Events

• 46 BC – Titus Labienus defeats Julius Caesar in the Battle of Ruspina.

• 871 – Battle of Reading: Ethelred of Wessex fights, and is defeated by, a Danish invasion army.

• 1490 – Anna of Brittany announces that all those who would ally with the king of France will be considered guilty of the crime of lese-majesty.

• 1493 – Christopher Columbus leaves the New World, ending his first journey.

• 1642 – King Charles I of England sends soldiers to arrest members of Parliament, commencing England's slide into civil war.

• 1698 – Most of the Palace of Whitehall in London, the main residence of the English monarchs, is destroyed by fire.

• 1717 – The Netherlands, England, and France sign the Triple Alliance.

• 1762 – England declares war on Spain and Naples.

• 1847 – Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the United States government.

• 1854 – The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the Samarang.

• 1863 – The New Apostolic Church, a Christian and chiliastic church, established in Hamburg, Germany.

• 1865 – The New York Stock Exchange opens its first permanent headquarters at 10-12 Broad near Wall Street in New York City.

• 1878 – Sofia is emancipated from Ottoman rule.

• 1884 – The Fabian Society is founded in London.

• 1885 – The first successful appendectomy is performed by William W. Grant on Mary Gartside.

• 1896 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state.

• 1903 – Topsy, an elephant, is electrocuted by Thomas Edison during the War of Currents campaign.

• 1912 – The Scout Association is incorporated throughout the British Commonwealth by Royal Charter.

• 1944 – World War II: Operation Carpetbagger, involving the dropping of arms and supplies to resistance fighters in Europe, begins.

• 1948 – Burma regains its independence from the United Kingdom.

• 1951 – Korean War: Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul.

• 1958 – Sputnik 1 falls to Earth from its orbit.

• 1959 – Luna 1 becomes the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon.

• 1962 – New York City introduces a train that operates without a crew on-board.

• 1965 – United States President Lyndon B. Johnson proclaims his "Great Society" during his State of the Union address.

• 1966 – A military coup takes place in Upper Volta (later Burkina Faso), dissolving the National Parliament and leading to a new national constitution.

• 1972 – Rose Heilbron becomes the first female judge to sit at the Old Bailey in London.

• 1974 – United States President Richard Nixon refuses to hand over materials subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.

• 1974 – Serial killer Ted Bundy murders his first known victim when he entered the basement bedroom of 18-year-old Joni Lenz and suffocated her.

• 1975 – Elizabeth Ann Seton becomes the first American-born saint.

• 1987 – The Chase, Maryland rail wreck: An Amtrak train en route to Boston, Massachusetts from Washington, D.C., collides with Conrail engines in Chase, Maryland, killing 16 people.

• 1989 – Second Gulf of Sidra incident: a pair of Libyan MiG-23 "Floggers" are shot down by a pair of US Navy F-14 Tomcats during an air-to-air confrontation.

• 1998 – Wilaya of Relizane massacres in Algeria: over 170 are killed in three remote villages.

• 1998 – A massive ice storm hits eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, continuing through January 10 and causing widespread destruction.

• 1999 – Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura is sworn in as governor of Minnesota.

• 1999 – Gunmen open fire on Shiite Muslims worshipping in an Islamabad mosque, killing 16 people and injuring 25.

• 2004 – Spirit, a NASA Mars Rover, lands successfully on Mars at 04:35 UTC.

• 2006 – Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel suffers a second, apparently more serious stroke. His authority is transferred to acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

• 2007 – The 110th United States Congress convenes, electing Nancy Pelosi as the first female Speaker of the House in U.S. history.

Births

• 1077 – Emperor Zhezong of Song Dynasty in China (d. 1100)

• 1334 – Amadeus VI of Savoy (d. 1383)

• 1581 – James Ussher, Irish Anglican archbishop (d. 1656)

• 1643 – Sir Isaac Newton, English mathematician and natural philosopher (d. 1727)

• 1664 – Lars Roberg, Swedish physician (d. 1742)

• 1672 – Hugh Boulter, Irish Archbishop of Armagh (d. 1742)

• 1710 – Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Italian composer (d. 1736)

• 1720 – Johann Friedrich Agricola, German composer (d. 1774)

• 1735 – Claude Martin, French then British General (d. 1800)

• 1785 – Jacob Grimm, German philologist and folklorist(one of the Brothers Grim) (d. 1863)

• 1809 – Louis Braille, French teacher of the blind and inventor of braille (d. 1852)

• 1813 – Isaac Pitman, English inventor (d. 1897)

• 1832 – George Tryon, British admiral (d. 1893)

• 1838 – Charles Sherwood Stratton, American circus performer (d. 1883)

• 1839 – Carl Humann, German engineer (d. 1896)

• 1842 – Frederic T. Greenhalge, 38th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1896)

• 1848 – Katsura Taro, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1913)

• 1869 – Tommy Corcoran, American baseball player (d. 1960)

• 1870 – Percy Pitt, English organist and conductor (d. 1932)

• 1874 – Josef Suk, Czech composer (d. 1935)

• 1878 – Augustus John, Welsh painter (d. 1961)

• 1881 – Wilhelm Lehmbruck, German sculptor (d. 1919)

• 1882 – Aristarkh Lentulov, Russian artist (d. 1943)

• 1883 – Max Eastman, American writer (d. 1969)

• 1891 – Edward Brooker, Premier of Tasmania (d. 1948)

• 1892 – Maria Diaz Cortes, Spanish supercentarian (d. 2009}

• 1893 – Yone Minagawa, Japanese supercentarian (d. 2007)

• 1894 – Manuel de Abreu, Brazilian physician (d. 1962)

• 1895 – Leroy Grumman, American industrialist (d. 1982)

• 1896 – Everett Dirksen, American politician (d. 1969)

• 1896 – André Masson, French artist (d. 1987)

• 1900 – James Bond, American ornithologist (d. 1989)

• 1901 – C. L. R. James, Trinidadian writer and journalist (d. 1989)

• 1902 – John McCone, American CIA Director (d. 1991)

• 1910 – Arthur Villeneuve, Quebec painter (d. 1990)

• 1913 – Malietoa Tanumafili II, Sovereign Ruler of Samoa (d. 2007)

• 1914 – Herman Franks, American baseball player (d. 2009)

• 1916 – Lionel Newman, American film music composer (d. 1989)

• 1916 – Robert Parrish, American film editor and director (d. 1995)

• 1920 – William Colby, American CIA director (d. 1996)

• 1922 – Rosalie Crutchley, English actress (d. 1997)

• 1923 – Don Butterfield, American jazz and classical tuba player (d. 2006)

• 1924 – Sebastian Kappen, Indian theologian (d. 1993)

• 1925 – Veikko Hakulinen, Finnish cross-country skier (d. 2003)

• 1927 – Paul Desmarais, Canadian businessman

• 1927 – Barbara Rush, American actress

• 1930 – Sorrell Booke, American actor (d. 1994)

• 1930 – Don Shula, American football coach

• 1931 – Sir William Deane, Governor-General of Australia

• 1931 – Adi Lady Lala Mara, First Lady of Fiji (d. 2004)

• 1932 – Carlos Saura, Spanish director

• 1932 – Jorge Russek, Mexican actor (d. 1998)

• 1933 – Ilia II, Catholicos-Patriarch of all Georgia.

• 1934 – Rudolf Schuster, President of Slovakia

• 1935 – Floyd Patterson, American boxer (d. 2006)

• 1937 – Grace Bumbry, American singer

• 1937 – Dyan Cannon, American actress

• 1940 – Helmut Jahn, German architect

• 1940 – Brian David Josephson, Welsh physicist, Nobel laureate

• 1940 – Gao Xingjian, Chinese-born novelist and dramatist, Nobel laureate

• 1941 – George Pan Cosmatos, Greek film director (d. 2005)

• 1941 – John Bennett Perry, American actor

• 1941 – Maureen Reagan, American political activist (d. 2001)

• 1942 – John McLaughlin, English jazz guitarist

• 1943 – Doris Kearns Goodwin, American writer

• 1945 – Vesa-Matti Loiri, Finnish entertainer

• 1945 – Richard R. Schrock, American chemist, Nobel laureate

• 1946 – Arthur Conley, American singer (d. 2003)

• 1946 – Susannah McCorkle, American jazz singer (d. 2001)

• 1946 – Dr.S.Rajasekharan, Indian poet and critic

• 1947 – Chris Cutler, English musician and composer (Henry Cow, Art Bears)

• 1947 – Rick Stein, English chef and television presenter

• 1948 – Eugeniusz Wycisło, Polish politician

• 1950 – John Louis Evans, American convicted murderer (d. 1983)

• 1951 – Barbara Cochran, American alpine skier

• 1953 – Norberto Alonso, Argentine footballer

• 1954 – Eugene Chadbourne, American composer and musician

• 1955 – Mark Hollis, English musician and composer (Talk Talk)

• 1956 – Nels Cline, American guitarist and composer

• 1956 – Bernard Sumner, English musician (Joy Division, New Order, Electronic)

• 1957 – Patty Loveless, American singer

• 1957 – Gurdas Maan, Eminent Punjabi Singer,Actor,Lyricist

• 1958 – Andy Borowitz, American comedian and satirist

• 1958 – Matt Frewer, American actor

• 1958 – Gary Jones, Welsh-born actor

• 1958 – Julian Sands, English actor

• 1959 – Yoshitomo Nara, Japanese pop artist

• 1960 – Michael Stipe, American singer (R.E.M.)

• 1960 – April Winchell, American actress

• 1961 – Lee Curreri, American actor

• 1961 – Sidney Green, American basketball player

• 1962 – Laila Eloui, Egyptian actress

• 1962 – Robin Guthrie, Scottish guitarist (Cocteau Twins)

• 1962 – Joe Kleine, American basketball player

• 1962 – André Rouvoet, Dutch politician

• 1962 – Peter Steele, American musician (Type O Negative)

• 1963 – Dave Foley, Canadian comedian and actor

• 1963 – Till Lindemann, German singer (Rammstein)

• 1964 – Tom Westman, American reality-show contestant

• 1965 – Yvan Attal, French actor and director

• 1965 – Guy Forget, French tennis player

• 1965 – Beth Gibbons, English singer (Portishead)

• 1965 – Cait O'Riordan, British musician (The Pogues)

• 1965 – Julia Ormond, English actress

• 1966 – Deana Carter, American singer

• 1967 – David Berman, American poet and singer/songwriter (Silver Jews)

• 1967 – Johnny Nelson, English boxer

• 1967 – Marina Orsini, Canadian actress

• 1967 – David Toms, American golfer

• 1968 – Mike Wilpolt, American arena football head coach

• 1969 – Corie Blount, American basketball player

• 1969 – Kees van Wonderen, Dutch footballer

• 1970 – Chris Kanyon, American professional wrestler

• 1971 – Junichi Kakizaki, Japanese artist, sculptor

• 1972 – James Longley, American documentary filmmaker

• 1973 – Greg de Vries, Canadian hockey player

• 1973 – Frank Høj, Danish cyclist

• 1973 – Harmony Korine, American film director and artist

• 1974 – Ian Moor, English singer

• 1974 – Armin Zöggeler, Italian luger

• 1975 – Jill Marie Jones, American actress

• 1976 – Benoît Joachim, Luxembourg cyclist

• 1976 – Ted Lilly, American baseball player

• 1977 – Irán Castillo, Mexican actress

• 1977 – Dan Shanahan, Irish hurler

• 1977 – Tim Wheeler, Irish singer (Ash)

• 1978 – Dominik Hrbatý, Slovakian tennis player

• 1978 – Mai Meneses, Spanish singer

• 1979 – Tristan Gommendy, French racing driver

• 1979 – Jeph Howard, American musician (The Used)

• 1979 – Charity Rahmer, American actress

• 1980 – Greg Cipes, American actor

• 1980 – Bobbi Eden, Dutch pornostar

• 1980 – Miguel Monteiro, Portuguese footballer

• 1980 – Yaroslav Popovych, Ukrainian cyclist

• 1981 – Silvy De Bie, Belgian singer

• 1982 – Paulo Ferrari, Argentinian footballer

• 1982 – Kang Hye-jeong, South Korean actress

• 1982 – Richard Logan, English footballer

• 1984 – Samantha Reid, American girl killed by GHB - but not raped (d. 1999)r

• 1985 – Fernando Rees, Brazilian race car driver

• 1986 – James Milner, English footballer

• 1986 – Steve Slaton , American football player

• 1988 – Nabila Jamshed, Indian writer

• 1989 – Graham Rahal, American race car driver

• 1990 – Toni Kroos, German footballer

• 1990 – Alberto Paloschi, Italian footballer

• 1991 – Olivia Tennet, New Zealand actress

• 2000 – Rhiannon Leigh Wryn, American actress

Deaths

• 1248 – King Sancho II of Portugal (b. 1207)

• 1428 – Frederick I, Elector of Saxony, 'The Warlike' (b. 1370)

• 1564 – Hosokawa Ujitsuna, Japanese military commander (b. 1514)

• 1584 – Tobias Stimmer, Swiss painter and drawer (b. 1539)

• 1695 – François Henri de Montmorency-Bouteville, duc de Luxembourg, French general (b. 1628)

• 1752 – Gabriel Cramer, Swiss mathematician (b. 1704)

• 1761 – Stephen Hales, English physiologist (b. 1677)

• 1773 – Anton Losenko, Russian painter (b. 1737)

• 1782 – Ange-Jacques Gabriel, French architect (b. 1698)

• 1786 – Moses Mendelssohn, German Jewish philosopher (b. 1729)

• 1804 – Charlotte Lennox, English author and poet (b. c.1730)

• 1821 – Elizabeth Ann Seton, American saint (b. 1774)

• 1825 – King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies (b. 1751)

• 1863 – Roger Hanson, Confederate general (b. 1827)

• 1874 – Thomas Gregson, Premier of Tasmania (b. 1798)

• 1877 – Cornelius Vanderbilt, American entrepreneur (b. 1794)

• 1882 – John William Draper, English scientist, photographer (b. 1811)

• 1883 – Antoine Eugène Alfred Chanzy, French general (b. 1823)

• 1891 – Antoine Labelle, Quebec catholic priest (b. 1833)

• 1896 – Joseph Hubert Reinkens, German Old Catholic bishop (b. 1821)

• 1903 – Gulstan Ropert, Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1839)

• 1903 – Topsy the elephant (b. c. 1875)

• 1910 – Léon Delagrange, French aviator and sculptor (b. 1873)

• 1919 – Georg von Hertling, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1843)

• 1920 – Benito Pérez Galdós, Spanish novelist (b. 1843)

• 1924 – Alfred Grünfeld, Austrian pianist, composer (b. 1852)

• 1931 – Art Acord, American actor (b. 1890)

• 1931 – Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife (b. 1867)

• 1941 – Henri Bergson, French philosopher, Nobel laureate (b. 1859)

• 1944 – Kai Munk, Danish playwright, Lutheran pastor (b. 1898)

• 1947 – Julian Ashby Burruss, American academic (b. 1876)

• 1960 – Albert Camus, Algerian-born philosopher and writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1913)

• 1961 – Erwin Schrödinger, Austrian physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1887)

• 1962 – Hans Lammers, German SS officer (b. 1879)

• 1965 – T. S. Eliot, American-born writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1888)

• 1967 – Donald Campbell, English motorboat racer (b. 1921)

• 1969 – Daisy and Violet Hilton, British conjoined twins (b. 1908)

• 1970 – Jean-Étienne Valluy, French general (b. 1899)

• 1971 – Arthur Ford, American clairaudient (b. 1896)

• 1975 – Carlo Levi, Italian painter, writer and activist (b. 1902)

• 1981 – Ruth Lowe, Canadian pianist and composer (b. 1914)

• 1985 – Brian Horrocks, British general (b. 1895)

• 1985 – Lovro von Matacic, Croatian conductor (b. 1899)

• 1986 – Christopher Isherwood, English writer (b. 1904)

• 1986 – Phil Lynott, Irish musician (Thin Lizzy) (b. 1949)

• 1988 – Lily Laskine, French harpist (b. 1893)

• 1990 – Sir Henry Bolte, Premier of Victoria 1955-1972 (b. 1908)

• 1990 – Harold Edgerton, American electrical engineer (b. 1903)

• 1993 – Charles Bridgford, Australian politician (b. 1910)

• 1994 – RD Burman, Indian musician (b. 1939)

• 1995 – Eduardo Mata, Mexican conductor and composer (b. 1942)

• 1995 – Sol Tax, American anthropologist (b. 1907)

• 1996 – Ramón Vinay, Chilean operatic tenor (b. 1911)

• 1997 – Harry Helmsley, American real estate mogul (b. 1909)

• 1998 – John Gary, American singer (b. 1932)

• 1998 – Mae Questel, American actress (b. 1908)

• 1999 – Iron Eyes Cody, American actor (b. 1904)

• 2000 – Tom Fears, American football player (b. 1922)

• 2001 – Les Brown, American bandleader (b. 1912)

• 2003 – Conrad Hall, American cinematographer (b. 1927)

• 2003 – Yfrah Neaman, Lebanese-born violinist (b. 1923)

• 2003 – Sabine Ulibarri, American writer (b. 1919)

• 2004 – Joan Aiken, English author (b. 1924)

• 2004 – Brian Gibson (director), English film director (b. 1944)

• 2004 – Jake Hess, American singer (b. 1927)

• 2004 – Jeff Nuttall, English writer (b. 1933)

• 2004 – John Toland, American historian (b. 1912)

• 2005 – Humphrey Carpenter, English author (b. 1946)

• 2005 – Guy Davenport, American author, artist, and scholar (b. 1927)

• 2005 – Ali al-Haidri, Iraqi governor of Baghdad

• 2005 – Frank Harary, American mathematician (b. 1921)

• 2005 – Robert Heilbroner, American economist (b. 1919)

• 2005 – Bud Poile, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1924)

• 2005 – Alton Tobey, American artist (b. 1914)

• 2006 – Irving Layton, Canadian poet (b. 1912)

• 2006 – Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai (b. 1946)

• 2006 – Robert Howard White, New Zealander politician (b. 1914)

• 2007 – Ben Gannon, Australian theatre producer (b. 1952)

• 2007 – Gren, Welsh newspaper cartoonist (b. 1934)

• 2007 – Helen Hill, American filmmaker (b. 1970)

• 2007 – Sir Lewis Hodges, British Air Chief Marshal (b. 1918)

• 2007 – Steve Krantz, American film and TV producer (b. 1923)

• 2007 – Gáspár Nagy, Hungarian poet and writer (b. 1949)

• 2007 – Sandro Salvadore, Italian footballer (b. 1939)

• 2007 – Jan Schröder, Dutch cyclist (b. 1941)

• 2007 – Marais Viljoen, South African politician (b. 1915)

• 2007 – Osman Waqialla, Sudanese artist and calligrapher (b. 1925)

• 2008 – Joyce Carlson, American artist (b. 1923)

• 2008 – Xavier Chamorro Cardenal, Nicaraguan print editor (b. 1932)

• 2008 – Jimmy Nah, Singaporan comedian and actor (b. 1968)

• 2009 – Giselle Salandy, Trinidad & Tobago female boxer (b. 1987)

Holidays and observances

• Independence Day of Burma/Myanmar

• Feast day of St Elizabeth Ann Seton

• The eleventh day of Christmas in Western Christianity

• Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People

• January 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Count Deshanel of Epirus is born.