1112 – Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states.
1451 – Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire.
1488 – Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal lands in Mossel Bay after rounding the Cape of Good Hope, becoming the first known European to travel so far south.
1509 – The Portuguese navy defeats a joint fleet of the Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Venice, the Sultan of Gujarat, the Mamlûk Burji Sultanate of Egypt, the Zamorin of Calicut, and the Republic of Ragusa at the Battle of Diu in Diu, India.
1661 – Maratha forces under Chattrapati Shivaji defeat the Mughals in the Battle of Umberkhind.
1690 – The colony of Massachusetts issues the first paper money in the Americas.
1706 – During the Battle of Fraustadt Swedish forces defeat a superior Saxon-Polish-Russian force by deploying a double envelopment.
1781 – American Revolutionary War: British forces seize the Dutch-owned Caribbean island Sint Eustatius.
1783 – Spain–United States relations are first established.
1787 – Militia led by General Benjamin Lincoln crush the remnants of Shays’ Rebellion in Petersham, Massachusetts.
1807 – A British military force, under Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty captures the Spanish Empire city of Montevideo, now the capital of Uruguay.
1809 – The Territory of Illinois is created by the 10th United States Congress.
1813 – José de San Martín defeats a Spanish royalist army at the Battle of San Lorenzo, part of the Argentine War of Independence.
1830 – The London Protocol of 1830 establishes the full independence and sovereignty of Greece from the Ottoman Empire as the final result of the Greek War of Independence.
1834 – Wake Forest University is established (as Wake Forest Institute) in North Carolina, United States.
1870 – The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing voting rights to male citizens regardless of race.
1913 – The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, authorizing the Federal government to impose and collect an income tax.
1916 – The Centre Block of the Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada burns down with the loss of 7 lives.
1917 – First World War: The American entry into World War I begins when diplomatic relations with Germany are severed due to its unrestricted submarine warfare.
1918 – The Twin Peaks Tunnel in San Francisco, California begins service as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world at 11,920 feet (3,633 meters) long.
1930 – Communist Party of Vietnam is founded at a “Unification Conference” held in Kowloon, British Hong Kong.
1931 – The Hawke’s Bay earthquake, New Zealand’s worst natural disaster, kills 258.
1933 – Adolf Hitler announces that the expansion of Lebensraum into Eastern Europe, and its ruthless Germanisation, are the ultimate geopolitical objectives of Third Reich foreign policy.
1943 – The SS Dorchester is sunk by a German U-boat. Only 230 of 902 men aboard survive.
1944 – World War II: During the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, U.S. Army and Marine forces seize Kwajalein Atoll from the defending Japanese garrison.
1945 – World War II: As part of Operation Thunderclap, 1,000 B-17s of the Eighth Air Force bomb Berlin, a raid which kills between 2,500 and 3,000 and dehouses another 120,000.
1945 – World War II: The United States and the Philippine Commonwealth begin a month-long battle to retake Manila from Japan.
1953 – The Batepá massacre occurred in São Tomé when the colonial administration and Portuguese landowners unleashed a wave of violence against the native creoles known as forros.
1958 – Founding of the Benelux Economic Union, creating a testing ground for a later European Economic Community.
1959 – Rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson are killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.
1960 – British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan speaks of “a wind of change”, signalling that his Government was likely to support decolonisation.
1961 – The United States Air Forces begins Operation Looking Glass, and over the next 30 years, a “Doomsday Plane” is always in the air, with the capability of taking direct control of the United States’ bombers and missiles in the event of the destruction of the SAC’s command post.
1966 – The Soviet Union’s Luna 9 becomes the first spacecraft to make a soft landing on the Moon, and the first spacecraft to take pictures from the surface of the Moon.
1971 – New York Police Officer Frank Serpico is shot during a drug bust in Brooklyn and survives to later testify against police corruption.
1972 – The first day of the seven-day 1972 Iran blizzard, which would kill at least 4,000 people, making it the deadliest snowstorm in history.
1984 – John Buster and the research team at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center announce history’s first embryo transfer, from one woman to another resulting in a live birth.
1984 – Space Shuttle program: STS-41-B is launched using Space Shuttle Challenger.
1989 – After a stroke two weeks previously, South African President P. W. Botha resigns as leader of the National Party, but stays on as president for six more months.
1989 – A military coup overthrows Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of Paraguay since 1954.
1994 – Space Shuttle program: STS-60 is launched, carrying Sergei Krikalev, the first Russian cosmonaut to fly aboard the Shuttle.
1995 – Astronaut Eileen Collins becomes the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle as mission STS-63 gets underway from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
1998 – Cavalese cable car disaster: a United States military pilot causes the death of 20 people when his low-flying plane cuts the cable of a cable-car near Trento, Italy.
2007 – A Baghdad market bombing kills at least 135 people and injures a further 339.
2014 – Two people are shot and killed and 29 students are taken hostage at a high school in Moscow, Russia.
Births on February 3
1338 – Joanna of Bourbon (d. 1378)
1392 – Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland, English nobleman and military commander (d. 1455)
1428 – Helena Palaiologina, Queen of Cyprus (d. 1458)
1478 – Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham (d. 1521)
1504 – Scipione Rebiba, Italian cardinal (d. 1577)
1677 – Jan Santini Aichel, Czech architect, designed the Karlova Koruna Chateau (d. 1723)
1689 – Blas de Lezo, Spanish admiral (d. 1741)
1690 – Richard Rawlinson, English minister and historian (d. 1755)
1721 – Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz, Prussian general (d. 1773)
1736 – Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, Austrian composer and theorist (d. 1809)
1747 – Samuel Osgood, American soldier and politician, 1st United States Postmaster General (d. 1813)
1757 – Joseph Forlenze, Italian ophthalmologist and surgeon (d. 1833)
1763 – Caroline von Wolzogen, German author (d. 1847)
1777 – John Cheyne, Scottish physician and author (d. 1836)
1790 – Gideon Mantell, English scientist (d. 1852)
1795 – Antonio José de Sucre, Venezuelan general and politician, 2nd President of Bolivia (d. 1830)
1807 – Joseph E. Johnston, American general and politician (d. 1891)
1809 – Felix Mendelssohn, German pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1847)
1811 – Horace Greeley, American journalist and politician (d. 1872)
1816 – Ram Singh Kuka, Indian credited with starting the Non-cooperation movement
1817 – Achille Ernest Oscar Joseph Delesse, French geologist and mineralogist (d. 1881)
1817 – Émile Prudent, French pianist and composer (d. 1863)
1821 – Elizabeth Blackwell, American physician and educator (d. 1910)
1824 – Ranald MacDonald, American explorer and educator (d. 1894)
1826 – Walter Bagehot, English journalist and businessman (d. 1877)
1830 – Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1903)
1842 – Sidney Lanier, American composer and poet (d. 1881)
1843 – William Cornelius Van Horne, American-Canadian businessman (d. 1915)
1857 – Giuseppe Moretti, Italian sculptor, designed the Vulcan statue (d. 1935)
1859 – Hugo Junkers, German engineer, designed the Junkers J 1 (d. 1935)
1862 – James Clark McReynolds, American lawyer and judge (d. 1946)
1867 – Charles Henry Turner, American biologist, educator and zoologist (d. 1923)
1872 – Lou Criger, American baseball player and manager (d. 1934)
1874 – Gertrude Stein, American novelist, poet, playwright, (d. 1946)
1878 – Gordon Coates, New Zealand soldier and politician, 21st Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1943)
1887 – Georg Trakl, Austrian pharmacist and poet (d. 1914)
1889 – Artur Adson, Estonian poet, playwright, and critic (d. 1977)
1889 – Carl Theodor Dreyer, Danish director and screenwriter (d. 1968)
1892 – Juan Negrín, Spanish physician and politician, 67th Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1956)
1893 – Gaston Julia, Algerian-French mathematician and academic (d. 1978)
1894 – Norman Rockwell, American painter and illustrator (d. 1978)
1898 – Alvar Aalto, Finnish architect, designed the Finlandia Hall and Aalto Theatre (d. 1976)
1899 – Café Filho, Brazilian journalist, lawyer, and politician, 18th President of Brazil (d. 1970)
1900 – Mabel Mercer, English-American singer (d. 1984)
1903 – Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton, Scottish soldier, pilot, and politician (d. 1973)
1904 – Pretty Boy Floyd, American gangster (d. 1934)
1905 – Paul Ariste, Estonian linguist and academic (d. 1990)
1905 – Arne Beurling, Swedish-American mathematician and academic (d. 1986)
1906 – George Adamson, Indian-English author and activist (d. 1989)
1907 – James A. Michener, American author and philanthropist (d. 1997)
1909 – André Cayatte, French lawyer and director (d. 1989)
1909 – Simone Weil, French mystic and philosopher (d. 1943)
1911 – Jehan Alain, French organist and composer (d. 1940)
1912 – Jacques Soustelle, French anthropologist and politician (d. 1990)
1914 – Mary Carlisle, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2018)
1915 – Johannes Kotkas, Estonian wrestler and hammer thrower (d. 1998)
1917 – Shlomo Goren, Polish-Israeli rabbi and general (d. 1994)
1918 – Joey Bishop, American actor and producer (d. 2007)
1918 – Helen Stephens, American runner, baseball player, and manager (d. 1994)
1920 – Russell Arms, American actor and singer (d. 2012)
1920 – Tony Gaze, Australian race car driver and pilot (d. 2013)
1920 – Henry Heimlich, American physician and author (d. 2016)
1924 – E. P. Thompson, English historian and author (d. 1993)
1924 – Martial Asselin, Canadian lawyer and politician, 25th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 2013)
1925 – Shelley Berman, American actor and comedian (d. 2017)
1925 – John Fiedler, American actor (d. 2005)
1926 – Hans-Jochen Vogel, German soldier and politician, 8th Mayor of Berlin
1927 – Kenneth Anger, American actor, director, and screenwriter
1927 – Blas Ople, Filipino journalist and politician, 21st President of the Senate of the Philippines (d. 2003)
1933 – Paul Sarbanes, American lawyer and politician
1934 – Juan Carlos Calabró, Argentinian actor and screenwriter (d. 2013)
1935 – Johnny “Guitar” Watson, American blues, soul, and funk singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1996)
1936 – Elizabeth Peer, American journalist (d. 1984)
1936 – Bob Simpson, Australian cricketer and coach
1937 – Billy Meier, Swiss author and photographer
1938 – Victor Buono, American actor (d. 1982)
1938 – Emile Griffith, American boxer and trainer (d. 2013)
1939 – Michael Cimino, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
1940 – Fran Tarkenton, American football player and sportscaster
1941 – Dory Funk, Jr., American wrestler and trainer
1941 – Howard Phillips, American lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
1943 – Blythe Danner, American actress
1943 – Dennis Edwards, American soul/R&B singer (d. 2018)
1943 – Eric Haydock, English bass player (d. 2019)
1943 – Shawn Phillips, American-South African singer-songwriter and guitarist
1945 – Johnny Cymbal, Scottish-American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1993)
1945 – Bob Griese, American football player and sportscaster
1947 – Paul Auster, American novelist, essayist, and poet
1947 – Stephen McHattie, Canadian actor and director
1948 – Henning Mankell, Swedish author and playwright (d. 2015)
1949 – Jim Thorpe, American golfer
1950 – Morgan Fairchild, American actress
1950 – Grant Goldman, Australian radio and television host (d. 2020)
1951 – Eugenijus Riabovas, Lithuanian footballer and manager
1951 – Michael Ruppert, American journalist and author (d. 2014)
1952 – Fred Lynn, American baseball player and sportscaster
1954 – Tiger Williams, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1956 – John Jefferson, American football player and coach
1956 – Nathan Lane, American actor and comedian
1957 – Eric Lander, American mathematician, geneticist, and academic
1958 – Joe F. Edwards, Jr., American commander, pilot, and astronaut
1958 – Douglas Holtz-Eakin, American economist
1958 – Greg Mankiw, American economist and academic
1959 – Óscar Iván Zuluaga, Colombian economist and politician, 67th Colombian Minister of Finance
1960 – Tim Chandler, American bass player (d. 2018)
1960 – Marty Jannetty, American wrestler and trainer
1960 – Joachim Löw, German footballer and manager
1960 – Kerry Von Erich, American wrestler (d. 1993)
1961 – Linda Eder, American singer and actress
1963 – Raghuram Rajan, Indian economist and academic
1964 – Indrek Tarand, Estonian historian, journalist, and politician
1965 – Maura Tierney, American actress and producer
1966 – Frank Coraci, American director and screenwriter
1966 – Danny Morrison, New Zealand cricketer and sportscaster
1967 – Tim Flowers, English footballer and coach
1967 – Mixu Paatelainen, Finnish footballer and coach
1968 – Vlade Divac, Serbian-American basketball player and sportscaster
1968 – Marwan Khoury, Lebanese singer, songwriter, and composer
1969 – Beau Biden, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 44th Attorney General of Delaware (d. 2015)
1969 – Retief Goosen, South African golfer
1970 – Óscar Córdoba, Colombian footballer
1970 – Warwick Davis, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
1971 – Hong Seok-cheon, South Korean actor
1972 – Jesper Kyd, Danish pianist and composer
1973 – Ilana Sod, Mexican journalist and producer
1976 – Isla Fisher, Omani-Australian actress
1977 – Daddy Yankee, American-Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, rapper, actor and record producer
1977 – Marek Židlický, Czech ice hockey player
1978 – Joan Capdevila, Spanish footballer
1979 – Paul Franks, English cricketer and coach
1982 – Becky Bayless, American wrestler
1982 – Marie-Ève Drolet, Canadian speed skater
1984 – Elizabeth Holmes, American fraudster, founder of Theranos
1985 – Angela Fong, Canadian wrestler and actress
1985 – Andrei Kostitsyn, Belarusian ice hockey player
1986 – Lucas Duda, American baseball player
1986 – Mathieu Giroux, Canadian speed skater
1986 – Kanako Yanagihara, Japanese actress
1988 – Cho Kyuhyun, South Korean singer
1989 – Slobodan Rajković, Serbian footballer
1990 – Sean Kingston, American-Jamaican singer-songwriter
1990 – Martin Taupau, New Zealand rugby league player
1991 – Corey Norman, Australian rugby league player
1992 – Olli Aitola, Finnish ice hockey player
Deaths on February 3
AD 6 – Ping, emperor of the Han Dynasty (b. 9 BC)
456 – Sihyaj Chan K’awiil II, ruler of Tikal
639 – K’inich Yo’nal Ahk I, ruler of Piedras Negras
699 – Werburgh, English nun and saint
865 – Ansgar, Frankish archbishop (b. 801)
929 – Guy, margrave of Tuscany
938 – Zhou Ben, Chinese general (b. 862)
994 – William IV, duke of Aquitaine (b. 937)
1014 – Sweyn Forkbeard, king of Denmark and England (b. 960)
1116 – Coloman, king of Hungary
1161 – Inge I, king of Norway (b. 1135)
1252 – Sviatoslav III, Russian Grand Prince (b. 1196)
1399 – John of Gaunt, Belgian-English politician, Lord High Steward (b. 1340)
1428 – Ashikaga Yoshimochi, Japanese shōgun (b. 1386)
1451 – Murad II, Ottoman sultan (b. 1404)
1468 – Johannes Gutenberg, German publisher, invented the Printing press (b. 1398)
1537 – Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare (b. 1513)
1566 – George Cassander, Flemish theologian and author (b. 1513)
1618 – Philip II, duke of Pomerania (b. 1573)
1619 – Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham, English politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1564)
1737 – Tommaso Ceva, Italian mathematician and academic (b. 1648)
1802 – Pedro Rodríguez, Spanish statesman and economist (b. 1723)
1813 – Juan Bautista Cabral, Argentinian sergeant (b. 1789)
1820 – Gia Long, Vietnamese emperor (b. 1762)
1832 – George Crabbe, English surgeon and poet (b. 1754)
1862 – Jean-Baptiste Biot, French physicist, astronomer, and mathematician (b. 1774)
1866 – François-Xavier Garneau, Canadian poet, author, and historian (b. 1809)
1873 – Isaac Baker Brown, English gynecologist and surgeon (b. 1811)
1922 – John Butler Yeats, Irish painter and illustrator (b. 1839)
1924 – Woodrow Wilson, American historian, academic, and politician, 28th President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1856)
506 – Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths promulgates the Breviary of Alaric (Breviarium Alaricianum or Lex Romana Visigothorum), a collection of “Roman law”.
880 – Battle of Lüneburg Heath: King Louis III is defeated by the Norse Great Heathen Army at Lüneburg Heath in Saxony.
962 – Translatio imperii: Pope John XII crowns Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, the first Holy Roman Emperor in nearly 40 years.
1032 – Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor becomes king of Burgundy.
1141 – The Battle of Lincoln, at which Stephen, King of England is defeated and captured by the allies of Empress Matilda.
1207 – Terra Mariana, eventually comprising present-day Latvia and Estonia, is established.
1438 – Nine leaders of the Transylvanian peasant revolt are executed at Torda.
1461 – Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Mortimer’s Cross is fought in Herefordshire, England.
1536 – Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1645 – Scotland in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms: Battle of Inverlochy.
1653 – New Amsterdam (later renamed The City of New York) is incorporated.
1709 – Alexander Selkirk is rescued after being shipwrecked on a desert island, inspiring Daniel Defoe’s adventure book Robinson Crusoe.
1848 – Mexican–American War: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed.
1850 – Brigham Young declares war on Timpanogos in the Battle at Fort Utah.
1868 – Pro-Imperial forces captured Osaka Castle from the Tokugawa shogunate and burned it to the ground.
1876 – The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs of Major League Baseball is formed.
1887 – In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania the first Groundhog Day is observed.
1899 – The Australian Premiers’ Conference held in Melbourne decides to locate Australia’s capital city, Canberra, between Sydney and Melbourne.
1901 – Funeral of Queen Victoria.
1909 – The Paris Film Congress opens. An attempt by European producers to form an equivalent to the MPCC cartel in the United States.
1913 – Grand Central Terminal is opened in New York City.
1920 – The Tartu Peace Treaty is signed between Estonia and Russia.
1922 – Ulysses by James Joyce is published.
1925 – Serum run to Nome: Dog sleds reach Nome, Alaska with diphtheria serum, inspiring the Iditarod race.
1934 – The Export-Import Bank of the United States is incorporated.
1935 – Leonarde Keeler administers polygraph tests to two murder suspects, the first time polygraph evidence was admitted in U.S. courts.
1942 – The Osvald Group is responsible for the first, active event of anti-Nazi resistance in Norway, to protest the inauguration of Vidkun Quisling.
1943 – World War II: The Battle of Stalingrad comes to an end when Soviet troops accept the surrender of the last organized German troops in the city.
1959 – Nine experienced ski hikers in the northern Ural Mountains in the Soviet Union die under mysterious circumstances.
1966 – Pakistan suggests a six-point agenda with Kashmir after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.
1971 – Idi Amin replaces President Milton Obote as leader of Uganda.
1971 – The international Ramsar Convention for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands is signed in Ramsar, Mazandaran, Iran.
1980 – Reports surface that the FBI is targeting allegedly corrupt Congressmen in the Abscam operation.
1982 – Hama massacre: The government of Syria attacks the town of Hama.
1987 – After the 1986 People Power Revolution, the Philippines enacts a new constitution.
1989 – Soviet–Afghan War: The last Soviet armoured column leaves Kabul.
1990 – Apartheid: F. W. de Klerk announces the unbanning of the African National Congress and promises to release Nelson Mandela.
2000 – First digital cinema projection in Europe (Paris) realized by Philippe Binant with the DLP CINEMA technology developed by Texas Instruments.
2002 – Wedding of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, and Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti
2004 – Swiss tennis player Roger Federer becomes the No. 1 ranked men’s singles player, a position he will hold for a record 237 weeks.
2005 – The Government of Canada introduces the Civil Marriage Act. This legislation would become law on July 20, 2005, legalizing same-sex marriage.
2007 – Police officer Filippo Raciti is killed when a clash breaks out in the Sicily derby between Catania and Palermo, in the Serie A, the top flight of Italian football. This event led to major changes in stadium regulations in Italy.
2012 – The ferry MV Rabaul Queen sinks off the coast of Papua New Guinea near the Finschhafen District, with an estimated 146-165 dead.
Births on February 2
1208 – James I of Aragon (d. 1276)
1282 – Maud Chaworth, Countess of Leicester (d. 1322).
1425 (or 1426) – Eleanor of Navarre, Queen regnant of Navarre (d. 1479)
1443 – Elisabeth of Bavaria, Electress of Saxony (d. 1486)
1455 – John, King of Denmark (d. 1513)
1457 – Peter Martyr d’Anghiera, Italian-Spanish historian and author (d. 1526)
1467 – Columba of Rieti, Italian Dominican sister (d. 1501)
1494 – Bona Sforza, queen of Sigismund I of Poland (d. 1557)
1502 – Damião de Góis, Portuguese philosopher and historian (d. 1574)
1506 – René de Birague, Italian-French cardinal and politician (d. 1583)
1509 – John of Leiden, Dutch Anabaptist leader (d. 1536)
1522 – Lodovico Ferrari, Italian mathematician and academic (d. 1565)
1536 – Piotr Skarga, Polish writer (d. 1612)
1551 – Nicolaus Reimers, German astronomer (d. 1600)
1576 – Alix Le Clerc, French Canoness Regular and foundress (d. 1622)
1585 – Judith Quiney, William Shakespeare’s youngest daughter (d. 1662)
1585 – Hamnet Shakespeare, William Shakespeare’s only son (baptised; d. 1596)
1588 – Georg II of Fleckenstein-Dagstuhl, German nobleman (d. 1644)
1600 – Gabriel Naudé, French librarian and scholar (d. 1653)
1611 – Ulrik of Denmark, Danish prince-bishop (d. 1633)
1613 – Noël Chabanel, French missionary and saint (d. 1649)
1621 – Johannes Schefferus, Swedish author and hymn-writer (d. 1679)
1650 – Pope Benedict XIII (d. 1730)
1650 – Nell Gwyn, English actress, mistress of King Charles II of England (d. 1687)
1651 – William Phips, Royal governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (d. 1695)
1669 – Louis Marchand, French organist and composer (d. 1732)
1677 – Jean-Baptiste Morin, French composer (d. 1745)
1695 – William Borlase, English geologist and archaeologist (d. 1772)
1695 – François de Chevert, French general (d. 1769)
1700 – Johann Christoph Gottsched, German author and critic (d. 1766)
1711 – Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg (d. 1794)
1714 – Gottfried August Homilius, German organist and composer (d. 1785)
1717 – Ernst Gideon von Laudon, Austrian field marshal (d. 1790)
1754 – Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, French general and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1838)
1782 – Henri de Rigny, French admiral and politician, French Minister of War (d. 1835)
1786 – Jacques Philippe Marie Binet, French mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (d. 1856)
1802 – Jean-Baptiste Boussingault, French chemist and academic (d. 1887)
1803 – Albert Sidney Johnston, American general (d. 1862)
1829 – Alfred Brehm, German zoologist and illustrator (d. 1884)
1829 – William Stanley, English engineer and philanthropist (d. 1909)
1841 – François-Alphonse Forel, Swiss limnologist and hydrologist (d. 1912)
1842 – Julian Sochocki, Polish-Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1927)
1849 – Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav, Slovak poet and playwright (d. 1921)
1851 – José Guadalupe Posada, Mexican illustrator and engraver (d. 1913)
1856 – Frederick William Vanderbilt, American railway magnate (d. 1938)
1856 – Makar Yekmalyan, Armenian composer (d. 1905)
1857 – Jan Drozdowski, Polish pianist and music teacher (d. 1918)
1860 – Curtis Guild, Jr., American journalist and politician, 43rd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1915)
1861 – Solomon R. Guggenheim, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (d. 1949)
1862 – Émile Coste, French fencer (d. 1927)
1862 – Cornelius McKane, American physician, educator, and hospital founder (d. 1912)
1866 – Enrique Simonet, Spanish painter and academic (d. 1927)
1873 – Leo Fall, Austrian composer (d. 1925)
1873 – Konstantin von Neurath, German politician and diplomat, 13th German Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1956)
1875 – Fritz Kreisler, Austrian-American violinist and composer (d. 1962)
1877 – Frank L. Packard, Canadian author (d. 1942)
1878 – Joe Lydon, American boxer (d. 1937)
1880 – Frederick Lane, Australian swimmer (d. 1969)
1881 – Orval Overall, American baseball player and manager (d. 1947)
1882 – Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark (d. 1944)
1882 – James Joyce, Irish novelist, short story writer, and poet (d. 1941)
1883 – Johnston McCulley, American author and screenwriter, created Zorro (d. 1958)
1883 – Julia Nava de Ruisánchez, Mexican activist and writer (d. 1964)
1886 – William Rose Benét, American poet and author (d. 1950)
1887 – Ernst Hanfstaengl, German businessman (d. 1975)
1889 – Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, French general (d. 1952)
1890 – Charles Correll, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1972)
1892 – Tochigiyama Moriya, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 27th Yokozuna (d. 1959)
1893 – Cornelius Lanczos, Hungarian mathematician and physicist (d. 1974)
1893 – Raoul Riganti, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1970)
1893 – Damdin Sükhbaatar, Mongolian soldier and politician (d. 1924)
1895 – George Halas, American football player and coach (d. 1983)
1895 – Robert Philipp, American painter (d. 1981)
1895 – George Sutcliffe, Australian public servant (d. 1964)
1896 – Kazimierz Kuratowski, Polish mathematician and logician (d. 1980)
1897 – Howard Deering Johnson, American businessman, founded Howard Johnson’s (d. 1972)
1897 – Gertrude Blanch, Russian-American mathematician (d. 1996)
1900 – Anni Frind, German lyric soprano (d. 1987)
1900 – Willie Kamm, American baseball player and manager (d. 1988)
1901 – Jascha Heifetz, Lithuanian-born American violinist and educator (d. 1987)
1902 – Newbold Morris, American lawyer and politician (d. 1966)
1902 – John Tonkin, Australian politician, 20th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1995)
1904 – Bozorg Alavi, Iranian author and activist (d. 1997)
1905 – Ayn Rand, Russian-born American novelist and philosopher (d. 1982)
1908 – Wes Ferrell, American baseball player and manager (d. 1976)
1909 – Frank Albertson, American actor (d. 1964)
1911 – Jack Pizzey, Australian politician, 29th Premier of Queensland (d. 1968)
1912 – Millvina Dean, English civil servant and cartographer (d. 2009)
1912 – Burton Lane, American songwriter and composer (d. 1997)
1913 – Poul Reichhardt, Danish actor and singer (d. 1985)
1914 – Eric Kierans, Canadian economist and politician, 1st Canadian Minister of Communications (d. 2004)
1915 – Abba Eban, South African-Israeli politician and diplomat, 1st Israel Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 2002)
1915 – Stan Leonard, Canadian golfer (d. 2005)
1915 – Khushwant Singh, Indian journalist and author (d. 2014)
1916 – Xuân Diệu, Vietnamese poet and author (d. 1985)
1917 – Mary Ellis, British World War II ferry pilot (d. 2018)
1917 – Đỗ Mười, Vietnamese politician, 5th Prime Minister of Vietnam (d. 2018)
1918 – Hella Haasse, Indonesian-Dutch author (d. 2011)
1919 – Lisa Della Casa, Swiss soprano and actress (d. 2012)
1919 – Georg Gawliczek, German footballer and manager (d. 1999)
1920 – George Hardwick, English footballer and coach (d. 2004)
1920 – John Russell, American Olympic equestrian
1920 – Arthur Willis, English footballer, full-back, player-manager (d. 1987)
1922 – Kunwar Digvijay Singh, Indian field hockey player (d. 1978)
1922 – Robert Chef d’Hôtel, French athlete (d. 2019)
1922 – James L. Usry, American politician, first African-American mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey (d. 2002)
1922 – Stoyanka Mutafova, Bulgarian actress (d. 2019)
1923 – Jean Babilée, French dancer and choreographer (d. 2014)
1923 – James Dickey, American poet and novelist (d. 1997)
1923 – Svetozar Gligorić, Serbian and Yugoslav chess grandmaster (d.2012)
1923 – Bonita Granville, American actress and producer (d. 1988)
1923 – Red Schoendienst, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2018)
1923 – Liz Smith, American journalist and author (d. 2017)
1923 – Clem Windsor, Australian rugby player and surgeon (d. 2007)
1924 – Elfi von Dassanowsky, Austrian-American singer, pianist, producer (d. 2007)
1924 – Sonny Stitt, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1982)
1925 – Elaine Stritch, American actress and singer (d. 2014)
1926 – Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, French academic and politician, 20th President of France
1927 – Stan Getz, American saxophonist (d. 1991)
1927 – Doris Sams, American baseball player (d. 2012)
1928 – Ciriaco De Mita, 47th Prime minister of Italy
1928 – Jay Handlan, American basketball player and engineer (d. 2013)
1928 – Tommy Harmer, English footballer, inside forward, youth team coach (d. 2007)
1929 – Sheila Matthews Allen, American actress and producer (d. 2013)
1929 – George Band, English engineer and mountaineer (d. 2011)
1929 – Věra Chytilová, Czech actress, director, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
1929 – John Henry Holland, American computer scientist and academic (d. 2015)
1929 – Waldemar Kmentt, Austrian operatic tenor (d. 2015)
1931 – Dries van Agt, Dutch politician, diplomat and jurist, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
1931 – Les Dawson, English comedian and author (d. 1993)
1931 – Glynn Edwards, Malaysian-English actor (d. 2018)
1931 – John Paul Harney, Canadian educator and politician
1931 – Judith Viorst, American journalist and author
1932 – Arthur Lyman, American jazz vibraphone and marimba player (d. 2002)
1932 – Robert Mandan, American actor (d. 2018)
1933 – M’el Dowd, American actress and singer (d. 2012)
1933 – Tony Jay, English-American actor (d. 2006)
1933 – Orlando “Cachaíto” López, Cuban bassist and composer (d. 2009)
1933 – Than Shwe, Burmese general and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Burma
1935 – Pete Brown, American golfer (d. 2015)
1935 – Evgeny Velikhov, Russian physicist and academic
1936 – Duane Jones, American actor (d. 1988)
1936 – Metin Oktay, Turkish footballer and manager (d. 1991)
1937 – Don Buford, American baseball player and coach
1937 – Eric Arturo Delvalle, Panamanian lawyer and politician, President of Panama (d. 2015)
1937 – Anthony Haden-Guest, British journalist, poet, and critic
1937 – Remak Ramsay, American actor
1937 – Tom Smothers, American comedian, actor, and activist
1937 – Alexandra Strelchenko, Russian Singer (d. 2019)
1938 – Norman Fowler, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Transport
1938 – Gene MacLellan, Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 1995)
1939 – Jackie Burroughs, English-born Canadian actress (d. 2010)
1939 – Mary-Dell Chilton, American chemist and inventor and one of the founders of modern plant biotechnology
1939 – Dale T. Mortensen, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2014)
1940 – Alan Caddy, English guitarist and producer (d. 2000)
1940 – Thomas M. Disch, American author and poet (d. 2008)
1940 – Wayne Fontes, American football player and coach
1940 – David Jason, English actor, director, and producer
1941 – Terry Biddlecombe, English jockey (d. 2014)
1942 – Bo Hopkins, American actor
1942 – Graham Nash, English-American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1944 – Andrew Davis, English organist and conductor
1944 – Geoffrey Hughes, English actor (d. 2012)
1944 – Ursula Oppens, American pianist and educator
1945 – John Eatwell, Baron Eatwell, English economist and academic
1946 – John Armitt, English engineer and businessman
1946 – Alpha Oumar Konaré, Malian academic and politician, 3rd President of Mali
1946 – Constantine Papadakis, Greek-American businessman and academic (d. 2009)
1947 – Greg Antonacci, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2017)
1947 – Farrah Fawcett, American actress and producer (d. 2009)
1948 – Ina Garten, American chef and author
1948 – Al McKay, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1948 – Roger Williamson, English race car driver (d. 1973)
1949 – Duncan Bannatyne, Scottish businessman and philanthropist
1949 – Yasuko Namba, Japanese mountaineer (d. 1996)
1949 – Brent Spiner, American actor and singer
1949 – Ross Valory, American rock bass player and songwriter
1950 – Osamu Kido, Japanese wrestler
1950 – Libby Purves, British journalist and author
1950 – Barbara Sukowa, German actress
1950 – Genichiro Tenryu, Japanese wrestler
1951 – Vangelis Alexandris, Greek basketball player and coach
1951 – Ken Bruce, Scottish radio host
1952 – John Cornyn, American lawyer and politician, 49th Attorney General of Texas
1952 – Rick Dufay, French-American guitarist and songwriter
1952 – Park Geun-hye, South Korean politician, 11th President of South Korea
1952 – Ralph Merkle, American computer scientist and academic
1952 – Carol Ann Susi, American actress (d. 2014)
1953 – Duane Chapman, American bounty hunter
1953 – Jerry Sisk, Jr., American gemologist, co-founded Jewelry Television (d. 2013)
1954 – Christie Brinkley, American actress, model, and businesswoman
1954 – Hansi Hinterseer, Austrian skier and actor
1954 – Nelson Ne’e, Solomon Islander politician (d. 2013)
1954 – John Tudor, American baseball player
1955 – Leszek Engelking, Polish poet and author
1955 – Bob Schreck, American author
1955 – Michael Talbott, American actor
1955 – Kim Zimmer, American actress
1956 – Adnan Oktar, Turkish theorist and author
1957 – Phil Barney, Algerian-French singer-songwriter
1958 – Michel Marc Bouchard, Canadian playwright
1961 – Abraham Iyambo, Namibian politician (d. 2013)
1961 – Lauren Lane, American actress and academic
1962 – Philippe Claudel, French author, director, and screenwriter
1962 – Andy Fordham, English darts player
1962 – Paul Kilgus, American baseball player
1962 – Kate Raison, Australian actress
1962 – Michael T. Weiss, American actor
1963 – Eva Cassidy, American singer and guitarist (d. 1996)
1963 – Kjell Dahlin, Swedish ice hockey player
1963 – Andrej Kiska, Slovak entrepreneur and philanthropist, President of Slovakia
1963 – Philip Laats, Belgian martial artist
1963 – Vigleik Storaas, Norwegian pianist
1965 – Carl Airey, English footballer
1965 – Naoki Sano, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist
1966 – Andrei Chesnokov, Russian tennis player and coach
1966 – Robert DeLeo, American bass player, songwriter, and producer
1966 – Adam Ferrara, American actor and comedian
1966 – Michael Misick, Caicos Islander politician, Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands
1967 – Artūrs Irbe, Latvian ice hockey player and coach
1967 – Laurent Nkunda, Congolese general
1968 – Sean Elliott, American basketball player and sportscaster
1968 – Scott Erickson, American baseball player and coach
1969 – Dana International, Israeli singer-songwriter
1969 – Valeri Karpin, Estonian-Russian footballer and manager
1970 – Roar Strand, Norwegian footballer
1970 – Jennifer Westfeldt, American actress and singer
1971 – Michelle Gayle, English singer-songwriter and actress
1971 – Arly Jover, Spanish actress
1971 – Isaac Kungwane, South African footballer and sportscaster (d. 2014)
1971 – Jason Taylor, Australian rugby league player and coach
1971 – Hwang Seok-jeong, South Korean actress
1972 – Melvin Mora, Venezuelan baseball player
1972 – Aleksey Naumov, Russian footballer
1973 – Andrei Luzgin, Estonian tennis player and coach
1973 – Aleksander Tammert, Estonian discus thrower
1973 – Marissa Jaret Winokur, American actress and singer
1975 – Todd Bertuzzi, Canadian ice hockey player
1975 – Donald Driver, American football player
1975 – Ieroklis Stoltidis, Greek footballer
1976 – Ryan Farquhar, Northern Irish motorcycle racer
1976 – James Hickman, English swimmer
1976 – Ana Roces, Filipino actress
1977 – Shakira, Colombian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
1977 – Libor Sionko, Czech footballer
1978 – Adam Christopher, New Zealand writer
1978 – Eden Espinosa, American actress and singer
1978 – Annabel Ellwood, Australian tennis player
1978 – Barry Ferguson, Scottish footballer and manager
1978 – Rich Sommer, American actor
1978 – Faye White, English footballer
1979 – Urmo Aava, Estonian race car driver
1979 – Fani Chalkia, Greek hurdler and sprinter
1979 – Christine Lampard, Irish television host
1979 – Klaus Mainzer, German rugby player
1979 – Shamita Shetty, Indian actress
1979 – Irini Terzoglou, Greek shot putter
1980 – Angela Finger-Erben, German journalist
1980 – Teddy Hart, Canadian wrestler
1980 – Oleguer Presas, Spanish footballer
1981 – Emre Aydın, Turkish singer-songwriter
1981 – Michelle Bass, English model and singer
1981 – Salem al-Hazmi, Saudi Arabian terrorist, hijacker of American Airlines Flight 77 (d. 2001)
1982 – Sergio Castaño Ortega, Spanish footballer
1982 – Kelly Mazzante, American basketball player
1982 – Kan Mi-youn, South Korean singer, model, and host
1983 – Ronny Cedeño, Venezuelan baseball player
1983 – Carolina Klüft, Swedish heptathlete and jumper
1983 – Jordin Tootoo, Canadian ice hockey player
1983 – Vladimir Voskoboinikov, Estonian footballer
1983 – Alex Westaway, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1984 – Brian Cage, American wrestler
1984 – Mao Miyaji, Japanese actress
1984 – Rudi Wulf, New Zealand rugby player
1985 – Masoud Azizi, Afghan sprinter
1985 – Renn Kiriyama, Japanese actor
1985 – Kristo Saage, Estonian basketball player
1985 – Silvestre Varela, Portuguese footballer
1986 – Gemma Arterton, English actress and singer
1986 – Miwa Asao, Japanese volleyball player
1987 – Anthony Fainga’a, Australian rugby player
1987 – Saia Fainga’a, Australian rugby player
1987 – Faydee, Australian singer
1987 – Athena Imperial, Filipino journalist, Miss Earth-Water 2011
1987 – Mimi Page, American singer-songwriter and composer
1987 – Gerard Piqué, Spanish footballer
1987 – Javon Ringer, American football player
1987 – Jill Scott, English footballer
1987 – Victoria Song, Chinese singer and actress
1987 – Martin Spanjers, American actor and producer
1988 – Zosia Mamet, American actress
1989 – Harrison Smith, American football player
1989 – Southside, American record producer
1991 – Nathan Delfouneso, English footballer
1991 – Gregory Mertens, Belgian footballer (d. 2015)
1991 – Shohei Nanba, Japanese actor
1992 – Lammtarra, American race horse (d. 2014)
1992 – Joonas Tamm, Estonian footballer
1993 – Ravel Morrison, English footballer
1993 – Bobby Decordova-Reid, English born Jamaican international footballer, forward
1995 – Paul Digby, English footballer
1995 – Aleksander Jagiełło, Polish footballer
1995 – Arfa Karim, Pakstani student and computer prodigy (d. 2012)
1996 – Harry Winks, English international footballer, midfielder
Deaths on February 2
619 – Laurence of Canterbury, English archbishop and saint
880 – Bruno, duke of Saxony
1124 – Bořivoj II, Duke of Bohemia (b. 1064)
1218 – Konstantin of Rostov (b. 1186)
1237 – Joan, Lady of Wales
1250 – Eric XI of Sweden (b. 1216)
1294 – Louis II, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1229)
1347 – Thomas Bek, Bishop of Lincoln, was the bishop of Lincoln (b. 1282)
1348 – Narymunt, Prince of Pinsk
1435 – Joan II of Naples, Queen of Naples (b. 1371)
1446 – Vittorino da Feltre, Italian humanist (b. 1378)
1448 – Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Egyptian jurist and scholar (b. 1372)
1461 – Owen Tudor, Welsh founder of the Tudor dynasty (b. c. 1400)
1512 – Hatuey, Caribbean tribal chief
1529 – Baldassare Castiglione, Italian soldier and diplomat (b. 1478)
1580 – Bessho Nagaharu, Japanese daimyō (b. 1558)
1594 – Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Italian composer and educator (b. 1525)
1648 – George Abbot, English author and politician (b. 1603)
1660 – Gaston, Duke of Orléans (b. 1608)
1660 – Govert Flinck, Dutch painter (b. 1615)
1661 – Lucas Holstenius, German geographer and historian (b. 1596)
1675 – Ivan Belostenec, Croatian linguist and lexicographer (b. 1594)
1688 – Abraham Duquesne, French admiral (b. 1610)
1704 – Guillaume de l’Hôpital, French mathematician and academic (b. 1661)
1712 – Martin Lister, English physician and geologist (b. 1639)
1714 – John Sharp, English archbishop (b. 1643)
1723 – Antonio Maria Valsalva, Italian anatomist and physician (b. 1666)
1768 – Robert Smith, English mathematician and theorist (b. 1689)
1769 – Pope Clement XIII (b. 1693)
1802 – Welbore Ellis, 1st Baron Mendip, English politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (b. 1713)
1804 – George Walton, American lawyer and politician, Governor of Georgia (b. 1749)
2014 – Philip Seymour Hoffman, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1967)
2014 – Luis Raúl, Puerto Rican comedian and actor (b. 1962)
2014 – Bunny Rugs, Jamaican singer (b. 1948)
2014 – Nigel Walker, English footballer (b. 1959)
2015 – Joseph Alfidi, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1949)
2015 – Dave Bergman, American baseball player (b. 1953)
2015 – Andriy Kuzmenko, Ukrainian singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1968)
2015 – Molade Okoya-Thomas, Nigerian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1935)
2015 – Stewart Stern, American screenwriter (b. 1922)
2015 – The Jacka, American rapper and producer (b. 1977)
2016 – Bob Elliott, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1923)
Holidays and observances on February 2
Anniversary of Treaty of Tartu (Estonia)
Christian Feast Day:
Adalbard
Cornelius the Centurion
Martyrs of Ebsdorf
February 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Constitution Day (Philippines)
Day of Youth (Azerbaijan)
Earliest day on which Shrove Monday can fall, while March 8 is the latest; celebrated on Monday before Ash Wednesday (Christianity), and its related observances:
Bun Day (Iceland)
Fastelavn (Denmark/Norway)
Nickanan Night (Cornwall)
Rosenmontag (Germany)
Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple or Candlemas (Western Christianity), and its related observances:
A quarter day in the Christian calendar (due to Candlemas). (Scotland)
Celebration of Yemanja or Our Lady of Navigators (Candomblé)
Le Jour des Crêpes (France)
Our Lady of the Candles (Filipino Catholics)
Virgin of Candelaria (Tenerife, Spain)
Groundhog Day (United States and Canada), and its related observances:
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)
250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution.
649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom.
1265 – The first English parliament to include not only Lords but also representatives of the major towns holds its first meeting in the Palace of Westminster, now commonly known as the “Houses of Parliament”.
1320 – Duke Wladyslaw Lokietek becomes king of Poland.
1356 – Edward Balliol surrenders his claim to the Scottish throne to Edward III in exchange for an English pension.
1523 – Christian II is forced to abdicate as King of Denmark and Norway.
1567 – Battle of Rio de Janeiro: Portuguese forces under the command of Estácio de Sá definitively drive the French out of Rio de Janeiro.
1576 – The Mexican city of León is founded by order of the viceroy Don Martín Enríquez de Almanza.
1649 – The High Court of Justice for the trial of Charles I begins its proceedings.
1783 – The Kingdom of Great Britain signed preliminary articles of peace with France, setting the stage to the official end of hostilities in the American Revolutionary War later that year.
1785 – Invading Siamese forces attempt to exploit the political chaos in Vietnam, but are ambushed and annihilated at the Mekong river by the Tây Sơn in the Battle of Rạch Gầm-Xoài Mút.
1788 – The third and main part of First Fleet arrives at Botany Bay. Arthur Phillip decides that Port Jackson is a more suitable location for a colony.
1839 – In the Battle of Yungay, Chile defeats an alliance between Peru and Bolivia.
1841 – Hong Kong Island is occupied by the British.
1877 – The last day of the Constantinople Conference results in agreement for political reforms in the Balkans.
1887 – The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base.
1921 – The British K-class submarine HMS K5 sinks in the English Channel; all 56 on board die.
1921 – The first Constitution of Turkey is adopted, making fundamental changes in the source and exercise of sovereignty by consecrating the principle of national sovereignty.
1929 – The first full-length talking motion picture filmed outdoors, In Old Arizona, is released.
1936 – King George V of the United Kingdom dies. His eldest son succeeds to the throne, becoming Edward VIII. The title Prince of Wales is not used for another 22 years.
1937 – Franklin D. Roosevelt and John Nance Garner are sworn in for their second terms as U.S. President and U.S. Vice President; it is the first time a Presidential Inauguration takes place on January 20 since the 20th Amendment changed the dates of presidential terms.
1941 – A German officer is killed in Bucharest, Romania, sparking a rebellion and pogrom by the Iron Guard, killing 125 Jews and 30 soldiers.
1942 – World War II: At the Wannsee Conference held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee, senior Nazi German officials discuss the implementation of the “Final Solution to the Jewish question”.
1945 – World War II: The provisional government of Béla Miklós in Hungary agrees to an armistice with the Allies.
1945 – World War II: Germany begins the evacuation of 1.8 million people from East Prussia, a task which will take nearly two months.
1949 – Point Four Program a program for economic aid to poor countries announced by United States President Harry S. Truman in his inaugural address for a full term as President.
1953 – Dwight D. Eisenhower is inaugurated as the 34th President of the United States of America.
1954 – In the United States, the National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations.
1961 – John F. Kennedy is inaugurated the 35th President of the United States of America, becoming the second youngest man to take the office, and the first Catholic.
1969 – Richard Nixon is inaugurated the 37th President of the United States of America.
1972 – Pakistan launched its nuclear weapons program, a few weeks after its defeat in the Bangladesh Liberation War, as well as the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
1977 – Jimmy Carter is inaugurated the 39th President of the United States of America.
1981 – Ronald Reagan is inaugurated the 40th President of the United States of America. Twenty minutes later, Iran releases 52 American hostages.
1986 – In the United States, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.
1989 – George H. W. Bush is inaugurated the 41st President of the United States of America.
1990 – Protests in Azerbaijan, part of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union.
1991 – Sudan’s government imposes Islamic law nationwide, worsening the civil war between the country’s Muslim north and Christian south.
1992 – Air Inter Flight 148, an Airbus A320-111, crashes into a mountain near Strasbourg, France killing 87 of the 96 people on board.
1993 – Bill Clinton is inaugurated the 42nd President of the United States of America.
2001 – George W. Bush is inaugurated the 43rd President of the United States of America.
2001 – President of the Philippines Joseph Estrada is ousted in a nonviolent 4-day revolution, and is succeeded by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
2009 – Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America, becoming the first African-American President of the United States.
2009 – A protest movement in Iceland culminates as the 2009 Icelandic financial crisis protests start.
2017 – Donald Trump is inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States of America, becoming the oldest person to assume the office.
2018 – A group of four or five gunmen attack The Inter-Continental Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, sparking a 12-hour battle. The attack kills 40 people and injures many others.
Births on January 20
225 – Gordian III, Roman emperor (d. 244)
1029 – Alp Arslan, Seljuk sultan (probable; d. 1072)
1292 – Elizabeth of Bohemia, queen consort of Bohemia (d. 1330)
1436 – Ashikaga Yoshimasa, Japanese shōgun (d. 1490)
1488 – John George, Marquess of Montferrat, Italian noble (d. 1533)
1488 – Sebastian Münster, German scholar, cartographer, and cosmographer (d. 1552)
1499 – Sebastian Franck, German humanist (probable; d. 1543)
1502 – Sebastian de Aparicio, Spanish-Mexican rancher and missionary (d. 1600)
1526 – Rafael Bombelli, Italian mathematician (d. 1572)
1554 – Sebastian of Portugal (d. 1578)
1569 – Heribert Rosweyde, Jesuit hagiographer (d. 1629)
1573 – Simon Marius, German astronomer and academic (d. 1624)
1586 – Johann Hermann Schein, German composer (d. 1630)
1664 – Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, Italian lawyer and jurist (d. 1718)
1703 – Joseph-Hector Fiocco, Flemish violinist and composer (d. 1741)
1716 – Jean-Jacques Barthélemy, French archaeologist and numismatist (d. 1795)
1716 – Charles III of Spain (d. 1788)
1732 – Richard Henry Lee, American lawyer and politician, President of the Continental Congress (d. 1794)
1741 – Carl Linnaeus the Younger, Swedish botanist and author (d. 1783)
1755 – Sir Albemarle Bertie, 1st Baronet, English admiral (d. 1824)
1762 – Jérôme-Joseph de Momigny, Belgian-French composer and theorist (d. 1842)
1775 – André-Marie Ampère, French physicist and mathematician (d. 1836)
1781 – Joseph Hormayr, Baron zu Hortenburg, Austrian-German historian and politician (d. 1848)
1783 – Friedrich Dotzauer, German cellist and composer (d. 1860)
1799 – Anson Jones, American physician and politician, 5th President of the Republic of Texas (d. 1858)
1804 – Eugène Sue, French author and politician (d. 1857)
1812 – Thomas Meik, Scottish engineer (d. 1896)
1814 – David Wilmot, American politician, sponsor of Wilmot Proviso (d. 1868)
1834 – George D. Robinson, American lawyer and politician, 34th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1896)
1855 – Ernest Chausson, French composer (d. 1899)
1856 – Harriot Stanton Blatch, U.S. suffragist and organizer (d. 1940)
1865 – Yvette Guilbert, French singer and actress (d. 1944)
1870 – Guillaume Lekeu, Belgian pianist and composer (d. 1894)
1873 – Johannes V. Jensen, Danish author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1950)
1874 – Steve Bloomer, English footballer and coach (d. 1938)
1876 – Josef Hofmann, Polish-American pianist and composer (d. 1957)
1878 – Finlay Currie, Scottish-English actor (d. 1968)
1879 – Ruth St. Denis, American dancer and educator (d. 1968)
1880 – Walter W. Bacon, American accountant and politician, 60th Governor of Delaware (d. 1962)
1882 – Johnny Torrio, Italian-American mob boss (d. 1957)
1883 – Enoch L. Johnson, American mob boss (d. 1968)
1883 – Forrest Wilson, American journalist and author (d. 1942)
1888 – Lead Belly, American folk/blues musician and songwriter (d. 1949)
1889 – Allan Haines Loughead, American engineer and businessman, founded the Alco Hydro-Aeroplane Company (d. 1969)
1891 – Mischa Elman, Ukrainian-American violinist (d. 1967)
1893 – Georg Åberg, Swedish triple jumper (d. 1946)
1894 – Harold Gray, American cartoonist, created Little Orphan Annie (d. 1968)
1894 – Walter Piston, American composer, theorist, and academic (d. 1976)
1895 – Gábor Szegő, Hungarian mathematician and academic (d. 1985)
1896 – George Burns, American actor, comedian, and producer (d. 1996)
1898 – U Razak, Burmese educator and politician (d. 1947)
1899 – Clarice Cliff, English potter (d. 1972)
1899 – Kenjiro Takayanagi, Japanese engineer (d. 1990)
1900 – Dorothy Annan, English painter, potter, and muralist (d. 1983)
1900 – Colin Clive, English actor (d. 1937)
1902 – Leon Ames, American actor (d. 1993)
1902 – Kevin Barry, Irish Republican Army volunteer (d. 1920)
1906 – Aristotle Onassis, Greek shipping magnate (d. 1975)
1907 – Paula Wessely, Austrian actress and producer (d. 2000)
1908 – Fleur Cowles, American author and illustrator (d. 2009)
1909 – Gōgen Yamaguchi, Japanese martial artist (d. 1989)
1910 – Joy Adamson, Austria-born Kenyan painter and author (d. 1980)
1913 – W. Cleon Skousen, American author and academic (d. 2006)
1915 – Ghulam Ishaq Khan, Pakistani businessman and politician, 7th President of Pakistan (d. 2006)
1918 – Juan García Esquivel, Mexican pianist, composer, and bandleader (d. 2002)
1918 – Nevin Scrimshaw, American scientist (d. 2013)
1920 – Federico Fellini, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 1993)
1920 – DeForest Kelley, American actor (d. 1999)
1920 – Thorleif Schjelderup, Norwegian ski jumper and author (d. 2006)
1921 – Telmo Zarra, Spanish footballer (d. 2006)
1922 – Ray Anthony, American trumpet player, composer, bandleader, and actor
1922 – Don Mankiewicz, American author and screenwriter (d. 2015)
1923 – Slim Whitman, American country and western singer-songwriter and musician (d. 2013)
1924 – Yvonne Loriod, French pianist and composer (d. 2010)
1925 – Jamiluddin Aali, Pakistani poet, playwright, and critic (d. 2015)
1925 – Ernesto Cardenal, Nicaraguan priest, poet, and politician (d. 2020)
1926 – Patricia Neal, American actress (d. 2010)
1926 – David Tudor, American pianist and composer (d. 1996)
1927 – Qurratulain Hyder, Indian-Pakistani journalist and academic (d. 2007)
1928 – Antonio de Almeida, French conductor and musicologist (d. 1997)
1929 – Arte Johnson, American actor and comedian (d. 2019)
1929 – Masaharu Kawakatsu, Japanese biologist
1929 – Fireball Roberts, American race car driver (d. 1964)
1930 – Buzz Aldrin, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
1931 – David Lee, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1931 – Hachidai Nakamura, Japanese pianist and composer (d. 1992)
1932 – Lou Fontinato, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2016)
1934 – Hennie Aucamp, South African poet, author, and academic (d. 2014)
1934 – Tom Baker, English actor
1935 – Dorothy Provine, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2010)
1937 – Bailey Howell, American basketball player
1938 – Derek Dougan, Irish-English footballer and journalist (d. 2007)
1939 – Paul Coverdell, American captain and politician (d. 2000)
1939 – Chandra Wickramasinghe, Sri Lankan-English mathematician, astronomer, and biologist
1940 – Carol Heiss, American figure skater and actress
1940 – Krishnam Raju, Indian actor and politician
1940 – Mandé Sidibé, Malian economist and politician, Prime Minister of Mali (d. 2009)
1942 – Linda Moulton Howe, American journalist and producer
1944 – José Luis Garci, Spanish director and producer
1944 – Farhad Mehrad, Iranian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2002)
1944 – Pat Parker, African American poet
1945 – Christopher Martin-Jenkins, English journalist and sportscaster (d. 2013)
1945 – Eric Stewart, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1946 – David Lynch, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1946 – Vladimír Merta, Czech singer-songwriter, guitarist, and journalist
1947 – Cyrille Guimard, French cyclist and sportscaster
1948 – Nancy Kress, American author and academic
1948 – Natan Sharansky, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Israel
1949 – Göran Persson, Swedish lawyer and politician, 31st Prime Minister of Sweden
1950 – Daniel Benzali, Brazilian-American actor
1950 – William Mgimwa, Tanzanian banker and politician, 13th Tanzanian Minister of Finance (d. 2014)
1950 – Mahamane Ousmane, Nigerien politician, President of Niger
1951 – Iván Fischer, Hungarian conductor and composer
1952 – Nikos Sideris, Greek psychiatrist and poet
1952 – Paul Stanley, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1952 – John Witherow, South African-English journalist and author
1953 – Jeffrey Epstein, American financier and convicted sex offender (d. 2019)
1954 – Alison Seabeck, English lawyer and politician
1955 – McKeeva Bush, Caymanian politician, Premier of the Cayman Islands
1956 – Maria Larsson, Swedish educator and politician, Swedish Minister of Health and Social Affairs
1956 – Bill Maher, American comedian, political commentator, media critic, television host, and producer
1956 – John Naber, American swimmer
1957 – Andy Sheppard, English saxophonist and composer
1958 – Lorenzo Lamas, American actor, director, and producer
1959 – Tami Hoag, American author
1959 – R. A. Salvatore, American author
1960 – Apa Sherpa, Nepalese-American mountaineer
1960 – Scott Thunes, American bass player
1960 – Will Wright, American video game designer, co-founded Maxis
1963 – James Denton, American actor
1963 – Mark Ryden, American painter and illustrator
1964 – Ozzie Guillén, Venezuelan-American baseball player and manager
1964 – Ron Harper, American basketball player and coach
1964 – Jack Lewis, American soldier and author
1964 – Kazushige Nojima, Japanese screenwriter and songwriter
1964 – Aquilino Pimentel III, Filipino lawyer and politician
1964 – Fareed Zakaria, Indian-American journalist and author
1965 – Colin Calderwood, Scottish footballer defender and manager
1965 – Sophie, Countess of Wessex
1965 – Warren Joyce, English footballer and manager
1965 – John Michael Montgomery, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1965 – Anton Weissenbacher, Romanian footballer
1966 – Rainn Wilson, American actor
1967 – Stacey Dash, American actress and television journalist
1967 – Kellyanne Conway, American political strategist and pundit
1968 – Nick Anderson, American basketball player and sportscaster
1968 – Junior Murray, Grenadian cricketer
1969 – Patrick K. Kroupa, American computer hacker and activist, co-founded MindVox
1969 – Nicky Wire, Welsh singer-songwriter and bass player
1970 – Edwin McCain, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1970 – Skeet Ulrich, American actor
1971 – Derrick Green, American singer
1971 – Gary Barlow, English singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
1971 – Ger McDonnell, Irish mountaineer and engineer (d. 2008)
1971 – Jung Woong-in, South Korean actor
1971 – Questlove, American drummer, DJ, and producer
1971 – Wakanohana Masaru, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 66th Yokozuna
1972 – Nikki Haley, American accountant and politician, 116th Governor of South Carolina
1973 – Stephen Crabb, Scottish-Welsh politician, Secretary of State for Wales
1973 – Queen Mathilde of Belgium
1974 – David Dei, Italian footballer and coach
1975 – Norberto Fontana, Argentinian racing driver
1975 – Zac Goldsmith, English journalist and politician
1976 – Kirsty Gallacher, Scottish journalist and sportscaster
1976 – Michael Myers, American football player
1976 – Gretha Smit, Dutch speed skater
1977 – Paul Adams, South African cricketer and coach
1978 – Salvatore Aronica, Italian footballer
1978 – Sonja Kesselschläger, German heptathlete
1978 – Allan Søgaard, Danish footballer
1979 – Choo Ja-hyun, South Korean actress
1979 – Will Young, English singer-songwriter and actor
1980 – Karl Anderson, American wrestler
1980 – Philippe Cousteau, Jr., American-French oceanographer and journalist
1980 – Philippe Gagnon, Canadian swimmer
1980 – Kim Jeong-hoon, South Korean singer and actor
1980 – Petra Rampre, Slovenian tennis player
1980 – Matthew Tuck, Welsh singer-songwriter and guitarist
1981 – Freddy Guzmán, Dominican baseball player
1981 – Owen Hargreaves, English footballer
1981 – Jason Richardson, American basketball player
1982 – Ruchi Sanghvi, Indian computer engineer
1982 – Fredrik Strømstad, Norwegian footballer
1983 – Geovany Soto, Puerto Rican-American baseball player
1983 – Mari Yaguchi, Japanese singer and actress
1984 – Malek Jaziri, Tunisian tennis player
1985 – Marina Inoue, Japanese voice actress and singer
1985 – Tanel Sokk, Estonian basketball player
1987 – Janin Lindenberg, German sprinter
1987 – Marco Simoncelli, Italian motorcycle racer (d. 2011)
1988 – Uwa Elderson Echiéjilé, Nigerian footballer
1988 – Jeffrén Suárez, Spanish footballer
1989 – Nick Foles, American football player
1989 – Washington Santana da Silva, Brazilian footballer
1989 – Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, New Zealand rugby league player
1990 – Ray Thompson, Australian rugby league player
1991 – Ciara Hanna, American actress and model
1991 – Tom Cairney, Scottish footballer, midfielder
1991 – Polona Hercog, Slovenian tennis player
1991 – Jolyon Palmer, English racing driver
1992 – Jorge Zárate, Mexican footballer
1993 – Lorenzo Crisetig, Italian footballer
1994 – Seán Kavanagh, Irish footballer, defender
1994 – Lucas Piazon, Brazilian footballer
1995 – Joey Badass, American rapper and actor
1995 – Calum Chambers, English footballer, defender
Deaths on January 20
820 – Al-Shafi‘i, Arab scholar and jurist (b. 767)
842 – Theophilos, Byzantine emperor (b. 813)
882 – Louis the Younger, king of the East Frankish Kingdom
924 – Li Jitao, Chinese general of Later Tang
928 – Zhao Guangfeng, Chinese official and chancellor
1029 – Heonae, Korean queen and regent (b. 964)
1095 – Wulfstan, bishop of Worcester
1156 – Henry, English bishop and saint
1189 – Shi Zong, Chinese emperor of Jin (b. 1123)
1191 – Frederick VI, duke of Swabia (b. 1167)
1191 – Theobald V, count of Blois (b. 1130)
1265 – John Maunsell, English Lord Chancellor
1336 – John de Bohun, 5th Earl of Hereford (b. 1306)
1343 – Robert, king of Naples (b. 1275)
1479 – John II, king of Sicily (b. 1398)
1568 – Myles Coverdale, English bishop and translator (b. 1488)
1612 – Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1552)
1663 – Isaac Ambrose, English minister and author (b. 1604)
1666 – Anne of Austria, Queen and regent of France (b. 1601)
1707 – Humphrey Hody, English scholar and theologian (b. 1659)
1709 – François de la Chaise, French priest (b. 1624)
1751 – John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol, English politician (b. 1665)
1770 – Charles Yorke, English lawyer and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1722)
1779 – David Garrick, English actor, producer, playwright, and manager (b. 1717)
1810 – Benjamin Chew, American lawyer and judge (b. 1721)
1819 – Charles IV, Spanish king (b. 1748)
1837 – John Soane, English architect, designed the Bank of England (b. 1753)
1841 – Jørgen Jørgensen, Danish explorer (b. 1780)
1841 – Minh Mạng, Vietnamese emperor (b. 1791)
1848 – Christian VIII, Danish king (b. 1786)
1850 – Adam Oehlenschläger, Danish poet and playwright (b. 1779)
1852 – Ōnomatsu Midorinosuke, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 6th Yokozuna (b. 1794)
1873 – Basil Moreau, French priest, founded the Congregation of Holy Cross (b. 1799)
1875 – Jean-François Millet, French painter and educator (b. 1814)
1891 – Kalākaua, king of Hawaii (b. 1836)
1900 – John Ruskin, English painter and critic (b. 1819)
1901 – Zénobe Gramme, Belgian engineer, invented the Gramme machine (b. 1826)
1907 – Agnes Mary Clerke, Irish astronomer and author (b. 1842)
1908 – John Ordronaux, American surgeon and academic (b. 1830)
1913 – José Guadalupe Posada, Mexican engraver and illustrator (b. 1852)
1915 – Arthur Guinness, 1st Baron Ardilaun, Irish businessman, philanthropist, and politician (b. 1840)
1920 – Georg Lurich, Estonian-Russian wrestler and strongman (b. 1876)
1921 – Mary Watson Whitney, American astronomer and academic (b. 1847)
1924 – Henry “Ivo” Crapp, Australian footballer and umpire (b. 1872)
1936 – George V of the United Kingdom (b. 1865)
1940 – Omar Bundy, American general (b. 1861)
1944 – James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist and academic (b. 1860)
1947 – Josh Gibson, American baseball player (b. 1911)
1947 – Andrew Volstead, American member of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1860)
1954 – Warren Bardsley, Australian cricketer (b. 1882)
1954 – Fred Root, English cricketer and umpire (b. 1890)
1955 – Robert P. T. Coffin, American author and poet (b. 1892)
1962 – Robinson Jeffers, American poet and philosopher (b. 1887)
1965 – Alan Freed, American radio host (b. 1922)
1971 – Broncho Billy Anderson, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1880)
1971 – Minanogawa Tōzō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 34th Yokozuna (b. 1903)
1973 – Lorenz Böhler, Austrian physician and surgeon (b. 1885)
1990 – Barbara Stanwyck, American actress (b. 1907)
1993 – Audrey Hepburn, British actress and humanitarian activist (b. 1929)
1994 – Matt Busby, Scottish footballer and coach (b. 1909)
1994 – Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, first Kenyan Vice-President (b. 1911)
1996 – Gerry Mulligan, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1927)
2002 – Carrie Hamilton, American actress and singer (b. 1963)
2003 – Al Hirschfeld, American painter and illustrator (b. 1903)
2003 – Nedra Volz, American actress (b. 1908)
2004 – Alan Brown, English racing driver (b. 1919)
2004 – T. Nadaraja, Sri Lankan lawyer and academic (b. 1917)
2005 – Per Borten, Norwegian lawyer and politician, 18th Prime Minister of Norway (b. 1913)
2005 – Jan Nowak-Jeziorański, Polish journalist and politician (b. 1913)
2005 – Miriam Rothschild, English zoologist, entomologist, and author (b. 1908)
2009 – Stéphanos II Ghattas, Egyptian patriarch (b. 1920)
2012 – Etta James, American singer-songwriter (b. 1938)
2012 – John Levy, American bassist and manager (b. 1912)
2012 – Ioannis Kefalogiannis, Greek politician, Greek Minister of the Interior (b. 1933)
2012 – Alejandro Rodriguez, Venezuelan-American pediatrician and psychiatrist (b. 1918)
2013 – Pavlos Matesis, Greek author and playwright (b. 1933)
2013 – Toyo Shibata, Japanese poet and author (b. 1911)
2014 – Claudio Abbado, Italian conductor (b. 1933)
2014 – Otis G. Pike, American judge and politician (b. 1921)
2014 – Jonas Trinkūnas, Lithuanian ethnologist and academic (b. 1939)
2015 – Edgar Froese, Russian-German keyboard player and songwriter (b. 1944)
2016 – Mykolas Burokevičius, Lithuanian carpenter and politician (b. 1927)
2016 – Edmonde Charles-Roux, French journalist and author (b. 1920)
2018 – Paul Bocuse, French chef (b. 1926)
2018 – Naomi Parker Fraley, American naval machiner (b. 1921)
2020 – Jaroslav Kubera, Czech politician (b. 1947)
2020 – Tom Fisher Railsback, American politician, member of the Illinois and U.S. House of Representatives
Holidays and observances on January 20
Armed Forces Day (Mali)
Army Day (Laos)
Christian feast day:
Abadios
Blessed Basil Moreau
Eustochia Smeralda Calafato
Euthymius the Great
Fabian
Manchán of Lemanaghan
Maria Cristina of the Immaculate Conception Brando
Richard Rolle (Church of England)
Sebastian
Stephen Min Kuk-ka (one of The Korean Martyrs)
January 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Heroes’ Day (Cape Verde)
Inauguration Day, held every four years in odd-numbered years immediately following years divisible by 4, except for the public ceremony when January 20 falls on Sunday (the public ceremony is held the following day; however, the terms of offices still begin on the 20th) (United States of America, not a federal holiday for all government employees but only for those working in the Capital region)
38 BC – Octavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey.
1362 – Saint Marcellus’ flood kills at least 25,000 people on the shores of the North Sea.
1377 – Pope Gregory XI reaches Rome, after deciding to move the Papacy back to Rome from Avignon.
1524 – Giovanni da Verrazzano sets sail westward from Madeira to find a sea route to the Pacific Ocean.
1562 – France grants religious toleration to the Huguenots in the Edict of Saint-Germain.
1595 – During the French Wars of Religion, Henry IV of France declares war on Spain.
1608 – Emperor Susenyos I of Ethiopia surprises an Oromo army at Ebenat; his army reportedly kills 12,000 Oromo at the cost of 400 of his men.
1648 – England’s Long Parliament passes the “Vote of No Addresses”, breaking off negotiations with King Charles I and thereby setting the scene for the second phase of the English Civil War.
1773 – Captain James Cook leads the first expedition to sail south of the Antarctic Circle.
1781 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cowpens: Continental troops under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan defeat British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton at the battle in South Carolina.
1799 – Maltese patriot Dun Mikiel Xerri, along with a number of other patriots, is executed.
1811 – Mexican War of Independence: In the Battle of Calderón Bridge, a heavily outnumbered Spanish force of 6,000 troops defeats nearly 100,000 Mexican revolutionaries.
1852 – The United Kingdom signs the Sand River Convention with the South African Republic.
1873 – A group of Modoc warriors defeats the United States Army in the First Battle of the Stronghold, part of the Modoc War.
1885 – A British force defeats a large Dervish army at the Battle of Abu Klea in the Sudan.
1893 – Lorrin A. Thurston, along with the Citizens’ Committee of Public Safety, led the Overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii and the government of Queen Liliʻuokalani.
1899 – The United States takes possession of Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean.
1903 – El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico becomes part of the United States National Forest System as the Luquillo Forest Reserve.
1904 – Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard receives its premiere performance at the Moscow Art Theatre.
1912 – British polar explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott reaches the South Pole, one month after Roald Amundsen.
1915 – Russia defeats Ottoman Turkey in the Battle of Sarikamish during the Caucasus Campaign of World War I.
1917 – The United States pays Denmark $25 million for the Virgin Islands.
1918 – Finnish Civil War: The first serious battles take place between the Red Guards and the White Guard.
1920 – Alcohol Prohibition begins in the United States as the Volstead Act goes into effect.
1929 – Popeye the Sailor Man, a cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, first appears in the Thimble Theatre comic strip.
1941 – Franco-Thai War: Vichy French forces inflict a decisive defeat over the Royal Thai Navy.
1943 – World War II: Greek submarine Papanikolis captures the 200-ton sailing vessel Agios Stefanos and mans her with part of her crew.
1944 – World War II: Allied forces launch the first of four assaults on Monte Cassino with the intention of breaking through the Winter Line and seizing Rome, an effort that would ultimately take four months and cost 105,000 Allied casualties.
1945 – World War II: The Vistula–Oder Offensive forces German troops out of Warsaw.
1945 – The SS-Totenkopfverbände begin the evacuation of the Auschwitz concentration camp as Soviet forces close in.
1945 – Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg is taken into Soviet custody while in Hungary; he is never publicly seen again.
1946 – The UN Security Council holds its first session.
1948 – The Renville Agreement between the Netherlands and Indonesia is ratified.
1950 – The Great Brink’s Robbery: Eleven thieves steal more than $2 million from an armored car company’s offices in Boston.
1950 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 79 relating to arms control is adopted.
1961 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers a televised farewell address to the nation three days before leaving office, in which he warns against the accumulation of power by the “military–industrial complex” as well as the dangers of massive spending, especially deficit spending.
1961 – Former Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba is murdered in circumstances suggesting the support and complicity of the governments of Belgium and the United States.
1966 – Palomares incident: A B-52 bomber collides with a KC-135 Stratotanker over Spain, killing seven airmen, and dropping three 70-kiloton nuclear bombs near the town of Palomares and another one into the sea.
1969 – Black Panther Party members Bunchy Carter and John Huggins are killed during a meeting in Campbell Hall on the campus of UCLA.
1977 – Capital punishment in the United States resumes after a ten-year hiatus, as convicted murderer Gary Gilmore is executed by firing squad in Utah.
1981 – President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos lifts martial law eight years and five months after declaring it.
1991 – Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm begins early in the morning as aircraft strike positions across Iraq, it is also the first major combat sortie for the F-117. LCDR Scott Speicher’s F/A-18C Hornet from VFA-81 is shot down by a Mig-25 and is the first American casualty of the War. Iraq fires eight Scud missiles into Israel in an unsuccessful bid to provoke Israeli retaliation.
1991 – Crown prince Harald V of Norway becomes King Harald V, following the death of his father, King Olav V.
1992 – During a visit to South Korea, Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa apologizes for forcing Korean women into sexual slavery during World War II.
1994 – The 6.7 Mw Northridge earthquake shakes the Greater Los Angeles Area with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), leaving 57 people dead and more than 8,700 injured.
1995 – The 6.9 Mw Great Hanshin earthquake shakes the southern Hyōgo Prefecture with a maximum Shindo of VII, leaving 5,502–6,434 people dead, and 251,301–310,000 displaced.
1996 – The Czech Republic applies for membership of the European Union.
1997 – Cape Canaveral Air Force Station: A Delta II carrying the GPS IIR-1 satellite explodes 13 seconds after launch, dropping 250 tons of burning rocket remains around the launch pad.
1998 – Lewinsky scandal: Matt Drudge breaks the story of the Bill Clinton–Monica Lewinsky affair on his Drudge Report website.
2002 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, displacing an estimated 400,000 people.
2007 – The Doomsday Clock is set to five minutes to midnight in response to North Korea’s nuclear testing.
2010 – Rioting begins between Muslim and Christian groups in Jos, Nigeria, results in at least 200 deaths.
Births on January 17
1342 – Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1404)
1429 – Antonio del Pollaiolo, Italian artist (d.c. 1498)
1463 – Frederick III, Elector of Saxony (d. 1525)
1463 – Antoine Duprat, French cardinal (d. 1535)
1472 – Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, Italian captain (d. 1508)
1484 – George Spalatin, German priest and reformer (d. 1545)
1501 – Leonhart Fuchs, German physician and botanist (d. 1566)
1504 – Pope Pius V (d. 1572)
1517 – Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, English Duke (d. 1554)
1560 – Gaspard Bauhin, Swiss botanist, physician, and academic (d. 1624)
1574 – Robert Fludd, English physician, astrologer, and mathematician (d. 1637)
1593 – William Backhouse, English alchemist and astrologer (d. 1662)
1600 – Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Spanish playwright and poet (d. 1681)
1612 – Thomas Fairfax, English general and politician (d. 1671)
1640 – Jonathan Singletary Dunham, American settler (d. 1724)
1659 – Antonio Veracini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1745)
1666 – Antonio Maria Valsalva, Italian anatomist and physician (d. 1723)
1686 – Archibald Bower, Scottish historian and author (d. 1766)
1706 – Benjamin Franklin, American publisher, inventor, and politician, 6th President of Pennsylvania (d. 1790)
1712 – John Stanley, English organist and composer (d. 1786)
1719 – William Vernon, American businessman (d. 1806)
1728 – Johann Gottfried Müthel, German pianist and composer (d. 1788)
1732 – Stanisław August Poniatowski, Polish-Lithuanian king (d. 1798)
1734 – François-Joseph Gossec, French composer and conductor (d. 1829)
1761 – Sir James Hall, 4th Baronet, Scottish geologist and geophysicist (d. 1832)
1789 – August Neander, German historian and theologian (d. 1850)
1793 – Antonio José Martínez, Spanish-American priest, rancher and politician (d. 1867)
1814 – Ellen Wood, English author (d. 1887)
1820 – Anne Brontë, English author and poet (d. 1849)
1828 – Lewis A. Grant, American lawyer and general, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1918)
1828 – Ede Reményi, Hungarian violinist and composer (d. 1898)
1832 – Henry Martyn Baird, American historian and academic (d. 1906)
1834 – August Weismann, German biologist, zoologist, and geneticist (d. 1914)
1850 – Joaquim Arcoverde de Albuquerque Cavalcanti, Brazilian cardinal (d. 1930)
1850 – Alexander Taneyev, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1918)
1851 – A. B. Frost, American author and illustrator (d. 1928)
1853 – Alva Belmont, American suffragist (d. 1933)
1852 – T. Alexander Harrison, American painter and academic (d. 1930)
1857 – Wilhelm Kienzl, Austrian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1941)
1857 – Eugene Augustin Lauste, French-American engineer (d. 1935)
1858 – Tomás Carrasquilla, Colombian author (d. 1940)
1860 – Douglas Hyde, Irish academic and politician, 1st President of Ireland (d. 1949)
1863 – David Lloyd George, Welsh lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1945)
1863 – Konstantin Stanislavski, Russian actor and director (d. 1938)
1865 – Sir Charles Fergusson, 7th Baronet, English general and politician, 3rd Governor-General of New Zealand (d. 1951)
1867 – Carl Laemmle, German-born American film producer, co-founded Universal Studios (d. 1939)
1867 – Sir Alfred Rawlinson, 3rd Baronet, English colonel, pilot, and polo player (d. 1934)
1871 – David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty, English admiral (d. 1936)
1871 – Nicolae Iorga, Romanian historian and politician, 34th Prime Minister of Romania (d. 1940)
1875 – Florencio Sánchez, Uruguayan journalist and playwright (d. 1910)
1876 – Frank Hague, American lawyer and politician, 30th Mayor of Jersey City (d. 1956)
1877 – Marie Zdeňka Baborová-Čiháková, Czech botanist and zoologist (d. 1937)
1877 – May Gibbs, English-Australian author and illustrator (d. 1969)
1880 – Mack Sennett, Canadian-American actor, director, and producer (d. 1960)
1881 – Antoni Łomnicki, Polish mathematician and academic (d. 1941)
1881 – Harry Price, English psychologist and author (d. 1948)
1882 – Noah Beery, Sr., American actor (d. 1946)
1883 – Compton Mackenzie, English-Scottish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1972)
1886 – Glenn L. Martin, American pilot and businessman, founded the Glenn L. Martin Company (d. 1955)
1887 – Ola Raknes, Norwegian psychoanalyst and philologist (d. 1975)
1888 – Babu Gulabrai, Indian philosopher and author (d. 1963)
1897 – Marcel Petiot, French physician and serial killer (d. 1946)
1898 – Lela Mevorah, Serbian librarian (d. 1972)
1899 – Al Capone, American mob boss (d. 1947)
1899 – Robert Maynard Hutchins, American philosopher and academic (d. 1977)
1899 – Nevil Shute, English engineer and author (d. 1960)
1901 – Aron Gurwitsch, Lithuanian-American philosopher and author (d. 1973)
1904 – Hem Vejakorn, Thai painter and illustrator (d. 1969)
1905 – Ray Cunningham, American baseball player (d. 2005)
1905 – Peggy Gilbert, American saxophonist and bandleader (d. 2007)
1905 – Eduard Oja, Estonian composer, conductor, educator, and critic (d. 1950)
1905 – Guillermo Stábile, Argentinian footballer and manager (d. 1966)
1905 – Jan Zahradníček, Czech poet and translator (d. 1960)
1907 – Henk Badings, Indonesian-Dutch composer and engineer (d. 1987)
1907 – Alfred Wainwright, British fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator (d. 1991)
1908 – Cus D’Amato, American boxing manager and trainer (d. 1985)
1911 – Busher Jackson, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1966)
1911 – John S. McCain Jr., American admiral (d. 1981)
1911 – George Stigler, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991)
1914 – Anacleto Angelini, Italian-Chilean businessman (d. 2007)
1914 – Irving Brecher, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2008)
1914 – Paul Royle, Australian lieutenant and pilot (d. 2015)
1914 – William Stafford, American poet and author (d. 1993)
1916 – Peter Frelinghuysen Jr., American lieutenant and politician (d. 2011)
1917 – M. G. Ramachandran, Indian actor, director, and politician, 5th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (d. 1987)
1918 – Keith Joseph, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Education (d. 1994)
1918 – George M. Leader, American soldier and politician, 36th Governor of Pennsylvania (d. 2013)
1920 – Georges Pichard, French author and illustrator (d. 2003)
1921 – Asghar Khan, Pakistani general and politician (d. 2018)
1921 – Jackie Henderson, Scottish footballer, forward (d. 2005)
1921 – Charlie Mitten, English footballer, outside forward and manager (d. 2002)
1921 – Antonio Prohías, Cuban cartoonist (d. 1998)
1922 – Luis Echeverría, Mexican academic and politician, 50th President of Mexico
1922 – Nicholas Katzenbach, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 65th United States Attorney General (d. 2012)
1922 – Betty White, American actress, game show panelist, television personality, and animal rights activist
1923 – Rangeya Raghav, Indian author and playwright (d. 1962)
1924 – Rik De Saedeleer, Belgian footballer and journalist (d. 2013)
1924 – Jewel Plummer Cobb, American biologist, cancer researcher, and academic (d. 2017)
1925 – Gunnar Birkerts, Latvian-American architect (d. 2017)
1925 – Robert Cormier, American author and journalist (d. 2000)
1925 – Abdul Hafeez Kardar, Pakistani cricketer and author (d. 1996)
1926 – Newton N. Minow, American lawyer and politician
1926 – Moira Shearer, Scottish-English ballerina and actress (d. 2006)
1926 – Clyde Walcott, Barbadian cricketer (d. 2006)
1927 – Thomas Anthony Dooley III, American physician and humanitarian (d. 1961)
1927 – Eartha Kitt, American actress and singer (d. 2008)
1927 – Harlan Mathews, American lawyer and politician (d. 2014)
1927 – E. W. Swackhamer, American director and producer (d. 1994)
1928 – Jean Barraqué, French composer (d. 1973)
1928 – Vidal Sassoon, English-American hairdresser and businessman (d. 2012)
1929 – Jacques Plante, Canadian-Swiss ice hockey player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 1986)
1929 – Tan Boon Teik, Malaysian-Singaporean lawyer and politician, Attorney-General of Singapore (d. 2012)
1931 – James Earl Jones, American actor
1931 – Douglas Wilder, American sergeant and politician, 66th Governor of Virginia
1931 – Don Zimmer, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2014)
1932 – Sheree North, American actress and dancer (d. 2005)
1933 – Dalida, Egyptian-French singer and actress (d. 1987)
1933 – Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, French-Pakistani diplomat, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (d. 2003)
1933 – Shari Lewis, American actress, puppeteer/ventriloquist, and television host (d. 1998)
1934 – Donald Cammell, Scottish-American director and screenwriter (d. 1996)
1935 – Ruth Ann Minner, American businesswoman and politician, 72nd Governor of Delaware
1936 – John Boyd, English academic and diplomat, British ambassador to Japan
1936 – A. Thangathurai, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (d. 1997)
1937 – Alain Badiou, French philosopher and academic
1938 – John Bellairs, American author and academic (d. 1991)
1938 – Toini Gustafsson, Swedish cross country skier
1939 – Christodoulos of Athens, Greek archbishop (d. 2008)
1939 – Maury Povich, American talk show host and producer
1940 – Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni, Egyptian-Armenian patriarch (d. 2015)
1940 – Kipchoge Keino, Kenyan athlete
1940 – Tabaré Vázquez, Uruguayan physician and politician, 39th President of Uruguay
1941 – István Horthy, Jr., Hungarian physicist and architect
1942 – Muhammad Ali, American boxer and activist (d. 2016)
1942 – Ita Buttrose, Australian journalist and author
1942 – Ulf Hoelscher, German violinist and educator
1942 – Nigel McCulloch, English bishop
1943 – Chris Montez, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1943 – René Préval, Haitian agronomist and politician, 52nd President of Haiti (d. 2017)
1944 – Ann Oakley, English sociologist, author, and academic
1945 – Javed Akhtar, Indian poet, playwright, and composer
1945 – Anne Cutler, Australian psychologist and academic
1948 – Davíð Oddsson, Icelandic politician, 21st Prime Minister of Iceland
1949 – Anita Borg, American computer scientist and academic (d. 2003)
1949 – Gyude Bryant, Liberian businessman and politician (d. 2014)
1949 – Augustin Dumay, French violinist and conductor
1949 – Andy Kaufman, American actor and comedian (d. 1984)
1949 – Mick Taylor, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1950 – Luis López Nieves, Puerto Rican-American author and academic
1952 – Tom Deitz, American author (d. 2009)
1952 – Darrell Porter, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2002)
1952 – Ryuichi Sakamoto, Japanese pianist, composer, and producer
1953 – Jeff Berlin, American bass player and educator
1953 – Carlos Johnson, American singer and guitarist
1954 – Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., American lawyer, radio host, activist, and environmentalist
1955 – Steve Earle, American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, author and actor
1955 – Pietro Parolin, Italian cardinal
1955 – Steve Javie, American basketball player and referee
1956 – Damian Green, English journalist and politician
1956 – Paul Young, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1957 – Steve Harvey, American actor, comedian, television personality and game show host
1957 – Ann Nocenti, American journalist and author
1958 – Tony Kouzarides, English biologist, cancer researcher
1959 – Susanna Hoffs, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
1960 – John Crawford, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1960 – Chili Davis, Jamaican-American baseball player and coach
1961 – Brian Helgeland, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1962 – Jun Azumi, Japanese broadcaster and politician, 46th Japanese Minister of Finance
1962 – Jim Carrey, Canadian-American actor and producer
1962 – Sebastian Junger, American journalist and author
1963 – Kai Hansen, German singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1963 – Colin Gordon, English footballer, striker, agent, manager, chief executive
1964 – Michelle Obama, American lawyer and activist, 46th First Lady of the United States
1964 – John Schuster, Samoan-New Zealand rugby player
1965 – Sylvain Turgeon, Canadian ice hockey player
1966 – Trish Johnson, English golfer
1966 – Joshua Malina, American actor
1967 – Richard Hawley, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1968 – Rowan Pelling, English journalist and author
1968 – Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer, Dutch author, poet, and scholar
1969 – Naveen Andrews, English actor
1969 – Lukas Moodysson, Swedish director, screenwriter, and author
1969 – Tiësto, Dutch DJ and producer
1970 – Cássio Alves de Barros, Brazilian footballer
1970 – Jeremy Roenick, American ice hockey player and actor
1970 – Genndy Tartakovsky, Russian-American animator, director, and producer
1971 – Giorgos Balogiannis, Greek basketball player
1971 – Richard Burns, English race car driver (d. 2005)
1971 – Kid Rock, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
1971 – Sylvie Testud, French actress, director, and screenwriter
1973 – Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Mexican footballer and actor
1973 – Chris Bowen, Australian politician, 37th Treasurer of Australia
1973 – Liz Ellis, Australian netball player and sportscaster
1973 – Aaron Ward, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
1974 – Yang Chen, Chinese footballer and manager
1974 – Vesko Kountchev, Bulgarian viola player, composer, and producer
1974 – Derrick Mason, American football player
1975 – Freddy Rodriguez, American actor
1978 – Lisa Llorens, Australian Paralympian
1978 – Ricky Wilson, English singer-songwriter
1980 – Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Ukrainian-American dancer and choreographer
1980 – Zooey Deschanel, American singer-songwriter and actress
1980 – Modestas Stonys, Lithuanian footballer
1981 – Warren Feeney, Northern Irish footballer and manager
1982 – Dwyane Wade, American basketball player
1982 – Amanda Wilkinson, Canadian singer
1983 – Álvaro Arbeloa, Spanish footballer
1983 – Johannes Herber, German basketball player
1983 – Rick Kelly, Australian race car driver
1983 – Marcelo Garcia, Brazilian martial artist
1984 – Calvin Harris, Scottish singer-songwriter, DJ, and producer
1985 – Pablo Barrientos, Argentinian footballer
1985 – Betsy Ruth, American wrestler and manager
1985 – Simone Simons, Dutch singer-songwriter
1987 – Cody Decker, American baseball player
1988 – Andrea Antonelli, Italian motorcycle racer (d. 2013)
1988 – Will Genia, Australian rugby player
1988 – Héctor Moreno, Mexican footballer
1989 – Taylor Jordan, American baseball player
1989 – Kelly Marie Tran, American actress
1990 – Santiago Tréllez, Colombian footballer
1991 – Trevor Bauer, American baseball player
1991 – Esapekka Lappi, Finnish Rally Driver
1991 – Slade Griffin, Australian rugby league player
1991 – Alise Post, American BMX rider
1993 – Frankie Cocozza, British singer
1994 – Mark Steketee, Australian cricketer
1998 – Jeff Reine-Adelaide, French footballer
1998 – Sophie Molineux, Australian cricketer
2000 – Devlin DeFrancesco, Canadian race car driver
Deaths on January 17
395 – Theodosius I, Roman emperor (b. 347)
644 – Sulpitius the Pious, French bishop and saint
764 – Joseph of Freising, German bishop
1040 – Mas’ud I of Ghazni, Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire (b. 998)
1156 – André de Montbard, fifth Grand Master of the Knights Templar
1168 – Thierry, Count of Flanders (b. 1099)
1229 – Albert of Riga, German bishop (b. 1165)
1329 – Saint Roseline, Carthusian nun (b. 1263)
1334 – John of Brittany, Earl of Richmond (b. 1266)
1345 – Henry of Asti, Greek patriarch
1345 – Martino Zaccaria, Genoese Lord of Chios
1369 – Peter I of Cyprus (b. 1328)
1456 – Elisabeth of Lorraine-Vaudémont, French translator (b. 1395)
1468 – Skanderbeg, Albanian soldier and politician (b. 1405)
1588 – Qi Jiguang, Chinese general (b. 1528)
1598 – Feodor I of Russia (b. 1557)
1617 – Fausto Veranzio, Croatian bishop and lexicographer (b. 1551)
1705 – John Ray, English botanist and historian (b. 1627)
1718 – Benjamin Church, American colonel (b. 1639)
1737 – Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, German architect (b. 1662)
1738 – Jean-François Dandrieu, French organist and composer (b. 1682)
1751 – Tomaso Albinoni, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1671)
1826 – Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga, Spanish-French composer (b. 1806)
1834 – Giovanni Aldini, Italian physicist and academic (b. 1762)
1861 – Lola Montez, Irish actress and dancer (b. 1821)
1863 – Horace Vernet, French painter (b. 1789)
1869 – Alexander Dargomyzhsky, Russian composer (b. 1813)
1878 – Edward Shepherd Creasy, English historian and jurist (b. 1812)
1884 – Hermann Schlegel, German ornithologist and herpetologist (b. 1804)
1887 – William Giblin, Australian lawyer and politician, 13th Premier of Tasmania (b. 1840)
1888 – Big Bear, Canadian tribal chief (b. 1825)
1891 – George Bancroft, American historian and politician, 17th United States Secretary of the Navy (b. 1800)
1893 – Rutherford B. Hayes, American general, lawyer, and politician, 19th President of the United States (b. 1822)
1903 – Ignaz Wechselmann, Hungarian architect and philanthropist (b. 1828)
1908 – Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1835)
1909 – Francis Smith, Australian lawyer, judge, and politician, 4th Premier of Tasmania (b. 1819)
1911 – Francis Galton, English polymath, anthropologist, and geographer (b. 1822)
1927 – Juliette Gordon Low, American founder of the Girl Scouts of the USA (b. 1860)
1930 – Gauhar Jaan, One of the first performers to record music on 78 rpm records in India. (b. 1873)
1931 – Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia (b. 1864)
1932 – Ahmet Derviş, Turkish general (b. 1881)
1932 – Albert Jacka, Australian captain, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1893)
1933 – Louis Comfort Tiffany, American stained glass artist (b. 1848)
1936 – Mateiu Caragiale, Romanian journalist, author, and poet (b. 1885)
1942 – Walther von Reichenau, German field marshal (b. 1884)
1947 – Pyotr Krasnov, Russian historian and general (b. 1869)
1947 – Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Villeneuve, Canadian cardinal (b. 1883)
1951 – Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, Indian poet, playwright, and director (b. 1903)
1952 – Walter Briggs Sr., American businessman (b. 1877)
1961 – Patrice Lumumba, Congolese politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (b. 1925)
1970 – Simon Kovar, Russian-American bassoon player and educator (b. 1890)
1972 – Betty Smith, American author and playwright (b. 1896)
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
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)
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)
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):
1236 – King Henry III of England marries Eleanor of Provence.
1301 – Andrew III of Hungary dies, ending the Árpád dynasty in Hungary.
1343 – Arnošt of Pardubice becomes the last bishop of Prague and, subsequently, the first Archbishop of Prague.
1539 – Spain annexes Cuba.
1639 – The “Fundamental Orders”, the first written constitution that created a government, is adopted in Connecticut.
1761 – The Third Battle of Panipat is fought in India between the Afghans under Ahmad Shah Durrani and the Marathas.
1784 – American Revolutionary War: Ratification Day, United States – Congress ratifies the Treaty of Paris with Great Britain.
1814 – Treaty of Kiel: Frederick VI of Denmark cedes the Kingdom of Norway to Charles XIII of Sweden in return for Pomerania.
1822 – Greek War of Independence: Acrocorinth is captured by Theodoros Kolokotronis and Demetrios Ypsilantis.
1858 – Napoleon III of France escapes an assassination attempt made by Felice Orsini and his accomplices in Paris.
1907 – An earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica kills more than 1,000 people.
1911 – Roald Amundsen’s South Pole expedition makes landfall on the eastern edge of the Ross Ice Shelf.
1939 – Norway claims Queen Maud Land in Antarctica.
1943 – World War II: Japan begins Operation Ke, the successful operation to evacuate its forces from Guadalcanal during the Guadalcanal Campaign.
1943 – World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill begin the Casablanca Conference to discuss strategy and study the next phase of the war.
1950 – The first prototype of the MiG-17 makes its maiden flight.
1952 – NBC’s long-running morning news program Today debuts, with host Dave Garroway.
1953 – Josip Broz Tito is inaugurated as the first President of Yugoslavia.
1954 – The Hudson Motor Car Company merges with Nash-Kelvinator Corporation forming the American Motors Corporation.
1957 – Kripalu Maharaj was named fifth Jagadguru (world teacher) after giving seven days of speeches before 500 Hindu scholars.
1960 – The Reserve Bank of Australia, the country’s central bank and banknote issuing authority, is established.
1967 – Counterculture of the 1960s: The Human Be-In takes place in San Francisco, California’s Golden Gate Park, launching the Summer of Love.
1967 – The New York Times reports that the U.S. Army is conducting secret germ warfare experiments.
1969 – USS Enterprise fire: An accidental explosion aboard the USS Enterprise near Hawaii kills 28 people.
1972 – Queen Margrethe II of Denmark ascends the throne, the first Queen of Denmark since 1412 and the first Danish monarch not named Frederick or Christian since 1513.
1973 – Elvis Presley’s concert Aloha from Hawaii is broadcast live via satellite, and sets the record as the most watched broadcast by an individual entertainer in television history.
1993 – In Poland’s worst peacetime maritime disaster, ferry MS Jan Heweliusz sinks off the coast of Rügen, drowning 55 passengers and crew; nine crew-members are saved.
2000 – A United Nations tribunal sentences five Roman Catholic Bosnian Croats to up to 25 years in prison for the 1993 killing of more than 100 Bosnian Muslims.
2004 – The national flag of the Republic of Georgia, the so-called “five cross flag”, is restored to official use after a hiatus of some 500 years.
2010 – Yemen declares an open war against the terrorist group al-Qaeda.
2011 – Former president of Tunisia, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali flees his country to Saudi Arabia after a series of street demonstrations against his regime and corrupt policies, asking for freedom, rights and democracy, considered as the anniversary of the Tunisian Revolution and the birth of the Arab Spring.
Births onJanuary 14
83 BC – Mark Antony, Roman general and politician (d. 30 BCE)
1131 – Valdemar I of Denmark (d. 1182)
1273 – Joan I of Navarre, queen regnant of Navarre, queen consort of France (d. 1305)
1451 – Franchinus Gaffurius, Italian composer and theorist (d. 1522)
1477 – Hermann of Wied, German archbishop (d. 1552)
1476 – Anne St Leger, Baroness de Ros, English baroness (d. 1526)
1507 – Catherine of Austria, Queen of Portugal (d. 1578)
1507 – Luca Longhi, Italian painter (d. 1580)
1551 – Abu’l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, Grand vizier of emperor Akbar (d. 1602)
1552 – Alberico Gentili, Italian-English academic and jurist (d. 1608)
1615 – John Biddle, English minister and theologian (d. 1662)
1683 – Gottfried Silbermann, German instrument maker (d. 1753)
1684 – Johann Matthias Hase, German mathematician, astronomer, and cartographer (d. 1742)
1684 – Jean-Baptiste van Loo, French painter (d. 1745)
1699 – Jakob Adlung, German organist, historian, and theorist (d. 1762)
1700 – Picander, German poet and playwright (d. 1764)
1702 – Emperor Nakamikado of Japan (d. 1737)
1705 – Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier, French sailor, explorer, and politician (d. 1786)
1741 – Benedict Arnold, American-British general (d. 1801)
1767 – Maria Theresa of Austria (d. 1827)
1780 – Henry Baldwin, American judge and politician (d. 1844)
1792 – Christian de Meza, Danish general (d. 1865)
1793 – John C. Clark, American lawyer and politician (d. 1852)
1798 – Johan Rudolph Thorbecke, Dutch historian, jurist, and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 1872)
1800 – Ludwig Ritter von Köchel, Austrian composer, botanist, and publisher (d. 1877)
1806 – Charles Hotham, English-Australian soldier and politician, 1st Governor of Victoria (d. 1855)
1806 – Matthew Fontaine Maury, American astronomer, oceanographer, and historian (d. 1873)
1818 – Zachris Topelius, Finnish author and journalist (d. 1898)
1819 – Dimitrie Bolintineanu, Romanian poet and politician (d. 1872)
1824 – Vladimir Stasov, Russian critic (d. 1906)
1834 – Duncan Gillies, Scottish-Australian politician, 14th Premier of Victoria (d. 1903)
1836 – Henri Fantin-Latour, French painter and lithographer (d. 1904)
1841 – Berthe Morisot, French painter (d. 1895)
1845 – Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, English politician, 34th Governor-General of India (d. 1927)
1850 – Pierre Loti, French captain and author (d. 1923)
1856 – J. F. Archibald, Australian journalist and publisher, co-founded The Bulletin (d. 1919)
1861 – Mehmed VI, Ottoman sultan (d. 1926)
1862 – Carrie Derick, Canadian botanist and geneticist (d. 1941)
1863 – Manuel de Oliveira Gomes da Costa, Portuguese general and politician, 10th President of Portugal (d. 1929)
1863 – Richard F. Outcault, American author and illustrator (d. 1928)
1869 – Robert Fournier-Sarlovèze, French polo player and politician (d. 1937)
1870 – George Pearce, Australian carpenter and politician (d. 1952)
1875 – Albert Schweitzer, French-Gabonese physician and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1965)
1882 – Hendrik Willem van Loon, Dutch-American historian and journalist (d. 1944)
1883 – Nina Ricci, Italian-French fashion designer (d. 1970)
1886 – Hugh Lofting, English author and poet, created Doctor Dolittle (d. 1947)
1887 – Hugo Steinhaus, Polish mathematician and academic (d. 1972)
1892 – Martin Niemöller, German pastor and theologian (d. 1984)
1892 – Hal Roach, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1992)
1892 – George Wilson, English footballer (d. 1961)
1894 – Ecaterina Teodoroiu, Romanian soldier and nurse (d. 1917)
1896 – John Dos Passos, American novelist, poet, and playwright (d. 1970)
1897 – Hasso von Manteuffel, German general and politician (d. 1978)
1899 – Carlos P. Romulo, Filipino soldier and politician, President of the United Nations General Assembly (d. 1985)
1901 – Bebe Daniels, American actress (d. 1971)
1901 – Alfred Tarski, Polish-American mathematician and philosopher (d. 1983)
1904 – Cecil Beaton, English photographer, painter, and costume designer (d. 1980)
1904 – Emily Hahn, American journalist and author (d. 1997)
1904 – Babe Siebert, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1939)
1905 – Mildred Albert, American fashion commentator, TV and radio personality, and fashion show producer (d. 1991)
1905 – Takeo Fukuda, Japanese politician, 67th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1995)
1906 – William Bendix, American actor (d. 1964)
1907 – Georges-Émile Lapalme, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 1985)
1908 – Russ Columbo, American singer, violinist, and actor (d. 1934)
1909 – Brenda Forbes, English-American actress (d. 1996)
1909 – Joseph Losey, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1984)
1911 – Anatoly Rybakov, Russian-American author (d. 1998)
1912 – Tillie Olsen, American short story writer (d. 2007)
1914 – Harold Russell, Canadian-American soldier and actor (d. 2002)
1914 – Selahattin Ülkümen, Turkish diplomat (d. 2003)
1915 – Mark Goodson, American game show producer, created Family Feud and The Price Is Right (d. 1992)
1919 – Giulio Andreotti, Italian journalist and politician, 41st Prime Minister of Italy (d. 2013)
1919 – Andy Rooney, American soldier, journalist, critic, and television personality (d. 2011)
1920 – Bertus de Harder, Dutch footballer and manager (d. 1982)
1921 – Murray Bookchin, American author and philosopher (d. 2006)
1921 – Kenneth Bulmer, American author (d. 2005)
1922 – Diana Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington (d. 2010)
1923 – Gerald Arpino, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2008)
1923 – Fred Beckey, American mountaineer and author (d. 2017)
1924 – Carole Cook, American actress and singer
1925 – Jean-Claude Beton, Algerian-French engineer and businessman, founded Orangina (d. 2013)
1925 – Moscelyne Larkin, American ballerina (d. 2012)
1925 – Yukio Mishima, Japanese author, poet, and playwright (d. 1970)
1926 – Frank Aletter, American actor (d. 2009)
1926 – Warren Mitchell, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2015)
1926 – Tom Tryon, American actor and author (d. 1991)
1927 – Zuzana Růžičková, Czech harpsichord player (d. 2017)
1928 – Lars Forssell, Swedish author, poet, and songwriter (d. 2007)
1928 – Hans Kornberg, German-English biologist and academic (d. 2019)
1928 – Garry Winogrand, American photographer and author (d. 1984)
1930 – Johnny Grande, American pianist and accordion player (d. 2006)
1930 – Kenny Wheeler, Canadian-English trumpet player and composer (d. 2014)
1931 – Frank Costigan, Australian lawyer and politician (d. 2009)
1931 – Martin Holdgate, English biologist and academic
1932 – Don Garlits, American race car driver and engineer
1933 – Stan Brakhage, American director and producer (d. 2003)
1934 – Richard Briers, English actor (d. 2013)
1934 – Alberto Rodriguez Larreta, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1977)
1936 – Clarence Carter, American blues and soul singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer
1937 – J. Bernlef, Dutch author and poet (d. 2012)
1937 – Ken Higgs, English cricketer and coach (d. 2016)
1937 – Leo Kadanoff, American physicist and academic (d. 2015)
1937 – Rao Gopal Rao, Indian actor, producer, and politician (d. 1994)
1937 – Sonny Siebert, American baseball player
1937 – Billie Jo Spears, American country singer (d. 2011)
1938 – Morihiro Hosokawa, Japanese journalist and politician, 79th Prime Minister of Japan
1938 – Jack Jones, American singer and actor
1938 – Allen Toussaint, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (d. 2015)
1939 – Kurt Moylan, Guamanian businessman and politician, 1st Lieutenant Governor of Guam
1940 – Julian Bond, American academic and politician (d. 2015)
1940 – Ron Kostelnik, American football player (d. 1993)
1940 – Siegmund Nimsgern, German opera singer
1940 – Trevor Nunn, English director and composer
1940 – Vasilka Stoeva, Bulgarian discus thrower
1941 – Nicholas Brooks, English historian (d. 2014)
1941 – Faye Dunaway, American actress and producer
1941 – Gibby Gilbert, American golfer
1941 – Milan Kučan, Slovenian politician, 1st President of Slovenia
1942 – Dave Campbell, American baseball player and sportscaster
1942 – Gerben Karstens, Dutch cyclist
1943 – Angelo Bagnasco, Italian cardinal
1943 – Mariss Jansons, Latvian conductor (d. 2019)
1943 – Shannon Lucid, American biochemist and astronaut
1943 – Holland Taylor, American actress and playwright
1944 – Marjoe Gortner, American actor and evangelist
1944 – Graham Marsh, Australian golfer and architect
1944 – Nina Totenberg, American journalist
1945 – Kathleen Chalfant, American actress
1945 – Maina Gielgud, English ballerina and director
1947 – Taylor Branch, American historian and author
1947 – Bev Perdue, American educator and politician, 73rd Governor of North Carolina
1947 – Bill Werbeniuk, Canadian snooker player (d. 2003)
1948 – T Bone Burnett, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1948 – Muhriz of Negeri Sembilan, Yamtuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan
1948 – Carl Weathers, American football player and actor
1949 – Lawrence Kasdan, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1949 – Mary Robison, American short story writer and novelist
1949 – İlyas Salman, Turkish actor, director, and screenwriter
1949 – Lamar Williams, American bass player (d. 1983)
1950 – Rambhadracharya, Indian religious leader, scholar, and author
1950 – Arthur Byron Cover, American author and screenwriter
1951 – O. Panneerselvam, Indian politician, 7th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
1952 – Sydney Biddle Barrows, American businesswoman and author
1952 – Maureen Dowd, American journalist and author
1952 – Konstantinos Iosifidis, Greek footballer and manager
1952 – Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, Romanian engineer and politician, 60th Prime Minister of Romania
1953 – David Clary, English chemist and academic
1953 – Denzil Douglas, Caribbean educator and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis
1953 – Hans Westerhoff, Dutch biologist and academic
1956 – Étienne Daho, Algerian-French singer-songwriter and producer
1957 – Anchee Min, Chinese-American painter, photographer, and author
1959 – Geoff Tate, German-American singer-songwriter and musician
1961 – Rob Hall, New Zealand mountaineer (d. 1996)
1963 – Steven Soderbergh, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1964 – Beverly Kinch, English long jumper and sprinter
1964 – Shepard Smith, American television journalist
1965 – Marc Delissen, Dutch field hockey player, coach, and lawyer
1965 – Bob Essensa, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1965 – Slick Rick, English-American rapper and producer
1966 – Rob Flello, English lawyer and politician
1966 – Terry Angus, English footballer, central defender
1966 – Marco Hietala, Finnish singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
1966 – Rene Simpson, Canadian-American tennis player (d. 2013)
1966 – Dan Schneider, American TV-producer
1967 – Leonardo Ortolani, Italian author and illustrator, created Rat-Man
1967 – Emily Watson, English actress
1968 – LL Cool J, American rapper and actor
1968 – Ruel Fox, English-Montserratian footballer, Midfielder, Manager and Chairman
1969 – Jason Bateman, American actor, director, and producer
1969 – Martin Bicknell, English cricketer
1969 – Dave Grohl, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and drummer
1971 – Lasse Kjus, Norwegian skier
1971 – Bert Konterman, Dutch footballer and manager
1971 – Antonios Nikopolidis, Greek footballer and manager
1972 – Kyle Brady, American football player and sportscaster
1972 – Dion Forster, South African minister, theologian, and author
1972 – James Key, English engineer
1973 – Giancarlo Fisichella, Italian race car driver
1973 – Paul Tisdale, English footballer and manager
1974 – David Flitcroft, English footballer and manager
1975 – Georgina Cates, English actress
1976 – Vincenzo Chianese, Italian footballer
1977 – Narain Karthikeyan, Indian race car driver
1977 – Terry Ryan, Canadian ice hockey player
1978 – Shawn Crawford, American sprinter
1979 – Karen Elson, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and model
1979 – Evans Soligo, Italian footballer
1980 – Clive Clarke, Irish footballer
1980 – Cory Gibbs, American soccer player
1981 – Abdelmalek Cherrad, Algerian footballer
1981 – Hyleas Fountain, American heptathlete
1981 – Concepción Montaner, Spanish long jumper
1981 – Chiharu Niiyama, Japanese actress and model
1981 – Jadranka Đokić, Croatian actress
1982 – Braith Anasta, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
1982 – Marc Broussard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1982 – Chris Heighington, Australian-English rugby league player
1982 – Léo Lima, Brazilian footballer
1982 – Thomas Longosiwa, Kenyan runner
1982 – Víctor Valdés, Spanish footballer
1983 – Cesare Bovo, Italian footballer
1983 – Jason Krejza, Australian cricketer
1984 – Erick Aybar, American baseball player
1984 – Erika Matsuo, Japanese violinist
1984 – Mike Pelfrey, American baseball player
1985 – Joel Rosario, Dominican-American jockey
1985 – Shawn Sawyer, Canadian figure skater
1986 – Yohan Cabaye, French footballer
1986 – Alessio Cossu, Italian footballer
1987 – Atsushi Hashimoto, Japanese actor
1987 – Jess Fishlock, Welsh footballer
1988 – Kacey Barnfield, English actress
1988 – Jack P. Shepherd, English actor
1989 – Frankie Bridge, English singer-songwriter and dancer
1989 – Adam Clayton, English footballer
1989 – Mattia Marchi, Italian footballer
1989 – Liu Xiaodong, Chinese footballer
1990 – Lelisa Desisa, Ethiopian runner
1990 – Grant Gustin, American actor and singer
1990 – Áron Szilágyi, Hungarian fencer
1992 – Robbie Brady, Irish footballer
1992 – Chieh-Yu Hsu, American tennis player
1993 – Daniel Bessa, Brazilian footballer
1994 – Kane Elgey, Australian rugby league player
1994 – Abi Phillips, English singer-songwriter and actress
1994 – Kai, South Korean singer, model, actor and dancer
1995 – Georgios Diamantakos, Greek basketball player
1995 – Alex Johnston, Australian rugby league player
Deaths on January 14
769 – Cui Huan, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty
927 – Wang Yanhan, king of Min (Ten Kingdoms)
937 – Zhang Yanlang, Chinese official
973 – Ekkehard I, Frankish monk and poet
1092 – Vratislaus II of Bohemia
1163 – Ladislaus II of Hungary (b. 1131)
1236 – Saint Sava, Serbian archbishop and saint (b. 1175)
1301 – Andrew III of Hungary (b. 1265)
1331 – Odoric of Pordenone, Italian priest and explorer (b. 1286)
1465 – Thomas Beckington, English statesman and prelate
1476 – John de Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk (b. 1444)
1555 – Jacques Dubois, French anatomist (b. 1478)
1640 – Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry, English lawyer, judge, and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (b. 1578)
2013 – Conrad Bain, Canadian-American actor (b. 1923)
2014 – Jon Bing, Norwegian author, scholar, and academic (b. 1944)
2014 – Juan Gelman, Argentinian poet and author (b. 1930)
2014 – Flavio Testi, Italian composer and musicologist (b. 1923)
2015 – Bob Boyd, American basketball player and coach (b. 1930)
2015 – Zhang Wannian, Chinese general (b. 1928)
2016 – Alan Rickman, English actor (b. 1946)
2017 – Zhou Youguang, Chinese sociologist, (b. 1906)
2018 – Spanky Manikan, Filipino veteran actor (b. 1942)
2018 – Cyrille Regis, French Guianan-English footballer (b. 1958)
Holidays and observances on January 14
Christian feast day:
Barba’shmin
Blessed Devasahayam Pillai (Latin Church)
Divina Pastora (Barquisimeto)
Eivind Berggrav (Lutheran)
Felix of Nola
Macrina the Elder
Odoric of Pordenone
January 14 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Defender of the Motherland Day (Uzbekistan)
Feast of the Ass (Medieval Christianity)
Flag Day (Georgia)
National Forest Conservation Day (Thailand)
Old New Year, and its related observance:
Azhyrnykhua (Abkhazia)
Yennayer (Berbers)
Ratification Day (United States)
Revolution and Youth Day (Tunisia)
Sidereal winter solstice celebrations in South and Southeast Asian cultures; marking the transition of the Sun to Capricorn, and the first day of the six months Uttarayana period. (see April 14):
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
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)
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)
