January 8

January 8 is the eight day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 357 days remaining until the end of the year (358 in leap years).

Events

• 307 – Jin Huidi, Chinese Emperor of the Jin Dynasty, is poisoned and succeeded by his son Jin Huaidi.
• 387 – Siyaj K'ak' conquers Waka
• 871 – Alfred the Great leads a West Saxon army to repel an invasion by Danelaw Vikings.
• 1297 – François Grimaldi, disguised as a monk, leads his men to capture the fortress protecting the Rock of Monaco, establishing his family as the rulers of Monaco.
• 1455 – The Romanus Pontifex is written.
• 1499 – Louis XII of France marries Anne of Brittany.
• 1697 – Last execution for blasphemy in Britain; of Thomas Aikenhead, student, at Edinburgh.
• 1734 – Premiere performance of George Frideric Handel's Ariodante at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
• 1746 – Second Jacobite Rising: Bonnie Prince Charlie occupies Stirling.
• 1790 – George Washington delivers the first State of the Union address in New York, New York.
• 1806 – Cape Colony becomes a British colony.
• 1811 – An unsuccessful slave revolt is led by Charles Deslondes in St. Charles and St. James, Louisiana.
• 1815 – War of 1812: Battle of New Orleans – Andrew Jackson leads American forces in victory over the British.
• 1835 – The United States national debt is zero for the only time.
• 1863 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Springfield
• 1867 – African American men are granted the right to vote in Washington, D.C.
• 1877 – Crazy Horse and his warriors fight their last battle against the United States Cavalry at Wolf Mountain, Montana Territory.
• 1889 – Herman Hollerith is issued US patent #395,791 for the 'Art of Applying Statistics' — his punched card calculator.
• 1904 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system.
• 1906 – A landslide in Haverstraw, New York, caused by the excavation of clay along the Hudson River, kills 20 people.
• 1912 – The African National Congress is founded.
• 1918 – President Woodrow Wilson announces his "Fourteen Points" for the aftermath of World War I.
• 1920 – The steel strike of 1919 ends in a complete failure for the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers labor union.
• 1940 – World War II: Britain introduces food rationing.
• 1945 – World War II: Philippine Commonwealth troops under the Philippine Commonwealth Army units enter the province of Ilocos Sur in Northern Luzon and attack Japanese Imperial forces.
• 1956 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. missionaries are killed by the Huaorani of Ecuador shortly after making contact with them.
• 1961 – In France a referendum supports Charles de Gaulle's policies in Algeria.
• 1962 – The Harmelen train disaster killed 93 people in the Netherlands.
• 1963 – Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is exhibited in the United States for the first time, at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
• 1964 – President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a "War on Poverty" in the United States.
• 1971 – Bowing to international pressure, President of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto releases Bengali leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from prison, who had been arrested after declaring the independence of Bangladesh.
• 1973 – Soviet space mission Luna 21 is launched.
• 1973 – Watergate scandal: The trial of seven men accused of illegal entry into Democratic Party headquarters at Watergate begins.
• 1975 – Ella T. Grasso becomes Governor of Connecticut, the first woman to serve as a Governor in the United States other than by succeeding her husband.
• 1977 – Three bombs explode in Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
• 1979 – The tanker Betelgeuse explodes in Bantry Bay, Ireland.
• 1981 – A local farmer reports a UFO sighting in Trans-en-Provence, France, claimed to be "perhaps the most completely and carefully documented sighting of all time".
• 1982 – The break up of AT&T: AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions.
• 1989 – Kegworth air disaster: British Midland Flight 92, a Boeing 737-400, crashes into the M1 motorway, killing 47 of the 126 people on board.
• 1989 – Beginning of Japanese Heisei period.
• 1994 – Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov on Soyuz TM-18 leaves for Mir. He would stay on the space station until March 22, 1995, for a record 437 days in space.
• 1996 – An Antonov An-32 cargo aircraft crashes into a crowded market in Kinshasa, Zaire, killing up to 237 on the ground; the aircraft's crew of 6 survive the crash.
• 2002 – President George W. Bush signs into law the No Child Left Behind Act.
• 2003 – Turkish Airlines Flight 634 crashes near Diyarbakır Airport, Turkey, killing the entire crew and 70 of 75 passengers.
• 2003 – US Airways Express Flight 5481 crashes at Charlotte-Douglas Airport, Charlotte, North Carolina, killing all 21 people on board.
• 2004 – The RMS Queen Mary 2, the largest passenger ship ever built, is christened by her namesake's granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
• 2005 – The nuclear sub USS San Francisco collides at full speed with an undersea mountain south of Guam. One man is killed, but the sub surfaces and is repaired.
• 2009 – A 6.1-magnitude earthquake in northern Costa Rica kills 15 people and injures 32.
• 2010 – Gunmen from an offshoot the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda attacked the bus carrying the Togo national football team on its way to the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, killing three.
• 2011 – The attempted assassination of Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords and subsequent shooting in Casas Adobes, Arizona at a Safeway grocery store, for which Jared Lee Loughner is subsequently arrested, kills six people and wounds 13, including Giffords.

Births

• 1556 – Uesugi Kagekatsu, Japanese daimyo (d. 1623)
• 1583 – Simon Episcopius, Dutch theologian (d. 1643)
• 1587 – Johannes Fabricius, German astronomer (d. 1616)
• 1589 – Ivan Gundulić, Croatian poet (d. 1638)
• 1601 – Baltasar Gracián, Spanish priest and author (d. 1658)
• 1628 – François-Henri de Montmorency, duc de Luxembourg, French general (d. 1695)
• 1632 – Samuel von Pufendorf, German jurist and economist (d. 1694)
• 1635 – Luis Manuel Fernández de Portocarrero, Spanish archbishop (d. 1709)
• 1638 – Elisabetta Sirani, Italian Baroque painter (d. 1665)
• 1735 – John Carroll, American archbishop (d. 1815)
• 1763 – Edmond-Charles Genêt, French diplomat (d. 1834)
• 1786 – Nicholas Biddle, American banker and financier (d. 1844)
• 1788 – Archduke Rudolf of Austria (d. 1831)
• 1792 – Lowell Mason, American composer (d. 1872)
• 1805 – John Bigler, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, 3rd Governor of California (d. 1871)
• 1805 – Orson Hyde, American religious leader, 3rd President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (d. 1878)
• 1812 – Sigismond Thalberg, Swiss pianist and composer (d. 1871)
• 1817 – Theophilus Shepstone, English-South African politician (d. 1893)
• 1821 – James Longstreet, American general and diplomat (d. 1904)
• 1821 – W. H. L. Wallace, American lawyer and general (d. 1862)
• 1823 – Alfred Russel Wallace, Welsh-English geographer, biologist, and explorer (d. 1913)
• 1824 – Wilkie Collins, English author and playwright (d. 1889)
• 1824 – Francisco González Bocanegra, Mexican poet (d. 1861)
• 1830 – Albert Bierstadt, German-American painter (d. 1902)
• 1830 – Hans von Bülow, German pianist and composer (d. 1894)
• 1836 – Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Dutch painter (d. 1912)
• 1843 – Frederick Abberline, English police officer (d. 1929)
• 1843 – Karl Eduard Heusner, Vice-Admiral of the German Imperial Navy (d. 1891)
• 1843 – John H. Moffitt, American soldier and politician, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1926)
• 1852 – James Milton Carroll, American pastor and author (d. 1931)
• 1854 – John Rahm, American golfer (d. 1935)
• 1859 – Fanny Bullock Workman, American mountaineer, geographer, and cartographer (d. 1925)
• 1860 – Emma Booth, English member of The Salvation Army (d. 1903)
• 1862 – Frank Nelson Doubleday, American publisher, founded the Doubleday Publishing Company (d. 1934)
• 1864 – Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (d. 1892)
• 1865 – Winnaretta Singer, American heiress (d. 1943)
• 1866 – William G. Conley, American politician, 18th Governor of West Virginia (d. 1940)
• 1867 – Emily Greene Balch, American economist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1961)
• 1870 – Miguel Primo de Rivera, 2nd Marquis of Estella, Spanish politician, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1930)
• 1871 – James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, Irish politician, 1st Prime Minister of Northern Ireland (d. 1940)
• 1873 – Elena of Montenegro, Queen of Italy (d. 1956)
• 1873 – Iuliu Maniu, Romanian politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Romania (d. 1953)
• 1879 – Charles Bryant, English-American actor and director (d. 1948)
• 1881 – Henrik Shipstead, American politician (d. 1960)
• 1881 – Linnie Marsh Wolfe, American librarian and author (d. 1945)
• 1883 – Pavel Filonov, Russian painter (d. 1941)
• 1883 – Patrick J. Hurley, American soldier, politician, and diplomat, 51st United States Secretary of War (d. 1963)
• 1885 – John Curtin, Australian politician, 14th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1945)
• 1885 – A. J. Muste, Dutch-American clergyman and activist (d. 1967)
• 1886 – Thomas January, American soccer player (d. 1957)
• 1888 – Richard Courant, German-American mathematician (d. 1972)
• 1888 – Matthew Moore, Irish-American actor (d. 1960)
• 1891 – Walther Bothe, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
• 1891 – Storm Jameson, English journalist and author (d. 1986)
• 1891 – Bronislava Nijinska, Russian dancer and choreographer (d. 1972)
• 1894 – Maximilian Kolbe, Polish martyr and saint (d. 1941)
• 1896 – Arthur Ford, American psychic, founded the Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship (d. 1971)
• 1896 – Jaromír Weinberger, Czech-American composer (d. 1967)
• 1897 – Dennis Wheatley, English author (d. 1977)
• 1899 – S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, Sri Lankan politician, 4th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (d. 1959)
• 1900 – Merlyn Myer, Australian philanthropist (d. 1982)
• 1902 – Georgy Malenkov, Russian engineer and politician (d. 1988)
• 1902 – Carl Rogers, American psychologist (d. 1987)
• 1904 – Karl Brandt, German SS officer (d. 1948)
• 1904 – Tampa Red, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 1981)
• 1905 – Giacinto Scelsi, Italian composer (d. 1988)
• 1908 – William Hartnell, English actor (d. 1975)
• 1908 – Fearless Nadia, Indian actress (d. 1966)
• 1909 – Ashapoorna Devi, Indian author and poet (d. 1995)
• 1909 – Willy Millowitsch, German actor (d. 1999)
• 1909 – Bruce Mitchell, South African cricketer (d. 1995)
• 1909 – Nikolaos Platon, Greek archaeologist (d. 1992)
• 1909 – Evelyn Wood, American educator (d. 1995)
• 1910 – Galina Ulanova, Russian ballerina (d. 1998)
• 1911 – Tom Delaney, English race car driver (d. 2006)
• 1912 – José Ferrer, Puerto Rican actor (d. 1992)
• 1912 – Lawrence Walsh, Canadian-American lawyer, judge, and politician, 4th United States Deputy Attorney General (d. 2014)
• 1915 – Walker Cooper, American baseball player (d. 1991)
• 1917 – Peter Matthew Hillsman Taylor, American author, playwright, and academic (d. 1994)
• 1920 – Douglas Wilmer, English actor
• 1921 – Herta Bothe, German concentration camp guard
• 1922 – Dale D. Myers, American Deputy Administrator of NASA
• 1922 – Jan Nieuwenhuys, Dutch painter (d. 1986)
• 1922 – Abbey Simon, American pianist
• 1923 – Larry Storch, American actor
• 1923 – Giorgio Tozzi, American opera singer (d. 2011)
• 1923 – Johnny Wardle, English cricketer (d. 1985)
• 1923 – Joseph Weizenbaum, German-American computer scientist and author (d. 2008)
• 1924 – Benjamin Lees, American composer (d. 2010)
• 1924 – Ron Moody, English actor and singer
• 1925 – Helmuth Hübener, German activist (d. 1942)
• 1925 – Mohan Rakesh, Indian author (d. 1972)
• 1926 – Evelyn Lear, American soprano (d. 2012)
• 1926 – Kelucharan Mohapatra, Indian dancer (d. 2004)
• 1926 – Hanae Mori, Japanese fashion designer
• 1926 – Soupy Sales, American comedian and actor (d. 2009)
• 1927 – Charles Tomlinson, English poet and academic
• 1928 – Slade Gorton, American politician, 14th Attorney General of Washington
• 1928 – Gaston Miron, Canadian poet (d. 1996)
• 1929 – Saeed Jaffrey, Indian-English actor
• 1929 – Wolfgang Peters, German footballer (d. 2003)
• 1931 – Bill Graham, German-American music promoter (d. 1991)
• 1931 – Clarence Benjamin Jones, personal counsel and advisor
• 1931 – Chuck Metcalf, American bassist (d. 2012)
• 1933 – Nolan Miller, American fashion designer (d. 2012)
• 1933 – Charles Osgood, American journalist
• 1933 – Jean-Marie Straub, French director and screenwriter
• 1933 – Willie Tasby, American baseball player
• 1934 – Jacques Anquetil, French cyclist (d. 1987)
• 1934 – Gene Freese, American baseball player (d. 2013)
• 1934 – Roy Kinnear, English actor (d. 1988)
• 1934 – Alexandra Ripley, American author (d. 2004)
• 1935 – Lewis H. Lapham, American publisher, founded Lapham's Quarterly
• 1935 – Elvis Presley, American singer, guitarist, and actor (The Blue Moon Boys) (d. 1977)
• 1936 – Zdeněk Mácal, Czech conductor
• 1936 – Robert May, Baron May of Oxford, Australian-English zoologist, ecologist, and academic
• 1937 – Shirley Bassey, Welsh singer
• 1938 – Bob Eubanks, American game show host
• 1938 – Anthony Giddens, Baron Giddens, English sociologist
• 1938 – Nanda, Indian actress
• 1938 – Yevgeny Nesterenko, Russian opera singer
• 1938 – Camille Yarbrough, American musician, actress, poet, activist, television producer, and author
• 1939 – Nanda, Indian actress (d. 2014)
• 1939 – Carolina Herrera, Venezuelan-American fashion designer
• 1939 – Ruth Maleczech, American actress (d. 2013)
• 1939 – Alan Wilson, English mathematician and academic
• 1940 – Jimmy O'Neill, American radio and television host (d. 2013)
• 1941 – Graham Chapman, English comedian and actor (d. 1989)
• 1941 – Boris Vallejo, Peruvian-American painter
• 1941 – Yoshinori Watanabe, Japanese mobster (d. 2012)
• 1942 – Valya Balkanska, Bulgarian singer
• 1942 – Robin Ellis, English actor
• 1942 – Stephen Hawking, English physicist and author
• 1942 – Junichiro Koizumi, Japanese politician, 56th Prime Minister of Japan
• 1942 – Yvette Mimieux, American actress
• 1942 – Royce Waltman, American basketball player and coach (d. 2014)
• 1943 – Charles Murray, American political scientist and author
• 1944 – Terry Brooks, American author
• 1945 – Nancy Bond, American author
• 1945 – Phil Beal, English footballer
• 1945 – Yvonne Kennedy, American politician (d. 2012)
• 1945 – Jeannie Lewis, Australian actress and singer
• 1945 – Kojo Nnamdi, Guyanese-American radio host
• 1945 – Kathleen Noone, American actress
• 1945 – Kadir Topbaş, Turkish politician, 31st Mayor of Istanbul
• 1946 – Robby Krieger, American guitarist and songwriter (The Doors, The Butts Band, and Manzarek–Krieger)
• 1946 – Elijah Moshinsky, Australian director
• 1947 – Don Bendell, American author
• 1947 – William Bonin, American serial killer and sex offender (d. 1996)
• 1947 – David Bowie, English singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (The Riot Squad, Tin Machine, The Hype, and Arnold Corns)
• 1947 – David Gates, American journalist and novelist
• 1947 – Samuel Schmid, Swiss politician
• 1947 – Terry Sylvester, English singer and guitarist (The Escorts, The Swinging Blue Jeans and The Hollies)
• 1947 – Laurie Walters, American actress
• 1947 – Luke Williams, New Zealand wrestler
• 1948 – Jerzy Kaczmarek, Polish fencer
• 1948 &ndsah; Gillies MacKinnon, Scottish director and screenwriter
• 1949 – John Podesta, American politician, 20th White House Chief of Staff
• 1949 – Lawrence Rowe, Jamaican cricketer
• 1950 – Jos Hermens, Dutch runner
• 1951 – Kenny Anthony, Saint Lucian politician, 5th Prime Minister of Saint Lucia
• 1951 – John McTiernan, American director and producer
• 1951 – Franz Pachl, German chess grandmaster
• 1951 – Karen Tei Yamashita, Japanese-American writer
• 1952 – Vladimir Feltsman, Russian-American pianist
• 1952 – Mel Reynolds, American politician
• 1953 – Bruce Sutter, American baseball player
• 1954 – Konstantinos Kypriotis, Greek martial artist (d. 1995)
• 1955 – Karine Kazinian, Armenian diplomat (d. 2012)
• 1955 – Joan Kingston, Canadian nurse, teacher, and political figure
• 1955 – Spiros Livathinos, Greek footballer
• 1955 – Mike Reno, Canadian singer and drummer (Loverboy and Moxy)
• 1957 – Nacho Duato, Spanish dancer and choreographer
• 1957 – David Lang, American composer
• 1958 – Rey Misterio, Sr., Mexican wrestler
• 1959 – Paul Hester, Australian drummer (Crowded House, Split Enz, Deckchairs Overboard, and Tarmac Adam) (d. 2005)
• 1959 – Duk Koo Kim, South Korean boxer (d. 1982)
• 1960 – Dave Weckl, American drummer
• 1961 – Keith Arkell, English chess player
• 1961 – Calvin Smith, American sprinter
• 1962 – Chris Marion, American singer and keyboard player (Little River Band and Western Flyer)
• 1964 – Ron Sexsmith, Canadian singer-songwriter
• 1964 – Marc Quinn, British artist
• 1965 – Michelle Forbes, American actress
• 1965 – Wendy Fuller, Canadian driver
• 1965 – Maria Pitillo, American actress
• 1966 – Igor Vyazmikin, Russian ice hockey player (d. 2009)
• 1966 – Andrew Wood, American singer-songwriter (Mother Love Bone and Malfunkshun) (d. 1990)
• 1967 – Willie Anderson, American basketball player
• 1967 – Torsten Gowitzke, German footballer
• 1967 – Steven Jacobs, Australian television presenter and actor
• 1967 – R. Kelly, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (Public Announcement)
• 1967 – Tom Watson, English politician
• 1968 – James Brokenshire, English politician
• 1968 – Keith Mullings, American boxer
• 1968 – Bull Nakano, Japanese wrestler and golfer
• 1968 – Lucy Winkett, English priest
• 1969 – Ami Dolenz, American actress
• 1969 – J. Hunter Johnson, American game designer, author, and translator
• 1970 – Rachel Friend, Australian actress
• 1971 – Jason Giambi, American baseball player
• 1971 – Jesper Jansson, Swedish footballer
• 1971 – Mike Süsser, German chef and author
• 1971 – Pascal Zuberbühler, Swiss footballer
• 1972 – Paul Clement, English footballer, coach, and manager
• 1972 – Giuseppe Favalli, Italian footballer
• 1973 – Mike Cameron, American baseball player
• 1973 – Henning Solberg, Norwegian race car driver
• 1973 – Jason Stevens, Australian rugby player
• 1974 – Maria Matsouka, Greek politician
• 1975 – DJ Clue?, American rapper, DJ, and producer
• 1975 – Harris Jayaraj, Indian composer
• 1975 – Tift Merritt, American singer-songwriter
• 1976 – Kenneth Andam, Ghanaian sprinter
• 1976 – Raffaëla Anderson, French adult film performer and non-fiction writer
• 1976 – Jenny Lewis, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress (Rilo Kiley)
• 1976 – Josh Meyers, American actor
• 1976 – Carl Pavano, American baseball player
• 1977 – Amber Benson, American actress
• 1977 – Ilisha Jarret, American basketball player
• 1977 – Lee Yoo-jin, South Korean actress
• 1977 – Ricken Patel, Canadian/British executive director of Avaaz
• 1977 – Ron Pederson, Canadian actor
• 1977 – Melanie Seeger, German race walker
• 1977 – Trey Smith, American author
• 1978 – Boris Avrukh, Israeli chess player
• 1978 – Just Blaze, American record producer
• 1978 – Marco Fu, Hong Kong snooker player
• 1979 – Torry Castellano, American drummer (The Donnas)
• 1979 – Adrian Mutu, Romanian footballer
• 1979 – Stipe Pletikosa, Croatian footballer
• 1979 – Sarah Polley, Canadian actress, director, and screenwriter
• 1979 – Tomasz Schafernaker, Polish-English meteorologist
• 1979 – Seol Ki-Hyeon, South Korean footballer
• 1979 – Mirella van Melis, Dutch cyclist
• 1980 – Rachel Nichols, American actress
• 1981 – Jeff Francis, Canadian baseball player
• 1981 – Ioannis Kokkodis, Greek swimmer
• 1981 – Genevieve Padalecki, American actress
• 1981 – Carmen Schäfer, Swiss curler
• 1981 – Virgil Spier, Dutch athlete
• 1981 – Xie Xingfang, Chinese badminton player
• 1982 – Emanuele Calaiò, Italian footballer
• 1982 – Wil Francis, American singer-songwriter and producer (Aiden and William Control)
• 1982 – Gaby Hoffmann, American actress
• 1982 – Wesley Marquette, Mauritian footballer
• 1982 – John Utaka, Nigerian footballer
• 1983 – Felipe Colombo, Mexican-Argentinian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
• 1983 – Kim Jong-un, North Korean politician, 3rd Supreme Leader of North Korea
• 1983 – Chris Masters, American wrestler
• 1984 – Jeff Francoeur, American baseball player
• 1984 – Stephen Simpson, South African race car driver
• 1985 – Rachael Lampa, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
• 1986 – Jaclyn Linetsky, Canadian actress (d. 2003)
• 1986 – Maria Ozawa, Japanese-Canadian porn actress and model
• 1986 – David Silva, Spanish footballer
• 1986 – Jamie T, English singer-songwriter
• 1987 – Carmen Klaschka, German tennis player
• 1987 – Freddie Stroma, English actor and singer
• 1988 – Allison Harvard, American model and actress
• 1988 – Vitaliy Hoshkoderya, Ukrainian footballer
• 1988 – Adrián López Álvarez, Spanish footballer
• 1988 – Michael Mancienne, English footballer
• 1989 – Aaron Cruden, New Zealand rugby player
• 1989 – Kristján Einar, Icelandic race car driver
• 1989 – Barbora Silná, Czech-Austrian ice dancer
• 1990 – Hassan Adhuham, Maldivian footballer
• 1990 – Jeff Allen, American football player
• 1990 – Danny Barrera, Colombian-born American soccer player
• 1990 – Sascha Bigalke, German footballer
• 1990 – Claudine Mendy, French handball player
• 1990 – Scott Pye, Australian racing driver
• 1991 – Jorge Enríquez, Mexican footballer
• 1991 – Asuka Hinoi, Japanese singer (Hinoi Team)
• 1991 – Emiliano Tabone, Argentine footballer
• 1991 – Shin Jimin, member of South Korean group AOA
• 1992 – Stefanie Dolson, American basketball player
• 1992 – Rebecca Shearing, Scottish singer
• 1992 – Apostolos Vellios, Greek footballer
• 1993 – Giovanni Galbieri, Italian sprinter
• 1993 – Brooke Greenberg, American girl with a rare disease (d. 2013)
• 1993 – Amanda Lim, Singaporean swimmer
• 1993 – Marek Šovčík, Slovak footballer
• 1994 – Charlotte Römer, Ecuadorian tennis player
• 2000 – Noah Cyrus, American actress and singer
• 2011 – Princess Josephine of Denmark
• 2011 – Prince Vincent of Denmark

Deaths

• 307 – Emperor Hui of Jin (b. 259)
• 482 – Severinus of Noricum, Italian saint (b. 410)
• 1107 – Edgar, King of Scotland (b. 1074)
• 1198 – Pope Celestine III (b. 1106)
• 1337 – Giotto, Italian painter and architect, designed Scrovegni Chapel and Giotto's Campanile (b. 1266)
• 1456 – Lawrence Giustiniani, Italian bishop and saint (b. 1381)
• 1464 – Thomas Ebendorfer, Austrian historian and academic (b. 1385)
• 1557 – Albert Alcibiades, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (b. 1522)
• 1570 – Philibert de l'Orme, French architect, designed the Château d'Anet (b. 1510)
• 1598 – John George, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1525)
• 1642 – Galileo Galilei, Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher (b. 1564)
• 1664 – Moses Amyraut, French theologian (b. 1596)
• 1707 – John Dalrymple, 1st Earl of Stair, Scottish politician (b. 1648)
• 1713 – Arcangelo Corelli, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1653)
• 1775 – John Baskerville, English printer (b. 1706)
• 1789 – Jack Broughton, English boxer (b. 1703)
• 1794 – Justus Möser, German jurist (b. 1720)
• 1815 – Edward Pakenham, Irish general and politician (b. 1778)
• 1825 – Eli Whitney, American inventor, invented the cotton gin (b. 1765)
• 1853 – Mihály Bertalanits, Slovene-Hungarian poet and educator (b. 1788)
• 1854 – William Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford, English general (b. 1768)
• 1865 – Aimé, duc de Clermont-Tonnerre, French general and politician (b. 1779)
• 1874 – Charles Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg, French historian and archaeologist (b. 1814)
• 1878 – Nikolay Nekrasov, Russian poet and critic (b. 1821)
• 1883 – Miska Magyarics, Slovene-Hungarian poet (b. 1825)
• 1880 – Emperor Norton, English-American businessman (b. 1811)
• 1896 – William Rainey Marshall, American politician, 5th Governor of Minnesota (b. 1825)
• 1896 – Paul Verlaine, French poet (b. 1844)
• 1901 – John Barry, Irish soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1873)
• 1912 – Friedrich Schrempf, German editor and politician (b. 1858)
• 1916 – Rembrandt Bugatti, Italian sculptor (b. 1884)
• 1916 – Ada Rehan, Irish-American actress (b. 1860)
• 1918 – Johannes Pääsuke, Estonian photographer and director (b. 1892)
• 1918 – Ellis H. Roberts, American politician, 20th Treasurer of the United States (b. 1827)
• 1925 – Fernand Sanz, French cyclist (b. 1881)
• 1932 – Eurosia Fabris, Italian philanthropist (b. 1866)
• 1934 – Andrei Bely, Russian author, poet, and critic (b. 1880)
• 1934 – Alexandre Stavisky, Ukrainian-French financier (b. 1886)
• 1938 – Johnny Gruelle, American author and illustrator (b. 1880)
• 1941 – Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, English general (b. 1857)
• 1942 – Joseph Franklin Rutherford, American lawyer and religious leader (b. 1869)
• 1943 – Richard Hillary, Australian pilot and author (b. 1919)
• 1943 – Andres Larka, Estonian general and politician, 1st Estonian Minister of War (b. 1879)
• 1944 – William Kissam Vanderbilt II, American businessman (b. 1878)
• 1945 – Karl Ernst Krafft, Swiss astrologer (b. 1900)
• 1948 – Kurt Schwitters, German painter (b. 1887)
• 1948 – Richard Tauber, Austrian tenor (b. 1891)
• 1950 – Joseph Schumpeter, Austrian economist (b. 1883)
• 1953 – Hugh Binney, English admiral and politician, 16th Governor of Tasmania (b. 1883)
• 1956 – Jim Elliot, American missionary (b. 1928)
• 1958 – Mary Colter, American architect, designed the Desert View Watchtower (b. 1869)
• 1958 – John Duff, Canadian race car driver (b. 1895)
• 1958 – Paul Pilgrim, American runner (b. 1883)
• 1961 – Schoolboy Rowe, American baseball player (b. 1910)
• 1963 – Kay Sage, American painter and poet (b. 1898)
• 1963 – Bimal Roy, Indian director (b. 1909)
• 1967 – Zbigniew Cybulski, Polish actor (b. 1927)
• 1969 – Albert Hill, English runner (b. 1889)
• 1969 – Elmar Kaljot, Estonian footballer (b. 1901)
• 1970 – Jani Christou, Egyptian-Greek composer (b. 1926)
• 1970 – Georges Guibourg, French actor, singer, and playwright (b. 1891)
• 1972 – Kenneth Patchen, American poet (b. 1911)
• 1975 – John Gregson, English actor (b. 1919)
• 1975 – Richard Tucker, American tenor (b. 1913)
• 1976 – Zhou Enlai, Chinese politician, 1st Premier of the People's Republic of China (b. 1898)
• 1976 – Robert Forgan, Scottish-English physician and politician (b. 1891)
• 1979 – Sara Carter, American singer-songwriter and harp player (Carter Family) (b. 1898)
• 1980 – John Mauchly, American physicist (b. 1907)
• 1981 – Matthew Beard, American actor (b. 1925)
• 1982 – Grégoire Aslan, Armenian actor (b. 1908)
• 1983 – Gerhard Barkhorn, German pilot (b. 1919)
• 1983 – Ron Frazer, Australian actor (b. 1924)
• 1983 – Tom McCall, American journalist and politician 30th Governor of Oregon (b. 1913)
• 1984 – Eerik Kumari, Estonian ornithologist (b. 1912)
• 1986 – Pierre Fournier, French cellist (b. 1906)
• 1990 – Bernard Krigstein, American illustrator (b. 1919)
• 1990 – Terry-Thomas, English actor (b. 1911)
• 1991 – Steve Clark, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Def Leppard) (b. 1960)
• 1992 – Reta Shaw, American actress (b. 1912)
• 1994 – Pat Buttram, American actor (b. 1915)
• 1994 – Harvey Haddix, American baseball player (b. 1925)
• 1995 – Carlos Monzón, Argentinian boxer (b. 1942)
• 1996 – John Hargreaves, Australian actor (b. 1945)
• 1996 – François Mitterrand, French politician, 21st President of France (b. 1916)
• 1996 – Howard Taubman, American author and critic (b. 1907)
• 1997 – Melvin Calvin, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
• 1998 – Michael Tippett, English composer (b. 1905)
• 2000 – Fritz Thiedemann, German horse rider (b. 1918)
• 2002 – Alexander Prokhorov, Russian physicist Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
• 2002 – Dave Thomas, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Wendy's (b. 1932)
• 2003 – Ron Goodwin, English composer and conductor (b. 1925)
• 2004 – Charles Brown, American actor (b. 1946)
• 2004 – John A. Gambling, American radio host (b. 1930)
• 2005 – Campbell McComas, Australian comedian and actor (b. 1952)
• 2005 – Warren Spears, American choreographer and dancer (b. 1954)
• 2005 – Michel Thomas, Polish linguist (b. 1914)
• 2006 – Tony Banks, Baron Stratford, Irish politician (b. 1943)
• 2007 – Jane Bolin, American judge (b. 1908)
• 2007 – Arthur Cockfield, Baron Cockfield, English politician (b. 1916)
• 2007 – Yvonne De Carlo, Canadian-American actress and singer (b. 1922)
• 2007 – David Ervine, Irish politician (b. 1953)
• 2007 – Iwao Takamoto, American animator, director, and producer (b. 1925)
• 2008 – George Moore, Australian jockey (b. 1923)
• 2009 – Richard John Neuhaus, Canadian-American priest and author (b. 1936)
• 2009 – Lasantha Wickrematunge, Sri Lankan journalist (b. 1958)
• 2010 – Tony Halme, Finnish wrestler, actor, and politician (b. 1963)
• 2010 – Monica Maughan, Australian actor (b. 1933)
• 2011 – Jiří Dienstbier, Czech journalist and politician (b. 1937)
• 2011 – John Roll, American judge (b. 1947)
• 2011 – Thorbjørn Svenssen, Norwegian footballer (b. 1924)
• 2012 – Edarem, American television host (b. 1932)
• 2012 – Dave Alexander, American singer and pianist (b. 1938)
• 2012 – Herb Clarke, American journalist (b. 1927)
• 2012 – T. J. Hamblin, English haematologist and academic (b. 1943)
• 2012 – John Madin, English architect, designed the Birmingham Central Library (b. 1924)
• 2012 – Bernhard Schrader, German chemist and academic (b. 1931)
• 2012 – Alexis Weissenberg, Bulgarian-French pianist and educator (b. 1929)
• 2013 – Tandyn Almer, American songwriter and producer (b. 1942)
• 2013 – Kenojuak Ashevak, Canadian sculptor and illustrator (b. 1927)
• 2013 – Antonio Frasconi, Argentinian-American woodcutter (b. 1919)
• 2013 – Jeanne Manford, American educator and activist, co-founded PFLAG (b. 1920)
• 2013 – Alasdair Milne, Indian-English director and producer (b. 1930)
• 2013 – Manuel Mota, Spanish fashion designer (b. 1966)
• 2013 – Cornel Pavlovici, Romanian footballer (b. 1943)
• 2013 – Ten Most Wanted, American race horse (b. 2000)
• 2014 – Vicente T. Blaz, American general and politician (b. 1928)
• 2014 – André Gernez, French physician (b. 1923)
• 2014 – Madeline Gins, American poet and architect (b. 1941)
• 2014 – Irma Heijting-Schuhmacher, Dutch-Australian swimmer (b. 1925)
• 2014 – Josef Lammerz, German organist and composer (b. 1930)
• 2014 – Armen Mazmanyan, Armenian actor and director (b. 1960)
• 2014 – Edward N. Ney, American businessman (b. 1925)
• 2014 – Antonino P. Roman, Filipino lawyer and politician (b. 1939)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Abo of Tiflis
  • Apollinaris Claudius
  • Gudula
  • Harriet Bedell (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • Lawrence Giustiniani
  • Lucian of Beauvais
  • Our Lady of Prompt Succor (Bon Secours) (Roman Catholic Church)
  • Pega
  • Severinus of Noricum
  • Thorfinn of Hamar
  • January 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Commonwealth Day (Northern Mariana Islands)
• Earliest day on which Children's Day can fall, while January 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Saturday in January. (Thailand)

External links

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