Events

• 475 - Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople.
• 1349 - The Jewish population of Basel, Switzerland, believed by the residents to be the cause of the ongoing bubonic plague, were rounded up and incinerated.
• 1431 - Judges' investigations for the trial of Joan of Arc begin in Rouen, France, the seat of the English occupation government.
• 1760 - Afghans defeat Marathas in the Battle of Barari Ghat.
• 1768 - Philip Astley stages the first modern circus in London.
• 1788 - Connecticut becomes the fifth state to be admitted to the United States.
• 1793 - Jean-Pierre Blanchard becomes the first person to fly in a balloon in the United States.
• 1799 - British Prime Minister William Pitt introduces income tax to raise funds for the war against Napoleon.
• 1806 - Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson receives a state funeral and is interred in St Paul's Cathedral.
• 1816 - Sir Humphry Davy tests the Davy lamp for miners at Hebburn Colliery.
• 1822 - The Portuguese prince Pedro I of Brazil decides to stay in Brazil against the orders of the Portuguese king Joăo VI, starting the Brazilian independence process.
• 1839 - The French Academy of Sciences announces the Daguerreotype photography process.
• 1857 - The Fort Tejon earthquake of California occurs, registering an estimated magnitude of 7.9.
• 1858 - Anson Jones, the last President of the Republic of Texas, commits suicide.
• 1861 - American Civil War: The "Star of the West" incident occurs near Charleston, South Carolina. It is considered by some historians to be the "First Shots of the American Civil War".
• 1861 - Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the Union before the outbreak of the American Civil War.
• 1863 - American Civil War: the Battle of Fort Hindman occurs in Arkansas.
• 1878 - Umberto I becomes King of Italy.
• 1880 - The Great Gale of 1880 devastates parts of Oregon and Washington with high wind and heavy snow.
• 1894 - New England Telephone and Telegraph installs the first battery-operated telephone switchboard in Lexington, Massachusetts.
• 1903 - Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson, son of the famous poet Alfred Tennyson, becomes the second Governor-General of Australia.
• 1905 - According to the Julian Calendar which was used at the time, Russian workers stage a march on the Winter Palace that ends in the massacre by Tsarist troops known as Bloody Sunday, setting off the Russian Revolution of 1905.
• 1916 - The Ottoman Empire prevails in the Battle of Çanakkale, as the last British troops are evacuated.
• 1917 - World War I: the Battle of Rafa occurs near the Egyptian border with Palestine.
• 1923 - Juan de la Cierva makes the first autogyro flight.
• 1941 - First flight of the Avro Lancaster.
• 1941 - World War II: The Greek Triton (S.112) sinks the Italian submarine Neghelli in Otranto.
• 1945 - The United States invades Luzon in the Philippines.
• 1947 - Elizabeth "Betty" Short, the Black Dahlia, is last seen alive.
• 1951 - The United Nations headquarters officially opens in New York City.
• 1964 - Martyrs' Day: Several Panamanian youths try to raise the Panamanian flag on the U.S.-controlled Panama Canal Zone, leading to fighting between U.S. military and Panamanian civilians.
• 1968 - The only known snowfall in Mexico City occurs; additional snow falls on January 10 and 11.
• 1972 - The RMS Queen Elizabeth is destroyed by fire in Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong.
• 1986 - After losing a patent battle with Polaroid, Kodak must give up its instant camera business.
• 1991 - The Soviets storm Vilnius to stop Lithuanian independence.
• 1997 - A Comair Embraer EMB 120 crashes during approach into Detroit Metro Airport, killing 29 people.
• 2001 - Shenzhou 2, an unmanned Chinese spacecraft, is launched.
• 2005 - The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, commonly known as the Naivasha Agreement between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement rebel group in Naivasha, Kenya.
• 2005 - Elections are held to replace Yasser Arafat as head of the Palestine Liberation Organization. He is succeeded by Rawhi Fattouh.
• 2007 - Apple Inc CEO, Steve Jobs announces the iPhone.

Births

• 1554 - Pope Gregory XV (d. 1623)
• 1571 - Karel Bonaventura Buquoy, French soldier (d. 1621)
• 1589 - Ivan Gundulic, Croatian poet (d. 1638)
• 1624 - Empress Meish? (d. 1696)
• 1685 - Tiberius Hemsterhuis, Dutch philologist (d. 1766)
• 1728 - Thomas Warton, English poet (d. 1790)
• 1745 - Caleb Strong, 6th and 10th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1819)
• 1773 - Cassandra Austen, English watercolorist and sister of Jane Austen (d. 1845)
• 1790 - Per Daniel Amadeus Atterbom, Swedish poet (d. 1855)
• 1811 - Gilbert Abbott ŕ Beckett, English writer (d. 1856)
• 1819 - James Francis, Premier of Victoria (d. 1884)
• 1823 - Johannes Friedrich August von Esmarch, German surgeon (d. 1908)
• 1829 - Thomas William Robertson, English playwright (d. 1871)
• 1829 - Adolf von Schlagintweit, German explorer (d. 1857)
• 1832 - Félix-Gabriel Marchand, journalist, author and politician, Premier of Quebec (d. 1900)
• 1839 - John Knowles Paine, U.S. composer (d. 1906)
• 1848 - Princess Frederica of Hanover (d. 1926)
• 1849 - John Hartley, English tennis player, double winner of Wimbledon (d. 1935)
• 1854 - Jennie Jerome, American society beauty and mother of Winston Churchill (d. 1921)
• 1856 - Anton A?kerc, Slovenian priest and poet (d. 1912)
• 1859 - Carrie Chapman Catt, American suffragist leader (d. 1947)
• 1864 - Vladimir Steklov, Russian mathematician (d. 1926)
• 1868 - S. P. L. Sřrensen, Danish chemist (d. 1939)
• 1870 - Joseph B Strauss, American civil engineer (d. 1938)
• 1873 - Hayyim Nahman Bialik, Hebrew poet (d. 1934)
• 1875 - Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, American socialite (d. 1942)
• 1879 - John Broadus Watson, American psychologist (d. 1958)
• 1881 - Lascelles Abercrombie, British poet and critic (d. 1938)
• 1881 - Edouard Beaupré, horse lifter (d. 1904)
• 1881 - Giovanni Papini, Italian writer (d. 1956)
• 1890 - Karel ?apek, Czech writer (d. 1938)
• 1890 - Kurt Tucholsky, German journalist (d. 1935)
• 1892 - Eva Bowring, American politician (d. 1985)
• 1896 - Warwick Braithwaite, New Zealand-born British conductor (d. 1971)
• 1897 - Karl Löwith, German philosopher (d. 1973)
• 1898 - Vilma Bánky, Hungarian actress (d. 1991)
• 1898 - Gracie Fields, English vaudeville performer (d. 1979)
• 1898 - Wally Baker, American supercentenarian
• 1900 - Richard Halliburton, American adventurer (presumed dead 1939)
• 1900 - Maria of Romania, Queen Consort of Yugoslavia (d. 1961)
• 1901 - Chic Young, American cartoonist (d. 1973)
• 1902 - Rudolph Bing, Austrian-born opera manager (d. 1997)
• 1902 - Saint Josemaría Escrivá, Spanish Catholic priest and founder of Opus Dei (d. 1975)
• 1903 - Hem Vejakorn, Thai illustrator (d. 1969)
• 1908 - Simone de Beauvoir, French author (d. 1986)
• 1909 - Herva Nelli, Italian-born soprano (d. 1994)
• 1912 - Ralph Tubbs, British architect (d. 1996)
• 1913 - Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States (d. 1994)
• 1914 - Gypsy Rose Lee (or 1911), American burlesque entertainer (d. 1970)
• 1914 - Kenny (Klook) Clarke, American jazz drummer and composer (d. 1985)
• 1915 - Anita Louise, U.S. actress (d. 1970)
• 1915 - Fernando Lamas, Argentine actor (d. 1982)
• 1916 - Vic Mizzy, American orchestra leader
• 1916 - Peter Twinn, English World War II code-breaker (d. 2004)
• 1920 - Chan Canasta, Polish-British magician (d. 1999)
• 1920 - Clive Dunn, British actor
• 1920 - Hakim Mohammed Said, Pakistani scholar
• 1921 - Lister Sinclair, Canadian broadcaster and playwright (d. 2006)
• 1922 - Har Gobind Khorana, Nobel laureate
• 1922 - Ahmed Sékou Touré, President of Guinea (d. 1984)
• 1924 - Sergei Parajanov, Armenian film director (d. 1990)
• 1925 - Lee Van Cleef, American actor (d. 1989)
• 1926 - Giannis Christou, Greek composer (d. 1970)
• 1926 - Jean-Pierre Côté, Canadian politician, Lieutenant governor of Quebec (d. 2002)
• 1928 - Judith Krantz, American author
• 1928 - Domenico Modugno, Italian singer and songwriter (d. 1994)
• 1929 - Brian Friel, Irish dramatist
• 1929 - Heiner Muller, German dramatist (d. 1995)
• 1929 - Dorothea Puente, American serial killer
• 1931 - Algis Budrys, American author
• 1933 - Robert Garcia, American politician
• 1933 - Wilbur Smith, Zambian-British novelist
• 1934 - Bart Starr, American football player
• 1935 - Bob Denver, American actor (d. 2005)
• 1935 - Dick Enberg, American sportscaster
• 1935 - Earl G. Graves, Sr., African-American Publisher
• 1935 - Brian Harradine, Australian independent Senator
• 1936 - Anne Rivers Siddons, American writer
• 1940 - Jimmy Boyd, American actor and singer
• 1940 - Barbara Buczek, Polish composer (d. 1993)
• 1940 - Al Downing, American singer (d. 2005)
• 1940 - Ruth Dreifuss, Swiss politician
• 1941 - Joan Baez, American singer and activist
• 1941 - Gilles Vaillancourt, Quebec politician
• 1942 - K Callan, American actress
• 1942 - Lee Kun-hee, Korean industrialist, chairman of Samsung
• 1942 - Susannah York, British actress
• 1943 - Elmer MacFadyen, Canadian politician (d. 2007)
• 1943 - Freddie Starr, English comedian and singer
• 1943 - Scott Walker, American singer
• 1944 - Ian Hornak, American Painter, Draughtsman and Sculptor (d. 2002)
• 1944 - Jimmy Page, British musician and producer (Led Zeppelin)
• 1945 - John Doman, American actor
• 1947 - Ronnie Landfield, American artist
• 1948 - Bill Cowsill, American singer (The Cowsills) (d. 2006)
• 1948 - Cassie Gaines Backup Singer (Lynyrd Skynyrd) (d. 1977)
• 1950 - David Johansen American singer
• 1950 - Rio Reiser, German singer (d. 1996)
• 1951 - M.L. Carr, basketball player and coach
• 1951 - Crystal Gayle, American singer
• 1952 - Hugh Bayley, British politician
• 1953 - Morris Gleitzman, British-Australian children's author
• 1955 - J. K. Simmons, American actor
• 1955 - Michiko Kakutani, American literary critic
• 1956 - Kimberly Beck, American actress
• 1956 - Imelda Staunton, British actress
• 1956 - Mike Walczewski, American Public Address Announcer at Madison Square Garden
• 1957 - Phil Lewis, lead singer of L.A. Guns
• 1958 - Mehmet Ali A?ca, Turkish attempted assassin of Pope John Paul II
• 1958 - Stephen Neale, British philosopher
• 1959 - Mark Martin, American race car driver
• 1959 - Rigoberta Menchú, Nobel Peace Prize laureate
• 1959 - Cristi Minculescu, Romanian musician
• 1959 - Otis Nixon, American baseball player
• 1961 - Oliver Goldstick, American screenwriter
• 1963 - Michael Everson, expert in writing systems and Unicode
• 1965 - Darren Bennett, Australian-born American football player
• 1965 - Muggsy Bogues, American basketball player
• 1965 - Iain Dowie, English football manager
• 1965 - Eric Erlandson, American musician
• 1965 - Joely Richardson, British actress
• 1967 - Carl Bell, American musician
• 1967 - Claudio Caniggia, Argentinian footballer
• 1967 - Steven Harwell, American singer and musician (Smash Mouth)
• 1967 - Dave Matthews, South African singer and musician
• 1968 - Jimmy Adams, West Indian cricketer
• 1968 - Joey Lauren Adams, American actress
• 1968 - Al Schnier, American rock guitarist (moe.)
• 1970 - Lara Fabian, Belgian singer
• 1970 - Alex Staropoli, Italian keyboardist (Rhapsody Of Fire)
• 1971 - Daniel Dumile, American hip hop artist
• 1971 - Hal Niedzviecki, Canadian author
• 1971 - Scott Thornton, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1971 - Yusuke Naora, Japanese game art director
• 1972 - Sarah Beeny, British TV personality
• 1972 - Angie Martinez, American radio and television personality
• 1972 - Jay Powell, baseball player
• 1973 - Angela Bettis, American actress
• 1974 - Farhan Akhtar, Indian Bollywood Director, Actor, Producer, Singer.
• 1975 - Kiko Calero, Puerto Rican baseball player
• 1975 - Kimberley Ann Scott Mathers, former wife of Eminem
• 1976 - Radek Bonk, Czech ice hockey player
• 1976 - Todd Grisham, American professional wrestling interviewer
• 1977 - Beth Troutman, American production assistant
• 1978 - Mathieu Garon, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1978 - Gennaro Gattuso, Italian footballer
• 1978 - Chad Johnson, American football player
• 1978 - AJ McLean, American singer (Backstreet Boys)
• 1978 - Maggie Rizer, American model and AIDS activist
• 1979 - Tomiko Van, Japanese singer
• 1980 - Sergio García, Spanish golfer
• 1981 - Euzebiusz Smolarek, Polish footballer
• 1982 - Kate Middleton, girlfriend of Prince William of Wales
• 1987 - Sam Bird, English racing driver
• 1987 - Paolo Nutini, Scottish singer/songwriter
• 1987 - Pablo Santos, Mexican actor (d. 2006)
• 1987 - Lucas Pezzini Leiva, Brazilian and Liverpool Footballer
• 1989 - Michaella Krajicek, Dutch tennis player
• 1997 - Lauryn McClain, American actress and singer

Deaths

• 1150 - Emperor Xizong of Jin was murdered by Prince Hailing of Jin in a Coup d'état.
• 1282 - Abű 'Uthmân Sa'îd Hakam al Qurashi, ruler of Minorca (b. 1204)
• 1283 - Wen Tianxiang, Prime Minister of China (executed) (b. 1236)
• 1499 - Johann Cicero, elector of Brandenburg (b. 1455)
• 1514 - Anna, Duchess of Brittany, queen of Charles VIII of France (b. 1477)
• 1543 - Guillaume du Bellay, French diplomat and general (b. 1491)
• 1562 - Amago Haruhisa, Japanese warlord (b. 1514)
• 1571 - Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon, French naval officer (b. 1510)
• 1598 - Jasper Heywood, English translator (b. 1553)
• 1677 - Aernout van der Neer, Dutch painter (b. 1603)
• 1757 - Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle, French scientist and man of letters (b. 1657)
• 1757 - Louis Bertrand Castel, French mathematician (b. 1688)
• 1766 - Thomas Birch, British historian (b. 1705)
• 1799 - Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Italian scientist (b. 1718)
• 1800 - Jean Étienne Championnet, French general (b. 1762)
• 1805 - Noble Wimberly Jones, American Continental Congressman (b. 1723)
• 1843 - William Hedley, British industrial engineer (b. 1773)
• 1848 - Caroline Herschel, German-born astronomer (b. 1750)
• 1858 - Anson Jones, 5th and last President of Texas (suicide) (b. 1798)
• 1873 - Emperor Napoleon III of France (b. 1808)
• 1876 - Samuel Gridley Howe, American abolitionist (b. 1801)
• 1877 - Alexander Brullov, Russia painter (b. 1799)
• 1878 - King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy (b. 1820)
• 1895 - Aaron Lufkin Dennison, American watch manufacturer (b. 1812)
• 1901 - Richard Copley Christie, English scholar (b. 1830)
• 1908 - Wilhelm Busch, German painter (b. 1832)
• 1908 - Abraham Goldfaden, Russian-born actor (b. 1840)
• 1911 - Edwin Arthur Jones, American composer (b. 1853)
• 1911 - Edvard Rusjan, Slovene flight pioneer (b. 1886)
• 1918 - Émile Reynaud, French scientist (b. 1844)
• 1923 - Katherine Mansfield, New Zealand writer (b. 1888)
• 1927 - Houston Stewart Chamberlain, British pro-Aryan anti-semitic writer, son-in-law of Richard Wagner (b. 1855)
• 1931 - Wayne Munn, wrestler (b. 1896)
• 1936 - John Gilbert, American actor (b. 1899)
• 1939 - Johann Strauss III, Austrian conductor (b. 1866)
• 1945 - Jüri Uluots, Estonian Prime Minister (b. 1890)
• 1946 - Countee Cullen, American poet (b. 1903)
• 1946 - Dimitrios Golemis, Greek athlete (b. 1874)
• 1947 - Karl Mannheim, German sociologist (b. 1893)
• 1960 - Elsie J. Oxenham, British children's author (b. 1880)
• 1961 - Emily Greene Balch, American writer, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (b. 1867)
• 1971 - Giannis Christou, Greek composer (b. 1926)
• 1971 - Elmer Flick, baseball player (b. 1876)
• 1972 - Ted Shawn, American dancer (b. 1891)
• 1975 - Pierre Fresnay, French actor (b. 1897)
• 1975 - Pyotr Sergeyevich Novikov, Russian mathematician (b. 1901)
• 1979 - Pier Luigi Nervi, Italian engineer and architect (b. 1891)
• 1981 - Kazimierz Serocki, Polish composer (b. 1922)
• 1984 - Wolfgang Staudte, German director (b. 1906)
• 1985 - Robert Mayer, British businessman and philanthropist (b. 1879)
• 1987 - Marion Hutton, American singer (b. 1919)
• 1987 - Arthur Lake, American actor (b. 1905)
• 1989 - Bill Terry, baseball player (b. 1898)
• 1990 - Sir Edward McTiernan, Australian jurist, lawyer and politician (b. 1892)
• 1990 - Spud Chandler, baseball player (b. 1907)
• 1992 - Steve Brodie, American actor (b. 1919)
• 1992 - Bill Naughton, British playwright (b. 1910)
• 1993 - Sir Paul Hasluck, Governor-General of Australia (b. 1905)
• 1994 - Johnny Temple, baseball player (b. 1927)
• 1995 - Peter Cook, British actor and comedian (b. 1937)
• 1995 - Souphanouvong, President of Laos (b. 1909)
• 1997 - Edward Osobka-Morawski, Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1909)
• 1997 - Jesse White, American actor (b. 1917)
• 1998 - Kenichi Fukui, Japanese chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate (b. 1918)
• 1998 - Charito Solis, Filipino actress (b. 1935)
• 2000 - Nigel Tranter, Scottish historian and author (b. 1909)
• 2001 - Maurice Prather, American photographer (b. 1926)
• 2003 - Will McDonough, American sports journalist (b. 1935)
• 2004 - Norberto Bobbio, Italian philosopher (b. 1909)
• 2005 - Gonzalo Gavira, Mexican film sound technician (b. 1925)
• 2006 - Andy Caldecott, Australian motorcycle racer (b. 1964)
• 2006 - Mikk Mikiver, Estonian actor, director (b. 1937)
• 2007 - Elmer Symons, South African motorcycle racer (b. 1977)
• 2008 - Johnny Grant, American radio personality, television producer (b. 1923)
• 2008 - William Quinn, Irish Republican Army soldier (b. 1950)
• 2008 - Mehran Ghassemi, Iranian journalist (b. 1977)
• 2008 - Sir John Harvey-Jones, chairman of ICI from 1982 to 1987 (b.1924).

Holidays and observances

• Martyrs' Day (Panama) commemorates the 1964 riots over sovereignty of the Panama Canal Zone
• Black Nazarene feast in the Quiapo district, Manila, Philippines
• January 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Republic Day in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Adrian of Canterbury
• Metropolitan Philip II of Moscow
• Theophan the Recluse

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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