January 16

For the play by Ayn Rand, see Night of January 16th.

January 16 in recent years

2024 (Tuesday)

2023 (Monday)

2022 (Sunday)

2021 (Saturday)

2020 (Thursday)

2019 (Wednesday)

2018 (Tuesday)

2017 (Monday)

2016 (Saturday)

2015 (Friday)

January 16 is the 16th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 349 days remain until the end of the year (350 in leap years).

Events

• 27 BC – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus is granted the title Augustus by the Roman Senate, marking the beginning of the Roman Empire.
• 378 – General Siyaj K'ak' conquers Tikal, enlarging the domain of King Spearthrower Owl of Teotihuacán.
• 550 – Gothic War: The Ostrogoths, under King Totila, conquer Rome after a long siege, by bribing the Isaurian garrison.
• 929 – Emir Abd-ar-Rahman III established the Caliphate of Córdoba.
• 1120 – The Council of Nablus is held, establishing the earliest surviving written laws of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.
• 1362 – A storm tide in the North Sea ravages the East coast of England and destroys the German city of Rungholt on the island of Strand.
• 1412 – The Medici family is appointed official banker of the Papacy.
• 1492 – The first grammar of the Spanish language (Gramática de la lengua castellana) is presented to Queen Isabella I.
• 1547 – Grand Duke Ivan IV of Muscovy becomes the first Tsar of Russia, replacing the 264-year-old Grand Duchy of Moscow with the Tsardom of Russia.
• 1556 – Philip II becomes King of Spain.
• 1572 – Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk is tried for treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot to restore Catholicism in England.
• 1605 – The first edition of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (Book One of Don Quixote) by Miguel de Cervantes is published in Madrid, Spain.
• 1707 – The Scottish Parliament ratifies the Act of Union, paving the way for the creation of Great Britain.
• 1757 – Forces of the Maratha Empire defeat a 5,000-strong army of the Durrani Empire in the Battle of Narela.
• 1780 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cape St. Vincent.
• 1786 – Virginia enacts the Statute for Religious Freedom authored by Thomas Jefferson.
• 1809 – Peninsular War: The British defeat the French at the Battle of La Coruña.
• 1847 – John C. Frémont is appointed Governor of the new California Territory.
• 1862 – Hartley Colliery disaster: Two hundred and four men and boys killed in a mining disaster, prompted a change in UK law which henceforth required all collieries to have at least two independent means of escape.
• 1878 – Russo-Turkish War (1877–78): Battle of Philippopolis: Captain Aleksandr Burago with a squadron of Russian Imperial army dragoons liberates Plovdiv from Ottoman rule.
• 1883 – The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, establishing the United States Civil Service, is passed.
• 1900 – The United States Senate accepts the Anglo-German treaty of 1899 in which the United Kingdom renounces its claims to the Samoan islands.
• 1909 – Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the magnetic South Pole.
• 1919 – The United States ratifies the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, requiring Prohibition in the United States one year after ratification.
• 1920 – Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated was founded on the campus of Howard University.
• 1920 – The League of Nations holds its first council meeting in Paris, France.
• 1921 – The Marxist Left in Slovakia and the Transcarpathian Ukraine holds its founding congress in Ľubochňa.
• 1942 – Crash of TWA Flight 3, killing all 22 aboard, including film star Carole Lombard.
• 1945 – Adolf Hitler moves into his underground bunker, the so-called Führerbunker.
• 1964 – Hello, Dolly! opened on Broadway, beginning a run of 2,844 performances.
• 1969 – Czech student Jan Palach commits suicide by self-immolation in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in protest against the Soviets' crushing of the Prague Spring the year before.
• 1969 – Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 perform the first-ever docking of manned spacecraft in orbit, the first-ever transfer of crew from one space vehicle to another, and the only time such a transfer was accomplished with a space walk.
• 1979 – The last Iranian Shah flees Iran with his family for good and relocates to Egypt.
• 1991 – Coalition Forces go to war with Iraq, beginning the Gulf War.
• 1992 – El Salvador officials and rebel leaders sign the Chapultepec Peace Accords in Mexico City, Mexico ending the 12-year Salvadoran Civil War that claimed at least 75,000 lives.
• 2001 – Congolese President Laurent-Désiré Kabila is assassinated by one of his own bodyguards.
• 2001 – US President Bill Clinton awards former President Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor for his service in the Spanish–American War.
• 2002 – The UN Security Council unanimously establishes an arms embargo and the freezing of assets of Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda, and the remaining members of the Taliban.
• 2003 – The Space Shuttle Columbia takes off for mission STS-107 which would be its final one. Columbia disintegrated 16 days later on re-entry.
• 2006 – Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is sworn in as Liberia's new president. She becomes Africa's first female elected head of state.
• 2016 – Thirty-three out of 126 freed hostages are injured and 23 killed in terrorist attacks in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on a hotel and a nearby restaurant.

Births

• 972 – Sheng Zong, emperor of the Liao Dynasty (d. 1031)
• 1093 – Isaac Komnenos, son of Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos (d. 1152)
• 1245 – Edmund Crouchback, English politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (d. 1296)
• 1362 – Robert de Vere, duke of Ireland (d. 1392)
• 1409 – René of Anjou, king of Naples (d. 1480)
• 1477 – Johannes Schöner, German astronomer and cartographer (d. 1547)
• 1501 – Anthony Denny, confidant of Henry VIII of England (d. 1559)
• 1516 – Bayinnaung, king of Burma (d. 1581)
• 1558 – Jakobea of Baden, Margravine of Baden by birth, Duchess of Jülich-Cleves-Berg by marriage (d. 1597)
• 1616 – François de Vendôme, duke of Beaufort (d. 1669)
• 1626 – Lucas Achtschellinck, Belgian painter and educator (d. 1699)
• 1630 – Guru Har Rai, Sikh Guru (d. 1661)
• 1634 – Dorothe Engelbretsdatter, Norwegian author and poet (d. 1716)
• 1675 – Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon, French soldier and diplomat (d. 1755)
• 1691 – Peter Scheemakers, Belgian sculptor and educator (d. 1781)
• 1728 – Niccolò Piccinni, Italian composer and educator (d. 1800)
• 1749 – Vittorio Alfieri, Italian poet and playwright (d. 1803)
• 1757 – Richard Goodwin Keats, English admiral and politician, 3rd Commodore-Governor of Newfoundland (d. 1834)
• 1807 – Charles Henry Davis, American admiral (d. 1877)
• 1815 – Henry Halleck, American lawyer, general, and scholar (d. 1872)
• 1821 – John C. Breckinridge, American general and politician, 14th Vice President of the United States (d. 1875)
• 1834 – Robert R. Hitt, American lawyer and politician, 13th United States Assistant Secretary of State (d. 1906)
• 1836 – Francis II of the Two Sicilies (d. 1894)
• 1838 – Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist (d. 1917)
• 1851 – William Hall-Jones, English-New Zealand politician, 16th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1936)
• 1853 – Johnston Forbes-Robertson, English actor and manager (d. 1937)
• 1853 – Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton, Greek-English general (d. 1947)
• 1853 – André Michelin, French businessman, co-founded the Michelin Tyre Company (d. 1931)
• 1870 – Jüri Jaakson, Estonian businessman and politician, State Elder of Estonia (d. 1942)
• 1872 – Henri Büsser, French organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1973)
• 1874 – Robert W. Service, English-Canadian poet and author (d. 1958)
• 1875 – Leonor Michaelis, German biochemist and physician (d. 1949)
• 1876 – Claude Buckenham, English cricketer and footballer (d. 1937)
• 1878 – Harry Carey, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1947)
• 1880 – Samuel Jones, American high jumper (d. 1954)
• 1882 – Margaret Wilson, American author (d. 1973)
• 1885 – Zhou Zuoren, Chinese author and translator (d. 1967)
• 1888 – Osip Brik, Russian avant garde writer and literary critic (d. 1945)
• 1892 – Homer Burton Adkins, American chemist (d. 1949)
• 1893 – Daisy Kennedy, Australian-English violinist (d. 1981)
• 1894 – Irving Mills, American publisher (d. 1985)
• 1895 – Evripidis Bakirtzis, Greek soldier and politician (d. 1947)
• 1895 – T. M. Sabaratnam, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (d. 1966)
• 1895 – Nat Schachner, American lawyer, chemist, and author (d. 1955)
• 1897 – Carlos Pellicer, Mexican poet and academic (d. 1977)
• 1898 – Margaret Booth, American producer and editor (d. 2002)
• 1898 – Irving Rapper, American film director and producer (d. 1999)
• 1900 – Kiku Amino, Japanese author and translator (d. 1978)
• 1900 – Edith Frank, German-Dutch mother of Anne Frank (d. 1945)
• 1901 – Fulgencio Batista, Cuban colonel and politician, 9th President of Cuba (d. 1973)
• 1901 – Frank Zamboni, American businessman, founded the Zamboni Company (d. 1988)
• 1902 – Eric Liddell, Scottish runner, rugby player, and missionary (d. 1945)
• 1903 – William Grover-Williams, English-French race car driver (d. 1945)
• 1905 – Ernesto Halffter, Spanish composer and conductor (d. 1989)
• 1906 – Johannes Brenner, Estonian footballer and pilot (d. 1975)
• 1906 – Diana Wynyard, English actress (d. 1964)
• 1907 – Alexander Knox, Canadian-English actor and screenwriter (d. 1995)
• 1907 – Paul Nitze, American banker and politician, 10th United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 2004)
• 1908 – Sammy Crooks, English footballer (d. 1981)
• 1908 – Ethel Merman, American actress and singer (d. 1984)
• 1908 – Günther Prien, German captain (d. 1941)
• 1909 – Clement Greenberg, American art critic (d. 1994)
• 1910 – Dizzy Dean, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1974)
• 1911 – Ivan Barrow, Jamaican cricketer (d. 1979)
• 1911 – Eduardo Frei Montalva, Chilean lawyer and politician, 28th President of Chile (d. 1982)
• 1911 – Roger Lapébie, French cyclist (d. 1996)
• 1914 – Roger Wagner, French-American conductor and educator (d. 1992)
• 1915 – Leslie H. Martinson, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
• 1916 – Eddie Burns, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 2004)
• 1916 – Philip Lucock, English-Australian minister and politician (d. 1996)
• 1917 – Carl Karcher, American businessman, founded Carl's Jr. (d. 2008)
• 1918 – Nel Benschop, Dutch poet and educator (d. 2005)
• 1918 – Allan Ekelund, Swedish director, producer, and production manager (d. 2009)
• 1918 – Clem Jones, Australian surveyor and politician, 8th Lord Mayor of Brisbane (d. 2007)
• 1918 – Stirling Silliphant, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1996)
• 1919 – Jerome Horwitz, American chemist and academic (d. 2012)
• 1920 – Alberto Crespo, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1991)
• 1920 – Elliott Reid, American actor and screenwriter (d. 2013)
• 1921 – Francesco Scavullo, American photographer (d. 2004)
• 1923 – Gene Feist, American director and playwright, co-founded the Roundabout Theatre Company (d. 2014)
• 1923 – Anthony Hecht, American poet (d. 2004)
• 1923 – Keith Shackleton, English painter and television host (d. 2015)
• 1924 – Katy Jurado, Mexican actress (d. 2002)
• 1925 – Peter Hirsch, German-English metallurgist and academic
• 1925 – James Robinson Risner, American general and pilot (d. 2013)
• 1928 – William Kennedy, American novelist and journalist
• 1928 – Pilar Lorengar, Spanish soprano and actress (d. 1996)
• 1929 – Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah, Sri Lankan anthropologist and academic (d. 2014)
• 1930 – Mary Ann McMorrow, American lawyer and judge (d. 2013)
• 1930 – Norman Podhoretz, American journalist and author
• 1931 – John Enderby, English physicist and academic
• 1931 – Robert L. Park, American physicist and academic
• 1931 – Johannes Rau, German journalist and politician, 8th Federal President of Germany (d. 2006)
• 1932 – Victor Ciocâltea, Romanian chess player (d. 1983)
• 1932 – Dian Fossey, American zoologist and anthropologist (d. 1985)
• 1933 – Susan Sontag, American novelist, essayist, and critic (d. 2004)
• 1934 – Bob Bogle, American rock guitarist and bass player (d. 2009)
• 1934 – Marilyn Horne, American soprano and actress
• 1935 – A. J. Foyt, American race car driver
• 1935 – Udo Lattek, German footballer, manager, and sportscaster (d. 2015)
• 1936 – Michael White, Scottish actor and producer (d. 2016)
• 1937 – Luiz Bueno, Brazilian race car driver (d. 2011)
• 1937 – Francis George, American cardinal (d. 2015)
• 1938 – Marina Vaizey, American journalist and critic
• 1939 – Ralph Gibson, American photographer
• 1941 – Christine Truman, English tennis player and sportscaster
• 1942 – René Angélil, Canadian singer and manager (d. 2016)
• 1942 – Barbara Lynn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1943 – Gavin Bryars, English bassist and composer
• 1943 – Ronnie Milsap, American singer and pianist
• 1944 – Dieter Moebius, Swiss-German keyboard player and producer (d. 2015)
• 1944 – Jim Stafford, American singer-songwriter and actor
• 1944 – Jill Tarter, American astronomer and biologist
• 1944 – Judy Baar Topinka, American journalist and politician (d. 2014)
• 1945 – Wim Suurbier, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1946 – Kabir Bedi, Indian actor
• 1946 – Katia Ricciarelli, Italian soprano and actress
• 1947 – Elaine Murphy, Baroness Murphy, English academic and politician
• 1947 – Harvey Proctor, English politician
• 1947 – Laura Schlessinger, American physiologist, talk show host, and author
• 1948 – John Carpenter, American director, producer, screenwriter, and composer
• 1948 – Ants Laaneots, Estonian general
• 1948 – Cliff Thorburn, Canadian snooker player
• 1948 – Ruth Reichl, American journalist and critic
• 1949 – Anne F. Beiler, American businesswoman, founded Auntie Anne's
• 1949 – R. F. Foster, Irish historian and academic
• 1949 – Andrew Refshauge, Australian physician and politician, 13th Deputy Premier of New South Wales
• 1950 – Debbie Allen, American actress, dancer, and choreographer
• 1950 – Robert Schimmel, American comedian, actor, and producer (d. 2010)
• 1952 – Fuad II, King of Egypt
• 1952 – Piercarlo Ghinzani, Italian race car driver and manager
• 1952 – L. Blaine Hammond, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
• 1952 – Julie Anne Peters, American engineer and author
• 1953 – Robert Jay Mathews, American militant, founded The Order (d. 1984)
• 1954 – Wolfgang Schmidt, German discus thrower
• 1954 – Vasili Zhupikov, Russian footballer and coach (d. 2015)
• 1955 – Jerry M. Linenger, American captain, physician, and astronaut
• 1956 – Wayne Daniel, Barbadian cricketer
• 1956 – Martin Jol, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1956 – Greedy Smith, Australian singer-songwriter and keyboardist
• 1957 – Jurijs Andrejevs, Latvian footballer and manager
• 1957 – Ricardo Darín, Argentinian actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1957 – Mark Pawsey, English businessman and politician
• 1958 – Anatoli Boukreev, Russian mountaineer and explorer (d. 1997)
• 1958 – Lena Ek, Swedish lawyer and politician, 9th Swedish Minister for the Environment
• 1958 – Andris Šķēle, Latvian businessman and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Latvia
• 1959 – Lisa Milroy, Canadian painter and educator
• 1959 – Sade, Nigerian-English singer-songwriter and producer
• 1961 – Kenneth Sivertsen, Norwegian guitarist and composer (d. 2006)
• 1962 – Joel Fitzgibbon, Australian electrician and politician, 51st Australian Minister of Defence
• 1962 – Maxine Jones, American R&B singer–songwriter and actress
• 1963 – James May, British journalist/co-host of Top Gear
• 1964 – Gail Graham, Canadian golfer
• 1966 – Jack McDowell, American baseball player
• 1968 – Rebecca Stead, American author
• 1969 – Neil Back, English rugby player and coach
• 1969 – Marinus Bester, German footballer
• 1969 – Stevie Jackson, Scottish guitarist and songwriter
• 1969 – Roy Jones Jr., American boxer
• 1970 – Ron Villone, American baseball player and coach
• 1971 – Sergi Bruguera, Spanish tennis player and coach
• 1971 – Josh Evans, American film producer, screenwriter and actor
• 1971 – Jonathan Mangum, American actor
• 1972 – Ruben Bagger, Danish footballer
• 1972 – Ang Christou, Australian footballer
• 1972 – Yuri Alekseevich Drozdov, Russian footballer and manager
• 1972 – Ezra Hendrickson, Vincentian footballer and manager
• 1972 – Joe Horn, American football player and coach
• 1974 – Marlon Anderson, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1974 – John Hopoate, Tongan-Australian rugby league player and boxer
• 1974 – Kate Moss, English model and fashion designer
• 1976 – Viktor Maslov, Russian race car driver
• 1976 – Martina Moravcová, Slovak swimmer
• 1977 – Jeff Foster, American basketball player
• 1978 – Alfredo Amézaga, Mexican baseball player
• 1979 – Aaliyah, American singer and actress (d. 2001)
• 1979 – Brenden Morrow, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1979 – Jason Ward, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1980 – Lin-Manuel Miranda, American actor, playwright, and composer
• 1980 – Albert Pujols, Dominican-American baseball player
• 1981 – Jamie Lundmark, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1981 – Paul Rofe, Australian cricketer
• 1982 – Preston, English singer-songwriter
• 1982 – Tuncay Şanlı, Turkish footballer
• 1983 – Emanuel Pogatetz, Austrian footballer
• 1983 – Andriy Rusol, Ukrainian footballer
• 1984 – Stephan Lichtsteiner, Swiss footballer
• 1984 – Miroslav Radović, Serbian footballer
• 1985 – Joe Flacco, American football player
• 1985 – Jayde Herrick, Australian cricketer
• 1985 – Gintaras Januševičius, Russian-Lithuanian pianist
• 1985 – Jonathan Richter, Danish footballer
• 1985 – Sidharth Malhotra, Indian actor
• 1986 – Johannes Rahn, German footballer
• 1986 – Mark Trumbo, American baseball player
• 1986 – Reto Ziegler, Swiss footballer
• 1987 – Jake Epstein, Canadian actor
• 1987 – Charlotte Henshaw, English swimmer
• 1988 – Nicklas Bendtner, Danish footballer
• 1988 – Jorge Torres Nilo, Mexican footballer
• 1991 – Matt Duchene, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1993 – Hannes Anier, Estonian footballer
• 1993 – Amandine Hesse, French tennis player
• 1994 – Chris Smith, Australian rugby league player
• 1995 – Mikaela Turik, Australian-Canadian cricketer
• 1998 – Cameron Murray, Australian rugby league player

Deaths

• 654 – Gao Jifu, Chinese politician and chancellor (b. 596)
• 957 – Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ali al-Madhara'i, Tulunid vizier (b. 871)
• 970 – Polyeuctus of Constantinople, Byzantine patriarch (b. 956)
• 1263 – Shinran Shonin, Japanese founder of the Jodo Shinshu branch of Pure Land Buddhism
• 1289 – Buqa, Mongol minister
• 1327 – Nikephoros Choumnos, Byzantine monk, scholar, and politician (b. 1250)
• 1354 – Joanna of Châtillon, duchess of Athens (b. c.1285)
• 1373 – Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford (b. 1342)
• 1391 – Muhammed V of Granada, Nasrid emir (b. 1338)
• 1400 – John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter, English politician, Lord Great Chamberlain (b. 1352)
• 1443 – Erasmo of Narni, Italian mercenary (b. 1370)
• 1545 – George Spalatin, German priest and reformer (b. 1484)
• 1547 – Johannes Schöner, German astronomer and cartographer (b. 1477)
• 1554 – Christiern Pedersen, Danish publisher and scholar (b. 1480)
• 1585 – Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln, English admiral and politician (b. 1512)
• 1595 – Murad III, Ottoman sultan (b. 1546)
• 1659 – Charles Annibal Fabrot, French lawyer (b. 1580)
• 1710 – Higashiyama, Japanese emperor (b. 1675)
• 1711 – Joseph Vaz, Indian-Sri Lankan priest and saint (b. 1651)
• 1747 – Barthold Heinrich Brockes, German poet and playwright (b. 1680)
• 1748 – Arnold Drakenborch, Dutch lawyer and scholar (b. 1684)
• 1750 – Ivan Trubetskoy, Russian field marshal and politician (b. 1667)
• 1752 – Francis Blomefield, English historian and author (b. 1705)
• 1794 – Edward Gibbon, English historian and politician (b. 1737)
• 1809 – John Moore, Scottish general and politician (b. 1761)
• 1817 – Alexander J. Dallas, Jamaican-American lawyer and politician, 6th United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1759)
• 1834 – Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette, French mathematician and academic (b. 1769)
• 1856 – Thaddeus William Harris, American entomologist and botanist (b. 1795)
• 1864 – Anton Schindler, Austrian secretary and author (b. 1795)
• 1865 – Edmond François Valentin About, French journalist and author (b. 1828)
• 1879 – Octave Crémazie, Canadian-French poet and bookseller (b. 1827)
• 1886 – Amilcare Ponchielli, Italian composer and academic (b. 1834)
• 1891 – Léo Delibes, French pianist and composer (b. 1836)
• 1898 – Charles Pelham Villiers, English lawyer and politician (b. 1802)
• 1901 – Jules Barbier, French poet and playwright (b. 1825)
• 1901 – Arnold Böcklin, Swiss painter and academic (b. 1827)
• 1901 – Hiram Rhodes Revels, American soldier, minister, and politician (b. 1822)
• 1906 – Marshall Field, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Marshall Field's (b. 1834)
• 1917 – George Dewey, American admiral (b. 1837)
• 1919 – Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 5th President of Brazil (b. 1848)
• 1933 – Bekir Sami Kunduh, Turkish politician (b. 1867)
• 1936 – Albert Fish, American serial killer, rapist and cannibal (b. 1870)
• 1938 – Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay Indian author and playwright (b. 1876)
• 1942 – Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (b. 1850)
• 1942 – Villem Grünthal-Ridala, Estonian poet and linguist (b. 1885)
• 1942 – Carole Lombard, American actress and comedian (b. 1908)
• 1942 – Ernst Scheller, German lawyer and politician, Mayor of Marburg (b. 1899)
• 1957 – Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone, English general and politician, 16th Governor General of Canada (b. 1874)
• 1957 – Arturo Toscanini, Italian cellist and conductor (b. 1867)
• 1959 – Phan Khôi, Vietnamese journalist and author (b. 1887)
• 1960 – Arthur Darby, English rugby player (b. 1876)
• 1961 – Max Schöne, German swimmer (b. 1880)
• 1962 – Frank Hurley, Australian photographer, director, producer, and cinematographer (b. 1885)
• 1962 – Ivan Meštrović, Croatian sculptor and architect, designed the Monument to the Unknown Hero (b. 1883)
• 1967 – Robert J. Van de Graaff, American physicist and academic (b. 1901)
• 1968 – Bob Jones Sr., American evangelist, founded Bob Jones University (b. 1883)
• 1968 – Panagiotis Poulitsas, Greek archaeologist and judge (b. 1881)
• 1969 – Vernon Duke, Russian-American composer and songwriter (b. 1903)
• 1971 – Philippe Thys, Belgian cyclist (b. 1890)
• 1972 – Teller Ammons, American soldier and politician, 28th Governor of Colorado (b. 1895)
• 1972 – Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., American singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, and actor, created Alvin and the Chipmunks (b. 1919)
• 1973 – Edgar Sampson, American musician and composer (b. 1907)
• 1975 – Israel Abramofsky, Russian-American painter (b. 1888)
• 1978 – A. V. Kulasingham, Sri Lankan journalist, lawyer, and politician (b. 1890)
• 1981 – Bernard Lee, English actor (b. 1908)
• 1983 – Virginia Mauret, American musician and dancer
• 1986 – Herbert W. Armstrong, American evangelist, author, and publisher (b. 1892)
• 1987 – Bertram Wainer, Australian physician and activist (b. 1928)
• 1988 – Andrija Artuković, Croatian politician, war criminal, and Porajmos perpetrator, 1st Minister of Interior of the Independent State of Croatia (b. 1899)
• 1995 – Eric Mottram, English poet and critic (b. 1924)
• 1996 – Marcia Davenport, American author and critic (b. 1903)
• 1996 – Kaye Webb, English journalist and publisher (b. 1914)
• 1999 – Jim McClelland, Australian lawyer, jurist, and politician, 12th Minister for Industry and Science (b. 1915)
• 2000 – Robert R. Wilson, American physicist and academic (b. 1914)
• 2001 – Auberon Waugh, English author and journalist (b. 1939)
• 2002 – Robert Hanbury Brown, English astronomer and physicist (b. 1916)
• 2003 – Richard Wainwright, English politician (b. 1918)
• 2004 – Kalevi Sorsa, Finnish politician 34th Prime Minister of Finland (b. 1930)
• 2005 – Marjorie Williams, American journalist and author (b. 1958)
• 2006 – Stanley Biber, American soldier and physician (b. 1923)
• 2007 – Benny Parsons, American race car driver and sportscaster (b. 1941)
• 2009 – Joe Erskine, American boxer and runner (b. 1930)
• 2009 – John Mortimer, English lawyer and author (b. 1923)
• 2009 – Andrew Wyeth, American painter (b. 1917)
• 2010 – Glen Bell, American businessman, founded Taco Bell (b. 1923)
• 2010 – Jyoti Basu, Indian lawyer and politician, 9th Chief Minister of West Bengal (b. 1914)
• 2010 – Takumi Shibano, Japanese author and translator (b. 1926)
• 2012 – Joe Bygraves, Jamaican-English boxer (b. 1931)
• 2012 – Jimmy Castor, American singer-songwriter and saxophonist (b. 1940)
• 2012 – Sigursteinn Gíslason, Icelandic footballer and manager (b. 1968)
• 2012 – Lorna Kesterson, American journalist and politician (b. 1925)
• 2012 – Gustav Leonhardt, Dutch pianist, conductor, and musicologist (b. 1928)
• 2013 – Wayne D. Anderson, American baseball player and coach (b. 1930)
• 2013 – André Cassagnes, French technician and toy maker, created the Etch A Sketch (b. 1926)
• 2013 – Gussie Moran, American tennis player and sportscaster (b. 1923)
• 2013 – Pauline Phillips, American journalist and radio host, created Dear Abby (b. 1918)
• 2013 – Glen P. Robinson, American businessman, founded Scientific Atlanta (b. 1923)
• 2014 – Gary Arlington, American author and illustrator (b. 1938)
• 2014 – Ruth Duccini, American actress (b. 1918)
• 2014 – Wiley W. Hilburn, American journalist and academic (b. 1938)
• 2014 – Dave Madden, Canadian-American actor (b. 1931)
• 2014 – Hiroo Onoda, Japanese lieutenant (b. 1922)
• 2015 – Miriam Akavia, Polish-Israeli author and translator (b. 1927)
• 2015 – Yao Beina, Chinese singer (b. 1981)
• 2016 – Joannis Avramidis, Greek sculptor (b. 1922)
• 2016 – Ted Marchibroda, American football player and coach (b. 1931)
• 2017 – Eugene Cernan, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1934)
• 2018 – Ed Doolan, British radio presenter (b. 1941)
• 2018 – Oliver Ivanović, Kosovo Serb politician (b. 1953)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Pope Benjamin (Coptic)
  • Berard of Carbio
  • Blaise (Armenian Apostolic)
  • Fursey
  • Joseph Vaz
  • Honoratus of Arles
  • Pope Marcellus I
  • Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (Coptic Church)
  • Titian of Oderzo
  • January 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• National Religious Freedom Day (United States)
• Teacher's Day (Myanmar)
• Teachers' Day (Thailand)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• Today in Canadian History