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January 24 in History
- AD 41 – Claudius is proclaimed Roman Emperor by the Praetorian Guard after they assassinate the previous emperor, his nephew Caligula.
- 914 – Start of the First Fatimid invasion of Egypt.
- 1438 – The Council of Basel suspends Pope Eugene IV.
- 1458 – Matthias Corvinus is elected King of Hungary.
- 1536 – King Henry VIII of England suffers an accident while jousting, leading to a brain injury that historians say may have influenced his later erratic behaviour and possible impotence.
- 1679 – King Charles II of England dissolves the Cavalier Parliament.
- 1742 – Charles VII Albert becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
- 1758 – During the Seven Years’ War the leading burghers of Königsberg submit to Elizabeth of Russia, thus forming Russian Prussia (until 1763).
- 1817 – Crossing of the Andes: Many soldiers of Juan Gregorio de las Heras are captured during the Action of Picheuta.
- 1835 – Slaves in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, stage a revolt, which is instrumental in ending slavery there 50 years later.
- 1848 – California Gold Rush: James W. Marshall finds gold at Sutter’s Mill near Sacramento.
- 1857 – The University of Calcutta is formally founded as the first fully fledged university in South Asia.
- 1859 – The United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia (later named Romania) is formed as a personal union under the rule of Domnitor Alexandru Ioan Cuza.
- 1900 – Second Boer War: Boers stop a British attempt to break the Siege of Ladysmith in the Battle of Spion Kop.
- 1908 – The first Boy Scout troop is organized in England by Robert Baden-Powell.
- 1915 – World War I: British Grand Fleet battle cruisers under Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty engage Rear-Admiral Franz von Hipper’s battle cruisers in the Battle of Dogger Bank.
- 1916 – In Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., the Supreme Court of the United States declares the federal income tax constitutional.
- 1918 – The Gregorian calendar is introduced in Russia by decree of the Council of People’s Commissars effective February 14 (New Style).
- 1933 – The 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, changing the beginning and end of terms for all elected federal offices.
- 1939 – The deadliest earthquake in Chilean history strikes Chillán, killing approximately 28,000 people.
- 1942 – World War II: The Allies bombard Bangkok, leading Thailand, then under Japanese control, to declare war against the United States and United Kingdom.
- 1943 – World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill conclude a conference in Casablanca.
- 1946 – The United Nations General Assembly passes its first resolution to establish the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission.
- 1960 – Algerian War: Some units of European volunteers in Algiers stage an insurrection known as the “barricades week”, during which they seize government buildings and clash with local police.
- 1961 – Goldsboro B-52 crash: A bomber carrying two H-bombs breaks up in mid-air over North Carolina. The uranium core of one weapon remains lost.
- 1968 – Vietnam War: The 1st Australian Task Force launches Operation Coburg against the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong during wider fighting around Long Bình and Biên Hòa.
- 1972 – Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi is found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been since the end of World War II.
- 1977 – The Atocha massacre occurs in Madrid during the Spanish transition to democracy.
- 1978 – Soviet satellite Kosmos 954, with a nuclear reactor on board, burns up in Earth’s atmosphere, scattering radioactive debris over Canada’s Northwest Territories. Only 1% is recovered.
- 1984 – Apple Computer places the Macintosh personal computer on sale in the United States.
- 1989 – Notorious serial killer Ted Bundy, with over 30 known victims, is executed by the electric chair at the Florida State Prison.
- 1990 – Japan launches Hiten, the country’s first lunar probe, the first robotic lunar probe since the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 in 1976, and the first lunar probe launched by a country other than Soviet Union or the United States.
- 2003 – The United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation.
- 2009 – Cyclone Klaus makes landfall near Bordeaux, France, causing 26 deaths as well as extensive disruptions to public transport and power supplies.
- 2011 – At least 35 are killed and 180 injured in a bombing at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport.
Births on January 24
- AD 76 – Hadrian, Roman emperor (d. 138)
- 1287 – Richard de Bury, English bishop and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (d. 1345)
- 1444 – Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan (d. 1476)
- 1540 – Edmund Campion, English priest and martyr (d. 1581)
- 1547 – Joanna of Austria, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Austrian Archduchess (d. 1578)
- 1602 – Mildmay Fane, 2nd Earl of Westmorland, English politician (d. 1666)
- 1619 – Yamazaki Ansai, Japanese philosopher (d. 1682)
- 1643 – Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset, English poet and politician, Lord Chamberlain of Great Britain (d. 1706)
- 1664 – John Vanbrugh, English architect and dramatist (d. 1726)
- 1670 – William Congreve, English playwright and poet (d. 1729)
- 1672 – Margrave Albert Frederick of Brandenburg-Schwedt, German Lieutenant General (d. 1731)
- 1674 – Thomas Tanner, English bishop (d. 1735)
- 1679 – Christian Wolff, German philosopher and academic (d. 1754)
- 1684 – Charles Alexander, Duke of Württemberg, German noble (d. 1737)
- 1705 – Farinelli, Italian castrato singer (d. 1782)
- 1709 – Dom Bédos de Celles, French monk and organist (d. 1779)
- 1712 – Frederick the Great, Prussian king (d. 1786)
- 1732 – Pierre Beaumarchais, French playwright and financier (d. 1799)
- 1739 – Jean Nicolas Houchard, French General of the French Revolution (d. 1793)
- 1746 – Gustav III of Sweden (d. 1792)
- 1749 – Charles James Fox, English businessman and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (d. 1806)
- 1754 – Andrew Ellicott, American soldier and surveyor (d. 1820)
- 1761 – Louis Klein, French general (d. 1845)
- 1763 – Louis Alexandre Andrault de Langeron, French-Ukrainian general and politician (d. 1831)
- 1776 – E. T. A. Hoffmann, German jurist, author, and composer (d. 1822)
- 1787 – Christian Ludwig Brehm, German pastor and ornithologist (d. 1864)
- 1804 – Delphine de Girardin, French author (d. 1855)
- 1814 – Duchess Helene of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, French Crown Princess (d. 1858)
- 1814 – John Colenso, British mathematician (d. 1883)
- 1816 – Wilhelm Henzen, German philologist and epigraphist (d. 1887)
- 1828 – Ferdinand Cohn, German biologist (d. 1898)
- 1829 – Yechiel Michel Epstein, Rabbi and posek (d. 1908)
- 1836 – Signe Rink, Greenland-born Danish writer and ethnologist (d. 1909)
- 1843 – Josip Stadler, Croatian archbishop (d. 1918)
- 1848 – Vasily Surikov, Russian painter (d. 1916)
- 1850 – Hermann Ebbinghaus, German psychologist (d. 1909)
- 1853 – Sigbert Josef Maria Ganser, German psychiatrist (d. 1931)
- 1856 – Friedrich Grünanger, Transylvanian Hungarian-German architect (d. 1929)
- 1858 – Constance Naden, English poet and philosopher (d. 1889)
- 1862 – Edith Wharton, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1937)
- 1863 – August Adler, Czech and Austrian mathematician (d. 1923)
- 1864 – Marguerite Durand, French actress, journalist, and activist (d. 1936)
- 1864 – Gaetano Giardino, Italian soldier and Marshal of Italy (d. 1935)
- 1866 – Jaan Poska, Estonian lawyer and politician, 1st Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1920)
- 1870 – Herbert Kilpin, English footballer (d. 1916)
- 1871 – Jiří Karásek ze Lvovic, Czech poet, writer and literary critic (d. 1951)
- 1871 – Thomas Jaggar, American volcanologist (d. 1953)
- 1872 – Yuly Aykhenvald, Russian literary critic (d. 1928)
- 1872 – Konstantin Bogaevsky, Russian painter (d. 1943)
- 1872 – Morris Travers, English chemist and academic (d. 1961)
- 1873 – Dmitry Ushakov, Russian philologist and lexicographer (d. 1942)
- 1882 – Harold D. Babcock, American astronomer (d. 1968)
- 1882 – Ödön Bodor, Hungarian athlete (d. 1927)
- 1886 – Henry King, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1982)
- 1887 – Jean-Henri Humbert, French botanist (d. 1967)
- 1888 – Vicki Baum, Austrian author and screenwriter (d. 1960)
- 1888 – Ernst Heinkel, German engineer and businessman, founded the Heinkel Aircraft Manufacturing Company (d. 1958)
- 1889 – Victor Eftimiu, Romanian poet and playwright (d. 1972)
- 1889 – Charles Hawes, American historian and author (d. 1923)
- 1889 – Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke, German general of paratroop forces during World War II (d. 1968)
- 1891 – Walter Model, German field marshal (d. 1945)
- 1892 – Franz Aigner, Austrian weightlifter (d. 1970)
- 1895 – Eugen Roth, German poet and songwriter (d. 1976)
- 1897 – Paul Fejos, Hungarian-born American director (d. 1963)
- 1899 – Hoyt Vandenberg, U.S. Air Force general (d. 1954)
- 1900 – René Guillot, French writer (d. 1969)
- 1901 – Harry Calder, South African cricketer (d. 1995)
- 1901 – Cassandre, French painter (d. 1968)
- 1901 – Edward Turner, English engineer (d. 1973)
- 1905 – J. Howard Marshall, American lawyer and businessman (d. 1995)
- 1906 – Wilfred Jackson, American animator and composer (d. 1988)
- 1907 – Ismail Nasiruddin of Terengganu, fourth Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia (d. 1979)
- 1907 – Maurice Couve de Murville, French soldier and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1999)
- 1907 – Jean Daetwyler, Swiss composer and musician (d. 1994)
- 1909 – Martin Lings, English author and scholar (d. 2005)
- 1910 – Doris Haddock, American political activist (d. 2010)
- 1912 – Frederick Ashworth, American admiral (d. 2005)
- 1913 – Norman Dello Joio, American organist and composer (d. 2008)
- 1913 – Ray Stehr, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 1983)
- 1915 – Vítězslava Kaprálová, Czech composer and conductor (d. 1940)
- 1915 – Robert Motherwell, American painter and academic (d. 1991)
- 1916 – Rafael Caldera, Venezuelan lawyer and politician, 65th President of Venezuela (d. 2009)
- 1916 – Gene Mako, Hungarian-American tennis player and actor (d. 2013)
- 1917 – Ernest Borgnine, American actor (d. 2012)
- 1917 – Wilhelmus Demarteau, Dutch prelate of the Roman Catholic Church (d. 2012)
- 1918 – Gottfried von Einem, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1996)
- 1918 – Oral Roberts, American evangelist, founded Oral Roberts University and Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association (d. 2009)
- 1919 – Coleman Francis, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1973)
- 1919 – Leon Kirchner, American composer and educator (d. 2009)
- 1920 – Jimmy Forrest, American saxophonist (d. 1980)
- 1920 – Jerry Maren, American actor (d. 2018)
- 1922 – Daniel Boulanger, French actor and screenwriter (d. 2014)
- 1922 – Neil Franklin, English footballer (d. 1996)
- 1923 – Geneviève Asse, French painter
- 1925 – Gus Mortson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2015)
- 1925 – Maria Tallchief, American ballerina and actress (d. 2013)
- 1926 – Ruth Asawa, American sculptor (d. 2013)
- 1926 – Georges Lautner, French director and screenwriter (d. 2013)
- 1927 – Sir Patrick Macnaghten, 11th Baronet, Scottish lieutenant (d. 2007)
- 1927 – Paula Hawkins, American politician (d. 2009)
- 1928 – Desmond Morris, English zoologist, ethologist, and painter
- 1928 – Michel Serrault, French actor (d. 2007)
- 1930 – Terence Bayler, New Zealand actor (d. 2016)
- 1930 – Mahmoud Farshchian, Iranian-Persian painter and academic
- 1930 – John Romita Sr., American comic book artist
- 1931 – Lars Hörmander, Swedish mathematician and academic (d. 2012)
- 1931 – Ib Nørholm, Danish composer and organist
- 1932 – Éliane Radigue, French electronic music composer
- 1933 – Kamran Baghirov, the 12th First Secretary of Azerbaijan Communist Party (d. 2000)
- 1933 – Asim Ferhatović, Bosnian footballer (d. 1987)
- 1934 – Leonard Goldberg, American producer (d. 2019)
- 1934 – Stanisław Grochowiak, Polish poet and dramatist (d. 1976)
- 1935 – Eric Ashton, English rugby player and coach (d. 2008)
- 1935 – Shivabalayogi, Indian religious leader (d. 1994)
- 1936 – Doug Kershaw, American fiddle player and singer
- 1937 – Trevor Edwards, Welsh footballer
- 1938 – Julius Hemphill, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1995)
- 1939 – Renate Garisch-Culmberger, German shot putter
- 1939 – Ray Stevens, American singer-songwriter and actor
- 1940 – Vito Acconci, American designer (d. 2017)
- 1940 – Joachim Gauck, German pastor and politician, 11th President of Germany
- 1941 – Neil Diamond, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1941 – Aaron Neville, American singer
- 1941 – Dan Shechtman, Israeli chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1942 – Ingo Friedrich, German Member of the European Parliament
- 1942 – Gary Hart, American wrestler and manager (d. 2008)
- 1943 – Peter Struck, German lawyer and politician, 13th German Federal Minister of Defence (d. 2012)
- 1943 – Barry Mealand, English footballer, right back (d. 2013)
- 1943 – Sharon Tate, American model and actress (d. 1969)
- 1943 – Tony Trimmer, English race car driver
- 1943 – Manuel Velázquez, Spanish footballer (d. 2016)
- 1944 – David Gerrold, American science fiction screenwriter and author
- 1944 – Gian-Franco Kasper, Swiss ski official
- 1945 – John Garamendi, American football player and politician, 1st United States Deputy Secretary of the Interior
- 1945 – Subhash Ghai, Indian director, producer and screenwriter
- 1945 – Eva Janko, Austrian javelin thrower
- 1946 – Michael Ontkean, Canadian actor
- 1947 – Giorgio Chinaglia, Italian footballer (d. 2012)
- 1947 – Michio Kaku, American physicist and academic
- 1947 – Masashi Ozaki, Japanese baseball player and golfer
- 1947 – Warren Zevon, American singer-songwriter (d. 2003)
- 1948 – Elliott Abrams, American diplomat, lawyer and political scientist
- 1948 – Michael Des Barres, English singer-songwriter and actor
- 1949 – John Belushi, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1982)
- 1949 – Bart Gordon, American lawyer
- 1949 – Nadezhda Ilyina, Russian athlete and mother of Russian tennis player Nadia Petrova (d. 2013)
- 1949 – Rihoko Yoshida, Japanese voice actress
- 1950 – Daniel Auteuil, French actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1951 – Yakov Smirnoff, Ukrainian-American comedian and actor
- 1953 – Yuri Bashmet, Russian violinist, viola player, and conductor
- 1953 – Moon Jae-in, 19th President of South Korea
- 1954 – Jo Gartner, Austrian race car driver (d. 1986)
- 1955 – Jim Montgomery, American swimmer
- 1955 – Alan Sokal, American physicist and author
- 1955 – Lynda Weinman, American businesswoman and author
- 1956 – Agus Martowardojo, governor of Bank Indonesia
- 1957 – Mark Eaton, American basketball player and sportscaster
- 1957 – Ade Edmondson, English comedian and musician
- 1958 – Kim Eui-kon, Korean wrestler
- 1958 – Jools Holland, English singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1958 – Frank Ullrich, German biathlete
- 1959 – Akira Maeda, Japanese wrestler, mixed martial artist, and actor
- 1959 – Michel Preud’homme, Belgian footballer and manager
- 1961 – Jorge Barrios, Uruguayan footballer
- 1961 – Guido Buchwald, German footballer and manager
- 1961 – Christa Kinshofer, German ski racer
- 1961 – Nastassja Kinski, German-American actress and producer
- 1961 – William Van Dijck, Belgian runner
- 1963 – Arnold Vanderlyde, Dutch boxer
- 1964 – Annika Dahlman, Swedish cross country skier
- 1965 – Robin Dutt, German footballer
- 1965 – Carlos Saldanha, Brazilian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1965 – Margaret Urlich, New Zealand singer-songwriter
- 1965 – Pagonis Vakalopoulos, Greek footballer and manager
- 1965 – Kim Sung-moon, South Korean wrestler
- 1966 – Julie Dreyfus, French actress
- 1966 – Karin Viard, French actress
- 1967 – Michael Kiske, German singer
- 1967 – Mark Kozelek, American singer and musician
- 1967 – Phil LaMarr, American actor, singer, and screenwriter
- 1967 – John Myung, American bass player and songwriter
- 1968 – Fernando Escartín, Spanish cyclist
- 1968 – Antony Garrett Lisi, American theoretical physicist
- 1968 – Mary Lou Retton, American gymnast
- 1968 – Tymerlan Huseynov, Ukrainian footballer
- 1969 – Yoo Ho-jeong, South Korean actress
- 1969 – Carlos Rômulo Gonçalves e Silva, bishop of Montenegro
- 1970 – Roberto Bonano, Argentine footballer
- 1970 – Neil Johnson, Zimbabwean cricketer
- 1970 – Matthew Lillard, American actor
- 1971 – José Carlos Fernandez, Bolivian footballer
- 1972 – Beth Hart, American blues-rock singer and piano player
- 1974 – Cyril Despres, French rally racer
- 1974 – Ed Helms, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1974 – Melissa Tkautz, Australian actress and singer
- 1974 – Rokia Traoré, Malian singer
- 1975 – Gianluca Basile, Italian former professional basketball player
- 1975 – Rónald Gómez, Costa Rican footballer and manager
- 1975 – Reto Hug, Swiss triathlonist
- 1975 – Henna Raita, Finnish alpine skier
- 1976 – Shae-Lynn Bourne, Canadian ice dancer, coach, and choreographer
- 1976 – Cindy Pieters, Belgian cyclist
- 1977 – Andrija Gerić, Serbian volleyball player
- 1977 – Michelle Hunziker, Swiss-Dutch actress, model and singer
- 1978 – Veerle Baetens, Belgian actress and singer
- 1978 – Mark Hildreth, Canadian actor and musician
- 1978 – Kristen Schaal, American actress, voice artist, comedian and writer
- 1979 – Tatyana Ali, American actress and singer
- 1979 – Leandro Desábato, Argentinian footballer
- 1979 – Busy Signal, Jamaican dancehall reggae artist
- 1979 – Nik Wallenda, American acrobat
- 1980 – Jofre Mateu, Spanish footballer
- 1980 – Suzy, Portuguese singer
- 1981 – Mario Eggimann, Swiss footballer
- 1981 – Zaur Hashimov, Azerbaijani footballer and manager
- 1981 – Elena Kolomina, Kazakhstani cross country skier
- 1982 – Céline Deville, French footballer
- 1982 – Daveed Diggs, American actor, rapper and singer
- 1982 – Claudia Heill, Austrian judoka
- 1982 – Aitor Hernández, Spanish racing cyclist
- 1983 – Davide Biondini, Italian footballer
- 1983 – Wyatt Crockett, New Zealand rugby player
- 1983 – Evgeny Drattsev, Russian swimmer
- 1983 – Craig Horner, Australian actor and musician
- 1983 – Shaun Maloney, Scottish footballer
- 1983 – Scott Speed, American race car driver
- 1984 – Emerse Faé, French-born Ivorian footballer
- 1984 – Yotam Halperin, Israeli basketball player
- 1984 – Jung Jin-sun, South Korean fencer
- 1984 – Scott Kazmir, American baseball player
- 1984 – Paulo Sérgio Moreira Gonçalves, Portuguese footballer
- 1985 – Fabiana Claudino, Brazilian volleyball player
- 1985 – Trey Gilder, American basketball player
- 1986 – Cristiano Araújo, Brazilian singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
- 1986 – Mohammad Bagheri Motamed, Iranian taekwondo practitioner
- 1986 – Mischa Barton, English-American actress
- 1986 – Vladislav Ivanov, Russian footballer
- 1986 – Michael Kightly, English footballer
- 1986 – Ricky Ullman, Israeli-American actor
- 1987 – Wayne Hennessey, Welsh footballer
- 1987 – Luis Suárez, Uruguayan footballer
- 1987 – Davide Valsecchi, Italian racing driver
- 1987 – Kia Vaughn, American born Czech basketball player
- 1987 – Guan Xin, Chinese basketball player
- 1988 – Selina Jörg, German snowboarder
- 1989 – Serdar Kesimal, Turkish footballer
- 1989 – Gong Lijiao, Chinese shot putter
- 1989 – Ki Sung-yueng, South Korean footballer
- 1990 – Mao Abe, Japanese singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1991 – Zhan Beleniuk, Ukrainian Greco-Roman wrestler
- 1991 – Tatiana Kashirina, Russian weightlifter
- 1991 – Zé Luís, Cape Verdean footballer
- 1991 – Li Xuerui, Chinese badminton player
- 1992 – Becky Downie, English gymnast
- 1992 – Phiwa Nkambule, South African entrepreneur
- 1992 – Felitciano Zschusschen, Curaçao footballer
- 1994 – Tommie Hoban, English footballer
- 1995 – Dylan Everett, Canadian actor
- 1997 – Nirei Fukuzumi, Japanese racer
- 1999 – Vitalie Damașcan, Moldovan footballer
- 2012 – Princess Athena of Denmark, younger child of Prince Joachim and Princess Marie of Denmark
Deaths onJanuary 24
- AD 41 – Caligula, Roman emperor (b. 12)
- 817 – Pope Stephen IV (b. 770)
- 901 – Liu Jishu, general of the Tang Dynasty
- 1046 – Eckard II, Margrave of Meissen (b. c. 985)
- 1125 – David IV of Georgia (b. 1073)
- 1336 – Alfonso IV of Aragon (b. 1299)
- 1376 – Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel, English commander (b. 1306)
- 1473 – Conrad Paumann, German organist and composer (b. 1410)
- 1525 – Franciabigio, Florentine painter (b. 1482)
- 1595 – Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria (b. 1529)
- 1626 – Samuel Argall, English captain and politician, Colonial Governor of Virginia (b. 1572)
- 1639 – Jörg Jenatsch, Swiss pastor and politician (b. 1596)
- 1666 – Johann Andreas Herbst, German composer and theorist (b. 1588)
- 1709 – George Rooke, English admiral and politician (b. 1650)
- 1877 – Johann Christian Poggendorff, German physicist and journalist (b. 1796)
- 1881 – James Collinson, English painter (b. 1825)
- 1883 – Friedrich von Flotow, German composer (b. 1812)
- 1895 – Lord Randolph Churchill, English lawyer and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1849)
- 1920 – Amedeo Modigliani, Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1884)
- 1939 – Maximilian Bircher-Benner, Swiss physician, created Muesli (b. 1867)
- 1943 – John Burns, English trade union leader and politician, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (b. 1858)
- 1960 – Edwin Fischer, Swiss pianist and conductor (b. 1886)
- 1961 – Alfred Carlton Gilbert, American pole vaulter and businessman, founded the A. C. Gilbert Company (b. 1884)
- 1962 – André Lhote, French sculptor and painter (b. 1885)
- 1962 – Stanley Lord, English naval captain (b. 1877)
- 1962 – Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, Turkish author, poet, and scholar (b. 1901)
- 1965 – Winston Churchill, English colonel and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874)
- 1966 – Homi J. Bhabha, Indian physicist and academic (b. 1909)
- 1970 – Caresse Crosby, American fashion designer and publisher, co-founded the Black Sun Press (b. 1891)
- 1971 – Bill W., American activist, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (b. 1895)
- 1973 – J. Carrol Naish, American actor (b. 1896)
- 1975 – Larry Fine, American comedian (b. 1902)
- 1982 – Alfredo Ovando Candía, Bolivian general and politician, 56th President of Bolivia (b. 1918)
- 1983 – George Cukor, American director and producer (b. 1899)
- 1986 – L. Ron Hubbard, American religious leader and author, founded the Church of Scientology (b. 1911)
- 1986 – Gordon MacRae, American actor and singer (b. 1921)
- 1988 – Werner Fenchel, German-Danish mathematician and academic (b. 1905)
- 1989 – Ted Bundy, American serial killer (b. 1946)
- 1990 – Madge Bellamy, American actress (b. 1899)
- 1991 – Jack Schaefer, American journalist and author (b. 1907)
- 1992 – Ken Darby, American composer and conductor (b. 1909)
- 1993 – Gustav Ernesaks, Estonian composer and conductor (b. 1908)
- 1993 – Thurgood Marshall, American lawyer and jurist, 32nd United States Solicitor General (b. 1908)
- 2002 – Elie Hobeika, Lebanese commander and politician (b. 1956)
- 2003 – Gianni Agnelli, Italian businessman (b. 1921)
- 2004 – Leônidas, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1913)
- 2006 – Schafik Handal, Salvadoran politician (b. 1930)
- 2007 – Krystyna Feldman, Polish actress (b. 1916)
- 2007 – İsmail Cem İpekçi, Turkish journalist and politician, 45th Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1940)
- 2007 – Guadalupe Larriva, Ecuadorian academic and politician (b. 1956)
- 2007 – Emiliano Mercado del Toro, Puerto Rican-American soldier (b. 1891)
- 2010 – Pernell Roberts, American actor (b. 1928)
- 2011 – Bernd Eichinger, German director and producer (b. 1949)
- 2014 – Shulamit Aloni, Israeli lawyer and politician, 11th Israeli Minister of Education (b. 1928)
- 2014 – Rafael Pineda Ponce, Honduran academic and politician (b. 1930)
- 2015 – Otto Carius, German lieutenant and pharmacist (b. 1922)
- 2016 – Fredrik Barth, German-Norwegian anthropologist and academic (b. 1928)
- 2016 – Marvin Minsky, American computer scientist and academic (b. 1927)
- 2016 – Henry Worsley, English colonel and explorer (b. 1960)
- 2017 – Butch Trucks, American drummer (b. 1947)
- 2018 – Mark E. Smith, British singer-songwriter (b. 1957)
- 2019 – Rosemary Bryant Mariner, American United States Naval Aviator (b. 1953)
Holidays and observances on January 24
- Christian feast day:
- Babylas of Antioch
- Cadoc (Wales)
- Exuperantius of Cingoli
- Felician of Foligno
- Francis de Sales
- Pratulin Martyrs (Greek Catholic Church)
- January 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Earliest day on which Saturday of Souls can fall, while February 27 (or 28 during Leap Year) is the latest; observed 57 days before Easter. (Eastern Orthodox)
- Feast of Our Lady of Peace (Roman Catholic Church), and its related observances:
- Feria de Alasitas (La Paz)
- Unification Day (Romania)
- Uttar Pradesh Day (Uttar Pradesh, India)
-
January 23 in History
- 393 – Roman Emperor Theodosius I proclaims his eight-year-old son Honorius co-emperor.
- 971 – Using crossbows, Song dynasty troops soundly defeat a war elephant corps of the Southern Han at Shao.
- 1264 – In the conflict between King Henry III of England and his rebellious barons led by Simon de Montfort, King Louis IX of France issues the Mise of Amiens, a one-sided decision in favour of Henry that later leads to the Second Barons’ War.
- 1368 – In a coronation ceremony, Zhu Yuanzhang ascends the throne of China as the Hongwu Emperor, initiating Ming dynasty rule over China that would last for three centuries.
- 1546 – Having published nothing for eleven years, François Rabelais publishes the Tiers Livre, his sequel to Gargantua and Pantagruel.
- 1556 – The deadliest earthquake in history, the Shaanxi earthquake, hits Shaanxi province, China. The death toll may have been as high as 830,000.
- 1570 – James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, regent for the infant King James VI of Scotland, is assassinated by firearm, the first recorded instance of such.
- 1571 – The Royal Exchange opens in London.
- 1579 – The Union of Utrecht forms a Protestant republic in the Netherlands.
- 1656 – Blaise Pascal publishes the first of his Lettres provinciales.
- 1719 – The Principality of Liechtenstein is created within the Holy Roman Empire.
- 1789 – Georgetown College, the first Catholic university in the United States, is founded in Georgetown, Maryland (now a part of Washington, D.C.).
- 1793 – Second Partition of Poland.
- 1795 – After an extraordinary charge across the frozen Zuiderzee, the French cavalry captured 14 Dutch ships and 850 guns, in a rare occurrence of a battle between ships and cavalry.
- 1846 – Slavery in Tunisia is abolished.
- 1849 – Elizabeth Blackwell is awarded her M.D. by the Geneva Medical College of Geneva, New York, becoming the United States’ first female doctor.
- 1870 – In Montana, U.S. cavalrymen kill 173 Native Americans, mostly women and children, in what becomes known as the Marias Massacre.
- 1879 – Anglo-Zulu War: the Battle of Rorke’s Drift ends.
- 1899 – The Malolos Constitution is inaugurated, establishing the First Philippine Republic. Emilio Aguinaldo is sworn in as its first President.
- 1900 – Second Boer War: The Battle of Spion Kop between the forces of the South African Republic and the Orange Free State and British forces ends in a British defeat.
- 1904 – Ålesund Fire: the Norwegian coastal town Ålesund is devastated by fire, leaving 10,000 people homeless and one person dead. Kaiser Wilhelm II funds the rebuilding of the town in Jugendstil style.
- 1909 – RMS Republic, a passenger ship of the White Star Line, becomes the first ship to use the CQD distress signal after colliding with another ship, the SS Florida, off the Massachusetts coastline, an event that kills six people. The Republic sinks the next day.
- 1912 – The International Opium Convention is signed at The Hague.
- 1920 – The Netherlands refuses to surrender the exiled Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany to the Allies.
- 1937 – The trial of the anti-Soviet Trotskyist center sees seventeen mid-level Communists accused of sympathizing with Leon Trotsky and plotting to overthrow Joseph Stalin’s regime.
- 1941 – Charles Lindbergh testifies before the U.S. Congress and recommends that the United States negotiate a neutrality pact with Adolf Hitler.
- 1942 – World War II: The Battle of Rabaul commences Japan’s invasion of Australia’s Territory of New Guinea.
- 1943 – World War II: Troops of the British Eighth Army capture Tripoli in Libya from the German–Italian Panzer Army.
- 1945 – World War II: German admiral Karl Dönitz launches Operation Hannibal.
- 1950 – The Knesset resolves that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.
- 1957 – American inventor Walter Frederick Morrison sells the rights to his flying disc to the Wham-O toy company, which later renames it the “Frisbee”.
- 1958 – After a general uprising and rioting in the streets, President Marcos Pérez Jiménez leaves Venezuela.
- 1960 – The bathyscaphe USS Trieste breaks a depth record by descending to 10,911 metres (35,797 ft) in the Pacific Ocean.
- 1961 – The Portuguese luxury cruise ship Santa Maria is hijacked by opponents of the Estado Novo regime with the intention of waging war until dictator António de Oliveira Salazar is overthrown.
- 1963 – The Guinea-Bissau War of Independence officially begins when PAIGC guerrilla fighters attack the Portuguese army stationed in Tite.
- 1964 – The 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution, prohibiting the use of poll taxes in national elections, is ratified.
- 1967 – Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Ivory Coast are established.
- 1967 – Milton Keynes (England) is founded as a new town by Order in Council, with a planning brief to become a city of 250,000 people. Its initial designated area enclosed three existing towns and twenty one villages. The area to be developed was largely farmland, with evidence of continuous settlement dating back to the Bronze Age.
- 1968 – USS Pueblo (AGER-2) is attacked and seized by naval forces of North Korea.
- 1973 – United States President Richard Nixon announces that a peace accord has been reached in Vietnam.
- 1986 – The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts its first members: Little Richard, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley.
- 1997 – Madeleine Albright becomes the first woman to serve as United States Secretary of State.
- 1998 – Netscape announced Mozilla, with the intention to release Communicator code as open source.
- 2001 – Five people attempt to set themselves on fire in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, an act that many people later claim is staged by the Communist Party of China to frame Falun Gong and thus escalate their persecution.
- 2002 – U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl is kidnapped in Karachi, Pakistan and subsequently murdered.
- 2003 – A very weak signal from Pioneer 10 is detected for the last time, but no usable data can be extracted.
- 2018 – A 7.9 Mw earthquake occurs in the Gulf of Alaska. It is tied as the sixth-largest earthquake ever recorded in the United States, but there are no reports of significant damage or fatalities.
- 2018 – A double car bombing in Benghazi, Libya, kills at least 33 people and wounds “dozens” of others. The victims include both military personnel and civilians, according to local officials.
Births on January 23
- 599 – Tai Zong, emperor of the Tang Dynasty (d. 649)
- 1350 – Vincent Ferrer, Spanish missionary and saint (d. 1419)
- 1378 – Louis III, Elector Palatine (d. 1436)
- 1514 – Hai Rui, Chinese politician (d. 1587)
- 1585 – Mary Ward, English Catholic Religious Sister (d. 1645)
- 1622 – Abraham Diepraam, Dutch painter (d. 1670)
- 1719 – John Landen, English mathematician and theorist (d. 1790)
- 1737 – John Hancock, American general and politician, 1st Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1793)
- 1745 – William Jessop, English engineer, built the Cromford Canal (d. 1814)
- 1752 – Muzio Clementi, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1832)
- 1780 – Georgios Karaiskakis, Greek general (d. 1827)
- 1783 – Stendhal, French novelist (d. 1842)
- 1786 – Auguste de Montferrand, French-Russian architect, designed Saint Isaac’s Cathedral and Alexander Column (d. 1858)
- 1799 – Alois Negrelli, Tyrolean engineer and railroad pioneer active in the Austrian Empire (d. 1858)
- 1809 – Surendra Sai, Indian activist (d. 1884)
- 1813 – Camilla Collett, Norwegian novelist and activist (d. 1895)
- 1828 – Saigō Takamori, Japanese samurai (d. 1877)
- 1832 – Édouard Manet, French painter (d. 1883)
- 1833 – Muthu Coomaraswamy, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (d. 1879)
- 1838 – Marianne Cope, German-American nun and saint (d. 1918)
- 1840 – Ernst Abbe, German physicist and engineer (d. 1905)
- 1846 – Nikolay Umov, Russian physicist and mathematician (d. 1915)
- 1855 – John Browning, American weapons designer, founded the Browning Arms Company (d. 1926)
- 1857 – Andrija Mohorovičić, Croatian meteorologist and seismologist (d. 1936)
- 1862 – David Hilbert, Russian-German mathematician and academic (d. 1943)
- 1862 – Frank Shuman, American inventor and engineer (d. 1918)
- 1872 – Paul Langevin, French physicist and academic (d. 1946)
- 1872 – Jože Plečnik, Slovenian architect, designed Plečnik Parliament (d. 1957)
- 1876 – Otto Diels, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1954)
- 1878 – Rutland Boughton, English composer (d. 1960)
- 1880 – Antonio Díaz Soto y Gama, Mexican politician (d. 1967)
- 1889 – Claribel Kendall, American mathematician (d.1965)
- 1894 – Jyotirmoyee Devi, Indian author (d. 1988)
- 1896 – Alf Blair, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 1944)
- 1896 – Alf Hall, English-South African cricketer (d. 1964)
- 1897 – Subhas Chandra Bose, Indian activist and politician (d. 1945)
- 1897 – Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, Austrian architect (d. 2000)
- 1897 – Ieva Simonaitytė, Lithuanian author (d. 1978)
- 1897 – William Stephenson, Canadian captain and spy (d. 1989)
- 1898 – Georg Kulenkampff, German violinist (d. 1948)
- 1898 – Randolph Scott, American actor (d. 1987)
- 1898 – Freda Utley, English scholar and author (d. 1978)
- 1899 – Glen Kidston, English race car driver and pilot (d. 1931)
- 1900 – William Ifor Jones, Welsh organist and conductor (d. 1988)
- 1901 – Arthur Wirtz, American businessman (d. 1983)
- 1903 – Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, Colombian lawyer and politician, 16th Minister of National Education of Colombia (d. 1948)
- 1905 – Erich Borchmeyer, German sprinter (d. 2000)
- 1907 – Dan Duryea, American actor and singer (d. 1968)
- 1907 – Hideki Yukawa, Japanese physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1981)
- 1910 – Django Reinhardt, Belgian guitarist and composer (d. 1953)
- 1912 – Boris Pokrovsky, Russian director and manager (d. 2009)
- 1913 – Jean-Michel Atlan, Algerian-French painter (d. 1960)
- 1913 – Wally Parks, American businessman, founded the National Hot Rod Association (d. 2007)
- 1915 – Herma Bauma, Austrian javelin thrower and handball player (d. 2003)
- 1915 – W. Arthur Lewis, Saint Lucian-Barbadian economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991)
- 1915 – Potter Stewart, American lawyer and judge (d. 1985)
- 1916 – David Douglas Duncan, American photographer and journalist (d. 2018)
- 1916 – Airey Neave, English colonel, lawyer, and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (d. 1979)
- 1918 – Gertrude B. Elion, American biochemist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1999)
- 1918 – Florence Rush, American social worker and theorist (d. 2008)
- 1919 – Frances Bay, Canadian-American actress (d. 2011)
- 1919 – Hans Hass, Austrian biologist and diver (d. 2013)
- 1919 – Ernie Kovacs, American actor and game show host (d. 1962)
- 1919 – Bob Paisley, English footballer and manager (d. 1996)
- 1920 – Gottfried Böhm, German architect
- 1920 – Henry Eriksson, Swedish runner (d. 2000)
- 1920 – Walter Frederick Morrison, American businessman, invented the Frisbee (d. 2010)
- 1922 – Leon Golub, American painter and academic (d. 2004)
- 1922 – Tom Lewis, Australian politician, 33rd Premier of New South Wales (d. 2016)
- 1923 – Horace Ashenfelter, American runner (d. 2018)
- 1923 – Cot Deal, American baseball player and coach (d. 2013)
- 1923 – Walter M. Miller, Jr., American soldier and author (d. 1996)
- 1924 – Frank Lautenberg, American soldier, businessman, and politician (d. 2013)
- 1925 – Marty Paich, American pianist, composer, producer, and conductor (d. 1995)
- 1926 – Bal Thackeray, Indian journalist, cartoonist, and politician (d. 2012)
- 1927 – Lars-Eric Lindblad, Swedish-American businessman and explorer (d. 1994)
- 1927 – Fred Williams, Australian painter (d. 1982)
- 1928 – Chico Carrasquel, Venezuelan baseball player and manager (d. 2005)
- 1928 – Jeanne Moreau, French actress (d. 2017)
- 1929 – Myron Cope, American journalist and sportscaster (d. 2008)
- 1929 – Phillip Knightley, Australian journalist, author, and critic (d. 2016)
- 1929 – John Polanyi, German-Canadian chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1930 – Filaret, Patriarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan
- 1930 – Mervyn Rose, Australian tennis player (d. 2017)
- 1930 – Derek Walcott, Saint Lucian poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2017)
- 1932 – George Allen, English footballer (d. 2016)
- 1932 – Larri Thomas, American actress and dancer (d. 2013)
- 1933 – Bill Hayden, Australian politician, 21st Governor General of Australia
- 1933 – Chita Rivera, American actress, singer, and dancer
- 1934 – Pierre Bourgault, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 2003)
- 1935 – Mike Agostini, Trinidadian sprinter (d. 2016)
- 1935 – Tom Reamy, American author (d. 1977)
- 1935 – Teresa Żylis-Gara, Polish operatic soprano
- 1936 – Brian Howe, Australian minister and politician, 8th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
- 1936 – Jerry Kramer, American football player and sportscaster
- 1936 – Cécile Ousset, French pianist
- 1938 – Giant Baba, Japanese wrestler and promoter, founded All Japan Pro Wrestling (d. 1999)
- 1938 – Georg Baselitz, German painter and sculptor
- 1939 – Ed Roberts, American disability rights activist (d. 1995)
- 1940 – Alan Cheuse, American writer and critic (d. 2015)
- 1940 – Joe Dowell, American pop singer (d. 2016)
- 1941 – Jock R. Anderson, Australian economist and academic
- 1941 – João Ubaldo Ribeiro, Brazilian journalist, author, and academic (d. 2014)
- 1942 – Laurie Mayne, Australian cricketer
- 1942 – Herman Tjeenk Willink, Dutch judge and politician
- 1942 – Phil Clarke, New Zealand rugby union player
- 1943 – Gary Burton, American vibraphone player and composer
- 1943 – Özhan Canaydın, Turkish basketball player and businessman (d. 2010)
- 1943 – Gil Gerard, American actor and producer
- 1944 – Rutger Hauer, Dutch actor, director, and producer (d. 2019)
- 1945 – Mike Harris, Canadian politician, 22nd Premier of Ontario
- 1946 – Arnoldo Alemán, Nicaraguan lawyer and politician, President of Nicaragua
- 1946 – Boris Berezovsky, Russian-English businessman and mathematician (d. 2013)
- 1946 – Zvonko Bušić, Croatian terrorist, hijacker of TWA Flight 355 (d. 2013)
- 1946 – Don Whittington, American race car driver
- 1947 – Tom Carper, American captain and politician, 71st Governor of Delaware
- 1947 – Megawati Sukarnoputri, Indonesian politician, 5th President of Indonesia
- 1948 – Anita Pointer, American R&B/soul singer-songwriter
- 1950 – Richard Dean Anderson, American actor, producer, and composer
- 1950 – Bill Cunningham, American bass and keyboard player
- 1950 – Guida Maria, Portuguese actress (d. 2018)
- 1950 – Suzanne Scotchmer, American economist and academic (d. 2014)
- 1950 – Luis Alberto Spinetta, Argentinian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and poet (d. 2012)
- 1951 – Margaret Bailes, American sprinter
- 1951 – Chesley Sullenberger, American captain and pilot
- 1952 – Omar Henry, South African cricketer
- 1953 – John Luther Adams, American composer
- 1953 – Alister McGrath, Irish priest, historian, and theologian
- 1953 – Antonio Villaraigosa, American politician, 41st Mayor of Los Angeles
- 1953 – Robin Zander, American rock singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1954 – Trevor Hohns, Australian cricketer
- 1957 – Caroline, Princess of Hanover
- 1958 – Sergey Litvinov, Russian hammer thrower (d. 2018)
- 1959 – Clive Bull, English radio host
- 1960 – Jean-François Sauvé, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1960 – Greg Ritchie, Australian cricketer
- 1961 – Neil Henry, Australian rugby league player and coach
- 1961 – Yelena Sinchukova, Russian long jumper
- 1962 – David Arnold, English composer
- 1962 – Aivar Lillevere, Estonian footballer and coach
- 1962 – Elvira Lindo, Spanish journalist and author
- 1964 – Jonatha Brooke, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1964 – Mariska Hargitay, American actress and producer
- 1964 – Bharrat Jagdeo, Guyanese economist and politician, 7th President of Guyana
- 1964 – Mario Roberge, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1965 – Louie Clemente, American drummer
- 1966 – Damien Hardman, Australian surfer
- 1966 – Haywoode Workman, American basketball player and referee
- 1967 – Owen Cunningham, Australian rugby league player
- 1968 – Taro Hakase, Japanese violinist and composer
- 1968 – Petr Korda, Czech-Monacan tennis player
- 1969 – Andrei Kanchelskis, Ukrainian-Russian footballer and manager
- 1969 – Brendan Shanahan, Canadian ice hockey player and actor
- 1969 – Susen Tiedtke, German long jumper
- 1970 – Spyridon Vasdekis, Greek long jumper
- 1971 – Scott Gibbs, Welsh-South African rugby player and sportscaster
- 1971 – Kevin Mawae, American football player and coach
- 1971 – Marc Nelson, American singer-songwriter
- 1971 – Adam Parore, New Zealand cricketer and mountaineer
- 1971 – Claire Rankin, Canadian actress
- 1971 – Lisa Snowdon, English television and radio presenter and fashion model
- 1972 – Ewen Bremner, Scottish actor
- 1973 – Tomas Holmström, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1974 – Glen Chapple, English cricketer
- 1974 – Rebekah Elmaloglou, Australian actress
- 1974 – Yosvani Pérez, Cuban baseball player
- 1974 – Richard T. Slone, English painter
- 1974 – Tiffani Thiessen, American actress
- 1975 – Nick Harmer, German musician
- 1975 – Phil Dawson, American football player
- 1976 – Brandon Duckworth, American baseball player and scout
- 1976 – Anne Margrethe Hausken, Norwegian orienteering competitor
- 1976 – Alex Shaffer, American skier
- 1979 – Larry Hughes, American basketball player
- 1979 – Dawn O’Porter, Scottish-English fashion designer and journalist
- 1979 – Juan Rincón, Venezuelan baseball player and coach
- 1981 – Rob Friend, Canadian soccer player
- 1982 – Wily Mo Peña, Dominican baseball player
- 1982 – Oceana Mahlmann, German singer and songwriter
- 1982 – Andrew Rock, American sprinter
- 1983 – Irving Saladino, Panamanian long jumper
- 1984 – Robbie Farah, Australian rugby league player
- 1984 – Arjen Robben, Dutch footballer
- 1985 – Dong Fangzhuo, Chinese footballer
- 1985 – Doutzen Kroes, Dutch model and actress
- 1985 – Yevgeny Lukyanenko, Russian pole vaulter
- 1985 – Aselefech Mergia, Ethiopian runner
- 1985 – Jeff Samardzija, American baseball player
- 1985 – San E, South Korean rapper
- 1986 – Gelete Burka, Ethiopian runner
- 1986 – Marc Laird, Scottish footballer
- 1986 – José Enrique, Spanish footballer
- 1986 – Michael Stevens, American YouTuber and educator
- 1986 – Steven Taylor, English footballer
- 1986 – Sandro Viletta, Swiss skier
- 1987 – Leo Komarov, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1988 – Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Australian-New Zealand rugby league player
- 1990 – Şener Özbayraklı, Turkish footballer
- 1990 – Alex Silva, Canadian wrestler
- 1990 – Martyn Waghorn, English footballer
- 1992 – Reina Triendl, Japanese model and actress
- 1994 – Addison Russell, American baseball player
- 1995 – Luke Bateman, Australian rugby league player
- 1995 – Tuimoala Lolohea, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1998 – XXXTentacion, American rapper (d. 2018)
Deaths on January 23
- 667 – Ildefonsus, bishop of Toledo
- 989 – Adalbero, archbishop of Reims
- 1002 – Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 980)
- 1199 – Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur, Moroccan caliph (b. 1160)
- 1252 – Isabella, Queen of Armenia
- 1297 – Florent of Hainaut, Prince of Achaea (b. c. 1255)
- 1423 – Margaret of Bavaria, Burgundian regent (b. 1363)
- 1516 – Ferdinand II of Aragon (b. 1452)
- 1548 – Bernardo Pisano, Italian priest, scholar, and composer (b. 1490)
- 1549 – Johannes Honter, Romanian-Hungarian cartographer and theologian (b. 1498)
- 1567 – Jiajing Emperor of China (b. 1507)
- 1570 – James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, Scottish politician (b. 1531)
- 1620 – John Croke, English politician and judge (b. 1553)
- 1622 – William Baffin, English explorer and navigator (b. 1584)
- 1650 – Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke (b. 1584)
- 1744 – Giambattista Vico, Italian historian and philosopher (b. 1668)
- 1785 – Matthew Stewart, Scottish mathematician and academic (b. 1717)
- 1789 – Frances Brooke, English author and playwright (b. 1724)
- 1789 – John Cleland, English author (b. 1709)
- 1800 – Edward Rutledge, American captain and politician, 39th Governor of South Carolina (b. 1749)
- 1803 – Arthur Guinness, Irish brewer, founded Guinness (b. 1725)
- 1805 – Claude Chappe, French engineer (b. 1763)
- 1806 – William Pitt the Younger, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1759)
- 1810 – Johann Wilhelm Ritter, German chemist and physicist (b. 1776)
- 1812 – Robert Craufurd, Scottish general and politician (b. 1764)
- 1820 – Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (b. 1767)
- 1833 – Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, English admiral and politician (b. 1757)
- 1837 – John Field, Irish pianist and composer (b. 1782)
- 1866 – Thomas Love Peacock, English author and poet (b. 1785)
- 1875 – Charles Kingsley English priest and author (b. 1819)
- 1883 – Gustave Doré, French engraver and illustrator (b. 1832)
- 1893 – Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II, American lawyer and politician, 16th United States Secretary of the Interior (b. 1825)
- 1893 – José Zorrilla, Spanish poet and playwright (b. 1817)
- 1921 – Mykola Leontovych, Ukrainian composer and conductor (b. 1877)
- 1922 – René Beeh, Alsatian painter and draughtsman (b. 1886)
- 1922 – Arthur Nikisch, Hungarian conductor and academic (b. 1855)
- 1923 – Max Nordau, Austrian physician and author (b. 1849)
- 1931 – Anna Pavlova, Russian-English ballerina (b. 1881)
- 1937 – Orso Mario Corbino, Italian physicist and politician (b. 1876)
- 1939 – Matthias Sindelar, Austrian footballer and manager (b. 1903)
- 1943 – Alexander Woollcott, American actor, playwright, and critic (b. 1887)
- 1944 – Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter and illustrator (b. 1863)
- 1947 – Pierre Bonnard, French painter (b. 1867)
- 1956 – Alexander Korda, Hungarian-English director and producer (b. 1893)
- 1963 – Józef Gosławski, Polish sculptor (b. 1908)
- 1966 – T. M. Sabaratnam, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (d. 1895)
- 1971 – Fritz Feigl, Austrian-Brazilian chemist and academic (b. 1871)
- 1973 – Alexander Onassis, American-Greek businessman (b. 1948)
- 1973 – Kid Ory, American trombonist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1886)
- 1976 – Paul Robeson, American actor, singer, and activist (b. 1898)
- 1977 – Toots Shor, American businessman, founded Toots Shor’s Restaurant (b. 1903)
- 1978 – Terry Kath, American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1946)
- 1978 – Jack Oakie, American actor (b. 1903)
- 1980 – Giovanni Michelotti, Italian engineer (b. 1921)
- 1981 – Samuel Barber, American pianist and composer (b. 1910)
- 1983 – Fred Bakewell, English cricketer and coach (b. 1908)
- 1984 – Muin Bseiso, Palestinian-Egyptian poet and critic (b. 1926)
- 1985 – James Beard, American chef and cookbook author for whom the James Beard Foundation Awards are named (b.1905)
- 1986 – Joseph Beuys, German sculptor and painter (b. 1921)
- 1988 – Charles Glen King, American biochemist and academic (b. 1896)
- 1989 – Salvador Dalí, Spanish painter and sculptor (b. 1904)
- 1989 – Lars-Erik Torph, Swedish race car driver (b. 1961)
- 1990 – Allen Collins, American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1952)
- 1991 – Northrop Frye, Canadian author and critic (b. 1912)
- 1992 – Freddie Bartholomew, American actor (b. 1924)
- 1993 – Keith Laumer, American soldier, author, and diplomat (b. 1925)
- 1994 – Nikolai Ogarkov, Russian field marshal (b. 1917)
- 1994 – Brian Redhead, English journalist and author (b. 1929)
- 1999 – Joe D’Amato, Italian director and cinematographer (b. 1936)
- 1999 – Jay Pritzker, American businessman, co-founded the Hyatt Corporation (b. 1922)
- 2002 – Paul Aars, American race car driver (b. 1934)
- 2002 – Pierre Bourdieu, French sociologist, anthropologist, and philosopher (b. 1930)
- 2002 – Robert Nozick, American philosopher, author, and academic (b. 1938)
- 2003 – Nell Carter, American actress and singer (b. 1948)
- 2004 – Bob Keeshan, American television personality and producer (b. 1927)
- 2004 – Helmut Newton, German-Australian photographer (b. 1920)
- 2005 – Morys Bruce, 4th Baron Aberdare, English lieutenant and politician (b. 1921)
- 2005 – Johnny Carson, American talk show host, television personality, and producer (b. 1925)
- 2007 – Syed Hussein Alatas, Malaysian sociologist and politician (b. 1928)
- 2007 – E. Howard Hunt, American CIA officer (b. 1918)
- 2007 – Ryszard Kapuściński, Polish journalist and author (b. 1932)
- 2009 – Robert W. Scott, American farmer and politician, 67th Governor of North Carolina (b. 1929)
- 2010 – Kermit Tyler, American colonel and pilot (b. 1913)
- 2010 – Earl Wild, American pianist and composer (b. 1915)
- 2011 – Jack LaLanne, American fitness instructor, author, and television host (b. 1914)
- 2012 – Wesley E. Brown, American lawyer and jurist (b. 1907)
- 2012 – Maurice Meisner, American historian, author, and academic (b. 1931)
- 2012 – Bingham Ray, American businessman, co-founded October Films (b. 1954)
- 2013 – Józef Glemp, Polish cardinal (b. 1929)
- 2013 – Peter van der Merwe, South African cricketer and referee (b. 1937)
- 2013 – Jean-Félix-Albert-Marie Vilnet, French bishop (b. 1922)
- 2014 – Yuri Izrael, Russian meteorologist and journalist (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Riz Ortolani, Italian composer and conductor (b. 1926)
- 2015 – Ernie Banks, American baseball player and coach (b. 1931)
- 2015 – Prosper Ego, Dutch activist, founded the Oud-Strijders Legioen (b. 1927)
- 2015 – Abdullah of Saudi Arabia (b. 1924)
- 2016 – Jimmy Bain, Scottish bassist (b. 1947)
- 2016 – Bobby Wanzer, American basketball player and coach (b. 1921)
- 2017 – Bobby Freeman, American singer, songwriter and record producer (b. 1940)
- 2017 – Gorden Kaye, English actor (b. 1941)
- 2018 – Hugh Masekela, South African trumpeter, composer and singer (b. 1939)
- 2018 – Nicanor Parra, Chilean poet (b. 1914)
- 2018 – Wyatt Tee Walker, American civil rights activist and pastor (b. 1928)
Holidays and observances on January 23
- Bounty Day (Pitcairn Islands)
- Christian feast day:
- Abakuh
- Marianne of Molokai
- Emerentiana
- Espousals of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- Ildefonsus of Toledo
- Phillips Brooks (Episcopal Church (USA))
- January 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s Jayanti (Orissa, Tripura, and West Bengal, India)
- World Freedom Day (Taiwan and South Korea)
-
January 19 in History
- 379 – Emperor Gratian elevates Flavius Theodosius at Sirmium to Augustus, and gives him authority over all the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire.
- 649 – Conquest of Kucha: The forces of Kucha surrender after a forty-day siege led by Tang dynasty general Ashina She’er, establishing Tang control over the northern Tarim Basin in Xinjiang.
- 1419 – Hundred Years’ War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England, completing his reconquest of Normandy.
- 1511 – The Italian city-fortress of Mirandola surrenders to the French.
- 1520 – Sten Sture the Younger, the Regent of Sweden, is mortally wounded at the Battle of Bogesund and dies on February 3.
- 1607 – San Agustin Church in Manila is officially completed; it is the oldest church still standing in the Philippines.
- 1764 – John Wilkes is expelled from the British House of Commons for seditious libel.
- 1764 – Bolle Willum Luxdorph records in his diary that a mail bomb, possibly the world’s first, has severely injured the Danish Colonel Poulsen, residing at Børglum Abbey.
- 1788 – The second group of ships of the First Fleet arrive at Botany Bay.
- 1795 – The Batavian Republic is proclaimed in the Netherlands, bringing to an end the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands.
- 1806 – Britain occupies the Dutch Cape Colony after the Battle of Blaauwberg.
- 1817 – An army of 5,423 soldiers, led by General José de San Martín, crosses the Andes from Argentina to liberate Chile and then Peru.
- 1829 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust: The First Part of the Tragedy receives its premiere performance.
- 1839 – The British East India Company captures Aden.
- 1853 – Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Il trovatore receives its premiere performance in Rome.
- 1861 – American Civil War: Georgia joins South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama in declaring secession from the United States.
- 1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Mill Springs: The Confederacy suffers its first significant defeat in the conflict.
- 1871 – Franco-Prussian War: In the Siege of Paris, Prussia wins the Battle of St. Quentin. Meanwhile, the French attempt to break the siege in the Battle of Buzenval will end unsuccessfully the following day.
- 1883 – The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires, built by Thomas Edison, begins service at Roselle, New Jersey.
- 1899 – Anglo-Egyptian Sudan is formed.
- 1915 – Georges Claude patents the neon discharge tube for use in advertising.
- 1915 – German strategic bombing during World War I: German zeppelins bomb the towns of Great Yarmouth and King’s Lynn in the United Kingdom killing at least 20 people, in the first major aerial bombardment of a civilian target.
- 1917 – Silvertown explosion: A blast at a munitions factory in London kills 73 and injures over 400. The resulting fire causes over £2,000,000 worth of damage.
- 1920 – The United States Senate votes against joining the League of Nations.
- 1920 – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is founded.
- 1937 – Howard Hughes sets a new air record by flying from Los Angeles to New York City in 7 hours, 28 minutes, 25 seconds.
- 1940 – You Nazty Spy!, the first Hollywood film of any kind to satirize Adolf Hitler and the Nazis premieres, starring The Three Stooges, with Moe Howard as the character “Moe Hailstone” satirizing Hitler.
- 1941 – World War II: HMS Greyhound and other escorts of convoy AS-12 sink Italian submarine Neghelli with all hands 40 miles (64 km) northeast of Falkonera.
- 1942 – World War II: The Japanese conquest of Burma begins.
- 1945 – World War II: Soviet forces liberate the Łódź Ghetto. Of more than 200,000 inhabitants in 1940, less than 900 had survived the Nazi occupation.
- 1946 – General Douglas MacArthur establishes the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo to try Japanese war criminals.
- 1953 – Almost 72 percent of all television sets in the United States are tuned into I Love Lucy to watch Lucy give birth.
- 1960 – Japan and the United States sign the US–Japan Mutual Security Treaty
- 1969 – Student Jan Palach dies after setting himself on fire three days earlier in Prague’s Wenceslas Square to protest about the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union in 1968. His funeral turns into another major protest.
- 1974 – China gains control over all the Paracel Islands after a military engagement between the naval forces of China and South Vietnam
- 1977 – President Gerald Ford pardons Iva Toguri D’Aquino (a.k.a. “Tokyo Rose”).
- 1978 – The last Volkswagen Beetle made in Germany leaves VW’s plant in Emden. Beetle production in Latin America continues until 2003.
- 1981 – Iran hostage crisis: United States and Iranian officials sign an agreement to release 52 American hostages after 14 months of captivity.
- 1983 – Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie is arrested in Bolivia.
- 1983 – The Apple Lisa, the first commercial personal computer from Apple Inc. to have a graphical user interface and a computer mouse, is announced.
- 1986 – The first IBM PC computer virus is released into the wild. A boot sector virus dubbed (c)Brain, it was created by the Farooq Alvi Brothers in Lahore, Pakistan, reportedly to deter unauthorized copying of the software they had written.
- 1991 – Gulf War: Iraq fires a second Scud missile into Israel, causing 15 injuries.
- 1993 – Czech Republic and Slovakia join the United Nations.
- 1995 – After being struck by lightning the crew of Bristow Flight 56C are forced to ditch. All 18 aboard are later rescued.
- 1996 – The barge North Cape oil spill occurs as an engine fire forces the tugboat Scandia ashore on Moonstone Beach in South Kingstown, Rhode Island.
- 1997 – Yasser Arafat returns to Hebron after more than 30 years and joins celebrations over the handover of the last Israeli-controlled West Bank city.
- 1999 – British Aerospace agrees to acquire the defence subsidiary of the General Electric Company plc, forming BAE Systems in November 1999.
- 2007 – Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink is assassinated in front of his newspaper’s Istanbul office by 17-year-old Turkish ultra-nationalist Ogün Samast.
- 2007 – Four-man Team N2i, using only skis and kites, completes a 1,093-mile (1,759 km) trek to reach the Antarctic pole of inaccessibility for the first time since 1965 and for the first time ever without mechanical assistance.
- 2012 – The Hong Kong-based file-sharing website Megaupload is shut down by the FBI.
- 2014 – A bomb attack on an army convoy in the city of Bannu kills at least 26 Pakistani soldiers and injures 38 others.
Births on January 19
- 399 – Pulcheria, Byzantine empress and saint (d. 453)
- 1200 – Dōgen Zenji, founder of Sōtō Zen (d. 1253)
- 1544 – Francis II of France (d. 1560)
- 1617 – Lucas Faydherbe, Flemish sculptor and architect (d. 1697)
- 1628 – Charles Stanley, 8th Earl of Derby, English noble (d. 1672)
- 1676 – John Weldon, English organist and composer (d. 1736)
- 1721 – Jean-Philippe Baratier, German scholar and author (d. 1740)
- 1736 – James Watt, Scottish-English chemist and engineer (d. 1819)
- 1737 – Giuseppe Millico, Italian soprano, composer, and educator (d. 1802)
- 1739 – Joseph Bonomi the Elder, Italian architect, designed Longford Hall and Barrells Hall (d. 1808)
- 1752 – James Morris III, American captain (d. 1820)
- 1757 – Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf (d. 1831)
- 1788 – Pavel Kiselyov, Russian general and politician (d. 1874)
- 1790 – Per Daniel Amadeus Atterbom, Swedish poet and academic (d. 1855)
- 1798 – Auguste Comte, French economist, sociologist, and philosopher (d. 1857)
- 1807 – Robert E. Lee, American general and academic (d. 1870)
- 1808 – Lysander Spooner, American philosopher and author (d. 1887)
- 1809 – Edgar Allan Poe, American short story writer, poet, and critic (d. 1849)
- 1810 – Talhaiarn, Welsh poet and architect (d.1869)
- 1813 – Henry Bessemer, English engineer and businessman (d. 1898)
- 1832 – Ferdinand Laub, Czech violinist and composer (d. 1875)
- 1833 – Alfred Clebsch, German mathematician and academic (d. 1872)
- 1839 – Paul Cézanne, French painter (d. 1906)
- 1848 – Arturo Graf, Italian poet, of German ancestry (d. 1913).
- 1848 – John Fitzwilliam Stairs, Canadian businessman and politician (d. 1904)
- 1848 – Matthew Webb, English swimmer and diver (d. 1883)
- 1851 – Jacobus Kapteyn, Dutch astronomer and academic (d. 1922)
- 1852 – Thomas Price, Welsh-Australian politician, 24th Premier of South Australia (d. 1909)
- 1863 – Werner Sombart, German economist and sociologist (d. 1941)
- 1866 – Harry Davenport, American stage and film actor (d. 1949)
- 1871 – Dame Gruev, Bulgarian educator and activist, co-founded the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (d. 1906)
- 1874 – Hitachiyama Taniemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 19th Yokozuna (d. 1922)
- 1876 – Wakashima Gonshirō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 21st Yokozuna (d. 1943)
- 1876 – Dragotin Kette, Slovenian poet and author (d. 1899)
- 1878 – Herbert Chapman, English footballer and manager (d. 1934)
- 1879 – Boris Savinkov, Russian soldier and author (d. 1925)
- 1882 – John Cain Sr., Australian politician, 34th Premier of Victoria (d. 1957)
- 1883 – Hermann Abendroth, German conductor (d. 1956)
- 1887 – Alexander Woollcott, American actor, playwright, and critic (d. 1943)
- 1889 – Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Swiss painter and sculptor (d. 1943)
- 1892 – Ólafur Thors, Icelandic lawyer and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Iceland (d. 1964)
- 1893 – Magda Tagliaferro, Brazilian pianist and educator (d. 1986)
- 1903 – Boris Blacher, German composer and playwright (d. 1975)
- 1905 – Stanley Hawes, English-Australian director and producer (d. 1991)
- 1907 – Briggs Cunningham, American race car driver, sailor, and businessman (d. 2003)
- 1908 – Ish Kabibble, American comedian and cornet player (d. 1994)
- 1908 – Aleksandr Gennadievich Kurosh, Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 1971)
- 1911 – Choor Singh, Indian-Singaporean lawyer and judge (d. 2009)
- 1912 – Leonid Kantorovich, Russian mathematician and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
- 1913 – Rex Ingamells, Australian author and poet (d. 1955)
- 1913 – Rudolf Wanderone, American professional pocket billiards player (d. 1996)
- 1918 – John H. Johnson, American publisher, founded the Johnson Publishing Company (d. 2005)
- 1920 – Bernard Dunstan, English painter and educator (d. 2017)
- 1920 – Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Peruvian politician and diplomat, 135th Prime Minister of Peru (d. 2020)
- 1921 – Patricia Highsmith, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1995)
- 1922 – Arthur Morris, Australian cricketer and journalist (d. 2015)
- 1922 – Miguel Muñoz, Spanish footballer and manager (d. 1990)
- 1923 – Jean Stapleton, American actress and singer (d. 2013)
- 1924 – Nicholas Colasanto, American actor and director (d. 1985)
- 1924 – Jean-François Revel, French philosopher (d. 2006)
- 1925 – Nina Bawden, English author (d. 2012)
- 1926 – Hans Massaquoi, German-American journalist and author (d. 2013)
- 1926 – Fritz Weaver, American actor (d. 2016)
- 1930 – Tippi Hedren, American model, actress, and animal rights-welfare activist
- 1930 – John Waite, South African cricketer (d. 2011)
- 1931 – Robert MacNeil, Canadian-American journalist and author
- 1932 – Russ Hamilton, English singer-songwriter (d. 2008)
- 1932 – Richard Lester, American-English director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1932 – Harry Lonsdale, American chemist, businessman, and politician (d. 2014)
- 1933 – George Coyne, American priest, astronomer, and theologian
- 1935 – Johnny O’Keefe, Australian singer-songwriter (d. 1978)
- 1936 – Ziaur Rahman, Bangladeshi general and politician, 7th President of Bangladesh (d. 1981)
- 1936 – Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, American singer, harmonica player, and drummer (d. 2011)
- 1936 – Fred J. Lincoln, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2013)
- 1937 – John Lions, Australian computer scientist and academic (d. 1998)
- 1939 – Phil Everly, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2014)
- 1940 – Paolo Borsellino, Italian lawyer and judge (d. 1992)
- 1940 – Mike Reid, English comedian, actor, and author (d. 2007)
- 1941 – Colin Gunton, English theologian and academic (d. 2003)
- 1941 – Pat Patterson, Canadian wrestler, trainer, and referee
- 1942 – Michael Crawford, English actor and singer
- 1942 – Paul-Eerik Rummo, Estonian poet and politician
- 1943 – Larry Clark, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1943 – Janis Joplin, American singer-songwriter (d. 1970)
- 1943 – Princess Margriet of the Netherlands
- 1944 – Shelley Fabares, American actress and singer
- 1944 – Thom Mayne, American architect and academic, designed the San Francisco Federal Building and Phare Tower
- 1944 – Dan Reeves, American football player and coach
- 1945 – Trevor Williams, English singer-songwriter and bass player
- 1946 – Julian Barnes, English novelist, short story writer, essayist, and critic
- 1946 – Dolly Parton, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1947 – Frank Aarebrot, Norwegian political scientist and academic (d. 2017)
- 1947 – Paula Deen, American chef and author
- 1947 – Rod Evans, English singer-songwriter
- 1948 – Nancy Lynch, American computer scientist and academic
- 1948 – Frank McKenna, Canadian politician and diplomat, 27th Premier of New Brunswick
- 1948 – Mal Reilly, English rugby league player and coach
- 1949 – Arend Langenberg, Dutch voice actor and radio host (d. 2012)
- 1949 – Robert Palmer, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2003)
- 1950 – Sébastien Dhavernas, Canadian actor
- 1951 – Martha Davis, American singer
- 1952 – Dewey Bunnell, British-American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1952 – Nadiuska, German television actress
- 1952 – Bruce Jay Nelson, American computer scientist (d. 1999)
- 1953 – Desi Arnaz, Jr., American actor and singer
- 1953 – Richard Legendre, Canadian tennis player and politician
- 1953 – Wayne Schimmelbusch, Australian footballer and coach
- 1954 – Katey Sagal, American actress and singer
- 1954 – Cindy Sherman, American photographer and director
- 1954 – Esther Shkalim, Israeli poet and Mizrahi feminist
- 1955 – Paul Rodriguez, Mexican-American comedian and actor
- 1956 – Carman, American singer-songwriter, actor, and television host
- 1956 – Susan Solomon, American atmospheric chemist
- 1957 – Ottis Anderson, American football player and sportscaster
- 1957 – Roger Ashton-Griffiths, English actor, screenwriter and film director
- 1957 – Kenneth McClintock, Puerto Rican public servant and politician, 22nd Secretary of State of Puerto Rico
- 1958 – Thomas Kinkade, American painter (d. 2012)
- 1959 – Danese Cooper, American computer scientist and programmer
- 1959 – Jeff Pilson, American bass player, songwriter, and actor
- 1961 – William Ragsdale, American actor
- 1961 – Wayne Hemingway, English fashion designer, co-founded Red or Dead
- 1962 – Hans Daams, Dutch cyclist
- 1962 – Chris Sabo, American baseball player and coach
- 1962 – Jeff Van Gundy, American basketball player and coach
- 1963 – Michael Adams, American basketball player and coach
- 1963 – Martin Bashir, English journalist
- 1963 – John Bercow, English politician, Speaker of the House of Commons
- 1964 – Janine Antoni, Bahamian sculptor and photographer
- 1964 – Ricardo Arjona, Guatemalan singer-songwriter and basketball player
- 1966 – Sylvain Côté, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1966 – Stefan Edberg, Swedish tennis player and coach
- 1966 – Lena Philipsson, Swedish singer-songwriter
- 1968 – David Bartlett, Australian politician, 43rd Premier of Tasmania
- 1968 – Whitfield Crane, American singer-songwriter
- 1969 – Edwidge Danticat, Haitian-American novelist and short story writer
- 1969 – Luc Longley, Australian basketball player and coach
- 1969 – Predrag Mijatović, Montenegrin footballer and manager
- 1969 – Junior Seau, American football player (d. 2012)
- 1969 – Steve Staunton, Irish footballer and manager
- 1970 – Steffen Freund, German footballer defensive midfielder and manager
- 1970 – Kathleen Smet, Belgian triathlete
- 1970 – Udo Suzuki, Japanese comedian and singer
- 1971 – Phil Nevin, American baseball player
- 1971 – Shawn Wayans, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1971 – John Wozniak, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1972 – Ron Killings, American wrestler and rapper
- 1972 – Troy Wilson, Australian footballer and race car driver
- 1972 – Sergei Zjukin, Estonian chess player and coach
- 1972 – Yoon Hae-young, South Korean actress
- 1973 – Antero Manninen, Finnish cellist
- 1973 – Yevgeny Sadovyi, Russian swimmer and coach
- 1974 – Dainius Adomaitis, Lithuanian basketball player and coach
- 1974 – Frank Caliendo, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter
- 1974 – Ian Laperrière, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1974 – Jaime Moreno, Bolivian footballer and manager
- 1975 – Natalie Cook, Australian volleyball player
- 1975 – Zdeňka Málková, Czech tennis player
- 1976 – Natale Gonnella, Italian footballer
- 1976 – Tarso Marques, Brazilian race car driver
- 1977 – Benjamin Ayres, Canadian actor, director, and photographer
- 1979 – Svetlana Khorkina, Russian gymnast and sportscaster
- 1979 – Josu Sarriegi, Spanish footballer
- 1979 – Wiley, English rapper and producer
- 1980 – Jenson Button, English race car driver
- 1980 – Pasha Kovalev, Russian-American dancer and choreographer
- 1980 – Luke Macfarlane, Canadian-American actor and singer
- 1980 – Arvydas Macijauskas, Lithuanian basketball player
- 1980 – Michael Vandort, Sri Lankan cricketer
- 1981 – Paolo Bugia, Filipino basketball player
- 1981 – Asier del Horno, Spanish footballer
- 1981 – Lucho González, Argentinian footballer
- 1982 – Pete Buttigieg, American politician
- 1982 – Mike Komisarek, American ice hockey player
- 1982 – Jodie Sweetin, American actress and singer
- 1982 – Shane Tronc, Australian rugby league player
- 1982 – Kim Yoo-suk, South Korean pole vaulter
- 1982 – Robin tom Rink, German singer-songwriter
- 1983 – Hikaru Utada, American-Japanese singer-songwriter and producer
- 1984 – Fabio Catacchini, Italian footballer
- 1984 – Karun Chandhok, Indian race car driver
- 1984 – Jimmy Kébé, Malian footballer
- 1984 – Thomas Vanek, Austrian ice hockey player
- 1985 – Jake Allen, American football player
- 1985 – Pascal Behrenbruch, German decathlete
- 1985 – Benny Feilhaber, American soccer player
- 1985 – Esteban Guerrieri, Argentinian race car driver
- 1985 – Rika Ishikawa, Japanese singer and actress
- 1985 – Elliott Ward, English footballer
- 1985 – Aleksandr Yevgenyevich Nikulin, Russian footballer
- 1986 – Claudio Marchisio, Italian footballer
- 1986 – Oleksandr Miroshnychenko, Ukrainian footballer
- 1986 – Moussa Sow, Senegalese footballer
- 1987 – Edgar Manucharyan, Armenian footballer
- 1988 – JaVale McGee, American basketball player
- 1988 – Tyler Breeze, Canadian wrestler
- 1990 – Tatiana Búa, Argentine tennis player
- 1991 – Petra Martić, Croatian tennis player
- 1991 – Erin Sanders, American actress
- 1992 – Shawn Johnson, American gymnast
- 1992 – Logan Lerman, American actor
- 1992 – Mac Miller, American rapper (d. 2018)
- 1993 – Erick Torres Padilla, Mexican footballer
- 1994 – Matthias Ginter, German footballer
- 1994 – Alfie Mawson, English footballer, centre back
Deaths on January 19
- 520 – John of Cappadocia, patriarch of Constantinople
- 639 – Dagobert I, Frankish king (b. 603)
- 914 – García I, king of León
- 1003 – Kilian of Cologne, Irish abbot
- 1302 – Al-Hakim I, caliph of Cairo
- 1401 – Robert Bealknap, British justice
- 1526 – Isabella of Austria, Danish queen (b. 1501)
- 1547 – Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, English poet (b. 1516)
- 1565 – Diego Laynez, Spanish Jesuit theologian (b. 1512)
- 1571 – Paris Bordone, Venetian painter (b. 1495)
- 1576 – Hans Sachs, German poet and playwright (b. 1494)
- 1636 – Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, Flemish painter (b.1561)
- 1661 – Thomas Venner, English rebel leader (b. 1599)
- 1729 – William Congreve, English playwright and poet (b. 1670)
- 1755 – Jean-Pierre Christin, French physicist, mathematician, and astronomer (b. 1683)
- 1757 – Thomas Ruddiman, Scottish scholar and academic (b. 1674)
- 1766 – Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni, Italian-French architect and painter (b. 1695)
- 1785 – Jonathan Toup, English scholar and critic (b. 1713)
- 1833 – Ferdinand Hérold, French pianist and composer (b. 1791)
- 1847 – Charles Bent, American soldier and politician, 1st Governor of New Mexico (b. 1799)
- 1847 – Athanasios Christopoulos, Greek poet (b. 1772)
- 1851 – Esteban Echeverría, Argentinian poet and author (b. 1805)
- 1853 – Karl Faber, German historian and academic (b. 1773)
- 1865 – Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, French philosopher and politician (b. 1809)
- 1869 – Carl Reichenbach, German chemist and philosopher (b. 1788)
- 1874 – August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, German poet and scholar (b. 1798)
- 1878 – Henri Victor Regnault, French physicist and chemist (b. 1810)
- 1905 – Debendranath Tagore, Indian philosopher and author (b. 1817)
- 1906 – Bartolomé Mitre, Argentinian historian and politician, 6th President of Argentina (b. 1821)
- 1908 – Roberto Bompiani, Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1821)
- 1929 – Liang Qichao, Chinese journalist, philosopher, and scholar (b. 1873)
- 1930 – Frank P. Ramsey, British mathematician, philosopher and economist (b. 1903)
- 1938 – Branislav Nušić, Serbian author, playwright, and journalist (b. 1864)
- 1945 – Gustave Mesny, French general (b. 1886)
- 1948 – Tony Garnier, French architect and urban planner, designed the Stade de Gerland (b. 1869)
- 1954 – Theodor Kaluza, German mathematician and physicist (b. 1885)
- 1957 – József Dudás, Romanian-Hungarian activist and politician (b. 1912)
- 1963 – Clement Smoot, American golfer (b. 1884)
- 1964 – Firmin Lambot, Belgian cyclist (b. 1886)
- 1965 – Arnold Luhaäär, Estonian weightlifter (b. 1905)
- 1968 – Ray Harroun, American race car driver and engineer (b. 1879)
- 1972 – Michael Rabin, American violinist (b. 1936)
- 1973 – Max Adrian, Irish-English actor (b. 1903)
- 1975 – Thomas Hart Benton, American painter and educator (b. 1889)
- 1976 – Hidetsugu Yagi, Japanese engineer and academic (b. 1886)
- 1979 – Moritz Jahn, German novelist and poet (b. 1884)
- 1980 – William O. Douglas, American lawyer and jurist (b. 1898)
- 1981 – Francesca Woodman, American photographer (b. 1958)
- 1982 – Elis Regina, Brazilian soprano (b. 1945)
- 1984 – Max Bentley, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1920)
- 1987 – Lawrence Kohlberg, American psychologist and academic (b. 1927)
- 1990 – Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Indian guru and mystic (b. 1931)
- 1990 – Alberto Semprini, English pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1908)
- 1990 – Herbert Wehner, German politician, 6th Minister of Intra-German Relations (b. 1906)
- 1991 – Marcel Chaput, Canadian biochemist and journalist (b. 1918)
- 1995 – Gene MacLellan, Canadian singer-songwriter (b. 1938)
- 1996 – Don Simpson, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1943)
- 1997 – James Dickey, American poet and novelist (b. 1923)
- 1998 – Carl Perkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1932)
- 1999 – Ivan Francescato, Italian rugby player (b. 1967)
- 2000 – Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum, Bahá’í Hand of the Cause of God and wife of Shoghi Effendi (b. 1910)
- 2000 – Bettino Craxi, Italian lawyer and politician, 45th Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1934)
- 2000 – Hedy Lamarr, Austrian-American actress, singer, and mathematician (b. 1913)
- 2001 – Dario Vittori, Italian-Argentinian actor and producer (b. 1921)
- 2002 – Vavá, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1934)
- 2003 – Milton Flores, Honduran footballer (b. 1974)
- 2003 – Françoise Giroud, French journalist, screenwriter, and politician, French Minister of Culture (b. 1916)
- 2004 – Harry E. Claiborne, American lawyer and judge (b. 1917)
- 2004 – David Hookes, Australian cricketer and coach (b. 1955)
- 2005 – K. Sello Duiker, South African author and screenwriter (b. 1974)
- 2006 – Anthony Franciosa, American actor (b. 1928)
- 2006 – Wilson Pickett, American singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
- 2006 – Awn Alsharif Qasim, Sudanese author and scholar (b. 1933)
- 2006 – Geoff Rabone, New Zealand cricketer and pilot (b. 1921)
- 2007 – Hrant Dink, Turkish-Armenian journalist and activist (b. 1954)
- 2007 – Denny Doherty, Canadian singer-songwriter (b. 1940)
- 2007 – Murat Nasyrov, Russian singer-songwriter (b. 1969)
- 2008 – Suzanne Pleshette, American actress (b. 1937)
- 2008 – John Stewart, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1939)
- 2008 – Don Wittman, Canadian sportscaster (b. 1936)
- 2010 – Bill McLaren, Scottish rugby player and sportscaster (b. 1923)
- 2012 – Peter Åslin, Swedish ice hockey player (b. 1962)
- 2012 – Sarah Burke, Canadian skier (b. 1982)
- 2012 – Winston Riley, Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1943)
- 2012 – Rudi van Dantzig, Dutch ballet dancer and choreographer (b. 1933)
- 2013 – Taihō Kōki, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 48th Yokozuna (b. 1940)
- 2013 – Stan Musial, American baseball player and manager (b. 1920)
- 2013 – Frank Pooler, American conductor and composer (b. 1926)
- 2013 – Earl Weaver, American baseball player and manager (b. 1930)
- 2013 – Toktamış Ateş, Turkish academician, political commentator, columnist and writer (b. 1944)
- 2014 – Azaria Alon, Ukrainian-Israeli environmentalist, co-founded the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (b. 1918)
- 2014 – Christopher Chataway, English runner, journalist, and politician (b. 1931)
- 2015 – Justin Capră, Romanian engineer and academic (b. 1933)
- 2015 – Michel Guimond, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1953)
- 2015 – Ward Swingle, American-French singer-songwriter and conductor (b. 1927)
- 2016 – Richard Levins, American ecologist and geneticist (b. 1930)
- 2016 – Ettore Scola, Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1931)
- 2016 – Sheila Sim, English actress (b. 1922)
- 2017 – Miguel Ferrer, American actor (b. 1955)
Holidays and observances on January 19
- Birthday of Edgar Allan Poe (commemorated by the Poe Toaster at his grave in Baltimore)
- Christian feast day:
- Bassianus of Lodi
- Henry of Uppsala
- Marius, Martha, Audifax, and Abachum
- Mark of Ephesus (Eastern Orthodox Church)
- Pontianus of Spoleto
- Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester
- January 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Confederate Heroes Day (Texas), and its related observance:
- Robert E. Lee Day (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi)
- Feast of Sultán (Sovereignty), first day of the 17th month of the Bahá’í calendar (Bahá’í Faith) (only if Nowruz falls on March 21, otherwise the dates shifts)
- Husband’s Day (Iceland)
- Kokborok Day (Tripura, India)
- Theophany / Epiphany (Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy), and its related observances:
- Timkat, or 20 during Leap Year (Ethiopian Orthodox)
- Vodici or Baptism of Jesus (North Macedonia)
-
January 7 in History
- 1325 – Alfonso IV becomes King of Portugal.
- 1558 – French troops, led by Francis, Duke of Guise, take Calais, the last continental possession of England.
- 1608 – Fire destroys Jamestown, Virginia.
- 1610 – Galileo Galilei makes his first observation of the four Galilean moons: Ganymede, Callisto, Io and Europa, although he is not able to distinguish the last two until the following day.
- 1738 – A peace treaty is signed between Peshwa Bajirao and Jai Singh II following Maratha victory in the Battle of Bhopal.
- 1782 – The first American commercial bank, the Bank of North America, opens.
- 1785 – Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American John Jeffries travel from Dover, England, to Calais, France, in a gas balloon.
- 1835 – HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin on board, drops anchor off the Chonos Archipelago.
- 1894 – Thomas Edison makes a kinetoscopic film of someone sneezing. On the same day, his employee, William Kennedy Dickson, receives a patent for motion picture film.
- 1904 – The distress signal “CQD” is established only to be replaced two years later by “SOS”.
- 1919 – Montenegrin guerrilla fighters rebel against the planned annexation of Montenegro by Serbia, but fail.
- 1920 – The New York State Assembly refuses to seat five duly elected Socialist assemblymen.
- 1922 – Dáil Éireann ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by a 64–57 vote.
- 1927 – The first transatlantic telephone service is established from New York City to London.
- 1928 – A disastrous flood of the River Thames kills 14 people and causes extensive damage to much of riverside London.
- 1931 – Guy Menzies flies the first solo non-stop trans-Tasman flight (from Australia to New Zealand) in 11 hours and 45 minutes, crash-landing on New Zealand’s west coast.
- 1935 – Benito Mussolini and French Foreign minister Pierre Laval sign the Franco-Italian Agreement.
- 1940 – Winter War: Battle of Raate Road – The Finnish 9th Division finally defeat the numerically superior Soviet forces on the Raate-Suomussalmi road.
- 1948 – Kentucky Air National Guard pilot Thomas Mantell crashes while in pursuit of a supposed UFO.
- 1954 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York at the head office of IBM.
- 1955 – Contralto Marian Anderson becomes the first person of color to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in Giuseppe Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera.
- 1959 – The United States recognizes the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro.
- 1968 – Surveyor Program: Surveyor 7, the last spacecraft in the Surveyor series, lifts off from launch complex 36A, Cape Canaveral.
- 1973 – In his second shooting spree of the week, Mark Essex fatally shoots seven people and wounds five others at Howard Johnson’s Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana, before being shot to death by police officers.
- 1979 – Third Indochina War: Cambodian–Vietnamese War: Phnom Penh falls to the advancing Vietnamese troops, driving out Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.
- 1980 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter authorizes legislation giving $1.5 billion in loans to bail out the Chrysler Corporation.
- 1984 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
- 1985 – Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency launches Sakigake, Japan’s first interplanetary spacecraft and the first deep space probe to be launched by any country other than the United States or the Soviet Union.
- 1991 – Roger Lafontant, former leader of the Tonton Macoute in Haiti under François Duvalier, attempts a coup d’état, which ends in his arrest.
- 1993 – The Fourth Republic of Ghana is inaugurated with Jerry Rawlings as President.
- 1993 – Bosnian War: The Bosnian Army executes a surprise attack at the village of Kravica in Srebrenica.
- 1999 – The Senate trial in the impeachment of U.S. President Bill Clinton begins.
- 2012 – A hot air balloon crashes near Carterton, New Zealand, killing all 11 people on board.
- 2015 – Two gunmen commit mass murder at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris, shooting twelve people execution style, and wounding eleven others.
- 2015 – A car bomb explodes outside a police college in the Yemeni capital Sana’a with at least 38 people reported dead and more than 63 injured.
- 2020 – The 6.4Mw 2019–20 Puerto Rico earthquakes kill four and injure nine in southern Puerto Rico.
Births on January 7
- 889 – Li Bian, emperor of Southern Tang (d. 943)
- 1355 – Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester, English politician, Lord High Constable of England (d. 1397)
- 1502 – Pope Gregory XIII (d. 1585)
- 1634 – Adam Krieger, German organist and composer (d. 1666)
- 1647 – William Louis, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1677)
- 1685 – Jonas Alströmer, Swedish agronomist and businessman (d. 1761)
- 1706 – Johann Heinrich Zedler, German publisher (d. 1751)
- 1713 – Giovanni Battista Locatelli, Italian director and manager (d. 1785)
- 1718 – Israel Putnam, American general (d. 1790)
- 1746 – George Elphinstone, 1st Viscount Keith, Scottish admiral and politician (d. 1823)
- 1768 – Joseph Bonaparte, Italian king (d. 1844)
- 1797 – Mariano Paredes, Mexican general and 16th president (1845-1846) (d. 1849)
- 1800 – Millard Fillmore, American politician, 13th President of the United States (d. 1874)
- 1814 – Robert Nicoll, Scottish poet (d.1837)
- 1815 – Elizabeth Louisa Foster Mather, American writer (d.1882)
- 1827 – Sandford Fleming, Scottish-Canadian engineer, created Universal Standard Time (d. 1915)
- 1830 – Albert Bierstadt, American painter (d. 1902)
- 1831 – Heinrich von Stephan, German postman, founded the Universal Postal Union (d. 1897)
- 1832 – James Munro, Scottish-Australian publisher and politician, 15th Premier of Victoria (d. 1908)
- 1834 – Johann Philipp Reis, German physicist and academic, invented the Reis telephone (d. 1874)
- 1837 – Thomas Henry Ismay, English businessman, founded the White Star Line Shipping Company (d. 1899)
- 1844 – Bernadette Soubirous, French nun and saint (d. 1879)
- 1858 – Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, Belarusian lexicographer and journalist (d. 1922)
- 1863 – Anna Murray Vail, American botanist and first librarian of the New York Botanical Garden (d. 1955)
- 1871 – Émile Borel, French mathematician and politician (d. 1956)
- 1873 – Charles Péguy, French poet and journalist (d. 1914)
- 1873 – Adolph Zukor, Hungarian-American film producer, co-founded Paramount Pictures (d. 1976)
- 1875 – Gustav Flatow, German gymnast (d. 1945)
- 1876 – William Hurlstone, English pianist and composer (d. 1906)
- 1877 – William Clarence Matthews, American baseball player, coach, and lawyer (d. 1928)
- 1889 – Vera de Bosset, Russian-American ballerina (d. 1982)
- 1891 – Zora Neale Hurston, American novelist, short story writer, and folklorist (d. 1960)
- 1895 – Hudson Fysh, Australian pilot and businessman, co-founded Qantas Airways Limited (d. 1974)
- 1899 – Al Bowlly, Mozambican-English singer-songwriter (disputed; d. 1941)
- 1899 – Francis Poulenc, French pianist and composer (d. 1963)
- 1900 – John Brownlee, Australian actor and singer (d. 1969)
- 1906 – Red Allen, American trumpet player (d. 1967)
- 1910 – Orval Faubus, American soldier and politician, 36th Governor of Arkansas (d. 1994)
- 1912 – Charles Addams, American cartoonist, created The Addams Family (d. 1988)
- 1913 – Johnny Mize, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 1993)
- 1916 – W. L. Jeyasingham, Sri Lankan geographer and academic (d. 1989)
- 1916 – Babe Pratt, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1988)
- 1920 – Vincent Gardenia, Italian-American actor (d. 1992)
- 1921 – Esmeralda Arboleda Cadavid, Colombian politician (d. 1997)
- 1921 – Chester Kallman, American poet and translator (d. 1975)
- 1922 – Alvin Dark, American baseball player and manager (d. 2014)
- 1922 – Jean-Pierre Rampal, French flute player (d. 2000)
- 1923 – Hugh Kenner, Canadian scholar and critic (d. 2003)
- 1925 – Gerald Durrell, Indian-English zookeeper, conservationist and author, founded Durrell Wildlife Park (d. 1995)
- 1926 – Kim Jong-pil, South Korean lieutenant and politician, 11th Prime Minister of South Korea (d. 2018)
- 1928 – William Peter Blatty, American author and screenwriter (d. 2017)
- 1929 – Robert Juniper, Australian painter and sculptor (d. 2012)
- 1929 – Terry Moore, American actress
- 1931 – Mirja Hietamies, Finnish skier (d. 2013)
- 1933 – Elliott Kastner, American-English film producer (d. 2010)
- 1934 – Jean Corbeil, Canadian lawyer and politician, 29th Canadian Minister of Labour (d. 2002)
- 1934 – Tassos Papadopoulos, Cypriot lawyer and politician, 5th President of Cyprus (d. 2008)
- 1935 – Li Shengjiao, Chinese diplomat and international jurist (d. 2017)
- 1935 – Kenny Davern, American clarinet player and saxophonist (d. 2006)
- 1935 – Valeri Kubasov, Russian engineer and astronaut (d. 2014)
- 1941 – Iona Brown, English violinist and conductor (d. 2004)
- 1941 – John E. Walker, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1942 – Vasily Alekseyev, Russian-German weightlifter and coach (d. 2011)
- 1943 – Sadako Sasaki, Japanese survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, known for one thousand origami cranes (d. 1955)
- 1944 – Mike McGear, British performing artist and rock photographer
- 1944 – Kotaro Suzumura, Japanese economist and academic (d. 2020)
- 1945 – Raila Odinga, Kenyan engineer and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Kenya
- 1946 – Jann Wenner, American publisher, co-founded Rolling Stone
- 1947 – Tony Elliott, English publisher, founded Time Out
- 1948 – Kenny Loggins, American singer-songwriter
- 1948 – Ichirou Mizuki, Japanese singer-songwriter
- 1950 – Juan Gabriel, Mexican singer-songwriter (d. 2016)
- 1952 – Sammo Hung, Hong Kong actor, director, producer, and martial artist
- 1953 – Robert Longo, American painter and sculptor
- 1954 – Alan Butcher, English cricketer and coach
- 1955 – Mamata Shankar, Indian-Bengali actress
- 1956 – David Caruso, American actor
- 1957 – Katie Couric, American television journalist, anchor, and author
- 1959 – Angela Smith, Baroness Smith of Basildon, English accountant and politician
- 1959 – Kathy Valentine, American bass player and songwriter
- 1960 – Loretta Sanchez, American politician
- 1961 – John Thune, American lawyer and politician
- 1962 – Aleksandr Dugin, Russian political analyst and strategist known for his fascist views
- 1962 – Ron Rivera, American football player and coach
- 1964 – Nicolas Cage, American actor
- 1965 – Alessandro Lambruschini, Italian runner
- 1967 – Nick Clegg, English academic and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- 1969 – Marco Simone, Italian footballer and manager
- 1970 – Andy Burnham, English politician
- 1971 – Jeremy Renner, American actor
- 1972 – Donald Brashear, American-Canadian ice hockey player and mixed martial artist
- 1974 – Alenka Bikar, Slovenian sprinter and politician
- 1976 – Vic Darchinyan, Armenian-Australian boxer
- 1976 – Alfonso Soriano, Dominican baseball player
- 1977 – Sofi Oksanen, Finnish author and playwright
- 1979 – Aloe Blacc, American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, businessman and philanthropist.
- 1982 – Francisco Rodríguez, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1982 – Hannah Stockbauer, German swimmer
- 1983 – Edwin Encarnación, Dominican baseball player
- 1985 – Lewis Hamilton, English racing driver
- 1986 – Wayne Routledge, English footballer winger
- 1987 – Stefan Babović, Serbian footballer
- 1987 – Lyndsy Fonseca, American actress
- 1987 – Davide Astori, Italian footballer (d. 2018)
- 1990 – Gregor Schlierenzauer, Austrian ski jumper
- 1991 – Eden Hazard, Belgian footballer
- 1991 – Caster Semenya, South African sprinter
Deaths on January 7
- 312 – Lucian of Antioch, Christian martyr, saint, and theologian (b. 240)
- 838 – Babak Khorramdin, Iranian leader of the Khurramite uprising against the Abbasid Caliphate
- 856 – Aldric, bishop of Le Mans
- 1131 – Canute Lavard, Danish prince and saint (b. 1096)
- 1285 – Charles I of Naples (b. 1226)
- 1325 – Denis of Portugal (b. 1261)
- 1355 – Inês de Castro, Castilian noblewoman (b. 1325)
- 1400 – John Montagu, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, English Earl (b. 1350)
- 1451 – Amadeus VIII of Savoy a.k.a. Antipope Felix V (b. 1383)
- 1529 – Peter Vischer the Elder, German sculptor (b. 1455)
- 1536 – Catherine of Aragon (b. 1485)
- 1566 – Louis de Blois, Flemish monk and author (b. 1506)
- 1619 – Nicholas Hilliard, English painter and goldsmith (b. 1547)
- 1625 – Ruggiero Giovannelli, Italian composer and author (b. 1560)
- 1655 – Pope Innocent X (b. 1574)
- 1658 – Theophilus Eaton, American farmer and politician, 1st Governor of the New Haven Colony (b. 1590)
- 1694 – Charles Gerard, 1st Earl of Macclesfield, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire (b. 1618)
- 1700 – Raffaello Fabretti, Italian scholar and author (b. 1618)
- 1715 – François Fénelon, French archbishop, theologian, and poet (b. 1651)
- 1758 – Allan Ramsay, Scottish poet and playwright (b. 1686)
- 1767 – Thomas Clap, American minister and academic (b. 1703)
- 1770 – Carl Gustaf Tessin, Swedish politician and diplomat (b. 1695)
- 1812 – Joseph Dennie, American journalist and author (b. 1768)
- 1830 – John Thomas Campbell, Irish-Australian public servant and politician (b. 1770)
- 1830 – Thomas Lawrence, English painter and educator (b. 1769)
- 1858 – Mustafa Reşid Pasha, Ottoman politician, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1800)
- 1864 – Caleb Blood Smith, American journalist and politician, 6th U.S. Secretary of the Interior (b. 1808)
- 1892 – Tewfik Pasha, Egyptian ruler (b. 1852)
- 1893 – Josef Stefan, Slovenian physicist and mathematician (b. 1835)
- 1919 – Henry Ware Eliot, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Washington University in St. Louis (b. 1843)
- 1920 – Edmund Barton, Australian judge and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1849)
- 1927 – Nikolaos Kalogeropoulos, Greek politician, 99th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1851)
- 1931 – Edward Channing, American historian and author (b. 1856)
- 1932 – André Maginot, French sergeant and politician (b. 1877)
- 1936 – Guy d’Hardelot, French pianist and composer (b. 1858)
- 1941 – Charles Finger, English journalist and author (b. 1869)
- 1943 – Nikola Tesla, Serbian-American physicist and engineer (b. 1856)
- 1951 – René Guénon, French-Egyptian philosopher and author (b. 1886)
- 1960 – Dorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers, English tennis player and coach (b. 1878)
- 1963 – Arthur Edward Moore, New Zealand-Australian farmer and politician, 23rd Premier of Queensland (b. 1876)
- 1964 – Reg Parnell, English racing driver and manager (b. 1911)
- 1967 – David Goodis, American author and screenwriter (b. 1917)
- 1967 – Carl Schuricht, German-Swiss conductor (b. 1880)
- 1968 – J. L. B. Smith, South African chemist and academic (b. 1897)
- 1972 – John Berryman, American poet and scholar (b. 1914)
- 1981 – Alvar Lidell, English journalist and radio announcer(b. 1908)
- 1981 – Eric Robinson, Australian businessman and politician, 2nd Australian Minister for Finance (b. 1926)
- 1984 – Alfred Kastler, German-French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
- 1986 – Juan Rulfo, Mexican author, screenwriter, and photographer (b. 1917)
- 1988 – Zara Cisco Brough, American Nipmuc Indian chief and fashion designer (b.1919)
- 1988 – Trevor Howard, English actor (b. 1913)
- 1989 – Hirohito, Japanese emperor (b. 1901)
- 1990 – Bronko Nagurski, Canadian-American football player and wrestler (b. 1908)
- 1992 – Richard Hunt, American puppeteer and voice actor (b. 1951)
- 1995 – Murray Rothbard, American economist, historian, and theorist (b. 1926)
- 1996 – Károly Grósz, Hungarian politician, 51st Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1930)
- 1998 – Owen Bradley, American record producer (b. 1915)
- 1998 – Vladimir Prelog, Croatian-Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
- 2000 – Gary Albright, American wrestler (b. 1963)
- 2001 – James Carr, American singer (b. 1942)
- 2002 – Avery Schreiber, American comedian and actor (b. 1935)
- 2004 – Ingrid Thulin, Swedish actress (b. 1926)
- 2005 – Pierre Daninos, French author (b. 1913)
- 2006 – Heinrich Harrer, Austrian mountaineer, geographer, and author (b. 1912)
- 2007 – Bobby Hamilton, American race car driver and businessman (b. 1957)
- 2007 – Magnus Magnusson, Icelandic journalist, author, and academic (b. 1929)
- 2008 – Alwyn Schlebusch, South African academic and politician, Vice State President of South Africa (b. 1917)
- 2012 – Tony Blankley, British-born American child actor, journalist and pundit (b. 1948)
- 2014 – Run Run Shaw, Chinese-Hong Kong businessman and philanthropist, founded Shaw Brothers Studio and TVB (b. 1907)
- 2015 – Mompati Merafhe, Botswana general and politician, Vice-President of Botswana (b. 1936)
- 2015 – Rod Taylor, Australian-American actor and screenwriter (b. 1930)
- 2015 – Georges Wolinski, Tunisian-French cartoonist (b. 1934)
- 2016 – Bill Foster, American basketball player and coach (b. 1929)
- 2016 – John Johnson, American basketball player (b. 1947)
- 2016 – Kitty Kallen, American singer (b. 1921)
- 2016 – Judith Kaye, American lawyer and jurist (b. 1938)
- 2016 – Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of Home Affairs (b. 1936)
- 2017 – Mário Soares, Portuguese politician; 16th President of Portugal (b. 1924)
- 2018 – Jim Anderton, Former New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister (b. 1938)
- 2018 – France Gall, French singer (b. 1947)
Holidays and observances on January 7
- Christian Feast Day:
- André Bessette (Canada)
- Canute Lavard
- Charles of Sezze
- Felix and Januarius
- Lucian of Antioch
- Raymond of Penyafort
- Synaxis of John the Forerunner & Baptist (Julian Calendar)
- January 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Christmas (Eastern Orthodox Churches and Oriental Orthodox Churches using the Julian Calendar, Rastafari)
- Christmas in Russia
- Christmas in Ukraine
- Remembrance Day of the Dead (Armenia)
- Distaff Day (medieval Europe)
- Earliest day on which Plough Monday can fall, while January 13 is the latest; celebrated on Monday after Epiphany (Europe).
- Nanakusa no sekku (Japan)
- Pioneer’s Day (Liberia)
- Tricolour day or Festa del Tricolore (Italy)
- Victory from Genocide Day (Cambodia)
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January 6 in History
- 1066 – Following the death of Edward the Confessor on the previous day, the Witan meets to confirm Harold Godwinson as the new King of England; Harold is crowned the same day, sparking a succession crisis that will eventually lead to the Norman conquest of England.
- 1205 – Philip of Swabia undergoes a second coronation as King of the Romans.
- 1322 – Stephen Uroš III is crowned King of Serbia, having defeated his half-brother Stefan Konstantin in battle. His son is crowned “young king” in the same ceremony.
- 1355 – Charles IV of Bohemia is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy as King of Italy in Milan.
- 1449 – Constantine XI is crowned Byzantine Emperor at Mystras.
- 1492 – The Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella enter Granada at the conclusion of the Granada War.
- 1536 – The first European school of higher learning in the Americas, Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco, is founded by Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza and Bishop Juan de Zumárraga in Mexico City.
- 1540 – King Henry VIII of England marries Anne of Cleves.
- 1579 – The Union of Arras unites the southern Netherlands under the Duke of Parma (Ottavio Farnese), governor in the name of King Philip II of Spain.
- 1641 – Arauco War: The first Parliament of Quillín is celebrated, putting a temporary hold on hostilities between Mapuches and Spanish in Chile.
- 1661 – English Restoration: The Fifth Monarchists unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London, England. The revolt is suppressed after a few days.
- 1721 – The Committee of Inquiry on the South Sea Bubble publishes its findings, revealing details of fraud among company directors and corrupt politicians.
- 1781 – In the Battle of Jersey, the British defeat the last attempt by France to invade Jersey in the Channel Islands.
- 1809 – Combined British, Portuguese and colonial Brazilian forces begin the Invasion of Cayenne during the Napoleonic Wars.
- 1838 – Alfred Vail and colleagues demonstrate a telegraph system using dots and dashes (this is the forerunner of Morse code).
- 1839 – The Night of the Big Wind, the most damaging storm in 300 years, sweeps across Ireland, damaging or destroying more than 20% of the houses in Dublin.
- 1847 – Samuel Colt obtains his first contract for the sale of revolver pistols to the United States government.
- 1870 – The inauguration of the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria.
- 1893 – The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress. The charter is signed by President Benjamin Harrison.
- 1900 – Second Boer War: Having already besieged the fortress at Ladysmith, Boer forces attack it, but are driven back by British defenders.
- 1907 – Maria Montessori opens her first school and daycare center for working-class children in Rome, Italy.
- 1912 – New Mexico is admitted to the Union as the 47th U.S. state.
- 1912 – German geophysicist Alfred Wegener first presents his theory of continental drift.
- 1929 – King Alexander of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes suspends his country’s constitution (the January 6th Dictatorship).
- 1929 – Mother Teresa arrives by sea in Calcutta, India, to begin her work among India’s poorest and sick people.
- 1930 – The first diesel-powered automobile trip is completed, from Indianapolis, Indiana, to New York, New York.
- 1941 – United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers his Four Freedoms speech in the State of the Union address.
- 1946 – The first general election ever in Vietnam is held.
- 1947 – Pan American Airlines becomes the first commercial airline to offer a round-the-world ticket.
- 1950 – The United Kingdom recognizes the People’s Republic of China. The Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with the UK in response.
- 1951 – Korean War: Beginning of the Ganghwa massacre, in the course of which an estimated 200–1,300 South Korean communist sympathizers are slaughtered.
- 1960 – National Airlines Flight 2511 is destroyed in mid-air by a bomb, while en route from New York City to Miami.
- 1960 – The Associations Law comes into force in Iraq, allowing registration of political parties
- 1967 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and ARVN troops launch “Operation Deckhouse Five” in the Mekong River delta.
- 1974 – In response to the 1973 oil crisis, daylight saving time commences nearly four months early in the United States.
- 1989 – Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh are sentenced to death for conspiracy in the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi; the two men are executed the same day.
- 1992 – President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia flees the country as a result of the military coup.
- 1993 – Indian Border Security Force units kill 55 Kashmiri civilians in Sopore, Jammu and Kashmir, in revenge after militants ambushed a BSF patrol.
- 1994 – American figure skater Nancy Kerrigan is attacked and injured by an assailant hired by her rival Tonya Harding’s ex-husband during the U.S. Figure Skating Championships that they were both taking part in.
- 1995 – A chemical fire in an apartment complex in Manila, Philippines, leads to the discovery of plans for Project Bojinka, a mass-terrorist attack.
- 2005 – American Civil Rights Movement: Edgar Ray Killen is indicted for the 1964 murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner.
- 2005 – A train collision in Graniteville, South Carolina, United States, releases about 60 tons of chlorine gas.
- 2012 – Twenty-six people are killed and 63 wounded when a suicide bomber blows himself up at a police station in Damascus.
- 2017 – Five people are killed and six others injured in a mass shooting at Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport in Broward County, Florida.
- 2019 – Forty people are killed in a gold mine collapse in northern Afghanistan.
Births on January 6
- 1256 – Gertrude the Great, German mystic (d. 1302)
- 1367 – Richard II of England (d. 1400)
- 1384 – Edmund Holland, 4th Earl of Kent (d. 1408)
- 1412 – Joan of Arc, French martyr and saint (d. 1431)
- 1486 – Martin Agricola, German composer and theorist (d. 1556)
- 1488 – Helius Eobanus Hessus, German poet (d. 1540)
- 1493 – Olaus Petri, Swedish clergyman (d. 1552)
- 1500 – John of Ávila, Spanish mystic and saint (d. 1569)
- 1525 – Caspar Peucer, German physician and scholar (d. 1602)
- 1538 – Jane Dormer, Duchess of Feria (d. 1612)
- 1561 – Thomas Fincke, Danish mathematician and physicist (d. 1656)
- 1587 – Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares (d. 1645)
- 1595 – Claude Favre de Vaugelas, French educator and courtier (d. 1650)
- 1617 – Christoffer Gabel, Danish politician (d. 1673)
- 1632 – Anne Hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton, Scottish peeress (d. 1716)
- 1655 – Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg (d. 1720)
- 1673 – James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, English academic and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire (d. 1744)
- 1695 – Giuseppe Sammartini, Italian oboe player and composer (d. 1750)
- 1702 – José de Nebra, Spanish composer (d. 1768)
- 1714 – Percivall Pott, English surgeon (d. 1788)
- 1745 – Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier, French co-inventor of the hot air balloon (d. 1799)
- 1766 – José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, Paraguayan lawyer and politician, first dictator of Paraguay (d. 1840)
- 1785 – Andreas Moustoxydis, Greek historian and philologist (d. 1860)
- 1793 – James Madison Porter, American lawyer and politician, 18th United States Secretary of War (d. 1862)
- 1795 – Anselme Payen, French chemist and academic (d. 1871)
- 1799 – Jedediah Smith, American hunter, explorer, and author (d. 1831)
- 1803 – Henri Herz, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1888)
- 1807 – Joseph Petzval, German-Hungarian mathematician and physicist (d. 1891)
- 1808 – Joseph Pitty Couthouy, American conchologist and paleontologist (d. 1864)
- 1811 – Charles Sumner, American lawyer and politician (d. 1874)
- 1822 – Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist and businessman (d. 1890)
- 1832 – Gustave Doré, French painter and sculptor (d. 1883)
- 1838 – Max Bruch, German composer and conductor (d. 1920)
- 1842 – Clarence King, American geologist, mountaineer, and critic (d. 1901)
- 1856 – Giuseppe Martucci, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1909)
- 1857 – Hugh Mahon, Irish-Australian publisher and politician, 10th Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs (d. 1931)
- 1857 – William Russell, American lawyer and politician, 37th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1896)
- 1859 – Samuel Alexander, Australian-English philosopher and academic (d. 1938)
- 1861 – Victor Horta, Belgian architect, designed Hôtel van Eetvelde (d. 1947)
- 1861 – George Lloyd, English-Canadian bishop and theologian (d. 1940)
- 1870 – Gustav Bauer, German journalist and politician, 11th Chancellor of Germany (d. 1944)
- 1872 – Alexander Scriabin, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1915)
- 1874 – Fred Niblo, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1948)
- 1878 – Adeline Genée, Danish-born British ballerina (d. 1970)
- 1878 – Carl Sandburg, American poet and historian (d. 1967)
- 1880 – Tom Mix, American cowboy and actor (d. 1940)
- 1881 – Ion Minulescu, Romanian author, poet, and critic (d. 1944)
- 1882 – Fan S. Noli, Albanian-American bishop and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Albania (d. 1965)
- 1882 – Sam Rayburn, American lawyer and politician, 48th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1961)
- 1883 – Kahlil Gibran, Lebanese-American poet, painter, and philosopher (d. 1931)
- 1898 – James Fitzmaurice, Irish soldier and pilot (d. 1965)
- 1899 – Heinrich Nordhoff, German engineer (d. 1968)
- 1900 – Maria of Yugoslavia, Queen of Yugoslavia from 1922 to 1934 (d. 1961)
- 1903 – Maurice Abravanel, Greek-American pianist and conductor (d. 1993)
- 1910 – Wright Morris, American author and photographer (d. 1998)
- 1910 – Yiannis Papaioannou, Greek composer and educator (d. 1989)
- 1912 – Jacques Ellul, French philosopher and critic (d. 1994)
- 1912 – Danny Thomas, American actor, comedian, producer and humanitarian (d. 1991)
- 1913 – Edward Gierek, Polish lawyer and politician (d. 2001)
- 1913 – Loretta Young, American actress (d. 2000)
- 1914 – Godfrey Edward Arnold, Austrian-American physician and academic (d. 1989)
- 1915 – Don Edwards, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (d. 2015)
- 1915 – John C. Lilly, American psychoanalyst, physician, and philosopher (d. 2001)
- 1915 – Alan Watts, English-American philosopher and author (d. 1973)
- 1916 – Park Mok-wol, influential Korean poet and academic (d. 1978)
- 1917 – Koo Chen-fu, Taiwanese businessman and diplomat (d. 2005)
- 1920 – John Maynard Smith, English biologist and geneticist (d. 2004)
- 1920 – Sun Myung Moon, Korean religious leader; founder of the Unification Church (d. 2012)
- 1920 – Early Wynn, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 1999)
- 1921 – Marianne Grunberg-Manago, Russian-French biochemist and academic (d. 2013)
- 1921 – Cary Middlecoff, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 1998)
- 1923 – Vladimir Kazantsev, Russian runner (d. 2007)
- 1923 – Norman Kirk, New Zealand engineer and politician, 29th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1974)
- 1923 – Jacobo Timerman, Argentinian journalist and author (d. 1999)
- 1924 – Kim Dae-jung, South Korean soldier and politician, 8th President of South Korea, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2009)
- 1924 – Earl Scruggs, American banjo player (d. 2012)
- 1925 – John DeLorean, American engineer and businessman, founded the DeLorean Motor Company (d. 2005)
- 1926 – Ralph Branca, American baseball player (d. 2016)
- 1926 – Mickey Hargitay, Hungarian-American actor and bodybuilder (d. 2006)
- 1927 – Jesse Leonard Steinfeld, American physician and academic, 11th Surgeon General of the United States (d. 2014)
- 1928 – Capucine, French actress and model (d. 1990)
- 1931 – E. L. Doctorow, American novelist, playwright, and short story writer (d. 2015)
- 1931 – Graeme Hole, Australian cricketer (d. 1990)
- 1931 – Dickie Moore, Canadian ice hockey player and businessman (d. 2015)
- 1932 – Stuart A. Rice, American chemist and academic
- 1933 – Oleg Grigoryevich Makarov, Russian engineer and astronaut (d. 2003)
- 1934 – Sylvia Syms, English actress
- 1935 – Nino Tempo, American musician, singer, and actor
- 1936 – Darlene Hard, American tennis player
- 1936 – Julio María Sanguinetti, Uruguayan journalist, lawyer and politician, 29th President of Uruguay
- 1937 – Ludvík Daněk, Czech discus thrower (d. 1998)
- 1937 – Lou Holtz, American football player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1937 – Doris Troy, American singer-songwriter (d. 2004)
- 1938 – Adriano Celentano, Italian singer-songwriter, actor, and director
- 1938 – Adrienne Clarke, Australian botanist and academic
- 1938 – Larisa Shepitko, Soviet film director, screenwriter, and actress (d. 1979)
- 1939 – Valeriy Lobanovskyi, Ukrainian footballer and manager (d. 2002)
- 1939 – Murray Rose, English-Australian swimmer and sportscaster (d. 2012)
- 1940 – Van McCoy, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1979)
- 1943 – Terry Venables, English footballer and manager
- 1944 – Bonnie Franklin, American actress and singer (d. 2013)
- 1944 – Alan Stivell, French singer-songwriter and harp player
- 1944 – Rolf M. Zinkernagel, Swiss immunologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1945 – Barry John, Welsh rugby player
- 1946 – Syd Barrett, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2006)
- 1947 – Sandy Denny, English folk-rock singer-songwriter (d 1978)
- 1948 – Guy Gardner, American colonel and astronaut
- 1948 – Dayle Hadlee, New Zealand cricketer
- 1949 – Mike Boit, Kenyan runner and academic (estimated date)
- 1949 – Carolyn D. Wright, American poet and academic (d. 2016)
- 1950 – Louis Freeh, American lawyer and jurist, 10th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
- 1951 – Don Gullett, American baseball player and coach
- 1951 – Kim Wilson, American singer-songwriter and harmonica player
- 1953 – Malcolm Young, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2017)
- 1954 – Anthony Minghella, English director and screenwriter (d. 2008)
- 1955 – Rowan Atkinson, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1956 – Elizabeth Strout, American novelist and short story writer
- 1956 – Justin Welby, English archbishop
- 1956 – Clive Woodward, English rugby player and coach
- 1957 – Michael Foale, British-American astrophysicist and astronaut
- 1957 – Nancy Lopez, American golfer and sportscaster
- 1959 – Kapil Dev, Indian cricketer
- 1960 – Paul Azinger, American golfer and sportscaster
- 1960 – Kari Jalonen, Finnish ice hockey player and coach
- 1960 – Nigella Lawson, English chef and author
- 1960 – Howie Long, American football player and sports commentator
- 1961 – Georges Jobé, Belgian motocross racer (d. 2012)
- 1961 – Peter Whittle, British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster
- 1963 – Norm Charlton, American baseball player and coach
- 1963 – Paul Kipkoech, Kenyan runner (d. 1995)
- 1964 – Jacqueline Moore, American wrestler and manager
- 1965 – Bjørn Lomborg, Danish author and academic
- 1966 – Sharon Cuneta, Filipino singer and actress
- 1966 – Attilio Lombardo, Italian footballer and manager
- 1967 – A. R. Rahman, Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, musician and philanthropist
- 1968 – John Singleton, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2019)
- 1969 – Norman Reedus, American actor and model
- 1970 – Julie Chen, American television journalist, presenter, and producer
- 1970 – Radoslav Látal, Czech footballer and manager
- 1973 – Vasso Karantasiou, Greek beach volleyball player
- 1976 – Richard Zedník, Slovak ice hockey player
- 1981 – Asante Samuel, American football player
- 1982 – Eddie Redmayne, English actor and model
- 1984 – Kate McKinnon, American actress and comedian
- 1986 – Paul McShane, Irish footballer
- 1986 – Petter Northug, Norwegian skier
- 1989 – Andy Carroll, English footballer
- 1991 – Will Barton, American basketball player
- 1994 – Lim Jae-beom, South Korean singer and actor (Got7)
Deaths on January 6
- 786 – Abo of Tiflis, Iraqi martyr and saint (b. 756)
- 1088 – Berengar of Tours, French scholar and theologian (b. 999)
- 1148 – Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke (b. 1100)
- 1233 – Matilda of Chester, Countess of Huntingdon, Anglo-Norman noblewoman (b. 1171)
- 1275 – Raymond of Penyafort, Catalan archbishop and saint (b. 1175)
- 1350 – Giovanni I di Murta, second doge of the Republic of Genoa
- 1358 – Gertrude van der Oosten, Beguine mystic
- 1406 – Roger Walden, English bishop
- 1448 – Christopher of Bavaria, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (b. 1418)
- 1477 – Jean VIII, Count of Vendôme
- 1481 – Ahmed Khan bin Küchük, Mongolian ruler
- 1537 – Alessandro de’ Medici, Duke of Florence (b. 1510)
- 1537 – Baldassare Peruzzi, Italian architect and painter, designed the Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne (b. 1481)
- 1616 – Philip Henslowe, English impresario (b. 1550)
- 1646 – Elias Holl, German architect, designed the Augsburg Town Hall (b. 1573)
- 1689 – Seth Ward, English bishop, mathematician, and astronomer (b. 1617)
- 1693 – Mehmed IV, Ottoman sultan (b. 1642)
- 1711 – Philips van Almonde, Dutch admiral (b. 1646)
- 1718 – Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, Italian lawyer and jurist (b. 1664)
- 1725 – Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Japanese actor and playwright (b. 1653)
- 1731 – Étienne François Geoffroy, French physician and chemist (b. 1672)
- 1734 – John Dennis, English playwright and critic (b. 1657)
- 1813 – Louis Baraguey d’Hilliers, French general (b. 1764)
- 1829 – Josef Dobrovský, Czech philologist and historian (b. 1753)
- 1831 – Rodolphe Kreutzer, French violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1766)
- 1840 – Frances Burney, English author and playwright (b. 1752)
- 1852 – Louis Braille, French educator, invented Braille (b. 1809)
- 1855 – Giacomo Beltrami, Italian jurist, explorer, and author (b. 1779)
- 1882 – Richard Henry Dana, Jr., American lawyer and politician (b. 1815)
- 1884 – Gregor Mendel, Czech geneticist and botanist (b. 1822)
- 1885 – Bharatendu Harishchandra, Indian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1850)
- 1896 – Thomas W. Knox, American journalist and author (b. 1835)
- 1902 – Lars Hertervig, Norwegian painter (b. 1830)
- 1913 – Frederick Hitch, English soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1856)
- 1917 – Hendrick Peter Godfried Quack, Dutch economist and historian (b. 1834)
- 1918 – Georg Cantor, German mathematician and philosopher (b. 1845)
- 1919 – Theodore Roosevelt, American colonel and politician, 26th President of the United States (b. 1858)
- 1921 – Devil Anse Hatfield, American guerrilla leader (b. 1839)
- 1922 – Jakob Rosanes, Ukrainian-German mathematician and chess player (b. 1842)
- 1928 – Alvin Kraenzlein, American hurdler and long jumper (b. 1876)
- 1933 – Vladimir de Pachmann, Ukrainian-German pianist (b. 1848)
- 1934 – Herbert Chapman, English footballer and manager (b. 1878)
- 1937 – André Bessette, Canadian saint (b. 1845)
- 1939 – Gustavs Zemgals, Latvian journalist and politician, 2nd President of Latvia (b. 1871)
- 1941 – Charley O’Leary, American baseball player and coach (b. 1882)
- 1942 – Emma Calvé, French soprano and actress (b. 1858)
- 1942 – Henri de Baillet-Latour, Belgian businessman, 3rd President of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1876)
- 1944 – Jacques Rosenbaum, Estonian-German architect (b. 1878)
- 1944 – Ida Tarbell, American journalist, reformer, and educator (b. 1857)
- 1945 – Vladimir Vernadsky, Russian mineralogist and chemist (b. 1863)
- 1949 – Victor Fleming, American director, producer, and cinematographer (b. 1883)
- 1966 – Jean Lurçat, French painter (b. 1892)
- 1972 – Chen Yi, Chinese general and politician, 2nd Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China (b. 1901)
- 1974 – David Alfaro Siqueiros, Mexican painter (b. 1896)
- 1978 – Burt Munro, New Zealand motorcycle racer (b. 1899)
- 1981 – A. J. Cronin, Scottish physician and author (b. 1896)
- 1984 – Ernest Laszlo, Hungarian-American cinematographer (b. 1898)
- 1990 – Ian Charleson, Scottish-English actor (b. 1949)
- 1990 – Pavel Cherenkov, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
- 1993 – Dizzy Gillespie, American singer-songwriter and trumpet player (b. 1917)
- 1993 – Rudolf Nureyev, Russian-French dancer and choreographer (b. 1938)
- 1995 – Joe Slovo, Lithuanian-South African lawyer and politician (b. 1926)
- 1999 – Michel Petrucciani, French-American pianist (b. 1962)2000 – Don Martin, American cartoonist (b. 1931)
- 2004 – Pierre Charles, Dominican educator and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Dominica (b. 1954)
- 2004 – Francesco Scavullo, American photographer (b. 1921)
- 2005 – Eileen Desmond, Irish civil servant and politician, 12th Irish Minister for Health (b. 1932)
- 2005 – Lois Hole, Canadian academic and politician, 15th Lieutenant Governor of Alberta (b. 1929)
- 2005 – Tarquinio Provini, Italian motorcycle racer (b. 1933)
- 2005 – Louis Robichaud, Canadian lawyer and politician, 25th Premier of New Brunswick (b. 1925)
- 2006 – Lou Rawls, American singer-songwriter (b. 1933)
- 2007 – Roberta Wohlstetter, American political scientist, historian, and academic (b. 1912)
- 2008 – Shmuel Berenbaum, Rabbi of Mir Yeshiva (Brooklyn)
- 2009 – Ron Asheton, American guitarist, songwriter, and actor (probable; b. 1948)
- 2011 – Uche Okafor, Nigerian footballer, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1967)
- 2012 – Bob Holness, South African-English radio and television host (b. 1928)
- 2012 – Spike Pola, Australian footballer and soldier (b. 1914)
- 2013 – Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Pakistani scholar and politician (b. 1938)
- 2013 – Ruth Carter Stevenson, American art collector, founded the Amon Carter Museum of American Art (b. 1923)
- 2013 – Gerard Helders, Dutch jurist and politician (b. 1905)
- 2013 – Cho Sung-min, South Korean baseball player (b. 1973)
- 2014 – Marina Ginestà, French Resistance soldier and photographer (b. 1919)
- 2014 – Nelson Ned, Brazilian singer-songwriter (b. 1947)
- 2014 – Julian Rotter, American psychologist and academic (b. 1916)
- 2015 – Arthur Jackson, American lieutenant and target shooter (b. 1918)
- 2015 – Basil John Mason, English meteorologist and academic (b. 1923)
- 2016 – Pat Harrington, Jr., American actor and screenwriter (b. 1929)
- 2016 – Florence King, American journalist and author (b. 1936)
- 2016 – Christy O’Connor Jnr, Irish golfer and architect (b. 1948)
- 2016 – Silvana Pampanini, Italian model, actress, and director, Miss Italy 1946 (b. 1925)
- 2017 – Octavio Lepage, Venezuelan politician, President of Venezuela (b. 1923)
- 2017 – Om Puri, Indian actor (b. 1950)
- 2019 – José Ramón Fernández, Cuban revolution leader (b. 1923)
- 2019 – Lamin Sanneh, Gambian-born American professor (b. 1942)
- 2019 – W. Morgan Sheppard, British actor (b. 1932)
- 2019 – Paul Streeten, Austrian-born British economics professor (b. 1917)
Holidays and observances on January 6
- Armed Forces Day (Iraq)
- Christian Feast day:
- André Bessette (Roman Catholic Church)
- January 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Epiphany or Three Kings’ Day (Western Christianity) or Theophany (Eastern Christianity), and its related observances:
- Befana Day (Italy)
- Christmas (Armenian Apostolic Church)
- Christmas Eve (Russia)
- Christmas Eve (Ukraine)
- Christmas Eve (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
- Christmas Eve (North Macedonia)
- Little Christmas (Ireland)
- Þrettándinn (Iceland)
- Three Wise Men Day
- Pathet Lao Day (Laos)
-
January 5 in History
- 1477 – Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is defeated and killed in a conflict with René II, Duke of Lorraine; the Burgundy subsequently becomes part of France.
- 1675 – Battle of Colmar: The French army beats Brandenburg.
- 1757 – Louis XV of France survives an assassination attempt by Robert-François Damiens, the last person to be executed in France by drawing and quartering, the traditional and gruesome form of capital punishment used for regicides.
- 1781 – American Revolutionary War: Richmond, Virginia, is burned by British naval forces led by Benedict Arnold.
- 1875 – The Palais Garnier, one of the most famous opera houses in the world, is inaugurated in Paris.
- 1895 – Dreyfus affair: French army officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil’s Island.
- 1911 – Kappa Alpha Psi, the world’s third oldest and largest black fraternity, is founded at Indiana University.
- 1912 – The 6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Prague Party Conference) opens. In the course of the conference, Vladimir Lenin and his supporters break from the rest of the party to form the Bolshevik movement.
- 1913 – First Balkan War: The Battle of Lemnos begins; Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it did not venture for the rest of the war.
- 1914 – The Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and minimum daily wage of $5 in salary plus bonuses.
- 1919 – The German Workers’ Party, which would become the Nazi Party, is founded in Munich.
- 1925 – Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming becomes the first female governor in the United States.
- 1933 – Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge begins in San Francisco Bay.
- 1941 – 37-year-old pilot Amy Johnson, the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia, disappears after bailing out of her plane over the River Thames, and is presumed dead.
- 1944 – The Daily Mail becomes the first major London newspaper to be published on both sides of the Atlantic.
- 1945 – The Soviet Union recognizes the new pro-Soviet Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland.
- 1949 – In his “State of the Union” address, United States President Harry S. Truman unveils his Fair Deal program.
- 1950 – In the Sverdlovsk air disaster, all 19 of those on board are killed, including almost the entire national ice hockey team (VVS Moscow) of the Soviet Air Force – 11 players, as well as a team doctor and a masseur.
- 1953 – The play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett receives its première in Paris.
- 1957 – In a speech given to the United States Congress, United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces the establishment of what will later be called the Eisenhower Doctrine
- 1968 – Alexander Dubček comes to power in Czechoslovakia, effectively beginning the “Prague Spring”
- 1969 – The Venera 5 space probe is launched at 06:28:08 UTCfrom Baikonur.
- 1970 – The 7.1 Mw Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). Between 10,000 and 15,000 people are known to have been killed and about another 26,000 are injured.
- 1974 – The warmest reliably measured temperature within the Antarctic Circle, of +59 °F (+15 °C), is recorded at Vanda Station.
- 1975 – The Tasman Bridge in Tasmania, Australia, is struck by the bulk ore carrier Lake Illawarra, killing twelve people.
- 1976 – The Khmer Rouge proclaim the Constitution of Democratic Kampuchea.
- 1976 – The Troubles: Gunmen shoot dead ten Protestant civilians after stopping their minibus at Kingsmill in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, UK, allegedly as retaliation for a string of attacks on Catholic civilians in the area by Loyalists, particularly the killing of six Catholics the night before.
- 1991 – Georgian forces enter Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, Georgia, opening the 1991–92 South Ossetia War.
- 1991 – Somali Civil War: The United States Embassy to Somalia in Mogadishu is evacuated by helicopter airlift days after the outbreak of violence in Mogadishu.
- 1993 – The oil tanker MV Braer runs aground on the coast of the Shetland Islands, spilling 84,700 tons of crude oil.
- 2014 – A launch of the communication satellite GSAT-14 aboard the GSLV MK.II D5 marks the first successful flight of an Indian cryogenic engine.
Births on January 5
- 1209 – Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, English prince, nominal King of Germany (d. 1272)
- 1530 – Gaspar de Bono, monk of the Order of the Minims (d. 1571)
- 1548 – Francisco Suárez, Spanish priest, philosopher, and theologian (d. 1617)
- 1587 – Xu Xiake, Chinese geographer and explorer (d. 1641)
- 1592 – Shah Jahan, Mughal emperor (d. 1666)
- 1620 – Miklós Zrínyi, Croatian military commander (d. 1664)
- 1640 – Paolo Lorenzani, Italian composer (d. 1713)
- 1735 – Claude Martin, French-English general and explorer (d. 1800)
- 1767 – Jean-Baptiste Say, French economist and academic (d. 1832)
- 1779 – Stephen Decatur, American commander (d. 1820)
- 1779 – Zebulon Pike, American general and explorer (d. 1813)
- 1781 – Gaspar Flores de Abrego, three terms mayor of San Antonio, in Spanish Texas (d. 1836)
- 1793 – Harvey Putnam, American lawyer and politician (d. 1855)
- 1808 – Anton Füster, Austrian priest and activist (d. 1881)
- 1834 – William John Wills, English surgeon and explorer (d. 1861)
- 1838 – Camille Jordan, French mathematician and academic (d. 1922)
- 1846 – Rudolf Christoph Eucken, German philosopher and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1926)
- 1846 – Mariam Baouardy, Syrian Roman Catholic nun; later canonized (d. 1878)
- 1855 – King Camp Gillette, American businessman, founded the Gillette Company (d. 1932)
- 1864 – Bob Caruthers, American baseball player and manager (d. 1911)
- 1867 – Dimitrios Gounaris, Greek lawyer and politician, 94th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1922)
- 1871 – Frederick Converse, American composer and academic (d. 1940)
- 1874 – Joseph Erlanger, American physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1965)
- 1876 – Konrad Adenauer, German lawyer and politician, Chancellor of West Germany (d. 1967)
- 1879 – Hans Eppinger, Austrian physician and academic (d. 1946)
- 1880 – Nikolai Medtner, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1951)
- 1881 – Pablo Gargallo, Spanish sculptor and painter (d. 1934)
- 1882 – Herbert Bayard Swope, American journalist (d. 1958)
- 1885 – Humbert Wolfe, Italian-English poet and civil servant (d. 1940)
- 1886 – Markus Reiner, Israeli physicist and engineer (d. 1976)
- 1892 – Agnes von Kurowsky, American nurse (d. 1984)
- 1893 – Paramahansa Yogananda, Indian-American guru and philosopher (d. 1952)
- 1897 – Kiyoshi Miki, Japanese philosopher and author (d. 1945)
- 1900 – Yves Tanguy, French-American painter (d. 1955)
- 1902 – Hubert Beuve-Méry, French journalist (d. 1989)
- 1902 – Stella Gibbons, English journalist and author (d. 1989)
- 1903 – Harold Gatty, Australian pilot and navigator (d. 1957)
- 1904 – Jeane Dixon, American astrologer and psychic (d. 1997)
- 1904 – Erika Morini, Austrian violinist (d. 1995)
- 1906 – Kathleen Kenyon, English archaeologist and academic (d. 1978)
- 1907 – Volmari Iso-Hollo, Finnish athlete (d. 1969)
- 1908 – George Dolenz, Italian-American actor (d. 1963)
- 1909 – Lucienne Bloch, Swiss-American sculptor, painter, and photographer (d. 1995)
- 1909 – Stephen Cole Kleene, American mathematician and computer scientist (d. 1994)
- 1910 – Jack Lovelock, New Zealand runner and journalist (d. 1949)
- 1911 – Jean-Pierre Aumont, French actor and screenwriter (d. 2001)
- 1914 – Nicolas de Staël, Russian-French painter and illustrator (d. 1955)
- 1914 – George Reeves, American actor and director (d. 1959)
- 1915 – Arthur H. Robinson, Canadian geographer and cartographer (d. 2004)
- 1917 – Francis L. Kellogg, American businessman and diplomat (d. 2006)
- 1917 – Wieland Wagner, German director and producer (d. 1966)
- 1917 – Jane Wyman, American actress (d. 2007)
- 1919 – Hector Abhayavardhana, Sri Lankan theorist and politician (d. 2012)
- 1919 – Severino Gazzelloni, Italian flute player (d. 1992)
- 1920 – Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Italian pianist and educator (d. 1995)
- 1921 – Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Swiss author and playwright (d. 1990)
- 1921 – Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Luxembourgish soldier and aristocrat (d. 2019)
- 1921 – John H. Reed, American politician and diplomat, 67th Governor of Maine (d. 2012)
- 1922 – Anthony Synnot, Australian admiral (d. 2001)
- 1923 – Sam Phillips, American radio host and producer, founded Sun Records (d. 2003)
- 1926 – Veikko Karvonen, Finnish runner (d. 2007)
- 1926 – W. D. Snodgrass, American poet (d. 2009)
- 1926 – Hosea Williams, American businessman and activist (d. 2000)
- 1927 – Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, American guru and author, founded Iraivan Temple (d. 2001)
- 1928 – Imtiaz Ahmed, Pakistani cricketer (d. 2016)
- 1928 – Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistani lawyer and politician, 4th President of Pakistan (d. 1979)
- 1928 – Walter Mondale, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 42nd Vice President of the United States
- 1929 – Aulis Rytkönen, Finnish footballer and manager (d. 2014)
- 1931 – Alvin Ailey, American dancer and choreographer, founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (d. 1989)
- 1931 – Alfred Brendel, Austrian pianist, poet, and author
- 1931 – Robert Duvall, American actor and director
- 1932 – Umberto Eco, Italian novelist, literary critic, and philosopher (d. 2016)
- 1932 – Chuck Noll, American football player and coach (d. 2014)
- 1934 – Phil Ramone, South African-American songwriter and producer, co-founded A & R Recording (d. 2013)
- 1934 – Murli Manohar Joshi, Indian politician
- 1936 – Florence King, American journalist and memoirist (d. 2016)
- 1938 – Juan Carlos I of Spain
- 1938 – Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Kenyan author and playwright
- 1939 – M. E. H. Maharoof, Sri Lankan politician (d. 1997)
- 1940 – Athol Guy, Australian singer-songwriter and bassist
- 1941 – Bob Cunis, New Zealand cricketer (d. 2008)
- 1941 – Chuck McKinley, American tennis player (d. 1986)
- 1941 – Hayao Miyazaki, Japanese animator, director, and screenwriter
- 1941 – Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Indian cricketer and coach (d. 2011)
- 1942 – Maurizio Pollini, Italian pianist and conductor
- 1942 – Charlie Rose, American journalist and talk show host
- 1943 – Mary Gaudron, Australian lawyer and judge
- 1943 – Murtaz Khurtsilava, Georgian footballer and manager
- 1944 – Ed Rendell, American politician, 45th Governor of Pennsylvania
- 1946 – Diane Keaton, American actress, director, and businesswoman
- 1947 – Mike DeWine, American lawyer and politician, 70th Governor of Ohio
- 1950 – Ioan P. Culianu, Romanian historian, philosopher, and author (d. 1991)
- 1950 – Peter Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith, English lawyer and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales
- 1950 – John Manley, Canadian lawyer and politician, 8th Deputy Prime Minister of Canada
- 1950 – Chris Stein, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
- 1952 – Uli Hoeneß, German footballer and manager
- 1953 – Pamela Sue Martin, American actress
- 1953 – Mike Rann, English-Australian journalist and politician, 44th Premier of South Australia
- 1953 – George Tenet, American civil servant and academic, 18th Director of Central Intelligence
- 1954 – Alex English, American basketball player and coach
- 1954 – László Krasznahorkai, Hungarian author and screenwriter
- 1955 – Mamata Banerjee, Indian lawyer and politician, Chief Minister of West Bengal
- 1956 – Frank-Walter Steinmeier, German academic and politician, 14th Vice-Chancellor of Germany
- 1958 – Ron Kittle, American baseball player and manager
- 1959 – Nancy Delahunt, Canadian curler
- 1960 – Glenn Strömberg, Swedish footballer and sportscaster
- 1961 – Iris DeMent, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1962 – Suzy Amis, American actress and model
- 1962 – Danny Jackson, American baseball player and manager
- 1963 – Jeff Fassero, American baseball player and coach
- 1965 – Vinnie Jones, English/Welsh footballer and actor
- 1965 – Patrik Sjöberg, Swedish high jumper
- 1968 – Carrie Ann Inaba, American actress, dancer, and choreographer
- 1968 – Joé Juneau, Canadian ice hockey player and engineer
- 1969 – Marilyn Manson, American singer-songwriter, actor, and director
- 1969 – Shaun Micheel, American golfer
- 1971 – Stian Carstensen, Norwegian multi-instrumentalist and composer
- 1972 – Sakis Rouvas, Greek singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
- 1973 – Uday Chopra, Bollywood actor and filmmaker
- 1974 – Iwan Thomas, Welsh sprinter and coach
- 1975 – Bradley Cooper, American actor and producer
- 1975 – Warrick Dunn, American football player
- 1975 – Mike Grier, American ice hockey player and scout
- 1976 – Diego Tristán, Spanish footballer
- 1978 – January Jones, American actress
- 1979 – Kyle Calder, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1979 – Giuseppe Gibilisco, Italian pole vaulter
- 1981 – Deadmau5 (Joel Thomas Zimmerman), Canadian musician
- 1982 – Janica Kostelić, Croatian skier
- 1984 – Derrick Atkins, Bahamian sprinter
- 1985 – Diego Vera, Uruguayan footballer
- 1986 – Deepika Padukone, Indian actress
- 1988 – Azizulhasni Awang, Malaysian track cyclist
- 1988 – Luke Daniels, English footballer
- 1989 – Krisztián Németh, Hungarian footballer
- 1990 – Mark Nicholls, Australian rugby league player
Deaths on January 5
- 842 – Al-Mu’tasim, Abbasid caliph (b. 796)
- 941 – Zhang Yanhan, Chinese chancellor (b. 884)
- 1066 – Edward the Confessor, English king (b. 1004)
- 1173 – Bolesław IV the Curly, High Duke of Poland (b. 1120)
- 1382 – Philippa Plantagenet, Countess of Ulster (b. 1355)
- 1400 – John Montacute, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, English politician (b. 1350)
- 1430 – Philippa of England, Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (b. 1394)
- 1477 – Charles, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1433)
- 1524 – Marko Marulić, Croatian poet (b. 1450)
- 1527 – Felix Manz, Swiss martyr (b. 1498)
- 1578 – Giulio Clovio, Dalmatian painter (b. 1498)
- 1580 – Anna Sibylle of Hanau-Lichtenberg, German noblewoman (b. 1542)
- 1589 – Catherine de’ Medici, queen of Henry II of France (b. 1519)
- 1713 – Jean Chardin, French explorer and author (b. 1643)
- 1740 – Antonio Lotti, Italian composer and educator (b. 1667)
- 1762 – Empress Elizabeth of Russia (b. 1709)
- 1771 – John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford, English politician, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (b. 1710)
- 1796 – Samuel Huntington, American jurist and politician, 18th Governor of Connecticut (b. 1731)
- 1823 – George Johnston, Scottish-Australian colonel and politician, Lieutenant Governor of New South Wales (b. 1764)
- 1845 – Robert Smirke, English painter and illustrator (b. 1753)
- 1846 – Alfred Thomas Agate, American painter and illustrator (b. 1812)
- 1858 – Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, Austrian field marshal (b. 1766)
- 1860 – John Neumann, Czech-American bishop and saint (b. 1811)
- 1883 – Charles Tompson, Australian poet and public servant (b. 1806)
- 1885 – Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, Norwegian author and scholar (b. 1812)
- 1888 – Henri Herz, Austrian pianist and composer (b. 1803)
- 1899 – Ezra Otis Kendall, American professor, astronomer and mathematician (b. 1818)
- 1904 – Karl Alfred von Zittel, German paleontologist and geologist (b. 1839)
- 1910 – Léon Walras, French-Swiss economist and academic (b. 1834)
- 1917 – Isobel Lilian Gloag, English painter (b. 1865)
- 1922 – Ernest Shackleton, Anglo-Irish sailor and explorer (b. 1874)
- 1933 – Calvin Coolidge, American lawyer and politician, 30th President of the United States (b. 1872)
- 1942 – Tina Modotti, Italian photographer, model, actress, and activist (b. 1896)
- 1943 – George Washington Carver, American botanist, educator, and inventor (b. 1864)
- 1951 – Soh Jaipil, South Korean-American journalist and activist (b. 1864)
- 1951 – Andrei Platonov, Russian journalist and author (b. 1899)
- 1952 – Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow, Scottish colonel and politician, 46th Governor-General of India (b. 1887)
- 1952 – Hristo Tatarchev, Bulgarian-Italian physician and activist (b. 1869)
- 1954 – Rabbit Maranville, American baseball player and manager (b. 1891)
- 1956 – Mistinguett, French actress and singer (b. 1875)
- 1963 – Rogers Hornsby, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1896)
- 1970 – Max Born, German physicist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1882)
- 1970 – Roberto Gerhard, Catalan composer and scholar (b. 1896)
- 1971 – Douglas Shearer, Canadian-American sound designer and engineer (b. 1899)
- 1972 – Tevfik Rüştü Aras, Turkish physician and politician, 6th Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1883)
- 1974 – Lev Oborin, Russian pianist and educator (b. 1907)
- 1976 – John A. Costello, Irish lawyer and politician, 3rd Taoiseach of Ireland (b. 1891)
- 1978 – Wyatt Emory Cooper, American author and screenwriter (b. 1927)
- 1979 – Billy Bletcher, American actor, singer, and screenwriter (b. 1894
- 1979 – Charles Mingus, American bassist, composer, bandleader (b. 1922)
- 1981 – Harold Urey, American chemist and astronomer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1893)
- 1981 – Lanza del Vasto, Italian poet and philosopher (b. 1901)
- 1982 – Hans Conried, American actor (b. 1917)
- 1982 – Edmund Herring, Australian general and politician, 7th Chief Justice of Victoria (b. 1892)1985 – Robert L. Surtees, American cinematographer (b. 1906)1987 – Margaret Laurence, Canadian author and academic (b. 1926)
- 1987 – Herman Smith-Johannsen, Norwegian-Canadian skier (b. 1875)
- 1990 – Arthur Kennedy, American actor (b. 1914)
- 1991 – Vasko Popa, Serbian poet and academic (b. 1922)
- 1994 – Tip O’Neill, American lawyer and politician, 55th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1912)
- 1997 – André Franquin, Belgian author and illustrator (b. 1924)
- 1997 – Burton Lane, American composer and songwriter (b. 1912)
- 1998 – Sonny Bono, American singer-songwriter, producer, actor, and politician (b. 1935)
- 2000 – Kumar Ponnambalam, Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer and politician (b. 1938)
- 2003 – Roy Jenkins, Welsh politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1920)
- 2004 – Norman Heatley, English biologist and chemist, co-developed penicillin (b. 1911)
- 2006 – Merlyn Rees, Welsh educator and politician, Home Secretary (b. 1920)
- 2007 – Momofuku Ando, Taiwanese-Japanese businessman, founded Nissin Foods (b. 1910)
- 2009 – Griffin Bell, American lawyer and politician, 72nd United States Attorney General (b. 1918)
- 2010 – Willie Mitchell, American singer-songwriter, trumpet player, and producer (b. 1928)
- 2010 – Kenneth Noland, American painter (b. 1924)
- 2012 – Isaac Díaz Pardo, Spanish painter and sculptor (b. 1920)
- 2012 – Frederica Sagor Maas, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (b. 1900)
- 2014 – Eusébio, Mozambican-Portuguese footballer and manager (b. 1942)
- 2014 – Carmen Zapata, American actress (b. 1927)
- 2015 – Jean-Pierre Beltoise, French racing driver and motorcycle racer (b. 1937)
- 2015 – Bernard Joseph McLaughlin, American bishop (b. 1912)
- 2016 – Pierre Boulez, French pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1925)
- 2017 – Jill Saward, English rape victim and activist (b. 1965)
- 2018 – Asghar Khan, Pakistani three star general and politician (b. 1921)
- 2018 – Thomas Bopp, American astronomer best known as the co-discoverer of comet Hale–Bopp (b. 1949)
- 2018 – Karin von Aroldingen, German ballerina (b. 1941)
- 2019 – Bernice Sandler, American women’s rights activist (b. 1928)
- 2019 – Dragoslav Šekularac, Serbian footballer and manager (b. 1937)
Holidays and observances on January 5
- Christian Feast day:
- Charles of Mount Argus
- John Neumann (Catholic Church)
- Pope Telesphorus
- Simeon Stylites (Latin Church)
- January 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival (Harbin, China
- Joma Shinji (Japan)
- National Bird Day (United States)
- The Twelfth day of Christmas and the Twelfth Night of Christmas. (Western Christianity)
-
January 3 in History
- 250 – Emperor Decius orders everyone in the Roman Empire (except Jews) to make sacrifices to the Roman gods.
- 1521 – Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.
- 1653 – By the Coonan Cross Oath, the Eastern Church in India cuts itself off from colonial Portuguese tutelage.
- 1749 – Benning Wentworth issues the first of the New Hampshire Grants, leading to the establishment of Vermont.
- 1749 – The first issue of Berlingske, Denmark’s oldest continually operating newspaper, is published.
- 1777 – American General George Washington defeats British General Lord Cornwallis at the Battle of Princeton.
- 1815 – Austria, the United Kingdom, and France form a secret defensive alliance against Prussia and Russia.
- 1833 – The United Kingdom claims sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.
- 1848 – Joseph Jenkins Roberts is sworn in as the first president of Liberia.
- 1861 – American Civil War: Delaware votes not to secede from the United States.
- 1868 – Meiji Restoration in Japan: The Tokugawa shogunate is abolished; agents of Satsuma and Chōshū seize power.
- 1870 – Construction work begins on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, United States.
- 1871 – In the Battle of Bapaume, an engagement in the Franco-Prussian War, General Louis Faidherbe’s forces bring about a Prussian retreat.
- 1885 – Sino-French War: Beginning of the Battle of Núi Bop
- 1911 – A magnitude 7.7 earthquake destroys the city of Almaty in Russian Turkestan.
- 1911 – A gun battle in the East End of London left two dead and sparked a political row over the involvement of then-Home Secretary Winston Churchill.
- 1913 – An Atlantic coast storm sets the lowest confirmed barometric pressure reading for a non-tropical system in the continental United States.
- 1925 – Benito Mussolini announces he is taking dictatorial powers over Italy.
- 1933 – Minnie D. Craig becomes the first woman elected as Speaker of the North Dakota House of Representatives, the first woman to hold a Speaker position anywhere in the United States.
- 1938 – The March of Dimes is established as a foundation to combat infant polio by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
- 1944 – World War II: Top Ace Major Greg “Pappy” Boyington is shot down in his Vought F4U Corsair by Captain Masajiro Kawato flying a Mitsubishi A6M Zero.
- 1945 – World War II: Admiral Chester W. Nimitz is placed in command of all U.S. Naval forces in preparation for planned assaults against Iwo Jima and Okinawa in Japan.
- 1946 – Popular Canadian American jockey George Woolf dies in a freak accident during a race; the annual George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award is created to honor him.
- 1947 – Proceedings of the U.S. Congress are televised for the first time.
- 1949 – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the central bank of the Philippines, is established.
- 1953 – Frances P. Bolton and her son, Oliver from Ohio, become the first mother and son to serve simultaneously in the U.S. Congress.
- 1956 – A fire damages the top part of the Eiffel Tower.
- 1957 – The Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch.
- 1958 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
- 1959 – Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. state.
- 1961 – Cold War: The United States severs diplomatic relations with Cuba over the latter’s nationalization of American assets.
- 1961 – The SL-1 nuclear reactor is destroyed by a steam explosion in the only reactor incident in the United States to cause immediate fatalities.
- 1961 – A protest by agricultural workers in Baixa de Cassanje, Portuguese Angola, turns into a revolt, opening the Angolan War of Independence, the first of the Portuguese Colonial Wars.
- 1962 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro.
- 1976 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, comes into force.
- 1977 – Apple Computer is incorporated.
- 1990 – United States invasion of Panama: Manuel Noriega, former leader of Panama, surrenders to American forces.
- 1993 – In Moscow, Russia, George H. W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin sign the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).
- 1994 – More than seven million people from the former apartheid Homelands receive South African citizenship.
- 1994 – Baikal Airlines Flight 130 crashes near Irkutsk, Russia, resulting in 125 deaths.
- 1999 – The Mars Polar Lander is launched by NASA.
- 2000 – Final daily edition of the Peanuts comic strip.
- 2002 – Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Israeli forces seize the Palestinian freighter Karine A in the Red Sea, finding 50 tons of weapons.
- 2004 – Flash Airlines Flight 604 crashes into the Red Sea, resulting in 148 deaths, making it one of the deadliest aviation accidents in Egyptian history.
- 2009 – The first block of the blockchain of the decentralized payment system Bitcoin, called the Genesis block, was established by the creator of the system, Satoshi Nakamoto.
- 2015 – Boko Haram militants raze the entire town of Baga in north-east Nigeria, starting the Baga massacre and killing as many as 2,000 people.
- 2016 – Following the fallout caused by the execution of Nimr al-Nimr, Iran ends its diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia.
- 2019 – Chang’e 4 makes the first soft landing on the far side of the Moon, deploying the Yutu-2 lunar rover.
- 2020 – Iranian General Qasem Soleimani is killed by an American airstrike near Baghdad International Airport.
Births on January 3
- 106 BC – Cicero, Roman philosopher, lawyer, and politician (d. 43 BC)
- 169 – Lü Bu, Chinese general and warlord (d. 199)
- 1196 – Emperor Tsuchimikado of Japan (d. 1231)
- 1509 – Gian Girolamo Albani, Italian cardinal (d. 1591)
- 1611 – James Harrington, English political theorist (d. 1677)
- 1698 – Pietro Metastasio, Italian poet and songwriter (d. 1782)
- 1710 – Richard Gridley, American soldier and engineer (d. 1796)
- 1722 – Fredrik Hasselqvist, Swedish biologist and explorer (d. 1752)
- 1731 – Angelo Emo, Venetian admiral and statesman (d. 1792)
- 1760 – Veerapandiya Kattabomman, Indian ruler (d. 1799)
- 1775 – Francis Caulfeild, 2nd Earl of Charlemont (d. 1863)
- 1778 – Antoni Melchior Fijałkowski, Polish archbishop (d. 1861)
- 1793 – Lucretia Mott, American activist (d. 1880)
- 1802 – Charles Pelham Villiers, English lawyer and politician (d. 1898)
- 1803 – Douglas William Jerrold, English journalist and playwright (d. 1857)
- 1806 – Henriette Sontag, German soprano and actress (d. 1854)
- 1810 – Antoine Thomson d’Abbadie, French geographer, ethnologist, linguist, and astronomer (d. 1897)
- 1816 – Samuel C. Pomeroy, American businessman and politician (d. 1891)
- 1819 – Charles Piazzi Smyth, Italian-Scottish astronomer and academic (d. 1900)
- 1821 – Karel Dežman, Slovenian archaeologist, botanist, and politician, Mayor of Ljubljana (d. 1889)
- 1831 – Savitribai Phule, Indian poet, educator, and activist (d. 1897)
- 1836 – Sakamoto Ryōma, Japanese samurai and rebel leader (d. 1867)
- 1840 – Father Damien, Flemish priest and missionary (d. 1889)
- 1847 – Ettore Marchiafava, Italian physician (d. 1935)
- 1853 – Sophie Elkan, Swedish writer (d. 1921)
- 1855 – Hubert Bland, English businessman (d. 1914)
- 1861 – Ernest Renshaw, English tennis player (d. 1899)
- 1861 – William Renshaw, English tennis player (d. 1904)
- 1862 – Matthew Nathan, English soldier and politician, 13th Governor of Queensland (d. 1939)
- 1865 – Henry Lytton, English actor (d. 1936)
- 1870 – Henry Handel Richardson, Australian-English author (d. 1946)
- 1873 – Ichizō Kobayashi, Japanese businessman and art collector, founded the Hankyu Hanshin Holdings (d. 1957)
- 1875 – Alexandros Diomidis, Greek banker and politician, 145th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1950)
- 1876 – Wilhelm Pieck, German carpenter and politician, 1st President of the German Democratic Republic (d. 1960)
- 1877 – Josephine Hull, American actress (d. 1957)
- 1880 – Francis Browne, Irish Jesuit priest and photographer (d. 1960)
- 1883 – Clement Attlee, English soldier, lawyer, and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1967)
- 1883 – Duncan Gillis, Canadian discus thrower and hammer thrower (d. 1963)
- 1884 – Raoul Koczalski, Polish pianist and composer (d. 1948)
- 1885 – Harry Elkins Widener, American businessman (d. 1912)
- 1886 – John Gould Fletcher, American poet and author (d. 1950)
- 1886 – Arthur Mailey, Australian cricketer (d. 1967)
- 1887 – August Macke, German-French painter (d. 1914)
- 1892 – J.R.R. Tolkien, English writer, poet, and philologist (d. 1973)
- 1894 – ZaSu Pitts, American actress (d. 1963)
- 1897 – Marion Davies, American actress and comedian (d. 1961)
- 1898 – Carolyn Haywood, American author and illustrator (d. 1990)
- 1898 – Carlos Keller, Chilean historian, academic, and politician (d. 1974)
- 1900 – Donald J. Russell, American businessman (d. 1985)
- 1901 – Ngô Đình Diệm, Vietnamese lawyer and politician, 1st President of the Republic of Vietnam (d. 1963)
- 1905 – Dante Giacosa, Italian engineer (d. 1996)
- 1905 – Anna May Wong, American actress (d. 1961)
- 1907 – Ray Milland, Welsh-American actor and director (d. 1986)
- 1909 – Victor Borge, Danish-American pianist and conductor (d. 2000)
- 1910 – Frenchy Bordagaray, American baseball player and manager (d. 2000)
- 1911 – John Sturges, American director and producer (d. 1992)
- 1912 – Federico Borrell García, Spanish soldier (d. 1936)
- 1912 – Renaude Lapointe, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 2002)
- 1912 – Armand Lohikoski, American-Finnish actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2005)
- 1915 – Jack Levine, American painter and soldier (d. 2010)
- 1916 – Betty Furness, American actress and television journalist (d. 1994)
- 1916 – Fred Haas, American golfer (d. 2004)
- 1917 – Albert Mol, Dutch author and actor (d. 2002)
- 1917 – Vernon A. Walters, American general and diplomat, 17th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 2002)
- 1917 – Roger Williams Straus, Jr., American journalist and publisher, co-founded Farrar, Straus and Giroux (d. 2004)
- 1919 – Herbie Nichols, American pianist and composer (d. 1963)
- 1920 – Siegfried Buback, German lawyer and politician, Attorney General of Germany (d. 1977)
- 1920 – Renato Carosone, Italian singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2001)
- 1921 – Chetan Anand, Indian director and screenwriter (d. 1997)
- 1921 – Isabella Bashmakova, Russian historian of mathematics (d. 2005)
- 1922 – Bill Travers, English actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1994)
- 1923 – Hank Stram, American football coach and sportscaster (d. 2005)
- 1924 – Otto Beisheim, German businessman and philanthropist, founded Metro AG (d. 2013)
- 1924 – André Franquin, Belgian author and illustrator (d. 1997)
- 1924 – Nell Rankin, American soprano and educator (d. 2005)
- 1925 – Jill Balcon, English actress (d. 2009)
- 1926 – W. Michael Blumenthal, American economist and politician, 64th United States Secretary of the Treasury
- 1926 – George Martin, English composer, conductor, and producer (d. 2016)
- 1928 – Abdul Rahman Ya’kub, Malaysian lawyer and politician, 3rd Chief Minister of Sarawak (d. 2015)
- 1929 – Sergio Leone, Italian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1989)
- 1929 – Ernst Mahle, German-Brazilian composer and conductor
- 1929 – Gordon Moore, American businessman, co-founder of Intel Corporation
- 1930 – Robert Loggia, American actor and director (d. 2015)
- 1932 – Dabney Coleman, American actor
- 1932 – Eeles Landström, Finnish pole vaulter and politician
- 1933 – Geoffrey Bindman, English lawyer
- 1933 – Anne Stevenson, American-English poet and author
- 1934 – Marpessa Dawn, American-French actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2008)
- 1934 – Carla Anderson Hills, American lawyer and politician, 5th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
- 1935 – Raymond Garneau, Canadian businessman and politician
- 1937 – Glen A. Larson, American director, producer, and screenwriter, created Battlestar Galactica (d. 2014)
- 1938 – Robin Butler, Baron Butler of Brockwell, English academic and politician
- 1938 – K. Ganeshalingam, Sri Lankan accountant and politician, Mayor of Colombo (d. 2006)
- 1939 – Arik Einstein, Israeli singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2013)
- 1939 – Bobby Hull, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1940 – Leo de Berardinis, Italian actor and director (d. 2008)
- 1940 – Bernard Blaut, Polish footballer and coach (d. 2007)
- 1941 – Malcolm Dick, New Zealand rugby player
- 1942 – John Marsden, Australian lawyer and activist (d. 2006)
- 1942 – John Thaw, English actor and producer, played Inspector Morse (d. 2002)
- 1943 – Van Dyke Parks, American singer-songwriter, musician, composer, author, and actor
- 1944 – Blanche d’Alpuget, Australian author
- 1945 – Stephen Stills, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1946 – John Paul Jones, English bass player, songwriter, and producer
- 1946 – Michalis Kritikopoulos, Greek footballer (d. 2002)
- 1947 – Fran Cotton, English rugby player
- 1947 – Zulema, American singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
- 1948 – Ian Nankervis, Australian footballer
- 1950 – Victoria Principal, American actress and businesswoman
- 1950 – Linda Steiner, American journalist and academic
- 1950 – Vesna Vulović, Serbian plane crash survivor and Guinness World Record holder
- 1951 – Linda Dobbs, English lawyer and judge
- 1951 – Gary Nairn, Australian surveyor and politician, 14th Special Minister of State
- 1952 – Esperanza Aguirre, Spanish civil servant and politician, 3rd President of the Community of Madrid
- 1952 – Gianfranco Fini, Italian journalist and politician, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs
- 1952 – Jim Ross, American professional wrestling commentator
- 1953 – Justin Fleming, Australian playwright and author
- 1953 – Mohammed Waheed Hassan, Maldivian educator and politician, 5th President of the Maldives
- 1953 – Peter Taylor, English football winger and manager
- 1956 – Mel Gibson, American-Australian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1958 – Shim Hyung-rae, South Korean actor, director, and producer
- 1960 – Russell Spence, English racing driver
- 1962 – Darren Daulton, American baseball player (d. 2017)
- 1962 – Gavin Hastings, Scottish rugby player
- 1963 – Stewart Hosie, Scottish businessman and politician
- 1963 – Aamer Malik, Pakistani cricketer
- 1963 – Alex Wheatle, English author and playwright
- 1964 – Bruce LaBruce, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1964 – Cheryl Miller, American basketball player and coach
- 1966 – Chetan Sharma, Indian cricketer
- 1969 – Michael Caines, English chef
- 1969 – Lorenzo Fertitta, American entrepreneur, casino executive and sports promoter
- 1969 – Jarmo Lehtinen, Finnish racing driver
- 1969 – Michael Schumacher, German racing driver
- 1969 – Gerda Weissensteiner, Italian luger and bobsledder
- 1971 – Cory Cross, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1971 – Lee Il-hwa, South Korean actress
- 1973 – Dan Harmon, American screenwriter and producer
- 1974 – Robert-Jan Derksen, Dutch golfer
- 1974 – Alessandro Petacchi, Italian cyclist
- 1975 – Jason Marsden, American actor
- 1975 – Thomas Bangalter, French DJ, musician (Daft Punk), and producer
- 1975 – Danica McKellar, American actress, writer, and mathematician
- 1976 – Angelos Basinas, Greek footballer
- 1976 – Nicholas Gonzalez, American actor and producer
- 1977 – Lee Bowyer, English footballer and coach
- 1977 – A. J. Burnett, American baseball player
- 1977 – Mayumi Iizuka, Japanese voice actress and singer
- 1978 – Dimitra Kalentzou, Greek basketball player
- 1978 – Dominic Wood, English comedian and former magician
- 1980 – Bryan Clay, American decathlete
- 1980 – Angela Ruggiero, American ice hockey player
- 1980 – David Tyree, American football player
- 1980 – Kurt Vile, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1980 – Mary Wineberg, American sprinter
- 1981 – Eli Manning, American football playe
- 1982 – Peter Clarke, English footballer
- 1982 – Lasse Nilsson, Swedish footballer
- 1982 – Park Ji-yoon, South Korean singer and actress
- 1984 – Billy Mehmet, English-Irish footballer
- 1985 – Linas Kleiza, Lithuanian basketball player
- 1985 – Evan Moore, American football player
- 1986 – Dana Hussain, Iraqi sprinter
- 1986 – Greg Nwokolo, Indonesian footballer
- 1986 – Dmitry Starodubtsev, Russian pole vaulter
- 1987 – Reto Berra, Swiss professional ice hockey goaltender
- 1987 – Kim Ok-bin, South Korean actress and singer
- 1988 – Ikechi Anya, Scottish-Nigerian footballer
- 1988 – Matt Frattin, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1988 – J. R. Hildebrand, American racing driver
- 1989 – Ben Matulino, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1989 – Kōhei Uchimura, Japanese artistic gymnast
- 1990 – Yoichiro Kakitani, Japanese footballer
- 1991 – Jerson Cabral, Dutch footballer
- 1991 – Özgür Çek, Turkish footballer
- 1991 – Sébastien Faure, French footballer
- 1991 – Dane Gagai, Australian rugby league player
- 1994 – Isaquias Queiroz, Brazilian sprint canoeist
- 1997 – Kyron McMaster, British Virgin Islands hurdler
- 2003 – Greta Thunberg, Swedish environmental activist
Deaths on January 3
- 236 – Anterus, the pope of the Catholic Church
- 323 – Yuan of Yin, Chinese emperor (b. 276)
- 1027 – Fujiwara no Yukinari, Japanese calligrapher (b. 972)
- 1028 – Fujiwara no Michinaga, Japanese nobleman (b. 966)
- 1098 – Walkelin, Norman bishop of Winchester
- 1322 – Philip V, king of France (b. 1292)
- 1437 – Catherine of Valois, queen consort of Henry V (b. 1401)
- 1501 – Ali-Shir Nava’i, Turkic poet, linguist, and mystic (b. 1441)
- 1543 – Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, Portuguese explorer and navigator (b. 1499)
- 1571 – Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1505)
- 1641 – Jeremiah Horrocks, English astronomer and mathematician (b. 1618)
- 1656 – Mathieu Molé, French politician (b. 1584)
- 1670 – George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1608)
- 1701 – Louis I, prince of Monaco (b. 1642)
- 1705 – Luca Giordano, Italian painter and illustrator (b. 1634)
- 1743 – Ferdinando Galli-Bibiena, Italian painter and architect (b. 1657)
- 1777 – William Leslie, Scottish captain (b. 1751)
- 1779 – Claude Bourgelat, French surgeon and lawyer (b. 1712)
- 1785 – Baldassare Galuppi, Italian composer (b. 1706)
- 1795 – Josiah Wedgwood, English potter, founded the Wedgwood Company (b. 1730)
- 1826 – Louis-Gabriel Suchet, French general (b. 1770)
- 1871 – Kuriakose Elias Chavara, Indian priest and saint (b. 1805)
- 1875 – Pierre Larousse, French lexicographer and publisher (b. 1817)
- 1882 – William Harrison Ainsworth, English author (b. 1805)
- 1895 – James Merritt Ives, American lithographer and businessman, co-founded Currier and Ives (b. 1824)
- 1903 – Alois Hitler, Austrian civil servant (b. 1837)
- 1911 – Alexandros Papadiamantis, Greek author and poet (b. 1851)
- 1915 – James Elroy Flecker, English poet, author, and playwright (b. 1884)
- 1916 – Grenville M. Dodge, American general and politician (b. 1831)
- 1922 – Wilhelm Voigt, German criminal (b. 1849)
- 1923 – Jaroslav Hašek, Czech journalist and author (b. 1883)
- 1927 – Carl David Tolmé Runge, German physicist and mathematician (b. 1856)
- 1931 – Joseph Joffre, French general (b. 1852)
- 1933 – Wilhelm Cuno, German lawyer and politician, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1876)
- 1933 – Jack Pickford, Canadian-American actor, director, and producer (b. 1896)
- 1943 – Walter James, Australian lawyer and politician, 5th Premier of Western Australia (b. 1863)
- 1944 – Jurgis Baltrušaitis, Lithuanian poet, critic, and translator (b. 1873)
- 1945 – Edgar Cayce, American psychic and author (b. 1877)
- 1945 – Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski, Polish journalist and explorer (b. 1879)
- 1946 – William Joyce, American-British pro-Axis propaganda broadcaster (b. 1906)
- 1956 – Alexander Gretchaninov, Russian-American pianist and composer (b. 1864)
- 1956 – Dimitrios Vergos, Greek wrestler, weightlifter, and shot putter (b. 1886)
- 1956 – Joseph Wirth, German educator and politician, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1876)
- 1958 – Cafer Tayyar Eğilmez, Turkish general (b. 1877)
- 1959 – Edwin Muir, Scottish poet, author, and translator (b. 1887)
- 1960 – Eric P. Kelly, American journalist, author, and academic (b. 1884)
- 1962 – Hermann Lux, German footballer and manager (b. 1893)
- 1965 – Milton Avery, American painter (b. 1885)
- 1966 – Sammy Younge Jr., American civil rights activist (b. 1944)
- 1967 – Mary Garden, Scottish-American soprano and actress (b. 1874)
- 1967 – Reginald Punnett, British scientist (b. 1875)
- 1967 – Jack Ruby, American businessman and murderer (b. 1911)
- 1969 – Jean Focas, Greek-French astronomer (b. 1909)
- 1969 – Tzavalas Karousos, Greek-French actor (b. 1904)
- 1970 – Gladys Aylward, English missionary and humanitarian (b. 1902)
- 1972 – Mohan Rakesh, Indian author and playwright (b. 1925)
- 1975 – Victor Kraft, Austrian philosopher from the Vienna Circle (b. 1880)
- 1975 – James McCormack, American general (b. 1910)
- 1977 – William Gropper, American lithographer, cartoonist, and painter (b. 1897)
- 1979 – Conrad Hilton, American businessman, founded the Hilton Hotels & Resorts (b. 1887)
- 1980 – Joy Adamson, Austrian-Kenyan author (b. 1910)
- 1980 – George Sutherland Fraser, Scottish poet and academic (b. 1915)
- 1981 – Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone (b. 1883)
- 1988 – Rose Ausländer, Ukrainian-German poet and author (b. 1901)
- 1989 – Sergei Sobolev, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1909)
- 1992 – Judith Anderson, British actress (b. 1897)
- 2002 – Satish Dhawan, Indian engineer (b. 1920)
- 2003 – Jimmy Stewart, Scottish racing driver (b. 1931)
- 2005 – Koo Chen-fu, Taiwanese businessman and diplomat (b. 1917)
- 2005 – Egidio Galea, Maltese Roman Catholic priest, missionary, and educator (b. 1918)
- 2005 – Jyotindra Nath Dixit, Indian diplomat, 2nd Indian National Security Adviser (b. 1936)
- 2006 – Steve Rogers, Australian rugby player and coach (b. 1954)
- 2006 – Bill Skate, Papua New Guinean politician, 5th Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea (b. 1954)
- 2007 – János Fürst, Hungarian violinist and conductor (b. 1935)
- 2007 – William Verity, Jr., American businessman and politician, 27th United States Secretary of Commerce (b. 1917)
- 2008 – Choi Yo-sam, South Korean boxer (b. 1972)
- 2009 – Betty Freeman, American philanthropist and photographer (b. 1921)
- 2009 – Pat Hingle, American actor (b. 1923)
- 2009 – Hisayasu Nagata, Japanese politician (b. 1969)
- 2010 – Gustavo Becerra-Schmidt, Chilean-German composer and academic (b. 1925)
- 2010 – Mary Daly, American theologian and scholar (b. 1928)
- 2012 – Vicar, Chilean cartoonist (b. 1934)
- 2012 – Robert L. Carter, American lawyer and judge (b. 1917)
- 2012 – Winifred Milius Lubell, American author and illustrator (b. 1914)
- 2012 – Josef Škvorecký, Czech-Canadian author and publisher (b. 1924)
- 2012 – Bob Weston, English guitarist and songwriter (b. 1947)
- 2013 – Alfie Fripp, English soldier and pilot (b. 1913)
- 2013 – Ivan Mackerle, Czech cryptozoologist, explorer, and author (b. 1942)
- 2013 – William Maxson, American general (b. 1930)
- 2013 – Sergiu Nicolaescu, Romanian actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Phil Everly, American singer and guitarist (b. 1939)
- 2014 – George Goodman, American economist and author (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Saul Zaentz, American film producer (b. 1921)
- 2015 – Martin Anderson, American economist and academic (b. 1936)
- 2015 – Edward Brooke, American captain and politician, 47th Massachusetts Attorney General (b. 1919)
- 2016 – Paul Bley, Canadian-American pianist and composer (b. 1932)
- 2016 – Peter Naur, Danish computer scientist, astronomer, and academic (b. 1928)
- 2016 – Bill Plager, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1945)
- 2016 – Igor Sergun, Russian general and diplomat (b. 1957)
- 2017 – H. S. Mahadeva Prasad, Indian politician (b. 1958)
- 2018 – Colin Brumby, Australian composer (b. 1933)
- 2019 – Herb Kelleher, American businessman, co-founder of Southwest Airlines (b. 1931)
- 2020 – Qasem Soleimani, Iranian major general, commander of the Iranian Quds Force (b. 1957)
Holidays and observances on January 3
- Anniversary of the 1966 Coup d’état (Burkina Faso)
- Christian feast day:
- Daniel of Padua
- Genevieve
- Holy Name of Jesus
- Kuriakose Elias Chavara (Syro-Malabar Catholic Church)
- Pope Anterus
- William Passavant (Episcopal Church)
- January 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Ministry of Religious Affairs Day (Indonesia)
- Tamaseseri Festival (Hakozaki Shrine, Fukuoka, Japan)
- The first day of Nakhatsenendyan toner, celebrated until January 5 (Armenia).
- The tenth of the Twelve Days of Christmas (Western Christianity)