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  • April 22 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 238 – Year of the Six Emperors: The Roman Senate outlaws emperor Maximinus Thrax for his bloodthirsty proscriptions in Rome and nominates two of its members, Pupienus and Balbinus, to the throne.
    • 1500 – Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral lands in Brazil.
    • 1519 – Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés establishes a settlement at Veracruz, Mexico.
    • 1529 – Treaty of Zaragoza divides the eastern hemisphere between Spain and Portugal along a line 297.5 leagues (1,250 kilometres (780 mi)) east of the Moluccas.
    • 1622 – The Capture of Ormuz by the East India Company ends Portuguese control of Hormuz Island.
    • 1809 – The second day of the Battle of Eckmühl: The Austrian army is defeated by the First French Empire army led by Napoleon and driven over the Danube in Regensburg.
    • 1836 – Texas Revolution: A day after the Battle of San Jacinto, forces under Texas General Sam Houston identify Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna among the captives of the battle when some of his fellow soldiers mistakenly give away his identity.
    • 1864 – The U.S. Congress passes the Coinage Act of 1864 that mandates that the inscription In God We Trust be placed on all coins minted as United States currency.
    • 1876 – The first game in the history of the National League was played at the Jefferson Street Grounds in Philadelphia. This game is often pointed to as the beginning of Major League Baseball.
    • 1889 – At noon, thousands rush to claim land in the Land Rush of 1889. Within hours the cities of Oklahoma City and Guthrie are formed with populations of at least 10,000.
    • 1898 – Spanish–American War: The USS Nashville captures a Spanish merchant ship.
    • 1906 – The 1906 Intercalated Games, now recognized as part of the official Olympic Games, open in Athens.
    • 1915 – The use of poison gas in World War I escalates when chlorine gas is released as a chemical weapon in the Second Battle of Ypres.
    • 1930 – The United Kingdom, Japan and the United States sign the London Naval Treaty regulating submarine warfare and limiting shipbuilding.
    • 1944 – The 1st Air Commando Group using Sikorsky R-4 helicopters stage the first use of helicopters in combat with combat search and rescue operations in the China Burma India Theater.
    • 1944 – World War II: Operation Persecution is initiated: Allied forces land in the Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura) area of New Guinea.
    • 1944 – World War II: In Greenland, the Allied Sledge Patrol attack the German Bassgeiger weather station.
    • 1945 – World War II: Prisoners at the Jasenovac concentration camp revolt. Five hundred twenty are killed and around eighty escape.
    • 1948 – Arab–Israeli War: The port city of Haifa is captured by Jewish forces.
    • 1951 – Korean War: The Chinese People’s Volunteer Army begin assaulting positions defended by the Royal Australian Regiment and the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry at the Battle of Kapyong.
    • 1954 – Red Scare: Witnesses begin testifying and live television coverage of the Army–McCarthy hearings begins.
    • 1969 – British yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston wins the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race and completes the first solo non-stop circumnavigation of the world.
    • 1969 – The formation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) is announced at a mass rally in Calcutta.
    • 1970 – The first Earth Day is celebrated.
    • 1972 – Increased American bombing in Vietnam prompts anti-war protests in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco.
    • 1977 – Optical fiber is first used to carry live telephone traffic.
    • 1983 – The German magazine Stern claims the “Hitler Diaries” had been found in wreckage in East Germany; the diaries are subsequently revealed to be forgeries.
    • 1992 – In a series of explosions in Guadalajara, Mexico, 206 people are killed, nearly 500 injured and 15,000 left homeless.
    • 1993 – Eighteen-year-old Stephen Lawrence is murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus in Well Hall, Eltham.
    • 1997 – Haouch Khemisti massacre in Algeria where 93 villagers are killed.
    • 2000 – In a pre-dawn raid, federal agents seize six-year-old Elián González from his relatives’ home in Miami.
    • 2004 – Two fuel trains collide in Ryongchon, North Korea, killing up to 150 people.
    • 2005 – Japan’s Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi apologizes for Japan’s war record.
    • 2008 – The United States Air Force retires the remaining F-117 Nighthawk aircraft in service.
    • 2013 – The Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrest and charge two men with plotting to disrupt a Toronto area train service in a plot claimed to be backed by Al-Qaeda elements.
    • 2014 – More than 60 people are killed and 80 are seriously injured in a train crash in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Katanga Province.
    • 2016 – The Paris Agreement is signed, an agreement to help fight global warming.
    • 2019 – The 2019 Luzon earthquake kills at least 18 people in the Philippines.

    Births on April 22

    • 1412 – Reinhard III, Count of Hanau (1451–1452) (d. 1452)
    • 1444 – Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk (d. 1503)
    • 1451 – Isabella I of Castile (d. 1504)
    • 1518 – Antoine of Navarre (d. 1562)
    • 1592 – Wilhelm Schickard, German astronomer and mathematician (d. 1635)
    • 1610 – Pope Alexander VIII (d. 1691)
    • 1658 – Giuseppe Torelli, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1709)
    • 1690 – John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, English politician, Lord President of the Council (d. 1763)
    • 1707 – Henry Fielding, English novelist and playwright (d. 1754)
    • 1711 – Paul II Anton, Prince Esterházy, Austrian soldier (d. 1762)
    • 1724 – Immanuel Kant, German anthropologist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1804)
    • 1732 – John Johnson, English architect and surveyor (d. 1814)
    • 1744 – James Sullivan, American lawyer and politician, 7th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1808)
    • 1757 – Alessandro Rolla, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1841)
    • 1766 – Germaine de Staël, French author and political philosopher (d. 1817)
    • 1812 – Solomon Caesar Malan, Swiss-English orientalist (d. 1894)
    • 1816 – Charles-Denis Bourbaki, French general (d. 1897)
    • 1830 – Emily Davies, British suffragist and educator, co-founder and an early Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge University
    • 1832 – Julius Sterling Morton, American journalist and politician, 3rd United States Secretary of Agriculture (d. 1902)
    • 1844 – Lewis Powell, American soldier, attempted assassin of William H. Seward (d. 1865)
    • 1852 – William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (d. 1912)
    • 1858 – Ethel Smyth, English composer (d. 1944)
    • 1854 – Henri La Fontaine, Belgian lawyer and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1943)
    • 1860 – Ada Rehan, Irish-American actress (d. 1916)
    • 1870 – Vladimir Lenin, Russian revolutionary and founder of Soviet Russia (d. 1924)
    • 1872 – Princess Margaret of Prussia (d. 1954)
    • 1873 – Ellen Glasgow, American author (d. 1945)
    • 1876 – Róbert Bárány, Austrian-Swedish otologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1936)
    • 1876 – Georg Lurich, Estonian wrestler and strongman (d. 1920)
    • 1879 – Bernhard Gregory, Estonian-German chess player (d. 1939)
    • 1884 – Otto Rank, Austrian-American psychologist and academic (d. 1939)
    • 1886 – Izidor Cankar, Slovenian historian, author, and diplomat (d. 1958)
    • 1889 – Richard Glücks, German SS officer (d. 1945)
    • 1891 – Laura Gilpin, American photographer (d. 1979)
    • 1891 – Vittorio Jano, Italian engineer (d. 1965)
    • 1891 – Harold Jeffreys, English mathematician, geophysicist, and astronomer (d. 1989)
    • 1891 – Nicola Sacco, Italian-American anarchist (d. 1927)
    • 1892 – Vernon Johns, African-American minister and activist (d. 1965)
    • 1899 – Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-born novelist and critic (d. 1977)
    • 1900 – Nellie Beer, British politician, Lord Mayor of Manchester from 1966–67 (d. 1988)
    • 1904 – J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist and academic (d. 1967)
    • 1905 – Robert Choquette, American-Canadian author, poet, and diplomat (d. 1991)
    • 1906 – Eric Fenby, English composer and educator (d. 1997)
    • 1906 – Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten (d. 1947)
    • 1908 – Ivan Yefremov, Russian paleontologist and author (d. 1972)
    • 1909 – Rita Levi-Montalcini, Sephardic Jewish-Italian neurologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012)
    • 1909 – Indro Montanelli, Italian journalist and historian (d. 2001)
    • 1909 – Spyros Markezinis, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2000)
    • 1910 – Norman Steenrod, American mathematician and academic (d. 1971)
    • 1912 – Kathleen Ferrier, English operatic singer (d. 1953)
    • 1912 – Kaneto Shindo, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
    • 1914 – Baldev Raj Chopra, Indian director and producer (d. 2008)
    • 1914 – Jan de Hartog, Dutch-American author and playwright (d. 2002)
    • 1914 – José Quiñones Gonzales, Peruvian soldier and pilot (d. 1941)
    • 1914 – Michael Wittmann, German SS officer (d. 1944)
    • 1916 – Hanfried Lenz, German mathematician and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1916 – Yehudi Menuhin, American-Swiss violinist and conductor (d. 1999)
    • 1917 – Yvette Chauviré, French ballerina (d. 2016)
    • 1917 – Sidney Nolan, Australian painter (d. 1992)
    • 1918 – William Jay Smith, American poet and academic (d. 2015)
    • 1918 – Mickey Vernon, American baseball player and coach (d. 2008)
    • 1919 – Donald J. Cram, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2001)
    • 1919 – Carl Lindner, Jr., American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2011)
    • 1922 – Richard Diebenkorn, American soldier and painter (d. 1993)
    • 1922 – Charles Mingus, American bassist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1979)
    • 1922 – Wolf V. Vishniac, American microbiologist and academic (d. 1973)
    • 1923 – Peter Kane Dufault, American soldier, pilot, and poet (d. 2013)
    • 1923 – Bettie Page, American model and actress (d. 2008)
    • 1923 – Aaron Spelling, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2006)
    • 1924 – Nam Duck-woo, South Korean politician, 12th Prime Minister of South Korea (d. 2013)
    • 1926 – Charlotte Rae, American actress and singer (d. 2018)
    • 1926 – James Stirling, Scottish architect, designed the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart and Seeley Historical Library (d. 1992)
    • 1927 – Laurel Aitken, Cuban-Jamaican singer (d. 2005)
    • 1929 – Michael Atiyah, English-Lebanese mathematician and academic (d. 2019)
    • 1929 – Robert Wade-Gery, English diplomat, British High Commissioner to India (d. 2015)
    • 1930 – Enno Penno, Estonian politician, Prime Minister of Estonia in exile (d. 2016)
    • 1931 – John Buchanan, Canadian lawyer and politician, 20th Premier of Nova Scotia (d. 2019)
    • 1931 – Ronald Hynd, English dancer and choreographer
    • 1933 – Anthony Llewellyn, Welsh-American chemist and astronaut (d. 2013)
    • 1935 – Christopher Ball, English linguist and academic
    • 1935 – Paul Chambers, African-American bassist and composer (d. 1969)
    • 1935 – Bhama Srinivasan, Indian-American mathematician and academic
    • 1936 – Glen Campbell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2017)
    • 1936 – Pierre Hétu, Canadian pianist and conductor (d. 1998)
    • 1937 – Jack Nicholson, American actor and producer
    • 1937 – Jack Nitzsche, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and conductor (d. 2000)
    • 1938 – Alan Bond, English-Australian businessman (d. 2015)
    • 1938 – Gani Fawehinmi, Nigerian lawyer and activist (d. 2009)
    • 1938 – Issey Miyake, Japanese fashion designer
    • 1938 – Adam Raphael, English journalist and author
    • 1939 – Mel Carter, American singer and actor
    • 1939 – John Foley, English general and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey
    • 1939 – Ray Guy, Canadian journalist and author (d. 2013)
    • 1939 – Jason Miller, American actor and playwright (d. 2001)
    • 1939 – Theodor Waigel, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of Finance
    • 1941 – Greville Howard, Baron Howard of Rising, English politician
    • 1942 – Giorgio Agamben, Italian philosopher and academic
    • 1942 – Mary Prior, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Bristol
    • 1943 – Keith Crisco, American businessman and politician (d. 2014)
    • 1943 – Janet Evanovich, American author
    • 1943 – Louise Glück, American poet
    • 1943 – John Maples, Baron Maples, English lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence (d. 2012)
    • 1943 – Scott W. Williams, American mathematician and professor
    • 1944 – Steve Fossett, American businessman, pilot, and sailor (d. 2007)
    • 1944 – Doug Jarrett, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2014)
    • 1944 – Joshua Rifkin, American conductor and musicologist
    • 1945 – Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Indian civil servant and politician, 22nd Governor of West Bengal
    • 1945 – Demetrio Stratos, Egyptian-Italian singer-songwriter (d. 1979)
    • 1946 – Steven L. Bennett, American captain and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1972)
    • 1946 – Paul Davies, English physicist and author
    • 1946 – Louise Harel, Canadian lawyer and politician
    • 1946 – Archy Kirkwood, Baron Kirkwood of Kirkhope, Scottish lawyer and politician
    • 1946 – Nicholas Stern, Baron Stern of Brentford, English economist and academic
    • 1946 – John Waters, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1948 – John Pritchard, English bishop
    • 1949 – Spencer Haywood, American basketball player
    • 1950 – Peter Frampton, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1950 – Jancis Robinson, English journalist and critic
    • 1951 – Paul Carrack, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1951 – Aivars Kalējs, Latvian organist, composer, and pianist
    • 1951 – Ana María Shua, Argentinian author and poet
    • 1952 – François Berléand, French actor
    • 1952 – Dave Loveridge, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1952 – Phil Smith, American basketball player (d. 2002)
    • 1953 – Valeri Bondarenko, Estonian footballer and coach
    • 1953 – Richard Broadbent, English businessman
    • 1955 – David Collier, English businessman
    • 1957 – Donald Tusk, Polish journalist and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Poland
    • 1959 – Keith Boanas, English footballer and manager
    • 1959 – Terry Francona, American baseball player, coach, and manager
    • 1959 – Catherine Mary Stewart, Canadian actress
    • 1959 – Ryan Stiles, American-Canadian actor and producer
    • 1960 – Lloyd Honeyghan, Jamaican-English boxer
    • 1960 – Mart Laar, Estonian historian and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Estonia
    • 1960 – Randall L. Stephenson, American businessman
    • 1961 – Alo Mattiisen, Estonian composer (d. 1996)
    • 1961 – Ann McKechin, Scottish lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
    • 1961 – Dewey Nicks, American photographer and director
    • 1962 – Danièle Sauvageau, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1963 – Rosalind Gill, English sociologist and academic
    • 1963 – Magnús Ver Magnússon, Icelandic weightlifter and strongman
    • 1964 – Paul Baxter, English footballer
    • 1965 – Miguel Leal, Portuguese footballer and manager
    • 1965 – Peter Zezel, Canadian ice hockey and soccer player (d. 2009)
    • 1966 – Mickey Morandini, American baseball player and manager
    • 1966 – Jeffrey Dean Morgan, American actor
    • 1967 – David J. C. MacKay, English physicist, engineer, and academic
    • 1967 – Sherri Shepherd, American actress and talk show panelist
    • 1967 – Harvey Williams, American football player
    • 1968 – Jo Angel, Australian cricketer
    • 1968 – Bimbo Coles, American basketball player and coach
    • 1968 – Zarley Zalapski, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1969 – Dion Dublin, English footballer and sportscaster
    • 1970 – Erkki Bahovski, Estonian journalist
    • 1971 – Eric Mabius, American actor
    • 1971 – Spencer Prior, English footballer
    • 1972 – Sabine Appelmans, Belgian tennis player
    • 1972 – Owen Finegan, Australian rugby player and coach
    • 1972 – Milka Duno, Venezuelan race car driver and engineer
    • 1972 – Sergei Hohlov-Simson, Estonian footballer and manager
    • 1972 – Willie Robertson, American hunter and businessman
    • 1973 – Adem Poric, English-Australian footballer
    • 1973 – Ofer Talker, Israeli footballer and manager
    • 1974 – Shavo Odadjian, Armenian-American bass player, songwriter, and producer
    • 1975 – Greg Moore, Canadian race car driver (d. 1999)
    • 1975 – Carlos Sastre, Spanish cyclist
    • 1975 – Anders Nyström, Swedish guitarist and songwriter
    • 1976 – Dan Cloutier, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1976 – Paul Henderson, Australian footballer
    • 1976 – Michał Żewłakow, Polish footballer
    • 1977 – Mark van Bommel, Dutch footballer
    • 1978 – Paul Malakwen Kosgei, Kenyan runner and coach
    • 1978 – David Masters, English cricketer
    • 1978 – Matt Orford, Australian rugby league player
    • 1978 – Jason Stollsteimer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1978 – Esteban Tuero, Argentinian race car driver
    • 1979 – Zoltán Gera, Hungarian international footballer and manager
    • 1979 – Daniel Johns, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1980 – Igor Budan, Croatian footballer
    • 1980 – Clarke Dermody, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1980 – Nicolas Douchez, French footballer
    • 1980 – Courtney Friel, American journalist
    • 1980 – Carlos Hernández, Venezuelan baseball player
    • 1980 – Quincy Timberlake, Kenyan-Australian activist, engineer, and politician
    • 1980 – Rutledge Wood, American racing analyst and television personality
    • 1981 – Madis Kallas, Estonian decathlete and activist
    • 1981 – Rafael Sperafico, Brazilian race car driver (d. 2007)
    • 1981 – Jonathan Trott, South African-English cricketer
    • 1982 – Kaká, Brazilian footballer
    • 1982 – Cassidy Freeman, American actress and musician
    • 1982 – Joel Monaghan, Australian rugby league player
    • 1982 – David Purcey, American baseball player
    • 1982 – Aidas Reklys, Lithuanian figure skater
    • 1982 – Aleksander Saharov, Estonian footballer
    • 1982 – Noriko Shitaya, Japanese voice actress
    • 1983 – Remi Ayodele, American football player
    • 1983 – Sam W. Heads, English-American entomologist and palaeontologist
    • 1983 – Jos Hooiveld, Dutch footballer
    • 1983 – Matt Jones, American football player
    • 1983 – Vangelis Mantzios, Greek footballer
    • 1984 – Amelle Berrabah, English singer-songwriter
    • 1985 – Kristin Fairlie, Canadian actress
    • 1986 – Amber Heard, American actress and producer
    • 1986 – Marshawn Lynch, American football player
    • 1986 – Dušan Šakota, Serbian-Greek basketball player
    • 1987 – David Luiz, Brazilian footballer
    • 1987 – David Mateos, Spanish footballer
    • 1988 – Dee Gordon, American baseball player
    • 1989 – DeJuan Blair, American basketball player
    • 1989 – Jasper Cillessen, Dutch footballer
    • 1989 – Aron Gunnarsson, Icelandic footballer
    • 1990 – Óscar González, Mexican boxer (d. 2014)
    • 1990 – Machine Gun Kelly, American rapper and actor
    • 1991 – Jordi Murphy, Irish international rugby player
    • 1991 – Braydon Smith, Australian boxer (d. 2015)
    • 1992 – Kenny Stills, American football player
    • 1992 – Joonas Vaino, Estonian basketball player
    • 1993 – Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, Australian footballer
    • 1993 – Ngani Laumape, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1993 – Marcel Ritzmaier, Austrian footballer

    Deaths on April 22

    • 296 – Pope Caius
    • 536 – Pope Agapetus I
    • 591 – Peter III of Raqqa
    • 613 – Saint Theodore of Sykeon
    • 846 – Wuzong, Chinese emperor (b. 814)
    • 1208 – Philip of Poitou, Prince-Bishop of Durham
    • 1322 – Francis of Fabriano, Italian writer (b. 1251)
    • 1355 – Eleanor of Woodstock, countess regent of Guelders, eldest daughter of King Edward II of England (b. 1318)
    • 1585 – Henry of Saxe-Lauenburg, Prince-Archbishop of Bremen, Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück and Paderborn (b. 1550)
    • 1616 – Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1547)
    • 1672 – Georg Stiernhielm, Swedish linguist and poet (b. 1598)
    • 1699 – Hans Erasmus Aßmann, German poet (b. 1646)
    • 1758 – Antoine de Jussieu, French botanist and physician (b. 1686)
    • 1778 – James Hargreaves, British inventor (b. 1720)
    • 1806 – Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, French admiral (b. 1763)
    • 1821 – Gregory V of Constantinople, Greek patriarch and saint (b. 1746)
    • 1833 – Richard Trevithick, English engineer and explorer (b. 1771)
    • 1850 – Friedrich Robert Faehlmann, Estonian philologist and physician (b. 1798)
    • 1854 – Nicolás Bravo, Mexican general and politician, 11th President of Mexico (b. 1786)
    • 1871 – Martín Carrera, Mexican general and president (1855) (b. 1806)
    • 1877 – James P. Kirkwood, Scottish-American engineer (b. 1807)
    • 1892 – Édouard Lalo, French violinist and composer (b. 1823)
    • 1893 – Chaim Aronson, Lithuanian businessman and author (b. 1825)
    • 1894 – Kostas Krystallis, Greek author and poet (b. 1868)
    • 1896 – Thomas Meik, English engineer, founded Halcrow Group (b. 1812)
    • 1908 – Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Scottish-English merchant and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1836)
    • 1925 – André Caplet, French composer and conductor (b. 1878)
    • 1929 – Henry Lerolle, French painter and art collector (b. 1848)
    • 1932 – Ferenc Oslay, Hungarian-Slovene historian and author (b. 1883)
    • 1933 – Henry Royce, English engineer and businessman, co-founded Rolls-Royce Limited (b. 1863)
    • 1944 – Nikolaos Roussen, Greek captain (b. 1913)
    • 1945 – Wilhelm Cauer, German mathematician and academic (b. 1900)
    • 1945 – Käthe Kollwitz, German painter and sculptor (b. 1867)
    • 1946 – Lionel Atwill, English-American actor (b. 1885)
    • 1946 – Harlan F. Stone, American lawyer and jurist, 12th Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1872)
    • 1949 – Charles Middleton, American actor (b. 1874)
    • 1950 – Charles Hamilton Houston, American lawyer and academic (b. 1895)
    • 1951 – Horace Donisthorpe, English myrmecologist and coleopterist (b. 1870)
    • 1956 – Walt Faulkner, American race car driver (b. 1918)
    • 1968 – Stephen H. Sholes, American record producer (b. 1911)
    • 1978 – Will Geer, American actor (b. 1902)
    • 1980 – Jane Froman, American actress and singer (b. 1907)
    • 1980 – Fritz Strassmann, German chemist and physicist (b. 1902)
    • 1983 – Earl Hines, American pianist and bandleader (b. 1903)
    • 1984 – Ansel Adams, American photographer and environmentalist (b. 1902)
    • 1985 – Paul Hugh Emmett, American chemist and academic (b. 1900)
    • 1985 – Jacques Ferron, Canadian physician and author (b. 1921)
    • 1986 – Mircea Eliade, Romanian historian and author (b. 1907)
    • 1987 – Erika Nõva, Estonian architect (b. 1905)
    • 1988 – Grigori Kuzmin, Russian-Estonian astronomer and academic (b. 1917)
    • 1988 – Irene Rich, American actress (b. 1891)
    • 1989 – Emilio G. Segrè, Italian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
    • 1990 – Albert Salmi, American actor (b. 1928)
    • 1994 – Richard Nixon, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 37th President of the United States (b. 1913)
    • 1995 – Jane Kenyon, American poet and author (b. 1947)
    • 1996 – Erma Bombeck, American journalist and author (b. 1927)
    • 1996 – Jug McSpaden, American golfer and architect (b. 1908)
    • 1998 – Kitch Christie, South African rugby player and coach (b. 1940)
    • 1999 – Chan Canasta, Polish-English magician (b. 1920)
    • 1999 – Munir Ahmad Khan, Pakistani nuclear engineer (b. 1926)
    • 2002 – Linda Lovelace, American porn actress and activist (b. 1949)
    • 2003 – Felice Bryant, American songwriter (b. 1925)
    • 2003 – James H. Critchfield, American CIA officer (b. 1917)
    • 2003 – Martha Griffiths, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 58th Lieutenant Governor of Michigan (b. 1912)
    • 2003 – Mike Larrabee, American runner (b. 1933)
    • 2004 – Jason Dunham, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1981)
    • 2004 – Pat Tillman, American football player and soldier (b. 1976)
    • 2005 – Erika Fuchs, German translator (b. 1906)
    • 2005 – Philip Morrison, American physicist and academic (b. 1915)
    • 2005 – Eduardo Paolozzi, Scottish sculptor and artist (b. 1924)
    • 2006 – Henriette Avram, American computer scientist and academic (b. 1919)
    • 2006 – D’Iberville Fortier, Canadian diplomat (b. 1926)
    • 2006 – Alida Valli, Italian actress (b. 1921)
    • 2007 – Juanita Millender-McDonald, American educator and politician (b. 1938)
    • 2008 – Cameron Argetsinger, American race car driver and lawyer (b. 1921)
    • 2008 – Ed Chynoweth, Canadian businessman (b. 1941)
    • 2009 – Jack Cardiff, British cinematographer, director and photographer (b. 1914)
    • 2010 – Richard Barrett, American lawyer and activist (b. 1943)
    • 2011 – Hazel Dickens, American singer-songwriter, bassist and guitarist (b. 1935)
    • 2012 – John Amabile, American football player and coach (b. 1939)
    • 2012 – Bill Granger, American author (b. 1941)
    • 2012 – Buzz Potamkin, American director and producer (b. 1945)
    • 2012 – George Rathmann, American chemist, biologist, and businessman (b. 1927)
    • 2013 – Dave Gold, American businessman, founded 99 Cents Only Stores (b. 1932)
    • 2013 – George Stanley Gordon, American businessman (b. 1926)
    • 2013 – Richie Havens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1941)
    • 2013 – Lalgudi Jayaraman, Indian violinist and composer (b. 1930)
    • 2013 – Mike Smith, English footballer (b. 1935)
    • 2013 – Robert Suderburg, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1936)
    • 2013 – J. S. Verma, Indian judge, 27th Chief Justice of India (b. 1933)
    • 2014 – Allen Jacobs, American football player and coach (b. 1941)
    • 2014 – Jovan Krkobabić, Serbian politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia (b. 1930)
    • 2014 – Mohammad Naseem, Pakistani-English activist (b. 1924)
    • 2014 – Werner Potzernheim, German cyclist (b. 1927)
    • 2014 – Oswaldo Vigas, Venezuelan painter (b. 1926)
    • 2015 – Dick Balharry, Scottish environmentalist and photographer (b. 1937)
    • 2015 – Gennadi Vengerov, Belarusian-Russian actor (b. 1959)
    • 2017 – Erin Moran, American actress (b. 1960)
    • 2017 – Donna Leanne Williams, Australian writer, artist, activist (b. 1963)

    Holidays and observances on April 22

    • Christian feast day:
      • Acepsimas of Hnaita and companions (Catholic Church)
      • Arwald
      • Epipodius and Alexander
      • Hudson Stuck (Episcopal Church)
      • John Muir (Episcopal Church)
      • Opportuna of Montreuil
      • Pope Caius
      • Pope Soter
      • St Senorina
      • April 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Discovery Day (Brazil)
    • Earth Day (International observance) and its related observance:
      • International Mother Earth Day
    • Holocaust Remembrance Day (Serbia)
    • From 2018 onwards, a national day of commemoration for the murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence (United Kingdom)

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

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

    February 4 in History 

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

    Births on February 4

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

    Deaths on February 4

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

    Holidays and observances on February 4

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

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

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

    Births on January 25

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

    Deaths onJanuary 25

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

    Holidays and observances on January 25

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

    Constituents and Structure Solved MCQs (Set-II) | General Science & Ability

    Click HERE for Q. No.1-50.

    51) Planets are always small compared with stars because otherwise ______.
    ( a) the rotation of the planets would cause them to disintegrate
    (b) the great mass of the planets would cause them to be pulled into their parent star
    (c) the great mass of the planets would prevent them from being held in orbit and they would escape
    (d) the planets would be stars themselves
    Answer: (d)

    52) The least likely reason why planetary systems have not been directly observed around stars other than the sun is that __
    (a) Planets are small
    (b) Planets shine by reflected light
    (c) Planetary systems are rare
    (d) Other stars are far away
    Answer: (c)

    53) Which of the following is the correct ordering of the inner planets according to their proximity to the sun? (CSS 2012)
    (a) Jupiter, Saturn , Uranus , Neptune
    (b) Phobos, Deimes , Europe , Tias
    (c) Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (c)

    54) The term ‘Blue Shift’ is used to indicate: (CSS 2009)
    (a) Doppler effect in which an object appears bluer when it is moving towards the observer or observer is moving towards the object.

    (b) Turning a star from white to blue
    (c) In future sun would become blue
    (d) Black hole was blue at its start
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (a)

    55) Which planet of our solar system is called as Morning star? (CSS 2008)
    Answer: Venus

    56) What is the diameter of the earth?
    Answer: 12 756.2 kilometers

    57) The number of natural satellites orbiting around the Mars is: (CSS 2002/2003)
    (a) 1
    (b) 2
    (c) 5
    (d) 14
    Answer: (b)
    Mars has two natural satellites, discovered by Asaph Hall in 1877. The innermost of these, Phobos, is about 7 mi (11 km) in diameter and orbits the planet with a period far less than Mars’s period of rotation (7 hr 39 min), causing it to rise in the west and set in the east. The outer satellite, Deimos, is about 4 mi (6 km) in diameter.

    58) All stars are of the same color
    (False)

    59) Our galaxy milky way is shaped like a large thick concave lens with a large central bulge (CSS 2002)
    (True)

    60) The coldest planet of the solar system is: (CSS 2000)
    (a) Earth
    (b) Venus
    (c) Neptune d) Pluto
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (c)
    In the past, the title for “most frigid body” went to Pluto, as it was the farthest then-designated planet from the Sun. However, due to the IAU’s decision in 2006 to reclassify Pluto as a “dwarf planet”, the title has since passed to Neptune. As the eight planet from our Sun, it is now the outermost planet in the Solar System, and hence the coldest.

    61) Venus is the smallest planet of the solar system. (CSS 1999)
    (False)

    62) Black hole is a hypothetical region of space having a gravitational pull so great that no matter or radiation can escape from it. (CSS 1998)

    63) Our solar system has about — satellites. (CSS 1996)
    (a) 35
    (b) 179
    (c) 96
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (b)
    In the Solar System, there are 179 satellites. A majority of those moons belong to the planet of Jupiter, the second most belonging to Saturn. The largest of these moons is Ganymede, which is one of the Galilean Moons.

    64) ——- cannot be nominated for the Nobel Prize. (CSS 1996)
    (a) Physicists
    (b) Economists
    (c) Astronomers
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (c)

    65) The largest planet of the solar system is Jupiter. (CSS 1995)

    66) Planet Mars has (CSS 1995)
    (a) 1 Moon
    (b) 2 Moons
    (c) 4 Moons
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (b)
    The moons of Mars are Phobos and Deimos. Both moons were discovered in 1877 by Asaph Hall Asaph Hall was about to give up his frustrating search for a Martian moon one August night in 1877, but his wife Angelina urged him on. He discovered Deimos the next night, and Phobos six nights after that. Ninety-four years later, NASA’s Mariner 9 spacecraft got a much better look at the two moons from its orbit around Mars. The dominant feature on Phobos, it found, was a crater 10 km (6 miles) wide — nearly half the width of the moon itself. It was given Angelina’s maiden name: Stickney.

    67) Where do most of Asteroids lie? (CSS 2007)
    (a) In asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter
    (b) In asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Venus
    (c) In asteroid belt between the orbits of Jupiter and Venus
    (d) Everywhere in the sky
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (a)

    68) This is the measure of moisture in the air.
    (a) Temperature
    (b) Humidity
    (c) Altitude
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (b)

    69) This is the greatest amount of water vapor the air could hold at a certain temperature
    (a) Absolute humidity
    (b) Relative humidity
    (c) Variable humidity
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (a)
    Absolute humidity is the measure of water vapor (moisture) in the air, regardless of temperature. It is expressed as grams of moisture per cubic meter of air (g/m3).
    The maximum absolute humidity of warm air at 30°C/86°F is approximately 30g of water vapor – 30g/m3. The maximum absolute humidity of cold air at 0°C/32°F is approximately 5g of water vapor – 5g/m3.

    70) This is how much actual water vapor is in the air at a certain temperature.
    (a)Absolute humidity
    (b) Relative humidity
    (c) Variable
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (b)
    Relative humidity also measures water vapor but RELATIVE to the temperature of the air. It is expressed as the amount of water vapor in the air as a percentage of the total amount that could be held at its current temperature.

    71) Humidity is measured with a
    (a) Barometer
    (b) Thermometer
    (c) Hygrometer
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (c)

    72) Founder of modern astronomy was: (CSS-2009)
    (a) Archimedes
    (b) William Gilbert
    (c) Nicolas Copernicus
    (d) Michael Faraday
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (c)

    73) The most splendid and the most magnificent constellation on the sky is: (CSS-2009)
    (a) Orion
    (b) Columbia
    (c) Canis Major
    (d) Taurus
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (a)
    (Canis Major is a constellation in the southern sky. Its name means “the greater dog” in Latin.) Orion, which is located on the celestial equator, is one of the most prominent and recognizable constellations in the sky and can be seen throughout the world.

    74) Which of the following explains the reason why there is no total eclipse of the sun? (CSS-2009)
    (a) Size of the earth in relation to that of moon
    (b) Orbit of moon around earth
    (c) Direction of rotation of earth around sun
    (d) Area of the sun covered by the moon
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (b)

    75) Where do most of Asteroids lie? (CSS-2009)
    (a) In asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter
    (b) In asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Venus
    (c) In asteroid belt between the orbits of Jupiter and Venus
    (d) Everywhere in the sky
    (e) None of these
    Answer: (a)
    Most asteroids lie in a vast ring between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. This main asteroid belt holds more than 200 asteroids larger than 60 miles (100 kilometers) in diameter. Scientists estimate the asteroid belt also contains more than 750,000 asteroids larger than three-fifths of a mile (1 km) in diameter and millions of smaller ones. Not everything in the main belt is an asteroid — for instance, comets have recently been discovered there, and Ceres, once thought of only as an asteroid, is now also considered a dwarf planet.

    76) The largest circular storm in our solar system is on the surface of which of the following planets?
    (a) Jupiter
    (b) Venus
    (c) Uranus
    (d) Earth
    Answer: (a)
    Jupiter boasts the largest storm in the Solar System . It is called the Great Red Spot and has been observed for hundreds of years that kind of storm is dwarfed by the Great Red Spot, a gigantic storm in Jupiter. There, gigantic means twice as wide as Earth. Today, scientists know the Great Red Spot is there and it’s been there for a while, but they still struggle to learn what causes its swirl of reddish hues.

    77) The biggest asteroid known is:
    (a) Vesta
    (b) Icarus
    (c) Ceres
    (d) Eros
    Answer: (c)
    Ceres, a dwarf planet and the largest asteroid in the solar system yet known. Discovered in 1801 and first thought to be a planet and then an asteroid, we now call Ceres a dwarf planet. Gravitational forces from Jupiter billions of years ago prevented it from becoming a full-fledged planet. But Ceres has more in common with Earth and Mars than its rocky neighbors in the main asteroid belt. There may even be water ice buried under Ceres’ crust.

    78) Rounded to the nearest day, the Mercurian year is equal to:
    (a) 111 days
    (b) 87.97 days
    (c) 50 days
    (d) 25 days
    Answer: (b)
    Mercurian Year: A year on Mercury takes 87.97 Earth days; it takes 87.97 Earth days for Mercury to orbit the sun once

    79) One of the largest volcanoes in our solar system-if not the largest-is named Olympus Mons. This volcano is located on:
    (a) Jupiter’s moon Callisto
    (b) Venus
    (c) Saturn’s moon Titan
    (d) Mars
    Answer: (d)
    Olympus Mons is the largest volcano in the solar system. The massive Martian mountain towers high above the surrounding plains of the red planet, and may be biding its time until the next eruption. Olympus Mons rises three times higher than Earth’s highest mountain, Mount Everest, whose peak is 5.5 miles above sea level.

    80) One Jupiter day is equal to which of the following?
    (a) 30 hrs 40 min
    (b) 9 hrs 50 min
    (c) 3 hrs 20 min
    (d) 52 hrs 10 min
    Answer: (b)

    81) The time interval between two successive occurrences of a specific type of alignment of a planet (or the moon) with the sun and the earth is referred to as:
    (a) a conjunction
    (b) an opposition
    (c) a sidereal period
    (d) a synodic period.
    Answer: (d)
    Synodic period , in astronomy, length of time during which a body in the solar system makes one orbit of the sun relative to the earth, i.e. The synodic period of the moon, which is called the lunar month, or lunation, is 291/2 days long; it is longer than the sidereal month.

    82) Of the following four times, which one best represents the time it takes energy generated in the core of the sun to reach the surface of the sun and be radiated?
    (a) Three minutes
    (b) Thirty days
    (c) One thousand years
    (d) One million years
    Answer: (d)

    83) The sunspot cycle is:
    (a) 3 years
    (b) 11 years
    (c) 26 years
    (d) 49 years
    Answer: (b)

    The amount of magnetic flux that rises up to the Sun’s surface varies with time in a cycle called the solar cycle. This cycle lasts 11 years on average. This cycle is sometimes referred to as the sunspot cycle.

    84) The Hertzsprung-Russel Diagram of stars DIRECTLY compares what TWO of the following properties of stars?
    (a) size
    (b) temperature
    (c) luminosity
    (d) Both b & c
    Answer: (d)
    One of the most useful and powerful plots in astrophysics is the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (hereafter called the H-R diagram). It originated in 1911 when the Danish astronomer, Ejnar Hertzsprung, plotted the absolute magnitude of stars against their color (hence effective temperature). Independently in 1913 the American astronomer Henry Norris Russell used spectral class against absolute magnitude. Their resultant plots showed that the relationship between temperature and luminosity of a star was not random but instead appeared to fall into distinct groups.

    The majority of stars, including our Sun, are found along a region called the Main Sequence. Main Sequence stars vary widely in effective temperature but the hotter they are, the more luminous they are, hence the main sequence tends to follow a band going from the bottom right of the diagram to the top left. These stars are fusing hydrogen to helium in their cores. Stars spend the bulk of their existence as main sequence stars. Other major groups of stars found on the H-R diagram are the giants and supergiants; luminous stars that have evolved off the main sequence, and the white dwarfs. Whilst each of these types is discussed in detail in later pages we can use their positions on the H-R diagram to infer some of their properties.

    85) The Andromeda Galaxy is which of the following types of galaxies?
    (a) elliptical
    (b) spiral
    (c) barred-spiral
    (d) irregular
    Answer: (b)
    The Andromeda Galaxy also known as Messier 31, M31, or NGC 224, is a spiral galaxy approximately 780 kilo parsecs (2.5 million light-years) from Earth

    86) About how many light years across is the Milky Way? Is it:
    (a) 1,000
    (b) 10,000
    (c) 100,000
    (d) 1,000,000
    Answer: (c)
    100 000 light years across
    A light-year is precisely equal to a whole number of meters, namely 9460730472580800 m or approximately 9.46073 1015 m. That’s the distance traveled by light in a vacuum, at a speed of 299792458 m/s, during a “scientific year” of 31557600 s. All these numbers are exact… In particular, “Einstein’s Constant” is exactly c = 299792458 m/s, because of the latest definition of the meter, officially adopted in 1983.

    87) Who was the first man to classify stars according to their brightness. Was it:
    (a) Aristarchus
    (b) Pythagoras
    (c) Copernicus
    (d) Hipparchus
    Answer: (d)
    The first person to classify stars by their apparent magnitude (brightness) was Hipparchus in about 130 BC. He divided the stars into classes based on how bright they appeared in the night sky. The brightest stars were classified as magnitude 1, those that were just visible to the naked eye as magnitude 6. In practice the intensity of a magnitude 1 star is 100 times that of a magnitude 6 star, so the 5 magnitude steps correspond to a multiple of 100. For a geometric series of magnitudes each magnitude must be a times the intensity of the previous one with a5 – 100. This means that going up one magnitude increases the intensity by a factor of a = 2.51. So magnitude 3 is 2.51 times as intense as magnitude 4 and so on.

    88) For what reason was the Schmidt telescope specially built? Was it to serve as:
    (a) a sky camera
    (b) a radio telescope
    (c) an optical telescope
    (d) a solar telescope
    Answer: (a)

    A Schmidt camera, also referred to as the Schmidt telescope, is a catadioptric astrophotographic telescope designed to provide wide fields of view with limited aberrations. The design was invented by Bernhard Schmidt in 1930.

    89) The greatest distance of a planet from the sun is called what? Is it the planet’s:
    (a) aphelion
    (b) perihelion
    (c) helix
    (d) eccentricity
    Answer: (a)
    The closest point to the Sun in a planet’s orbit is called perihelion. The furthest point is called aphelion

    90) How is the atmospheric pressure of Mars as compared to the atmospheric pressure of the earth? Is it:
    (a) about the same as the earth’s
    (b) about 100 times as great as the earth’s
    (c) about 1/200th that of the earth’s
    (d) half as much as that of the earth’s
    Answer: (c)
    The atmosphere and (probably) the interior of Mars differ substantially from that of the Earth. The atmosphere is much less dense and of different composition, and it is unlikely that the core is molten.
    The atmosphere has a pressure at the surface that is only 1/200 that of Earth. The primary component of the atmosphere is carbon dioxide (95%), with the remainder mostly nitrogen. Seasonal heating drives strong winds that can reach 100 mph or more, stirring up large dust storms. Clouds form in the atmosphere, but liquid water cannot exist at the ambient pressure and temperature of the Martian surface: water goes directly between solid and vapor phases without becoming liquid.

    91) A typical galaxy, such as our Milky Way galaxy, contains how many billion stars? Is it approximately:
    (a) 10 billion
    (b) 40 billion
    (c) 400 billion
    (d) 800 billion
    Answer: (c)
    According to astronomers, our Milky Way is an average-sized barred spiral galaxy measuring up to 120,000 light-years across. Our Sun is located about 27,000 light-years from the galactic core in the Orion arm. Astronomers estimate that the Milky Way contains up to 400 billion stars of various sizes and brightness.
    According to astronomers, there are probably more than 170 billion galaxies in the observable Universe, stretching out into a region of space 13.8 billion light-years away from us in all directions.

    92) A comet’s tail points in which direction?
    (a) toward the sun
    (b) toward the earth
    (c) behind the comet in its orbit
    (d) away from the sun
    Answer: (d)
    Comet tails are expansions of the coma. Comet tails point away from the Sun, regardless of the direction in which the comet is traveling. Comets have two tails because escaping gas and dust are influenced by the Sun in slightly different ways, and the tails point in slightly different directions.

    93) Spectral line splitting due to the influence of magnetic fields is called:
    (a) Boltzmann Effect
    (b) Zeeman Effect
    (c) Planck Effect
    (d) Zanstra’s Effect
    Answer: (b)
    The Zeeman effect is the splitting of a spectral line by a magnetic field. That is, if an atomic spectral line of 400 nm was considered under normal conditions, in a strong magnetic field, because of the Zeeman effect, the spectral line would be split to yield a more energetic line and a less energetic line, in addition to the original line at 400 nm.

    94) Which of the following is true for ORION? Orion is:
    (a) the brightest star in the sky
    (b) a constellation
    (c) the name given to a NASA spacecraft
    (d) an asteroid
    Answer: (b)

    95) Which of the following men wrote the book “On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres”?
    (a) Kepler
    (b) Euclid
    (c) Copernicus
    (d) Newton
    Answer: (c)

    De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres) is the seminal work on the heliocentric theory of the Renaissance astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543).

    96) The most distant planet in the solar system is (CSS 1995)
    (a) Mars
    (b) Pluto
    (c) Jupiter
    (d) None of these
    Answer: (d)
    New Dwarf Planet In Our Solar System May Be The Farthest One Yet. Object V774104 was discovered in late October, 2015, and is one of the most distant objects ever detected in the solar system. It appears to be about half the size of Pluto, but with an orbit two to three times larger than Pluto’s. (Nov 12, 2015)

    97) The 2.7 Kelvin cosmic background radiation is concentrated in the:
    (a) radio wavelengths
    (b) infrared
    (c) visible
    (d) ultraviolet
    Answer: (a)

    98) If you were watching a star collapsing to form a black hole, the light would disappear because it:
    (a) is strongly red shifted
    (b) is strongly blue shifted
    (c) its color suddenly becomes black
    (d) none of the above
    Answer: (a)

    99) The Magellanic Clouds are
    (a) irregular galaxies
    (b) spiral galaxies
    (c) elliptical galaxies
    (d) large clouds of gas and dust
    Answer: (a)
    The Magellanic Clouds are comprised of two irregular galaxies, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), which orbit the Milky Way once every 1,500 million years and each other once every 900 million years. Lying only about 200,000 light years away, they were the closest known galaxies to the Milky Way until recently, when the Sagittarius and Canis Major dwarf galaxies were discovered and found to be even closer.

    100) According to Kepler’s Laws, the cube of the mean distance of a planet from the sun is proportional to the:
    (a) area that is swept out
    (b) cube of the period
    (c) square of the period
    (d) fourth power of the mean distance
    Answer: (c)