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).
Perihelion, the point during the year when the Earth is closest to the Sun, occurs around this date.

Events

• 1431 – Joan of Arc is defeated by Bishop Pierre Cauchon.
• 1521 – Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.
• 1653 – By the Coonan Cross Oath, the Eastern Church in India cuts itself off from colonial Portuguese tutelage.
• 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 Lord Cornwallis at the Battle of Princeton.
• 1815 – Austria, the United Kingdom, and France form a secret defensive alliance 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 – Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins.
• 1885 – Sino-French War: Beginning of the Battle of Núi Bop
• 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 I 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 Vought F4U Corsair by Captain Masajiro Kawato flying a Mitsubishi A6M 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 over the latter's nationalization of American assets.
• 1961 – A core explosion and meltdown at the SL-1, a government-run reactor near Idaho Falls, Idaho, kills three workers.
• 1961 – In Finland's worst civilian aviation accident an 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.
• 2000 – The last original weekday Peanuts comic strip is published.
• 2002 – Israeli forces seize the Palestinian freighter Karine A in the Red Sea, finding 50 tons of weapons.
• 2004 – Flash Airlines Flight 604 crashes into the Red Sea, resulting in 148 deaths, making it the deadliest aviation accident in Egyptian history.
• 2009 – The first block of the blockchain of the decentralized payment system Bitcoin, called the Genesis block, was established by the creator of the system, Satoshi Nakamoto.

Births

• 106 BC – Cicero, Roman politician and philosopher (d. 43 BC)
• 169 – Lü Bu, Chinese general and warlord (d. 199)
• 1196 – Emperor Tsuchimikado of Japan (d. 1231)
• 1698 – Metastasio, Italian poet (d. 1782)
• 1710 – Richard Gridley, American soldier (d. 1796)
• 1719 – Francisco José Freire, Portuguese historian (d. 1773)
• 1722 – Fredrik Hasselqvist, Swedish naturalist (d. 1752)
• 1760 – Veerapandiya Kattabomman, Indian activist (d.1799)
• 1760 – John Storm, American soldier (d. 1835)
• 1778 – Antoni Melchior Fijałkowski, Polish archbishop (d. 1861)
• 1793 – Lucretia Mott, American activist (d. 1880)
• 1802 – Charles Pelham Villiers, English lawyer and politician (d. 1898)
• 1803 – Douglas William Jerrold, English playwright (d. 1857)
• 1806 – Henriette Sontag, German soprano (d. 1854)
• 1810 – Antoine Thomson d'Abbadie, French geographer (d. 1897)
• 1816 – Samuel C. Pomeroy, American businessman and politician (d. 1891)
• 1819 – Charles Piazzi Smyth, Italian astronomer (d. 1900)
• 1821 – Karel Dežman, Slovenian archeologist, botanist, and politician (d. 1889)
• 1831 – Savitribai Phule, Indian educator and activist (d. 1897)
• 1836 – Sakamoto Ryōma, Japanese samurai and rebel leader (d. 1867)
• 1840 – Father Damien, Flemish missionary and priest (d. 1889)
• 1855 – Hubert Bland, English educator (d. 1914)
• 1856 – R. C. Lehmann, English journalist and politician (d. 1929)
• 1861 – William Renshaw, English tennis player (d. 1904)
• 1862 – Matthew Nathan, English soldier and politician, 13th Governor of Queensland (d. 1939)
• 1865 – Henry Lytton, English actor and singer (d. 1936)
• 1870 – Henry Handel Richardson, Australian author (d. 1946)
• 1873 – Ichizō Kobayashi, Japanese businessman, founded the Hankyu Hanshin Holdings (d. 1957)
• 1874 – Francis Newton, American golfer (d. 1946)
• 1875 – Alexandros Diomidis, Greek banker and politician, 145th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1950)
• 1876 – Wilhelm Pieck, German politician, 1st President of the German Democratic Republic (d. 1960)
• 1879 – Grace Coolidge, American wife of Calvin Coolidge, 32nd First Lady of the United States (d. 1957)
• 1880 – Francis Browne, Irish photographer (d. 1960)
• 1883 – Clement Attlee, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1967)
• 1884 – Raoul Koczalski, Polish pianist and composer (d. 1948)
• 1885 – Harry Elkins Widener, American businessman (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 and author (d. 1973)
• 1888 – Jacob Bolotin, American physician (d. 1924)
• 1892 – J. R. R. Tolkien, English philologist and author (d. 1973)
• 1894 – ZaSu Pitts, American actress (d. 1963)
• 1895 – Boris Lyatoshinsky, Ukrainian composer and conductor (d. 1968)
• 1897 – Marion Davies, American actress (d. 1961)
• 1898 – Carolyn Haywood, American author (d. 1990)
• 1898 – Carlos Keller, Chilean politician (d. 1974)
• 1900 – Donald J. Russell, American businessman (d. 1985)
• 1901 – Ngo Dinh Diem, Vietnamese politician, 1st President of the Republic of Vietnam (d. 1963)
• 1905 – Anna May Wong, American actress (d. 1961)
• 1907 – Ray Milland, Welsh-American actor and director (d. 1986)
• 1909 – Victor Borge, Danish-American pianist and comedian (d. 2000)
• 1910 – Frenchy Bordagaray, American baseball player (d. 2000)
• 1911 – John Sturges, American director (d. 1982)
• 1912 – Federico Borrell García, Spanish soldier (d. 1936)
• 1912 – Renaude Lapointe, Canadian journalist and politician (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 – Warren King, American cartoonist (d. 1978)
• 1917 – Albert Mol, Dutch author and actor (d. 2002)
• 1917 – Roger Williams Straus, Jr., American publisher, co-founded Farrar, Straus and Giroux (d. 2004)
• 1917 – Vernon A. Walters, American military officer and diplomat, 17th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 2002)
• 1918 – Ivan Bodiul, Ukrainian-Moldovan politician (d. 2013)
• 1919 – Herbie Nichols, American pianist and composer (d. 1963)
• 1920 – Siegfried Buback, German politician, Attorney General of Germany (d. 1977)
• 1920 – Renato Carosone, Italian pianist (d. 2001)
• 1921 – Chetan Anand, Indian director and screenwriter (d. 1997)
• 1922 – Bill Travers, English actor, screenwriter, and director (d. 1994)
• 1923 – Bud Adams, American businessman (d. 2013)
• 1923 – Hank Stram, American football player and coach (d. 2005)
• 1923 – Bud Tingwell, Australian actor (d. 2009)
• 1924 – Otto Beisheim, German businessman, founded Metro AG (d. 2013)
• 1924 – André Franquin, Belgian author and illustrator (d. 1997)
• 1924 – Nell Rankin, American soprano (d. 2005)
• 1925 – Jill Balcon, English actress (d. 2009)
• 1926 – W. Michael Blumenthal, American businessman and politician, 64th United States Secretary of the Treasury
• 1926 – George Martin, English composer and producer
• 1928 – Michael Barratt, English television presenter
• 1929 – Sergio Leone, Italian director (d. 1989)
• 1929 – Ernst Mahle, German-Brazilian composer and conductor
• 1930 – Mara Corday, American model and actress
• 1930 – Marcel Dubé, Canadian playwright
• 1930 – Robert Loggia, American actor and director
• 1930 – Barbara Stuart, American actress (d. 2011)
• 1931 – Yashawant Dinkar Phadke, Indian historian and activist (d. 2008)
• 1932 – Dabney Coleman, American actor
• 1932 – Yolanda "Tongolele" Montes, American-Mexican dancer and actress
• 1933 – Geoffrey Bindman, English solicitor
• 1933 – Anya Linden, English ballerina
• 1933 – Anne Stevenson, American-English poet
• 1934 – Marpessa Dawn, American-French actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2008)
• 1934 – Carla Anderson Hills, American lawyer and civil servant
• 1935 – Raymond Garneau, Canadian businessman and politician
• 1935 – Camil Samson, Canadian politician (d. 2012)
• 1936 – Michael Layard, English admiral
• 1937 – Glen A. Larson, American director, producer, and screenwriter, created Battlestar Galactica (d. 2014)
• 1937 – Seri Wangnaitham, Thai dancer and choreographer (d. 2007)
• 1938 – Robin Butler, Baron Butler of Brockwell, English politician
• 1938 – K. Ganeshalingam, Sri Lankan politician (d. 2006)
• 1939 – Arik Einstein, Israeli singer, songwriter and actor (d. 2013)
• 1939 – Bobby Hull, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1939 – Ruben Reyes, Filipino jurist
• 1940 – Leo de Berardinis, Italian stage actor and theatre director (d. 2008)
• 1941 – Franklin McCain, American activist (d. 2014)
• 1941 – Van Dyke Parks, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
• 1942 – John Marsden, Australian lawyer and activist (d. 2006)
• 1942 – John Thaw, English actor (d. 2002)
• 1943 – Jarl Alfredius, Swedish journalist (d. 2009)
• 1944 – David Atherton, English conductor
• 1944 – Blanche d'Alpuget, Australian author
• 1945 – David Starkey, English historian
• 1945 – Stephen Stills, American singer-songwriter, musician, and producer (Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Manassas)
• 1946 – John Paul Jones, English bass player, songwriter, and producer (Led Zeppelin and Them Crooked Vultures)
• 1946 – Cissy King, American singer and dancer
• 1946 – Michalis Kritikopoulos, Greek footballer (d. 2002)
• 1947 – Zulema, American singer-songwriter (Faith Hope and Charity) (d. 2013)
• 1949 – Sylvia Likens, American murder victim (d. 1965)
• 1949 – Hilary Wainwright, English sociologist, political activist and editor Red Pepper
• 1950 – Masha and Dasha Krivoshlyapova, Russian conjoined twins (d. 2003)
• 1950 – Victoria Principal, American actress
• 1951 – Linda Dobbs, Sierra Leone-born former High Court judge
• 1951 – Gary Nairn, Australian politician
• 1952 – Esperanza Aguirre, Spanish politician, 3rd President of Madrid
• 1952 – Gianfranco Fini, Italian politician
• 1952 – Jim Ross, American wrestler and sportscaster
• 1953 – Justin Fleming, Australian playwright and author
• 1953 – Mohammed Waheed Hassan, Maldivian politician, 5th President of the Maldives
• 1954 – Dean Hart, Canadian wrestler (d. 1990)
• 1954 – Ned Lamont, American businessman and politician
• 1954 – Ross the Boss, American guitarist and songwriter (The Dictators, Manowar, and Manitoba's Wild Kingdom)
• 1955 – Palmolive, Spanish-English drummer (The Slits, The Raincoats, and The Flowers of Romance)
• 1956 – Mel Gibson, American-Australian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1956 – Sam Laidlaw, English businessman
• 1956 – Willy T. Ribbs, American race car driver
• 1958 – James J. Greco, American businessman
• 1958 – Shim Hyung-rae, South Korean actor, director, and producer
• 1960 – Russell Spence, English race car driver
• 1963 – Vic Grimes, American wrestler
• 1963 – Stewart Hosie, Scottish politician
• 1963 – New Jack, American wrestler
• 1963 – Alex Wheatle, English author
• 1964 – Bruce LaBruce, Canadian director
• 1967 – Gérald Mossé, French jockey
• 1969 – Jarmo Lehtinen, Finnish rally co-driver
• 1969 – Michael Schumacher, German race car driver
• 1969 – Gerda Weissensteiner, Italian bobsledder
• 1970 – Mahaya Petrosian, Iranian actress
• 1970 – Priit Reiska, Estonian footballer
• 1970 – Matt Ross, American actor
• 1970 – Lee Beom-soo, South Korean actor
• 1971 – Cory Cross, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1972 – Janek Kiisman, Estonian footballer
• 1972 – Yoon Chan, South Korean actor
• 1973 – Dan Harmon, American screenwriter and producer
• 1973 – Rory Stewart, British academic, writer and politician
• 1974 – Robert-Jan Derksen, Dutch golfer
• 1974 – Alessandro Petacchi, Italian cyclist
• 1975 – Thomas Bangalter, French DJ and producer (Daft Punk, Stardust, Together, and Darlin')
• 1975 – Jun Maeda, Japanese video game writer
• 1975 – Jason Marsden, American actor
• 1975 – Danica McKellar, American actress
• 1976 – Angelos Basinas, Greek footballer
• 1976 – Dinara Drukarova, Russian actress
• 1976 – Nicholas Gonzalez, American actor and producer
• 1977 – Lee Bowyer, English footballer
• 1977 – A. J. Burnett, American baseball player
• 1977 – Mayumi Iizuka, Japanese voice actress and singer
• 1978 – Dimitra Kalentzou, Greek basketball player
• 1978 – Liya Kebede, Ethiopian-American model, actress, and fashion designer
• 1978 – Kimberley Locke, American singer-songwriter
• 1978 – Park Sol-mi, South Korean actress
• 1978 – Mike York, American ice hockey player
• 1979 – Chris Geddes, Canadian volleyball player
• 1979 – Rie Tanaka, Japanese voice actress and singer
• 1979 – Dina Tersago, Belgian model and television host, Miss Belgium 2001
• 1979 – Koit Toome, Estonian singer
• 1980 – Bryan Clay, American decathlete
• 1980 – Angela Ruggiero, American ice hockey player
• 1980 – David Tyree, American football player
• 1980 – Kurt Vile, American musician
• 1981 – Naresh Iyer, Indian singer
• 1981 – Eli Manning, American football player
• 1982 – Peter Clarke, English footballer
• 1982 – Lasse Nilsson, Swedish footballer
• 1983 – Antti Arst, Estonian footballer
• 1984 – Billy Mehmet, Irish footballer
• 1984 – Arif Suyono, Indonesian footballer
• 1985 – Nicole Beharie, American actress
• 1985 – John David Booty, American football player
• 1985 – Linas Kleiza, Lithuanian basketball player
• 1985 – Evan Moore, American football player
• 1986 – Dana Hussain, Iraqi sprinter
• 1986 – Greg Nwokolo, Indonesian footballer
• 1986 – Jessica O'Rourke, American footballer
• 1986 – Jacob Timpano, Australian footballer
• 1987 – Anchal Joseph Indian-American model and actress
• 1987 – Leonidas Panagopoulos, Greek footballer
• 1988 – Ikechi Anya, Scottish-Nigerian footballer
• 1988 – Rodrigo de la Cadena, Mexican singer-songwriter
• 1988 – Jonny Evans, Irish footballer
• 1988 – Matt Frattin, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1988 – J. R. Hildebrand American race car driver
• 1989 – Adas Juškevičius, Lithuanian basketball player
• 1989 – Alex D. Linz, American actor
• 1989 – Anya Rozova, Russian-American model
• 1989 – Kōhei Uchimura, Japanese gymnast
• 1989 – Ayaka Umeda, Japanese singer (AKB48 and Diva)
• 1991 – Jerson Cabral, Dutch footballer
• 1992 – Sandra Zaniewska, Polish tennis player
• 1993 – Kevin Ware, American basketball player

Deaths

• 235 – Pope Anterus
• 323 – Emperor Yuan of Jin (b. 276)
• 492 – Pope Felix III
• 661 – Benjamin, patriarch of Alexandria
• 1098 – Walkelin, French bishop
• 1322 – Philip V of France (b. 1292)
• 1437 – Catherine of Valois (b. 1401)
• 1543 – Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, Portuguese explorer (b. 1499)
• 1571 – Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1505)
• 1641 – Jeremiah Horrocks, English astronomer (b. 1618)
• 1656 – Mathieu Molé, French politician (b. 1584)
• 1670 – George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, English soldier and politician (b. 1608)
• 1690 – Hillel ben Naphtali Zevi, Lithuanian rabbi (b. 1615)
• 1701 – Louis I, Prince of Monaco (b. 1642)
• 1705 – Luca Giordano, Italian painter (b. 1634)
• 1743 – Ferdinando Galli-Bibiena, Italian architect and designer (b. 1657)
• 1779 – Claude Bourgelat, French surgeon (b. 1712)
• 1785 – Baldassare Galuppi, Italian composer (b. 1706)
• 1795 – Josiah Wedgwood, English potter, founder of the Wedgwood Company (b. 1730)
• 1813 – Bennelong, Aborigine interlocutor (b. 1764)
• 1826 – Louis-Gabriel Suchet, French marshal (b. 1770)
• 1871 – Kuriakose Elias Chavara, Indian saint (b. 1805)
• 1875 – Pierre Larousse, French lexicographer (b. 1817)
• 1882 – William Harrison Ainsworth, English author (b. 1805)
• 1895 – James Merritt Ives, American lithographer and businessman, co-founded Currier and Ives (b. 1824)
• 1903 – Alois Hitler, Austrian civil servant (b. 1837)
• 1911 – Alexandros Papadiamantis, Greek author (b. 1851)
• 1915 – James Elroy Flecker, English poet, author, and playwright (b. 1884)
• 1916 – Grenville M. Dodge, American General (b. 1831)
• 1922 – Wilhelm Voigt, German military impostor (b. 1849)
• 1923 – Jaroslav Hašek, Czech author (b. 1883)
• 1927 – Carl David Tolmé Runge, German physicist (b. 1856)
• 1931 – Joseph Joffre, French general (b. 1852)
• 1933 – Wilhelm Cuno, German politician, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1876)
• 1933 – Jack Pickford, Canadian actor (b. 1896)
• 1943 – André Fauquet-Lemaître, French polo player (b. 1862)
• 1943 – Walter James, Australian politician, 5th Premier of Western Australia (b. 1863)
• 1944 – Jurgis Baltrušaitis, Lithuanian poet (b. 1873)
• 1945 – Edgar Cayce, American psychic (b. 1877)
• 1945 – Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski, Polish journalist and explorer (b. 1879)
• 1946 – William Joyce, American-English politician (b. 1906)
• 1950 – Emil Jannings, Swiss actor (b. 1884)
• 1956 – Alexander Gretchaninov, Russian composer (b. 1864)
• 1956 – Dimitrios Vergos, Greek wrestler, weightlifter, and shot putter (b. 1886)
• 1956 – Joseph Wirth, German politician, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1876)
• 1959 – Edwin Muir, Scottish poet, author, and translator (b. 1887)
• 1960 – Eric P. Kelly, American children's author (b. 1884)
• 1962 – Hermann Lux, German footballer (b. 1893)
• 1967 – Mary Garden, Scottish soprano (b. 1874)
• 1967 – Jack Ruby, American murderer (b. 1911)
• 1969 – Jean Focas, Greek-French astronomer (b. 1909)
• 1969 – Tzavalas Karousos, Greek actor (b. 1904)
• 1970 – Gladys Aylward, English missionary (b. 1902)
• 1972 – Mohan Rakesh, Indian author and playwright (b. 1925)
• 1974 – Gino Cervi, Italian actor (b. 1901)
• 1975 – James McCormack, American army officer (b. 1910)
• 1979 – Conrad Hilton, American businessman, founded the Hilton Hotels & Resorts (b. 1887)
• 1980 – Joy Adamson, Czech author (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 race car driver and stuntman (b. 1912)
• 1989 – Sergei Sobolev, Russian mathematician (b. 1909)
• 1991 – Kleanthis Maropoulos, Greek footballer (b. 1919)
• 1992 – Judith Anderson, Australian actress (b. 1897)
• 1993 – Johnny Most, American sportscaster (b. 1923)
• 2002 – Juan García Esquivel, Mexican pianist and composer (b. 1918)
• 2002 – Freddy Heineken, Dutch businessman (b. 1923)
• 2002 – Satish Dhawan, Indian engineer (b.1920)
• 2003 – Sid Gillman, American football player and coach (b. 1911)
• 2004 – Des Corcoran, Australian politician, 37th Premier of South Australia (b. 1928)
• 2005 – Koo Chen-fu, Taiwanese businessman and diplomat (b. 1917)
• 2005 – Jyotindra Nath Dixit, Indian diplomat (b. 1936)
• 2005 – Will Eisner, American author and illustrator (b. 1917)
• 2006 – Steve Rogers, Australian rugby player (b. 1954)
• 2006 – Bill Skate, Papua New Guinean politician, 5th Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea (b. 1954)
• 2007 – János Fürst, Hungarian violinist and conductor (b. 1935)
• 2007 – Sergio Jiménez, Mexican actor (b. 1937)
• 2007 – Earl Reibel, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1930)
• 2007 – William Verity, Jr., American businessman (b. 1917)
• 2007 – Cecil Walker, Irish politician (b. 1924)
• 2008 – Aleksandr Abdulov, Russian actor (b. 1953)
• 2008 – Yo-Sam Choi, South Korean boxer (b. 1972)
• 2008 – Werner Dollinger, German economist and politician (b. 1918)
• 2009 – Betty Freeman, American philanthropist and photographer (b. 1921)
• 2009 – Ulf G. Lindén, Swedish businessman (b. 1937)
• 2009 – Hisayasu Nagata, Japanese politician (b. 1969)
• 2010 – Gustavo Becerra-Schmidt, Chilean composer (b. 1925)
• 2010 – Mary Daly, American theologian and scholar (b. 1928)
• 2010 – Takis Michalos, Greek water polo player and coach (b. 1947)
• 2011 – Fadil Hadžić, Croatian director (b. 1922)
• 2011 – Suchitra Mitra, Indian singer and composer (b. 1924)
• 2012 – Vicar, Chilean cartoonist (b. 1934)
• 2012 – Charles W. Bailey, American journalist and author (b. 1929)
• 2012 – Gene Bartow, American basketball player and coach (b. 1930)
• 2012 – Robert L. Carter, American lawyer and judge (b. 1917)
• 2012 – Selorm Kuadey, Ukrainian-English rugby player (b. 1987)
• 2012 – Winifred Milius Lubell, American author and illustrator (b. 1914)
• 2012 – Joaquín Martínez, Mexican-American actor (b. 1930)
• 2012 – Josef Škvorecký, Czech-Canadian author and publisher (b. 1924)
• 2012 – Jenny Tomasin, English actress (b. 1938)
• 2012 – Bob Weston, English guitarist and songwriter (Fleetwood Mac) (b. 1947)
• 2012 – Harold Zirin, American astronomer and academic (b. 1929)
• 2013 – Alfie Fripp, English soldier and pilot (b. 1913)
• 2013 – M. S. Gopalakrishnan, Indian violinist (b. 1931)
• 2013 – Kanang anak Langkau, Malaysian soldier (b. 1945)
• 2013 – Ivan Mackerle, Czech cryptozoologist, explorer, and author (b. 1942)
• 2013 – William Maxson, American general (b. 1930)
• 2013 – Sergiu Nicolaescu, Romanian actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1930)
• 2013 – Andrew P. O'Rourke, American judge and politician (b. 1933)
• 2013 – Shikaripura Ranganatha Rao, Indian archeologist (b. 1922)
• 2013 – Patty Shepard, American-Spanish actress (b. 1945)
• 2013 – Burry Stander, South African cyclist (b. 1987)
• 2014 – Leon de Wolff, Dutch journalist (b. 1948)
• 2014 – Phil Everly, American singer and guitarist (The Everly Brothers) (b. 1939)
• 2014 – George Goodman, American economist and author (b. 1930)
• 2014 – Michael Neubert, English politician (b. 1933)
• 2014 – Alicia Rhett, American actress and painter (b. 1915)
• 2014 – Yashiki Takajin, Japanese singer-songwriter and television host (b. 1949)
• 2014 – Saul Zaentz, American film producer (b. 1921)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Genevieve
  • William Passavant (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • January 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Tamaseseri Festival (Hakozaki Shrine, Fukuoka)
• The tenth day of Christmas (Western Christianity)
• First day of school at schools in Malaysia and Singapore

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• Today In British History
• On This Day in Canada