Events

• 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople.

• 888 – Odo, Count of Paris becomes King of the Franks.

• 1328 – Edward III of England marries Philippa of Hainault, daughter of the Count of Hainault.

• 1435 – Sicut Dudum is promulgated by Pope Eugene IV about the enslaving of black natives in Canary Islands by Spanish Natives.

• 1547 – Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey is sentenced to death.

• 1605 – The controversial play Eastward Hoe by Ben Jonson, George Chapman, and John Marston is performed, landing two of the authors in prison.

• 1607 – The Bank of Genoa fails after announcement of national bankruptcy in Spain.

• 1610 – Galileo Galilei discovers Ganymede, 4th moon of Jupiter.

• 1733 – James Oglethorpe and 130 colonists arrive in Charleston, South Carolina.

• 1785 – John Walter publishes the first issue of the Daily Universal Register (later renamed The Times).

• 1822 – The design of the Greek flag is adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus.

• 1830 – The Great fire of New Orleans, Louisiana begins.

• 1832 – President Andrew Jackson writes to Vice President Martin Van Buren expressing his opposition to South Carolina's defiance of federal authority in the Nullification Crisis.

• 1840 – The steamship Lexington burns and sinks four miles off the coast of Long Island with the loss of 139 lives.

• 1842 – Dr. William Brydon, a surgeon in the British Army during the First Anglo-Afghan War, becomes famous for being the sole survivor of an army of 16,500 when he reaches the safety of a garrison in Jalalabad.

• 1847 – The Treaty of Cahuenga ends the Mexican-American War in California.

• 1869 – National convention of black leaders meets in Washington D.C.

• 1893 – The Independent Labour Party of the UK has its first meeting.

• 1893 – U.S. Marines land in Honolulu from the U.S.S. Boston to prevent the queen from abrogating the Bayonet Constitution.

• 1898 – Emile Zola's J'accuse exposes the Dreyfus affair.

• 1908 – Rhoads Opera House fire in Boyertown, PA killing 171 people.

• 1913 – Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated is founded on the campus of Howard University as the second Black Greek Letter Organization for Women. The mission is to make a move towards social activism.

• 1915 – An earthquake in Avezzano, Italy kills 29,800.

• 1934 – The Candidate of Science degree is established in the USSR.

• 1935 – A plebiscite in Saarland shows that 90.3% of those voting wish to join Nazi Germany.

• 1939 – The Black Friday bush fires burn 20,000 square kilometres of land in Australia, claiming the lives of 71 people.

• 1942 – Henry Ford patents a plastic automobile, which is 30% lighter than a regular car.

• 1942 – World War II: First use of aircraft ejection seat by a German test pilot in a Heinkel He 280 jet fighter.

• 1953 – Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen as President of Yugoslavia.

• 1958 – Moroccan Liberation Army ambushes Spanish patrol in the Battle of Edchera.

• 1964 – Hindu-Muslim rioting breaks out in the Indian city of Calcutta – now Kolkata – resulting in the deaths of more than 100 people.

• 1964 – Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, is appointed archbishop of Krakow, Poland.

• 1966 – Robert C. Weaver becomes the first African American Cabinet member by being appointed United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

• 1968 – Johnny Cash performs live at Folsom Prison

• 1972 – Prime Minister Kofi Busia and President Edward Akufo-Addo of Ghana are ousted in a bloodless military coup by Col. Ignatius Kutu Acheamphong.

• 1974 – Seraphim is elected Archbishop of Athens and All Greece.

• 1982 – Shortly after takeoff, Air Florida Flight 90 737 jet crashes into Washington, DC's 14th Street Bridge and falls into the Potomac River, killing 78 including four motorists. Coincidentally, a Washington DC Metro Rail train is derailed, killing 3 people.

• 1985 – A passenger train plunged into a ravine at Ethiopia, killing 428 in the worst railroad disaster in Africa.

• 1986 – A month-long violent struggle begins in Aden, South Yemen between supporters of Ali Nasir Muhammad and Abdul Fattah Ismail, resulting in thousands of casualties.

• 1990 – L. Douglas Wilder becomes the first elected African American governor as he takes office in Richmond, Virginia.

• 1991 – Soviet Union military troops attack Lithuanian independence supporters in Vilnius.

• 1992 – Japan apologizes for forcing Korean women into sexual slavery (Comfort women) during World War II.

• 1993 – Space Shuttle program: Endeavour heads for space for the third time as STS-54 launches from the Kennedy Space Center.

• 2001 – An earthquake hits El Salvador, killing more than 800.

Births

• 1334 – King Henry II of Castile (d. 1379)

• 1505 – Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg (d. 1571)

• 1562 – Mark Alexander Boyd, Scottish poet (d. 1601)

• 1596 – Jan van Goyen, Dutch painter (d. 1656)

• 1610 – Maria Anna of Austria, Electress of Bavaria (d. 1665)

• 1616 – Antoinette Bourignon, Flemish mystic (d. 1680)

• 1635 – Philipp Jakob Spener, German theologian (d. 1705)

• 1651 – Henry Booth, 1st Earl of Warrington, English politician (d. 1694)

• 1683 – Christoph Graupner, German composer (d. 1760)

• 1720 – Richard Hurd, English bishop and writer (d. 1808)

• 1749 – Friedrich Müller, painter and dramatist (d. 1825)

• 1777 – Elisa Bonaparte, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, sister of Napoleon Bonaparte (d. 1820)

• 1787 – John Davis, 14th and 17th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1854)

• 1804 – Paul Gavarni, French caricaturist (d. 1866)

• 1805 – Thomas Dyer, Mayor of Chicago (d. 1862)

• 1808 – Salmon P. Chase, 6th Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1873)

• 1812 – Victor de Laprade, French poet and critic (d. 1883)

• 1832 – Horatio Alger, Jr., American minister and author (d. 1899)

• 1845 – Félix Tisserand, French Astronomer (d. 1896)

• 1858 – Oskar Minkowski, Biologist (d. 1931)

• 1859 – Kostis Palamas, Greek poet (d. 1943)

• 1861 – Max Nonne, German neurologist (d. 1959)

• 1864 – Wilhelm Wien, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928)

• 1865 – Princess Marie of Orléans (d. 1908)

• 1866 – Vasily Kalinnikov, Russian composer (d. 1901)

• 1869 – Emanuele Filiberto, 2nd Duke of Aosta, Italian aristocrat (d. 1931)

• 1870 – Ross Granville Harrison, American biologist (d. 1959)

• 1878 – Lionel Groulx, Canadian nationalist (d. 1967)

• 1881 – Essington Lewis, Australian industrialist (d. 1961)

• 1883 – Prince Arthur of Connaught (d. 1938)

• 1884 – Sophie Tucker, Russian-born singer and performer (d. 1966)

• 1885 – Alfred Fuller, Canadian businessman, The "Fuller Brush Man" (d. 1973)

• 1886 – Art Ross, Canadian ice hockey player and executive (d. 1964)

• 1887 – Gabriel Gabrio, French actor (d. 1946)

• 1887 – George Gurdjieff, Armenian-Greek mystic (d. 1949)

• 1890 – Jüri Uluots, Estonian Prime Minister (d. 1945)

• 1893 – Roy Cazaly, Australian rules footballer (d. 1963)

• 1893 – Clark Ashton Smith, American writer (d. 1961)

• 1898 – Kai Munk, Danish playwright and Lutheran pastor, martyr (d. 1944)

• 1898 – Carlo Tagliabue, Italian baritone (d. 1978)

• 1899 – Kay Francis, American actress (d. 1968)

• 1901 – A. B. Guthrie, American novelist, historian (d. 1991)

• 1901 – Mieczysław Żywczyński, Polish historian and priest (d. 1978)

• 1904 – Richard Addinsell, British composer (Warsaw Concerto) (d. 1977)

• 1906 – Zhou Youguang, Chinese linguist

• 1909 – Marinus van der Lubbe, Dutch communist (d. 1934)

• 1910 – Yannis Tsarouchis, Greek painter (d. 1989)

• 1911 – Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Premier of Queensland (d. 2005)

• 1913 – Jeff Morrow, American actor (d. 1993)

• 1914 – Lord Ted Willis, British television dramatist (d. 1992)

• 1919 – Robert Stack, American actor (d. 2003)

• 1921 – Dachine Rainer, British writer (d. 2000)

• 1922 – Albert Lamorisse, French film director and producer (d. 1970)

• 1923 – Daniil Shafran, Russian cellist (d. 1997)

• 1924 – Paul Feyerabend, Austrian-born philosopher (d. 1994)

• 1924 – Roland Petit, French choreographer

• 1925 – Georgi Kaloyanchev, Bulgarian actor

• 1925 – Gwen Verdon, American actress and dancer (d. 2000)

• 1926 – Michael Bond, British writer

• 1926 – Carolyn Gold Heilbrun, American feminist author (d. 2003)

• 1927 – Brock Adams, American politician (d. 2004)

• 1927 – Sydney Brenner, British Nobel Laureate

• 1929 – Joe Pass, U.S. jazz guitarist (d. 1994)

• 1930 – Liz Anderson, American singer

• 1930 – Frances Sternhagen, American actress

• 1931 – Ian Hendry, English actor (d. 1984)

• 1931 – Charles Nelson Reilly, American actor (d. 2007)

• 1931 – Chris Wiggins, British actor

• 1934 – Rip Taylor, American actor

• 1935 – Mauro Forghieri, Italian automotive & mechanical engineer (Scuderia Ferrari)

• 1935 – Elsa Martinelli, Italian actress

• 1936 – Renato Bruson, Italian operatic baritone

• 1938 – William B. Davis, Canadian actor

• 1938 – Tord Grip, Swedish football manager

• 1938 – Shivkumar Sharma, santoor player, music composer

• 1939 – Jacek Gmoch, Polish footballer and coach

• 1939 – Cesare Maniago, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1940 – Edmund White, American author

• 1941 – Pasqual Maragall, Spanish politician

• 1943 – Carol Cleveland, English actress

• 1943 – Richard Moll, American actor

• 1946 – Eero Koivistoinen, Finnish musician

• 1947 – Jacek Majchrowski, Mayor of Kraków

• 1947 – Carles Rexach, former Spanish-Catalan footballer and coach

• 1947 – John Lees, English Musician

• 1948 – Gaj Singh, Maharaja of Jodhpur

• 1949 – Brandon Tartikoff, American television executive (d. 1997)

• 1949 – Rakesh Sharma, first Indian and 138th person to visit space

• 1950 – Bob Forsch, American baseball player

• 1950 – John McNaughton, American film director

• 1954 – Trevor Rabin, South African guitarist (Yes)

• 1955 – Paul Kelly, Australian singer-songwriter

• 1955 – Jay McInerney, American writer

• 1956 – Janet Hubert-Whitten, American actress

• 1957 – Lorrie Moore, American writer

• 1957 – Mark O'Meara, Major winning American Golfer

• 1959 – James Lomenzo, American musician (Megadeth)

• 1960 – Takis Lemonis, Greek footballer and coach

• 1961 – Wayne Coyne, American singer (The Flaming Lips)

• 1961 – Julia Louis-Dreyfus, American actress

• 1961 – Suggs, English singer (Madness)

• 1962 – Trace Adkins, American country music singer-songwriter

• 1962 – Paul Higgins, Canadian hockey player

• 1962 – Kevin Mitchell American baseball player

• 1963 – Kevin McClatchy, American businessman

• 1964 – Penelope Ann Miller, American actress

• 1964 – Ronan Rafferty, Northern Irish golfer

• 1966 – Patrick Dempsey, American actor

• 1966 – Shelagh Fogarty, British radio presenter

• 1967 – Annie Jones, Australian actress

• 1968 – Traci Bingham, American actress

• 1968 – Mike Whitlow, English footballer

• 1968 – Chara, Japanese singer and actress

• 1969 – Stefania Belmondo, Italian cross-country skier

• 1969 – Stephen Hendry, Scottish snooker player

• 1970 – Keith Coogan, American actor

• 1970 – Marco Pantani, Italian cyclist (d. 2004)

• 1970 – Shonda Rhimes, American screenwriter/creator Grey's Anatomy

• 1971 – John Mallory Asher, American film actor/director

• 1972 – Mark Bosnich, Australian footballer

• 1972 – Nicole Eggert, American actress

• 1972 – Atoosa Rubenstein, Iranian-born American magazine editor

• 1972 – Vitaly Scherbo, Belarusian gymnast

• 1972 – Park Jin-Young, Korean singer

• 1973 – Nikolai Khabibulin, Russian ice hockey player

• 1973 – Gloria Yip, Hong Kong actor

• 1974 – Sergei Brylin, Russian ice hockey player

• 1976 – Michael Peña, American actor

• 1976 – Tania Vicent, Canadian short track speed skater

• 1977 – Orlando Bloom, English actor

• 1977 – James Posey, American basketball player

• 1978 – Ashmit Patel, Indian actor

• 1980 – Krzysztof Czerwinski, Polish conductor and organist

• 1980 – Nils-Eric Johansson, Swedish footballer

• 1980 – Akira Kaji, Japanese footballer

• 1980 – Michael Rupp, American ice hockey player

• 1981 – Reggie Brown, American football player

• 1981 – Shad Gaspard, American professional wrestler, bodyguard, and actor

• 1981 – Darrell Rasner, American baseball player

• 1982 – Guillermo Coria, Argentine tennis player

• 1983 – Julian Morris, English actor

• 1983 – William Hung, American Idol contestant

• 1983 – Ronny Turiaf, French basketball player

• 1986 – Joannie Rochette, Canadian figure skater

• 1987 – Marc Staal, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1987 – Lee Seung Gi, K-pop singer

• 1989 – Bryan Arguez, American soccer player

• 1989 – James Berrett, English footballer

• 1989 – Triinu Kivilaan, Estonian singer

• 1992 – Adam Matthews, Welsh footballer

• 1995 – Qaasim Middleton, American musician and actor

Deaths

• 86 BC – Gaius Marius, Roman general and politician (b. 157 BC)

• 614 – Saint Kentigern (Saint Mungo), patron saint of Glasgow

• 703 – Empress Jitō of Japan (b. 645)

• 858 – King Ethelwulf of Wessex (b. 795)

• 888 – Charles the Fat, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 839)

• 1138 – Simon I, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1076)

• 1151 – Abbot Suger, French statesman and historian (b. 1081)

• 1177 – Henry II of Austria (b. 1107)

• 1330 – Frederick I of Austria (b. 1286)

• 1363 – Meinhard III of Gorizia-Tyrol (b. 1344)

• 1599 – Edmund Spenser, English poet (b. 1552)

• 1625 – Jan Brueghel the Elder, Flemish painter (b. 1568)

• 1630 – Yuan Chonghuan, Chinese military commander (b. 1584)

• 1658 – Edward Sexby, English Puritan soldier (b. 1616)

• 1691 – George Fox, English founder of the Quakers (b. 1624)

• 1766 – King Frederick V of Denmark (b. 1723)

• 1775 – Johann Georg Walch, German theologian (b. 1693)

• 1790 – Luc Urbain de Bouexic, comte de Guichen, French admiral (b. 1712)

• 1796 – John H. D. Anderson, Scottish scientist and inventor (b. 1726)

• 1797 – Elisabeth Christine von Braunschweig-Bevern, wife of Frederick II of Prussia (b. 1715)

• 1832 – Thomas Lord, English cricketer, founder of Lord's cricket ground (b. 1755)

• 1838 – Ferdinand Ries, German composer (b. 1784)

• 1852 – Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, Russian explorer (b. 1778)

• 1853 – Theophilos Kairis, Greek priest, humanist and revolutionary (b. 1783)

• 1860 – William Mason, American politician (b. 1786)

• 1864 – Stephen Foster, American composer (b. 1826)

• 1882 – Wilhelm Mauser, German weapon designer and manufacturer (b. 1834)

• 1885 – Schuyler Colfax,American politician (b. 1823)

• 1889 – Solomon Bundy, American politician (b. 1823)

• 1894 – Nadezhda von Meck, Russian patroness of Pyotr Tchaikovsky (b. 1831)

• 1905 – George Thorn, Premier of Queensland (b. 1838)

• 1906 – Alexander Popov, Russian physicist (b. 1859)

• 1915 – Mary Slessor, Scottish missionary (b. 1848)

• 1923 – Alexandre Ribot, French statesman (b. 1842)

• 1924 – Georg Hermann Quincke, German physicist (b. 1834)

• 1929 – Wyatt Earp, American Western lawman (b. 1848)

• 1929 – H. B. Higgins, Australian politician and judge (b. 1851)

• 1932 – Sophia of Prussia, consort of Constantine I of Greece (b. 1870)

• 1934 – Paul Ulrich Villard, French physicist (b. 1860)

• 1941 – James Joyce, Irish writer (b. 1882)

• 1943 – Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Swiss artist (b. 1889)

• 1958 – Jesse L. Lasky, American film producer (b. 1880)

• 1962 – Ernie Kovacs, American actor and comedian (b. 1919)

• 1967 – Anatole de Grunwald, British producer and screenwriter (b. 1910)

• 1971 – Robert Still, English composer (b. 1910)

• 1974 – Raoul Jobin, Canadian tenor (b. 1906)

• 1974 – Salvador Novo, Mexican writer and poet (b. 1904)

• 1976 – Margaret Leighton, English actress (b. 1922)

• 1978 – Hubert H. Humphrey, 38th Vice President of the United States (b. 1911)

• 1978 – Joe McCarthy, American baseball manager (b. 1887)

• 1979 – Donny Hathaway, American musician (b. 1945)

• 1979 – Marjorie Lawrence, Australian soprano (b. 1907)

• 1980 – Andre Kostelanetz, Russian-born music conductor and arranger (b. 1901)

• 1982 – Marcel Camus, French director (b. 1912)

• 1988 – Chiang Ching-kuo, President of the Republic of China (b. 1910)

• 1993 – Camargo Guarnieri, Brazilian composer (b. 1907)

• 1995 – Max Harris, Australian poet, columnist and publisher (b. 1921)

• 2001 – Michael Cuccione, Canadian actor and singer (b. 1985)

• 2002 – Ted Demme, American film director (b. 1963)

• 2002 – Gregorio Fuentes, Cuban fisherman, Ernest Hemingway's first mate (b. 1897)

• 2002 – Frank Shuster, Canadian comedian (b. 1916)

• 2003 – Norman Panama, American screenwriter and director (b. 1914)

• 2004 – Arne Næss Jr., Norwegian mountain climber (b. 1937)

• 2004 – Harold Shipman, British serial killer (b. 1946)

• 2004 – Zeno Vendler, American philosopher of language (b. 1921)

• 2005 – Earl Cameron, Canadian broadcaster (b. 1915)

• 2005 – Nell Rankin, American mezzo-soprano (b. 1924)

• 2006 – Frank Fixaris, American sportscaster (b. 1934)

• 2006 – Marc Potvin, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1967)

• 2007 – Michael Brecker, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1949)

• 2007 – Danny Oakes, American racecar driver (b. 1911)

• 2008 – Sergei Larin, Lithuanian tenor (b. 1956)

• 2008 – Johnny Podres, American baseball player (b. 1932)

• 2009 – Doña Mary Ejercito, Filipino supercentarian, mother of Joseph Ejercito Estrada (b. 1905)

• 2009 – Patrick McGoohan, American actor (b. 1928)

• 2009 – Mansour Rahbani, Lebanese composer and lyricist (b. 1925)

• 2009 – Nancy Bird Walton, Australian aviator (b. 1915)

• 2009 – William De Witt Snodgrass, American poet under the pseudonym S. S. Gardons (b. 1926)

Holidays and observances

• In Sweden, Christmas ends on the 20th day, St. Knut's Day or Tjugondag Knut. Children celebrate a party throwing out the Christmas tree (julgransplundring).

• In Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, in various Russophone communities, and in the Serbia, Montenegro, Republic of Srpska, Republic of Macedonia the Old New Year is celebrated (the New Year by the Old Style calendar) on the night of January 13/14.

• Hilary of Poitiers

• January 13 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)