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July 31 – History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day

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  • 30 BC – Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian’s forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide.
  • 781 – The oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji (Traditional Japanese date: 6th day of the 7th month of the 1st year of the Ten’o (天応) era).
  • 1009 – Pope Sergius IV becomes the 142nd pope, succeeding Pope John XVIII.
  • 1201 – Attempted usurpation by John Komnenos the Fat for the throne of Alexios III Angelos.
  • 1423 – Hundred Years’ War: Battle of Cravant: The French army is defeated by the English at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne.
  • 1451 – Jacques Cœur is arrested by order of Charles VII of France.
  • 1492 – The Jews are expelled from Spain when the Alhambra Decree takes effect.
  • 1498 – On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad.
  • 1588 – The Spanish Armada is spotted off the coast of England.
  • 1618 – Maurice, Prince of Orange disbands the waardgelders militia in Utrecht, a pivotal event in the Remonstrant/Counter-Remonstrant tensions.
  • 1655 – Russo-Polish War (1654–67): The Russian army enters the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnius, which it holds for six years.
  • 1658 – Aurangzeb is proclaimed Mughal emperor of India.
  • 1703 – Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but is pelted with flowers.
  • 1712 – Action of 31 July 1712 (Great Northern War): Danish and Swedish ships clash in the Baltic Sea; the result is inconclusive.
  • 1715 – Seven days after a Spanish treasure fleet of 12 ships left Havana, Cuba for Spain, 11 of them sink in a storm off the coast of Florida. A few centuries later, treasure is salvaged from these wrecks.
  • 1741 – Charles Albert of Bavaria invades Upper Austria and Bohemia.
  • 1763 – Odawa Chief Pontiac’s forces defeat British troops at the Battle of Bloody Run during Pontiac’s War.
  • 1777 – The U.S. Second Continental Congress passes a resolution that the services of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette “be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connexions, he have the rank and commission of major-general of the United States.”
  • 1790 – The first U.S. patent is issued, to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process.
  • 1856 – Christchurch, New Zealand is chartered as a city.
  • 1865 – The first narrow-gauge mainline railway in the world opens at Grandchester, Queensland, Australia.
  • 1874 – Dr. Patrick Francis Healy became the first African-American inaugurated as president of a predominantly white university, Georgetown University.
  • 1904 – Russo-Japanese War: Battle of Hsimucheng: Units of the Imperial Japanese Army defeat units of the Imperial Russian Army in a strategic confrontation.
  • 1913 – The Balkan States sign an armistice in Bucharest.
  • 1917 – World War I: The Battle of Passchendaele begins near Ypres in West Flanders, Belgium.
  • 1919 – German national assembly adopts the Weimar Constitution, which comes into force on August 14.
  • 1932 – The NSDAP (Nazi Party) wins more than 38% of the vote in German elections.
  • 1938 – Bulgaria signs a non-aggression pact with Greece and other states of Balkan Antanti (Turkey, Romania, Yugoslavia).
  • 1938 – Archaeologists discover engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius the Great in Persepolis.
  • 1941 – The Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Nazi official Hermann Göring, orders SS General Reinhard Heydrich to “submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired Final Solution of the Jewish question.”
  • 1941 – World War II: The Battle of Smolensk concludes with Germany capturing about 300,000 Soviet Red Army prisoners.
  • 1945 – Pierre Laval, the fugitive former leader of Vichy France, surrenders to Allied soldiers in Austria.
  • 1948 – At Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated.
  • 1948 – USS Nevada is sunk by an aerial torpedo after surviving hits from two atomic bombs (as part of post-war tests) and being used for target practice by three other ships.
  • 1964 – Ranger program: Ranger 7 sends back the first close-up photographs of the moon, with images 1,000 times clearer than anything ever seen from earth-bound telescopes.
  • 1970 – Black Tot Day: The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy.
  • 1971 – Apollo program: Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover.
  • 1972 – The Troubles: In Operation Motorman, the British Army re-takes the urban no-go areas of Northern Ireland. It is the biggest British military operation since the Suez Crisis of 1956, and the biggest in Ireland since the Irish War of Independence. Later that day, nine civilians are killed by car bombs in the village of Claudy.
  • 1973 – A Delta Air Lines jetliner, flight DL 723 crashes while landing in fog at Logan International Airport, Boston, Massachusetts killing 89.
  • 1975 – The Troubles: three members of a popular cabaret band and two gunmen are killed during a botched paramilitary attack in Northern Ireland.
  • 1987 – A tornado occurs in Edmonton, Canada.
  • 1988 – Thirty-two people are killed and 1,674 injured when a bridge at the Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal collapses in Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia.
  • 1991 – The United States and Soviet Union both sign the START I Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the first to reduce (with verification) both countries’ stockpiles.
  • 1992 – The nation of Georgia joins the United Nations.
  • 1992 – Thai Airways International Flight 311 crashes into a mountain north of Kathmandu, Nepal killing all 113 people on board.
  • 1999 – Discovery Program: Lunar Prospector: NASA intentionally crashes the spacecraft into the Moon, thus ending its mission to detect frozen water on the Moon’s surface.
  • 2006 – Fidel Castro hands over power to his brother, Raúl.
  • 2007 – Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and the longest-running British Army operation ever, comes to an end.
  • 2012 – Michael Phelps breaks the record set in 1964 by Larisa Latynina for the most medals won at the Olympics.
  • 2014 – Gas explosions in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung kill at least 20 people and injure more than 270.

Births on July 31

  • 1143 – Emperor Nijō of Japan (d. 1165)
  • 1396 – Philip III, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1467)
  • 1526 – Augustus, Elector of Saxony (d. 1586)
  • 1527 – Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1576)
  • 1595 – Philipp Wolfgang, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg (d. 1641)
  • 1598 – Alessandro Algardi, Italian sculptor (d. 1654)
  • 1686 – Charles of France, Duke of Berry (d. 1714)
  • 1702 – Jean Denis Attiret, French missionary and painter (d. 1768)
  • 1704 – Gabriel Cramer, Swiss mathematician and physicist (d. 1752)
  • 1718 – John Canton, English physicist and academic (d. 1772)
  • 1724 – Noël François de Wailly, French lexicographer and author (d. 1801)
  • 1759 – Ignaz Anton von Indermauer, Austrian nobleman and government official (d. 1796)
  • 1777 – Pedro Ignacio de Castro Barros, Argentinian priest and politician (d. 1849)
  • 1796 – Jean-Gaspard Deburau, Czech-French actor and mime (d. 1846)
  • 1800 – Friedrich Wöhler, German chemist and academic (d. 1882)
  • 1803 – John Ericsson, Swedish-American engineer, co-designed the USS Princeton and the Novelty Locomotive (d. 1889)
  • 1816 – George Henry Thomas, American general (d. 1870)
  • 1826 – William S. Clark, American colonel and politician (d. 1886)
  • 1835 – Henri Brisson, French lawyer and politician, 50th Prime Minister of France (d. 1912)
  • 1835 – Paul Du Chaillu, French-American anthropologist and explorer (d. 1903)
  • 1836 – Vasily Sleptsov, Russian author and activist (d. 1878)
  • 1837 – William Quantrill, American captain (d. 1865)
  • 1839 – Ignacio Andrade, Venezuelan general and politician, 25th President of Venezuela (d. 1925)
  • 1843 – Peter Rosegger, Austrian poet and author (d. 1918)
  • 1847 – Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban pianist and composer (d. 1905)
  • 1854 – José Canalejas, Spanish academic and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1912)
  • 1858 – Richard Dixon Oldham, English seismologist and geologist (d. 1936)
  • 1858 – Marion Talbot, influential American educator (d. 1948)
  • 1860 – Mary Vaux Walcott, American painter and illustrator (d. 1940)
  • 1867 – S. S. Kresge, American businessman, founded Kmart (d. 1966)
  • 1875 – Jacques Villon, French painter (d. 1963)
  • 1877 – Louisa Bolus, South African botanist and taxonomist (d. 1970)
  • 1880 – Premchand, Indian author and playwright (d. 1936)
  • 1883 – Ramón Fonst, Cuban fencer (d. 1959)
  • 1884 – Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, Polish-German economist and politician (d. 1945)
  • 1886 – Salvatore Maranzano, Italian-American mob boss (d. 1931)
  • 1886 – Fred Quimby, American animation producer (d. 1965)
  • 1887 – Hans Freyer, German sociologist and philosopher (d. 1969)
  • 1892 – Herbert W. Armstrong, American evangelist and publisher, founded Worldwide Church of God (d. 1986)
  • 1892 – Joseph Charbonneau, Canadian archbishop (d. 1959)
  • 1894 – Fred Keenor, Welsh footballer (d. 1972)
  • 1901 – Jean Dubuffet, French painter and sculptor (d. 1985)
  • 1902 – Gubby Allen, Australian-English cricketer and soldier (d. 1989)
  • 1904 – Brett Halliday, American engineer, surveyor, and author (d. 1977)
  • 1909 – Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, Austrian theorist and author (d. 1999)
  • 1911 – George Liberace, American violinist (d. 1983)
  • 1912 – Bill Brown, Australian cricketer (d. 2008)
  • 1912 – Milton Friedman, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2006)
  • 1912 – Irv Kupcinet, American football player and journalist (d. 2003)
  • 1913 – Bryan Hextall, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1984)
  • 1914 – Paul J. Christiansen, American conductor and composer (d. 1997)
  • 1914 – Louis de Funès, French actor and screenwriter (d. 1983)
  • 1916 – Sibte Hassan, Pakistani journalist, scholar, and activist (d. 1986)
  • 1916 – Billy Hitchcock, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2006)
  • 1916 – Bill Todman, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1979)
  • 1918 – Paul D. Boyer, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2018)
  • 1918 – Hank Jones, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (d. 2010)
  • 1918 – Frank Renouf, New Zealand businessman and financier (d. 1998)
  • 1919 – Hemu Adhikari, Indian cricketer (d. 2003)
  • 1919 – Curt Gowdy, American sportscaster and actor (d. 2006)
  • 1919 – Primo Levi, Italian chemist and author (d. 1987)
  • 1920 – James E. Faust, American religious leader, lawyer, and politician (d. 2007)
  • 1921 – Peter Benenson, English lawyer and activist, founded Amnesty International (d. 2005)
  • 1921 – Donald Malarkey, American sergeant and author (d. 2017)
  • 1921 – Whitney Young, American activist (d. 1971)
  • 1922 – Hank Bauer, American baseball player and manager (d. 2007)
  • 1923 – Ahmet Ertegun, Turkish-American songwriter and producer, founded Atlantic Records (d. 2006)
  • 1923 – Stephanie Kwolek, American chemist and engineer, invented Kevlar (d. 2014)
  • 1924 – Jimmy Evert, American tennis player and coach (d. 2015)
  • 1925 – Carmel Quinn, Irish singer, actress and writer
  • 1925 – John Swainson, Canadian-American jurist and politician, 42nd Governor of Michigan (d. 1994)
  • 1926 – Bernard Nathanson, American physician and activist (d. 2011)
  • 1926 – Hilary Putnam, American mathematician, computer scientist, and philosopher (d. 2016)
  • 1927 – Peter Nichols, English author and playwright (d. 2019)
  • 1928 – Bill Frenzel, American lieutenant and politician (d. 2014)
  • 1929 – Lynne Reid Banks, English author
  • 1929 – Gilles Carle, Canadian director and screenwriter (d. 2009)
  • 1929 – Don Murray, American actor
  • 1929 – José Santamaría, Uruguayan footballer and manager
  • 1931 – Nick Bollettieri, American tennis player and coach
  • 1931 – Kenny Burrell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1932 – Ted Cassidy, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1979)
  • 1932 – John Searle, American philosopher and academic
  • 1933 – Cees Nooteboom, Dutch journalist, author, and poet
  • 1935 – Yvon Deschamps, Canadian comedian, actor, and producer
  • 1935 – Geoffrey Lewis, American actor and screenwriter (d. 2015)
  • 1939 – Steuart Bedford, English pianist and conductor
  • 1939 – Susan Flannery, American actress
  • 1939 – France Nuyen, Vietnamese-French actress
  • 1941 – Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician, 8th Chief Minister of Gujarat (d. 2004)
  • 1943 – William Bennett, American journalist and politician, 3rd United States Secretary of Education
  • 1943 – Lobo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1944 – Geraldine Chaplin, American actress and screenwriter
  • 1944 – Jonathan Dimbleby, English journalist and author
  • 1944 – Sherry Lansing, American film producer
  • 1944 – Robert C. Merton, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1944 – David Norris, Irish scholar and politician
  • 1945 – William Weld, American lawyer and politician, 68th Governor of Massachusetts
  • 1946 – Gary Lewis, American pop-rock musician
  • 1947 – Karl Green, English bass player and songwriter (Herman’s Hermits)
  • 1947 – Richard Griffiths, English actor (d. 2013)
  • 1947 – Mumtaz, Indian actress
  • 1947 – Hubert Védrine, French politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 1947 – Ian Beck, English children’s illustrator and author
  • 1948 – Russell Morris, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1949 – Mike Jackson, American basketball player
  • 1949 – Alan Meale, English journalist and politician
  • 1950 – Richard Berry, French actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1951 – Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Australian tennis player
  • 1952 – Chris Ahrens, American ice hockey player
  • 1952 – Alan Autry, American football player, actor, and politician, 23rd Mayor of Fresno, California
  • 1952 – Helmuts Balderis, Latvian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1952 – João Barreiros, Portuguese author and critic
  • 1952 – Faye Kellerman, American author
  • 1953 – Ted Baillieu, Australian architect and politician, 46th Premier of Victoria
  • 1953 – Jimmy Cook, South African cricketer and coach
  • 1953 – Hugh McDowell, English cellist
  • 1954 – Derek Smith, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1956 – Michael Biehn, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1956 – Bill Callahan, American football player and coach
  • 1956 – Ron Kuby, American lawyer and radio host
  • 1956 – Deval Patrick, American lawyer and politician, 71st Governor of Massachusetts
  • 1956 – Lynne Rae Perkins, American author and illustrator
  • 1957 – Daniel Ash, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1957 – Mark Thompson, English business executive
  • 1958 – Bill Berry, American drummer and songwriter
  • 1958 – Mark Cuban, American businessman and television personality
  • 1958 – Suzanne Giraud, French music editor and composer
  • 1959 – Stanley Jordan, American guitarist, pianist, and songwriter
  • 1959 – Andrew Marr, Scottish journalist and author
  • 1959 – Kim Newman, English journalist and author
  • 1960 – Dale Hunter, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1960 – Malcolm Ross, Scottish guitarist and songwriter
  • 1961 – Frank Gardner, English captain and journalist
  • 1961 – Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Nigerian banker, royal
  • 1962 – John Chiang, American lawyer and politician, 31st California State Controller
  • 1962 – Kevin Greene, American football player and coach
  • 1962 – Wesley Snipes, American actor and producer
  • 1963 – Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim), English DJ and musician
  • 1963 – Fergus Henderson, English chef and author
  • 1963 – Brian Skrudland, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1964 – Jim Corr, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1964 – Urmas Hepner, Estonian footballer and coach
  • 1965 – Scott Brooks, American basketball player and coach
  • 1965 – John Laurinaitis, American wrestler and producer
  • 1965 – Ian Roberts, English-Australian rugby league player and actor
  • 1965 – J. K. Rowling, English author and film producer
  • 1966 – Dean Cain, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1967 – Tony Massenburg, American basketball player
  • 1967 – Tim Wright, Welsh composer
  • 1968 – Saeed-Al-Saffar, Emirati cricketer
  • 1968 – Julian Richards, Welsh director and producer
  • 1969 – Antonio Conte, Italian footballer and manager
  • 1969 – Loren Dean, American actor
  • 1969 – Kenneth D. Schisler, American lawyer and politician
  • 1970 – Ahmad Akbarpour, Iranian author and poet
  • 1970 – Ben Chaplin, English actor
  • 1970 – Andrzej Kobylański, Polish footballer and manager
  • 1970 – Giorgos Sigalas, Greek basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
  • 1971 – Gus Frerotte, American football player and coach
  • 1973 – Nathan Brown, Australian rugby league player and coach
  • 1974 – Emilia Fox, English actress
  • 1974 – Leona Naess, American-English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1974 – Jonathan Ogden, American football player
  • 1975 – Randy Flores, American baseball player and coach
  • 1975 – Andrew Hall, South African cricketer
  • 1975 – Gabe Kapler, American baseball player and manager
  • 1976 – Joshua Cain, American guitarist and producer
  • 1976 – Paulo Wanchope, Costa Rican footballer and manager
  • 1978 – Zac Brown, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1978 – Nick Sorensen, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1978 – Justin Wilson, English race car driver (d. 2015)
  • 1979 – Jaco Erasmus, South African-Italian rugby player
  • 1979 – J.J. Furmaniak, American baseball player
  • 1979 – Per Krøldrup, Danish footballer
  • 1979 – Carlos Marchena, Spanish footballer
  • 1979 – B.J. Novak, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1980 – Mikko Hirvonen, Finnish race car driver
  • 1980 – Mils Muliaina, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1981 – Titus Bramble, English footballer
  • 1981 – Vernon Carey, American football player
  • 1981 – Paul Whatuira, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1981 – M. Shadows, American musician, lead singer of Avenged Sevenfold
  • 1982 – Anabel Medina Garrigues, Spanish tennis player
  • 1982 – DeMarcus Ware, American football player
  • 1985 – Daniel Ciofani, Italian footballer
  • 1985 – Rémy Di Gregorio, French cyclist
  • 1986 – Evgeni Malkin, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1986 – Brian Orakpo, American football player
  • 1987 – Michael Bradley, American soccer player
  • 1988 – Alex Glenn, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1989 – Victoria Azarenka, Belorussian tennis player
  • 1991 – Réka Luca Jani, Hungarian tennis player
  • 1992 – José Fernández, Cuban baseball player (d. 2016)
  • 1992 – Ryan Johansen, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1992 – Kyle Larson, American race car driver
  • 1994 – Lil Uzi Vert, American hip hop artist

Deaths on July 31

  • 54 BC – Aurelia Cotta, Roman mother of Gaius Julius Caesar (b. 120 BC)
  • 450 – Peter Chrysologus, Italian bishop and saint (b. 380)
  • 910 – Feng Xingxi, Chinese warlord
  • 975 – Fu Yanqing, Chinese general (b. 898)
  • 1098 – Hugh of Montgomery, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury
  • 1358 – Étienne Marcel, French rebel leader (b. 1302)
  • 1396 – William Courtenay, English archbishop and politician, Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom (b. 1342)
  • 1508 – Na’od, Ethiopian emperor
  • 1556 – Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish priest and theologian, founded the Society of Jesus (b. 1491)
  • 1616 – Roger Wilbraham, Solicitor-General for Ireland (b. 1553)
  • 1638 – Sibylla Schwarz, German poet (b. 1621)
  • 1653 – Thomas Dudley, English soldier and politician, 3rd Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony (b. 1576)
  • 1693 – Willem Kalf, Dutch still life painter (b. 1619)
  • 1726 – Nicolaus II Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician and theorist (b. 1695)
  • 1750 – John V, king of Portugal (b. 1689)
  • 1762 – Luis Vicente de Velasco e Isla, Spanish sailor and commander (b. 1711)
  • 1781 – John Bligh, 3rd Earl of Darnley, British parliamentarian (b. 1719)
  • 1784 – Denis Diderot, French philosopher and critic (b. 1713)
  • 1805 – Dheeran Chinnamalai, Indian soldier (b. 1756)
  • 1864 – Louis Christophe François Hachette, French publisher (b. 1800)
  • 1875 – Andrew Johnson, American general and politician, 17th President of the United States (b. 1808)
  • 1884 – Kiến Phúc, Vietnamese emperor (b. 1869)
  • 1886 – Franz Liszt, Hungarian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1811)
  • 1891 – Jean-Baptiste Capronnier, Belgian stained glass painter (b. 1814)
  • 1913 – John Milne, British geologist and mining engineer. (b. 1850)
  • 1914 – Jean Jaurès, French journalist and politician (b. 1859)
  • 1917 – Hedd Wyn, Welsh language poet (b. 1887)
  • 1917 – Francis Ledwidge, Irish soldier and poet (b. 1881)
  • 1920 – Ion Dragoumis, Greek philosopher and diplomat (b. 1878)
  • 1940 – Udham Singh, Indian activist (b. 1899)
  • 1943 – Hedley Verity, English cricketer and soldier (b. 1905)
  • 1942 – Francis Younghusband, British Army Officer, explorer and spiritual writer (b.1863)
  • 1944 – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French pilot and poet (b. 1900)
  • 1953 – Robert A. Taft, American soldier and politician (b. 1889)
  • 1954 – Onofre Marimón, Argentinian race car driver (b. 1923)
  • 1958 – Eino Kaila, Finnish philosopher and psychologist, attendant of the Vienna circle (b. 1890)
  • 1964 – Jim Reeves, American singer-songwriter (b. 1923)
  • 1966 – Bud Powell, American pianist (b. 1924)
  • 1968 – Jack Pizzey, Australian politician, 29th Premier of Queensland (b. 1911)
  • 1971 – Walter P. Carter, American soldier and activist (b. 1923)
  • 1972 – Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian lawyer and politician, 40th Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1899)
  • 1973 – Azumafuji Kin’ichi, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 40th Yokozuna (b. 1921)
  • 1979 – Beatrix Lehmann, English actress and director (b. 1903)
  • 1980 – Pascual Jordan, German physicist, author, and academic (b. 1902)
  • 1980 – Mohammed Rafi, Indian playback singer (b. 1924)
  • 1981 – Omar Torrijos, Panamanian general and politician, Military Leader of Panama (b. 1929)
  • 1985 – Eugene Carson Blake, American religious leader (b. 1906)
  • 1986 – Chiune Sugihara, Japanese diplomat (b. 1900)
  • 1987 – Joseph E. Levine, American film producer (b, 1905)
  • 1990 – Albert Leduc, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1902)
  • 1992 – Leonard Cheshire, English captain and pilot (b. 1917)
  • 1992 – Md. Abdul Wajed Chowdhury, Bangladeshi politician.
  • 1993 – Baudouin, King of Belgium (b. 1930)
  • 2000 – William Keepers Maxwell Jr., American editor, novelist, short story writer, and essayist (b. 1908)
  • 2001 – Francisco da Costa Gomes, Portuguese general and politician, 15th President of Portugal (b. 1914)
  • 2001 – Friedrich Franz, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (b. 1910)
  • 2003 – Guido Crepax, Italian author and illustrator (b. 1933)
  • 2004 – Virginia Grey, American actress (b. 1917)
  • 2005 – Wim Duisenberg, Dutch economist and politician, 1st President of the European Central Bank (b. 1935)
  • 2009 – Bobby Robson, English footballer and manager (b. 1933)
  • 2009 – Harry Alan Towers, English-Canadian screenwriter and producer (b. 1920)
  • 2012 – Mollie Hunter, Scottish author and playwright (b. 1922)
  • 2012 – Alfredo Ramos, Brazilian footballer and coach (b. 1924)
  • 2012 – Gore Vidal, American novelist, screenwriter, and critic (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – Tony Sly, American musician, singer-songwriter (b. 1970)
  • 2013 – Michael Ansara, Syrian-American actor (b. 1922)
  • 2013 – Michel Donnet, English-Belgian general and pilot (b. 1917)
  • 2013 – John Graves, American captain and author (b. 1920)
  • 2013 – Trevor Storer, English businessman, founded Pukka Pies (b. 1930)
  • 2014 – Warren Bennis, American scholar, author, and academic (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Nabarun Bhattacharya, Indian journalist and author (b. 1948)
  • 2014 – Jeff Bourne, English footballer (b. 1948)
  • 2014 – Wilfred Feinberg, American lawyer and judge (b. 1920)
  • 2015 – Alan Cheuse, American writer and critic (b. 1940)
  • 2015 – Howard W. Jones, American surgeon and academic (b. 1910)
  • 2015 – Billy Pierce, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1927)
  • 2015 – Roddy Piper, Canadian wrestler and actor (b. 1954)
  • 2015 – Richard Schweiker, American soldier and politician, 14th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (b. 1926)
  • 2016 – Chiyonofuji Mitsugu, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 58th Yokozuna (b. 1955)
  • 2016 – Seymour Papert, South African mathematician (b. 1928)
  • 2017 – Jeanne Moreau, French actress (b. 1928)
  • 2018 – Tony Bullimore, British sailor & businessman (b. 1939)
  • 2019 – Harold Prince, noted Broadway producer and director, who received more Tony awards than anyone else in history (b. 1928)

Holidays and observances on July 31

  • Christian feast day:
    • Abanoub
    • Germanus of Auxerre
    • Ignatius of Loyola
    • Neot
    • July 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which the Feast of Kamál (Perfection) can fall, while August 1 is the latest; observed on the first day of the eighth month of the Bahá’í calendar. (Bahá’í Faith)
  • End of the Trinity term (sitting of the High Court of Justice of England)
  • Ka Hae Hawaiʻi Day (Hawaii, United States), and its related observance:
    • Sovereignty Restoration Day (Hawaiian sovereignty movement)
  • Martyrdom Day of Shahid Udham Singh (Haryana and Punjab, India)
  • Treasury Day (Poland)
  • Warriors’ Day (Malaysia)

July 23 – History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day

by
  • 811 – Byzantine emperor Nikephoros I plunders the Bulgarian capital of Pliska and captures Khan Krum’s treasury.
  • 1319 – A Knights Hospitaller fleet scores a crushing victory over an Aydinid fleet off Chios.
  • 1632 – Three hundred colonists bound for New France depart from Dieppe, France.
  • 1677 – Scanian War: Denmark–Norway captures the harbor town of Marstrand from Sweden.
  • 1793 – Kingdom of Prussia re-conquers Mainz from France.
  • 1813 – Sir Thomas Maitland is appointed as the first Governor of Malta, transforming the island from a British protectorate to a de facto colony.
  • 1821 – While the Mora Rebellion continues, Greeks capture Monemvasia Castle. Turkish troops and citizens are transferred to Asia Minor’s coasts.
  • 1829 – In the United States, William Austin Burt patents the typographer, a precursor to the typewriter.
  • 1840 – The Province of Canada is created by the Act of Union.
  • 1862 – American Civil War: Henry Halleck takes command of the Union Army.
  • 1874 – Aires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos is appointed the Archbishop of the Portuguese colonial enclave of Goa, India.
  • 1881 – The Boundary Treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina is signed in Buenos Aires.
  • 1885 – President Ulysses S. Grant dies of throat cancer.
  • 1903 – The Ford Motor Company sells its first car.
  • 1908 – The Second Constitution accepted by the Ottomans.
  • 1914 – Austria-Hungary issues a series of demands in an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia demanding Serbia to allow the Austrians to determine who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Serbia accepts all but one of those demands and Austria declares war on July 28.
  • 1919 – Prince Regent Aleksander Karađorđević signs the decree establishing the University of Ljubljana
  • 1921 – The Communist Party of China (CPC) is established at the founding National Congress.
  • 1926 – Fox Film buys the patents of the Movietone sound system for recording sound onto film.
  • 1927 – The first station of the Indian Broadcasting Company goes on the air in Bombay.
  • 1936 – In Catalonia, Spain, the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia is founded through the merger of Socialist and Communist parties.
  • 1940 – The United States’ Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles issues a declaration on the U.S. non-recognition policy of the Soviet annexation and incorporation of three Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
  • 1942 – World War II: The German offensives Operation Edelweiss and Operation Braunschweig begin.
  • 1942 – Bulgarian poet and Communist leader Nikola Vaptsarov is executed by firing squad.
  • 1943 – The Rayleigh bath chair murder occurred in Rayleigh, Essex, England.
  • 1943 – World War II: The British destroyers HMS Eclipse and HMS Laforey sink the Italian submarine Ascianghi in the Mediterranean after she torpedoes the cruiser HMS Newfoundland.
  • 1945 – The post-war legal processes against Philippe Pétain begin.
  • 1952 – General Muhammad Naguib leads the Free Officers Movement (formed by Gamal Abdel Nasser, the real power behind the coup) in overthrowing King Farouk of Egypt.
  • 1961 – The Sandinista National Liberation Front is founded in Nicaragua.
  • 1962 – Telstar relays the first publicly transmitted, live trans-Atlantic television program, featuring Walter Cronkite.
  • 1962 – The International Agreement on the Neutrality of Laos is signed.
  • 1962 – Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
  • 1967 – Detroit Riots: In Detroit, one of the worst riots in United States history begins on 12th Street in the predominantly African American inner city. It ultimately kills 43 people, injures 342 and burns about 1,400 buildings.
  • 1968 – Glenville shootout: In Cleveland, Ohio, a violent shootout between a Black Militant organization and the Cleveland Police Department occurs. During the shootout, a riot begins and lasts for five days.
  • 1968 – The only successful hijacking of an El Al aircraft takes place when a Boeing 707 carrying ten crew and 38 passengers is taken over by three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The aircraft was en route from Rome, to Lod, Israel.
  • 1970 – Qaboos bin Said al Said becomes Sultan of Oman after overthrowing his father, Said bin Taimur initiating massive reforms, modernization programs and end to a decade long civil war.
  • 1972 – The United States launches Landsat 1, the first Earth-resources satellite.
  • 1974 – The Greek military junta collapses, and former Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis is invited to lead the new government, beginning Greece’s metapolitefsi era.
  • 1980 – Phạm Tuân becomes the first Vietnamese citizen and the first Asian in space when he flies aboard the Soyuz 37 mission as an Intercosmos Research Cosmonaut.
  • 1982 – Outside Santa Clarita, California, actor Vic Morrow and two children are killed when a helicopter crashes onto them while shooting a scene from Twilight Zone: The Movie.
  • 1983 – Thirteen Sri Lanka Army soldiers are killed after a deadly ambush by the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
  • 1983 – Gimli Glider: Air Canada Flight 143 runs out of fuel and makes a deadstick landing at Gimli, Manitoba.
  • 1988 – General Ne Win, effective ruler of Burma since 1962, resigns after pro-democracy protests.
  • 1992 – A Vatican commission, led by Joseph Ratzinger, establishes that limiting certain rights of homosexual people and non-married couples is not equivalent to discrimination on grounds of race or gender.
  • 1992 – Abkhazia declares independence from Georgia.
  • 1995 – Comet Hale–Bopp is discovered; it becomes visible to the naked eye on Earth nearly a year later.
  • 1997 – Digital Equipment Corporation files antitrust charges against chipmaker Intel.
  • 1999 – ANA Flight 61 is hijacked in Tokyo, Japan by Yuji Nishizawa.
  • 1999 – Space Shuttle Columbia launches on STS-93, with Eileen Collins becoming the first female space shuttle commander. The shuttle also carried and deployed the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
  • 2005 – Three bombs explode in the Naama Bay area of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, killing 88 people.
  • 2014 – TransAsia Airways Flight 222 crashes in Xixi village near Huxi, Penghu, during approach to Phengu Airport. 48 of the 58 people on board are killed and five more people on the ground are injured.
  • 2015 – NASA announces discovery of Kepler-452b by Kepler.
  • 2016 – Kabul twin bombing occurred in the vicinity of Deh Mazang when protesters, mostly from the Shiite Hazara minority, were marching against route changing of the TUTAP power project. At least 80 people were killed and 260 were injured.
  • 2018 – A wildfire in East Attica, Greece caused the death of 102 people. It was the deadliest wildfire in history of Greece and the second-deadliest in the world, in the 21st century, after the 2009 bushfires in Australia that killed 180.

Births on July 23

  • 1301 – Otto, Duke of Austria (d. 1339)
  • 1339 – Louis I, Duke of Anjou (d. 1384)
  • 1370 – Pier Paolo Vergerio the Elder, humanist (d. 1444 or 1445)
  • 1401 – Francesco I Sforza, Italian husband of Bianca Maria Visconti (d. 1466)
  • 1441 – Danjong of Joseon, King of Joseon (d. 1457)
  • 1503 – Anne of Bohemia and Hungary (d. 1547)
  • 1614 – Bonaventura Peeters the Elder, Flemish painter (d. 1652)
  • 1635 – Adam Dollard des Ormeaux, New France garrison commander (d. 1660)
  • 1649 – Pope Clement XI (d. 1721)
  • 1705 – Francis Blomefield, English historian and author (d. 1752)
  • 1713 – Luís António Verney, Portuguese philosopher and pedagogue (d. 1792)
  • 1773 – Thomas Brisbane, Scottish general and politician, 6th Governor of New South Wales (d. 1860)
  • 1775 – Étienne-Louis Malus, French physicist and mathematician (d. 1812)
  • 1777 – Philipp Otto Runge, German painter and illustrator (d. 1810)
  • 1796 – Franz Berwald, Swedish surgeon and composer (d. 1868)
  • 1802 – Manuel María Lombardini, Mexican general and president (1853) (d. 1853)
  • 1823 – Alexandre-Antonin Taché, Canadian archbishop and missionary (d. 1894)
  • 1838 – Édouard Colonne, French violinist and conductor (d. 1910)
  • 1851 – Peder Severin Krøyer, Norwegian-Danish painter (d. 1909)
  • 1856 – Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Indian lawyer and journalist (d. 1920)
  • 1864 – Apolinario Mabini, Filipino lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Philippines (d. 1903)
  • 1865 – Henry Norris, English businessman and politician (d. 1934)
  • 1866 – Francesco Cilea, Italian composer and academic (d. 1950)
  • 1878 – James Thomas Milton Anderson, Canadian lawyer and politician, 5th Premier of Saskatchewan (d. 1946)
  • 1882 – Kâzım Karabekir, Turkish general and politician, 5th Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (b. 1948)
  • 1883 – Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, French-English field marshal and politician, Lord Lieutenant of the County of London (d. 1963)
  • 1884 – Emil Jannings, Swiss-German actor (d. 1950)
  • 1885 – Izaak Killam, Canadian financier and philanthropist (d. 1955)
  • 1885 – Georges V. Matchabelli, Georgian-American businessman, created Prince Matchabelli perfume (d. 1935)
  • 1886 – Salvador de Madariaga, Spanish historian and diplomat (d. 1978)
  • 1886 – Walter H. Schottky, Swiss-German physicist and engineer (d. 1976)
  • 1888 – Raymond Chandler, American crime novelist and screenwriter (d. 1959)
  • 1891 – Louis T. Wright, American surgeon and civil rights activist (d. 1952)
  • 1892 – Haile Selassie, Ethiopian emperor (d. 1975)
  • 1894 – Arthur Treacher, English-American actor and television personality (d. 1975)
  • 1895 – Aileen Pringle, American actress (d. 1989)
  • 1898 – Daniel Cosío Villegas, Mexican historian, economist (d. 1976)
  • 1898 – Bengt Djurberg, Swedish actor and singer (d. 1941)
  • 1898 – Red Dutton, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1987)
  • 1898 – Herman Kruusenberg, Estonian wrestler (d. 1970)
  • 1898 – Jacob Marschak, Ukrainian-American economist, journalist, and author (d. 1977)
  • 1899 – Gustav Heinemann, German lawyer and politician, 3rd President of West Germany (d. 1976)
  • 1900 – Julia Davis Adams, American author and journalist (d. 1993)
  • 1900 – John Babcock, Canadian-American sergeant (d. 2010)
  • 1900 – Inger Margrethe Boberg, Danish folklore researcher and writer (d. 1957)
  • 1901 – Hank Worden, American actor and singer (d. 1992)
  • 1901 – Isabel Luberza Oppenheimer, Puerto Rican brothel owner and madam in barrio Maragüez, Ponce, Puerto Rico (d. 1974)
  • 1905 – Leopold Engleitner, Austrian author and educator (d. 2013)
  • 1906 – Vladimir Prelog, Croatian-Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
  • 1906 – Chandra Shekhar Azad, Indian activist (d. 1931)
  • 1912 – M. H. Abrams, American author, critic, and academic (d. 2015)
  • 1912 – Michael Wilding, English actor (d. 1979)
  • 1913 – Michael Foot, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Employment (d. 2010)
  • 1914 – Nassos Daphnis, Greek-American painter (d.2010)
  • 1914 – Virgil Finlay, American illustrator (d. 1971)
  • 1914 – Elly Annie Schneider, German-American actress (d. 2004)
  • 1916 – Laurel Martyn, Australian ballerina and choreographer (d. 2013)
  • 1918 – Abraham Bueno de Mesquita, Dutch comedian and actor (d. 2005)
  • 1918 – Ruth Duccini, American actress (d. 2014)
  • 1918 – Pee Wee Reese, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1999)
  • 1921 – Calvert DeForest, American actor (d. 2007)
  • 1922 – Damiano Damiani, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 2013)
  • 1922 – Jenny Pike, Canadian WWII servicewoman and photographer (d. 2004)
  • 1923 – Luis Aloma, Cuban-American baseball player (d. 1997)
  • 1923 – Morris Halle, Latvian-American linguist and academic (d. 2018)
  • 1923 – Amalia Mendoza, Mexican singer and actress (d. 2001)
  • 1924 – Gavin Lambert, English-American screenwriter and author (d. 2005)
  • 1924 – Gazanfer Bilge, Turkish wrestler (d. 2008)
  • 1925 – Tajuddin Ahmad, Bangladeshi politician, 1st Prime Minister of Bangladesh (d. 1975)
  • 1925 – Quett Masire, Botswana politician, the former Vice-President of Botswana (d. 2017)
  • 1925 – Alain Decaux, French historian and author (d. 2016)
  • 1925 – Gloria DeHaven, American actress and singer (d. 2016)
  • 1926 – Ludvík Vaculík, Czech journalist and author (d. 2015)
  • 1927 – Gérard Brach, French director and screenwriter (d. 2006)
  • 1928 – Leon Fleisher, American pianist and conductor
  • 1928 – Vera Rubin, American astronomer and academic (d. 2016)
  • 1928 – Hubert Selby, Jr., American author and screenwriter (d. 2004)
  • 1929 – Danny Barcelona, American drummer (d. 2007)
  • 1929 – Lateef Jakande, Nigerian journalist and politician, 5th Governor of Lagos State
  • 1931 – Te Atairangikaahu, Māori queen (d. 2006)
  • 1931 – Claude Fournier, Canadian director, screenwriter, and cinematographer
  • 1931 – Guy Fournier, Canadian author and screenwriter
  • 1933 – Raimund Abraham, Austrian architect, designed the Austrian Cultural Forum (d. 2010)
  • 1933 – Bert Convy, American actor, singer, and game show host (d. 1991)
  • 1933 – Benedict Groeschel, American priest, psychologist, and talk show host (d. 2014)
  • 1933 – Richard Rogers, Italian-English architect, designed the Millennium Dome and Lloyd’s building
  • 1935 – Jim Hall, American race car driver
  • 1936 – Don Drysdale, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1993)
  • 1936 – Anthony Kennedy, American lawyer and jurist
  • 1937 – Dave Webster, American football player and engineer
  • 1938 – Juliet Anderson, American porn actress and producer (d. 2010)
  • 1938 – Ronny Cox, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
  • 1938 – Charles Harrelson, American murderer (d. 2007)
  • 1938 – Bert Newton, Australian actor and television host
  • 1940 – Danielle Collobert, French author, poet, and journalist (d. 1978)
  • 1940 – Don Imus, American radio host (d. 2019)
  • 1940 – Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, Italian economist and politician, Italian Minister of Finance (d. 2010)
  • 1941 – Christopher Andrew, English historian and academic
  • 1941 – Richie Evans, American race car driver (d. 1985)
  • 1941 – Sergio Mattarella, Italian lawyer, judge, and politician, 12th President of Italy
  • 1942 – Sallyanne Atkinson, Australian journalist and politician, Lord Mayor of Brisbane
  • 1942 – Madeline Bell, American singer-songwriter
  • 1942 – Richard E. Dauch, American businessman, co-founded American Axle (d. 2013)
  • 1942 – Dimitris Liantinis, Greek philosopher and author (d. 1998)
  • 1943 – Randall Forsberg, American scientist (d. 2007)
  • 1943 – Tony Joe White, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2018)
  • 1944 – Dino Danelli, American drummer
  • 1944 – Maria João Pires, Portuguese pianist
  • 1945 – Edward Gregson, English composer and educator
  • 1945 – Jon Sammels, English footballer
  • 1946 – Andy Mackay, English oboe player and composer
  • 1946 – René Ricard, American poet, painter, and critic (d. 2014)
  • 1947 – Gardner Dozois, American journalist and author (d. 2018)
  • 1947 – David Essex, English singer-songwriter, and actor
  • 1947 – Torsten Palm, Swedish race car driver
  • 1947 – Robin Simon, English historian, critic, and academic
  • 1948 – Ross Cranston, Australian-English lawyer, judge, and politician, Solicitor General for England and Wales
  • 1948 – John Cushnahan, Northern Irish educator and politician
  • 1948 – John Hall, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and politician
  • 1948 – Stanisław Targosz, Polish general (d. 2013)
  • 1949 – Clive Rice, South African cricketer and coach (d. 2015)
  • 1950 – Alex Kozinski, Romanian-born American lawyer and judge
  • 1950 – Ian Thomas, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1950 – Blair Thornton, Canadian guitarist and songwriter
  • 1950 – Alan Turner, Australian cricketer
  • 1952 – Paul Hibbert, Australian cricketer and coach (d. 2008)
  • 1952 – Bill Nyrop, American ice hockey player and coach (d. 1995)
  • 1952 – John Rutsey, Canadian drummer (d. 2008)
  • 1952 – Janis Siegel, American jazz singer (The Manhattan Transfer)
  • 1953 – Graham Gooch, English cricketer and coach
  • 1953 – Najib Razak, Malaysian politician, 6th Prime Minister of Malaysia
  • 1957 – Jo Brand, English comedian, actress, and screenwriter
  • 1957 – Nikos Galis, American basketball player
  • 1957 – Theo van Gogh, Dutch actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2004)
  • 1957 – Quentin Willson, English TV presenter, Top Gear.
  • 1958 – Ken Green, American golfer
  • 1958 – Tomy Winata, Indonesian businessman and philanthropist, founded the Artha Graha Peduli Foundation
  • 1959 – Nancy Savoca, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1960 – Gary Ella, Australian rugby player
  • 1960 – Susan Graham, American soprano and educator
  • 1960 – Al Perez, American wrestler
  • 1961 – André Ducharme, Canadian comedian and author
  • 1961 – Michael Durant, American pilot and author
  • 1961 – Martin Gore, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1961 – Woody Harrelson, American actor and activist
  • 1961 – Milind Gunaji, Indian actor, model, television show host, and author
  • 1962 – Eriq La Salle, American actor, director, and producer
  • 1962 – Mark Laurie, Australian rugby league player
  • 1962 – Alain Lefèvre, Canadian pianist and composer
  • 1963 – Slobodan Zivojinovic, Serbian tennis player
  • 1964 – Uwe Barth, German politician
  • 1964 – Nick Menza, German drummer and songwriter (d. 2016)
  • 1965 – Rob Dickinson, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1965 – Slash, English-American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
  • 1967 – Philip Seymour Hoffman, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2014)
  • 1968 – Elden Campbell, American basketball player
  • 1968 – Gary Payton, American basketball player and actor
  • 1968 – Stephanie Seymour, American model and actress
  • 1969 – Andrew Cassels, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1970 – Charisma Carpenter, American actress
  • 1970 – Thea Dorn, German author and playwright
  • 1970 – Sam Watters, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1971 – Dalvin DeGrate, American rapper and producer
  • 1971 – Alison Krauss, American singer-songwriter and fiddler
  • 1971 – Joel Stein, American journalist
  • 1972 – Suat Kılıç, Turkish journalist, lawyer, and politician, Turkish Minister of Youth and Sports
  • 1972 – Floyd Reifer, Barbadian cricketer and coach
  • 1972 – Marlon Wayans, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1973 – Nomar Garciaparra, American baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1973 – Fran Healy, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1973 – Himesh Reshammiya, Indian singer-songwriter, producer, actor, and director
  • 1973 – Andrea Scanavacca, Italian rugby player and manager
  • 1974 – Terry Glenn, American football player and coach (d. 2017)
  • 1974 – Maurice Greene, American sprinter
  • 1974 – Rik Verbrugghe, Belgian cyclist
  • 1975 – Dan Rogerson, English politician
  • 1976 – Judit Polgár, Hungarian chess player
  • 1977 – Scott Clemmensen, American ice hockey player and coach
  • 1977 – Gail Emms, English badminton player
  • 1977 – Néicer Reasco, Ecuadorian footballer
  • 1977 – Shawn Thornton, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1978 – Stuart Elliott, Northern Irish footballer
  • 1978 – Stefanie Sun, Singaporean singer-songwriter and pianist
  • 1978 – Lauren Groff, American novelist and short story writer
  • 1979 – Perro Aguayo Jr., Mexican wrestler and promoter (d. 2015)
  • 1979 – Sotirios Kyrgiakos, Greek footballer
  • 1979 – Richard Sims, Zimbabwean cricketer
  • 1979 – Ricardo Sperafico, Brazilian race car driver
  • 1979 – Cathleen Tschirch, German sprinter
  • 1980 – Sandeep Parikh, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1980 – Michelle Williams, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
  • 1981 – Steve Jocz, Canadian singer-songwriter, drummer, and director
  • 1981 – Dmitriy Karpov, Kazakhstani decathlete
  • 1981 – Aleksandr Kulik, Estonian footballer
  • 1981 – Jarkko Nieminen, Finnish tennis player
  • 1982 – Ömer Aysan Barış, Turkish footballer
  • 1982 – Joe Mather, American baseball player
  • 1982 – Gökhan Ünal, Turkish footballer
  • 1982 – Gerald Wallace, American basketball player
  • 1982 – Paul Wesley, American actor, director, and producer
  • 1983 – Bec Hewitt, Australian actress
  • 1983 – Aaron Peirsol, American swimmer
  • 1983 – David Strettle, English rugby player
  • 1984 – Walter Gargano, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1984 – Matthew Murphy, English singer and guitarist
  • 1984 – Brandon Roy, American basketball player
  • 1984 – Celeste Thorson, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1985 – Luis Ángel Landín, Mexican footballer
  • 1986 – Aya Uchida, Japanese voice actress and singer
  • 1986 – Nelson Philippe, French race car driver
  • 1986 – Yelena Sokolova, Russian long jumper
  • 1987 – Alessio Cerci, Italian footballer
  • 1987 – Felipe Dylon, Brazilian singer
  • 1987 – Serdar Kurtuluş, Turkish footballer
  • 1989 – Daniel Radcliffe, English actor
  • 1989 – Donald Young, American tennis player
  • 1990 – Kevin Reynolds, Canadian figure skater
  • 1991 – Lauren Mitchell, Australian gymnast
  • 1991 – Jarrod Wallace, Australian rugby league footballer
  • 1992 – Danny Ings, English footballer
  • 1996 – Alexandra Andresen, Norwegian heiress and equestrian

Deaths on July 23

  • 955 – He Ning, Chinese chancellor (b. 898)
  • 997 – Nuh II, Samanid emir (b. 963)
  • 1100 – Warner of Grez, French nobleman, relative of Godfrey of Bouillon
  • 1227 – Qiu Chuji, Chinese religious leader, founded the Dragon Gate Taoism (b. 1148)
  • 1298 – Thoros III, Armenian king (b. c. 1271)
  • 1373 – Bridget of Sweden, Swedish mystic and saint, founded the Bridgettine Order (b. 1303)
  • 1403 – Thomas Percy, 1st Earl of Worcester, English rebel (b. 1343)
  • 1531 – Louis de Brézé, French husband of Diane de Poitiers
  • 1536 – Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1519)
  • 1562 – Götz von Berlichingen, German knight and poet (b. 1480)
  • 1584 – John Day, English printer (b. 1522)
  • 1596 – Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon (b. 1526)
  • 1645 – Michael I, Russian tsar (b. 1596)
  • 1692 – Gilles Ménage, French lawyer, philologist, and scholar (b. 1613)
  • 1727 – Simon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt, English politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1661)
  • 1757 – Domenico Scarlatti, Italian harpsichord player and composer (b. 1685)
  • 1773 – George Edwards, English biologist and ornithologist (b. 1693)
  • 1781 – John Joachim Zubly, Swiss-American pastor and politician (b. 1724)
  • 1793 – Roger Sherman, American lawyer and politician (b. 1721)
  • 1833 – Anselmo de la Cruz, Chilean politician, Chilean Minister of Finance (b. 1777)
  • 1853 – Andries Pretorius, South African general (b. 1798)
  • 1875 – Isaac Singer, American businessman, founded the Singer Corporation (b. 1811)
  • 1878 – Carl von Rokitansky, Bohemian physician, pathologist, and politician (b. 1804)
  • 1885 – Ulysses S. Grant, American general and politician, 18th President of the United States (b. 1822)
  • 1904 – John Douglas, English-Australian politician, 7th Premier of Queensland (b. 1828)
  • 1909 – Frederick Holder, Australian politician, 19th Premier of South Australia (b. 1850)
  • 1916 – William Ramsay, Scottish-English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)
  • 1919 – Spyridon Lambros, Greek historian and politician, 100th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1851)
  • 1920 – Conrad Kohrs, German-American rancher and politician (b. 1835)
  • 1924 – Frank Frost Abbott, American author and scholar (b. 1850)
  • 1926 – Viktor Vasnetsov, Russian painter (b. 1848)
  • 1927 – Reginald Dyer, British brigadier general (b. 1864)
  • 1930 – Glenn Curtiss, American pilot and engineer (b. 1878)
  • 1932 – Tenby Davies, Welsh runner (b. 1884)
  • 1936 – Anna Abrikosova, Russian linguist (b. 1882)
  • 1941 – George Lyman Kittredge, American scholar and educator (b. 1860)
  • 1941 – José Quiñones Gonzales, Peruvian soldier and pilot (b. 1914)
  • 1942 – Adam Czerniaków, Polish engineer and politician (b. 1880)
  • 1942 – Andy Ducat, English cricketer and footballer (b. 1886)
  • 1948 – D. W. Griffith, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1875)
  • 1950 – Shigenori Tōgō, Japanese politician and diplomat, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1882)
  • 1951 – Robert J. Flaherty, American director and producer (b. 1884)
  • 1951 – Philippe Pétain, French general and politician, 119th Prime Minister of France (b. 1856)
  • 1954 – Herman Groman, American runner (b. 1882)
  • 1955 – Cordell Hull, American captain, lawyer, and politician, 47th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1871)
  • 1957 – Bob Shiring, American football player and coach (b. 1870)
  • 1966 – Montgomery Clift, American actor (b. 1920)
  • 1968 – Henry Hallett Dale, English pharmacologist and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1875)
  • 1971 – Van Heflin, American actor (b. 1910)
  • 1972 – Esther Applin, American geologist and paleontologist (b. 1895)
  • 1973 – Eddie Rickenbacker, American pilot and race car driver, founded Rickenbacker Motors (b. 1890)
  • 1979 – Joseph Kessel, French journalist and author (b. 1898)
  • 1980 – Sarto Fournier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 38th Mayor of Montreal (b. 1908)
  • 1980 – Keith Godchaux, American keyboard player and songwriter (b. 1948)
  • 1980 – Mollie Steimer, Russian activist (b. 1897)
  • 1982 – Vic Morrow, American actor (b. 1929)
  • 1983 – Georges Auric, French composer (b. 1899)
  • 1985 – Johnny Wardle, English cricketer and manager (b. 1923)
  • 1989 – Donald Barthelme, American short story writer and novelist (b. 1931)
  • 1990 – Kenjiro Takayanagi, Japanese engineer (b. 1899)
  • 1996 – Jean Muir, American actress (b. 1911)
  • 1997 – Chūhei Nambu, Japanese jumper and journalist (b. 1904)
  • 1999 – Hassan II of Morocco (b. 1929)
  • 2001 – Eudora Welty, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1909)
  • 2002 – Leo McKern, Australian-English actor (b. 1920)
  • 2002 – William Luther Pierce, American activist and author (b. 1933)
  • 2002 – Chaim Potok, American novelist and rabbi (b. 1929)
  • 2002 – Clark Gesner, American author and composer (b. 1938)
  • 2003 – James E. Davis, American police officer and politician (b. 1962)
  • 2004 – Mehmood Ali, Indian actor, director, and producer (b. 1932)
  • 2004 – Carlos Paredes, Portuguese guitarist and composer (b. 1925)
  • 2004 – Piero Piccioni, Italian pianist, conductor, and composer (b. 1921)
  • 2005 – Ted Greene, American guitarist and journalist (b. 1946)
  • 2006 – Jean-Paul Desbiens, Canadian journalist and academic (b. 1927)
  • 2007 – Ron Miller, American songwriter and producer (b. 1933)
  • 2007 – Mohammed Zahir Shah, Afghan king (b. 1914)
  • 2008 – Kurt Furgler, Swiss lawyer and politician, 70th President of the Swiss Confederation (b. 1924)
  • 2009 – E. Lynn Harris, American author and screenwriter (b. 1955)
  • 2010 – Daniel Schorr, American journalist and author (b. 1916)
  • 2011 – Amy Winehouse, English singer-songwriter (b. 1983)
  • 2012 – Margaret Mahy, New Zealand author (b. 1936)
  • 2012 – Sally Ride, American physicist and astronaut (b. 1951)
  • 2012 – Lakshmi Sahgal, Indian soldier and politician (b. 1914)
  • 2012 – Esther Tusquets, Spanish publisher and author (b. 1936)
  • 2012 – José Luis Uribarri, Spanish television host and director (b. 1936)
  • 2013 – Dominguinhos, Brazilian singer-songwriter and accordion player (b. 1941)
  • 2013 – Pauline Clarke, English author (b. 1921)
  • 2013 – Arthur J. Collingsworth, American diplomat (b. 1944)
  • 2013 – Emile Griffith, American boxer and trainer (b. 1938)
  • 2013 – Kim Jong-hak, South Korean director and producer (b. 1951)
  • 2013 – Djalma Santos, Brazilian footballer (b. 1929)
  • 2014 – Dora Bryan, English actress and restaurateur (b. 1923)
  • 2014 – Norman Leyden, American composer and conductor (b. 1917)
  • 2014 – Ariano Suassuna, Brazilian author and playwright (b. 1927)
  • 2014 – Jordan Tabor, English footballer (b. 1990)
  • 2015 – Shigeko Kubota, Japanese-American sculptor and director (b. 1937)
  • 2015 – Don Oberdorfer, American journalist, author, and academic (b. 1931)
  • 2015 – William Wakefield Baum, American cardinal (b. 1926)
  • 2017 – John Kundla, American basketball coach (b. 1916)

Holidays and observances on July 23

  • Birthday of Haile Selassie (Rastafari)
  • Children’s Day (Indonesia)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Bridget of Sweden
    • Heiromartyr Phocas (Eastern Orthodox)
    • John Cassian (Western Christianity)
    • Liborius of Le Mans
    • Margarita María
    • Mercè Prat i Prat
    • Rasyphus and Ravennus
    • July 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • National Remembrance Day (Papua New Guinea)
  • Renaissance Day (Oman)
  • Revolution Day (Egypt)

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

by
  • 363 – Emperor Julian marches back up the Tigris and burns his fleet of supply ships. During the withdrawal, Roman forces suffer several attacks from the Persians.
  • 632 – Yazdegerd III ascends the throne as king (shah) of the Persian Empire. He becomes the last ruler of the Sasanian dynasty (modern Iran).
  • 1407 – Ming–Hồ War: Retired King Hồ Quý Ly and his son King Hồ Hán Thương of Hồ dynasty are captured by the Ming armies.
  • 1487 – Battle of Stoke Field: King Henry VII of England defeats the leaders of a Yorkist rebellion in the final engagement of the Wars of the Roses.
  • 1586 – Mary, Queen of Scots, recognizes Philip II of Spain as her heir and successor.
  • 1745 – War of the Austrian Succession: New England colonial troops under the command of William Pepperrell capture the Fortress of Louisbourg in Louisbourg, New France (Old Style date).
  • 1746 – War of the Austrian Succession: Austria and Sardinia defeat a Franco-Spanish army at the Battle of Piacenza.
  • 1755 – French and Indian War: The French surrender Fort Beauséjour to the British, leading to the expulsion of the Acadians.
  • 1779 – Spain declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Great Siege of Gibraltar begins.
  • 1795 – French Revolutionary Wars: In what became known as Cornwallis’s Retreat, a British Royal Navy squadron led by Vice Admiral William Cornwallis strongly resists a much larger French Navy force and withdraws largely intact, setting up the French Navy defeat at the Battle of Groix six days later.
  • 1811 – Survivors of an attack the previous day by Tla-o-qui-aht on board the Pacific Fur Company’s ship Tonquin, intentionally detonate a powder magazine on the ship, destroying it and killing about 100 attackers.
  • 1815 – Battle of Ligny and Battle of Quatre Bras, two days before the Battle of Waterloo.
  • 1819 – A major earthquake strikes the Kutch district of western India, killing over 1,543 people and raising a 6 m high, 6 km wide, ridge, extending for at least 80 km, that was known as the Allah Bund (“Dam of God”).
  • 1836 – The formation of the London Working Men’s Association gives rise to the Chartist Movement.
  • 1846 – The Papal conclave of 1846 elects Pope Pius IX, beginning the longest reign in the history of the papacy.
  • 1858 – Abraham Lincoln delivers his House Divided speech in Springfield, Illinois.
  • 1871 – The Universities Tests Act 1871 allows students to enter the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Durham without religious tests (except for those intending to study theology).
  • 1883 – The Victoria Hall theatre panic in Sunderland, England, kills 183 children.
  • 1884 – The first purpose-built roller coaster, LaMarcus Adna Thompson’s “Switchback Railway”, opens in New York’s Coney Island amusement park.
  • 1897 – A treaty annexing the Republic of Hawaii to the United States is signed; the Republic would not be dissolved until a year later.
  • 1903 – The Ford Motor Company is incorporated.
  • 1903 – Roald Amundsen leaves Oslo, Norway, to commence the first east-west navigation of the Northwest Passage.
  • 1904 – Eugen Schauman assassinates Nikolay Bobrikov, Governor-General of Finland.
  • 1904 – Irish author James Joyce begins a relationship with Nora Barnacle and subsequently uses the date to set the actions for his novel Ulysses; this date is now traditionally called “Bloomsday”.
  • 1911 – IBM founded as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company in Endicott, New York.
  • 1922 – General election in the Irish Free State: The pro-Treaty Sinn Féin party wins a large majority.
  • 1925 – The most famous Young Pioneer camp of the Soviet Union, Artek, is established.
  • 1930 – Sovnarkom establishes decree time in the USSR.
  • 1933 – The National Industrial Recovery Act is passed in the United States, allowing businesses to avoid antitrust prosecution if they establish voluntary wage, price, and working condition regulations on an industry-wide basis.
  • 1940 – World War II: Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain becomes Chief of State of Vichy France (Chef de l’État Français).
  • 1940 – A Communist government is installed in Lithuania.
  • 1944 – In a gross miscarriage of justice, George Junius Stinney Jr., age 14, becomes the youngest person executed in the United States in the 20th century after being convicted in a two-hour trial for the rape and murder of two teenage white girls.
  • 1948 – Members of the Malayan Communist Party kill three British plantation managers in Sungai Siput; in response, British Malaya declares a state of emergency.
  • 1955 – In a futile effort to topple Argentine President Juan Perón, rogue aircraft pilots of the Argentine Navy drop several bombs upon an unarmed crowd demonstrating in favor of Perón in Buenos Aires, killing 364 and injuring at least 800. At the same time on the ground, some soldiers attempt to stage a coup but are suppressed by loyal forces.
  • 1958 – Imre Nagy, Pál Maléter and other leaders of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising are executed.
  • 1961 – While on tour with the Kirov Ballet in Paris, Rudolf Nureyev defects from the Soviet Union.
  • 1963 – Soviet Space Program: Vostok 6 mission: Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space.
  • 1972 – The largest single-site hydroelectric power project in Canada is inaugurated at Churchill Falls Generating Station.
  • 1976 – Soweto uprising: A non-violent march by 15,000 students in Soweto, South Africa, turns into days of rioting when police open fire on the crowd.
  • 1977 – Oracle Corporation is incorporated in Redwood Shores, California, as Software Development Laboratories (SDL), by Larry Ellison, Bob Miner and Ed Oates.
  • 1981 – US President Ronald Reagan awards the Congressional Gold Medal to Ken Taylor, Canada’s former ambassador to Iran, for helping six Americans escape from Iran during the hostage crisis of 1979–81; he is the first foreign citizen bestowed the honor.
  • 1989 – Revolutions of 1989: Imre Nagy, the former Hungarian prime minister, is reburied in Budapest following the collapse of Communism in Hungary.
  • 1997 – Fifty people are killed in the Daïat Labguer (M’sila) massacre in Algeria.
  • 2000 – The Secretary-General of the UN reports that Israel has complied with United Nations Security Council Resolution 425, 22 years after its issuance, and completely withdrew from Lebanon. The Resolution does not encompass the Shebaa farms, which is claimed by Israel, Syria and Lebanon.
  • 2010 – Bhutan becomes the first country to institute a total ban on tobacco.
  • 2012 – China successfully launches its Shenzhou 9 spacecraft, carrying three astronauts, including the first female Chinese astronaut Liu Yang, to the Tiangong-1 orbital module.
  • 2012 – The United States Air Force’s robotic Boeing X-37B spaceplane returns to Earth after a classified 469-day orbital mission
  • 2013 – A multi-day cloudburst, centered on the North Indian state of Uttarakhand, causes devastating floods and landslides, becoming the country’s worst natural disaster since the 2004 tsunami.
  • 2016 – Shanghai Disneyland Park, the first Disney Park in Mainland China, opens to the public.
  • 2019 – Upwards of 2,000,000 people participate in the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, the largest in Hong Kong’s history.

Births on June 16

  • 1139 – Emperor Konoe of Japan (d. 1155)
  • 1332 – Isabella de Coucy, English daughter of Edward III of England (d. 1379)
  • 1454 – Joanna of Aragon, Queen of Naples (d. 1517)
  • 1514 – John Cheke, English academic and politician, English Secretary of State (d. 1557)
  • 1516 – Yang Jisheng, Ming dynasty official and Confucian martyr (d. 1555)
  • 1583 – Axel Oxenstierna, Swedish politician, Lord High Chancellor of Sweden (d. 1654)
  • 1591 – Joseph Solomon Delmedigo, Greek-Italian physician, mathematician, and theorist (d. 1655)
  • 1606 – Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of Donegall, Irish soldier and politician (d. 1675)
  • 1613 – John Cleveland, English poet and educator (d. 1658)
  • 1625 – Samuel Chappuzeau, French scholar (d. 1701)
  • 1633 – Jean de Thévenot, French linguist and botanist (d. 1667)
  • 1644 – Henrietta Anne Stuart, Princess of Scotland, England and Ireland (d. 1670)
  • 1653 – James Bertie, 1st Earl of Abingdon, English nobleman (d. 1699)
  • 1713 – Meshech Weare, American farmer, lawyer, and politician, 1st Governor of New Hampshire (d. 1786)
  • 1723 – Adam Smith, Scottish philosopher and economist (d. 1790)
  • 1738 – Mary Katherine Goddard, American publisher (d. 1816)
  • 1754 – Salawat Yulayev, Russian poet (d. 1800)
  • 1792 – John Linnell, English painter and engraver (d. 1882)
  • 1801 – Julius Plücker, German mathematician and physicist (d. 1868)
  • 1806 – Edward Davy, English physician and chemist (d. 1885)
  • 1813 – Otto Jahn, German archaeologist and philologist (d. 1869)
  • 1820 – Athanase Josué Coquerel, Dutch-French preacher and theologian (d. 1875)
  • 1821 – Old Tom Morris, Scottish golfer and architect (d. 1908)
  • 1826 – Constantin von Ettingshausen, Austrian geologist and botanist (d. 1897)
  • 1829 – Geronimo, American tribal leader (d. 1909)
  • 1836 – Wesley Merritt, American general and politician, Military Governor of the Philippines (d. 1910)
  • 1837 – Ernst Laas, German philosopher and academic (d. 1885)
  • 1838 – Frederic Archer, English organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1901)
  • 1838 – Cushman Kellogg Davis, American lieutenant and politician, 7th Governor of Minnesota (d. 1900)
  • 1840 – Ernst Otto Schlick, German engineer and author (d. 1913)
  • 1850 – Max Delbrück, German chemist and academic (d. 1919)
  • 1857 – Arthur Arz von Straußenburg, Austrian-Hungarian general (d. 1935)
  • 1858 – Gustaf V of Sweden (d. 1950)
  • 1863 – Francisco León de la Barra, Mexican politician and diplomat (d. 1939)
  • 1866 – Germanos Karavangelis, Greek-Austrian metropolitan (d. 1935)
  • 1874 – Arthur Meighen, Canadian lawyer and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1960)
  • 1880 – Otto Eisenschiml, Austrian-American chemist and author (d. 1963)
  • 1882 – Mohammad Mosaddegh, Iranian educator and politician, 60th Prime Minister of Iran (d. 1967)
  • 1885 – Erich Jacoby, Estonian-Polish architect (d. 1941)
  • 1888 – Alexander Friedmann, Russian physicist and mathematician (d. 1925)
  • 1888 – Peter Stoner, American mathematician and astronomer (d. 1980)
  • 1890 – Stan Laurel, English actor and comedian (d. 1965)
  • 1896 – Murray Leinster, American author and screenwriter (d. 1976)
  • 1897 – Georg Wittig, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)
  • 1899 – Helen Traubel, American operatic soprano (d. 1972)
  • 1902 – Barbara McClintock, American geneticist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1992)
  • 1902 – George Gaylord Simpson, American paleontologist and author (d. 1984)
  • 1906 – Alan Fairfax, Australian cricketer (d. 1955)
  • 1907 – Jack Albertson, American actor (d. 1981)
  • 1909 – Archie Carr, American ecologist and zoologist (d. 1987)
  • 1910 – Juan Velasco Alvarado, Peruvian general and politician, 1st President of Peru (d. 1977)
  • 1912 – Albert Chartier, Canadian illustrator (d. 2004)
  • 1912 – Enoch Powell, English soldier and politician, Secretary of State for Health (d. 1998)
  • 1914 – Eleanor Sokoloff, American pianist and teacher
  • 1915 – John Tukey, American mathematician and academic (d. 2000)
  • 1915 – Marga Faulstich, German glass chemist (d. 1998)
  • 1917 – Phaedon Gizikis, Greek general and politician, President of Greece (d. 1999)
  • 1917 – Katharine Graham, American publisher (d. 2001)
  • 1917 – Aurelio Lampredi, Italian automobile and aircraft engine designer (d. 1989)
  • 1917 – Irving Penn, American photographer (d. 2009)
  • 1920 – Isabelle Holland, Swiss-American author (d. 2002)
  • 1920 – Raymond Lemieux, Canadian chemist and academic (d. 2002)
  • 1920 – José López Portillo, Mexican lawyer and politician, 31st President of Mexico (d. 2004)
  • 1920 – Hemanta Mukharjee, Indian singer and music director
  • 1922 – Ilmar Kullam, Estonian basketball player and coach (d. 2011)
  • 1923 – Ron Flockhart, Scottish race car driver (d. 1962)
  • 1924 – Faith Domergue, American actress (d. 1999)
  • 1925 – Jean d’Ormesson, French journalist and author (d. 2017)
  • 1925 – Otto Muehl, Austrian-Portuguese painter and director (d. 2013)
  • 1926 – Efraín Ríos Montt, Guatemalan general and politician, 26th President of Guatemala (d. 2018)
  • 1927 – Tom Graveney, English cricketer and sportscaster (d. 2015)
  • 1927 – Herbert Lichtenfeld, German author and screenwriter (d. 2001)
  • 1927 – Ariano Suassuna, Brazilian author and playwright (d. 2014)
  • 1929 – Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait
  • 1930 – Vilmos Zsigmond, Hungarian-American cinematographer and producer (d. 2016)
  • 1934 – Eileen Atkins, English actress and screenwriter
  • 1934 – Roger Neilson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2003)
  • 1935 – Jim Dine, American painter and illustrator
  • 1937 – Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Bulgarian politician, 48th Prime Minister of Bulgaria
  • 1937 – Erich Segal, American author and screenwriter (d. 2010)
  • 1938 – Thomas Boyd-Carpenter, English general
  • 1938 – Torgny Lindgren, Swedish author and poet (d. 2017)
  • 1938 – Joyce Carol Oates, American novelist, short story writer, critic, and poet
  • 1939 – Billy “Crash” Craddock, American singer-songwriter
  • 1940 – Māris Čaklais, Latvian poet, writer, and journalist (d. 2003)
  • 1940 – Neil Goldschmidt, American lawyer and politician, 33rd Governor of Oregon
  • 1941 – Rosalind Baker, Australian author
  • 1941 – Lamont Dozier, American songwriter and producer
  • 1941 – Tommy Horton, English golfer (d. 2017)
  • 1941 – Mumtaz Hamid Rao, Pakistani journalist (d. 2011)
  • 1942 – Giacomo Agostini, Italian motorcycle racer and manager
  • 1942 – Eddie Levert, American R&B/soul singer-songwriter, musician, and actor
  • 1944 – Henri Richelet, French painter and etcher
  • 1945 – Claire Alexander, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1945 – Lucienne Robillard, Canadian social worker and politician, 59th Secretary of State for Canada
  • 1946 – Rick Adelman, American basketball player and coach
  • 1946 – John Astor, 3rd Baron Astor of Hever, English businessman and politician
  • 1946 – Karen Dunnell, English statistician and academic
  • 1946 – Tom Harrell, American trumpet player and composer
  • 1946 – Neil MacGregor, Scottish historian and curator
  • 1946 – Iain Matthews, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1946 – Jodi Rell, American politician, 87th Governor of Connecticut
  • 1946 – Mark Ritts, American actor, puppeteer, and producer (d. 2009)
  • 1946 – Derek Sanderson, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
  • 1946 – Simon Williams, English actor and playwright
  • 1947 – Tom Malone, American trombonist, composer, and producer
  • 1947 – Buddy Roberts, American wrestler (d. 2012)
  • 1947 – Al Cowlings, American ex-NFL player and close friend of O.J. Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson
  • 1947 – Tom Wyner, English-American voice actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1948 – Ron LeFlore, American baseball player and manager
  • 1949 – Paulo Cézar Caju, Brazilian footballer
  • 1949 – Ralph Mann, American hurdler and author
  • 1950 – Mithun Chakraborty, Indian actor and politician
  • 1950 – Michel Clair, Canadian lawyer and politician
  • 1950 – Jerry Petrowski, American politician and farmer
  • 1951 – Charlie Dominici, American singer and guitarist
  • 1951 – Roberto Durán, Panamanian boxer
  • 1952 – George Papandreou, Greek sociologist and politician, 182nd Prime Minister of Greece
  • 1952 – Gino Vannelli, Canadian singer-songwriter
  • 1953 – Valerie Mahaffey, American actress
  • 1953 – Ian Mosley, English drummer
  • 1954 – Matthew Saad Muhammad, American boxer and trainer (d. 2014)
  • 1954 – Garry Roberts, Irish guitarist
  • 1955 – Grete Faremo, Norwegian politician, Norwegian Minister of Defence
  • 1955 – Laurie Metcalf, American actress
  • 1955 – Artemy Troitsky, Russian journalist and critic
  • 1957 – Ian Buchanan, Scottish-American actor
  • 1957 – Leeona Dorrian, Lady Dorrian, Scottish lawyer and judge
  • 1958 – Darrell Griffith, American basketball player
  • 1958 – Ulrike Tauber, German swimmer
  • 1958 – Warren Rodwell, Australian soldier, educator and musician
  • 1959 – The Ultimate Warrior, American wrestler (d. 2014)
  • 1960 – Peter Sterling, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
  • 1961 – Can Dündar, Turkish journalist and author
  • 1961 – Robbie Kerr, Australian cricketer
  • 1961 – Steve Larmer, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1961 – Margus Metstak, Estonian basketball player and coach
  • 1962 – Wally Joyner, American baseball player and coach
  • 1962 – Arnold Vosloo, South African-American actor
  • 1962 – Anthony Wong, Hong Kong singer
  • 1963 – The Sandman, American wrestler
  • 1964 – Danny Burstein, American actor and singer
  • 1965 – Michael Richard Lynch, Irish computer scientist and entrepreneur; co-founded HP Autonomy
  • 1965 – Richard Madaleno, American politician
  • 1966 – Mark Occhilupo, Australian surfer
  • 1966 – Olivier Roumat, French rugby player
  • 1966 – Phil Vischer, American voice actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, co-created VeggieTales
  • 1966 – Jan Železný, Czech javelin thrower and coach
  • 1967 – Charalambos Andreou, Cypriot footballer
  • 1967 – Jürgen Klopp, German footballer and manager
  • 1968 – Adam Schmitt, American singer-songwriter, musician, and producer
  • 1969 – Shami Chakrabarti, English lawyer and academic
  • 1969 – Mark Crossley, English-Welsh footballer and manager
  • 1970 – Younus AlGohar, Pakistani poet and academic, co-founded Messiah Foundation International
  • 1970 – Clifton Collins Jr., American actor
  • 1970 – Cobi Jones, American soccer player and manager
  • 1970 – Phil Mickelson, American golfer
  • 1971 – Tupac Shakur, American rapper and producer (d. 1996)
  • 1972 – Kiko Loureiro, Brazilian guitarist
  • 1973 – Eddie Cibrian, American actor
  • 1974 – Glenicia James, Saint Lucian cricketer
  • 1975 – Anthony Carter, American basketball player and coach
  • 1977 – Craig Fitzgibbon, Australian rugby league player and coach
  • 1977 – Duncan Hames, English accountant and politician
  • 1977 – Kerry Wood, American baseball player
  • 1978 – Daniel Brühl, Spanish-German actor
  • 1978 – Dainius Zubrus, Lithuanian ice hockey player
  • 1978 – Fish Leong, Malaysian singer
  • 1980 – Brandon Armstrong, American basketball player
  • 1980 – Phil Christophers, German-English rugby player
  • 1980 – Henry Perenara, New Zealand rugby league player and referee
  • 1980 – Martin Stranzl, Austrian footballer
  • 1980 – Joey Yung, Hong Kong singer
  • 1981 – Benjamin Becker, German tennis player
  • 1981 – Kevin Bieksa, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1981 – Alexandre Giroux, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1981 – Ola Kvernberg, Norwegian violinist
  • 1981 – Miguel Villalta, Peruvian footballer
  • 1982 – May Andersen, Danish model and actress
  • 1982 – Missy Peregrym, Canadian model and actress
  • 1983 – Armend Dallku, Albanian footballer
  • 1984 – Rick Nash, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1984 – Dan Ryckert, American writer and entertainer
  • 1984 – Steven Whittaker, Scottish footballer
  • 1986 – Rodrigo Defendi, Brazilian footballer
  • 1986 – Urby Emanuelson, Dutch footballer
  • 1986 – Fernando Muslera, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1987 – Diana DeGarmo, American singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1987 – Per Ciljan Skjelbred, Norwegian footballer
  • 1987 – Christian Tshimanga Kabeya, Belgian footballer
  • 1988 – Keshia Chante, Canadian singer
  • 1988 – Jermaine Gresham, American football player
  • 1990 – John Newman, English musician, singer, songwriter and record producer
  • 1991 – Joe McElderry, English singer-songwriter
  • 1991 – Siya Kolisi, South African rugby player
  • 1991 – Matt Moylan, Australian rugby league player
  • 1992 – Vladimir Morozov, Russian swimmer
  • 1993 – Park Bo-gum, South Korean actor
  • 1993 – Gnash, American singer, songwriter, rapper, DJ and record producer
  • 1994 – Grete-Lilijane Küppas, Estonian footballer
  • 1994 – Rezar, Albanian professional wrestler
  • 1995 – Euan Aitken, Australian rugby league player
  • 1995 – Joseph Schooling, Singaporean swimmer
  • 1995 – Akira Ioane, New Zealand rugby Union player
  • 2000 – Bianca Andreescu, Canadian tennis player

Deaths on June 16

  • 840 – Rorgon I, Frankish nobleman (or 839)
  • 924 – Li Cunshen, general of Later Tang (b. 862)
  • 956 – Hugh the Great, Frankish nobleman (b. 898)
  • 1185 – Richeza of Poland, queen of León (b. c. 1140)
  • 1286 – Hugh de Balsham, English bishop
  • 1332 – Adam de Brome, founder of Oriel College, Oxford
  • 1361 – Johannes Tauler, German mystic theologian
  • 1397 – Philip of Artois, Count of Eu, French soldier (b. 1358)
  • 1424 – Johannes Ambundii, archbishop of Riga
  • 1468 – Jean Le Fèvre de Saint-Remy, Burgundian historian and author (b. 1395)
  • 1487 – John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln (b. c. 1463)
  • 1540 – Konrad von Thüngen, German nobleman (b. c. 1466)
  • 1622 – Alexander Seton, 1st Earl of Dunfermline, Scottish lawyer, judge, and politician, Lord Chancellor of Scotland (b. 1555)
  • 1626 – Christian, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Wolfenbüttel, German Protestant military leader (b. 1599)
  • 1666 – Sir Richard Fanshawe, 1st Baronet, English poet and diplomat, English Ambassador to Spain (b. 1608)
  • 1722 – John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire (b. 1650)
  • 1743 – Louise-Françoise de Bourbon, eldest daughter of King Louis XIV of France (b. 1673)
  • 1752 – Joseph Butler, English bishop and philosopher (b. 1692)
  • 1762 – Anne Russell, Countess of Jersey (formerly Duchess of Bedford) (b. c.1705)
  • 1777 – Jean-Baptiste-Louis Gresset, French poet and playwright (b. 1709)
  • 1779 – Sir Francis Bernard, 1st Baronet, English lawyer and politician, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (b. 1712)
  • 1804 – Johann Adam Hiller, German composer and conductor (b. 1728)
  • 1824 – Charles-François Lebrun, duc de Plaisance, French lawyer and politician (b. 1739)
  • 1849 – Wilhelm Martin Leberecht de Wette, German theologian and scholar (b. 1780)
  • 1850 – William Lawson, English-Australian explorer and politician (b. 1774)
  • 1858 – John Snow, English epidemiologist and physician (b. 1813)
  • 1862 – Hidenoyama Raigorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 9th Yokozuna (b. 1808)
  • 1869 – Charles Sturt, Indian-English botanist and explorer (b. 1795)
  • 1872 – Norman MacLeod, Scottish minister and author (b. 1812)
  • 1878 – Crawford Long, American surgeon and pharmacist (b. 1815)
  • 1878 – Kikuchi Yōsai, Japanese painter (b. 1781)
  • 1881 – Josiah Mason, English businessman and philanthropist (b. 1795)
  • 1885 – Wilhelm Camphausen, German painter and academic (b. 1818)
  • 1886 – Alexander Stuart, Scottish-Australian politician, 9th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1824)
  • 1902 – Ernst Schröder, German mathematician and academic (b. 1841)
  • 1918 – Bazil Assan, Romanian engineer and explorer (b. 1860)
  • 1925 – Chittaranjan Das, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1870)
  • 1929 – Bramwell Booth, English 2nd General of The Salvation Army (b. 1856)
  • 1929 – Vernon Louis Parrington, American historian and scholar (b. 1871)
  • 1930 – Ezra Fitch, American lawyer and businessman, co-founded Abercrombie & Fitch (b. 1866)
  • 1930 – Elmer Ambrose Sperry, American inventor, co-invented the gyrocompass (b. 1860)
  • 1939 – Chick Webb, American drummer and bandleader (b. 1905)
  • 1940 – DuBose Heyward, American author (b. 1885)
  • 1944 – Marc Bloch, French historian and academic (b. 1886)
  • 1945 – Aris Velouchiotis, Greek general (b. 1905)
  • 1946 – Gordon Brewster, Irish cartoonist (b 1889)
  • 1952 – Andrew Lawson, Scottish-American geologist and academic (b. 1861)
  • 1953 – Margaret Bondfield, English politician, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (b. 1873)
  • 1955 – Ozias Leduc, Canadian painter (b. 1864)
  • 1958 – Pál Maléter, Hungarian general and politician, Minister of Defence of Hungary (b. 1917)
  • 1958 – Imre Nagy, Hungarian politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1895)
  • 1959 – George Reeves, American actor and director (b. 1914)
  • 1961 – Marcel Junod, Swiss physician and anesthesiologist (b. 1904)
  • 1967 – Reginald Denny, English actor (b. 1891)
  • 1969 – Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, English field marshal and politician, 17th Governor General of Canada (b. 1891)
  • 1970 – Sydney Chapman, English mathematician and geophysicist (b. 1888)
  • 1970 – Brian Piccolo, American football player (b. 1943)
  • 1971 – John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, Scottish broadcaster, co-founded BBC (b. 1889)
  • 1974 – Amalie Sara Colquhoun, Australian landscape and portrait painter (b. 1894)
  • 1977 – Wernher von Braun, German-American physicist and engineer (b. 1912)
  • 1979 – Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, Ghanaian general and politician, 6th Head of state of Ghana (b. 1931)
  • 1979 – Nicholas Ray, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1911)
  • 1981 – Thomas Playford IV, Australian politician, 33rd Premier of South Australia (b. 1896)
  • 1982 – James Honeyman-Scott, English guitarist and songwriter (b. 1956)
  • 1984 – Lew Andreas, American football player and coach (b. 1895)
  • 1984 – Erni Krusten, Estonian author and poet (b. 1900)
  • 1986 – Maurice Duruflé, French organist and composer (b. 1902)
  • 1987 – Marguerite de Angeli, American author and illustrator (b. 1889)
  • 1988 – Miguel Piñero, Puerto Rican-American actor and playwright (b. 1946)
  • 1993 – Lindsay Hassett, Australian cricketer and soldier (b. 1913)
  • 1994 – Kristen Pfaff, American bass player and songwriter (b. 1967)
  • 1996 – Mel Allen, American sportscaster and game show host (b. 1913)
  • 1997 – Dal Stivens, Australian soldier and author (b. 1911)
  • 1998 – Fred Wacker, American race car driver and engineer (b. 1918)
  • 1999 – Screaming Lord Sutch, English singer and activist (b. 1940)
  • 2003 – Pierre Bourgault, Canadian journalist and politician (b. 1934)
  • 2003 – Georg Henrik von Wright, Finnish–Swedish philosopher and author (b. 1916)
  • 2004 – Thanom Kittikachorn, Thai field marshal and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Thailand (b. 1911)
  • 2004 – Jacques Miquelon, Canadian lawyer and judge (b. 1911)
  • 2005 – Enrique Laguerre, Puerto Rican-American author and critic (b. 1906)
  • 2008 – Mario Rigoni Stern, Italian soldier and author (b. 1921)
  • 2010 – Marc Bazin, Haitian lawyer and politician, 49th President of Haiti (b. 1932)
  • 2010 – Maureen Forrester, Canadian singer and academic (b. 1930)
  • 2010 – Ronald Neame, English director, producer, cinematographer, and screenwriter (b. 1911)
  • 2011 – Östen Mäkitalo, Swedish engineer and academic (b. 1938)
  • 2012 – Nils Karlsson, Swedish skier (b. 1917)
  • 2012 – Jorge Lankenau, Mexican banker and businessman (b. 1944)
  • 2012 – Sławomir Petelicki, Polish general (b. 1946)
  • 2012 – Susan Tyrrell, American actress (b. 1945)
  • 2013 – Sam Farber, American businessman, co-founded OXO (b. 1924)
  • 2013 – Hans Hass, Austrian biologist and diver (b. 1919)
  • 2013 – Khondakar Ashraf Hossain, Bangladesh poet and academic (b. 1950)
  • 2013 – Norman Ian MacKenzie, English journalist and author (b. 1921)
  • 2013 – Ottmar Walter, German footballer (b. 1924)
  • 2014 – Tony Gwynn, American baseball player and coach (b. 1960)
  • 2014 – Cándido Muatetema Rivas (b. 1960), Equatoguinean politician and diplomat, Prime Minister of Equatorial Guinea
  • 2015 – Charles Correa, Indian architect and urban planner (b. 1930)
  • 2015 – Jean Vautrin, French director, screenwriter, and critic (b. 1933)
  • 2016 – Jo Cox, English political activist and MP (b. 1974)
  • 2017 – Helmut Kohl, German politician, 6th Chancellor of Germany (b. 1930)
  • 2020 – Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. (b. 1935), Filipino businessman and politician

Holidays and observances on June 16

  • Juneteenth (United States)
  • Birthday of Leonard P. Howell (Rastafari)
  • Bloomsday (Dublin, Ireland)
  • Christian feast days:
    • Aurelianus of Arles
    • Aureus of Mainz (and his sister Justina)
    • Benno
    • Cettin of Oran
    • Curig of Llanbadarn
    • Ferreolus and Ferrutio
    • George Berkeley and Joseph Butler (Episcopal Church)
    • Lutgardis
    • Quriaqos and Julietta
    • June 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Engineer’s Day (Argentina)
  • Father’s Day (Seychelles)
  • International Day of the African Child (Organisation of African Unity)
  • Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev (Sikhism)
  • Sussex Day (Sussex)
  • Youth Day (South Africa)

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

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

Births on January 12

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

Deaths of January 12

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

Holidays and observances on January 12

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

January 1 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

by

During the Middle Ages under the influence of the Catholic Church, many countries in western Europe decided to move the start of the year to one of several important Christian festivals – December 25 (the Nativity of Jesus), March 1, March 25 (the Annunciation), or even Easter. The Byzantine Empire began its numbered year on September 1.

In England, January 1 was celebrated as the New Year festival, but from the 12th century to 1752 the year in England began on March 25 (Lady Day). So, for example, the Parliamentary record notes the execution of Charles I as occurring on January 30, 1648, (as the year did not end until March 24), although modern histories adjust the start of the year to January 1 and record the execution as occurring in 1649.

Most western European countries changed the start of the year to January 1 before they adopted the Gregorian calendar. For example, Scotland changed the start of the Scottish New Year to January 1 in 1600. England, Ireland and the British colonies changed the start of the year to January 1 in 1752. Later that year in September, the Gregorian calendar was introduced throughout Britain and the British colonies. These two reforms were implemented by the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750.

January 1 became the official start of the year as follows:

Julian calendar:

  • 1544 Holy Roman Empire (Germany)
  • 1556 Spain, Portugal
  • 1559 Prussia, Sweden
  • 1564 France
  • 1576 Southern Netherlands
  • 1579 Duchy of Lorraine
  • 1583 Northern Netherlands
  • 1600 Scotland
  • 1700 Russia
  • 1752 Great Britain (excluding Scotland) and its colonies
  • 1804 Serbia

Gregorian calendar:

  • 1750 Tuscany
  • 1797 Republic of Venice
  • 1918 Ottoman Empire
  • 1941 Thailand

Events on January 1

Pre-Julian Roman calendar

  • 153 BC – For the first time, Roman consuls begin their year in office on January 1.

Early Julian calendar (before Augustus’ leap year correction)

  • 45 BC – The Julian calendar takes effect as the civil calendar of the Roman Empire, establishing January 1 as the new date of the new year.
  • 42 BC – The Roman Senate posthumously deifies Julius Caesar.

Julian calendar

  • 193 – The Senate chooses Pertinax against his will to succeed Commodus as Roman emper]or.
  • 404 – Saint Telemachus tries to stop a gladiatorial fight in a Roman amphitheatre, and is stoned to death by the crowd. This act impresses the Christian Emperor Honorius, who issues a historic ban on gladiatorial fights.
  • 417 – Emperor Honorius forces Galla Placidia into marriage to Constantius, his famous general (magister militum) (probable).
  • 1001 – Grand Prince Stephen I of Hungary is named the first King of Hungary by Pope Sylvester II (probable).
  • 1068 – Romanos IV Diogenes marries Eudokia Makrembolitissa and is crowned Byzantine Emperor.
  • 1259 – Michael VIII Palaiologos is proclaimed co-emperor of the Empire of Nicaea with his ward John IV Laskaris.
  • 1438 – Albert II of Habsburg is crowned King of Hungary.
  • 1502 – The present-day location of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is first explored by the Portuguese.
  • 1515 – Twenty-year-old Francis, Duke of Brittany, succeeds to the French throne following the death of his father-in-law, Louis XII.
  • 1527 – Croatian nobles elect Ferdinand I of Austria as King of Croatia in the Parliament on Cetin.
  • 1583 to 1700 – see January 11
  • 1600 – Scotland recognises January 1 as the start of the year, instead of March 25.
  • 1651 – Charles II is crowned King of Scotland.
  • 1700 – Russia begins using the Anno Domini era instead of the Anno Mundi era of the Byzantine Empire.
  • 1701 to 1800 – see January 12
  • 1801 to 1900 – see January 13
  • 1901 to 2100 – see January 14

Gregorian calendar

  • 1707 – John V is proclaimed King of Portugal and the Algarves in Lisbon.
  • 1739 – Bouvet Island, the world’s remotest island is discovered by French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier.
  • 1772 – The first traveler’s cheques, which could be used in 90 European cities, were issued by the London Credit Exchange Company.
  • 1773 – The hymn that became known as “Amazing Grace”, then titled “1 Chronicles 17:16–17” is first used to accompany a sermon led by John Newton in the town of Olney, Buckinghamshire, England.
  • 1776 – American Revolutionary War: Norfolk, Virginia is burned by combined Royal Navy and Continental Army action.
  • 1776 – General George Washington hoists the first United States flag; the Grand Union Flag at Prospect Hill.
  • 1781 – American Revolutionary War: One thousand five hundred soldiers of the 6th Pennsylvania Regiment under General Anthony Wayne’s command rebel against the Continental Army’s winter camp in Morristown, New Jersey in the Pennsylvania Line Mutiny of 1781.
  • 1788 – First edition of The Times of London, previously The Daily Universal Register, is published.
  • 1801 – The legislative union of Kingdom of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ireland is completed, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland is proclaimed.
  • 1801 – Ceres, the largest and first known object in the Asteroid belt, is discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi.
  • 1803 – Emperor Gia Long orders all bronze wares of the Tây Sơn dynasty to be collected and melted into nine cannons for the Royal Citadel in Huế, Vietnam.
  • 1804 – French rule ends in Haiti. Haiti becomes the first black-majority republic and second independent country in North America after the United States.
  • 1806 – The French Republican Calendar is abolished.
  • 1808 – The United States bans the importation of slaves.
  • 1810 – Major-General Lachlan Macquarie officially becomes Governor of New South Wales.
  • 1822 – The Greek Constitution of 1822 is adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus.
  • 1847 – The world’s first “Mercy” Hospital is founded in Pittsburgh, United States, by a group of Sisters of Mercy from Ireland; the name will go on to grace over 30 major hospitals throughout the world.
  • 1860 – The first Polish stamp is issued, replacing the Russian stamps previously in use.
  • 1861 – Liberal forces supporting Benito Juárez enter Mexico City.
  • 1863 – American Civil War: The Emancipation Proclamation takes effect in Confederate territory.
  • 1877 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom is proclaimed Empress of India.
  • 1885 – Twenty-five nations adopt Sandford Fleming’s proposal for standard time (and also, time zones).
  • 1890 – Eritrea is consolidated into a colony by the Italian government
  • 1892 – Ellis Island begins processing immigrants into the United States.
  • 1898 – New York, New York annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York. The four initial boroughs, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx, are joined on January 25 by Staten Island to create the modern city of five boroughs.
  • 1899 – Spanish rule ends in Cuba.
  • 1901 – Nigeria becomes a British protectorate
  • 1901 – The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia; Edmund Barton is appointed the first Prime Minister
  • 1902 – The first American college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl between Michigan and Stanford, is held in Pasadena, California.
  • 1910 – Captain David Beatty is promoted to Rear admiral, and becomes the youngest admiral in the Royal Navy (except for Royal family members) since Horatio Nelson.
  • 1912 – The Republic of China is established.
  • 1914 – The SPT Airboat Line becomes the world’s first scheduled airline to use a winged aircraft.
  • 1923 – Britain’s Railways are grouped into the Big Four: LNER, GWR, SR, and LMS.
  • 1927 – New Mexican oil legislation goes into effect, leading to the formal outbreak of the Cristero War.
  • 1928 – Boris Bazhanov defects through Iran. He is the only assistant of Joseph Stalin’s secretariat to have defected from the Eastern Bloc.
  • 1929 – The former municipalities of Point Grey, British Columbia and South Vancouver, British Columbia are amalgamated into Vancouver.
  • 1932 – The United States Post Office Department issues a set of 12 stamps commemorating the 200th anniversary of George Washington’s birth.
  • 1934 – Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay becomes a United States federal prison.
  • 1934 – A “Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring” comes into effect in Nazi Germany.
  • 1942 – The Declaration by United Nations is signed by twenty-six nations.
  • 1945 – World War II: In retaliation for the Malmedy massacre, U.S. troops kill 60 German POWs at Chenogne.
  • 1945 – World War II: The German Luftwaffe launches Operation Bodenplatte, a massive, but failed attempt to knock out Allied air power in northern Europe in a single blow.
  • 1947 – Cold War: The American and British occupation zones in Allied-occupied Germany, after World War II, merge to form the Bizone, which later (with the French zone) became part of West Germany.
  • 1947 – The Canadian Citizenship Act 1946 comes into effect, converting British subjects into Canadian citizens.Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King becomes the first Canadian citizen.
  • 1948 – The British railway network is nationalized to form British Railways.
  • 1949 – United Nations cease-fire takes effect in Kashmir from one minute before midnight. War between India and Pakistan stops accordingly.
  • 1956 – Sudan achieves independence from Egypt and the United Kingdom.
  • 1957 – George Town, Penang, is made a city by a royal charter of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.
  • 1958 – European Economic Community is established.
  • 1959 – Cuban Revolution: Fulgencio Batista, dictator of Cuba, is overthrown by Fidel Castro’s forces.
  • 1960 – Cameroon achieves independence from France and the United Kingdom.
  • 1962 – Western Samoa achieves independence from New Zealand; its name is changed to the Independent State of Western Samoa.
  • 1964 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is divided into the independent republics of Zambia and Malawi, and the British-controlled Rhodesia.
  • 1965 – The People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan is founded in Kabul, Afghanistan.
  • 1970 – The defined beginning of Unix time, at 00:00:00.
  • 1971 – Cigarette advertisements are banned on American television.
  • 1973 – Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom are admitted into the European Economic Community.
  • 1976 – A bomb explodes on board Middle East Airlines Flight 438 over Qaisumah, Saudi Arabia, killing all 81 people on board.
  • 1978 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747, crashes into the Arabian Sea, due to instrument failure, spatial disorientation, and pilot error, off the coast of Bombay, India, killing all 213 people on board.
  • 1979 – Normal diplomatic relations are established between the People’s Republic of China and the United States.
  • 1981 – Greece is admitted into the European Community.
  • 1982 – Peruvian Javier Pérez de Cuéllar becomes the first Latin American to hold the title of Secretary-General of the United Nations.
  • 1983 – The ARPANET officially changes to using TCP/IP, the Internet Protocol, effectively creating the Internet.
  • 1984 – The original American Telephone & Telegraph Company is divested of its 22 Bell System companies as a result of the settlement of the 1974 United States Department of Justice antitrust suit against AT&T.
  • 1984 – Brunei becomes independent of the United Kingdom.
  • 1985 – The first British mobile phone call is made by Michael Harrison to his father Sir Ernest Harrison, chairman of Vodafone.
  • 1987 – The Isleta Pueblo tribe elect Verna Williamson to be their first female governor.
  • 1988 – The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America comes into existence, creating the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States.
  • 1989 – The Montreal Protocol comes into force, stopping the use of chemicals contributing to ozone depletion.
  • 1990 – David Dinkins is sworn in as New York City’s first black mayor.
  • 1993 – Dissolution of Czechoslovakia: Czechoslovakia is divided into the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic.
  • 1994 – The Zapatista Army of National Liberation initiates twelve days of armed conflict in the Mexican state of Chiapas.
  • 1994 – The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) comes into effect.
  • 1995 – The World Trade Organization comes into being.
  • 1995 – The Draupner wave in the North Sea in Norway is detected, confirming the existence of freak waves.
  • 1995 – Austria, Finland and Sweden join the EU.
  • 1998 – Following a currency reform, Russia begins to circulate new rubles to stem inflation and promote confidence.
  • 1999 – Euro currency is introduced in 11 member nations of the European Union (with the exception of the United Kingdom, Denmark, Greece and Sweden; Greece later adopts the euro).
  • 2004 – In a vote of confidence, General Pervez Musharraf wins 658 out of 1,170 votes in the Electoral College of Pakistan, and according to Article 41(8) of the Constitution of Pakistan, is “deemed to be elected” to the office of President until October 2007.
  • 2007 – Bulgaria and Romania join the EU.
  • 2007 – Adam Air Flight 574 breaks apart in mid-air and crashes near the Makassar Strait, Indonesia killing all 102 people on board.
  • 2009 – Sixty-six people die in a nightclub fire in Bangkok, Thailand.
  • 2010 – A suicide car bomber detonates at a volleyball tournament in Lakki Marwat, Pakistan, killing 105 and injuring 100 more.
  • 2011 – A bomb explodes as Coptic Christians in Alexandria, Egypt, leave a new year service, killing 23 people.
  • 2011 – Estonia officially adopts the Euro currency and becomes the 17th Eurozone country.
  • 2013 – At least 60 people are killed and 200 injured in a stampede after celebrations at Félix Houphouët-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
  • 2015 – The Eurasian Economic Union comes into effect, creating a political and economic union between Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
  • 2017 – An attack on a nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey, during New Year’s celebrations, kills at least 39 people and injures more than 60 others

Births on January 1

  • 766 – Ali al-Ridha (d. 818) 8th Imam of Twelver Shia Islam
  • 1431 – Pope Alexander VI (d. 1503)
  • 1449 – Lorenzo de’ Medici, Italian politician (d. 1492)
  • 1467 – Sigismund I the Old, Polish king (d. 1548)
  • 1484 – Huldrych Zwingli, Swiss pastor and theologian (d. 1531)
  • 1511 – Henry, Duke of Cornwall, first-born child of Henry VIII of England (d. 1511)
  • 1557 – Stephen Bocskay, Prince of Transylvania (d. 1606)
  • 1600 – Friedrich Spanheim, Dutch theologian and academic (d. 1649)
  • 1628 – Christoph Bernhard, German composer and theorist (d. 1692)
  • 1655 – Christian Thomasius, German jurist and philosopher (d. 1728)
  • 1684 – Arnold Drakenborch, Dutch scholar and author (d. 1748)
  • 1704 – Soame Jenyns, English author, poet, and politician (d. 1787)
  • 1711 – Baron Franz von der Trenck, Austrian soldier (d. 1749)
  • 1714 – Giovanni Battista Mancini, Italian soprano and author (d. 1800)
  • 1714 – Kristijonas Donelaitis, Lithuanian pastor and poet (d. 1780)
  • 1735 – Paul Revere, American silversmith and engraver (d. 1818)
  • 1745 – Anthony Wayne, American general and politician (d. 1796)
  • 1752 – Betsy Ross, American seamstress, credited with designing the Flag of the United States (d. 1836)
  • 1768 – Maria Edgeworth, Anglo-Irish author (d. 1849)
  • 1769 – Marie-Louise Lachapelle, French obstetrician (d. 1821)
  • 1774 – André Marie Constant Duméril, French zoologist and academic (d. 1860)
  • 1779 – William Clowes, English publisher (d. 1847)
  • 1803 – Edward Dickinson, American politician and father of poet Emily Dickinson (d. 1874)
  • 1806 – Lionel Kieseritzky, Estonian-French chess player (d. 1853)
  • 1809 – Achille Guenée, French lawyer and entomologist (d. 1880)
  • 1813 – George Bliss, American politician (d. 1868)
  • 1814 – Hong Xiuquan, Chinese rebellion leader and king (d. 1864)
  • 1818 – William Gamble, Irish-born American general (d. 1866)
  • 1819 – Arthur Hugh Clough, English-Italian poet and academic (d. 1861)
  • 1819 – George Foster Shepley, American general (d. 1878)
  • 1823 – Sándor Petőfi, Hungarian poet and activist (d. 1849)
  • 1833 – Robert Lawson, Scottish-New Zealand architect, designed the Otago Boys’ High School and Knox Church (d. 1902)
  • 1834 – Ludovic Halévy, French author and playwright (d. 1908)
  • 1839 – Ouida, English-Italian author and activist (d. 1908)
  • 1848 – John W. Goff, Irish-American lawyer and politician (d. 1924)
  • 1852 – Eugène-Anatole Demarçay, French chemist and academic (d. 1904)
  • 1854 – James George Frazer, Scottish anthropologist and academic (d. 1941)
  • 1854 – Thomas Waddell, Irish-Australian politician, 15th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1940)
  • 1857 – Tim Keefe, American baseball player (d. 1933)
  • 1859 – Michael Joseph Owens, American inventor (d. 1923)
  • 1859 – Thibaw Min, Burmese king (d. 1916)
  • 1860 – Michele Lega, Italian cardinal (d. 1935)
  • 1863 – Pierre de Coubertin, French historian, and educator, founded the International Olympic Committee (d. 1937)
  • 1864 – Alfred Stieglitz, American photographer, and curator (d. 1946)
  • 1864 – Qi Baishi, Chinese painter (d. 1957)
  • 1867 – Mary Ackworth Evershed, English astronomer and scholar (d. 1949)
  • 1874 – Frank Knox, American publisher, and politician, 46th United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 1944)
  • 1874 – Gustave Whitehead, German-American pilot and engineer (d. 1927)
  • 1877 – Alexander von Staël-Holstein, German sinologist and orientalist (d. 1937)
  • 1878 – Agner Krarup Erlang, Danish mathematician, statistician, and engineer (d. 1929)
  • 1879 – E. M. Forster, English author and playwright (d. 1970)
  • 1879 – William Fox, Hungarian-American screenwriter and producer, founded the Fox Film Corporation and Fox Theatres (d. 1952)
  • 1883 – William J. Donovan, American general, lawyer, and politician (d. 1959)
  • 1884 – Chikuhei Nakajima, Japanese lieutenant, engineer, and politician, founded Nakajima Aircraft Company (d. 1949)
  • 1887 – Wilhelm Canaris, German admiral (d. 1945)
  • 1888 – Georgios Stanotas, Greek general (d. 1965)
  • 1888 – John Garand, Canadian-American engineer, designed the M1 Garand rifle (d. 1974)
  • 1889 – Charles Bickford, American actor (d. 1967)
  • 1890 – Anton Melik, Slovenian geographer and academic (d. 1966)
  • 1891 – Sampurnanand, Indian educator and politician, 3rd Governor of Rajasthan (d. 1969)
  • 1892 – Mahadev Desai, Indian author and activist (d. 1942)
  • 1892 – Manuel Roxas, Filipino lawyer and politician, 5th President of the Philippines (d. 1948)
  • 1893 – Mordechai Frizis, Greek colonel (d. 1940)
  • 1894 – Satyendra Nath Bose, Indian physicist, and mathematician (d. 1974)
  • 1894 – Edward Joseph Hunkeler, American clergyman (d. 1970)
  • 1895 – J. Edgar Hoover, American law enforcement official; 1st Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (d. 1972)
  • 1900 – Chiune Sugihara, Japanese soldier and diplomat (d. 1986)
  • 1900 – Xavier Cugat, Spanish-American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1990)
  • 1902 – Buster Nupen, Norwegian-South African cricketer and lawyer (d. 1977)
  • 1902 – Hans von Dohnányi, German jurist and political dissident (d. 1945)
  • 1904 – Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry, Pakistani lawyer and politician, 5th President of Pakistan (d. 1982)
  • 1905 – Stanisław Mazur, Ukrainian-Polish mathematician and theorist (d. 1981)
  • 1906 – Manuel Silos, Filipino filmmaker, and actor (d. 1988)
  • 1907 – Kinue Hitomi, Japanese sprinter and long jumper (d. 1931)
  • 1909 – Dana Andrews, American actor (d. 1992)
  • 1909 – Stepan Bandera, Ukrainian soldier and politician (d. 1959)
  • 1911 – Audrey Wurdemann, American poet and author (d. 1960)
  • 1911 – Basil Dearden, English director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1971)
  • 1911 – Hank Greenberg, American baseball player (d. 1986)
  • 1911 – Roman Totenberg, Polish-American violinist and educator (d. 2012)
  • 1912 – Boris Vladimirovich Gnedenko, Russian mathematician and historian (d. 1995)
  • 1912 – Kim Philby, British spy (d. 1988)
  • 1912 – Nikiforos Vrettakos, Greek poet and academic (d. 1991)
  • 1914 – Noor Inayat Khan, British SOE agent (d. 1944)
  • 1917 – Shannon Bolin, American actress and singer (d. 2016)
  • 1918 – Patrick Anthony Porteous, Scottish colonel, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 2000)
  • 1918 – Willy den Ouden, Dutch swimmer (d. 1997)
  • 1919 – Carole Landis, American actress (d. 1948)
  • 1919 – J. D. Salinger, American soldier and author (d. 2010)
  • 1919 – Rocky Graziano, American boxer and actor (d. 1990)
  • 1920 – Osvaldo Cavandoli, Italian cartoonist (d. 2007)
  • 1921 – César Baldaccini, French sculptor and academic (d. 1998)
  • 1921 – Ismail al-Faruqi, Palestinian-American philosopher and academic (d. 1986)
  • 1921 – Regina Bianchi, Italian actress (d. 2013)
  • 1922 – Ernest Hollings, American soldier, and politician, 106th Governor of South Carolina (d. 2019)
  • 1923 – Valentina Cortese, Italian actress (d. 2019)
  • 1923 – Milt Jackson, American jazz vibraphonist and composer (d. 1999)
  • 1924 – Francisco Macías Nguema, Equatorial Guinean politician, 1st President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea (d. 1979)
  • 1925 – Matthew Beard, American child actor (d. 1981)
  • 1925 – Paul Bomani, Tanzanian politician and diplomat, 1st Tanzanian Minister of Finance (d. 2005)
  • 1926 – Kazys Petkevičius, Lithuanian basketball player and coach (d. 2008)
  • 1927 – Doak Walker, American football player and businessman (d. 1998)
  • 1927 – James Reeb, American clergyman and political activist (d. 1965)
  • 1927 – Maurice Béjart, French-Swiss dancer, choreographer, and director (d. 2007)
  • 1927 – Vernon L. Smith, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1928 – Ernest Tidyman, American author and screenwriter (d. 1984)
  • 1928 – Gerhard Weinberg, German-American historian, author, and academic
  • 1929 – Larry L. King, American journalist, author, and playwright (d. 2012)
  • 1930 – Frederick Wiseman, American director and producer
  • 1930 – Gaafar Nimeiry, Egyptian-Sudanese politician, 4th President of the Sudan (d. 2009)
  • 1932 – Giuseppe Patanè, Italian conductor (d. 1989)
  • 1933 – James Hormel, American philanthropist and diplomat.
  • 1933 – Joe Orton, English dramatist (d. 1967)
  • 1934 – Alan Berg, American lawyer and radio host (d. 1984
  • 1934 – Lakhdar Brahimi, Algerian politician, Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 1935 – Om Prakash Chautala, Indian politician
  • 1936 – James Sinegal, American businessman, co-founded Costco
  • 1939 – Michèle Mercier, French actress
  • 1939 – Phil Read, English motorcycle racer and businessman
  • 1939 – Senfronia Thompson, American politician
  • 1941 – Younoussi Touré, Malian politician, Prime Minister of Mali
  • 1942 – Alassane Ouattara, Ivorian economist and politician, President of the Ivory Coast (doubtful)
  • 1942 – Anthony Hamilton-Smith, 3rd Baron Colwyn, English dentist and politician
  • 1942 – Country Joe McDonald, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1942 – Dennis Archer, American lawyer and politician, 67th Mayor of Detroit
  • 1942 – Gennadi Sarafanov, Russian pilot and cosmonaut (d. 2005)
  • 1943 – Don Novello, American comedian, screenwriter and producer.
  • 1943 – Tony Knowles, American soldier and politician, 7th Governor of Alaska.
  • 1943 – Vladimir Šeks, Croatian lawyer and politician, 16th Speaker of the Croatian Parliament
  • 1944 – Mati Unt, Estonian author, playwright, and director (d. 2005)
  • 1944 – Omar al-Bashir, Sudanese field marshal and politician, 7th President of Sudan
  • 1944 – Teresa Torańska, Polish journalist and author (d. 2013)
  • 1944 – Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Pakistani field hockey player and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Pakistan
  • 1945 – Jacky Ickx, Belgian racing driver
  • 1945 – Victor Ashe, American politician and former United States Ambassador to Poland
  • 1946 – Claude Steele, American social psychologist and academic
  • 1946 – Rivellino, Brazilian footballer and manager
  • 1947 – Jon Corzine, American sergeant and politician, 54th Governor of New Jersey
  • 1948 – Devlet Bahçeli, Turkish economist, academic, and politician, 57th Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey
  • 1948 – Dick Quax, New Zealand runner and politician (d. 2018)
  • 1948 – Pavel Grachev, Russian general and politician, 1st Russian Minister of Defence (d. 2012)
  • 1949 – Borys Tarasyuk, Ukrainian politician and diplomat
  • 1952 – Shaji N. Karun, Indian director and cinematographer
  • 1953 – Gary Johnson, American businessman and politician, 29th Governor of New Mexico
  • 1954 – Bob Menendez, American lawyer and politician
  • 1954 – Dennis O’Driscoll, Irish poet and critic (d. 2012)
  • 1954 – Yannis Papathanasiou, Greek engineer and politician, Greek Minister of Finance
  • 1955 – LaMarr Hoyt, American baseball player
  • 1955 – Mary Beard, English classicist, academic and presenter
  • 1956 – Sergei Avdeyev, Russian engineer and astronaut
  • 1956 – Christine Lagarde, French lawyer and politician; Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
  • 1957 – Evangelos Venizelos, Greek lawyer and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Greece
  • 1958 – Grandmaster Flash, Barbadian rapper and DJ
  • 1959 – Abdul Ahad Mohmand, Afghan colonel, pilot, and astronaut
  • 1959 – Azali Assoumani, Comorian colonel and politician, President of the Comoros
  • 1959 – Panagiotis Giannakis, Greek basketball player and coach
  • 1962 – Anton Muscatelli, Italian-Scottish economist and academic
  • 1963 – Jean-Marc Gounon, French racing driver
  • 1964 – Dedee Pfeiffer, American actress
  • 1966 – Anna Burke, Australian businesswoman and politician, 28th Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives
  • 1966 – Ivica Dačić, Serbian journalist and politician, 95th Prime Minister of Serbia
  • 1966 – Tihomir Orešković, Croatian–Canadian businessman, 11th Prime Minister of Croatia
  • 1968 – Davor Šuker, Croatian footballer
  • 1971 – Bobby Holík, Czech-American ice hockey player and coach
  • 1971 – Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia, Indian politician
  • 1971 – Sammie Henson, American wrestler and coach
  • 1972 – Lilian Thuram, French footballer
  • 1974 – Christian Paradis, Canadian lawyer and politician, 9th Canadian Minister of Industry
  • 1975 – Becky Kellar-Duke, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1975 – Chris Anstey, Australian basketball player and coach
  • 1975 – Fernando Tatís, Dominican baseball player
  • 1975 – Joe Cannon, American soccer player and sportscaster
  • 1979 – Vidya Balan, Indian actress
  • 1981 – Zsolt Baumgartner, Hungarian racing driver
  • 1981 – Mladen Petrić, Croatian footballer
  • 1982 – David Nalbandian, Argentinian tennis player
  • 1982 – Egidio Arévalo Ríos, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1983 – Melaine Walker, Jamaican hurdler
  • 1983 – Park Sung-hyun, South Korean archer
  • 1983 – Calum Davenport, English footballer
  • 1984 – Paolo Guerrero, Peruvian footballer
  • 1985 – Steven Davis, Northern Irish footballer
  • 1985 – Tiago Splitter, Brazilian basketball player
  • 1986 – Pablo Cuevas, Uruguayan tennis player
  • 1986 – Ramses Barden, American football player
  • 1987 – Meryl Davis, American ice dancer1987 – Patric Hörnqvist, Swedish ice hockey player
  • 1988 – Marcel Gecov, Czech footballer
  • 1989 – Jason Pierre-Paul, American football player
  • 1991 – Darius Slay, American football player

Deaths on January 1

  • 138 – Lucius Aelius, adopted son and intended successor of Hadrian (b. 101)
  • 404 – Telemachus, Christian monk and martyr
  • 466 – Qianfei, Chinese emperor of the Liu Song Dynasty (b. 449)
  • 898 – Odo I, Frankish king (b. 860)
  • 951 – Ramiro II, king of León and Galicia1031 – William of Volpiano, Italian abbot (b. 962)
  • 1189 – Henry of Marcy, Cistercian abbot (b. c. 1136)
  • 1204 – Haakon III, king of Norway (b. 1182)
  • 1387 – Charles II, king of Navarre (b. 1332)
  • 1496 – Charles d’Orléans, count of Angoulême (b. 1459)
  • 1515 – Louis XII, king of France (b. 1462)
  • 1559 – Christian III, king of Denmark (b. 1503)
  • 1560 – Joachim du Bellay, French poet and critic (b. 1522)
  • 1617 – Hendrik Goltzius, Dutch painter and illustrator (b. 1558)
  • 1697 – Filippo Baldinucci, Florentine historian and author (b. 1625)
  • 1716 – William Wycherley, English playwright and poet (b. 1641)
  • 1748 – Johann Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician and academic (b. 1667)
  • 1780 – Johann Ludwig Krebs, German organist and composer (b. 1713)
  • 1782 – Johann Christian Bach, German composer (b. 1735)
  • 1789 – Fletcher Norton, 1st Baron Grantley, English lawyer and politician, British Speaker of the House of Commons (b. 1716)
  • 1793 – Francesco Guardi, Italian painter and educator (b. 1712)
  • 1817 – Martin Heinrich Klaproth, German chemist and academic (b. 1743)
  • 1846 – John Torrington, English sailor and explorer (b. 1825)
  • 1853 – Gregory Blaxland, Australian farmer and explorer (b. 1778)
  • 1862 – Mikhail Ostrogradsky, Ukrainian mathematician and physicist (b. 1801)
  • 1881 – Louis Auguste Blanqui, French activist (b. 1805)
  • 1892 – Roswell B. Mason, American lawyer and politician, 25th Mayor of Chicago (b. 1805)
  • 1894 – Heinrich Hertz, German physicist and academic (b. 1857)
  • 1896 – Alfred Ely Beach, American publisher and lawyer, created the Beach Pneumatic Transit (b. 1826)
  • 1906 – Hugh Nelson, Scottish-Australian farmer and politician, 11th Premier of Queensland (b. 1833)
  • 1918 – William Wilfred Campbell, Canadian poet and author (b. 1858)
  • 1921 – Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg, German lawyer and politician, 5th Chancellor of Germany (b. 1856)
  • 1929 – Mustafa Necati, Turkish civil servant and politician, Turkish Minister of Environment and Urban Planning (b. 1894)
  • 1931 – Martinus Beijerinck, Dutch microbiologist and botanist (b. 1851)
  • 1937 – Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, Indian religious leader, founded the Gaudiya Math (b. 1874)
  • 1940 – Panuganti Lakshminarasimha Rao, Indian author and educator (b. 1865)
  • 1944 – Edwin Lutyens, English architect, designed the Castle Drogo and Thiepval Memorial (b. 1869)
  • 1944 – Charles Turner, Australian cricketer (b. 1862)
  • 1953 – Hank Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1923)
  • 1954 – Duff Cooper, English politician and diplomat, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1890)
  • 1954 – Leonard Bacon, American poet and critic (b. 1887)
  • 1955 – Arthur C. Parker, American archaeologist and historian (b. 1881)
  • 1960 – Margaret Sullavan, American actress (b. 1909)
  • 1966 – Vincent Auriol, French journalist and politician, 16th President of the French Republic (b. 1884)
  • 1969 – Barton MacLane, American actor, playwright and screenwriter (b. 1902)
  • 1971 – Amphilochius of Pochayiv, Ukrainian saint (b. 1894)
  • 1972 – Maurice Chevalier, French actor and singer (b. 1888)
  • 1978 – Carle Hessay, German-Canadian painter (b. 1911)
  • 1980 – Pietro Nenni, Italian journalist and politician, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1891)
  • 1981 – Hephzibah Menuhin, American-Australian pianist (b. 1920)
  • 1982 – Victor Buono, American actor (b. 1938)
  • 1984 – Alexis Korner, French-English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1928)
  • 1992 – Grace Hopper, American computer scientist and admiral, co-developed COBOL (b. 1906)
  • 1994 – Arthur Porritt, Baron Porritt, New Zealand physician and politician, 11th Governor-General of New Zealand (b. 1900)
  • 1994 – Cesar Romero, American actor (b. 1907)
  • 1994 – Edward Arthur Thompson, Irish historian and academic (b. 1914)
  • 1995 – Eugene Wigner, Hungarian-American physicist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
  • 1996 – Arleigh Burke, American admiral (b. 1901)
  • 1996 – Arthur Rudolph, German-American engineer (b. 1906)
  • 1997 – Townes Van Zandt, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1944)
  • 1998 – Helen Wills, American tennis player and coach (b. 1905)
  • 2000 – Betty Archdale, English-Australian cricketer and educator (b. 1907)
  • 2001 – Ray Walston, American actor (b. 1914)
  • 2002 – Julia Phillips, American film producer and author (b. 1944)
  • 2003 – Joe Foss, American soldier, pilot, and politician, 20th Governor of South Dakota (b. 1915)
  • 2005 – Shirley Chisholm, American educator and politician (b. 1924)
  • 2006 – Harry Magdoff, American economist and journalist (b. 1913)
  • 2007 – Roland Levinsky, South African-English biochemist and academic (b. 1943)
  • 2007 – Tillie Olsen, American short story writer (b. 1912)
  • 2008 – Pratap Chandra Chunder, Indian educator and politician (b. 1919)
  • 2009 – Claiborne Pell, American politician (b. 1918)
  • 2010 – Lhasa de Sela, American-Mexican singer-songwriter (b. 1972)
  • 2012 – Kiro Gligorov, Bulgarian-Macedonian lawyer and politician, 1st President of the Republic of Macedonia (b. 1917)
  • 2012 – Nay Win Maung, Burmese physician, businessman, and activist (b. 1962)
  • 2012 – Tommy Mont, American football player and coach (b. 1922)
  • 2013 – Christopher Martin-Jenkins, English journalist (b. 1945)
  • 2013 – Patti Page, American singer and actress (b. 1927)
  • 2014 – Higashifushimi Kunihide, Japanese monk and educator (b. 1910)
  • 2014 – Juanita Moore, American actress (b. 1914)
  • 2014 – William Mgimwa, Tanzanian banker and politician, 13th Tanzanian Minister of Finance (b. 1950)
  • 2015 – Boris Morukov, Russian physician and astronaut (b. 1950)
  • 2015 – Donna Douglas, American actress (b. 1932)
  • 2015 – Mario Cuomo, American lawyer and politician, 52nd Governor of New York (b. 1932)
  • 2015 – Omar Karami, Lebanese lawyer and politician, 58th Prime Minister of Lebanon (b. 1934)
  • 2016 – Dale Bumpers, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 38th Governor of Arkansas (b. 1925)
  • 2016 – Fazu Aliyeva, Russian poet and journalist (b. 1932)
  • 2016 – Vilmos Zsigmond, Hungarian-American cinematographer and producer (b. 1930)
  • 2017 – Derek Parfit, British philosopher (b. 1942)
  • 2017 – Tony Atkinson, British economist (b. 1944)
  • 2017 – Yvon Dupuis, Canadian politician (b. 1926)
  • 2018 – Robert Mann, American violinist (b. 1920)
  • 2019 – Pegi Young, American singer, songwriter, environmentalist, educator and philanthropist (b. 1952)
  • 2019 – Paul Neville, Australian politician (b. 1940)
  • 2020 – David Stern, American lawyer and businessman (b. 1942)
  • 2020 – Alexander Frater, British travel writer and journalist (b. 1937)
  • 2020 – Barry McDonald, Australian rugby union player (b. 1940)

Holidays and observances on January 1

  • Christian feast day:
    • Adalard of Corbie
    • Basil the Great (Eastern Orthodox Church)
    • Feast of the Circumcision of Christ
      • Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus (Anglican Communion, Lutheran Church)
      • Feast of Fools (Medieval Europe)
    • Fulgentius of Ruspe
    • Giuseppe Maria Tomasi
    • Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, the Octave Day of Christmas, considered a holy day of obligation in some countries (Catholic Church); and its related observances:
      • World Day of Peace
    • Telemachus
    • Zygmunt Gorazdowski
    • January 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which Handsel Monday can fall, while January 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday of the year (Scotland)
  • The second day of Hogmanay (Scotland) December 31-January 1, in some cases until January 2.
  • The last day of Kwanzaa (African-Americans)
  • The eighth of the Twelve Days of Christmas (Western Christianity)
  • Constitution Day (Italy)
  • Dissolution of Czechoslovakia-related observances:
    • Day of the Establishment of the Slovak Republic (Slovakia)
    • Restoration Day of the Independent Czech State (Czech Republic)
  • Emancipation Day (United States)
  • Euro Day (European Union)
  • Flag Day (Lithuania) commemorates raising of the Lithuanian flag on Gediminas’ Tower in 1919
  • Founding Day (Taiwan) commemorates the establishment of the Provisional Government in Nanjing
  • Global Family Day
  • Independence Day (Brunei, Cameroon, Haiti, Sudan)
  • International Nepali Dhoti and Nepali Topi Day
  • Jump-up Day (Montserrat)
  • Kalpataru Day (Ramakrishna Movement)
  • Kamakura Ebisu, January 1–3 (Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan)
  • National Bloody Mary Day (United States)
  • National Tree Planting Day (Tanzania)
  • New Year’s Day (Gregorian calendar)
    • Japanese New Year
    • Novy God Day (Russia)
    • Sjoogwachi (Okinawa Islands)
  • Polar Bear Swim Day (Canada and United States)
  • Public Domain Day (multiple countries)
  • Triumph of the Revolution (Cuba)