Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please consider supporting us by whitelisting our website.

Medal of Honor

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

On This Day /
  • 660 BC – Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.
  • AD 55 – The death under mysterious circumstances of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman empire, on the eve of his coming of age clears the way for Nero to become Emperor.
  • 1534 – Henry VIII of England is recognized as supreme head of the Church of England.
  • 1659 – The assault on Copenhagen by Swedish forces is beaten back with heavy losses.
  • 1794 – First session of United States Senate opens to the public.
  • 1808 – Jesse Fell burns anthracite on an open grate as an experiment in heating homes with coal.
  • 1812 – Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry is accused of “gerrymandering” for the first time.
  • 1823 – Carnival tragedy of 1823: About 110 boys are killed during a stampede at the Convent of the Minori Osservanti in Valletta, Malta.
  • 1826 – University College London is founded as University of London.
  • 1840 – Gaetano Donizetti’s opera La fille du régiment receives its first performance in Paris, France.
  • 1843 – Giuseppe Verdi’s opera I Lombardi alla prima crociata receives its first performance in Milan, Italy.
  • 1855 – Kassa Hailu is crowned Tewodros II, Emperor of Ethiopia.
  • 1856 – The Kingdom of Awadh is annexed by the British East India Company and Wajid Ali Shah, the king of Awadh, is deposed.
  • 1858 – Bernadette Soubirous’s first vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lourdes, France.
  • 1861 – American Civil War: The United States House of Representatives unanimously passes a resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state.
  • 1873 – King Amadeo I of Spain abdicates.
  • 1889 – Meiji Constitution of Japan is adopted.
  • 1903 – Anton Bruckner’s 9th Symphony receives its first performance in Vienna, Austria.
  • 1906 – Pope Pius X publishes the encyclical Vehementer Nos.
  • 1919 – Friedrich Ebert (SPD), is elected President of Germany.
  • 1929 – Kingdom of Italy and the Vatican sign the Lateran Treaty.
  • 1937 – The Flint sit-down strike ends when General Motors recognizes the United Auto Workers trade union.
  • 1938 – BBC Television produces the world’s first ever science fiction television programme, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Čapek play R.U.R., that coined the term “robot”.
  • 1942 – World War II: Second day of the Battle of Bukit Timah is fought in Singapore.
  • 1953 – Cold War: U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower denies all appeals for clemency for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
  • 1953 – The Soviet Union breaks off diplomatic relations with Israel.
  • 1959 – The Federation of Arab Emirates of the South is created as a protectorate of the United Kingdom.
  • 1970 – Japan launches Ohsumi, becoming the fourth nation to put an object into orbit using its own booster.
  • 1971 – Cold War: the Seabed Arms Control Treaty opened for signature outlawing nuclear weapons on the ocean floor in international waters.
  • 1979 – The Iranian Revolution establishes an Islamic theocracy under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
  • 1990 – Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa after 27 years as a political prisoner.
  • 1990 – Buster Douglas, a 42:1 underdog, knocks out Mike Tyson in ten rounds at Tokyo to win boxing’s world Heavyweight title.
  • 1997 – Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.
  • 1999 – Pluto crosses Neptune’s orbit, ending a nearly 20-year period when it was closer to the Sun than the gas giant; Pluto is not expected to interact with Neptune’s orbit again until 2231.
  • 2001 – A Dutch programmer launched the Anna Kournikova virus infecting millions of emails via a trick photo of the tennis star.
  • 2008 – Rebel East Timorese soldiers seriously wound President José Ramos-Horta. Rebel leader Alfredo Reinado is killed in the attack.
  • 2011 – Arab Spring: The first wave of the Egyptian revolution culminates in the resignation of Hosni Mubarak and the transfer of power to the Supreme Military Council after 17 days of protests.
  • 2013 – The Vatican confirmed that Pope Benedict XVI would resign the papacy as a result of his advanced age.
  • 2014 – A military transport plane crashes in a mountainous area of Oum El Bouaghi Province in eastern Algeria, killing 77 people.
  • 2015 – A university student was murdered as she resisted an attempted rape in Turkey, sparking nationwide protests and public outcry against harassment and violence against women.
  • 2016 – A man shoots six people dead at an education center in Jizan Province, Saudi Arabia.
  • 2017 – North Korea test fires a ballistic missile across the Sea of Japan.
  • 2018 – Saratov Airlines Flight 703 crashes near Moscow, Russia with 71 deaths and no survivors.

Births on February 11

  • 1380 – Poggio Bracciolini, Italian scholar and translator (d. 1459)
  • 1466 – Elizabeth of York (d. 1503)
  • 1535 – Pope Gregory XIV (d. 1591)
  • 1568 – Honoré d’Urfé, French author and playwright (d. 1625)
  • 1649 – William Carstares, Scottish minister and academic (d. 1715)
  • 1657 – Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle, French poet and playwright (d. 1757)
  • 1708 – Egidio Duni, Italian composer (d. 1775)
  • 1764 – Joseph Chénier, French poet and playwright (d. 1811)
  • 1776 – Ioannis Kapodistrias, Greek politician, 1st Governor of Greece (d. 1831)
  • 1800 – Henry Fox Talbot, English photographer and politician, invented the calotype (d. 1877)
  • 1802 – Lydia Maria Child, American journalist, author, and activist (d. 1880)
  • 1805 – Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, Native American-French Canadian explorer (d. 1866)
  • 1812 – Alexander H. Stephens, American lawyer and politician, Vice President of the Confederate States of America (d. 1883)
  • 1813 – Otto Ludwig, German author, playwright, and critic (d. 1865)
  • 1821 – Auguste Mariette, French archaeologist and scholar (d. 1881)
  • 1830 – Hans Bronsart von Schellendorff, Prussian pianist and composer (d. 1913)
  • 1833 – Melville Fuller, American lawyer and jurist, Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1910)
  • 1839 – Josiah Willard Gibbs, American physicist (d. 1903)
  • 1845 – Ahmet Tevfik Pasha, Ottoman soldier and politician, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (d. 1936)
  • 1847 – Thomas Edison, American engineer and businessman, developed the light bulb and phonograph (d. 1931)
  • 1855 – Ellen Day Hale, American painter and author (b. 1855)
  • 1860 – Rachilde, French author and playwright (d. 1953)
  • 1863 – John F. Fitzgerald, American politician; Mayor of Boston (d. 1950)
  • 1864 – Louis Bouveault, French chemist (d. 1909)
  • 1869 – Helene Kröller-Müller, German-Dutch art collector and philanthropist, founded the Kröller-Müller Museum (d. 1939)
  • 1869 – Else Lasker-Schüler, German poet and author (d. 1945)
  • 1874 – Elsa Beskow, Swedish author and illustrator (d. 1953)
  • 1881 – Carlo Carrà, Italian painter (d. 1966)
  • 1897 – Emil Leon Post, Polish-American mathematician and logician (d.1954)
  • 1898 – Leo Szilard, Hungarian-American physicist and academic (d. 1964)
  • 1900 – Ellen Broe, Danish nurse, pioneer in nursing education (d. 1994)
  • 1900 – Hans-Georg Gadamer, German philosopher and scholar (d. 2002)
  • 1900 – Jōsei Toda, Japanese educator and activist (d. 1958)
  • 1902 – Arne Jacobsen, Danish architect, designed Radisson Blu Royal Hotel (d. 1971)
  • 1904 – Keith Holyoake, New Zealand farmer and politician, Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1983)
  • 1904 – Lucile Randon, French Supercentenarian
  • 1908 – Philip Dunne, American screenwriter (d. 1992)
  • 1908 – Vivian Fuchs, English explorer (d. 1999)
  • 1909 – Max Baer, American boxer and actor (d. 1959)
  • 1909 – Joseph L. Mankiewicz, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1993)
  • 1912 – Rudolf Firkušný, Czech-American pianist and educator (d. 1994)
  • 1914 – Matt Dennis, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2002)
  • 1914 – Josh White, American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1969)
  • 1915 – Patrick Leigh Fermor, English soldier, author, and scholar (d. 2011)
  • 1915 – Richard Hamming, American mathematician and academic (d. 1998)
  • 1917 – Sidney Sheldon, American author and screenwriter (d. 2007)
  • 1920 – Farouk I, King of Egypt (d. 1965)
  • 1920 – Daniel F. Galouye, American author (d. 1976)
  • 1920 – Billy Halop, American actor (d. 1976)
  • 1920 – Daniel James, Jr., American general and pilot (d. 1978)
  • 1921 – Lloyd Bentsen, American colonel and politician, United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 2006)
  • 1921 – Ottavio Missoni, Italian hurdler and fashion designer, founded Missoni (d. 2013)
  • 1923 – Antony Flew, English philosopher and academic (d. 2010)
  • 1924 – Budge Patty, American tennis player
  • 1925 – Virginia E. Johnson, American psychologist and academic (d. 2013)
  • 1925 – Kim Stanley, American actress (d. 2001)
  • 1926 – Paul Bocuse, French chef (d. 2018)
  • 1926 – Leslie Nielsen, Canadian-American actor and producer (d. 2010)
  • 1930 – Roy De Forest, American painter and academic (d. 2007).
  • 1932 – Dennis Skinner, English miner and politician
  • 1934 – Mel Carnahan, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, Governor of Missouri (d. 2000)
  • 1934 – Tina Louise, American actress and singer
  • 1934 – Manuel Noriega, Panamanian general and politician, Military leader of Panama (d. 2017)
  • 1934 – Mary Quant, British fashion designer
  • 1934 – David Taylor, English veterinarian and television host (d. 2013)
  • 1935 – Gene Vincent, American singer and guitarist (d. 1971)
  • 1936 – Burt Reynolds, American actor and director (d. 2018)
  • 1937 – Ian Gow, British Member of Parliament who was assassinated by the IRA (d. 1990)
  • 1937 – Bill Lawry, Australian cricketer and sportscaster
  • 1937 – Eddie Shack, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1937 – Phillip Walker, American singer and guitarist (d. 2010)
  • 1938 – Bevan Congdon, New Zealand cricketer (d. 2018)
  • 1939 – Gerry Goffin, American songwriter (d. 2014)
  • 1940 – Mick Staton, American soldier and politician (d. 2014)
  • 1941 – Sérgio Mendes, Brazilian pianist and composer
  • 1942 – Otis Clay, American singer-songwriter (d. 2016)
  • 1943 – Joselito, Spanish singer and actor
  • 1943 – Alan Rubin, American trumpet player (d. 2011)
  • 1944 – Mike Oxley, American lawyer and politician (d. 2016)
  • 1944 – Joy Williams, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist
  • 1946 – Ian Porterfield, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 2007)
  • 1947 – Yukio Hatoyama, Japanese engineer and politician and Prime Minister of Japan
  • 1947 – Derek Shulman, Scottish singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1951 – Mike Leavitt, American politician, 14th Governor of Utah
  • 1953 – Philip Anglim, American actor
  • 1953 – Jeb Bush, American banker, politician and Governor of Florida
  • 1953 – Tom Veryzer, American baseball player (d. 2014)
  • 1954 – Wesley Strick, American director and screenwriter
  • 1956 – Didier Lockwood, French violinist (d. 2018)
  • 1959 – Roberto Moreno, Brazilian race car driver
  • 1960 – Richard Mastracchio, American engineer and astronaut
  • 1962 – Tammy Baldwin, American lawyer and politician
  • 1962 – Sheryl Crow, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1964 – Sarah Palin, American journalist, politician and Governor of Alaska
  • 1964 – Ken Shamrock, American martial artist and wrestler
  • 1965 – Vicki Wilson, Australian netball player
  • 1968 – Mo Willems, American author and illustrator
  • 1969 – Jennifer Aniston, American actress and producer
  • 1969 – Andreas Hilfiker, Swiss footballer
  • 1969 – John Salako, Nigerian-English footballer, manager, and sportscaster
  • 1971 – Damian Lewis, English actor
  • 1972 – Steve McManaman, English footballer
  • 1973 – Varg Vikernes, Norwegian guitarist and songwriter
  • 1974 – Nick Barmby, English international footballer, midfielder and manager
  • 1974 – D’Angelo, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1974 – Jaroslav Špaček, Czech ice hockey player and coach
  • 1975 – Andy Lally, American race car driver
  • 1975 – Callum Thorp, Australian cricketer
  • 1975 – Jacque Vaughn, American basketball player and coach
  • 1976 – Tony Battie, American basketball player and sportscaster
  • 1979 – Brandy Norwood, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
  • 1982 – Ľubomíra Kalinová, Slovak biathlete
  • 1982 – Neil Robertson, Australian snooker player
  • 1983 – Rafael van der Vaart, Dutch international footballer, midfielder
  • 1984 – Maarten Heisen, Dutch sprinter
  • 1984 – Marco Marcato, Italian cyclist
  • 1984 – Maxime Talbot, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1985 – Šárka Strachová, Czech skier
  • 1987 – Luca Antonelli, Italian footballer
  • 1987 – Juanmi Callejón, Spanish footballer
  • 1987 – Ellen van Dijk, Dutch cyclist
  • 1987 – Brian Matusz, American baseball player
  • 1987 – Jan Smeekens, Dutch speed skater
  • 1988 – Vlad Moldoveanu, Romanian basketball player
  • 1990 – Javier Aquino, Mexican footballer
  • 1991 – Nikola Mirotic, Spanish basketball player
  • 1992 – Lasse Norman Hansen, Danish track and road cyclist
  • 1993 – Ben McLemore, American basketball player
  • 1994 – Dansby Swanson, American baseball player
  • 1996 – Jonathan Tah, German footballer

Deaths on February 11

  • AD 55 – Britannicus, Roman son of Claudius (b. 41)
  • 244 – Gordian III, Roman emperor (b. 225)
  • 641 – Heraclius, Byzantine emperor (b. 575)
  • 731 – Pope Gregory II (b. 669)
  • 824 – Pope Paschal I
  • 1141 – Hugh of Saint Victor, German philosopher and theologian (b. 1096)
  • 1503 – Elizabeth of York (b. 1466)
  • 1626 – Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician and astronomer (b. 1548)
  • 1650 – René Descartes, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1596)
  • 1755 – Francesco Scipione, marchese di Maffei, Italian archaeologist, playwright, and critic (b. 1675)
  • 1763 – William Shenstone, English poet and gardener (b. 1714)
  • 1795 – Carl Michael Bellman, Swedish poet and composer (b. 1740)
  • 1829 – Alexander Griboyedov, Russian poet, playwright, and composer (b. 1795)
  • 1862 – Elizabeth Siddal, English poet and artist’s model (b. 1829)
  • 1868 – Léon Foucault, French physicist and academic (b. 1819)
  • 1898 – Félix María Zuloaga, Mexican general and unconstitutional interim president (1858 and 1860-1862) (b. 1813)
  • 1901 – Milan I of Serbia (b. 1855)
  • 1917 – Oswaldo Cruz, Brazilian physician and epidemiologist (b. 1872)
  • 1918 – Alexey Kaledin, Russian general (b. 1861)
  • 1931 – Charles Algernon Parsons, English-Irish engineer, invented the steam turbine (b. 1854)
  • 1940 – John Buchan, Scottish-Canadian historian and politician, Governor General of Canada (b. 1875)
  • 1940 – Ellen Day Hale, American painter and author (b. 1855)
  • 1942 – Jamnalal Bajaj, Indian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1884)
  • 1947 – Martin Klein, Estonian wrestler and coach (b. 1884)
  • 1948 – Sergei Eisenstein, Russian director and screenwriter (b. 1898)
  • 1949 – Axel Munthe, Swedish doctor (b. 1857)
  • 1958 – Ernest Jones, Welsh neurologist and psychoanalyst (b. 1879)
  • 1963 – John Olof Dahlgren, Swedish-American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1872)
  • 1963 – Sylvia Plath, American poet, novelist, and short story writer (b. 1932)
  • 1967 – A. J. Muste, Dutch-American minister and activist (b. 1885)
  • 1968 – Howard Lindsay, American playwright (b. 1889)
  • 1973 – J. Hans D. Jensen, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1907)
  • 1975 – Richard Ratsimandrava, Malagasy colonel and politician, President of Madagascar (b. 1931)
  • 1976 – Lee J. Cobb, American actor (b. 1911)
  • 1976 – Alexander Lippisch, German pilot and engineer (b. 1894)
  • 1977 – Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, Indian lawyer and politician, President of India (b. 1905)
  • 1977 – Louis Beel, Dutch academic and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1902)
  • 1978 – James Bryant Conant, American chemist and academic (b. 1893)
  • 1978 – Harry Martinson, Swedish novelist, essayist, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
  • 1982 – Eleanor Powell, American actress and dancer (b. 1912)
  • 1985 – Henry Hathaway, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1898)
  • 1986 – Frank Herbert, American journalist and author (b. 1920)
  • 1989 – George O’Hanlon, American actor and voice artist (b. 1912)
  • 1993 – Robert W. Holley, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1922)
  • 1994 – Neil Bonnett, American race car driver (b. 1946)
  • 1994 – Sorrell Booke, American lieutenant, actor, and director (b. 1930)
  • 1994 – William Conrad, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1920)
  • 1994 – Paul Feyerabend, Austrian-Swiss philosopher and academic (b. 1924)
  • 1996 – Amelia Rosselli, Italian poet and author (b. 1930)
  • 2000 – Lord Kitchner, Trinidadian singer (b. 1922)
  • 2000 – Roger Vadim, French director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1928)
  • 2002 – Frankie Crosetti, American baseball player and coach (b. 1910)
  • 2002 – Barry Foster, English actor (b. 1931)
  • 2004 – Shirley Strickland, Australian runner (b. 1925)
  • 2005 – Jack L. Chalker, American author (b. 1944)
  • 2006 – Peter Benchley, American author and screenwriter (b. 1940)
  • 2006 – Ken Fletcher, Australian tennis player (b. 1940)
  • 2006 – Jackie Pallo, English wrestler and actor (b. 1926)
  • 2008 – Tom Lantos, American lawyer and politician (b. 1928)
  • 2008 – Frank Piasecki, American engineer (b. 1919)
  • 2009 – Estelle Bennett, American singer (b. 1941)
  • 2009 – Willem Johan Kolff, Dutch-American physician and academic (b. 1911)
  • 2010 – Heward Grafftey, Canadian businessman and politician (b. 1928)
  • 2010 – Alexander McQueen, English fashion designer, founder of his eponymous brand (b. 1969)
  • 2011 – Chuck Tanner, American baseball player and manager (b. 1928)
  • 2012 – Siri Bjerke, Norwegian politician, Norwegian Minister of the Environment (b. 1958)
  • 2012 – Aharon Davidi, Israeli general (b. 1927)
  • 2012 – Whitney Houston, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress (b. 1963)
  • 2013 – Rick Huxley, English bass player (b. 1940)
  • 2014 – Alice Babs, Swedish singer and actress (b. 1924)
  • 2014 – Tito Canepa, Dominican-American painter (b. 1916)
  • 2014 – Fernando González Pacheco, Colombian journalist and actor (b. 1932)
  • 2015 – Roger Hanin, French actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1925)
  • 2015 – Bob Simon, American journalist (b. 1941)
  • 2015 – Jerry Tarkanian, American basketball player and coach (b. 1930)
  • 2016 – Kevin Randleman, American mixed martial artist and wrestler (b. 1971)
  • 2016 – Zeng Xuelin, Thai-Chinese footballer and manager (b. 1929)
  • 2017 – Fab Melo, Brazilian basketball player (b. 1990)
  • 2017 – Jaap Rijks, Dutch Olympian (b. 1919)
  • 2018 – Vic Damone, American singer, songwriter and actor (b. 1928)
  • 2018 – Asma Jahangir, Pakistani human-rights lawyer and social activist (b. 1952)
  • 2018 – Jan Maxwell, American stage and television actress (b. 1956)
  • 2018 – Qazi Wajid, Pakistani drama actor, writer and artist (b. 1930)

Holidays and observances on February 11

  • Christian feast day:
    • Blaise Eastern Orthodox liturgics
    • Cædmon, first recorded Christian poet in England, circa 680 CE (Anglicanism)
    • Gobnait
    • Gregory II
    • Lazarus of Milan
  • European 112 Day (European Union)
  • Armed Forces Day (Liberia)
  • Evelio Javier Day (Panay Island, the Philippines)
  • Feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes (Catholic Church), and its related observance
    • World Day of the Sick (Roman Catholic Church)
  • Inventors’ Day (United States)
  • National Foundation Day (Japan)
  • Youth Day (Cameroon)
  • International Day of Women and Girls in Science (UN Women)

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

On This Day

February 7 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /

February 7 in History

  • 457 – Leo I the Thracian becomes emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
  • 987 – Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros, Byzantine generals of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II.
  • 1301 – Edward of Caernarvon (later king Edward II of England) becomes the first English Prince of Wales.
  • 1313 – King Thihathu founds the Pinya Kingdom as the de jure successor state of the Pagan Kingdom
  • 1497 – In Florence, Italy, supporters of Girolamo Savonarola burn cosmetics, art, and books, in a “Bonfire of the vanities”.
  • 1783 – American Revolutionary War: French and Spanish forces lift the Great Siege of Gibraltar.
  • 1795 – The 11th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified.
  • 1807 – Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon finds Bennigsen’s Russian forces taking a stand at Eylau. After bitter fighting, the French take the town, but the Russians resume the battle the next day.
  • 1812 – The strongest in a series of earthquakes strikes New Madrid, Missouri.
  • 1813 – In the action of 7 February 1813 near the Îles de Los, the frigates Aréthuse and Amelia batter each other, but neither can gain the upper hand.
  • 1819 – Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles leaves Singapore after just taking it over, leaving it in the hands of William Farquhar.
  • 1842 – Battle of Debre Tabor: Ras Ali Alula, Regent of the Emperor of Ethiopia defeats warlord Wube Haile Maryam of Semien.
  • 1854 – A law is approved to found the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Lectures started October 16, 1855.
  • 1863 – HMS Orpheus sinks off the coast of Auckland, New Zealand, killing 189.
  • 1894 – The Cripple Creek miner’s strike, led by the Western Federation of Miners, begins in Cripple Creek, Colorado, United States.
  • 1898 – Dreyfus affair: Émile Zola is brought to trial for libel for publishing J’Accuse…!.
  • 1900 – Second Boer War: British troops fail in their third attempt to lift the Siege of Ladysmith.
  • 1900 – A Chinese immigrant in San Francisco falls ill to bubonic plague in the first plague epidemic in the continental United States.
  • 1904 – A fire begins in Baltimore, Maryland; it destroys over 1,500 buildings in 30 hours.
  • 1940 – The second full-length animated Walt Disney film, Pinocchio, premieres.
  • 1943 – World War II: Imperial Japanese Navy forces complete the evacuation of Imperial Japanese Army troops from Guadalcanal during Operation Ke, ending Japanese attempts to retake the island from Allied forces in the Guadalcanal Campaign.
  • 1944 – World War II: In Anzio, Italy, German forces launch a counteroffensive during the Allied Operation Shingle.
  • 1951 – Korean War: More than 700 suspected communist sympathizers are massacred by South Korean forces.
  • 1962 – The United States bans all Cuban imports and exports.
  • 1974 – Grenada gains independence from the United Kingdom.
  • 1979 – Pluto moves inside Neptune’s orbit for the first time since either was discovered.
  • 1984 – Space Shuttle program: STS-41-B Mission: Astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart make the first untethered space walk using the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU).
  • 1986 – Twenty-eight years of one-family rule end in Haiti, when President Jean-Claude Duvalier flees the Caribbean nation.
  • 1990 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party agrees to give up its monopoly on power.
  • 1991 – Haiti’s first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is sworn in.
  • 1991 – The Troubles: The Provisional IRA launched a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street in London, the headquarters of the British government.
  • 1992 – The Maastricht Treaty is signed, leading to the creation of the European Union.
  • 1995 – Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, is arrested in Islamabad, Pakistan.
  • 1997 – NeXT merges with Apple Computer, starting the path to Mac OS X.
  • 1999 – Crown Prince Abdullah becomes the King of Jordan on the death of his father, King Hussein.
  • 2009 – Bushfires in Victoria leave 173 dead in the worst natural disaster in Australia’s history.
  • 2012 – President Mohamed Nasheed of the Republic of Maldives resigns, after 23 days of anti-governmental protests calling for the release of Chief Judge unlawfully arrested by the military.
  • 2013 – The U.S. state of Mississippi officially certifies the Thirteenth Amendment, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment was formally ratified by Mississippi in 1995.
  • 2014 – Scientists announce that the Happisburgh footprints in Norfolk, England, date back to more than 800,000 years ago, making them the oldest known hominid footprints outside Africa.
  • 2016 – North Korea launches Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4 into outer space violating multiple UN treaties and prompting condemnation from around the world.

Births on February 7

  • 574 – Prince Shōtoku of Japan (d. 622)
  • 1102 – Empress Matilda, Holy Roman Empress, and claimant to the English throne (probable; d. 1167)
  • 1478 – Thomas More, English lawyer and politician, Lord Chancellor of England (d. 1535)
  • 1487 – Queen Dangyeong, Korean royal consort (d. 1557)
  • 1500 – João de Castro, viceroy of Portuguese India (d. 1548)
  • 1612 – Thomas Killigrew, English playwright and manager (d. 1683)
  • 1622 – Vittoria della Rovere, Italian noble (d. 1694)
  • 1693 – Empress Anna of Russia (d. 1740)
  • 1722 – Azar Bigdeli, Iranian anthologist and poet (d. 1781)
  • 1726 – Margaret Fownes-Luttrell, English painter (d. 1766)
  • 1741 – Henry Fuseli, Swiss-English painter and academic (d. 1825)
  • 1758 – Benedikt Schack, Czech tenor and composer (d. 1826)
  • 1796 – Thomas Gregson, English-Australian lawyer and politician, 2nd Premier of Tasmania (baptism date; d. 1874)
  • 1802 – Louisa Jane Hall, American poet, essayist, and literary critic (d. 1892)
  • 1804 – John Deere, American blacksmith and businessman, founded Deere & Company (d. 1886)
  • 1812 – Charles Dickens, English novelist and critic (d. 1870)
  • 1825 – Karl Möbius, German zoologist and ecologist (d. 1908)
  • 1834 – Alfred-Philibert Aldrophe, French architect (d. 1895)
  • 1837 – James Murray, Scottish lexicographer and philologist (d. 1915)
  • 1864 – Arthur Collins, American baritone singer (d. 1933)
  • 1867 – Laura Ingalls Wilder, American author (d. 1957)
  • 1870 – Alfred Adler, Austrian-Scottish psychologist and therapist (d. 1937)
  • 1871 – Wilhelm Stenhammar, Swedish pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1927)
  • 1873 – Thomas Andrews, Irish shipbuilder and businessman, designed the RMS Titanic (d. 1912)
  • 1877 – G. H. Hardy, English mathematician and geneticist (d. 1947)
  • 1878 – Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Russian-American pianist and conductor (d. 1936)
  • 1885 – Sinclair Lewis, American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1951)
  • 1885 – Hugo Sperrle, German field marshal (d. 1953)
  • 1887 – Eubie Blake, American pianist and composer (d. 1983)
  • 1889 – Harry Nyquist, Swedish-American engineer and theorist (d. 1976)
  • 1893 – Joseph Algernon Pearce, Canadian astrophysicist and astronomer (d. 1988)
  • 1893 – Nicanor Abelardo, Filipino pianist, composer and teacher (d. 1934)
  • 1895 – Anita Stewart, American actress (d. 1961)
  • 1901 – Arnold Nordmeyer, New Zealand minister and politician, 30th New Zealand Minister of Finance (d. 1989)
  • 1904 – Ernest E. Debs, American politician, California State Assembly member, Los Angeles city councilman, and a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (d. 2002)
  • 1905 – Paul Nizan, French philosopher and author (d. 1940)
  • 1905 – Ulf von Euler, Swedish physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1983)
  • 1906 – Puyi, Chinese emperor (d. 1967)
  • 1906 – Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov, Russian engineer, founded the Antonov Aircraft Company (d. 1984)
  • 1908 – Buster Crabbe, American swimmer and actor (d. 1983)
  • 1908 – Manmath Nath Gupta, Indian journalist and author (d. 2000)
  • 1909 – Hélder Câmara, Brazilian archbishop (d. 1999)
  • 1909 – Amedeo Guillet, Italian soldier (d. 2010)
  • 1912 – Russell Drysdale, English-Australian painter (d. 1981)
  • 1915 – Teoctist Arăpașu, Romanian patriarch (d. 2007)
  • 1915 – Eddie Bracken, American actor and singer (d. 2002)
  • 1916 – Frank Hyde, Australian rugby player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2007)
  • 1919 – Jock Mahoney, American actor and stuntman (d. 1989)
  • 1919 – Desmond Doss, American army corporal and combat medic, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2006)
  • 1920 – Oscar Brand, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and author (d. 2016)
  • 1920 – An Wang, Chinese-American engineer and businessman, founded Wang Laboratories (d. 1990)
  • 1921 – Athol Rowan, South African cricketer (d. 1998)
  • 1922 – Hattie Jacques, English actress (d. 1980)
  • 1923 – Dora Bryan, English actress and restaurateur (d. 2014)
  • 1925 – Hans Schmidt, Canadian wrestler (d. 2012)
  • 1926 – Konstantin Feoktistov, Russian engineer and astronaut (d. 2009)
  • 1926 – Bill Hoest, American cartoonist (d. 1988)
  • 1927 – Juliette Gréco, French singer and actress
  • 1927 – Vladimir Kuts, Ukrainian-Russian runner and coach (d. 1975)
  • 1927 – Lalo Ríos, Mexican actor (d. 1973)
  • 1928 – Lincoln D. Faurer, American general (d. 2014)
  • 1929 – Jim Langley, English international footballer, full back and manager (d. 2007)
  • 1932 – Gay Talese, American journalist and memoirist
  • 1932 – Alfred Worden, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2020)
  • 1933 – K. N. Choksy, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, Sri Lankan Minister of Finance (d. 2015)
  • 1934 – Eddie Fenech Adami, Maltese lawyer and politician, 7th President of Malta
  • 1934 – King Curtis, American saxophonist and producer (d. 1971)
  • 1934 – Earl King, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2003)
  • 1935 – Cliff Jones, Welsh international footballer, winger
  • 1935 – Herb Kohl, American businessman and politician
  • 1935 – Jörg Schneider, Swiss actor and author (d. 2015)
  • 1936 – Jas Gawronski, Italian journalist and politician
  • 1937 – Peter Jay, English economist, journalist, and diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States
  • 1937 – Juan Pizarro, Puerto Rican baseball player
  • 1940 – Tony Tan, Singaporean academic and politician, 7th President of Singapore
  • 1941 – Kevin Crossley-Holland, English author and poet
  • 1943 – Eric Foner, American historian, author, and academic
  • 1943 – Gareth Hunt, English actor (d. 2007)
  • 1945 – Gerald Davies, Welsh rugby player and journalist
  • 1946 – Héctor Babenco, Argentinian-Brazilian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
  • 1946 – Sammy Johns, American country music singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
  • 1946 – Pete Postlethwaite, English actor (d. 2011)
  • 1946 – Gérard Jean-Juste, Haitian priest and activist (d. 2009)
  • 1949 – Jacques Duchesneau, Canadian police officer and politician
  • 1949 – Joe English, American drummer and songwriter
  • 1950 – Karen Joy Fowler, American author
  • 1953 – Dan Quisenberry, American baseball player and poet (d. 1998)
  • 1954 – Dieter Bohlen, German singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1955 – Rolf Benirschke, American football player and game show host
  • 1955 – Miguel Ferrer, American actor and director (d. 2017)
  • 1956 – John Nielsen, Danish racing driver
  • 1956 – Mark St. John, American guitarist (d. 2007)
  • 1957 – Carney Lansford, American baseball player and coach
  • 1958 – Giuseppe Baresi, Italian footballer and manager
  • 1958 – Terry Marsh, English boxer and politician
  • 1958 – Matt Ridley, English journalist, author, and politician
  • 1959 – Mick McCarthy, English footballer, manager, and sportscaster
  • 1960 – Robert Smigel, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1960 – James Spader, American actor and producer
  • 1962 – Garth Brooks, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1962 – David Bryan, American keyboard player and songwriter
  • 1962 – Eddie Izzard, English comedian, actor, and producer
  • 1963 – Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, American Naval officer and astronaut
  • 1964 – Ashok Banker, Indian journalist, author, and screenwriter
  • 1965 – Chris Rock, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1966 – Kristin Otto, German swimmer
  • 1968 – Peter Bondra, Ukrainian-Slovak ice hockey player and manager
  • 1968 – Sully Erna, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1968 – Mark Tewksbury, Canadian swimmer and sportscaster
  • 1969 – Andrew Micallef, Maltese painter and musician
  • 1971 – Anita Tsoy, Russian singer-songwriter
  • 1972 – Robyn Lively, American actress
  • 1973 – Juwan Howard, American basketball player and coach
  • 1974 – J Dilla, American rapper and producer (d. 2006)
  • 1974 – Nujabes, Japanese record producer, DJ, composer and arranger (d. 2010)
  • 1974 – Steve Nash, South African-Canadian basketball player
  • 1975 – Wes Borland, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1975 – Alexandre Daigle, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1975 – Rémi Gaillard, French comedian and actor
  • 1976 – Chito Miranda, Filipino singer-songwriter
  • 1977 – Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Japanese footballer
  • 1978 – David Aebischer, Swiss ice hockey player
  • 1978 – Endy Chávez, Venezuelan baseball player
  • 1978 – Ashton Kutcher, American model, actor, producer, and entrepreneur
  • 1978 – Daniel Van Buyten, Belgian football player
  • 1979 – Daniel Bierofka, German footballer and coach
  • 1979 – Tawakkol Karman, Yemeni journalist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1979 – Sam J. Miller, American author
  • 1981 – Darcy Dolce Neto, Brazilian footballer
  • 1981 – Lee Ok-sung, South Korean boxer
  • 1982 – Osamu Mukai, Japanese actor
  • 1982 – Mickaël Piétrus, French basketball player
  • 1983 – Sho Kamogawa, Japanese footballer
  • 1983 – Christian Klien, Austrian race car driver
  • 1983 – Federico Marchetti, Italian footballer
  • 1984 – Trey Hardee, American decathlete
  • 1985 – Tina Majorino, American actress
  • 1988 – Ai Kago, Japanese singer and actress
  • 1989 – Nick Calathes, Greek basketball player
  • 1989 – Elia Viviani, Italian cyclist
  • 1989 – Isaiah Thomas, American basketball player
  • 1990 – Gianluca Lapadula, Italian footballer
  • 1990 – Dalilah Muhammad, American hurdler
  • 1990 – Steven Stamkos, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1991 – Ryan O’Reilly, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1992 – Sergi Roberto, Spanish footballer
  • 1992 – Ksenia Stolbova, Russian figure skater
  • 1992 – Maimi Yajima, Japanese singer and actress
  • 1993 – Chris Mears, English diver
  • 1994 – Riley Barber, American ice hockey player
  • 1995 – Roberto Osuna, Mexican baseball player
  • 1996 – Pierre Gasly, French racing driver
  • 1997 – Nicolò Barella, Italian footballer

Deaths on February 7

  • 199 – Lü Bu, Chinese warlord
  • 318 – Jin Mindi, emperor of the Jin Dynasty (b. 300)
  • 999 – Boleslaus II the Pious, Duke of Bohemia (b. 932)
  • 1045 – Emperor Go-Suzaku of Japan (b. 1009)
  • 1065 – Siegfried I, Count of Sponheim (b. c. 1010)
  • 1127 – Ava, German poet (b. 1060)
  • 1165 – Marshal Stephen of Armenia
  • 1259 – Thomas, Count of Flanders
  • 1317 – Robert, Count of Clermont (b. 1256)
  • 1320 – Jan Muskata, Bishop of Kraków (b. 1250)
  • 1333 – Nikko, Japanese priest, founder of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism (b. 1246)
  • 1520 – Alfonsina de’ Medici, Regent of Florence (b. 1472)
  • 1560 – Bartolommeo Bandinelli, Florentine sculptor (b. 1493)
  • 1603 – Bartholomäus Sastrow, German politician (b. 1520)
  • 1626 – William V, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1548)
  • 1642 – William Bedell, English bishop and academic (b. 1571)
  • 1693 – Paul Pellisson, French lawyer and author (b. 1624)
  • 1736 – Stephen Gray, English astronomer and physicist (b. 1666)
  • 1779 – William Boyce, English organist and composer (b. 1711)
  • 1799 – Qianlong Emperor of China (b. 1711)
  • 1801 – Daniel Chodowiecki, Polish-German painter and academic (b. 1726)
  • 1819 – August Wilhelm Hupel, German-Estonian linguist and author (b. 1737)
  • 1823 – Ann Radcliffe, English author (b. 1764)
  • 1837 – Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden (b. 1778)
  • 1849 – Mariano Paredes, Mexican general and 16th president (1845-1846) (b. 1797)
  • 1862 – Francisco de Paula Martínez de la Rosa y Berdejo, Spanish playwright and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1787)
  • 1864 – Vuk Karadžić, Serbian philologist and linguist (b. 1787)
  • 1871 – Henry E. Steinway, German-American businessman, founded Steinway & Sons (b. 1797)
  • 1873 – Sheridan Le Fanu, Irish author (b. 1814)
  • 1878 – Pope Pius IX (b. 1792)
  • 1891 – Marie Louise Andrews, American story writer and journalist (b. 1849)
  • 1897 – Galileo Ferraris, Italian physicist and engineer (b. 1847)
  • 1919 – William Halford, English-American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1841)
  • 1920 – Alexander Kolchak, Russian admiral and explorer (b. 1874)
  • 1920 – Charles Langelier, Canadian journalist, judge, and politician (b. 1850)
  • 1921 – John J. Gardner, American politician (b. 1845)
  • 1937 – Elihu Root, American lawyer and politician, 38th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1845)
  • 1938 – Harvey Samuel Firestone, American businessman, founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company (b. 1868)
  • 1939 – Boris Grigoriev, Russian painter and illustrator (b. 1886)
  • 1942 – Ivan Bilibin, Russian illustrator and stage designer (b. 1876)
  • 1944 – Lina Cavalieri, Italian soprano and actress (b. 1874)
  • 1959 – Nap Lajoie, American baseball player and manager (b. 1874)
  • 1959 – Daniel François Malan, South African minister and politician, 5th Prime Minister of South Africa (b. 1874)
  • 1959 – Guitar Slim, American singer and guitarist (b. 1926)
  • 1960 – Igor Kurchatov, Russian physicist and academic (b. 1903)
  • 1963 – Learco Guerra, Italian cyclist and manager (b. 1902)
  • 1964 – Sofoklis Venizelos, Greek captain and politician, 133rd Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1894)
  • 1968 – Nick Adams, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1931)
  • 1972 – Walter Lang, American director and screenwriter (b. 1896)
  • 1979 – Josef Mengele, German SS officer and physician (b. 1911)
  • 1986 – Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegalese historian, anthropologist, and physicist (b. 1923)
  • 1990 – Alan Perlis, American computer scientist and academic (b. 1922)
  • 1990 – Alfredo M. Santos, Filipino general (b. 1905)
  • 1991 – Amos Yarkoni, Israeli colonel (b. 1920)
  • 1994 – Witold Lutosławski, Polish composer and conductor (b. 1913)
  • 1996 – Phillip Davidson, American general (b. 1915)
  • 1999 – King Hussein of Jordan (b. 1935)
  • 1999 – Bobby Troup, American actor, pianist, and composer (b. 1918)
  • 2000 – Doug Henning, Canadian magician and politician (b. 1947)
  • 2001 – Dale Evans, American singer-songwriter and actress (b. 1912)
  • 2001 – Anne Morrow Lindbergh, American author and pilot (b. 1906)
  • 2003 – Augusto Monterroso, Guatemalan author (b. 1921)
  • 2005 – Atli Dam, Faroese engineer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (b. 1932)
  • 2006 – Princess Durru Shehvar of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1914)
  • 2009 – Blossom Dearie, American singer and pianist (b. 1924)
  • 2010 – Franco Ballerini, Italian cyclist and coach (b. 1964)
  • 2012 – Harry Keough, American soccer player and coach (b. 1927)
  • 2013 – Krsto Papić, Croatian director and screenwriter (b. 1933)
  • 2014 – Doug Mohns, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1933)
  • 2015 – Billy Casper, American golfer and architect (b. 1931)
  • 2015 – Marshall Rosenberg, American psychologist and author (b. 1934)
  • 2015 – Dean Smith, American basketball player and coach (b. 1931)
  • 2015 – John C. Whitehead, American banker and politician, 9th United States Deputy Secretary of State (b. 1922)
  • 2017 – Richard Hatch, American actor (b. 1945)
  • 2017 – Hans Rosling, Swedish academic (b. 1948)
  • 2017 – Tzvetan Todorov, Bulgarian philosopher (b. 1939)
  • 2019 – John Dingell, American politician (b. 1926)
  • 2019 – Albert Finney, English actor (b. 1936)
  • 2019 – Jan Olszewski, Polish politician, 3rd Prime Minister (b. 1930)
  • 2019 – Frank Robinson, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1935)

Holidays and observances on February 7

  • Christian feast day:
    • Richard the Pilgrim
    • Blessed Eugénie Smet
    • Blessed Pope Pius IX
    • Chrysolius
    • Egidio Maria of Saint Joseph
    • Colette of Corbie
    • February 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Orthodox Church Typically observed on the Sunday closest to January 25 (O.S.)/February 7 (N.S.)
  • Independence Day (Grenada), celebrates the independence of Grenada from the United Kingdom in 1974.
  • National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (United States)

February 7 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

January 26 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 661 – The Rashidun Caliphate is effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last caliph.
  • 945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to become monks by Constantine VII, who becomes the sole emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
  • 1500 – Vicente Yáñez Pinzón becomes the first European to set foot on Brazil.
  • 1531 – The 6.4–7.1 Mw Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people.
  • 1564 – The Council of Trent establishes an official distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.
  • 1564 – The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Tsardom of Russia in the Battle of Ula during the Livonian War.
  • 1565 – Battle of Talikota, fought between the Vijayanagara Empire and the Deccan sultanates, leads to the subjugation, and eventual destruction of the last Hindu kingdom in India, and the consolidation of Islamic rule over much of the Indian subcontinent.
  • 1699 – For the first time, the Ottoman Empire permanently cedes territory to the Christian powers.
  • 1700 – The 8.7–9.2 Mw Cascadia earthquake takes place off the west coast of North America, as evidenced by Japanese records.
  • 1736 – Stanislaus I of Poland abdicates his throne.
  • 1788 – The British First Fleet, led by Arthur Phillip, sails into Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) to establish Sydney, the first permanent European settlement on Australia. Commemorated as Australia Day.
  • 1808 – The Rum Rebellion is the only successful (albeit short-lived) armed takeover of the government in New South Wales.
  • 1837 – Michigan is admitted as the 26th U.S. state.
  • 1838 – Tennessee enacts the first prohibition law in the United States.
  • 1841 – James Bremer takes formal possession of Hong Kong Island at what is now Possession Point, establishing British Hong Kong.
  • 1855 – Point No Point Treaty is signed in Washington Territory.
  • 1856 – First Battle of Seattle. Marines from the USS Decatur drive off American Indian attackers after all day battle with settlers.
  • 1861 – American Civil War: The state of Louisiana secedes from the Union.
  • 1863 – American Civil War: General Ambrose Burnside is relieved of command of the Army of the Potomac after the disastrous Fredericksburg campaign. He is replaced by Joseph Hooker.
  • 1863 – American Civil War: Governor of Massachusetts John Albion Andrew receives permission from the Secretary of War to raise a militia organization for men of African descent.
  • 1870 – Reconstruction Era: Virginia rejoins the Union.
  • 1885 – Troops loyal to The Mahdi conquer Khartoum, killing the Governor-General Charles George Gordon.
  • 1905 – The world’s largest diamond ever, the Cullinan weighing 3,106.75 carats (0.621350 kg), is found at the Premier Mine near Pretoria in South Africa.
  • 1911 – Glenn Curtiss flies the first successful American seaplane.
  • 1915 – The Rocky Mountain National Park is established by an act of the U.S. Congress.
  • 1918 – Finnish Civil War: A group of Red Guards hangs a red lantern atop the tower of Helsinki Workers’ Hall to symbolically mark the start of the war.
  • 1920 – Former Ford Motor Company executive Henry Leland launches the Lincoln Motor Company which he later sold to his former employer.
  • 1926 – The first demonstration of the television by John Logie Baird.
  • 1930 – The Indian National Congress declares 26 January as Independence Day or as the day for Poorna Swaraj (“Complete Independence”) which occurred 17 years later.
  • 1934 – The Apollo Theater reopens in Harlem, New York City.
  • 1934 – German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact is signed.
  • 1939 – Spanish Civil War: Catalonia Offensive: Troops loyal to nationalist General Francisco Franco and aided by Italy take Barcelona.
  • 1942 – World War II: The first United States forces arrive in Europe landing in Northern Ireland.
  • 1945 – World War II: The Red Army begins encircling the German Fourth Army near Heiligenbeil in East Prussia, which will end in destruction of the 4th Army two months later.
  • 1945 – World War II: Audie Murphy displays valor and bravery in action for which he will later be awarded the Medal of Honor.
  • 1949 – The Hale telescope at Palomar Observatory sees first light under the direction of Edwin Hubble, becoming the largest aperture optical telescope (until BTA-6 is built in 1976).
  • 1950 – The Constitution of India comes into force, forming a republic. Rajendra Prasad is sworn in as its first President of India. Observed as Republic Day in India.
  • 1952 – Black Saturday in Egypt: rioters burn Cairo’s central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses.
  • 1956 – the Soviet Union cedes Porkkala back to Finland.
  • 1961 – John F. Kennedy appoints Janet G. Travell to be the first woman Physician to the President.
  • 1962 – Ranger 3 is launched to study the Moon. The space probe later misses the moon by 22,000 miles (35,400 km).
  • 1965 – Hindi becomes the official language of India.
  • 1972 – JAT Fight 367 is destroyed by a terrorist bomb, killing 27 of the 28 people on board the DC-9. Flight attendant Vesna Vulović survives with critical injuries.
  • 1980 – Egypt–Israel relations are formally established.
  • 1986 – The Ugandan government of Tito Okello is overthrown by the National Resistance Army, led by Yoweri Museveni.
  • 1991 – Mohamed Siad Barre is removed from power in Somalia, ending centralized government, and is succeeded by Ali Mahdi.
  • 1992 – Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia will stop targeting United States cities with nuclear weapons.
  • 1998 – Lewinsky scandal: On American television, U.S. President Bill Clinton denies having had “sexual relations” with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
  • 2001 – The 7.7 Mw Gujarat earthquake shakes Western India with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), leaving 13,805–20,023 dead and about 166,800 injured.
  • 2009 – Rioting breaks out in Antananarivo, Madagascar, sparking a political crisis that will result in the replacement of President Marc Ravalomanana with Andry Rajoelina.
  • 2015 – An aircraft crashes at Los Llanos Air Base in Albacete, Spain, killing 11 people and injuring 21 others.
  • 2020 – A Sikorsky S-76B flying from John Wayne Airport to Camarillo Airport crashes in Calabasas, 30 miles west of Los Angeles, killing all nine people on board including former five time NBA champion Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Bryant.

Births on January 26

  • 183 – Lady Zhen, wife of Cao Pi (d. 221)
  • 1436 – Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset, Lancastrian military commander (d. 1464)
  • 1467 – Guillaume Budé, French scholar (d. 1540)
  • 1495 – Emperor Go-Nara of Japan (d. 1557)
  • 1541 – Florent Chrestien, French poet and translator (d. 1596)
  • 1549 – Jakob Ebert, German theologian (d. 1614)
  • 1582 – Giovanni Lanfranco, Italian painter (d. 1647)
  • 1595 – Antonio Maria Abbatini, Italian composer (d. 1679)
  • 1624 – George William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1705)
  • 1657 – William Wake, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1737)
  • 1708 – William Hayes, English organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1777)
  • 1714 – Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, French sculptor and educator (d. 1785)
  • 1715 – Claude Adrien Helvétius, French philosopher (d. 1771)
  • 1716 – George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville, English general and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (d. 1785)
  • 1722 – Alexander Carlyle, Scottish minister and author (d. 1805)
  • 1763 – Charles XIV John of Sweden (d. 1844)
  • 1781 – Ludwig Achim von Arnim, German poet and author (d. 1831)
  • 1813 – Juan Pablo Duarte, Dominican philosopher and poet (d. 1876)
  • 1824 – Emil Czyrniański, Polish chemist (d. 1888)
  • 1832 – George Shiras, Jr., American lawyer and jurist (d. 1924)
  • 1842 – François Coppée, French poet and author (d. 1908)
  • 1852 – Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, Italian-French explorer (d. 1905)
  • 1857 – 12th Dalai Lama (d. 1875)
  • 1861 – Louis Anquetin, French painter (d. 1932)
  • 1864 – József Pusztai, Slovene-Hungarian poet and journalist (d. 1934)
  • 1866 – John Cady, American golfer (d. 1933)
  • 1877 – Kees van Dongen, Dutch painter (d. 1968)
  • 1878 – Dave Nourse, English-South African cricketer and coach (d. 1948)
  • 1880 – Douglas MacArthur, American general, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1964)
  • 1885 – Michael Considine, Irish-Australian politician (d. 1959)
  • 1885 – Harry Ricardo, English engineer and academic (d. 1974)
  • 1885 – Per Thorén, Swedish figure skater (d. 1962)
  • 1887 – François Faber, French-Luxembourgian cyclist (d. 1915)
  • 1887 – Marc Mitscher, American admiral and pilot (d. 1947)
  • 1887 – Dimitris Pikionis, Greek architect and academic (d. 1968)
  • 1891 – Frank Costello, Italian-American mob boss (d. 1973)
  • 1891 – August Froehlich, German priest and martyr (d. 1942)
  • 1891 – Wilder Penfield, American-Canadian neurosurgeon and academic (d. 1976)
  • 1892 – Bessie Coleman, American pilot (d. 1926)
  • 1893 – Giuseppe Genco Russo, Italian mob boss (d. 1976)
  • 1899 – Günther Reindorff, Russian-Estonian graphic designer and illustrator (d. 1974)
  • 1900 – Karl Ristenpart, German conductor (d. 1967)
  • 1902 – Menno ter Braak, Dutch author (d. 1940)
  • 1904 – Ancel Keys, American physiologist and nutritionist (d. 2004)
  • 1904 – Seán MacBride, Irish lawyer and politician, Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988)
  • 1905 – Charles Lane, American actor and singer (d. 2007)
  • 1905 – Maria von Trapp, Austrian-American singer (d. 1987)
  • 1907 – Henry Cotton, English golfer (d. 1987)
  • 1907 – Dimitrios Holevas, Greek priest and philologist (d. 2001)
  • 1908 – Jill Esmond, English actress (d. 1990)
  • 1908 – Rupprecht Geiger, German painter and sculptor (d. 2009)
  • 1908 – Stéphane Grappelli, French violinist (d. 1997)
  • 1910 – Jean Image, Hungarian-French animator, director, and screenwriter (d. 1989)
  • 1911 – Polykarp Kusch, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1993)
  • 1911 – Norbert Schultze, German composer and conductor (d. 2002)
  • 1913 – Jimmy Van Heusen, American pianist and composer (d. 1990)
  • 1914 – Dürrüşehvar Sultan, Imperial Princess of the Ottoman Empire (d. 2006)
  • 1915 – William Hopper, American actor (d. 1970)
  • 1917 – Louis Zamperini, American runner and captain (d. 2014)
  • 1918 – Nicolae Ceaușescu, Romanian dictator, 1st President of Romania (d. 1989)
  • 1918 – Philip José Farmer, American author (d. 2009)
  • 1919 – Valentino Mazzola, Italian footballer (d. 1949)
  • 1919 – Bill Nicholson, English footballer and manager (d. 2004)
  • 1919 – Hyun Soong-jong, South Korean politician, 24th Prime Minister of South Korea (d. 2020)
  • 1920 – Hans Holzer, Austrian-American paranormal researcher and author (d. 2009)
  • 1921 – Eddie Barclay, French record producer, founded Barclay Records (d. 2005)
  • 1921 – Akio Morita, Japanese businessman, co-founded Sony (d. 1999)
  • 1922 – Michael Bentine, English actor and screenwriter (d. 1996)
  • 1922 – Seán Flanagan, Irish footballer and politician, 7th Irish Minister for Health (d. 1993)
  • 1922 – Gil Merrick, English footballer (d. 2010)
  • 1923 – Patrick J. Hannifin, American admiral (d. 2014)
  • 1923 – Anne Jeffreys, American actress and singer (d. 2017)
  • 1924 – Alice Babs, Swedish singer and actress (b. 1924)
  • 1924 – Annette Strauss, American philanthropist and politician, Mayor of Dallas (d. 1998)
  • 1925 – David Jenkins, English bishop and theologian (d. 2016)
  • 1925 – Joan Leslie, American actress (d. 2015)
  • 1925 – Paul Newman, American actor, activist, director, race car driver, and businessman, co-founded Newman’s Own (d. 2008)
  • 1925 – Ben Pucci, American football player and sportscaster (d. 2013)
  • 1925 – Claude Ryan, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 2004)
  • 1926 – Farman Fatehpuri, Pakistani linguist and scholar (d. 2013)
  • 1926 – Joseph Bacon Fraser, Jr., American architect and businessman, co-founded the Sea Pines Company (d. 2014)
  • 1927 – José Azcona del Hoyo, Honduran businessman and politician, President of Honduras (d. 2005)
  • 1927 – Bob Nieman, American baseball player and scout (d. 1985)
  • 1927 – Hubert Schieth, German footballer and manager (d. 2013)
  • 1928 – Roger Vadim, French actor and director (d. 2000)
  • 1929 – Jules Feiffer, American cartoonist, playwright, screenwriter, and educator
  • 1934 – Roger Landry, Canadian businessman and publisher (d. 2020)
  • 1934 – Charles Marowitz, American director, playwright, and critic (d. 2014)
  • 1934 – Huey “Piano” Smith, American pianist and songwriter
  • 1934 – Bob Uecker, American baseball player, sportscaster and actor
  • 1935 – Corrado Augias, Italian journalist and politician
  • 1935 – Henry Jordan, American football player (d. 1977)
  • 1935 – Paula Rego, Portuguese-born British visual artist
  • 1936 – Sal Buscema, American illustrator
  • 1937 – Joseph Saidu Momoh, Sierra Leonean soldier and politician, 2nd President of Sierra Leone (d. 2003)
  • 1937 – Francisco Gonzales, former 1960 Summer Olympics yachting team member and murderer
  • 1938 – Henry Jaglom, English-American director and screenwriter
  • 1940 – Séamus Hegarty, Irish bishop
  • 1940 – Frank Large, English footballer, centre forward and cricketer (d. 2003)
  • 1943 – César Gutiérrez, Venezuelan baseball player and manager (d. 2005)
  • 1943 – Jack Warner, Trinidadian businessman and politician
  • 1944 – Angela Davis, American activist, academic, and author
  • 1944 – Jerry Sandusky, American football coach and criminal
  • 1945 – Jacqueline du Pré, English cellist (d. 1987)
  • 1945 – David Purley, English race car driver (d. 1985)
  • 1946 – Christopher Hampton, Portuguese-English director, screenwriter, and playwright
  • 1946 – Gene Siskel, American journalist and film critic (d. 1999)
  • 1946 – Susan Friedlander, American mathematician
  • 1947 – Patrick Dewaere, French actor and composer (d. 1982)
  • 1947 – Les Ebdon, English chemist and academic
  • 1947 – Redmond Morris, 4th Baron Killanin, Irish director, producer, and production manager
  • 1947 – Michel Sardou, French singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1948 – Alda Facio, Costa Rican jurist, writer and teacher
  • 1949 – Jonathan Carroll, American author
  • 1949 – David Strathairn, American actor
  • 1950 – Jörg Haider, Austrian lawyer and politician, Governor of Carinthia (d. 2008)
  • 1951 – David Briggs, Australian guitarist, songwriter, and producer
  • 1951 – Andy Hummel, American singer-songwriter and bass player (d. 2010)
  • 1951 – Anne Mills, English economist and academic
  • 1953 – Alik L. Alik, Micronesian politician, 7th Vice President of the Federated States of Micronesia
  • 1953 – Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Danish politician and diplomat, 39th Prime Minister of Denmark
  • 1953 – Lucinda Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1954 – Kim Hughes, Australian cricketer
  • 1955 – Eddie Van Halen, Dutch-American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
  • 1957 – Road Warrior Hawk, American wrestler (d. 2003)
  • 1958 – Anita Baker, American singer-songwriter
  • 1958 – Ellen DeGeneres, American comedian, actress, and talk show host
  • 1961 – Wayne Gretzky, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1961 – Tom Keifer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1962 – Guo Jian, Chinese-Australian painter, sculptor, and photographer
  • 1962 – Tim May, Australian cricketer
  • 1962 – Oscar Ruggeri, Argentinian footballer and manager
  • 1963 – José Mourinho, Portuguese footballer and manager
  • 1963 – Simon O’Donnell, Australian footballer, cricketer, and sportscaster
  • 1963 – Tony Parks, English footballer and manager
  • 1963 – Andrew Ridgeley, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1964 – Adam Crozier, Scottish businessman
  • 1965 – Thomas Östros, Swedish businessman and politician
  • 1965 – Natalia Yurchenko, Russian gymnast and coach
  • 1966 – Kazushige Nagashima, Japanese baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1967 – Anatoly Komm, Russian chef and businessman
  • 1967 – Col Needham, English businessman, co-founded Internet Movie Database
  • 1968 – Jupiter Apple, Brazilian singer-songwriter, film director, and actor (d. 2015)
  • 1969 – George Dikeoulakos, Greek-Romanian basketball player and coach
  • 1970 – Kirk Franklin, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1973 – Larissa Lowing, Canadian artistic gymnast
  • 1973 – Melvil Poupaud, French actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1973 – Brendan Rodgers, Northern Irish footballer and manager
  • 1973 – Mayu Shinjo, Japanese author and illustrator
  • 1977 – Vince Carter, American basketball player
  • 1977 – Justin Gimelstob, American tennis player and coach
  • 1978 – Corina Morariu, American tennis player and sportscaster
  • 1981 – José de Jesús Corona, Mexican footballer
  • 1981 – Gustavo Dudamel, Venezuelan violinist, composer, and conductor
  • 1981 – Juan José Haedo, Argentinian cyclist
  • 1981 – Colin O’Donoghue, Irish actor
  • 1982 – Reggie Hodges, American football player
  • 1983 – Petri Oravainen, Finnish footballer
  • 1983 – Eric Werner, American ice hockey player
  • 1984 – Ryan Hoffman, Australian rugby league player
  • 1984 – Iain Turner, Scottish footballer
  • 1984 – Luo Xuejuan, Chinese swimmer
  • 1985 – Heather Stanning, English rower
  • 1986 – Gerald Green, American basketball player
  • 1986 – Kim Jae-joong, South Korean singer, songwriter, actor, director and designer.
  • 1986 – Mustapha Yatabaré, French-Malian footballer
  • 1987 – Sebastian Giovinco, Italian footballer
  • 1988 – Dimitrios Chondrokoukis, Greek high jumper
  • 1989 – MarShon Brooks, American basketball player
  • 1989 – Emily Hughes, American figure skater
  • 1990 – Sergio Pérez, Mexican race car driver
  • 1990 – Peter Sagan, Slovak professional cyclist
  • 1990 – Nina Zander, German tennis player
  • 1991 – Tom Meechan, English footballer
  • 1992 – Sasha Banks, American professional wrestler
  • 1993 – Lana Clelland, Scottish footballer
  • 1993 – Florian Thauvin, French footballer
  • 1995 – Sione Katoa, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1997 – Gedion Zelalem, German-born American soccer player
  • 2001 – Latalia Bevan, Welsh artistic gymnast

Deaths on January 26

  • 724 – Yazid II, Umayyad caliph (b. 687)
  • 738 – John of Dailam, Syrian monk and saint (b. 660)
  • 910 – Luo Yin, Chinese statesman and poet
  • 946 – Eadgyth, Queen consort of Germany (b.c 910)
  • 1186 – Ismat ad-Din Khatun, wife of Saladin
  • 1390 – Adolph IX, Count of Holstein-Kiel (b.c 1327)
  • 1567 – Nicholas Wotton, English courtier and diplomat (b. 1497)
  • 1568 – Lady Catherine Grey, Countess of Hertford (b. 1540)
  • 1620 – Amar Singh I, ruler of Mewar (b. 1559)
  • 1630 – Henry Briggs, English mathematician and astronomer (b. 1556)
  • 1636 – Jean Hotman, Marquis de Villers-St-Paul, French diplomat (b. 1552)
  • 1641 – Lawrence Hyde, English lawyer (b. 1562)
  • 1697 – Georg Mohr, Danish mathematician and theorist (b. 1640)
  • 1744 – Ludwig Andreas von Khevenhüller, Austrian field marshal (b. 1683)
  • 1750 – Albert Schultens, Dutch philologist and academic (b. 1686)
  • 1779 – Thomas Hudson, English painter (b. 1701)
  • 1795 – Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, German harpsichord player and composer (b. 1732)
  • 1799 – Gabriel Christie, Scottish general (b. 1722)
  • 1823 – Edward Jenner, English physician and immunologist (b. 1749)
  • 1824 – Théodore Géricault, French painter and lithographer (b. 1791)
  • 1831 – Sangolli Rayanna, Indian soldier (b. 1798)
  • 1831 – Anton Delvig, Russian poet and journalist (b. 1798)
  • 1849 – Thomas Lovell Beddoes, English poet, playwright, and physician (b. 1803)
  • 1855 – Gérard de Nerval, French poet and translator (b. 1808)
  • 1860 – Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient, opera singer (b. 1804)
  • 1869 – Duncan Gordon Boyes, English soldier; Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1846)
  • 1870 – Victor de Broglie, French politician, 9th Prime Minister of France (b. 1785)
  • 1885 – Edward Davy, English-Australian physician and engineer (b. 1806)
  • 1885 – Charles George Gordon, English general and politician (b. 1833)
  • 1886 – David Rice Atchison, American general and politician (b. 1807)
  • 1887 – Anandi Gopal Joshi, One of the first female Indian physicians (b. 1865)
  • 1891 – Nicolaus Otto, German engineer, invented the Internal combustion engine (b. 1833)
  • 1893 – Abner Doubleday, American general (b. 1819)
  • 1895 – Arthur Cayley, English mathematician and academic (b. 1825)
  • 1904 – Whitaker Wright, English businessman (b. 1846)
  • 1926 – John Flannagan, American priest and academic (b. 1860)
  • 1932 – William Wrigley, Jr., American businessman, founded the Wrigley Company (b. 1861)
  • 1942 – Felix Hausdorff, German mathematician and academic (b. 1868)
  • 1943 – Harry H. Laughlin, American sociologist and eugenicist (b. 1880)
  • 1943 – Nikolai Vavilov, Russian botanist and geneticist (b. 1887)
  • 1946 – Oskar Kallas, Estonian linguist and diplomat (b. 1868)
  • 1946 – Adriaan van Maanen, Dutch-American astronomer and academic (b. 1884)
  • 1947 – Grace Moore, American soprano and actress (b. 1898)
  • 1948 – Kâzım Karabekir, Turkish general and politician, 5th Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (b. 1882)
  • 1948 – Fred Conrad Koch, American biochemist and endocrinologist (born 1876)
  • 1948 – John Lomax, American musicologist and academic (b. 1867)
  • 1952 – Khorloogiin Choibalsan, Mongolian general and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Mongolia (b. 1895)
  • 1953 – Athanase David, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1882)
  • 1957 – Helene Costello, American actress (b. 1906)
  • 1962 – Lucky Luciano, Italian-American mob boss (b. 1897)
  • 1968 – Merrill C. Meigs, American publisher (b. 1883)
  • 1973 – Edward G. Robinson, Romanian-American actor (b. 1893)
  • 1975 – Donald Sheldon, American bush pilot (b. 1921)
  • 1976 – João Branco Núncio, Portuguese bullfighter (b. 1901)
  • 1977 – Filopimin Finos, Greek production manager and producer, founded Finos Film (b. 1908)
  • 1979 – Nelson Rockefeller, American businessman and politician, 41st Vice President of the United States (b. 1908)
  • 1980 – Simon Kapwepwe, Zambian politician, 2nd Vice President of Zambia (b. 1922)
  • 1983 – Bear Bryant, American football player and coach (b. 1913)
  • 1985 – Kenny Clarke, American jazz drummer and bandleader (b. 1914)
  • 1990 – Bob Gerard, English race car driver and businessman (b. 1914)
  • 1990 – Lewis Mumford, American sociologist and historian (b. 1895)
  • 1992 – José Ferrer, Puerto Rican-American actor (b. 1912)
  • 1993 – Jan Gies, Dutch businessman and humanitarian (b. 1905)
  • 1993 – Robert Jacobsen, Danish sculptor and painter (b. 1912)
  • 1993 – Jeanne Sauvé, Canadian journalist and politician, 23rd Governor General of Canada (b. 1922)
  • 1996 – Georg Alexander, Duke of Mecklenburg (b. 1921)
  • 1996 – Harold Brodkey, American author and academic (b. 1930)
  • 1996 – Frank Howard, American football player and coach (b. 1909)
  • 1996 – Henry Lewis, American bassist and conductor (b. 1932)
  • 1997 – Jeane Dixon, American astrologer and psychic (b. 1904)
  • 2000 – Don Budge, American tennis player and coach (b. 1915)
  • 2000 – Kathleen Hale, English author and illustrator (b. 1898)
  • 2000 – A. E. van Vogt, Canadian-American author (b. 1912)
  • 2001 – Al McGuire, American basketball player and coach (b. 1928)
  • 2003 – Valeriy Brumel, Russian high jumper (b. 1942)
  • 2003 – Hugh Trevor-Roper, English historian and academic (b. 1917)
  • 2003 – George Younger, 4th Viscount Younger of Leckie, Scottish banker and politician, Secretary of State for Scotland (b. 1931)
  • 2004 – Fred Haas, American golfer (b. 1916)
  • 2006 – Khan Abdul Wali Khan, Pakistani politician (b. 1917)
  • 2007 – Gump Worsley, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929)
  • 2008 – Viktor Schreckengost, American sculptor and designer (b. 1906)
  • 2010 – Louis Auchincloss, American novelist and essayist (b. 1917)
  • 2011 – David Kato Kisule, Ugandan teacher and LGBT rights activist, considered a father of Uganda’s gay rights movement (b. 1964)
  • 2011 – Charlie Louvin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1927)
  • 2012 – Roberto Mieres, Argentinian race car driver (b. 1924)
  • 2013 – Christine M. Jones, American educator and politician (b. 1929)
  • 2013 – Stefan Kudelski, Polish-Swiss engineer, invented the Nagra (b. 1929)
  • 2013 – Padma Kant Shukla, Indian physicist and academic (b. 1950)
  • 2013 – Shōtarō Yasuoka, Japanese author (b. 1920)
  • 2014 – Tom Gola, American basketball player, coach, and politician (b. 1933)
  • 2014 – Paula Gruden, Slovenian-Australian poet and translator (b. 1921)
  • 2014 – José Emilio Pacheco, Mexican poet and author (b. 1939)
  • 2014 – Ralph T. Troy, American banker and politician (b. 1935)
  • 2015 – Cleven “Goodie” Goudeau, American art director and cartoonist (b. 1932)
  • 2015 – Tom Uren, Australian soldier and politician (b. 1921)
  • 2016 – Sahabzada Yaqub Khan, Pakistani politician and diplomat, 14th Pakistani Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1920)
  • 2016 – Abe Vigoda, American actor (b. 1921)
  • 2017 – Mike Connors, American actor (b. 1925)
  • 2017 – Tam Dalyell, Scottish politician (b. 1932)
  • 2017 – Lindy Delapenha, Jamaican footballer and sports journalist (b. 1927)
  • 2017 – Barbara Hale, American actress (b. 1922)
  • 2020 – John Altobelli, American college baseball coach (b. 1963)
  • 2020 – Kobe Bryant, American basketball player (b. 1978)

Holidays and observances on January 26

  • Christian feast day:
    • Alberic
    • Founders of Cîteaux (Alberic of Cîteaux, Robert of Molesme, Stephen Harding)
    • Blessed Gabriele Allegra
    • Paula
    • Timothy and Titus
    • January 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Australia Day (Australia)
  • Duarte Day (Dominican Republic)
  • Engineer’s Day (Panama)
  • International Customs Day
  • Liberation Day (Uganda)
  • Republic Day (India)

January 26 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

January 21- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 763 – Following the Battle of Bakhamra between Alids and Abbasids near Kufa, the Alid rebellion ends with the death of Ibrahim, brother of Isa ibn Musa.
  • 1525 – The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is founded when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz’s mother in Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union.
  • 1535 – Following the Affair of the Placards, the French king leads an anti-Protestant procession through Paris.
  • 1720 – Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Stockholm.
  • 1749 – The Teatro Filarmonico in Verona is destroyed by fire, as a result of a torch being left behind in the box of a nobleman after a performance. It is rebuilt in 1754.
  • 1774 – Abdul Hamid I becomes Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and Caliph of Islam.
  • 1789 – The first American novel, The Power of Sympathy or the Triumph of Nature Founded in Truth by William Hill Brown, is printed in Boston.
  • 1793 – After being found guilty of treason by the French National Convention, Louis XVI of France is executed by guillotine.
  • 1854 – The RMS Tayleur sinks off Lambay Island on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Australia with great loss of life.
  • 1861 – American Civil War: Jefferson Davis resigns from the United States Senate.
  • 1893 – The Tati Concessions Land, formerly part of Matabeleland, is formally annexed to the Bechuanaland Protectorate, now Botswana.
  • 1908 – New York City passes the Sullivan Ordinance, making it illegal for women to smoke in public, only to have the measure vetoed by the mayor.
  • 1911 – The first Monte Carlo Rally takes place.
  • 1915 – Kiwanis International is founded in Detroit.
  • 1919 – A revolutionary Irish parliament is founded and declares the independence of the Irish Republic. One of the first engagements of the Irish War of Independence takes place.
  • 1925 – Albania declares itself a republic.
  • 1931 – Sir Isaac Isaacs is sworn in as the first Australian-born Governor-General of Australia.
  • 1941 – Sparked by the murder of a German officer in Bucharest, Romania the day before, members of the Iron Guard engaged in a rebellion and pogrom killing 125 Jews.
  • 1948 – The Flag of Quebec is adopted and flown for the first time over the National Assembly of Quebec. The day is marked annually as Québec Flag Day.
  • 1950 – American lawyer and government official Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury.
  • 1954 – The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, is launched in Groton, Connecticut by Mamie Eisenhower, the First Lady of the United States.
  • 1960 – Little Joe 1B, a Mercury spacecraft, lifts off from Wallops Island, Virginia with Miss Sam, a female rhesus monkey on board.
  • 1960 – Avianca Flight 671 crashes at Montego Bay, Jamaica airport, killing 37 people.
  • 1960 – A coal mine collapses at Holly Country, South Africa, killing 435 miners.
  • 1968 – Vietnam War: Battle of Khe Sanh: One of the most publicized and controversial battles of the war begins.
  • 1968 – A B-52 bomber crashes near Thule Air Base, contaminating the area after its nuclear payload ruptures. One of the four bombs remains unaccounted for after the cleanup operation is complete.
  • 1971 – The current Emley Moor transmitting station, the tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom, begins transmitting UHF broadcasts.
  • 1976 – Commercial service of Concorde begins with the London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio routes.
  • 1980 – Iran Air Flight 291 crashes in the Alborz Mountains while on approach to Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, Iran, killing 128 people.
  • 1981 – Production of the iconic DeLorean sports car begins in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
  • 1985 – Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 crashes near Reno–Tahoe International Airport in Reno, Nevada, killing 70 people.
  • 1997 – The U.S. House of Representatives votes 395–28 to reprimand Newt Gingrich for ethics violations, making him the first Speaker of the House to be so disciplined.
  • 1999 – War on Drugs: In one of the largest drug busts in American history, the United States Coast Guard intercepts a ship with over 4,300 kilograms (9,500 lb) of cocaine on board.
  • 2000 – Ecuador: After the Ecuadorian Congress is seized by indigenous organizations, Col. Lucio Gutiérrez, Carlos Solorzano and Antonio Vargas depose President Jamil Mahuad. Gutierrez is later replaced by Gen. Carlos Mendoza, who resigns and allows Vice-President Gustavo Noboa to succeed Mahuad.
  • 2003 – A 7.6 magnitude earthquake strikes the Mexican state of Colima, killing 29 and leaving approximately 10,000 people homeless.
  • 2004 – NASA’s MER-A (the Mars Rover Spirit) ceases communication with mission control. The problem lies in the management of its flash memory and is fixed remotely from Earth on February 6.
  • 2005 – In Belmopan, Belize, the unrest over the government’s new taxes erupts into riots.
  • 2009 – Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip, officially ending a three-week war it had with Hamas. However, intermittent fire by both sides continues in the weeks to follow.
  • 2011 – Anti government demonstrations take place in Tirana, Albania. Five people lose their lives from gunshots, allegedly fired from armed police protecting the Prime Minister’s office. To date, no one has been held accountable for the deaths.
  • 2017 – Over 400 cities across America and 160+ countries worldwide participate in a large-scale women’s march, on Donald Trump’s first full day as President of the United States.
  • 2018 – Rocket Lab’s Electron becomes the first rocket to reach orbit using an electric pump-fed engine and deploys three CubeSats.

Births on January 21

  • 1264 – Alexander, Prince of Scotland (d. 1284)
  • 1277 – Galeazzo I Visconti, lord of Milan
  • 1338 – Charles V of France (d. 1380)
  • 1493 – Giovanni Poggio, Italian cardinal and diplomat (d. 1556)
  • 1598 – Matsudaira Tadamasa, Japanese samurai and daimyō (d. 1645)
  • 1612 – Henry Casimir I of Nassau-Dietz, count of Nassau-Dietz (d. 1640)
  • 1636 – Melchiorre Cafà, Maltese Baroque sculptor (baptised; d. 1667)
  • 1655 – Antonio Molinari, Italian painter (d. 1704)
  • 1659 – Adriaen van der Werff, Dutch painter (d. 1722)
  • 1675 – Duchess Sibylle of Saxe-Lauenburg, Margravine of Baden-Baden (d. 1733)
  • 1714 – Anna Morandi Manzolini, Spanish anatomist (d. 1774)
  • 1717 – Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa, Spanish military officer and governor of Cuba (d. 1779)
  • 1721 – James Murray, Scottish-English general and politician, Governor of Minorca (d. 1794)
  • 1724 – Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée, French rococo painter (d. 1805)
  • 1732 – Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg, son of Karl Alexander, Duke of Württemberg, and Princess Maria Augusta of Thurn and Taxis (d. 1797)
  • 1738 – Ethan Allen, American general (d. 1789)
  • 1741 – Chaim of Volozhin, Orthodox rabbi (d. 1821)
  • 1763 – Augustin Robespierre, younger brother of French Revolutionary leader Maximilien Robespierre (d. 1794)
  • 1775 – Manuel Garcia, Spanish opera singer and composer (d. 1832)
  • 1784 – Peter De Wint, English painter (d. 1849)
  • 1788 – William Henry Smyth, Royal Navy officer, hydrographer, astronomer and numismatist
  • 1796 – Princess Marie of Hesse-Kassel, consort of George, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (d. 1880)
  • 1797 – Joseph Méry, French author and journalist (d. 1866)
  • 1800 – Theodor Fliedner, German Lutheran minister (d. 1864)
  • 1801 – John Batman, Australian entrepreneur and explorer (d. 1839)
  • 1804 – Moritz von Schwind, Austrian painter (d. 1871)
  • 1808 – Juan Crisóstomo Torrico, 16th President of Peru (d. 1875)
  • 1810 – Pierre Louis Charles de Failly, French general (d. 1892)
  • 1811 – James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn, British statesman (d. 1885)
  • 1813 – John C. Frémont, American general, explorer, and politician, 5th Territorial Governor of Arizona (d. 1890)
  • 1813 – Giuseppe Montanelli, Italian statesman and author (d. 1862)
  • 1814 – Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, German bibliographer and historian (d. 1885)
  • 1815 – Horace Wells, American dentist (d. 1848)
  • 1820 – Joseph Wolf, German ornithologist and illustrator (d. 1899)
  • 1820 – Egide Walschaerts, Belgian mechanical engineer (d. 1901)
  • 1824 – Stonewall Jackson, American general (d. 1863)
  • 1827 – Ivan Mikheevich Pervushin, Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 1900)
  • 1829 – Oscar II of Sweden (d. 1907)
  • 1839 – Caterina Volpicelli, Italian Roman Catholic nun (d. 1894)
  • 1840 – Sophia Jex-Blake, English physician and feminist (d. 1912)
  • 1841 – Édouard Schuré, French philosopher and author (d. 1929)
  • 1843 – Émile Levassor, French engineer (d. 1897)
  • 1845 – Harriet Backer, Norwegian painter (d. 1932)
  • 1846 – Pieter Hendrik Schoute, Dutch mathematician and academic (d. 1923)
  • 1846 – Albert Lavignac, French music scholar (d. 1916)
  • 1847 – Joseph Achille Le Bel, French chemist (d. 1930)
  • 1848 – Henri Duparc, French soldier and composer (d. 1933)
  • 1851 – Giuseppe Allamano, Italian Roman Catholic priest (d. 1926)
  • 1854 – Karl Julius Beloch, German classical and economic historian (d. 1929)
  • 1854 – Eusapia Palladino, Italian Spiritualist (d. 1918)
  • 1855 – Princess Maria Luisa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, the youngest daughter of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies (d. 1874)
  • 1860 – Karl Staaff, Swedish lawyer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1915)
  • 1864 – Israel Zangwill, British author (d. 1926)
  • 1865 – Heinrich Albers-Schonberg, German gynecologist and radiologist (d. 1921)
  • 1867 – Ludwig Thoma, German paramedic and author (d. 1921)
  • 1867 – Maxime Weygand, Belgian-French general (d. 1965)
  • 1868 – Felix Hoffmann, German chemist (d. 1946)
  • 1869 – Grigori Rasputin, Russian Mystic (d. 1916)
  • 1871 – Olga Preobrajenska, Russian ballerina (d. 1962)
  • 1873 – Arturo Labriola, Italian revolutionary syndicalist (d. 1959)
  • 1874 – René-Louis Baire, French mathematician (d. 1932)
  • 1875 – Paul E. Kahle, German orientalist (d. 1964)
  • 1877 – Baldassarre Negroni, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 1948)
  • 1878 – Vahan Tekeyan, Armenian poet and activist (d. 1948)
  • 1879 – Joseph Roffo, French rugby player and tug of war competitor (d. 1933)
  • 1880 – George Van Biesbroeck, Belgian–American astronomer (d. 1974)
  • 1881 – Ernst Fast, Swedish runner (d. 1959)
  • 1881 – André Godard, French archaeologist, architect and historian (d. 1965)
  • 1881 – Ivan Ribar, Yugoslav politician (d. 1968)
  • 1882 – Pavel Florensky, Russian mathematician and theologian (d. 1937)
  • 1882 – Francis Gailey, Australian-American swimmer (d. 1972)
  • 1883 – Olav Aukrust, Norwegian poet and educator (d. 1929)
  • 1883 – Mathias Hynes, British tug of war competitor (d. 1926)
  • 1885 – Duncan Grant, British painter and designer (d. 1978)
  • 1885 – Umberto Nobile, Italian engineer and explorer (d. 1978)
  • 1885 – Harold A. Wilson, English runner (d. 1932)
  • 1886 – John M. Stahl, American director and producer (d. 1950)
  • 1887 – Wolfgang Köhler, German psychologist and phenomenologist (d. 1967)
  • 1887 – Ernest Holmes, American New Thought writer (d. 1960)
  • 1887 – Georges Vézina, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1926)
  • 1889 – Pitirim Sorokin, American sociologist and political activist (d. 1968)
  • 1891 – Albert Battel, German Army lieutenant and lawyer (d. 1952)
  • 1891 – Francisco Lázaro, Portuguese marathon runner (d. 1912)
  • 1895 – Cristóbal Balenciaga, Spanish fashion designer, founded Balenciaga (d. 1972)
  • 1895 – Daniel Chalonge, French astrophysicist and astronomer (d. 1977)
  • 1895 – Noe Itō, Japanese anarchist, author and feminist (d. 1923)
  • 1896 – Guy Gilpatric, American pilot and journalist (d. 1950)
  • 1896 – Paula Hitler, younger sister of Adolf Hitler (d. 1960)
  • 1896 – J. Carrol Naish, American actor (d. 1973)
  • 1896 – Masa Perttilä, Finnish wrestler (d. 1968)
  • 1897 – René Iché, French sculptor (d. 1954)
  • 1898 – Rudolph Maté, Polish-Hungarian-American cinematographer, producer and director (d. 1964)
  • 1898 – Ahmad Shah Qajar, Shah of Persia (d. 1930)
  • 1898 – Eduard Zintl, German chemist (d. 1941)
  • 1899 – John Bodkin Adams, British general practitioner and convict (d. 1983)
  • 1899 – Gyula Mándi, Hungarian footballer and manager (d. 1969)
  • 1899 – Edith Tolkien, wife and muse of J. R. R. Tolkien (d. 1971)
  • 1899 – Alexander Tcherepnin, Russian-American pianist and composer (d. 1977)
  • 1900 – Elof Ahrle, Swedish actor and director (d. 1965)
  • 1900 – Anselm Franz, Austrian engineer (d. 1994)
  • 1900 – Bernhard Rensch, German evolutionary biologist (d. 1990)
  • 1900 – Fernando Quiroga Palacios, Spanish Cardinal (d. 1971)
  • 1901 – Ricardo Zamora, Spanish footballer and manager (d. 1978)
  • 1903 – William Lyon, American film editor (d. 1974)
  • 1903 – Raymond Suvigny, French weightlifter (d. 1945)
  • 1904 – Puck van Heel, Dutch footballer (d. 1984)
  • 1904 – John Porter, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1997)
  • 1905 – Christian Dior, French fashion designer, founded Christian Dior S.A. (d. 1957)
  • 1905 – Karl Wallenda, German-American acrobat and tightrope walker, founded The Flying Wallendas (d. 1978)
  • 1906 – Leo Halle, Dutch footballer (d. 1992)
  • 1906 – Igor Moiseyev, Russian choreographer (d. 2007)
  • 1907 – Carlo Cavagnoli, Italian boxer (d. 1991)
  • 1907 – Jānis Mendriks, Latvian Catholic priest (d. 1953)
  • 1909 – Todor Skalovski, Macedonian composer and conductor (d. 2004)
  • 1909 – Teofilo Spasojević, Serbian footballer (d. 1970)
  • 1910 – Hideo Shinojima, Japanese footballer (d. 1975)
  • 1910 – Albert Rosellini, American lawyer and politician, 15th Governor of Washington (d. 2011)
  • 1910 – Rosa Kellner, German athlete (d. 1984)
  • 1910 – Károly Takács, Hungarian shooter (d. 1976)
  • 1911 – Dick Garrard, Australian wrestler (d. 2003)
  • 1911 – Lee Yoo-hyung, Korean footballer and manager (d. 2003)
  • 1912 – Konrad Emil Bloch, German-American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2000)
  • 1915 – André Lichnerowicz, French mathematician (d. 1998)
  • 1915 – Orazio Mariani, Italian sprinter (d. 1981)
  • 1916 – Pietro Rava, Italian footballer (d. 2006)
  • 1916 – Zypora Spaisman, Polish midwife; American and Yiddish-language actress; producer of the Yiddish stage (d. 2002)
  • 1917 – Erling Persson, H&M founder (d. 2002)
  • 1918 – Jimmy Hagan, English footballer (d. 1998)
  • 1918 – Richard Winters, American soldier (d. 2011)
  • 1918 – Antonio Janigro, Italian cellist and conductor (d. 1989)
  • 1919 – Eric Brown, Scottish-English captain and pilot (d. 2016)
  • 1920 – Errol Barrow, first Prime Minister of Barbados (d. 1987)
  • 1921 – Lincoln Alexander, Canadian lawyer and politician, 23rd Canadian Minister of Labour (d. 2012)
  • 1922 – Telly Savalas, American actor (d. 1994)
  • 1922 – Paul Scofield, English actor (d. 2008)
  • 1922 – Predrag Vranicki, Croatian Marxist Humanist, and member of the Praxis school in the 1960s in Yugoslavia (d. 2002)
  • 1923 – Lola Flores, Spanish singer, dancer, and actress (d. 1995)
  • 1923 – Alberto de Mendoza, Argentine actor (d. 2011)
  • 1923 – Pahiño, Spanish footballer (d. 2012)
  • 1924 – Benny Hill, English actor, singer, and screenwriter (d. 1992)
  • 1925 – Charles Aidman, American actor (d. 1993)
  • 1925 – Alex Forbes, Scottish footballer (d. 2014)
  • 1925 – Eva Ibbotson, Austrian-English author (d. 2010)
  • 1925 – Arnold Skaaland, American wrestler and manager (d. 2007)
  • 1926 – Clive Donner, British director (d. 2010)
  • 1926 – Franco Evangelisti, Italian composer (d. 1980)
  • 1926 – Steve Reeves, American bodybuilder (d. 2000)
  • 1926 – Roger Taillibert, French architect (d. 2019)
  • 1926 – Robert J. White, American neurosurgeon (d. 2010)
  • 1927 – Rudolf Kraus, German footballer (d. 2003)
  • 1928 – Gene Sharp, American political scientist and academic, founded the Albert Einstein Institution (d. 2018)
  • 1928 – Reynaldo Bignone, Argentinian general and politician, 41st President of Argentina (d. 2018)
  • 1929 – Radley Metzger, American filmmaker (d. 2017)
  • 1930 – Mainza Chona, Zambian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Zambia (d. 2001)
  • 1931 – Yoshiko Kuga, Japanese actress
  • 1933 – Habib Thiam, Senegalese politician (d. 2017)
  • 1933 – Tony Marchi, English footballer, wing half
  • 1934 – Audrey Dalton, Irish actress
  • 1934 – Antonio Karmany, Spanish cyclist
  • 1934 – Alfonso Portugal, Mexican footballer (d. 2016)
  • 1934 – Ann Wedgeworth, American actress (d. 2017)
  • 1936 – Dick Davies, American basketball player (d. 2012)
  • 1937 – Judit Ágoston-Mendelényi, Hungarian fencer (d. 2013)
  • 1937 – Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria, the youngest son of Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria
  • 1938 – Sandy Barr, American wrestler and referee (d. 2007)
  • 1938 – Romano Fogli, Italian footballer
  • 1938 – Wolfman Jack, American radio host (d. 1995)
  • 1938 – Nicholas Phillips, Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers, English lawyer and judge, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
  • 1939 – Paul Genevay, French sprinter
  • 1939 – Friedel Lutz, German footballer
  • 1939 – Steve Paxton, American dancer and choreographer
  • 1939 – Viacheslav Platonov, Russian volleyball player and coach (d. 2005)
  • 1940 – Jack Nicklaus, American golfer and sportscaster
  • 1940 – Patrick Robinson, British novelist
  • 1941 – Sattam bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Arabian prince (d. 2013)
  • 1941 – Plácido Domingo, Spanish tenor and conductor
  • 1941 – Richie Havens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
  • 1941 – Mike Medavoy, Chinese-American film producer, co-founded Orion Pictures
  • 1941 – Ivan Putski, Polish-American wrestler and bodybuilder
  • 1941 – Elaine Showalter, American author and critic
  • 1942 – Freddy Breck, German singer, producer, and news anchor (d. 2008)
  • 1942 – Eugène Camara, Prime Minister of Guinea (d. 2019)
  • 1942 – Han Pil-hwa, North Korean speed skater
  • 1942 – Mac Davis, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
  • 1942 – Edwin Starr, American singer-songwriter (d. 2003)
  • 1942 – Michael G. Wilson, American producer and screenwriter
  • 1943 – Zdravko Hebel, Croatian water polo player (d. 2017)
  • 1943 – Arnar Jónsson, Icelandic actor
  • 1943 – Alfons Peeters, Belgian footballer (d. 2015)
  • 1943 – Kenzo Yokoyama, Japanese footballer
  • 1944 – Uto Ughi, Italian violinist
  • 1945 – Pete Kircher, English drummer
  • 1945 – Martin Shaw, English actor and producer
  • 1946 – Ichiro Hosotani, Japanese footballer
  • 1946 – Nella Martinetti, Swiss singer (d. 2011)
  • 1946 – Tomás Pineda, El Salvadoran footballer
  • 1946 – Miguel Reina, Spanish footballer
  • 1947 – Jill Eikenberry, American actress
  • 1947 – Andrzej Bachleda, Polish former alpine skier
  • 1947 – Dorian M. Goldfeld, American mathematician
  • 1947 – Pye Hastings, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1947 – Michel Jonasz, French singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1947 – Joseph Nicolosi, American clinical psychologist (d. 2017)
  • 1947 – Giuseppe Savoldi, Italian footballer
  • 1947 – Roberto Zywica, Argentine footballer
  • 1948 – Zygmunt Kukla, Polish footballer (d. 2016)
  • 1948 – Hugo Tocalli, Argentine footballer
  • 1949 – Trương Tấn Sang, Vietnamese politician and 7th President of Vietnam
  • 1949 – Clifford Ray, American basketball coach and player
  • 1950 – Marion Becker, German javelin thrower
  • 1950 – Gary Locke, American politician and diplomat, 36th United States Secretary of Commerce
  • 1950 – José Marín, Spanish racewalker
  • 1950 – Billy Ocean, Trinidadian-English singer-songwriter
  • 1950 – Agnes van Ardenne, Dutch politician and diplomat, Dutch Minister for Development Cooperation
  • 1951 – Eric Holder, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 82nd United States Attorney General
  • 1952 – Marco Camenisch, Swiss activist and murderer
  • 1952 – Werner Grissmann, Austrian alpine skier
  • 1952 – Mikhail Umansky, Russian chess player (d. 2010)
  • 1953 – Paul Allen, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Microsoft (d. 2018)
  • 1953 – Felipe Yáñez, Spanish cyclist
  • 1954 – Thomas de Maizière, German politician of the Christian Democratic Union
  • 1954 – Idrissa Ouedraogo, Burkinabé director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2018)
  • 1954 – Phil Thompson, English footballer and coach
  • 1955 – Peter Fleming, American tennis player
  • 1955 – Jeff Koons, American painter and sculptor
  • 1955 – Nello Musumeci, Italian politician and President of Sicily
  • 1956 – Robby Benson, American actor and director
  • 1956 – Geena Davis, American actress and producer
  • 1958 – Matt Salmon, American politician
  • 1958 – Hussein Saeed, Iraqi footballer
  • 1958 – Sergei Walter, Ukrainian politician (d. 2015)
  • 1958 – Michael Wincott, Canadian actor
  • 1959 – Sergei Alifirenko, Russian pistol shooter
  • 1959 – Alex McLeish, Scottish footballer and manager
  • 1960 – Sidney Lowe, American basketball player
  • 1960 – Mike Terrana, American hard rock and heavy metal drummer
  • 1961 – Kevin Cramer, American politician
  • 1961 – Cornelia Pröll, Austrian alpine skier
  • 1961 – Ivo Pukanić Croatian journalist (d. 2008)
  • 1961 – Gary Shaw, English footballer
  • 1961 – Piotr Ugrumov, Russian cyclist
  • 1962 – Tyler Cowen, American economist and academic
  • 1962 – Isabelle Nanty, French actress, director and screenwriter
  • 1962 – Gabriele Pin, Italian footballer and coach
  • 1962 – Zoran Thaler, Slovenian politician
  • 1962 – Erik Verlinde, Dutch theoretical physicist
  • 1962 – Marie Trintignant, French actress (d. 2003)
  • 1963 – Hakeem Olajuwon, Nigerian-American basketball player
  • 1963 – Detlef Schrempf, German basketball player and coach
  • 1964 – Andreas Bauer, German ski jumper
  • 1964 – Tony Dolan, English musician and actor
  • 1964 – Gérald Passi, French footballer
  • 1964 – Ricardo Serna, Spanish footballer
  • 1964 – Aleksandar Šoštar, Serbian water polo player
  • 1964 – Danny Wallace, English footballer
  • 1965 – Robert Del Naja, British artist, musician and singer
  • 1965 – Jam Master Jay, American DJ, rapper, and producer (d. 2002)
  • 1965 – Masahiro Wada, Japanese footballer
  • 1967 – Artashes Minasian, Armenian chess player
  • 1967 – Alfred Jermaniš, Slovenian footballer
  • 1967 – Gorō Miyazaki, Japanese film director and landscaper
  • 1968 – Dmitry Fomin, Soviet and Russian volleyball player
  • 1968 – Ilya Smirin, Israeli chess Grandmaster
  • 1968 – Artur Dmitriev, Soviet and Russian ice skater
  • 1968 – Sébastien Lifshitz, French director
  • 1968 – Charlotte Ross, American actress
  • 1969 – John Ducey, American actor
  • 1969 – Eduard Hämäläinen, Finnish-Belarusian decathlete
  • 1969 – Karina Lombard, French-American actress and singer
  • 1969 – Tsubaki Nekoi, Japanese comic artist
  • 1970 – Alen Bokšić, former Croatian footballer
  • 1970 – Marina Foïs, French actress
  • 1970 – Ken Leung, American actor
  • 1970 – Oren Peli, Israeli-American director, producer and screenwriter
  • 1971 – Uni Arge, Faroese footballer and entertainer
  • 1971 – Rafael Berges, Spanish footballer
  • 1971 – Doug Edwards, American basketball player
  • 1971 – Dmitri Khlestov, Russian footballer
  • 1971 – Dylan Kussman, American actor
  • 1971 – Sergey Klevchenya, Russian speed skater
  • 1971 – Doug Weight, American ice hockey player and coach
  • 1972 – Billel Dziri, Algerian footballer and manager
  • 1972 – Rick Falkvinge, Swedish businessman and politician
  • 1972 – Sead Kapetanović, Bosnian footballer
  • 1972 – Yasunori Mitsuda, Japanese composer and producer
  • 1972 – Cat Power, American singer, musician and actress
  • 1972 – Shawn Rojeski, American curler
  • 1972 – Sabina Valbusa, Italian cross-country skier
  • 1973 – Rob Hayles, English cyclist
  • 1973 – Chris Kilmore, American musician and DJ
  • 1973 – Edvinas Krungolcas, Lithuanian modern pentathlete
  • 1973 – Flavio Maestri, Peruvian footballer
  • 1974 – Malena Alterio, Spanish actress
  • 1974 – Maxwell Atoms, American animator, screenwriter and voice actor
  • 1974 – Kim Dotcom, German-Finnish Internet entrepreneur and political activist
  • 1974 – Arthémon Hatungimana, Burundian middle distance runner
  • 1974 – Vincent Laresca, American actor
  • 1974 – Ulrich Le Pen, French footballer
  • 1974 – Marco Zanotti, Italian cyclist
  • 1975 – Nicky Butt, English footballer and coach
  • 1975 – Casey FitzRandolph, American speedskater
  • 1975 – Yuji Ide, Japanese race car driver
  • 1975 – Ito, Spanish footballer and manager
  • 1975 – Willem Korsten, Dutch footballer, left winger
  • 1975 – Jason Moran, American jazz pianist, composer and educator
  • 1975 – Florin Șerban, Romanian director
  • 1975 – Alyaksandr Yermakovich, Belarusian footballer and manager
  • 1976 – Aivaras Abromavičius, Lithuanian-Ukrainian banker and politician; 15th Ukrainian Minister of Economic Development
  • 1976 – Raivis Belohvoščiks, Latvian cyclist
  • 1976 – Emma Bunton, English singer
  • 1976 – Lars Eidinger, German actor
  • 1976 – Giorgio Frezzolini, Italian footballer
  • 1976 – Igors Stepanovs, Latvian footballer
  • 1977 – Hussein Abdulghani, Saudi Arabian footballer
  • 1977 – Bradley Carnell, South African footballer
  • 1977 – John DeSantis, Canadian actor
  • 1977 – Kirsten Klose, German hammer thrower
  • 1977 – Denis Lunghi, Italian cyclist
  • 1977 – Ulrike Maisch, German runner
  • 1977 – Phil Neville, English footballer and manager
  • 1977 – Michael Ruffin, American basketball player
  • 1977 – Jerry Trainor, American actor, director, and producer
  • 1978 – Faris Al-Sultan, German triathlete
  • 1978 – Peter von Allmen, Swiss cross-country skier
  • 1978 – Hernán Rodrigo López, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1978 – Andrei Zyuzin, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1979 – Quinton Jacobs, Namibian footballer
  • 1979 – Byung-hyun Kim, South Korean baseball player
  • 1979 – Spider Loc, American rapper and actor
  • 1979 – Melendi, Spanish singer
  • 1979 – Brian O’Driscoll, Irish rugby player
  • 1979 – Sebastian Schindzielorz, German footballer
  • 1980 – Troy Dumais, American diver
  • 1980 – Karsten Forsterling, Australian rower
  • 1980 – Dave Kitson, English footballer and manager
  • 1980 – Lee Kyung-won, South Korean badminton player
  • 1980 – Kevin McKenna, Canadian soccer player
  • 1980 – Nana Mizuki, Japanese singer-songwriter and voice actress
  • 1980 – Alexander Os, former Norwegian biathlete
  • 1980 – Xavier Pons, Spanish rally diver
  • 1980 – Mari Possa, El Salvadoran pornographic actress
  • 1980 – Bratislav Ristić, Serbian footballer
  • 1981 – Gillian Chung, Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1981 – Ivan Ergić, Serbian footballer
  • 1981 – Roberto Guana Italian footballer
  • 1981 – Wu Hanxiong, Chinese fencer
  • 1981 – Dany Heatley, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1981 – Andy Lee, South Korean singer and actor
  • 1981 – Izabella Miko, Polish actress, dancer, and producer
  • 1981 – Shawn Redhage, American-Australian basketball player
  • 1981 – Michel Teló, Brazilian singer-songwriter
  • 1981 – Jung Ryeo-won, South Korean actress
  • 1981 – David F. Sandberg, Swedish filmmaker
  • 1982 – Richard José Blanco, Venezuelan footballer
  • 1982 – Adriano Ferreira Martins, Brazilian footballer
  • 1982 – Nicolas Mahut, French tennis player
  • 1982 – Sarah Ourahmoune, French boxer
  • 1982 – Simon Rolfes, German footballer
  • 1982 – Dean Whitehead, English footballer
  • 1983 – Alex Acker, American basketball player
  • 1983 – Monique Adamczak, Australian tennis player
  • 1983 – Victor Leandro Bagy, Brazilian footballer
  • 1983 – Ranko Despotović, Serbian footballer
  • 1983 – Svetlana Khodchenkova, Russian actress
  • 1983 – Marieke van den Ham, Dutch water polo player
  • 1983 – Billy Mwanza, Zambian footballer
  • 1983 – Maryse Ouellet, French-Canadian wrestler
  • 1983 – Álvaro Quirós, Spanish golfer
  • 1983 – Francesca Segat, Italian swimmer
  • 1983 – Moritz Volz, German footballer, right back, football pundit and scout
  • 1983 – Kelly VanderBeek, Canadian alpine skier
  • 1984 – Leonardo Burián, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1984 – Luke Grimes, American actor
  • 1984 – Amy Hastings, American track and fielder
  • 1984 – Alex Koslov, Moldovan-American wrestler
  • 1984 – Dejan Milovanović, Serbian footballer
  • 1984 – Wes Morgan, Jamaican footballer
  • 1984 – Haloti Ngata, American footballer
  • 1985 – Markus Berger, Austrian footballer
  • 1985 – Artur Beterbiev, Russian boxer
  • 1985 – Aura Dione, Danish singer and songwriter
  • 1985 – Nick Gehlfuss, American actor
  • 1985 – Salvatore Giunta, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient
  • 1985 – Yumi Hara, Japanese voice actress and singer
  • 1985 – Sasha Pivovarova, Russian model and actress
  • 1985 – Rodrigo San Miguel, Spanish basketball player
  • 1985 – Ri Se-gwang, North Korean artistic gymnast
  • 1985 – Dmitri Sokolov, Russian basketball player
  • 1985 – Ryan Suter, American ice hockey player
  • 1986 – César Arzo, Spanish footballer
  • 1986 – Edson Barboza, Brazilian mixed martial artist
  • 1986 – João Gomes Júnior, Brazilian swimmer
  • 1986 – Javi López, Spanish footballer
  • 1986 – Gina Mambrú, volleyball player from Dominican Republic
  • 1986 – Jonathan Quick, American ice hockey player
  • 1986 – Mike Taylor, American basketball player
  • 1986 – Óscar Vílchez, Peruvian footballer
  • 1986 – Sushant Singh Rajput, Indian actor
  • 1987 – Ioannis Athanasoulas, Greek basketball player
  • 1987 – Andrei Cojocari, Moldovan footballer
  • 1987 – Alexander Dercho, German footballer
  • 1987 – Aida Hadzialic, Swedish politician
  • 1987 – Shaun Keeling, South African rower
  • 1987 – Augustine Kiprono Choge, Kenyan runner
  • 1987 – Kevin Kratz, German footballer
  • 1987 – Danny Munyao, Zambian footballer
  • 1987 – Henrico Drost, Dutch footballer
  • 1987 – Darren Helm, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1987 – Will Johnson, Canadian footballer
  • 1987 – Mulopo Kudimbana, Congolese footballer
  • 1987 – Nyasha Mushekwi, Zimbabwean footballer
  • 1987 – Dominik Roels, German cyclist
  • 1987 – Maša Zec Peškirič, Slovenian tennis player
  • 1987 – Ikumi Yoshimatsu, Japanese actress
  • 1988 – Glaiza de Castro, Filipino actress and singer
  • 1988 – Ashton Eaton, American decathlete
  • 1988 – Rolands Freimanis, Latvian basketball player
  • 1988 – Vanessa Hessler, Italian-American model and actress
  • 1988 – Aleksandar Lazevski, Macedonian footballer
  • 1988 – Ángel Mena, Ecuadorian footballer
  • 1988 – Valérie Tétreault, Canadian tennis player
  • 1988 – Pieter Timmers, Belgian swimmer
  • 1988 – Nemanja Tomić, Serbian footballer
  • 1988 – Ben Turner, English footballer
  • 1989 – Doğuş Balbay, Turkish basketball player
  • 1989 – Kayla Banwarth, American indoor volleyball player
  • 1989 – Férébory Doré, Congolese footballer
  • 1989 – Sergey Fesikov, Russian swimmer
  • 1989 – Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Armenian footballer
  • 1989 – Matteo Pelucchi, Italian cyclist
  • 1989 – Zhang Shuai, Chinese tennis player
  • 1990 – Arash Afshin, Iranian footballer
  • 1990 – Diogo Amado, Portuguese footballer
  • 1990 – Andriy Bohdanov, Ukrainian footballer
  • 1990 – Kelly Rohrbach, American model and actress
  • 1990 – André Martins, Portuguese footballer
  • 1990 – Knowledge Musona, Zimbabwean footballer
  • 1990 – Jacob Smith, American actor
  • 1990 – Doni Tata Pradita, Indonesian motorcycle racer
  • 1991 – Ali Al-Busaidi, Omani footballer
  • 1991 – Javier Calvo, Spanish actor and director
  • 1991 – Mohammad Ghadir, Arab-Israeli footballer
  • 1991 – Jan Hirt, Czech cyclist
  • 1991 – Mateusz Mika, Polish volleyball player
  • 1991 – Alfredo Ortuño, Spanish footballer
  • 1991 – Marta Pagnini, Italian gymnast
  • 1991 – Craig Roberts, Welsh actor and director
  • 1991 – Luis Alfonso Rodríguez, Mexican footballer
  • 1992 – Verónica Cepede Royg, Paraguayan tennis player
  • 1992 – Sven Erik Bystrøm, Norwegian cyclist
  • 1992 – James Duckworth, Australian tennis player
  • 1992 – Kwame Karikari, Ghanaian footballer
  • 1992 – Nicolás Mezquida, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1992 – Roland Szolnoki, Hungarian footballer
  • 1993 – Clément Mignon, French swimmer
  • 1993 – Muralha, Brazilian footballer
  • 1993 – Chiara Pierobon, Italian cyclist (d. 2015)
  • 1994 – Amin Affane, Swedish footballer
  • 1994 – Laura Robson, Australian-English tennis player
  • 1994 – Kang Seung-yoon, South Korean singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1994 – Nils Allen “Booboo” Stewart Jr., American actor
  • 1994 – Lim Kim, South Korean singer and actress
  • 1995 – Yulia Belorukova, Russian cross-country skier
  • 1995 – Nguyễn Công Phượng, Vietnamese footballer
  • 1995 – Marine Johannes, French basketball player
  • 1995 – Alanna Kennedy, Australian footballer player
  • 1996 – Marco Asensio, Spanish footballer
  • 1996 – Aldo Kalulu, French footballer
  • 1996 – Cristian Pavón, Argentine footballer
  • 1997 – Jeremy Shada, American actor, musician and singer
  • 1998 – Borna Sosa, Croatian footballer
  • 1999 – Rubina Ali, Indian actress
  • 2003 – Natalie Garcia, rhythmic gymnast
  • 2004 – Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway, 2nd in line for the Norwegian throne

Deaths on January 21

  • 420 – Yazdegerd I, king of the Sassanid Empire
  • 496 – Epiphanius of Pavia, Italian bishop and saint (b. 438)
  • 917 – Erchanger, Duke of Swabia (b. 880)
  • 918 – Liu Zhijun, Chinese general
  • 939 – Yang Pu, Chinese emperor (b. 900)
  • 942 – An Chongrong, Chinese general (Five Dynasties)
  • 945 – Yang Tan, Chinese general and governor
  • 1118 – Pope Paschal II (b. 1050)
  • 1203 – Agnes II, Abbess of Quedlinburg (b. 1139)
  • 1320 – Árni Helgason, Icelandic bishop (b. c. 1260)
  • 1527 – Juan de Grijalva, Spanish explorer (b. 1489)
  • 1546 – Azai Sukemasa, Japanese daimyō (b. 1491)
  • 1609 – Joseph Justus Scaliger, French historian and scholar (b. 1540)
  • 1638 – Ignazio Donati, Italian composer (b. 1570)
  • 1670 – Claude Duval, French highwayman (b. 1643)
  • 1683 – Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1621)
  • 1699 – Obadiah Walker, English historian and academic (b. 1616)
  • 1706 – Adrien Baillet, French scholar and critic (b. 1649)
  • 1710 – Johann Georg Gichtel, German mystic and critic (b. 1638)
  • 1722 – Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1661)
  • 1731 – Ignjat Đurđević, Croatian poet and translator (b. 1675)
  • 1773 – Alexis Piron, French playwright and author (b. 1689)
  • 1774 – Mustafa III, Ottoman sultan (b. 1717)
  • 1775 – Yemelyan Pugachev, Russian rebel (b. 1742)
  • 1789 – Baron d’Holbach, French-German philosopher and author (b. 1723)
  • 1793 – Louis XVI of France (b. 1754)
  • 1795 – Samuel Wallis, English navigator and explorer (b. 1728)
  • 1809 – Josiah Hornblower, American engineer and politician (b. 1729)
  • 1814 – Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, French botanist and author (b. 1737)
  • 1823 – Cayetano José Rodríguez, Argentinian cleric, journalist, and poet (b. 1761)
  • 1831 – Ludwig Achim von Arnim, German poet and author (b. 1781)
  • 1851 – Albert Lortzing, German actor and composer (b. 1801)
  • 1862 – Božena Němcová, Austrian-Czech author and poet (b. 1820)
  • 1870 – Alexander Herzen, Russian philosopher and author (b. 1812)
  • 1872 – Franz Grillparzer, Austrian playwright and poet (b. 1791)
  • 1881 – Wilhelm Matthias Naeff, Swiss lawyer and politician (b. 1802)
  • 1891 – Calixa Lavallée, Canadian-American lieutenant and composer (b. 1842)
  • 1901 – Elisha Gray, American engineer, co-founded Western Electric (b. 1835)
  • 1914 – Theodor Kittelsen, Norwegian painter and illustrator (b. 1857)
  • 1918 – Jan Drozdowski, Polish pianist and music teacher (b. 1857)
  • 1919 – Gojong of Korea (b. 1852)
  • 1919 – Ahmed Muhtar Pasha, Ottoman general and politician, 277th Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1839)
  • 1924 – Vladimir Lenin, Russian lawyer and politician (b. 1870)
  • 1926 – Camillo Golgi, Italian physician and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1843)
  • 1928 – George Washington Goethals, American general and engineer (b. 1858)
  • 1931 – Felix Blumenfeld, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1863)
  • 1932 – Lytton Strachey, English writer and critic (b. 1880)
  • 1933 – George Moore, Irish author, poet, and critic (b. 1852)
  • 1937 – Marie Prevost, Canadian-American actress and singer (b. 1898)
  • 1938 – Georges Méliès, French actor, director, and producer (b. 1861)
  • 1945 – Rash Behari Bose, Indian soldier and engineer (b. 1886)
  • 1948 – Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Italian composer and educator (b. 1876)
  • 1950 – George Orwell, British novelist, essayist, and critic (b. 1903)
  • 1955 – Archie Hahn, German-American runner and coach (b. 1880)
  • 1956 – Sam Langford, Canadian-American boxer (b. 1883)
  • 1959 – Cecil B. DeMille, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1881)
  • 1959 – Frances Gertrude McGill, pioneering Canadian forensic pathologist (b. 1882)
  • 1959 – Carl Switzer, American child actor and hunting guide (b. 1927)
  • 1960 – Matt Moore, Irish-American actor and director (b. 1888)
  • 1961 – Blaise Cendrars, Swiss author and poet (b. 1887)
  • 1963 – Acharya Shivpujan Sahay, Indian author, poet, and academic (b. 1893)
  • 1963 – Spiros Xenos, Greek-Swedish painter (b. 1881)
  • 1965 – Gwynne Evans, American swimmer and water polo player (b. 1880)
  • 1967 – Ann Sheridan, American actress (b. 1915)
  • 1968 – Will Lang, Jr., American journalist (b. 1914)
  • 1977 – Sandro Penna, Italian poet and journalist (b. 1906)
  • 1978 – Freda Utley, English scholar and author (b. 1898)
  • 1983 – Lamar Williams, American bass player (b. 1949)
  • 1984 – Giannis Skarimpas, Greek playwright and poet (b. 1893)
  • 1984 – Jackie Wilson, American singer (b. 1934)
  • 1985 – James Beard, American chef and author (b. 1903)
  • 1985 – Eddie Graham, American wrestler and promoter (b. 1930)
  • 1987 – Charles Goodell, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (b. 1926)
  • 1988 – Vincent Lingiari, Australian Aboriginal rights activist (b. 1919)
  • 1989 – Carl Furillo, American baseball player (b. 1922)
  • 1989 – Billy Tipton, American pianist and saxophonist (b. 1914)
  • 1993 – Charlie Gehringer, American baseball player and manager (b. 1903)
  • 1994 – Bassel al-Assad, Son of the former President of the Syrian Arab Republic Hafez al-Assad (b. 1962)
  • 1998 – Jack Lord, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1920)
  • 1999 – Susan Strasberg, American actress (b. 1938)
  • 2002 – Peggy Lee, American singer (b. 1920)
  • 2003 – Paul Haines, American-Canadian poet and songwriter (b. 1933)
  • 2003 – Paul Kuusberg, Estonian journalist and author (b. 1916)
  • 2004 – Yordan Radichkov, Bulgarian author and playwright (b. 1929)
  • 2005 – Theun de Vries, Dutch author and poet (b. 1907)
  • 2005 – John L. Hess, American journalist and critic (b. 1917)
  • 2005 – Kaljo Raid, Estonian cellist, composer, and pastor (b. 1921)
  • 2006 – Ibrahim Rugova, Kosovo journalist and politician, 1st President of Kosovo (b. 1944)
  • 2009 – Krista Kilvet, Estonian journalist, politician and diplomat (b. 1946)
  • 2010 – Paul Quarrington, Canadian author, playwright, guitarist, and composer (b. 1953)
  • 2011 – Theoni V. Aldredge, Greek-American costume designer (b. 1922)
  • 2011 – Dennis Oppenheim, American sculptor and photographer (b. 1938)
  • 2011 – E. V. V. Satyanarayana, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1958)
  • 2013 – Ahmet Mete Işıkara, Turkish geophysicist and academic (b. 1941)
  • 2013 – Chumpol Silpa-archa, Thai academic and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand (b. 1940)
  • 2013 – Michael Winner, English director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1935)
  • 2015 – Marcus Borg, American scholar, theologian, and author (b. 1942)
  • 2015 – Leon Brittan, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (b. 1939)
  • 2015 – Johnnie Lewis, Liberian lawyer and politician, 18th Chief Justice of Liberia (b. 1946)
  • 2016 – Bill Johnson, American skier (b. 1960)
  • 2016 – Mrinalini Sarabhai, a 1992-Padma Bhushan award winner Indian classical dancer, choreographer and instructor. (b. 1918)
  • 2019 – Kaye Ballard, American actress (b. 1925)
  • 2019 – Henri, Count of Paris, Head of the House of Orléans (b. 1933)
  • 2019 – Emiliano Sala, Argentine footballer (b. 1990)
  • 2019 – Harris Wofford, American politician, author and civil rights activist (b. 1926)
  • 2020 – Terry Jones, Welsh actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1942)
  • 2020 – Morgan Wootten, American high school basketball coach (b. 1931)

Holidays and observances on January 21

  • Babinden (Bulgaria, Serbia)
  • Birthday of Princess Ingrid Alexandra (Norway)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Agnes
    • Demiana (Coptic Church)
    • Fructuosus
    • John Yi Yun-il (one of The Korean Martyrs)
    • Meinrad of Einsiedeln
    • January 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Errol Barrow Day (Barbados)
  • Flag Day (Quebec)
  • Grandmother’s Day (Poland)
  • Lady of Altagracia Day (Dominican Republic)
  • Lincoln Alexander Day (Canada)

January 21- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

January 18 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 474 – Seven-year-old Leo II succeeds his maternal grandfather Leo I as Byzantine emperor. He dies ten months later.
  • 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople fail.
  • 1126 – Emperor Huizong abdicates the Chinese throne in favour of his son Emperor Qinzong.
  • 1486 – King Henry VII of England marries Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV uniting the House of Lancaster and the House of York.
  • 1562 – Pope Pius IV reopens the Council of Trent for its third and final session.
  • 1591 – King Naresuan of Siam kills Crown Prince Mingyi Swa of Burma in single combat, for which this date is now observed as Royal Thai Armed Forces day.
  • 1670 – Henry Morgan captures Panama.
  • 1701 – Frederick I crowns himself King of Prussia in Königsberg.
  • 1778 – James Cook is the first known European to discover the Hawaiian Islands, which he names the “Sandwich Islands”.
  • 1788 – The first elements of the First Fleet carrying 736 convicts from Great Britain to Australia arrive at Botany Bay.
  • 1806 – Jan Willem Janssens surrenders the Dutch Cape Colony to the British.
  • 1866 – Wesley College is established in Melbourne, Australia.
  • 1871 – Wilhelm I of Germany is proclaimed Kaiser Wilhelm in the Hall of Mirrors of the Palace of Versailles (France) towards the end of the Franco-Prussian War. Wilhelm already had the title of German Emperor since the constitution of 1 January 1871, but he had hesitated to accept the title.
  • 1886 – Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England.
  • 1896 – An X-ray generating machine is exhibited for the first time by H. L. Smith.
  • 1911 – Eugene B. Ely lands on the deck of the USS Pennsylvania anchored in San Francisco Bay, the first time an aircraft landed on a ship.
  • 1913 – First Balkan War: A Greek flotilla defeats the Ottoman Navy in the Naval Battle of Lemnos, securing the islands of the Northern Aegean Sea for Greece.
  • 1915 – Japan issues the “Twenty-One Demands” to the Republic of China in a bid to increase its power in East Asia.
  • 1919 – World War I: The Paris Peace Conference opens in Versailles, France.
  • 1919 – Ignacy Jan Paderewski becomes Prime Minister of the newly independent Poland.
  • 1941 – World War II: British troops launch a general counter-offensive against Italian East Africa.
  • 1943 – Warsaw Ghetto Uprising: The first uprising of Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto.
  • 1945 – World War II: Liberation of Kraków, Poland by the Red Army.
  • 1958 – Willie O’Ree, the first Black Canadian National Hockey League player, makes his NHL debut with the Boston Bruins.
  • 1960 – Capital Airlines Flight 20 crashes into a farm in Charles City County, Virginia, killing all 50 aboard, the third fatal Capital Airlines crash in as many years.
  • 1967 – Albert DeSalvo, the “Boston Strangler”, is convicted of numerous crimes and is sentenced to life imprisonment.
  • 1969 – United Airlines Flight 266 crashes into Santa Monica Bay killing all 32 passengers and six crew members.
  • 1974 – A Disengagement of Forces agreement is signed between the Israeli and Egyptian governments, ending conflict on the Egyptian front of the Yom Kippur War.
  • 1976 – Lebanese Christian militias kill at least 1,000 in Karantina, Beirut.
  • 1977 – Scientists identify a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious Legionnaires’ disease.
  • 1977 – Australia’s worst rail disaster occurs at Granville, Sydney killing 83.
  • 1977 – SFR Yugoslavia’s Prime minister, Džemal Bijedić, his wife and six others are killed in a plane crash in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
  • 1978 – The European Court of Human Rights finds the United Kingdom’s government guilty of mistreating prisoners in Northern Ireland, but not guilty of torture.
  • 1981 – Phil Smith and Phil Mayfield parachute off a Houston skyscraper, becoming the first two people to BASE jump from objects in all four categories: buildings, antennae, spans (bridges), and earth (cliffs).
  • 1983 – The International Olympic Committee restores Jim Thorpe’s Olympic medals to his family.
  • 1990 – Washington, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry is arrested for drug possession in an FBI sting.
  • 1993 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is officially observed for the first time in all 50 US states.
  • 2002 – The Sierra Leone Civil War is declared over.
  • 2003 – A bushfire kills four people and destroys more than 500 homes in Canberra, Australia.
  • 2005 – The Airbus A380, the world’s largest commercial jet, is unveiled at a ceremony in Toulouse, France
  • 2007 – The strongest storm in the United Kingdom in 17 years kills 14 people and Germany sees the worst storm since 1999 with 13 deaths. Cyclone Kyrill causes at least 44 deaths across 20 countries in Western Europe.
  • 2008 – The Euphronios Krater is unveiled in Rome after being returned to Italy by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  • 2018 – A bus catches fire on the Samara–Shymkent road in Yrgyz District, Aktobe, Kazakhstan. The fire kills 52 passengers, with three passengers and two drivers escaping.

Births on January 18

  • 1404 – Sir Philip Courtenay, British noble (d. 1463)
  • 1457 – Antonio Trivulzio, seniore, Roman Catholic cardinal (d. 1508)
  • 1519 – Isabella Jagiellon, Queen of Hungary (d. 1559)
  • 1540 – Catherine, Duchess of Braganza (d. 1614)
  • 1641 – François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois, French politician, Secretary of State for War (d. 1691)
  • 1659 – Damaris Cudworth Masham, English philosopher and theologian (d. 1708)
  • 1672 – Antoine Houdar de la Motte, French author (d. 1731)
  • 1688 – Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1765)
  • 1689 – Montesquieu, French lawyer and philosopher (d. 1755)
  • 1701 – Johann Jakob Moser, German jurist (d. 1785)
  • 1743 – Louis Claude de Saint-Martin, French mystic and philosopher (d. 1803)
  • 1751 – Ferdinand Kauer, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1831)
  • 1752 – John Nash, English architect (d. 1835)
  • 1764 – Samuel Whitbread, English politician (d. 1815)
  • 1779 – Peter Mark Roget, English physician, lexicographer, and theologian (d. 1869)
  • 1782 – Daniel Webster, American lawyer and politician, 14th United States Secretary of State (d. 1852)
  • 1793 – Pratap Singh Bhosle, Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire (d. 1847)
  • 1815 – Constantin von Tischendorf, German theologian and scholar (d. 1874)
  • 1835 – César Cui, Russian general, composer, and critic (d. 1918)
  • 1840 – Henry Austin Dobson, English poet and author (d. 1921)
  • 1841 – Emmanuel Chabrier, French pianist and composer (d. 1894)
  • 1842 – A. A. Ames, American physician and politician, Mayor of Minneapolis (d. 1911)
  • 1848 – Ioan Slavici, Romanian journalist and author (d. 1925)
  • 1849 – Edmund Barton, Australian judge and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1920)
  • 1850 – Seth Low, American academic and politician, 92nd Mayor of New York City (d. 1916)
  • 1853 – Marthinus Nikolaas Ras, South African farmer, soldier, and gun-maker (d. 1900)
  • 1854 – Thomas A. Watson, American assistant to Alexander Graham Bell (d. 1934)
  • 1856 – Daniel Hale Williams, American surgeon and cardiologist (d. 1931)
  • 1867 – Rubén Darío, Nicaraguan poet, journalist, and diplomat (d. 1916)
  • 1868 – Kantarō Suzuki, Japanese admiral and politician, 42nd Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1948)
  • 1877 – Sam Zemurray, Russian-American businessman, founded the Cuyamel Fruit Company (d. 1961)
  • 1879 – Henri Giraud, French general and politician (d. 1949)
  • 1880 – Paul Ehrenfest, Austrian-Dutch physicist and academic (d. 1933)
  • 1880 – Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster, Italian cardinal (d. 1954)
  • 1881 – Gaston Gallimard, French publisher, founded Éditions Gallimard (d. 1975)
  • 1882 – A. A. Milne, English author, poet, and playwright (d. 1956)
  • 1886 – Clara Nordström, Swedish-German author and translator (d. 1962)
  • 1888 – Thomas Sopwith, English ice hockey player, sailor, and pilot (d. 1989)
  • 1892 – Oliver Hardy, American actor and comedian (d. 1957)
  • 1892 – Bill Meanix, American hurdler and coach (d. 1957)
  • 1892 – Paul Rostock, German surgeon and academic (d. 1956)
  • 1893 – Jorge Guillén, Spanish poet, critic, and academic (d. 1984)
  • 1894 – Toots Mondt, American wrestler and promoter (d. 1976)
  • 1896 – C. M. Eddy Jr., American author (d. 1967)
  • 1896 – Ville Ritola, Finnish-American runner (d. 1982)
  • 1898 – Albert Kivikas, Estonian journalist and author (d. 1978)
  • 1901 – Ivan Petrovsky, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1973)
  • 1903 – Berthold Goldschmidt, German pianist and composer (d. 1996)
  • 1904 – Anthony Galla-Rini, American accordion player and composer (d. 2006)
  • 1904 – Cary Grant, English-American actor (d. 1986)
  • 1905 – Joseph Bonanno, Italian-American mob boss (d. 2002)
  • 1907 – János Ferencsik, Hungarian conductor (d. 1984)
  • 1908 – Jacob Bronowski, Polish-English mathematician, historian, and television host (d. 1974)
  • 1910 – Kenneth E. Boulding, English economist and academic (d. 1993)
  • 1911 – José María Arguedas, Peruvian anthropologist, author, and poet (d. 1969)
  • 1911 – Danny Kaye, American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 1987)
  • 1913 – Carroll Cloar, American artist (d. 1993)
  • 1913 – Giannis Papaioannou, Greek composer (d. 1972)
  • 1914 – Arno Schmidt, German author and translator (d. 1979)
  • 1914 – Vitomil Zupan, Slovene author, poet, and playwright (d. 1987)
  • 1915 – Syl Apps, Canadian pole vaulter, ice hockey player, and politician (d. 1998)
  • 1915 – Santiago Carrillo, Spanish soldier and politician (d. 2012)
  • 1915 – Vassilis Tsitsanis, Greek singer-songwriter and bouzouki player (d. 1984)
  • 1917 – Nicholas Oresko, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2013)
  • 1917 – Wang Yung-ching, Taiwanese-American businessman (d. 2008)
  • 1918 – Gustave Gingras, Canadian-English physician and educator (d. 1996)
  • 1919 – Toni Turek, German footballer (d. 1984)
  • 1921 – Yoichiro Nambu, Japanese-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2015)
  • 1923 – John Graham, General Officer Commanding (GOC) Wales (d. 2012)
  • 1923 – Gerrit Voorting, Dutch cyclist (d. 2015)
  • 1925 – Gilles Deleuze, French metaphysician and philosopher (d. 1995)
  • 1925 – John V. Evans, American soldier and politician, 27th Governor of Idaho (d. 2014)
  • 1925 – Sol Yurick, American soldier and author (d. 2013)
  • 1926 – Randolph Bromery, American geologist and academic (d. 2013)
  • 1927 – Sundaram Balachander, Indian actor, singer, and veena player (d. 1990)
  • 1928 – Alexander Gomelsky, Soviet and Russian professional basketball coach (d. 2005)
  • 1931 – Chun Doo-hwan, South Korean general and politician, 5th President of South Korea
  • 1932 – Robert Anton Wilson, American psychologist, author, poet, and playwright (d. 2007)
  • 1933 – Emeka Anyaoku, Nigerian politician, 8th Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 1933 – David Bellamy, English botanist, author and academic (d. 2019)
  • 1933 – John Boorman, English director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1933 – Ray Dolby, American engineer and businessman, founded Dolby Laboratories (d. 2013)
  • 1933 – William Goodhart, Baron Goodhart, English lawyer and politician (d. 2017)
  • 1933 – Frank McMullen, New Zealand rugby player (d. 2004)
  • 1933 – Jean Vuarnet, French ski racer (d. 2017)
  • 1934 – Raymond Briggs, English author and illustrator
  • 1935 – Albert Millaire, Canadian actor and director (d. 2018)
  • 1935 – Jon Stallworthy, English poet, critic, and academic (d. 2014)
  • 1935 – Gad Yaacobi, Israeli academic and diplomat, 10th Israel Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 2007)
  • 1936 – David Howell, Baron Howell of Guildford, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Transport
  • 1937 – John Hume, Northern Irish educator and politician, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1938 – Curt Flood, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1997)
  • 1938 – Anthony Giddens, English sociologist and academic
  • 1938 – Werner Olk, German footballer and manager
  • 1938 – Hargus “Pig” Robbins, American Country Music Hall of Fame session keyboard and piano player
  • 1940 – Pedro Rodriguez, Mexican race car driver (d. 1971)
  • 1941 – Denise Bombardier, Canadian journalist and author
  • 1941 – Bobby Goldsboro, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1941 – David Ruffin, American singer (The Temptations) (d. 1991)
  • 1943 – Paul Freeman, English actor
  • 1943 – Kay Granger, American educator and politician
  • 1943 – Dave Greenslade, English keyboard player and composer
  • 1943 – Charlie Wilson, American businessman and politician (d. 2013)
  • 1944 – Paul Keating, Australian economist and politician, 24th Prime Minister of Australia
  • 1944 – Carl Morton, American baseball player (d. 1983)
  • 1944 – Kei Ogura, Japanese singer-songwriter and composer
  • 1944 – Alexander Van der Bellen, President of Austria
  • 1945 – Rocco Forte, English businessman and philanthropist
  • 1946 – Perro Aguayo, Mexican wrestler (d. 2019)
  • 1946 – Joseph Deiss, Swiss economist and politician, 156th President of the Swiss Confederation
  • 1946 – Henrique Rosa, Bissau-Guinean politician, President of Guinea-Bissau (d. 2013)
  • 1947 – Sachio Kinugasa, Japanese baseball player and journalist (d. 2018)
  • 1947 – Takeshi Kitano, Japanese actor and director
  • 1949 – Bill Keller, American journalist
  • 1949 – Philippe Starck, French interior designer
  • 1950 – Gianfranco Brancatelli, Italian race car driver
  • 1950 – Gilles Villeneuve, Canadian race car driver (d. 1982)
  • 1951 – Bram Behr, Surinamese journalist and activist (d. 1982)
  • 1951 – Bob Latchford, English footballer
  • 1952 – Michael Behe, American biochemist, author, and academic
  • 1952 – R. Stevie Moore, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1953 – Brett Hudson, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1953 – Peter Moon, Australian comedian and actor
  • 1955 – Kevin Costner, American actor, director, and producer
  • 1956 – Paul Deighton, Baron Deighton, English banker and politician
  • 1960 – Mark Rylance, English actor, director, and playwright
  • 1961 – Peter Beardsley, English footballer and manager
  • 1961 – Bob Hansen, American basketball player and sportscaster
  • 1961 – Mark Messier, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and sportscaster
  • 1961 – Jeff Yagher, American actor and sculptor
  • 1962 – Alison Arngrim, Canadian-American actress
  • 1963 – Maxime Bernier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 7th Minister of Foreign Affairs for Canada
  • 1963 – Ian Crook, English footballer, central midfielder and manager
  • 1963 – Carl McCoy, English singer-songwriter
  • 1963 – Martin O’Malley, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 61st Governor of Maryland
  • 1964 – Brady Anderson, American baseball player
  • 1964 – Richard Dunwoody, Northern Irish jockey and sportscaster
  • 1964 – Virgil Hill, American boxer
  • 1964 – Jane Horrocks, English actress and singer
  • 1966 – Alexander Khalifman, Russian chess player and author
  • 1966 – Kazufumi Miyazawa, Japanese singer
  • 1966 – André Ribeiro, Brazilian race car driver
  • 1967 – Dean Bailey, Australian footballer and coach (d. 2014)
  • 1967 – Iván Zamorano, Chilean footballer
  • 1969 – Dave Bautista, American wrestler, mixed martial artist, and actor
  • 1969 – Jesse L. Martin, American actor and singer
  • 1969 – Jim O’Rourke, American guitarist and producer
  • 1970 – Peter Van Petegem, Belgian cyclist
  • 1971 – Amy Barger, American astronomer
  • 1971 – Jonathan Davis, American singer-songwriter
  • 1971 – Christian Fittipaldi, Brazilian race car driver
  • 1971 – Pep Guardiola, Spanish footballer and manager
  • 1971 – Binyavanga Wainaina, Kenyan writer (d. 2019)
  • 1972 – Vinod Kambli, Indian cricketer, sportscaster, and actor
  • 1972 – Mike Lieberthal, American baseball player
  • 1972 – Kjersti Plätzer, Norwegian race walker
  • 1973 – Burnie Burns, American actor, director, and producer, co-founded Rooster Teeth Productions
  • 1973 – Luke Goodwin, Australian rugby league player and coach
  • 1973 – Benjamin Jealous, American civic leader and activist
  • 1973 – Anthony Koutoufides, Australian footballer
  • 1973 – Crispian Mills, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and director
  • 1973 – Rolando Schiavi, Argentinian footballer and coach
  • 1974 – Christian Burns, English singer-songwriter
  • 1975 – Leslie Knope, Protagonist of Parks and Recreation (fictional)
  • 1976 – Laurence Courtois, Belgian tennis player
  • 1976 – Marcelo Gallardo, Argentinian footballer and coach
  • 1976 – Damien Leith, Irish-Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1977 – Richard Archer, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1978 – Brian Falkenborg, American baseball player
  • 1978 – Thor Hushovd, Norwegian cyclist
  • 1978 – Bogdan Lobonț, Romanian footballer
  • 1979 – Ruslan Fedotenko, Ukrainian ice hockey player
  • 1979 – Paulo Ferreira, Portuguese footballer
  • 1979 – Brian Gionta, American ice hockey player
  • 1979 – Kenyatta Jones, American football player (d. 2018)
  • 1980 – Estelle, English singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1980 – Robert Green, English footballer
  • 1980 – Kert Haavistu, Estonian footballer and manager
  • 1980 – Julius Peppers, American football player
  • 1980 – Jason Segel, American actor and screenwriter
  • 1981 – Otgonbayar Ershuu, Mongolian painter and illustrator
  • 1981 – Olivier Rochus, Belgian tennis player
  • 1981 – Khari Stephenson, Jamaican footballer
  • 1981 – Kang Dong-won, South Korean actor
  • 1982 – Quinn Allman, American guitarist and producer
  • 1982 – Mary Jepkosgei Keitany, Kenyan runner
  • 1983 – Amir Blumenfeld, Israeli-American comedian, actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1983 – Samantha Mumba, Irish singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1984 – Kristy Lee Cook, American singer-songwriter
  • 1984 – Ioannis Drymonakos, Greek swimmer
  • 1984 – Makoto Hasebe, Japanese footballer
  • 1984 – Michael Kearney, American biochemist and academic
  • 1984 – Seung-Hui Cho, South Korean student who perpetrated the 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech (d. 2007)
  • 1984 – Benji Schwimmer, American dancer and choreographer
  • 1984 – Viktoria Shklover, Estonian figure skater
  • 1985 – Dale Begg-Smith, Canadian-Australian skier
  • 1985 – Mark Briscoe, American wrestler
  • 1985 – Riccardo Montolivo, Italian footballer
  • 1985 – Hyun Woo, South Korean actor
  • 1986 – Marya Roxx, Estonian-American singer-songwriter
  • 1986 – Ikusaburo Yamazaki, Japanese actor and singer
  • 1987 – Johan Djourou, Swiss footballer
  • 1987 – Christopher Liebig, German rugby player
  • 1987 – Grigoris Makos, Greek footballer
  • 1988 – Ronnie Day, American singer-songwriter
  • 1988 – Angelique Kerber, German tennis player
  • 1988 – Anastasios Kissas, Greek footballer
  • 1988 – Boy van Poppel, Dutch cyclist
  • 1989 – Rubén Miño, Spanish footballer
  • 1990 – Nacho, Spanish footballer
  • 1990 – Hayle Ibrahimov, Ethiopian-Azerbaijani runner
  • 1990 – Gift Ngoepe, South African baseball player
  • 1991 – Diego Simões, Brazilian footballer
  • 1992 – Francesco Bardi, Italian footballer
  • 1993 – Sean Keenan, Australian actor
  • 1994 – Kang Ji-young, South Korean singer
  • 1994 – Ilona Kremen, Belarusian tennis player
  • 1995 – Bryce Alford, American basketball player
  • 1998 – Aitana Bonmatí, Spanish footballer

Deaths on January 18

  • 52 BC – Publius Clodius Pulcher, Roman politician (b. 93 BC)
  • 474 – Leo I, Byzantine emperor (b. 401)
  • 748 – Odilo, duke of Bavaria
  • 896 – Khumarawayh ibn Ahmad ibn Tulun, ruler of the Tulunids, murdered (b. 864)
  • 1213 – Tamar of Georgia (b. 1160)
  • 1253 – King Henry I of Cyprus (b. 1217)
  • 1271 – Saint Margaret of Hungary (b. 1242)
  • 1326 – Robert FitzWalter, 1st Baron FitzWalter, English baron (b. 1247)
  • 1357 – Maria of Portugal, infanta (b. 1313)
  • 1367 – Peter I of Portugal (b. 1320)
  • 1411 – Jobst of Moravia, ruler of Moravia, King of the Romans
  • 1425 – Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, English politician (b. 1391)
  • 1471 – Emperor Go-Hanazono of Japan (b. 1419)
  • 1479 – Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1417)
  • 1547 – Pietro Bembo, Italian cardinal and scholar (b. 1470)
  • 1586 – Margaret of Parma (b. 1522)
  • 1589 – Magnus Heinason, Faroese naval hero (b. 1545)
  • 1677 – Jan van Riebeeck, Dutch politician, founded Cape Town (b. 1619)
  • 1756 – Francis George of Schönborn-Buchheim, Archbishop-Elector of Trier (b. 1682)
  • 1783 – Jeanne Quinault, French actress and playwright (b. 1699)
  • 1803 – Ippolit Bogdanovich, Russian poet and academic (b. 1743)
  • 1849 – Panoutsos Notaras, Greek politician (b. 1752)
  • 1862 – John Tyler, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 10th President of the United States (b. 1790)
  • 1873 – Edward Bulwer-Lytton, English author, poet, playwright, and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (b. 1803)
  • 1878 – Antoine César Becquerel, French physicist and academic (b. 1788)
  • 1886 – Baldassare Verazzi, Italian painter (b. 1819)
  • 1892 – Anton Anderledy, Swiss religious leader, 23rd Superior General of the Society of Jesus (b. 1819)
  • 1896 – Charles Floquet, French lawyer and politician, 55th Prime Minister of France (b. 1828)
  • 1923 – Wallace Reid, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1891)
  • 1936 – Hermanus Brockmann, Dutch rower (b. 1871)
  • 1936 – Rudyard Kipling, English author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
  • 1940 – Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer, Polish author, poet, and playwright (b. 1865)
  • 1951 – Amy Carmichael, Irish missionary and humanitarian (b. 1867)
  • 1952 – Curly Howard, American actor (b. 1903)
  • 1954 – Sydney Greenstreet, English-American actor (b. 1879)
  • 1955 – Saadat Hasan Manto, Pakistani author and screenwriter (b. 1912)
  • 1956 – Makbule Atadan, Turkish lawyer and politician (b. 1885)
  • 1956 – Konstantin Päts, Estonian journalist, lawyer, and politician, 1st President of Estonia (b. 1874)
  • 1963 – Hugh Gaitskell, English academic and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1906)
  • 1966 – Kathleen Norris, American journalist and author (b. 1880)
  • 1967 – Goose Tatum, American basketball player and soldier (b. 1921)
  • 1969 – Hans Freyer, German sociologist and philosopher (b. 1887)
  • 1970 – David O. McKay, American religious leader, 9th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1873)
  • 1971 – Virgil Finlay, American illustrator (b. 1914)
  • 1973 – Irina Nikolaevna Levchenko, Russian tank commander (b. 1924)
  • 1975 – Gertrude Olmstead, American actress (b. 1897)
  • 1978 – Hasan Askari, Pakistani philosopher and author (b. 1919)
  • 1980 – Cecil Beaton, English fashion designer and photographer (b. 1904)
  • 1984 – Panteleimon Ponomarenko, Belarusian general and politician (b. 1902)
  • 1984 – Vassilis Tsitsanis, Greek singer-songwriter and bouzouki player (b. 1915)
  • 1989 – Bruce Chatwin, English-French author (b. 1940)
  • 1990 – Melanie Appleby, English singer (b. 1966)
  • 1990 – Rusty Hamer, American actor (b. 1947)
  • 1993 – Dionysios Zakythinos, Greek historian, academic, and politician (b. 1905)
  • 1995 – Adolf Butenandt, German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
  • 1995 – Ron Luciano, American baseball player and umpire (b. 1937)
  • 1996 – N. T. Rama Rao, Indian actor, director, producer, and politician, 10th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (b. 1923)
  • 1997 – Paul Tsongas, American lawyer and politician (b. 1941)
  • 1998 – Dan Georgiadis, Greek footballer and manager (b. 1922)
  • 2000 – Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, Austrian architect (b. 1897)
  • 2003 – Ed Farhat, American wrestler and trainer (b. 1924)
  • 2003 – Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Indian poet and author (b. 1907)
  • 2005 – Lamont Bentley, American actor and rapper (b. 1973)
  • 2006 – Jan Twardowski, Polish priest and poet (b. 1915)
  • 2007 – Brent Liles, American bass player (b. 1963)
  • 2008 – Georgia Frontiere, American businesswoman and philanthropist (b. 1927)
  • 2008 – Frank Lewin, American composer and theorist (b. 1925)
  • 2008 – Lois Nettleton, American actress (b. 1927)
  • 2008 – John Stroger, American politician (b. 1929)
  • 2009 – Tony Hart, English painter and television host (b. 1925)
  • 2009 – Nora Kovach, Hungarian-American ballerina (b. 1931)
  • 2009 – Danai Stratigopoulou, Greek singer-songwriter (b. 1913)
  • 2009 – Grigore Vieru, Romanian poet and author (b. 1935)
  • 2010 – Kate McGarrigle, Canadian musician and singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
  • 2010 – Robert B. Parker, American author and academic (b. 1932)
  • 2011 – Sargent Shriver, American politician and diplomat, 21st United States Ambassador to France (b. 1915)
  • 2012 – Anthony Gonsalves, Indian composer and educator (b. 1927)
  • 2012 – Georg Lassen, German captain (b. 1915)
  • 2012 – Yuri Rasovsky, American playwright and producer, founded The National Radio Theater of Chicago (b. 1944)
  • 2013 – Sean Fallon, Irish footballer and manager (b. 1922)
  • 2013 – Jim Horning, American computer scientist and academic (b. 1942)
  • 2013 – Jon Mannah, Australian rugby league player (b. 1989)
  • 2013 – Lewis Marnell, Australian skateboarder (b. 1982)
  • 2013 – Ron Nachman, Israeli lawyer and politician (b. 1942)
  • 2014 – Kathryn Abbe, American photographer and author (b. 1919)
  • 2014 – Michael Botmang, Nigerian politician, 17th Governor of Plateau State (b. 1938)
  • 2014 – Dennis Frederiksen, American singer-songwriter (b. 1951)
  • 2014 – Andy Graver, English footballer (b. 1927)
  • 2014 – Sarah Marshall, English actress (b. 1933)
  • 2014 – Eugenio Cruz Vargas, Chilean poet and painter (b. 1923)
  • 2015 – Alberto Nisman, Argentinian lawyer and prosecutor (b. 1963)
  • 2015 – Christine Valmy, Romanian cosmetologist and author (b. 1926)
  • 2015 – Piet van der Sanden, Dutch journalist and politician (b. 1924)
  • 2015 – Tony Verna, American director and producer, invented instant replay (b. 1933)
  • 2016 – Johnny Bach, American basketball player and coach (b. 1924)
  • 2016 – Glenn Frey, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (b. 1948)
  • 2016 – T. S. Sinnathuray, Judge of the High Court of Singapore (b. 1930)
  • 2016 – Michel Tournier, French journalist and author (b. 1924)
  • 2017 – Peter Abrahams, South African-Jamaican writer (b. 1919)
  • 2017 – David P. Buckson, American lawyer and politician, Governor of Delaware (b. 1920)
  • 2017 – Rachael Heyhoe Flint, Baroness Heyhoe Flint, English cricketer, businesswoman and philanthropist (b. 1939)
  • 2017 – Roberta Peters, American coloratura soprano (b. 1930)
  • 2019 – John Coughlin, American figure skater (b. 1985)

Holidays and observances on January 18

  • Christian feast day:
    • Amy Carmichael (Church of England)
    • Athanasius of Alexandria (Eastern Orthodox Church)
    • Confession of Peter (Eastern Orthodox, some Anglican and Lutheran Churches)
    • Cyril of Alexandria
    • Deicolus
    • Margaret of Hungary
    • Prisca
    • Volusianus of Tours
    • January 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Royal Thai Armed Forces Day (Thailand)
  • Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (January 18–25) (Christianity)

January 18 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

January 17 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 38 BC – Octavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey.
  • 1362 – Saint Marcellus’ flood kills at least 25,000 people on the shores of the North Sea.
  • 1377 – Pope Gregory XI reaches Rome, after deciding to move the Papacy back to Rome from Avignon.
  • 1524 – Giovanni da Verrazzano sets sail westward from Madeira to find a sea route to the Pacific Ocean.
  • 1562 – France grants religious toleration to the Huguenots in the Edict of Saint-Germain.
  • 1595 – During the French Wars of Religion, Henry IV of France declares war on Spain.
  • 1608 – Emperor Susenyos I of Ethiopia surprises an Oromo army at Ebenat; his army reportedly kills 12,000 Oromo at the cost of 400 of his men.
  • 1648 – England’s Long Parliament passes the “Vote of No Addresses”, breaking off negotiations with King Charles I and thereby setting the scene for the second phase of the English Civil War.
  • 1773 – Captain James Cook leads the first expedition to sail south of the Antarctic Circle.
  • 1781 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cowpens: Continental troops under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan defeat British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton at the battle in South Carolina.
  • 1799 – Maltese patriot Dun Mikiel Xerri, along with a number of other patriots, is executed.
  • 1811 – Mexican War of Independence: In the Battle of Calderón Bridge, a heavily outnumbered Spanish force of 6,000 troops defeats nearly 100,000 Mexican revolutionaries.
  • 1852 – The United Kingdom signs the Sand River Convention with the South African Republic.
  • 1873 – A group of Modoc warriors defeats the United States Army in the First Battle of the Stronghold, part of the Modoc War.
  • 1885 – A British force defeats a large Dervish army at the Battle of Abu Klea in the Sudan.
  • 1893 – Lorrin A. Thurston, along with the Citizens’ Committee of Public Safety, led the Overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii and the government of Queen Liliʻuokalani.
  • 1899 – The United States takes possession of Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean.
  • 1903 – El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico becomes part of the United States National Forest System as the Luquillo Forest Reserve.
  • 1904 – Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard receives its premiere performance at the Moscow Art Theatre.
  • 1912 – British polar explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott reaches the South Pole, one month after Roald Amundsen.
  • 1915 – Russia defeats Ottoman Turkey in the Battle of Sarikamish during the Caucasus Campaign of World War I.
  • 1917 – The United States pays Denmark $25 million for the Virgin Islands.
  • 1918 – Finnish Civil War: The first serious battles take place between the Red Guards and the White Guard.
  • 1920 – Alcohol Prohibition begins in the United States as the Volstead Act goes into effect.
  • 1929 – Popeye the Sailor Man, a cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, first appears in the Thimble Theatre comic strip.
  • 1941 – Franco-Thai War: Vichy French forces inflict a decisive defeat over the Royal Thai Navy.
  • 1943 – World War II: Greek submarine Papanikolis captures the 200-ton sailing vessel Agios Stefanos and mans her with part of her crew.
  • 1944 – World War II: Allied forces launch the first of four assaults on Monte Cassino with the intention of breaking through the Winter Line and seizing Rome, an effort that would ultimately take four months and cost 105,000 Allied casualties.
  • 1945 – World War II: The Vistula–Oder Offensive forces German troops out of Warsaw.
  • 1945 – The SS-Totenkopfverbände begin the evacuation of the Auschwitz concentration camp as Soviet forces close in.
  • 1945 – Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg is taken into Soviet custody while in Hungary; he is never publicly seen again.
  • 1946 – The UN Security Council holds its first session.
  • 1948 – The Renville Agreement between the Netherlands and Indonesia is ratified.
  • 1950 – The Great Brink’s Robbery: Eleven thieves steal more than $2 million from an armored car company’s offices in Boston.
  • 1950 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 79 relating to arms control is adopted.
  • 1961 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers a televised farewell address to the nation three days before leaving office, in which he warns against the accumulation of power by the “military–industrial complex” as well as the dangers of massive spending, especially deficit spending.
  • 1961 – Former Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba is murdered in circumstances suggesting the support and complicity of the governments of Belgium and the United States.
  • 1966 – Palomares incident: A B-52 bomber collides with a KC-135 Stratotanker over Spain, killing seven airmen, and dropping three 70-kiloton nuclear bombs near the town of Palomares and another one into the sea.
  • 1969 – Black Panther Party members Bunchy Carter and John Huggins are killed during a meeting in Campbell Hall on the campus of UCLA.
  • 1977 – Capital punishment in the United States resumes after a ten-year hiatus, as convicted murderer Gary Gilmore is executed by firing squad in Utah.
  • 1981 – President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos lifts martial law eight years and five months after declaring it.
  • 1991 – Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm begins early in the morning as aircraft strike positions across Iraq, it is also the first major combat sortie for the F-117. LCDR Scott Speicher’s F/A-18C Hornet from VFA-81 is shot down by a Mig-25 and is the first American casualty of the War. Iraq fires eight Scud missiles into Israel in an unsuccessful bid to provoke Israeli retaliation.
  • 1991 – Crown prince Harald V of Norway becomes King Harald V, following the death of his father, King Olav V.
  • 1992 – During a visit to South Korea, Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa apologizes for forcing Korean women into sexual slavery during World War II.
  • 1994 – The 6.7 Mw  Northridge earthquake shakes the Greater Los Angeles Area with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), leaving 57 people dead and more than 8,700 injured.
  • 1995 – The 6.9 Mw  Great Hanshin earthquake shakes the southern Hyōgo Prefecture with a maximum Shindo of VII, leaving 5,502–6,434 people dead, and 251,301–310,000 displaced.
  • 1996 – The Czech Republic applies for membership of the European Union.
  • 1997 – Cape Canaveral Air Force Station: A Delta II carrying the GPS IIR-1 satellite explodes 13 seconds after launch, dropping 250 tons of burning rocket remains around the launch pad.
  • 1998 – Lewinsky scandal: Matt Drudge breaks the story of the Bill Clinton–Monica Lewinsky affair on his Drudge Report website.
  • 2002 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, displacing an estimated 400,000 people.
  • 2007 – The Doomsday Clock is set to five minutes to midnight in response to North Korea’s nuclear testing.
  • 2010 – Rioting begins between Muslim and Christian groups in Jos, Nigeria, results in at least 200 deaths.

Births on January 17

  • 1342 – Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1404)
  • 1429 – Antonio del Pollaiolo, Italian artist (d.c. 1498)
  • 1463 – Frederick III, Elector of Saxony (d. 1525)
  • 1463 – Antoine Duprat, French cardinal (d. 1535)
  • 1472 – Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, Italian captain (d. 1508)
  • 1484 – George Spalatin, German priest and reformer (d. 1545)
  • 1501 – Leonhart Fuchs, German physician and botanist (d. 1566)
  • 1504 – Pope Pius V (d. 1572)
  • 1517 – Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, English Duke (d. 1554)
  • 1560 – Gaspard Bauhin, Swiss botanist, physician, and academic (d. 1624)
  • 1574 – Robert Fludd, English physician, astrologer, and mathematician (d. 1637)
  • 1593 – William Backhouse, English alchemist and astrologer (d. 1662)
  • 1600 – Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Spanish playwright and poet (d. 1681)
  • 1612 – Thomas Fairfax, English general and politician (d. 1671)
  • 1640 – Jonathan Singletary Dunham, American settler (d. 1724)
  • 1659 – Antonio Veracini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1745)
  • 1666 – Antonio Maria Valsalva, Italian anatomist and physician (d. 1723)
  • 1686 – Archibald Bower, Scottish historian and author (d. 1766)
  • 1706 – Benjamin Franklin, American publisher, inventor, and politician, 6th President of Pennsylvania (d. 1790)
  • 1712 – John Stanley, English organist and composer (d. 1786)
  • 1719 – William Vernon, American businessman (d. 1806)
  • 1728 – Johann Gottfried Müthel, German pianist and composer (d. 1788)
  • 1732 – Stanisław August Poniatowski, Polish-Lithuanian king (d. 1798)
  • 1734 – François-Joseph Gossec, French composer and conductor (d. 1829)
  • 1761 – Sir James Hall, 4th Baronet, Scottish geologist and geophysicist (d. 1832)
  • 1789 – August Neander, German historian and theologian (d. 1850)
  • 1793 – Antonio José Martínez, Spanish-American priest, rancher and politician (d. 1867)
  • 1814 – Ellen Wood, English author (d. 1887)
  • 1820 – Anne Brontë, English author and poet (d. 1849)
  • 1828 – Lewis A. Grant, American lawyer and general, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1918)
  • 1828 – Ede Reményi, Hungarian violinist and composer (d. 1898)
  • 1832 – Henry Martyn Baird, American historian and academic (d. 1906)
  • 1834 – August Weismann, German biologist, zoologist, and geneticist (d. 1914)
  • 1850 – Joaquim Arcoverde de Albuquerque Cavalcanti, Brazilian cardinal (d. 1930)
  • 1850 – Alexander Taneyev, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1918)
  • 1851 – A. B. Frost, American author and illustrator (d. 1928)
  • 1853 – Alva Belmont, American suffragist (d. 1933)
  • 1852 – T. Alexander Harrison, American painter and academic (d. 1930)
  • 1857 – Wilhelm Kienzl, Austrian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1941)
  • 1857 – Eugene Augustin Lauste, French-American engineer (d. 1935)
  • 1858 – Tomás Carrasquilla, Colombian author (d. 1940)
  • 1860 – Douglas Hyde, Irish academic and politician, 1st President of Ireland (d. 1949)
  • 1863 – David Lloyd George, Welsh lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1945)
  • 1863 – Konstantin Stanislavski, Russian actor and director (d. 1938)
  • 1865 – Sir Charles Fergusson, 7th Baronet, English general and politician, 3rd Governor-General of New Zealand (d. 1951)
  • 1867 – Carl Laemmle, German-born American film producer, co-founded Universal Studios (d. 1939)
  • 1867 – Sir Alfred Rawlinson, 3rd Baronet, English colonel, pilot, and polo player (d. 1934)
  • 1871 – David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty, English admiral (d. 1936)
  • 1871 – Nicolae Iorga, Romanian historian and politician, 34th Prime Minister of Romania (d. 1940)
  • 1875 – Florencio Sánchez, Uruguayan journalist and playwright (d. 1910)
  • 1876 – Frank Hague, American lawyer and politician, 30th Mayor of Jersey City (d. 1956)
  • 1877 – Marie Zdeňka Baborová-Čiháková, Czech botanist and zoologist (d. 1937)
  • 1877 – May Gibbs, English-Australian author and illustrator (d. 1969)
  • 1880 – Mack Sennett, Canadian-American actor, director, and producer (d. 1960)
  • 1881 – Antoni Łomnicki, Polish mathematician and academic (d. 1941)
  • 1881 – Harry Price, English psychologist and author (d. 1948)
  • 1882 – Noah Beery, Sr., American actor (d. 1946)
  • 1883 – Compton Mackenzie, English-Scottish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1972)
  • 1886 – Glenn L. Martin, American pilot and businessman, founded the Glenn L. Martin Company (d. 1955)
  • 1887 – Ola Raknes, Norwegian psychoanalyst and philologist (d. 1975)
  • 1888 – Babu Gulabrai, Indian philosopher and author (d. 1963)
  • 1897 – Marcel Petiot, French physician and serial killer (d. 1946)
  • 1898 – Lela Mevorah, Serbian librarian (d. 1972)
  • 1899 – Al Capone, American mob boss (d. 1947)
  • 1899 – Robert Maynard Hutchins, American philosopher and academic (d. 1977)
  • 1899 – Nevil Shute, English engineer and author (d. 1960)
  • 1901 – Aron Gurwitsch, Lithuanian-American philosopher and author (d. 1973)
  • 1904 – Hem Vejakorn, Thai painter and illustrator (d. 1969)
  • 1905 – Ray Cunningham, American baseball player (d. 2005)
  • 1905 – Peggy Gilbert, American saxophonist and bandleader (d. 2007)
  • 1905 – Eduard Oja, Estonian composer, conductor, educator, and critic (d. 1950)
  • 1905 – Guillermo Stábile, Argentinian footballer and manager (d. 1966)
  • 1905 – Jan Zahradníček, Czech poet and translator (d. 1960)
  • 1907 – Henk Badings, Indonesian-Dutch composer and engineer (d. 1987)
  • 1907 – Alfred Wainwright, British fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator (d. 1991)
  • 1908 – Cus D’Amato, American boxing manager and trainer (d. 1985)
  • 1911 – Busher Jackson, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1966)
  • 1911 – John S. McCain Jr., American admiral (d. 1981)
  • 1911 – George Stigler, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991)
  • 1914 – Anacleto Angelini, Italian-Chilean businessman (d. 2007)
  • 1914 – Irving Brecher, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2008)
  • 1914 – Paul Royle, Australian lieutenant and pilot (d. 2015)
  • 1914 – William Stafford, American poet and author (d. 1993)
  • 1916 – Peter Frelinghuysen Jr., American lieutenant and politician (d. 2011)
  • 1917 – M. G. Ramachandran, Indian actor, director, and politician, 5th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (d. 1987)
  • 1918 – Keith Joseph, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Education (d. 1994)
  • 1918 – George M. Leader, American soldier and politician, 36th Governor of Pennsylvania (d. 2013)
  • 1920 – Georges Pichard, French author and illustrator (d. 2003)
  • 1921 – Asghar Khan, Pakistani general and politician (d. 2018)
  • 1921 – Jackie Henderson, Scottish footballer, forward (d. 2005)
  • 1921 – Charlie Mitten, English footballer, outside forward and manager (d. 2002)
  • 1921 – Antonio Prohías, Cuban cartoonist (d. 1998)
  • 1922 – Luis Echeverría, Mexican academic and politician, 50th President of Mexico
  • 1922 – Nicholas Katzenbach, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 65th United States Attorney General (d. 2012)
  • 1922 – Betty White, American actress, game show panelist, television personality, and animal rights activist
  • 1923 – Rangeya Raghav, Indian author and playwright (d. 1962)
  • 1924 – Rik De Saedeleer, Belgian footballer and journalist (d. 2013)
  • 1924 – Jewel Plummer Cobb, American biologist, cancer researcher, and academic (d. 2017)
  • 1925 – Gunnar Birkerts, Latvian-American architect (d. 2017)
  • 1925 – Robert Cormier, American author and journalist (d. 2000)
  • 1925 – Abdul Hafeez Kardar, Pakistani cricketer and author (d. 1996)
  • 1926 – Newton N. Minow, American lawyer and politician
  • 1926 – Moira Shearer, Scottish-English ballerina and actress (d. 2006)
  • 1926 – Clyde Walcott, Barbadian cricketer (d. 2006)
  • 1927 – Thomas Anthony Dooley III, American physician and humanitarian (d. 1961)
  • 1927 – Eartha Kitt, American actress and singer (d. 2008)
  • 1927 – Harlan Mathews, American lawyer and politician (d. 2014)
  • 1927 – E. W. Swackhamer, American director and producer (d. 1994)
  • 1928 – Jean Barraqué, French composer (d. 1973)
  • 1928 – Vidal Sassoon, English-American hairdresser and businessman (d. 2012)
  • 1929 – Jacques Plante, Canadian-Swiss ice hockey player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 1986)
  • 1929 – Tan Boon Teik, Malaysian-Singaporean lawyer and politician, Attorney-General of Singapore (d. 2012)
  • 1931 – James Earl Jones, American actor
  • 1931 – Douglas Wilder, American sergeant and politician, 66th Governor of Virginia
  • 1931 – Don Zimmer, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2014)
  • 1932 – Sheree North, American actress and dancer (d. 2005)
  • 1933 – Dalida, Egyptian-French singer and actress (d. 1987)
  • 1933 – Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, French-Pakistani diplomat, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (d. 2003)
  • 1933 – Shari Lewis, American actress, puppeteer/ventriloquist, and television host (d. 1998)
  • 1934 – Donald Cammell, Scottish-American director and screenwriter (d. 1996)
  • 1935 – Ruth Ann Minner, American businesswoman and politician, 72nd Governor of Delaware
  • 1936 – John Boyd, English academic and diplomat, British ambassador to Japan
  • 1936 – A. Thangathurai, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (d. 1997)
  • 1937 – Alain Badiou, French philosopher and academic
  • 1938 – John Bellairs, American author and academic (d. 1991)
  • 1938 – Toini Gustafsson, Swedish cross country skier
  • 1939 – Christodoulos of Athens, Greek archbishop (d. 2008)
  • 1939 – Maury Povich, American talk show host and producer
  • 1940 – Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni, Egyptian-Armenian patriarch (d. 2015)
  • 1940 – Kipchoge Keino, Kenyan athlete
  • 1940 – Tabaré Vázquez, Uruguayan physician and politician, 39th President of Uruguay
  • 1941 – István Horthy, Jr., Hungarian physicist and architect
  • 1942 – Muhammad Ali, American boxer and activist (d. 2016)
  • 1942 – Ita Buttrose, Australian journalist and author
  • 1942 – Ulf Hoelscher, German violinist and educator
  • 1942 – Nigel McCulloch, English bishop
  • 1943 – Chris Montez, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1943 – René Préval, Haitian agronomist and politician, 52nd President of Haiti (d. 2017)
  • 1944 – Ann Oakley, English sociologist, author, and academic
  • 1945 – Javed Akhtar, Indian poet, playwright, and composer
  • 1945 – Anne Cutler, Australian psychologist and academic
  • 1948 – Davíð Oddsson, Icelandic politician, 21st Prime Minister of Iceland
  • 1949 – Anita Borg, American computer scientist and academic (d. 2003)
  • 1949 – Gyude Bryant, Liberian businessman and politician (d. 2014)
  • 1949 – Augustin Dumay, French violinist and conductor
  • 1949 – Andy Kaufman, American actor and comedian (d. 1984)
  • 1949 – Mick Taylor, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1950 – Luis López Nieves, Puerto Rican-American author and academic
  • 1952 – Tom Deitz, American author (d. 2009)
  • 1952 – Darrell Porter, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2002)
  • 1952 – Ryuichi Sakamoto, Japanese pianist, composer, and producer
  • 1953 – Jeff Berlin, American bass player and educator
  • 1953 – Carlos Johnson, American singer and guitarist
  • 1954 – Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., American lawyer, radio host, activist, and environmentalist
  • 1955 – Steve Earle, American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, author and actor
  • 1955 – Pietro Parolin, Italian cardinal
  • 1955 – Steve Javie, American basketball player and referee
  • 1956 – Damian Green, English journalist and politician
  • 1956 – Paul Young, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1957 – Steve Harvey, American actor, comedian, television personality and game show host
  • 1957 – Ann Nocenti, American journalist and author
  • 1958 – Tony Kouzarides, English biologist, cancer researcher
  • 1959 – Susanna Hoffs, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
  • 1960 – John Crawford, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1960 – Chili Davis, Jamaican-American baseball player and coach
  • 1961 – Brian Helgeland, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1962 – Jun Azumi, Japanese broadcaster and politician, 46th Japanese Minister of Finance
  • 1962 – Jim Carrey, Canadian-American actor and producer
  • 1962 – Sebastian Junger, American journalist and author
  • 1963 – Kai Hansen, German singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1963 – Colin Gordon, English footballer, striker, agent, manager, chief executive
  • 1964 – Michelle Obama, American lawyer and activist, 46th First Lady of the United States
  • 1964 – John Schuster, Samoan-New Zealand rugby player
  • 1965 – Sylvain Turgeon, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1966 – Trish Johnson, English golfer
  • 1966 – Joshua Malina, American actor
  • 1967 – Richard Hawley, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1968 – Rowan Pelling, English journalist and author
  • 1968 – Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer, Dutch author, poet, and scholar
  • 1969 – Naveen Andrews, English actor
  • 1969 – Lukas Moodysson, Swedish director, screenwriter, and author
  • 1969 – Tiësto, Dutch DJ and producer
  • 1970 – Cássio Alves de Barros, Brazilian footballer
  • 1970 – Jeremy Roenick, American ice hockey player and actor
  • 1970 – Genndy Tartakovsky, Russian-American animator, director, and producer
  • 1971 – Giorgos Balogiannis, Greek basketball player
  • 1971 – Richard Burns, English race car driver (d. 2005)
  • 1971 – Kid Rock, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
  • 1971 – Sylvie Testud, French actress, director, and screenwriter
  • 1973 – Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Mexican footballer and actor
  • 1973 – Chris Bowen, Australian politician, 37th Treasurer of Australia
  • 1973 – Liz Ellis, Australian netball player and sportscaster
  • 1973 – Aaron Ward, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
  • 1974 – Yang Chen, Chinese footballer and manager
  • 1974 – Vesko Kountchev, Bulgarian viola player, composer, and producer
  • 1974 – Derrick Mason, American football player
  • 1975 – Freddy Rodriguez, American actor
  • 1978 – Lisa Llorens, Australian Paralympian
  • 1978 – Ricky Wilson, English singer-songwriter
  • 1980 – Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Ukrainian-American dancer and choreographer
  • 1980 – Zooey Deschanel, American singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1980 – Modestas Stonys, Lithuanian footballer
  • 1981 – Warren Feeney, Northern Irish footballer and manager
  • 1982 – Dwyane Wade, American basketball player
  • 1982 – Amanda Wilkinson, Canadian singer
  • 1983 – Álvaro Arbeloa, Spanish footballer
  • 1983 – Johannes Herber, German basketball player
  • 1983 – Rick Kelly, Australian race car driver
  • 1983 – Marcelo Garcia, Brazilian martial artist
  • 1984 – Calvin Harris, Scottish singer-songwriter, DJ, and producer
  • 1985 – Pablo Barrientos, Argentinian footballer
  • 1985 – Betsy Ruth, American wrestler and manager
  • 1985 – Simone Simons, Dutch singer-songwriter
  • 1987 – Cody Decker, American baseball player
  • 1988 – Andrea Antonelli, Italian motorcycle racer (d. 2013)
  • 1988 – Will Genia, Australian rugby player
  • 1988 – Héctor Moreno, Mexican footballer
  • 1989 – Taylor Jordan, American baseball player
  • 1989 – Kelly Marie Tran, American actress
  • 1990 – Santiago Tréllez, Colombian footballer
  • 1991 – Trevor Bauer, American baseball player
  • 1991 – Esapekka Lappi, Finnish Rally Driver
  • 1991 – Slade Griffin, Australian rugby league player
  • 1991 – Alise Post, American BMX rider
  • 1993 – Frankie Cocozza, British singer
  • 1994 – Mark Steketee, Australian cricketer
  • 1998 – Jeff Reine-Adelaide, French footballer
  • 1998 – Sophie Molineux, Australian cricketer
  • 2000 – Devlin DeFrancesco, Canadian race car driver

Deaths on January 17

  • 395 – Theodosius I, Roman emperor (b. 347)
  • 644 – Sulpitius the Pious, French bishop and saint
  • 764 – Joseph of Freising, German bishop
  • 1040 – Mas’ud I of Ghazni, Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire (b. 998)
  • 1156 – André de Montbard, fifth Grand Master of the Knights Templar
  • 1168 – Thierry, Count of Flanders (b. 1099)
  • 1229 – Albert of Riga, German bishop (b. 1165)
  • 1329 – Saint Roseline, Carthusian nun (b. 1263)
  • 1334 – John of Brittany, Earl of Richmond (b. 1266)
  • 1345 – Henry of Asti, Greek patriarch
  • 1345 – Martino Zaccaria, Genoese Lord of Chios
  • 1369 – Peter I of Cyprus (b. 1328)
  • 1456 – Elisabeth of Lorraine-Vaudémont, French translator (b. 1395)
  • 1468 – Skanderbeg, Albanian soldier and politician (b. 1405)
  • 1588 – Qi Jiguang, Chinese general (b. 1528)
  • 1598 – Feodor I of Russia (b. 1557)
  • 1617 – Fausto Veranzio, Croatian bishop and lexicographer (b. 1551)
  • 1705 – John Ray, English botanist and historian (b. 1627)
  • 1718 – Benjamin Church, American colonel (b. 1639)
  • 1737 – Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, German architect (b. 1662)
  • 1738 – Jean-François Dandrieu, French organist and composer (b. 1682)
  • 1751 – Tomaso Albinoni, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1671)
  • 1826 – Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga, Spanish-French composer (b. 1806)
  • 1834 – Giovanni Aldini, Italian physicist and academic (b. 1762)
  • 1861 – Lola Montez, Irish actress and dancer (b. 1821)
  • 1863 – Horace Vernet, French painter (b. 1789)
  • 1869 – Alexander Dargomyzhsky, Russian composer (b. 1813)
  • 1878 – Edward Shepherd Creasy, English historian and jurist (b. 1812)
  • 1884 – Hermann Schlegel, German ornithologist and herpetologist (b. 1804)
  • 1887 – William Giblin, Australian lawyer and politician, 13th Premier of Tasmania (b. 1840)
  • 1888 – Big Bear, Canadian tribal chief (b. 1825)
  • 1891 – George Bancroft, American historian and politician, 17th United States Secretary of the Navy (b. 1800)
  • 1893 – Rutherford B. Hayes, American general, lawyer, and politician, 19th President of the United States (b. 1822)
  • 1903 – Ignaz Wechselmann, Hungarian architect and philanthropist (b. 1828)
  • 1908 – Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1835)
  • 1909 – Francis Smith, Australian lawyer, judge, and politician, 4th Premier of Tasmania (b. 1819)
  • 1911 – Francis Galton, English polymath, anthropologist, and geographer (b. 1822)
  • 1927 – Juliette Gordon Low, American founder of the Girl Scouts of the USA (b. 1860)
  • 1930 – Gauhar Jaan, One of the first performers to record music on 78 rpm records in India. (b. 1873)
  • 1931 – Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia (b. 1864)
  • 1932 – Ahmet Derviş, Turkish general (b. 1881)
  • 1932 – Albert Jacka, Australian captain, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1893)
  • 1933 – Louis Comfort Tiffany, American stained glass artist (b. 1848)
  • 1936 – Mateiu Caragiale, Romanian journalist, author, and poet (b. 1885)
  • 1942 – Walther von Reichenau, German field marshal (b. 1884)
  • 1947 – Pyotr Krasnov, Russian historian and general (b. 1869)
  • 1947 – Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Villeneuve, Canadian cardinal (b. 1883)
  • 1951 – Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, Indian poet, playwright, and director (b. 1903)
  • 1952 – Walter Briggs Sr., American businessman (b. 1877)
  • 1961 – Patrice Lumumba, Congolese politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (b. 1925)
  • 1970 – Simon Kovar, Russian-American bassoon player and educator (b. 1890)
  • 1972 – Betty Smith, American author and playwright (b. 1896)
  • 1977 – Dougal Haston, Scottish mountaineer (b. 1940)
  • 1977 – Gary Gilmore, American murderer (b. 1940)
  • 1981 – Loukas Panourgias, Greek footballer and lawyer (b. 1899)
  • 1984 – Kostas Giannidis, Greek pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1903)
  • 1987 – Hugo Fregonese, Argentinian director and screenwriter (b. 1908)
  • 1988 – Percy Qoboza, South African journalist and author (b. 1938)
  • 1991 – Olav V of Norway (b. 1903)
  • 1992 – Frank Pullen, English soldier and businessman (b. 1915)
  • 1993 – Albert Hourani, English-Lebanese historian and academic (b. 1915)
  • 1994 – Yevgeni Ivanov, Russian spy (b. 1926)
  • 1994 – Helen Stephens, American runner, shot putter, and discus thrower (b. 1918)
  • 1996 – Barbara Jordan, American lawyer and politician (b. 1936)
  • 1996 – Sylvia Lawler, English geneticist (b. 1922))
  • 1997 – Bert Kelly, Australian farmer and politician, 20th Australian Minister for the Navy (b. 1912)
  • 1997 – Clyde Tombaugh, American astronomer and academic, discovered Pluto (b. 1906)
  • 2000 – Philip Jones, English trumpet player and educator (b. 1928)
  • 2000 – Ion Rațiu, Romanian journalist and politician (b. 1917)
  • 2002 – Camilo José Cela, Spanish author and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
  • 2002 – Roman Personov, Russian physicist and academic (b. 1932)
  • 2003 – Richard Crenna, American actor and director (b. 1926)
  • 2004 – Raymond Bonham Carter, English banker (b. 1929)
  • 2004 – Harry Brecheen, American baseball player and coach (b. 1914)
  • 2004 – Ray Stark, American film producer (b. 1915)
  • 2004 – Noble Willingham, American actor (b. 1931)
  • 2005 – Charlie Bell, Australian businessman (b. 1960)
  • 2005 – Virginia Mayo, American actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1920)
  • 2005 – Albert Schatz, American microbiologist and academic (b. 1920)
  • 2005 – Zhao Ziyang, Chinese politician, 3rd Premier of the People’s Republic of China (b. 1919)
  • 2006 – Pierre Grondin, Canadian surgeon (b. 1925)
  • 2007 – Art Buchwald, American journalist and author (b. 1925)
  • 2007 – Yevhen Kushnaryov, Ukrainian engineer and politician (b. 1951)
  • 2008 – Bobby Fischer, American chess player and author (b. 1943)
  • 2008 – Ernie Holmes, American football player, wrestler, and actor (b. 1948)
  • 2009 – Anders Isaksson, Swedish journalist and historian (b. 1943)
  • 2010 – Gaines Adams, American football player (b. 1983)
  • 2010 – Jyoti Basu, Indian politician and CM of West Bengal for 23 years (b. 1914)
  • 2010 – Michalis Papakonstantinou, Greek journalist and politician, Foreign Minister of Greece (b. 1919)
  • 2010 – Erich Segal, American author and screenwriter (b. 1937)
  • 2011 – Don Kirshner, American songwriter and producer (b. 1934)
  • 2012 – Ernie Alexander, American educator and politician (b. 1933)
  • 2012 – Julius Meimberg, German soldier and pilot (b. 1917)
  • 2012 – Johnny Otis, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1921)
  • 2012 – Marty Springstead, American baseball player and umpire (b. 1937)
  • 2013 – Mehmet Ali Birand, Turkish journalist and author (b. 1941)
  • 2013 – Jakob Arjouni, German author (b. 1964)
  • 2013 – Yves Debay, Belgian journalist (b. 1954)
  • 2013 – John Nkomo, Zimbabwean politician, Vice President of Zimbabwe (b. 1934)
  • 2013 – Lizbeth Webb, English soprano and actress (b. 1926)
  • 2014 – Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, Indian spiritual leader, 52nd Da’i al-Mutlaq (b. 1915)
  • 2014 – Francine Lalonde, Canadian educator and politician (b. 1940)
  • 2014 – Alistair McAlpine, Baron McAlpine of West Green, English businessman and politician (b. 1942)
  • 2014 – John J. McGinty III, American captain, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1940)
  • 2014 – Sunanda Pushkar, Indian-Canadian businesswoman (b. 1962)
  • 2014 – Suchitra Sen, Indian film actress (b. 1931)
  • 2015 – Ken Furphy, English footballer and manager (b. 1931)
  • 2015 – Faten Hamama, Egyptian actress and producer (b. 1931)
  • 2015 – Don Harron, Canadian actor and screenwriter (b. 1924)
  • 2016 – Blowfly, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1939)
  • 2016 – Melvin Day, New Zealand painter and historian (b. 1923)
  • 2016 – V. Rama Rao, Indian lawyer and politician, 12th Governor of Sikkim (b. 1935)
  • 2016 – Sudhindra Thirtha, Indian religious leader (b. 1926)
  • 2017 – Tirrel Burton, American football player and coach (b. 1929)
  • 2018 – Jessica Falkholt, Australian actress (b. 1988)
  • 2019 – S. Balakrishnan, Malayalam movie composer (b. 1948)
  • 2020 – Derek Fowlds, British actor (b.1937)

Holidays and observances on January 17

  • Christian feast day:
    • Anthony the Great
    • Blessed Angelo Paoli
    • Blessed Gamelbert of Michaelsbuch
    • Charles Gore (Church of England)
    • Jenaro Sánchez Delgadillo (one of Saints of the Cristero War)
    • Mildgyth
    • Our Lady of Pontmain
    • Sulpitius the Pious
    • January 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • National Day (Menorca, Spain)
  • The opening ceremony of Patras Carnival, celebrated until Clean Monday. (Patras)

January 17 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day /
  • 27 BCE – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus is granted the title Augustus by the Roman Senate, marking the beginning of the Roman Empire.
  • 378 – General Siyaj K’ak’ conquers Tikal, enlarging the domain of King Spearthrower Owl of Teotihuacán.
  • 550 – Gothic War: The Ostrogoths, under King Totila, conquer Rome after a long siege, by bribing the Isaurian garrison.
  • 929 – Emir Abd-ar-Rahman III established the Caliphate of Córdoba.
  • 1120 – The Council of Nablus is held, establishing the earliest surviving written laws of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.
  • 1362 – Saint Marcellus’s flood kills at least 25,000 people on the shores of the North Sea.
  • 1412 – The Medici family is appointed official banker of the Papacy.
  • 1492 – The first grammar of the Spanish language (Gramática de la lengua castellana) is presented to Queen Isabella I.
  • 1547 – Grand Duke Ivan IV of Muscovy becomes the first Tsar of Russia, replacing the 264-year-old Grand Duchy of Moscow with the Tsardom of Russia.
  • 1556 – Philip II becomes King of Spain.
  • 1572 – Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk is tried for treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot to restore Catholicism in England.
  • 1605 – The first edition of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (Book One of Don Quixote) by Miguel de Cervantes is published in Madrid, Spain.
  • 1707 – The Scottish Parliament ratifies the Act of Union, paving the way for the creation of Great Britain.
  • 1757 – Forces of the Maratha Empire defeat a 5,000-strong army of the Durrani Empire in the Battle of Narela.
  • 1780 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cape St. Vincent.
  • 1786 – Virginia enacts the Statute for Religious Freedom authored by Thomas Jefferson.
  • 1809 – Peninsular War: The British defeat the French at the Battle of La Coruña.
  • 1847 – John C. Frémont is appointed Governor of the new California Territory.
  • 1862 – Hartley Colliery disaster: Two hundred and four men and boys killed in a mining disaster, prompting a change in UK law which henceforth required all collieries to have at least two independent means of escape.
  • 1878 – Russo-Turkish War (1877–78): Battle of Philippopolis: Captain Aleksandr Burago with a squadron of Russian Imperial army dragoons liberates Plovdiv from Ottoman rule.
  • 1883 – The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, establishing the United States Civil Service, is enacted by Congress.
  • 1900 – The United States Senate accepts the Anglo-German treaty of 1899 in which the United Kingdom renounces its claims to the Samoan islands.
  • 1909 – Ernest Shackleton’s expedition finds the magnetic South Pole.
  • 1919 – Nebraska becomes the 36th state to approve the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. With the necessary three-quarters of the states approving the amendment, Prohibition is constitutionally mandated in the United States one year later.
  • 1920 – Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated was founded on the campus of Howard University.
  • 1920 – The League of Nations holds its first council meeting in Paris, France.
  • 1921 – The Marxist Left in Slovakia and the Transcarpathian Ukraine holds its founding congress in Ľubochňa.
  • 1942 – Crash of TWA Flight 3, killing all 22 aboard, including film star Carole Lombard.
  • 1945 – Adolf Hitler moves into his underground bunker, the so-called Führerbunker.
  • 1964 – Hello, Dolly! opened on Broadway, beginning a run of 2,844 performances.
  • 1969 – Czech student Jan Palach commits suicide by self-immolation in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in protest against the Soviets’ crushing of the Prague Spring the year before.
  • 1969 – Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 perform the first-ever docking of manned spacecraft in orbit, the first-ever transfer of crew from one space vehicle to another, and the only time such a transfer was accomplished with a space walk.
  • 1979 – The last Iranian Shah flees Iran with his family for good and relocates to Egypt.
  • 1991 – Coalition Forces go to war with Iraq, beginning the Gulf War.
  • 1992 – El Salvador officials and rebel leaders sign the Chapultepec Peace Accords in Mexico City, Mexico ending the 12-year Salvadoran Civil War that claimed at least 75,000 lives.
  • 2001 – Congolese President Laurent-Désiré Kabila is assassinated by one of his own bodyguards.
  • 2001 – US President Bill Clinton awards former President Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor for his service in the Spanish–American War.
  • 2002 – The UN Security Council unanimously establishes an arms embargo and the freezing of assets of Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda, and the remaining members of the Taliban.
  • 2003 – The Space Shuttle Columbia takes off for mission STS-107 which would be its final one. Columbia disintegrated 16 days later on re-entry.
  • 2006 – Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is sworn in as Liberia’s new president. She becomes Africa’s first female elected head of state.
  • 2016 – Thirty-three out of 126 freed hostages are injured and 23 killed in terrorist attacks in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on a hotel and a nearby restaurant.
  • 2018 – Myanmar police open fire on a group of ethnic Rakhine protesters, killing seven and wounding twelve.
  • 2020 – The impeachment of Donald John Trump formally moves into its trial phase in the United States Senate.

Births on January 16

  • 972 – Sheng Zong, emperor of the Liao Dynasty (d. 1031)
  • 1093 – Isaac Komnenos, son of Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos (d. 1152)
  • 1245 – Edmund Crouchback, English politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (d. 1296)
  • 1362 – Robert de Vere, duke of Ireland (d. 1392)
  • 1409 – René of Anjou, king of Naples (d. 1480)
  • 1477 – Johannes Schöner, German astronomer and cartographer (d. 1547)
  • 1501 – Anthony Denny, confidant of Henry VIII of England (d. 1559)
  • 1516 – Bayinnaung, king of Burma (d. 1581)
  • 1558 – Jakobea of Baden, Margravine of Baden by birth, Duchess of Jülich-Cleves-Berg by marriage (d. 1597)
  • 1616 – François de Vendôme, duke of Beaufort (d. 1669)
  • 1626 – Lucas Achtschellinck, Belgian painter and educator (d. 1699)
  • 1630 – Guru Har Rai, Sikh Guru (d. 1661)
  • 1634 – Dorothe Engelbretsdatter, Norwegian author and poet (d. 1716)
  • 1675 – Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon, French soldier and diplomat (d. 1755)
  • 1691 – Peter Scheemakers, Belgian sculptor and educator (d. 1781)
  • 1728 – Niccolò Piccinni, Italian composer and educator (d. 1800)
  • 1749 – Vittorio Alfieri, Italian poet and playwright (d. 1803)
  • 1757 – Richard Goodwin Keats, English admiral and politician, 3rd Commodore-Governor of Newfoundland (d. 1834)
  • 1807 – Charles Henry Davis, American admiral (d. 1877)
  • 1815 – Henry Halleck, American lawyer, general, and scholar (d. 1872)
  • 1821 – John C. Breckinridge, American general and politician, 14th Vice President of the United States (d. 1875)
  • 1834 – Robert R. Hitt, American lawyer and politician, 13th United States Assistant Secretary of State (d. 1906)
  • 1836 – Francis II of the Two Sicilies (d. 1894)
  • 1838 – Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist (d. 1917)
  • 1851 – William Hall-Jones, English-New Zealand politician, 16th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1936)
  • 1853 – Johnston Forbes-Robertson, English actor and manager (d. 1937)
  • 1853 – Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton, Greek-English general (d. 1947)
  • 1853 – André Michelin, French businessman, co-founded the Michelin Tyre Company (d. 1931)
  • 1870 – Jüri Jaakson, Estonian businessman and politician, State Elder of Estonia (d. 1942)
  • 1872 – Henri Büsser, French organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1973)
  • 1874 – Robert W. Service, English-Canadian poet and author (d. 1958)
  • 1875 – Leonor Michaelis, German biochemist and physician (d. 1949)
  • 1876 – Claude Buckenham, English cricketer and footballer (d. 1937)
  • 1878 – Harry Carey, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1947)
  • 1880 – Samuel Jones, American high jumper (d. 1954)
  • 1882 – Margaret Wilson, American author (d. 1973)
  • 1885 – Zhou Zuoren, Chinese author and translator (d. 1967)
  • 1888 – Osip Brik, Russian avant garde writer and literary critic (d. 1945)
  • 1892 – Homer Burton Adkins, American chemist (d. 1949)
  • 1893 – Daisy Kennedy, Australian-English violinist (d. 1981)
  • 1894 – Irving Mills, American publisher (d. 1985)
  • 1895 – Evripidis Bakirtzis, Greek soldier and politician (d. 1947)
  • 1895 – T. M. Sabaratnam, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (d. 1966)
  • 1895 – Nat Schachner, American lawyer, chemist, and author (d. 1955)
  • 1897 – Carlos Pellicer, Mexican poet and academic (d. 1977)
  • 1898 – Margaret Booth, American producer and editor (d. 2002)
  • 1898 – Irving Rapper, American film director and producer (d. 1999)
  • 1900 – Kiku Amino, Japanese author and translator (d. 1978)
  • 1900 – Edith Frank, German-Dutch mother of Anne Frank (d. 1945)
  • 1901 – Fulgencio Batista, Cuban colonel and politician, 9th President of Cuba (d. 1973)
  • 1902 – Eric Liddell, Scottish runner, rugby player, and missionary (d. 1945)
  • 1903 – William Grover-Williams, English-French race car driver (d. 1945)
  • 1905 – Ernesto Halffter, Spanish composer and conductor (d. 1989)
  • 1906 – Johannes Brenner, Estonian footballer and pilot (d. 1975)
  • 1906 – Diana Wynyard, English actress (d. 1964)
  • 1907 – Alexander Knox, Canadian-English actor and screenwriter (d. 1995)
  • 1907 – Paul Nitze, American banker and politician, 10th United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 2004)
  • 1908 – Sammy Crooks, English footballer (d. 1981)
  • 1908 – Ethel Merman, American actress and singer (d. 1984)
  • 1908 – Günther Prien, German captain (d. 1941)
  • 1909 – Clement Greenberg, American art critic (d. 1994)
  • 1910 – Dizzy Dean, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1974)
  • 1911 – Ivan Barrow, Jamaican cricketer (d. 1979)
  • 1911 – Eduardo Frei Montalva, Chilean lawyer and politician, 28th President of Chile (d. 1982)
  • 1911 – Roger Lapébie, French cyclist (d. 1996)
  • 1914 – Roger Wagner, French-American conductor and educator (d. 1992)
  • 1915 – Leslie H. Martinson, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
  • 1916 – Eddie Burns, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 2004)
  • 1916 – Philip Lucock, English-Australian minister and politician (d. 1996)
  • 1917 – Carl Karcher, American businessman, founded Carl’s Jr. (d. 2008)
  • 1918 – Nel Benschop, Dutch poet and educator (d. 2005)
  • 1918 – Allan Ekelund, Swedish director, producer, and production manager (d. 2009)
  • 1918 – Clem Jones, Australian surveyor and politician, 8th Lord Mayor of Brisbane (d. 2007)
  • 1918 – Stirling Silliphant, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1996)
  • 1919 – Jerome Horwitz, American chemist and academic (d. 2012)
  • 1920 – Alberto Crespo, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1991)
  • 1920 – Elliott Reid, American actor and screenwriter (d. 2013)
  • 1921 – Francesco Scavullo, American photographer (d. 2004)
  • 1923 – Gene Feist, American director and playwright, co-founded the Roundabout Theatre Company (d. 2014)
  • 1923 – Anthony Hecht, American poet (d. 2004)
  • 1924 – Katy Jurado, Mexican actress (d. 2002)
  • 1925 – Peter Hirsch, German-English metallurgist and academic
  • 1925 – James Robinson Risner, American general and pilot (d. 2013)
  • 1928 – William Kennedy, American novelist and journalist
  • 1928 – Pilar Lorengar, Spanish soprano and actress (d. 1996)
  • 1929 – Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah, Sri Lankan anthropologist and academic (d. 2014)
  • 1930 – Mary Ann McMorrow, American lawyer and judge (d. 2013)
  • 1930 – Norman Podhoretz, American journalist and author
  • 1931 – John Enderby, English physicist and academic
  • 1931 – Robert L. Park, American physicist and academic
  • 1931 – Johannes Rau, German journalist and politician, 8th Federal President of Germany (d. 2006)
  • 1932 – Victor Ciocâltea, Romanian chess player (d. 1983)
  • 1932 – Dian Fossey, American zoologist and anthropologist (d. 1985)
  • 1933 – Susan Sontag, American novelist, essayist, and critic (d. 2004)
  • 1934 – Bob Bogle, American rock guitarist and bass player (d. 2009)
  • 1934 – Marilyn Horne, American soprano and actress
  • 1935 – A. J. Foyt, American race car driver
  • 1935 – Udo Lattek, German footballer, manager, and sportscaster (d. 2015)
  • 1936 – Michael White, Scottish actor and producer (d. 2016)
  • 1937 – Luiz Bueno, Brazilian race car driver (d. 2011)
  • 1937 – Francis George, American cardinal (d. 2015)
  • 1938 – Marina Vaizey, American journalist and critic
  • 1939 – Ralph Gibson, American photographer
  • 1941 – Christine Truman, English tennis player and sportscaster
  • 1942 – René Angélil, Canadian singer and manager (d. 2016)
  • 1942 – Barbara Lynn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1943 – Gavin Bryars, English bassist and composer
  • 1943 – Ronnie Milsap, American singer and pianist
  • 1944 – Dieter Moebius, Swiss-German keyboard player and producer (d. 2015)
  • 1944 – Jim Stafford, American singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1944 – Jill Tarter, American astronomer and biologist
  • 1944 – Judy Baar Topinka, American journalist and politician (d. 2014)
  • 1945 – Wim Suurbier, Dutch footballer and manager
  • 1946 – Kabir Bedi, Indian actor
  • 1946 – Katia Ricciarelli, Italian soprano and actress
  • 1947 – Elaine Murphy, Baroness Murphy, English academic and politician
  • 1947 – Harvey Proctor, English politician
  • 1947 – Laura Schlessinger, American physiologist, talk show host, and author
  • 1948 – John Carpenter, American director, producer, screenwriter, and composer
  • 1948 – Ants Laaneots, Estonian general
  • 1948 – Cliff Thorburn, Canadian snooker player
  • 1948 – Ruth Reichl, American journalist and critic
  • 1949 – Anne F. Beiler, American businesswoman, founded Auntie Anne’s
  • 1949 – R. F. Foster, Irish historian and academic
  • 1949 – Andrew Refshauge, Australian physician and politician, 13th Deputy Premier of New South Wales
  • 1950 – Debbie Allen, American actress, dancer, and choreographer
  • 1950 – Robert Schimmel, American comedian, actor, and producer (d. 2010)
  • 1952 – Fuad II, King of Egypt
  • 1952 – Piercarlo Ghinzani, Italian race car driver and manager
  • 1952 – L. Blaine Hammond, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
  • 1952 – Julie Anne Peters, American engineer and author
  • 1953 – Robert Jay Mathews, American militant, founded The Order (d. 1984)
  • 1954 – Wolfgang Schmidt, German discus thrower
  • 1954 – Vasili Zhupikov, Russian footballer and coach (d. 2015)
  • 1955 – Jerry M. Linenger, American captain, physician, and astronaut
  • 1956 – Wayne Daniel, Barbadian cricketer
  • 1956 – Martin Jol, Dutch footballer and manager
  • 1956 – Greedy Smith, Australian singer-songwriter and keyboardist (d. 2019)
  • 1957 – Jurijs Andrejevs, Latvian footballer and manager
  • 1957 – Ricardo Darín, Argentinian actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1957 – Mark Pawsey, English businessman and politician
  • 1958 – Anatoli Boukreev, Russian mountaineer and explorer (d. 1997)
  • 1958 – Lena Ek, Swedish lawyer and politician, 9th Swedish Minister for the Environment
  • 1958 – Andris Šķēle, Latvian businessman and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Latvia
  • 1959 – Lisa Milroy, Canadian painter and educator
  • 1959 – Sade, Nigerian-English singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1961 – Kenneth Sivertsen, Norwegian guitarist and composer (d. 2006)
  • 1962 – Joel Fitzgibbon, Australian electrician and politician, 51st Australian Minister of Defence
  • 1962 – Maxine Jones, American R&B singer–songwriter and actress
  • 1963 – James May, British journalist/co-host of Top Gear
  • 1964 – Gail Graham, Canadian golfer
  • 1966 – Jack McDowell, American baseball player
  • 1968 – Rebecca Stead, American author
  • 1969 – Neil Back, English rugby player and coach
  • 1969 – Marinus Bester, German footballer
  • 1969 – Stevie Jackson, Scottish guitarist and songwriter
  • 1969 – Roy Jones Jr., American boxer
  • 1970 – Ron Villone, American baseball player and coach
  • 1971 – Sergi Bruguera, Spanish tennis player and coach
  • 1971 – Josh Evans, American film producer, screenwriter and actor
  • 1971 – Jonathan Mangum, American actor
  • 1972 – Ruben Bagger, Danish footballer
  • 1972 – Ang Christou, Australian footballer
  • 1972 – Yuri Alekseevich Drozdov, Russian footballer and manager
  • 1972 – Ezra Hendrickson, Vincentian footballer and manager
  • 1972 – Joe Horn, American football player and coach
  • 1974 – Marlon Anderson, American baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1974 – John Hopoate, Tongan-Australian rugby league player and boxer
  • 1974 – Kate Moss, English model and fashion designer
  • 1976 – Viktor Maslov, Russian race car driver
  • 1976 – Martina Moravcová, Slovak swimmer
  • 1977 – Jeff Foster, American basketball player
  • 1978 – Alfredo Amézaga, Mexican baseball player
  • 1979 – Aaliyah, American singer and actress (d. 2001)
  • 1979 – Brenden Morrow, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1979 – Jason Ward, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1980 – Lin-Manuel Miranda, American actor, playwright, and composer
  • 1980 – Albert Pujols, Dominican-American baseball player
  • 1981 – Jamie Lundmark, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1981 – Paul Rofe, Australian cricketer
  • 1981 – Bobby Zamora, English footballer, striker
  • 1982 – Preston, English singer-songwriter
  • 1982 – Tuncay, Turkish footballer
  • 1983 – Emanuel Pogatetz, Austrian footballer
  • 1983 – Andriy Rusol, Ukrainian footballer
  • 1984 – Stephan Lichtsteiner, Swiss footballer
  • 1984 – Miroslav Radović, Serbian footballer
  • 1985 – Joe Flacco, American football player
  • 1985 – Jayde Herrick, Australian cricketer
  • 1985 – Gintaras Januševičius, Russian-Lithuanian pianist
  • 1985 – Twins Jonathan and Simon Richter, Danish-Gambian footballers
  • 1985 – Sidharth Malhotra, Indian actor
  • 1986 – Johannes Rahn, German footballer
  • 1986 – Mark Trumbo, American baseball player
  • 1986 – Reto Ziegler, Swiss footballer, left back
  • 1987 – Jake Epstein, Canadian actor
  • 1987 – Charlotte Henshaw, English swimmer
  • 1988 – Nicklas Bendtner, Danish footballer
  • 1988 – Jorge Torres Nilo, Mexican footballer
  • 1991 – Matt Duchene, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1993 – Hannes Anier, Estonian footballer
  • 1993 – Amandine Hesse, French tennis player
  • 1994 – Chris Smith, Australian rugby league player
  • 1995 – Mikaela Turik, Australian-Canadian cricketer
  • 1998 – Cameron Murray, Australian rugby league player
  • 2003 – Adriana Hernández, Mexican rhythmic gymnast

Deaths on January 16

  • 654 – Gao Jifu, Chinese politician and chancellor (b. 596)
  • 957 – Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ali al-Madhara’i, Tulunid vizier (b. 871)
  • 970 – Polyeuctus of Constantinople, Byzantine patriarch (b. 956)
  • 1263 – Shinran Shonin, Japanese founder of the Jodo Shinshu branch of Pure Land Buddhism
  • 1289 – Buqa, Mongol minister
  • 1327 – Nikephoros Choumnos, Byzantine monk, scholar, and politician (b. 1250)
  • 1354 – Joanna of Châtillon, duchess of Athens (b. c.1285)
  • 1373 – Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford (b. 1342)
  • 1391 – Muhammed V of Granada, Nasrid emir (b. 1338)
  • 1400 – John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter, English politician, Lord Great Chamberlain (b. 1352)
  • 1443 – Erasmo of Narni, Italian mercenary (b. 1370)
  • 1545 – George Spalatin, German priest and reformer (b. 1484)
  • 1547 – Johannes Schöner, German astronomer and cartographer (b. 1477)
  • 1554 – Christiern Pedersen, Danish publisher and scholar (b. 1480)
  • 1585 – Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln, English admiral and politician (b. 1512)
  • 1595 – Murad III, Ottoman sultan (b. 1546)
  • 1659 – Charles Annibal Fabrot, French lawyer (b. 1580)
  • 1710 – Higashiyama, Japanese emperor (b. 1675)
  • 1711 – Joseph Vaz, Indian-Sri Lankan priest and saint (b. 1651)
  • 1747 – Barthold Heinrich Brockes, German poet and playwright (b. 1680)
  • 1748 – Arnold Drakenborch, Dutch lawyer and scholar (b. 1684)
  • 1750 – Ivan Trubetskoy, Russian field marshal and politician (b. 1667)
  • 1752 – Francis Blomefield, English historian and author (b. 1705)
  • 1794 – Edward Gibbon, English historian and politician (b. 1737)
  • 1809 – John Moore, Scottish general and politician (b. 1761)
  • 1817 – Alexander J. Dallas, Jamaican-American lawyer and politician, 6th United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1759)
  • 1834 – Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette, French mathematician and academic (b. 1769)
  • 1856 – Thaddeus William Harris, American entomologist and botanist (b. 1795)
  • 1864 – Anton Schindler, Austrian secretary and author (b. 1795)
  • 1865 – Edmond François Valentin About, French journalist and author (b. 1828)
  • 1879 – Octave Crémazie, Canadian-French poet and bookseller (b. 1827)
  • 1886 – Amilcare Ponchielli, Italian composer and academic (b. 1834)
  • 1891 – Léo Delibes, French pianist and composer (b. 1836)
  • 1898 – Charles Pelham Villiers, English lawyer and politician (b. 1802)
  • 1901 – Jules Barbier, French poet and playwright (b. 1825)
  • 1901 – Arnold Böcklin, Swiss painter and academic (b. 1827)
  • 1901 – Hiram Rhodes Revels, American soldier, minister, and politician (b. 1822)
  • 1906 – Marshall Field, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Marshall Field’s (b. 1834)
  • 1917 – George Dewey, American admiral (b. 1837)
  • 1919 – Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 5th President of Brazil (b. 1848)
  • 1933 – Bekir Sami Kunduh, Turkish politician (b. 1867)
  • 1936 – Albert Fish, American serial killer, rapist and cannibal (b. 1870)
  • 1938 – Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay Indian author and playwright (b. 1876)
  • 1942 – Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (b. 1850)
  • 1942 – Villem Grünthal-Ridala, Estonian poet and linguist (b. 1885)
  • 1942 – Carole Lombard, American actress and comedian (b. 1908)
  • 1942 – Ernst Scheller, German lawyer and politician, Mayor of Marburg (b. 1899)
  • 1957 – Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone, English general and politician, 16th Governor General of Canada (b. 1874)
  • 1957 – Arturo Toscanini, Italian cellist and conductor (b. 1867)
  • 1959 – Phan Khôi, Vietnamese journalist and author (b. 1887)
  • 1960 – Arthur Darby, English rugby player (b. 1876)
  • 1961 – Max Schöne, German swimmer (b. 1880)
  • 1962 – Frank Hurley, Australian photographer, director, producer, and cinematographer (b. 1885)
  • 1962 – Ivan Meštrović, Croatian sculptor and architect, designed the Monument to the Unknown Hero (b. 1883)
  • 1967 – Robert J. Van de Graaff, American physicist and academic (b. 1901)
  • 1968 – Bob Jones Sr., American evangelist, founded Bob Jones University (b. 1883)
  • 1968 – Panagiotis Poulitsas, Greek archaeologist and judge (b. 1881)
  • 1969 – Vernon Duke, Russian-American composer and songwriter (b. 1903)
  • 1971 – Philippe Thys, Belgian cyclist (b. 1890)
  • 1972 – Teller Ammons, American soldier and politician, 28th Governor of Colorado (b. 1895)
  • 1972 – Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., American singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, and actor, created Alvin and the Chipmunks (b. 1919)
  • 1973 – Edgar Sampson, American musician and composer (b. 1907)
  • 1975 – Israel Abramofsky, Russian-American painter (b. 1888)
  • 1978 – A. V. Kulasingham, Sri Lankan journalist, lawyer, and politician (b. 1890)
  • 1981 – Bernard Lee, English actor (b. 1908)
  • 1983 – Virginia Mauret, American musician and dancer
  • 1986 – Herbert W. Armstrong, American evangelist, author, and publisher (b. 1892)
  • 1987 – Bertram Wainer, Australian physician and activist (b. 1928)
  • 1988 – Andrija Artuković, Croatian politician, war criminal, and Porajmos perpetrator, 1st Minister of Interior of the Independent State of Croatia (b. 1899)
  • 1995 – Eric Mottram, English poet and critic (b. 1924)
  • 1996 – Marcia Davenport, American author and critic (b. 1903)
  • 1996 – Kaye Webb, English journalist and publisher (b. 1914)
  • 1999 – Jim McClelland, Australian lawyer, jurist, and politician, 12th Minister for Industry and Science (b. 1915)
  • 2000 – Robert R. Wilson, American physicist and academic (b. 1914)
  • 2001 – Auberon Waugh, English author and journalist (b. 1939)
  • 2002 – Robert Hanbury Brown, English astronomer and physicist (b. 1916)
  • 2003 – Richard Wainwright, English politician (b. 1918)
  • 2004 – Kalevi Sorsa, Finnish politician 34th Prime Minister of Finland (b. 1930)
  • 2005 – Marjorie Williams, American journalist and author (b. 1958)
  • 2006 – Stanley Biber, American soldier and physician (b. 1923)
  • 2007 – Benny Parsons, American race car driver and sportscaster (b. 1941)
  • 2009 – Joe Erskine, American boxer and runner (b. 1930)
  • 2009 – John Mortimer, English lawyer and author (b. 1923)
  • 2009 – Andrew Wyeth, American painter (b. 1917)
  • 2010 – Glen Bell, American businessman, founded Taco Bell (b. 1923)
  • 2010 – Jyoti Basu, Indian lawyer and politician, 9th Chief Minister of West Bengal (b. 1914)
  • 2010 – Takumi Shibano, Japanese author and translator (b. 1926)
  • 2012 – Joe Bygraves, Jamaican-English boxer (b. 1931)
  • 2012 – Jimmy Castor, American singer-songwriter and saxophonist (b. 1940)
  • 2012 – Sigursteinn Gíslason, Icelandic footballer and manager (b. 1968)
  • 2012 – Lorna Kesterson, American journalist and politician (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – Gustav Leonhardt, Dutch pianist, conductor, and musicologist (b. 1928)
  • 2013 – Wayne D. Anderson, American baseball player and coach (b. 1930)
  • 2013 – André Cassagnes, French technician and toy maker, created the Etch A Sketch (b. 1926)
  • 2013 – Gussie Moran, American tennis player and sportscaster (b. 1923)
  • 2013 – Pauline Phillips, American journalist and radio host, created Dear Abby (b. 1918)
  • 2013 – Glen P. Robinson, American businessman, founded Scientific Atlanta (b. 1923)
  • 2014 – Gary Arlington, American author and illustrator (b. 1938)
  • 2014 – Ruth Duccini, American actress (b. 1918)
  • 2014 – Dave Madden, Canadian-American actor (b. 1931)
  • 2014 – Hiroo Onoda, Japanese lieutenant (b. 1922)
  • 2015 – Miriam Akavia, Polish-Israeli author and translator (b. 1927)
  • 2015 – Yao Beina, Chinese singer (b. 1981)
  • 2016 – Joannis Avramidis, Greek sculptor (b. 1922)
  • 2016 – Ted Marchibroda, American football player and coach (b. 1931)
  • 2017 – Eugene Cernan, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1934)
  • 2018 – Ed Doolan, British radio presenter (b. 1941)
  • 2018 – Oliver Ivanović, Kosovo Serb politician (b. 1953)
  • 2019 – John C. Bogle, American businessman, investor, and philanthropist (b. 1929)
  • 2019 – Lorna Doom, American musician (b. 1958)
  • 2019 – Chris Wilson, Australian musician (b. 1956)
  • 2020 – Christopher Tolkien, British academic and editor (died 2020)

Holidays and observances on January 16

  • Christian feast day:
    • Pope Benjamin (Coptic)
    • Berard of Carbio
    • Blaise (Armenian Apostolic)
    • Fursey
    • Joseph Vaz
    • Honoratus of Arles
    • Pope Marcellus I
    • Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (Coptic Church)
    • Titian of Oderzo
    • Eve of Saint Anthony observed with ritual bonfires in San Bartolomé de Pinares
    • January 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • National Religious Freedom Day (United States)
  • Teacher’s Day (Myanmar)
  • Teachers’ Day (Thailand)

January 16 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day /
  • 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople: A quarrel between supporters of different chariot teams—the Blues and the Greens—in the Hippodrome escalates into violence.
  • 630 – Conquest of Mecca: The prophet Muhammad and his followers conquer the city, Quraysh surrender.
  • 947 – Emperor Tai Zong of the Khitan-led Liao Dynasty invades the Later Jin, resulting in the destruction of the Later Jin.
  • 1055 – Theodora is crowned empress of the Byzantine Empire.
  • 1158 – Vladislaus II, Duke of Bohemia becomes King of Bohemia.
  • 1569 – First recorded lottery in England.
  • 1571 – Austrian nobility is granted freedom of religion.
  • 1654 – Arauco War: A Spanish army is defeated by local Mapuche-Huilliches as it tries to cross Bueno River in Southern Chile.
  • 1693 – A powerful earthquake destroys parts of Sicily and Malta.
  • 1759 – The first American life insurance company, the Corporation for Relief of Poor and Distressed Presbyterian Ministers and of the Poor and Distressed Widows and Children of the Presbyterian Ministers (now part of Unum Group), is incorporated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
  • 1779 – Ching-Thang Khomba is crowned King of Manipur.
  • 1787 – William Herschel discovers Titania and Oberon, two moons of Uranus.
  • 1805 – The Michigan Territory is created.
  • 1861 – American Civil War: Alabama secedes from the United States.
  • 1863 – American Civil War: Battle of Arkansas Post: General John McClernand and Admiral David Dixon Porter capture the Arkansas River for the Union.
  • 1863 – American Civil War: CSS Alabama encounters and sinks the USS Hatteras off Galveston Lighthouse in Texas.
  • 1879 – The Anglo-Zulu War begins.
  • 1908 – Grand Canyon National Monument is created.
  • 1912 – Immigrant textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts, go on strike when wages are reduced in response to a mandated shortening of the work week.
  • 1917 – The Kingsland munitions factory explosion occurs as a result of sabotage.
  • 1922 – First use of insulin to treat diabetes in a human patient.
  • 1923 – Occupation of the Ruhr: Troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area to force Germany to make its World War I reparation payments.
  • 1927 – Louis B. Mayer, head of film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), announces the creation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, at a banquet in Los Angeles, California.
  • 1935 – Amelia Earhart becomes the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California.
  • 1942 – World War II: Japanese forces capture Kuala Lumpur, the capital of the Federated Malay States.
  • 1942 – World War II: Japanese forces attack Tarakan in Borneo, Netherlands Indies (Battle of Tarakan)
  • 1943 – The Republic of China agrees to the Sino-British New Equal Treaty and the Sino-American New Equal Treaty.
  • 1943 – Italian-American anarchist Carlo Tresca is assassinated in New York City.
  • 1946 – Enver Hoxha, Secretary General of the Communist Party of Albania, declares the People’s Republic of Albania with himself as head of state.
  • 1949 – The first “networked” television broadcasts took place as KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania goes on the air connecting the east coast and mid-west programming.
  • 1957 – The African Convention is founded in Dakar, Senegal.
  • 1961 – Throgs Neck Bridge over the East River, linking New York City’s boroughs of The Bronx and Queens, opens to road traffic.
  • 1962 – Cold War: While tied to its pier in Polyarny, the Soviet submarine B-37 is destroyed when fire breaks out in its torpedo compartment.
  • 1962 – An avalanche on Huascarán in Peru causes around 4,000 deaths.
  • 1964 – Surgeon General of the United States Dr. Luther Terry, M.D., publishes the landmark report Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the United States saying that smoking may be hazardous to health, sparking national and worldwide anti-smoking efforts.
  • 1972 – East Pakistan renames itself Bangladesh.
  • 1973 – Major League Baseball owners vote in approval of the American League adopting the designated hitter position.
  • 1986 – The Gateway Bridge, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia is officially opened.
  • 1994 – The Irish Government announces the end of a 15-year broadcasting ban on the IRA and its political arm Sinn Féin.
  • 1996 – Space Shuttle program: STS-72 launches from the Kennedy Space Center marking the start of the 74th Space Shuttle mission and the 10th flight of Endeavour.
  • 1998 – Over 100 people are killed in the Sidi-Hamed massacre in Algeria.
  • 2003 – Illinois Governor George Ryan commutes the death sentences of 167 prisoners on Illinois’s death row based on the Jon Burge scandal.
  • 2013 – One French soldier and 17 militants are killed in a failed attempt to free a French hostage in Bulo Marer, Somalia.

Births on January 11

  • 347 – Theodosius I, Roman emperor (d. 395)
  • 889 – Abd-ar-Rahman III, first Caliph of Córdoba (d. 961)
  • 1113 – Wang Chongyang, Chinese religious leader and poet (d. 1170)
  • 1209 – Möngke Khan, Mongolian emperor (d. 1259)
  • 1322 – Emperor Kōmyō of Japan (d. 1380)
  • 1359 – Emperor Go-En’yū of Japan (d. 1393)
  • 1395 – Michele of Valois, daughter of Charles VI of France (d. 1422)
  • 1503 – Parmigianino, Italian artist (d. 1540)
  • 1589 – William Strode, English politician (d. 1666)
  • 1591 – Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire (d. 1646)
  • 1624 – Bastiaan Govertsz van der Leeuw, Dutch painter (d. 1680)
  • 1630 – John Rogers, English-American minister, physician, and academic (d. 1684)
  • 1638 – Nicolas Steno, Danish bishop and anatomist (d. 1686)
  • 1642 – Johann Friedrich Alberti, German organist and composer (d. 1710)
  • 1650 – Diana Glauber, Dutch-German painter (d. 1721)
  • 1671 – François-Marie, 1st duc de Broglie, French general and diplomat (d. 1745)
  • 1755 – Alexander Hamilton, Nevisian-American general, economist and politician, 1st United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1804)
  • 1757 – Samuel Bentham, English engineer and architect (d. 1831)
  • 1760 – Oliver Wolcott Jr., American lawyer and politician, 2nd United States Secretary of the Treasury, 24th Governor of Connecticut (d. 1833)
  • 1777 – Vincenzo Borg, Maltese merchant and rebel leader (d. 1837)
  • 1786 – Joseph Jackson Lister, English physicist (d. 1869)
  • 1788 – William Thomas Brande, English chemist and academic (d. 1866)
  • 1800 – Ányos Jedlik, Hungarian physicist and engineer (d. 1895)
  • 1807 – Ezra Cornell, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Western Union and Cornell University (d. 1874)
  • 1814 – James Paget, English surgeon and pathologist (d. 1899)
  • 1815 – John A. Macdonald, Scottish-Canadian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1891)
  • 1825 – Bayard Taylor, American poet, author, and critic (d. 1878)
  • 1839 – Eugenio María de Hostos, Puerto Rican lawyer, philosopher, and sociologist (d. 1903)
  • 1842 – William James, American psychologist and philosopher (d. 1910)
  • 1843 – Adolf Eberle, German painter (d. 1914)
  • 1845 – Albert Victor Bäcklund, Swedish mathematician and physicist (d. 1912)
  • 1850 – Joseph Charles Arthur, American pathologist and mycologist (d. 1942)
  • 1852 – Constantin Fehrenbach, German lawyer and politician, 4th Chancellor of Weimar Germany (d. 1926)
  • 1853 – Georgios Jakobides, Greek painter and sculptor (d. 1932)
  • 1856 – Christian Sinding, Norwegian pianist and composer (d. 1941)
  • 1857 – Fred Archer, English jockey (d. 1886)
  • 1858 – Harry Gordon Selfridge, American-English businessman, founded Selfridges (d. 1947)
  • 1859 – George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, English politician, 35th Governor-General of India (d. 1925)
  • 1864 – Thomas Dixon, Jr., American minister, lawyer, and politician (d. 1946)
  • 1867 – Edward B. Titchener, English psychologist and academic (d. 1927)
  • 1868 – Cai Yuanpei, Chinese philosopher, academic, and politician (d. 1940)
  • 1870 – Alexander Stirling Calder, American sculptor and educator (d. 1945)
  • 1872 – G. W. Pierce, American physicist and academic (d. 1956)
  • 1873 – John Callan O’Laughlin, American soldier and journalist (d. 1949)
  • 1875 – Reinhold Glière, Russian composer and academic (d. 1956)
  • 1876 – Elmer Flick, American baseball player (d. 1971)
  • 1876 – Thomas Hicks, American runner (d. 1952)
  • 1878 – Theodoros Pangalos, Greek general and politician, President of Greece (d. 1952)
  • 1885 – Alice Paul, American activist and suffragist (d. 1977)
  • 1887 – Aldo Leopold, American ecologist and author (d. 1948)
  • 1888 – Joseph B. Keenan, American jurist and politician (d. 1954)
  • 1889 – Calvin Bridges, American geneticist and academic (d. 1938)
  • 1890 – Max Carey, American baseball player and manager (d. 1976)
  • 1890 – Oswald de Andrade, Brazilian poet and critic (d. 1954)
  • 1891 – Andrew Sockalexis, American runner (d. 1919)
  • 1893 – Ellinor Aiki, Estonian painter (d. 1969)
  • 1893 – Charles Fraser, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 1981)
  • 1893 – Anthony M. Rud, American journalist and author (d. 1942)
  • 1895 – Laurens Hammond, American engineer and businessman, founded the Hammond Clock Company (d. 1973)
  • 1897 – Bernard DeVoto, American historian and author (d. 1955)
  • 1897 – August Heissmeyer, German SS officer (d. 1979)
  • 1899 – Eva Le Gallienne, English-American actress, director, and producer (d. 1991)
  • 1901 – Kwon Ki-ok, Korean pilot (d. 1988)
  • 1902 – Maurice Duruflé, French organist and composer (d. 1986)
  • 1903 – Alan Paton, South African author and activist (d. 1988)
  • 1905 – Clyde Kluckhohn, American anthropologist and theorist (d. 1960)
  • 1906 – Albert Hofmann, Swiss chemist and academic, discoverer of LSD (d. 2008)
  • 1907 – Pierre Mendès France, French lawyer and politician, 142nd Prime Minister of France (d. 1982)
  • 1907 – Abraham Joshua Heschel, Polish-American rabbi, theologian, and philosopher (d. 1972)
  • 1908 – Lionel Stander, American actor and activist (d. 1994)
  • 1910 – Arthur Lambourn, New Zealand rugby player (d. 1999)
  • 1910 – Shane Paltridge, Australian soldier and politician (d. 1966)
  • 1911 – Tommy Duncan, American singer-songwriter (d. 1967)
  • 1911 – Nora Heysen, Australian painter (d. 2003)
  • 1911 – Zenkō Suzuki, Japanese politician, 70th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2004)
  • 1912 – Don “Red” Barry, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1980)
  • 1913 – Karl Stegger, Danish actor (d. 1980)
  • 1915 – Luise Krüger, German javelin thrower (d. 2001)
  • 1915 – Paddy Mayne, British colonel and lawyer (d. 1955)
  • 1916 – Bernard Blier, Argentinian-French actor (d. 1989)
  • 1917 – John Robarts, Canadian lawyer and politician, 17th Premier of Ontario (d. 1982)
  • 1918 – Robert C. O’Brien, American author and journalist (d. 1973)
  • 1920 – Mick McManus, English wrestler (d. 2013)
  • 1921 – Gory Guerrero, American wrestler and trainer (d. 1990)
  • 1921 – Juanita M. Kreps, American economist and politician, 24th United States Secretary of Commerce (d. 2010)
  • 1923 – Jerome Bixby, American author and screenwriter (d. 1998)
  • 1923 – Ernst Nolte, German historian and philosopher (d. 2016)
  • 1923 – Carroll Shelby, American race car driver, engineer, and businessman, founded Carroll Shelby International (d. 2012)
  • 1924 – Roger Guillemin, French-American physician and endocrinologist, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1924 – Sam B. Hall, Jr., American lawyer, judge, and politician (d. 1994)
  • 1924 – Slim Harpo, American blues singer-songwriter and musician (d. 1970)
  • 1925 – Grant Tinker, American television producer, co-founded MTM Enterprises (d. 2016)
  • 1926 – Lev Dyomin, Russian colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1998)
  • 1928 – David L. Wolper, American director and producer (d. 2010)
  • 1929 – Dmitri Bruns, Estonian architect and theorist (d. 2020)
  • 1930 – Ron Mulock, Australian lawyer and politician, 10th Deputy Premier of New South Wales (d. 2014)
  • 1930 – Rod Taylor, Australian-American actor and screenwriter (d. 2015)
  • 1931 – Betty Churcher, Australian painter, historian, and curator (d. 2015)
  • 1931 – Mary Rodgers, American composer and author (d. 2014)
  • 1932 – Alfonso Arau, Mexican actor and director
  • 1933 – Goldie Hill, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2005)
  • 1934 – Jean Chrétien, Canadian lawyer and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Canada
  • 1936 – Eva Hesse, German-American sculptor and educator (d. 1970)
  • 1938 – Arthur Scargill, English miner, activist, and politician
  • 1939 – Anne Heggtveit, Canadian alpine skier
  • 1940 – Andres Tarand, Estonian geographer and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Estonia
  • 1941 – Gérson, Brazilian footballer
  • 1942 – Bud Acton, American basketball player
  • 1942 – Clarence Clemons, American saxophonist and actor (d. 2011)
  • 1944 – Mohammed Abdul-Hayy, Sudanese poet and academic (d. 1989)
  • 1944 – Shibu Soren, Indian politician, 3rd Chief Minister of Jharkhand
  • 1945 – Christine Kaufmann, German actress, author, and businesswoman (d. 2017)
  • 1946 – Naomi Judd, American singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1946 – Tony Kaye, English progressive rock keyboard player and songwriter (Yes)
  • 1946 – John Piper, American theologian and author
  • 1947 – Hamish Macdonald, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1948 – Fritz Bohla, German footballer and manager
  • 1948 – Joe Harper, Scottish footballer and manager
  • 1948 – Madeline Manning, American runner and coach
  • 1948 – Wajima Hiroshi, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 54th Yokozuna
  • 1948 – Terry Williams, Welsh drummer
  • 1949 – Daryl Braithwaite, Australian singer-songwriter
  • 1949 – Mohammad Reza Rahimi, Iranian lawyer and politician, 2nd Vice President of Iran
  • 1951 – Charlie Huhn, American rock singer and guitarist
  • 1951 – Willie Maddren, English footballer and manager (d. 2000)
  • 1951 – Philip Tartaglia, Scottish archbishop
  • 1952 – Bille Brown, Australian actor and playwright (d. 2013)
  • 1952 – Ben Crenshaw, American golfer and architect
  • 1952 – Michael Forshaw, Australian lawyer and politician
  • 1952 – Diana Gabaldon, American author
  • 1952 – Lee Ritenour, American guitarist, composer, and producer
  • 1953 – Graham Allen, English politician, Vice-Chamberlain of the Household
  • 1953 – Kostas Skandalidis, Greek engineer and politician, Greek Minister of Agricultural Development and Food
  • 1954 – Jaak Aaviksoo, Estonian physicist and politician, 26th Estonian Minister of Defence
  • 1954 – Kailash Satyarthi, Indian engineer, academic, and activist, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1956 – Big Bank Hank, American rapper (d. 2014)
  • 1957 – Darryl Dawkins, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
  • 1957 – Peter Moore, Australian rules footballer and coach
  • 1957 – Bryan Robson, English footballer and manager
  • 1958 – Vicki Peterson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1959 – Brett Bodine, American NASCAR driver
  • 1959 – Rob Ramage, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1961 – Lars-Erik Torph, Swedish racing driver (d. 1989)
  • 1962 – Chris Bryant, Welsh politician, Minister of State for Europe
  • 1962 – Susan Lindauer, American journalist and activist
  • 1962 – Brian Moore, English rugby player
  • 1963 – Tracy Caulkins, American-Australian swimmer
  • 1963 – Petra Schneider, German swimmer
  • 1964 – Ralph Recto, Filipino lawyer and politician
  • 1964 – Albert Dupontel, French actor and director
  • 1965 – Mascarita Sagrada, Mexican wrestler
  • 1965 – Aleksey Zhukov, Russian footballer and coach
  • 1966 – Marc Acito, American author and screenwriter
  • 1967 – Michael Healy-Rae, Irish politician
  • 1968 – Anders Borg, Swedish economist and politician, Swedish Minister for Finance
  • 1968 – Tom Dumont, American guitarist and producer
  • 1969 – Manny Acta, Dominican-American baseball player, coach, manager, and sportscaster
  • 1970 – Manfredi Beninati, Italian painter and sculptor
  • 1970 – Chris Jent, American basketball player and coach
  • 1970 – Malcolm D. Lee, American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor
  • 1970 – Ken Ueno, American composer
  • 1971 – Mary J. Blige, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
  • 1971 – Jeff Orford, Australian rugby league player
  • 1971 – Chris Willsher, English singer-songwriter, drummer, and actor
  • 1972 – Christian Jacobs, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
  • 1972 – Anthony Lledo, Danish composer
  • 1972 – Amanda Peet, American actress and playwright
  • 1973 – Rockmond Dunbar, American actor
  • 1973 – Rahul Dravid, Indian cricketer and captain
  • 1974 – Roman Görtz, German footballer
  • 1974 – Cody McKay, Canadian baseball player
  • 1974 – Jens Nowotny, German footballer
  • 1975 – Rory Fitzpatrick, American ice hockey player
  • 1975 – Dan Luger, English rugby player and coach
  • 1975 – Matteo Renzi, Italian politician, 56th Prime Minister of Italy
  • 1976 – Efthimios Rentzias, Greek basketball player
  • 1977 – Shamari Buchanan, American football player
  • 1977 – Anni Friesinger-Postma, German speed skater
  • 1977 – Olexiy Lukashevych, Ukrainian long jumper
  • 1978 – Vallo Allingu, Estonian basketball player
  • 1978 – Holly Brisley, Australian actress
  • 1978 – Michael Duff, Irish footballer
  • 1978 – Emile Heskey, English footballer
  • 1979 – Darren Lynn Bousman, American director and screenwriter
  • 1979 – Michael Lorenz, German footballer
  • 1979 – Henry Shefflin, Irish hurler
  • 1980 – Josh Hannay, Australian rugby league player
  • 1980 – Mike Williams, American football player
  • 1982 – Tony Allen, American basketball player
  • 1982 – Blake Heron, American actor (d. 2017)
  • 1982 – Son Ye-jin, South Korean actress
  • 1983 – Turner Battle, American basketball player
  • 1983 – André Myhrer, Swedish skier
  • 1983 – Ted Richards, Australian rules footballer
  • 1983 – Adrian Sutil, German racing driver
  • 1984 – Kevin Boss, American football player
  • 1984 – Dario Krešić, Croatian footballer
  • 1984 – Matt Mullenweg, American web developer and businessman, co-created WordPress
  • 1984 – Stijn Schaars, Dutch footballer
  • 1985 – Newton Faulkner, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1985 – Lucy Knisley, American author and illustrator
  • 1987 – Scotty Cranmer, American Professional BMX rider
  • 1987 – Danuta Kozák, Hungarian sprint canoer
  • 1987 – Daniel Semenzato, Italian footballer
  • 1987 – Jamie Vardy, English footballer
  • 1987 – Kim Young-kwang, South Korean actor and model
  • 1988 – Rodrigo José Pereira, Brazilian footballer
  • 1989 – Kane Linnett, Australian rugby league player
  • 1990 – Ryan Griffin, American football player
  • 1991 – Andrea Bertolacci, Italian footballer
  • 1992 – Dani Carvajal, Spanish footballer
  • 1992 – Lee Seung-hoon, South Korean rapper and dancer
  • 1993 – Michael Keane, English footballer
  • 1993 – Will Keane, English footballer
  • 1996 – Leroy Sané, German footballer
  • 1997 – Cody Simpson, Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor

Deaths on January 11

  • 140 – Pope Hyginus, Bishop of Rome (b. 74)
  • 705 – Pope John VI (b. 655)
  • 782 – Emperor Kōnin of Japan (b. 709)
  • 812 – Staurakios, Byzantine emperor
  • 844 – Michael I Rangabe, Byzantine emperor (b. 770)
  • 887 – Boso of Provence, Frankish nobleman
  • 937 – Cao, empress of Later Tang
  • 937 – Li Chongmei, prince of Later Tang
  • 937 – Li Congke, emperor of Later Tang (b. 885)
  • 937 – Liu, empress of Later Tang
  • 1055 – Constantine IX Monomachos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1000)
  • 1068 – Egbert I, Margrave of Meissen
  • 1083 – Otto of Nordheim (b. 1020)
  • 1266 – Swietopelk II, Duke of Pomerania
  • 1344 – Thomas Charlton, Bishop of Hereford and Lord Chancellor of Ireland
  • 1372 – Eleanor of Lancaster, English noblewoman (b. 1318)
  • 1396 – Isidore Glabas, Metropolitan bishop of Thessalonica (b.c. 1341)
  • 1397 – Skirgaila, Grand Duke of Lithuania
  • 1494 – Domenico Ghirlandaio, Italian painter (b. 1449)
  • 1495 – Pedro González de Mendoza, Spanish cardinal (b. 1428)
  • 1546 – Gaudenzio Ferrari, Italian painter and sculptor (b. c. 1471)
  • 1547 – Pietro Bembo, Italian poet, scholar, and theorist (b. 1470)
  • 1554 – Min Bin, king of Arakan (b. 1493)
  • 1641 – Juan Martínez de Jáuregui y Aguilar, Spanish poet and painter (b. 1583)
  • 1696 – Charles Albanel, French priest, missionary, and explorer (b. 1616)
  • 1703 – Johann Georg Graevius, German scholar and critic (b. 1632)
  • 1713 – Pierre Jurieu, French priest and theologian (b. 1637)
  • 1735 – Danilo I, Metropolitan of Cetinje (b. 1670)
  • 1753 – Hans Sloane, Irish-English physician and academic (b. 1660)
  • 1757 – Louis Bertrand Castel, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1688)
  • 1762 – Louis-François Roubiliac, French-English sculptor (b. 1695)
  • 1763 – Caspar Abel, German poet, historian, and theologian (b. 1676)
  • 1771 – Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d’Argens, French philosopher and author (b. 1704)
  • 1788 – François Joseph Paul de Grasse, French admiral (b. 1722)
  • 1791 – William Williams Pantycelyn, Welsh composer and poet (b. 1717)
  • 1798 – Heraclius II of Georgia (b. 1720)
  • 1801 – Domenico Cimarosa, Italian composer and educator (b. 1749)
  • 1824 – Thomas Mullins, 1st Baron Ventry, Anglo-Irish politician and peer (b. 1736)
  • 1836 – John Molson, Canadian businessman, founded the Molson Brewing Company (b. 1763)
  • 1843 – Francis Scott Key, American lawyer, author, and songwriter (b. 1779)
  • 1866 – Gustavus Vaughan Brooke, Irish actor (b. 1818)
  • 1866 – John Woolley, English minister and academic (b. 1816)
  • 1867 – Stuart Donaldson, English-Australian businessman and politician, 1st Premier of New South Wales (b. 1812)
  • 1882 – Theodor Schwann, German physiologist and biologist (b. 1810)
  • 1891 – Georges-Eugène Haussmann, French urban planner (b. 1809)
  • 1902 – Johnny Briggs, English cricketer and rugby player (b. 1862)
  • 1904 – William Sawyer, Canadian merchant and politician (b. 1815)
  • 1914 – Carl Jacobsen, Danish brewer and philanthropist (b. 1842)
  • 1920 – Steinar Schjøtt, Norwegian philologist and lexicographer (b. 1844)
  • 1923 – Constantine I of Greece (b. 1868)
  • 1928 – Thomas Hardy, English novelist and poet (b. 1840)
  • 1931 – James Milton Carroll, American pastor, historian, and author (b. 1852)
  • 1937 – Nuri Conker, Turkish colonel and politician (b. 1882)
  • 1941 – Emanuel Lasker, German mathematician, philosopher, and chess player (b. 1868)
  • 1944 – Galeazzo Ciano, Italian politician, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1903)
  • 1947 – Eva Tanguay, Canadian singer (b. 1879)
  • 1952 – Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, French general (b. 1889)
  • 1952 – Aureliano Pertile, Italian tenor and educator (b. 1885)
  • 1953 – Noe Zhordania, Georgian journalist and politician, Prime Minister of Georgia (b. 1868)
  • 1954 – Oscar Straus, Austrian composer (b. 1870)
  • 1957 – Robert Garran, Australian lawyer and politician, Solicitor-General of Australia (b. 1867)
  • 1958 – Alec Rowley, English organist and composer (b. 1892)
  • 1958 – Edna Purviance, American actress (b. 1895)
  • 1961 – Elena Gerhardt, German soprano and actress (b. 1883)
  • 1963 – Arthur Nock, English-American scholar, theologian, and academic (b. 1902)
  • 1965 – Wally Pipp, American baseball player (b. 1893)
  • 1966 – Alberto Giacometti, Swiss sculptor and painter (b. 1901)
  • 1966 – Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indian academic and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of India (b. 1904)
  • 1968 – Moshe Zvi Segal, Israeli linguist and scholar (b. 1876)
  • 1969 – Richmal Crompton, English author and educator (b. 1890)
  • 1972 – Padraic Colum, Irish poet and playwright (b. 1881)
  • 1975 – Max Lorenz, German tenor and actor (b. 1901)
  • 1980 – Barbara Pym, English author (b. 1913)
  • 1981 – Beulah Bondi, American actress (b. 1889)
  • 1982 – Paul Lynde, American Actor and comedian (b. 1926)
  • 1985 – Edward Buzzell, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1895)
  • 1985 – William McKell, Australian lawyer and politician, 12th Governor-General of Australia (b. 1891)
  • 1986 – Sid Chaplin, English author and screenwriter (b. 1916)
  • 1986 – Andrzej Czok, Polish mountaineer (b. 1948)
  • 1987 – Albert Ferber, Swiss-English pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1911)
  • 1988 – Pappy Boyington, American colonel and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1912)
  • 1988 – Isidor Isaac Rabi, Polish-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1898)
  • 1989 – Ray Moore, English radio host (b. 1942)
  • 1990 – Carolyn Haywood, American author and illustrator (b. 1898)
  • 1991 – Carl David Anderson, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
  • 1994 – Helmut Poppendick, German physician (b. 1902)
  • 1995 – Josef Gingold, Belarusian-American violinist and educator (b. 1909)
  • 1995 – Onat Kutlar, Turkish author and poet (b. 1936)
  • 1995 – Lewis Nixon, U.S. Army captain (b. 1918)
  • 1995 – Theodor Wisch, German general (b. 1907)
  • 1996 – Roger Crozier, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager (b. 1942)
  • 1999 – Fabrizio De André, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1940)
  • 1999 – Naomi Mitchison, Scottish author and poet (b. 1897)
  • 1999 – Brian Moore, Irish-Canadian author and screenwriter (b. 1921)
  • 2000 – Ivan Combe, American businessman, invented Clearasil (b. 1911)
  • 2000 – Bob Lemon, American baseball player and manager (b. 1920)
  • 2001 – Denys Lasdun, English architect, co-designed the Royal National Theatre (b. 1914)
  • 2002 – Henri Verneuil, French-Armenian director and playwright (b. 1920)
  • 2003 – Jože Pučnik, Slovenian sociologist and politician (b. 1932)
  • 2007 – Solveig Dommartin, French-German actress (b. 1961)
  • 2007 – Robert Anton Wilson, American psychologist, author, poet, and playwright (b. 1932)
  • 2008 – Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer and explorer (b. 1919)
  • 2008 – Carl Karcher, American businessman, co-founded Carl’s Jr. (b. 1917)
  • 2010 – Miep Gies, Austrian-Dutch humanitarian (b. 1909)
  • 2010 – Éric Rohmer, French director, screenwriter, and critic (b. 1920)
  • 2011 – David Nelson, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1936)
  • 2012 – Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, Iranian physicist and academic (b. 1980)
  • 2012 – Gilles Jacquier, French journalist and photographer (b. 1968)
  • 2012 – Edgar Kaiser, Jr, American-Canadian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1942)
  • 2012 – Wally Osterkorn, American basketball player (b. 1928)
  • 2012 – Steven Rawlings, English astrophysicist, astronomer, and academic (b. 1961)
  • 2012 – David Whitaker, English composer and conductor (b. 1931)
  • 2013 – Aaron Swartz, American programmer (b. 1986)
  • 2013 – Guido Forti, Italian businessman, founded the Forti Racing Team (b. 1940)
  • 2013 – Nguyễn Khánh, Vietnamese general and politician, 3rd President of South Vietnam (b. 1927)
  • 2013 – Mariangela Melato, Italian actress (b. 1941)
  • 2013 – Tom Parry Jones, Welsh chemist, invented the breathalyzer (b. 1935)
  • 2013 – Alemayehu Shumye, Ethiopian runner (b. 1988)
  • 2014 – Keiko Awaji, Japanese actress (b. 1933)
  • 2014 – Muhammad Habibur Rahman, Indian-Bangladeshi jurist and politician, Prime Minister of Bangladesh (b. 1928)
  • 2014 – Chai Trong-rong, Taiwanese educator and politician (b. 1935)
  • 2014 – Ariel Sharon, Israeli general and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1928)
  • 2015 – Jenő Buzánszky, Hungarian footballer and coach (b. 1925)
  • 2015 – Anita Ekberg, Swedish-Italian model and actress (b. 1931)
  • 2015 – Chashi Nazrul Islam, Bangladeshi director and producer (b. 1941)
  • 2015 – Vernon Benjamin Mountcastle, American neuroscientist and academic (b. 1918)
  • 2016 – Monte Irvin, American baseball player (b. 1919)
  • 2016 – David Margulies, American actor (b. 1937)
  • 2017 – Adenan Satem, Malaysian politician and Chief Minister of Sarawak, Malaysia (b. 1944)
  • 2018 – Edgar Ray Killen, American murderer (b.1925)
  • 2019 – Michael Atiyah, British-Lebanese mathematician (b.1929)

Holidays and observances on January 11

  • Children’s Day (Tunisia)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Anastasius of Suppentonia (Roman Catholic)
    • Leucius of Brindisi (Roman Catholic)
    • Mary Slessor (Church of England)
    • Paulinus II of Aquileia
    • Pope Hyginus
    • Theodosius the Cenobiarch
    • Thomas of Cori
    • Vitalis of Gaza (Roman Catholic)
    • January 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which Triodion can fall, while February 14 is the latest; celebrated 70 days before Easter. (Eastern Orthodox)
  • Eugenio María de Hostos Day (Puerto Rico)
  • Independence Resistance Day (Morocco)
  • Kagami biraki (Japan)
  • National Human Trafficking Awareness Day (United States)
  • Republic Day (Albania)
  • Carmentalia (January 11th and January 15th), (Rome)

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

On This Day