1969 – The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 5.
  • 1970 – Nigerian Civil War: Biafran rebels surrender following an unsuccessful 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria.
  • 1970 – Muammar Gaddafi is proclaimed premier of Libya.
  • 1973 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, President Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.
  • 1975 – The Alvor Agreement is signed, ending the Angolan War of Independence and giving Angola independence from Portugal.
  • 1976 – Gerald Ford’s would-be assassin, Sara Jane Moore, is sentenced to life in prison.
  • 1981 – Pope John Paul II receives a delegation from Solidarity (Polish trade union) at the Vatican led by Lech Wałęsa.
  • 1991 – The United Nations deadline for the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait expires, preparing the way for the start of Operation Desert Storm.
  • 1991 – Elizabeth II, in her capacity as Queen of Australia, signs letters patent allowing Australia to become the first Commonwealth realm to institute its own Victoria Cross in its honours system.
  • 2001 – Wikipedia, a free wiki content encyclopedia, goes online.
  • 2005 – ESA’s SMART-1 lunar orbiter discovers elements such as calcium, aluminum, silicon, iron, and other surface elements on the Moon.
  • 2007 – Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, former Iraqi intelligence chief and half-brother of Saddam Hussein, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former chief judge of the Revolutionary Court, are executed by hanging in Iraq.
  • 2009 – US Airways Flight 1549 ditches safely in the Hudson River after the plane collides with birds less than two minutes after take-off.
  • 2013 – A train carrying Egyptian Army recruits derails near Giza, Greater Cairo, killing 19 and injuring 120 others.
  • 2015 – The Swiss National Bank abandons the cap on the franc’s value relative to the euro, causing turmoil in international financial markets
  • 2016 – The Kenyan Army suffers its worst defeat ever in a battle with Al-Shabaab Islamic insurgents in El-Adde, Somalia. An estimated 150 Kenyan soldiers are killed in the battle.
  • 2019 – Somali militants attack the DusitD2 hotel in Nairobi, Kenya killing at least 21 people and injuring 19.
  • 2019 – Theresa May’s UK government suffers the biggest government defeat in modern times, when 432 MPs voting against the proposed European Union withdrawal agreement, giving her opponents a majority of 230.

Births on January 15

  • 961 – Seongjong of Goryeo, Korean ruler (d. 997)
  • 1432 – Afonso V of Portugal (d. 1481)
  • 1462 – Edzard I, Count of East Frisia, German noble (d. 1528)
  • 1481 – Ashikaga Yoshizumi, Japanese shōgun (d. 1511)
  • 1538 – Maeda Toshiie, Japanese general (d. 1599)
  • 1595 – Henry Carey, 2nd Earl of Monmouth, English politician (d. 1661)
  • 1622 – Molière, French actor and playwright (d. 1673)
  • 1623 – Algernon Sidney, British philosopher (d. 1683)
  • 1671 – Abraham de la Pryme, English archaeologist and historian (d. 1704)
  • 1674 – Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, French poet and playwright (d. 1762)
  • 1716 – Philip Livingston, American merchant and politician (d. 1778)
  • 1747 – John Aikin, English surgeon and author (d. 1822)
  • 1754 – Richard Martin, Irish activist and politician, co-founded the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (d. 1834)
  • 1791 – Franz Grillparzer, Austrian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1872)
  • 1795 – Alexander Griboyedov, Russian playwright, composer, and poet (d. 1829)
  • 1803 – Marjorie Fleming, Scottish poet and author (d. 1811)
  • 1809 – Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, French economist and politician (d. 1865)
  • 1812 – Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, Norwegian author and scholar (d. 1885)
  • 1815 – William Bickerton, English-American religious leader, 3rd President of the Church of Jesus Christ (d. 1905)
  • 1834 – Samuel Arza Davenport, American lawyer and politician (d. 1911)
  • 1841 – Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, English captain and politician, 6th Governor General of Canada (d. 1908)
  • 1842 – Josef Breuer, Austrian physician and psychiatrist (d. 1925)
  • 1842 – Mary MacKillop, Australian nun and saint, co-founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart (d. 1909)
  • 1850 – Leonard Darwin, English soldier, eugenicist, and politician (d. 1943)
  • 1850 – Mihai Eminescu, Romanian journalist, author, and poet (d. 1889)
  • 1850 – Sofia Kovalevskaya, Russian-Swedish mathematician and physicist (d. 1891)
  • 1855 – Jacques Damala, Greek-French soldier and actor (d. 1889)
  • 1858 – Giovanni Segantini, Italian painter (d. 1899)
  • 1859 – Archibald Peake, English-Australian politician, 25th Premier of South Australia (d. 1920)
  • 1863 – Wilhelm Marx, German lawyer and politician, 17th Chancellor of Germany (d. 1946)
  • 1866 – Nathan Söderblom, Swedish archbishop, historian, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1931)
  • 1869 – Ruby Laffoon, American lawyer and politician, 43rd Governor of Kentucky (d. 1941)
  • 1869 – Stanisław Wyspiański, Polish poet, playwright, and painter (d. 1907)
  • 1870 – Pierre S. du Pont, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1954)
  • 1872 – Arsen Kotsoyev, Russian author and translator (d. 1944)
  • 1875 – Thomas Burke, American sprinter, coach, and journalist (d. 1929)
  • 1877 – Lewis Terman, American psychologist, eugenicist, and academic (d. 1956)
  • 1878 – Johanna Müller-Hermann, Austrian composer (d. 1941)
  • 1879 – Mazo de la Roche, Canadian author and playwright (d. 1961)
  • 1882 – Henry Burr, Canadian singer, radio performer, and producer (d. 1941)
  • 1885 – Lorenz Böhler, Austrian physician and author (d. 1973)
  • 1885 – Grover Lowdermilk, American baseball player (d. 1968)
  • 1890 – Michiaki Kamada, Japanese admiral (d. 1947)
  • 1891 – Ray Chapman, American baseball player (d. 1920)
  • 1891 – Osip Mandelstam, Russian poet and translator (d. 1938)
  • 1893 – Ivor Novello, Welsh singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1951)
  • 1895 – Artturi Ilmari Virtanen, Finnish chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
  • 1896 – Marjorie Bennett, Australian-American actress (d. 1982)
  • 1902 – Nâzım Hikmet, Greek-Turkish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1963)
  • 1902 – Saud of Saudi Arabia (d. 1969)
  • 1903 – Paul A. Dever, American lieutenant and politician, 58th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1958)
  • 1907 – Janusz Kusociński, Polish runner and soldier (d. 1940)
  • 1908 – Edward Teller, Hungarian-American physicist and academic (d. 2003)
  • 1909 – Jean Bugatti, German-French engineer (d. 1939)
  • 1909 – Gene Krupa, American drummer, composer, and actor (d. 1973)
  • 1912 – Michel Debré, French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1996)
  • 1913 – Eugène Brands, Dutch painter (d. 2002)
  • 1913 – Lloyd Bridges, American actor (d. 1998)
  • 1913 – Miriam Hyde, Australian pianist and composer (d. 2005)
  • 1913 – Alexander Marinesko, Ukrainian-Russian lieutenant (d. 1963)
  • 1914 – Stefan Bałuk, Polish general (d. 2014)
  • 1914 – Hugh Trevor-Roper, English historian and academic (d. 2003)
  • 1917 – K. A. Thangavelu, Indian film actor and comedian (d. 1994)
  • 1918 – João Figueiredo, Brazilian general and politician, 30th President of Brazil (d. 1999)
  • 1918 – Édouard Gagnon, Canadian cardinal (d. 2007)
  • 1918 – Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egyptian colonel and politician, 2nd President of Egypt (d. 1970)
  • 1919 – Maurice Herzog, French mountaineer and politician, French Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports (d. 2012)
  • 1919 – George Cadle Price, Belizean politician, 1st Prime Minister of Belize (d. 2011)
  • 1920 – Bob Davies, American basketball player and coach (d. 1990)
  • 1920 – Steve Gromek, American baseball player (d. 2002)
  • 1920 – John O’Connor, American cardinal (d. 2000)
  • 1921 – Babasaheb Bhosale, Indian lawyer and politician, 8th Chief Minister of Maharashtra (d. 2007)
  • 1921 – Frank Thornton, English actor (d. 2013)
  • 1922 – Sylvia Lawler, English geneticist (d. 1996)
  • 1922 – Eric Willis, Australian sergeant and politician, 34th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1999)
  • 1923 – Ivor Cutler, Scottish pianist, songwriter, and poet (d. 2006)
  • 1923 – Lee Teng-hui, Taiwanese-Chinese economist and politician, 4th President of the Republic of China
  • 1924 – George Lowe, New Zealand-English mountaineer and explorer (d. 2013)
  • 1925 – Ruth Slenczynska, American pianist and composer
  • 1925 – Ignacio López Tarso, Mexican actor
  • 1926 – Maria Schell, Austrian-Swiss actress (d. 2005)
  • 1927 – Phyllis Coates, American actress
  • 1928 – W. R. Mitchell, English journalist and author (d. 2015)
  • 1929 – Earl Hooker, American guitarist (d. 1970)
  • 1929 – Martin Luther King, Jr., American minister and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (assassinated in 1968)
  • 1930 – Eddie Graham, American wrestler and promoter (d. 1985)
  • 1931 – Lee Bontecou, American painter and sculptor
  • 1932 – Lou Jones, American sprinter (d. 2006)
  • 1933 – Frank Bough, English journalist and radio host
  • 1933 – Ernest J. Gaines, American author and academic (d. 2019)
  • 1933 – Peter Maitlis, English chemist and academic
  • 1934 – V. S. Ramadevi, Indian civil servant and politician, 13th Governor of Karnataka (d. 2013)
  • 1937 – Margaret O’Brien, American actress and singer
  • 1938 – Ashraf Aman, Pakistani engineer and mountaineer
  • 1938 – Estrella Blanca, Mexican wrestler
  • 1938 – Chuni Goswami, Indian footballer and cricketer
  • 1939 – Per Ahlmark, Swedish journalist and politician, 1st Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 2018)
  • 1939 – Tony Bullimore, British sailor
  • 1941 – Captain Beefheart, American singer-songwriter, musician, and artist (d. 2010)
  • 1942 – Frank Joseph Polozola, American academic and judge (d. 2013)
  • 1943 – George Ambrum, Australian rugby league player (d. 1986)
  • 1943 – Margaret Beckett, English metallurgist and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
  • 1943 – Stuart E. Eizenstat, American lawyer and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the European Union
  • 1943 – Mike Marshall, American baseball player
  • 1944 – Jenny Nimmo, English author
  • 1945 – Ko Chun-hsiung, Taiwanese actor, director, and politician (d. 2015)
  • 1945 – Vince Foster, American lawyer and political figure (d. 1993)
  • 1945 – William R. Higgins, American colonel (d. 1990)
  • 1945 – Princess Michael of Kent
  • 1945 – David Pleat, English footballer, manager, and sportscaster
  • 1946 – Charles Brown, American actor (d. 2004)
  • 1947 – Mary Hogg, English lawyer and judge
  • 1947 – Andrea Martin, American-Canadian actress, singer, and screenwriter
  • 1948 – Ronnie Van Zant, American singer-songwriter (d. 1977)
  • 1949 – Luis Alvarado, Puerto Rican-American baseball player (d. 2001)
  • 1949 – Alasdair Liddell, English businessman (d. 2012)
  • 1949 – Ian Stewart, Scottish runner
  • 1949 – Howard Twitty, American golfer
  • 1950 – Marius Trésor, French footballer and coach
  • 1952 – Boris Blank, Swiss singer-songwriter
  • 1952 – Andrzej Fischer, Polish footballer
  • 1953 – Randy White, American football player
  • 1954 – Jose Dalisay, Jr., Filipino poet, author, and screenwriter
  • 1955 – Nigel Benson, English author and illustrator
  • 1955 – Andreas Gursky, German photographer
  • 1955 – Khalid Islambouli, Egyptian lieutenant (d. 1982)
  • 1956 – Vitaly Kaloyev, Russian architect
  • 1956 – Mayawati, Indian educator and politician, 23rd Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
  • 1956 – Marc Trestman, American football player and coach
  • 1957 – David Ige, American politician
  • 1957 – Marty Lyons, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1957 – Andrew Tyrie, English journalist and politician
  • 1957 – Mario Van Peebles, American actor and director
  • 1958 – Ken Judge, Australian footballer and coach (d. 2016)
  • 1958 – Boris Tadić, Serbian psychologist and politician, 16th President of Serbia
  • 1959 – Greg Dowling, Australian rugby league player
  • 1959 – Pavle Kozjek, Slovenian mountaineer and photographer (d. 2008)
  • 1959 – Pete Trewavas, English bass player and songwriter
  • 1961 – Serhiy N. Morozov, Ukrainian footballer and coach
  • 1961 – Yves Pelletier, Canadian actor and director
  • 1963 – Conrad Lant, English singer-songwriter and bass player
  • 1963 – Bruce Schneier, American cryptographer and author
  • 1964 – Osmo Tapio Räihälä, Finnish composer
  • 1965 – Maurizio Fondriest, Italian cyclist
  • 1965 – Bernard Hopkins, American boxer and coach
  • 1965 – James Nesbitt, Northern Irish actor
  • 1966 – Lisa Lisa, American R&B singer
  • 1967 – Ted Tryba, American golfer
  • 1968 – Chad Lowe, American actor, director, and producer
  • 1969 – Delino DeShields, American baseball player and manager
  • 1970 – Shane McMahon, American wrestler and businessman
  • 1971 – Regina King, American actress
  • 1972 – Shelia Burrell, American heptathlete
  • 1972 – Christos Kostis, Greek footballer
  • 1972 – Claudia Winkleman, English journalist and critic
  • 1973 – Essam El Hadary, Egyptian footballer
  • 1973 – Suparno Satpathy, Indian socio-political leader
  • 1974 – Séverine Deneulin, international development academic
  • 1974 – Ray King, American baseball player
  • 1975 – Mary Pierce, Canadian-American tennis player and coach
  • 1976 – Doug Gottlieb, American basketball player and sportscaster
  • 1976 – Iryna Lishchynska, Ukrainian runner
  • 1976 – Scott Murray, Scottish rugby player
  • 1976 – Florentin Petre, Romanian footballer and manager
  • 1978 – Eddie Cahill, American actor
  • 1978 – Franco Pellizotti, Italian cyclist
  • 1978 – Ryan Sidebottom, English cricketer
  • 1979 – Drew Brees, American football player
  • 1979 – Michalis Morfis, Cypriot footballer
  • 1979 – Martin Petrov, Bulgarian footballer
  • 1980 – Matt Holliday, American baseball player
  • 1981 – El Hadji Diouf, Senegalese football player
  • 1981 – Pitbull, American rapper and producer
  • 1981 – Dylan Armstrong, Canadian shot putter and hammer thrower
  • 1981 – Vanessa Henke, German tennis player
  • 1981 – Sean Lamont, Scottish rugby player
  • 1982 – Benjamin Agosto, American skater
  • 1982 – Armando Galarraga, Venezuelan baseball player
  • 1982 – Brett Lebda, American ice hockey player
  • 1982 – Ari Pulkkinen, Finnish pianist and composer
  • 1982 – Francis Zé, Cameroonian footballer
  • 1983 – Jermaine Pennant, English footballer
  • 1983 – Hugo Viana, Portuguese footballer
  • 1984 – Ben Shapiro, American author and commentator
  • 1985 – René Adler, German footballer
  • 1985 – Enrico Patrizio, Italian rugby player
  • 1985 – Kenneth Emil Petersen, Danish footballer
  • 1986 – Fred Davis, American football player
  • 1987 – Greg Inglis, Australian rugby league player
  • 1987 – Tsegaye Kebede, Ethiopian runner
  • 1987 – David Knight, English footballer
  • 1987 – Kelleigh Ryan, Canadian fencer
  • 1987 – Michael Seater, Canadian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1988 – Daniel Caligiuri, German footballer
  • 1988 – Skrillex, American DJ and producer
  • 1989 – Alexei Cherepanov, Russian ice hockey player (d. 2008)
  • 1990 – Paul Blake, English sprinter
  • 1990 – Fernando Forestieri, Italian footballer
  • 1990 – Robert Trznadel, Polish footballer
  • 1991 – Marc Bartra, Spanish footballer
  • 1991 – Nicolai Jørgensen, Danish footballer
  • 1991 – Darya Klishina, Russian long jumper
  • 1991 – James Mitchell, Australian basketball player
  • 1992 – Joël Veltman, Dutch footballer
  • 1994 – Eric Dier, English footballer
  • 1998 – Alexandra Eade, Australian artistic gymnast
  • 2004 – Grace VanderWaal, American singer-songwriter

Deaths on January 15

  • AD 69 – Galba, Roman emperor (b. 3 BC)
  • 378 – Chak Tok Ich’aak I, Mayan ruler
  • 570 – Íte of Killeedy, Irish nun and saint (b. 475)
  • 849 – Theophylact, Byzantine emperor (b. 793)
  • 936 – Rudolph of France (b. 880)
  • 950 – Wang Jingchong, Chinese general
  • 1149 – Berengaria of Barcelona, queen consort of Castile (b. 1116)
  • 1568 – Nicolaus Olahus, Romanian archbishop (b. 1493)
  • 1569 – Catherine Carey, lady-in-waiting to Elizabeth I of England (b. 1524)
  • 1584 – Martha Leijonhufvud, Swedish noblewoman (b. 1520)
  • 1595 – Murad III, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1546)
  • 1623 – Paolo Sarpi, Italian lawyer, historian, and scholar (b. 1552)
  • 1672 – John Cosin, English bishop and academic (b. 1594)
  • 1683 – Philip Warwick, English politician (b. 1609)
  • 1775 – Giovanni Battista Sammartini, Italian organist and composer (b. 1700)
  • 1790 – John Landen, English mathematician and theorist (b. 1719)
  • 1804 – Dru Drury, English entomologist and author (b. 1725)
  • 1813 – Anton Bernolák, Slovak linguist and priest (b. 1762)
  • 1815 – Emma, Lady Hamilton, English-French mistress of Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson (b. 1761)
  • 1855 – Henri Braconnot, French chemist and pharmacist (b. 1780)
  • 1864 – Isaac Nathan, English-Australian composer and journalist (b. 1792)
  • 1866 – Massimo d’Azeglio, Piedmontese-Italian statesman, novelist and painter (b. 1798)
  • 1876 – Eliza McCardle Johnson, American wife of Andrew Johnson, 18th First Lady of the United States (b. 1810)
  • 1885 – Leopold Damrosch, German-American composer and conductor (b. 1832)
  • 1893 – Fanny Kemble, English actress (b. 1809)
  • 1896 – Mathew Brady, American photographer and journalist (b. 1822)
  • 1905 – George Thorn, Australian politician, 6th Premier of Queensland (b. 1838)
  • 1909 – Arnold Janssen, German priest and missionary (b. 1837)
  • 1916 – Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian playwright and translator (b. 1850)
  • 1919 – Karl Liebknecht, German politician (b. 1871)
  • 1919 – Rosa Luxemburg, German economist, theorist, and philosopher (b. 1871)
  • 1926 – Enrico Toselli, Italian pianist and composer (b. 1883)
  • 1929 – George Cope, American painter (b. 1855)
  • 1936 – Henry Forster, 1st Baron Forster, English cricketer and politician, 7th Governor-General of Australia (b. 1866)
  • 1937 – Anton Holban, Romanian author, theoretician, and educator (b. 1902)
  • 1945 – Wilhelm Wirtinger, Austrian-German mathematician and theorist (b. 1865)
  • 1948 – Josephus Daniels, American publisher and diplomat, 41st United States Secretary of the Navy (b. 1862)
  • 1950 – Henry H. Arnold, American general (b. 1886)
  • 1951 – Ernest Swinton, British Army officer (b. 1868)
  • 1951 – Nikolai Vekšin, Estonian-Russian captain and sailor (b. 1887)
  • 1952 – Ned Hanlon, Australian sergeant and politician, 26th Premier of Queensland (b. 1887)
  • 1955 – Yves Tanguy, French-American painter (b. 1900)
  • 1959 – Regina Margareten, Hungarian businesswoman (b. 1863)
  • 1964 – Jack Teagarden, American singer-songwriter and trombonist (b. 1905)
  • 1967 – David Burliuk, Ukrainian author and illustrator (b. 1882)
  • 1968 – Bill Masterton, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1938)
  • 1970 – Frank Clement, English race car driver (b. 1886)
  • 1970 – William T. Piper, American engineer and businessman, founded Piper Aircraft (b. 1881)
  • 1972 – Daisy Ashford, English author (b. 1881)
  • 1973 – Coleman Francis, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1919)
  • 1973 – Ivan Petrovsky, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1901)
  • 1974 – Harold D. Cooley, American lawyer and politician (b. 1897)
  • 1981 – Graham Whitehead, English race car driver (b. 1922)
  • 1982 – Red Smith, American journalist (b. 1905)
  • 1983 – Armin Öpik, Estonian-Australian paleontologist and geologist (b. 1898)
  • 1983 – Shepperd Strudwick, American actor (b. 1907)
  • 1984 – Fazıl Küçük, Cypriot journalist and politician (b. 1906)
  • 1987 – Ray Bolger, American actor, singer, and dancer (b. 1904)
  • 1988 – Seán MacBride, Irish republican activist and politician, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
  • 1990 – Gordon Jackson, Scottish-English actor (b. 1923)
  • 1990 – Peggy van Praagh, English ballerina, choreographer, and director (b. 1910)
  • 1993 – Sammy Cahn, American songwriter (b. 1913)
  • 1994 – Georges Cziffra, Hungarian-French pianist and composer (b. 1921)
  • 1994 – Harry Nilsson, American singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
  • 1994 – Harilal Upadhyay, Indian author, poet, and astrologist (b. 1916)
  • 1996 – Les Baxter, American pianist and composer (b. 1922)
  • 1996 – Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho (b. 1938)
  • 1998 – Gulzarilal Nanda, Indian economist and politician, Prime Minister of India (b. 1898)
  • 1998 – Junior Wells, American singer-songwriter and harmonica player (b. 1934)
  • 1999 – Betty Box, English composer and producer (b. 1915)
  • 2000 – Georges-Henri Lévesque, Canadian-Dominican priest and sociologist (b. 1903)
  • 2001 – Leo Marks, English cryptographer, playwright, and screenwriter (b. 1920)
  • 2002 – Michael Anthony Bilandic, American politician, 49th Mayor of Chicago (b. 1923)
  • 2002 – Eugène Brands, Dutch painter (b. 1913)
  • 2003 – Doris Fisher, American singer-songwriter (b. 1915)
  • 2004 – Olivia Goldsmith, American author (b. 1949)
  • 2005 – Victoria de los Ángeles, Spanish soprano and actress (b. 1923)
  • 2005 – Walter Ernsting, German author (b. 1920)
  • 2005 – Elizabeth Janeway, American author and critic (b. 1913)
  • 2005 – Ruth Warrick, American actress (b. 1916)
  • 2006 – Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Kuwaiti ruler (b. 1926)
  • 2007 – Awad Hamed al-Bandar, Iraqi lawyer and judge (b. 1945)
  • 2007 – Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, Iraqi intelligence officer (b. 1951)
  • 2007 – James Hillier, Canadian-American computer scientist and academic, co-invented the electron microscope (b. 1915)
  • 2007 – Pura Santillan-Castrence, Filipino educator and diplomat (b. 1905)
  • 2007 – Bo Yibo, Chinese commander and politician, Vice Premier of the People’s Republic of China (b. 1908)
  • 2008 – Robert V. Bruce, American historian, author, and academic (b. 1923)
  • 2008 – Brad Renfro, American actor (b. 1982)
  • 2009 – Lincoln Verduga Loor, Ecuadorian journalist and politician (b. 1917)
  • 2011 – Nat Lofthouse, English footballer and manager (b. 1925)
  • 2011 – Pierre Louis-Dreyfus, French soldier, race car driver, and businessman (b. 1908)
  • 2011 – Susannah York, English actress and activist (b. 1939)
  • 2012 – Ed Derwinski, American soldier and politician, 1st United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs (b. 1926)
  • 2012 – Manuel Fraga Iribarne, Spanish lawyer and politician, 3rd President of the Xunta of Galicia (b. 1922)
  • 2012 – Carlo Fruttero, Italian journalist and author (b. 1926)
  • 2012 – Samuel Jaskilka, American general (b. 1919)
  • 2012 – Ib Spang Olsen, Danish author and illustrator (b. 1921)
  • 2012 – Hulett C. Smith, American lieutenant and politician, 27th Governor of West Virginia (b. 1918)
  • 2013 – Nagisa Oshima, Japanese director and screenwriter (b. 1932)
  • 2013 – John Thomas, American high jumper (b. 1941)
  • 2014 – Curtis Bray, American football player and coach (b. 1970)
  • 2014 – John Dobson, Chinese-American astronomer and author (b. 1915)
  • 2014 – Roger Lloyd-Pack, English actor (b. 1944)
  • 2015 – Ervin Drake, American songwriter and composer (b. 1919)
  • 2015 – Kim Fowley, American singer-songwriter, producer, and manager (b. 1939)
  • 2015 – Ray Nagel, American football player and coach (b. 1927)
  • 2016 – Francisco X. Alarcón, American poet and educator (b. 1954)
  • 2016 – Ken Judge, Australian footballer and coach (b. 1958)
  • 2016 – Manuel Velázquez, Spanish footballer (b. 1943)
  • 2017 – Jimmy Snuka, Fijian professional wrestler (b. 1943)
  • 2018 – Dolores O’Riordan, Irish pop singer (b. 1971)
  • 2019 – Carol Channing, American actress (b. 1921)
  • 2019 – Ida Kleijnen, Dutch chef (b. 1936)

Holidays and observances on January 15

  • Arbor Day (Egypt)
  • Armed Forces Day (Nigeria)
  • Army Day (India)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Abeluzius (Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church)
    • Arnold Janssen
    • Francis Ferdinand de Capillas (one of Martyr Saints of China)
    • Ita
    • Our Lady of the Poor
    • Macarius of Egypt (Western Christianity)
    • Maurus and Placidus (Order of Saint Benedict)
    • Paul the Hermit
    • January 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which Martin Luther King Jr. Day can fall (the 15th being his birthday), while January 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Monday in January. (United States)
  • Earliest day on which Sinulog Festival can fall, while January 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Sunday in January. (Philippines)
  • John Chilembwe Day (Malawi)
  • Korean Alphabet Day (North Korea)
  • Ocean Duty Day (Indonesia)
  • Sagichō at Tsurugaoka Hachimangū. (Kamakura, Japan)
  • Teacher’s Day (Venezuela)
  • The second day of the sidereal winter solstice festivals in India (see January 14):
    • Thai Pongal, Tamil harvest festival

January 15 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

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

Births on January 13

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

Deaths on January 13

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

Holidays and observances on January 13

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

January 13 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

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

Births on January 12

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

Deaths of January 12

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

Holidays and observances on January 12

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

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