1327 – The teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer.
1411 – The First Peace of Thorn is signed in Thorn (Toruń), Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights (Prussia).
1662 – The Chinese general Koxinga seizes the island of Taiwan after a nine-month siege.
1713 – The Kalabalik or Skirmish at Bender results from the Ottoman sultan’s order that his unwelcome guest, King Charles XII of Sweden, be seized.
1793 – French Revolutionary Wars: France declares war on the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
1796 – The capital of Upper Canada is moved from Newark to York.
1814 – Mayon in the Philippines erupts, killing around 1,200 people, the most devastating eruption of the volcano.
1835 – Slavery is abolished in Mauritius.
1861 – American Civil War: Texas secedes from the United States.
1864 – Second Schleswig War: Prussian forces crossed the border into Schleswig, starting the war.
1865 – President Abraham Lincoln signs the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
1884 – The first volume (A to Ant) of the Oxford English Dictionary is published.
1893 – Thomas A. Edison finishes construction of the first motion picture studio, the Black Maria in West Orange, New Jersey.
1895 – Fountains Valley, Pretoria, the oldest nature reserve in Africa, is proclaimed by President Paul Kruger.
1896 – La bohème premieres in Turin at the Teatro Regio (Turin), conducted by the young Arturo Toscanini.
1897 – Shinhan Bank, the oldest bank in South Korea, opens in Seoul.
1908 – Lisbon Regicide: King Carlos I of Portugal and Infante Luis Filipe are shot dead in Lisbon.
1918 – Russia adopts the Gregorian calendar.
1924 – Russia–United Kingdom relations are restored, over six years after the Communist revolution.
1942 – World War II: Josef Terboven, Reichskommissar of German-occupied Norway, appoints Vidkun Quisling the Minister President of the National Government.
1942 – World War II: U.S. Navy conducts Marshalls–Gilberts raids, the first offensive action by the United States against Japanese forces in the Pacific Theater.
1942 – Voice of America, the official external radio and television service of the United States government, begins broadcasting with programs aimed at areas controlled by the Axis powers.
1942 – Mao Zedong makes a speech on “Reform in Learning, the Party and Literature”, which puts into motion the Yan’an Rectification Movement.
1946 – Trygve Lie of Norway is picked to be the first United Nations Secretary-General.
1946 – The Parliament of Hungary abolishes the monarchy after nine centuries, and proclaims the Hungarian Republic.
1960 – Four black students stage the first of the Greensboro sit-ins at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.
1964 – The Beatles have their first number one hit in the United States with “I Want to Hold Your Hand”.
1968 – Vietnam War: The execution of Viet Cong officer Nguyễn Văn Lém by South Vietnamese National Police Chief Nguyễn Ngọc Loan is recorded on motion picture film, as well as in an iconic still photograph taken by Eddie Adams.
1968 – Canada’s three military services, the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force, are unified into the Canadian Forces.
1968 – The New York Central Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad are merged to form Penn Central Transportation.
1972 – Kuala Lumpur becomes a city by a royal charter granted by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
1974 – A fire in the 25-story Joelma Building in São Paulo, Brazil kills 189 and injures 293.
1979 – Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran after nearly 15 years of exile.
1989 – The Western Australian towns of Kalgoorlie and Boulder amalgamate to form the City of Kalgoorlie–Boulder.
1991 – A runway collision between USAir Flight 1493 and SkyWest Flight 5569 at Los Angeles International Airport results in the deaths of 34 people, and injuries to 30 others.
1992 – The Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bhopal court declares Warren Anderson, ex-CEO of Union Carbide, a fugitive under Indian law for failing to appear in the Bhopal disaster case.
1996 – The Communications Decency Act is passed by the U.S. Congress.
1998 – Rear Admiral Lillian E. Fishburne becomes the first female African American to be promoted to rear admiral.
2002 – Daniel Pearl, American journalist and South Asia Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal, kidnapped January 23, 2002, is beheaded and mutilated by his captors.
2003 – Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during the reentry of mission STS-107 into the Earth’s atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.
2004 – Hajj pilgrimage stampede: In a stampede at the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, 251 people are trampled to death and 244 injured.
2005 – King Gyanendra of Nepal carries out a coup d’état to capture the democracy, becoming Chairman of the Councils of ministers.
2009 – The first cabinet of Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir was formed in Iceland, making her the country’s first female prime minister and the world’s first openly gay head of government.
2012 – Seventy-four people are killed and over 500 injured as a result of clashes between fans of Egyptian football teams Al Masry and Al Ahly in the city of Port Said.
2013 – The Shard, the sixth-tallest building in Europe, is opened to the public.
Births on February 1
1261 – Walter de Stapledon, English bishop and politician, Lord High Treasurer (d. 1326)
1435 – Amadeus IX, Duke of Savoy (d. 1472)
1447 – Eberhard II, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1504)
1459 – Conrad Celtes, German poet and scholar (d. 1508)
1462 – Johannes Trithemius, German lexicographer, historian, and cryptographer (d. 1516)
1552 – Edward Coke, English lawyer, judge, and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (d. 1634)
1561 – Henry Briggs, British mathematician (d. 1630)
1635 – Marquard Gude, German archaeologist and scholar (d. 1689)
1648 – Elkanah Settle, English poet and playwright (d. 1724)
1659 – Jacob Roggeveen, Dutch explorer (d. 1729)
1663 – Ignacia del Espíritu Santo, Filipino nun, founded the Religious of the Virgin Mary (d. 1748)
1666 – Marie Thérèse de Bourbon, Princess of Conti and titular queen of Poland (d.1732)
1687 – Johann Adam Birkenstock, German violinist and composer (d. 1733)
1690 – Francesco Maria Veracini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1768)
1701 – Johan Agrell, Swedish-German pianist and composer (d. 1765)
1761 – Christiaan Hendrik Persoon, South African-French mycologist and academic (d. 1836)
1763 – Thomas Campbell, Irish minister and theologian (d. 1854)
1796 – Abraham Emanuel Fröhlich, Swiss minister, poet, and educator (d. 1865)
1801 – Émile Littré, French lexicographer and philosopher (d. 1881)
1820 – George Hendric Houghton, American clergyman and theologian (d. 1897)
1836 – Emil Hartmann, Danish organist and composer (d. 1898)
1844 – G. Stanley Hall, American psychologist and academic (d. 1924)
1851 – Durham Stevens, American lawyer and diplomat (d. 1908)
1858 – Ignacio Bonillas, Mexican diplomat (d. 1942)
1859 – Victor Herbert, Irish-American cellist, composer, and conductor (d. 1924)
1866 – Agda Meyerson, Swedish nurse and healthcare activist (d. 1924)
1868 – Ștefan Luchian, Romanian painter and illustrator (d. 1917)
1870 – Erik Adolf von Willebrand, Finnish physician (d. 1949)
1872 – Clara Butt, English opera singer (d. 1936)
1872 – Jerome F. Donovan, American lawyer and politician (d. 1949)
1873 – John Barry, Irish soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1901)
1874 – Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Austrian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1929)
1878 – Alfréd Hajós, Hungarian swimmer and architect, designed the Grand Hotel Aranybika (d. 1955)
1878 – Milan Hodža, Slovak journalist and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia (d. 1944)
1881 – Tip Snooke, South African cricketer (d. 1966)
1882 – Louis St. Laurent, Canadian lawyer and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1973)
1884 – Bradbury Robinson, American football player and physician (d. 1949)
1884 – Yevgeny Zamyatin, Russian journalist and author (d. 1937)
1887 – Charles Nordhoff, English-American lieutenant, pilot, and author (d. 1947)
1890 – Nikolai Reek, Estonian general and politician, 11th Estonian Minister of War (d. 1942)
1894 – John Ford, American director and producer (d. 1973)
1894 – James P. Johnson, American pianist and composer (d. 1955)
1895 – Conn Smythe, Canadian businessman (d. 1980)
1897 – Denise Robins, English journalist and author (d. 1985)
1898 – Leila Denmark, American pediatrician and author (d. 2012)
1901 – Frank Buckles, American soldier (d. 2011)
1901 – Clark Gable, American actor (d. 1960)
1902 – Therese Brandl, German concentration camp guard (d. 1947)
1902 – Langston Hughes, American poet, social activist, novelist, and playwright (d. 1967)
1904 – S.J. Perelman, American humorist and screenwriter (d. 1979)
1905 – Emilio G. Segrè, Italian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1989)
1906 – Adetokunbo Ademola, Nigerian lawyer and jurist, 2nd Chief Justice of Nigeria (d. 1993)
1907 – Günter Eich, German author and songwriter (d. 1972)
1907 – Camargo Guarnieri, Brazilian pianist and composer (d. 1993)
1908 – George Pal, Hungarian-American animator and producer (d. 1980)
1908 – Louis Rasminsky, Canadian economist and banker (d. 1998)
1909 – George Beverly Shea, Canadian-American singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
1910 – Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme, Chinese general and politician (d. 2009)
1915 – Stanley Matthews, English footballer and manager (d. 2000)
1917 – José Luis Sampedro, Spanish economist and author (d. 2013)
1917 – Eiji Sawamura, Japanese baseball player and soldier (d. 1944)
1918 – Muriel Spark, Scottish playwright and poet (d. 2006)
1918 – Ignacy Tokarczuk, Polish archbishop (d. 2012)
1920 – Mike Scarry, American football player and coach (d. 2012)
1920 – Zao Wou-Ki, Chinese-French painter (d. 2013)
1921 – Teresa Mattei, Italian feminist partisan and politician (d. 2013)
1921 – Peter Sallis, English actor (d. 2017)
1921 – Patricia Robins, British writer and WAAF officer (d. 2016).
1922 – Renata Tebaldi, Italian soprano and actress (d. 2004)
1923 – Ben Weider, Canadian businessman, co-founded the International Federation of BodyBuilding & Fitness (d. 2008)
1924 – Richard Hooker, American novelist (d. 1997)
1924 – Emmanuel Scheffer, German-Israeli footballer, coach, and manager (d. 2012)
1927 – Galway Kinnell, American poet and academic (d. 2014)
1928 – Sam Edwards, Welsh physicist and academic (d. 2015)
1928 – Tom Lantos, Hungarian-American academic and politician (d. 2008)
1930 – Shahabuddin Ahmed, Bangladeshi judge and politician, 12th President of Bangladesh
1930 – Hussain Muhammad Ershad, Indian-Bangladeshi general and politician, 10th President of Bangladesh (d. 2019)
1931 – Boris Yeltsin, Russian politician, 1st President of Russia (d. 2007)
1932 – Hassan Al-Turabi, Sudanese activist and politician (d. 2016)
1934 – Nicolae Breban, Romanian author, poet, and playwright
1936 – Tuncel Kurtiz, Turkish actor, playwright, and director (d. 2013)
1936 – Azie Taylor Morton, American educator and politician, 36th Treasurer of the United States (d. 2003)
1937 – Don Everly, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1937 – Garrett Morris, American actor and comedian
1938 – Jimmy Carl Black, American drummer and singer (d. 2008)
1938 – Jacky Cupit, American golfer
1938 – Sherman Hemsley, American actor and singer (d. 2012)
1939 – Fritjof Capra, Austrian physicist, author, and academic
1939 – Claude François, Egyptian-French singer-songwriter and dancer (d. 1978)
1939 – Paul Gillmor, American lawyer and politician (d. 2007)
1939 – Ekaterina Maximova, Russian ballerina (d. 2009)
1939 – Joe Sample, American pianist and composer (d. 2014)
1941 – Jerry Spinelli, American author
1942 – Bibi Besch, Austrian-American actress (d. 1996)
1942 – Terry Jones, Welsh actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2020)
1942 – David Sincock, Australian cricketer
1944 – Petru Popescu, Romanian-American director, producer, and author
1944 – Burkhard Ziese, German footballer and manager (d. 2010)
1945 – Serge Joyal, Canadian lawyer and politician, 50th Secretary of State for Canada
1945 – Ferruccio Mazzola, Italian footballer and manager (d. 2013)
1945 – Mary Jane Reoch, American cyclist (d. 1993)
1946 – Elisabeth Sladen, English actress (d. 2011)
1946 – Karen Krantzcke, Australian tennis player (d. 1977)
1947 – Adam Ingram, Scottish computer programmer and politician, Minister of State for the Armed Forces
1947 – Normie Rowe, Australian singer-songwriter and actor
1947 – Jessica Savitch, American journalist (d. 1983)
1948 – Rick James, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2004)
1950 – Mike Campbell, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1950 – Ali Haydar Konca, Turkish politician, 4th Turkish Minister of European Union Affairs
1950 – Rich Williams, American guitarist and songwriter
1951 – Sonny Landreth, American guitarist and songwriter
1952 – Owoye Andrew Azazi, Nigerian general (d. 2012)
1954 – Chuck Dukowski, American singer-songwriter and bass player
1956 – Exene Cervenka, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1957 – Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, Saudi Arabian businessman (d. 2007)
1957 – Gilbert Hernandez, American author and illustrator
1958 – Luther Blissett, Jamaican-English footballer and manager
1958 – Eleanor Laing, Scottish lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
1961 – Volker Fried, German field hockey player and coach
1961 – Daniel M. Tani, American engineer and astronaut
1961 – Kaduvetti Guru, Indian politician (d. 2018)
1962 – José Luis Cuciuffo, Argentinian footballer (d. 2004)
1962 – Tomoyasu Hotei, Japanese singer-songwriter and guitarist
1962 – Takashi Murakami, Japanese painter and sculptor
1964 – Jani Lane, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2011)
1964 – Mario Pelchat, Canadian singer-songwriter
1964 – Linus Roache, English actor
1965 – Stéphanie of Monaco, designer, singer and princess
1965 – Brandon Lee, American actor and martial artist (d. 1993)
1965 – Sherilyn Fenn, American actress
1966 – Michelle Akers, American soccer player
1967 – Meg Cabot, American author and screenwriter
1968 – Lisa Marie Presley, American singer-songwriter and actress
1968 – Mark Recchi, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1969 – Gabriel Batistuta, Argentinian footballer
1969 – Andrew Breitbart, American journalist, author, and publisher (d. 2012)
1969 – Brian Krause, American actor and screenwriter
1969 – Franklyn Rose, Jamaican cricketer
1969 – Patrick Wilson, American drummer
1970 – Yasuyuki Kazama, Japanese racing driver
1970 – Malik Sealy, American basketball player and actor (d. 2000)
1971 – Harald Brattbakk, Norwegian footballer and pilot
1971 – Michael C. Hall, American actor and producer
1972 – Christian Ziege, German footballer
1973 – Andrew DeClercq, American basketball player and coach
1973 – Óscar Pérez Rojas, Mexican footballer
1974 – Walter McCarty, American basketball player and coach
1975 – Martijn Reuser, Dutch footballer
1976 – Phil Ivey, American poker player
1976 – Mat Rogers, Australian rugby player
1977 – Lari Ketner, American basketball player (d. 2014)
1977 – Robert Traylor, American basketball player (d. 2011)
1978 – Tim Harding, Australian singer and actor
1978 – K’naan, Somali-Canadian hip-hop artist
1979 – Valentín Elizalde, Mexican singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
1979 – Jason Isbell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1979 – Juan Silveira dos Santos, Brazilian footballer
1980 – Héctor Luna, Dominican baseball player
1980 – Moisés Muñoz, Mexican footballer
1980 – Otilino Tenorio, Ecuadorian footballer (d. 2005)
1981 – Hins Cheung, Hong Kong singer-songwriter
1981 – Christian Giménez, Argentinian footballer
1981 – Graeme Smith, South African cricketer
1982 – Gavin Henson, Welsh rugby player
1982 – Shoaib Malik, Pakistani cricketer
1983 – Heather DeLoach, American actress
1983 – Kevin Martin, American basketball player
1983 – Jurgen Van den Broeck, Belgian cyclist
1984 – Darren Fletcher, Scottish footballer
1985 – Dean Shiels, Irish footballer
1986 – Jorrit Bergsma, Dutch speed skater
1986 – Lauren Conrad, American fashion designer and author
314 – Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as a successor to the late Pope Miltiades.
1208 – The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on the throne as King Eric X of Sweden.
1504 – The Treaty of Lyon ends the Italian War, confirming French domination of northern Italy, while Spain receives the Kingdom of Naples.
1578 – Eighty Years’ War and Anglo-Spanish War: The Battle of Gembloux is a victory for Spanish forces led by Don John of Austria over a rebel army of Dutch, Flemish, English, Scottish, German, French and Walloons.
1606 – Gunpowder Plot: Four of the conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, are executed for treason by hanging, drawing and quartering, for plotting against Parliament and King James.
1747 – The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital.
1814 – Gervasio Antonio de Posadas becomes Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (present-day Argentina).
1846 – After the Milwaukee Bridge War, the United States towns of Juneautown and Kilbourntown unify to create the City of Milwaukee.
1848 – John C. Frémont is court-martialed for mutiny and disobeying orders.
1862 – Alvan Graham Clark discovers the white dwarf star Sirius B, a companion of Sirius, through an 18.5-inch (47 cm) telescope now located at Northwestern University.
1865 – American Civil War: The United States Congress passes the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, abolishing slavery and submits it to the states for ratification.
1865 – American Civil War: Confederate General Robert E. Lee becomes general-in-chief.
1891 – History of Portugal: The first attempt at a Portuguese republican revolution breaks out in the northern city of Porto.
1897 – Czechoslav Trade Union Association is founded in Prague.
1900 – Datu Muhammad Salleh is killed in Kampung Teboh, Tambunan, ending the Mat Salleh Rebellion.
1915 – World War I: Germany is the first to make large-scale use of poison gas in warfare in the Battle of Bolimów against Russia.
1917 – World War I: Germany announces that its U-boats will resume unrestricted submarine warfare after a two-year hiatus.
1918 – A series of accidental collisions on a misty Scottish night leads to the loss of two Royal Navy submarines with over a hundred lives, and damage to another five British warships.
1919 – The Battle of George Square takes place in Glasgow, Scotland, during a campaign for shorter working hours.
1928 – Leon Trotsky is exiled to Alma-Ata.
1930 – 3M begins marketing Scotch Tape.
1942 – World War II: Allied forces are defeated by the Japanese at the Battle of Malaya and retreat to Singapore.
1943 – World War II: German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus surrenders to the Soviets at Stalingrad, followed 2 days later by the remainder of his Sixth Army, ending one of the war’s fiercest battles.
1944 – World War II: American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.
1944 – World War II: During the Anzio campaign, the 1st Ranger Battalion (Darby’s Rangers) is destroyed behind enemy lines in a heavily outnumbered encounter at Battle of Cisterna, Italy.
1945 – US Army private Eddie Slovik is executed for desertion, the first such execution of an American soldier since the Civil War.
1945 – World War II: About 3,000 inmates from the Stutthof concentration camp are forcibly marched into the Baltic Sea at Palmnicken (now Yantarny, Russia) and executed.
1945 – World War II: The end of fighting in the Battle of Hill 170 during the Burma Campaign, in which the British 3 Commando Brigade repulsed a Japanese counterattack on their positions and precipitated a general retirement from the Arakan Peninsula.
1946 – Cold War: Yugoslavia’s new constitution, modeling that of the Soviet Union, establishes six constituent republics (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia).
1946 – The Democratic Republic of Vietnam introduces the đồng to replace the French Indochinese piastre at par.
1949 – These Are My Children, the first television daytime soap opera, is broadcast by the NBC station in Chicago.
1950 – Cold War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman announces a program to develop the hydrogen bomb.
1951 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 90 relating to Korean War is adopted.
1953 – A North Sea flood causes over 1,800 deaths in the Netherlands and over 300 in the United Kingdom.
1957 – Eight people (5 total crew from 2 aircraft and 3 on the ground) in Pacoima, California are killed following the mid-air collision between a Douglas DC-7 airliner and a Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighter jet.
1958 – Cold War: Space Race: The first successful American satellite detects the Van Allen radiation belt.
1961 – Project Mercury: Mercury-Redstone 2: Ham the Chimp travels into outer space.
1966 – The Soviet Union launches the unmanned Luna 9 spacecraft as part of the Luna program.
1968 – Vietnam War: Viet Cong guerrillas attack the United States embassy in Saigon, and other attacks, in the early morning hours, later grouped together as the Tet Offensive.
1968 – Nauru gains independence from Australia.
1971 – Apollo program: Apollo 14: Astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell, aboard a Saturn V, lift off for a mission to the Fra Mauro Highlands on the Moon.
1971 – The Winter Soldier Investigation, organized by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War to publicize war crimes and atrocities by Americans and allies in Vietnam, begins in Detroit.
1978 – The Crown of St. Stephen (also known as the Holy Crown of Hungary) goes on public display after being returned to Hungary from the United States, where it was held after World War II.
1996 – An explosives-filled truck rams into the gates of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in Colombo, killing at least 86 people and injuring 1,400.
2000 – Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crash: An MD-83, experiencing horizontal stabilizer problems, crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Point Mugu, California, killing all 88 aboard.
2001 – In the Netherlands, a Scottish court convicts Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and acquits another Libyan citizen for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.
2009 – In Kenya, at least 113 people are killed and over 200 injured following an oil spillage ignition in Molo, days after a massive fire at a Nakumatt supermarket in Nairobi killed at least 25 people.
2018 – Both a blue moon and a total lunar eclipse occur.
2019 – Abdullah of Pahang is sworn in as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
2020 – The United Kingdom’s membership within the European Union ceases in accordance with Article 50, after 47 years of being a member state.
Births on January 31
1512 – Henry, King of Portugal (d. 1580)
1543 – Tokugawa Ieyasu, Japanese shōgun (d. 1616)
1583 – Peter Bulkley, English and later American Puritan (d. 1659)
1597 – John Francis Regis, French priest and saint (d. 1640)
1607 – James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby (d. 1651)
1624 – Arnold Geulincx, Flemish philosopher and academic (d. 1669)
1673 – Louis de Montfort, French priest and saint (d. 1716)
1686 – Hans Egede, Norwegian missionary and explorer (d. 1758)
1752 – Gouverneur Morris, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to France (d. 1816)
1759 – François Devienne, French flute player and composer (d. 1803)
1769 – André-Jacques Garnerin, French balloonist and the inventor of the frameless parachute (d. 1823)
1785 – Magdalena Dobromila Rettigová, Czech cook book author (d. 1845)
1797 – Franz Schubert, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1828)
1799 – Rodolphe Töpffer, Swiss teacher, author, painter, cartoonist, and caricaturist (d. 1846)
1820 – William B. Washburn, American politician, 28th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1887)
1835 – Lunalilo of Hawaii (d. 1874)
1854 – David Emmanuel, Romanian mathematician and academic (d. 1941)
1865 – Henri Desgrange, French cyclist and journalist (d. 1940)
1865 – Shastriji Maharaj, Indian spiritual leader, founded BAPS (d. 1951)
1868 – Theodore William Richards, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928)
1872 – Zane Grey, American author (d. 1939)
1881 – Irving Langmuir, American chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
1884 – Theodor Heuss, German journalist and politician, 1st President of the Federal Republic of Germany (d. 1963)
1884 – Mammad Amin Rasulzade, Azerbaijani scholar and politician, 1st President of The Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan (d. 1955)
1889 – Frank Foster, English cricketer (d. 1958)
1892 – Eddie Cantor, American singer-songwriter, actor, and dancer (d. 1964)
1894 – Isham Jones, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1956)
1896 – Sofya Yanovskaya, Russian mathematician and historian (d. 1966)
1900 – Betty Parsons, American artist, art dealer and collector (d. 1982)
1902 – Nat Bailey, Canadian businessman, founded White Spot (d. 1978)
1902 – Tallulah Bankhead, American actress (d. 1968)
1902 – Alva Myrdal, Swedish sociologist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
1902 – Julian Steward, American anthropologist (d. 1972)
1905 – John O’Hara, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1970)
1909 – Miron Grindea, Romanian-English journalist (d. 1995)
1913 – Don Hutson, American football player and coach (d. 1997)
1914 – Jersey Joe Walcott, American boxer and police officer (d. 1994)
1915 – Bobby Hackett, American trumpet player and cornet player (d. 1976)
1915 – Alan Lomax, American historian, author, and scholar (d. 2002)
1915 – Thomas Merton, American monk and author (d. 1968)
1915 – Garry Moore, American comedian and game show host (d. 1993)
1916 – Frank Parker, American tennis player (d. 1997)
1917 – Fred Bassetti, American architect and academic, founded Bassetti Architects (d. 2013)
1919 – Jackie Robinson, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1972)
1920 – Stewart Udall, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 37th United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 2010)
1920 – Bert Williams, English footballer (d. 2004)
1921 – John Agar, American actor (d. 2002)
1921 – Carol Channing, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2019)
1921 – E. Fay Jones, American architect, designed the Thorncrown Chapel (d. 2004)
1921 – Mario Lanza, American tenor and actor (d. 1959)
1922 – Joanne Dru, American actress (d. 1996)
1923 – Norman Mailer, American journalist and author (d. 2007)
1925 – Benjamin Hooks, American minister, lawyer, and activist (d. 2010)
1926 – Tom Alston, American baseball player (d. 1993)
1926 – Chuck Willis, American singer-songwriter (d. 1958)
1927 – Norm Prescott, American animator, producer, and composer, co-founded Filmation Studios (d. 2005)
1928 – Irma Wyman, American computer scientist and engineer (d. 2015)
1929 – Rudolf Mössbauer, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2011)
1929 – Jean Simmons, English-American actress (d. 2010)
1930 – Joakim Bonnier, Swedish race car driver (d. 1972)
1930 – Al De Lory, American composer, conductor, and producer (d. 2012)
1931 – Ernie Banks, American baseball player and coach (d. 2015)
1931 – Christopher Chataway, English runner, journalist, and politician (d. 2014)
1932 – Miron Babiak, Polish sea captain (d. 2013)
1933 – Camille Henry, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1997)
1933 – Morton Mower, American cardiologist and inventor
1934 – Ernesto Brambilla, Italian motorcycle racer and race car driver
1934 – Gene DeWeese, American author (d. 2012)
1934 – James Franciscus, American actor and producer (d. 1991)
1934 – Bob Turner, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2005)
1935 – Kenzaburō Ōe, Japanese author and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1936 – Can Bartu, Turkish former basketball and football player
1937 – Regimantas Adomaitis, Lithuanian actor
1937 – Andrée Boucher, Canadian educator and politician, 39th Mayor of Quebec City (d. 2007)
1937 – Philip Glass, American composer
1937 – Suzanne Pleshette, American actress (d. 2008)
1938 – Beatrix of the Netherlands
1938 – Lynn Carlin, American actress
1938 – James G. Watt, American lawyer and politician, 43rd United States Secretary of the Interior
1940 – Kitch Christie, South African rugby player and coach (d. 1998)
1940 – Stuart Margolin, American actor and director
1941 – Dick Gephardt, American lawyer and politician
1941 – Gerald McDermott, American author and illustrator (d. 2012)
1941 – Jessica Walter, American actress
1942 – Daniela Bianchi, Italian actress
1942 – Derek Jarman, English director, stage designer, and author (d. 1994)
1944 – John Inverarity, Australian cricketer and coach
1945 – Rynn Berry, American historian and author (d. 2014)
1945 – Brenda Hale, Baroness Hale of Richmond, English lawyer, judge, and academic
1945 – Joseph Kosuth, American sculptor and theorist
1946 – Terry Kath, American guitarist and singer-songwriter (Chicago) (d. 1978)
1946 – Medin Zhega, Albanian footballer and manager (d. 2012)
1947 – Nolan Ryan, American baseball player
1947 – Matt Minglewood, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1947 – Glynn Turman, American actor
1948 – Volkmar Groß, German footballer (d. 2014)
1948 – Muneo Suzuki, Japanese politician
1949 – Johan Derksen, Dutch footballer and journalist
1949 – Norris Church Mailer, American model and educator (d. 2010)
1949 – Ken Wilber, American sociologist, philosopher, and author
1950 – Denise Fleming, American author and illustrator
1950 – Alexander Korzhakov, Russian general and bodyguard
1950 – Janice Rebibo, American-Israeli author and poet (d. 2015)
1951 – Harry Wayne Casey, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
1954 – Faoud Bacchus, Guyanese cricketer
1954 – Adrian Vandenberg, Dutch guitarist and songwriter
1955 – Virginia Ruzici, Romanian tennis player and manager
1956 – Guido van Rossum, Dutch programmer, creator of the Python programming language
1956 – John Lydon, English singer-songwriter
1957 – Shirley Babashoff, American swimmer
1958 – Armin Reichel, German footballer and manager
1959 – Anthony LaPaglia, Australian actor and producer
1959 – Kelly Lynch, American model and actress
1960 – Akbar Ganji, Iranian journalist and author
1960 – Grant Morrison, Scottish author and screenwriter
1960 – Željko Šturanović, Montenegrin politician, 31st Prime Minister of Montenegro (d. 2014)
1961 – Elizabeth Barker, Baroness Barker, English politician
1961 – Fatou Bensouda, Gambian lawyer and judge
1961 – Lloyd Cole, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1963 – Craig Coleman, Australian rugby league player and coach
1963 – Gwen Graham, American lawyer and politician
1964 – Martha MacCallum, American journalist
1964 – Dawn Prince-Hughes, American scientist
1965 – Giorgos Gasparis, Greek basketball player and coach
1965 – Ofra Harnoy, Israeli-Canadian cellist
1965 – Peter Sagal, American author and radio host
1966 – Umar Alisha, Indian journalist and philanthropist
1966 – Thant Myint-U, Myanmar historian, diplomat, conservationist, and former presidential advisor.
1966 – Dexter Fletcher, English actor and director
1967 – Fat Mike, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
1968 – John Collins, Scottish footballer, midfielder and manager
1968 – Matt King, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
1968 – Ulrica Messing, Swedish politician, 2nd Swedish Minister for Infrastructure
1968 – Patrick Stevens, Belgian sprinter
1969 – Dov Charney, Canadian-American fashion designer and businessman, founded American Apparel
1969 – Daniel Moder, American cinematographer
1970 – Minnie Driver, English singer-songwriter and actress
1970 – Danny Michel, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer
1971 – Patricia Velásquez, Venezuelan model and actress
1973 – Portia de Rossi, Australian-American actress
1974 – Othella Harrington, American basketball player and coach
1974 – Ariel Pestano, Cuban baseball player
1975 – Fred Coleman, American football player and coach
1975 – Preity Zinta, Indian actress, producer, and television host
1976 – Traianos Dellas, Greek footballer and manager
1976 – Buddy Rice, American race car driver
1976 – Paul Scheer, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
1977 – Suchitra Singh, Indian cricketer
1977 – Kerry Washington, American actress
1978 – Fabián Caballero, Argentinian footballer and manager
1979 – Daniel Tammet, English author and educator
1980 – James Adomian, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter
1980 – Gary Doherty, Irish footballer, centre forward
1980 – Shim Yi-young, South Korean actress
1981 – Julio Arca, Argentinian footballer
1981 – Mark Cameron, Australian cricketer
1981 – Justin Timberlake, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor
1982 – Maret Ani, Estonian tennis player
1982 – Yuniesky Betancourt, Cuban baseball player
1982 – Andreas Görlitz, German footballer
1982 – Salvatore Masiello, Italian footballer
1982 – Allan McGregor, Scottish footballer
1982 – Jānis Sprukts, Latvian ice hockey player
1982 – Yukimi Nagano, Swedish singer-songwriter
1982 – Brad Thompson, American baseball player
1983 – James Sutton, English actor
1983 – Fabio Quagliarella, Italian footballer
1984 – Vernon Davis, American football player
1984 – Josh Johnson, Canadian-American baseball player
1984 – Jeremy Wariner, American runner
1984 – Alessandro Zanni, Italian rugby player
1985 – Adam Federici, Australian footballer
1985 – Mario Williams, American football player
1986 – Walter Dix, American sprinter
1986 – Megan Ellison, American film producer, founded Annapurna Pictures
1986 – George Elokobi, Cameroonian footballer
1986 – Yves Ma-Kalambay, Belgian footballer
1986 – Pauline Parmentier, French tennis player
1987 – Marcus Mumford, American-English singer-songwriter
1988 – Brett Pitman, English footballer
1988 – Taijo Teniste, Estonian footballer
1990 – Jacopo Fortunato, Italian footballer
1990 – Jacob Markström, Swedish ice hockey player
1990 – Kota Yabu, Japanese idol, singer-songwriter, model, actor
Deaths on January 31
632 – Máedóc of Ferns, Irish bishop and saint (b. 550)
876 – Hemma of Altdorf, Frankish queen
985 – Ryōgen, Japanese monk and abbot (b. 912)
1030 – William V, duke of Aquitaine (b. 969)
1216 – Theodore II, patriarch of Constantinople
1398 – Sukō, emperor of Japan (b. 1334)
1418 – Mircea I, prince of Wallachia (b. 1355)
1435 – Xuande, emperor of China (b. 1398)
1561 – Bairam Khan, Mughalan general (b. 1501)
1561 – Menno Simons, Dutch minister and theologian (b. 1496)
1580 – Henry, king of Portugal (b. 1512)
1606 – Guy Fawkes, English conspirator, leader of the Gunpowder Plot (b. 1570)
1606 – Ambrose Rookwood, English Gunpowder Plot conspirator (b. 1578)
1606 – Thomas Wintour, English Gunpowder Plot conspirator (b. 1571)
1615 – Claudio Acquaviva, Italian priest, 5th Superior General of the Society of Jesus (b. 1543)
1632 – Jost Bürgi, Swiss clockmaker and mathematician (b. 1552)
1665 – Johannes Clauberg, German philosopher and theologian (b. 1622)
1686 – Jean Mairet, French playwright (b. 1604)
1720 – Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford, English politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1654)
1729 – Jacob Roggeveen, Dutch explorer (b. 1659)
1736 – Filippo Juvarra, Italian architect and set designer, designed the Basilica of Superga (b. 1678)
1790 – Thomas Lewis, Irish-born American lawyer and surveyor (b. 1718)
1794 – Mariot Arbuthnot, English admiral and politician, 12th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia (b. 1711)
1811 – Manuel Alberti, Argentinian priest and journalist (b. 1763)
1815 – José Félix Ribas, Venezuelan soldier (b. 1775)
1828 – Alexander Ypsilantis, Greek general (b. 1792)
1836 – John Cheyne, English physician and author (b. 1777)
1844 – Henri Gatien Bertrand, French general (b. 1773)
1856 – 11th Dalai Lama (b. 1838)
1870 – Cilibi Moise, Moldavian-Romanian journalist and author (b. 1812)
1888 – John Bosco, Italian priest and educator, founded the Salesian Society (b. 1815)
1892 – Charles Spurgeon, English pastor and author (b. 1834)
1900 – John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry, Scottish nobleman (b. 1844)
1907 – Timothy Eaton, Canadian businessman, founded Eaton’s (b. 1834)
1923 – Eligiusz Niewiadomski, Polish painter and critic (b. 1869)
1933 – John Galsworthy, English novelist and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867)
1942 – Henry Larkin, American baseball player and manager (b. 1860)
1944 – Jean Giraudoux, French author and playwright (b. 1882)
1954 – Edwin Howard Armstrong, American engineer, invented FM radio (b. 1890)
1954 – Vivian Woodward, English captain and footballer (b. 1879)
1955 – John Mott, American activist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
1956 – A. A. Milne, English author, poet, and playwright, created Winnie-the-Pooh (b. 1882)
1958 – Karl Selter, Estonian politician, 14th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1898)
1960 – Auguste Herbin, French painter (b. 1882)
1961 – Krishna Singh, Indian politician, 1st Chief Minister of Bihar (b. 1887)
1966 – Arthur Percival, English general (b. 1887)
1967 – Eddie Tolan, American sprinter and educator (b. 1908)
1969 – Meher Baba, Indian spiritual master (b. 1894)
1971 – Viktor Zhirmunsky, Russian historian and linguist (b. 1891)
1973 – Ragnar Frisch, Norwegian economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1895)
1974 – Samuel Goldwyn, Polish-American film producer, co-founded Goldwyn Pictures (b. 1882)
1976 – Ernesto Miranda, American criminal (b. 1941)
1976 – Evert Taube, Swedish author and composer (b. 1890)
1985 – Reginald Baker, English-Australian film producer (b. 1896)
1985 – Tatsuzō Ishikawa, Japanese author (b. 1905)
1987 – Yves Allégret, French director and screenwriter (b. 1907)
1989 – William Stephenson, Canadian captain and spy (b. 1896)
1990 – Eveline Du Bois-Reymond Marcus, German zoologist and academic (b. 1901)
1990 – Rashad Khalifa, Egyptian-American biochemist and academic (b. 1935)
1995 – George Abbott, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1887)
1997 – John Joseph Scanlan, Irish-American bishop (b. 1930)
1999 – Giant Baba, Japanese wrestler and trainer, co-founded All Japan Pro Wrestling (b. 1938)
1999 – Norm Zauchin, American baseball player (b. 1929)
2000 – Gil Kane, Latvian-American author and illustrator (b. 1926)
2001 – Gordon R. Dickson, Canadian-American author (b. 1923)
2002 – Gabby Gabreski, American colonel and pilot (b. 1919)
2004 – Eleanor Holm, American swimmer and actress (b. 1913)
2004 – Suraiya, Indian actress and playback singer (b. 1929)
2006 – Moira Shearer, Scottish actress and ballerina (b. 1926)
2007 – Molly Ivins, American journalist and author (b. 1944)
2007 – Adelaide Tambo, South African activist and politician (b. 1929)
2008 – František Čapek, Czechoslovakian canoeist (b. 1914)
2011 – Bartolomeu Anania, Romanian bishop and poet (b. 1921)
2011 – Mark Ryan, English guitarist and playwright (b. 1959)
2012 – Mani Ram Bagri, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1920)
2012 – Anthony Bevilacqua, American cardinal (b. 1923)
2012 – Tristram Potter Coffin, American author, scholar, and academic (b. 1922)
2012 – Dorothea Tanning, American painter and sculptor (b. 1910)
1018 – Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen.
1287 – King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom.
1607 – An estimated 200 square miles (51,800 ha) along the coasts of the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary in England are destroyed by massive flooding, resulting in an estimated 2,000 deaths.
1648 – Eighty Years’ War: The Treaty of Münster and Osnabrück is signed, ending the conflict between the Netherlands and Spain.
1661 – Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, is ritually executed more than two years after his death, on the 12th anniversary of the execution of the monarch he himself deposed.
1703 – The Forty-seven rōnin, under the command of Ōishi Kuranosuke, avenge the death of their master, by killing Kira Yoshinaka.
1789 – Tây Sơn forces emerge victorious against Qing armies and liberate the capital Thăng Long.
1806 – The original Lower Trenton Bridge (also called the Trenton Makes the World Takes Bridge), which spans the Delaware River between Morrisville, Pennsylvania and Trenton, New Jersey, is opened.
1820 – Edward Bransfield sights the Trinity Peninsula and claims the discovery of Antarctica.
1826 – The Menai Suspension Bridge, considered the world’s first modern suspension bridge, connecting the Isle of Anglesey to the north West coast of Wales, is opened.
1835 – In the first assassination attempt against a President of the United States, Richard Lawrence attempts to shoot president Andrew Jackson, but fails and is subdued by a crowd, including several congressmen as well as Jackson himself.
1847 – Yerba Buena, California is renamed San Francisco, California.
1858 – The first Hallé concert is given in Manchester, England, marking the official founding of The Hallé orchestra as a full-time, professional orchestra.
1862 – The first American ironclad warship, the USS Monitor is launched.
1889 – Archduke Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian crown, is found dead with his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera in the Mayerling.
1902 – The first Anglo-Japanese Alliance is signed in London.
1908 – Indian pacifist and leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is released from prison by Jan C. Smuts after being tried and sentenced to two months in jail earlier in the month.
1911 – The destroyer USS Terry makes the first airplane rescue at sea saving the life of Douglas McCurdy ten miles from Havana, Cuba.
1925 – The Government of Turkey expels Patriarch Constantine VI from Istanbul.
1930 – The Politburo of the Soviet Union orders the extermination of the Kulaks.
1933 – Adolf Hitler is sworn in as Chancellor of Germany.
1942 – World War II: Battle of Ambon. Japanese forces invade the island of Ambon in the Dutch East Indies. Some 300 captured Allied troops are massacred at Laha airfield. Three-fourths of remaining POWs will not have survived by the end of the war, including 250 men who will be shipped to Hainan Island in South China Sea and never returned.
1944 – World War II: The Battle of Cisterna, part of Operation Shingle, begins in central Italy.
1945 – World War II: The Wilhelm Gustloff, overfilled with German refugees, sinks in the Baltic Sea after being torpedoed by a Soviet submarine, killing approximately 9,500 people.
1945 – World War II: Raid at Cabanatuan: One hundred twenty-six American Rangers and Filipino resistance fighters liberate over 500 Allied prisoners from the Japanese-controlled Cabanatuan POW camp.
1948 – British South American Airways’ Tudor IV Star Tiger disappears over the Bermuda Triangle.
1956 – African-American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.’s home is bombed in retaliation for the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
1959 – The forces of the Sultanate of Muscat occupy the last strongholds of the Imamate of Oman, Saiq and Shuraijah, marking the end of Jebel Akhdar War in Oman.
1959 – MS Hans Hedtoft, said to be the safest ship afloat and “unsinkable” like the RMS Titanic, strikes an iceberg on her maiden voyage and sinks, killing all 95 aboard.
1960 – The African National Party is founded in Chad, through the merger of traditionalist parties.
1964 – In a bloodless coup, General Nguyễn Khánh overthrows General Dương Văn Minh’s military junta in South Vietnam.
1968 – Vietnam War: Tet Offensive launch by forces of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army against South Vietnam, the United States, and their allies.
1969 – The Beatles’ last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records in London. The impromptu concert is broken up by the police.
1972 – The Troubles: Bloody Sunday: British paratroopers open fire on anti-internment marchers in Derry, Northern Ireland, killing 13 people; another person later dies of injuries sustained.
1972 – Pakistan leaves the Commonwealth of Nations in protest of its recognition of breakaway Bangladesh.
1975 – The Monitor National Marine Sanctuary is established as the first United States National Marine Sanctuary.
1979 – A Varig Boeing 707-323C freighter, flown by the same commander as Flight 820, disappears over the Pacific Ocean 30 minutes after taking off from Tokyo.
1982 – Richard Skrenta writes the first PC virus code, which is 400 lines long and disguised as an Apple boot program called “Elk Cloner”.
1989 – The American embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan is closed.
1995 – Workers from the National Institutes of Health announce the success of clinical trials testing the first preventive treatment for sickle-cell disease.
2000 – Kenya Airways Flight 431 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ivory Coast, killing 169.
2013 – Naro-1 becomes the first carrier rocket launched by South Korea.
Births on January 30
58 BC – Livia, Roman wife of Augustus (d. 29)
133 – Didius Julianus, Roman emperor (probable; d. 193)
1410 – William Calthorpe, English knight (d. 1494)
1520 – William More, English courtier (d. 1600)
1563 – Franciscus Gomarus, Dutch theologian and academic (d. 1641)
1573 – Georg Friedrich, Margrave of Baden-Durlach (d. 1638)
1580 – Gundakar, Prince of Liechtenstein, court official in Vienna (d. 1658)
1590 – Lady Anne Clifford, 14th Baroness de Clifford (d. 1676)
1628 – George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, English statesman (d. 1687)
1661 – Charles Rollin, French historian and educator (d. 1741)
1697 – Johann Joachim Quantz, German flute player and composer (d. 1773)
1703 – François Bigot, French politician (d. 1778)
1720 – Charles De Geer, Swedish entomologist and archaeologist (d. 1778)
1754 – John Lansing, Jr., American lawyer and politician (d. 1829)
1775 – Walter Savage Landor, English poet and author (d. 1864)
1781 – Adelbert von Chamisso, German botanist and poet (d. 1838)
1816 – Nathaniel P. Banks, American general and politician, 24th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1894)
1822 – Franz Ritter von Hauer, Austrian geologist and curator (d. 1899)
1841 – Félix Faure, French politician, 7th President of France (d. 1899)
1844 – Richard Theodore Greener, American lawyer, academic, and diplomat (d. 1922)
1846 – Angela of the Cross, Spanish nun and saint (d. 1932)
1859 – Tony Mullane, Irish-American baseball player and manager (d. 1944)
1861 – Charles Martin Loeffler, German-American violinist and composer (d. 1935)
1862 – Walter Damrosch, German-American conductor and composer (d. 1950)
1866 – Gelett Burgess, American author, poet, and critic (d. 1951)
1878 – Anton Hansen Tammsaare, Estonian author (d. 1940)
1882 – Franklin D. Roosevelt, American lawyer and politician, 32nd President of the United States (d. 1945)
1889 – Jaishankar Prasad, Indian poet and playwright (d. 1937)
1899 – Max Theiler, South African-American virologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1972)
1900 – Martita Hunt, Argentine-born British actress (d. 1969)
1901 – Rudolf Caracciola, German race car driver (d. 1959)
1902 – Nikolaus Pevsner, German-English historian and scholar (d. 1983)
1910 – Chidambaram Subramaniam, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of Defence (d. 2000)
1911 – Roy Eldridge, American jazz trumpet player (d. 1989)
1912 – Werner Hartmann, German physicist and academic (d. 1988)
1912 – Francis Schaeffer, American pastor and theologian (d. 1984)
1912 – Barbara W. Tuchman, American historian and author (d. 1989)
1914 – Luc-Marie Bayle, French commander and painter (d. 2000)
1914 – John Ireland, Canadian-American actor and director (d. 1992)
1914 – David Wayne, American actor (d. 1995)
1915 – Joachim Peiper, German SS officer (d. 1976)
1915 – John Profumo, English soldier and politician, Secretary of State for War (d. 2006)
1917 – Paul Frère, Belgian race car driver and journalist (d. 2008)
1918 – David Opatoshu, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1996)
1919 – Fred Korematsu, American activist (d. 2005)
1920 – Michael Anderson, English director and producer (d. 2018)
1920 – Patrick Heron, British painter (d. 1999)
1920 – Delbert Mann, American director and producer (d. 2007)
1922 – Dick Martin, American comedian, actor, and director (d. 2008)
1923 – Marianne Ferber, Czech-American economist and author (d. 2013)
1924 – S. N. Goenka, Burmese-Indian author and educator (d. 2013)
1924 – Lloyd Alexander, American soldier and author (d. 2007)
1925 – Douglas Engelbart, American computer scientist, invented the computer mouse (d. 2013)
1927 – Olof Palme, Swedish statesman, 26th Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1986)
1928 – Harold Prince, American director and producer (d. 2019)
1929 – Lois Hole, Canadian businesswoman and politician, 15th Lieutenant Governor of Alberta (d. 2005)
1929 – Hugh Tayfield, South African cricketer (d. 1994)
1929 – Lucille Teasdale-Corti, Canadian-Italian physician and humanitarian (d. 1996)
1930 – Gene Hackman, American actor and author
1930 – Magnus Malan, South African general and politician, South African Minister of Defence (d. 2011)
1931 – John Crosbie, Canadian lawyer and politician, 34th Canadian Minister of Justice (d. 2020)
1931 – Shirley Hazzard, Australian-American novelist, short story writer, and essayist (d. 2016)
1932 – Knock Yokoyama, Japanese comedian and politician (d. 2007)
1934 – Tammy Grimes, American actress and singer (d. 2016)
1935 – Richard Brautigan, American novelist, poet, and short story writer (d. 1984)
1935 – Tubby Hayes, English saxophonist and composer (d. 1973)
1936 – Horst Jankowski, German pianist and composer (d. 1998)
1937 – Vanessa Redgrave, English actress
1937 – Boris Spassky, Russian chess player and theoretician
1938 – Islam Karimov, Uzbek politician, 1st President of Uzbekistan (d. 2016)
1941 – Gregory Benford, American astrophysicist and author
1941 – Dick Cheney, American businessman and politician, 46th Vice President of the United States, 17th US Secretary of Defense
1941 – Tineke Lagerberg, Dutch swimmer
1942 – Marty Balin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2018)
1943 – Davey Johnson, American baseball player and manager
1944 – Lynn Harrell, American cellist and academic
1944 – Colin Rimer, English lawyer and judge
1945 – Meir Dagan, Israeli military officer and intelligence official, Director of Mossad (2002–11) (d. 2016)
1945 – Michael Dorris, American author and scholar (d. 1997)
1946 – John Bird, Baron Bird, English publisher, founded The Big Issue
1947 – Les Barker, English poet and author
1947 – Steve Marriott, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1991)
1948 – Nick Broomfield, English director and producer
1948 – Miles Reid, English mathematician and academic
1949 – Peter Agre, American physician and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate
1950 – Jack Newton, Australian golfer
1951 – Phil Collins, English drummer, singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
1951 – Charles S. Dutton, American actor and director
1951 – Bobby Stokes, English footballer (d. 1995)
1952 – Doug Falconer, Canadian football player and producer
1953 – Fred Hembeck, American author and illustrator
1955 – John Baldacci, American politician, 73rd Governor of Maine
1955 – Tom Izzo, American basketball player and coach
1955 – Curtis Strange, American golfer and sportscaster
1957 – Payne Stewart, American golfer (d. 1999)
1958 – Derek White, Scottish rugby player
1959 – Cynthia Carter, Welsh journalist, author, and academic
1959 – Steve Folkes, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 2018)
1959 – Jody Watley, American entertainer
1962 – Abdullah II of Jordan
1964 – Otis Smith, American basketball player, coach, and manager
1965 – Kevin Moore, Australian rugby league player and coach
1966 – Danielle Goyette, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1968 – Felipe VI of Spain
1969 – Justin Skinner, English footballer, midfielder and manager
1971 – Kimo von Oelhoffen, American football player
1972 – Jill McGill, American golfer
1972 – Chris Simon, Canadian ice hockey player
1973 – Jalen Rose, American basketball player and sportscaster
1974 – Christian Bale, Welsh actor
1974 – Olivia Colman, English actress
1975 – Juninho Pernambucano, Brazilian footballer
1975 – Yumi Yoshimura, Japanese musician and singer
1976 – Andy Milonakis, American entertainer
1977 – Dan Hinote, American ice hockey player and coach
1978 – Carmen Küng, Swiss curler
1978 – John Patterson, American baseball player
1979 – Trevor Gillies, Canadian ice hockey player
1980 – João Soares de Almeida Neto, Brazilian footballer
1980 – Georgios Vakouftsis, Greek footballer
1980 – Wilmer Valderrama, American actor and producer
1981 – Jonathan Bender, American basketball player
1981 – Dimitar Berbatov, Bulgarian footballer
1981 – Afonso Alves, Brazilian footballer
1981 – Peter Crouch, English footballer
1981 – Mathias Lauda, Austrian race car driver
1982 – Jorge Cantú, Mexican baseball player
1984 – Kotoshōgiku Kazuhiro, Japanese sumo wrestler
1984 – Arthur Chu, Asian-American columnist and former Jeopardy! contestant
1984 – Kid Cudi, American entertainer
1985 – Gisela Dulko, Argentinian tennis player
1985 – Torrey Mitchell, Canadian ice hockey player
1985 – Trae Williams, American football player
1986 – Nick Evans, American baseball player
1987 – Ben Cutting, Australian cricketer
1987 – Lance Franklin, Australian footballer
1987 – Phil Lester, English Internet celebrity
1987 – Becky Lynch, Irish wrestler
1987 – Renato Santos, Brazilian footballer
1987 – Arda Turan, Turkish footballer
1988 – Rob Pinkston, American actor and director
1989 – Tomás Mejías, Spanish footballer
1989 – Girish Kumar, Indian film actor
1990 – Yoon Bo-ra, South Korean singer
1990 – Joe Colborne, Canadian ice hockey player
1990 – Andrew McCullough, Australian rugby league player
1990 – Nils Miatke, German footballer
1990 – Luca Sbisa, Swiss ice hockey player
1990 – Mitchell Starc, Australian cricketer
1990 – Phillip Supernaw, American football player
1991 – Stefan Elliott, Canadian ice hockey player
1993 – Katy Marchant, English track cyclist
1995 – Jack Laugher, English diver
1995 – Víctor Sánchez, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 2015)
Deaths on January 30
680 – Balthild, Frankish queen (b. 626)
970 – Peter I of Bulgaria
1030 – William V, Duke of Aquitaine (b. 969)
1181 – Emperor Takakura of Japan (b. 1161)
1240 – Pelagio Galvani, Leonese lawyer and cardinal (b. 1165)
1314 – Nicholas III of Saint Omer
1344 – William Montacute, 1st Earl of Salisbury (b. 1301)
1384 – Louis II, Count of Flanders (b. 1330)
1497 – Lê Thánh Tông, King of Vietnam (b. 1442)
1574 – Damião de Góis, Portuguese historian and philosopher (b. 1502)
1606 – Everard Digby, English criminal (b. 1578)
1606 – John Grant, English conspirator (b. 1570)
1606 – Robert Wintour, English conspirator (b. 1565)
1649 – Charles I of England (b. 1600)
1664 – Cornelis de Graeff, Dutch mayor (b. 1599)
1730 – Peter II of Russia (b. 1715)
1770 – Giovanni Pietro Francesco Agius de Soldanis, Maltese linguist, historian and cleric (b. 1712)
1836 – Betsy Ross, American seamstress, said to have designed the American Flag (b. 1752)
1838 – Osceola, American tribal leader (b. 1804)
1858 – Coenraad Jacob Temminck, Dutch zoologist and ornithologist (b. 1778)
1867 – Emperor Kōmei of Japan (b. 1831)
1869 – William Carleton, Irish author (b. 1794)
1881 – Arthur O’Shaughnessy, English poet and herpetologist (b. 1844)
1889 – Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, heir apparent to the throne of Austria-Hungary (b. 1858)
1926 – Barbara La Marr, American actress (b. 1896)
1928 – Johannes Fibiger, Danish physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867)
1929 – La Goulue, French model and dancer (b. 1866)
1934 – Frank Nelson Doubleday, American publisher, founded the Doubleday Publishing Company (b. 1862)
1947 – Frederick Blackman, English botanist and physiologist (b. 1866)
1948 – Arthur Coningham, Australian air marshal (b. 1895)
1948 – Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian independence movement against British rule (b. 1869)
1948 – Orville Wright, American pilot and engineer, co-founded the Wright Company (b. 1871)
1951 – Ferdinand Porsche, Austrian-German engineer and businessman, founded Porsche (b. 1875)
1958 – Jean Crotti, Swiss painter (b. 1878)
1958 – Ernst Heinkel, German engineer and businessman; founded the Heinkel Aircraft Company (b. 1888)
1962 – Manuel de Abreu, Brazilian physician and engineer (b. 1894)
1963 – Francis Poulenc, French pianist and composer (b. 1899)
1966 – Jaan Hargel, Estonian flute player, conductor, and educator (b. 1912)
1968 – Makhanlal Chaturvedi, Indian poet, playwright, and journalist (b. 1889)
1969 – Dominique Pire, Belgian friar, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
1973 – Elizabeth Baker, American economist and academic (b. 1885)
1974 – Olav Roots, Estonian pianist and composer (b. 1910)
1977 – Paul Marais de Beauchamp, French zoologist (b. 1883)
1980 – Professor Longhair, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1918)
1982 – Lightnin’ Hopkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1912)
1991 – John Bardeen, American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908)
1991 – Clifton C. Edom, American photographer and educator (b. 1907)
1994 – Pierre Boulle, French soldier and author (b. 1912)
1999 – Huntz Hall, American actor (b. 1919)
1999 – Ed Herlihy, American journalist (b. 1909)
2001 – Jean-Pierre Aumont, French soldier and actor (b. 1911)
2001 – Johnnie Johnson, English air marshal and pilot (b. 1915)
2001 – Joseph Ransohoff, American surgeon and educator (b. 1915)
661 – The Rashidun Caliphate is effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last caliph.
945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to become monks by Constantine VII, who becomes the sole emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
1500 – Vicente Yáñez Pinzón becomes the first European to set foot on Brazil.
1531 – The 6.4–7.1 Mw Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people.
1564 – The Council of Trent establishes an official distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.
1564 – The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Tsardom of Russia in the Battle of Ula during the Livonian War.
1565 – Battle of Talikota, fought between the Vijayanagara Empire and the Deccan sultanates, leads to the subjugation, and eventual destruction of the last Hindu kingdom in India, and the consolidation of Islamic rule over much of the Indian subcontinent.
1699 – For the first time, the Ottoman Empire permanently cedes territory to the Christian powers.
1700 – The 8.7–9.2 Mw Cascadia earthquake takes place off the west coast of North America, as evidenced by Japanese records.
1736 – Stanislaus I of Poland abdicates his throne.
1788 – The British First Fleet, led by Arthur Phillip, sails into Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) to establish Sydney, the first permanent European settlement on Australia. Commemorated as Australia Day.
1808 – The Rum Rebellion is the only successful (albeit short-lived) armed takeover of the government in New South Wales.
1837 – Michigan is admitted as the 26th U.S. state.
1838 – Tennessee enacts the first prohibition law in the United States.
1841 – James Bremer takes formal possession of Hong Kong Island at what is now Possession Point, establishing British Hong Kong.
1855 – Point No Point Treaty is signed in Washington Territory.
1856 – First Battle of Seattle. Marines from the USS Decatur drive off American Indian attackers after all day battle with settlers.
1861 – American Civil War: The state of Louisiana secedes from the Union.
1863 – American Civil War: General Ambrose Burnside is relieved of command of the Army of the Potomac after the disastrous Fredericksburg campaign. He is replaced by Joseph Hooker.
1863 – American Civil War: Governor of Massachusetts John Albion Andrew receives permission from the Secretary of War to raise a militia organization for men of African descent.
1870 – Reconstruction Era: Virginia rejoins the Union.
1885 – Troops loyal to The Mahdi conquer Khartoum, killing the Governor-General Charles George Gordon.
1905 – The world’s largest diamond ever, the Cullinan weighing 3,106.75 carats (0.621350 kg), is found at the Premier Mine near Pretoria in South Africa.
1911 – Glenn Curtiss flies the first successful American seaplane.
1915 – The Rocky Mountain National Park is established by an act of the U.S. Congress.
1918 – Finnish Civil War: A group of Red Guards hangs a red lantern atop the tower of Helsinki Workers’ Hall to symbolically mark the start of the war.
1920 – Former Ford Motor Company executive Henry Leland launches the Lincoln Motor Company which he later sold to his former employer.
1926 – The first demonstration of the television by John Logie Baird.
1930 – The Indian National Congress declares 26 January as Independence Day or as the day for Poorna Swaraj (“Complete Independence”) which occurred 17 years later.
1934 – The Apollo Theater reopens in Harlem, New York City.
1934 – German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact is signed.
1939 – Spanish Civil War: Catalonia Offensive: Troops loyal to nationalist General Francisco Franco and aided by Italy take Barcelona.
1942 – World War II: The first United States forces arrive in Europe landing in Northern Ireland.
1945 – World War II: The Red Army begins encircling the German Fourth Army near Heiligenbeil in East Prussia, which will end in destruction of the 4th Army two months later.
1945 – World War II: Audie Murphy displays valor and bravery in action for which he will later be awarded the Medal of Honor.
1949 – The Hale telescope at Palomar Observatory sees first light under the direction of Edwin Hubble, becoming the largest aperture optical telescope (until BTA-6 is built in 1976).
1950 – The Constitution of India comes into force, forming a republic. Rajendra Prasad is sworn in as its first President of India. Observed as Republic Day in India.
1952 – Black Saturday in Egypt: rioters burn Cairo’s central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses.
1956 – the Soviet Union cedes Porkkala back to Finland.
1961 – John F. Kennedy appoints Janet G. Travell to be the first woman Physician to the President.
1962 – Ranger 3 is launched to study the Moon. The space probe later misses the moon by 22,000 miles (35,400 km).
1965 – Hindi becomes the official language of India.
1972 – JAT Fight 367 is destroyed by a terrorist bomb, killing 27 of the 28 people on board the DC-9. Flight attendant Vesna Vulović survives with critical injuries.
1980 – Egypt–Israel relations are formally established.
1986 – The Ugandan government of Tito Okello is overthrown by the National Resistance Army, led by Yoweri Museveni.
1991 – Mohamed Siad Barre is removed from power in Somalia, ending centralized government, and is succeeded by Ali Mahdi.
1992 – Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia will stop targeting United States cities with nuclear weapons.
1998 – Lewinsky scandal: On American television, U.S. President Bill Clinton denies having had “sexual relations” with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
2001 – The 7.7 Mw Gujarat earthquake shakes Western India with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), leaving 13,805–20,023 dead and about 166,800 injured.
2009 – Rioting breaks out in Antananarivo, Madagascar, sparking a political crisis that will result in the replacement of President Marc Ravalomanana with Andry Rajoelina.
2015 – An aircraft crashes at Los Llanos Air Base in Albacete, Spain, killing 11 people and injuring 21 others.
2020 – A Sikorsky S-76B flying from John Wayne Airport to Camarillo Airport crashes in Calabasas, 30 miles west of Los Angeles, killing all nine people on board including former five time NBA champion Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Bryant.
Births on January 26
183 – Lady Zhen, wife of Cao Pi (d. 221)
1436 – Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset, Lancastrian military commander (d. 1464)
1467 – Guillaume Budé, French scholar (d. 1540)
1495 – Emperor Go-Nara of Japan (d. 1557)
1541 – Florent Chrestien, French poet and translator (d. 1596)
1549 – Jakob Ebert, German theologian (d. 1614)
1582 – Giovanni Lanfranco, Italian painter (d. 1647)
1595 – Antonio Maria Abbatini, Italian composer (d. 1679)
1624 – George William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1705)
1657 – William Wake, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1737)
1708 – William Hayes, English organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1777)
1714 – Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, French sculptor and educator (d. 1785)
1715 – Claude Adrien Helvétius, French philosopher (d. 1771)
1716 – George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville, English general and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (d. 1785)
1722 – Alexander Carlyle, Scottish minister and author (d. 1805)
1763 – Charles XIV John of Sweden (d. 1844)
1781 – Ludwig Achim von Arnim, German poet and author (d. 1831)
1813 – Juan Pablo Duarte, Dominican philosopher and poet (d. 1876)
1824 – Emil Czyrniański, Polish chemist (d. 1888)
1832 – George Shiras, Jr., American lawyer and jurist (d. 1924)
1842 – François Coppée, French poet and author (d. 1908)
1852 – Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, Italian-French explorer (d. 1905)
1857 – 12th Dalai Lama (d. 1875)
1861 – Louis Anquetin, French painter (d. 1932)
1864 – József Pusztai, Slovene-Hungarian poet and journalist (d. 1934)
1866 – John Cady, American golfer (d. 1933)
1877 – Kees van Dongen, Dutch painter (d. 1968)
1878 – Dave Nourse, English-South African cricketer and coach (d. 1948)
1880 – Douglas MacArthur, American general, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1964)
1885 – Michael Considine, Irish-Australian politician (d. 1959)
1885 – Harry Ricardo, English engineer and academic (d. 1974)
1885 – Per Thorén, Swedish figure skater (d. 1962)
1887 – François Faber, French-Luxembourgian cyclist (d. 1915)
1887 – Marc Mitscher, American admiral and pilot (d. 1947)
1887 – Dimitris Pikionis, Greek architect and academic (d. 1968)
1891 – Frank Costello, Italian-American mob boss (d. 1973)
1891 – August Froehlich, German priest and martyr (d. 1942)
1891 – Wilder Penfield, American-Canadian neurosurgeon and academic (d. 1976)
1892 – Bessie Coleman, American pilot (d. 1926)
1893 – Giuseppe Genco Russo, Italian mob boss (d. 1976)
1899 – Günther Reindorff, Russian-Estonian graphic designer and illustrator (d. 1974)
1900 – Karl Ristenpart, German conductor (d. 1967)
1902 – Menno ter Braak, Dutch author (d. 1940)
1904 – Ancel Keys, American physiologist and nutritionist (d. 2004)
1904 – Seán MacBride, Irish lawyer and politician, Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988)
1905 – Charles Lane, American actor and singer (d. 2007)
1905 – Maria von Trapp, Austrian-American singer (d. 1987)
1907 – Henry Cotton, English golfer (d. 1987)
1907 – Dimitrios Holevas, Greek priest and philologist (d. 2001)
1908 – Jill Esmond, English actress (d. 1990)
1908 – Rupprecht Geiger, German painter and sculptor (d. 2009)
1908 – Stéphane Grappelli, French violinist (d. 1997)
1910 – Jean Image, Hungarian-French animator, director, and screenwriter (d. 1989)
1911 – Polykarp Kusch, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1993)
1911 – Norbert Schultze, German composer and conductor (d. 2002)
1913 – Jimmy Van Heusen, American pianist and composer (d. 1990)
1914 – Dürrüşehvar Sultan, Imperial Princess of the Ottoman Empire (d. 2006)
1915 – William Hopper, American actor (d. 1970)
1917 – Louis Zamperini, American runner and captain (d. 2014)
1918 – Nicolae Ceaușescu, Romanian dictator, 1st President of Romania (d. 1989)
1918 – Philip José Farmer, American author (d. 2009)
1919 – Valentino Mazzola, Italian footballer (d. 1949)
1919 – Bill Nicholson, English footballer and manager (d. 2004)
1919 – Hyun Soong-jong, South Korean politician, 24th Prime Minister of South Korea (d. 2020)
1920 – Hans Holzer, Austrian-American paranormal researcher and author (d. 2009)
1921 – Eddie Barclay, French record producer, founded Barclay Records (d. 2005)
1921 – Akio Morita, Japanese businessman, co-founded Sony (d. 1999)
1922 – Michael Bentine, English actor and screenwriter (d. 1996)
1922 – Seán Flanagan, Irish footballer and politician, 7th Irish Minister for Health (d. 1993)
1922 – Gil Merrick, English footballer (d. 2010)
1923 – Patrick J. Hannifin, American admiral (d. 2014)
1923 – Anne Jeffreys, American actress and singer (d. 2017)
1924 – Alice Babs, Swedish singer and actress (b. 1924)
1924 – Annette Strauss, American philanthropist and politician, Mayor of Dallas (d. 1998)
1925 – David Jenkins, English bishop and theologian (d. 2016)
1925 – Joan Leslie, American actress (d. 2015)
1925 – Paul Newman, American actor, activist, director, race car driver, and businessman, co-founded Newman’s Own (d. 2008)
1925 – Ben Pucci, American football player and sportscaster (d. 2013)
1925 – Claude Ryan, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 2004)
1926 – Farman Fatehpuri, Pakistani linguist and scholar (d. 2013)
1926 – Joseph Bacon Fraser, Jr., American architect and businessman, co-founded the Sea Pines Company (d. 2014)
1927 – José Azcona del Hoyo, Honduran businessman and politician, President of Honduras (d. 2005)
1927 – Bob Nieman, American baseball player and scout (d. 1985)
1927 – Hubert Schieth, German footballer and manager (d. 2013)
1928 – Roger Vadim, French actor and director (d. 2000)
1929 – Jules Feiffer, American cartoonist, playwright, screenwriter, and educator
1934 – Roger Landry, Canadian businessman and publisher (d. 2020)
1934 – Charles Marowitz, American director, playwright, and critic (d. 2014)
1934 – Huey “Piano” Smith, American pianist and songwriter
1934 – Bob Uecker, American baseball player, sportscaster and actor
1935 – Corrado Augias, Italian journalist and politician
1935 – Henry Jordan, American football player (d. 1977)
1935 – Paula Rego, Portuguese-born British visual artist
1936 – Sal Buscema, American illustrator
1937 – Joseph Saidu Momoh, Sierra Leonean soldier and politician, 2nd President of Sierra Leone (d. 2003)
1937 – Francisco Gonzales, former 1960 Summer Olympics yachting team member and murderer
1938 – Henry Jaglom, English-American director and screenwriter
1940 – Séamus Hegarty, Irish bishop
1940 – Frank Large, English footballer, centre forward and cricketer (d. 2003)
1943 – César Gutiérrez, Venezuelan baseball player and manager (d. 2005)
1943 – Jack Warner, Trinidadian businessman and politician
1944 – Angela Davis, American activist, academic, and author
1944 – Jerry Sandusky, American football coach and criminal
1945 – Jacqueline du Pré, English cellist (d. 1987)
1945 – David Purley, English race car driver (d. 1985)
1946 – Christopher Hampton, Portuguese-English director, screenwriter, and playwright
1946 – Gene Siskel, American journalist and film critic (d. 1999)
1946 – Susan Friedlander, American mathematician
1947 – Patrick Dewaere, French actor and composer (d. 1982)
1947 – Les Ebdon, English chemist and academic
1947 – Redmond Morris, 4th Baron Killanin, Irish director, producer, and production manager
1947 – Michel Sardou, French singer-songwriter and actor
1948 – Alda Facio, Costa Rican jurist, writer and teacher
1949 – Jonathan Carroll, American author
1949 – David Strathairn, American actor
1950 – Jörg Haider, Austrian lawyer and politician, Governor of Carinthia (d. 2008)
1951 – David Briggs, Australian guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1951 – Andy Hummel, American singer-songwriter and bass player (d. 2010)
1951 – Anne Mills, English economist and academic
1953 – Alik L. Alik, Micronesian politician, 7th Vice President of the Federated States of Micronesia
1953 – Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Danish politician and diplomat, 39th Prime Minister of Denmark
1953 – Lucinda Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1954 – Kim Hughes, Australian cricketer
1955 – Eddie Van Halen, Dutch-American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1957 – Road Warrior Hawk, American wrestler (d. 2003)
1958 – Anita Baker, American singer-songwriter
1958 – Ellen DeGeneres, American comedian, actress, and talk show host
1961 – Wayne Gretzky, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1961 – Tom Keifer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1962 – Guo Jian, Chinese-Australian painter, sculptor, and photographer
1962 – Tim May, Australian cricketer
1962 – Oscar Ruggeri, Argentinian footballer and manager
1963 – José Mourinho, Portuguese footballer and manager
1963 – Simon O’Donnell, Australian footballer, cricketer, and sportscaster
1963 – Tony Parks, English footballer and manager
1963 – Andrew Ridgeley, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1964 – Adam Crozier, Scottish businessman
1965 – Thomas Östros, Swedish businessman and politician
1965 – Natalia Yurchenko, Russian gymnast and coach
1966 – Kazushige Nagashima, Japanese baseball player and sportscaster
1967 – Anatoly Komm, Russian chef and businessman
1967 – Col Needham, English businessman, co-founded Internet Movie Database
1968 – Jupiter Apple, Brazilian singer-songwriter, film director, and actor (d. 2015)
1969 – George Dikeoulakos, Greek-Romanian basketball player and coach
1970 – Kirk Franklin, American singer-songwriter and producer
1973 – Larissa Lowing, Canadian artistic gymnast
1973 – Melvil Poupaud, French actor, director, and screenwriter
1973 – Brendan Rodgers, Northern Irish footballer and manager
1973 – Mayu Shinjo, Japanese author and illustrator
1977 – Vince Carter, American basketball player
1977 – Justin Gimelstob, American tennis player and coach
1978 – Corina Morariu, American tennis player and sportscaster
1981 – José de Jesús Corona, Mexican footballer
1981 – Gustavo Dudamel, Venezuelan violinist, composer, and conductor
1981 – Juan José Haedo, Argentinian cyclist
1981 – Colin O’Donoghue, Irish actor
1982 – Reggie Hodges, American football player
1983 – Petri Oravainen, Finnish footballer
1983 – Eric Werner, American ice hockey player
1984 – Ryan Hoffman, Australian rugby league player
1984 – Iain Turner, Scottish footballer
1984 – Luo Xuejuan, Chinese swimmer
1985 – Heather Stanning, English rower
1986 – Gerald Green, American basketball player
1986 – Kim Jae-joong, South Korean singer, songwriter, actor, director and designer.
AD 41 – After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman Emperor by the Senate.
750 – In the Battle of the Zab, the Abbasid rebels defeat the Umayyad Caliphate, leading to overthrow of the dynasty.
1348 – A strong earthquake strikes the South Alpine region of Friuli in modern Italy, causing considerable damage to buildings as far away as Rome.
1494 – Alfonso II becomes King of Naples.
1515 – Coronation of Francis I of France takes place at Reims Cathedral, where the new monarch is anointed with the oil of Clovis and girt with the sword of Charlemagne.
1533 – Henry VIII of England secretly marries his second wife Anne Boleyn.
1554 – São Paulo, Brazil, is founded by Jesuit priests.
1573 – Battle of Mikatagahara: In Japan, Takeda Shingen defeats Tokugawa Ieyasu.
1575 – Luanda, the capital of Angola, is founded by the Portuguese navigator Paulo Dias de Novais.
1704 – The Battle of Ayubale results in the destruction of most of the Spanish missions in Florida.
1755 – Moscow University is established on Tatiana Day.
1765 – Port Egmont, the first British settlement in the Falkland Islands near the southern tip of South America, is founded.
1787 – Shays’s Rebellion: The rebellion’s largest confrontation, outside the Springfield Armory, results in the killing of four rebels and the wounding of twenty.
1791 – The British Parliament passes the Constitutional Act of 1791 and splits the old Province of Quebec into Upper Canada and Lower Canada.
1792 – The London Corresponding Society is founded.
1858 – The Wedding March by Felix Mendelssohn is played at the marriage of Queen Victoria’s daughter, Victoria, and Friedrich of Prussia, and becomes a popular wedding processional.
1879 – The Bulgarian National Bank is founded.
1881 – Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell form the Oriental Telephone Company.
1890 – Nellie Bly completes her round-the-world journey in 72 days.
1909 – Richard Strauss’s opera Elektra receives its debut performance at the Dresden State Opera.
1915 – Alexander Graham Bell inaugurates U.S. transcontinental telephone service, speaking from New York to Thomas Watson in San Francisco.
1918 – The Ukrainian People’s Republic declares independence from Soviet Russia.
1924 – The 1924 Winter Olympics opens in Chamonix, in the French Alps, inaugurating the Winter Olympic Games.
1932 – Second Sino-Japanese War: The Chinese National Revolutionary Army begins the defense of Harbin.
1937 – The Guiding Light debuts on NBC radio from Chicago. In 1952 it moves to CBS television, where it remains until September 18, 2009.
1941 – Pope Pius XII elevates the Apostolic Vicariate of the Hawaiian Islands to the dignity of a diocese. It becomes the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu.
1942 – World War II: Thailand declares war on the United States and United Kingdom.
1945 – World War II: The Battle of the Bulge ends.
1946 – The United Mine Workers rejoins the American Federation of Labor.
1946 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 1 relating to Military Staff Committee is adopted.
1947 – Thomas Goldsmith Jr. files a patent for a “Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device”, the first ever electronic game.
1949 – The first Emmy Awards are presented; the venue is the Hollywood Athletic Club.
1960 – The National Association of Broadcasters reacts to the “payola” scandal by threatening fines for any disc jockeys who accept money for playing particular records.
1961 – In Washington, D.C., President John F. Kennedy delivers the first live presidential television news conference.
1961 – 101 Dalmatians premiered from Walt Disney Productions.
1964 – Blue Ribbon Sports, which would later become Nike, is founded by University of Oregon track and field athletes.
1969 – Brazilian Army captain Carlos Lamarca deserts in order to fight against the military dictatorship, taking with him ten machine guns and 63 rifles.
1971 – Charles Manson and three female “Family” members are found guilty of the 1969 Tate–LaBianca murders.
1971 – Idi Amin leads a coup deposing Milton Obote and becomes Uganda’s president.
1979 – Pope John Paul II starts his first official papal visits outside Italy to The Bahamas, Dominican Republic, and Mexico.
1980 – Mother Teresa is honored with India’s highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna.
1986 – The National Resistance Movement topples the government of Tito Okello in Uganda.
1993 – Five people are shot outside the CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Two are killed and three wounded.
1994 – The spacecraft Clementine by BMDO and NASA is launched.
1995 – The Norwegian rocket incident: Russia almost launches a nuclear attack after it mistakes Black Brant XII, a Norwegian research rocket, for a US Trident missile.
1996 – Billy Bailey becomes the last person to be hanged in the U.S.A.
1998 – During a historic visit to Cuba, Pope John Paul II demands political reforms and the release of political prisoners while condemning US attempts to isolate the country.
1998 – A suicide attack by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on Sri Lanka’s Temple of the Tooth kills eight and injures 25 others.
1999 – A 6.0 magnitude earthquake hits western Colombia killing at least 1,000.
2003 – Invasion of Iraq: A group of people leave London, England, for Baghdad, Iraq, to serve as human shields, intending to prevent the U.S.-led coalition troops from bombing certain locations.
2005 – A stampede at the Mandhradevi temple in Maharashtra, India kills at least 258.
2006 – Mexican professional wrestler Juana Barraza is arrested in connection with the serial killing of at least ten elderly women.
2010 – Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 crashes into the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Na’ameh, Lebanon, killing 90.
2011 – The first wave of the Egyptian revolution begins throughout the country, marked by street demonstrations, rallies, acts of civil disobedience, riots, labour strikes, and violent clashes.
2013 – At least 50 people are killed and 120 people are injured in a prison riot in Barquisimeto, Venezuela.
2015 – A clash in Mamasapano, Maguindanao in the Philippines killing 44 members of Special Action Force (SAF), at least 18 from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and five from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
2019 – A mining company’s dam collapses in Brumadinho, Brazil, a south-eastern city, killing at least 7 people and leaving 200 missing.
Births on January 25
750 – Leo IV the Khazar, Byzantine emperor (d. 780)
1408 – Katharina of Hanau, German countess regent (d. 1460)
1459 – Paul Hofhaimer, Austrian organist and composer (d. 1537)
1477 – Anne of Brittany (probable;d. 1514)
1509 – Giovanni Morone, Italian cardinal (d. 1580)
1526 – Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (d. 1586)
1615 – Govert Flinck, Dutch painter (d. 1660)
1618 – Nicolaes Visscher I, Dutch engraver and cartographer (d. 1679)
1627 – Robert Boyle, Irish-English chemist and physicist (d. 1691)
1634 – Gaspar Fagel, Dutch politician and diplomat (d. 1688)
1635 – Daniel Casper von Lohenstein, German writer, diplomat and lawyer (d. 1683)
1640 – William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire, English soldier and politician, Lord Steward of the Household (d. 1707)
1736 – Joseph-Louis Lagrange, Italian-French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1813)
1739 – Charles François Dumouriez, French general and politician, French Minister of Defence (d. 1823)
1743 – Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi, German philosopher and author (d. 1819)
1750 – Johann Gottfried Vierling, German organist and composer (d. 1813)
1755 – Paolo Mascagni, Italian physician and anatomist (probable;d. 1815)
1759 – Robert Burns, Scottish poet and songwriter (d. 1796)
1783 – William Colgate, English-American businessman and philanthropist, founded Colgate-Palmolive (d. 1857)
1794 – François-Vincent Raspail, French chemist, physician, physiologist, and lawyer (d. 1878)
1796 – William MacGillivray, Scottish ornithologist and biologist (d. 1852)
1813 – J. Marion Sims, American gynecologist and physician (d. 1883)
1816 – Anna Gardner, American abolitionist and teacher (d. 1901)
1822 – Charles Reed Bishop, American businessman, philanthropist, and politician, founded the Bishop Museum (d. 1915)
1822 – William McDougall, Canadian lawyer and politician, Lieutenant Governor of the Northwest Territories (d. 1905)
1823 – José María Iglesias, Mexican politician and interim President (1876–1877) (d. 1891)
1824 – Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Indian poet and playwright (d. 1873)
1841 – John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, English admiral (d. 1920)
1858 – Mikimoto Kōkichi, Japanese businessman (d. 1954)
1860 – Charles Curtis, American lawyer and politician, 31st Vice President of the United States (d. 1936)
1864 – Julije Kempf, Croatian historian and author (d. 1934)
1868 – Juventino Rosas, Mexican violinist and composer (d. 1894)
1874 – W. Somerset Maugham, British playwright, novelist, and short story writer (d. 1965)
1878 – Ernst Alexanderson, Swedish-American engineer (d. 1975)
1882 – Virginia Woolf, English novelist, essayist, short story writer, and critic (d. 1941)
1885 – Kitahara Hakushū, Japanese poet and author (d. 1942)
1886 – Wilhelm Furtwängler, German conductor and composer (d. 1954)
1895 – Florence Mills, American singer, dancer, and actress (d. 1927)
1899 – Sleepy John Estes, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1977)
1899 – Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian lawyer and politician, 46th Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 1972)
1900 – István Fekete, Hungarian author (d. 1970)
1900 – Yōjirō Ishizaka, Japanese author and educator (d. 1986)
1900 – Theodosius Dobzhansky, Ukrainian geneticist and pioneer of evolutionary biology (d. 1975)
1901 – Martín de Álzaga, Argentinian race car driver and pilot (d. 1982)
1901 – Mildred Dunnock, American actress (d. 1991)
1905 – Maurice Roy, Canadian cardinal (d. 1985)
1905 – Margery Sharp, English author and educator (d. 1991)
1906 – Toni Ulmen, German race car driver and motorcycle racer (d. 1976)
1908 – Hsieh Tung-min, Taiwanese politicians and Vice President of the Republic of China (d. 2001)
1910 – Edgar V. Saks, Estonian historian, author, and politician, Estonian Minister of Education (d. 1984)
1913 – Huang Hua, Chinese translator and politician, 5th Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China (d. 2010)
1913 – Witold Lutosławski, Polish composer and conductor (d. 1994)
1913 – Luis Marden, American photographer and journalist (d. 2003)
1914 – William Strickland, American conductor and organist (d. 1991)
1915 – Ewan MacColl, English singer-songwriter, actor and producer (d. 1989)
1916 – Pop Ivy, American football player and coach (d. 2003)
1917 – Ilya Prigogine, Russian-Belgian chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2003)
1917 – Jânio Quadros, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 22nd President of Brazil (d. 1992)
1919 – Edwin Newman, American journalist and author (d. 2010)
1921 – Samuel T. Cohen, American physicist and academic (d. 2010)
1921 – Josef Holeček, Czechoslovakian canoeist (d. 2005)
1922 – Raymond Baxter, English television host and pilot (d. 2006)
1923 – Arvid Carlsson, Swedish pharmacologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2018)
1923 – Shirley Ardell Mason, American psychiatric patient (d. 1998)
1923 – Sally Starr, American actress and television host (d. 2013)
1923 – Jean Taittinger, French politician, French Minister of Justice (d. 2012)
1924 – Lou Groza, American football player and coach (d. 2000)
1924 – Husein Mehmedov, Bulgarian-Turkish wrestler and coach (d. 2014)
1924 – Speedy West, American guitarist and producer (d. 2003)
1925 – Gordy Soltau, American football player and sportscaster (d. 2014)
1925 – Giorgos Zampetas, Greek bouzouki player and songwriter (d. 1992)
1926 – Dick McGuire, American basketball player and coach (d. 2010)
1927 – Antônio Carlos Jobim, Brazilian singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1994)
1928 – Jérôme Choquette, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2017)
1928 – Eduard Shevardnadze, Georgian general and politician, 2nd President of Georgia (d. 2014)
1928 – Cor van der Hart, Dutch footballer and manager (d. 2006)
1929 – Elizabeth Allen, American actress and singer (d. 2006)
1929 – Robert Faurisson, English-French author and academic (d. 2018)
1929 – Benny Golson, American saxophonist and composer
1930 – Tanya Savicheva, Russian child diarist (d. 1944)
1931 – Dean Jones, American actor and singer (d. 2015)
1933 – Corazon Aquino, Filipino politician, 11th President of the Philippines (d. 2009)
1935 – Conrad Burns, American soldier, journalist, and politician (d. 2016)
1935 – António Ramalho Eanes, Portuguese general and politician, 16th President of Portugal
1936 – Diana Hyland, American actress (d. 1977)
1936 – Onat Kutlar, Turkish author and poet (d. 1995)
1937 – Ange-Félix Patassé, Central African engineer and politician, President of the Central African Republic (d. 2011)
1938 – Shotaro Ishinomori, Japanese author and illustrator (d. 1998)
1938 – Etta James, American singer (d. 2012)
1938 – Leiji Matsumoto, Japanese author, illustrator, and animator
1938 – Vladimir Vysotsky, Russian singer-songwriter, actor, and poet (d. 1980)
1941 – Buddy Baker, American race car driver and sportscaster (d. 2015)
1942 – Carl Eller, American football player and sportscaster
1942 – Eusébio, Mozambican-Portuguese footballer (d. 2014)
1943 – Tobe Hooper, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2017)
1945 – Leigh Taylor-Young, American actress
1945 – Dave Walker, English singer and guitarist
1946 – Doc Bundy, American race car driver and technician
1947 – Ángel Nieto, Spanish motorcycle racer (d. 2017)
1947 – Tostão, Brazilian footballer, journalist, and physician
1948 – Ros Kelly, Australian educator and politician, 1st Australian Minister for Defence Science and Personnel
1948 – Georgy Shishkin, Russian painter and illustrator
1949 – John Cooper Clarke, English poet and critic
1949 – Paul Nurse, English geneticist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate
1950 – Gloria Naylor, American novelist (d. 2016)
1951 – Steve Prefontaine, American runner (d. 1975)
1952 – Peter Tatchell, Australian-English journalist and activist
1952 – Timothy White, American journalist, author, and critic (d. 2002)
1954 – Ricardo Bochini, Argentinian footballer and manager
1954 – Kay Cottee, Australian sailor
1954 – Renate Dorrestein, Dutch journalist and author (d. 2018)
1956 – Andy Cox, English guitarist
1956 – Dinah Manoff, American actress
1957 – Eskil Erlandsson, Swedish technologist and politician, Swedish Minister for Rural Affairs
1957 – Andrew Harris, American politician
1957 – Jenifer Lewis, American actress and singer
1958 – Franco Pancheri, Italian footballer and manager
1961 – Vivian Balakrishnan, Singaporean ophthalmologist and politician, Singaporean Ministry of National Development
1962 – Chris Chelios, American ice hockey player and manager
1963 – Fernando Haddad, Brazilian academic and politician, 61st Mayor of São Paulo
1963 – Molly Holzschlag, American computer scientist and author
1964 – Billy Andrade, American golfer
1964 – Stephen Pate, Australian cyclist
1965 – Esa Tikkanen, Finnish ice hockey player and coach
1966 – Chet Culver, American educator and politician, 41st Governor of Iowa
1966 – Yiannos Ioannou, Cypriot footballer and manager
1967 – Nelson Asaytono, Filipino basketball player
1967 – David Ginola, French footballer, forward
1967 – Randy McKay, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1968 – Eric Orie, Dutch footballer and manager
1969 – Sergei Ovchinnikov, Russian volleyball player and coach (d. 2012)
1970 – Stephen Chbosky, American author, screenwriter, and director
1970 – Chris Mills, American basketball player
1970 – Milt Stegall, American football player and sportscaster
1971 – Luca Badoer, Italian race car driver
1971 – Philip Coppens, Belgian journalist and author (d. 2012)
1971 – Ana Ortiz, American actress
1972 – Shinji Takehara, Japanese boxer
1973 – Geoff Johns, American author, screenwriter, and producer
1974 – Robert Budreau, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter
1974 – Emily Haines, Canadian singer-songwriter and keyboard player
2017 – Stephen P. Cohen, Canadian academic (b. 1945)
2017 – Robert Garcia, American politician (b. 1933)
2017 – John Hurt, English actor (b. 1940)
2017 – Harry Mathews, American novelist and poet (b. 1930)
2017 – Marcel Prud’homme, Canadian politician (b. 1934)
2017 – Mary Tyler Moore, American actress, dancer, and producer (b. 1936)
2018 – Neagu Djuvara, Romanian historian, essayist, philosopher, journalist, novelist and diplomat (b. 1916)
Holidays and observances on January 25
Burns Night (Scotland and Scottish community)
Christian feast day:
Dydd Santes Dwynwen (Wales)
Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul (Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran churches, which concludes the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity)
Gregory the Theologian (Eastern (Byzantine) Catholic Church)
The last day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Christian ecumenism)
January 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which the first day of Carnival of Cádiz can fall, while February 28 is the latest; celebrated two Sundays before Ash Wednesday until Ash Wednesday (Cádiz)
Earliest day on which the Liberation of Auschwitz Memorial can fall, while January 31 is the latest; observed on the last Sunday in January (Netherlands)
National Nutrition Day (Indonesia)
National Police Day (Egypt)
National Voters’ Day (India)
Revolution Day 2011 (Egypt)
Tatiana Day or Russian Students Day (Russia, Eastern Orthodox)
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
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:
763 – Following the Battle of Bakhamra between Alids and Abbasids near Kufa, the Alid rebellion ends with the death of Ibrahim, brother of Isa ibn Musa.
1525 – The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is founded when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz’s mother in Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union.
1535 – Following the Affair of the Placards, the French king leads an anti-Protestant procession through Paris.
1720 – Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Stockholm.
1749 – The Teatro Filarmonico in Verona is destroyed by fire, as a result of a torch being left behind in the box of a nobleman after a performance. It is rebuilt in 1754.
1774 – Abdul Hamid I becomes Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and Caliph of Islam.
1789 – The first American novel, The Power of Sympathy or the Triumph of Nature Founded in Truth by William Hill Brown, is printed in Boston.
1793 – After being found guilty of treason by the French National Convention, Louis XVI of France is executed by guillotine.
1854 – The RMS Tayleur sinks off Lambay Island on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Australia with great loss of life.
1861 – American Civil War: Jefferson Davis resigns from the United States Senate.
1893 – The Tati Concessions Land, formerly part of Matabeleland, is formally annexed to the Bechuanaland Protectorate, now Botswana.
1908 – New York City passes the Sullivan Ordinance, making it illegal for women to smoke in public, only to have the measure vetoed by the mayor.
1911 – The first Monte Carlo Rally takes place.
1915 – Kiwanis International is founded in Detroit.
1919 – A revolutionary Irish parliament is founded and declares the independence of the Irish Republic. One of the first engagements of the Irish War of Independence takes place.
1925 – Albania declares itself a republic.
1931 – Sir Isaac Isaacs is sworn in as the first Australian-born Governor-General of Australia.
1941 – Sparked by the murder of a German officer in Bucharest, Romania the day before, members of the Iron Guard engaged in a rebellion and pogrom killing 125 Jews.
1948 – The Flag of Quebec is adopted and flown for the first time over the National Assembly of Quebec. The day is marked annually as Québec Flag Day.
1950 – American lawyer and government official Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury.
1954 – The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, is launched in Groton, Connecticut by Mamie Eisenhower, the First Lady of the United States.
1960 – Little Joe 1B, a Mercury spacecraft, lifts off from Wallops Island, Virginia with Miss Sam, a female rhesus monkey on board.
1960 – Avianca Flight 671 crashes at Montego Bay, Jamaica airport, killing 37 people.
1960 – A coal mine collapses at Holly Country, South Africa, killing 435 miners.
1968 – Vietnam War: Battle of Khe Sanh: One of the most publicized and controversial battles of the war begins.
1968 – A B-52 bomber crashes near Thule Air Base, contaminating the area after its nuclear payload ruptures. One of the four bombs remains unaccounted for after the cleanup operation is complete.
1971 – The current Emley Moor transmitting station, the tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom, begins transmitting UHF broadcasts.
1976 – Commercial service of Concorde begins with the London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio routes.
1980 – Iran Air Flight 291 crashes in the Alborz Mountains while on approach to Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, Iran, killing 128 people.
1981 – Production of the iconic DeLorean sports car begins in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
1985 – Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 crashes near Reno–Tahoe International Airport in Reno, Nevada, killing 70 people.
1997 – The U.S. House of Representatives votes 395–28 to reprimand Newt Gingrich for ethics violations, making him the first Speaker of the House to be so disciplined.
1999 – War on Drugs: In one of the largest drug busts in American history, the United States Coast Guard intercepts a ship with over 4,300 kilograms (9,500 lb) of cocaine on board.
2000 – Ecuador: After the Ecuadorian Congress is seized by indigenous organizations, Col. Lucio Gutiérrez, Carlos Solorzano and Antonio Vargas depose President Jamil Mahuad. Gutierrez is later replaced by Gen. Carlos Mendoza, who resigns and allows Vice-President Gustavo Noboa to succeed Mahuad.
2003 – A 7.6 magnitude earthquake strikes the Mexican state of Colima, killing 29 and leaving approximately 10,000 people homeless.
2004 – NASA’s MER-A (the Mars Rover Spirit) ceases communication with mission control. The problem lies in the management of its flash memory and is fixed remotely from Earth on February 6.
2005 – In Belmopan, Belize, the unrest over the government’s new taxes erupts into riots.
2009 – Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip, officially ending a three-week war it had with Hamas. However, intermittent fire by both sides continues in the weeks to follow.
2011 – Anti government demonstrations take place in Tirana, Albania. Five people lose their lives from gunshots, allegedly fired from armed police protecting the Prime Minister’s office. To date, no one has been held accountable for the deaths.
2017 – Over 400 cities across America and 160+ countries worldwide participate in a large-scale women’s march, on Donald Trump’s first full day as President of the United States.
2018 – Rocket Lab’s Electron becomes the first rocket to reach orbit using an electric pump-fed engine and deploys three CubeSats.
Births on January 21
1264 – Alexander, Prince of Scotland (d. 1284)
1277 – Galeazzo I Visconti, lord of Milan
1338 – Charles V of France (d. 1380)
1493 – Giovanni Poggio, Italian cardinal and diplomat (d. 1556)
1598 – Matsudaira Tadamasa, Japanese samurai and daimyō (d. 1645)
1612 – Henry Casimir I of Nassau-Dietz, count of Nassau-Dietz (d. 1640)
1636 – Melchiorre Cafà, Maltese Baroque sculptor (baptised; d. 1667)
1655 – Antonio Molinari, Italian painter (d. 1704)
1659 – Adriaen van der Werff, Dutch painter (d. 1722)
1675 – Duchess Sibylle of Saxe-Lauenburg, Margravine of Baden-Baden (d. 1733)
1714 – Anna Morandi Manzolini, Spanish anatomist (d. 1774)
1717 – Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa, Spanish military officer and governor of Cuba (d. 1779)
1721 – James Murray, Scottish-English general and politician, Governor of Minorca (d. 1794)
1724 – Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée, French rococo painter (d. 1805)
1732 – Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg, son of Karl Alexander, Duke of Württemberg, and Princess Maria Augusta of Thurn and Taxis (d. 1797)
1738 – Ethan Allen, American general (d. 1789)
1741 – Chaim of Volozhin, Orthodox rabbi (d. 1821)
1763 – Augustin Robespierre, younger brother of French Revolutionary leader Maximilien Robespierre (d. 1794)
1775 – Manuel Garcia, Spanish opera singer and composer (d. 1832)
1784 – Peter De Wint, English painter (d. 1849)
1788 – William Henry Smyth, Royal Navy officer, hydrographer, astronomer and numismatist
1796 – Princess Marie of Hesse-Kassel, consort of George, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (d. 1880)
1797 – Joseph Méry, French author and journalist (d. 1866)
1800 – Theodor Fliedner, German Lutheran minister (d. 1864)
1801 – John Batman, Australian entrepreneur and explorer (d. 1839)
1804 – Moritz von Schwind, Austrian painter (d. 1871)
1808 – Juan Crisóstomo Torrico, 16th President of Peru (d. 1875)
1810 – Pierre Louis Charles de Failly, French general (d. 1892)
1811 – James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn, British statesman (d. 1885)
1813 – John C. Frémont, American general, explorer, and politician, 5th Territorial Governor of Arizona (d. 1890)
1813 – Giuseppe Montanelli, Italian statesman and author (d. 1862)
1814 – Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, German bibliographer and historian (d. 1885)
1815 – Horace Wells, American dentist (d. 1848)
1820 – Joseph Wolf, German ornithologist and illustrator (d. 1899)
1820 – Egide Walschaerts, Belgian mechanical engineer (d. 1901)
1824 – Stonewall Jackson, American general (d. 1863)
1827 – Ivan Mikheevich Pervushin, Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 1900)
1829 – Oscar II of Sweden (d. 1907)
1839 – Caterina Volpicelli, Italian Roman Catholic nun (d. 1894)
1840 – Sophia Jex-Blake, English physician and feminist (d. 1912)
1841 – Édouard Schuré, French philosopher and author (d. 1929)
1843 – Émile Levassor, French engineer (d. 1897)
1845 – Harriet Backer, Norwegian painter (d. 1932)
1846 – Pieter Hendrik Schoute, Dutch mathematician and academic (d. 1923)
1846 – Albert Lavignac, French music scholar (d. 1916)
1847 – Joseph Achille Le Bel, French chemist (d. 1930)
1848 – Henri Duparc, French soldier and composer (d. 1933)
1851 – Giuseppe Allamano, Italian Roman Catholic priest (d. 1926)
1854 – Karl Julius Beloch, German classical and economic historian (d. 1929)
1854 – Eusapia Palladino, Italian Spiritualist (d. 1918)
1855 – Princess Maria Luisa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, the youngest daughter of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies (d. 1874)
1860 – Karl Staaff, Swedish lawyer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1915)
1864 – Israel Zangwill, British author (d. 1926)
1865 – Heinrich Albers-Schonberg, German gynecologist and radiologist (d. 1921)
1867 – Ludwig Thoma, German paramedic and author (d. 1921)
1867 – Maxime Weygand, Belgian-French general (d. 1965)
1868 – Felix Hoffmann, German chemist (d. 1946)
1869 – Grigori Rasputin, Russian Mystic (d. 1916)
1871 – Olga Preobrajenska, Russian ballerina (d. 1962)
1873 – Arturo Labriola, Italian revolutionary syndicalist (d. 1959)
1874 – René-Louis Baire, French mathematician (d. 1932)
1875 – Paul E. Kahle, German orientalist (d. 1964)
1877 – Baldassarre Negroni, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 1948)
1878 – Vahan Tekeyan, Armenian poet and activist (d. 1948)
1879 – Joseph Roffo, French rugby player and tug of war competitor (d. 1933)
1880 – George Van Biesbroeck, Belgian–American astronomer (d. 1974)
1881 – Ernst Fast, Swedish runner (d. 1959)
1881 – André Godard, French archaeologist, architect and historian (d. 1965)
1881 – Ivan Ribar, Yugoslav politician (d. 1968)
1882 – Pavel Florensky, Russian mathematician and theologian (d. 1937)
1882 – Francis Gailey, Australian-American swimmer (d. 1972)
1883 – Olav Aukrust, Norwegian poet and educator (d. 1929)
1883 – Mathias Hynes, British tug of war competitor (d. 1926)
1885 – Duncan Grant, British painter and designer (d. 1978)
1885 – Umberto Nobile, Italian engineer and explorer (d. 1978)
1885 – Harold A. Wilson, English runner (d. 1932)
1886 – John M. Stahl, American director and producer (d. 1950)
1887 – Wolfgang Köhler, German psychologist and phenomenologist (d. 1967)
1887 – Ernest Holmes, American New Thought writer (d. 1960)
1887 – Georges Vézina, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1926)
1889 – Pitirim Sorokin, American sociologist and political activist (d. 1968)
1891 – Albert Battel, German Army lieutenant and lawyer (d. 1952)
1891 – Francisco Lázaro, Portuguese marathon runner (d. 1912)
1895 – Cristóbal Balenciaga, Spanish fashion designer, founded Balenciaga (d. 1972)
1895 – Daniel Chalonge, French astrophysicist and astronomer (d. 1977)
1895 – Noe Itō, Japanese anarchist, author and feminist (d. 1923)
1896 – Guy Gilpatric, American pilot and journalist (d. 1950)
1896 – Paula Hitler, younger sister of Adolf Hitler (d. 1960)
1896 – J. Carrol Naish, American actor (d. 1973)
1896 – Masa Perttilä, Finnish wrestler (d. 1968)
1897 – René Iché, French sculptor (d. 1954)
1898 – Rudolph Maté, Polish-Hungarian-American cinematographer, producer and director (d. 1964)
1898 – Ahmad Shah Qajar, Shah of Persia (d. 1930)
1898 – Eduard Zintl, German chemist (d. 1941)
1899 – John Bodkin Adams, British general practitioner and convict (d. 1983)
1899 – Gyula Mándi, Hungarian footballer and manager (d. 1969)
1899 – Edith Tolkien, wife and muse of J. R. R. Tolkien (d. 1971)
1899 – Alexander Tcherepnin, Russian-American pianist and composer (d. 1977)
1900 – Elof Ahrle, Swedish actor and director (d. 1965)
1900 – Anselm Franz, Austrian engineer (d. 1994)
1900 – Bernhard Rensch, German evolutionary biologist (d. 1990)
1900 – Fernando Quiroga Palacios, Spanish Cardinal (d. 1971)
1901 – Ricardo Zamora, Spanish footballer and manager (d. 1978)
1903 – William Lyon, American film editor (d. 1974)
1903 – Raymond Suvigny, French weightlifter (d. 1945)
1904 – Puck van Heel, Dutch footballer (d. 1984)
1904 – John Porter, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1997)
1905 – Christian Dior, French fashion designer, founded Christian Dior S.A. (d. 1957)
1905 – Karl Wallenda, German-American acrobat and tightrope walker, founded The Flying Wallendas (d. 1978)
1906 – Leo Halle, Dutch footballer (d. 1992)
1906 – Igor Moiseyev, Russian choreographer (d. 2007)
1907 – Carlo Cavagnoli, Italian boxer (d. 1991)
1907 – Jānis Mendriks, Latvian Catholic priest (d. 1953)
1909 – Todor Skalovski, Macedonian composer and conductor (d. 2004)
1909 – Teofilo Spasojević, Serbian footballer (d. 1970)
1910 – Hideo Shinojima, Japanese footballer (d. 1975)
1910 – Albert Rosellini, American lawyer and politician, 15th Governor of Washington (d. 2011)
1910 – Rosa Kellner, German athlete (d. 1984)
1910 – Károly Takács, Hungarian shooter (d. 1976)
1911 – Dick Garrard, Australian wrestler (d. 2003)
1911 – Lee Yoo-hyung, Korean footballer and manager (d. 2003)
1912 – Konrad Emil Bloch, German-American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2000)
1915 – André Lichnerowicz, French mathematician (d. 1998)
1915 – Orazio Mariani, Italian sprinter (d. 1981)
1916 – Pietro Rava, Italian footballer (d. 2006)
1916 – Zypora Spaisman, Polish midwife; American and Yiddish-language actress; producer of the Yiddish stage (d. 2002)
1917 – Erling Persson, H&M founder (d. 2002)
1918 – Jimmy Hagan, English footballer (d. 1998)
1918 – Richard Winters, American soldier (d. 2011)
1918 – Antonio Janigro, Italian cellist and conductor (d. 1989)
1919 – Eric Brown, Scottish-English captain and pilot (d. 2016)
1920 – Errol Barrow, first Prime Minister of Barbados (d. 1987)
1921 – Lincoln Alexander, Canadian lawyer and politician, 23rd Canadian Minister of Labour (d. 2012)
1922 – Telly Savalas, American actor (d. 1994)
1922 – Paul Scofield, English actor (d. 2008)
1922 – Predrag Vranicki, Croatian Marxist Humanist, and member of the Praxis school in the 1960s in Yugoslavia (d. 2002)
1923 – Lola Flores, Spanish singer, dancer, and actress (d. 1995)
1923 – Alberto de Mendoza, Argentine actor (d. 2011)
1923 – Pahiño, Spanish footballer (d. 2012)
1924 – Benny Hill, English actor, singer, and screenwriter (d. 1992)
1925 – Charles Aidman, American actor (d. 1993)
1925 – Alex Forbes, Scottish footballer (d. 2014)
1925 – Eva Ibbotson, Austrian-English author (d. 2010)
1925 – Arnold Skaaland, American wrestler and manager (d. 2007)
1926 – Clive Donner, British director (d. 2010)
1926 – Franco Evangelisti, Italian composer (d. 1980)
1926 – Steve Reeves, American bodybuilder (d. 2000)
1926 – Roger Taillibert, French architect (d. 2019)
1926 – Robert J. White, American neurosurgeon (d. 2010)
1927 – Rudolf Kraus, German footballer (d. 2003)
1928 – Gene Sharp, American political scientist and academic, founded the Albert Einstein Institution (d. 2018)
1928 – Reynaldo Bignone, Argentinian general and politician, 41st President of Argentina (d. 2018)
1929 – Radley Metzger, American filmmaker (d. 2017)
1930 – Mainza Chona, Zambian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Zambia (d. 2001)
1931 – Yoshiko Kuga, Japanese actress
1933 – Habib Thiam, Senegalese politician (d. 2017)
1933 – Tony Marchi, English footballer, wing half
1934 – Audrey Dalton, Irish actress
1934 – Antonio Karmany, Spanish cyclist
1934 – Alfonso Portugal, Mexican footballer (d. 2016)
1934 – Ann Wedgeworth, American actress (d. 2017)
1936 – Dick Davies, American basketball player (d. 2012)
1937 – Judit Ágoston-Mendelényi, Hungarian fencer (d. 2013)
1937 – Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria, the youngest son of Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria
1938 – Sandy Barr, American wrestler and referee (d. 2007)
1938 – Romano Fogli, Italian footballer
1938 – Wolfman Jack, American radio host (d. 1995)
1938 – Nicholas Phillips, Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers, English lawyer and judge, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
1939 – Paul Genevay, French sprinter
1939 – Friedel Lutz, German footballer
1939 – Steve Paxton, American dancer and choreographer
1939 – Viacheslav Platonov, Russian volleyball player and coach (d. 2005)
1940 – Jack Nicklaus, American golfer and sportscaster
1940 – Patrick Robinson, British novelist
1941 – Sattam bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Arabian prince (d. 2013)
1941 – Plácido Domingo, Spanish tenor and conductor
1941 – Richie Havens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
1941 – Mike Medavoy, Chinese-American film producer, co-founded Orion Pictures
1941 – Ivan Putski, Polish-American wrestler and bodybuilder
1941 – Elaine Showalter, American author and critic
1942 – Freddy Breck, German singer, producer, and news anchor (d. 2008)
1942 – Eugène Camara, Prime Minister of Guinea (d. 2019)
1942 – Han Pil-hwa, North Korean speed skater
1942 – Mac Davis, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1942 – Edwin Starr, American singer-songwriter (d. 2003)
1942 – Michael G. Wilson, American producer and screenwriter
1943 – Zdravko Hebel, Croatian water polo player (d. 2017)
1943 – Arnar Jónsson, Icelandic actor
1943 – Alfons Peeters, Belgian footballer (d. 2015)
1943 – Kenzo Yokoyama, Japanese footballer
1944 – Uto Ughi, Italian violinist
1945 – Pete Kircher, English drummer
1945 – Martin Shaw, English actor and producer
1946 – Ichiro Hosotani, Japanese footballer
1946 – Nella Martinetti, Swiss singer (d. 2011)
1946 – Tomás Pineda, El Salvadoran footballer
1946 – Miguel Reina, Spanish footballer
1947 – Jill Eikenberry, American actress
1947 – Andrzej Bachleda, Polish former alpine skier
1947 – Dorian M. Goldfeld, American mathematician
1947 – Pye Hastings, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
1947 – Michel Jonasz, French singer-songwriter and actor
1947 – Joseph Nicolosi, American clinical psychologist (d. 2017)
1947 – Giuseppe Savoldi, Italian footballer
1947 – Roberto Zywica, Argentine footballer
1948 – Zygmunt Kukla, Polish footballer (d. 2016)
1948 – Hugo Tocalli, Argentine footballer
1949 – Trương Tấn Sang, Vietnamese politician and 7th President of Vietnam
1949 – Clifford Ray, American basketball coach and player
1950 – Marion Becker, German javelin thrower
1950 – Gary Locke, American politician and diplomat, 36th United States Secretary of Commerce
1950 – José Marín, Spanish racewalker
1950 – Billy Ocean, Trinidadian-English singer-songwriter
1950 – Agnes van Ardenne, Dutch politician and diplomat, Dutch Minister for Development Cooperation
1951 – Eric Holder, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 82nd United States Attorney General
1952 – Marco Camenisch, Swiss activist and murderer
1952 – Werner Grissmann, Austrian alpine skier
1952 – Mikhail Umansky, Russian chess player (d. 2010)
1953 – Paul Allen, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Microsoft (d. 2018)
1953 – Felipe Yáñez, Spanish cyclist
1954 – Thomas de Maizière, German politician of the Christian Democratic Union
1954 – Idrissa Ouedraogo, Burkinabé director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2018)
1954 – Phil Thompson, English footballer and coach
1955 – Peter Fleming, American tennis player
1955 – Jeff Koons, American painter and sculptor
1955 – Nello Musumeci, Italian politician and President of Sicily
1956 – Robby Benson, American actor and director
1956 – Geena Davis, American actress and producer
1958 – Matt Salmon, American politician
1958 – Hussein Saeed, Iraqi footballer
1958 – Sergei Walter, Ukrainian politician (d. 2015)
1958 – Michael Wincott, Canadian actor
1959 – Sergei Alifirenko, Russian pistol shooter
1959 – Alex McLeish, Scottish footballer and manager
1960 – Sidney Lowe, American basketball player
1960 – Mike Terrana, American hard rock and heavy metal drummer
1961 – Kevin Cramer, American politician
1961 – Cornelia Pröll, Austrian alpine skier
1961 – Ivo Pukanić Croatian journalist (d. 2008)
1961 – Gary Shaw, English footballer
1961 – Piotr Ugrumov, Russian cyclist
1962 – Tyler Cowen, American economist and academic
1962 – Isabelle Nanty, French actress, director and screenwriter
1962 – Gabriele Pin, Italian footballer and coach
1962 – Zoran Thaler, Slovenian politician
1962 – Erik Verlinde, Dutch theoretical physicist
1962 – Marie Trintignant, French actress (d. 2003)
1963 – Hakeem Olajuwon, Nigerian-American basketball player
1963 – Detlef Schrempf, German basketball player and coach
1964 – Andreas Bauer, German ski jumper
1964 – Tony Dolan, English musician and actor
1964 – Gérald Passi, French footballer
1964 – Ricardo Serna, Spanish footballer
1964 – Aleksandar Šoštar, Serbian water polo player
1964 – Danny Wallace, English footballer
1965 – Robert Del Naja, British artist, musician and singer
1965 – Jam Master Jay, American DJ, rapper, and producer (d. 2002)
1965 – Masahiro Wada, Japanese footballer
1967 – Artashes Minasian, Armenian chess player
1967 – Alfred Jermaniš, Slovenian footballer
1967 – Gorō Miyazaki, Japanese film director and landscaper
1968 – Dmitry Fomin, Soviet and Russian volleyball player
1968 – Ilya Smirin, Israeli chess Grandmaster
1968 – Artur Dmitriev, Soviet and Russian ice skater
1968 – Sébastien Lifshitz, French director
1968 – Charlotte Ross, American actress
1969 – John Ducey, American actor
1969 – Eduard Hämäläinen, Finnish-Belarusian decathlete
1969 – Karina Lombard, French-American actress and singer
1969 – Tsubaki Nekoi, Japanese comic artist
1970 – Alen Bokšić, former Croatian footballer
1970 – Marina Foïs, French actress
1970 – Ken Leung, American actor
1970 – Oren Peli, Israeli-American director, producer and screenwriter
1971 – Uni Arge, Faroese footballer and entertainer
1971 – Rafael Berges, Spanish footballer
1971 – Doug Edwards, American basketball player
1971 – Dmitri Khlestov, Russian footballer
1971 – Dylan Kussman, American actor
1971 – Sergey Klevchenya, Russian speed skater
1971 – Doug Weight, American ice hockey player and coach
1972 – Billel Dziri, Algerian footballer and manager
1972 – Rick Falkvinge, Swedish businessman and politician
1972 – Sead Kapetanović, Bosnian footballer
1972 – Yasunori Mitsuda, Japanese composer and producer
1972 – Cat Power, American singer, musician and actress
1972 – Shawn Rojeski, American curler
1972 – Sabina Valbusa, Italian cross-country skier
1973 – Rob Hayles, English cyclist
1973 – Chris Kilmore, American musician and DJ
1973 – Edvinas Krungolcas, Lithuanian modern pentathlete
1973 – Flavio Maestri, Peruvian footballer
1974 – Malena Alterio, Spanish actress
1974 – Maxwell Atoms, American animator, screenwriter and voice actor
1974 – Kim Dotcom, German-Finnish Internet entrepreneur and political activist
250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution.
649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom.
1265 – The first English parliament to include not only Lords but also representatives of the major towns holds its first meeting in the Palace of Westminster, now commonly known as the “Houses of Parliament”.
1320 – Duke Wladyslaw Lokietek becomes king of Poland.
1356 – Edward Balliol surrenders his claim to the Scottish throne to Edward III in exchange for an English pension.
1523 – Christian II is forced to abdicate as King of Denmark and Norway.
1567 – Battle of Rio de Janeiro: Portuguese forces under the command of Estácio de Sá definitively drive the French out of Rio de Janeiro.
1576 – The Mexican city of León is founded by order of the viceroy Don Martín Enríquez de Almanza.
1649 – The High Court of Justice for the trial of Charles I begins its proceedings.
1783 – The Kingdom of Great Britain signed preliminary articles of peace with France, setting the stage to the official end of hostilities in the American Revolutionary War later that year.
1785 – Invading Siamese forces attempt to exploit the political chaos in Vietnam, but are ambushed and annihilated at the Mekong river by the Tây Sơn in the Battle of Rạch Gầm-Xoài Mút.
1788 – The third and main part of First Fleet arrives at Botany Bay. Arthur Phillip decides that Port Jackson is a more suitable location for a colony.
1839 – In the Battle of Yungay, Chile defeats an alliance between Peru and Bolivia.
1841 – Hong Kong Island is occupied by the British.
1877 – The last day of the Constantinople Conference results in agreement for political reforms in the Balkans.
1887 – The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base.
1921 – The British K-class submarine HMS K5 sinks in the English Channel; all 56 on board die.
1921 – The first Constitution of Turkey is adopted, making fundamental changes in the source and exercise of sovereignty by consecrating the principle of national sovereignty.
1929 – The first full-length talking motion picture filmed outdoors, In Old Arizona, is released.
1936 – King George V of the United Kingdom dies. His eldest son succeeds to the throne, becoming Edward VIII. The title Prince of Wales is not used for another 22 years.
1937 – Franklin D. Roosevelt and John Nance Garner are sworn in for their second terms as U.S. President and U.S. Vice President; it is the first time a Presidential Inauguration takes place on January 20 since the 20th Amendment changed the dates of presidential terms.
1941 – A German officer is killed in Bucharest, Romania, sparking a rebellion and pogrom by the Iron Guard, killing 125 Jews and 30 soldiers.
1942 – World War II: At the Wannsee Conference held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee, senior Nazi German officials discuss the implementation of the “Final Solution to the Jewish question”.
1945 – World War II: The provisional government of Béla Miklós in Hungary agrees to an armistice with the Allies.
1945 – World War II: Germany begins the evacuation of 1.8 million people from East Prussia, a task which will take nearly two months.
1949 – Point Four Program a program for economic aid to poor countries announced by United States President Harry S. Truman in his inaugural address for a full term as President.
1953 – Dwight D. Eisenhower is inaugurated as the 34th President of the United States of America.
1954 – In the United States, the National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations.
1961 – John F. Kennedy is inaugurated the 35th President of the United States of America, becoming the second youngest man to take the office, and the first Catholic.
1969 – Richard Nixon is inaugurated the 37th President of the United States of America.
1972 – Pakistan launched its nuclear weapons program, a few weeks after its defeat in the Bangladesh Liberation War, as well as the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
1977 – Jimmy Carter is inaugurated the 39th President of the United States of America.
1981 – Ronald Reagan is inaugurated the 40th President of the United States of America. Twenty minutes later, Iran releases 52 American hostages.
1986 – In the United States, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.
1989 – George H. W. Bush is inaugurated the 41st President of the United States of America.
1990 – Protests in Azerbaijan, part of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union.
1991 – Sudan’s government imposes Islamic law nationwide, worsening the civil war between the country’s Muslim north and Christian south.
1992 – Air Inter Flight 148, an Airbus A320-111, crashes into a mountain near Strasbourg, France killing 87 of the 96 people on board.
1993 – Bill Clinton is inaugurated the 42nd President of the United States of America.
2001 – George W. Bush is inaugurated the 43rd President of the United States of America.
2001 – President of the Philippines Joseph Estrada is ousted in a nonviolent 4-day revolution, and is succeeded by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
2009 – Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America, becoming the first African-American President of the United States.
2009 – A protest movement in Iceland culminates as the 2009 Icelandic financial crisis protests start.
2017 – Donald Trump is inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States of America, becoming the oldest person to assume the office.
2018 – A group of four or five gunmen attack The Inter-Continental Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, sparking a 12-hour battle. The attack kills 40 people and injures many others.
Births on January 20
225 – Gordian III, Roman emperor (d. 244)
1029 – Alp Arslan, Seljuk sultan (probable; d. 1072)
1292 – Elizabeth of Bohemia, queen consort of Bohemia (d. 1330)
1436 – Ashikaga Yoshimasa, Japanese shōgun (d. 1490)
1488 – John George, Marquess of Montferrat, Italian noble (d. 1533)
1488 – Sebastian Münster, German scholar, cartographer, and cosmographer (d. 1552)
1499 – Sebastian Franck, German humanist (probable; d. 1543)
1502 – Sebastian de Aparicio, Spanish-Mexican rancher and missionary (d. 1600)
1526 – Rafael Bombelli, Italian mathematician (d. 1572)
1554 – Sebastian of Portugal (d. 1578)
1569 – Heribert Rosweyde, Jesuit hagiographer (d. 1629)
1573 – Simon Marius, German astronomer and academic (d. 1624)
1586 – Johann Hermann Schein, German composer (d. 1630)
1664 – Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, Italian lawyer and jurist (d. 1718)
1703 – Joseph-Hector Fiocco, Flemish violinist and composer (d. 1741)
1716 – Jean-Jacques Barthélemy, French archaeologist and numismatist (d. 1795)
1716 – Charles III of Spain (d. 1788)
1732 – Richard Henry Lee, American lawyer and politician, President of the Continental Congress (d. 1794)
1741 – Carl Linnaeus the Younger, Swedish botanist and author (d. 1783)
1755 – Sir Albemarle Bertie, 1st Baronet, English admiral (d. 1824)
1762 – Jérôme-Joseph de Momigny, Belgian-French composer and theorist (d. 1842)
1775 – André-Marie Ampère, French physicist and mathematician (d. 1836)
1781 – Joseph Hormayr, Baron zu Hortenburg, Austrian-German historian and politician (d. 1848)
1783 – Friedrich Dotzauer, German cellist and composer (d. 1860)
1799 – Anson Jones, American physician and politician, 5th President of the Republic of Texas (d. 1858)
1804 – Eugène Sue, French author and politician (d. 1857)
1812 – Thomas Meik, Scottish engineer (d. 1896)
1814 – David Wilmot, American politician, sponsor of Wilmot Proviso (d. 1868)
1834 – George D. Robinson, American lawyer and politician, 34th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1896)
1855 – Ernest Chausson, French composer (d. 1899)
1856 – Harriot Stanton Blatch, U.S. suffragist and organizer (d. 1940)
1865 – Yvette Guilbert, French singer and actress (d. 1944)
1870 – Guillaume Lekeu, Belgian pianist and composer (d. 1894)
1873 – Johannes V. Jensen, Danish author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1950)
1874 – Steve Bloomer, English footballer and coach (d. 1938)
1876 – Josef Hofmann, Polish-American pianist and composer (d. 1957)
1878 – Finlay Currie, Scottish-English actor (d. 1968)
1879 – Ruth St. Denis, American dancer and educator (d. 1968)
1880 – Walter W. Bacon, American accountant and politician, 60th Governor of Delaware (d. 1962)
1882 – Johnny Torrio, Italian-American mob boss (d. 1957)
1883 – Enoch L. Johnson, American mob boss (d. 1968)
1883 – Forrest Wilson, American journalist and author (d. 1942)
1888 – Lead Belly, American folk/blues musician and songwriter (d. 1949)
1889 – Allan Haines Loughead, American engineer and businessman, founded the Alco Hydro-Aeroplane Company (d. 1969)
1891 – Mischa Elman, Ukrainian-American violinist (d. 1967)
1893 – Georg Åberg, Swedish triple jumper (d. 1946)
1894 – Harold Gray, American cartoonist, created Little Orphan Annie (d. 1968)
1894 – Walter Piston, American composer, theorist, and academic (d. 1976)
1895 – Gábor Szegő, Hungarian mathematician and academic (d. 1985)
1896 – George Burns, American actor, comedian, and producer (d. 1996)
1898 – U Razak, Burmese educator and politician (d. 1947)
1899 – Clarice Cliff, English potter (d. 1972)
1899 – Kenjiro Takayanagi, Japanese engineer (d. 1990)
1900 – Dorothy Annan, English painter, potter, and muralist (d. 1983)
1900 – Colin Clive, English actor (d. 1937)
1902 – Leon Ames, American actor (d. 1993)
1902 – Kevin Barry, Irish Republican Army volunteer (d. 1920)
1906 – Aristotle Onassis, Greek shipping magnate (d. 1975)
1907 – Paula Wessely, Austrian actress and producer (d. 2000)
1908 – Fleur Cowles, American author and illustrator (d. 2009)
1909 – Gōgen Yamaguchi, Japanese martial artist (d. 1989)
1910 – Joy Adamson, Austria-born Kenyan painter and author (d. 1980)
1913 – W. Cleon Skousen, American author and academic (d. 2006)
1915 – Ghulam Ishaq Khan, Pakistani businessman and politician, 7th President of Pakistan (d. 2006)
1918 – Juan García Esquivel, Mexican pianist, composer, and bandleader (d. 2002)
1918 – Nevin Scrimshaw, American scientist (d. 2013)
1920 – Federico Fellini, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 1993)
1920 – DeForest Kelley, American actor (d. 1999)
1920 – Thorleif Schjelderup, Norwegian ski jumper and author (d. 2006)
1921 – Telmo Zarra, Spanish footballer (d. 2006)
1922 – Ray Anthony, American trumpet player, composer, bandleader, and actor
1922 – Don Mankiewicz, American author and screenwriter (d. 2015)
1923 – Slim Whitman, American country and western singer-songwriter and musician (d. 2013)
1924 – Yvonne Loriod, French pianist and composer (d. 2010)
1925 – Jamiluddin Aali, Pakistani poet, playwright, and critic (d. 2015)
1925 – Ernesto Cardenal, Nicaraguan priest, poet, and politician (d. 2020)
1926 – Patricia Neal, American actress (d. 2010)
1926 – David Tudor, American pianist and composer (d. 1996)
1927 – Qurratulain Hyder, Indian-Pakistani journalist and academic (d. 2007)
1928 – Antonio de Almeida, French conductor and musicologist (d. 1997)
1929 – Arte Johnson, American actor and comedian (d. 2019)
1929 – Masaharu Kawakatsu, Japanese biologist
1929 – Fireball Roberts, American race car driver (d. 1964)
1930 – Buzz Aldrin, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
1931 – David Lee, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1931 – Hachidai Nakamura, Japanese pianist and composer (d. 1992)
1932 – Lou Fontinato, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2016)
1934 – Hennie Aucamp, South African poet, author, and academic (d. 2014)
1934 – Tom Baker, English actor
1935 – Dorothy Provine, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2010)
1937 – Bailey Howell, American basketball player
1938 – Derek Dougan, Irish-English footballer and journalist (d. 2007)
1939 – Paul Coverdell, American captain and politician (d. 2000)
1939 – Chandra Wickramasinghe, Sri Lankan-English mathematician, astronomer, and biologist
1940 – Carol Heiss, American figure skater and actress
1940 – Krishnam Raju, Indian actor and politician
1940 – Mandé Sidibé, Malian economist and politician, Prime Minister of Mali (d. 2009)
1942 – Linda Moulton Howe, American journalist and producer
1944 – José Luis Garci, Spanish director and producer
1944 – Farhad Mehrad, Iranian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2002)
1944 – Pat Parker, African American poet
1945 – Christopher Martin-Jenkins, English journalist and sportscaster (d. 2013)
1945 – Eric Stewart, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1946 – David Lynch, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1946 – Vladimír Merta, Czech singer-songwriter, guitarist, and journalist
1947 – Cyrille Guimard, French cyclist and sportscaster
1948 – Nancy Kress, American author and academic
1948 – Natan Sharansky, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Israel
1949 – Göran Persson, Swedish lawyer and politician, 31st Prime Minister of Sweden
1950 – Daniel Benzali, Brazilian-American actor
1950 – William Mgimwa, Tanzanian banker and politician, 13th Tanzanian Minister of Finance (d. 2014)
1950 – Mahamane Ousmane, Nigerien politician, President of Niger
1951 – Iván Fischer, Hungarian conductor and composer
1952 – Nikos Sideris, Greek psychiatrist and poet
1952 – Paul Stanley, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1952 – John Witherow, South African-English journalist and author
1953 – Jeffrey Epstein, American financier and convicted sex offender (d. 2019)
1954 – Alison Seabeck, English lawyer and politician
1955 – McKeeva Bush, Caymanian politician, Premier of the Cayman Islands
1956 – Maria Larsson, Swedish educator and politician, Swedish Minister of Health and Social Affairs
1956 – Bill Maher, American comedian, political commentator, media critic, television host, and producer
1956 – John Naber, American swimmer
1957 – Andy Sheppard, English saxophonist and composer
1958 – Lorenzo Lamas, American actor, director, and producer
1959 – Tami Hoag, American author
1959 – R. A. Salvatore, American author
1960 – Apa Sherpa, Nepalese-American mountaineer
1960 – Scott Thunes, American bass player
1960 – Will Wright, American video game designer, co-founded Maxis
1963 – James Denton, American actor
1963 – Mark Ryden, American painter and illustrator
1964 – Ozzie Guillén, Venezuelan-American baseball player and manager
1964 – Ron Harper, American basketball player and coach
1964 – Jack Lewis, American soldier and author
1964 – Kazushige Nojima, Japanese screenwriter and songwriter
1964 – Aquilino Pimentel III, Filipino lawyer and politician
1964 – Fareed Zakaria, Indian-American journalist and author
1965 – Colin Calderwood, Scottish footballer defender and manager
1965 – Sophie, Countess of Wessex
1965 – Warren Joyce, English footballer and manager
1965 – John Michael Montgomery, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1965 – Anton Weissenbacher, Romanian footballer
1966 – Rainn Wilson, American actor
1967 – Stacey Dash, American actress and television journalist
1967 – Kellyanne Conway, American political strategist and pundit
1968 – Nick Anderson, American basketball player and sportscaster
1968 – Junior Murray, Grenadian cricketer
1969 – Patrick K. Kroupa, American computer hacker and activist, co-founded MindVox
1969 – Nicky Wire, Welsh singer-songwriter and bass player
1970 – Edwin McCain, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1970 – Skeet Ulrich, American actor
1971 – Derrick Green, American singer
1971 – Gary Barlow, English singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
1971 – Ger McDonnell, Irish mountaineer and engineer (d. 2008)
1971 – Jung Woong-in, South Korean actor
1971 – Questlove, American drummer, DJ, and producer
1971 – Wakanohana Masaru, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 66th Yokozuna
1972 – Nikki Haley, American accountant and politician, 116th Governor of South Carolina
1973 – Stephen Crabb, Scottish-Welsh politician, Secretary of State for Wales
1973 – Queen Mathilde of Belgium
1974 – David Dei, Italian footballer and coach
1975 – Norberto Fontana, Argentinian racing driver
1975 – Zac Goldsmith, English journalist and politician
1976 – Kirsty Gallacher, Scottish journalist and sportscaster
1976 – Michael Myers, American football player
1976 – Gretha Smit, Dutch speed skater
1977 – Paul Adams, South African cricketer and coach
1978 – Salvatore Aronica, Italian footballer
1978 – Sonja Kesselschläger, German heptathlete
1978 – Allan Søgaard, Danish footballer
1979 – Choo Ja-hyun, South Korean actress
1979 – Will Young, English singer-songwriter and actor
1980 – Karl Anderson, American wrestler
1980 – Philippe Cousteau, Jr., American-French oceanographer and journalist
1980 – Philippe Gagnon, Canadian swimmer
1980 – Kim Jeong-hoon, South Korean singer and actor
1980 – Petra Rampre, Slovenian tennis player
1980 – Matthew Tuck, Welsh singer-songwriter and guitarist
1981 – Freddy Guzmán, Dominican baseball player
1981 – Owen Hargreaves, English footballer
1981 – Jason Richardson, American basketball player
1982 – Ruchi Sanghvi, Indian computer engineer
1982 – Fredrik Strømstad, Norwegian footballer
1983 – Geovany Soto, Puerto Rican-American baseball player
1983 – Mari Yaguchi, Japanese singer and actress
1984 – Malek Jaziri, Tunisian tennis player
1985 – Marina Inoue, Japanese voice actress and singer
1985 – Tanel Sokk, Estonian basketball player
1987 – Janin Lindenberg, German sprinter
1987 – Marco Simoncelli, Italian motorcycle racer (d. 2011)
1988 – Uwa Elderson Echiéjilé, Nigerian footballer
1988 – Jeffrén Suárez, Spanish footballer
1989 – Nick Foles, American football player
1989 – Washington Santana da Silva, Brazilian footballer
1989 – Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, New Zealand rugby league player
1990 – Ray Thompson, Australian rugby league player
1991 – Ciara Hanna, American actress and model
1991 – Tom Cairney, Scottish footballer, midfielder
1991 – Polona Hercog, Slovenian tennis player
1991 – Jolyon Palmer, English racing driver
1992 – Jorge Zárate, Mexican footballer
1993 – Lorenzo Crisetig, Italian footballer
1994 – Seán Kavanagh, Irish footballer, defender
1994 – Lucas Piazon, Brazilian footballer
1995 – Joey Badass, American rapper and actor
1995 – Calum Chambers, English footballer, defender
Deaths on January 20
820 – Al-Shafi‘i, Arab scholar and jurist (b. 767)
842 – Theophilos, Byzantine emperor (b. 813)
882 – Louis the Younger, king of the East Frankish Kingdom
924 – Li Jitao, Chinese general of Later Tang
928 – Zhao Guangfeng, Chinese official and chancellor
1029 – Heonae, Korean queen and regent (b. 964)
1095 – Wulfstan, bishop of Worcester
1156 – Henry, English bishop and saint
1189 – Shi Zong, Chinese emperor of Jin (b. 1123)
1191 – Frederick VI, duke of Swabia (b. 1167)
1191 – Theobald V, count of Blois (b. 1130)
1265 – John Maunsell, English Lord Chancellor
1336 – John de Bohun, 5th Earl of Hereford (b. 1306)
1343 – Robert, king of Naples (b. 1275)
1479 – John II, king of Sicily (b. 1398)
1568 – Myles Coverdale, English bishop and translator (b. 1488)
1612 – Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1552)
1663 – Isaac Ambrose, English minister and author (b. 1604)
1666 – Anne of Austria, Queen and regent of France (b. 1601)
1707 – Humphrey Hody, English scholar and theologian (b. 1659)
1709 – François de la Chaise, French priest (b. 1624)
1751 – John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol, English politician (b. 1665)
1770 – Charles Yorke, English lawyer and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1722)
1779 – David Garrick, English actor, producer, playwright, and manager (b. 1717)
1810 – Benjamin Chew, American lawyer and judge (b. 1721)
1819 – Charles IV, Spanish king (b. 1748)
1837 – John Soane, English architect, designed the Bank of England (b. 1753)
1841 – Jørgen Jørgensen, Danish explorer (b. 1780)
1841 – Minh Mạng, Vietnamese emperor (b. 1791)
1848 – Christian VIII, Danish king (b. 1786)
1850 – Adam Oehlenschläger, Danish poet and playwright (b. 1779)
1852 – Ōnomatsu Midorinosuke, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 6th Yokozuna (b. 1794)
1873 – Basil Moreau, French priest, founded the Congregation of Holy Cross (b. 1799)
1875 – Jean-François Millet, French painter and educator (b. 1814)
1891 – Kalākaua, king of Hawaii (b. 1836)
1900 – John Ruskin, English painter and critic (b. 1819)
1901 – Zénobe Gramme, Belgian engineer, invented the Gramme machine (b. 1826)
1907 – Agnes Mary Clerke, Irish astronomer and author (b. 1842)
1908 – John Ordronaux, American surgeon and academic (b. 1830)
1913 – José Guadalupe Posada, Mexican engraver and illustrator (b. 1852)
1915 – Arthur Guinness, 1st Baron Ardilaun, Irish businessman, philanthropist, and politician (b. 1840)
1920 – Georg Lurich, Estonian-Russian wrestler and strongman (b. 1876)
1921 – Mary Watson Whitney, American astronomer and academic (b. 1847)
1924 – Henry “Ivo” Crapp, Australian footballer and umpire (b. 1872)
1936 – George V of the United Kingdom (b. 1865)
1940 – Omar Bundy, American general (b. 1861)
1944 – James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist and academic (b. 1860)
1947 – Josh Gibson, American baseball player (b. 1911)
1947 – Andrew Volstead, American member of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1860)
1954 – Warren Bardsley, Australian cricketer (b. 1882)
1954 – Fred Root, English cricketer and umpire (b. 1890)
1955 – Robert P. T. Coffin, American author and poet (b. 1892)
1962 – Robinson Jeffers, American poet and philosopher (b. 1887)
1965 – Alan Freed, American radio host (b. 1922)
1971 – Broncho Billy Anderson, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1880)
1971 – Minanogawa Tōzō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 34th Yokozuna (b. 1903)
1973 – Lorenz Böhler, Austrian physician and surgeon (b. 1885)
1990 – Barbara Stanwyck, American actress (b. 1907)
1993 – Audrey Hepburn, British actress and humanitarian activist (b. 1929)
1994 – Matt Busby, Scottish footballer and coach (b. 1909)
1994 – Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, first Kenyan Vice-President (b. 1911)
1996 – Gerry Mulligan, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1927)
2002 – Carrie Hamilton, American actress and singer (b. 1963)
2003 – Al Hirschfeld, American painter and illustrator (b. 1903)
2003 – Nedra Volz, American actress (b. 1908)
2004 – Alan Brown, English racing driver (b. 1919)
2004 – T. Nadaraja, Sri Lankan lawyer and academic (b. 1917)
2005 – Per Borten, Norwegian lawyer and politician, 18th Prime Minister of Norway (b. 1913)
2005 – Jan Nowak-Jeziorański, Polish journalist and politician (b. 1913)
2005 – Miriam Rothschild, English zoologist, entomologist, and author (b. 1908)
2009 – Stéphanos II Ghattas, Egyptian patriarch (b. 1920)
2012 – Etta James, American singer-songwriter (b. 1938)
2012 – John Levy, American bassist and manager (b. 1912)
2012 – Ioannis Kefalogiannis, Greek politician, Greek Minister of the Interior (b. 1933)
2012 – Alejandro Rodriguez, Venezuelan-American pediatrician and psychiatrist (b. 1918)
2013 – Pavlos Matesis, Greek author and playwright (b. 1933)
2013 – Toyo Shibata, Japanese poet and author (b. 1911)
2014 – Claudio Abbado, Italian conductor (b. 1933)
2014 – Otis G. Pike, American judge and politician (b. 1921)
2014 – Jonas Trinkūnas, Lithuanian ethnologist and academic (b. 1939)
2015 – Edgar Froese, Russian-German keyboard player and songwriter (b. 1944)
2016 – Mykolas Burokevičius, Lithuanian carpenter and politician (b. 1927)
2016 – Edmonde Charles-Roux, French journalist and author (b. 1920)
2018 – Paul Bocuse, French chef (b. 1926)
2018 – Naomi Parker Fraley, American naval machiner (b. 1921)
2020 – Jaroslav Kubera, Czech politician (b. 1947)
2020 – Tom Fisher Railsback, American politician, member of the Illinois and U.S. House of Representatives
Holidays and observances on January 20
Armed Forces Day (Mali)
Army Day (Laos)
Christian feast day:
Abadios
Blessed Basil Moreau
Eustochia Smeralda Calafato
Euthymius the Great
Fabian
Manchán of Lemanaghan
Maria Cristina of the Immaculate Conception Brando
Richard Rolle (Church of England)
Sebastian
Stephen Min Kuk-ka (one of The Korean Martyrs)
January 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Heroes’ Day (Cape Verde)
Inauguration Day, held every four years in odd-numbered years immediately following years divisible by 4, except for the public ceremony when January 20 falls on Sunday (the public ceremony is held the following day; however, the terms of offices still begin on the 20th) (United States of America, not a federal holiday for all government employees but only for those working in the Capital region)
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
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)
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
