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

This day marks the approximate midpoint of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and of summer in the Southern Hemisphere (starting the season at the December solstice).

February 4 in History

211 – Following the death of Rome’s Emperor Septimius Severus at Eboracum (modern York, England) while preparing to lead a campaign against the Caledonians, the empire is left in the control of his two quarreling sons, Caracalla and Geta, whom he had instructed to make peace.
960 – The coronation of Zhao Kuangyin as Emperor Taizu of Song, initiating the Song dynasty period of China that would last more than three centuries.
1169 – A strong earthquake struck the Ionian coast of Sicily, causing tens of thousands of injuries and deaths, especially in Catania.
1454 – In the Thirteen Years’ War, the Secret Council of the Prussian Confederation sends a formal act of disobedience to the Grand Master.
1555 – John Rogers is burned at the stake, becoming the first English Protestant martyr under Mary I of England.
1703 – In Edo (now Tokyo), all but one of the Forty-seven Ronin commit seppuku (ritual suicide) as recompense for avenging their master’s death.
1758 – The city of Macapá in Brazil is founded by Sebastião Veiga Cabral.
1789 – George Washington is unanimously elected as the first President of the United States by the U.S. Electoral College.
1794 – The French legislature abolishes slavery throughout all territories of the French First Republic. It would be reestablished in the French West Indies in 1802.
1797 – The Riobamba earthquake strikes Ecuador, causing up to 40,000 casualties.
1801 – John Marshall is sworn in as Chief Justice of the United States.
1810 – Napoleonic Wars: Britain seizes Guadeloupe.
1820 – The Chilean Navy under the command of Lord Cochrane completes the two-day long Capture of Valdivia with just 300 men and two ships.
1825 – The Ohio Legislature authorizes the construction of the Ohio and Erie Canal and the Miami and Erie Canal.
1846 – The first Mormon pioneers make their exodus from Nauvoo, Illinois, westward towards Salt Lake Valley.
1859 – The Codex Sinaiticus is discovered in Egypt.
1861 – American Civil War: In Montgomery, Alabama, delegates from six break-away U.S. states meet and form the Confederate States of America.
1899 – The Philippine–American War begins with the Battle of Manila.
1932 – Second Sino-Japanese War: Harbin, Manchuria, falls to Japan.
1938 – Adolf Hitler appoints himself as head of the Armed Forces High Command.
1941 – The United Service Organization (USO) is created to entertain American troops.
1945 – World War II: Santo Tomas Internment Camp is liberated from Japanese authority.
1945 – World War II: The Yalta Conference between the “Big Three” (Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin) opens at the Livadia Palace in the Crimea.
1945 – World War II: The British Indian Army and Imperial Japanese Army begin a series of battles known as the Battle of Pokoku and Irrawaddy River operations.
1948 – Ceylon (later renamed Sri Lanka) becomes independent within the British Commonwealth.
1961 – The Angolan War of Independence and the greater Portuguese Colonial War begin.
1966 – All Nippon Airways Flight 60 plunges into Tokyo Bay, killing 133.
1967 – Lunar Orbiter program: Lunar Orbiter 3 lifts off from Cape Canaveral’s Launch Complex 13 on its mission to identify possible landing sites for the Surveyor and Apollo spacecraft.
1969 – Yasser Arafat takes over as chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
1974 – The Symbionese Liberation Army kidnaps Patty Hearst in Berkeley, California.
1974 – M62 coach bombing: The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) explodes a bomb on a bus carrying off-duty British Armed Forces personnel in Yorkshire, England. Nine soldiers and three civilians are killed.
1975 – Haicheng earthquake (magnitude 7.3 on the Richter scale) occurs in Haicheng, Liaoning, China.
1976 – In Guatemala and Honduras an earthquake kills more than 22,000.
1977 – A Chicago Transit Authority elevated train rear-ends another and derails, killing 11 and injuring 180, the worst accident in the agency’s history.
1992 – A coup d’état is led by Hugo Chávez against Venezuelan President Carlos Andrés Pérez.
1997 – En route to Lebanon, two Israeli Sikorsky CH-53 troop-transport helicopters collide in mid-air over northern Galilee, Israel killing 73.
1998 – The 5.9 M_w  Afghanistan earthquake shakes the Takhar Province with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong). With 2,323 killed, and 818 injured, damage is considered extreme.
1999 – Unarmed West African immigrant Amadou Diallo is shot 41 times by four plainclothes New York City police officers on an unrelated stake-out, inflaming race relations in the city.
2000 – The World Summit Against Cancer for the New Millennium, Charter of Paris is signed by the President of France, Jacques Chirac and the Director General of UNESCO, Koichiro Matsuura, initiating World Cancer Day which is held on February 4 every year.
2003 – The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia adopts a new constitution, becoming a loose confederacy between Montenegro and Serbia.
2004 – Facebook, a mainstream online social networking site, is founded by Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin.
2015 – TransAsia Airways Flight 235 with 58 people on board, en route from the Taiwanese capital Taipei to Kinmen, crashes into the Keelung River just after take-off, killing 43 people.
2020 – The COVID-19 pandemic causes all casinos in Macau to be closed down for 15 days.

Births on February 4

1447 – Lodovico Lazzarelli, Italian poet (d. 1500)
1495 – Francesco II Sforza, Duke of Milan (d. 1535)
1495 – Jean Parisot de Valette, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller (d. 1568)
1505 – Mikołaj Rej, Polish poet and author (d. 1580)
1575 – Pierre de Bérulle, French cardinal and theologian, founded the French school of spirituality (d. 1629)
1646 – Hans Erasmus Aßmann, German poet and politician (d. 1699)
1676 – Giacomo Facco, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1753)
1677 – Johann Ludwig Bach, German violinist and composer (d. 1731)
1688 – Pierre de Marivaux, French author and playwright (d. 1763)
1725 – Dru Drury, English entomologist and author (d. 1804)
1740 – Carl Michael Bellman, Swedish poet and composer (d. 1795)
1778 – Augustin Pyramus de Candolle, Swiss botanist, mycologist, and academic (d. 1841)
1799 – Almeida Garrett, Portuguese journalist and author (d. 1854)
1818 – Emperor Norton, San Francisco eccentric and visionary (d. 1880)^{citation needed}
1831 – Oliver Ames, American financier and politician, 35th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1895)
1848 – Jean Aicard, French poet, author, and playwright (d. 1921)
1849 – Jean Richepin, French poet, author, and playwright (d. 1926)
1862 – Édouard Estaunié, French novelist (d. 1942)
1865 – Abe Isoo, Japanese minister and politician (d. 1949)
1868 – Constance Markievicz, Irish revolutionary and first woman elected to the UK House of Commons (d. 1927)
1871 – Friedrich Ebert, German lawyer and politician, 1st President of Germany (d. 1925)
1872 – Gotse Delchev, Bulgarian and Macedonian revolutionary activist (d. 1903)
1873 – Étienne Desmarteau, Canadian shot putter and discus thrower (d. 1905)
1875 – Ludwig Prandtl, German physicist and engineer (d. 1953)
1877 – Eddie Cochems, American football player and coach (d. 1953)
1881 – Eulalio Gutiérrez, Mexican general and politician, President of Mexico (d. 1939)
1881 – Fernand Léger, French painter and sculptor (d. 1955)
1883 – Reinhold Rudenberg, German-American inventor and a pioneer of electron microscopy (d. 1961)
1891 – M. A. Ayyangar, Indian lawyer and politician, 2nd Speaker of the Lok Sabha (d. 1978)
1892 – E. J. Pratt, Canadian poet and academic (d. 1964)
1895 – Nigel Bruce, English actor (d. 1953)
1896 – Friedrich Glauser, Austrian-Swiss author (d. 1938)
1896 – Friedrich Hund, German physicist and academic (d. 1997)
1897 – Ludwig Erhard, German soldier and politician, 2nd Chancellor of West Germany (d. 1977)
1899 – Virginia M. Alexander, American physician and founder of the Aspiranto Health Home (d. 1949)
1900 – Jacques Prévert, French poet and screenwriter (d. 1977)
1902 – Charles Lindbergh, American pilot and explorer (d. 1974)
1902 – Hartley Shawcross, Baron Shawcross, German-English lawyer and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (d. 2003)
1903 – Alexander Imich, Polish-American chemist, parapsychologist, and academic (d. 2014)
1904 – MacKinlay Kantor, American author and screenwriter (d. 1977)
1905 – Hylda Baker, English comedian, actress and music hall performer (d. 1986)
1906 – Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German pastor and theologian (d. 1945)
1906 – Letitia Dunbar-Harrison, Irish librarian (d. 1994)
1906 – Clyde Tombaugh, American astronomer and academic, discovered Pluto (d. 1997)
1908 – Julian Bell, English poet and academic (d. 1937)
1912 – Ola Skjåk Bræk, Norwegian banker and politician, Norwegian Minister of Industry (d. 1999)
1912 – Erich Leinsdorf, Austrian-American conductor (d. 1993)
1912 – Byron Nelson, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 2006)
1913 – Rosa Parks, American civil rights activist (d. 2005)
1914 – Alfred Andersch, German-Swiss author and publisher (d. 1980)
1915 – William Talman, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1968)
1915 – Norman Wisdom, English singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2010)
1917 – Yahya Khan, Pakistan general and politician, 3rd President of Pakistan (d. 1980)
1918 – Ida Lupino, English-American actress and director (d. 1995)
1918 – Luigi Pareyson, Italian philosopher and author (d. 1991)
1920 – Janet Waldo, American actress and voice artist (d. 2016)
1921 – Betty Friedan, American author and feminist (d. 2006)
1921 – Lotfi Zadeh, Iranian-American mathematician and computer scientist and founder of fuzzy logic (d. 2017)
1923 – Conrad Bain, Canadian-American actor (d. 2013)
1925 – Russell Hoban, American author and illustrator (d. 2011)
1925 – Stanley Karnow, American journalist and historian (d. 2013)
1925 – Christopher Zeeman, English mathematician and academic (d. 2016)
1926 – Gyula Grosics, Hungarian footballer and manager (d. 2014)
1926 – Dave Sands, Australian boxer (d. 1952)
1927 – Rolf Landauer, German-American physicist and academic (d. 1999)
1928 – Oscar Cabalén, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1967)
1928 – Osmo Antero Wiio, Finnish journalist, academic, and politician (d. 2013)
1929 – Paul Burlison, American rockabilly guitarist (d. 2003)
1929 – Neil Johnston, American basketball player (d. 1978)
1930 – Tibor Antalpéter, Hungarian volleyball player and diplomat, Hungarian Ambassador to the United Kingdom (d. 2012)
1930 – Arthur E. Chase, American businessman and politician (d. 2015)
1930 – Jim Loscutoff, American basketball player (d. 2015)
1931 – Isabel Martínez de Perón, Argentinian dancer and politician, 41st President of Argentina
1935 – Wallis Mathias, Pakistani cricketer (d. 1994)
1935 – Martti Talvela, Finnish opera singer (d. 1989)
1935 – Collin Wilcox, American actress (d. 2009)
1936 – David Brenner, American comedian, actor, and author (d. 2014)
1936 – Claude Nobs, Swiss businessman, founded the Montreux Jazz Festival (d. 2013)
1937 – David Newman, American director and screenwriter (d. 2003)
1938 – Frank J. Dodd, American businessman and politician, president of the New Jersey Senate (d. 2010)
1939 – Stan Lundine, American lawyer and politician, Lieutenant Governor of New York
1940 – George A. Romero, American director and producer (d. 2017)
1941 – Russell Cooper, Australian politician, 33rd Premier of Queensland
1941 – Ron Rangi, New Zealand rugby player (d. 1988)
1941 – Jiří Raška, Czech skier and coach (d. 2012)
1943 – Alberto João Jardim, Portuguese journalist and politician, 2nd President of the Regional Government of Madeira
1943 – Wanda Rutkiewicz, Lithuanian-Polish mountaineer (d. 1992)
1943 – Ken Thompson, American computer scientist and programmer, co-developed the B programming language
1944 – Florence LaRue, American singer and actress
1947 – Dennis C. Blair, American admiral and politician, 3rd Director of National Intelligence
1947 – Dan Quayle, American sergeant, lawyer, and politician, 44th Vice President of the United States
1948 – Alice Cooper, American singer-songwriter
1948 – Rod Grams, American journalist and politician (d. 2013)
1948 – Mienoumi Tsuyoshi, Japanese sumo wrestler
1949 – Michael Beck, American actor
1949 – Rasim Delić, Bosnian general (d. 2010)
1951 – Patrick Bergin, Irish actor
1951 – Phil Ehart, American rock drummer and songwriter
1952 – Jenny Shipley, New Zealand educator and politician, 36th Prime Minister of New Zealand
1952 – Thomas Silverstein, American prisoner, founder and former leader of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang (d. 2019)
1955 – Mikuláš Dzurinda, Slovak politician, Prime Minister of Slovakia
1957 – Don Davis, American composer and conductor
1958 – Tomasz Pacyński, Polish journalist and author (d. 2005)
1959 – Christian Schreier, German footballer and manager
1959 – Lawrence Taylor, American football player and sportscaster
1960 – Siobhan Dowd, English author and activist (d. 2007)
1960 – Adrienne King, American actress, dancer, and painter
1960 – Jonathan Larson, American composer and playwright (d. 1996)
1961 – Stewart O’Nan, American novelist
1961 – Denis Savard, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1962 – Clint Black, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1962 – Stephen Hammond, English banker and politician
1963 – Pirmin Zurbriggen, Swiss skier
1964 – Elke Philipp, German Paralympic equestrian
1965 – Jerome Brown, American football player (d. 1992)
1966 – Tony Butterfield, Australian rugby league player
1966 – Viatcheslav Ekimov, Russian cyclist
1967 – Sergei Grinkov, Russian figure skater (d. 1995)
1970 – Gabrielle Anwar, English actress
1971 – Rob Corddry, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1971 – Eric Garcetti, American lieutenant and politician, 42nd Mayor of Los Angeles
1972 – Dara Ó Briain, Irish comedian and television host
1972 – Giovanni Silva de Oliveira, Brazilian footballer and manager
1973 – Oscar De La Hoya, American boxer
1973 – James Hird, Australian footballer and coach
1973 – Manny Legace, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
1975 – Natalie Imbruglia, Australian singer-songwriter and actress
1977 – Gavin DeGraw, American singer-songwriter
1979 – Giorgio Pantano, Italian race car driver
1980 – Raimonds Vaikulis, Latvian basketball player
1981 – Jason Kapono, American basketball player
1981 – Johan Vansummeren, Belgian cyclist
1982 – Chris Sabin, American wrestler
1982 – Ivars Timermanis, Latvian basketball player
1982 – Tomas Vaitkus, Lithuanian cyclist
1983 – Lee Stempniak, American ice hockey player
1983 – Rebecca White, Australian politician
1984 – Sandeep Acharya, Indian singer (d. 2013)
1984 – Mauricio Pinilla, Chilean footballer
1986 – Maximilian Götz, German race car driver
1986 – Mahmudullah Riyad, Bangladeshi cricketer
1987 – Darren O’Dea, Irish footballer
1987 – Lucie Šafářová, Czech tennis player
1988 – Carly Patterson, American gymnast and singer
1993 – Bae Noo-ri, South Korean actress
1998 – Maximilian Wöber, Austrian footballer

Deaths on February 4

211 – Septimius Severus, Roman emperor (b. 145)
708 – Pope Sisinnius (b. 650)
856 – Rabanus Maurus, Frankish archbishop and theologian (b. 780)
870 – Ceolnoth, archbishop of Canterbury
1169 – John of Ajello, Bishop of Catania
1498 – Antonio del Pollaiolo, Italian artist (b. 1429/1433)
1505 – Jeanne de Valois, daughter of Louis XI of France (b. 1464)
1508 – Conrad Celtes, German poet and scholar (b. 1459)
1555 – John Rogers, English clergyman and translator (b. 1505)
1590 – Gioseffo Zarlino, Italian composer and theorist (b. 1517)
1615 – Giambattista della Porta, Italian playwright and scholar (b. 1535)
1617 – Lodewijk Elzevir, Dutch publisher, co-founded the House of Elzevir (b. 1546)
1713 – Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, English philosopher and politician (b. 1671)
1774 – Charles Marie de La Condamine, French mathematician and geographer (b. 1701)
1781 – Josef Mysliveček, Czech composer (b. 1737)
1799 – Étienne-Louis Boullée, French architect and educator (b. 1728)
1843 – Theodoros Kolokotronis, Greek general (b. 1770)
1891 – Pelagio Antonio de Labastida y Dávalos, Roman Catholic archbishop and Mexican politician who served as regent during the Second Mexican Empire (1863-1864) (b. 1816)
1905 – Louis-Ernest Barrias, French sculptor and academic (b. 1841)
1926 – İskilipli Âtıf Hodja, Turkish author and scholar (b. 1875)
1928 – Hendrik Lorentz, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1853)
1933 – Archibald Sayce, English linguist and educator (b. 1846)
1940 – Nikolai Yezhov, Russian police officer and politician (b. 1895)
1943 – Frank Calder, English-Canadian ice hockey player and journalist (b. 1877)
1944 – Arsen Kotsoyev, Russian author and translator (b. 1872)
1956 – Savielly Tartakower, Russian-French chess player, journalist, and author (b. 1887)
1958 – Henry Kuttner, American author and screenwriter (b. 1915)
1959 – Una O’Connor, Irish-American actress (b. 1880)
1968 – Neal Cassady, American novelist and poet (b. 1926)
1970 – Louise Bogan, American poet and critic (b. 1897)
1974 – Satyendra Nath Bose, Indian physicist, mathematician, and academic (b. 1894)
1975 – Louis Jordan, American singer-songwriter and saxophonist (b. 1908)
1982 – Alex Harvey, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1935)
1982 – Georg Konrad Morgen, German lawyer and judge (b. 1909)
1983 – Karen Carpenter, American singer (b. 1950)
1987 – Liberace, American singer-songwriter and pianist, (b. 1919)
1987 – Meena Keshwar Kamal, Afghan activist, founded the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (b. 1956)
1987 – Carl Rogers, American psychologist and academic (b. 1902)
1990 – Whipper Billy Watson, Canadian-American wrestler and trainer (b. 1915)
1992 – John Dehner, American actor (b. 1915)
1995 – Patricia Highsmith, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1921)
2000 – Carl Albert, American lawyer and politician, 54th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1908)
2002 – Count Sigvard Bernadotte of Wisborg (b. 1907)
2003 – Benyoucef Benkhedda, Algerian pharmacist and politician (b. 1920)
2005 – Ossie Davis, American actor, director, and playwright (b. 1917)
2006 – Betty Friedan, American author and activist (b. 1921)
2007 – José Carlos Bauer, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1925)
2007 – Ilya Kormiltsev, Russian-English poet and translator (b. 1959)
2007 – Barbara McNair, American singer and actress (b. 1934)
2007 – Jules Olitski, Ukrainian-American painter and sculptor (b. 1922)
2008 – Augusta Dabney, American actress (b. 1918)
2008 – Stefan Meller, Polish academic and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland (b. 1942)
2010 – Kostas Axelos, Greek-French philosopher and author (b. 1924)
2010 – Helen Tobias-Duesberg, Estonian-American composer (b. 1919)
2011 – Martial Célestin, Haitian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Haiti (b. 1913)
2012 – István Csurka, Hungarian journalist and politician (b. 1934)
2012 – Florence Green, English soldier (b. 1901)
2012 – Robert Daniel, American farmer, soldier, and politician (b. 1936)
2012 – Mike deGruy, American director, producer, and cinematographer (b. 1951)
2013 – Donald Byrd, American trumpet player (b. 1932)
2013 – Reg Presley, English singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
2014 – Keith Allen, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager (b. 1923)
2014 – Eugenio Corti, Italian soldier, author, and playwright (b. 1921)
2014 – Dennis Lota, Zambian footballer (b. 1973)
2015 – Wes Cooley, American soldier and politician (b. 1932)
2015 – Fitzhugh L. Fulton, American colonel and pilot (b. 1925)
2016 – Edgar Mitchell, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1930)
2017 – Steve Lang, Canadian bass player (b. 1949)
2017 – Bano Qudsia, Pakistani writer (b. 1928)
2018 – John Mahoney, English-American actor, voice artist, and comedian (b. 1940)
2019 – Matti Nykänen, Finnish Olympic-winning ski jumper and singer (b. 1963)

Holidays and observances on February 4

Christian feast day:
- Andrew Corsini
- Gilbert of Sempringham
- John de Brito
- Blessed Rabanus Maurus
- Rimbert
- Veronica
- February 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Day of the Armed Struggle (Angola)
Earliest day on which Ash Wednesday can fall, while March 10 is the latest; celebrated on the first day of Lent (Christianity)
Independence Day (Sri Lanka)
Rosa Parks Day (California and Missouri, United States)
World Cancer Day

February 4 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

January 28 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

814 – The death of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, brings about the accession of his son Louis the Pious as ruler of the Frankish Empire.
1069 – Robert de Comines, appointed Earl of Northumbria by William the Conqueror, rides into Durham, England, where he is defeated and killed by rebels. This incident leads to the Harrying of the North.
1077 – Walk to Canossa: The excommunication of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, is lifted after he humbles himself before Pope Gregory VII at Canossa in Italy.
1521 – The Diet of Worms begins, lasting until May 25.
1547 – Edward VI, the nine-year-old son of Henry VIII, becomes King of England on his father’s death.
1568 – The Edict of Torda prohibited the persecution of individuals on the religious ground in John Sigismund Zápolya’s Eastern Hungarian Kingdom.
1573 – Articles of the Warsaw Confederation are signed, sanctioning freedom of religion in Poland.
1624 – Sir Thomas Warner founds the first British colony in the Caribbean, on the island of Saint Kitts.
1671 – Original city of Panama (founded in 1519) was destroyed by a fire when privateer Henry Morgan sacked and set fire to it. The site of the previously devastated city is still in ruins (see Panama Viejo).
1724 – The Russian Academy of Sciences is founded in St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, and implemented by Senate decree. It is called the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences until 1917.
1754 – Sir Horace Walpole coins the word serendipity in a letter to a friend.
1813 – Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is first published in the United Kingdom.
1846 – The Battle of Aliwal, India, is won by British troops commanded by Sir Harry Smith.
1851 – Northwestern University becomes the first chartered university in Illinois.
1855 – A locomotive on the Panama Canal Railway runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean for the first time.
1871 – Franco-Prussian War: The Siege of Paris ends in French defeat and an armistice.
1878 – Yale Daily News becomes the first independent daily college newspaper in the United States.
1896 – Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent, becomes the first person to be convicted of speeding. He was fined one shilling, plus costs, for speeding at 8 mph (13 km/h), thereby exceeding the contemporary speed limit of 2 mph (3.2 km/h).
1902 – The Carnegie Institution of Washington is founded in Washington, D.C. with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie.
1908 – Members of the Portuguese Republican Party fail in their attempted coup d’état against the administrative dictatorship of Prime Minister João Franco.
1909 – United States troops leave Cuba with the exception of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base after being there since the Spanish–American War.
1915 – An act of the U.S. Congress creates the United States Coast Guard as a branch of the United States Armed Forces.
1918 – Finnish Civil War: The Red Guard rebels seize control of the capital, Helsinki; members of the Senate of Finland go underground.
1920 – Foundation of the Spanish Legion.
1922 – Knickerbocker Storm, Washington D.C.’s biggest snowfall, causes the city’s greatest loss of life when the roof of the Knickerbocker Theatre collapses.
1932 – Japanese forces attack Shanghai.
1933 – The name Pakistan is coined by Choudhry Rahmat Ali Khan and is accepted by Indian Muslims who then thereby adopted it further for the Pakistan Movement seeking independence.
1935 – Iceland becomes the first Western country to legalize therapeutic abortion.
1938 – The World Land Speed Record on a public road is broken by Rudolf Caracciola in the Mercedes-Benz W195 at a speed of 432.7 kilometres per hour (268.9 mph).
1941 – Franco-Thai War: Final air battle of the conflict. A Japanese-mediated armistice goes into effect later in the day.
1945 – World War II: Supplies begin to reach the Republic of China over the newly reopened Burma Road.
1956 – Elvis Presley makes his first national television appearance.
1958 – The Lego company patents the design of its Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today.
1960 – The National Football League announced expansion teams for Dallas to start in the 1960 NFL season and Minneapolis-St. Paul for 1961 NFL season.
1964 – An unarmed United States Air Force T-39 Sabreliner on a training mission is shot down over Erfurt, East Germany, by a Soviet MiG-19.
1965 – The current design of the Flag of Canada is chosen by an act of Parliament.
1977 – The first day of the Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977 which dumps 10 feet (3.0 m) of snow in one day in Upstate New York, with Buffalo, Syracuse, Watertown, and surrounding areas are most affected.
1980 – USCGC Blackthorn collides with the tanker Capricorn while leaving Tampa, Florida and capsizes, killing 23 Coast Guard crewmembers.
1981 – Ronald Reagan lifts remaining domestic petroleum price and allocation controls in the United States helping to end the 1979 energy crisis and begin the 1980s oil glut.
1982 – US Army general James L. Dozier is rescued by Italian anti-terrorism forces from captivity by the Red Brigades.
1984 – Tropical Storm Domoina makes landfall in southern Mozambique, eventually causing 214 deaths and some of the most severe flooding so far recorded in the region.
1985 – Supergroup USA for Africa (United Support of Artists for Africa) records the hit single We Are the World, to help raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief.
1986 – Space Shuttle program: STS-51-L mission: Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrates after liftoff, killing all seven astronauts on board.
1988 – In R v Morgentaler the Supreme Court of Canada strikes down all anti-abortion laws.
2002 – TAME Flight 120, a Boeing 727-100 crashes in the Andes mountains in southern Colombia, killing 94.
2006 – The roof of one of the buildings at the Katowice International Fair in Poland collapses due to the weight of snow, killing 65 and injuring more than 170 others.

Births on January 28

1312 – Joan II, queen of Navarre (d. 1349)
1368 – Razadarit, king of Hanthawaddy (d. 1421)
1457 – Henry VII, king of England (d. 1509)
1533 – Paul Luther, German scientist (d. 1593)
1540 – Ludolph van Ceulen, German-Dutch mathematician and academic (d. 1610)
1582 – John Barclay, French-Scottish poet and author (d. 1621)
1600 – Clement IX, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1669)
1608 – Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, Italian physiologist and physicist (d. 1679)
1611 – Johannes Hevelius, Polish astronomer and politician (d. 1687)
1622 – Adrien Auzout, French astronomer and instrument maker (d. 1691)
1693 – Gregor Werner, Austrian composer (d. 1766)
1701 – Charles Marie de La Condamine, French mathematician and geographer (d. 1774)
1706 – John Baskerville, English printer and typographer (d. 1775)
1712 – Tokugawa Ieshige, Japanese shōgun (d. 1761)
1717 – Mustafa III, Ottoman sultan (d. 1774)
1719 – Johann Elias Schlegel, German poet and critic (d. 1749)
1726 – Christian Felix Weiße, German poet and playwright (d. 1802)
1755 – Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring, Polish-German physician, anthropologist, and paleontologist (d. 1830)
1784 – George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, Scottish politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1860)
1797 – Charles Gray Round, English lawyer and politician (d. 1867)
1818 – George S. Boutwell, American lawyer and politician, 28th United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1905)
1822 – Alexander Mackenzie, Scottish-Canadian soldier, journalist, and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1892)
1833 – Charles George Gordon, English general and politician (d. 1885)
1841 – Henry Morton Stanley, Welsh-American explorer and journalist (d. 1904)
1843 – Mihkel Veske, Estonian poet and linguist (d. 1890)
1853 – José Martí, Cuban journalist, poet, and theorist (d. 1895)
1853 – Vladimir Solovyov, Russian philosopher, poet, and critic (d. 1900)
1855 – William Seward Burroughs I, American businessman, founded the Burroughs Corporation (d. 1898)
1858 – Tannatt William Edgeworth David, Welsh-Australian geologist and explorer (d. 1934)
1861 – Julián Felipe, Filipino composer and educator (d. 1944)
1863 – Ernest William Christmas, Australian-American painter (d. 1918)
1864 – Charles Williams Nash, American businessman, founded Nash Motors (d. 1948)
1865 – Lala Lajpat Rai, Indian author and politician (d. 1928)
1865 – Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg, Finnish lawyer, judge, and politician, 1st President of Finland (d. 1952)
1873 – Colette, French novelist and journalist (d. 1954)
1873 – Monty Noble, Australian cricketer (d. 1940)
1874 – Alex Smith, Scottish golfer (d. 1930)
1875 – Julián Carrillo, Mexican violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1965)
1878 – Walter Kollo, German composer and conductor (d. 1940)
1880 – Herbert Strudwick, English cricketer and coach (d. 1970)
1884 – Auguste Piccard, Swiss physicist and explorer (d. 1962)
1885 – Vahan Terian, Armenian poet and activist (d. 1920)
1886 – Marthe Bibesco, Romanian-French author and poet (d. 1973)
1886 – Hidetsugu Yagi, Japanese engineer and academic (d. 1976)
1887 – Arthur Rubinstein, Polish-American pianist and educator (d. 1982)
1897 – Valentin Kataev, Russian author and playwright (d. 1986)
1900 – Alice Neel, American painter (d. 1984)
1903 – Aleksander Kamiński, Polish author and educator (d. 1978)
1903 – Kathleen Lonsdale, Irish crystallographer and 1st female FRS (d. 1971)
1906 – Pat O’Callaghan, Irish athlete (d. 1991)
1906 – Markos Vafiadis, Greek general and politician (d. 1992)
1908 – Paul Misraki, Turkish-French composer and historian (d. 1998)
1909 – John Thomson, Scottish footballer (d. 1931)
1910 – John Banner, Austrian actor (d. 1973)
1911 – Johan van Hulst, Dutch politician, academic and author, Yad Vashem recipient (d. 2018)
1912 – Jackson Pollock, American painter (d. 1956)
1918 – Harry Corbett, English puppeteer, actor, and screenwriter (d. 1989)
1918 – Trevor Skeet, New Zealand-English lawyer and politician (d. 2004)
1919 – Gabby Gabreski, American colonel and pilot (d. 2002)
1921 – Vytautas Norkus, Lithuanian–American basketball player (d. 2014)
1922 – Anna Gordy Gaye, American songwriter and producer, co-founded Anna Records (d. 2014)
1922 – Robert W. Holley, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1993)
1924 – Marcel Broodthaers, Belgian painter and poet (d. 1976)
1925 – Raja Ramanna, Indian physicist and politician (d. 2004)
1926 – Jimmy Bryan, American race car driver (d. 1960)
1927 – Per Oscarsson, Swedish actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2010)
1927 – Ronnie Scott, English saxophonist (d. 1996)
1927 – Hiroshi Teshigahara, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2001)
1927 – Vera Williams, American author and illustrator (d. 2015)
1929 – Acker Bilk, English singer and clarinet player (d. 2014)
1929 – Nikolai Parshin, Russian footballer and manager (d. 2012)
1929 – Claes Oldenburg, Swedish-American sculptor and illustrator
1929 – Edith M. Flanigen, American chemist
1930 – Kurt Biedenkopf, German academic and politician, 54th President of the German Bundesrat
1930 – Roy Clarke, English screenwriter, comedian and soldier
1933 – Jack Hill, American director and screenwriter
1934 – Juan Manuel Bordeu, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1990)
1935 – David Lodge, English author and critic
1936 – Alan Alda, American actor, director, and writer
1937 – Karel Čáslavský, Czech historian and television host (d. 2013)
1938 – Tomas Lindahl, Swedish-English biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1938 – Leonid Zhabotinsky, Ukrainian weightlifter and coach (d. 2016)
1939 – John M. Fabian, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
1940 – Carlos Slim, Mexican businessman and philanthropist, founded Grupo Carso
1942 – Sjoukje Dijkstra, Dutch figure skater
1942 – Erkki Pohjanheimo, Finnish director and producer
1943 – Dick Taylor, English guitarist and songwriter
1944 – Rosalía Mera, Spanish businesswoman, co-founded Inditex and Zara (d. 2013)
1944 – John Tavener, English composer (d. 2013)
1945 – Frank Doubleday, American actor (d. 2018)
1945 – Maxwell Fuller, Australian chess player (d. 2013)
1945 – Marthe Keller, Swiss actress and director
1945 – John Perkins, American author and activist
1947 – Jeanne Shaheen, American educator and politician, 78th Governor of New Hampshire
1948 – Bob Moses, American drummer
1948 – Charles Taylor, Liberian politician, 22nd President of Liberia
1949 – Mike Moore, New Zealand union leader and politician, 34th Prime Minister of New Zealand
1949 – Gregg Popovich, American basketball player and coach
1950 – Barbi Benton, American actress, singer and model
1950 – Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Bahraini king
1950 – David C. Hilmers, American colonel, physician, and astronaut
1950 – Naila Kabeer, Bangladeshi-English economist and academic
1951 – Brian Bilbray, American politician
1951 – Leonid Kadeniuk, Ukrainian general, pilot, and astronaut
1951 – Billy Bass Nelson, American R&B/funk bass player
1952 – Richard Glatzer, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2015)
1953 – Colin Campbell, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1954 – Peter Lampe, German theologian and historian
1954 – Bruno Metsu, French footballer and manager (d. 2013)
1954 – Rick Warren, American pastor and author
1955 – Vinod Khosla, Indian-American businessman, co-founded Sun Microsystems
1955 – Nicolas Sarkozy, French lawyer and politician, 23rd President of France
1956 – Richard Danielpour, American composer and educator
1956 – Peter Schilling, German singer-songwriter
1957 – Mark Napier, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
1957 – Nick Price, Zimbabwean-South African golfer
1957 – Frank Skinner, English comedian, actor, and author
1959 – Frank Darabont, American director and producer
1960 – Loren Legarda, Filipino journalist and politician
1961 – Normand Rochefort, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1962 – Sam Phillips, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1964 – David Lawrence, English cricketer
1966 – Seiji Mizushima, Japanese director and producer
1967 – Billy Brownless, Australian footballer and sportscaster
1968 – Sarah McLachlan, Canadian singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
1968 – Rakim, American rapper
1969 – Giorgio Lamberti, Italian swimmer
1969 – Mo Rocca, American comedian and television journalist
1969 – Linda Sánchez, American lawyer and politician
1972 – Mark Regan, English rugby player
1972 – Nicky Southall, English footballer and manager
1972 – Léon van Bon, Dutch cyclist
1974 – Tony Delk, American basketball player and coach
1974 – Jermaine Dye, American baseball player
1974 – Ramsey Nasr, Dutch author and poet
1974 – Magglio Ordóñez, Venezuelan baseball player and politician
1975 – Pedro Pinto, Portuguese-American journalist
1975 – Junior Spivey, American baseball player and coach
1976 – Sireli Bobo, Fijian rugby player
1976 – Mark Madsen, American basketball player and coach
1976 – Rick Ross, American rapper and producer
1976 – Miltiadis Sapanis, Greek footballer
1977 – Sandis Buškevics, Latvian basketball player and coach
1977 – Daunte Culpepper, American football player
1977 – Joey Fatone, American singer, dancer, and television personality
1977 – Takuma Sato, Japanese race car driver
1978 – Gianluigi Buffon, Italian footballer
1978 – Jamie Carragher, English footballer and sportscaster
1978 – Papa Bouba Diop, Senegalese footballer
1978 – Stephen Farrelly, Irish professional wrestler
1978 – Big Freedia, New Orleans musician, “Queen of Bounce”
1980 – Nick Carter, American singer-songwriter and actor
1980 – Yasuhito Endō, Japanese footballer
1980 – Michael Hastings, American journalist and author (d. 2013)
1980 – Brian Fallon, American singer-songwriter
1981 – Elijah Wood, American actor and producer
1984 – Ben Clucas, English race car driver
1984 – Stephen Gostkowski, American football player
1984 – Andre Iguodala, American basketball player
1984 – Anne Panter, English field hockey player
1985 – J. Cole, American singer
1985 – Daniel Carcillo, Canadian ice hockey player
1985 – Lauris Dārziņš, Latvian ice hockey player
1985 – Arnold Mvuemba, French footballer
1985 – Libby Trickett, Australian swimmer
1986 – Jessica Ennis-Hill, English heptathlete and hurdler
1986 – Nathan Outteridge, Australian sailor
1986 – Asad Shafiq, Pakistani cricketer
1988 – Paul Henry, English footballer
1988 – Seiya Sanada, Japanese wrestler
1989 – Siem de Jong, Dutch footballer
1991 – Carl Klingberg, Swedish ice hockey player
1992 – Sergio Araujo, Argentinian footballer
1998 – Ariel Winter, American actress

Deaths on January 28

592 – Guntram, French king (b. 532)
814 – Charlemagne, Holy Roman emperor (pleurisy; b. 742)
919 – Zhou Dewei, Chinese general
929 – Gao Jixing, founder of Chinese Jingnan (b. 858)
947 – Jing Yanguang, Chinese general (b. 892)
1061 – Spytihněv II, Duke of Bohemia (b. 1031)
1142 – Yue Fei, Chinese general (b. 1103)
1256 – William II, Count of Holland, King of Germany (b. 1227)
1271 – Isabella of Aragon, Queen of France (b. 1247)
1290 – Dervorguilla of Galloway, Scottish noble, mother of king John Balliol of Scotland (b. c. 1210)
1443 – Robert le Maçon, French diplomat (b. 1365)
1501 – John Dynham, 1st Baron Dynham, English baron and Lord High Treasurer (b. 1433)
1547 – Henry VIII, king of England (b. 1491)
1613 – Thomas Bodley, English diplomat and scholar, founded the Bodleian Library (b. 1545)
1621 – Pope Paul V (b. 1550)
1666 – Tommaso Dingli, Maltese architect and sculptor (b. 1591)
1672 – Pierre Séguier, French politician, Lord Chancellor of France (b. 1588)
1681 – Richard Allestree, English priest and academic (b. 1619)
1687 – Johannes Hevelius, Polish astronomer and politician (b. 1611)
1688 – Ferdinand Verbiest, Flemish Jesuit missionary in China (b. 1623)
1697 – Sir John Fenwick, 3rd Baronet, English general and politician (b. 1645)
1754 – Ludvig Holberg, Norwegian-Danish historian and philosopher (b. 1684)
1782 – Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d’Anville, French geographer and cartographer (b. 1697)
1832 – Augustin Daniel Belliard, French general (b. 1769)
1859 – F. J. Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1782)
1864 – Émile Clapeyron, French physicist and engineer (b. 1799)
1873 – John Hart, English-Australian politician, 10th Premier of South Australia (b. 1809)
1903 – Augusta Holmès, French pianist and composer (b. 1847)
1912 – Gustave de Molinari, Belgian economist and theorist (b. 1819)
1918 – John McCrae, Canadian soldier, physician, and author (b. 1872)
1921 – Mustafa Suphi, Turkish journalist and politician (b. 1883)
1930 – Emmy Destinn, Czech soprano and poet (b. 1878)
1935 – Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, Russian composer and conductor (b. 1859)
1937 – Anastasios Metaxas, Greek architect and target shooter (b. 1862)
1938 – Bernd Rosemeyer, German race car driver (b. 1909)
1939 – W. B. Yeats, Irish poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
1942 – Edward Siegler, American gymnast and triathlete (b. 1881)
1945 – Roza Shanina, Russian sergeant and sniper (b. 1924)
1947 – Reynaldo Hahn, Venezuelan-French composer, conductor, and critic (b. 1875)
1948 – Hans Aumeier, German SS officer (b. 1906)
1949 – Jean-Pierre Wimille, French race car driver (b. 1908)
1950 – Nikolai Luzin, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1883)
1953 – James Scullin, Australian journalist and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1876)
1953 – Neyzen Tevfik, Turkish philosopher and poet (b. 1879)
1959 – Walter Beall, American baseball player (b. 1899)
1960 – Zora Neale Hurston, American novelist, short story writer, and folklorist (b. 1891)
1963 – Gustave Garrigou, French cyclist (b. 1884)
1965 – Tich Freeman, English cricketer (b. 1888)
1965 – Maxime Weygand, Belgian-French general (b. 1867)
1971 – Donald Winnicott, English paediatrician and psychoanalyst (b. 1896)
1973 – John Banner, Austrian actor (b. 1910)
1976 – Marcel Broodthaers, Belgian painter and poet (b. 1924)
1978 – Ward Moore, American author (b. 1903)
1983 – Billy Fury. English pop star (b. 1940)
1983 – Frank Forde, Australian educator and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1890)
1986 – Space Shuttle Challenger crew
- Gregory Jarvis, American captain, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1944)
- Christa McAuliffe, American educator and astronaut (b. 1948)
- Ronald McNair, American physicist and astronaut (b. 1950)
- Ellison Onizuka, American engineer and astronaut (b. 1946)
- Judith Resnik, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1949)
- Dick Scobee, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1939)
- Michael J. Smith, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1945)
1988 – Klaus Fuchs, German physicist and politician (b. 1911)
1989 – Choekyi Gyaltsen, 10th Panchen Lama (b. 1938)
1993 – Helen Sawyer Hogg, Canadian astronomer and academic (b. 1905)
1996 – Joseph Brodsky, Russian-American poet and essayist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1940)
1996 – Burne Hogarth, American cartoonist and author (b. 1911)
1996 – Jerry Siegel, American author and illustrator, co-created Superman (b. 1914)
1998 – Shotaro Ishinomori, Japanese author and illustrator (b. 1938)
1999 – Valery Gavrilin, Russian composer (b. 1939)
2001 – Ranko Marinković, Croatian author and playwright (b. 1913)
2002 – Gustaaf Deloor, Belgian cyclist and soldier (b. 1913)
2002 – Astrid Lindgren, Swedish author and screenwriter (b. 1907)
2002 – Ayşe Nur Zarakolu, Turkish author and activist (b. 1946)
2003 – Mieke Pullen, Dutch runner (b. 1957)
2004 – Lloyd M. Bucher, American captain (b. 1927)
2004 – Mel Pritchard, English drummer (b. 1948)
2005 – Jim Capaldi, English singer-songwriter and drummer (b. 1944)
2007 – Carlo Clerici, Swiss cyclist (b. 1929)
2007 – Robert Drinan, American priest, lawyer, and politician (b. 1920)
2007 – Yelena Romanova, Russian runner (b. 1963)
2007 – Karel Svoboda, Czech composer (b. 1938)
2009 – Billy Powell, American keyboard player and songwriter (b. 1952)
2012 – Roman Juszkiewicz, Polish astronomer and astrophysicist (b. 1952)
2012 – Don Starkell, Canadian adventurer and author (b. 1932)
2013 – Florentino Fernández, Cuban-American boxer and coach (b. 1936)
2013 – Hattie N. Harrison, American educator and politician (b. 1928)
2013 – Oldřich Kulhánek, Czech painter, illustrator, and stage designer (b. 1940)
2014 – John Cacavas, American composer and conductor (b. 1930)
2014 – Harry Gamble, American football player, coach, and manager (b. 1930)
2014 – Dwight Gustafson, American composer and conductor (b. 1930)
2014 – Nigel Jenkins, Welsh poet, journalist, and geographer (b. 1949)
2014 – Jorge Obeid, Argentinian engineer and politician, Governor of Santa Fe (b. 1947)
2015 – Suraj Abdurrahman, Nigerian general, architect, and engineer (b. 1954)
2015 – Yves Chauvin, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1930)
2015 – Lionel Gilbert, Australian historian, author, and academic (b. 1924)
2016 – Signe Toly Anderson, American singer (b. 1941)
2016 – Paul Kantner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1941)
2016 – Franklin Gene Bissell, American football player and coach (b. 1926)
2016 – Buddy Cianci, American lawyer and politician, 32nd Mayor of Providence (b. 1941)
2016 – Bob Tizard, New Zealand lawyer and politician, 6th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1924)
2017 – Alexander Chancellor, British journalist (b. 1940)
2017 – Geoff Nicholls, British musician (b. 1948)
2019 – Pepe Smith, Filipino rock musician (b. 1947)

Holidays and observances on January 28

Christian feast day:
- Joseph Freinademetz
- Julian of Cuenca
- Thomas Aquinas
- January 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Army Day (Armenia)
Data Privacy Day

January 28 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

January 24 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

AD 41 – Claudius is proclaimed Roman Emperor by the Praetorian Guard after they assassinate the previous emperor, his nephew Caligula.
914 – Start of the First Fatimid invasion of Egypt.
1438 – The Council of Basel suspends Pope Eugene IV.
1458 – Matthias Corvinus is elected King of Hungary.
1536 – King Henry VIII of England suffers an accident while jousting, leading to a brain injury that historians say may have influenced his later erratic behaviour and possible impotence.
1679 – King Charles II of England dissolves the Cavalier Parliament.
1742 – Charles VII Albert becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
1758 – During the Seven Years’ War the leading burghers of Königsberg submit to Elizabeth of Russia, thus forming Russian Prussia (until 1763).
1817 – Crossing of the Andes: Many soldiers of Juan Gregorio de las Heras are captured during the Action of Picheuta.
1835 – Slaves in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, stage a revolt, which is instrumental in ending slavery there 50 years later.
1848 – California Gold Rush: James W. Marshall finds gold at Sutter’s Mill near Sacramento.
1857 – The University of Calcutta is formally founded as the first fully fledged university in South Asia.
1859 – The United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia (later named Romania) is formed as a personal union under the rule of Domnitor Alexandru Ioan Cuza.
1900 – Second Boer War: Boers stop a British attempt to break the Siege of Ladysmith in the Battle of Spion Kop.
1908 – The first Boy Scout troop is organized in England by Robert Baden-Powell.
1915 – World War I: British Grand Fleet battle cruisers under Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty engage Rear-Admiral Franz von Hipper’s battle cruisers in the Battle of Dogger Bank.
1916 – In Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., the Supreme Court of the United States declares the federal income tax constitutional.
1918 – The Gregorian calendar is introduced in Russia by decree of the Council of People’s Commissars effective February 14 (New Style).
1933 – The 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, changing the beginning and end of terms for all elected federal offices.
1939 – The deadliest earthquake in Chilean history strikes Chillán, killing approximately 28,000 people.
1942 – World War II: The Allies bombard Bangkok, leading Thailand, then under Japanese control, to declare war against the United States and United Kingdom.
1943 – World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill conclude a conference in Casablanca.
1946 – The United Nations General Assembly passes its first resolution to establish the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission.
1960 – Algerian War: Some units of European volunteers in Algiers stage an insurrection known as the “barricades week”, during which they seize government buildings and clash with local police.
1961 – Goldsboro B-52 crash: A bomber carrying two H-bombs breaks up in mid-air over North Carolina. The uranium core of one weapon remains lost.
1968 – Vietnam War: The 1st Australian Task Force launches Operation Coburg against the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong during wider fighting around Long Bình and Biên Hòa.
1972 – Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi is found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been since the end of World War II.
1977 – The Atocha massacre occurs in Madrid during the Spanish transition to democracy.
1978 – Soviet satellite Kosmos 954, with a nuclear reactor on board, burns up in Earth’s atmosphere, scattering radioactive debris over Canada’s Northwest Territories. Only 1% is recovered.
1984 – Apple Computer places the Macintosh personal computer on sale in the United States.
1989 – Notorious serial killer Ted Bundy, with over 30 known victims, is executed by the electric chair at the Florida State Prison.
1990 – Japan launches Hiten, the country’s first lunar probe, the first robotic lunar probe since the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 in 1976, and the first lunar probe launched by a country other than Soviet Union or the United States.
2003 – The United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation.
2009 – Cyclone Klaus makes landfall near Bordeaux, France, causing 26 deaths as well as extensive disruptions to public transport and power supplies.
2011 – At least 35 are killed and 180 injured in a bombing at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport.

Births on January 24

AD 76 – Hadrian, Roman emperor (d. 138)
1287 – Richard de Bury, English bishop and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (d. 1345)
1444 – Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan (d. 1476)
1540 – Edmund Campion, English priest and martyr (d. 1581)
1547 – Joanna of Austria, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Austrian Archduchess (d. 1578)
1602 – Mildmay Fane, 2nd Earl of Westmorland, English politician (d. 1666)
1619 – Yamazaki Ansai, Japanese philosopher (d. 1682)
1643 – Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset, English poet and politician, Lord Chamberlain of Great Britain (d. 1706)
1664 – John Vanbrugh, English architect and dramatist (d. 1726)
1670 – William Congreve, English playwright and poet (d. 1729)
1672 – Margrave Albert Frederick of Brandenburg-Schwedt, German Lieutenant General (d. 1731)
1674 – Thomas Tanner, English bishop (d. 1735)
1679 – Christian Wolff, German philosopher and academic (d. 1754)
1684 – Charles Alexander, Duke of Württemberg, German noble (d. 1737)
1705 – Farinelli, Italian castrato singer (d. 1782)
1709 – Dom Bédos de Celles, French monk and organist (d. 1779)
1712 – Frederick the Great, Prussian king (d. 1786)
1732 – Pierre Beaumarchais, French playwright and financier (d. 1799)
1739 – Jean Nicolas Houchard, French General of the French Revolution (d. 1793)
1746 – Gustav III of Sweden (d. 1792)
1749 – Charles James Fox, English businessman and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (d. 1806)
1754 – Andrew Ellicott, American soldier and surveyor (d. 1820)
1761 – Louis Klein, French general (d. 1845)
1763 – Louis Alexandre Andrault de Langeron, French-Ukrainian general and politician (d. 1831)
1776 – E. T. A. Hoffmann, German jurist, author, and composer (d. 1822)
1787 – Christian Ludwig Brehm, German pastor and ornithologist (d. 1864)
1804 – Delphine de Girardin, French author (d. 1855)
1814 – Duchess Helene of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, French Crown Princess (d. 1858)
1814 – John Colenso, British mathematician (d. 1883)
1816 – Wilhelm Henzen, German philologist and epigraphist (d. 1887)
1828 – Ferdinand Cohn, German biologist (d. 1898)
1829 – Yechiel Michel Epstein, Rabbi and posek (d. 1908)
1836 – Signe Rink, Greenland-born Danish writer and ethnologist (d. 1909)
1843 – Josip Stadler, Croatian archbishop (d. 1918)
1848 – Vasily Surikov, Russian painter (d. 1916)
1850 – Hermann Ebbinghaus, German psychologist (d. 1909)
1853 – Sigbert Josef Maria Ganser, German psychiatrist (d. 1931)
1856 – Friedrich Grünanger, Transylvanian Hungarian-German architect (d. 1929)
1858 – Constance Naden, English poet and philosopher (d. 1889)
1862 – Edith Wharton, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1937)
1863 – August Adler, Czech and Austrian mathematician (d. 1923)
1864 – Marguerite Durand, French actress, journalist, and activist (d. 1936)
1864 – Gaetano Giardino, Italian soldier and Marshal of Italy (d. 1935)
1866 – Jaan Poska, Estonian lawyer and politician, 1st Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1920)
1870 – Herbert Kilpin, English footballer (d. 1916)
1871 – Jiří Karásek ze Lvovic, Czech poet, writer and literary critic (d. 1951)
1871 – Thomas Jaggar, American volcanologist (d. 1953)
1872 – Yuly Aykhenvald, Russian literary critic (d. 1928)
1872 – Konstantin Bogaevsky, Russian painter (d. 1943)
1872 – Morris Travers, English chemist and academic (d. 1961)
1873 – Dmitry Ushakov, Russian philologist and lexicographer (d. 1942)
1882 – Harold D. Babcock, American astronomer (d. 1968)
1882 – Ödön Bodor, Hungarian athlete (d. 1927)
1886 – Henry King, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1982)
1887 – Jean-Henri Humbert, French botanist (d. 1967)
1888 – Vicki Baum, Austrian author and screenwriter (d. 1960)
1888 – Ernst Heinkel, German engineer and businessman, founded the Heinkel Aircraft Manufacturing Company (d. 1958)
1889 – Victor Eftimiu, Romanian poet and playwright (d. 1972)
1889 – Charles Hawes, American historian and author (d. 1923)
1889 – Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke, German general of paratroop forces during World War II (d. 1968)
1891 – Walter Model, German field marshal (d. 1945)
1892 – Franz Aigner, Austrian weightlifter (d. 1970)
1895 – Eugen Roth, German poet and songwriter (d. 1976)
1897 – Paul Fejos, Hungarian-born American director (d. 1963)
1899 – Hoyt Vandenberg, U.S. Air Force general (d. 1954)
1900 – René Guillot, French writer (d. 1969)
1901 – Harry Calder, South African cricketer (d. 1995)
1901 – Cassandre, French painter (d. 1968)
1901 – Edward Turner, English engineer (d. 1973)
1905 – J. Howard Marshall, American lawyer and businessman (d. 1995)
1906 – Wilfred Jackson, American animator and composer (d. 1988)
1907 – Ismail Nasiruddin of Terengganu, fourth Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia (d. 1979)
1907 – Maurice Couve de Murville, French soldier and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1999)
1907 – Jean Daetwyler, Swiss composer and musician (d. 1994)
1909 – Martin Lings, English author and scholar (d. 2005)
1910 – Doris Haddock, American political activist (d. 2010)
1912 – Frederick Ashworth, American admiral (d. 2005)
1913 – Norman Dello Joio, American organist and composer (d. 2008)
1913 – Ray Stehr, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 1983)
1915 – Vítězslava Kaprálová, Czech composer and conductor (d. 1940)
1915 – Robert Motherwell, American painter and academic (d. 1991)
1916 – Rafael Caldera, Venezuelan lawyer and politician, 65th President of Venezuela (d. 2009)
1916 – Gene Mako, Hungarian-American tennis player and actor (d. 2013)
1917 – Ernest Borgnine, American actor (d. 2012)
1917 – Wilhelmus Demarteau, Dutch prelate of the Roman Catholic Church (d. 2012)
1918 – Gottfried von Einem, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1996)
1918 – Oral Roberts, American evangelist, founded Oral Roberts University and Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association (d. 2009)
1919 – Coleman Francis, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1973)
1919 – Leon Kirchner, American composer and educator (d. 2009)
1920 – Jimmy Forrest, American saxophonist (d. 1980)
1920 – Jerry Maren, American actor (d. 2018)
1922 – Daniel Boulanger, French actor and screenwriter (d. 2014)
1922 – Neil Franklin, English footballer (d. 1996)
1923 – Geneviève Asse, French painter
1925 – Gus Mortson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2015)
1925 – Maria Tallchief, American ballerina and actress (d. 2013)
1926 – Ruth Asawa, American sculptor (d. 2013)
1926 – Georges Lautner, French director and screenwriter (d. 2013)
1927 – Sir Patrick Macnaghten, 11th Baronet, Scottish lieutenant (d. 2007)
1927 – Paula Hawkins, American politician (d. 2009)
1928 – Desmond Morris, English zoologist, ethologist, and painter
1928 – Michel Serrault, French actor (d. 2007)
1930 – Terence Bayler, New Zealand actor (d. 2016)
1930 – Mahmoud Farshchian, Iranian-Persian painter and academic
1930 – John Romita Sr., American comic book artist
1931 – Lars Hörmander, Swedish mathematician and academic (d. 2012)
1931 – Ib Nørholm, Danish composer and organist
1932 – Éliane Radigue, French electronic music composer
1933 – Kamran Baghirov, the 12th First Secretary of Azerbaijan Communist Party (d. 2000)
1933 – Asim Ferhatović, Bosnian footballer (d. 1987)
1934 – Leonard Goldberg, American producer (d. 2019)
1934 – Stanisław Grochowiak, Polish poet and dramatist (d. 1976)
1935 – Eric Ashton, English rugby player and coach (d. 2008)
1935 – Shivabalayogi, Indian religious leader (d. 1994)
1936 – Doug Kershaw, American fiddle player and singer
1937 – Trevor Edwards, Welsh footballer
1938 – Julius Hemphill, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1995)
1939 – Renate Garisch-Culmberger, German shot putter
1939 – Ray Stevens, American singer-songwriter and actor
1940 – Vito Acconci, American designer (d. 2017)
1940 – Joachim Gauck, German pastor and politician, 11th President of Germany
1941 – Neil Diamond, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1941 – Aaron Neville, American singer
1941 – Dan Shechtman, Israeli chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1942 – Ingo Friedrich, German Member of the European Parliament
1942 – Gary Hart, American wrestler and manager (d. 2008)
1943 – Peter Struck, German lawyer and politician, 13th German Federal Minister of Defence (d. 2012)
1943 – Barry Mealand, English footballer, right back (d. 2013)
1943 – Sharon Tate, American model and actress (d. 1969)
1943 – Tony Trimmer, English race car driver
1943 – Manuel Velázquez, Spanish footballer (d. 2016)
1944 – David Gerrold, American science fiction screenwriter and author
1944 – Gian-Franco Kasper, Swiss ski official
1945 – John Garamendi, American football player and politician, 1st United States Deputy Secretary of the Interior
1945 – Subhash Ghai, Indian director, producer and screenwriter
1945 – Eva Janko, Austrian javelin thrower
1946 – Michael Ontkean, Canadian actor
1947 – Giorgio Chinaglia, Italian footballer (d. 2012)
1947 – Michio Kaku, American physicist and academic
1947 – Masashi Ozaki, Japanese baseball player and golfer
1947 – Warren Zevon, American singer-songwriter (d. 2003)
1948 – Elliott Abrams, American diplomat, lawyer and political scientist
1948 – Michael Des Barres, English singer-songwriter and actor
1949 – John Belushi, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1982)
1949 – Bart Gordon, American lawyer
1949 – Nadezhda Ilyina, Russian athlete and mother of Russian tennis player Nadia Petrova (d. 2013)
1949 – Rihoko Yoshida, Japanese voice actress
1950 – Daniel Auteuil, French actor, director, and screenwriter
1951 – Yakov Smirnoff, Ukrainian-American comedian and actor
1953 – Yuri Bashmet, Russian violinist, viola player, and conductor
1953 – Moon Jae-in, 19th President of South Korea
1954 – Jo Gartner, Austrian race car driver (d. 1986)
1955 – Jim Montgomery, American swimmer
1955 – Alan Sokal, American physicist and author
1955 – Lynda Weinman, American businesswoman and author
1956 – Agus Martowardojo, governor of Bank Indonesia
1957 – Mark Eaton, American basketball player and sportscaster
1957 – Ade Edmondson, English comedian and musician
1958 – Kim Eui-kon, Korean wrestler
1958 – Jools Holland, English singer-songwriter and pianist
1958 – Frank Ullrich, German biathlete
1959 – Akira Maeda, Japanese wrestler, mixed martial artist, and actor
1959 – Michel Preud’homme, Belgian footballer and manager
1961 – Jorge Barrios, Uruguayan footballer
1961 – Guido Buchwald, German footballer and manager
1961 – Christa Kinshofer, German ski racer
1961 – Nastassja Kinski, German-American actress and producer
1961 – William Van Dijck, Belgian runner
1963 – Arnold Vanderlyde, Dutch boxer
1964 – Annika Dahlman, Swedish cross country skier
1965 – Robin Dutt, German footballer
1965 – Carlos Saldanha, Brazilian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1965 – Margaret Urlich, New Zealand singer-songwriter
1965 – Pagonis Vakalopoulos, Greek footballer and manager
1965 – Kim Sung-moon, South Korean wrestler
1966 – Julie Dreyfus, French actress
1966 – Karin Viard, French actress
1967 – Michael Kiske, German singer
1967 – Mark Kozelek, American singer and musician
1967 – Phil LaMarr, American actor, singer, and screenwriter
1967 – John Myung, American bass player and songwriter
1968 – Fernando Escartín, Spanish cyclist
1968 – Antony Garrett Lisi, American theoretical physicist
1968 – Mary Lou Retton, American gymnast
1968 – Tymerlan Huseynov, Ukrainian footballer
1969 – Yoo Ho-jeong, South Korean actress
1969 – Carlos Rômulo Gonçalves e Silva, bishop of Montenegro
1970 – Roberto Bonano, Argentine footballer
1970 – Neil Johnson, Zimbabwean cricketer
1970 – Matthew Lillard, American actor
1971 – José Carlos Fernandez, Bolivian footballer
1972 – Beth Hart, American blues-rock singer and piano player
1974 – Cyril Despres, French rally racer
1974 – Ed Helms, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1974 – Melissa Tkautz, Australian actress and singer
1974 – Rokia Traoré, Malian singer
1975 – Gianluca Basile, Italian former professional basketball player
1975 – Rónald Gómez, Costa Rican footballer and manager
1975 – Reto Hug, Swiss triathlonist
1975 – Henna Raita, Finnish alpine skier
1976 – Shae-Lynn Bourne, Canadian ice dancer, coach, and choreographer
1976 – Cindy Pieters, Belgian cyclist
1977 – Andrija Gerić, Serbian volleyball player
1977 – Michelle Hunziker, Swiss-Dutch actress, model and singer
1978 – Veerle Baetens, Belgian actress and singer
1978 – Mark Hildreth, Canadian actor and musician
1978 – Kristen Schaal, American actress, voice artist, comedian and writer
1979 – Tatyana Ali, American actress and singer
1979 – Leandro Desábato, Argentinian footballer
1979 – Busy Signal, Jamaican dancehall reggae artist
1979 – Nik Wallenda, American acrobat
1980 – Jofre Mateu, Spanish footballer
1980 – Suzy, Portuguese singer
1981 – Mario Eggimann, Swiss footballer
1981 – Zaur Hashimov, Azerbaijani footballer and manager
1981 – Elena Kolomina, Kazakhstani cross country skier
1982 – Céline Deville, French footballer
1982 – Daveed Diggs, American actor, rapper and singer
1982 – Claudia Heill, Austrian judoka
1982 – Aitor Hernández, Spanish racing cyclist
1983 – Davide Biondini, Italian footballer
1983 – Wyatt Crockett, New Zealand rugby player
1983 – Evgeny Drattsev, Russian swimmer
1983 – Craig Horner, Australian actor and musician
1983 – Shaun Maloney, Scottish footballer
1983 – Scott Speed, American race car driver
1984 – Emerse Faé, French-born Ivorian footballer
1984 – Yotam Halperin, Israeli basketball player
1984 – Jung Jin-sun, South Korean fencer
1984 – Scott Kazmir, American baseball player
1984 – Paulo Sérgio Moreira Gonçalves, Portuguese footballer
1985 – Fabiana Claudino, Brazilian volleyball player
1985 – Trey Gilder, American basketball player
1986 – Cristiano Araújo, Brazilian singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
1986 – Mohammad Bagheri Motamed, Iranian taekwondo practitioner
1986 – Mischa Barton, English-American actress
1986 – Vladislav Ivanov, Russian footballer
1986 – Michael Kightly, English footballer
1986 – Ricky Ullman, Israeli-American actor
1987 – Wayne Hennessey, Welsh footballer
1987 – Luis Suárez, Uruguayan footballer
1987 – Davide Valsecchi, Italian racing driver
1987 – Kia Vaughn, American born Czech basketball player
1987 – Guan Xin, Chinese basketball player
1988 – Selina Jörg, German snowboarder
1989 – Serdar Kesimal, Turkish footballer
1989 – Gong Lijiao, Chinese shot putter
1989 – Ki Sung-yueng, South Korean footballer
1990 – Mao Abe, Japanese singer-songwriter and guitarist
1991 – Zhan Beleniuk, Ukrainian Greco-Roman wrestler
1991 – Tatiana Kashirina, Russian weightlifter
1991 – Zé Luís, Cape Verdean footballer
1991 – Li Xuerui, Chinese badminton player
1992 – Becky Downie, English gymnast
1992 – Phiwa Nkambule, South African entrepreneur
1992 – Felitciano Zschusschen, Curaçao footballer
1994 – Tommie Hoban, English footballer
1995 – Dylan Everett, Canadian actor
1997 – Nirei Fukuzumi, Japanese racer
1999 – Vitalie Damașcan, Moldovan footballer
2012 – Princess Athena of Denmark, younger child of Prince Joachim and Princess Marie of Denmark

Deaths onJanuary 24

AD 41 – Caligula, Roman emperor (b. 12)
817 – Pope Stephen IV (b. 770)
901 – Liu Jishu, general of the Tang Dynasty
1046 – Eckard II, Margrave of Meissen (b. c. 985)
1125 – David IV of Georgia (b. 1073)
1336 – Alfonso IV of Aragon (b. 1299)
1376 – Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel, English commander (b. 1306)
1473 – Conrad Paumann, German organist and composer (b. 1410)
1525 – Franciabigio, Florentine painter (b. 1482)
1595 – Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria (b. 1529)
1626 – Samuel Argall, English captain and politician, Colonial Governor of Virginia (b. 1572)
1639 – Jörg Jenatsch, Swiss pastor and politician (b. 1596)
1666 – Johann Andreas Herbst, German composer and theorist (b. 1588)
1709 – George Rooke, English admiral and politician (b. 1650)
1877 – Johann Christian Poggendorff, German physicist and journalist (b. 1796)
1881 – James Collinson, English painter (b. 1825)
1883 – Friedrich von Flotow, German composer (b. 1812)
1895 – Lord Randolph Churchill, English lawyer and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1849)
1920 – Amedeo Modigliani, Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1884)
1939 – Maximilian Bircher-Benner, Swiss physician, created Muesli (b. 1867)
1943 – John Burns, English trade union leader and politician, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (b. 1858)
1960 – Edwin Fischer, Swiss pianist and conductor (b. 1886)
1961 – Alfred Carlton Gilbert, American pole vaulter and businessman, founded the A. C. Gilbert Company (b. 1884)
1962 – André Lhote, French sculptor and painter (b. 1885)
1962 – Stanley Lord, English naval captain (b. 1877)
1962 – Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, Turkish author, poet, and scholar (b. 1901)
1965 – Winston Churchill, English colonel and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874)
1966 – Homi J. Bhabha, Indian physicist and academic (b. 1909)
1970 – Caresse Crosby, American fashion designer and publisher, co-founded the Black Sun Press (b. 1891)
1971 – Bill W., American activist, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (b. 1895)
1973 – J. Carrol Naish, American actor (b. 1896)
1975 – Larry Fine, American comedian (b. 1902)
1982 – Alfredo Ovando Candía, Bolivian general and politician, 56th President of Bolivia (b. 1918)
1983 – George Cukor, American director and producer (b. 1899)
1986 – L. Ron Hubbard, American religious leader and author, founded the Church of Scientology (b. 1911)
1986 – Gordon MacRae, American actor and singer (b. 1921)
1988 – Werner Fenchel, German-Danish mathematician and academic (b. 1905)
1989 – Ted Bundy, American serial killer (b. 1946)
1990 – Madge Bellamy, American actress (b. 1899)
1991 – Jack Schaefer, American journalist and author (b. 1907)
1992 – Ken Darby, American composer and conductor (b. 1909)
1993 – Gustav Ernesaks, Estonian composer and conductor (b. 1908)
1993 – Thurgood Marshall, American lawyer and jurist, 32nd United States Solicitor General (b. 1908)
2002 – Elie Hobeika, Lebanese commander and politician (b. 1956)
2003 – Gianni Agnelli, Italian businessman (b. 1921)
2004 – Leônidas, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1913)
2006 – Schafik Handal, Salvadoran politician (b. 1930)
2007 – Krystyna Feldman, Polish actress (b. 1916)
2007 – İsmail Cem İpekçi, Turkish journalist and politician, 45th Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1940)
2007 – Guadalupe Larriva, Ecuadorian academic and politician (b. 1956)
2007 – Emiliano Mercado del Toro, Puerto Rican-American soldier (b. 1891)
2010 – Pernell Roberts, American actor (b. 1928)
2011 – Bernd Eichinger, German director and producer (b. 1949)
2014 – Shulamit Aloni, Israeli lawyer and politician, 11th Israeli Minister of Education (b. 1928)
2014 – Rafael Pineda Ponce, Honduran academic and politician (b. 1930)
2015 – Otto Carius, German lieutenant and pharmacist (b. 1922)
2016 – Fredrik Barth, German-Norwegian anthropologist and academic (b. 1928)
2016 – Marvin Minsky, American computer scientist and academic (b. 1927)
2016 – Henry Worsley, English colonel and explorer (b. 1960)
2017 – Butch Trucks, American drummer (b. 1947)
2018 – Mark E. Smith, British singer-songwriter (b. 1957)
2019 – Rosemary Bryant Mariner, American United States Naval Aviator (b. 1953)

Holidays and observances on January 24

Christian feast day:
- Babylas of Antioch
- Cadoc (Wales)
- Exuperantius of Cingoli
- Felician of Foligno
- Francis de Sales
- Pratulin Martyrs (Greek Catholic Church)
- January 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which Saturday of Souls can fall, while February 27 (or 28 during Leap Year) is the latest; observed 57 days before Easter. (Eastern Orthodox)
Feast of Our Lady of Peace (Roman Catholic Church), and its related observances:
- Feria de Alasitas (La Paz)
Unification Day (Romania)
Uttar Pradesh Day (Uttar Pradesh, India)

January 24 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

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

Births on January 19

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

Deaths on January 19

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

Holidays and observances on January 19

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

January 19 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

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

Births on January 18

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

Deaths on January 18

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

Holidays and observances on January 18

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

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

On This Day

January 17 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

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 M_w  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 M_w  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)
1977 – Dougal Haston, Scottish mountaineer (b. 1940)
1977 – Gary Gilmore, American murderer (b. 1940)
1981 – Loukas Panourgias, Greek footballer and lawyer (b. 1899)
1984 – Kostas Giannidis, Greek pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1903)
1987 – Hugo Fregonese, Argentinian director and screenwriter (b. 1908)
1988 – Percy Qoboza, South African journalist and author (b. 1938)
1991 – Olav V of Norway (b. 1903)
1992 – Frank Pullen, English soldier and businessman (b. 1915)
1993 – Albert Hourani, English-Lebanese historian and academic (b. 1915)
1994 – Yevgeni Ivanov, Russian spy (b. 1926)
1994 – Helen Stephens, American runner, shot putter, and discus thrower (b. 1918)
1996 – Barbara Jordan, American lawyer and politician (b. 1936)
1996 – Sylvia Lawler, English geneticist (b. 1922))
1997 – Bert Kelly, Australian farmer and politician, 20th Australian Minister for the Navy (b. 1912)
1997 – Clyde Tombaugh, American astronomer and academic, discovered Pluto (b. 1906)
2000 – Philip Jones, English trumpet player and educator (b. 1928)
2000 – Ion Rațiu, Romanian journalist and politician (b. 1917)
2002 – Camilo José Cela, Spanish author and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
2002 – Roman Personov, Russian physicist and academic (b. 1932)
2003 – Richard Crenna, American actor and director (b. 1926)
2004 – Raymond Bonham Carter, English banker (b. 1929)
2004 – Harry Brecheen, American baseball player and coach (b. 1914)
2004 – Ray Stark, American film producer (b. 1915)
2004 – Noble Willingham, American actor (b. 1931)
2005 – Charlie Bell, Australian businessman (b. 1960)
2005 – Virginia Mayo, American actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1920)
2005 – Albert Schatz, American microbiologist and academic (b. 1920)
2005 – Zhao Ziyang, Chinese politician, 3rd Premier of the People’s Republic of China (b. 1919)
2006 – Pierre Grondin, Canadian surgeon (b. 1925)
2007 – Art Buchwald, American journalist and author (b. 1925)
2007 – Yevhen Kushnaryov, Ukrainian engineer and politician (b. 1951)
2008 – Bobby Fischer, American chess player and author (b. 1943)
2008 – Ernie Holmes, American football player, wrestler, and actor (b. 1948)
2009 – Anders Isaksson, Swedish journalist and historian (b. 1943)
2010 – Gaines Adams, American football player (b. 1983)
2010 – Jyoti Basu, Indian politician and CM of West Bengal for 23 years (b. 1914)
2010 – Michalis Papakonstantinou, Greek journalist and politician, Foreign Minister of Greece (b. 1919)
2010 – Erich Segal, American author and screenwriter (b. 1937)
2011 – Don Kirshner, American songwriter and producer (b. 1934)
2012 – Ernie Alexander, American educator and politician (b. 1933)
2012 – Julius Meimberg, German soldier and pilot (b. 1917)
2012 – Johnny Otis, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1921)
2012 – Marty Springstead, American baseball player and umpire (b. 1937)
2013 – Mehmet Ali Birand, Turkish journalist and author (b. 1941)
2013 – Jakob Arjouni, German author (b. 1964)
2013 – Yves Debay, Belgian journalist (b. 1954)
2013 – John Nkomo, Zimbabwean politician, Vice President of Zimbabwe (b. 1934)
2013 – Lizbeth Webb, English soprano and actress (b. 1926)
2014 – Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, Indian spiritual leader, 52nd Da’i al-Mutlaq (b. 1915)
2014 – Francine Lalonde, Canadian educator and politician (b. 1940)
2014 – Alistair McAlpine, Baron McAlpine of West Green, English businessman and politician (b. 1942)
2014 – John J. McGinty III, American captain, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1940)
2014 – Sunanda Pushkar, Indian-Canadian businesswoman (b. 1962)
2014 – Suchitra Sen, Indian film actress (b. 1931)
2015 – Ken Furphy, English footballer and manager (b. 1931)
2015 – Faten Hamama, Egyptian actress and producer (b. 1931)
2015 – Don Harron, Canadian actor and screenwriter (b. 1924)
2016 – Blowfly, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1939)
2016 – Melvin Day, New Zealand painter and historian (b. 1923)
2016 – V. Rama Rao, Indian lawyer and politician, 12th Governor of Sikkim (b. 1935)
2016 – Sudhindra Thirtha, Indian religious leader (b. 1926)
2017 – Tirrel Burton, American football player and coach (b. 1929)
2018 – Jessica Falkholt, Australian actress (b. 1988)
2019 – S. Balakrishnan, Malayalam movie composer (b. 1948)
2020 – Derek Fowlds, British actor (b.1937)

Holidays and observances on January 17

Christian feast day:
- Anthony the Great
- Blessed Angelo Paoli
- Blessed Gamelbert of Michaelsbuch
- Charles Gore (Church of England)
- Jenaro Sánchez Delgadillo (one of Saints of the Cristero War)
- Mildgyth
- Our Lady of Pontmain
- Sulpitius the Pious
- January 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
National Day (Menorca, Spain)
The opening ceremony of Patras Carnival, celebrated until Clean Monday. (Patras)

January 17 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

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

Births on January 16

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

Deaths on January 16

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

Holidays and observances on January 16

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

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

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

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

Births on January 12

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

Deaths of January 12

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

Holidays and observances on January 12

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

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

On This Day

January 11 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

532 – Nika riots in Constantinople: A quarrel between supporters of different chariot teams—the Blues and the Greens—in the Hippodrome escalates into violence.
630 – Conquest of Mecca: The prophet Muhammad and his followers conquer the city, Quraysh surrender.
947 – Emperor Tai Zong of the Khitan-led Liao Dynasty invades the Later Jin, resulting in the destruction of the Later Jin.
1055 – Theodora is crowned empress of the Byzantine Empire.
1158 – Vladislaus II, Duke of Bohemia becomes King of Bohemia.
1569 – First recorded lottery in England.
1571 – Austrian nobility is granted freedom of religion.
1654 – Arauco War: A Spanish army is defeated by local Mapuche-Huilliches as it tries to cross Bueno River in Southern Chile.
1693 – A powerful earthquake destroys parts of Sicily and Malta.
1759 – The first American life insurance company, the Corporation for Relief of Poor and Distressed Presbyterian Ministers and of the Poor and Distressed Widows and Children of the Presbyterian Ministers (now part of Unum Group), is incorporated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1779 – Ching-Thang Khomba is crowned King of Manipur.
1787 – William Herschel discovers Titania and Oberon, two moons of Uranus.
1805 – The Michigan Territory is created.
1861 – American Civil War: Alabama secedes from the United States.
1863 – American Civil War: Battle of Arkansas Post: General John McClernand and Admiral David Dixon Porter capture the Arkansas River for the Union.
1863 – American Civil War: CSS Alabama encounters and sinks the USS Hatteras off Galveston Lighthouse in Texas.
1879 – The Anglo-Zulu War begins.
1908 – Grand Canyon National Monument is created.
1912 – Immigrant textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts, go on strike when wages are reduced in response to a mandated shortening of the work week.
1917 – The Kingsland munitions factory explosion occurs as a result of sabotage.
1922 – First use of insulin to treat diabetes in a human patient.
1923 – Occupation of the Ruhr: Troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area to force Germany to make its World War I reparation payments.
1927 – Louis B. Mayer, head of film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), announces the creation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, at a banquet in Los Angeles, California.
1935 – Amelia Earhart becomes the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California.
1942 – World War II: Japanese forces capture Kuala Lumpur, the capital of the Federated Malay States.
1942 – World War II: Japanese forces attack Tarakan in Borneo, Netherlands Indies (Battle of Tarakan)
1943 – The Republic of China agrees to the Sino-British New Equal Treaty and the Sino-American New Equal Treaty.
1943 – Italian-American anarchist Carlo Tresca is assassinated in New York City.
1946 – Enver Hoxha, Secretary General of the Communist Party of Albania, declares the People’s Republic of Albania with himself as head of state.
1949 – The first “networked” television broadcasts took place as KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania goes on the air connecting the east coast and mid-west programming.
1957 – The African Convention is founded in Dakar, Senegal.
1961 – Throgs Neck Bridge over the East River, linking New York City’s boroughs of The Bronx and Queens, opens to road traffic.
1962 – Cold War: While tied to its pier in Polyarny, the Soviet submarine B-37 is destroyed when fire breaks out in its torpedo compartment.
1962 – An avalanche on Huascarán in Peru causes around 4,000 deaths.
1964 – Surgeon General of the United States Dr. Luther Terry, M.D., publishes the landmark report Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the United States saying that smoking may be hazardous to health, sparking national and worldwide anti-smoking efforts.
1972 – East Pakistan renames itself Bangladesh.
1973 – Major League Baseball owners vote in approval of the American League adopting the designated hitter position.
1986 – The Gateway Bridge, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia is officially opened.
1994 – The Irish Government announces the end of a 15-year broadcasting ban on the IRA and its political arm Sinn Féin.
1996 – Space Shuttle program: STS-72 launches from the Kennedy Space Center marking the start of the 74th Space Shuttle mission and the 10th flight of Endeavour.
1998 – Over 100 people are killed in the Sidi-Hamed massacre in Algeria.
2003 – Illinois Governor George Ryan commutes the death sentences of 167 prisoners on Illinois’s death row based on the Jon Burge scandal.
2013 – One French soldier and 17 militants are killed in a failed attempt to free a French hostage in Bulo Marer, Somalia.

Births on January 11

347 – Theodosius I, Roman emperor (d. 395)
889 – Abd-ar-Rahman III, first Caliph of Córdoba (d. 961)
1113 – Wang Chongyang, Chinese religious leader and poet (d. 1170)
1209 – Möngke Khan, Mongolian emperor (d. 1259)
1322 – Emperor Kōmyō of Japan (d. 1380)
1359 – Emperor Go-En’yū of Japan (d. 1393)
1395 – Michele of Valois, daughter of Charles VI of France (d. 1422)
1503 – Parmigianino, Italian artist (d. 1540)
1589 – William Strode, English politician (d. 1666)
1591 – Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire (d. 1646)
1624 – Bastiaan Govertsz van der Leeuw, Dutch painter (d. 1680)
1630 – John Rogers, English-American minister, physician, and academic (d. 1684)
1638 – Nicolas Steno, Danish bishop and anatomist (d. 1686)
1642 – Johann Friedrich Alberti, German organist and composer (d. 1710)
1650 – Diana Glauber, Dutch-German painter (d. 1721)
1671 – François-Marie, 1st duc de Broglie, French general and diplomat (d. 1745)
1755 – Alexander Hamilton, Nevisian-American general, economist and politician, 1st United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1804)
1757 – Samuel Bentham, English engineer and architect (d. 1831)
1760 – Oliver Wolcott Jr., American lawyer and politician, 2nd United States Secretary of the Treasury, 24th Governor of Connecticut (d. 1833)
1777 – Vincenzo Borg, Maltese merchant and rebel leader (d. 1837)
1786 – Joseph Jackson Lister, English physicist (d. 1869)
1788 – William Thomas Brande, English chemist and academic (d. 1866)
1800 – Ányos Jedlik, Hungarian physicist and engineer (d. 1895)
1807 – Ezra Cornell, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Western Union and Cornell University (d. 1874)
1814 – James Paget, English surgeon and pathologist (d. 1899)
1815 – John A. Macdonald, Scottish-Canadian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1891)
1825 – Bayard Taylor, American poet, author, and critic (d. 1878)
1839 – Eugenio María de Hostos, Puerto Rican lawyer, philosopher, and sociologist (d. 1903)
1842 – William James, American psychologist and philosopher (d. 1910)
1843 – Adolf Eberle, German painter (d. 1914)
1845 – Albert Victor Bäcklund, Swedish mathematician and physicist (d. 1912)
1850 – Joseph Charles Arthur, American pathologist and mycologist (d. 1942)
1852 – Constantin Fehrenbach, German lawyer and politician, 4th Chancellor of Weimar Germany (d. 1926)
1853 – Georgios Jakobides, Greek painter and sculptor (d. 1932)
1856 – Christian Sinding, Norwegian pianist and composer (d. 1941)
1857 – Fred Archer, English jockey (d. 1886)
1858 – Harry Gordon Selfridge, American-English businessman, founded Selfridges (d. 1947)
1859 – George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, English politician, 35th Governor-General of India (d. 1925)
1864 – Thomas Dixon, Jr., American minister, lawyer, and politician (d. 1946)
1867 – Edward B. Titchener, English psychologist and academic (d. 1927)
1868 – Cai Yuanpei, Chinese philosopher, academic, and politician (d. 1940)
1870 – Alexander Stirling Calder, American sculptor and educator (d. 1945)
1872 – G. W. Pierce, American physicist and academic (d. 1956)
1873 – John Callan O’Laughlin, American soldier and journalist (d. 1949)
1875 – Reinhold Glière, Russian composer and academic (d. 1956)
1876 – Elmer Flick, American baseball player (d. 1971)
1876 – Thomas Hicks, American runner (d. 1952)
1878 – Theodoros Pangalos, Greek general and politician, President of Greece (d. 1952)
1885 – Alice Paul, American activist and suffragist (d. 1977)
1887 – Aldo Leopold, American ecologist and author (d. 1948)
1888 – Joseph B. Keenan, American jurist and politician (d. 1954)
1889 – Calvin Bridges, American geneticist and academic (d. 1938)
1890 – Max Carey, American baseball player and manager (d. 1976)
1890 – Oswald de Andrade, Brazilian poet and critic (d. 1954)
1891 – Andrew Sockalexis, American runner (d. 1919)
1893 – Ellinor Aiki, Estonian painter (d. 1969)
1893 – Charles Fraser, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 1981)
1893 – Anthony M. Rud, American journalist and author (d. 1942)
1895 – Laurens Hammond, American engineer and businessman, founded the Hammond Clock Company (d. 1973)
1897 – Bernard DeVoto, American historian and author (d. 1955)
1897 – August Heissmeyer, German SS officer (d. 1979)
1899 – Eva Le Gallienne, English-American actress, director, and producer (d. 1991)
1901 – Kwon Ki-ok, Korean pilot (d. 1988)
1902 – Maurice Duruflé, French organist and composer (d. 1986)
1903 – Alan Paton, South African author and activist (d. 1988)
1905 – Clyde Kluckhohn, American anthropologist and theorist (d. 1960)
1906 – Albert Hofmann, Swiss chemist and academic, discoverer of LSD (d. 2008)
1907 – Pierre Mendès France, French lawyer and politician, 142nd Prime Minister of France (d. 1982)
1907 – Abraham Joshua Heschel, Polish-American rabbi, theologian, and philosopher (d. 1972)
1908 – Lionel Stander, American actor and activist (d. 1994)
1910 – Arthur Lambourn, New Zealand rugby player (d. 1999)
1910 – Shane Paltridge, Australian soldier and politician (d. 1966)
1911 – Tommy Duncan, American singer-songwriter (d. 1967)
1911 – Nora Heysen, Australian painter (d. 2003)
1911 – Zenkō Suzuki, Japanese politician, 70th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2004)
1912 – Don “Red” Barry, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1980)
1913 – Karl Stegger, Danish actor (d. 1980)
1915 – Luise Krüger, German javelin thrower (d. 2001)
1915 – Paddy Mayne, British colonel and lawyer (d. 1955)
1916 – Bernard Blier, Argentinian-French actor (d. 1989)
1917 – John Robarts, Canadian lawyer and politician, 17th Premier of Ontario (d. 1982)
1918 – Robert C. O’Brien, American author and journalist (d. 1973)
1920 – Mick McManus, English wrestler (d. 2013)
1921 – Gory Guerrero, American wrestler and trainer (d. 1990)
1921 – Juanita M. Kreps, American economist and politician, 24th United States Secretary of Commerce (d. 2010)
1923 – Jerome Bixby, American author and screenwriter (d. 1998)
1923 – Ernst Nolte, German historian and philosopher (d. 2016)
1923 – Carroll Shelby, American race car driver, engineer, and businessman, founded Carroll Shelby International (d. 2012)
1924 – Roger Guillemin, French-American physician and endocrinologist, Nobel Prize laureate
1924 – Sam B. Hall, Jr., American lawyer, judge, and politician (d. 1994)
1924 – Slim Harpo, American blues singer-songwriter and musician (d. 1970)
1925 – Grant Tinker, American television producer, co-founded MTM Enterprises (d. 2016)
1926 – Lev Dyomin, Russian colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1998)
1928 – David L. Wolper, American director and producer (d. 2010)
1929 – Dmitri Bruns, Estonian architect and theorist (d. 2020)
1930 – Ron Mulock, Australian lawyer and politician, 10th Deputy Premier of New South Wales (d. 2014)
1930 – Rod Taylor, Australian-American actor and screenwriter (d. 2015)
1931 – Betty Churcher, Australian painter, historian, and curator (d. 2015)
1931 – Mary Rodgers, American composer and author (d. 2014)
1932 – Alfonso Arau, Mexican actor and director
1933 – Goldie Hill, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2005)
1934 – Jean Chrétien, Canadian lawyer and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Canada
1936 – Eva Hesse, German-American sculptor and educator (d. 1970)
1938 – Arthur Scargill, English miner, activist, and politician
1939 – Anne Heggtveit, Canadian alpine skier
1940 – Andres Tarand, Estonian geographer and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Estonia
1941 – Gérson, Brazilian footballer
1942 – Bud Acton, American basketball player
1942 – Clarence Clemons, American saxophonist and actor (d. 2011)
1944 – Mohammed Abdul-Hayy, Sudanese poet and academic (d. 1989)
1944 – Shibu Soren, Indian politician, 3rd Chief Minister of Jharkhand
1945 – Christine Kaufmann, German actress, author, and businesswoman (d. 2017)
1946 – Naomi Judd, American singer-songwriter and actress
1946 – Tony Kaye, English progressive rock keyboard player and songwriter (Yes)
1946 – John Piper, American theologian and author
1947 – Hamish Macdonald, New Zealand rugby player
1948 – Fritz Bohla, German footballer and manager
1948 – Joe Harper, Scottish footballer and manager
1948 – Madeline Manning, American runner and coach
1948 – Wajima Hiroshi, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 54th Yokozuna
1948 – Terry Williams, Welsh drummer
1949 – Daryl Braithwaite, Australian singer-songwriter
1949 – Mohammad Reza Rahimi, Iranian lawyer and politician, 2nd Vice President of Iran
1951 – Charlie Huhn, American rock singer and guitarist
1951 – Willie Maddren, English footballer and manager (d. 2000)
1951 – Philip Tartaglia, Scottish archbishop
1952 – Bille Brown, Australian actor and playwright (d. 2013)
1952 – Ben Crenshaw, American golfer and architect
1952 – Michael Forshaw, Australian lawyer and politician
1952 – Diana Gabaldon, American author
1952 – Lee Ritenour, American guitarist, composer, and producer
1953 – Graham Allen, English politician, Vice-Chamberlain of the Household
1953 – Kostas Skandalidis, Greek engineer and politician, Greek Minister of Agricultural Development and Food
1954 – Jaak Aaviksoo, Estonian physicist and politician, 26th Estonian Minister of Defence
1954 – Kailash Satyarthi, Indian engineer, academic, and activist, Nobel Prize laureate
1956 – Big Bank Hank, American rapper (d. 2014)
1957 – Darryl Dawkins, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
1957 – Peter Moore, Australian rules footballer and coach
1957 – Bryan Robson, English footballer and manager
1958 – Vicki Peterson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1959 – Brett Bodine, American NASCAR driver
1959 – Rob Ramage, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1961 – Lars-Erik Torph, Swedish racing driver (d. 1989)
1962 – Chris Bryant, Welsh politician, Minister of State for Europe
1962 – Susan Lindauer, American journalist and activist
1962 – Brian Moore, English rugby player
1963 – Tracy Caulkins, American-Australian swimmer
1963 – Petra Schneider, German swimmer
1964 – Ralph Recto, Filipino lawyer and politician
1964 – Albert Dupontel, French actor and director
1965 – Mascarita Sagrada, Mexican wrestler
1965 – Aleksey Zhukov, Russian footballer and coach
1966 – Marc Acito, American author and screenwriter
1967 – Michael Healy-Rae, Irish politician
1968 – Anders Borg, Swedish economist and politician, Swedish Minister for Finance
1968 – Tom Dumont, American guitarist and producer
1969 – Manny Acta, Dominican-American baseball player, coach, manager, and sportscaster
1970 – Manfredi Beninati, Italian painter and sculptor
1970 – Chris Jent, American basketball player and coach
1970 – Malcolm D. Lee, American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor
1970 – Ken Ueno, American composer
1971 – Mary J. Blige, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
1971 – Jeff Orford, Australian rugby league player
1971 – Chris Willsher, English singer-songwriter, drummer, and actor
1972 – Christian Jacobs, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
1972 – Anthony Lledo, Danish composer
1972 – Amanda Peet, American actress and playwright
1973 – Rockmond Dunbar, American actor
1973 – Rahul Dravid, Indian cricketer and captain
1974 – Roman Görtz, German footballer
1974 – Cody McKay, Canadian baseball player
1974 – Jens Nowotny, German footballer
1975 – Rory Fitzpatrick, American ice hockey player
1975 – Dan Luger, English rugby player and coach
1975 – Matteo Renzi, Italian politician, 56th Prime Minister of Italy
1976 – Efthimios Rentzias, Greek basketball player
1977 – Shamari Buchanan, American football player
1977 – Anni Friesinger-Postma, German speed skater
1977 – Olexiy Lukashevych, Ukrainian long jumper
1978 – Vallo Allingu, Estonian basketball player
1978 – Holly Brisley, Australian actress
1978 – Michael Duff, Irish footballer
1978 – Emile Heskey, English footballer
1979 – Darren Lynn Bousman, American director and screenwriter
1979 – Michael Lorenz, German footballer
1979 – Henry Shefflin, Irish hurler
1980 – Josh Hannay, Australian rugby league player
1980 – Mike Williams, American football player
1982 – Tony Allen, American basketball player
1982 – Blake Heron, American actor (d. 2017)
1982 – Son Ye-jin, South Korean actress
1983 – Turner Battle, American basketball player
1983 – André Myhrer, Swedish skier
1983 – Ted Richards, Australian rules footballer
1983 – Adrian Sutil, German racing driver
1984 – Kevin Boss, American football player
1984 – Dario Krešić, Croatian footballer
1984 – Matt Mullenweg, American web developer and businessman, co-created WordPress
1984 – Stijn Schaars, Dutch footballer
1985 – Newton Faulkner, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1985 – Lucy Knisley, American author and illustrator
1987 – Scotty Cranmer, American Professional BMX rider
1987 – Danuta Kozák, Hungarian sprint canoer
1987 – Daniel Semenzato, Italian footballer
1987 – Jamie Vardy, English footballer
1987 – Kim Young-kwang, South Korean actor and model
1988 – Rodrigo José Pereira, Brazilian footballer
1989 – Kane Linnett, Australian rugby league player
1990 – Ryan Griffin, American football player
1991 – Andrea Bertolacci, Italian footballer
1992 – Dani Carvajal, Spanish footballer
1992 – Lee Seung-hoon, South Korean rapper and dancer
1993 – Michael Keane, English footballer
1993 – Will Keane, English footballer
1996 – Leroy Sané, German footballer
1997 – Cody Simpson, Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor

Deaths on January 11

140 – Pope Hyginus, Bishop of Rome (b. 74)
705 – Pope John VI (b. 655)
782 – Emperor Kōnin of Japan (b. 709)
812 – Staurakios, Byzantine emperor
844 – Michael I Rangabe, Byzantine emperor (b. 770)
887 – Boso of Provence, Frankish nobleman
937 – Cao, empress of Later Tang
937 – Li Chongmei, prince of Later Tang
937 – Li Congke, emperor of Later Tang (b. 885)
937 – Liu, empress of Later Tang
1055 – Constantine IX Monomachos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1000)
1068 – Egbert I, Margrave of Meissen
1083 – Otto of Nordheim (b. 1020)
1266 – Swietopelk II, Duke of Pomerania
1344 – Thomas Charlton, Bishop of Hereford and Lord Chancellor of Ireland
1372 – Eleanor of Lancaster, English noblewoman (b. 1318)
1396 – Isidore Glabas, Metropolitan bishop of Thessalonica (b.c. 1341)
1397 – Skirgaila, Grand Duke of Lithuania
1494 – Domenico Ghirlandaio, Italian painter (b. 1449)
1495 – Pedro González de Mendoza, Spanish cardinal (b. 1428)
1546 – Gaudenzio Ferrari, Italian painter and sculptor (b. c. 1471)
1547 – Pietro Bembo, Italian poet, scholar, and theorist (b. 1470)
1554 – Min Bin, king of Arakan (b. 1493)
1641 – Juan Martínez de Jáuregui y Aguilar, Spanish poet and painter (b. 1583)
1696 – Charles Albanel, French priest, missionary, and explorer (b. 1616)
1703 – Johann Georg Graevius, German scholar and critic (b. 1632)
1713 – Pierre Jurieu, French priest and theologian (b. 1637)
1735 – Danilo I, Metropolitan of Cetinje (b. 1670)
1753 – Hans Sloane, Irish-English physician and academic (b. 1660)
1757 – Louis Bertrand Castel, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1688)
1762 – Louis-François Roubiliac, French-English sculptor (b. 1695)
1763 – Caspar Abel, German poet, historian, and theologian (b. 1676)
1771 – Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d’Argens, French philosopher and author (b. 1704)
1788 – François Joseph Paul de Grasse, French admiral (b. 1722)
1791 – William Williams Pantycelyn, Welsh composer and poet (b. 1717)
1798 – Heraclius II of Georgia (b. 1720)
1801 – Domenico Cimarosa, Italian composer and educator (b. 1749)
1824 – Thomas Mullins, 1st Baron Ventry, Anglo-Irish politician and peer (b. 1736)
1836 – John Molson, Canadian businessman, founded the Molson Brewing Company (b. 1763)
1843 – Francis Scott Key, American lawyer, author, and songwriter (b. 1779)
1866 – Gustavus Vaughan Brooke, Irish actor (b. 1818)
1866 – John Woolley, English minister and academic (b. 1816)
1867 – Stuart Donaldson, English-Australian businessman and politician, 1st Premier of New South Wales (b. 1812)
1882 – Theodor Schwann, German physiologist and biologist (b. 1810)
1891 – Georges-Eugène Haussmann, French urban planner (b. 1809)
1902 – Johnny Briggs, English cricketer and rugby player (b. 1862)
1904 – William Sawyer, Canadian merchant and politician (b. 1815)
1914 – Carl Jacobsen, Danish brewer and philanthropist (b. 1842)
1920 – Steinar Schjøtt, Norwegian philologist and lexicographer (b. 1844)
1923 – Constantine I of Greece (b. 1868)
1928 – Thomas Hardy, English novelist and poet (b. 1840)
1931 – James Milton Carroll, American pastor, historian, and author (b. 1852)
1937 – Nuri Conker, Turkish colonel and politician (b. 1882)
1941 – Emanuel Lasker, German mathematician, philosopher, and chess player (b. 1868)
1944 – Galeazzo Ciano, Italian politician, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1903)
1947 – Eva Tanguay, Canadian singer (b. 1879)
1952 – Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, French general (b. 1889)
1952 – Aureliano Pertile, Italian tenor and educator (b. 1885)
1953 – Noe Zhordania, Georgian journalist and politician, Prime Minister of Georgia (b. 1868)
1954 – Oscar Straus, Austrian composer (b. 1870)
1957 – Robert Garran, Australian lawyer and politician, Solicitor-General of Australia (b. 1867)
1958 – Alec Rowley, English organist and composer (b. 1892)
1958 – Edna Purviance, American actress (b. 1895)
1961 – Elena Gerhardt, German soprano and actress (b. 1883)
1963 – Arthur Nock, English-American scholar, theologian, and academic (b. 1902)
1965 – Wally Pipp, American baseball player (b. 1893)
1966 – Alberto Giacometti, Swiss sculptor and painter (b. 1901)
1966 – Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indian academic and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of India (b. 1904)
1968 – Moshe Zvi Segal, Israeli linguist and scholar (b. 1876)
1969 – Richmal Crompton, English author and educator (b. 1890)
1972 – Padraic Colum, Irish poet and playwright (b. 1881)
1975 – Max Lorenz, German tenor and actor (b. 1901)
1980 – Barbara Pym, English author (b. 1913)
1981 – Beulah Bondi, American actress (b. 1889)
1982 – Paul Lynde, American Actor and comedian (b. 1926)
1985 – Edward Buzzell, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1895)
1985 – William McKell, Australian lawyer and politician, 12th Governor-General of Australia (b. 1891)
1986 – Sid Chaplin, English author and screenwriter (b. 1916)
1986 – Andrzej Czok, Polish mountaineer (b. 1948)
1987 – Albert Ferber, Swiss-English pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1911)
1988 – Pappy Boyington, American colonel and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1912)
1988 – Isidor Isaac Rabi, Polish-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1898)
1989 – Ray Moore, English radio host (b. 1942)
1990 – Carolyn Haywood, American author and illustrator (b. 1898)
1991 – Carl David Anderson, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
1994 – Helmut Poppendick, German physician (b. 1902)
1995 – Josef Gingold, Belarusian-American violinist and educator (b. 1909)
1995 – Onat Kutlar, Turkish author and poet (b. 1936)
1995 – Lewis Nixon, U.S. Army captain (b. 1918)
1995 – Theodor Wisch, German general (b. 1907)
1996 – Roger Crozier, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager (b. 1942)
1999 – Fabrizio De André, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1940)
1999 – Naomi Mitchison, Scottish author and poet (b. 1897)
1999 – Brian Moore, Irish-Canadian author and screenwriter (b. 1921)
2000 – Ivan Combe, American businessman, invented Clearasil (b. 1911)
2000 – Bob Lemon, American baseball player and manager (b. 1920)
2001 – Denys Lasdun, English architect, co-designed the Royal National Theatre (b. 1914)
2002 – Henri Verneuil, French-Armenian director and playwright (b. 1920)
2003 – Jože Pučnik, Slovenian sociologist and politician (b. 1932)
2007 – Solveig Dommartin, French-German actress (b. 1961)
2007 – Robert Anton Wilson, American psychologist, author, poet, and playwright (b. 1932)
2008 – Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer and explorer (b. 1919)
2008 – Carl Karcher, American businessman, co-founded Carl’s Jr. (b. 1917)
2010 – Miep Gies, Austrian-Dutch humanitarian (b. 1909)
2010 – Éric Rohmer, French director, screenwriter, and critic (b. 1920)
2011 – David Nelson, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1936)
2012 – Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, Iranian physicist and academic (b. 1980)
2012 – Gilles Jacquier, French journalist and photographer (b. 1968)
2012 – Edgar Kaiser, Jr, American-Canadian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1942)
2012 – Wally Osterkorn, American basketball player (b. 1928)
2012 – Steven Rawlings, English astrophysicist, astronomer, and academic (b. 1961)
2012 – David Whitaker, English composer and conductor (b. 1931)
2013 – Aaron Swartz, American programmer (b. 1986)
2013 – Guido Forti, Italian businessman, founded the Forti Racing Team (b. 1940)
2013 – Nguyễn Khánh, Vietnamese general and politician, 3rd President of South Vietnam (b. 1927)
2013 – Mariangela Melato, Italian actress (b. 1941)
2013 – Tom Parry Jones, Welsh chemist, invented the breathalyzer (b. 1935)
2013 – Alemayehu Shumye, Ethiopian runner (b. 1988)
2014 – Keiko Awaji, Japanese actress (b. 1933)
2014 – Muhammad Habibur Rahman, Indian-Bangladeshi jurist and politician, Prime Minister of Bangladesh (b. 1928)
2014 – Chai Trong-rong, Taiwanese educator and politician (b. 1935)
2014 – Ariel Sharon, Israeli general and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1928)
2015 – Jenő Buzánszky, Hungarian footballer and coach (b. 1925)
2015 – Anita Ekberg, Swedish-Italian model and actress (b. 1931)
2015 – Chashi Nazrul Islam, Bangladeshi director and producer (b. 1941)
2015 – Vernon Benjamin Mountcastle, American neuroscientist and academic (b. 1918)
2016 – Monte Irvin, American baseball player (b. 1919)
2016 – David Margulies, American actor (b. 1937)
2017 – Adenan Satem, Malaysian politician and Chief Minister of Sarawak, Malaysia (b. 1944)
2018 – Edgar Ray Killen, American murderer (b.1925)
2019 – Michael Atiyah, British-Lebanese mathematician (b.1929)

Holidays and observances on January 11

Children’s Day (Tunisia)
Christian feast day:
- Anastasius of Suppentonia (Roman Catholic)
- Leucius of Brindisi (Roman Catholic)
- Mary Slessor (Church of England)
- Paulinus II of Aquileia
- Pope Hyginus
- Theodosius the Cenobiarch
- Thomas of Cori
- Vitalis of Gaza (Roman Catholic)
- January 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which Triodion can fall, while February 14 is the latest; celebrated 70 days before Easter. (Eastern Orthodox)
Eugenio María de Hostos Day (Puerto Rico)
Independence Resistance Day (Morocco)
Kagami biraki (Japan)
National Human Trafficking Awareness Day (United States)
Republic Day (Albania)
Carmentalia (January 11th and January 15th), (Rome)

January 11 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day / admin

January 9 in History

475 – Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople, and his general, Basiliscus gains control of the empire.
681 – Twelfth Council of Toledo: King Erwig of the Visigoths initiates a council in which he implements diverse measures against the Jews in Spain.
1127 – Jin–Song Wars: Invading Jurchen soldiers from the Jin dynasty besiege and sack Bianjing (Kaifeng), the capital of the Song dynasty of China, and abduct Emperor Qinzong of Song and others, ending the Northern Song dynasty.
1349 – The Jewish population of Basel, believed by the residents to be the cause of the ongoing Black Death, is rounded up and incinerated.
1431 – The trial of Joan of Arc begins in Rouen.
1760 – Ahmad Shah Durrani defeats the Marathas in the Battle of Barari Ghat.<refFrançois Xavier Wendel (1991). Wendel’s memoirs on the origin, growth and present state of Jat power in Hindustan (1768). Institut français de Pondichéry. p. 61.</ref>
1788 – Connecticut becomes the fifth state to ratify the Constitution.
1792 – Treaty of Jassy between Russian and Ottoman Empire is signed.
1793 – Jean-Pierre Blanchard becomes the first person to fly in a balloon in the United States.
1799 – British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound to raise funds for Great Britain’s war effort in the Napoleonic Wars.
1806 – Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson receives a state funeral and is interred in St Paul’s Cathedral.
1816 – Humphry Davy tests his safety lamp for miners at Hebburn Colliery.
1822 – The Portuguese prince Pedro I of Brazil decides to stay in Brazil against the orders of the Portuguese King João VI, beginning the Brazilian independence process.
1839 – The French Academy of Sciences announces the Daguerreotype photography process.
1857 – The 7.9 M_w  Fort Tejon earthquake shakes Central and Southern California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent).
1858 – Anson Jones, the last President of the Republic of Texas, commits suicide.
1861 – American Civil War: “Star of the West” incident occurs near Charleston, South Carolina.
1861 – Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the Union before the outbreak of the American Civil War.
1878 – Umberto I becomes King of Italy.
1894 – New England Telephone and Telegraph installs the first battery-operated telephone switchboard in Lexington, Massachusetts.
1903 – Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson, son of the poet Alfred Tennyson, becomes the second Governor-General of Australia.
1909 – Ernest Shackleton, leading the Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole, plants the British flag 97 nautical miles (180 km; 112 mi) from the South Pole, the farthest anyone had ever reached at that time.
1914 – The Phi Beta Sigma fraternity is founded by African-American students at Howard University in Washington D.C., United States.
1916 – World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli concludes with an Ottoman Empire victory when the last Allied forces are evacuated from the peninsula.
1917 – World War I: The Battle of Rafa is fought near the Egyptian border with Palestine.
1918 – Battle of Bear Valley: The last battle of the American Indian Wars.
1921 – Greco-Turkish War: The First Battle of İnönü, the first battle of the war, begins near Eskişehir in Anatolia.
1923 – Juan de la Cierva makes the first autogyro flight.
1923 – Lithuanian residents of the Memel Territory rebel against the League of Nations’ decision to leave the area as a mandated region under French control.
1927 – A fire at the Laurier Palace movie theatre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, kills 78 children.
1941 – World War II: First flight of the Avro Lancaster.
1945 – World War II: The Sixth United States Army begins the invasion of Lingayen Gulf.
1957 – British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden resigns from office following his failure to retake the Suez Canal from Egyptian sovereignty.
1960 – President of Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser opens construction on the Aswan Dam by detonating ten tons of dynamite to demolish twenty tons of granite on the east bank of the Nile.
1961 – British authorities announce they have uncovered the Soviet Portland Spy Ring in London.
1964 – Martyrs’ Day: Several Panamanian youths try to raise the Panamanian flag in the U.S.-controlled Panama Canal Zone, leading to fighting between U.S. military and Panamanian civilians.
1965 – The Mirzapur Cadet College formally opens for academic activities in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
1991 – Representatives from the United States and Iraq meet at the Geneva Peace Conference to try to find a peaceful resolution to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
1992 – The Assembly of the Serb People in Bosnia and Herzegovina proclaims the creation of Republika Srpska, a new state within Yugoslavia.
1992 – The first discoveries of extrasolar planets are announced by astronomers Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail. They discovered two planets orbiting the pulsar PSR 1257+12.
1996 – First Chechen War: Chechen separatists launch a raid against the helicopter airfield and later a civilian hospital in the city of Kizlyar in the neighboring Dagestan, which turns into a massive hostage crisis involving thousands of civilians.
2004 – An inflatable boat carrying illegal Albanian emigrants stalls near the Karaburun Peninsula en route to Brindisi, Italy; exposure to the elements kills 28. This is the second deadliest marine disaster in Albanian history.
2005 – Mahmoud Abbas wins the election to succeed Yasser Arafat as President of the Palestinian National Authority, replacing interim president Rawhi Fattouh.
2005 – The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and the Government of Sudan sign the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to end the Second Sudanese Civil War.
2007 – Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduces the original iPhone at a Macworld keynote in San Francisco.
2011 – Iran Air Flight 277 crashes near Urmia in the northwest of the country, killing 77 people.
2014 – An explosion at a Mitsubishi Materials chemical plant in Yokkaichi, Japan, kills at least five people and injures 17 others.
2015 – The perpetrators of the Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris two days earlier are both killed after a hostage situation; a second hostage situation, related to the Charlie Hebdo shooting, occurs at a Jewish market in Vincennes.
2015 – A mass poisoning at a funeral in Mozambique involving beer that was contaminated with Burkholderia gladioli leaves 75 dead and over 230 people ill.

Births on January 9

727 – Emperor Daizong of Tang (d. 779)
1418 – Juan Ramón Folch III de Cardona, Aragonese admiral (d. 1485)
1475 – Crinitus, Italian scholar and author (d. 1507)
1554 – Pope Gregory XV (d. 1623)
1571 – Charles Bonaventure de Longueval, Count of Bucquoy, French commander (d. 1621)
1590 – Simon Vouet, French painter (d. 1649)
1606 – William Dugard, English printer (d. 1662)
1624 – Empress Meishō of Japan (d. 1696)
1645 – Sir William Villiers, 3rd Baronet, English noble and politician (d. 1712)
1674 – Reinhard Keiser, German composer (d. 1739)
1685 – Tiberius Hemsterhuis, Dutch philologist and critic (d. 1766)
1728 – Thomas Warton, English poet, historian, and critic (d. 1790)
1735 – John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent, English admiral and politician (d. 1823)
1745 – Caleb Strong, American lawyer and politician, 6th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1819)
1753 – Luísa Todi, Portuguese soprano and actress (d. 1833)
1773 – Cassandra Austen, English painter and illustrator (d. 1845)
1778 – Hammamizade İsmail Dede Efendi, Turkish Ney player and composer (d. 1846)
1811 – Gilbert Abbott à Beckett, English journalist and author (d. 1856)
1818 – Antoine Samuel Adam-Salomon, French sculptor and photographer (d. 1881)
1819 – James Francis, English-Australian businessman and politician, 9th Premier of Victoria (d. 1884)
1822 – Carol Benesch, Czech-Romanian architect, designed the Peleș Castle (d. 1896)
1823 – Friedrich von Esmarch, German surgeon and academic (d. 1908)
1829 – Thomas William Robertson, English director and playwright (d. 1871)
1829 – Adolf Schlagintweit, German botanist and explorer (d. 1857)
1832 – Félix-Gabriel Marchand, Canadian journalist and politician, 11th Premier of Quebec (d. 1900)
1839 – John Knowles Paine, American composer and academic (d. 1906)
1848 – Princess Frederica of Hanover (d. 1926)
1849 – John Hartley, English tennis player (d. 1935)
1854 – Lady Randolph Churchill, American-born wife of Lord Randolph Churchill, mother of Sir Winston Churchill (d. 1921)
1856 – Anton Aškerc, Slovenian priest and poet (d. 1912)
1859 – Carrie Chapman Catt, American activist, founded the League of Women Voters and International Alliance of Women (d. 1947)
1864 – Vladimir Steklov, Russian mathematician and physicist (d. 1926)
1868 – S. P. L. Sørensen, Danish chemist and academic (d. 1939)
1870 – Joseph Strauss, American engineer, co-designed the Golden Gate Bridge (d. 1938)
1873 – Hayim Nahman Bialik, Ukrainian-Austrian journalist, author, and poet (d. 1934)
1873 – Thomas Curtis, American sprinter and hurdler (d. 1944)
1873 – John Flanagan, Irish-American hammer thrower (d. 1938)
1875 – Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, American sculptor and art collector, founded the Whitney Museum of American Art (d. 1942)
1879 – John B. Watson, American psychologist and academic (d. 1958)
1881 – Lascelles Abercrombie, English poet and critic (d. 1938)
1881 – Giovanni Papini, Italian journalist, author, and poet (d. 1956)
1885 – Charles Bacon, American runner and hurdler (d. 1968)
1886 – Lloyd Loar, American sound engineer and instrument designer (d. 1943)
1889 – Vrindavan Lal Verma, Indian author and playwright (d. 1969)
1890 – Karel Čapek, Czech author and playwright (d. 1938)
1890 – Kurt Tucholsky, German-Swedish journalist and author (d. 1935)
1891 – August Gailit, Estonian journalist and author (d. 1960)
1892 – Eva Bowring, American lawyer and politician (d. 1985)
1893 – Edwin Baker, Canadian soldier and educator, co-founded the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (d. 1968)
1896 – Warwick Braithwaite, New Zealand-English conductor and director (d. 1971)
1897 – Karl Löwith, German philosopher, author, and academic (d. 1973)
1898 – Gracie Fields, English actress and singer (d. 1979)
1899 – Harald Tammer, Estonian journalist and weightlifter (d. 1942)
1900 – Richard Halliburton, American journalist and author (d. 1939)
1901 – Vilma Bánky, Hungarian-American actress (d. 1991)
1901 – Chic Young, American cartoonist (d. 1973)
1902 – Rudolf Bing, American impresario and businessman (d. 1997)
1902 – Josemaría Escrivá, Spanish priest and saint, founded Opus Dei (d. 1975)
1907 – Eldred G. Smith, American patriarch (d. 2013)
1907 – Earl W. Renfroe, African American orthodontist, educator, and activist (d. 2000)
1908 – Simone de Beauvoir, French philosopher and author (d. 1986)
1909 – Anthony Mamo, Maltese lawyer and politician, 1st President of Malta (d. 2008)
1909 – Patrick Peyton, Irish-American priest, television personality, and activist (d. 1992)
1910 – Tom Evenson, English runner (d. 1997)
1912 – Ralph Tubbs, English architect, designed the Dome of Discovery (d. 1996)
1913 – Richard Nixon, American commander, lawyer, and politician, 37th President of the United States (d. 1994)
1914 – Kenny Clarke, American jazz drummer and bandleader (d. 1985)
1915 – Anita Louise, American actress (d. 1970)
1916 – Fernando Lamas, Argentinian-American actor, singer, and director (d. 1982)
1916 – Vic Mizzy, American soldier, pianist, and composer (d. 2009)
1918 – Alma Ziegler, American baseball player and golfer (d. 2005)
1919 – William Morris Meredith, Jr., American poet and academic (d. 2007)
1920 – Clive Dunn, English actor (d. 2012)
1920 – Hakim Said, Pakistani scholar and politician, 20th Governor of Sindh (d. 1998)
1921 – Ágnes Keleti, Hungarian Olympic gymnast
1921 – Lister Sinclair, Indian-Canadian broadcaster and playwright (d. 2006)
1922 – Har Gobind Khorana, Indian-American biochemist and academic, Nobel laureate (d. 2011)
1922 – Ahmed Sékou Touré, Guinean politician, 1st President of Guinea (d. 1984)
1924 – Sergei Parajanov, Georgian-Armenian director and screenwriter (d. 1990)
1925 – Len Quested, English footballer defender and manager (d. 2012)
1925 – Lee Van Cleef, American actor (d. 1989)
1926 – Jean-Pierre Côté, Canadian lawyer and politician, 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 2002)
1928 – Judith Krantz, American novelist (d. 2019)
1928 – Domenico Modugno, Italian singer-songwriter, actor, and politician (d. 1994)
1929 – Brian Friel, Irish author, playwright, and director (d. 2015)
1929 – Heiner Müller, German poet, playwright, and director (d. 1995)
1931 – Algis Budrys, Lithuanian-American author and critic (d. 2008)
1933 – Robert García, American soldier and politician (d. 2017)
1933 – Roy Dwight, English footballer, outside forward
1933 – Wilbur Smith, Zambian-English journalist and author
1934 – Bart Starr, American football player and coach (d. 2019)
1935 – Bob Denver, American actor (d. 2005)
1935 – Dick Enberg, American sportscaster (d. 2017)
1935 – John Graham, New Zealand rugby player and educator (d. 2017)
1935 – Brian Harradine, Australian politician (d. 2014)
1936 – Anne Rivers Siddons, American author
1936 – Marko Veselica, Croatian academic and politician (d. 2017)
1938 – Claudette Boyer, Canadian educator and politician (d. 2013)
1939 – Susannah York, English actress and activist (d. 2011)
1940 – Barbara Buczek, Polish composer (d. 1993)
1940 – Ruth Dreifuss, Swiss journalist and politician, 86th President of the Swiss Confederation
1941 – Joan Baez, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and activist
1941 – Gilles Vaillancourt, Canadian politician
1942 – John Dunning, American author
1942 – Judy Malloy, American poet and author
1943 – Robert Drewe, Australian author and playwright
1943 – Elmer MacFadyen, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2007)
1943 – Scott Walker, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (d. 2019)
1944 – Harun Farocki, German filmmaker (d. 2014)
1944 – Jimmy Page, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1944 – Mihalis Violaris, Cypriot singer-songwriter and actor
1945 – Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Syrian-Armenian scholar and politician, 1st President of Armenia
1946 – Mohammad Ishaq Khan, Indian historian and academic (d. 2013)
1946 – Mogens Lykketoft, Danish politician, 45th Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs
1947 – Ronnie Landfield, American painter and educator
1948 – Bill Cowsill, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2006)
1948 – Jan Tomaszewski, Polish footballer, manager, and politician
1950 – Alec Jeffreys, English geneticist and academic
1950 – David Johansen, American musician and actor
1950 – Sandy Martin, American actress
1951 – Crystal Gayle, American singer-songwriter and producer
1952 – Kaushik Basu, Indian economist and academic
1952 – Hugh Bayley, English politician
1952 – Mike Capuano, American lawyer and politician
1953 – Javad Alizadeh, Iranian cartoonist and painter
1954 – Philippa Gregory, Kenyan-English author and academic
1955 – Michiko Kakutani, American journalist and critic
1955 – J.K. Simmons, American actor
1956 – Waltraud Meier, German soprano and actress
1956 – Imelda Staunton, English actress and singer
1958 – Stephen Neale, English philosopher and academic
1959 – Mark Martin, American race car driver and coach
1959 – Rigoberta Menchú, Guatemalan activist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate
1959 – Otis Nixon, American baseball player
1960 – Lisa Walters, Canadian golfer
1961 – Didier Camberabero, French rugby player
1961 – Oliver Goldstick, American screenwriter and producer
1961 – Henry Omaga-Diaz, Filipino journalist
1962 – Ray Houghton, Scottish-born footballer
1963 – Irwin McLean, Northern Irish biologist and academic
1964 – Stan Javier, Dominican baseball player and manager
1965 – Iain Dowie, English-Northern Irish footballer and coach
1965 – Eric Erlandson, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1965 – Haddaway, Trinidadian-German singer and musician
1965 – Andrei Nazarov, Estonian decathlete and coach
1965 – Joely Richardson, English actress
1966 – Stephen Metcalfe, English politician
1967 – Matt Bevin, American politician, 62nd governor of Kentucky
1967 – Claudio Caniggia, Argentinian footballer
1967 – Dave Matthews, South African-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1967 – Gary Teichmann, South African rugby player
1968 – Jimmy Adams, Jamaican cricketer and coach
1968 – Joey Lauren Adams, American actress
1968 – Mardi Lunn, Australian golfer
1968 – Giorgos Theofanous, Greek-Cypriot composer and producer
1970 – Lara Fabian, Belgian-Italian singer-songwriter and actress
1971 – Angie Martinez, American rapper, actress, and radio host
1971 – Hal Niedzviecki, Canadian author and critic
1971 – Scott Thornton, Canadian ice hockey player
1972 – Jay Powell, American baseball player
1972 – Rawson Stovall, American video game producer and author
1973 – Sean Paul, Jamaican rapper, singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and actor
1975 – James Beckford, Jamaican long jumper
1976 – Radek Bonk, Czech ice hockey player
1978 – Mathieu Garon, Canadian ice hockey player
1978 – Gennaro Gattuso, Italian footballer and manager
1978 – Chad Johnson, American football player and actor
1978 – AJ McLean, American singer
1980 – Édgar Álvarez, Honduran footballer
1980 – Sergio García, Spanish golfer
1980 – Luke Patten, Australian rugby league player and referee
1980 – Francisco Pavón, Spanish footballer
1980 – Wang Zulan, Hong Kong singer
1981 – Euzebiusz Smolarek, Polish footballer and manager
1982 – Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge
1984 – Drew Brown, American musician and songwriter
1984 – Benjamin Danso, German rugby player
1985 – Juan Francisco Torres, Spanish footballer
1986 – Jéferson Gomes, Brazilian footballer
1986 – Uwe Hünemeier, German footballer
1986 – Amanda Mynhardt, South African netball player
1987 – Sam Bird, English race car driver
1987 – Lucas Leiva, Brazilian footballer
1987 – Paolo Nutini, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
1987 – Jami Puustinen, Finnish footballer
1988 – Katherine Copely, American ice dancer
1988 – Marc Crosas, Spanish footballer
1988 – Lee Yeon-hee, South Korean actress
1989 – Michael Beasley, American basketball player
1989 – Nina Dobrev, Bulgarian-Canadian actress
1989 – Michaëlla Krajicek, Dutch tennis player
1989 – Yana Maksimava, Belarusian heptathlete
1989 – Chris Sandow, Australian rugby league player
1989 – Jordan Turner, English rugby league player
1990 – Justin Blackmon, American football player
1991 – Edon Hasani, Albanian football player
1991 – Alvaro Soler, Spanish singer-songwriter
1993 – Katarina Johnson-Thompson, English long jumper and heptathlete
1993 – Marcus Peters, American football player
1993 – Kevin Korjus, Estonian race car driver
1995 – Braden Uele, New Zealand rugby league player
1999 – Shannon Tavarez, American actress (d. 2010)

Deaths on January 9

710 – Adrian of Canterbury, abbot and scholar
1150 – Emperor Xizong of Jin (b. 1119)
1202 – Birger Brosa, Jarl of Sweden
1282 – Abû ‘Uthmân Sa’îd ibn Hakam al Qurashi, Minorcan ruler (b. 1204)
1283 – Wen Tianxiang, Chinese general and scholar (b. 1236)
1367 – Giulia della Rena, Italian saint (b. 1319)
1450 – Adam Moleyns, Bishop of Chichester
1463 – William Neville, 1st Earl of Kent, English soldier (b. 1405)
1499 – John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1455)
1511 – Demetrios Chalkokondyles, Greek scholar and academic (b. 1423)
1514 – Anne of Brittany, queen of Charles VIII of France and Louis XII of France (b. 1477)
1529 – Wang Yangming, Chinese Neo-Confucian scholar (b. 1472)
1534 – Johannes Aventinus, Bavarian historian and philologist (b. 1477)
1543 – Guillaume du Bellay, French general and diplomat (b. 1491)
1561 – Amago Haruhisa, Japanese warlord (b. 1514)
1571 – Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon, French admiral (b. 1510)
1598 – Jasper Heywood, English poet and scholar (b. 1553)
1612 – Leonard Holliday, Lord Mayor of London (b. 1550)
1622 – Alix Le Clerc, French Canoness Regular and foundress (b. 1576)
1757 – Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle, French author, poet, and playwright (b. 1657)
1762 – Antonio de Benavides, colonial governor of Florida (b. 1678)
1766 – Thomas Birch, English historian and author (b. 1705)
1799 – Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Italian mathematician and philosopher (b. 1718)
1800 – Jean Étienne Championnet, French general (b. 1762)
1805 – Noble Wimberly Jones, American physician and politician (b. 1723)
1843 – William Hedley, English engineer (b. 1773)
1848 – Caroline Herschel, German-English astronomer (b. 1750)
1856 – Neophytos Vamvas, Greek cleric and educator (b. 1770)
1858 – Anson Jones, American physician and politician; 4th President of the Republic of Texas (b. 1798)
1873 – Napoleon III, French politician, 1st President of France (b. 1808)
1876 – Samuel Gridley Howe, American physician and activist (b. 1801)
1878 – Victor Emmanuel II of Italy (b. 1820)
1895 – Aaron Lufkin Dennison, American-English businessman (b. 1812)
1901 – Richard Copley Christie, English lawyer and academic (b. 1830)
1908 – Wilhelm Busch, German poet, illustrator, and painter (b. 1832)
1908 – Abraham Goldfaden, Russian actor, playwright, and author (b. 1840)
1911 – Edwin Arthur Jones, American violinist and composer (b. 1853)
1911 – Edvard Rusjan, Italian-Slovene pilot and engineer (b. 1886)
1917 – Luther D. Bradley, American cartoonist (b. 1853)
1918 – Charles-Émile Reynaud, French scientist and educator, invented the Praxinoscope (b. 1844)
1923 – Katherine Mansfield, New Zealand novelist, short story writer, and essayist (b. 1888)
1924 – Ponnambalam Arunachalam, Sri Lankan civil servant and politician (b. 1853)
1927 – Houston Stewart Chamberlain, English-German philosopher and author (b. 1855)
1930 – Edward Bok, Dutch-American journalist and author (b. 1863)
1931 – Wayne Munn, American football player and wrestler (b. 1896)
1936 – John Gilbert, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1899)
1939 – Johann Strauss III, Austrian violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1866)
1941 – Dimitrios Golemis, Greek runner (b. 1874)
1945 – Shigekazu Shimazaki, Japanese admiral and pilot (b. 1908)
1945 – Jüri Uluots, Estonian journalist and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Estonia (b. 1890)
1945 – Osman Cemal Kaygılı, Turkish journalist, author, and playwright (b. 1890)
1946 – Countee Cullen, American poet and playwright (b. 1903)
1947 – Karl Mannheim, Hungarian-English sociologist and academic (b. 1893)
1960 – Elsie J. Oxenham, English author and educator (b. 1880)
1961 – Emily Greene Balch, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867)
1964 – Halide Edib Adıvar, Turkish author and academic (b. 1884)
1971 – Elmer Flick, American baseball player and scout (b. 1876)
1972 – Ted Shawn, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1891)
1975 – Pierre Fresnay, French actor and screenwriter (b. 1897)
1975 – Pyotr Novikov, Russian mathematician and theorist (b. 1901)
1979 – Pier Luigi Nervi, Italian engineer and architect, designed the Tour de la Bourse and Pirelli Tower (b. 1891)
1981 – Kazimierz Serocki, Polish pianist and composer (b. 1922)
1984 – Bob Dyer, American-Australian radio and television host (b. 1909)
1985 – Robert Mayer, German-English businessman and philanthropist (b. 1879)
1987 – Arthur Lake, American actor (b. 1905)
1988 – Peter L. Rypdal, Norwegian fiddler and composer (b. 1909)
1989 – Bill Terry, American baseball player and manager (b. 1898)
1990 – Spud Chandler, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1907)
1990 – Cemal Süreya, Turkish poet and journalist (b. 1931)
1992 – Steve Brodie, American actor (b. 1919)
1992 – Bill Naughton, English playwright and screenwriter (b. 1910)
1993 – Paul Hasluck, Australian historian and politician, 17th Governor-General of Australia (b. 1905)
1994 – Johnny Temple, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1927)
1995 – Souphanouvong, Laotian politician, 1st President of Laos (b. 1909)
1995 – Peter Cook, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1937)
1996 – Walter M. Miller, Jr., American soldier and author (b. 1923)
1996 – Abdullah al-Qasemi, Saudi atheist, writer, and intellectual (b. 1907)
1997 – Edward Osóbka-Morawski, Polish politician, Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1909)
1997 – Jesse White, American actor (b. 1917)
1998 – Kenichi Fukui, Japanese chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
1998 – Imi Lichtenfeld, Slovakian-Israeli martial artist, founded Krav Maga (b. 1910)
2000 – Arnold Alexander Hall, English engineer and academic (b. 1915)
2000 – Nigel Tranter, Scottish historian and author (b. 1909)
2001 – Maurice Prather, American photographer and director (b. 1926)
2003 – Will McDonough, American journalist (b. 1935)
2004 – Norberto Bobbio, Italian philosopher and academic (b. 1909)
2006 – Andy Caldecott, Australian motorcycle racer (b. 1964)
2006 – W. Cleon Skousen, American author and academic (b. 1913)
2007 – Elmer Symons, South African motorcycle racer (b. 1977)
2007 – Jean-Pierre Vernant, French anthropologist and historian (b. 1914)
2008 – Johnny Grant, American radio host and producer (b. 1923)
2008 – John Harvey-Jones, English businessman and television host (b. 1924)
2009 – Rob Gauntlett, English mountaineer and explorer (b. 1987)
2009 – T. Llew Jones, Welsh author and poet (b. 1914)
2011 – Makinti Napanangka, Australian painter (b. 1930)
2012 – Brian Curvis, Welsh boxer (b. 1937)
2012 – Augusto Gansser-Biaggi, Swiss geologist and academic (b. 1910)
2012 – William G. Roll, German-American psychologist and parapsychologist (b. 1926)
2012 – Malam Bacai Sanhá, Guinea-Bissau politician, President of Guinea-Bissau (b. 1947)
2012 – László Szekeres, Hungarian physician and academic (b. 1921)
2013 – Brigitte Askonas, Austrian-English immunologist and academic (b. 1923)
2013 – James M. Buchanan, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1919)
2013 – Robert L. Rock, American businessman and politician, 42nd Lieutenant Governor of Indiana (b. 1927)
2013 – John Wise, Canadian farmer and politician, 23rd Canadian Minister of Agriculture (b. 1935)
2014 – Amiri Baraka, American poet, playwright, and academic (b. 1934)
2014 – Josep Maria Castellet, Spanish poet and critic (b. 1926)
2014 – Paul du Toit, South African painter and sculptor (b. 1965)
2014 – Dale T. Mortensen, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1939)
2015 – Michel Jeury, French author (b. 1934)
2015 – Robert V. Keeley, Lebanese-American soldier and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Greece (b. 1929)
2015 – Józef Oleksy, Polish economist and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1946)
2015 – Bud Paxson, American broadcaster and businessman, founded the Home Shopping Network and Pax TV (b. 1935)
2015 – Abdul Rahman Ya’kub, Malaysian politician, 3rd Chief Minister of Sarawak (b. 1928)
2015 – Roy Tarpley, American basketball player (b. 1964)
2016 – John Harvard, Canadian journalist and politician, 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba (b. 1938)
2016 – Angus Scrimm, American actor and author (b. 1926)
2017 – Zygmunt Bauman, Polish sociologist (b. 1925)
2018 – Kato Ottio, Papua New Guinean rugby league player (b. 1994)
2019 – Verna Bloom, American actress (b. 1938)
2019 – Paul Koslo, German-Canadian actor (b. 1944)

Holidays and observances on January 9

Christian feast day:
- Adrian of Canterbury
- Berhtwald
- Translation of the Black Nazarene (Manila, Philippines)
- Philip II, Metropolitan of Moscow
- Julia Chester Emery (Episcopal Church (USA))
- Stephen (old calendar Eastern Orthodox)
- January 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Start of Hōonkō (Nishi Honganji) January 9–16 (Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism)
Martyrs’ Day (Panama)
Non-Resident Indian Day (India)

January 9 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day