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Contents

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

Religious observancess

References

External links

Events

★ 588 BC - Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem under Zedekiah's reign. The siege lasts until July 18, 586 BC.

★ 69 - Otho seizes power in Rome, proclaiming himself Emperor of Rome, but only survives for three months before committing suicide.

★ 1559 - Elizabeth I of England is crowned in Westminster Abbey by Owen Oglethorpe, the Bishop of Carlisle, instead of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

★ 1582 - Russia cedes Livonia and Estonia to Poland.

★ 1759 - The British Museum opens.

★ 1777 - American Revolutionary War: New Connecticut (present day Vermont) declares its independence.

★ 1782 - Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris goes before the U.S. Congress to recommend establishment of a national mint and decimal coinage.

★ 1844 - University of Notre Dame receives its charter from Indiana.

★ 1870 - A political cartoon for the first time symbolizes the United States Democratic Party with a donkey ("A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion" by Thomas Nast for Harper's Weekly).

★ 1885 - Wilson Bentley takes the first photograph of a snowflake.

★ 1892 - James Naismith publishes the rules for basketball.

★ 1908 - Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, the first Greek-letter organization by and for Black college women is established.

★ 1919 - The Boston Molasses Disaster kills 21 people.

★ 1919 - Ignace Paderewski becomes Premier of Poland.

★ 1919 - Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, two of the most prominent socialists in Germany, were tortured and murdered by the Freikorps.

★ 1936 - The first building to be completely covered in glass is completed in Toledo, Ohio (the building was for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company).

★ 1943 - World War II: Japanese driven off Guadalcanal.

★ 1943 - World War II: Soviet counter-offensive at Voronezh begun.

★ 1943 - The world's largest office building, The Pentagon, is dedicated (Arlington, Virginia).

★ 1947 - The brutalized corpse of Elizabeth Short ("The Black Dahlia") is found in Leimert Park, Los Angeles, California.

★ 1951 - Ilse Koch, The "Bitch of Buchenwald", wife of the commandant of the Buchenwald concentration camp, is sentenced to life imprisonment in a court in West Germany.

★ 1966 - First Military Coup in Nigeria, government of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa is overthrown.

★ 1967 - In the first ever Super Bowl, the Green Bay Packers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs, 35-10.

★ 1969 - The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 5.

★ 1970 - After a 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria, Biafra surrenders.

★ 1970 - Muammar al-Qaddafi is proclaimed premier of Libya.

★ 1973 - Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, President of the United States Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.

★ 1975 - Portugal grants independence to Angola.

★ 1976 - Gerald Ford's would-be assassin, Sara Jane Moore, is sentenced to life in prison.

★ 1977 - The Kälvesta air disaster kills 22 people, the worst air crash in Sweden's history.

★ 1986 - The Living Seas opens at EPCOT Center in Walt Disney World, Florida.

★ 1986 - The HBO and Cinemax pay cable television services initiate scrambling of their national satellite feeds on Galaxy 1 with the Videocipher II system.

★ 1990 - AT&T's long distance telephone network suffers a cascade switching failure.

★ 1991 - The United Nations deadline for the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait expires, preparing the way for the start of Operation Desert Storm.

★ 1992 - The international community recognizes the independence of Slovenia and Croatia from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

★ 1993 - Salvatore Riina, the Mafia boss known as 'The Beast', is arrested in Sicily after three decades as a fugitive

★ 1999 - The Racak incident: 45 Albanians in the Kosovo village of Racak were killed by Yugoslav security forces.

★ 2001 - Wikipedia, a free Wiki content encyclopedia, goes online.

★ 2005 - An intense solar flare blasted X rays across the solar system. ESA's SMART-1 lunar orbiter discovered elements such as calcium, aluminum, silicon, iron, and other surface elements on the moon.

★ 2007 - Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, former Iraqi intelligence chief and half-brother of Saddam Hussein, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former chief judge of the Revolutionary Court, are executed by hanging in Iraq.

★ 2007 - Comet McNaught makes perigee after coming close to the sun.

Births

★ 1342 - Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1404)

★ 1432 - King Afonso V of Portugal (d. 1481)

★ 1481 - Ashikaga Yoshizumi, Japanese shogun (b. 1511)

★ 1538 - Maeda Toshiie, Japanese general (d. 1599)

★ 1622 - Molière, French playwright (d. 1673)

★ 1671 - Abraham de la Pryme, English antiquarian (d. 1704)

★ 1674 - Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, French writer (d. 1762)

★ 1716 - Philip Livingston, American founding father (d. 1778)

★ 1747 - John Aikin, English doctor and writer (d. 1822)

★ 1754 - Richard Martin, Irish founder of the SPCA (d. 1834)

★ 1791 - Franz Grillparzer, Austrian writer (d. 1872)

★ 1795 - Alexandr Griboyedov, Russian playwright (d. 1829)

★ 1809 - Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, French anarchist (d. 1865)

★ 1812 - Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, Norwegian writer (d. 1885)

★ 1816 - Marie LaFarge, French murderer (d. 1852)

★ 1824 - Marie Duplessis, French courtesan, inspiration for La Dame aux Camelias (d. 1847)

★ 1841 - Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, Governor General of Canada (d. 1908)

★ 1842 - Josef Breuer, Austrian psychologist (d. 1925)

★ 1850 - Mihai Eminescu, Romanian poet (d. 1889)

★ 1850 - Sofia Kovalevskaya, Russian mathematician (d. 1891)

★ 1855 - Jacques Damala, Greek military officer and actor (d. 1889)

★ 1863 - Wilhelm Marx, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1946)

★ 1866 - Nathan Söderblom, Swedish archbishop, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1931)

★ 1869 - Stanisław Wyspiański, Polish dramatist (d. 1907)

★ 1872 - Arsen Kotsoyev, Russian writer (d. 1944)

★ 1875 - Tom Burke, American runner (d. 1929)

★ 1879 - Mazo de la Roche, Canadian author (d. 1961)

★ 1885 - Huang Yuanyong, Chinese writer (d. 1915)

★ 1885 - Lorenz Böhler, Austrian physician (d. 1973)

★ 1885 - Grover Lowdermilk, American baseball player (d. 1968)

★ 1891 - Ray Chapman, American baseball player (d. 1920)

★ 1891 - Osip Mandelstam, Russian poet (d. 1938)

★ 1892 - Rex Ingram, Irish director (d. 1950)

★ 1893 - Ivor Novello, Welsh actor (d. 1951)

★ 1895 - Artturi Ilmari Virtanen, Finnish chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1973)

★ 1897 - Xu Zhimo, Chinese poet (d. 1931)

★ 1899 - Goodman Ace, American actor (d. 1982)

★ 1901 - Luis Monti, Argentine-Italian footballer (d. 1983)

★ 1906 - Aristotle Onassis, Greek businessman (d. 1975)

★ 1908 - Edward Teller, Hungarian-born physicist (d. 2003)

★ 1909 - Jean Bugatti, German-born automobile designer (d. 1939)

★ 1909 - Gene Krupa, American drummer (d. 1973)

★ 1912 - Michel Debré, French politician (d. 1996)

★ 1913 - Lloyd Bridges, American actor (d. 1998)

★ 1913 - Miriam Hyde, Australian composer (d. 2005)

★ 1914 - Hugh Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton, English historian (d. 2003)

★ 1918 - Gamal Abdal Nasser, President of Egypt (d. 1970)

★ 1920 - John Cardinal O'Connor, American Catholic cardinal (d. 2000)

★ 1920 - Steve Gromek, American baseball player (d. 2002)

★ 1923 - Lee Teng-hui, Taiwanese politician

★ 1923 - Ivor Cutler, Scottish poet (d. 2006)

★ 1926 - Maria Schell, Swiss actress (d. 2005)

★ 1926 - Florence Buchsbaum, theater director (d. 1996)

★ 1927 - Phyllis Coates, American actress

★ 1929 - Martin Luther King Jr, American civil rights leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1968)

★ 1930 - Eddie Graham, American professional wrestler (d. 1985)

★ 1933 - Ernest J. Gaines, American author

★ 1937 - Margaret O'Brien, American actress

★ 1938 - Chuni Goswami, Indian actor

★ 1941 - Captain Beefheart, American singer

★ 1945 - Vince Foster, American lawyer (d. 1993)

★ 1947 - Andrea Martin, Canadian actress

★ 1948 - Ronnie VanZant, American singer (Lynyrd Skynyrd) (d. 1977)

★ 1949 - Luis Alvarado, Puerto Rican baseball player (d. 2001)

★ 1949 - Panos Mihalopoulos, Greek actor

★ 1950 - Marius Trésor, French footballer

★ 1951 - Charo, Spanish-born singer

★ 1953 - Kent Hovind, American evangelist and Young Earth creationist

★ 1953 - Ta-Tanisha, American actress

★ 1954 - Nikos Sarganis, Greek footballer

★ 1955 - Nigel Benson, English author

★ 1957 - Marty Lyons, American football player

★ 1957 - Mario Van Peebles, American actor

★ 1957 - Patrick Dixon, British entrepreneur

★ 1958 - Boris Tadić, President of Serbia

★ 1959 - Pete Trewavas, English bass guitarist (Marillion)

★ 1960 - Aaron Jay Kernis, American composer

★ 1960 - Kelly Asbury, American director and actor

★ 1961 - Yves P. Pelletier, Quebec comedian (Rock et Belles Oreilles), actor and film director

★ 1964 - Osmo Tapio Räihälä, Finnish composer

★ 1965 - Bernard Hopkins, American boxer

★ 1965 - Adam Jones, American musician (Tool)

★ 1965 - James Nesbitt, Northern Irish actor

★ 1965 - Maurizio Fondriest, Italian cyclist

★ 1968 - Chad Lowe, American actor

★ 1968 - Iñaki Urdangarín, Spanish royalty

★ 1969 - Delino DeShields, American baseball player

★ 1970 - Shane McMahon, American professional wrestler

★ 1971 - Teanna Kai, American porn star

★ 1971 - Max Beesley, English musician and actor

★ 1971 - Regina King, American actress

★ 1972 - Kobe Tai, American porn star

★ 1972 - Claudia Winkleman, English television presenter

★ 1973 - Essam El-Hadary,Egyptian Football goal keeper

★ 1974 - Ray King, American baseball player

★ 1975 - Mary Pierce, French tennis player

★ 1975 - Edith Bowman, Scottish television and radio presenter

★ 1975 - Greg Strause, American artist

★ 1976 - Corey Chavous, American football player

★ 1978 - Franco Pellizotti, Italian cyclist

★ 1978 - Eddie Cahill, American actor

★ 1979 - Drew Brees, American football player

★ 1980 - Matt Holliday, American baseball player

★ 1981 - El Hadji Diouf, Senegalese footballer

★ 1981 - Howie Day, American pop singer

★ 1981 - Sean Lamont, Scottish rugby player

★ 1982 - Benjamin Agosto, American skater

★ 1982 - Megan Quann, American swimmer

★ 1982 - Philip and Alexander, American-born princes of the Yugoslav Royal Family

★ 1983 - Jermaine Pennant, English footballer

★ 1983 - Hugo Viana, Portuguese footballer

★ 1984 - Victor Rasuk, American actor

★ 1984 - Megan Jendrick, American professional swimmer

★ 1987 - Kelly Kelly, American WWE Diva

★ 1987 - David Knight, English footballer

★ 1987 - Michael Seater, Canadian actor

Deaths

★ 69 - Galba, Roman Emperor (b. 3 BC)

★ 570 - Saint Ita, Irish nun (b. 475)

★ 936 - King Rudolph of France

★ 1345 - Martin Zaccaria, Italo-Greek ruler

★ 1595 - Murat III, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1546)

★ 1672 - John Cosin, English clergyman (b. 1594)

★ 1683 - Philip Warwick, English writer and politician (b. 1609)

★ 1781 - Marianne Victoria of Borbón, queen regent of Portugal (b. 1718)

★ 1790 - John Landen, English mathematician (b. 1719)

★ 1804 - Dru Drury, English entomologist (b. 1725)

★ 1909 - Arnold Janssen SVD missionary (b. 1837)

★ 1915 - Mary Slessor, Scottish missionary (b. 1848)

★ 1919 - Karl Liebknecht, German politician (b. 1871)

★ 1919 - Rosa Luxemburg, German politician (b. 1870)

★ 1945 - Wilhelm Wirtinger, Austrian mathematician (b. 1865)

★ 1947 - Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia (b. 1924)

★ 1955 - Yves Tanguy, French painter (b. 1900)

★ 1964 - Jack Teagarden, American musician (b. 1905)

★ 1967 - David Burliuk, Ukrainian artist (b. 1882)

★ 1968 - Bill Masterton, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1938)

★ 1973 - Ivan Petrovsky, Russian mathematician (b. 1901)

★ 1973 - Coleman Francis, American film director (b. 1919)

★ 1983 - Meyer Lansky, Russian-born gangster (b. 1902)

★ 1987 - Ray Bolger, American actor, singer, and dancer (b. 1904)

★ 1988 - Seán MacBride, Irish statesman, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1904)

★ 1990 - Gordon Jackson, Scottish actor (b. 1923)

★ 1992 - Dee Murray, English bassist (b. 1946)

★ 1993 - Sammy Cahn, American songwriter (b. 1913)

★ 1994 - Harry Nilsson, American musician (b. 1941)

★ 1996 - Les Baxter, American musician and composer (b. 1922)

★ 1996 - Minnesota Fats, American Billiards player (b. 1913)

★ 1996 - Paramount Chief Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho (b. 1938)

★ 1998 - Junior Wells, American musician (b. 1934)

★ 2000 - Željko Ražnatović, aka Arkan, Serbian paramilitary leader (b. 1952)

★ 2000 - Fran Ryan, American actress (b. 1916)

★ 2000 - Georges-Henri Lévesque, French Canadian Dominican priest and sociologist (b. 1903)

★ 2001 - Ted Mann, American screenwriter (b. 1916)

★ 2002 - Steve Gromek, American baseball player (b. 1920)

★ 2003 - Doris Fisher, American singer and songwriter (b. 1915)

★ 2005 - Deem Bristow, American video game voice actor (b. 1947)

★ 2005 - Victoria de los Angeles, Catalan soprano (b. 1923)

★ 2005 - Walter Ernsting, German author (b. 1920)

★ 2005 - Elizabeth Janeway, American author (b. 1913)

★ 2005 - Dan Lee, Canadian animator (b. 1969)

★ 2005 - Ruth Warrick, American actress (b. 1915)

★ 2006 - Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (b. 1926)

★ 2007 - Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, former Iraqi intelligence chief and half-brother of Saddam Hussein (b. 1951) (executed)

★ 2007 - Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former chief judge of the Iraqi Revolutionary Court (b. 1945) (executed)

★ 2007 - Bo Yibo, Chinese politician (b. 1908)

★ 2007 - David Vanole, American soccer player (b. 1963)

★ 2007 - James Hillier, Canadian inventor of electron microscope (b. 1915)

Holidays and observances

★ Roman Empire - Second day of the Carmentalia in honor of Carmenta.

★ Malawi - John Chilembwe Day.

★ North Korea - Korean Alphabet Day.

★ United States - Traditionally, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

★ Kerala in India - Makaravilakku or Makara Sankranthy at Sabarimala.

★ Jallikattu in South India.

★ Pongal in Tamil Nadu (2007).

★ Nigerian Armed Forces Rememberance day

Religious observancess

★ Abeluzius in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ^[1]

★ Roman Catholic Church - Saint Ita, virgin, died January 15, 570.^[2]

★ Macarius of Egypt

★ Paul the Hermit

★ January 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics).

References

1. Holweck, F. G. ''A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints''. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co. 1924.
2. Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. ''The Penguin Dictionary of Saints''. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-140-51312-4.

External links

★ On this day in Canada

★

★ BBC: On This Day
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