Events

• 1066 – Harold Godwinson is crowned King of England.

• 1205 – Philip of Swabia becomes King of the Romans.

• 1449 – Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI is crowned at Mistra.

• 1494 – The first Mass in the New World is celebrated at La Isabela, Hispaniola.

• 1540 – King Henry VIII of England marries Anne of Cleves.

• 1579 – The Union of Atrecht is signed.

• 1649 – English Civil War: The Rump Parliament votes to put Charles I on trial.

• 1661 – English Restoration: The Fifth Monarchists unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London.

• 1690 – Joseph, son of Emperor Leopold I, becomes King of the Romans.

• 1721 – The Committee of Inquiry on the South Sea Bubble publishes its findings.

• 1781 – In the Battle of Jersey, the British defeat the last attempt by France to invade Jersey.

• 1838 – Samuel Morse first successfully tests the electrical telegraph.

• 1853 – President-elect of the United States Franklin Pierce and his family are involved in a train wreck near Andover, Massachusetts.

• 1870 – The inauguration of the Musikverein (Vienna).

• 1893 – The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress. The charter is signed by President Benjamin Harrison.

• 1907 – Maria Montessori opens her first school and daycare center for working class children in Rome.

• 1912 – New Mexico is admitted as the 47th U.S. state.

• 1929 – King Alexander of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes suspends his country's constitution (the so-called January 6th Dictatorship, Šestojanuarska diktatura).

• 1929 – Mother Teresa arrives in Calcutta to begin a her work amongst India's poorest and diseased people.

• 1930 – The first diesel-engined automobile trip is completed (from Indianapolis, Indiana, to New York City).

• 1931 – Thomas Edison submits his last patent application.

• 1936 – The Supreme Court of the United States rules that the 1933 Agricultural Adjustment Act is unconstitutional in the case United States v. Butler et al.

• 1941 – President Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivers his Four Freedoms Speech in the State of the Union Address.

• 1942 – Pan American Airlines becomes the first commercial airline to schedule a flight around the world.

• 1950 – The United Kingdom recognizes the People's Republic of China. The Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with the UK in response.

• 1953 – The first Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma.

• 1967 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and ARVN troops launch "Operation Deckhouse Five" in the Mekong River delta.

• 1974 – In response to the 1973 energy crisis, daylight saving time commences nearly four months early in the United States.

• 1978 – The Crown of St. Stephen (also known as the Holy Crown of Hungary) is returned to Hungary from the United States, where it was held after World War II.

• 1994 – Nancy Kerrigan is clubbed in the knee at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit.

• 1995 – A chemical fire in an apartment complex in Manila, Philippines, leads to the discovery of plans for Project Bojinka, a mass-terrorist attack.

• 2004 – Costas Simitis announces his resignation as president of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement in Greece.

• 2005 – American Civil Rights Movement: Edgar Ray Killen is arrested as a suspect in the 1964 murders of three civil rights workers.

Births

• 1367 – Richard II of England (d. 1400)

• 1412 – Joan of Arc, Roman Catholic Saint and national heroine of France (legendary date) (d. 1431) Birthdate is up for debate, this is an educated guess, some scholars suggest that the actual birthdate is the 7th.

• 1486 – Martin Agricola, German composer (d. 1556)

• 1488 – Helius Eobanus Hessus, German poet (d. 1540)

• 1525 – Caspar Peucer, German reformer (d. 1602)

• 1561 – Thomas Fincke, Danish mathematician (d. 1656)

• 1580 – (baptised) John Smith of Jamestown (d. 1631)

• 1587 – Gaspar de Guzmán y Pimentel, Count-Duke of Olivares, Spanish statesman (d. 1645)

• 1595 – Claude Favre de Vaugelas, French man of letters (d. 1650)

• 1617 – Kristoffer Gabel, Danish statesman (d. 1673)

• 1655 – Jakob Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (d. 1705)

• 1655 – Eleonore-Magdalena of Neuburg, Holy Roman Empire Empress (d. 1720)

• 1673 – 1st Duke of Chandos, English aristocrat, eponym of Handel's Chandos Anthems (d. 1744)

• 1714 – Percivall Pott, English physician (d. 1788)

• 1745 – Étienne Montgolfier, French inventor (d. 1799)

• 1793 – James Madison Porter, American politician (d. 1862)

• 1795 – Anselme Payen, French chemist (d. 1871)

• 1799 – Jedediah Strong Smith, U.S. hunter, explorer (d. 1831)

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

• 1807 – Jozef Maximilián Petzval, Slovak inventor (d. 1891)

• 1808 – Joseph Pitty Couthouy, American naval officer (d. 1864)

• 1811 – Charles Sumner, U.S. politician (d. 1874)

• 1812 – Melchora Aquino, Filipino revolutionary hero (d. 1919)

• 1819 – Baldassare Verazzi, Italian painter (d. 1886)

• 1822 – Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist (d. 1890)

• 1832 – Gustave Doré, French painter and sculptor (d. 1883)

• 1838 – Max Bruch, German composer (d. 1920)

• 1848 – Hristo Botev, Bulgarian poet and revolutionary (d. 1876)

• 1850 – Franz Xaver Scharwenka, Polish-German pianist and composer (d. 1924)

• 1856 – Giuseppe Martucci, Italian composer (d. 1909)

• 1857 – Hugh Mahon, Irish-born Australian politician (d. 1931)

• 1857 – William E. Russell, 37^th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1896)

• 1859 – Samuel Alexander, Australian-born British philosopher (d. 1938)

• 1861 – George Exton Lloyd, Anglican bishop and theologian (d. 1940)

• 1868 – Vittorio Monti, Italian composer (Csardas) (d. 1922)

• 1870 – Gustav Bauer, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1944)

• 1872 – Alexander Scriabin, Russian composer (d. 1915)

• 1874 – Fred Niblo, American film actor, director, producer (d. 1948)

• 1878 – Carl Sandburg, American poet and historian (d. 1967)

• 1878 – Dame Adeline Genée, Danish-British ballerina (d. 1970)

• 1880 – Tom Mix, American actor (d. 1940)

• 1882 – Aleksandra Ekster, Russian painter (d. 1949)

• 1882 – Sam Rayburn, American politician (d. 1961)

• 1882 – Fan S. Noli, Albanian bishop (d. 1965)

• 1883 – Khalil Gibran, Lebanese writer (d. 1931)

• 1898 – James Fitzmaurice, Irish aviation pioneer (d. 1965)

• 1898 – Charles E. Pont, American artist (d. 1971)

• 1899 – Phyllis Haver, American actress (d. 1960)

• 1899 – Heinrich Nordhoff, German automobile engineer (d. 1968)

• 1900 – Kathryn Hulme, American novelist (d. 1981)

• 1902 – Helmut Poppendick, Nazi physician (d. 1994)

• 1903 – Francis L. Sullivan, English actor (d. 1956)

• 1903 – Maurice Abravanel, Greek-born conductor (d. 1993)

• 1905 – Idris Davies, Welsh poet (d. 1953)

• 1907 – David Fleay, Australian naturalist (d. 1993)

• 1910 – Wright Morris, American writer (d. 1998)

• 1912 – Danny Thomas, American actor (d. 1991)

• 1913 – Loretta Young, American actress (d. 2000)

• 1913 – Edward Gierek, Polish politician (d. 2001)

• 1915 – Alan Watts, English writer/philosopher (d. 1973)

• 1915 – John C. Lilly, American psychoanalyst (d. 2001)

• 1916 – Vincent Serventy, Australian writer and conservationist (d. 2007)

• 1917 – Koo Chen-fu, Chinese negotiator (d. 2005)

• 1920 – Doris Stokes, British psychic medium (d. 1987)

• 1920 – Early Wynn, American baseball player (d. 1999)

• 1920 – John Maynard Smith, English biologist (d. 2004)

• 1920 – Sun Myung Moon, Korean evangelist

• 1921 – Cary Middlecoff, American golfer (d. 1998)

• 1923 – Norman Kirk, New Zealander politician (d. 1974)

• 1923 – Jacobo Timerman, Argentine writer (d. 1999)

• 1924 – Earl Scruggs, American musician

• 1925 – John De Lorean, American auto maker (d. 2005)

• 1926 – Pat Flaherty, American racecar driver (d. 2002)

• 1926 – Kid Gavilan, Cuban boxer (d. 2003)

• 1926 – Mickey Hargitay, Hungarian-born American actor and bodybuilder (d. 2006)

• 1926 – Ralph Branca, American baseball player

• 1928 – Capucine, French actress (d. 1990)

• 1928 – George H. Ross, American businessman

• 1929 – Babrak Karmal, Afghani politician (d. 1996)

• 1929 – Anne Rogers Clark, American dog breeder and trainer (d. 2006)

• 1930 – Vic Tayback, American actor (d. 1990)

• 1931 – E. L. Doctorow, American author

• 1931 – Dickie Moore, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1932 – Stuart A. Rice, American chemist

• 1933 – Oleg Makarov, Soviet cosmonaut (d. 2003)

• 1933 – Emil Steinberger, Swiss comedian

• 1934 – Harry M. Miller, Australian entrepreneur

• 1934 – Tassos Papadopoulos, president of the Republic of Cyprus (d. 2008)

• 1934 – Sylvia Sims, English actress

• 1935 – Margarita Gomez-Acebo y Cejuela, Tsaritsa of Bulgaria

• 1935 – Nino Tempo, American singer and actor

• 1936 – Rubén Amaro, Sr., Mexican baseball player

• 1936 – Darlene Hard, American tennis player

• 1936 – Julio María Sanguinetti Coirolo, President of Uruguay

• 1937 – Doris Troy, American singer (d. 2004)

• 1937 – Paolo Conte, Italian singer

• 1937 – Lou Holtz, American football coach

• 1938 – Adriano Celentano, Italian singer and actor

• 1938 – Adrienne Clarke, Australian botanist and politician

• 1938 – Mario Rodríguez Cobos, Argentine writer and spiritual leader

• 1939 – Murray Rose, Australian Olympic swimmer

• 1940 – Van McCoy, American musician (d. 1979)

• 1940 – Penny Lernoux, American journalist (d. 1989)

• 1943 – Terry Venables, English football manager

• 1944 – Bonnie Franklin, American actress

• 1944 – Rolf M. Zinkernagel, Swiss immunologist, Nobel laureate

• 1945 – Allen Appel, American novelist

• 1946 – Syd Barrett, English guitarist, singer and songwriter Pink Floyd (d. 2006)

• 1947 – Sandy Denny, English singer and songwriter (d. 1978)

• 1948 – Guy Gardner, NASA astronaut

• 1950 – Louis Freeh, former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation

• 1951 – Don Gullett, American baseball player

• 1951 – Kim Wilson, American musician (The Fabulous Thunderbirds)

• 1952 – Moondog Spot, American professional wrestler (d. 2003)

• 1952 – Frank Sivero, Italian-born American actor

• 1953 – Malcolm Young, Scottish-born Australian guitarist (AC/DC)

• 1954 – Hans Robert Hiegel, German architect

• 1954 – Yuji Horii, Japanese video game designer

• 1954 – Anthony Minghella, British film director (d. 2008)

• 1954 – Karen Moras, Australian swimmer

• 1954 – Trudie Styler, English actress

• 1955 – Rowan Atkinson, English comedian and actor

• 1955 – Richard Corbett, Labour Member of the European Parliament

• 1956 – Angus Deayton, English comedian, actor and television presenter

• 1957 – Nancy Lopez, American golfer

• 1957 – C. Michael Foale, NASA astronaut

• 1958 – Themos Anastasiadis, Greek journalist and newspaper editor

• 1958 – Scott Bryce, American actor

• 1959 – Kapil Dev, Indian cricketer

• 1959 – Kathy Sledge, American singer

• 1960 – Paul Azinger, American golfer

• 1960 – Kari Jalonen, Finnish ice hockey player

• 1960 – Nigella Lawson, English chef and writer

• 1960 – Howie Long, National Football League player

• 1960 – Andrea Thompson, American actress

• 1962 – Michael Houser, American guitarist (Widespread Panic) (d. 2002)

• 1964 – Rafael Vidal, Venezuelan athlete (d. 2005)

• 1964 – Charles Haley, American football player

• 1964 – Henry Maske, German boxer

• 1964 – Jacqueline Moore, American wrestler

• 1964 – Mark O'Toole, English bass guitarist (Frankie Goes to Hollywood)

• 1964 – Yuri, Mexican actress and singer

• 1965 – Muhammed al-Ahari, American Muslim writer

• 1965 – Konnan, Cuban-born professional wrestler

• 1965 – Bjorn Lomborg, Danish mathematician

• 1966 – Andrew Wood, American singer (Mother Love Bone) (d. 1990)

• 1966 – Fernando Carrillo, Venezuelan actor

• 1966 – Sharon Cuneta,Filipina Megastar, Multi media Queen

• 1966 – A. R. Rahman, Indian composer

• 1968 – John Singleton, American film director

• 1969 – Norman Reedus, American model and actor

• 1970 – José Carabalí, Venezuelan track and field athlete

• 1970 – Julie Chen, American television presenter

• 1970 – Gabrielle Reece, American volleyball player

• 1971 – Gary Wiseman, American punk-rock drummer

• 1971 – Irwin Thomas, Australian singer (ex-Southern Sons)

• 1972 – Nek, Italian singer

• 1973 – Scott Ferguson, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1974 – Marlon Anderson, American baseball player

• 1974 – Paul Grant, American basketball player

• 1974 – Daniel Cordone, Argentine footballer

• 1975 – Nicole DeHuff, American actress (d. 2005)

• 1975 – James Farrior, American football player

• 1975 – Jason King, English radio DJ (Radio 1)

• 1975 – Yukana, Japanese seiyū

• 1976 – Danny Pintauro, American actor

• 1976 – Lu Yi (actor), Chinese actor.

• 1976 – Richard Zedník, Slovak ice hockey player

• 1976 – Johnny Yong Bosch, American actor, voice actor, and musician.

• 1978 – Nikki Einfeld, Canadian opera singer

• 1978 – Bubba Franks, American football player

• 1978 – Casey Fossum, American baseball player

• 1978 – Tara Spencer-Nairn, Canadian actress

• 1980 – Steed Malbranque, French footballer

• 1981 – Mike Jones, American rapper

• 1981 – Rinko Kikuchi, Japanese actress

• 1981 – Jérémie Renier, Belgian actor

• 1981 – Asante Samuel, American football player

• 1982 – Gilbert Arenas, American basketball player

• 1982 – Brian Bass, American baseball player

• 1982 – Tiffany Pollard, American reality television personality

• 1983 – Mithra Jin, South-Korean hip hop musician

• 1984 – Sean O'Brien, Australian windsurfer

• 1986 – Paul McShane, Irish footballer

• 1986 – Alex Turner, English musician (Arctic Monkeys)

• 1986 – Mike Teel, American football player

Deaths

• 664 – Amr ibn al-A'as, Arab general (b. c.583)

• 1088 – Berengar of Tours, French theologian (b. c.999)

• 1275 – St Raymond of Peñafort (b. c.1175)

• 1448 – Christopher of Bavaria, King of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (b. 1418)

• 1481 – Akhmat Khan, Khan of the Golden Horde

• 1537 – Baldassare Peruzzi, Italian architect and painter (b. 1481)

• 1537 – Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence (b. 1510)

• 1592 – Johann Casimir of Simmern, Elector Palatine (b. 1543)

• 1616 – Philip Henslowe, English theatrical entrepreneur (b. c.1550)

• 1646 – Elias Holl, German Architect (b. 1573)

• 1689 – Seth Ward, English mathematician and astronomer (b. 1617)

• 1693 – Mehmed IV, ex-Ottoman Sultan (b. 1642)

• 1711 – Philipp van Almonde, Dutch admiral (b. 1646)

• 1718 – Richard Hoare, English goldsmith and banker (b. 1648)

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

• 1725 – Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Japanese dramatist (b. 1653)

• 1731 – Étienne François Geoffroy, French chemist (b. 1672)

• 1734 – John Dennis, English dramatist (b. 1657)

• 1813 – Louis Baraguey d'Hilliers, French general (b. 1764)

• 1831 – Rodolphe Kreutzer, French violinist, composer and conductor (b. 1766)

• 1840 – Fanny Burney, English novelist and diarist (b. 1752)

• 1847 – Tyāgarāja, Carnatic Classic Music Composer,Indian(b. 1767)

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

• 1855 – Giacomo Beltrami, Italian explorer (b. 1779)

• 1882 – Richard Henry Dana, Jr., U.S. novelist (Two Years Before the Mast) (b. 1815)

• 1884 – Gregor Johann Mendel, Austrian geneticist (b. 1822)

• 1885 – Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, Norwegian writer and scientist (b. 1812)

• 1896 – Thomas W. Knox, American writer and journalist (b. 1835)

• 1913 – Frederick Hitch, English Victoria Cross Winner (b. 1856)

• 1918 – Georg Cantor, German mathematician (b. 1845)

• 1919 – Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States (b. 1858)

• 1919 – Max Heindel, Danish astrologer and mystic (b. 1865)

• 1922 – Jakob Rosanes, German mathematician (b. 1842)

• 1928 – Alvin Kraenzlein, American athlete (b. 1876)

• 1933 – Vladimir de Pachmann, Russian-German pianist (b. 1848)

• 1934 – Herbert Chapman , English football player and manager (b. 1878)

• 1937 – André Besette, Canadian religious figure (b. 1845)

• 1941 – Charley O'Leary, American baseball player (b. 1882)

• 1942 – Emma Calvé, French soprano (b. 1858)

• 1942 – Henri de Baillet-Latour, Belgian International Olympic Committee president (b. 1876)

• 1944 – Ida Tarbell, American journalist (b. 1857)

• 1945 – Vladimir Vernadsky, Russian mineralogist (b. 1863)

• 1945 – Edith Frank, mother of Anne Frank (b. 1900)

• 1949 – Victor Fleming, American director (b. 1883)

• 1966 – Jean Lurçat, French painter and tapestry designer (b. 1892)

• 1972 – Chen Yi, Chinese military commander and politician (b. 1901)

• 1974 – David Alfaro Siqueiros, Mexican painter (b. 1896)

• 1978 – Burt Munro, New Zealand motorcycle racer (b. 1899)

• 1981 – A. J. Cronin, Scottish writer (b. 1896)

• 1984 – Ernest Laszlo, Hungarian-U.S. cinematographer (b. 1898)

• 1990 – Pavel Alekseyevich Čerenkov, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)

• 1990 – Ian Charleson, Scottish actor (b. 1949)

• 1993 – Dizzy Gillespie, acclaimed jazz trumpet player (b. 1917)

• 1993 – Richard Mortensen, Danish painter (b. 1910)

• 1993 – Rudolf Nureyev, Russian ballet dancer (b. 1938)

• 1994 – Virginia Dell Cassidy, Bill Clinton's mother (b. 1923)

• 1995 – Joe Slovo, South African politician (b. 1926)

• 1997 – Catherine Scorsese, Italian-American actress (b. 1912)

• 1999 – Michel Petrucciani, French jazz pianist (b. 1962)

• 2000 – Don Martin, American cartoonist (b. 1931)

• 2004 – Francesco Scavullo, American photographer (b. 1921)

• 2004 – Charles Dumas, American athlete (b. 1937)

• 2004 – Pierre Charles, Prime Minister of Dominica (b. 1954)

• 2005 – Louis Robichaud, Premier of New Brunswick (b. 1925)

• 2005 – Lois Hole, Lt. Governor of Alberta (b. 1933)

• 2006 – Lou Rawls, American singer (b. 1933)

• 2006 – Hugh Thompson, Jr., decorated Vietnam War helicopter pilot (b. 1943)

• 2007 – Roberta Wohlstetter, military historian and strategist (b. 1912)

• 2007 – Sneaky Pete Kleinow, American musician and special-effects artist (b. 1934)

• 2007 – Mario Danelo, American football player (b. 1985)

• 2009 – Ron Asheton, The Stooges guitarrist (b. 1948)

Holidays and observances

• Christianity

• *Epiphany

• **(except Eastern and Oriental Orthodox who follow the Julian Calendar) – sometimes known as Three Kings Day

• *Theophany (Revelation of the Trinity at Christ's baptism in the Jordan)

• Public holiday in Finland, Italy, Puerto Rico, Spain and Sweden to mark Epiphany, as well in Slovakia to mark both Western Christian Epiphany and Eastern Orthodox Christmas Eve

• Ireland – Little Christmas

• Rastafari movement – Celebration of the ceremonial birthday of Haile Selassie

• Armenian Christmas (except in the Holy Land where it is on 18 January – old calendar)

• Ancient Latvia – Zvaigznes Diena observed

• January 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Befana day in Italy

• Phi day