January 3

January 3 in recent years

2024 (Wednesday)

2023 (Tuesday)

2022 (Monday)

2021 (Sunday)

2020 (Friday)

2019 (Thursday)

2018 (Wednesday)

2017 (Tuesday)

2016 (Sunday)

2015 (Saturday)

January 3 is the third day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 362 days remain until the end of the year (363 in leap years). Perihelion occurs around this date.

Events

• 1431 – Joan of Arc is handed over to the Bishop Pierre Cauchon.
• 1496 – Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tests a flying machine.
• 1521 – Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.
• 1749 – Benning Wentworth issues the first of the New Hampshire Grants, leading to the establishment of Vermont.
• 1777 – American general George Washington defeats British general Charles Cornwallis at the Battle of Princeton.
• 1782 – Sylhet District was established
• 1815 – Austria, the United Kingdom, and France form a secret defensive alliance treaty against Prussia and Russia.
• 1823 – Stephen F. Austin receives a grant of land in Texas from the government of Mexico.
• 1848 – Joseph Jenkins Roberts is sworn in as the first president of the independent African Republic of Liberia.
• 1861 – American Civil War: Delaware votes not to secede from the United States.
• 1868 – Meiji Restoration in Japan: The Tokugawa shogunate is abolished; agents of Satsuma and Chōshū seize power.
• 1870 – The construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins.
• 1888 – The refracting telescope at the Lick Observatory, measuring 91 cm in diameter, is used for the first time. It was the largest telescope in the world at the time.
• 1899 – The first known use of the word automobile, is seen in an editorial in The New York Times.
• 1921 – Turkey makes peace with Armenia.
• 1924 – British explorer Howard Carter discovers the sarcophagus of Tutankhamen in the Valley of the Kings, near Luxor, Egypt.
• 1925 – Benito Mussolini announces he is taking dictatorial powers over Italy.
• 1932 – Martial law is declared in Honduras to stop revolt by banana workers fired by United Fruit.
• 1933 – Minnie D. Craig becomes the first female elected as Speaker of the North Dakota House of Representatives, the first female to hold a Speaker position anywhere in the United States.
• 1938 – The March of Dimes is established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
• 1944 – World War II: Top Ace Major Greg "Pappy" Boyington is shot down in his Corsair by Captain Masajiro Kawato flying a Zero.
• 1945 – World War II: Admiral Chester W Nimitz is placed in command of all U.S. Naval forces in preparation for planned assaults against Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Japan.
• 1947 – Proceedings of the U.S. Congress are televised for the first time.
• 1953 – Frances 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.
• 1961 – The United States severs diplomatic relations with Cuba.
• 1961 – The SL-1, a government-run reactor near Idaho Falls, Idaho, leaks radiation, killing three workers.
• 1962 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro.
• 1977 – Apple Computer is incorporated.
• 1988 – Margaret Thatcher becomes the longest-serving British Prime Minister in the 20th Century.
• 1990 – Former leader of Panama Manuel Noriega surrenders to American forces.
• 1993 – In Moscow, George H. W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin sign the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).
• 1994 – An Aeroflot Tupolev TU-154 crashes and explodes after takeoff from Irkutsk, Russia, killing 125 people including one on the ground.
• 1994 – More than seven million people from the former Apartheid Homelands, receives South African citizenship.
• 1997 – The People's Republic of China announces it will spend $27.7 billion USD to fight erosion and pollution in the Yangtze and Yellow river valleys.
• 1999 – The Mars Polar Lander is launched.
• 1999 – Israel detains, and later expels, 14 members of Concerned Christians.
• 2004 – Flight 604, a Boeing 737 owned by Flash Airlines, an Egyptian airliner, plunges into the Red Sea, killing all 148 people on board.
• 2007 – National Express has its worst ever coach crash just outside Heathrow Airport.

Births

• 106 BC – Cicero, Roman statesman and philosopher (d. 43 BC)
• 1196 – Emperor Tsuchimikado of Japan (d. 1231)
• 1698 – Pietro Metastasio, Italian poet (d. 1782)
• 1710 – Richard Gridley, American Revolutionary soldier (d. 1796)
• 1719 – Francisco José Freire, Portuguese historian (d. 1773)
• 1722 – Fredric Hasselquist, Swedish naturalist (d. 1752)
• 1733 – Sir Richard Arkwright, British industrialist and inventor (d. 1792)
• 1760 – John Storm, American Revolutionary soldier (d. 1835)
• 1778 – Antoni Melchior Fijałkowski, Polish bishop (d. 1861)
• 1793 – Lucretia Mott, American women's rights activist (d. 1880)
• 1802 – Charles Pelham Villiers, British House of Commons member (d. 1898)
• 1803 – Douglas William Jerrold, British playwright (d. 1857)
• 1806 – Henriette Sontag, German soprano (d. 1854)
• 1810 – Antoine Thomson d'Abbadie, French geographer (d. 1897)
• 1819 – Charles Piazzi Smyth, Astronomer Royal for Scotland (d. 1900)
• 1821 – Dragotin Dežman, Slovenian politician, archeologist and botanist (d. 1889)
• 1831 – Savitribai Phule, Female social activist, first female teacher in India, and first female poet in Marathi language (d. 1897)
• 1836 – Sakamoto Ryoma, Japanese revolutionary (d. 1867)
• 1840 – Father Damien, Flemish missionary (d. 1889)
• 1855 – Hubert Bland, British socialist (d. 1914)
• 1861 – William Renshaw, British champion tennis player (d. 1904)
• 1862 – Sir Matthew Nathan, British Governor of Queensland and other places (d. 1939)
• 1865 – Henry Lytton, British actor and opera singer (d. 1936)
• 1870 – Henry Handel Richardson, Australian author (d. 1946)
• 1873 – Ichizo Kobayashi, Japanese businessman (d. 1957)
• 1875 – Alexandros Diomidis, governor of the Bank of Greece and Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1950)
• 1876 – Wilhelm Pieck, first President of East Germany (d. 1960)
• 1879 – Grace Coolidge, First Lady of the United States (d. 1957)
• 1883 – Clement Attlee, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1967)
• 1884 – Raoul von Koczalski, Polish pianist and composer (d. 1948)
• 1886 – John Gould Fletcher, American poet and author (d. 1950)
• 1886 – Josephine Hull, American actress (d. 1957)
• 1887 – August Macke, German painter (d. 1914)
• 1887 – Helen Parkhurst, American educator (d. 1973)
• 1892 – J. R. R. Tolkien, British writer (d. 1973)
• 1894 – ZaSu Pitts, American actress (d. 1963)
• 1895 – Borys Lyatoshynsky, Ukrainian composer (d. 1968)
• 1897 – Marion Davies, American actress (d. 1961)
• 1898 – Carlos Keller, Chilean fascist politician (d. 1974)
• 1900 – Donald J. Russell, North American railroad executive (d. 1985)
• 1901 – Ngô Đình Diệm, President of South Vietnam (d. 1963)
• 1905 – Ray Milland, British actor (d. 1986)
• 1905 – Anna May Wong, American actress (d. 1961)
• 1909 – Victor Borge, Danish entertainer (d. 2000)
• 1910 – Frenchy Bordagaray, American baseball player (d. 2000)
• 1911 – John Sturges, American director (d. 1982)
• 1912 – Renaude Lapointe, Canadian journalist and senator (d. 2002)
• 1912 – Armand Lohikoski, Finnish director (d. 2005)
• 1915 – Mady Rahl, German stage and film actress (d. 2009)
• 1916 – Maxene Andrews, American singer (The Andrews Sisters) (d. 1995)
• 1916 – Betty Furness, American actress (d. 1994)
• 1916 – Bernard Greenhouse, American cellist
• 1917 – Roger W. Straus, Jr., American publisher (d. 2004)
• 1917 – General Vernon Walters, U.S. military officer, diplomat (d. 2002)
• 1920 – Renato Carosone, Italian musician (d. 2001)
• 1921 – John Russell, American actor (d. 1991)
• 1922 – Ronald Smith, British pianist (d. 2004)
• 1922 – Bill Travers, British actor and director (d. 1994)
• 1923 – Hank Stram, American football coach (d. 2005)
• 1923 – Charles Tingwell, Australian actor (d. 2009)
• 1924 – Doug Ellis, British entrepreneur
• 1924 – André Franquin, Belgian cartoonist (Gaston Lagaffe) (d. 1997)
• 1924 – Nell Rankin, American singer (d. 2005)
• 1926 – George Martin, British producer
• 1929 – Sergio Leone, Italian director (d. 1989)
• 1929 – Ernst Mahle, Brazilian composer
• 1930 – Marcel Dubé, Quebec playwright
• 1930 – Robert Loggia, American actor
• 1932 – Dabney Coleman, American actor
• 1932 – Coo Coo Marlin, American race car driver (d. 2005)
• 1932 – Tongolele, US-born dancer in Mexican movies
• 1935 – Raymond Garneau, French Canadian politician and businessman
• 1936 – David Vine, British sports commentator (d. 2009)
• 1937 – Seri Wangnaitham, Thai dancer and choreographer (d. 2007)
• 1939 – Nikos Alefantos, Greek football manager
• 1939 – Janice Crosio, Australian politician
• 1939 – Bobby Hull, Canadian hockey player
• 1939 – Ruben Reyes, Filipino Supreme Court jurist
• 1941 – Van Dyke Parks, American musician
• 1942 – John Marsden, Australian lawyer, gay activist (d. 2006)
• 1942 – John Thaw, British actor (d. 2002)
• 1943 – Jarl Alfredius, Swedish news anchor (d. 2009)
• 1944 – David Atherton, British conductor
• 1944 – Blanche d'Alpuget, Australian novelist, biographer
• 1945 – Stephen Stills, American musician
• 1946 – John Paul Jones, British musician (Led Zeppelin)
• 1946 – Cissy King, American entertainer
• 1949 – Sylvia Likens, American torture victim (d. 1965)
• 1950 – Victoria Principal, American actress
• 1951 – Gary Nairn, Australian politician
• 1952 – Jim Ross, American wrestling announcer
• 1954 – Dean Hart, Canadian wrestler (d. 1990)
• 1954 – Ned Lamont, American businessman and political figure
• 1954 – Ross the Boss, American guitarist
• 1955 – Palmolive, British musician (The Slits, The Raincoats)
• 1956 – Mel Gibson, Australian actor and director
• 1956 – Willy T. Ribbs, American race-car driver
• 1957 – Bojan Križај, Slovenian skier
• 1958 – Shim Hyung-rae, South Korean filmmaker
• 1958 – James J. Greco, American businessman
• 1960 – Sandeep Marwah Founder of Film City, Noida, India
• 1962 – Francesca Lia Block, American author
• 1963 – Vic Grimes, American professional wrestler
• 1963 – Alex Wheatle, British novelist
• 1963 – Jerome Young, American professional wrestler
• 1964 – Bruce LaBruce, Canadian filmmaker
• 1966 – Martin Galway, Northern Ireland composer
• 1969 – Michael Schumacher, German seven-time F1 World Champion
• 1969 – Gerda Weissensteiner, Italian bobsledder and luger
• 1970 – Christian Duguay, American comic actor
• 1970 – Mahaya Petrosian, Iranian actress
• 1970 – Matt Ross, American actor
• 1971 – Cory Cross, Canadian ice-hockey player
• 1972 – Yoon Chan, South Korean actor
• 1972 – Nichole Nordeman, American singer
• 1974 – Alessandro Petacchi, Italian cyclist
• 1975 – Thomas Bangalter, French DJ (Daft Punk)
• 1975 – Jason Marsden, American actor
• 1975 – Danica McKellar, American actress
• 1976 – Angelos Basinas, Greek footballer
• 1976 – Alisen Down, Canadian actress
• 1976 – Dinara Drukarova, Russian actress
• 1976 – Nicholas Gonzalez, American actor
• 1977 – Lee Bowyer, British footballer
• 1977 – A.J. Burnett, American baseball player
• 1977 – Mayumi Iizuka, Japanese voice actress (seiyū)
• 1977 – Michelle Stephenson, British singer (The Spice Girls)
• 1978 – Kimberley Locke, American singer
• 1978 – Park Sol-mi, South Korean actress
• 1978 – Mike York, American ice hockey player
• 1980 – Bryan Clay, American decathlete
• 1980 – Liya Kebede, Ethiopian model
• 1980 – Angela Ruggiero, American ice hockey player
• 1980 – David Tyree, American football player
• 1981 – Eli Manning, American football player
• 1984 – Billy Mehmet, Irish footballer
• 1985 – John David Booty, American football player
• 1985 – Linas Kleiza, Lithuanian basketball player for the Denver Nuggets
• 1986 – Lloyd Polite, American R&B singer
• 1986 – Jacob Timpano, Australian footballer
• 1986 – Jessica O'Rourke, American footballer
• 1987 – Leonidas Panagopoulos, Greek footballer
• 1988 – Rodrigo de la Cadena, Mexican artist and performer
• 1989 – Alex D. Linz, American actor
• 1989 – Julia Nunes, American singer and ukulele player
• 1989 – Anya Rozova, Russian model and America's Next Top Model contestant
• 1989 – Mustapha Hussein, Saddam Hussein's grandson, Qusay Hussein's son (d. 2003)

Deaths

• 235 – Pope St Anterus
• 1098 – Walkelin, first Norman bishop of Winchester
• 1322 – King Philip V of France (b. 1293)
• 1437 – Catherine of Valois, wife of Henry V of England (b. 1401)
• 1543 – Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, Portuguese explorer (b. 1499)
• 1571 – Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1505)
• 1641 – Jeremiah Horrocks, British astronomer (b. 1618)
• 1656 – Mathieu Molé, French statesman (b. 1584)
• 1670 – George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, British soldier (b. 1608)
• 1690 – Hillel ben Naphtali Zevi, Lithuanian rabbi (b. 1615)
• 1701 – Prince Louis I of Monaco (b. 1642)
• 1743 – Ferdinando Galli-Bibiena, Italian architect and designer (b. 1657)
• 1779 – Claude Bourgelat, French veterinary surgeon (b. 1712)
• 1785 – Baldassare Galuppi, Italian composer (b. 1706)
• 1795 – Josiah Wedgwood, British potter (b. 1730)
• 1813 – Bennelong, Aborigine interlocutor (b. c.1764)
• 1826 – Louis Gabriel Suchet, French marshal (b. 1770)
• 1871 – Kuriakose Elias Chavara, Indian Saint (b. 1805)
• 1875 – Pierre Larousse, French editor (b. 1817)
• 1882 – William Harrison Ainsworth, British novelist (b. 1805)
• 1895 – James Merritt Ives, American lithographer (b. 1824)
• 1903 – Alois Hitler, father of Adolf Hitler (b. 1837)
• 1911 – Alexandros Papadiamantis, Greek author (b. 1851)
• 1915 – James Elroy Flecker, British author (b. 1884)
• 1916 – Grenville M. Dodge, American Major General (b. 1831)
• 1923 – Jaroslav Hasek, Czech novelist (b. 1883)
• 1927 – Carle David Tolmé Runge, German physicist (b. 1856)
• 1931 – Joseph Joffre, French general (b. 1852)
• 1933 – Wilhelm Cuno, 6th Chancellor of the Weimar Republic (b. 1876)
• 1933 – Jack Pickford, Canadian actor (b. 1896)
• 1943 – F. M. Cornford, English classical scholar and poet (b. 1874)
• 1943 – Sir Walter James, 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 writer (b. 1879)
• 1946 – William Joyce, American propagandist (b. 1906)
• 1950 – Emil Jannings, Swiss actor (b. 1884)
• 1956 – Alexander Gretchaninov, Russian composer (b. 1864)
• 1956 – Joseph Wirth, 5th Chancellor of the Weimar Republic (b. 1876)
• 1959 – Edwin Muir, Orcadian poet, novelist and translator (b. 1887)
• 1967 – Mary Garden, British singer (b. 1874)
• 1967 – Jack Ruby, American killer of Lee Harvey Oswald (b. 1911)
• 1969 – Jean Focas, Greek-born astronomer (b. 1909)
• 1969 – Howard McNear, American actor (b. 1905)
• 1970 – Gladys Aylward, British missionary (b. 1902)
• 1974 – Gino Cervi, Italian actor (b. 1901)
• 1979 – Conrad Hilton, American hotelier (b. 1887)
• 1980 – Joy Adamson, Czech conservationist (b. 1910)
• 1980 – Lucien Buysse, Belgian cyclist (b. 1892)
• 1980 – George Sutherland Fraser, Scottish poet, literary critic and academic (b. 1915)
• 1981 – Princess Alice of Albany (b. 1883)
• 1988 – Rose Ausländer, German poet (b. 1901)
• 1988 – Joie Chitwood, American racedriver & Daredevil (b. 1912)
• 1989 – Sergei Lvovich Sobolev, Russian mathematician (b. 1909)
• 1990 – Arthur Gold, American pianist (b. 1917)
• 1992 – Dame Judith Anderson, Australian actress (b. 1897)
• 1993 – Johnny Most, American sports announcer (b. 1923)
• 1994 – Heather Sears, British actress (b. 1935)
• 2002 – Juan García Esquivel, Mexican band leader (b. 1918)
• 2002 – Freddy Heineken, Dutch president of Heinekin International (b. 1923)
• 2003 – Sid Gillman, American football coach (b. 1911)
• 2004 – Des Corcoran, Premier of South Australia (b. 1928)
• 2004 – Leon Wagner, American baseball player (b. 1934)
• 2005 – Koo Chen-fu, Chinese negotiator (b. 1917)
• 2005 – JN Dixit, Indian government official (b. 1936)
• 2005 – Will Eisner, American comic book artist (b. 1917)
• 2006 – Steve Rogers, Australian rugby league footballer (b. 1954)
• 2006 – Bill Skate, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea (b. 1954)
• 2007 – Janos Furst, Hungarian orchestral conductor (b. 1935)
• 2007 – Sergio Jiménez, Mexican actor (b. 1937)
• 2007 – Earl Reibel, Canadian hockey player (b. 1930)
• 2007 – William Verity Jr., American Secretary of Commerce (b. 1917)
• 2007 – Sir Cecil Walker, Member of Parliament for North Belfast (b. 1924)
• 2007 – Michael Yeats, Irish barrister, politician and son of W.B. Yeats (b. 1921)
• 2008 – Aleksandr Abdulov, Russian actor (b. 1953)
• 2008 – Natasha Collins, British actress and television presenter (b. 1976)
• 2008 – Yo-Sam Choi, South Korean boxer (b. 1972)
• 2008 – Werner Dollinger, German politician and economist (b. 1918)
• 2009 – Pat Hingle, American actor (b. 1924)
• 2009 – Ulf G. Lindén, Swedish entrepreneur (b. 1937)
• 2009 – Hisayasu Nagata, Japanese politician (b. 1969)

Holidays and observances

• Feast day of St Genevieve
• Festival in honour of Pax, Roman Empire
• The tenth day of Christmas in Western Christianity
• January 3 (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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