mexico city

  • June 7- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 421 – Emperor Theodosius II marries Aelia Eudocia at Constantinople (Byzantine Empire).
    • 879 – Pope John VIII recognizes the Duchy of Croatia under Duke Branimir as an independent state.
    • 1002 – Henry II, a cousin of Emperor Otto III, is elected and crowned King of Germany.
    • 1099 – First Crusade: The Siege of Jerusalem begins.
    • 1420 – Troops of the Republic of Venice capture Udine, ending the independence of the Patria del Friuli.
    • 1494 – Spain and Portugal sign the Treaty of Tordesillas which divides the New World between the two countries.
    • 1628 – The Petition of Right, a major English constitutional document, is granted the Royal Assent by Charles I and becomes law.
    • 1654 – Louis XIV is crowned King of France.
    • 1692 – Port Royal, Jamaica, is hit by a catastrophic earthquake; in just three minutes, 1,600 people are killed and 3,000 are seriously injured.
    • 1776 – Richard Henry Lee presents the “Lee Resolution” to the Continental Congress. The motion is seconded by John Adams and will lead to the United States Declaration of Independence.
    • 1788 – French Revolution: Day of the Tiles: Civilians in Grenoble toss roof tiles and various objects down upon royal troops.
    • 1800 – David Thompson reaches the mouth of the Saskatchewan River in Manitoba.
    • 1810 – The newspaper Gazeta de Buenos Ayres is first published in Argentina.
    • 1832 – The Great Reform Act of England and Wales receives royal assent.
    • 1832 – Asian cholera reaches Quebec, brought by Irish immigrants, and kills about 6,000 people in Lower Canada.
    • 1862 – The United States and the United Kingdom agree in the Lyons–Seward Treaty to suppress the African slave trade.
    • 1863 – During the French intervention in Mexico, Mexico City is captured by French troops.
    • 1866 – One thousand eight hundred Fenian raiders are repelled back to the United States after looting and plundering the Saint-Armand and Frelighsburg areas of Canada East.
    • 1880 – War of the Pacific: The Battle of Arica, the assault and capture of Morro de Arica (Arica Cape), ends the Campaña del Desierto (Desert Campaign).
    • 1892 – Homer Plessy is arrested for refusing to leave his seat in the “whites-only” car of a train; he lost the resulting court case, Plessy v. Ferguson.
    • 1899 – American Temperance crusader Carrie Nation begins her campaign of vandalizing alcohol-serving establishments by destroying the inventory in a saloon in Kiowa, Kansas.
    • 1905 – Norway’s parliament dissolves its union with Sweden. The vote was confirmed by a national plebiscite on August 13 of that year.
    • 1906 – Cunard Line’s RMS Lusitania is launched from the John Brown Shipyard, Glasgow (Clydebank), Scotland.
    • 1917 – World War I: Battle of Messines: Allied soldiers detonate a series of mines underneath German trenches at Messines Ridge, killing 10,000 German troops.
    • 1919 – Sette Giugno: Nationalist riots break out in Valletta, the capital of Malta. British soldiers fire into the crowd, killing four people.
    • 1929 – The Lateran Treaty is ratified, bringing Vatican City into existence.
    • 1938 – The Douglas DC-4E makes its first test flight.
    • 1938 – Second Sino-Japanese War: The Chinese Nationalist government creates the 1938 Yellow River flood to halt Japanese forces. Five hundred to nine hundred thousand civilians are killed.
    • 1940 – King Haakon VII, Crown Prince Olav and the Norwegian government leave Tromsø and go into exile in London. They return exactly five years later.
    • 1942 – World War II: The Battle of Midway ends in American victory.
    • 1942 – World War II: Aleutian Islands Campaign: Imperial Japanese soldiers begin occupying the American islands of Attu and Kiska, in the Aleutian Islands off Alaska.
    • 1944 – World War II: The steamer Danae, carrying 350 Cretan Jews and 250 Cretan partisans, is sunk without survivors off the shore of Santorini.
    • 1944 – World War II: Battle of Normandy: At Ardenne Abbey, members of the SS Division Hitlerjugend massacre 23 Canadian prisoners of war.
    • 1945 – King Haakon VII of Norway returns from exactly five years in exile during World War II.
    • 1946 – The United Kingdom’s BBC returns to broadcasting its television service, which has been off air for seven years because of the Second World War.
    • 1948 – Anti-Jewish riots in Oujda and Jerada take place.
    • 1948 – Edvard Beneš resigns as President of Czechoslovakia rather than signing the Ninth-of-May Constitution, making his nation a Communist state.
    • 1955 – Lux Radio Theatre signs off the air permanently. The show launched in New York in 1934, and featured radio adaptations of Broadway shows and popular films.
    • 1962 – The Organisation Armée Secrète (OAS) sets fire to the University of Algiers library building, destroying about 500,000 books.
    • 1965 – The Supreme Court of the United States hands down its decision in Griswold v. Connecticut, prohibiting the states from criminalizing the use of contraception by married couples.
    • 1967 – Six-Day War: Israeli soldiers enter Jerusalem.
    • 1971 – The United States Supreme Court overturns the conviction of Paul Cohen for disturbing the peace, setting the precedent that vulgar writing is protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
    • 1971 – The Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Division of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service raids the home of Ken Ballew for illegal possession of hand grenades.
    • 1977 – Five hundred million people watch the high day of the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II begin on television.
    • 1981 – The Israeli Air Force destroys Iraq’s Osiraq nuclear reactor during Operation Opera.
    • 1982 – Priscilla Presley opens Graceland to the public; the bathroom where Elvis Presley died five years earlier is kept off-limits.
    • 1989 – Surinam Airways Flight 764 crashes on approach to Paramaribo-Zanderij International Airport in Suriname because of pilot error, killing 176 of 187 aboard.
    • 1991 – Mount Pinatubo erupts, generating an ash column 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) high.
    • 2000 – The United Nations defines the Blue Line as the border between Israel and Lebanon.
    • 2013 – A bus catches fire in the Chinese city of Xiamen, killing at least 47 people and injuring more than 34 others.
    • 2013 – A gunman opens fire at Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, after setting a house on fire nearby, killing six people, including the suspect.
    • 2014 – At least 37 people are killed in an attack in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s South Kivu province.

    Births on June 7

    • 1003 – Emperor Jingzong of Western Xia (d. 1048)
    • 1402 – Ichijō Kaneyoshi, Japanese noble (d. 1481)
    • 1422 – Federico da Montefeltro, Italian condottiero (d. 1482)
    • 1502 – John III of Portugal (d. 1557)
    • 1529 – Étienne Pasquier, French lawyer and jurist (d. 1615)
    • 1687 – Gaetano Berenstadt, Italian actor and singer (d. 1734)
    • 1702 – Louis George, Margrave of Baden-Baden (d. 1761)
    • 1757 – Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (d. 1806)
    • 1761 – John Rennie the Elder, Scottish engineer (d. 1821)
    • 1770 – Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1828)
    • 1778 – Beau Brummell, English cricketer and fashion designer (d. 1840)
    • 1811 – James Young Simpson, Scottish obstetrician (d. 1870)
    • 1831 – Amelia Edwards, English journalist and author (d. 1892)
    • 1837 – Alois Hitler, Austrian civil servant (d. 1903)
    • 1840 – Carlota of Mexico (d. 1927)
    • 1845 – Leopold Auer, Hungarian violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1930)
    • 1847 – George Washington Ball, American legislator from Iowa (d. 1915)
    • 1848 – Paul Gauguin, French painter and sculptor (d. 1903)
    • 1851 – Ture Malmgren, Swedish journalist and politician (d. 1922)
    • 1861 – Robina Nicol, New Zealand photographer and suffragist (d. 1942)
    • 1862 – Philipp Lenard, Slovak-German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1947)
    • 1863 – Bones Ely, American baseball player and manager (d. 1952)
    • 1868 – Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Scottish painter and architect (d. 1928)
    • 1877 – Roelof Klein, Dutch-American rower and engineer (d. 1960)
    • 1879 – Knud Rasmussen, Danish anthropologist and explorer (d. 1933)
    • 1879 – Joan Voûte, Dutch astronomer and academic (d. 1963)
    • 1884 – Ester Claesson, Swedish landscape architect (d. 1931)
    • 1883 – Sylvanus Morley, American archaeologist and scholar (d. 1948)
    • 1886 – Henri Coandă, Romanian engineer, designed the Coandă-1910 (d. 1972)
    • 1888 – Clarence DeMar, American runner and educator (d. 1958)
    • 1892 – Leo Reise, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1975)
    • 1893 – Gillis Grafström, Swedish figure skater and architect (d. 1938)
    • 1894 – Alexander P. de Seversky, Georgian-American pilot and engineer, co-designed the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt (d. 1974)
    • 1896 – Douglas Campbell, American lieutenant and pilot (d. 1990)
    • 1896 – Robert S. Mulliken, American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
    • 1896 – Imre Nagy, Hungarian soldier and politician, 44th Prime Minister of Hungary (d. 1958)
    • 1897 – George Szell, Hungarian-American conductor and composer (d. 1970)
    • 1899 – Elizabeth Bowen, Anglo-Irish author and critic (d. 1973)
    • 1902 – Georges Van Parys, French composer (d. 1971)
    • 1902 – Herman B Wells, American banker, author, and academic (d. 2000)
    • 1905 – James J. Braddock, American lieutenant and boxer (d. 1974)
    • 1906 – Glen Gray, American saxophonist and bandleader (d. 1963)
    • 1907 – Sigvard Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg (d. 2002)
    • 1909 – Virginia Apgar, American anesthesiologist and pediatrician, developed the Apgar test (d. 1974)
    • 1909 – Peter W. Rodino, American captain, lawyer, and politician (d. 2005)
    • 1909 – Jessica Tandy, English-American actress (d. 1994)
    • 1910 – Arthur Gardner, American actor and producer (d. 2014)
    • 1910 – Mike Sebastian, American football player and coach (d. 1989)
    • 1910 – Bradford Washburn, American mountaineer, photographer, and cartographer (d. 2007)
    • 1910 – Marion Post Wolcott, American photographer (d. 1990)
    • 1911 – Brooks Stevens, American engineer and designer, designed the Wienermobile (d. 1995)
    • 1912 – Jacques Hélian, French bandleader (d. 1986)
    • 1917 – Gwendolyn Brooks, American poet (d. 2000)
    • 1917 – Dean Martin, American singer, actor, and producer (d. 1995)
    • 1920 – Georges Marchais, French mechanic and politician (d. 1997)
    • 1921 – Myrtle Edwards, Australian cricketer and softball player (d. 2010)
    • 1921 – Brian Talboys, New Zealand politician, 7th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 2012)
    • 1922 – Leo Reise, Jr., Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2015)
    • 1923 – Jules Deschênes, Canadian lawyer and judge (d. 2000)
    • 1925 – Ernestina Herrera de Noble, Argentine publisher and executive (d. 2017)
    • 1926 – Jean-Noël Tremblay, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2020)
    • 1927 – Charles de Tornaco, Belgian race car driver (d. 1953)
    • 1927 – Paul Salamunovich, American conductor and educator (d. 2014)
    • 1928 – Dave Bowen, Welsh footballer and manager (d. 1995)
    • 1928 – James Ivory, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1928 – Randolph Turpin, English boxer (d. 1966)
    • 1929 – Ernie Roth, American wrestling manager (d. 1983)
    • 1929 – John Turner, Canadian lawyer and politician, 17th Prime Minister of Canada
    • 1931 – Virginia McKenna, English actress and author
    • 1932 – Per Maurseth, Norwegian historian, academic, and politician (d. 2013)
    • 1933 – Romeo Galán, Argentine athlete
    • 1935 – Harry Crews, American novelist, playwright, short story writer, and essayist (d. 2012)
    • 1935 – Shyama, Indian actress (d. 2017)
    • 1936 – Bert Sugar, American author and boxing historian (d. 2012)
    • 1938 – Ian St John, Scottish international footballer, forward and manager
    • 1939 – Yuli Turovsky, Russian-Canadian cellist, conductor and educator (d. 2013)
    • 1940 – Tom Jones, Welsh singer and actor
    • 1940 – Ronald Pickup, English actor
    • 1944 – Annette Lu, Taiwanese lawyer and politician, 8th Vice President of the Republic of China
    • 1944 – Clarence White, American guitarist and singer (d. 1973)
    • 1945 – Gilles Marotte, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2005)
    • 1945 – John Olsen, Australian politician, 42nd Premier of South Australia
    • 1945 – Wolfgang Schüssel, Austrian lawyer and politician, 26th Chancellor of Austria
    • 1947 – Don Money, American baseball player and coach
    • 1947 – Thurman Munson, American baseball player (d. 1979)
    • 1948 – Jim Walton, American businessman
    • 1952 – Liam Neeson, Irish-American actor
    • 1952 – Orhan Pamuk, Turkish-American novelist, screenwriter, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1953 – Johnny Clegg, English- born South African singer-songwriter, guitarist and anthropologist (d. 2019)
    • 1954 – Louise Erdrich, American novelist and poet
    • 1955 – William Forsythe, American actor and producer
    • 1955 – Tim Richmond, American race car driver (d. 1989)
    • 1956 – L.A. Reid, American songwriter and producer, co-founded LaFace Records
    • 1957 – Juan Luis Guerra, Dominican singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1957 – Paddy McAloon, English singer-songwriter
    • 1958 – Prince, American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and actor (d. 2016)
    • 1958 – Surakiart Sathirathai, Thai politician and diplomat
    • 1959 – Mike Pence, 48th Vice President of the United States, 50th Governor of Indiana
    • 1960 – Hirohiko Araki, Japanese manga artist and creator of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
    • 1960 – Bill Prady, American screenwriter and producer
    • 1961 – Dave Catching, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
    • 1962 – Thierry Hazard, French singer-songwriter
    • 1962 – Takuya Kurosawa, Japanese race car driver
    • 1963 – Gordon Gano, American musician
    • 1964 – Gia Carides, Australian actress
    • 1964 – Graeme Labrooy, Sri Lankan cricketer
    • 1965 – Mick Foley, American wrestler, actor, and author
    • 1965 – Jean-Pierre François, French footballer and singer
    • 1965 – Damien Hirst, English painter and art collector
    • 1966 – Eric Kretz, American drummer, songwriter, and producer
    • 1966 – Tom McCarthy, American director, screenwriter and actor
    • 1966 – Stéphane Richer, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1967 – Dave Navarro, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1970 – Helen Baxendale, English actress
    • 1970 – Cafu, Brazilian footballer
    • 1970 – Andrei Kovalenko, Russian ice hockey player
    • 1970 – Mike Modano, American ice hockey player
    • 1972 – Karl Urban, New Zealand actor
    • 1974 – Bear Grylls, English adventurer, author, and television host
    • 1975 – Allen Iverson, American basketball player
    • 1976 – Necro, American rapper, producer, and director
    • 1976 – Mirsad Türkcan, Turkish basketball player
    • 1977 – Marcin Baszczyński, Polish footballer
    • 1978 – Mini Andén, Swedish-American model, actress, and producer
    • 1978 – Bill Hader, Two-time Emmy winning American actor, comedian, and screenwriter
    • 1979 – Kevin Hofland, Dutch footballer
    • 1979 – Anna Torv, Australian actress
    • 1980 – Ed Moses, American swimmer
    • 1981 – Stephen Bywater, English footballer
    • 1981 – Anna Kournikova, Russian tennis player
    • 1981 – Kevin Kyle, Scottish footballer
    • 1983 – Milan Jurčina, Slovak ice hockey player
    • 1983 – Piotr Małachowski, Polish discus thrower
    • 1984 – Ari Koivunen, Finnish singer-songwriter
    • 1984 – Eri Yanetani, Japanese snowboarder
    • 1985 – Arkadiusz Piech, Polish footballer
    • 1985 – Charlie Simpson, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1985 – Richard Thompson, Trinidadian sprinter
    • 1986 – Keegan Bradley, American golfer
    • 1988 – Michael Cera, Canadian actor
    • 1988 – Milan Lucic, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1990 – Iggy Azalea, Australian rapper
    • 1990 – T. J. Brodie, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1990 – Allison Schmitt, American swimmer
    • 1991 – Cenk Tosun, Turkish professional footballer
    • 1991 – Fetty Wap, American rapper
    • 1992 – Sara Niemietz, American singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1992 – Mathias Gehrt, Danish professional footballer
    • 1992 – Alípio, Brazilian footballer
    • 1993 – George Ezra, English singer, songwriter and guitarist

    Deaths on June 7

    • 555 – Vigilius, Pope of the Catholic Church (b. 500)
    • 862 – Al-Muntasir, Abbasid caliph (b. 837)
    • 929 – Ælfthryth, Countess of Flanders (b. 877)
    • 940 – Qian Hongzun, heir apparent of Wuyue (b. 925)
    • 951 – Lu Wenji, Chinese chancellor (b. 876)
    • 1329 – Robert the Bruce, Scottish king (b. 1274)
    • 1337 – William I, Count of Hainaut (b. 1286)
    • 1341 – An-Nasir Muhammad, Egyptian sultan (b. 1285)
    • 1358 – Ashikaga Takauji, Japanese shōgun (b. 1305)
    • 1394 – Anne of Bohemia, English queen (b. 1366)
    • 1492 – Casimir IV Jagiellon, Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447 (b. 1427)
    • 1594 – Rodrigo Lopez, physician of Queen Elizabeth (b. 1525)
    • 1618 – Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, English politician, Colonial Governor of Virginia (b. 1577)
    • 1660 – George II Rákóczi, Prince of Transylvania (b. 1621)
    • 1711 – Henry Dodwell, Irish scholar and theologian (b. 1641)
    • 1779 – William Warburton, English bishop and critic (b. 1698)
    • 1792 – Benjamin Tupper, American general and surveyor (b. 1738)
    • 1810 – Luigi Schiavonetti, Italian engraver and etcher (b. 1765)
    • 1826 – Joseph von Fraunhofer, German optician, physicist, and astronomer (b. 1787)
    • 1840 – Frederick William III of Prussia (b. 1770)
    • 1843 – Friedrich Hölderlin, German lyric poet (b. 1770)
    • 1853 – Norbert Provencher, Canadian missionary and bishop (b. 1787)
    • 1854 – Charles Baudin, French admiral (b. 1792)
    • 1859 – David Cox, English painter (b. 1783)
    • 1861 – Patrick Brontë, Anglo-Irish priest and author (b. 1777)
    • 1863 – Antonio Valero de Bernabé, Latin American liberator (b. 1790)
    • 1866 – Chief Seattle, American tribal chief (b. 1780)
    • 1879 – William Tilbury Fox, English dermatologist and academic (b. 1836)
    • 1896 – Pavlos Carrer, Greek composer (b. 1829)
    • 1911 – Maurice Rouvier, French politician, Prime Minister of France (b. 1842)
    • 1915 – Charles Reed Bishop, American banker and politician, founded the First Hawaiian Bank (b. 1822)
    • 1916 – Émile Faguet, French author and critic (b. 1847)
    • 1927 – Archie Birkin, English motorcycle racer (b. 1905)
    • 1927 – Edmund James Flynn, Canadian lawyer and politician, 10th Premier of Quebec (b. 1847)
    • 1932 – John Verran, English-Australian politician, 26th Premier of South Australia (b. 1856)
    • 1933 – Dragutin Domjanić, Croatian lawyer, judge, and poet (b. 1875)
    • 1936 – Stjepan Seljan, Croatian explorer (b. 1875)
    • 1937 – Jean Harlow, American actress and singer (b. 1911)
    • 1942 – Alan Blumlein, English engineer (b. 1903)
    • 1945 – Kitaro Nishida, Japanese philosopher and academic (b. 1870)
    • 1954 – Alan Turing, English mathematician and computer scientist (b. 1912)
    • 1956 – John Willcock, Australian politician, 15th Premier of Western Australia (b. 1879)
    • 1961 – Reginald Fletcher, 1st Baron Winster, English navy officer and politician, Secretary of State for Transport (b. 1885)
    • 1963 – ZaSu Pitts, American actress (b. 1894)
    • 1965 – Judy Holliday, American actress and singer (b. 1921)
    • 1966 – Jean Arp, German-French sculptor, painter, and poet (b. 1886)
    • 1967 – Anatoly Maltsev, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1909)
    • 1967 – Dorothy Parker, American poet, short story writer, critic, and satirist (b. 1893)
    • 1968 – Dan Duryea, American actor and singer (b. 1907)
    • 1970 – E. M. Forster, English novelist, short story writer, essayist (b. 1879)
    • 1978 – Charles Moran, American race car driver (b. 1906)
    • 1978 – Ronald George Wreyford Norrish, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
    • 1979 – Asa Earl Carter, American Ku Klux Klan leader (b. 1925)
    • 1980 – Elizabeth Craig, Scottish journalist and economist (b. 1883)
    • 1980 – Philip Guston, Canadian-American painter and educator (b. 1913)
    • 1980 – Henry Miller, American novelist and essayist (b. 1891)
    • 1985 – Klaudia Taev, Estonian opera singer and educator (b. 1906)
    • 1987 – Cahit Zarifoğlu, Turkish poet and author (b. 1940)
    • 1988 – Martin Sommer, German SS officer (b. 1915)
    • 1989 – Chico Landi, Brazilian race car driver (b. 1907)
    • 1989 – William McLean Hamilton, Canadian politician, Postmaster General of Canada (b. 1919)
    • 1992 – Bill France Sr., American race car driver and businessman, co-founded NASCAR (b. 1909)
    • 1993 – Dražen Petrović, Croatian basketball player, Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer 2002 (b. 1964)
    • 1995 – Hsuan Hua, Chinese monk and educator (b. 1918)
    • 1995 – Charles Ritchie, Canadian diplomat, High Commission of Canada to the United Kingdom (b. 1906)
    • 1996 – Max Factor, Jr., American businessman (b. 1904)
    • 1997 – Jacques Canetti, French music executive and talent agent (b. 1909)
    • 2001 – Víctor Paz Estenssoro, Bolivian politician, 52nd President of Bolivia (b. 1907)
    • 2001 – Carole Fredericks, French singer (Fredericks Goldman Jones) (b. 1952)
    • 2001 – Betty Neels, English nurse and author (b. 1910)
    • 2002 – Signe Hasso, Swedish-American actress (b. 1915)
    • 2002 – B. D. Jatti, Indian lawyer and politician, 5th Vice President of India (b. 1912)
    • 2002 – Lilian, Princess of Réthy (b. 1916)
    • 2004 – Quorthon, Swedish musician (b. 1966)
    • 2008 – Rudy Fernandez, Filipino actor and producer (b. 1953)
    • 2008 – Jim McKay, American journalist and sportscaster (b. 1921)
    • 2008 – Dino Risi, Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1916)
    • 2009 – Hugh Hopper, English bass player and songwriter (b. 1945)
    • 2011 – Paul Dickson, American football player and coach (b. 1937)
    • 2012 – Phillip V. Tobias, South African paleontologist and academic (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – Bob Welch, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1945)
    • 2013 – Pierre Mauroy, French educator and politician, Prime Minister of France (b. 1928)
    • 2014 – Fernandão, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1978)
    • 2014 – Dora Akunyili, Nigerian academic and politician (b. 1954)
    • 2014 – Epainette Mbeki, South African activist (b. 1916)
    • 2015 – Christopher Lee, English actor (b. 1922)
    • 2015 – Sheikh Razzak Ali, Bangladeshi journalist and politician (b. 1928)

    Holidays and observances on June 7

    • Anniversary of the Memorandum of the Slovak Nation (Slovakia)
    • Birthday of Prince Joachim (Denmark)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Antonio Maria Gianelli
      • Colmán of Dromore
      • Landulf of Yariglia (Asti)
      • Meriasek
      • Paul I of Constantinople
      • Robert of Newminster
      • Chief Seattle (Lutheran Church)
      • Blessed Marie-Thérèse de Soubiran La Louvière
      • June 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
      • Commemoration Day of St John the Forerunner (Armenian Apostolic Church)
      • Pioneers of the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil (Episcopal Church (USA))
    • Battle of Arica Day (Arica y Parinacota Region, Chile)
    • Flag Day (Peru)
    • Journalist Day (Argentina)
    • Sette Giugno (Malta)
    • Union Dissolution Day (Independence Day of Norway)

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

    • 1256 – The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV issues a papal bull Licet ecclesiae catholicae.
    • 1415 – Religious reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus are condemned as heretics at the Council of Constance.
    • 1436 – Assassination of the Swedish rebel (later national hero) Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson
    • 1471 – Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Tewkesbury: Edward IV defeats a Lancastrian Army and kills Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales.
    • 1493 – Pope Alexander VI divides the New World between Spain and Portugal along the Line of Demarcation.
    • 1626 – Dutch explorer Peter Minuit arrives in New Netherland (present day Manhattan Island) aboard the See Meeuw.
    • 1686 – The Municipality of Ilagan is founded in the Philippines.
    • 1776 – Rhode Island becomes the first American colony to renounce allegiance to King George III.
    • 1799 – Fourth Anglo-Mysore War: The Battle of Seringapatam: The siege of Seringapatam ends when the city is invaded and Tipu Sultan killed by the besieging British army, under the command of General George Harris.
    • 1814 – Emperor Napoleon arrives at Portoferraio on the island of Elba to begin his exile.
    • 1814 – King Ferdinand VII abolishes the Spanish Constitution of 1812, returning Spain to absolutism.
    • 1836 – Formation of Ancient Order of Hibernians
    • 1859 – The Cornwall Railway opens across the Royal Albert Bridge linking Devon and Cornwall in England.
    • 1869 – The Naval Battle of Hakodate is fought in Japan.
    • 1871 – The National Association, the first professional baseball league, opens its first season in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
    • 1886 – Haymarket affair: A bomb is thrown at policemen trying to break up a labor rally in Chicago, United States, killing eight and wounding 60. The police fire into the crowd.
    • 1904 – The United States begins construction of the Panama Canal.
    • 1910 – The Royal Canadian Navy is created.
    • 1912 – Italy occupies the Greek island of Rhodes.
    • 1919 – May Fourth Movement: Student demonstrations take place in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, protesting the Treaty of Versailles, which transferred Chinese territory to Japan.
    • 1926 – The United Kingdom general strike begins.
    • 1927 – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is incorporated.
    • 1932 – In Atlanta, mobster Al Capone begins serving an eleven-year prison sentence for tax evasion.
    • 1942 – World War II: The Battle of the Coral Sea begins with an attack by aircraft from the United States aircraft carrier USS Yorktown on Japanese naval forces at Tulagi Island in the Solomon Islands. The Japanese forces had invaded Tulagi the day before.
    • 1945 – World War II: Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg is liberated by the British Army.
    • 1945 – World War II: The German surrender at Lüneburg Heath is signed, coming into effect the following day. It encompasses all Wehrmacht units in the Netherlands, Denmark and northwest Germany.
    • 1946 – In San Francisco Bay, U.S. Marines from the nearby Treasure Island Naval Base stop a two-day riot at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. Five people are killed in the riot.
    • 1949 – The entire Torino football team (except for two players who did not take the trip: Sauro Tomà, due to an injury and Renato Gandolfi, because of coach request) is killed in a plane crash.
    • 1953 – Ernest Hemingway wins the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea.
    • 1959 – The 1st Annual Grammy Awards are held.
    • 1961 – American civil rights movement: The “Freedom Riders” begin a bus trip through the South.
    • 1961 – Malcolm Ross and Victor Prather attain a new altitude record for manned balloon flight ascending in the Strato-Lab V open gondola to 113,740 feet (34.67 km).
    • 1970 – Vietnam War: Kent State shootings: The Ohio National Guard, sent to Kent State University after disturbances in the city of Kent the weekend before, opens fire killing four unarmed students and wounding nine others. The students were protesting the Cambodian Campaign of the United States and South Vietnam.
    • 1972 – The Don’t Make A Wave Committee, a fledgling environmental organization founded in Canada in 1971, officially changes its name to “Greenpeace Foundation”.
    • 1978 – The South African Defence Force attacks a SWAPO base at Cassinga in southern Angola, killing about 600 people.
    • 1979 – Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
    • 1982 – Twenty sailors are killed when the British Type 42 destroyer HMS Sheffield is hit by an Argentinian Exocet missile during the Falklands War.
    • 1988 – The PEPCON disaster rocks Henderson, Nevada, as tons of Space Shuttle fuel detonate during a fire.
    • 1989 – Iran–Contra affair: Former White House aide Oliver North is convicted of three crimes and acquitted of nine other charges; the convictions are later overturned on appeal.
    • 1990 – Latvia proclaims the renewal of its independence after the Soviet occupation.
    • 1994 – Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat sign a peace accord, granting self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.
    • 1998 – A federal judge in Sacramento, California, gives “Unabomber” Theodore Kaczynski four life sentences plus 30 years after Kaczynski accepts a plea agreement sparing him from the death penalty.
    • 2000 – Ken Livingstone becomes the first Mayor of London (an office separate from that of the Lord Mayor of London).
    • 2007 – Greensburg, Kansas is almost completely destroyed by a 1.7-mile wide EF5 tornado. It was the first-ever tornado to be rated as such with the new Enhanced Fujita scale.
    • 2014 – Three people are killed and 62 injured in a pair of bombings on buses in Nairobi, Kenya.

    Births on May 4

    • 1006 – Khwaja Abdullah Ansari, Persian mystic and poet (d. 1088)
    • 1008 – Henry I, king of France (d. 1060)
    • 1559 – Alice Spencer, English noblewoman (d. 1637)
    • 1634 – Katherine Ferrers, English aristocrat and heiress (d. 1660)
    • 1649 – Chhatrasal, Indian ruler (d. 1731)
    • 1654 – Kangxi Emperor, Emperor of the Qing Dynasty
    • 1655 – Bartolomeo Cristofori, Italian instrument maker, invented the piano (d. 1731)
    • 1677 – Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, French noblewoman (d.1749)
    • 1715 – Richard Graves, English minister and author (d. 1804)
    • 1733 – Jean-Charles de Borda, French mathematician, physicist, and sailor (d. 1799)
    • 1752 – John Brooks, American soldier and politician, 11th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1825)
    • 1757 – Manuel Tolsá, Spanish sculptor and first director of the Academy of San Carlos in Mexico City (d. 1816)
    • 1767 – Tyagaraja, Indian composer (d. 1847)
    • 1770 – François Gérard, French painter (d. 1837)
    • 1772 – Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus, German publisher (d. 1823)
    • 1796 – Horace Mann, American educator and politician (d. 1859)
    • 1796 – William Pennington, American lawyer and politician, 13th Governor of New Jersey, 23rd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1862)
    • 1796 – William H. Prescott, American historian and scholar (d. 1859)
    • 1820 – Julia Gardiner Tyler, American wife of John Tyler, 11th First Lady of the United States (d. 1889)
    • 1820 – John Whiteaker, American soldier, judge, and politician, 1st Governor of Oregon (d. 1902)
    • 1822 – Charles Boucher de Boucherville, Canadian physician and politician, 3rd Premier of Quebec (d. 1915)
    • 1825 – Thomas Henry Huxley, English biologist, anatomist, and academic (d. 1895)
    • 1825 – Augustus Le Plongeon, English-American historian, photographer, and academic (d. 1908)
    • 1826 – Frederic Edwin Church, American painter (d. 1900)
    • 1827 – John Hanning Speke, English soldier and explorer (d. 1864)
    • 1851 – Thomas Dewing, American painter (d. 1938)
    • 1852 – Alice Liddell, English model (d. 1934)
    • 1855 – Greyfriars Bobby, faithful dog (d. 1872)
    • 1883 – Wang Jingwei, Chinese politician (d. 1944)
    • 1884 – Richard Baggallay, English army officer and cricketer (d. 1975)
    • 1887 – Andrew Dasburg, French-American painter (d. 1979)
    • 1889 – Francis Spellman, American cardinal (d. 1967)
    • 1890 – Franklin Carmichael, Canadian painter (d. 1945)
    • 1902 – Ronnie Aird, English cricketer and administrator (d. 1986)
    • 1902 – Cola Debrot, Dutch physician, lawyer, and politician (d. 1981)
    • 1903 – Luther Adler, American actor (d. 1984)
    • 1903 – Paul Demel, Czech actor (d. 1951)
    • 1905 – Al Dexter, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1984)
    • 1906 – Gustav Bergmann, Austrian-American philosopher from the Vienna Circle (d. 1987)
    • 1907 – Lincoln Kirstein, American soldier and playwright, co-founded the New York City Ballet (d. 1996)
    • 1907 – Walter Walsh, American target shooter and FBI agent (d. 2014)
    • 1908 – Wolrad Eberle, German decathlete (d. 1949)
    • 1911 – Evald Seepere, Estonian boxer (d. 1990)
    • 1913 – John Broome, American author (d. 1999)
    • 1913 – Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark (d. 2007)
    • 1914 – Maedayama Eigorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 39th Yokozuna (d. 1971)
    • 1916 – Jane Jacobs, American-Canadian journalist, author, and activist (d. 2006)
    • 1916 – Richard Proenneke, American soldier, carpenter, and meteorologist (d. 2003)
    • 1917 – Edward T. Cone, American pianist and composer (d. 2004)
    • 1917 – Nick Joaquin, Filipino writer, journalist and historian (d. 2004)
    • 1918 – Tom Mead, Australian journalist and politician (d. 2004)
    • 1918 – Kakuei Tanaka, Japanese soldier and politician, 64th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1993)
    • 1919 – Dory Funk, American wrestler and trainer (d. 1973)
    • 1919 – Basil Yamey, South African-English economist and academic
    • 1921 – Patsy Garrett, American actress and singer (d. 2015)
    • 1921 – John van Kesteren, Dutch-American tenor and actor (d. 2008)
    • 1921 – Edo Murtić, Croatian painter, sculptor, and illustrator (d. 2005)
    • 1922 – Paul-Émile Charbonneau, Canadian archbishop (d. 2014)
    • 1922 – Eugenie Clark, American biologist and academic (d. 2015)
    • 1923 – Stanley Biber, American soldier and physician (d. 2006)
    • 1923 – Ed Cassidy, American jazz and rock drummer (d. 2012)
    • 1923 – Assi Rahbani, Lebanese composer and producer (d. 1986)
    • 1923 – Eric Sykes, British actor and comedian (d. 2012)
    • 1923 – John Toner, American football player and coach (d. 2014)
    • 1925 – Jenő Buzánszky, Hungarian footballer and coach (d. 2015)
    • 1925 – Maurice R. Greenberg, American businessman and philanthropist
    • 1926 – David Stoddart, Baron Stoddart of Swindon, English politician
    • 1928 – Maynard Ferguson, Canadian trumpet player and bandleader (d. 2006)
    • 1928 – Thomas Kinsella, Irish poet, translator, and publisher
    • 1928 – Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian air marshal and politician, 4th President of Egypt (d. 2020)
    • 1928 – Betsy Rawls, American golfer
    • 1928 – Wolfgang von Trips, German race car driver (d. 1961)
    • 1929 – Manuel Contreras, Chilean general (d. 2015)
    • 1929 – Audrey Hepburn, Belgian-British actress and humanitarian (d. 1993)
    • 1930 – Katherine Jackson, matriarch of the Jackson family
    • 1930 – Roberta Peters, American soprano (d. 2017)
    • 1931 – Jan Pesman, Dutch speed skater (d. 2014)
    • 1931 – Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Russian conductor and educator (d. 2018)
    • 1931 – Thomas Stuttaford, English physician, journalist, and politician (d. 2018)
    • 1932 – Harlon Hill, American football player and coach (d. 2013)
    • 1932 – Alexander MacAra, Scottish epidemiologist and academic (d. 2012)
    • 1933 – J. Fred Duckett, American journalist and educator (d. 2007)
    • 1936 – El Cordobés, Spanish bullfighter
    • 1936 – Med Hondo, Mauritanian filmmaker and actor (d. 2019)
    • 1937 – Ron Carter, American bassist and educator
    • 1937 – Dick Dale, American surf-rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter (d. 2019)
    • 1937 – Wim Verstappen, Dutch director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2004)
    • 1938 – Tyrone Davis, American blues and soul singer (d. 2005)
    • 1938 – Carlos Monsiváis, Mexican journalist, author, and critic (d. 2010)
    • 1938 – Gillian Tindall, English historian and author
    • 1939 – Neil Fox, English rugby league player and coach
    • 1939 – Amos Oz, Israeli journalist and author (d. 2018)
    • 1939 – Leon Rochefort, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1940 – Robin Cook, American physician and author
    • 1940 – Peter Gregg, American race car driver and businessman (d. 1980)
    • 1941 – George Will, American journalist and author
    • 1942 – Nickolas Ashford, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (d. 2011)
    • 1943 – Georgi Asparuhov, Bulgarian footballer (d. 1971)
    • 1943 – Mihail Chemiakin, Russian painter and sculptor
    • 1943 – Prasanta Pattanaik, Indian economist and academic
    • 1944 – Steve Liebmann, Australian radio and television host
    • 1944 – Russi Taylor, American voice actress (d. 2019)
    • 1945 – Jan Mulder, Dutch footballer and journalist
    • 1946 – John Barnard, English car designer
    • 1946 – Gary Bauer, American political activist
    • 1946 – John Watson, British race car driver
    • 1947 – John Bosley, Canadian businessman and politician, 31st Canadian Speaker of the House of Commons
    • 1947 – Ronald Sørensen, Dutch historian and politician
    • 1947 – Trivimi Velliste, Estonian politician, 17th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs
    • 1948 – Alison Britton, English sculptor and educator
    • 1948 – Hurley Haywood, American race car driver
    • 1948 – King George Tupou V of Tonga, (d. 2012)
    • 1949 – Graham Swift, English novelist and short story writer
    • 1950 – Darryl Hunt, English bass player
    • 1951 – Colin Bass, English bass player, songwriter, and producer
    • 1951 – Colleen Hanabusa, American lawyer and politician
    • 1951 – Jackie Jackson, American singer-songwriter and dancer
    • 1952 – Belinda Green, Australian beauty queen and 1972 Miss World
    • 1953 – Pia Zadora, American actress and singer
    • 1954 – Ryan Cayabyab, Filipino pianist, composer, and conductor
    • 1956 – Michael L. Gernhardt, American astronaut and engineer
    • 1956 – David Guterson, American novelist, short story writer, poet, and essayist
    • 1956 – Ken Oberkfell, American baseball player and coach
    • 1957 – Jaak Huimerind, Estonian architect
    • 1957 – Kathy Kreiner, Canadian skier
    • 1957 – Peter Sleep, Australian cricketer
    • 1957 – Marijke Vos, Dutch educator and politician
    • 1958 – Delbert Fowler, American football player
    • 1958 – Keith Haring, American painter (d. 1990)
    • 1958 – Jane Kennedy, English politician
    • 1958 – Caroline Spelman, English politician, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
    • 1959 – Valdemaras Chomičius, Lithuanian basketball player and coach
    • 1959 – Randy Travis, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
    • 1959 – Bob Tway, American golfer
    • 1960 – Werner Faymann, Austrian politician, 28th Chancellor of Austria
    • 1961 – Jay Aston, English singer-songwriter and dancer
    • 1964 – Silvia Costa, Cuban high jumper
    • 1966 – Gary Elkins, English footballer and manager
    • 1966 – Jane McGrath, English-Australian activist, co-founded the McGrath Foundation (d. 2008)
    • 1967 – Kate Garraway, English journalist
    • 1967 – Ana Gasteyer, American actress and singer
    • 1969 – Micah Aivazoff, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1969 – Franz Resch, Austrian footballer and manager
    • 1970 – Gregg Alexander, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1970 – Will Arnett, Canadian actor and producer
    • 1970 – Giovanni Mirabassi, Italian jazz musician
    • 1970 – Dawn Staley, American basketball player
    • 1970 – Paul Wiseman, New Zealand cricketer and coach
    • 1971 – Joe Borowski, American baseball player and sportscaster
    • 1971 – Miles Stewart, Australian triathlete
    • 1972 – Manny Aybar, Dominican baseball player
    • 1972 – Mike Dirnt, American bass player and songwriter
    • 1973 – Matthew Barnaby, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
    • 1973 – Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Argentinian footballer and coach
    • 1973 – John Madden, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1974 – Miguel Cairo, Venezuelan baseball player and coach
    • 1974 – Tony McCoy, Northern Irish jockey and sportscaster
    • 1976 – Ben Grieve, American baseball player
    • 1976 – Rory Hamill, Northern Irish international footballer
    • 1976 – Jason Michaels, American baseball player
    • 1976 – Indrek Visnapuu, Estonian basketball player and coach
    • 1977 – John Tripp, Canadian-German ice hockey player
    • 1978 – Erin Andrews, American sportscaster and journalist
    • 1978 – Igor Biscan, Croatian footballer
    • 1978 – Brett Burton, Australian footballer
    • 1978 – Vladimíra Uhlířová, Czech tennis player
    • 1979 – Lance Bass, American singer, dancer, and producer
    • 1979 – Kristin Harmel, American journalist and author
    • 1979 – Marie Poissonnier, French pole vaulter
    • 1979 – Lesley Vainikolo, Tongan rugby player
    • 1980 – Andrew Raycroft, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1981 – Eric Djemba-Djemba, Cameroon footballer
    • 1981 – Dallon Weekes, American singer-songwriter and musician
    • 1982 – Kleopas Giannou, Greek footballer
    • 1982 – Markus Rogan, Austrian swimmer
    • 1982 – Giorgos Tsiaras, Greek basketball player
    • 1983 – Dan Christian, Australian cricketer
    • 1983 – Derek Roy, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1983 – Robert Zwinkels, Dutch footballer
    • 1984 – Manjural Islam Rana, Bangladeshi cricketer (d. 2007)
    • 1984 – Brad Maddox, American wrestler and referee
    • 1984 – Sarah Meier, Swiss figure skater
    • 1984 – Montell Owens, American football player
    • 1984 – Kevin Slowey, American baseball player
    • 1985 – Ravi Bopara, English cricketer
    • 1985 – Anthony Fedorov, Ukrainian-born American singer and actor
    • 1985 – Fernandinho, Brazilian footballer
    • 1985 – Lester “Bo” McCalebb, American-Macedonian professional basketball player
    • 1985 – Jamie Adenuga, English MC and rapper
    • 1986 – Devan Dubnyk, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1986 – George Hill, American basketball player
    • 1987 – Cesc Fàbregas, Spanish footballer
    • 1987 – Jorge Lorenzo, Spanish motorcycle racer
    • 1988 – Radja Nainggolan, Belgian footballer
    • 1989 – Dániel Gyurta, Hungarian swimmer
    • 1989 – Henna Lindholm, Finnish figure skater
    • 1989 – Rory McIlroy, Northern Irish golfer
    • 1989 – Aris Tatarounis, Greek basketball player
    • 1989 – James van Riemsdyk, American ice hockey player
    • 1990 – Irina Falconi, American tennis player
    • 1990 – Ryan Morgan, Australian rugby league player
    • 1990 – Duvashen Padayachee, Australian race car driver
    • 1990 – Andrea Torres, Filipino actress and model
    • 1991 – Brianne Jenner, Canadian women’s ice hockey player
    • 1992 – Victor Oladipo, American basketball player
    • 1993 – Jānis Bērziņš, Latvian basketball player
    • 1994 – Abi Masatora, Japanese sumo wrestler
    • 1994 – Joseph Tapine, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1996 – Pelayo Roza, Spanish sprint canoeist

    Deaths on May 4

    • 408 – Venerius, archbishop of Milan
    • 784 – Arbeo, bishop of Freising
    • 1003 – Herman II, duke of Swabia
    • 1038 – Gotthard of Hildesheim, German bishop (b. 960)
    • 1406 – Coluccio Salutati, chancellor of Florence (b. 1331)
    • 1436 – Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson, Swedish rebel leader
    • 1471 – Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, son and heir of Henry VI of England (b. 1453)
    • 1471 – Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset (b. 1438)
    • 1483 – George Neville, Duke of Bedford (b. 1457)
    • 1506 – Husayn Mirza Bayqara, Timurid ruler of Herat (b. 1438)
    • 1519 – Lorenzo de’ Medici, duke of Urbino (b. 1492)
    • 1535 – John Houghton, Carthusian monk and saint
    • 1562 – Lelio Sozzini, Italian Protestant theologian (b. 1525)
    • 1566 – Luca Ghini, Italian physician and botanist (b. 1490)
    • 1571 – Pierre Viret, Swiss theologian and reformer (b. 1511)
    • 1604 – Claudio Merulo, Italian organist and composer (b. 1533)
    • 1605 – Ulisse Aldrovandi, Italian naturalist (b. 1522)
    • 1615 – Adriaan van Roomen, Flemish priest and mathematician (b. 1561)
    • 1626 – Arthur Lake, English bishop and scholar (b. 1569)
    • 1677 – Isaac Barrow, English mathematician and theologian (b. 1630)
    • 1684 – John Nevison, English criminal (b. 1639)
    • 1729 – Louis Antoine de Noailles, French cardinal (b. 1651)
    • 1734 – James Thornhill, English painter and politician (b. 1675)
    • 1737 – Eustace Budgell, English journalist and politician (b. 1686)
    • 1774 – Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick, Prussian nobleman (b. 1714)
    • 1776 – Jacques Saly, French painter and sculptor (b. 1717)
    • 1790 – Matthew Tilghman, American politician (b. 1718)
    • 1799 – Tipu, ruler of Mysore (b. 1750)
    • 1811 – Nikolay Kamensky, Russian general (b. 1776)
    • 1816 – Samuel Dexter, American lawyer and politician, 4th United States Secretary of War, 3rd United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1761)
    • 1824 – Joseph Joubert, French author (b. 1754)
    • 1826 – Sebastián Kindelán y O’Regan, colonial governor of East Florida, Santo Domingo and Cuba (b. 1757)
    • 1839 – Denis Davydov, Russian general and poet (b. 1784)
    • 1858 – Aimé Bonpland, French botanist and explorer (b. 1773)
    • 1859 – Joseph Diaz Gergonne, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1771)
    • 1880 – Edward Clark, American lawyer and politician, 8th Governor of Texas (b. 1815)
    • 1901 – John Jones Ross, Canadian lawyer and politician, 7th Premier of Quebec (b. 1831)
    • 1903 – Gotse Delchev, Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary IMRO (b. 1872)
    • 1912 – Nettie Stevens, American geneticist credited with discovering sex chromosomes (b. 1861)
    • 1916 – Ned Daly, Irish rebel commander (Easter Rising) (b. 1891)
    • 1916 – John Murray, Australian politician, 23rd Premier of Victoria (b. 1851)
    • 1916 – Joseph Plunkett, Irish rebel and writer (b. 1887)
    • 1916 – Willie Pearse, Irish rebel (b. 1891)
    • 1919 – Milan Rastislav Štefánik, Slovak general and politician (b. 1880)
    • 1922 – Viktor Kingissepp, Estonian politician (b. 1888)
    • 1923 – Ralph McKittrick, American golfer and tennis player (b. 1877)
    • 1924 – E. Nesbit, English author and poet (b. 1858)
    • 1938 – Kanō Jigorō, Japanese founder of judo (b. 1860)
    • 1938 – Carl von Ossietzky, German journalist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1889)
    • 1941 – Chris McKivat, Australian rugby player and coach (b. 1880)
    • 1945 – Fedor von Bock, German field marshal (b. 1880)
    • 1953 – Alexandre Pharamond, French rugby player (b. 1876)
    • 1955 – George Enescu, Romanian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1881)
    • 1964 – Karl Robert Pusta, Estonian politician, 4th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1883)
    • 1969 – Osbert Sitwell, English-Italian author and poet (b. 1892)
    • 1972 – Edward Calvin Kendall, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1886)
    • 1973 – Jane Bowles, American author and playwright (b. 1917)
    • 1975 – Moe Howard, American actor, singer, and screenwriter (b. 1897)
    • 1976 – Frank Strahan, Australian public servant (b. 1886)
    • 1980 – Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslav field marshal and politician, 1st President of Yugoslavia (b. 1892)
    • 1981 – C. Loganathan, Sri Lankan banker (b. 1913)
    • 1983 – Nino Sanzogno, Italian conductor and composer (b. 1911)
    • 1984 – Diana Dors, English actress (b. 1931)
    • 1985 – Fikri Sönmez, Turkish tailor and politician (b. 1938)
    • 1985 – Clarence Wiseman, English-Canadian 10th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1907)
    • 1987 – Paul Butterfield, American singer and harmonica player (b. 1942)
    • 1987 – Cathryn Damon, American actress (b. 1930)
    • 1988 – Lillian Estelle Fisher, American historian of Spanish America (b. 1891)
    • 1990 – Emily Remler, American guitarist (b. 1957)
    • 1991 – Mohammed Abdel Wahab, Egyptian singer-songwriter and mandolin player (b. 1902)
    • 1992 – Gregor Mackenzie, Scottish politician (b. 1927)
    • 1993 – France Štiglic, Slovenian film director and screenwriter (b. 1919)
    • 1995 – Connie Wisniewski, American baseball player (b. 1922)
    • 2000 – Hendrik Casimir, Dutch physicist and academic (b. 1909)
    • 2001 – Bonnie Lee Bakley, American model, wife of Robert Blake (b. 1956)
    • 2004 – David Reimer, Canadian victim of a botched circumcision and transgender reassignment surgery (b. 1965)
    • 2005 – David Hackworth, American colonel and journalist (b. 1930)
    • 2008 – Fred Baur, American chemist and founder of Pringles (b. 1918)
    • 2009 – Dom DeLuise, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1933)
    • 2011 – Sammy McCrory, Northern Irish footballer (b. 1924)
    • 2012 – Mort Lindsey, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1923)
    • 2012 – Bob Stewart, American television producer, founded Stewart Tele Enterprises (b. 1920)
    • 2012 – Adam Yauch, American rapper and director (b. 1964)
    • 2012 – Rashidi Yekini, Nigerian footballer (b. 1963)
    • 2013 – Otis R. Bowen, American physician and politician, 44th Governor of Indiana (b. 1918)
    • 2013 – Christian de Duve, English-Belgian cytologist and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
    • 2013 – Javier Diez Canseco, Peruvian sociologist and politician (b. 1948)
    • 2013 – Mario Machado, Chinese-American journalist and actor (b. 1935)
    • 2013 – Morgan Morgan-Giles, English admiral and politician (b. 1914)
    • 2013 – César Portillo de la Luz, Cuban guitarist and composer (b. 1922)
    • 2014 – Dick Ayers, American author and illustrator (b. 1924)
    • 2014 – Elena Baltacha, Ukrainian-Scottish tennis player (b. 1983)
    • 2014 – Edgar Cortright, American scientist and engineer (b. 1923)
    • 2014 – Helga Königsdorf, German physicist and author (b. 1938)
    • 2014 – Ross Lonsberry, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1947)
    • 2014 – Jean-Paul Ngoupandé, Central African politician, Prime Minister of the Central African Republic (b. 1948)
    • 2015 – William Bast, American screenwriter and author (b. 1931)
    • 2015 – Ellen Albertini Dow, American actress (b. 1913)
    • 2015 – Marv Hubbard, American football player (b. 1946)
    • 2016 – Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, Burundian politician (b. 1946)
    • 2020 – Don Shula, American football player and coach (b. 1930)
    • 2020 – Greg Zanis, American carpenter and activist (b. 1950)

    Holidays and observances on May 4

    • Anti-Bullying Day (United Nations)
    • Bird Day (United States)
    • Cassinga Day (Namibia)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Blessed Ceferino Giménez Malla
      • Blessed Michal Giedroyc
      • English Saints and Martyrs of the Reformation Era (Church of England)
      • F. C. D. Wyneken (Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod)
      • Florian
      • Gotthard of Hildesheim
      • José María Rubio
      • Judas Cyriacus
      • Monica of Hippo (1960 Roman Catholic Calendar)
      • Sacerdos of Limoges
      • Venerius of Milan
      • May 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Dave Brubeck Day
    • Death of Milan Rastislav Štefánik Day (Slovakia)
    • Greenery Day (Japan)
    • International Firefighters’ Day
    • May Fourth Movement commemorations:
      • Literary Day (Republic of China)
      • Youth Day (China)
    • Remembrance Day for Martyrs and Disabled (Afghanistan)
    • Remembrance of the Dead (Netherlands)
    • Restoration of Independence day (Latvia)
    • Star Wars Day (International observance)
    • World Give Day
    • World Naked Gardening Day
    • Youth Day (Fiji)

  • January 16 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances 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 6 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 1066 – Following the death of Edward the Confessor on the previous day, the Witan meets to confirm Harold Godwinson as the new King of England; Harold is crowned the same day, sparking a succession crisis that will eventually lead to the Norman conquest of England.
    • 1205 – Philip of Swabia undergoes a second coronation as King of the Romans.
    • 1322 – Stephen Uroš III is crowned King of Serbia, having defeated his half-brother Stefan Konstantin in battle. His son is crowned “young king” in the same ceremony.
    • 1355 – Charles IV of Bohemia is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy as King of Italy in Milan.
    • 1449 – Constantine XI is crowned Byzantine Emperor at Mystras.
    • 1492 – The Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella enter Granada at the conclusion of the Granada War.
    • 1536 – The first European school of higher learning in the Americas, Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco, is founded by Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza and Bishop Juan de Zumárraga in Mexico City.
    • 1540 – King Henry VIII of England marries Anne of Cleves.
    • 1579 – The Union of Arras unites the southern Netherlands under the Duke of Parma (Ottavio Farnese), governor in the name of King Philip II of Spain.
    • 1641 – Arauco War: The first Parliament of Quillín is celebrated, putting a temporary hold on hostilities between Mapuches and Spanish in Chile.
    • 1661 – English Restoration: The Fifth Monarchists unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London, England. The revolt is suppressed after a few days.
    • 1721 – The Committee of Inquiry on the South Sea Bubble publishes its findings, revealing details of fraud among company directors and corrupt politicians.
    • 1781 – In the Battle of Jersey, the British defeat the last attempt by France to invade Jersey in the Channel Islands.
    • 1809 – Combined British, Portuguese and colonial Brazilian forces begin the Invasion of Cayenne during the Napoleonic Wars.
    • 1838 – Alfred Vail and colleagues demonstrate a telegraph system using dots and dashes (this is the forerunner of Morse code).
    • 1839 – The Night of the Big Wind, the most damaging storm in 300 years, sweeps across Ireland, damaging or destroying more than 20% of the houses in Dublin.
    • 1847 – Samuel Colt obtains his first contract for the sale of revolver pistols to the United States government.
    • 1870 – The inauguration of the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria.
    • 1893 – The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress. The charter is signed by President Benjamin Harrison.
    • 1900 – Second Boer War: Having already besieged the fortress at Ladysmith, Boer forces attack it, but are driven back by British defenders.
    • 1907 – Maria Montessori opens her first school and daycare center for working-class children in Rome, Italy.
    • 1912 – New Mexico is admitted to the Union as the 47th U.S. state.
    • 1912 – German geophysicist Alfred Wegener first presents his theory of continental drift.
    • 1929 – King Alexander of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes suspends his country’s constitution (the January 6th Dictatorship).
    • 1929 – Mother Teresa arrives by sea in Calcutta, India, to begin her work among India’s poorest and sick people.
    • 1930 – The first diesel-powered automobile trip is completed, from Indianapolis, Indiana, to New York, New York.
    • 1941 – United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers his Four Freedoms speech in the State of the Union address.
    • 1946 – The first general election ever in Vietnam is held.
    • 1947 – Pan American Airlines becomes the first commercial airline to offer a round-the-world ticket.
    • 1950 – The United Kingdom recognizes the People’s Republic of China. The Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with the UK in response.
    • 1951 – Korean War: Beginning of the Ganghwa massacre, in the course of which an estimated 200–1,300 South Korean communist sympathizers are slaughtered.
    • 1960 – National Airlines Flight 2511 is destroyed in mid-air by a bomb, while en route from New York City to Miami.
    • 1960 – The Associations Law comes into force in Iraq, allowing registration of political parties
    • 1967 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and ARVN troops launch “Operation Deckhouse Five” in the Mekong River delta.
    • 1974 – In response to the 1973 oil crisis, daylight saving time commences nearly four months early in the United States.
    • 1989 – Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh are sentenced to death for conspiracy in the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi; the two men are executed the same day.
    • 1992 – President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia flees the country as a result of the military coup.
    • 1993 – Indian Border Security Force units kill 55 Kashmiri civilians in Sopore, Jammu and Kashmir, in revenge after militants ambushed a BSF patrol.
    • 1994 – American figure skater Nancy Kerrigan is attacked and injured by an assailant hired by her rival Tonya Harding’s ex-husband during the U.S. Figure Skating Championships that they were both taking part in.
    • 1995 – A chemical fire in an apartment complex in Manila, Philippines, leads to the discovery of plans for Project Bojinka, a mass-terrorist attack.
    • 2005 – American Civil Rights Movement: Edgar Ray Killen is indicted for the 1964 murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner.
    • 2005 – A train collision in Graniteville, South Carolina, United States, releases about 60 tons of chlorine gas.
    • 2012 – Twenty-six people are killed and 63 wounded when a suicide bomber blows himself up at a police station in Damascus.
    • 2017 – Five people are killed and six others injured in a mass shooting at Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport in Broward County, Florida.
    • 2019 – Forty people are killed in a gold mine collapse in northern Afghanistan.

    Births on January 6

    • 1256 – Gertrude the Great, German mystic (d. 1302)
    • 1367 – Richard II of England (d. 1400)
    • 1384 – Edmund Holland, 4th Earl of Kent (d. 1408)
    • 1412 – Joan of Arc, French martyr and saint (d. 1431)
    • 1486 – Martin Agricola, German composer and theorist (d. 1556)
    • 1488 – Helius Eobanus Hessus, German poet (d. 1540)
    • 1493 – Olaus Petri, Swedish clergyman (d. 1552)
    • 1500 – John of Ávila, Spanish mystic and saint (d. 1569)
    • 1525 – Caspar Peucer, German physician and scholar (d. 1602)
    • 1538 – Jane Dormer, Duchess of Feria (d. 1612)
    • 1561 – Thomas Fincke, Danish mathematician and physicist (d. 1656)
    • 1587 – Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares (d. 1645)
    • 1595 – Claude Favre de Vaugelas, French educator and courtier (d. 1650)
    • 1617 – Christoffer Gabel, Danish politician (d. 1673)
    • 1632 – Anne Hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton, Scottish peeress (d. 1716)
    • 1655 – Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg (d. 1720)
    • 1673 – James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, English academic and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire (d. 1744)
    • 1695 – Giuseppe Sammartini, Italian oboe player and composer (d. 1750)
    • 1702 – José de Nebra, Spanish composer (d. 1768)
    • 1714 – Percivall Pott, English surgeon (d. 1788)
    • 1745 – Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier, French co-inventor of the hot air balloon (d. 1799)
    • 1766 – José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, Paraguayan lawyer and politician, first dictator of Paraguay (d. 1840)
    • 1785 – Andreas Moustoxydis, Greek historian and philologist (d. 1860)
    • 1793 – James Madison Porter, American lawyer and politician, 18th United States Secretary of War (d. 1862)
    • 1795 – Anselme Payen, French chemist and academic (d. 1871)
    • 1799 – Jedediah Smith, American hunter, explorer, and author (d. 1831)
    • 1803 – Henri Herz, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1888)
    • 1807 – Joseph Petzval, German-Hungarian mathematician and physicist (d. 1891)
    • 1808 – Joseph Pitty Couthouy, American conchologist and paleontologist (d. 1864)
    • 1811 – Charles Sumner, American lawyer and politician (d. 1874)
    • 1822 – Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist and businessman (d. 1890)
    • 1832 – Gustave Doré, French painter and sculptor (d. 1883)
    • 1838 – Max Bruch, German composer and conductor (d. 1920)
    • 1842 – Clarence King, American geologist, mountaineer, and critic (d. 1901)
    • 1856 – Giuseppe Martucci, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1909)
    • 1857 – Hugh Mahon, Irish-Australian publisher and politician, 10th Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs (d. 1931)
    • 1857 – William Russell, American lawyer and politician, 37th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1896)
    • 1859 – Samuel Alexander, Australian-English philosopher and academic (d. 1938)
    • 1861 – Victor Horta, Belgian architect, designed Hôtel van Eetvelde (d. 1947)
    • 1861 – George Lloyd, English-Canadian bishop and theologian (d. 1940)
    • 1870 – Gustav Bauer, German journalist and politician, 11th Chancellor of Germany (d. 1944)
    • 1872 – Alexander Scriabin, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1915)
    • 1874 – Fred Niblo, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1948)
    • 1878 – Adeline Genée, Danish-born British ballerina (d. 1970)
    • 1878 – Carl Sandburg, American poet and historian (d. 1967)
    • 1880 – Tom Mix, American cowboy and actor (d. 1940)
    • 1881 – Ion Minulescu, Romanian author, poet, and critic (d. 1944)
    • 1882 – Fan S. Noli, Albanian-American bishop and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Albania (d. 1965)
    • 1882 – Sam Rayburn, American lawyer and politician, 48th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1961)
    • 1883 – Kahlil Gibran, Lebanese-American poet, painter, and philosopher (d. 1931)
    • 1898 – James Fitzmaurice, Irish soldier and pilot (d. 1965)
    • 1899 – Heinrich Nordhoff, German engineer (d. 1968)
    • 1900 – Maria of Yugoslavia, Queen of Yugoslavia from 1922 to 1934 (d. 1961)
    • 1903 – Maurice Abravanel, Greek-American pianist and conductor (d. 1993)
    • 1910 – Wright Morris, American author and photographer (d. 1998)
    • 1910 – Yiannis Papaioannou, Greek composer and educator (d. 1989)
    • 1912 – Jacques Ellul, French philosopher and critic (d. 1994)
    • 1912 – Danny Thomas, American actor, comedian, producer and humanitarian (d. 1991)
    • 1913 – Edward Gierek, Polish lawyer and politician (d. 2001)
    • 1913 – Loretta Young, American actress (d. 2000)
    • 1914 – Godfrey Edward Arnold, Austrian-American physician and academic (d. 1989)
    • 1915 – Don Edwards, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (d. 2015)
    • 1915 – John C. Lilly, American psychoanalyst, physician, and philosopher (d. 2001)
    • 1915 – Alan Watts, English-American philosopher and author (d. 1973)
    • 1916 – Park Mok-wol, influential Korean poet and academic (d. 1978)
    • 1917 – Koo Chen-fu, Taiwanese businessman and diplomat (d. 2005)
    • 1920 – John Maynard Smith, English biologist and geneticist (d. 2004)
    • 1920 – Sun Myung Moon, Korean religious leader; founder of the Unification Church (d. 2012)
    • 1920 – Early Wynn, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 1999)
    • 1921 – Marianne Grunberg-Manago, Russian-French biochemist and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1921 – Cary Middlecoff, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 1998)
    • 1923 – Vladimir Kazantsev, Russian runner (d. 2007)
    • 1923 – Norman Kirk, New Zealand engineer and politician, 29th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1974)
    • 1923 – Jacobo Timerman, Argentinian journalist and author (d. 1999)
    • 1924 – Kim Dae-jung, South Korean soldier and politician, 8th President of South Korea, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2009)
    • 1924 – Earl Scruggs, American banjo player (d. 2012)
    • 1925 – John DeLorean, American engineer and businessman, founded the DeLorean Motor Company (d. 2005)
    • 1926 – Ralph Branca, American baseball player (d. 2016)
    • 1926 – Mickey Hargitay, Hungarian-American actor and bodybuilder (d. 2006)
    • 1927 – Jesse Leonard Steinfeld, American physician and academic, 11th Surgeon General of the United States (d. 2014)
    • 1928 – Capucine, French actress and model (d. 1990)
    • 1931 – E. L. Doctorow, American novelist, playwright, and short story writer (d. 2015)
    • 1931 – Graeme Hole, Australian cricketer (d. 1990)
    • 1931 – Dickie Moore, Canadian ice hockey player and businessman (d. 2015)
    • 1932 – Stuart A. Rice, American chemist and academic
    • 1933 – Oleg Grigoryevich Makarov, Russian engineer and astronaut (d. 2003)
    • 1934 – Sylvia Syms, English actress
    • 1935 – Nino Tempo, American musician, singer, and actor
    • 1936 – Darlene Hard, American tennis player
    • 1936 – Julio María Sanguinetti, Uruguayan journalist, lawyer and politician, 29th President of Uruguay
    • 1937 – Ludvík Daněk, Czech discus thrower (d. 1998)
    • 1937 – Lou Holtz, American football player, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1937 – Doris Troy, American singer-songwriter (d. 2004)
    • 1938 – Adriano Celentano, Italian singer-songwriter, actor, and director
    • 1938 – Adrienne Clarke, Australian botanist and academic
    • 1938 – Larisa Shepitko, Soviet film director, screenwriter, and actress (d. 1979)
    • 1939 – Valeriy Lobanovskyi, Ukrainian footballer and manager (d. 2002)
    • 1939 – Murray Rose, English-Australian swimmer and sportscaster (d. 2012)
    • 1940 – Van McCoy, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1979)
    • 1943 – Terry Venables, English footballer and manager
    • 1944 – Bonnie Franklin, American actress and singer (d. 2013)
    • 1944 – Alan Stivell, French singer-songwriter and harp player
    • 1944 – Rolf M. Zinkernagel, Swiss immunologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1945 – Barry John, Welsh rugby player
    • 1946 – Syd Barrett, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2006)
    • 1947 – Sandy Denny, English folk-rock singer-songwriter (d 1978)
    • 1948 – Guy Gardner, American colonel and astronaut
    • 1948 – Dayle Hadlee, New Zealand cricketer
    • 1949 – Mike Boit, Kenyan runner and academic (estimated date)
    • 1949 – Carolyn D. Wright, American poet and academic (d. 2016)
    • 1950 – Louis Freeh, American lawyer and jurist, 10th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
    • 1951 – Don Gullett, American baseball player and coach
    • 1951 – Kim Wilson, American singer-songwriter and harmonica player
    • 1953 – Malcolm Young, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2017)
    • 1954 – Anthony Minghella, English director and screenwriter (d. 2008)
    • 1955 – Rowan Atkinson, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1956 – Elizabeth Strout, American novelist and short story writer
    • 1956 – Justin Welby, English archbishop
    • 1956 – Clive Woodward, English rugby player and coach
    • 1957 – Michael Foale, British-American astrophysicist and astronaut
    • 1957 – Nancy Lopez, American golfer and sportscaster
    • 1959 – Kapil Dev, Indian cricketer
    • 1960 – Paul Azinger, American golfer and sportscaster
    • 1960 – Kari Jalonen, Finnish ice hockey player and coach
    • 1960 – Nigella Lawson, English chef and author
    • 1960 – Howie Long, American football player and sports commentator
    • 1961 – Georges Jobé, Belgian motocross racer (d. 2012)
    • 1961 – Peter Whittle, British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster
    • 1963 – Norm Charlton, American baseball player and coach
    • 1963 – Paul Kipkoech, Kenyan runner (d. 1995)
    • 1964 – Jacqueline Moore, American wrestler and manager
    • 1965 – Bjørn Lomborg, Danish author and academic
    • 1966 – Sharon Cuneta, Filipino singer and actress
    • 1966 – Attilio Lombardo, Italian footballer and manager
    • 1967 – A. R. Rahman, Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, musician and philanthropist
    • 1968 – John Singleton, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2019)
    • 1969 – Norman Reedus, American actor and model
    • 1970 – Julie Chen, American television journalist, presenter, and producer
    • 1970 – Radoslav Látal, Czech footballer and manager
    • 1973 – Vasso Karantasiou, Greek beach volleyball player
    • 1976 – Richard Zedník, Slovak ice hockey player
    • 1981 – Asante Samuel, American football player
    • 1982 – Eddie Redmayne, English actor and model
    • 1984 – Kate McKinnon, American actress and comedian
    • 1986 – Paul McShane, Irish footballer
    • 1986 – Petter Northug, Norwegian skier
    • 1989 – Andy Carroll, English footballer
    • 1991 – Will Barton, American basketball player
    • 1994 – Lim Jae-beom, South Korean singer and actor (Got7)

    Deaths on January 6

    • 786 – Abo of Tiflis, Iraqi martyr and saint (b. 756)
    • 1088 – Berengar of Tours, French scholar and theologian (b. 999)
    • 1148 – Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke (b. 1100)
    • 1233 – Matilda of Chester, Countess of Huntingdon, Anglo-Norman noblewoman (b. 1171)
    • 1275 – Raymond of Penyafort, Catalan archbishop and saint (b. 1175)
    • 1350 – Giovanni I di Murta, second doge of the Republic of Genoa
    • 1358 – Gertrude van der Oosten, Beguine mystic
    • 1406 – Roger Walden, English bishop
    • 1448 – Christopher of Bavaria, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (b. 1418)
    • 1477 – Jean VIII, Count of Vendôme
    • 1481 – Ahmed Khan bin Küchük, Mongolian ruler
    • 1537 – Alessandro de’ Medici, Duke of Florence (b. 1510)
    • 1537 – Baldassare Peruzzi, Italian architect and painter, designed the Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne (b. 1481)
    • 1616 – Philip Henslowe, English impresario (b. 1550)
    • 1646 – Elias Holl, German architect, designed the Augsburg Town Hall (b. 1573)
    • 1689 – Seth Ward, English bishop, mathematician, and astronomer (b. 1617)
    • 1693 – Mehmed IV, Ottoman sultan (b. 1642)
    • 1711 – Philips van Almonde, Dutch admiral (b. 1646)
    • 1718 – Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, Italian lawyer and jurist (b. 1664)
    • 1725 – Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Japanese actor and playwright (b. 1653)
    • 1731 – Étienne François Geoffroy, French physician and chemist (b. 1672)
    • 1734 – John Dennis, English playwright and critic (b. 1657)
    • 1813 – Louis Baraguey d’Hilliers, French general (b. 1764)
    • 1829 – Josef Dobrovský, Czech philologist and historian (b. 1753)
    • 1831 – Rodolphe Kreutzer, French violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1766)
    • 1840 – Frances Burney, English author and playwright (b. 1752)
    • 1852 – Louis Braille, French educator, invented Braille (b. 1809)
    • 1855 – Giacomo Beltrami, Italian jurist, explorer, and author (b. 1779)
    • 1882 – Richard Henry Dana, Jr., American lawyer and politician (b. 1815)
    • 1884 – Gregor Mendel, Czech geneticist and botanist (b. 1822)
    • 1885 – Bharatendu Harishchandra, Indian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1850)
    • 1896 – Thomas W. Knox, American journalist and author (b. 1835)
    • 1902 – Lars Hertervig, Norwegian painter (b. 1830)
    • 1913 – Frederick Hitch, English soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1856)
    • 1917 – Hendrick Peter Godfried Quack, Dutch economist and historian (b. 1834)
    • 1918 – Georg Cantor, German mathematician and philosopher (b. 1845)
    • 1919 – Theodore Roosevelt, American colonel and politician, 26th President of the United States (b. 1858)
    • 1921 – Devil Anse Hatfield, American guerrilla leader (b. 1839)
    • 1922 – Jakob Rosanes, Ukrainian-German mathematician and chess player (b. 1842)
    • 1928 – Alvin Kraenzlein, American hurdler and long jumper (b. 1876)
    • 1933 – Vladimir de Pachmann, Ukrainian-German pianist (b. 1848)
    • 1934 – Herbert Chapman, English footballer and manager (b. 1878)
    • 1937 – André Bessette, Canadian saint (b. 1845)
    • 1939 – Gustavs Zemgals, Latvian journalist and politician, 2nd President of Latvia (b. 1871)
    • 1941 – Charley O’Leary, American baseball player and coach (b. 1882)
    • 1942 – Emma Calvé, French soprano and actress (b. 1858)
    • 1942 – Henri de Baillet-Latour, Belgian businessman, 3rd President of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1876)
    • 1944 – Jacques Rosenbaum, Estonian-German architect (b. 1878)
    • 1944 – Ida Tarbell, American journalist, reformer, and educator (b. 1857)
    • 1945 – Vladimir Vernadsky, Russian mineralogist and chemist (b. 1863)
    • 1949 – Victor Fleming, American director, producer, and cinematographer (b. 1883)
    • 1966 – Jean Lurçat, French painter (b. 1892)
    • 1972 – Chen Yi, Chinese general and politician, 2nd Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China (b. 1901)
    • 1974 – David Alfaro Siqueiros, Mexican painter (b. 1896)
    • 1978 – Burt Munro, New Zealand motorcycle racer (b. 1899)
    • 1981 – A. J. Cronin, Scottish physician and author (b. 1896)
    • 1984 – Ernest Laszlo, Hungarian-American cinematographer (b. 1898)
    • 1990 – Ian Charleson, Scottish-English actor (b. 1949)
    • 1990 – Pavel Cherenkov, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
    • 1993 – Dizzy Gillespie, American singer-songwriter and trumpet player (b. 1917)
    • 1993 – Rudolf Nureyev, Russian-French dancer and choreographer (b. 1938)
    • 1995 – Joe Slovo, Lithuanian-South African lawyer and politician (b. 1926)
    • 1999 – Michel Petrucciani, French-American pianist (b. 1962)2000 – Don Martin, American cartoonist (b. 1931)
    • 2004 – Pierre Charles, Dominican educator and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Dominica (b. 1954)
    • 2004 – Francesco Scavullo, American photographer (b. 1921)
    • 2005 – Eileen Desmond, Irish civil servant and politician, 12th Irish Minister for Health (b. 1932)
    • 2005 – Lois Hole, Canadian academic and politician, 15th Lieutenant Governor of Alberta (b. 1929)
    • 2005 – Tarquinio Provini, Italian motorcycle racer (b. 1933)
    • 2005 – Louis Robichaud, Canadian lawyer and politician, 25th Premier of New Brunswick (b. 1925)
    • 2006 – Lou Rawls, American singer-songwriter (b. 1933)
    • 2007 – Roberta Wohlstetter, American political scientist, historian, and academic (b. 1912)
    • 2008 – Shmuel Berenbaum, Rabbi of Mir Yeshiva (Brooklyn)
    • 2009 – Ron Asheton, American guitarist, songwriter, and actor (probable; b. 1948)
    • 2011 – Uche Okafor, Nigerian footballer, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1967)
    • 2012 – Bob Holness, South African-English radio and television host (b. 1928)
    • 2012 – Spike Pola, Australian footballer and soldier (b. 1914)
    • 2013 – Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Pakistani scholar and politician (b. 1938)
    • 2013 – Ruth Carter Stevenson, American art collector, founded the Amon Carter Museum of American Art (b. 1923)
    • 2013 – Gerard Helders, Dutch jurist and politician (b. 1905)
    • 2013 – Cho Sung-min, South Korean baseball player (b. 1973)
    • 2014 – Marina Ginestà, French Resistance soldier and photographer (b. 1919)
    • 2014 – Nelson Ned, Brazilian singer-songwriter (b. 1947)
    • 2014 – Julian Rotter, American psychologist and academic (b. 1916)
    • 2015 – Arthur Jackson, American lieutenant and target shooter (b. 1918)
    • 2015 – Basil John Mason, English meteorologist and academic (b. 1923)
    • 2016 – Pat Harrington, Jr., American actor and screenwriter (b. 1929)
    • 2016 – Florence King, American journalist and author (b. 1936)
    • 2016 – Christy O’Connor Jnr, Irish golfer and architect (b. 1948)
    • 2016 – Silvana Pampanini, Italian model, actress, and director, Miss Italy 1946 (b. 1925)
    • 2017 – Octavio Lepage, Venezuelan politician, President of Venezuela (b. 1923)
    • 2017 – Om Puri, Indian actor (b. 1950)
    • 2019 – José Ramón Fernández, Cuban revolution leader (b. 1923)
    • 2019 – Lamin Sanneh, Gambian-born American professor (b. 1942)
    • 2019 – W. Morgan Sheppard, British actor (b. 1932)
    • 2019 – Paul Streeten, Austrian-born British economics professor (b. 1917)

    Holidays and observances on January 6

    • Armed Forces Day (Iraq)
    • Christian Feast day:
      • André Bessette (Roman Catholic Church)
      • January 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Epiphany or Three Kings’ Day (Western Christianity) or Theophany (Eastern Christianity), and its related observances:
      • Befana Day (Italy)
      • Christmas (Armenian Apostolic Church)
      • Christmas Eve (Russia)
      • Christmas Eve (Ukraine)
      • Christmas Eve (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
      • Christmas Eve (North Macedonia)
      • Little Christmas (Ireland)
      • Þrettándinn (Iceland)
      • Three Wise Men Day
    • Pathet Lao Day (Laos)

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

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

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

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

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

    Julian calendar:

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

    Gregorian calendar:

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

    Events on January 1

    Pre-Julian Roman calendar

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

    Early Julian calendar (before Augustus’ leap year correction)

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

    Julian calendar

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

    Gregorian calendar

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

    Births on January 1

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

    Deaths on January 1

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

    Holidays and observances on January 1

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

    World General Knowledge MCQs (Solved) Geographical Epithets (Countries and Cities)

    Geographical MCQs (Countries)

    1. Which country is called the ‘Buffer state of Asia’?
    (a) Afghanistan
    (b) Pakistan
    (c) India
    (d) China
    Answer: a

    2. Which country is called ‘Land of fertile fields’?
    (a) Algeria
    (b) Sri Lanka
    (c) Pakistan
    (d) England
    Answer: a

    3. Which country is called ‘Island continent’?
    (a) Austria
    (b) Australia
    (c) US
    (d) England
    Answer: b

    4. Which country is called ‘Land of golden fleece’?
    (a) US
    (b) England
    (c) Australia
    (d) Germany
    Answer: c

    5. Which country is called ‘Remnant of a mighty empire’?
    (a) Australia
    (b) Austria
    (c) India
    (d) Iraq
    Answer: b

    6. Which country is called ‘Isle of June’?
    (a) Bahamas
    (b) Bahrain
    (c) Belgium
    (d) Cuba
    Answer: a

    7. Which country is called ‘Isle of pearls’?
    (a) Egypt
    (b) Iraq
    (c) Iran
    (d) Bahrain
    Answer: d

    8. Which country is called the ‘Land of Golden Fibre’?
    (a) Sri Lanka
    (b) Bangladesh
    (c) Iran
    (d) Pakistan
    Answer: b

    9. Which country is called ‘Cockpit of Europe’?
    (a) Belgium
    (b) Canada
    (c) Colombia
    (d) England
    Answer: a

    10. Which country is called ‘Crossroads of Europe’?
    (a) Belgium
    (b) Canada
    (c) France
    (d) Egypt
    Answer: a

    11. Which country is called ‘Land of lilies’?
    (a) Canada
    (b) Belgium
    (c) Norway
    (d) Sweden
    Answer: a

    12. Which country is called ‘Land of contrasts’?
    (a) Canada
    (b) Cuba
    (c) Colombia
    (d) England
    Answer:. c

    13. Which country is called ‘Pearl of Antilles’?
    (a) England
    (b) Cuba
    (c) Egypt
    (d) Denmark
    Answer: b

    14. Which country is called ‘Homeland of the Viking Empire’?
    (a) Cuba
    (b) England
    (c) Denmark
    (d) US
    Answer: c

    15. Which country is called ‘Gift of the Nile’?
    (a) Iran
    (b) Egypt
    (c) Finland
    (d) Iraq
    Answer: b

    16. Which country is called ‘Land of the Queen of Sheba’?
    (a) Egypt
    (b) Yemen
    (c) Ghana
    (d) Austria
    Answer: b

    17. Which country is called ‘Land of thousand lakes’?
    (a) France
    (b) Finland
    (c) China
    (d) Iraq
    Answer: b

    18. Which country is called ‘Key to the Mediterranean?
    (a) Gibraltar
    (b) Egypt
    (c) Indonesia
    (d) Iraq
    Answer: a

    19. Which country is called ‘Pillars of Hercules’?
    (a) Gibraltar
    (b) China
    (c) Egypt
    (d) Afghanistan
    Answer: a

    20. Which country is called ‘Whiteman’s grave’?
    (a) Guinea
    (b) Haiti
    (c) Iraq
    (d) Afghanistan
    Answer: a

    21. Which country is called ‘Island of Hispaniola?
    (a) Hong Kong
    (b) Haiti
    (c) Iceland
    (d) Malta
    Answer: b

    22. Which is called ‘The sorrow of China’?
    (a) Hwang Hoo
    (b) Beijing
    (c) Peking
    (d) Shangai
    Answer: a

    23. Which country is called ‘Land of thousand islands’?
    (a) China
    (b) Nepal
    (c) Indonesia
    (d) Cyprus
    Answer: c

    24. Which country is called ‘Site of ancient civilisations’?
    (a) Iraq
    (b) Iran
    (c) Egypt
    (d) India
    Answer: a

    25. Which country is called ‘Emerald Island’?
    (a) Japan
    (b) Ireland
    (c) Iraq
    (d) Iran
    Answer: b

    26. Which country is called ‘Great Britain of the Pacific’?
    (a) Ireland
    (b) Japan
    (c) Korea
    (d) China
    Answer: b

    27. Which country is called the ‘Land of rising sun’?
    (a) Japan
    (b) China
    (c) Norway
    (d) Sweden
    Answer:. a

    28. Which country is called the ‘Land of morning calm’?
    (a) China
    (b) South Korea
    (c) Pakistan
    (d) Nepal
    Answer: b

    29. Which country is called the ‘Land of milk and honey’?
    (a) Iran
    (b) Iraq
    (c) Lebanon
    (d) Nepal
    Answer: c

    30. Which country is called the ‘Land of amber’?
    (a) Korea
    (b) Lithuania
    (c) Lebanon
    (d) Nepal
    Answer: b

    31. Which country is called ‘George Cross Island’?
    (a) Korea
    (b) Malta
    (c) China
    (d) Nepal
    Answer: b

    32. Which country is called ‘Land of rice and teak’?
    (a) Myanmar
    (b) Korea
    (c) China
    (d) Nepal
    Answer: a

    33. Which country is called the ‘Land of mountains’?
    (a) US
    (b) Nepal
    (c) China
    (d) Korea
    Answer: b

    34. Which country is called ‘Land of Druk-yul’?
    (a) Korea
    (b) China
    (c) Bhutan
    (d) Malta
    Answer: c

    35. Which country is called the ‘Flower garden of Europe’?
    (a) Netherlands
    (b) Switzerland
    (c) US
    (d) England
    Answer: a

    36. Which country is called the ‘Britain of the South’?
    (a) Norway
    (b) New Zealand
    (c) Canada
    (d) Austria
    Answer: b

    37. Which country is called the ‘Land of Cakes’?
    (a) Scotland
    (b) England
    (c) Netherlands
    (d) None of these
    Answer: a

    38. Which country is called ‘Land of the midnight sun’?
    (a) Sweden
    (b) Norway
    (c) Denmark
    (d) Canada
    Answer: b

    39. Which country is called the ‘Land of pure people’?
    (a) Norway
    (b) Pakistan
    (c) China
    (d) Korea
    Answer: b

    40. Which country is called ‘Horn of Africa’?
    (a) Norway
    (b) China
    (c) Ghana
    (d) Somalia
    Answer: d

    41. Which country is called ‘Switzerland of Africa’?
    (a) Swaziland
    (b) Mozambique
    (c) South Africa
    (d) Somalia
    Answer: a

    42. Which country is called the ‘Playground of Europe’?
    (a) Switzerland
    (b) Thailand
    (c) Egypt
    (d) China
    Answer: a

    43. Which country is called the ‘Land of white elephants’?
    (a) Korea
    (b) Thailand
    (c) US
    (d) Russia
    Answer: b

    44. Which country is called the ‘Land of free people’?
    (a) Thailand
    (b) Korea
    (c) China
    (d) Japan
    Answer: a

    45. Which country is called the ‘Land of Smiles’?
    (a) Thailand
    (b) US
    (c) India
    (d) South Africa
    Answer: a

    Geographical MCQs (Cities)

    46. Which city is called the ‘Granite city’?
    (a) Aberdeen (Scotland)
    (b) London
    (c) Tehran
    (d) Baghdad
    Answer: a

    47. Which city is called the ‘City of Eagles’?
    (a) Sialkot
    (b) Lahore
    (c) Karachi
    (d) None of these
    Answer: a

    48. Which city is called the ‘City of Golden Temple’?
    (a) Amritsar
    (b) Lahore
    (c) Delhi
    (d) Hassanabdal
    Answer: a

    49. Which city is called the ‘City of Water’?
    (a) Venice
    (b) Tehran
    (c) Cairo
    (d) Dhaka
    Answer: a

    50. Which city is called the ‘City of Angels’?
    (a) Los Angeles
    (b) London
    (c) Delhi
    (d) Baghdad
    Answer: a

    51. Which city is called the ‘Gateway to the East’?
    (a) Beirut
    (b) Bangkok
    (c) Amritsar
    (d) Cairo
    Answer: a

    52. Which city is called the ‘Little Pakistan’?
    (a) Jeddah
    (b) Bradford
    (c) Chicago
    (d) Dhaka
    Answer: b

    53. Which city is called the ‘City of bazaars’?
    (a) Cairo
    (b) Chicago
    (c) Dhaka
    (d) Amritsar
    Answer: a

    54. Which city is called the ‘Pyramid city’?
    (a) Chicago
    (b) Cairo
    (c) London
    (d) New York
    Answer: b

    55. Which city is called ‘City of space flights’?
    (a) Cairo
    (b) Lahore
    (c) Cape Kennedy
    (d) London
    Answer: c

    56. Which city is called the ‘Manchester of Pakistan’?
    (a) Lahore
    (b) Karachi
    (c) Faisalabad
    (d) Peshawar
    Answer: c

    57. Which city is called the ‘City of Conferences’?
    (a) Mumbai
    (b) Geneva
    (c) Moscow
    (d) London
    Answer: b

    58. Which city is called ‘City of Rams’?
    (a) Guangzhou
    (b) Multan
    (c) Amritsar
    (d) Colombo
    Answer: a

    59. Which city is called ‘Brasilia of Pakistan’?
    (a) Karachi
    (b) Islamabad
    (c) Faisalabad
    (d) Quetta
    Answer: b

    60. Which city is called the ‘Gateway of Pakistan’?
    (a) Islamabad
    (b) Karachi
    (c) Multan
    (d) Lahore
    Answer: b

    61. Which city is called the ‘City of Canals’?
    (a) Venice
    (b) Paris
    (c) London
    (d) None of these
    Answer: a

    62. Which city is called the ‘City of Palaces’?
    (a) Lahore
    (b) Mexico City
    (c) Kiev
    (d) Paris
    Answer: b

    63. Which city is called ‘Forbidden city’?
    (a) Lhasa
    (b) Moscow
    (c) Rome
    (d) Beruit
    Answer: a

    64. Which city is called the ‘Gateway of India’?
    (a) Mumbai
    (b) Agra
    (c) Kolkata
    (d) Hyderabad
    64. a

    65. Which city is called the ‘City of Cosmonauts’?
    (a) New York
    (b) Moscow
    (c) Lahore
    (d) Karachi
    Answer: b

    66. Which city is called the ‘City of skyscrapers’?
    (a) Washington
    (b) New York
    (c) London
    (d) Rome
    Answer: b

    67. Which city is called the ‘City of eternal spring’?
    (a) New York
    (b) Quito
    (c) Rome
    (d) Paris
    Answer: b

    68. Which city is called the ‘City of Popes’?
    (a) Rome
    (b) Vatican City
    (c) London
    (d) Cairo
    Answer: b

    69. Which city is called the ‘Land of seven hills’?
    (a) Rome
    (b) Venice
    (c) Shiraz
    (d) Baghdad
    Answer: a

    70. Which city is called the ‘The Golden Gate City’?
    (a) San Francisco
    (b) New York
    (c) London
    (d) Venice
    Answer: a

    71. Which city is called the ‘City of roses and nightingales’?
    (a) Shiraz
    (b) Rome
    (c) Mumbai
    (d) New York
    Answer: a

    72. Which city is called the ‘Queen of the Baltic’?
    (a) Rome
    (b) Stockholm
    (c) Paris
    (d) Karachi
    Answer: b

    73. Which city is called the ‘City of Gondolas’?
    (a) Venice
    (b) Rome
    (c) Shiraz
    (d) Lahore
    Answer: A

     

  • | |

    List Of Country , Capital & Currencies Quiz

    List Of Country , Capital & Currencies Quiz

    1. The Currency of Antigua and Barbuda is – East Caribbean dollar

    2. The Capital of Andorra is – Andorra la Vella

    3. The Capital of Belorussian ruble is – Belorussian

    4. The Capital of the Country Belize is – Belmopan

    5. The Currency of Bhutan is – Ngultrum

    6. The Country Name of the Capital Sarajevo is – Bosnia and Herzegovina

    7. The Capital of Brunei is – Bandar Seri Begawan

    8. The Capital of Sofia is – Bulgaria

    9. The Capital of Burkina Faso is – Ouagadougou

    10. The Currency of Phnom Penh is – Riel

    11. The Country of Yaounde is – Cameroon

    12. The Currency of Ottawa is – Canadian dollar

    13. The Country of Bangui is – Central African Republic

    14. The Capital of Chad is – N’Djamena

    15. The Currency of Santiago is – Chilean Peso

    16. The Currency of Beijing is – Yuan/Renminbi

    17. The Country of Colombian Peso is – Colombia

    18. The Currency of Brazzaville is – CFA Franc

    19. The Capital of Congolese franc is – Kinshasa

    20. The Capital of Yamoussoukro is – Cote d’Ivoire

    21. The Currency of Croatia is – Kuna

    22. The Capital of Cuba is – Havana

    23. The Country of Cyprus pound is – Cyprus

    24. The Capital of Prague is – Czech Republic

    25. The Capital of Copenhagen is – Denmark

    26. The Currency of Djibouti is – Djibouti franc

    27. The Capital of Prague East Caribbean dollar is – Roseau

    28. The Capital of Dominican Republic is – Santo Domingo

    29. The Currency of East Timor is – U.S. dollar

    30. The Country of Egyptian pound is – Egypt

    31. The Capital of El Salvador is – San Salvador

    32. The Country of Malabo is – Equatorial Guinea

    33. The Currency of Asmara is – Nakfa

    34. The Country of Tallinn is – Estonia

    35. The Country of Addis Ababa is – Ethiopia

    36. The Currency of Suva is – Fiji dollar

    37. The Country of Helsinki is – Finland

    38. The Currency of France is – Euro

    39. The Country of Libreville is – Gabon

    40. The Country of Banjul is – The Gambia

    41. The Capital of Georgia is – Tbilisi

    42. The Capital of Germany is – Berlin

    43. The Capital of Ghana is – Accra

    44. The Country of Athens is – Greece

    45. The Currency of Saint George’s is – East Caribbean dollar

    46. The Capital of Guatemala City is – Guatemala

    47. The Currency of Conakry is – Guinean franc

    48.The Country of Bissau is – Guinea-Bissau

    49. The Capital of Guyana is – Georgetown

    50. The Country of Port-au-Prince is – Haiti

    51. The Capital of Indonesia is – Jakarta

    52. The Capital of Honduras is – Tegucigalpa

    53. The Currency of Budapest is – Forint

    54. The Capital of Icelandic króna is – Reykjavik

    55. The Currency of Tehran is – Rial

    56. The Currency of Baghdad is – Iraqi Dinar

    57. The Capital of Dublin is – Ireland

    58. The Capital of Israel is – Jerusalem

    59. The Currency of Kingston is – Jamaican dollar

    60. The Capital of Jordanian dinar is – Amman

    61. The Currency of Kazakhstan is – Tenge

    62. The Capital of Kenya shilling is – Nairobi

    63. The Country of Tarawa Atoll is – Kiribati

    64. The Currency of Pyongyang is – Won

    65. The Country of Pristina is – Kosovo

    66. The Currency of Kuwait City is – Kuwaiti dinar

    67. The Country of Bishkek is – Kyrgyzstan

    68. The Capital of Laos is – Vientiane

    69. The Currency of Latviis – Lats

    70. The Currency of Beirut is – Lebanese pound

    71. The Country of Maseru is – Lesotho

    72. The Currency of Monrovia is – Liberian dollar

    73. The Country of Tripoli is – Libya

    74. The Currency of Liechtenstein is – Swiss franc

    75. The Capital of Lithuania is – Vilnius

    76. The Currency of Luxembourg is – Euro

    77. The Capital of Macedonia is – Skopje

    78. The Country of Antananarivo is – Madagascar

    79. The Currency of Lilongwe is – Kwacha

    80. The Capital of Malaysia is – Kuala Lumpur

    81. The Country of Rufiya is – Maldives

    82. The Currency of Bamako is – CFA Franc

    83. The Currency of Valletta is – Maltese lira

    84.The Country of Nouakchott is – Mauritania

    85.The Capital of Port Louis is – Mauritius

    86. The Currency of Mexico City is – Mexican peso

    87. The Country of Palikir is – Micronesia

    88. The Capital of Moldova is – Chisinau

    89. The Currency of Monaco is – Euro

    90. The Country of Ulaanbaatar is – Mongolia

    91. The Capital of Montenegro is – Podgorica

    92. The Currency of Rabat is – Dirham

    93. The Capital of Maputo is – Mozambique

    94. The Currency of Rangoon is – Kyat

    95. The Country of Windhoek is – Namibia

    96. The Country of Australian dollar is – Nauru

    97. The Currency of Kathmandu is – Nepalese rupee

    98. The Country of Amsterdam is – Netherlands

    99. The Currency of Wellington is – New Zealand dollar

    100. The Capital of Gold cordoba is – Managua