January 17

January 17 is the 17th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 348 days remaining until the end of the year (349 in leap years).

Events

• 38 BC – Octavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey.
• 395 – Emperor Theodosius I dies in Milan, the Roman Empire is re-divided into an eastern and a western half. The Eastern Roman Empire is centered in Constantinople under Arcadius, son of Theodosius, and the Western Roman Empire in Mediolanum under Honorius, his brother (aged 10).
• 1287 – King Alfonso III of Aragon invades Minorca.
• 1377 – Pope Gregory XI moves the Papacy back to Rome from Avignon.
• 1524 – Giovanni da Verrazzano sets sail westward from Madeira to find a sea route to the Pacific Ocean.
• 1562 – France recognizes the Huguenots by the Edict of Saint-Germain.
• 1595 – Henry IV of France declares war on Spain.
• 1608 – Emperor Susenyos surprises an Oromo army at Ebenat; his army reportedly kills 12,000 Oromo at the cost of 400 of his men.
• 1648 – England's Long Parliament passes the "Vote of No Addresses", breaking off negotiations with King Charles I and thereby setting the scene for the second phase of the English Civil War.
• 1773 – Captain James Cook and his crew become the first Europeans to sail below the Antarctic Circle.
• 1781 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cowpens – Continental troops under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan defeat British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton at the battle in South Carolina.
• 1799 – Maltese patriot Dun Mikiel Xerri, along with a number of other patriots, is executed.
• 1811 – Mexican War of Independence: In the Battle of Calderón Bridge, a heavily outnumbered Spanish force of 6,000 troops defeats nearly 100,000 Mexican revolutionaries.
• 1852 – The United Kingdom recognizes the independence of the Boer colonies of the Transvaal.
• 1873 – A group of Modoc warriors defeats the United States Army in the First Battle of the Stronghold, part of the Modoc War.
• 1885 – A British force defeats a large Dervish army at the Battle of Abu Klea in the Sudan.
• 1893 – The Citizen's Committee of Public Safety, led by Lorrin A. Thurston, overthrows the government of Queen Liliuokalani of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
• 1899 – The United States takes possession of Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean.
• 1903 – El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico becomes part of the United States National Forest System as the Luquillo Forest Reserve.
• 1904 – Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard receives its premiere performance at the Moscow Art Theatre.
• 1912 – Captain Robert Falcon Scott reaches the South Pole, one month after Roald Amundsen.
• 1913 – Raymond Poincaré is elected President of France.
• 1917 – The United States pays Denmark $25 million for the Virgin Islands.
• 1918 – Finnish Civil War: The first serious battles take place between the Red Guards and the White Guard.
• 1929 – Popeye the Sailor Man, a cartoon character created by Elzie Segar, first appears in the Thimble Theatre comic strip.
• 1929 – Inayatullah Khan, king of the Emirate of Afghanistan abdicates the throne after only three days.
• 1941 – Franco-Thai War: French forces inflict a decisive defeat over the Royal Thai Navy.
• 1943 – World War II: Greek submarine Papanikolis captures the 200-ton sailing vessel Agios Stefanos and mans her with part of her crew.
• 1944 – World War II: Allied forces launch the first of four assaults on Monte Cassino with the intention of breaking through the Winter Line and seizing Rome, an effort that would ultimately take four months and cost 105,000 Allied casualties.
• 1945 – World War II: Soviet forces capture the almost completely destroyed Polish city of Warsaw.
• 1945 – The Nazis begin the evacuation of the Auschwitz concentration camp as Soviet forces close in.
• 1945 – Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg is taken into Soviet custody while in Hungary; he is never publicly seen again.
• 1946 – The UN Security Council holds its first session.
• 1949 – The Goldbergs, the first sitcom on American television, airs for the first time.
• 1950 – The Great Brink's Robbery – 11 thieves steal more than $2 million from an armored car company's offices in Boston.
• 1961 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers a televised farewell address to the nation three days before leaving office, in which he warns against the accumulation of power by the "military–industrial complex" as well as the dangers of massive spending, especially deficit spending.
• 1961 – Former Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba is murdered in circumstances suggesting the support and complicity of the governments of Belgium and the United States.
• 1966 – Palomares incident: A B-52 bomber collides with a KC-135 Stratotanker over Spain, killing seven airmen, and dropping three 70-kiloton nuclear bombs near the town of Palomares and another one into the sea.
• 1969 – Black Panther Party members Bunchy Carter and John Huggins are killed during a meeting in Campbell Hall on the campus of UCLA.
• 1969 – Marinella releases Stalia – Stalia.
• 1977 – Convicted murderer Gary Gilmore is executed by a firing squad in Utah, ending a ten-year moratorium on capital punishment in the United States.
• 1981 – President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos lifts martial law eight years and five months after declaring it.
• 1982 – "Cold Sunday": in numerous cities in the United States temperatures fall to their lowest levels in over 100 years.
• 1983 – The tallest department store in the world, Hudson's flagship store in downtown Detroit, closes due to high cost of operating.
• 1991 – Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm begins early in the morning. Iraq fires 8 Scud missiles into Israel in an unsuccessful bid to provoke Israeli retaliation.
• 1991 – Harald V becomes King of Norway on the death of his father, Olav V.
• 1992 – During a visit to South Korea, Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa apologizes for forcing Korean women into sexual slavery during World War II.
• 1994 – 1994 Northridge earthquake: A magnitude 6.7 earthquake hits Northridge, California.
• 1995 – The Great Hanshin earthquake: A magnitude 7.3 earthquake occurs near Kobe, Japan, causing extensive property damage and killing 6,434 people.
• 1996 – The Czech Republic applies for membership of the European Union.
• 1997 – A Delta 2 carrying a GPS2R satellite explodes 13 seconds after launch, dropping 250 tons of burning rocket remains around the launch pad.
• 1998 – Lewinsky scandal: Matt Drudge breaks the story of the Bill Clinton–Monica Lewinsky affair on his website The Drudge Report.
• 2001 – U.S. President Bill Clinton posthumously promotes William Clark from Lieutenant to Captain.
• 2002 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, displacing an estimated 400,000 people.
• 2007 – The Doomsday Clock is set to five minutes to midnight in response to North Korea nuclear testing.
• 2008 – British Airways Flight 38 crash lands just short of London Heathrow Airport in England with no fatalities. It is the first complete hull loss of a Boeing 777.
• 2010 – Rioting begins between Muslim and Christian groups in Jos, Nigeria, resulting in at least 200 deaths.

Births

• 1463 – Frederick III, Elector of Saxony (d. 1525)
• 1484 – George Spalatin, German religious reformer (d. 1545)
• 1501 – Leonhart Fuchs, German physician and botanist (d. 1566)
• 1504 – Pope Pius V (d. 1572)
• 1560 – Gaspard Bauhin, Swiss botanist (d. 1624)
• 1574 – Robert Fludd, English physician, astrologer, and mathematician (d. 1637)
• 1600 – Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Spanish playwright and poet (d. 1681)
• 1612 – Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron, English general (d. 1671)
• 1640 – Jonathan Singletary Dunham, American settler (d. 1724)
• 1659 – Antonio Veracini, Italian composer and violinist (d. 1745)
• 1666 – Antonio Maria Valsalva, Italian anatomist (d. 1723)
• 1686 – Archibald Bower, Scottish historian (d. 1766)
• 1706 – Benjamin Franklin, American publisher and politician, 6th President of Pennsylvania (d. 1790)
• 1712 – John Stanley, English organist and composer (d. 1786)
• 1719 – William Vernon, American businessman (d. 1806)
• 1728 – Johann Gottfried Müthel, German pianist and composer (d. 1788)
• 1732 – Stanisław August Poniatowski, Polish-Lithuanian king (d. 1798)
• 1733 – Thomas Linley the elder English singer and conductor (d. 1795)
• 1734 – François-Joseph Gossec, French composer (d. 1829)
• 1761 – Sir James Hall, 4th Baronet, Scottish geologist (d. 1832)
• 1789 – August Neander, German historian and theologian (d. 1850)
• 1793 – Antonio José Martínez, Spanish-American priest, rancher and politician (d. 1867)
• 1814 – Ellen Wood, English author (d. 1887)
• 1820 – Anne Brontë, English author and poet (d. 1849)
• 1828 – Lewis A. Grant, American lawyer and general, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1918)
• 1828 – Ede Reményi, Hungarian violinist and composer (d. 1898)
• 1831 – Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria (d. 1903)
• 1832 – Henry Martyn Baird, American historian and educator (d. 1906)
• 1834 – August Weismann, German biologist (d. 1914)
• 1850 – Alexander Taneyev, Russian composer (d. 1918)
• 1850 – Joaquim Arcoverde de Albuquerque Cavalcanti, Brazilian cardinal (d. 1930)
• 1851 – A. B. Frost, American illustrator (d. 1928)
• 1853 – Alva Belmont, American activist (d. 1933)
• 1857 – Wilhelm Kienzl, Austrian composer (d. 1941)
• 1857 – Eugene Augustin Lauste, French-American inventor (d. 1935)
• 1858 – Tomás Carrasquilla, Colombian author (d. 1940)
• 1860 – Douglas Hyde, Irish politician, 1st President of Ireland (d. 1949)
• 1863 – David Lloyd George, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1945)
• 1863 – Constantin Stanislavski, Russian actor and director (d. 1938)
• 1865 – Sir Charles Fergusson, 7th Baronet, English general and politician, 3rd Governor-General of New Zealand (d. 1951)
• 1867 – Carl Laemmle, German-American film producer, co-founded Universal Studios (d. 1939)
• 1867 – Sir Alfred Rawlinson, 3rd Baronet, English pilot and polo player (d. 1934)
• 1871 – David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty English admiral (d. 1936)
• 1871 – Nicolae Iorga, Romanian historian and politician, 34th Prime Minister of Romania (d. 1940)
• 1872 – Henri Masson, French fencer (d. 1963)
• 1875 – Florencio Sánchez, Uruguayan playwright (d. 1910)
• 1876 – Frank Hague, American politician, 30th Mayor of Jersey City (d. 1956)
• 1877 – May Gibbs, Australian author (d. 1969)
• 1879 – Burt McKinnie, American golfer (d. 1946)
• 1880 – Mack Sennett, Canadian director (d. 1960)
• 1881 – Antoni Łomnicki, Polish mathematician (d. 1941)
• 1881 – Harry Price, English psychologistst and author (d. 1948)
• 1882 – Noah Beery, Sr., American actor (d. 1946)
• 1882 – Arnold Rothstein, American businessman (d. 1928)
• 1883 – Compton Mackenzie, Scottish author (d. 1972)
• 1886 – Ronald Firbank, English author (d. 1926)
• 1886 – Glenn L. Martin, American pilot, founded the Glenn L. Martin Company (d. 1955)
• 1887 – Ola Raknes, Norwegian psychoanalyst and philologist (d. 1975)
• 1888 – Babu Gulabrai, Indian author (d. 1963)
• 1895 – John Duff, Canadian race car driver (d. 1958)
• 1897 – Marcel Petiot, French doctor and serial killer (d. 1946)
• 1899 – Al Capone, American gangster (d. 1947)
• 1899 – Robert Maynard Hutchins, American philosopher and academic (d. 1977)
• 1899 – Nevil Shute, English author (d. 1960)
• 1901 – Aron Gurwitsch, Lithuanian-American philosopher (d. 1973)
• 1903 – Warren Hull, American actor (d. 1974)
• 1904 – Hem Vejakorn, Thai illustrator (d. 1969)
• 1905 – Ray Cunningham, American baseball player (d. 2005)
• 1905 – Peggy Gilbert, American saxophonist and bandleader (d. 2007)
• 1905 – Eduard Oja, Estonian composer, conductor, educator, and critic (d. 1950)
• 1905 – Guillermo Stábile, Argentinian footballer and manager (d. 1966)
• 1905 – Jan Zahradníček, Czech poet (d. 1960)
• 1907 – Henk Badings, Dutch composer (d. 1987)
• 1908 – Cus D'Amato, American boxing manager and trainer (d. 1985)
• 1911 – Busher Jackson, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1966)
• 1911 – John S. McCain, Jr., American admiral (d. 1981)
• 1911 – George Joseph Stigler, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991)
• 1914 – Anacleto Angelini, Italian-Chilean businessman (d. 2007)
• 1914 – Irving Brecher, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2008)
• 1914 – William Stafford, American poet (d. 1993)
• 1916 – Peter Frelinghuysen, Jr., American politician (d. 2011)
• 1917 – Ramón Cardemil, Chilean horse rider (d. 2007)
• 1917 – M. G. Ramachandran, Indian actor, director, and politician, 5th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (d. 1987)
• 1918 – Keith Joseph, English politician (d. 1994)
• 1918 – George M. Leader, American politician, 36th Governor of Pennsylvania (d. 2013)
• 1920 – Corsica Joe, French-American wrestler (d. 2010)
• 1920 – Georges Pichard, French illustrator (d. 2003)
• 1921 – Herbert Ellis, American actor
• 1921 – Asghar Khan, Pakistani pilot and politician
• 1921 – Antonio Prohías, Cuban cartoonist (d. 1998)
• 1922 – Robert De Niro, Sr., American painter (d. 1993)
• 1922 – Luis Echeverría, Mexican politician, 50th President of Mexico
• 1922 – Nicholas Katzenbach, American lawyer, 65th United States Attorney General (d. 2012)
• 1922 – Betty White, American actress and singer
• 1923 – Rangeya Raghav, Indian author (d. 1962)
• 1923 – Carol Raye, English-Australian actress
• 1924 – Rik De Saedeleer, Belgian footballer and journalist (d. 2013)
• 1925 – Robert Cormier, American author and journalist (d. 2000)
• 1925 – Abdul Kardar, Pakistani cricketer (d. 1996)
• 1925 – Edgar Ray Killen, American Ku Klux Klan organizer
• 1925 – Patricia Owens, Canadian-American actress (d. 2000)
• 1926 – Newton N. Minow, American lawyer and politician
• 1926 – Moira Shearer, Scottish-English actress and dancer (d. 2006)
• 1927 – Thomas Anthony Dooley III, American physician and humanitarian (d. 1961)
• 1927 – Norman Kaye, Australian actor (d. 2007)
• 1927 – Eartha Kitt, American actress and singer (d. 2008)
• 1927 – Harlan Mathews, American lawyer and politician (d. 2014)
• 1927 – E.W. Swackhamer, American director and producer (d. 1994)
• 1928 – Jean Barraqué, French composer (d. 1973)
• 1928 – Vidal Sassoon, English-American hairdresser and businessman (d. 2012)
• 1929 – Jacques Plante, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1986)
• 1929 – Tan Boon Teik, Malaysian-Singaporean politician, Attorney-General of Singapore (d. 2012)
• 1930 – Eddie LeBaron, American football player, amanager, and sportscaster
• 1931 – James Earl Jones, American actor
• 1931 – Douglas Wilder, American politician, 66th Governor of Virginia
• 1931 – Don Zimmer, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2014)
• 1932 – Sheree North, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2005)
• 1933 – Dalida, Egyptian-French singer and actress (d. 1987)
• 1933 – Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, French-Pakistani diplomat (d. 2003)
• 1933 – Shari Lewis, American actress, puppeteer, and television host (d. 1998)
• 1934 – Donald Cammell, Scottish-American director and screenwriter (d. 1996)
• 1934 – Stuart Nisbet, American actor
• 1934 – Zlatko Papec, Croatian footballer (d. 2013)
• 1934 – Cedar Walton, American pianist and composer (d. 2013)
• 1935 – Ruth Ann Minner, American businesswoman and politician, 72nd Governor of Delaware
• 1936 – John Boyd, English academic and diplomat
• 1937 – Alain Badiou, French philosopher and educator
• 1938 – John Bellairs, American author (d. 1991)
• 1938 – Percy Qoboza, South African journalist (d. 1988)
• 1939 – Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens (d. 2008)
• 1939 – Maury Povich, American talk show host
• 1940 – Kipchoge Keino, Kenyan runner
• 1940 – Umashanker Singh, Indian politician (d. 2013)
• 1940 – Tabaré Vázquez, Uruguayan politician, President of Uruguay
• 1941 – István Horthy, Jr., Hungarian physicist and architect
• 1941 – Gillian Weir, New Zealand organist
• 1942 – Muhammad Ali, American boxer
• 1942 – Ita Buttrose, Australian journalist
• 1942 – Ulf Hoelscher, German violinist
• 1942 – Nigel McCulloch, English bishop
• 1942 – Nancy Parsons, American actress (d. 2001)
• 1943 – Geoffrey Deuel, American actor
• 1943 – Chris Montez, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1943 – René Préval, Haitian politician, 52nd President of Haiti
• 1944 – Françoise Hardy, French singer and actress
• 1944 – Ann Oakley, British sociologist, feminist and writer
• 1945 – Javed Akhtar, Indian poet, playwright, and composer
• 1946 – Michèle Deslauriers, Canadian actress
• 1947 – Jane Elliot, American actress
• 1947 – Alain Payet, French pornographic movie director (d. 2007)
• 1948 – Jim Ladd, American radio host and producer
• 1948 – Davíð Oddsson, Icelandic politician, 21st Prime Minister of Iceland
• 1948 – Anne Queffélec, French pianist
• 1948 – Michael Rake, English businessman
• 1949 – Gyude Bryant, Liberian businessman and politician (d. 2014)
• 1949 – Andy Kaufman, American comedian and actor (d. 1984)
• 1949 – Mick Taylor, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and The Rolling Stones)
• 1950 – Luis López Nieves, Puerto Rican author
• 1952 – Darrell Porter, American baseball player (d. 2002)
• 1952 – Ryuichi Sakamoto, Japanese pianist, composer, producer, and actor (Yellow Magic Orchestra)
• 1953 – Jeff Berlin, American bass player
• 1953 – Carlos Johnson, American singer and guitarist
• 1954 – Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., American lawyer, radio host, and environmentalist
• 1954 – Susan Kiefel, Australian lawyer and judge
• 1955 – Steve Earle, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor
• 1955 – Steve Javie, American basketball player and referee
• 1956 – Damian Green, English politician
• 1956 – Mitch Vogel, American actor
• 1956 – Paul Young, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Q-Tips)
• 1957 – Keith Chegwin, English television host and actor
• 1957 – Steve Harvey, American comedian, actor, and author
• 1957 – Ann Nocenti, American author
• 1957 – Michel Vaarten, Belgian cyclist
• 1958 – Valdas Kasparavičius, Lithuanian footballer
• 1959 – Susanna Hoffs, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress (The Bangles and Ming Tea)
• 1959 – Momoe Yamaguchi, Japanese singer and actress
• 1960 – John Crawford, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Berlin)
• 1960 – Chili Davis, Jamaican-American baseball player
• 1960 – Tracey Moore, Canadian voice actress and singer
• 1960 – Chatchai Plengpanich, Thai actor
• 1961 – Maia Chiburdanidze, Georgian chess player
• 1961 – Brian Helgeland, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1962 – Jun Azumi, Japanese politician
• 1962 – Jim Carrey, Canadian-American actor and producer
• 1962 – Sebastian Junger, American journalist and author
• 1962 – Taija Rae, American porn actress
• 1962 – Ari Up, German-English singer (The Slits and New Age Steppers) (d. 2010)
• 1963 – Kai Hansen, German singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Gamma Ray, Helloween, Unisonic, and Iron Savior)
• 1964 – Michelle Fairley, Northern Irish actress
• 1964 – Michelle Obama, American lawyer and activist, 46th First Lady of the United States
• 1964 – Andy Rourke, English bass player (The Smiths and Freebass)
• 1965 – Nikos Nioplias, Greek footballer
• 1965 – Sylvain Turgeon, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1966 – Joshua Malina, American actor
• 1966 – Stephin Merritt, American singer-songwriter (The Magnetic Fields, The 6ths, Future Bible Heroes, and The Gothic Archies)
• 1966 – Shabba Ranks, Jamaican singer
• 1966 – António Zeferino, Cape Verdean runner
• 1967 – Richard Hawley, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Pulp and Longpigs)
• 1967 – Song Kang-ho, South Korean actor
• 1967 – Wendy Mass, American author
• 1967 – Filippo Raciti, Italian police officer (d. 2007)
• 1968 – Svetlana Masterkova, Russian runner
• 1968 – Rowan Pelling, English journalist
• 1968 – Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer, Dutch author, poet, and scholar
• 1968 – Jane Salumäe, Estonian runner
• 1969 – Naveen Andrews, English actor
• 1969 – Lukas Moodysson, Swedish director, screenwriter, and author
• 1969 – Tiësto, Dutch DJ and producer (Gouryella and Kamaya Painters)
• 1970 – Cássio Alves de Barros, Brazilian footballer
• 1970 – Masaaki Mochizuki, Japanese wrestler
• 1970 – Jeremy Roenick, American ice hockey player
• 1970 – Genndy Tartakovsky, Russian-American animator, director, and producer
• 1970 – James Wattana, Thai snooker player
• 1971 – Giorgos Balogiannis, Greek basketball player
• 1971 – Richard Burns, English race car driver (d. 2005)
• 1971 – Kid Rock, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
• 1971 – Youki Kudoh, Japanese actress
• 1971 – Sylvie Testud, French actress
• 1971 – Paolo Vaccari, Italian rugby player
• 1971 – Ann Wolfe, American boxer
• 1972 – Benno Fürmann, German actor
• 1972 – Ken Hirai, Japanese singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
• 1973 – Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Mexican footballer
• 1973 – Chris Bowen, Australian politician
• 1973 – Liz Ellis, Australian netball player
• 1973 – Aaron Ward, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1974 – Danny Bhoy, Scottish comedian
• 1974 – Ladan and Laleh Bijani, Iranian conjoined twins (d. 2003)
• 1974 – Vesko Kountchev, Bulgarian viola player (Amparanoia)
• 1974 – Derrick Mason, American football player
• 1974 – Yang Chen, Chinese footballer
• 1975 – Freddy Rodriguez, American actor
• 1975 – Squarepusher, English singer-songwriter
• 1975 – Rami Yacoub, Swedish songwriter and producer
• 1977 – Kevin Fertig, American wrestler
• 1977 – Leigh Whannell, Australian actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1978 – Carolina "Pampita" Ardohaín, Argentine model, television personality and actress
• 1978 – Meilen Tu, Taiwanese-American tennis player
• 1978 – Ricky Wilson, English singer-songwriter (Kaiser Chiefs)
• 1979 – Oleg Lisogor, Ukrainian swimmer
• 1979 – Chase Stevens, American wrestler
• 1980 – Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Ukrainian-American dancer and choreographer
• 1980 – Zooey Deschanel, American singer-songwriter and actress (She & Him)
• 1980 – Gareth McLearnon, Irish flute player
• 1980 – Modestas Stonys, Lithuanian footballer
• 1981 – Warren Feeney, Irish footballer
• 1981 – Ray J, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
• 1981 – Scott Mechlowicz, American actor
• 1982 – Hwanhee, South Korean singer and actor (Fly to the Sky)
• 1982 – Dwyane Wade, American basketball player
• 1982 – Amanda Wilkinson, Canadian singer (The Wilkinsons)
• 1983 – Álvaro Arbeloa, Spanish footballer
• 1983 – Johannes Herber, German basketball player
• 1983 – Rick Kelly, Australian race car driver
• 1984 – Sophie Dee, Welsh porn actress
• 1984 – Kelvin Fletcher, English actor and model
• 1984 – Calvin Harris, Scottish singer-songwriter, DJ, and producer
• 1984 – Sam Shaw, American wrestler
• 1985 – Pablo Barrientos, Argentinian footballer
• 1985 – Mark Briscoe, American wrestler
• 1985 – Kangin, South Korean singer, dancer, and actor (Super Junior)
• 1985 – Riyu Kosaka, Japanese singer and actress (BeForU)
• 1985 – Betsy Ruth, American wrestler
• 1985 – Simone Simons, Dutch singer-songwriter (Epica)
• 1986 – Max Adler, American actor
• 1986 – Hale Appleman, American actor
• 1986 – Viktor Stålberg, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1987 – Oleksandr Usyk, Ukrainian boxer
• 1988 – Andrea Antonelli, Italian motorcycle racer (d. 2013)
• 1988 – Will Genia, Australian rugby player
• 1988 – Héctor Moreno, Mexican footballer
• 1989 – Hollie-Jay Bowes, English actress and singer
• 1989 – Björn Dreyer, German footballer
• 1989 – Taylor Jordan, American baseball player
• 1990 – Santiago Tréllez, Colombian footballer
• 1991 – Trevor Bauer, American baseball player
• 1991 – Lee Kiseop, South Korean singer and dancer (U-KISS)
• 1993 – Frankie Cocozza, English singer
• 1997 – Jack Vidgen, Australian singer-songwriter

Deaths

• 395 – Theodosius I, Roman emperor (b. 347)
• 1229 – Albert of Riga, German bishop (b. 1165)
• 1345 – Henry of Asti, Greek patriarch
• 1345 – Martino Zaccaria, Aegean ruler
• 1369 – Peter I of Cyprus (b. 1328)
• 1468 – Skanderbeg, Albanian politician (b. 1405)
• 1598 – Feodor I of Russia (b. 1557)
• 1617 – Fausto Veranzio, Croatian bishop (b. 1551)
• 1654 – Paulus Potter, Dutch painter (b. 1625)
• 1705 – John Ray, English historian (b. 1627)
• 1718 – Benjamin Church, American captain (b. 1639)
• 1737 – Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, German architect (b. 1662)
• 1738 – Jean-François Dandrieu, French organist and composer (b. 1682)
• 1751 – Tomaso Albinoni, Italian composer (b. 1671)
• 1826 – Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga, Spanish composer (b. 1806)
• 1834 – Giovanni Aldini, Italian physicist (b. 1762)
• 1861 – Lola Montez, Irish-American actress and dancer (b. 1821)
• 1863 – Horace Vernet, French painter (b. 1789)
• 1869 – Alexander Dargomyzhsky, Russian composer (b. 1813)
• 1874 – Chang and Eng Bunker, Thai conjoined twins (b. 1811)
• 1878 – Edward Shepherd Creasy, English historian and jurist (b. 1812)
• 1884 – Hermann Schlegel, German ornithologist (b. 1804)
• 1887 – William Giblin, Australian politician, 13th Premier of Tasmania (b. 1840)
• 1891 – George Bancroft, American historian and politician, 17th United States Secretary of the Navy (b. 1800)
• 1893 – Rutherford B. Hayes, American politician, 19th President of the United States (b. 1822)
• 1903 – Ignaz Wechselmann, Hungarian architect and philanthropist (b. 1828)
• 1908 – Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1835)
• 1909 – Francis Smith, Australian politician, 4th Premier of Tasmania (b. 1819)
• 1911 – Francis Galton, English polymath, anthropologist, and geographer (b. 1822)
• 1927 – Juliette Gordon Low, American founder of the Girl Scouts of the USA (b. 1860)
• 1931 – Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia (b. 1864)
• 1932 – Albert Jacka, Australian soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1893)
• 1933 – Ruurd Leegstra, Dutch rower (b. 1877)
• 1933 – Louis Comfort Tiffany, American stained glass artist (b. 1848)
• 1936 – Mateiu Caragiale, Romanian author (b. 1885)
• 1942 – Walther von Reichenau, German field marshal (b. 1884)
• 1947 – Pyotr Krasnov, Russian general (b. 1869)
• 1947 – Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Villeneuve, Canadian cardinal (b. 1883)
• 1951 – Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, Indian poet, playwright, and director (b. 1903)
• 1952 – Walter Briggs, Sr., American businessman (b. 1877)
• 1956 – Blind Alfred Reed, American singer-songwriter (b. 1880)
• 1960 – Andrew Kennaway Henderson, New Zealand illustrator (b. 1879)
• 1961 – Patrice Lumumba, Congolese politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (b. 1925)
• 1963 – Henri Masson, French fencer (b. 1872)
• 1964 – T. H. White, English author (b. 1906)
• 1967 – Evelyn Nesbit, American actress (b. 1884)
• 1970 – Simon Kovar, Russian-American bassoon player (b. 1890)
• 1970 – Billy Stewart, American singer and pianist (b. 1937)
• 1972 – Betty Smith, American author (b. 1896)
• 1973 – Takis Hristoforidis, Greek actor (b. 1914)
• 1977 – Gary Gilmore, American murderer (b. 1940)
• 1977 – Dougal Haston, Scottish mountaineer (b. 1940)
• 1981 – Loukas Panourgias, Greek footballer (b. 1899)
• 1983 – Doodles Weaver, American actor (b. 1911)
• 1984 – Kostas Giannidis, Greek pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1903)
• 1984 – George Rigaud, Argentinian actor (b. 1905)
• 1987 – Hugo Fregonese, Argentinian director and screenwriter (b. 1908)
• 1988 – Percy Qoboza, South African journalist and author (b. 1938)
• 1991 – Olav V of Norway (b. 1903)
• 1992 – Frank Pullen, English businessman (b. 1915)
• 1993 – Albert Hourani, English-Lebanese historian and academic (b. 1915)
• 1994 – Yevgeni Ivanov, Russian spy (b. 1926)
• 1994 – Helen Stephens, American runner (b. 1918)
• 1996 – Amber Hagerman, American kidnapped victim, inspired the AMBER Alert system (b. 1986)
• 1996 – Barbara Jordan, American politician (b. 1936)
• 1996 – Mostafa Sid Ahmed, Sudanese singer (b. 1953)
• 1997 – Bert Kelly, Australian politician (b. 1912)
• 1997 – Clyde Tombaugh, American astronomer (b. 1906)
• 1998 – Junior Kimbrough, American singer and guitarist (b. 1930)
• 1999 – Robert Eads, American transsexual man (b. 1945)
• 1999 – Samantha Reid, American victim of GHB overdose (b. 1984)
• 2000 – Philip Jones, English trumpet player (b. 1928)
• 2000 – Ion Rațiu, Romanian politician (b. 1917)
• 2001 – Gregory Corso, American poet (b. 1930)
• 2002 – Camilo José Cela, Spanish author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
• 2002 – Bishop Karas, Sudanese-American bishop (b. 1955)
• 2002 – Queenie Leonard, American actress (b. 1905)
• 2002 – Eddie Meduza, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1948)
• 2002 – Roman Personov, Russian physicist (b. 1932)
• 2003 – Richard Crenna, American actor (b. 1926)
• 2003 – Balint Vazsonyi, Hungarian pianist (b. 1936)
• 2004 – Raymond Bonham Carter, English banker (b. 1929)
• 2004 – Harry Brecheen, American baseball player (b. 1914)
• 2004 – Czesław Niemen, Polish singer-songwriter (Niebiesko-Czarni) (b. 1939)
• 2004 – Ray Stark, American stage and film producer (b. 1915)
• 2004 – Noble Willingham, American actor (b. 1931)
• 2005 – Charlie Bell, Australian businessman (b. 1960)
• 2005 – Virginia Mayo, American actress (b. 1920)
• 2005 – Albert Schatz, American microbiologist (b. 1920)
• 2005 – Zhao Ziyang, Chinese politician, 3rd Premier of the People's Republic of China (b. 1919)
• 2006 – Clarence Ray Allen, American murderer (b. 1930)
• 2006 – Pierre Grondin, Canadian surgeon (b. 1925)
• 2007 – Art Buchwald, American journalist (b. 1925)
• 2007 – Yevhen Kushnaryov, Ukrainian politician (b. 1951)
• 2008 – Bobby Fischer, American chess player and author (b. 1943)
• 2008 – Ernie Holmes, American football player (b. 1948)
• 2008 – Allan Melvin, American actor (b. 1923)
• 2008 – Carlos, French singer and actor (b. 1943)
• 2009 – Anders Isaksson, Swedish journalist and historian (b. 1943)
• 2010 – Gaines Adams, American football player (b. 1983)
• 2010 – Jyoti Basu, Indian politician, 9th Chief Minister of West Bengal (b. 1914)
• 2010 – Daisuke Gōri, Japanese voice actor (b. 1952)
• 2010 – Michalis Papakonstantinou, Greek politician, Foreign Minister of Greece (b. 1919)
• 2010 – Erich Segal, American author and screenwriter (b. 1937)
• 2011 – Don Kirshner, American composer (b. 1934)
• 2012 – Ernie Alexander, American educator and politician (b. 1933)
• 2012 – Aengus Fanning, Irish journalist (b. 1942)
• 2012 – Carlos Guirao, Spanish guitarist, keyboard player, and composer (Neuronium) (b. 1954)
• 2012 – Julius Meimberg, German soldier and pilot (b. 1917)
• 2012 – Johnny Otis, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1921)
• 2012 – Piet Römer, Dutch actor and singer (b. 1928)
• 2012 – Marty Springstead, American baseball player and umpire (b. 1937)
• 2013 – Mehmet Ali Birand, Turkish journalist and author (b. 1941)
• 2013 – Jakob Arjouni, German author (b. 1964)
• 2013 – Tissa Balasuriya, Sri Lankan priest and theologian (b. 1924)
• 2013 – Robert F. Chew, American actor (b. 1960)
• 2013 – Yves Debay, Belgian journalist (b. 1954)
• 2013 – Sophiya Haque, English actress and singer (b. 1971)
• 2013 – James Hood, American activist (b. 1942)
• 2013 – Homayoun Khorram, Iranian violinist and composer (b. 1930)
• 2013 – Fred J. Lincoln, American porn actor, director, and producer (b. 1938)
• 2013 – Tony Martin, Trinidadian-American historian and academic (b. 1942)
• 2013 – Jack McCarthy, American poet (b. 1939)
• 2013 – John Nkomo, Zimbabwean politician, Vice President of Zimbabwe (b. 1934)
• 2013 – Lizbeth Webb, English soprano and actress (b. 1926)
• 2014 – Salvador Breglia, Paraguayan footballer and coach (b. 1935)
• 2014 – Mohammed Burhanuddin, Indian spiritual leader, 52nd Da'i al-Mutlaq (b. 1915)
• 2014 – Joe Evans, American saxophonist (b. 1916)
• 2014 – Seizō Katō, Japanese voice actor (b. 1927)
• 2014 – Francine Lalonde, Canadian educator and politician (b. 1940)
• 2014 – Alistair McAlpine, Baron McAlpine of West Green, English businessman and politician (b. 1942)
• 2014 – John J. McGinty III, American captain, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1940)
• 2014 – Sunanda Pushkar, Indian-Canadian businesswoman (b. 1962)
• 2014 – Suchitra Sen, Bangladeshi-Indian actress (b. 1931)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Anthony the Great (Roman Catholic and Eastern (Byzantine) Catholic Church)
  • Blessed Amelbert
  • Mildgyth
  • Sulpitius the Pious
  • Pachomius (Lutheran Church)
  • Charles Gore (Church of England)
  • January 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• National Day (Minorca)
• The opening ceremony of Patras Carnival, celebrated until Clean Monday. (Patras)

External links

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