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

On This Day /

July 11 in History

  • 472 – After being besieged in Rome by his own generals, Western Roman Emperor Anthemius is captured in St. Peter’s Basilica and put to death.
  • 813 – Byzantine emperor Michael I, under threat by conspiracies, abdicates in favor of his general Leo the Armenian, and becomes a monk (under the name Athanasius).
  • 911 – Signing of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between Charles the Simple and Rollo of Normandy.
  • 1174 – Baldwin IV, 13, becomes King of Jerusalem, with Raymond III, Count of Tripoli as regent and William of Tyre as chancellor.
  • 1302 – Battle of the Golden Spurs (Guldensporenslag in Dutch): A coalition around the Flemish cities defeats the king of France’s royal army.
  • 1346 – Charles IV, Count of Luxembourg and King of Bohemia, is elected King of the Romans.
  • 1405 – Ming admiral Zheng He sets sail to explore the world for the first time.
  • 1476 – Giuliano della Rovere is appointed bishop of Coutances.
  • 1576 – Martin Frobisher sights Greenland.
  • 1616 – Samuel de Champlain returns to Quebec.
  • 1735 – Mathematical calculations suggest that it is on this day that dwarf planet Pluto moved inside the orbit of Neptune for the last time before 1979.
  • 1789 – Jacques Necker is dismissed as France’s Finance Minister sparking the Storming of the Bastille.
  • 1796 – The United States takes possession of Detroit from Great Britain under terms of the Jay Treaty.
  • 1798 – The United States Marine Corps is re-established; they had been disbanded after the American Revolutionary War.
  • 1801 – French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons makes his first comet discovery. In the next 27 years he discovers another 36 comets, more than any other person in history.
  • 1804 – A duel occurs in which the Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr mortally wounds former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton.
  • 1833 – Noongar Australian aboriginal warrior Yagan, wanted for the murder of white colonists in Western Australia, is killed.
  • 1848 – Waterloo railway station in London opens.
  • 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Fort Stevens; Confederate forces attempt to invade Washington, D.C.
  • 1882 – The British Mediterranean Fleet begins the Bombardment of Alexandria in Egypt as part of the Anglo-Egyptian War.
  • 1889 – Tijuana, Mexico, is founded.
  • 1893 – The first cultured pearl is obtained by Kōkichi Mikimoto.
  • 1893 – A revolution led by the liberal general and politician José Santos Zelaya takes over state power in Nicaragua.
  • 1895 – Brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière demonstrate movie film technology to scientists.
  • 1897 – Salomon August Andrée leaves Spitsbergen to attempt to reach the North Pole by balloon. He later crashes and dies.
  • 1899 – Fiat founded by Giovanni Agnelli in Turin, Italy.
  • 1906 – Murder of Grace Brown by Chester Gillette in the United States, inspiration for Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy.
  • 1914 – Babe Ruth makes his debut in Major League Baseball.
  • 1914 – USS Nevada (BB-36) is launched.
  • 1919 – The eight-hour day and free Sunday become law for workers in the Netherlands.
  • 1920 – In the East Prussian plebiscite the local populace decides to remain with Weimar Germany.
  • 1921 – A truce in the Irish War of Independence comes into effect.
  • 1921 – The Red Army captures Mongolia from the White Army and establishes the Mongolian People’s Republic.
  • 1921 – Former president of the United States William Howard Taft is sworn in as 10th chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming the only person ever to hold both offices.
  • 1922 – The Hollywood Bowl opens.
  • 1924 – Eric Liddell won the gold medal in 400m at the 1924 Paris Olympics, after refusing to run in the heats for 100m, his favoured distance, on the Sunday.
  • 1934 – Engelbert Zaschka of Germany flies his large human-powered aircraft, the Zaschka Human-Power Aircraft, about 20 meters at Berlin Tempelhof Airport without assisted take-off.
  • 1936 – The Triborough Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic.
  • 1940 – World War II: Vichy France regime is formally established. Philippe Pétain becomes Chief of the French State.
  • 1941 – The Northern Rhodesian Labour Party holds its first congress in Nkana.
  • 1943 – Massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army within the Reichskommissariat Ukraine (Volhynia) peak.
  • 1943 – World War II: Allied invasion of Sicily: German and Italian troops launch a counter-attack on Allied forces in Sicily.
  • 1947 – The Exodus 1947 heads to Palestine from France.
  • 1950 – Pakistan joins the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank.
  • 1957 – Prince Karim Husseini Aga Khan IV inherits the office of Imamat as the 49th Imam of Shia Imami Ismai’li worldwide, after the death of Sir Sultan Mahommed Shah Aga Khan III.
  • 1960 – France legislates for the independence of Dahomey (later Benin), Upper Volta (later Burkina) and Niger.
  • 1960 – Congo Crisis: The State of Katanga breaks away from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
  • 1960 – To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is first published, in the United States.
  • 1962 – First transatlantic satellite television transmission.
  • 1962 – Project Apollo: At a press conference, NASA announces lunar orbit rendezvous as the means to land astronauts on the Moon, and return them to Earth.
  • 1971 – Copper mines in Chile are nationalized.
  • 1972 – The first game of the World Chess Championship 1972 between challenger Bobby Fischer and defending champion Boris Spassky starts.
  • 1973 – Varig Flight 820 crashes near Paris, France on approach to Orly Airport, killing 123 of the 134 on board. In response, the FAA bans smoking in airplane lavatories.
  • 1977 – Martin Luther King, Jr. is posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
  • 1978 – Los Alfaques disaster: A truck carrying liquid gas crashes and explodes at a coastal campsite in Tarragona, Spain killing 216 tourists.
  • 1979 – America’s first space station, Skylab, is destroyed as it re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian Ocean.
  • 1983 – A TAME airline Boeing 737-200 crashes near Cuenca, Ecuador, killing all 119 passengers and crew on board.
  • 1990 – Oka Crisis: First Nations land dispute in Quebec, Canada begins.
  • 1991 – Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 crashes in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia killing all 261 passengers and crew on board.
  • 1995 – Yugoslav Wars: Srebrenica massacre begins; lasts until 22 July.
  • 2006 – Mumbai train bombings: Two hundred nine people are killed in a series of bomb attacks in Mumbai, India.
  • 2010 – The Islamist militia group Al-Shabaab carried out multiple suicide bombings in Kampala, Uganda, killing 74 people and injuring 85 others.
  • 2011 – Ninety-eight containers of explosives self-detonate killing 13 people in Zygi, Cyprus.

Births on July 11

  • 154 – Bardaisan, Syrian astrologer, scholar, and philosopher (d. 222)
  • 1274 – Robert the Bruce, Scottish king (d. 1329)
  • 1406 – William, Margrave of Hachberg-Sausenberg (d. 1482)
  • 1459 – Kaspar, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, German nobleman (d. 1527)
  • 1558 – Robert Greene, English author and playwright (d. 1592)
  • 1561 – Luis de Góngora, Spanish cleric and poet (d. 1627)
  • 1603 – Kenelm Digby, English astrologer, courtier, and diplomat (d. 1665)
  • 1628 – Tokugawa Mitsukuni, Japanese daimyō (d. 1701)
  • 1653 – Sarah Good, American woman accused of witchcraft (d. 1692)
  • 1657 – Frederick I of Prussia (d. 1713)
  • 1662 – Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria (d. 1726)
  • 1709 – Johan Gottschalk Wallerius, Swedish chemist and mineralogist (d. 1785)
  • 1723 – Jean-François Marmontel, French historian and author (d. 1799)
  • 1751 – Caroline Matilda, British princess, queen consort of Denmark (d. 1775)
  • 1754 – Thomas Bowdler, English physician and philanthropist (d. 1825)
  • 1760 – Peggy Shippen, American wife of Benedict Arnold and American Revolutionary War spy (d. 1804)
  • 1767 – John Quincy Adams, American lawyer and politician, 6th President of the United States (d. 1848)
  • 1826 – Alexander Afanasyev, Russian ethnographer and author (d. 1871)
  • 1832 – Charilaos Trikoupis, Greek lawyer and politician, 55th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1896)
  • 1834 – James Abbott McNeill Whistler, American-English painter and illustrator (d. 1903)
  • 1836 – Antônio Carlos Gomes, Brazilian composer (d. 1896)
  • 1846 – Léon Bloy, French author and poet (d. 1917)
  • 1849 – N. E. Brown, English plant taxonomist and authority on succulents (d. 1934)
  • 1850 – Annie Armstrong, American missionary (d. 1938)
  • 1866 – Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine (d. 1953)
  • 1875 – H. M. Brock, British painter and illustrator (d. 1960)
  • 1880 – Friedrich Lahrs, German architect and academic (d. 1964)
  • 1881 – Isabel Martin Lewis, American astronomer and author (d. 1966)
  • 1882 – James Larkin White, American miner, explorer, and park ranger (d. 1946)
  • 1886 – Boris Grigoriev, Russian painter and illustrator (d. 1939)
  • 1888 – Carl Schmitt, German philosopher and jurist (d. 1985)
  • 1892 – Thomas Mitchell, American actor, singer, and screenwriter (d. 1962)
  • 1894 – Erna Mohr, German zoologist (d. 1968)
  • 1895 – Dorothy Wilde, English author and poet (d. 1941)
  • 1897 – Bull Connor, American police officer (d. 1973)
  • 1899 – Wilfrid Israel, German businessman and philanthropist (d. 1943)
  • 1899 – E. B. White, American essayist and journalist (d. 1985)
  • 1901 – Gwendolyn Lizarraga, Belizean businesswoman, activist, and politician (d. 1975)
  • 1903 – Rudolf Abel, English-Russian colonel (d. 1971)
  • 1903 – Sidney Franklin, American bullfighter (d. 1976)
  • 1904 – Niño Ricardo, Spanish guitarist and composer (d. 1972)
  • 1905 – Betty Allan, Australian statistician and biometrician (d. 1952)
  • 1906 – Harry von Zell, American actor and announcer (d. 1981)
  • 1906 – Herbert Wehner, German politician, Minister of Intra-German Relations (d. 1990)
  • 1909 – Irene Hervey, American actress (d. 1998)
  • 1909 – Jacques Clemens, Dutch catholic priest (d. 2018)
  • 1910 – Sally Blane, American actress (d. 1997)
  • 1911 – Erna Flegel, German Third Reich nurse (d. 2006)
  • 1912 – Sergiu Celibidache, Romanian conductor and composer (d. 1996)
  • 1912 – Peta Taylor, English cricketer (d. 1989)
  • 1912 – William F. Walsh, American captain and politician, 48th Mayor of Syracuse (d. 2011)
  • 1913 – Paul Gibb, English cricketer (d. 1977)
  • 1913 – Cordwainer Smith, American sinologist, author, and academic (d. 1966)
  • 1916 – Mortimer Caplin, American tax attorney, educator, and IRS Commissioner (d. 2019)
  • 1916 – Hans Maier, Dutch water polo player (d. 2018)
  • 1916 – Alexander Prokhorov, Australian-Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002)
  • 1916 – Reg Varney, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2008)
  • 1916 – Gough Whitlam, Australian lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 21st Prime Minister of Australia (d. 2014)
  • 1918 – Venetia Burney, English educator, who named Pluto (d. 2009)
  • 1920 – Yul Brynner, Russian actor and dancer (d. 1985)
  • 1920 – Zecharia Sitchin, Russian-American author (d. 2010)
  • 1922 – Gene Evans, American actor (d. 1998)
  • 1922 – Fritz Riess, German-Swiss racing driver (d. 1991)
  • 1923 – Richard Pipes, Polish-American historian and academic (d. 2018)
  • 1923 – Tun Tun, Indian actress and comedian (d. 2003)
  • 1924 – César Lattes, Brazilian physicist and academic (d. 2005)
  • 1924 – Brett Somers, Canadian-American actress and singer (d. 2007)
  • 1924 – Charlie Tully, Northern Irish footballer and manager (d. 1971)
  • 1924 – Oscar Wyatt, American businessman
  • 1925 – Charles Chaynes, French composer (d. 2016)
  • 1925 – Nicolai Gedda, Swedish operatic tenor (d. 2017)
  • 1925 – Peter Kyros, American lawyer and politician (d. 2012)
  • 1925 – Sid Smith, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2004)
  • 1926 – Frederick Buechner, American minister, theologian, and author
  • 1927 – Theodore Maiman, American-Canadian physicist and engineer (d. 2007)
  • 1927 – Chris Leonard, English footballer
  • 1928 – Greville Janner, Baron Janner of Braunstone, Welsh-English lawyer and politician (d. 2015)
  • 1928 – Bobo Olson, American boxer (d. 2002)
  • 1928 – Andrea Veneracion, Filipina choirmaster (d. 2014)
  • 1929 – Danny Flores, American singer-songwriter and saxophonist (d. 2006)
  • 1929 – David Kelly, Irish actor (d. 2012)
  • 1930 – Jack Alabaster, New Zealand cricketer
  • 1930 – Harold Bloom, American literary critic (d. 2019)
  • 1930 – Trevor Storer, English businessman, founded Pukka Pies (d. 2013)
  • 1931 – Dick Gray, American baseball player (d. 2013)
  • 1931 – Thurston Harris, American doo-wop singer (d. 1990)
  • 1931 – Tab Hunter, American actor and singer (d. 2018)
  • 1931 – Tullio Regge, Italian physicist and academic (d. 2014)
  • 1932 – Alex Hassilev, French-born American folk singer and musician
  • 1932 – Jean-Guy Talbot, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1933 – Jim Carlen, American football player and coach (d. 2012)
  • 1933 – Frank Kelso, American admiral and politician, United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 2013)
  • 1934 – Giorgio Armani, Italian fashion designer, founded the Armani Company
  • 1935 – Frederick Hemke, American saxophonist and educator
  • 1935 – Oliver Napier, Northern Irish lawyer and politician (d. 2011)
  • 1937 – Pai Hsien-yung, Chinese-Taiwanese author
  • 1941 – Bill Boggs, American journalist and producer
  • 1941 – Henry Lowther, English trumpet player
  • 1943 – Richard Carleton, Australian journalist (d. 2006)
  • 1943 – Howard Gardner, American psychologist and academic
  • 1943 – Tom Holland, American actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1943 – Peter Jensen, Australian metropolitan
  • 1943 – Robert Malval, Haitian businessman and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Haiti
  • 1943 – Rolf Stommelen, German racing driver (d. 1983)
  • 1944 – Lou Hudson, American basketball player and coach (d. 2014)
  • 1944 – Michael Levy, Baron Levy, English philanthropist
  • 1944 – Patricia Polacco, American author and illustrator
  • 1946 – Martin Wong, American painter (d. 1999)
  • 1947 – Jeff Hanna, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and drummer
  • 1947 – Norman Lebrecht, English author and critic
  • 1947 – Bo Lundgren, Swedish politician
  • 1950 – Pervez Hoodbhoy, Pakistani physicist and academic
  • 1950 – J. R. Morgan, Welsh author and academic
  • 1950 – Bonnie Pointer, American singer (d. 2020)
  • 1951 – Ed Ott, American baseball player and coach
  • 1952 – Bill Barber, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1952 – Stephen Lang, American actor and playwright
  • 1953 – Piyasvasti Amranand, Thai businessman and politician, Thai Minister of Energy
  • 1953 – Angélica Aragón, Mexican film, television, and stage actress and singer
  • 1953 – Peter Brown, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1953 – Suresh Prabhu, Indian accountant and politician, Indian Minister of Railways
  • 1953 – Patricia Reyes Spíndola, Mexican actress, director, and producer
  • 1953 – Leon Spinks, American boxer
  • 1953 – Mindy Sterling, American actress
  • 1953 – Ivan Toms, South African physician and activist (d. 2008)
  • 1953 – Bramwell Tovey, English-Canadian conductor and composer
  • 1953 – Paul Weiland, English director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1954 – Julia King, English engineer and academic
  • 1955 – Balaji Sadasivan, Singaporean neurosurgeon and politician, Singaporean Minister of Health (d. 2010)
  • 1956 – Amitav Ghosh, Indian-American author and academic
  • 1956 – Robin Renucci, French actor and director
  • 1956 – Sela Ward, American actress
  • 1957 – Johann Lamont, Scottish educator and politician
  • 1957 – Peter Murphy, English singer-songwriter
  • 1957 – Michael Rose, Jamaican singer-songwriter
  • 1958 – Mark Lester, English actor
  • 1958 – Hugo Sánchez, Mexican footballer, coach, and manager
  • 1959 – Richie Sambora, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1959 – Suzanne Vega, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1960 – David Baerwald, American singer-songwriter, composer, and musician
  • 1960 – Caroline Quentin, English actress
  • 1961 – Antony Jenkins, English banker and businessman
  • 1962 – Gaétan Duchesne, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2007)
  • 1962 – Pauline McLynn, Irish actress and author
  • 1962 – Fumiya Fujii, Japanese music artist
  • 1963 – Al MacInnis, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1963 – Dean Richards, English rugby player and coach
  • 1963 – Lisa Rinna, American actress and talk show host
  • 1965 – Tony Cottee, English footballer, manager, and sportscaster
  • 1965 – Ernesto Hoost, Dutch kick-boxer and sportscaster
  • 1965 – Scott Shriner, American singer-songwriter and bass player
  • 1966 – Nadeem Aslam, Pakistani-English author
  • 1966 – Kentaro Miura, Japanese author and illustrator
  • 1966 – Rod Strickland, American basketball player and coach
  • 1966 – Ricky Warwick, Northern Irish musician
  • 1967 – Andy Ashby, American baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1967 – Jhumpa Lahiri, Indian American novelist and short story writer
  • 1968 – Michael Geist, Canadian journalist and academic
  • 1968 – Daniel MacMaster, Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 2008)
  • 1968 – Esera Tuaolo, American football player
  • 1969 – Ned Boulting, British sports journalist and television presenter
  • 1970 – Justin Chambers, American actor
  • 1970 – Sajjad Karim, English lawyer and politician
  • 1970 – Eric Owens, American opera singer
  • 1971 – Leisha Hailey, Japanese-American singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1972 – Cormac Battle, English-Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1973 – Konstantinos Kenteris, Greek runner
  • 1974 – Alanas Chošnau, Lithuanian singer-songwriter
  • 1974 – Hermann Hreiðarsson, Icelandic footballer and manager
  • 1974 – André Ooijer, Dutch footballer and coach
  • 1975 – Willie Anderson, American football player
  • 1975 – Rubén Baraja, Spanish footballer and manager
  • 1975 – Lil’ Kim, American rapper and producer
  • 1976 – Eduardo Nájera, Mexican-American basketball player and coach
  • 1977 – Brandon Short, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1978 – Kathleen Edwards, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1978 – Massimiliano Rosolino, Italian swimmer
  • 1979 – Raio Piiroja, Estonian footballer
  • 1980 – Tyson Kidd, Canadian wrestler
  • 1980 – Kevin Powers, American soldier and author
  • 1981 – Andre Johnson, American football player
  • 1982 – Chris Cooley, American football player
  • 1983 – Engin Baytar, German-Turkish footballer
  • 1983 – Peter Cincotti, American singer-songwriter and pianist
  • 1983 – Marie Serneholt, Swedish singer and dancer
  • 1984 – Yorman Bazardo, Venezuelan baseball player
  • 1984 – Tanith Belbin, Canadian-American ice dancer
  • 1984 – Jacoby Jones, American football player
  • 1984 – Joe Pavelski, American ice hockey player
  • 1984 – Morné Steyn, South African rugby player
  • 1985 – Robert Adamson, American actor, director, and producer
  • 1985 – Orestis Karnezis, Greek footballer
  • 1986 – Raúl García, Spanish footballer
  • 1986 – Yoann Gourcuff, French footballer
  • 1986 – Ryan Jarvis, English footballer
  • 1987 – Shigeaki Kato, Japanese singer
  • 1988 – Étienne Capoue, French footballer
  • 1988 – Natalie La Rose, Dutch singer, songwriter and dancer
  • 1989 – Tobias Sana, Swedish footballer
  • 1989 – Travis Waddell, Australian rugby league player
  • 1990 – Mona Barthel, German tennis player
  • 1990 – Connor Paolo, American actor
  • 1990 – Adam Jezierski, Polish-Spanish actor and singer
  • 1990 – Patrick Peterson, American football player
  • 1990 – Caroline Wozniacki, Danish tennis player
  • 1993 – Rebecca Bross, American gymnast
  • 1993 – Heini Salonen, Finnish tennis player
  • 1994 – Bartłomiej Kalinkowski, Polish footballer
  • 1994 – Anthony Milford, Australian rugby league player
  • 1994 – Nina Nesbitt, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1994 – Lucas Ocampos, Argentinian footballer
  • 1995 – Joey Bosa, American football player
  • 1995 – Tyler Medeiros, Canadian singer-songwriter and dancer
  • 1996 – Alessia Cara, Canadian singer-songwriter

Deaths on July 11

  • 472 – Anthemius, Roman emperor (b. 420)
  • 937 – Rudolph II of Burgundy (b. 880)
  • 969 – Olga of Kiev (b. 890)
  • 1174 – Amalric I of Jerusalem (b. 1136)
  • 1183 – Otto I Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1117)
  • 1302 – Robert II, Count of Artois (b. 1250)
  • 1302 – Pierre Flotte, French politician and lawyer
  • 1344 – Ulrich III, Count of Württemberg (b. c. 1286)
  • 1362 – Anna von Schweidnitz, empress of Charles IV (b. 1339)
  • 1382 – Nicole Oresme, French philosopher (b. 1325)
  • 1451 – Barbara of Cilli, Slovenian noblewoman
  • 1484 – Mino da Fiesole, Italian sculptor (b. c. 1429)
  • 1535 – Joachim I Nestor, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1484)
  • 1581 – Peder Skram, Danish admiral and politician (b. 1503)
  • 1593 – Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Italian painter (b. 1527)
  • 1599 – Chōsokabe Motochika, Japanese daimyō (b.1539)
  • 1688 – Narai, Thai king (b. 1629)
  • 1774 – Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet, Irish-English general (b. 1715)
  • 1775 – Simon Boerum, American farmer and politician (b. 1724)
  • 1797 – Ienăchiță Văcărescu, Romanian historian and philologist (b. 1740)
  • 1806 – James Smith, Irish-American lawyer and politician (b. 1719)
  • 1825 – Thomas P. Grosvenor, American soldier and politician (b. 1744)
  • 1844 – Yevgeny Baratynsky, Russian philosopher and poet (b. 1800)
  • 1897 – Patrick Jennings, Irish-Australian politician, 11th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1831)
  • 1905 – Muhammad Abduh, Egyptian jurist and scholar (b. 1849)
  • 1908 – Friedrich Traun, German sprinter and tennis player (b. 1876)
  • 1909 – Simon Newcomb, Canadian-American astronomer and mathematician (b. 1835)
  • 1929 – Billy Mosforth, English footballer and engraver (b. 1857)
  • 1937 – George Gershwin, American pianist, songwriter, and composer (b. 1898)
  • 1959 – Charlie Parker, English cricketer, coach, and umpire (b. 1882)
  • 1966 – Delmore Schwartz, American poet and short story writer (b. 1913)
  • 1967 – Guy Favreau, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician, 28th Canadian Minister of Justice (b. 1917)
  • 1971 – John W. Campbell, American journalist and author (b. 1910)
  • 1971 – Pedro Rodríguez, Mexican racing driver (b. 1940)
  • 1974 – Pär Lagerkvist, Swedish novelist, playwright, and poet Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1891)
  • 1976 – León de Greiff, Colombian poet and educator (b. 1895)
  • 1979 – Claude Wagner, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1925)
  • 1983 – Ross Macdonald, American-Canadian author (b. 1915)
  • 1987 – Avi Ran, Israeli footballer (b. 1963)
  • 1987 – Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman, American rabbi and scholar (b. 1901)
  • 1989 – Laurence Olivier, English actor, director, and producer (b. 1907)
  • 1991 – Mokhtar Dahari, Malaysian footballer and coach (b. 1953)
  • 1994 – Gary Kildall, American computer scientist, founded Digital Research (b. 1942)
  • 1998 – Panagiotis Kondylis, Greek philosopher and author (b. 1943)
  • 1999 – Helen Forrest, American singer (b. 1917)
  • 1999 – Jan Sloot, Dutch computer scientist and electronics technician (b. 1945)
  • 2000 – Pedro Mir, Dominican lawyer, author, and poet (b. 1913)
  • 2000 – Robert Runcie, English archbishop (b. 1921)
  • 2001 – Herman Brood, Dutch musician and painter (b. 1946)
  • 2003 – Zahra Kazemi, Iranian-Canadian freelance photographer (b. 1948)
  • 2004 – Laurance Rockefeller, American financier and philanthropist (b. 1910)
  • 2004 – Renée Saint-Cyr, French actress and producer (b. 1904)
  • 2005 – Gretchen Franklin, English actress and dancer (b. 1911)
  • 2005 – Jesús Iglesias, Argentinian racing driver (b. 1922)
  • 2005 – Frances Langford, American actress and singer (b. 1913)
  • 2006 – Barnard Hughes, American actor (b. 1915)
  • 2006 – Bronwyn Oliver, Australian sculptor (b. 1959)
  • 2006 – John Spencer, English snooker player and sportscaster (b. 1935)
  • 2007 – Glenda Adams, Australian author and academic (b. 1939)
  • 2007 – Lady Bird Johnson, American beautification activist; 43rd First Lady of the United States (b. 1912)
  • 2007 – Alfonso López Michelsen, Colombian lawyer and politician, 32nd President of Colombia (b. 1913)
  • 2007 – Ed Mirvish, American-Canadian businessman and philanthropist, founded Honest Ed’s (b. 1914)
  • 2008 – Michael E. DeBakey, American surgeon and educator (b. 1908)
  • 2009 – Reg Fleming, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1936)
  • 2009 – Arturo Gatti, Italian-Canadian boxer (b. 1972)
  • 2009 – Ji Xianlin, Chinese linguist and paleographer (b. 1911)
  • 2010 – Walter Hawkins, American singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, and pastor (b. 1949)
  • 2011 – Rob Grill, American singer-songwriter and bass player (b. 1943)
  • 2012 – Art Ceccarelli, American baseball player and coach (b. 1930)
  • 2012 – Marion Cunningham, American author (b. 1922)
  • 2012 – Richard Scudder, American journalist and publisher, co-founded MediaNews Group (b. 1913)
  • 2012 – Donald J. Sobol, American soldier and author (b. 1924)
  • 2012 – Marvin Traub, American businessman and author (b. 1925)
  • 2013 – Emik Avakian, Iranian-American inventor (b. 1923)
  • 2013 – Egbert Brieskorn, German mathematician and academic (b. 1936)
  • 2013 – Eugene P. Wilkinson, American admiral (b. 1918)
  • 2014 – Charlie Haden, American bassist and composer (b. 1937)
  • 2014 – Carin Mannheimer, Swedish author and screenwriter (b. 1934)
  • 2014 – Bill McGill, American basketball player (b. 1939)
  • 2014 – Tommy Ramone, Hungarian-American drummer and producer (b. 1949)
  • 2014 – John Seigenthaler, American journalist and academic (b. 1927)
  • 2014 – Randall Stout, American architect, designed the Taubman Museum of Art (b. 1958)
  • 2015 – Giacomo Biffi, Italian cardinal (b. 1928)
  • 2015 – James U. Cross, American general (b. 1925)
  • 2015 – Satoru Iwata, Japanese game programmer and businessman (b. 1959)
  • 2015 – Lawrence K. Karlton, American lawyer and judge (b. 1935)
  • 2015 – André Leysen, Belgian businessman (b. 1927)

Holidays and observances on July 11

  • Christian Feast Day:
    • Benedict of Nursia
    • Olga of Kiev
    • Pope Pius I
    • July 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • China National Maritime Day (China)
  • Day of the Bandoneón (Argentina)
  • Day of the Flemish Community (Flemish Community of Belgium)
  • Eleventh Night (Northern Ireland)
  • Free Slurpee Day (Participating stores of the 7-Eleven chain in North America)
  • National Day of Remembrance of Victims of Genocide by Ukrainian Nationalists on Citizens of the Second Republic of Poland (Poland)
  • Gospel Day (Kiribati)
  • Imamat Day (Isma’ilism)
  • National Day of Commemoration, held on the nearest Sunday to this date (Ireland)
  • The first day of Naadam (July 11–15) (Mongolia)
  • World Population Day (International)

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

On This Day

January 30 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 1018 – Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen.
  • 1287 – King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom.
  • 1607 – An estimated 200 square miles (51,800 ha) along the coasts of the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary in England are destroyed by massive flooding, resulting in an estimated 2,000 deaths.
  • 1648 – Eighty Years’ War: The Treaty of Münster and Osnabrück is signed, ending the conflict between the Netherlands and Spain.
  • 1661 – Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, is ritually executed more than two years after his death, on the 12th anniversary of the execution of the monarch he himself deposed.
  • 1703 – The Forty-seven rōnin, under the command of Ōishi Kuranosuke, avenge the death of their master, by killing Kira Yoshinaka.
  • 1789 – Tây Sơn forces emerge victorious against Qing armies and liberate the capital Thăng Long.
  • 1806 – The original Lower Trenton Bridge (also called the Trenton Makes the World Takes Bridge), which spans the Delaware River between Morrisville, Pennsylvania and Trenton, New Jersey, is opened.
  • 1820 – Edward Bransfield sights the Trinity Peninsula and claims the discovery of Antarctica.
  • 1826 – The Menai Suspension Bridge, considered the world’s first modern suspension bridge, connecting the Isle of Anglesey to the north West coast of Wales, is opened.
  • 1835 – In the first assassination attempt against a President of the United States, Richard Lawrence attempts to shoot president Andrew Jackson, but fails and is subdued by a crowd, including several congressmen as well as Jackson himself.
  • 1847 – Yerba Buena, California is renamed San Francisco, California.
  • 1858 – The first Hallé concert is given in Manchester, England, marking the official founding of The Hallé orchestra as a full-time, professional orchestra.
  • 1862 – The first American ironclad warship, the USS Monitor is launched.
  • 1889 – Archduke Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian crown, is found dead with his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera in the Mayerling.
  • 1902 – The first Anglo-Japanese Alliance is signed in London.
  • 1908 – Indian pacifist and leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is released from prison by Jan C. Smuts after being tried and sentenced to two months in jail earlier in the month.
  • 1911 – The destroyer USS Terry makes the first airplane rescue at sea saving the life of Douglas McCurdy ten miles from Havana, Cuba.
  • 1925 – The Government of Turkey expels Patriarch Constantine VI from Istanbul.
  • 1930 – The Politburo of the Soviet Union orders the extermination of the Kulaks.
  • 1933 – Adolf Hitler is sworn in as Chancellor of Germany.
  • 1942 – World War II: Battle of Ambon. Japanese forces invade the island of Ambon in the Dutch East Indies. Some 300 captured Allied troops are massacred at Laha airfield. Three-fourths of remaining POWs will not have survived by the end of the war, including 250 men who will be shipped to Hainan Island in South China Sea and never returned.
  • 1944 – World War II: The Battle of Cisterna, part of Operation Shingle, begins in central Italy.
  • 1945 – World War II: The Wilhelm Gustloff, overfilled with German refugees, sinks in the Baltic Sea after being torpedoed by a Soviet submarine, killing approximately 9,500 people.
  • 1945 – World War II: Raid at Cabanatuan: One hundred twenty-six American Rangers and Filipino resistance fighters liberate over 500 Allied prisoners from the Japanese-controlled Cabanatuan POW camp.
  • 1948 – British South American Airways’ Tudor IV Star Tiger disappears over the Bermuda Triangle.
  • 1956 – African-American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.’s home is bombed in retaliation for the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
  • 1959 – The forces of the Sultanate of Muscat occupy the last strongholds of the Imamate of Oman, Saiq and Shuraijah, marking the end of Jebel Akhdar War in Oman.
  • 1959 – MS Hans Hedtoft, said to be the safest ship afloat and “unsinkable” like the RMS Titanic, strikes an iceberg on her maiden voyage and sinks, killing all 95 aboard.
  • 1960 – The African National Party is founded in Chad, through the merger of traditionalist parties.
  • 1964 – In a bloodless coup, General Nguyễn Khánh overthrows General Dương Văn Minh’s military junta in South Vietnam.
  • 1968 – Vietnam War: Tet Offensive launch by forces of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army against South Vietnam, the United States, and their allies.
  • 1969 – The Beatles’ last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records in London. The impromptu concert is broken up by the police.
  • 1972 – The Troubles: Bloody Sunday: British paratroopers open fire on anti-internment marchers in Derry, Northern Ireland, killing 13 people; another person later dies of injuries sustained.
  • 1972 – Pakistan leaves the Commonwealth of Nations in protest of its recognition of breakaway Bangladesh.
  • 1975 – The Monitor National Marine Sanctuary is established as the first United States National Marine Sanctuary.
  • 1979 – A Varig Boeing 707-323C freighter, flown by the same commander as Flight 820, disappears over the Pacific Ocean 30 minutes after taking off from Tokyo.
  • 1982 – Richard Skrenta writes the first PC virus code, which is 400 lines long and disguised as an Apple boot program called “Elk Cloner”.
  • 1989 – The American embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan is closed.
  • 1995 – Workers from the National Institutes of Health announce the success of clinical trials testing the first preventive treatment for sickle-cell disease.
  • 2000 – Kenya Airways Flight 431 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ivory Coast, killing 169.
  • 2013 – Naro-1 becomes the first carrier rocket launched by South Korea.

Births on January 30

  • 58 BC – Livia, Roman wife of Augustus (d. 29)
  • 133 – Didius Julianus, Roman emperor (probable; d. 193)
  • 1410 – William Calthorpe, English knight (d. 1494)
  • 1520  – William More, English courtier (d. 1600)
  • 1563 – Franciscus Gomarus, Dutch theologian and academic (d. 1641)
  • 1573 – Georg Friedrich, Margrave of Baden-Durlach (d. 1638)
  • 1580 – Gundakar, Prince of Liechtenstein, court official in Vienna (d. 1658)
  • 1590 – Lady Anne Clifford, 14th Baroness de Clifford (d. 1676)
  • 1628 – George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, English statesman (d. 1687)
  • 1661 – Charles Rollin, French historian and educator (d. 1741)
  • 1697 – Johann Joachim Quantz, German flute player and composer (d. 1773)
  • 1703 – François Bigot, French politician (d. 1778)
  • 1720 – Charles De Geer, Swedish entomologist and archaeologist (d. 1778)
  • 1754 – John Lansing, Jr., American lawyer and politician (d. 1829)
  • 1775 – Walter Savage Landor, English poet and author (d. 1864)
  • 1781 – Adelbert von Chamisso, German botanist and poet (d. 1838)
  • 1816 – Nathaniel P. Banks, American general and politician, 24th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1894)
  • 1822 – Franz Ritter von Hauer, Austrian geologist and curator (d. 1899)
  • 1841 – Félix Faure, French politician, 7th President of France (d. 1899)
  • 1844 – Richard Theodore Greener, American lawyer, academic, and diplomat (d. 1922)
  • 1846 – Angela of the Cross, Spanish nun and saint (d. 1932)
  • 1859 – Tony Mullane, Irish-American baseball player and manager (d. 1944)
  • 1861 – Charles Martin Loeffler, German-American violinist and composer (d. 1935)
  • 1862 – Walter Damrosch, German-American conductor and composer (d. 1950)
  • 1866 – Gelett Burgess, American author, poet, and critic (d. 1951)
  • 1878 – Anton Hansen Tammsaare, Estonian author (d. 1940)
  • 1882 – Franklin D. Roosevelt, American lawyer and politician, 32nd President of the United States (d. 1945)
  • 1889 – Jaishankar Prasad, Indian poet and playwright (d. 1937)
  • 1899 – Max Theiler, South African-American virologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1972)
  • 1900 – Martita Hunt, Argentine-born British actress (d. 1969)
  • 1901 – Rudolf Caracciola, German race car driver (d. 1959)
  • 1902 – Nikolaus Pevsner, German-English historian and scholar (d. 1983)
  • 1910 – Chidambaram Subramaniam, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of Defence (d. 2000)
  • 1911 – Roy Eldridge, American jazz trumpet player (d. 1989)
  • 1912 – Werner Hartmann, German physicist and academic (d. 1988)
  • 1912 – Francis Schaeffer, American pastor and theologian (d. 1984)
  • 1912 – Barbara W. Tuchman, American historian and author (d. 1989)
  • 1914 – Luc-Marie Bayle, French commander and painter (d. 2000)
  • 1914 – John Ireland, Canadian-American actor and director (d. 1992)
  • 1914 – David Wayne, American actor (d. 1995)
  • 1915 – Joachim Peiper, German SS officer (d. 1976)
  • 1915 – John Profumo, English soldier and politician, Secretary of State for War (d. 2006)
  • 1917 – Paul Frère, Belgian race car driver and journalist (d. 2008)
  • 1918 – David Opatoshu, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1996)
  • 1919 – Fred Korematsu, American activist (d. 2005)
  • 1920 – Michael Anderson, English director and producer (d. 2018)
  • 1920 – Patrick Heron, British painter (d. 1999)
  • 1920 – Delbert Mann, American director and producer (d. 2007)
  • 1922 – Dick Martin, American comedian, actor, and director (d. 2008)
  • 1923 – Marianne Ferber, Czech-American economist and author (d. 2013)
  • 1924 – S. N. Goenka, Burmese-Indian author and educator (d. 2013)
  • 1924 – Lloyd Alexander, American soldier and author (d. 2007)
  • 1925 – Douglas Engelbart, American computer scientist, invented the computer mouse (d. 2013)
  • 1927 – Olof Palme, Swedish statesman, 26th Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1986)
  • 1928 – Harold Prince, American director and producer (d. 2019)
  • 1929 – Lois Hole, Canadian businesswoman and politician, 15th Lieutenant Governor of Alberta (d. 2005)
  • 1929 – Hugh Tayfield, South African cricketer (d. 1994)
  • 1929 – Lucille Teasdale-Corti, Canadian-Italian physician and humanitarian (d. 1996)
  • 1930 – Gene Hackman, American actor and author
  • 1930 – Magnus Malan, South African general and politician, South African Minister of Defence (d. 2011)
  • 1931 – John Crosbie, Canadian lawyer and politician, 34th Canadian Minister of Justice (d. 2020)
  • 1931 – Shirley Hazzard, Australian-American novelist, short story writer, and essayist (d. 2016)
  • 1932 – Knock Yokoyama, Japanese comedian and politician (d. 2007)
  • 1934 – Tammy Grimes, American actress and singer (d. 2016)
  • 1935 – Richard Brautigan, American novelist, poet, and short story writer (d. 1984)
  • 1935 – Tubby Hayes, English saxophonist and composer (d. 1973)
  • 1936 – Horst Jankowski, German pianist and composer (d. 1998)
  • 1937 – Vanessa Redgrave, English actress
  • 1937 – Boris Spassky, Russian chess player and theoretician
  • 1938 – Islam Karimov, Uzbek politician, 1st President of Uzbekistan (d. 2016)
  • 1941 – Gregory Benford, American astrophysicist and author
  • 1941 – Dick Cheney, American businessman and politician, 46th Vice President of the United States, 17th US Secretary of Defense
  • 1941 – Tineke Lagerberg, Dutch swimmer
  • 1942 – Marty Balin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2018)
  • 1943 – Davey Johnson, American baseball player and manager
  • 1944 – Lynn Harrell, American cellist and academic
  • 1944 – Colin Rimer, English lawyer and judge
  • 1945 – Meir Dagan, Israeli military officer and intelligence official, Director of Mossad (2002–11) (d. 2016)
  • 1945 – Michael Dorris, American author and scholar (d. 1997)
  • 1946 – John Bird, Baron Bird, English publisher, founded The Big Issue
  • 1947 – Les Barker, English poet and author
  • 1947 – Steve Marriott, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1991)
  • 1948 – Nick Broomfield, English director and producer
  • 1948 – Miles Reid, English mathematician and academic
  • 1949 – Peter Agre, American physician and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1950 – Jack Newton, Australian golfer
  • 1951 – Phil Collins, English drummer, singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
  • 1951 – Charles S. Dutton, American actor and director
  • 1951 – Bobby Stokes, English footballer (d. 1995)
  • 1952 – Doug Falconer, Canadian football player and producer
  • 1953 – Fred Hembeck, American author and illustrator
  • 1955 – John Baldacci, American politician, 73rd Governor of Maine
  • 1955 – Tom Izzo, American basketball player and coach
  • 1955 – Curtis Strange, American golfer and sportscaster
  • 1957 – Payne Stewart, American golfer (d. 1999)
  • 1958 – Derek White, Scottish rugby player
  • 1959 – Cynthia Carter, Welsh journalist, author, and academic
  • 1959 – Steve Folkes, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 2018)
  • 1959 – Jody Watley, American entertainer
  • 1962 – Abdullah II of Jordan
  • 1964 – Otis Smith, American basketball player, coach, and manager
  • 1965 – Kevin Moore, Australian rugby league player and coach
  • 1966 – Danielle Goyette, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1968 – Felipe VI of Spain
  • 1969 – Justin Skinner, English footballer, midfielder and manager
  • 1971 – Kimo von Oelhoffen, American football player
  • 1972 – Jill McGill, American golfer
  • 1972 – Chris Simon, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1973 – Jalen Rose, American basketball player and sportscaster
  • 1974 – Christian Bale, Welsh actor
  • 1974 – Olivia Colman, English actress
  • 1975 – Juninho Pernambucano, Brazilian footballer
  • 1975 – Yumi Yoshimura, Japanese musician and singer
  • 1976 – Andy Milonakis, American entertainer
  • 1977 – Dan Hinote, American ice hockey player and coach
  • 1978 – Carmen Küng, Swiss curler
  • 1978 – John Patterson, American baseball player
  • 1979 – Trevor Gillies, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1980 – João Soares de Almeida Neto, Brazilian footballer
  • 1980 – Georgios Vakouftsis, Greek footballer
  • 1980 – Wilmer Valderrama, American actor and producer
  • 1981 – Jonathan Bender, American basketball player
  • 1981 – Dimitar Berbatov, Bulgarian footballer
  • 1981 – Afonso Alves, Brazilian footballer
  • 1981 – Peter Crouch, English footballer
  • 1981 – Mathias Lauda, Austrian race car driver
  • 1982 – Jorge Cantú, Mexican baseball player
  • 1984 – Kotoshōgiku Kazuhiro, Japanese sumo wrestler
  • 1984 – Arthur Chu, Asian-American columnist and former Jeopardy! contestant
  • 1984 – Kid Cudi, American entertainer
  • 1985 – Gisela Dulko, Argentinian tennis player
  • 1985 – Torrey Mitchell, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1985 – Trae Williams, American football player
  • 1986 – Nick Evans, American baseball player
  • 1987 – Ben Cutting, Australian cricketer
  • 1987 – Lance Franklin, Australian footballer
  • 1987 – Phil Lester, English Internet celebrity
  • 1987 – Becky Lynch, Irish wrestler
  • 1987 – Renato Santos, Brazilian footballer
  • 1987 – Arda Turan, Turkish footballer
  • 1988 – Rob Pinkston, American actor and director
  • 1989 – Tomás Mejías, Spanish footballer
  • 1989 – Girish Kumar, Indian film actor
  • 1990 – Yoon Bo-ra, South Korean singer
  • 1990 – Joe Colborne, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1990 – Andrew McCullough, Australian rugby league player
  • 1990 – Nils Miatke, German footballer
  • 1990 – Luca Sbisa, Swiss ice hockey player
  • 1990 – Mitchell Starc, Australian cricketer
  • 1990 – Phillip Supernaw, American football player
  • 1991 – Stefan Elliott, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1993 – Katy Marchant, English track cyclist
  • 1995 – Jack Laugher, English diver
  • 1995 – Víctor Sánchez, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 2015)

Deaths on January 30

  • 680 – Balthild, Frankish queen (b. 626)
  • 970 – Peter I of Bulgaria
  • 1030 – William V, Duke of Aquitaine (b. 969)
  • 1181 – Emperor Takakura of Japan (b. 1161)
  • 1240 – Pelagio Galvani, Leonese lawyer and cardinal (b. 1165)
  • 1314 – Nicholas III of Saint Omer
  • 1344 – William Montacute, 1st Earl of Salisbury (b. 1301)
  • 1384 – Louis II, Count of Flanders (b. 1330)
  • 1497 – Lê Thánh Tông, King of Vietnam (b. 1442)
  • 1574 – Damião de Góis, Portuguese historian and philosopher (b. 1502)
  • 1606 – Everard Digby, English criminal (b. 1578)
  • 1606 – John Grant, English conspirator (b. 1570)
  • 1606 – Robert Wintour, English conspirator (b. 1565)
  • 1649 – Charles I of England (b. 1600)
  • 1664 – Cornelis de Graeff, Dutch mayor (b. 1599)
  • 1730 – Peter II of Russia (b. 1715)
  • 1770 – Giovanni Pietro Francesco Agius de Soldanis, Maltese linguist, historian and cleric (b. 1712)
  • 1836 – Betsy Ross, American seamstress, said to have designed the American Flag (b. 1752)
  • 1838 – Osceola, American tribal leader (b. 1804)
  • 1858 – Coenraad Jacob Temminck, Dutch zoologist and ornithologist (b. 1778)
  • 1867 – Emperor Kōmei of Japan (b. 1831)
  • 1869 – William Carleton, Irish author (b. 1794)
  • 1881 – Arthur O’Shaughnessy, English poet and herpetologist (b. 1844)
  • 1889 – Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, heir apparent to the throne of Austria-Hungary (b. 1858)
  • 1926 – Barbara La Marr, American actress (b. 1896)
  • 1928 – Johannes Fibiger, Danish physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867)
  • 1929 – La Goulue, French model and dancer (b. 1866)
  • 1934 – Frank Nelson Doubleday, American publisher, founded the Doubleday Publishing Company (b. 1862)
  • 1947 – Frederick Blackman, English botanist and physiologist (b. 1866)
  • 1948 – Arthur Coningham, Australian air marshal (b. 1895)
  • 1948 – Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian independence movement against British rule (b. 1869)
  • 1948 – Orville Wright, American pilot and engineer, co-founded the Wright Company (b. 1871)
  • 1951 – Ferdinand Porsche, Austrian-German engineer and businessman, founded Porsche (b. 1875)
  • 1958 – Jean Crotti, Swiss painter (b. 1878)
  • 1958 – Ernst Heinkel, German engineer and businessman; founded the Heinkel Aircraft Company (b. 1888)
  • 1962 – Manuel de Abreu, Brazilian physician and engineer (b. 1894)
  • 1963 – Francis Poulenc, French pianist and composer (b. 1899)
  • 1966 – Jaan Hargel, Estonian flute player, conductor, and educator (b. 1912)
  • 1968 – Makhanlal Chaturvedi, Indian poet, playwright, and journalist (b. 1889)
  • 1969 – Dominique Pire, Belgian friar, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
  • 1973 – Elizabeth Baker, American economist and academic (b. 1885)
  • 1974 – Olav Roots, Estonian pianist and composer (b. 1910)
  • 1977 – Paul Marais de Beauchamp, French zoologist (b. 1883)
  • 1980 – Professor Longhair, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1918)
  • 1982 – Lightnin’ Hopkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1912)
  • 1991 – John Bardeen, American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908)
  • 1991 – Clifton C. Edom, American photographer and educator (b. 1907)
  • 1994 – Pierre Boulle, French soldier and author (b. 1912)
  • 1999 – Huntz Hall, American actor (b. 1919)
  • 1999 – Ed Herlihy, American journalist (b. 1909)
  • 2001 – Jean-Pierre Aumont, French soldier and actor (b. 1911)
  • 2001 – Johnnie Johnson, English air marshal and pilot (b. 1915)
  • 2001 – Joseph Ransohoff, American surgeon and educator (b. 1915)
  • 2005 – Martyn Bennett, Canadian-Scottish violinist (b. 1971)
  • 2006 – Coretta Scott King, American author and activist (b. 1927)
  • 2006 – Wendy Wasserstein, American playwright and academic (b. 1950)
  • 2007 – Sidney Sheldon, American author and screenwriter (b. 1917)
  • 2008 – Marcial Maciel, Mexican-American priest, founded the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi (b. 1920)
  • 2009 – H. Guy Hunt, American soldier, pastor, and politician, 49th Governor of Alabama (b. 1933)
  • 2010 – Fadil Ferati, Kosovar accountant and politician (b. 1960)
  • 2011 – John Barry, English composer and conductor (b. 1933)
  • 2012 – Frank Aschenbrenner, American football player and soldier (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – Doeschka Meijsing, Dutch author (b. 1947)
  • 2013 – Gamal al-Banna, Egyptian author and scholar (b. 1920)
  • 2013 – Patty Andrews, American singer (b. 1918)
  • 2013 – George Witt, American baseball player and coach (b. 1931)
  • 2014 – Stefan Bałuk, Polish general and photographer (b. 1914)
  • 2014 – The Mighty Hannibal, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1939)
  • 2014 – William Motzing, American composer and conductor (b. 1937)
  • 2014 – Arthur Rankin, Jr., American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1924)
  • 2015 – Carl Djerassi, Austrian-American chemist, author, and playwright (b. 1923)
  • 2015 – Ülo Kaevats, Estonian academic, philosopher, and politician (b. 1947)
  • 2015 – Geraldine McEwan, English actress (b. 1932)
  • 2015 – Gerrit Voorting, Dutch cyclist (b. 1923)
  • 2015 – Zhelyu Zhelev, Bulgarian philosopher and politician, 2nd President of Bulgaria (b. 1935)
  • 2016 – Frank Finlay, English actor (b. 1926)
  • 2016 – Francisco Flores Pérez, Salvadorian politician, President of El Salvador (b. 1959)
  • 2016 – Georgia Davis Powers, American activist and politician (b. 1923)
  • 2018 – Mark Salling, American actor and musician (b. 1982)
  • 2019 – Dick Miller, American actor (b. 1928)

Holidays and observances on January 30

  • Christian Feast Day:
    • Adelelmus of Burgos
    • Aldegonde
    • Anthony the Great (Coptic Church)
    • Armentarius of Pavia
    • Balthild
    • Charles, King and Martyr (various provinces of the Anglican Communion)
    • Hippolytus of Rome
    • Hyacintha Mariscotti
    • Martina
    • Matthias of Jerusalem
    • Mutien-Marie Wiaux
    • Savina
    • Three Holy Hierarchs (Eastern Orthodox), and its related observances:
      • Teacher’s Day (Greece)
    • January 30 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Day of Azerbaijani customs (Azerbaijan)
  • Day of Saudade (Brazil)
  • Fred Korematsu Day (California, Florida, Hawaii, Virginia)
  • Martyrdom of Mahatma Gandhi, and its related observances:
    • Martyrs’ Day (India)
    • School Day of Non-violence and Peace (Spain)
    • Start of the Season for Nonviolence January 30 – April 4

January 30 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

January 20 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution.
  • 649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom.
  • 1265 – The first English parliament to include not only Lords but also representatives of the major towns holds its first meeting in the Palace of Westminster, now commonly known as the “Houses of Parliament”.
  • 1320 – Duke Wladyslaw Lokietek becomes king of Poland.
  • 1356 – Edward Balliol surrenders his claim to the Scottish throne to Edward III in exchange for an English pension.
  • 1523 – Christian II is forced to abdicate as King of Denmark and Norway.
  • 1567 – Battle of Rio de Janeiro: Portuguese forces under the command of Estácio de Sá definitively drive the French out of Rio de Janeiro.
  • 1576 – The Mexican city of León is founded by order of the viceroy Don Martín Enríquez de Almanza.
  • 1649 – The High Court of Justice for the trial of Charles I begins its proceedings.
  • 1783 – The Kingdom of Great Britain signed preliminary articles of peace with France, setting the stage to the official end of hostilities in the American Revolutionary War later that year.
  • 1785 – Invading Siamese forces attempt to exploit the political chaos in Vietnam, but are ambushed and annihilated at the Mekong river by the Tây Sơn in the Battle of Rạch Gầm-Xoài Mút.
  • 1788 – The third and main part of First Fleet arrives at Botany Bay. Arthur Phillip decides that Port Jackson is a more suitable location for a colony.
  • 1839 – In the Battle of Yungay, Chile defeats an alliance between Peru and Bolivia.
  • 1841 – Hong Kong Island is occupied by the British.
  • 1877 – The last day of the Constantinople Conference results in agreement for political reforms in the Balkans.
  • 1887 – The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base.
  • 1921 – The British K-class submarine HMS K5 sinks in the English Channel; all 56 on board die.
  • 1921 – The first Constitution of Turkey is adopted, making fundamental changes in the source and exercise of sovereignty by consecrating the principle of national sovereignty.
  • 1929 – The first full-length talking motion picture filmed outdoors, In Old Arizona, is released.
  • 1936 – King George V of the United Kingdom dies. His eldest son succeeds to the throne, becoming Edward VIII. The title Prince of Wales is not used for another 22 years.
  • 1937 – Franklin D. Roosevelt and John Nance Garner are sworn in for their second terms as U.S. President and U.S. Vice President; it is the first time a Presidential Inauguration takes place on January 20 since the 20th Amendment changed the dates of presidential terms.
  • 1941 – A German officer is killed in Bucharest, Romania, sparking a rebellion and pogrom by the Iron Guard, killing 125 Jews and 30 soldiers.
  • 1942 – World War II: At the Wannsee Conference held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee, senior Nazi German officials discuss the implementation of the “Final Solution to the Jewish question”.
  • 1945 – World War II: The provisional government of Béla Miklós in Hungary agrees to an armistice with the Allies.
  • 1945 – World War II: Germany begins the evacuation of 1.8 million people from East Prussia, a task which will take nearly two months.
  • 1949 – Point Four Program a program for economic aid to poor countries announced by United States President Harry S. Truman in his inaugural address for a full term as President.
  • 1953 – Dwight D. Eisenhower is inaugurated as the 34th President of the United States of America.
  • 1954 – In the United States, the National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations.
  • 1961 – John F. Kennedy is inaugurated the 35th President of the United States of America, becoming the second youngest man to take the office, and the first Catholic.
  • 1969 – Richard Nixon is inaugurated the 37th President of the United States of America.
  • 1972 – Pakistan launched its nuclear weapons program, a few weeks after its defeat in the Bangladesh Liberation War, as well as the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
  • 1977 – Jimmy Carter is inaugurated the 39th President of the United States of America.
  • 1981 – Ronald Reagan is inaugurated the 40th President of the United States of America. Twenty minutes later, Iran releases 52 American hostages.
  • 1986 – In the United States, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.
  • 1989 – George H. W. Bush is inaugurated the 41st President of the United States of America.
  • 1990 – Protests in Azerbaijan, part of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union.
  • 1991 – Sudan’s government imposes Islamic law nationwide, worsening the civil war between the country’s Muslim north and Christian south.
  • 1992 – Air Inter Flight 148, an Airbus A320-111, crashes into a mountain near Strasbourg, France killing 87 of the 96 people on board.
  • 1993 – Bill Clinton is inaugurated the 42nd President of the United States of America.
  • 2001 – George W. Bush is inaugurated the 43rd President of the United States of America.
  • 2001 – President of the Philippines Joseph Estrada is ousted in a nonviolent 4-day revolution, and is succeeded by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
  • 2009 – Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America, becoming the first African-American President of the United States.
  • 2009 – A protest movement in Iceland culminates as the 2009 Icelandic financial crisis protests start.
  • 2017 – Donald Trump is inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States of America, becoming the oldest person to assume the office.
  • 2018 – A group of four or five gunmen attack The Inter-Continental Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, sparking a 12-hour battle. The attack kills 40 people and injures many others.

Births on January 20

  • 225 – Gordian III, Roman emperor (d. 244)
  • 1029 – Alp Arslan, Seljuk sultan (probable; d. 1072)
  • 1292 – Elizabeth of Bohemia, queen consort of Bohemia (d. 1330)
  • 1436 – Ashikaga Yoshimasa, Japanese shōgun (d. 1490)
  • 1488 – John George, Marquess of Montferrat, Italian noble (d. 1533)
  • 1488 – Sebastian Münster, German scholar, cartographer, and cosmographer (d. 1552)
  • 1499 – Sebastian Franck, German humanist (probable; d. 1543)
  • 1502 – Sebastian de Aparicio, Spanish-Mexican rancher and missionary (d. 1600)
  • 1526 – Rafael Bombelli, Italian mathematician (d. 1572)
  • 1554 – Sebastian of Portugal (d. 1578)
  • 1569 – Heribert Rosweyde, Jesuit hagiographer (d. 1629)
  • 1573 – Simon Marius, German astronomer and academic (d. 1624)
  • 1586 – Johann Hermann Schein, German composer (d. 1630)
  • 1664 – Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, Italian lawyer and jurist (d. 1718)
  • 1703 – Joseph-Hector Fiocco, Flemish violinist and composer (d. 1741)
  • 1716 – Jean-Jacques Barthélemy, French archaeologist and numismatist (d. 1795)
  • 1716 – Charles III of Spain (d. 1788)
  • 1732 – Richard Henry Lee, American lawyer and politician, President of the Continental Congress (d. 1794)
  • 1741 – Carl Linnaeus the Younger, Swedish botanist and author (d. 1783)
  • 1755 – Sir Albemarle Bertie, 1st Baronet, English admiral (d. 1824)
  • 1762 – Jérôme-Joseph de Momigny, Belgian-French composer and theorist (d. 1842)
  • 1775 – André-Marie Ampère, French physicist and mathematician (d. 1836)
  • 1781 – Joseph Hormayr, Baron zu Hortenburg, Austrian-German historian and politician (d. 1848)
  • 1783 – Friedrich Dotzauer, German cellist and composer (d. 1860)
  • 1799 – Anson Jones, American physician and politician, 5th President of the Republic of Texas (d. 1858)
  • 1804 – Eugène Sue, French author and politician (d. 1857)
  • 1812 – Thomas Meik, Scottish engineer (d. 1896)
  • 1814 – David Wilmot, American politician, sponsor of Wilmot Proviso (d. 1868)
  • 1834 – George D. Robinson, American lawyer and politician, 34th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1896)
  • 1855 – Ernest Chausson, French composer (d. 1899)
  • 1856 – Harriot Stanton Blatch, U.S. suffragist and organizer (d. 1940)
  • 1865 – Yvette Guilbert, French singer and actress (d. 1944)
  • 1870 – Guillaume Lekeu, Belgian pianist and composer (d. 1894)
  • 1873 – Johannes V. Jensen, Danish author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1950)
  • 1874 – Steve Bloomer, English footballer and coach (d. 1938)
  • 1876 – Josef Hofmann, Polish-American pianist and composer (d. 1957)
  • 1878 – Finlay Currie, Scottish-English actor (d. 1968)
  • 1879 – Ruth St. Denis, American dancer and educator (d. 1968)
  • 1880 – Walter W. Bacon, American accountant and politician, 60th Governor of Delaware (d. 1962)
  • 1882 – Johnny Torrio, Italian-American mob boss (d. 1957)
  • 1883 – Enoch L. Johnson, American mob boss (d. 1968)
  • 1883 – Forrest Wilson, American journalist and author (d. 1942)
  • 1888 – Lead Belly, American folk/blues musician and songwriter (d. 1949)
  • 1889 – Allan Haines Loughead, American engineer and businessman, founded the Alco Hydro-Aeroplane Company (d. 1969)
  • 1891 – Mischa Elman, Ukrainian-American violinist (d. 1967)
  • 1893 – Georg Åberg, Swedish triple jumper (d. 1946)
  • 1894 – Harold Gray, American cartoonist, created Little Orphan Annie (d. 1968)
  • 1894 – Walter Piston, American composer, theorist, and academic (d. 1976)
  • 1895 – Gábor Szegő, Hungarian mathematician and academic (d. 1985)
  • 1896 – George Burns, American actor, comedian, and producer (d. 1996)
  • 1898 – U Razak, Burmese educator and politician (d. 1947)
  • 1899 – Clarice Cliff, English potter (d. 1972)
  • 1899 – Kenjiro Takayanagi, Japanese engineer (d. 1990)
  • 1900 – Dorothy Annan, English painter, potter, and muralist (d. 1983)
  • 1900 – Colin Clive, English actor (d. 1937)
  • 1902 – Leon Ames, American actor (d. 1993)
  • 1902 – Kevin Barry, Irish Republican Army volunteer (d. 1920)
  • 1906 – Aristotle Onassis, Greek shipping magnate (d. 1975)
  • 1907 – Paula Wessely, Austrian actress and producer (d. 2000)
  • 1908 – Fleur Cowles, American author and illustrator (d. 2009)
  • 1909 – Gōgen Yamaguchi, Japanese martial artist (d. 1989)
  • 1910 – Joy Adamson, Austria-born Kenyan painter and author (d. 1980)
  • 1913 – W. Cleon Skousen, American author and academic (d. 2006)
  • 1915 – Ghulam Ishaq Khan, Pakistani businessman and politician, 7th President of Pakistan (d. 2006)
  • 1918 – Juan García Esquivel, Mexican pianist, composer, and bandleader (d. 2002)
  • 1918 – Nevin Scrimshaw, American scientist (d. 2013)
  • 1920 – Federico Fellini, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 1993)
  • 1920 – DeForest Kelley, American actor (d. 1999)
  • 1920 – Thorleif Schjelderup, Norwegian ski jumper and author (d. 2006)
  • 1921 – Telmo Zarra, Spanish footballer (d. 2006)
  • 1922 – Ray Anthony, American trumpet player, composer, bandleader, and actor
  • 1922 – Don Mankiewicz, American author and screenwriter (d. 2015)
  • 1923 – Slim Whitman, American country and western singer-songwriter and musician (d. 2013)
  • 1924 – Yvonne Loriod, French pianist and composer (d. 2010)
  • 1925 – Jamiluddin Aali, Pakistani poet, playwright, and critic (d. 2015)
  • 1925 – Ernesto Cardenal, Nicaraguan priest, poet, and politician (d. 2020)
  • 1926 – Patricia Neal, American actress (d. 2010)
  • 1926 – David Tudor, American pianist and composer (d. 1996)
  • 1927 – Qurratulain Hyder, Indian-Pakistani journalist and academic (d. 2007)
  • 1928 – Antonio de Almeida, French conductor and musicologist (d. 1997)
  • 1929 – Arte Johnson, American actor and comedian (d. 2019)
  • 1929 – Masaharu Kawakatsu, Japanese biologist
  • 1929 – Fireball Roberts, American race car driver (d. 1964)
  • 1930 – Buzz Aldrin, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
  • 1931 – David Lee, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1931 – Hachidai Nakamura, Japanese pianist and composer (d. 1992)
  • 1932 – Lou Fontinato, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2016)
  • 1934 – Hennie Aucamp, South African poet, author, and academic (d. 2014)
  • 1934 – Tom Baker, English actor
  • 1935 – Dorothy Provine, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2010)
  • 1937 – Bailey Howell, American basketball player
  • 1938 – Derek Dougan, Irish-English footballer and journalist (d. 2007)
  • 1939 – Paul Coverdell, American captain and politician (d. 2000)
  • 1939 – Chandra Wickramasinghe, Sri Lankan-English mathematician, astronomer, and biologist
  • 1940 – Carol Heiss, American figure skater and actress
  • 1940 – Krishnam Raju, Indian actor and politician
  • 1940 – Mandé Sidibé, Malian economist and politician, Prime Minister of Mali (d. 2009)
  • 1942 – Linda Moulton Howe, American journalist and producer
  • 1944 – José Luis Garci, Spanish director and producer
  • 1944 – Farhad Mehrad, Iranian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2002)
  • 1944 – Pat Parker, African American poet
  • 1945 – Christopher Martin-Jenkins, English journalist and sportscaster (d. 2013)
  • 1945 – Eric Stewart, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1946 – David Lynch, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1946 – Vladimír Merta, Czech singer-songwriter, guitarist, and journalist
  • 1947 – Cyrille Guimard, French cyclist and sportscaster
  • 1948 – Nancy Kress, American author and academic
  • 1948 – Natan Sharansky, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Israel
  • 1949 – Göran Persson, Swedish lawyer and politician, 31st Prime Minister of Sweden
  • 1950 – Daniel Benzali, Brazilian-American actor
  • 1950 – William Mgimwa, Tanzanian banker and politician, 13th Tanzanian Minister of Finance (d. 2014)
  • 1950 – Mahamane Ousmane, Nigerien politician, President of Niger
  • 1951 – Iván Fischer, Hungarian conductor and composer
  • 1952 – Nikos Sideris, Greek psychiatrist and poet
  • 1952 – Paul Stanley, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1952 – John Witherow, South African-English journalist and author
  • 1953 – Jeffrey Epstein, American financier and convicted sex offender (d. 2019)
  • 1954 – Alison Seabeck, English lawyer and politician
  • 1955 – McKeeva Bush, Caymanian politician, Premier of the Cayman Islands
  • 1956 – Maria Larsson, Swedish educator and politician, Swedish Minister of Health and Social Affairs
  • 1956 – Bill Maher, American comedian, political commentator, media critic, television host, and producer
  • 1956 – John Naber, American swimmer
  • 1957 – Andy Sheppard, English saxophonist and composer
  • 1958 – Lorenzo Lamas, American actor, director, and producer
  • 1959 – Tami Hoag, American author
  • 1959 – R. A. Salvatore, American author
  • 1960 – Apa Sherpa, Nepalese-American mountaineer
  • 1960 – Scott Thunes, American bass player
  • 1960 – Will Wright, American video game designer, co-founded Maxis
  • 1963 – James Denton, American actor
  • 1963 – Mark Ryden, American painter and illustrator
  • 1964 – Ozzie Guillén, Venezuelan-American baseball player and manager
  • 1964 – Ron Harper, American basketball player and coach
  • 1964 – Jack Lewis, American soldier and author
  • 1964 – Kazushige Nojima, Japanese screenwriter and songwriter
  • 1964 – Aquilino Pimentel III, Filipino lawyer and politician
  • 1964 – Fareed Zakaria, Indian-American journalist and author
  • 1965 – Colin Calderwood, Scottish footballer defender and manager
  • 1965 – Sophie, Countess of Wessex
  • 1965 – Warren Joyce, English footballer and manager
  • 1965 – John Michael Montgomery, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1965 – Anton Weissenbacher, Romanian footballer
  • 1966 – Rainn Wilson, American actor
  • 1967 – Stacey Dash, American actress and television journalist
  • 1967 – Kellyanne Conway, American political strategist and pundit
  • 1968 – Nick Anderson, American basketball player and sportscaster
  • 1968 – Junior Murray, Grenadian cricketer
  • 1969 – Patrick K. Kroupa, American computer hacker and activist, co-founded MindVox
  • 1969 – Nicky Wire, Welsh singer-songwriter and bass player
  • 1970 – Edwin McCain, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1970 – Skeet Ulrich, American actor
  • 1971 – Derrick Green, American singer
  • 1971 – Gary Barlow, English singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
  • 1971 – Ger McDonnell, Irish mountaineer and engineer (d. 2008)
  • 1971 – Jung Woong-in, South Korean actor
  • 1971 – Questlove, American drummer, DJ, and producer
  • 1971 – Wakanohana Masaru, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 66th Yokozuna
  • 1972 – Nikki Haley, American accountant and politician, 116th Governor of South Carolina
  • 1973 – Stephen Crabb, Scottish-Welsh politician, Secretary of State for Wales
  • 1973 – Queen Mathilde of Belgium
  • 1974 – David Dei, Italian footballer and coach
  • 1975 – Norberto Fontana, Argentinian racing driver
  • 1975 – Zac Goldsmith, English journalist and politician
  • 1976 – Kirsty Gallacher, Scottish journalist and sportscaster
  • 1976 – Michael Myers, American football player
  • 1976 – Gretha Smit, Dutch speed skater
  • 1977 – Paul Adams, South African cricketer and coach
  • 1978 – Salvatore Aronica, Italian footballer
  • 1978 – Sonja Kesselschläger, German heptathlete
  • 1978 – Allan Søgaard, Danish footballer
  • 1979 – Choo Ja-hyun, South Korean actress
  • 1979 – Will Young, English singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1980 – Karl Anderson, American wrestler
  • 1980 – Philippe Cousteau, Jr., American-French oceanographer and journalist
  • 1980 – Philippe Gagnon, Canadian swimmer
  • 1980 – Kim Jeong-hoon, South Korean singer and actor
  • 1980 – Petra Rampre, Slovenian tennis player
  • 1980 – Matthew Tuck, Welsh singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1981 – Freddy Guzmán, Dominican baseball player
  • 1981 – Owen Hargreaves, English footballer
  • 1981 – Jason Richardson, American basketball player
  • 1982 – Ruchi Sanghvi, Indian computer engineer
  • 1982 – Fredrik Strømstad, Norwegian footballer
  • 1983 – Geovany Soto, Puerto Rican-American baseball player
  • 1983 – Mari Yaguchi, Japanese singer and actress
  • 1984 – Malek Jaziri, Tunisian tennis player
  • 1985 – Marina Inoue, Japanese voice actress and singer
  • 1985 – Tanel Sokk, Estonian basketball player
  • 1987 – Janin Lindenberg, German sprinter
  • 1987 – Marco Simoncelli, Italian motorcycle racer (d. 2011)
  • 1988 – Uwa Elderson Echiéjilé, Nigerian footballer
  • 1988 – Jeffrén Suárez, Spanish footballer
  • 1989 – Nick Foles, American football player
  • 1989 – Washington Santana da Silva, Brazilian footballer
  • 1989 – Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1990 – Ray Thompson, Australian rugby league player
  • 1991 – Ciara Hanna, American actress and model
  • 1991 – Tom Cairney, Scottish footballer, midfielder
  • 1991 – Polona Hercog, Slovenian tennis player
  • 1991 – Jolyon Palmer, English racing driver
  • 1992 – Jorge Zárate, Mexican footballer
  • 1993 – Lorenzo Crisetig, Italian footballer
  • 1994 – Seán Kavanagh, Irish footballer, defender
  • 1994 – Lucas Piazon, Brazilian footballer
  • 1995 – Joey Badass, American rapper and actor
  • 1995 – Calum Chambers, English footballer, defender

Deaths on January 20

  • 820 – Al-Shafi‘i, Arab scholar and jurist (b. 767)
  • 842 – Theophilos, Byzantine emperor (b. 813)
  • 882 – Louis the Younger, king of the East Frankish Kingdom
  • 924 – Li Jitao, Chinese general of Later Tang
  • 928 – Zhao Guangfeng, Chinese official and chancellor
  • 1029 – Heonae, Korean queen and regent (b. 964)
  • 1095 – Wulfstan, bishop of Worcester
  • 1156 – Henry, English bishop and saint
  • 1189 – Shi Zong, Chinese emperor of Jin (b. 1123)
  • 1191 – Frederick VI, duke of Swabia (b. 1167)
  • 1191 – Theobald V, count of Blois (b. 1130)
  • 1265 – John Maunsell, English Lord Chancellor
  • 1336 – John de Bohun, 5th Earl of Hereford (b. 1306)
  • 1343 – Robert, king of Naples (b. 1275)
  • 1479 – John II, king of Sicily (b. 1398)
  • 1568 – Myles Coverdale, English bishop and translator (b. 1488)
  • 1612 – Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1552)
  • 1663 – Isaac Ambrose, English minister and author (b. 1604)
  • 1666 – Anne of Austria, Queen and regent of France (b. 1601)
  • 1707 – Humphrey Hody, English scholar and theologian (b. 1659)
  • 1709 – François de la Chaise, French priest (b. 1624)
  • 1751 – John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol, English politician (b. 1665)
  • 1770 – Charles Yorke, English lawyer and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1722)
  • 1779 – David Garrick, English actor, producer, playwright, and manager (b. 1717)
  • 1810 – Benjamin Chew, American lawyer and judge (b. 1721)
  • 1819 – Charles IV, Spanish king (b. 1748)
  • 1837 – John Soane, English architect, designed the Bank of England (b. 1753)
  • 1841 – Jørgen Jørgensen, Danish explorer (b. 1780)
  • 1841 – Minh Mạng, Vietnamese emperor (b. 1791)
  • 1848 – Christian VIII, Danish king (b. 1786)
  • 1850 – Adam Oehlenschläger, Danish poet and playwright (b. 1779)
  • 1852 – Ōnomatsu Midorinosuke, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 6th Yokozuna (b. 1794)
  • 1873 – Basil Moreau, French priest, founded the Congregation of Holy Cross (b. 1799)
  • 1875 – Jean-François Millet, French painter and educator (b. 1814)
  • 1891 – Kalākaua, king of Hawaii (b. 1836)
  • 1900 – John Ruskin, English painter and critic (b. 1819)
  • 1901 – Zénobe Gramme, Belgian engineer, invented the Gramme machine (b. 1826)
  • 1907 – Agnes Mary Clerke, Irish astronomer and author (b. 1842)
  • 1908 – John Ordronaux, American surgeon and academic (b. 1830)
  • 1913 – José Guadalupe Posada, Mexican engraver and illustrator (b. 1852)
  • 1915 – Arthur Guinness, 1st Baron Ardilaun, Irish businessman, philanthropist, and politician (b. 1840)
  • 1920 – Georg Lurich, Estonian-Russian wrestler and strongman (b. 1876)
  • 1921 – Mary Watson Whitney, American astronomer and academic (b. 1847)
  • 1924 – Henry “Ivo” Crapp, Australian footballer and umpire (b. 1872)
  • 1936 – George V of the United Kingdom (b. 1865)
  • 1940 – Omar Bundy, American general (b. 1861)
  • 1944 – James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist and academic (b. 1860)
  • 1947 – Josh Gibson, American baseball player (b. 1911)
  • 1947 – Andrew Volstead, American member of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1860)
  • 1954 – Warren Bardsley, Australian cricketer (b. 1882)
  • 1954 – Fred Root, English cricketer and umpire (b. 1890)
  • 1955 – Robert P. T. Coffin, American author and poet (b. 1892)
  • 1962 – Robinson Jeffers, American poet and philosopher (b. 1887)
  • 1965 – Alan Freed, American radio host (b. 1922)
  • 1971 – Broncho Billy Anderson, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1880)
  • 1971 – Minanogawa Tōzō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 34th Yokozuna (b. 1903)
  • 1973 – Lorenz Böhler, Austrian physician and surgeon (b. 1885)
  • 1973 – Amílcar Cabral, Guinea Bissauan-Cape Verdian engineer and politician (b. 1924)
  • 1977 – Dimitrios Kiousopoulos, Greek jurist and politician, 151st Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1892)
  • 1980 – William Roberts, English soldier and painter (b. 1895)
  • 1983 – Garrincha, Brazilian footballer (b. 1933)
  • 1984 – Johnny Weissmuller, American swimmer and actor (b. 1904)
  • 1988 – Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Pakistani activist and politician (b. 1890)
  • 1988 – Dora Stratou, Greek dancer and choreographer (b. 1903)
  • 1989 – Alamgir Kabir, Bangladeshi director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1938)
  • 1990 – Barbara Stanwyck, American actress (b. 1907)
  • 1993 – Audrey Hepburn, British actress and humanitarian activist (b. 1929)
  • 1994 – Matt Busby, Scottish footballer and coach (b. 1909)
  • 1994 – Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, first Kenyan Vice-President (b. 1911)
  • 1996 – Gerry Mulligan, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1927)
  • 2002 – Carrie Hamilton, American actress and singer (b. 1963)
  • 2003 – Al Hirschfeld, American painter and illustrator (b. 1903)
  • 2003 – Nedra Volz, American actress (b. 1908)
  • 2004 – Alan Brown, English racing driver (b. 1919)
  • 2004 – T. Nadaraja, Sri Lankan lawyer and academic (b. 1917)
  • 2005 – Per Borten, Norwegian lawyer and politician, 18th Prime Minister of Norway (b. 1913)
  • 2005 – Jan Nowak-Jeziorański, Polish journalist and politician (b. 1913)
  • 2005 – Miriam Rothschild, English zoologist, entomologist, and author (b. 1908)
  • 2009 – Stéphanos II Ghattas, Egyptian patriarch (b. 1920)
  • 2012 – Etta James, American singer-songwriter (b. 1938)
  • 2012 – John Levy, American bassist and manager (b. 1912)
  • 2012 – Ioannis Kefalogiannis, Greek politician, Greek Minister of the Interior (b. 1933)
  • 2012 – Alejandro Rodriguez, Venezuelan-American pediatrician and psychiatrist (b. 1918)
  • 2013 – Pavlos Matesis, Greek author and playwright (b. 1933)
  • 2013 – Toyo Shibata, Japanese poet and author (b. 1911)
  • 2014 – Claudio Abbado, Italian conductor (b. 1933)
  • 2014 – Otis G. Pike, American judge and politician (b. 1921)
  • 2014 – Jonas Trinkūnas, Lithuanian ethnologist and academic (b. 1939)
  • 2015 – Edgar Froese, Russian-German keyboard player and songwriter (b. 1944)
  • 2016 – Mykolas Burokevičius, Lithuanian carpenter and politician (b. 1927)
  • 2016 – Edmonde Charles-Roux, French journalist and author (b. 1920)
  • 2018 – Paul Bocuse, French chef (b. 1926)
  • 2018 – Naomi Parker Fraley, American naval machiner (b. 1921)
  • 2020 – Jaroslav Kubera, Czech politician (b. 1947)
  • 2020 – Tom Fisher Railsback, American politician, member of the Illinois and U.S. House of Representatives

Holidays and observances on January 20

  • Armed Forces Day (Mali)
  • Army Day (Laos)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Abadios
    • Blessed Basil Moreau
    • Eustochia Smeralda Calafato
    • Euthymius the Great
    • Fabian
    • Manchán of Lemanaghan
    • Maria Cristina of the Immaculate Conception Brando
    • Richard Rolle (Church of England)
    • Sebastian
    • Stephen Min Kuk-ka (one of The Korean Martyrs)
    • January 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Heroes’ Day (Cape Verde)
  • Inauguration Day, held every four years in odd-numbered years immediately following years divisible by 4, except for the public ceremony when January 20 falls on Sunday (the public ceremony is held the following day; however, the terms of offices still begin on the 20th) (United States of America, not a federal holiday for all government employees but only for those working in the Capital region)
  • Martyrs’ Day (Azerbaijan)

January 20 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

Brunei Quiz

MCQs / Q&A, World /

Brunei Quiz Questions

1) When did Brunei become independent?
a) 1 January 1984
b) 26 May 1976
c) 11 September 1972
d) 26 November 1981

2) Who is the head of state of Brunei?
a) Caliph
b) Emir
c) Nawab
d) Sultan

3) Which country is to the east, west and south of Brunei?
a) Vietnam
b) Laos
c) Malaysia
d) Cambodia

4) Which sea is to the north of Brunei?
a) Arabian
b) South China
c) Java
d) Cara

5) Which is the capital of Brunei?
a) Bandar Seri Begawan
b) Labu
c) Medit
d) Sukang

6) Which is the official religion of Brunei?
a) Bahai
b) Islam
c) Jainism
d) Shintoism

7) When was the Islamic University of Sultan Sharif Ali opened?
a) 1988
b) 1996
c) 2007
d) 2000

 

8) Which is the currency of Brunei?
a) Dirham
b) Dollar
c) Taka
d) Riyal

9) Which is the official language of Brunei?
a) Arabic
b) Hindi
c) Malay
d) Urdu

10) What is the area of Brunei?
a) 820 sq. mi.
b) 2,226 sq. mi.
c) 7,210 sq. mi.
d) 594 sq. mi.

Brunei Quiz Questions with Answers

 

1) When did Brunei become independent?
a) 1 January 1984

2) Who is the head of state of Brunei?
d) Sultan

3) Which country is to the east, west and south of Brunei?
c) Malaysia

4) Which sea is to the north of Brunei?
b) South China

5) Which is the capital of Brunei?
a) Bandar Seri Begawan

6) Which is the official religion of Brunei?
b) Islam

7) When was the Islamic University of Sultan Sharif Ali opened?
c) 2007

8) Which is the currency of Brunei?
b) Dollar

9) Which is the official language of Brunei?
c) Malay

10) What is the area of Brunei?
b) 2,226 sq. mi.

Brunei Quiz Read More »

MCQs / Q&A, World