Events

• 1477 – Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is killed and Burgundy becomes part of France.

• 1500 – Duke Ludovico Sforza conquers Milan.

• 1527 – Felix Manz, a leader of the Anabaptist congregation in Zürich, is executed by drowning.

• 1554 – A great fire occurs in Eindhoven, Netherlands.

• 1675 – Battle of Colmar: the French army beats Brandenburg.

• 1757 – Louis XV of France survives an assassination attempt by Robert–François Damiens, the last person to be executed in France by the traditional and gruesome form of capital punishment used for regicides.

• 1759 – George Washington marries Martha Dandridge Custis.

• 1781 – American Revolutionary War: Richmond, Virginia, is burned by British naval forces led by Benedict Arnold.

• 1846 – The United States House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Territory with the United Kingdom.

• 1854 – The San Francisco steamer sinks, killing 300 people.

• 1889 – Preston North End is declared winner of the original football league.

• 1895 – Dreyfus Affair: French army officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island.

• 1896 – An Austrian newspaper reports that Wilhelm Roentgen has discovered a type of radiation later known as X-rays.

• 1900 – Irish leader John Edward Redmond calls for a revolt against British rule.

• 1909 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama.

• 1912 – The Prague Party Conference takes place.

• 1913 – First Balkan War: During the Naval Battle of Lemnos, Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it did not venture for the rest of the war.

• 1914 – The Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and a minimum wage of $5 for a day's labor.

• 1918 – The Free Committee for a German Workers Peace, which would become the Nazi party, is founded.

• 1925 – Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming becomes the first female governor in the United States.

• 1933 – Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge begins in San Francisco Bay.

• 1940 – FM radio is demonstrated to the FCC for the first time.

• 1944 – The Daily Mail becomes the first transoceanic newspaper.

• 1945 – The Soviet Union recognizes the new pro-Soviet government of Poland.

• 1968 – Alexander Dubček comes to power: "Prague Spring" begins in Czechoslovakia.

• 1969 – Members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary damage property and assault occupants in the Bogside in Derry, Northern Ireland. In response, residents erect barricades and establish Free Derry.

• 1972 – U.S. President Richard Nixon orders the development of a space shuttle program.

• 1974 – An earthquake in Lima, Peru, kills six people, and damages hundreds of houses.

• 1974 – Warmest reliably measured temperature in Antarctica of +59°F (+15°C) recorded at Vanda Station

• 1975 – The Tasman Bridge in Tasmania, Australia, is struck by the bulk ore carrier Lake Illawarra, killing twelve people.

• 1976 – Cambodia is renamed Democratic Kampuchea by the Khmer Rouge.

• 1993 – The oil tanker MV Braer runs aground on the coast of the Shetland Islands, spilling 84,700 tons of crude oil.

• 1993 – Washington state executes Westley Allan Dodd by hanging (the last legal hanging in America).

• 1996 – Hamas operative Yahya Ayyash is killed by an Israeli-planted booby-trapped cell phone.

• 2003 – Police arrest seven suspects in connection with Wood Green ricin plot.

• 2005 – Eris, the largest known dwarf planet in the solar system, is discovered by the team of Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David L. Rabinowitz using images originally taken on October 21, 2003, at the Palomar Observatory.

Births

• 1209 – Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1272)

• 1548 – Francisco Suarez, Spanish theologian (d. 1617)

• 1587 – Xu Xiake, Chinese geographer (d. 1641)

• 1592 – Shah Jahan, Mughal Emperor of India (d. 1666)

• 1614 – Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria (d. 1662)

• 1667 – Antonio Lotti, Italian composer (d. 1740)

• 1696 – Giuseppe Galli-Bibiena, Italian architect/painter (d. 1757)

• 1717 – William Wildman Shute Barrington, British statesman (d. 1793)

• 1762 – Constanze Mozart, wife of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (d. 1842)

• 1767 – Jean-Baptiste Say, French economist, originator of Say's Law (d. 1832)

• 1778 – Zebulon Pike, American explorer (d. 1813)

• 1779 – Stephen Decatur, American naval officer (d. 1820)

• 1808 – Anton Füster, Austrian priest and revolutionary activist (d. 1881)

• 1829 – Sir Roger Tichborne, missing U.K. heir who is the subject of the longest criminal trial in British history (d. c. 1854)

• 1834 – William John Wills, English explorer of Australia, member of the Burke and Wills expedition (d. 1861)

• 1838 – Camille Jordan, French mathematician (d. 1922)

• 1846 – Rudolf Christoph Eucken, German writer, Nobel laureate (d. 1926)

• 1855 – King Camp Gillette, American inventor (d. 1932)

• 1864 – Bob Caruthers, American baseball player (d. 1911)

• 1864 – Ban Johnson, American baseball executive (d. 1931)

• 1865 – Julio Garavito Armero, Colombian astronomer (d. 1920)

• 1866 – Dimitrios Gounaris, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1922)

• 1871 – Frederick Converse, U.S. composer (d. 1940)

• 1874 – Joseph Erlanger, American physiologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1965)

• 1876 – Konrad Adenauer, German statesman (d. 1967)

• 1879 – Hans Eppinger, Austrian physician (d. 1946)

• 1880 – Nikolay Medtner, Russian composer (d. 1951)

• 1882 – Herbert Bayard Swope, U.S. journalist who coined the term "Cold War" (d. 1958)

• 1885 – Humbert Wolfe, Italian-British poet (d. 1940)

• 1893 – Zoltán Böszörmény, Hungarian Nazi politician (d. unknown)

• 1893 – Paramahansa Yogananda, Indian guru (d. 1952)

• 1895 – Jeannette Piccard, American teacher, scientist, priest, and aeronaut (d. 1981)

• 1895 – Elizabeth Cotten, American musician (d. 1987)

• 1900 – Yves Tanguy, French painter (d. 1955)

• 1902 – Stella Gibbons, English novelist (d. 1989)

• 1903 – Harold Gatty, Australian aviator, navigator with Wiley Post (d. 1957)

• 1904 – Erica Morini, Austrian violinist (d. 1995)

• 1904 – Jeane Dixon, American astrologer (d. 1997)

• 1906 – Kathleen Kenyon, English archaeologist (d. 1978)

• 1908 – George Dolenz, American actor (d. 1963)

• 1909 – Stephen Kleene, American mathematician (d. 1994)

• 1909 – Lucienne Bloch, Swiss-U.S. sculptor, muralist, photographer (d. 1995)

• 1910 – Jack Lovelock, New Zealand athlete (d. 1949)

• 1910 – Hugh Brannum, American actor (d. 1987)

• 1911 – Jean-Pierre Aumont, French actor (d. 2001)

• 1914 – Nicolas de Staël, French-Russian painter (d. 1955)

• 1914 – George Reeves, American actor (d. 1959)

• 1915 – Arthur H. Robinson, Canadian-born cartographer (d. 2004)

• 1917 – Wieland Wagner, German stage director (d. 1966)

• 1917 – Jane Wyman, American actress (d. 2007)

• 1917 – Francis L. Kellogg, U.S. diplomat and prominent socialite (d. 2006)

• 1917 – Lucienne Day, textile designer

• 1919 – Severino Gazzelloni, Italian flautist (d. 1992)

• 1920 – Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Italian pianist (d. 1995)

• 1921 – Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Swiss writer (d. 1990)

• 1921 – Paul Governali, American professional football player (d. 1978)

• 1921 – Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg

• 1922 – Admiral Sir Anthony Synnot, Chief of the Australian Defence Force (d. 2001)

• 1923 – Sam Phillips, American music producer (d. 2003)

• 1924 – Dr Gilbert Bogle, Australian scientist who died in the Bogle-Chandler case (1963)

• 1926 – Hosea Williams, American activist (d. 2000)

• 1926 – William De Witt Snodgrass, American poet

• 1928 – Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Pakistani statesman (d. 1979)

• 1928 – Walter Mondale, American politician

• 1929 – Wilbert Harrison, American singer (d. 1994)

• 1931 – Alvin Ailey, American choreographer (d. 1989)

• 1931 – Alfred Brendel, Austrian pianist

• 1931 – Joan Coxsedge, Australian politician

• 1931 – Robert Duvall, American actor

• 1932 – Raisa Gorbacheva, wife of Mikhail Gorbachev (d. 1999)

• 1932 – Umberto Eco, Italian writer

• 1932 – Chuck Noll, American football coach

• 1934 – William Bendeck, Bolivian rally driver (d. 1971)

• 1936 – Florence King, American humorist

• 1938 – King Juan Carlos I of Spain

• 1938 – Jim Otto, American football player

• 1938 – Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Kenyan writer

• 1940 – Michael O'Donoghue, American writer (d. 1994)

• 1940 – Yuri Ershov, Russian mathematician

• 1940 – Athol Guy, Australian singer, member of The Seekers

• 1940 – General Sir Michael Rose, UK military officer, prominent in Bosnia

• 1941 – Hayao Miyazaki, Japanese film maker

• 1941 – Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Indian cricketer

• 1942 – Jan Leeming, English television presenter and newsreader

• 1942 – Terenci Moix, Spanish writer (d. 2003)

• 1942 – Maurizio Pollini, Italian pianist

• 1942 – Charlie Rose, American talk show host

• 1943 – Justice Mary Gaudron, first female judge of the High Court of Australia

• 1944 – Ed Rendell, American politician

• 1945 – Chuck McKinley, U.S. tennis player (d. 1986)

• 1945 – Roger Spottiswoode, Canadian-born film director

• 1946 – Diane Keaton, American actress

• 1947 – Mercury Morris, American football player

• 1948 – Ted Lange, American actor

• 1949 – George Brown, American drummer (Kool & The Gang)

• 1950 – Ioan Petru Culianu, Romanian-born professor (d. 1991)

• 1950 – John Manley, Canadian politician

• 1950 – Charlie Richmond, Canadian entrepreneur

• 1950 – Chris Stein, American guitarist (Blondie)

• 1950 – Krzysztof Wielicki, Polish mountaineer

• 1951 – Steve Arnold, English footballer

• 1953 – Steve Archer, American singer (The Archers)

• 1953 – Pamela Sue Martin, American actress

• 1953 – Mike Rann, Australian politician

• 1953 – George Tenet, American CIA director

• 1954 – Alex English, American basketball player

• 1956 – Chen Kenichi, Japanese-born chef

• 1956 – Tim Macartney-Snape, Australian mountaineer

• 1957 – Kevin Hastings, Australian rugby league footballer

• 1958 – Nancy Delahunt, Canadian athlete (curling)

• 1959 – Clancy Brown, American actor

• 1960 – Steve Jones, British aviator (Red Bull Air Race World Series)

• 1960 – Glenn Strömberg, Swedish footballer

• 1960 – Phil Thornalley, English bass guitarist (The Cure)

• 1962 – Perry Fenwick, English actor

• 1962 – Danny Jackson, American baseball player

• 1963 – Jeff Fassero, American baseball player

• 1964 – Grant Young, American drummer (Soul Asylum)

• 1965 – Vinnie Jones, English-born Welsh footballer and actor

• 1966 – Steve Tuttle, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1966 – Kate Schellenbach, American drummer (Luscious Jackson)

• 1967 – Joe Flanigan, American actor

• 1968 – DJ Bobo, Swiss singer

• 1968 – Ricky Paull Goldin, American actor

• 1968 – Andrew Golota, Polish boxer

• 1968 – Carrie Ann Inaba, American dancer and choreographer

• 1968 – Joé Juneau, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1969 – Marilyn Manson, American singer

• 1969 – Paul McGillion, Scottish actor

• 1970 – Rick Campanelli, Canadian TV presenter

• 1971 – Mayuko Takata, Japanese actress

• 1971 – Jayne Middlemiss, British TV presenter and Celebrity Masterchef

• 1972 – Sakis Rouvas, Greek singer

• 1973 – Phil Joel, New Zealand bassist (Newsboys)

• 1974 – Sarah Jane Honeywell – UK Television presenter

• 1975 – Kylie Bax, New Zealand model

• 1975 – Bradley Cooper, American actor

• 1975 – Warrick Dunn, American football player

• 1975 – Mike Grier, American ice hockey player

• 1976 – Diego Tristán, Spanish footballer

• 1976 – Matt Wachter, American bassist (30 Seconds to Mars)

• 1978 – January Jones, American actress

• 1978 – Franck Montagny, French Formula One driver

• 1978 – Sabrina Harman, American military figure and accused torturer

• 1979 – Kyle Calder, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1979 – Ronnie O'Brien, Irish footballer

• 1980 – Bennie Joppru, American football player

• 1981 – Corey Flynn, New Zealand rugby union footballer

• 1981 – Brooklyn Sudano, American actress

• 1982 – Janica Kostelić, Croatian skier

• 1983 – Sean Dockery, American basketball player

• 1985 – Michael Cuccione, Canadian actor (d. 2001)

• 1985 – Yoon So-Yi, South Korean actress

• 1985 – Diego Vera, Uruguayan footballer

• 1986 – Deepika Padukone, Indian model and actress

• 1986 – Teppei Koike, Japanese actor and singer

• 1986 – J. P. Arencibia, American baseball player

• 1988 – Pauline, French singer

• 1989 – Krisztián Németh, Hungarian footballer

• 1996 – Max Baldry, English actor

• 1999 – Marc Yu, musical prodigy

Deaths

• 842 – Al-Mu'tasim, Abbasid caliph (b. 794)

• 1066 – Edward the Confessor, King of England (b. 1004)

• 1387 – King Peter IV of Aragon (b. 1319)

• 1400 – John Montacute, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, English politician (executed) (b. c. 1350)

• 1448 – Christopher of Bavaria (b. 1416)

• 1465 – Charles, Duke of Orléans, French poet (b. 1394)

• 1477 – Charles, Duke of Burgundy (killed in battle) (b. 1433)

• 1524 – Marko Marulić, Croatian poet (b. 1450)

• 1527 – Felix Manz, Swiss leader (executed) (b. 1498)

• 1588 – Qi Jiguang, Chinese general (b. 1528)

• 1589 – Catherine de' Medici, queen of Henry II of France (b. 1519)

• 1713 – Jean Chardin, French explorer (b. 1643)

• 1740 – Antonio Lotti, Italian composer (b. 1667)

• 1762 – Empress Elizabeth of Russia (b. 1709)

• 1771 – John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford, British statesman (b. 1710)

• 1796 – Samuel Huntington,(statesman) (b. 1731)

• 1823 – Major George Johnston, Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales (b. 1764)

• 1846 – Alfred Thomas Agate, American artist (b. 1812)

• 1858 – Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, Austrian field marshal (b. 1766)

• 1860 – Saint John Nepomucene Neumann, first American bishop to be canonized (b. 1811)

• 1883 – Charles Tompson, first Australian published poet (b. 1806)

• 1888 – Henri Herz, Austrian pianist (b. 1803)

• 1891 – Emma Abbott, American soprano (b. 1849)

• 1904 – Karl Alfred von Zittel, German palaeontologist (b. 1839)

• 1910 – Léon Walras, French economist (b. 1834)

• 1919 – Sumako Matsui, Japanese actress and singer (b. 1886)

• 1922 – Ernest Shackleton, Irish explorer (b. 1874)

• 1933 – Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States (b. 1872)

• 1937 – Marie Booth, child of William and Catherine Booth (b. 1864)

• 1939 – Amelia Earhart, American aviator declared dead after disappearance in 1937. (b. 1897)

• 1940 – Humbert Wolfe, Italian-British poet (b. 1885)

• 1941 – Amy Johnson, English aviator (b. 1903)

• 1942 – Tina Modotti, Italian photographer, model, actress, and revolutionary political activist (b. 1896)

• 1943 – George Washington Carver, American educator (b. 1864)

• 1946 – Kitty Cheatham, American singer (b. 1864)

• 1951 – Andrei Platonov, Russian writer (b. 1899)

• 1952 – Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow, Viceroy of India (b. 1887)

• 1952 – Hristo Tatarchev, Bulgarian revolutionary (b. 1869)

• 1954 – Rabbit Maranville, American baseball player (b. 1891)

• 1956 – Mistinguett, French singer (b. 1875)

• 1963 – Rogers Hornsby, American baseball player (b. 1896)

• 1970 – Max Born, German physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1882)

• 1970 – Cyril Fagan, Irish astrologer (b. 1896)

• 1970 – Roberto Gerhard, Catalan composer (b. 1896)

• 1971 – Douglas Shearer, Canadian film engineer (b. 1899)

• 1974 – Lev Oborin, Russian pianist (b. 1907)

• 1976 – John A. Costello, Taoiseach of Ireland (b. 1891)

• 1976 – Mal Evans, Beatles' "roadie" (b. 1935)

• 1978 – Wyatt Cooper, American screenwriter (b. 1927)

• 1979 – Charles Mingus, American musician (b. 1922)

• 1981 – Harold C. Urey, American chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1893)

• 1981 – Lanza del Vasto, Italian philosopher (b. 1901)

• 1982 – Sir Edmund Herring, Australian military commander, Lieutenant Governor of Victoria (b. 1892)

• 1982 – Hans Conried, American actor (b. 1917)

• 1982 – Harvey Lembeck, American actor (b. 1923)

• 1985 – Robert L. Surtees, American Oscar-winning cinematographer (Ben-Hur) (b. 1906)

• 1987 – Herman Smith-Johannsen, Norwegian-born Canadian cross-country skier (b. 1875)

• 1987 – Margaret Laurence, Canadian Author (b. 1926)

• 1988 – Pete Maravich, American basketball player (b. 1947)

• 1990 – Arthur Kennedy, American actor (b. 1914)

• 1991 – Vasko Popa, Yugoslav poet (b. 1922)

• 1994 – Brian Johnston, English cricket commentator (b. 1912)

• 1994 – Tip O'Neill, American politician (b. 1912)

• 1996 – Lincoln Kirstein, American writer, impresario, art connoisseur (b. 1907)

• 1996 – Yahya Ayyash, Palestinian Hamas member (b. 1966)

• 1997 – Burton Lane, American composer and lyricist (b. 1912)

• 1997 – André Franquin, Belgian cartoonist (Gaston Lagaffe) (b. 1924)

• 1998 – Sonny Bono, American entertainer and politician (b. 1935)

• 1998 – Ken Forssi, American musician (Love) (b. 1943)

• 2001 – Nancy Parsons, American actress (b. 1942)

• 2003 – Massimo Girotti, Italian film actor (b. 1918)

• 2003 – Roy Jenkins, British politician (b. 1920)

• 2003 – Doreen Carwithen, British composer, widow of William Alwyn (b. 1922)

• 2003 – Jean Kerr, American author (b. 1923)

• 2004 – Tug McGraw, American baseball player, father of Tim McGraw (b. 1944)

• 2004 – Norman Heatley, member of the team of Oxford University scientists who developed penicillin (b. 1911)

• 2005 – Danny Sugerman, American music manager (The Doors) (b. 1954)

• 2006 – Lord Merlyn-Rees, British politician (b. 1920)

• 2007 – Momofuku Ando, inventor of instant noodles and cup noodles (b. 1910)

• 2007 – Chih Ree Sun, Chinese-American physicist and poet (b. 1923)

• 2008 – Clinton Grybas, Australian sports commentator (b. 1975)

• 2009 – Ned Tanen, American movie executive (b. 1931)

Holidays and observances

• The Twelfth day of Christmas in Western Christianity, and the Twelfth Night of Christmas in Western Christianity.

• Feast day of:

• *St. John Neumann

• *St. Simeon Stylites

• *Pope Telesphorus

• January 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Mungday (Discordianism)