Events

• 250 – Emperor Decius begins a widespread persecution of Christians in Rome. Pope Fabian is martyred.

• 1265 – In Westminster, the first English parliament conducts its first meeting held by Simon de Beaufort in the Palace of Westminster, now also known colloquially as the "Houses of Parliament".

• 1320 – Duke Wladyslaw Lokietek becomes king of Poland.

• 1356 – Edward Balliol abdicates as King of Scotland.

• 1502 – The present-day location of Rio de Janeiro is first explored.

• 1523 – Christian II is forced to abdicate as King of Denmark and Norway.

• 1576 – The Mexican city of León is founded by order of the viceroy Don Martín Enríquez de Almansa.

• 1649 – Charles I of England goes on trial for treason and other "high crimes".

• 1667 – The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth cedes Kiev, Smolensk, and left-bank Ukraine to the Tsardom of Russia in the treaty of Andrusovo.

• 1783 – The Kingdom of Great Britain signs a peace treaty with France and Spain, officially ending hostilities in the Revolutionary War.

• 1788 – The third and main part of First Fleet arrives at Botany Bay. Arthur Phillip decides that Botany Bay is unsuitable for location of a penal colony, and decides to move to Port Jackson.

• 1801 – John Marshall is appointed the Chief Justice of the United States.

• 1839 – In the Battle of Yungay, Chile defeats an alliance between Peru and Bolivia.

• 1840 – Dumont D'Urville discovers Adélie Land, Antarctica.

• 1840 – Willem II becomes King of the Netherlands.

• 1841 – Hong Kong Island is occupied by the British.

• 1885 – L.A. Thompson patents the roller coaster.

• 1887 – The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base.

• 1892 – At the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts, the first official basketball game is played.

• 1920 – The American Civil Liberties Union is founded.

• 1921 – The first Constitution of Turkey is adopted, making fundamental changes in the source and exercise of sovereignty by consecrating the principle of national sovereignty.

• 1929 – In Old Arizona, the first full-length talking motion picture filmed outdoors, is released.

• 1936 – Edward VIII becomes King of the United Kingdom.

• 1937 – Franklin Roosevelt is inaugurated for a second term as President of the United States. This is the first inauguration scheduled on January 20, following adoption of the 20th Amendment. Previous inaugurations were scheduled on March 4.

• 1942 – World War II: At the Wannsee Conference held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee, senior Nazi German officials decided on the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question", accelerating The Holocaust.

• 1945 – World War II: Hungary agrees to an armistice with the Allies.

• 1954 – The National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations.

• 1960 – Hendrik Verwoerd announces a plebiscite on whether South Africa should become a Republic.

• 1961 – John F. Kennedy is inaugurated as the youngest man, and first-ever Roman Catholic, to become elected President of the United States.

• 1968 – The Houston Cougars defeat the UCLA Bruins 71-69 to win the Game of the Century.

• 1981 – Iran releases 52 American hostages twenty minutes after Ronald Reagan is inaugurated as U.S. President, the oldest man to be inaugurated at 69.

• 1986 – Martin Luther King, Jr. day is celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.

• 1987 – Church of England envoy Terry Waite is kidnapped in Lebanon.

• 1990 – Black January – crackdown of Azerbaijani pro-independence demonstrations by Soviet army in Baku.

• 1991 – Sudan's government imposes Islamic law nationwide, worsening the civil war between the country's Muslim north and Christian south.

• 1992 – Air Inter Flight 148 crashes near Strasbourg, France, killing 82 passengers and 5 crew.

• 1999 – The China News Service announces new government restrictions on Internet use aimed especially at Internet cafés.

• 2001 – Philippine president Joseph Estrada is ousted in a nonviolent 4-day revolution, and is succeeded by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

• 2009 – Barack Obama, inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America, becomes the United States' first African-American president.

Births

• 225 – Gordian III, Roman Emperor (d. 244)

• 1292 – Elisabeth of Bohemia (1292–1330) (d. 1330)

• 1358 – Eleanor of Aragon, wife of John I of Castile (d. 1382)

• 1435 – Ashikaga Yoshimasa, Japanese shogun (d. 1490)

• 1554 – King Sebastian of Portugal (d. 1578)

• 1586 – Johann Schein, German composer (d. 1630)

• 1664 – Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, Italian writer and jurist (d. 1718)

• 1716 – King Charles III of Spain (d. 1788)

• 1716 – Jean-Jacques Barthélemy, French writer and numismatist (d. 1795)

• 1775 – André-Marie Ampère, French physicist (d. 1836)

• 1781 – Joseph Hormayr Freiherr zu Hortenburg, Austrian politician (d. 1848)

• 1783 – Justus Johann Friedrich Dotzauer, German cellist and composer (d. 1860)

• 1798 – Anson Jones, 5th and last President of Texas (d. 1858)

• 1804 – Eugène Sue, French novelist (d. 1857)

• 1812 – Thomas Meik, Scottish engineer (d. 1896)

• 1834 – George D. Robinson, 34^th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1896)

• 1837 – David Josiah Brewer, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (d. 1910)

• 1855 – Ernest Chausson, French composer (d. 1899)

• 1867 – Yvette Guilbert, French singer and actress (d. 1944)

• 1873 – Johannes Vilhelm Jensen, Danish Nobel laureate (d. 1950)

• 1876 – Józef Hofmann, Polish pianist (d. 1967)

• 1878 – Finlay Currie, British actor (d. 1968)

• 1878 – Ruth St. Denis, American dancer (d. 1968)

• 1880 – Walter W. Bacon, American politician (d. 1962)

• 1889 – Allan Haines Loughead, American aviation executive (d. 1969)

• 1891 – Mischa Elman, Ukrainian born violinist (d. 1967)

• 1893 – Georg Åberg, Swedish athlete (d. 1946)

• 1894 – Walter Piston, American composer (d. 1976)

• 1895 – Gábor Szegő, Hungarian mathematician (d. 1985)

• 1896 – George Burns, American actor, comedian (d. 1996)

• 1896 – Isabel Withers, American actress (d. 1968)

• 1898 – U Razak, Burmese politician (d. 1947)

• 1899 – Kenjiro Takayanagi, Japanese development of television (d. 1990)

• 1899 – Clarice Cliff, English ceramic artist (d. 1972)

• 1900 – Colin Clive, British actor (d. 1937)

• 1902 – Leon Ames, American actor (d. 1993)

• 1907 – Paula Wessely, Austrian actress (d. 2000)

• 1908 – Fleur Cowles, American writer, editor and artist (d. 2009)

• 1910 – Joy Adamson, Austrian naturalist and writer (d. 1980)

• 1911 – Wendell J. Westcott, American carillonneur

• 1912 – Walter Briggs, Jr., American sports executive (d. 1970)

• 1915 – Ghulam Ishaq Khan, President of Pakistan (d. 2006)

• 1918 – Juan García Esquivel, Mexican bandleader (d. 2002)

• 1920 – Federico Fellini, Italian film director (d. 1993)

• 1920 – DeForest Kelley, American actor (d. 1999)

• 1920 – Thorleif Schjelderup, Norwegian author and ski jumper (d. 2006)

• 1920 – Frank Kush, American football player and coach

• 1921 – Telmo Zarraonaindía, Spanish footballer (d. 2006)

• 1922 – Ray Anthony, American trumpeter, bandleader and actor

• 1922 – Graham Stark, British actor

• 1923 – Nora Brockstedt, Norwegian singer

• 1924 – Slim Whitman, American singer

• 1925 – Ernesto Cardenal, Nicaraguan theologian and politician

• 1926 – Jamiluddin Aali, Pakistani poet, essayist and columnist

• 1926 – Qurratulain Hyder, Indian and Pakistani novelist (d. 2007)

• 1926 – Patricia Neal, American actress

• 1926 – David Tudor, American pianist and composer (d. 1996)

• 1928 – Rudy Boesch, Contestant on Survivor: Borneo (3rd Place) and Survivor: All-Stars (17th Place)

• 1929 – Jimmy Cobb, American jazz drummer

• 1929 – Arte Johnson, American actor

• 1929 – Glenn Roberts, American race car driver (d. 1964)

• 1930 – Buzz Aldrin, American astronaut

• 1931 – David Lee, American physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics laureate

• 1931 – Hachidai Nakamura, Japanese songwriter and pianist (d. 1992)

• 1932 – Lou Fontinato, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1933 – Ron Townson, American singer (The 5th Dimension) (d. 2001)

• 1934 – Tom Baker, British actor

• 1935 – Joan Weston, Roller Derby Queen (d. 1997)

• 1935 – Alexander Men, Russian priest (d. 1990)

• 1937 – Dorothy Provine, American singer, dancer and actress

• 1938 – William Berger, Austrian actor (d. 1993)

• 1938 – Derek Dougan, Northern Irish footballer (d. 2007)

• 1939 – Paul Coverdell, American politician (d. 2000)

• 1940 – Carol Heiss, American figure skater

• 1940 – Krishnam Raju, Indian actor and politician

• 1941 – Pierre Lalonde, Canadian singer and television host

• 1942 – Linda Moulton Howe, American investigative journalist and documentary producer-writer-director-editor

• 1943 – Farhad Mehrad, Iranian musician (d. 2002)

• 1944 – José Luis Garci, Spanish filmmaker

• 1945 – Robert Olen Butler, American writer

• 1945 – Christopher Martin-Jenkins, cricket commentator and correspondent

• 1945 – Eric Stewart, English musician and songwriter (10cc)

• 1946 – David Lynch, American film director

• 1947 – Cyrille Guimard, French cyclist and directeur sportif

• 1948 – Natan Sharansky, Russian-born physicist and politician

• 1948 – Nancy Kress, American writer

• 1948 – Mel Pritchard, British Musician

• 1949 – Göran Persson, Prime Minister of Sweden

• 1950 – Liza Goddard, British actress

• 1950 – Edward Hirsch. American poet

• 1950 – Chuck Lefley, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1950 – Mahamane Ousmane, President of Niger

• 1951 – Ivan Fischer, Hungarian conductor

• 1951 – Ian Hill, British musician (Judas Priest)

• 1952 – Paul Stanley, American musician (Kiss)

• 1955 – Wyatt Knight, American actor

• 1955 – Joe Doherty, Provisional Irish Republican Army member

• 1955 – Hiromi Ōta, Japanese singer

• 1956 – Maria Larsson, Swedish politician

• 1956 – Bill Maher, American actor, comedian, and political analyst

• 1958 – Lorenzo Lamas, American actor

• 1960 – Scott Thunes, American musician (Frank Zappa)

• 1960 – Will Wright, American computer game designer

• 1963 – James Denton, American actor

• 1963 – Firebreaker Chip, American professional wrestler

• 1964 – Ozzie Guillén, Venezuelan-born baseball player and manager

• 1964 – Ron Harper, American basketball player

• 1964 – Kazushige Nojima, Japanese game scenario writer

• 1965 – Colin Calderwood, Scottish footballer

• 1965 – Greg Kriesel, American bassist (The Offspring)

• 1965 – Sophie, The Countess of Wessex, the wife of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex

• 1965 – John Michael Montgomery, American singer

• 1965 – Anton Weissenbacher, Romanian footballer

• 1966 – Stacey Dash, American actress

• 1966 – Tracii Guns, American guitarist

• 1968 – Melissa Rivers, American reporter and actress

• 1968 – Nick Anderson, American basketball player

• 1968 – Rainn Wilson, American actor

• 1969 – Patrick K. Kroupa, American computer hacker

• 1969 – Nicky Wire, British musician (Manic Street Preachers)

• 1970 – Mitch Benn, UK comedian, songwriter, actor

• 1970 – Kerri Kenney-Silver, American actress

• 1970 – Skeet Ulrich, American actor

• 1971 – Derrick Green, American singer (Sepultura)

• 1971 – Gary Barlow, English singer (Take That)

• 1971 – Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, American drummer (The Roots)

• 1971 – Brian Giles, American baseball player

• 1973 – Princess Mathilde, Duchess of Brabant

• 1974 – David Dei, Italian footballer

• 1975 – David Eckstein, American baseball player

• 1975 – Norberto Fontana, Argentine racing driver

• 1976 – Gretha Smit, Dutch speed skater

• 1976 – Kirsty Gallacher, Scottish television presenter

• 1977 – Melody, Belgian singer

• 1977 – Sid Wilson, American Musician, (Slipknot)

• 1978 – Joy Giovanni, American actress and glamour model

• 1978 – Sonja Kesselschläger, German heptathlete

• 1978 – Allan Søgaard, Danish footballer

• 1979 – Asaka Kubo, Japanese gravure idol of 20th Century

• 1979 – Will Young, British singer

• 1979 – Shang Yi, Chinese footballer

• 1980 – Philippe Cousteau, Jr., French oceanographer; grandson of Jacques Cousteau

• 1980 – Brigitte Olivier, Belgian judoka

• 1981 – Freddy Guzmán, Dominican baseball player

• 1981 – Jason Richardson, American basketball player

• 1981 – Christine Bleakley, British television presenter

• 1981 – Owen Hargreaves, English footballer

• 1981 – Daniel Cudmore, Canadian actor

• 1981 – Crystal Lowe, Canadian actress

• 1982 – Joe Swash, English actor

• 1982 – Fredrik Strømstad, Norwegian footballer

• 1983 – Geovany Soto, Puerto Rican baseball player

• 1983 – Paula Taylor, English-Thai actress, model and presenter

• 1983 – Mari Yaguchi, Japanese singer (Morning Musume)

• 1984 – Olivia Hallinan, English actress

• 1984 – Toni Gonzaga, Filipina actress and singer

• 1986 – Derek Fathauer, American professional golfer

• 1988 – Lucas Hardeman, American film producer – creator, YourProofItHappened.com

• 1991 – Jolyon Palmer, English racing driver; son of Jonathan Palmer

Deaths

• 287 – St. Sebastian

• 1156 – Bishop Henry, patron saint of Finland

• 1191 – Frederick VI, Duke of Swabia (b. 1167)

• 1479 – King John II of Aragon (b. 1397)

• 1568 – Myles Coverdale, English Bible translator

• 1612 – Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1552)

• 1663 – Isaac Ambrose, English Puritan divine (b. 1604)

• 1666 – Anna of Austria, wife of Louis XIII of France and regent (b. 1601)

• 1707 – Humphrey Hody, English theologian (b. 1659)

• 1709 – François de la Chaise, French confessor of Louis XIV of France (b. 1624)

• 1739 – Francesco Galli-Bibiena, Italian architect/designer (b. 1659)

• 1751 – John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol, English politician (b. 1665)

• 1770 – Charles Yorke, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1722)

• 1779 – David Garrick, English actor (b. 1717)

• 1810 – Benjamin Chew, Chief Justice of colonial Pennsylvania (b. 1722)

• 1819 – King Charles IV of Spain (b. 1748)

• 1848 – Christian VIII of Denmark (b. 1786)

• 1850 – Adam Oehlenschläger, Danish poet (b. 1779)

• 1873 – The Venerable Father Basil Anthony Marie Moreau, Founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross (b. 1799)

• 1875 – Jean-François Millet, French painter (b. 1814)

• 1891 – David Kalakaua, King of Hawaii (b. 1836)

• 1900 – John Ruskin, English art critic (b. 1819)

• 1901 – Zénobe Gramme, Belgian engineer (b. 1826)

• 1908 – John Ordronaux, American Civil War army surgeon, a professor of medical jurisprudence, and pioneering mental health commissioner (b. 1830)

• 1913 – José Guadalupe Posada, Mexican engraver and illustrator (b. 1852).

• 1920 – Georg Lurich, Estonian wrestler (b. 1876)

• 1936 – King George V of the United Kingdom (b. 1865)

• 1940 – Omar Bundy, American army general (b. 1861)

• 1944 – James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist (b. 1860)

• 1947 – Josh Gibson, American baseball player (b. 1911)

• 1954 – Fred Root, English cricketer (b. 1890)

• 1962 – Robinson Jeffers, American poet (b. 1887)

• 1965 – Alan Freed, American disk jockey (b. 1922)

• 1971 – Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson, American actor, director, writer, and producer (b. 1880)

• 1973 – Lorenz Böhler, Austrian physician (b. 1885)

• 1979 – Gustav Winckler, Danish singer (b. 1925)

• 1983 – Garrincha, Brazilian footballer (b. 1933)

• 1984 – Johnny Weissmuller, American swimmer and actor (b. 1904)

• 1988 – Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Pashtun Nationalist & non-violent freedom fighter (b. 1890)

• 1988 – Dora Stratou, Greek choreographer and folklorist (b. 1903)

• 1989 – Alamgir Kabir, Bangladeshi film director (b. 1938)

• 1990 – Hayedeh, Persian singer (b. 1942)

• 1990 – Barbara Stanwyck, American actress (b. 1907)

• 1993 – Audrey Hepburn, Anglo-Dutch actress (b. 1929)

• 1994 – Sir Matt Busby, Scottish football player and coach (b. 1909)

• 1996 – Gerry Mulligan, American musician (b. 1927)

• 1997 – Curt Flood, American baseball player (b. 1938)

• 1998 – Bobo Brazil, American professional wrestler (b. 1924)

• 2002 – Carrie Hamilton, actress and singer (b. 1963). Daughter of comedienne/actress Carol Burnett.

• 2003 – Al Hirschfeld, American caricaturist (b. 1903)

• 2003 – Craig Kelly, American snowboarder (b. 1966)

• 2003 – Nedra Volz, American actress (b. 1908)

• 2003 – Bill Werbeniuk, Canadian snooker player (b. 1947)

• 2004 – Guinn Smith, American athlete (b. 1920)

• 2005 – Per Borten, Prime Minister of Norway (b. 1913)

• 2005 – Roland Frye, American literary critic and theologian (b. 1921)

• 2005 – Jan Nowak-Jeziorański, Polish journalist, writer, and politician (b. 1913)

• 2005 – Miriam Louisa Rothschild, British zoologist, entomologist, and author (b. 1908)

• 2006 – Dave Lepard, Swedish rock singer and guitarist (b. 1980)

• 2009 – Stéphanos II Ghattas, Patriarch Emeritus of Alexandria for the Coptic Catholic Church (b. 1920)

• 2009 – Stan Hagen, Canadian politician (b. 1940)

• 2009 – David Newman, American jazz musician, nicknamed "Fathead" (b. 1933)

• 2009 – Sheila O'Nions Walsh (aka Sheila Walsh, Sophie Leyton), English romance writer (b. 1928)

Holidays and observances

• United States presidential inauguration, held every four years since 1937 (with 2 exceptions by Eisenhower & Reagan, on January 21st) in odd-numbered years after years when the United States Presidential Election takes place (as the election takes place in years divisible by four – 2004, 2008, 2012, and so on – the inauguration takes place in 2005, 2009, 2013, etc.). The incoming/reelected President traditionally swears-in as close to Noon as possible.

• Astrology: First day of sun sign Aquarius.

• Feast day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church:

• *Saint Fabian

• *Euthymius the Great

• *St. Sebastian

• January 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Abadios