January 3

January 3 is the third day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 362 days remaining until the end of the year (363 in leap years). The Perihelion, the point in the year when the Earth is closest to the Sun, occurs around this date.

Events

• 1431 – Joan of Arc is handed over to Bishop Pierre Cauchon.
• 1496 – Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tests a flying machine.
• 1521 – Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.
• 1749 – Benning Wentworth issues the first of the New Hampshire Grants, leading to the establishment of Vermont.
• 1749 – The first issue of Berlingske, Denmark's oldest continually operating newspaper, is published.
• 1777 – American general George Washington defeats British general Charles Cornwallis at the Battle of Princeton.
• 1782 – Sylhet District in north-east Bangladesh is established
• 1815 – Austria, the United Kingdom, and France form a secret defensive alliance treaty against Prussia and Russia.
• 1823 – Stephen F. Austin receives a grant of land in Texas from the government of Mexico.
• 1848 – Joseph Jenkins Roberts is sworn in as the first president of the independent African Liberia.
• 1861 – American Civil War: Delaware votes not to secede from the United States.
• 1868 – Meiji Restoration in Japan: The Tokugawa shogunate is abolished; agents of Satsuma and Chōshū seize power.
• 1870 – The construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins.
• 1888 – The refracting telescope at the Lick Observatory, measuring 91 cm in diameter, is used for the first time. It was the largest telescope in the world at the time.
• 1911 – A magnitude 7.7 earthquake destroys the city of Almaty in Russian Turkestan.
• 1919 – At the Paris Peace Conference, Emir Faisal of Iraq signs an agreement with Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann on the development of a Jewish homeland in Palestine and an Arab nation in a large part of the Middle East.
• 1925 – Benito Mussolini announces he is taking dictatorial powers over Italy.
• 1932 – Martial law is declared in Honduras to stop a revolt by banana workers fired by the United Fruit Company.
• 1933 – Minnie D. Craig becomes the first female elected as Speaker of the North Dakota House of Representatives, the first female to hold a Speaker position anywhere in the United States.
• 1938 – The March of Dimes is established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
• 1944 – World War II: Top Ace Major Greg "Pappy" Boyington is shot down in his Corsair by Captain Masajiro Kawato flying a Zero.
• 1945 – World War II: Admiral Chester W. Nimitz is placed in command of all U.S. Naval forces in preparation for planned assaults against Iwo Jima and Okinawa in Japan.
• 1946 – Popular Canadian-American jockey George Woolf dies in a freak accident during a race; the annual George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award is created to honor him.
• 1947 – Proceedings of the U.S. Congress are televised for the first time.
• 1949 – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the central bank of the Philippines, is established.
• 1953 – Frances P. Bolton and her son, Oliver from Ohio, become the first mother and son to serve simultaneously in the U.S. Congress.
• 1956 – A fire damages the top part of the Eiffel Tower.
• 1957 – The Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch.
• 1958 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
• 1959 – Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. state.
• 1959 – Separatists in the Maldives declare the establishment of the United Suvadive Republic.
• 1961 – The United States severs diplomatic relations with Cuba.
• 1961 – The SL-1, a government-run reactor near Idaho Falls, Idaho, underwent a core explosion and meltdown, killing three workers.
• 1961 – Finland's worst civilian aviation accident takes place when Aero Flight 311 crashes near Kvevlax, resulting in the deaths of all 25 people aboard.
• 1962 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro.
• 1976 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights comes into effect.
• 1977 – Apple Computer is incorporated.
• 1990 – Former leader of Panama Manuel Noriega surrenders to American forces.
• 1993 – In Moscow, Russia, George Bush and Boris Yeltsin sign the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).
• 1994 – More than seven million people from the former Apartheid Homelands, receive South African citizenship.
• 1996 – The Motorola StarTAC, the first flip phone and one of the first mobile phones to gain widespread consumer adoption, goes on sale.
• 1997 – China announces it will spend US$27.7 billion to fight erosion and pollution in the Yangtze and Yellow River valleys.
• 1999 – The Mars Polar Lander is launched.
• 1999 – Israel detains, and later expels, 14 members of Concerned Christians.
• 2004 – Flash Airlines Flight 604 crashes into the Red Sea, resulting in 148 deaths, making it the deadliest aviation accident in Egyptian history.

Births

• 106 BC – Cicero, Roman statesman and philosopher (d. 43 BC)
• 1196 – Emperor Tsuchimikado of Japan (d. 1231)
• 1698 – Pietro Metastasio, Italian poet (d. 1782)
• 1710 – Richard Gridley, American Revolutionary soldier (d. 1796)
• 1719 – Francisco José Freire, Portuguese historian (d. 1773)
• 1722 – Fredric Hasselquist, Swedish naturalist (d. 1752)
• 1760 – John Storm, American Revolutionary soldier (d. 1835)
• 1778 – Antoni Melchior Fijałkowski, Polish bishop (d. 1861)
• 1793 – Lucretia Mott, American women's rights activist (d. 1880)
• 1802 – Charles Pelham Villiers, British House of Commons member (d. 1898)
• 1803 – Douglas William Jerrold, British playwright (d. 1857)
• 1806 – Henriette Sontag, German soprano (d. 1854)
• 1810 – Antoine Thomson d'Abbadie, French geographer (d. 1897)
• 1819 – Charles Piazzi Smyth, Astronomer Royal for Scotland (d. 1900)
• 1821 – Dragotin Dežman, Slovenian politician, archeologist and botanist (d. 1889)
• 1831 – Savitribai Phule, Indian social activist and educator (d. 1897)
• 1836 – Sakamoto Ryōma, Japanese revolutionary (d. 1867)
• 1840 – Father Damien, Flemish missionary (d. 1889)
• 1855 – Hubert Bland, British socialist (d. 1914)
• 1856 – R. C. Lehmann, English writer (d. 1929)
• 1861 – William Renshaw, British champion tennis player (d. 1904)
• 1862 – Sir Matthew Nathan, British Governor of Queensland (d. 1939)
• 1865 – Henry Lytton, British actor and opera singer (d. 1936)
• 1870 – Henry Handel Richardson, Australian author (d. 1946)
• 1873 – Ichizo Kobayashi, Japanese businessman (d. 1957)
• 1875 – Alexandros Diomidis, Greek banker and politician (d. 1950)
• 1876 – Wilhelm Pieck, East Germany statesman (d. 1960)
• 1879 – Grace Coolidge, First Lady of the United States (d. 1957)
• 1883 – Clement Attlee, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1967)
• 1884 – Raoul von Koczalski, Polish pianist and composer (d. 1948)
• 1885 – Harry Elkins Widener, American book collector and victim of the RMS Titanic sinking (d. 1912)
• 1886 – John Gould Fletcher, American poet and author (d. 1950)
• 1886 – Josephine Hull, American actress (d. 1957)
• 1887 – August Macke, German painter (d. 1914)
• 1887 – Helen Parkhurst, American educator (d. 1973)
• 1892 – J. R. R. Tolkien, British writer (d. 1973)
• 1894 – ZaSu Pitts, American actress (d. 1963)
• 1895 – Borys Lyatoshynsky, Ukrainian composer (d. 1968)
• 1897 – Marion Davies, American actress (d. 1961)
• 1898 – Carlos Keller, Chilean fascist politician (d. 1974)
• 1900 – Donald J. Russell, North American railroad executive (d. 1985)
• 1901 – Ngô Đình Diệm, South Vietnamese politician (d. 1963)
• 1905 – Anna May Wong, American actress (d. 1961)
• 1907 – Ray Milland, British actor (d. 1986)
• 1909 – Victor Borge, Danish entertainer (d. 2000)
• 1910 – Frenchy Bordagaray, American baseball player (d. 2000)
• 1911 – John Sturges, American director (d. 1982)
• 1912 – Federico Borrell Garcia, Spanish Republican soldier (d. 1936)
• 1912 – Renaude Lapointe, Canadian journalist and senator (d. 2002)
• 1912 – Armand Lohikoski, Finnish director (d. 2005)
• 1915 – Jack Levine, American painter (d. 2010)
• 1915 – Mady Rahl, German actress (d. 2009)
• 1916 – Maxene Andrews, American singer (The Andrews Sisters) (d. 1995)
• 1916 – Betty Furness, American actress (d. 1994)
• 1916 – Bernard Greenhouse, American cellist (d. 2011)
• 1917 – Albert Mol, Dutch author, actor and TV personality (d. 2002)
• 1917 – Roger W. Straus, Jr., American publisher (d. 2004)
• 1917 – Vernon Walters, American military officer and diplomat (d. 2002)
• 1919 – Herbie Nichols, jazz composer and pianist (d. 1963)
• 1920 – Renato Carosone, Italian musician (d. 2001)
• 1920 – Siegfried Buback, Attorney-General of Germany (d. 1977)
• 1921 – John Russell, American actor (d. 1991)
• 1922 – Ronald Smith, British pianist (d. 2004)
• 1922 – Bill Travers, British actor and director (d. 1994)
• 1923 – Hank Stram, American football coach (d. 2005)
• 1923 – Charles "Bud" Tingwell, Australian actor (d. 2009)
• 1924 – Doug Ellis, British entrepreneur, former owner and now honorary president of Aston Villa F.C.
• 1924 – André Franquin, Belgian cartoonist (Gaston Lagaffe) (d. 1997)
• 1924 – Nell Rankin, American singer (d. 2005)
• 1925 – Jill Balcon, British actress (d. 2009)
• 1926 – W. Michael Blumenthal, American businessman, civil servant, and 64th United States Secretary of the Treasury
• 1926 – George Martin, British record producer
• 1929 – Sergio Leone, Italian director (d. 1989)
• 1929 – Ernst Mahle, Brazilian composer
• 1930 – Mara Corday, American actress and model
• 1930 – Marcel Dubé, Quebec playwright
• 1930 – Robert Loggia, American actor
• 1932 – Dabney Coleman, American actor
• 1932 – Coo Coo Marlin, American race car driver (d. 2005)
• 1932 – Tongolele, American-born Mexican dancer
• 1934 – Carla Hills, American jurist, civil servant, and 5th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
• 1935 – Raymond Garneau, French Canadian politician and businessman
• 1936 – David Vine, British sports commentator (d. 2009)
• 1937 – Seri Wangnaitham, Thai dancer and choreographer (d. 2007)
• 1939 – Nikos Alefantos, Greek football manager
• 1939 – Janice Crosio, Australian politician
• 1939 – Bobby Hull, Canadian hockey player
• 1939 – Ruben Reyes, Filipino Supreme Court jurist
• 1939 – Gene Summers, American musician (The Rebels)
• 1941 – Van Dyke Parks, American musician
• 1942 – John Marsden, Australian lawyer (d. 2006)
• 1942 – John Thaw, British actor (d. 2002)
• 1943 – Jarl Alfredius, Swedish news anchor (d. 2009)
• 1944 – David Atherton, British conductor
• 1944 – Blanche d'Alpuget, Australian novelist, biographer
• 1945 – Stephen Stills, American musician (Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Manassas)
• 1946 – John Paul Jones, British musician (Led Zeppelin and Them Crooked Vultures)
• 1946 – Cissy King, American entertainer
• 1949 – Sylvia Likens, American torture victim (d. 1965)
• 1950 – Beth Anderson, American composer
• 1950 – Victoria Principal, American actress
• 1951 – Gary Nairn, Australian politician
• 1952 – Gianfranco Fini, Italian politician
• 1952 – Jim Ross, American wrestling announcer
• 1953 – Justin Fleming, Australian playwright and writer
• 1954 – Dean Hart, Canadian wrestler (d. 1990)
• 1954 – Ned Lamont, American businessman and political figure
• 1954 – Ross the Boss, American guitarist (The Dictators and Manowar)
• 1955 – Palmolive, British musician (The Slits, The Raincoats)
• 1956 – Mel Gibson, American-Australian actor and director
• 1956 – Willy T. Ribbs, American race-car driver
• 1957 – Bojan Križај, Slovenian skier
• 1958 – James J. Greco, American businessman
• 1958 – Shim Hyung-rae, South Korean filmmaker
• 1963 – Vic Grimes, American professional wrestler
• 1963 – Alex Wheatle, British novelist
• 1963 – Jerome Young, American professional wrestler
• 1964 – Bruce LaBruce, Canadian filmmaker
• 1965 – Steven A. LaChance, American Author
• 1966 – Martin Galway, Northern Ireland composer
• 1969 – Michael Schumacher, German race car driver
• 1969 – Gerda Weissensteiner, Italian bobsledder and luger
• 1970 – Christian Duguay, American comic actor
• 1970 – Mahaya Petrosian, Iranian actress
• 1970 – Matt Ross, American actor
• 1971 – Sarah Alexander, English actress
• 1971 – Cory Cross, Canadian ice-hockey player
• 1972 – Yoon Chan, South Korean actor
• 1972 – Nichole Nordeman, American singer
• 1973 – Dan Harmon, American writer and producer
• 1974 – Robert-Jan Derksen, Dutch professional golfer
• 1974 – Alessandro Petacchi, Italian cyclist
• 1975 – Thomas Bangalter, French DJ (Daft Punk)
• 1975 – Jason Marsden, American actor
• 1975 – Danica McKellar, American actress
• 1976 – Angelos Basinas, Greek footballer
• 1976 – Alisen Down, Canadian actress
• 1976 – Dinara Drukarova, Russian actress
• 1976 – Nicholas Gonzalez, American actor
• 1977 – Lee Bowyer, British footballer
• 1977 – A.J. Burnett, American baseball player
• 1977 – Mayumi Iizuka, Japanese voice actress
• 1977 – Michelle Stephenson, British singer (Spice Girls)
• 1978 – Dimitra Kalentzou, Greek basketball player
• 1978 – Liya Kebede, Ethiopian model
• 1978 – Kimberley Locke, American singer
• 1978 – Park Sol-mi, South Korean actress
• 1978 – Dominic Wood, English children's television presenter
• 1978 – Mike York, American ice hockey player
• 1979 – Chris Geddes, Canadian volleyball player
• 1979 – Dina Tersago, Miss Belgium 2001 and TV personality
• 1980 – Bryan Clay, American decathlete
• 1980 – Angela Ruggiero, American ice hockey player
• 1980 – David Tyree, American football player
• 1981 – Naresh Iyer, Indian singer
• 1981 – Eli Manning, American football player
• 1982 – Lasse Nilsson, Swedish footballer
• 1983 – Antti Arst, Estonian footballer
• 1984 – Billy Mehmet, Irish footballer
• 1985 – John David Booty, American football player
• 1985 – Linas Kleiza, Lithuanian basketball player
• 1985 – Evan Moore, American football player
• 1986 – Jessica O'Rourke, American footballer
• 1986 – Lloyd Polite, American R&B singer (N-Toon)
• 1986 – Jacob Timpano, Australian footballer
• 1987 – Leonidas Panagopoulos, Greek footballer
• 1987 – Anchal Joseph Indian/American fashion model
• 1988 – Rodrigo de la Cadena, Mexican artist and performer
• 1989 – Alex D. Linz, American actor
• 1989 – Julia Nunes, American singer and ukulele player
• 1989 – Anya Rozova, Russian/American fashion model
• 1991 – Jerson Cabral, Dutch footballer

Deaths

• 235 – Pope St. Anterus
• 323 – Jin Yuandi, Chinese emperor of the Jin Dynasty (b. 276)
• 1098 – Walkelin, Norman bishop of Winchester
• 1322 – King Philip V of France (b. 1293)
• 1437 – Catherine of Valois, wife of Henry V of England (b. 1401)
• 1543 – Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, Portuguese explorer (b. 1499)
• 1571 – Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1505)
• 1641 – Jeremiah Horrocks, British astronomer (b. 1618)
• 1656 – Mathieu Molé, French statesman (b. 1584)
• 1670 – George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, British soldier (b. 1608)
• 1690 – Hillel ben Naphtali Zevi, Lithuanian rabbi (b. 1615)
• 1701 – Prince Louis I of Monaco (b. 1642)
• 1743 – Ferdinando Galli-Bibiena, Italian architect and designer (b. 1657)
• 1779 – Claude Bourgelat, French veterinary surgeon (b. 1712)
• 1785 – Baldassare Galuppi, Italian composer (b. 1706)
• 1795 – Josiah Wedgwood, British potter (b. 1730)
• 1813 – Bennelong, Aborigine interlocutor (b. c.1764)
• 1826 – Louis Gabriel Suchet, French marshal (b. 1770)
• 1871 – Kuriakose Elias Chavara, Indian Saint (b. 1805)
• 1875 – Pierre Larousse, French editor (b. 1817)
• 1882 – William Harrison Ainsworth, British novelist (b. 1805)
• 1895 – James Merritt Ives, American lithographer (b. 1824)
• 1903 – Alois Hitler, father of Adolf Hitler (b. 1837)
• 1911 – Alexandros Papadiamantis, Greek author (b. 1851)
• 1915 – James Elroy Flecker, British author (b. 1884)
• 1916 – Grenville M. Dodge, American Major General (b. 1831)
• 1922 – Friedrich Wilhelm Voigt, German impostor who became famous as The Captain of Köpenick (Der Hauptmann von Köpenick) in 1906 (b. 1849)
• 1923 – Jaroslav Hašek, Czech novelist (b. 1883)
• 1927 – Carle David Tolmé Runge, German physicist (b. 1856)
• 1931 – Joseph Joffre, French general (b. 1852)
• 1933 – Wilhelm Cuno, German staesman (b. 1876)
• 1933 – Jack Pickford, Canadian actor (b. 1896)
• 1943 – F. M. Cornford, English classical scholar and poet (b. 1874)
• 1943 – Sir Walter James, Australian politician (b. 1863)
• 1944 – Jurgis Baltrušaitis, Lithuanian poet (b. 1873)
• 1945 – Edgar Cayce, American psychic (b. 1877)
• 1945 – Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski, Polish writer (b. 1879)
• 1946 – William Joyce, American propagandist (b. 1906)
• 1950 – Emil Jannings, Swiss actor (b. 1884)
• 1956 – Alexander Gretchaninov, Russian composer (b. 1864)
• 1956 – Dimitrios Vergos, Greek champion in wrestling, weightlifting and shot put (b. 1886)
• 1956 – Joseph Wirth, German statesman (b. 1876)
• 1959 – Edwin Muir, Orcadian poet, novelist and translator (b. 1887)
• 1962 – Hermann Lux, German footballer (b. 1893)
• 1967 – Mary Garden, British singer (b. 1874)
• 1967 – Jack Ruby, American killer of Lee Harvey Oswald (b. 1911)
• 1969 – Jean Focas, Greek-born astronomer (b. 1909)
• 1969 – Tzavalas Karousos, Greek actor (b. 1904)
• 1969 – Howard McNear, American actor (b. 1905)
• 1970 – Gladys Aylward, British missionary (b. 1902)
• 1972 – Mohan Rakesh, Indian Writer(b.1925)
• 1974 – Gino Cervi, Italian actor (b. 1901)
• 1979 – Conrad Hilton, American hotelier (b. 1887)
• 1980 – Joy Adamson, Czech conservationist (b. 1910)
• 1980 – Lucien Buysse, Belgian cyclist (b. 1892)
• 1980 – George Sutherland Fraser, Scottish poet and academic (b. 1915)
• 1981 – Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone (b. 1883)
• 1988 – Rose Ausländer, German poet (b. 1901)
• 1988 – Joie Chitwood, American racing driver and stuntman (b. 1912)
• 1989 – Sergei Lvovich Sobolev, Russian mathematician (b. 1909)
• 1990 – Arthur Gold, American pianist (b. 1917)
• 1992 – Dame Judith Anderson, Australian actress (b. 1897)
• 1993 – Johnny Most, American sports announcer (b. 1923)
• 1994 – Heather Sears, British actress (b. 1935)
• 2002 – Juan García Esquivel, Mexican band leader (b. 1918)
• 2002 – Freddy Heineken, Dutch beer executive (b. 1923)
• 2003 – Sid Gillman, American football coach (b. 1911)
• 2004 – Des Corcoran, Premier of South Australia (b. 1928)
• 2004 – Leon Wagner, American baseball player (b. 1934)
• 2005 – Koo Chen-fu, Chinese negotiator (b. 1917)
• 2005 – JN Dixit, Indian government official (b. 1936)
• 2005 – Will Eisner, American comic book artist (b. 1917)
• 2006 – Steve Rogers, Australian rugby league footballer (b. 1954)
• 2006 – Bill Skate, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea (b. 1954)
• 2007 – Janos Furst, Hungarian orchestral conductor (b. 1935)
• 2007 – Sergio Jiménez, Mexican actor (b. 1937)
• 2007 – Earl Reibel, Canadian hockey player (b. 1930)
• 2007 – William Verity Jr., American industrialist and 28th Secretary of Commerce (b. 1917)
• 2007 – Sir Cecil Walker, Northern Irish politician (b. 1924)
• 2007 – Michael Yeats, Irish barrister, politician and son of W.B. Yeats (b. 1921)
• 2008 – Aleksandr Abdulov, Russian actor (b. 1953)
• 2008 – Natasha Collins, British actress and television presenter (b. 1976)
• 2008 – Yo-Sam Choi, South Korean boxer (b. 1972)
• 2008 – Werner Dollinger, German politician and economist (b. 1918)
• 2009 – Betty Freeman, American philanthropist and photographer (b. 1921)
• 2009 – Pat Hingle, American actor (b. 1924)
• 2009 – Ulf G. Lindén, Swedish entrepreneur (b. 1937)
• 2009 – Hisayasu Nagata, Japanese politician (b. 1969)
• 2010 – Sir Ian Brownlie, British lawyer (b. 1932)
• 2010 – Mary Daly, American theologian and feminist scholar (b. 1928)
• 2010 – Gustavo Becerra-Schmidt, Chilean composer (b. 1925)
• 2011 – Fadil Hadžić, Croatian film director (b. 1922)
• 2012 – Willi Entenmann, German footballer and footballcoach (b. 1943)
• 2012 – Josef Škvorecký, Czech writer and publisher (b. 1924)
• 2012 – Gatewood Galbraith, American politician (b. 1947)
• 2012 – Bob Weston, British musician (Fleetwood Mac) (b. 1947)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Genevieve
  • January 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Tamaseseri Festival (Hakozaki Shrine, Fukuoka)
• The tenth day of Christmas (Western Christianity)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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