January 15

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January 15 in recent years   2024 (Monday)   2023 (Sunday)   2022 (Saturday)   2021 (Friday)   2020 (Wednesday)   2019 (Tuesday)   2018 (Monday)   2017 (Sunday)   2016 (Friday)   2015 (Thursday)

January 15 is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 350 days remain until the end of the year (351 in leap years).

Events

• 588 BC - Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem under Zedekiah's reign. The siege lasts until July 23, 586 BC.
• 69 - Otho seizes power in Rome, proclaiming himself Emperor of Rome, but only rules for three months before committing suicide.
• 1582 - Russia cedes Livonia and Estonia to Poland.
• 1759 - The British Museum opens.
• 1777 - American Revolutionary War: New Connecticut (present day Vermont) declares its independence.
• 1782 - Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris goes before the U.S. Congress to recommend establishment of a national mint and decimal coinage.
• 1822 - Greek War of Independence: Demetrius Ypsilanti is elected president of the legislative assembly.
• 1844 - University of Notre Dame receives its charter from the state of Indiana.
• 1865 - American Civil War - Fort Fisher North Carolina falls to the Union, thus cutting off the last major seaport of the Confederacy.
• 1870 - A political cartoon for the first time symbolizes the United States Democratic Party with a donkey ("A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion" by Thomas Nast for Harper's Weekly).
• 1892 - James Naismith publishes the rules for basketball.
• 1908 - The Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority becomes the first Greek-letter organization founded and established by African-American college women.
• 1919 - Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, two of the most prominent socialists in Germany, are tortured and murdered by the Freikorps.
• 1936 - The first building to be completely covered in glass is completed in Toledo, Ohio (the building was for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company).
• 1943 - World War II: The Japanese are driven off Guadalcanal.
• 1943 - World War II: The Soviet counter-offensive at Voronezh begins.
• 1943 - The world's largest office building, The Pentagon, is dedicated in Arlington, Virginia.
• 1947 - The brutalized corpse of Elizabeth Short ("The Black Dahlia") is found in Leimert Park, Los Angeles, California.
• 1951 - Ilse Koch, The "Bitch of Buchenwald", wife of the commandant of the Buchenwald concentration camp, is sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in West Germany.
• 1966 - The government of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa in Nigeria is overthrown in a military coup d’état.
• 1969 - The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 5.
• 1970 - After a 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria, Biafra surrenders.
• 1970 - Muammar al-Qaddafi is proclaimed premier of Libya.
• 1973 - Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, President Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.
• 1976 - Gerald Ford's would-be assassin, Sara Jane Moore, is sentenced to life in prison.
• 1977 - The Kälvesta air disaster kills 22 people, the worst air crash in Sweden's history.
• 1986 - The Living Seas opens at EPCOT Center in Walt Disney World, Florida.
• 1990 - AT&T's long distance telephone network suffers a cascade switching failure.
• 1991 - The United Nations deadline for the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait expires, preparing the way for the start of Operation Desert Storm.
• 1992 - The international community recognizes the independence of Slovenia and Croatia from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
• 1993 - Salvatore Riina, the Mafia boss known as 'The Beast', is arrested in Sicily after three decades as a fugitive
• 1999 - The Racak incident: 45 Albanians in the Kosovo village of Racak are killed by Yugoslav security forces.
• 2001 - Wikipedia, a free Wiki content encyclopedia, goes online.
• 2005 - An intense solar flare blasts X-rays across the solar system.
• 2005 - ESA's SMART-1 lunar orbiter discovers elements such as calcium, aluminum, silicon, iron, and other surface elements on the moon.
• 2007 - Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, former Iraqi intelligence chief and half-brother of Saddam Hussein, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former chief judge of the Revolutionary Court, are executed by hanging in Iraq.

Births

• 1342 - Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1404)
• 1432 - King Afonso V of Portugal (d. 1481)
• 1481 - Ashikaga Yoshizumi, Japanese shogun (b. 1511)
• 1538 - Maeda Toshiie, Japanese general (d. 1599)
• 1622 - Molière, French playwright (d. 1673)
• 1671 - Abraham de la Pryme, English antiquarian (d. 1704)
• 1674 - Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, French writer (d. 1762)
• 1716 - Philip Livingston, American founding father (d. 1778)
• 1747 - John Aikin, English doctor and writer (d. 1822)
• 1754 - Richard Martin, Irish founder of the SPCA (d. 1834)
• 1791 - Franz Grillparzer, Austrian writer (d. 1872)
• 1795 - Alexandr Griboyedov, Russian playwright (d. 1829)
• 1803 - Marjory Fleming, Scottish child writer and poet, who died aged 8 (d. 1811)
• 1809 - Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, French anarchist (d. 1865)
• 1812 - Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, Norwegian writer (d. 1885)
• 1816 - Marie LaFarge, French murderer (d. 1852)
• 1824 - Marie Duplessis, French courtesan, inspiration for La Dame aux Camelias (d. 1847)
• 1841 - Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, Governor General of Canada (d. 1908)
• 1842 - Blessed Mary McKillop, Australian candidate for sainthood (d. 1909)
• 1842 - Josef Breuer, Austrian psychologist (d. 1925)
• 1850 - Mihai Eminescu, Romanian poet (d. 1889)
• 1850 - Sofia Kovalevskaya, Russian mathematician (d. 1891)
• 1855 - Jacques Damala, Greek military officer and actor (d. 1889)
• 1859 - Archibald Peake, Premier of South Australia (d. 1920)
• 1863 - Wilhelm Marx, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1946)
• 1866 - Nathan Söderblom, Swedish archbishop, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1931)
• 1869 - Stanisław Wyspiański, Polish dramatist (d. 1907)
• 1870 - Pierre S. du Pont, President of the DuPont company (d. 1954)
• 1872 - Arsen Kotsoyev, Russian writer (d. 1944)
• 1875 - Tom Burke, American runner (d. 1929)
• 1877 - Lewis Terman, U.S psychologist, inventor of the Stanford-Binet IQ test (d. 1956)
• 1879 - Mazo de la Roche, Canadian author (d. 1961)
• 1882 - Princess Margaret of Connaught, Crown Princess of Sweden (d. 1920)
• 1885 - Lorenz Böhler, Austrian physician (d. 1973)
• 1885 - Huang Yuanyong, Chinese writer (d. 1915)
• 1885 - Grover Lowdermilk, American baseball player (d. 1968)
• 1890 - Tommy Fleming, American soccer player (d. 1965)
• 1891 - Ray Chapman, American baseball player (d. 1920)
• 1891 - Osip Mandelstam, Russian poet (d. 1938)
• 1892 - Rex Ingram, Irish director (d. 1950)
• 1893 - Ivor Novello, Welsh composer and actor (d. 1951)
• 1895 - Artturi Ilmari Virtanen, Finnish chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1973)
• 1897 - Xu Zhimo, Chinese poet (d. 1931)
• 1899 - Goodman Ace, American actor (d. 1982)
• 1902 - King Saud of Saudi Arabia (d. 1969)
• 1903 - Paul A. Dever, 58^th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1958)
• 1905 - Torin Thatcher, English actor (d. 1981)
• 1906 - Aristotle Onassis, Greek shipping magnate (d. 1975)
• 1908 - Edward Teller, Hungarian-born physicist (d. 2003)
• 1909 - Jean Bugatti, German-born automobile designer (d. 1939)
• 1909 - Gene Krupa, American drummer (d. 1973)
• 1912 - Michel Debré, French politician (d. 1996)
• 1912 - Harry Hay, Founder of American Gay Rights Movement (d. 2002)
• 1913 - Lloyd Bridges, American actor (d. 1998)
• 1913 - Miriam Hyde, Australian composer (d. 2005)
• 1914 - Hugh Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton, English historian (d. 2003)
• 1918 - João Figueiredo, President of Brazil (d. 1999)
• 1918 - Édouard Gagnon, Canadian Roman Catholic cardinal (d. 2007)
• 1918 - Gamal Abdal Nasser, President of Egypt (d. 1970)
• 1920 - John Cardinal O'Connor, American Catholic cardinal (d. 2000)
• 1920 - Steve Gromek, American baseball player (d. 2002)
• 1921 - Frank Thornton, English actor (Captain Peacock in Are You Being Served?)
• 1922 - Sir Eric Willis, Australian politician, Premier of New South Wales (d. 1999)
• 1923 - Ivor Cutler, Scottish poet (d. 2006)
• 1923 - Lee Teng-hui, Taiwanese politician
• 1925 - Ruth Slenczynska, U.S. pianist
• 1926 - Florence Buchsbaum, theater director (d. 1996)
• 1926 - Maria Schell, Swiss actress (d. 2005)
• 1927 - Phyllis Coates, American actress
• 1929 - Martin Luther King, Jr., American civil rights leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1968)
• 1930 - Eddie Graham, American professional wrestler (d. 1985)
• 1933 - Ernest J. Gaines, American author
• 1937 - Margaret O'Brien, American actress
• 1938 - Chuni Goswami, Indian footballer and cricketer
• 1939 - Tony Bullimore, English sailor, adventurer
• 1941 - Captain Beefheart, American musician and visual artist
• 1941 - Charo, Spanish-born singer
• 1943 - Mike Marshall, American baseball player
• 1945 - Vince Foster, American lawyer (d. 1993)
• 1945 - William R. Higgins, USMC colonel (d. 1990)
• 1945 - Princess Michael of Kent, British royal
• 1947 - Andrea Martin, Canadian actress
• 1948 - Ronnie Van Zant, American singer (Lynyrd Skynyrd) (d. 1977)
• 1949 - Luis Alvarado, Puerto Rican baseball player (d. 1987)
• 1949 - Panos Mihalopoulos, Greek actor
• 1950 - Marius Trésor, French footballer
• 1953 - Kent Hovind, American evangelist and Young Earth creationist
• 1953 - Ta-Tanisha, American actress
• 1953 - Randy White, American football player
• 1954 - Nikos Sarganis, Greek footballer
• 1955 - Nigel Benson, English author
• 1956 - Mayawati, Indian politician
• 1957 - Patrick Dixon, English entrepreneur
• 1957 - Marty Lyons, American football player
• 1957 - Mario Van Peebles, American actor
• 1958 - Boris Tadić, President of Serbia
• 1959 - Pete Trewavas, English bass guitarist (Marillion)
• 1960 - Kelly Asbury, American director and actor
• 1960 - Aaron Jay Kernis, American composer
• 1961 - Yves P. Pelletier, Canadian comedian (Rock et Belles Oreilles), actor and film director
• 1962 - Creflo Dollar, American televangelist
• 1962 - Conrad Lant (aka Cronos), English musician
• 1964 - Osmo Tapio Räihälä, Finnish composer
• 1965 - Maurizio Fondriest, Italian cyclist
• 1965 - Bernard Hopkins, American boxer
• 1965 - Adam Jones, American musician (Tool)
• 1965 - James Nesbitt, Northern Irish actor
• 1968 - Chad Lowe, American actor
• 1968 - Iñaki Urdangarín, Spanish royalty
• 1969 - Delino DeShields, American baseball player
• 1970 - Shane McMahon, American professional wrestler
• 1971 - Max Beesley, English musician and actor
• 1971 - Teanna Kai, American porn star
• 1971 - Regina King, American actress
• 1972 - Kobe Tai, American porn star
• 1972 - Claudia Winkleman, English television presenter
• 1973 - Essam El-Hadary, Egyptian footballer
• 1974 - Ray King, American baseball player
• 1975 - Edith Bowman, Scottish television and radio presenter
• 1975 - Mary Pierce, French tennis player
• 1976 - Corey Chavous, American football player
• 1976 - Dorian Missick, American actor
• 1978 - Eddie Cahill, American actor
• 1978 - Franco Pellizotti, Italian cyclist
• 1979 - Drew Brees, American football player
• 1979 - Young Dro, American rapper
• 1979 - Ken Chu, Taiwanese singer-actor and taichi champ
• 1979 - Martin Petrov, Bulgarian footballer
• 1980 - Matt Holliday, American baseball player
• 1981 - Howie Day, American singer
• 1981 - El Hadji Diouf, Senegalese footballer
• 1981 - Sean Lamont, Scottish rugby union footballer
• 1982 - Benjamin Agosto, American skater
• 1982 - Armando Galarraga, Major League Baseball player
• 1982 - Philip and Alexander, American-born princes of the Yugoslav Royal Family
• 1983 - Jermaine Pennant, English footballer
• 1983 - Hugo Viana, Portuguese footballer
• 1984 - Megan Jendrick, American swimmer
• 1984 - Megan Quann, American swimmer
• 1984 - Victor Rasuk, American actor
• 1985 - Kenneth Emil Petersen, Danish footballer
• 1986 - Fred Davis, American football player
• 1987 - Kelly Kelly, American WWE Diva
• 1987 - Aria C Jalali, American musician
• 1987 - David Knight, English footballer
• 1987 - Michael Seater, Canadian actor
• 1990 - Chris Warren Jr., American actor
• 1990 - Robert Burke, future engineer

Deaths

• 69 - Galba, Roman Emperor (b. 3 BC)
• 570 - Saint Ita, Irish nun (b. 475)
• 936 - King Rudolph of France
• 1345 - Martin Zaccaria, Italo-Greek ruler
• 1595 - Murat III, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1546)
• 1623 - Fra Paolo Sarpi, Italian patriot, scholar, scientist and church reformer (b. 1552)
• 1672 - John Cosin, English clergyman (b. 1594)
• 1683 - Philip Warwick, English writer and politician (b. 1609)
• 1775 - Giovanni Battista Sammartini, Italian composer (b. 1700 or 1701)
• 1781 - Marianne Victoria of Borbón, queen regent of Portugal (b. 1718)
• 1790 - John Landen, English mathematician (b. 1719)
• 1804 - Dru Drury, English entomologist (b. 1725)
• 1815 - Emma, Lady Hamilton, English mistress of Lord Nelson (b. 1761
• 1864 - Isaac Nathan, UK-Australian composer (b. 1792)
• 1876 - Eliza Johnson, U.S. First Lady (b. 1810)
• 1885 - Leopold Damrosch, German-American orchestral conductor (b. 1832)
• 1893 - Fanny Kemble, British actress and author (b. 1809)
• 1896 - Mathew Brady, U.S. photographer (b. 1822)
• 1909 - Arnold Janssen missionary (b. 1837)
• 1916 - Modest Tchaikovsky, Russian writer (b. 1850)
• 1919 - Rosa Luxemburg, German politician (b. 1870)
• 1919 - Karl Liebknecht, German politician (b. 1871)
• 1926 - Enrico Toselli, Italian composer (b. 1883)
• 1936 - Henry Forster, 1st Baron Forster, Governor-General of Australia (b. 1866)
• 1945 - Wilhelm Wirtinger, Austrian mathematician (b. 1865)
• 1947 - Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia (b. 1924)
• 1950 - Gen Henry "Hap" Arnold, U.S. General of the Air Force (b. 1886)
• 1952 - Ned Hanlon, Premier of Queensland (b. 1887)
• 1955 - Yves Tanguy, French painter (b. 1900)
• 1964 - Jack Teagarden, American musician (b. 1905)
• 1967 - David Burliuk, Ukrainian artist (b. 1882)
• 1968 - Bill Masterton, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1938)
• 1970 - William T. Piper, American aircraft designer (b. 1881)
• 1972 - Daisy Ashford, English child writer (The Young Visiters) (b. 1881)
• 1973 - Ivan Petrovsky, Russian mathematician (b. 1901)
• 1973 - Coleman Francis, American film director (b. 1919)
• 1983 - Meyer Lansky, Russian-born gangster (b. 1902)
• 1983 - Shepperd Strudwick, American actor (b. 1907)
• 1987 - Ray Bolger, American actor, singer, and dancer (b. 1904)
• 1988 - Seán MacBride, Irish statesman, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1904)
• 1990 - Dame Peggy van Praagh, British ballet dancer, choreographer, director (b. 1910)
• 1990 - Gordon Jackson, Scottish actor (b. 1923)
• 1992 - Dee Murray, English bassist (b. 1946)
• 1993 - Sammy Cahn, American songwriter (b. 1913)
• 1994 - Georges Cziffra, Hungarian-French pianist (b. 1921
• 1994 - Harry Nilsson, American musician (b. 1941)
• 1995 - Vera Maxwell, American fashion designer (b. 1901)
• 1996 - Minnesota Fats, American billiards player (b. 1913)
• 1996 - Les Baxter, American musician and composer (b. 1922)
• 1996 - Paramount Chief Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho (b. 1938)
• 1998 - Junior Wells, American musician (b. 1934)
• 1999 - Betty Box, British film producer (b. 1915)
• 2000 - Georges-Henri Lévesque, Canadian Dominican priest and sociologist (b. 1903)
• 2000 - Fran Ryan, American actress (b. 1916)
• 2000 - Željko Ražnatović, aka Arkan, Serbian paramilitary leader (b. 1952)
• 2001 - Ted Mann, American screenwriter (b. 1916)
• 2002 - Steve Gromek, American baseball player (b. 1920)
• 2003 - Doris Fisher, American singer and songwriter (b. 1915)
• 2005 - Elizabeth Janeway, American author (b. 1913)
• 2005 - Ruth Warrick, American actress (b. 1915)
• 2005 - Walter Ernsting, German author (b. 1920)
• 2005 - Victoria de los Angeles, Catalan soprano (b. 1923)
• 2005 - Deem Bristow, American video game voice actor (b. 1947)
• 2005 - Dan Lee, Canadian animator (b. 1969)
• 2006 - Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (b. 1926)
• 2007 - Bo Yibo, Chinese politician (b. 1908)
• 2007 - James Hillier, Canadian inventor of electron microscope (b. 1915)
• 2007 - Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former chief judge of the Iraqi Revolutionary Court (b. 1945) (executed)
• 2007 - Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, former Iraqi intelligence chief and half-brother of Saddam Hussein (b. 1951) (executed)
• 2007 - David Vanole, American soccer player (b. 1963)
• 2008 - Mark Haigh-Hutchinson, Game Designer (b. 1964)
• 2008 - Brad Renfro, American actor (b. 1982)

Holidays and observances

• Roman Empire - Second day of the Carmentalia in honor of Carmenta.
• Malawi - John Chilembwe Day.
• North Korea - Korean Alphabet Day.
• United States - Traditionally, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
• Kerala in India - Makaravilakku or Makara Sankranthy at Sabarimala.
• Jallikattu in South India.
• St. Abeluzius in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
• Roman Catholic Church - Saint Ita, virgin, died January 15, 570.
• St. Macarius of Egypt
• St. Paul the Hermit
• January 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics).

External links

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

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