Events

Up to 1900 
 475 - Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to leave his capital city, Constantinople, and his general, Basiliscus, takes control of the Empire.
 681 - Twelfth Council of Toledo: King Erwig of the Visigoths begins a council in which he introduces different measures against Jews in Spain.
 1127 - Invading Jurchen soldiers from the Jin Dynasty besiege and sack Bianjing (Kaifeng), capital city of the Song Dynasty in China, abducting Emperor Qinzong of Song and others, ending the Northern Song Dynasty.
 1150 - China: Prince Hailing of Jin and other court officials murder Emperor Xizong of Jin. Hailing succeeds him as Emperor.
 1317 - King Philip V of France is crowned.
 1349 – The Jewish population of Basel, Switzerland, believed by the residents to be the cause of the ongoing bubonic plague, were rounded up and burned to death.
 1431 – Judges' investigations for the trial of Joan of Arc begin in Rouen, France, the seat of the English occupation government.
 1693 - An earthquake in Sicily kills around 60,000 people.
 1768 - In London, Philip Astley stages the first modern circus.
 1788 – Connecticut becomes the fifth state to be admitted to the United States.
 1793 – Jean-Pierre Blanchard becomes the first person to fly in a balloon in the United States.
 1806 - A state funeral is held for Admiral Horatio Nelson at St. Paul's Cathedral in London.
 1816 - Humphrey Davy tests his safety lamp for miners at Hebburn Colliery in present-day Tyne and Wear in the Northeast of England.
 1822 - Pedro I of Brazil, then a Portuguese prince, decides to stay in Brazil against the orders of King Joao IV of Portugal
 1839 - The French Academy of the Sciences announces the Daguerreotype photography process.
 1857 - An earthquake estimated at magnitude 7.9 strikes Fort Tejon in California.
 1861 – Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the Union before the outbreak of the American Civil War.
 1861 - American Civil War: The "Star of the West" incident occurs in Charleston, South Carolina - sometimes considered by historians to be the "First Shots" of the war.
 1863 - American Civil War: The Battle of Fort Hindman begins in Arkansas.
 1878 - Umberto I of Italy becomes King.
 1880 - The Great Gale of 1880 brings high winds and heavy snow to parts of Oregon and Washington.
 1882 – Oscar Wilde gives his first lecture on "The English Renaissance of Art" in New York City.
 1894 - The New England Telephone and Telegraph Company installs the first battery-operated telephone switchboard in Lexington, Massachusetts.
 1900 - The Rome-based football club S.S. Lazio is founded.

1901  2000 
 1903 - Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Marquess of Tennyson becomes the second Governor-General of Australia.
 1905 – According to the Julian Calendar which was used at the time, Russian workers stage a march on the Winter Palace that ends in the massacre by Tsarist troops known as Bloody Sunday, setting off the Russian Revolution of 1905.
 1909 - Ernest Shackleton, leading the Nimrod Expedition, is forced to turn back 180 kilometers (112 miles) from the South Pole, having travelled further south than anyone before him.
 1913 - Afonso Augusto da Costa becomes Prime Minister of Portugal.
 1914 - Bernardino Machado becomes Prime Minister of Portugal.
 1914 - The Phi Beta Sigma fraternity is founded.
 1916 - World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli ends in Ottoman Empire victory, after the evacuation of the last Allied forces.
 1917 – World War I: the Battle of Rafa occurs near the Egyptian border with Palestine.
 1918 - Battle of Bear Valley: Last battle of the American Indian Wars.
 1921 - Greco-Turkish War: The First Battle of Inonu, the first battle of the war, begins near Eskisehir, Anatolia.
 1923 - Juan de la Cierva makes the first autogyro flight.
 1927 - A fire at Laurier Palace movie theatre in Montreal kills 78 children.
 1938 - Paul of Greece marries Frederica of Hanover in Athens.
 1941 - World War II: First flight of an Avro Lancaster aircraft.
 1941 - World War II: The Greek Triton (Y-5) sinks the Italian submarine Neghelli in Otranto.
 1942 - Off Menorca, the passenger ship Lamoriciere sinks, killing 301 people.
 1945 – The United States invades Luzon in the Philippines.
 1951 – The United Nations headquarters opens in New York City.
 1954 - The temperature of -65.9 degrees Celsius, the coldest to be measured in Greenland, is recorded by a British expedition.
 1957 - Anthony Eden resigns as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom following the Suez Crisis.
 1959 - The Vega de Tera reservoir dam breaks in Zamora Province in Spain, killing over 140 people.
 1960 - Construction of the Aswan Dam in Egypt begins.
 1964 – Several Panamanian youths try to raise the Panamanian flag on the U.S.-controlled Panama Canal Zone. This causes fighting between U.S. military and Panamanian civilians.
 1968 – The only known snowfall occurs in Mexico City, additional snow falls on January 10 and 11.
 1972 - The ship previously known as the HMS Queen Elizabeth burns in Hong Kong harbor, praobably as an act of arson, and sinks.
 1991 – The Soviets storm Vilnius to stop Lithuanian independence.
 1992 - The National Assembly of the Serb People in Bosnia and Herzegovina declares the creation of Republika Srpska, a new state within Yugoslavia.
 1996 - First Chechen War: Chechen separatists launch a raid against the helicopter airfield and a civilian hospital in the city of Kizlyar in neighbouring Dagestan. It turns into a massive hostage crisis.

From 2001 
 2004 - An inflatable boat carrying illegal Albanian emigrants stalls near the Karaburun Peninsula while on the way to Brindisi, Italy. Exposure to the poor weather conditions kills 28 people.
 2005 – Elections are held to replace Yasser Arafat as head of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Mahmoud Abbas is elected.
 2005 - The Sudan People's Liberation Movement and the Government of Sudan sign the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to end the Second Sudanese Civil War.
 2006 – The Phantom of the Opera surpasses the record set by Cats for the title of longest running show on Broadway.
 2006 – The population of Iceland officially reaches 300,000.
 2007 - The first IPhone is revealed by then-Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs.
 2011 – South Sudan holds a referendum on independence from Sudan. A majority vote in favour of creating a new country, as South Sudan becomes independent six months later.
 2011 – Iran Air Flight 227 crashes near Orumiyel, northern Iran, killing 77 people.
 2015 - Aftermath of Charlie Hebdo shooting: The two attackers on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo two days earlier are killed following a siege north of Paris, while a gunmen holds several people hostage, killing four, at a Jewish supermarket in Paris, before being killed by police.
 2015 - Football: The 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia begins with the hosts defeating Kuwait 4-1 in the opening game. It is the first Asian Cup held outside Asia.
 2017 - Martin McGuinness resigns as Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland after a scandal over a renewable heat initiative involving First Minister Arlene Foster had made relations in the power-sharing government difficult.
 2018 - Australia's law allowing same-sex marriage enters into force.
 2018 - North Korea agrees to send a team to the 2018 Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea after talks between politicians from the two countries.
 2018 - Mudslides in southern California kill at least 20 people.

Births

Up to 1900 
 1475 – Crinitus, Italian humanist (d. 1507)
 1554 – Pope Gregory XV (d. 1623)
 1589 - Ivan Gundulic, Croatian poet (d. 1638)
 1590 - Simon Vouet, French painter (d. 1649)
 1624 – Empress Meisho of Japan (d. 1697)
 1674 - Reinhard Keiser, German opera composer (d. 1739)
 1715 - Robert-François Damiens, attempted assassin of Louis XV of France (d. 1757)
 1745 - Caleb Strong, 6th and 10th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1819)
 1753 - Luisa Todi, Portuguese singer (d. 1833)
 1757 - John Adair, Governor of Kentucky (d. 1810)
 1773 - Cassandra Austen, English painter (d. 1845)
 1778 - Hammamizade Ismail Dede Efendi, composer of Turkish classical music (d. 1846)
 1797 - Ferdinand von Wrangel, Baltic German naval officer and explorer (d. 1870)
 1806 - Augustus Bradford, Governor of Maryland (d. 1881)
 1818 - Antoine Samuel Adam-Salomon, French sculptor and photographer (d. 1881)
 1819 - James Francis, Premier of Victoria (d. 1884)
 1829 - Thomas William Robertson, English playwright (d. 1871)
 1829 - Adolf Schlagintweit, German botanist and explorer (d. 1879)
 1832 - Felix-Gabriel Marchand, 11th Premier of Quebec (d. 1900)
 1835 – Iwasaki Yaturo, Japanese founder of Mitsubishi (d. 1885)
 1848 - Princess Frederica of Hanover (d. 1926)
 1849 - John Hartley, English tennis player (d. 1935)
 1854 – Lady Randolph Churchill, mother of Winston Churchill (d. 1921)
 1859 - Carrie Chapman Catt, American activist (d. 1947)
 1864 - Vladimir Steklov, Russian mathematician (d. 1926)
 1870 – Joseph B. Strauss, American civil engineer (d. 1938)
 1872 - Ivar Lykke, Prime Minister of Norway (d. 1949)
 1873 - Hayim Nahman Bialik, Ukrainian-Jewish writer and journalist (d. 1934)
 1875 - Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, American socialite (d. 1942)
 1881 – Lascelles Abercrombie, British poet and critic (d. 1938)
 1881 - Giovanni Papini, Italian writer (d. 1956)
 1881 - Josef Ospelt, 1st Prime Minister of Liechtenstein (d. 1962)
 1885 - Charles Bacon, American athlete (d. 1968)
 1890 - Karel Capek, Czech writer (d. 1938)
 1890 – Kurt Tucholsky, German journalist and writer (d. 1935)
 1897 - Dwight H. Green, Governor of Illinois (d. 1958)
 1897 - Vladimir Paley, Russian poet (d. 1918)
 1898 – Gracie Fields, English performer (d. 1979)
 1900 – Maria of Romania, Queen Consort of Yugoslavia (d. 1961)
 1900 - Richard Haliburton, American adventurer (d. 1939)

1901  1950 
 1901 – Ishman Bracey, American blues singer and guitarist (d. 1970)
 1901 - Chic Young, American cartoonist (d. 1973)
 1902 - Saint Josemaria Escriva, Spanish Catholic priest and founder of Opus Dei (d. 1975)
 1908 – Simone de Beauvoir, French writer (d. 1986)
 1909 – Anthony Mamo, 1st President of Malta (d. 2008)
 1911 - Gypsy Rose Lee, American entertainer (d. 1970)
 1912 - Ralph Tubbs, British architect (d. 1996)
 1913 – Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States (d. 1994)
 1914 - Kenny Clarke, American jazz musician (d. 1985)
 1915 - Anita Louise, American actress (d. 1970)
 1916 - Fernando Lamas, Argentine actor and movie producer (d. 1982)
 1916 - Peter Twinn, French mathematician and entomologist (d. 2004)
 1917 - Yngve A. A. Larsson, Swedish medicine professor and diabetologist (d. 2014)
 1920 - Hakim Said, Pakistani scholar and politician (d. 1998)
 1920 – Clive Dunn, British actor, comedian, and singer (d. 2012)
 1921 - Patricia Highsmith, American writer (d. 1995)
 1922 – Har Gobind Khorana, Indian biochemist (d. 2011)
 1922 – Ahmed Sékou Touré, President of Guinea (d. 1984)
 1924 – Sergei Parajanov, Armenian movie director (d. 1990)
 1925 - Lee Van Cleef, American actor (d. 1989)
 1927 - Rodolfo Walsh, Argentine writer (d. 1977)
 1928 - Domenico Modugno, Italian actor, singer and guitarist (d. 1994)
 1928 - Judith Krantz, American writer
 1929 – Heiner Müller, German dramatist (d. 1995)
 1929 - Brian Friel, Irish dramatist and short story writer (d. 2015)
 1929 – Dorothea Puente, American serial killer (d. 2011)
 1931 - Algis Budrys, Lithuanian-born American science fiction writer (d. 2008)
 1932 - Robert P. Casey, Governor of Pennsylvania (d. 2000)
 1934 - Mahendra Kapoor, Indian singer (d. 2008)
 1935 – Bob Denver, American actor (d. 2005)
 1935 - Brian Harradine, Australian politician (d. 2014)
 1939 – Susannah York, British actress (d. 2011)
 1940 - Ruth Dreifuss, Swiss politician
 1941 – Joan Baez, American singer and activist
 1941 - Robert D. Putnam, American political scientist
 1941 - Gilles Vaillancourt, Canadian politician
 1942 - Lee Kun-hee, South Korean businessman
 1942 - Keith Wright, Australian politician (d. 2015)
 1943 - Freddie Starr, English comedian
 1943 - Scott Walker, American singer and musician
 1944 – Jimmy Page, British musician and producer (Led Zeppelin)
 1944 - Massimiliano Fuksas, Italian architect, poet and painter
 1945 – Levon Ter-Petrossian, first President of Armenia
 1946 - Mogens Lykketoft, Danish politician
 1948 - Bill Cowsill, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2006)
 1948 – Cassie Gaines, American singer (Lynyrd Skynyrd) (d. 1977)
 1948 - Jan Tomaszewski, Polish footballer and politician
 1950 – Rio Reiser, German musician (d. 1996)
 1950 - Alec Jeffreys, British geneticist

1951  1975 
 1951 – Crystal Gayle, American singer
 1951 - Michel Barnier, French politician
 1952 - Marek Belka, former Prime Minister of Poland
 1952 - Michael Capuano, American politician
 1953 - Javad Alizadeh, Iranian cartoonist
 1953 – Morris Gleitzman, English writer
 1953 - Bill Graves, former Governor of Kansas
 1954 - Philippa Gregory, English author
 1954 - Lance Hoppen, American singer-songwriter and musician (Orleans)
 1955 – J. K. Simmons, American actor
 1956 – Imelda Staunton, British actress
 1957 - Yury Bandazhevsky, Belarusian scientist
 1958 - Stephen Neale, British philosopher
 1958 – Mehmet Ali Agca, attempted assassin of Pope John Paul II
 1959 – Rigoberta Menchu, Guatemalan political activist, Nobel Peace Prize winner
 1961 – Al Jean, American television writer
 1962 - Matt Bevin, American politician, 42nd Governor of Kentucky
 1963 - Michael Everson, American linguist
 1964 - Stephen Sackur, British journalist
 1965 – Iain Dowie, British footballer and manager
 1965 – Haddaway, Trinidadian singer
 1965 – Joely Richardson, British actress
 1965 - Muggsy Bogues, American basketball player
 1965 - Farah Khan, Indian director, actress and choreographer
 1966 - Stephen Metcalfe, English politician
 1967 – Dave Matthews, Australian singer and musician
 1967 – Claudio Caniggia, Argentine footballer
 1967 - Gary Teichmann, South African rugby player
 1968 - Joey Lauren Adams, American actress
 1968 - Catalina Saavedra, Chilean actress
 1970 - Lara Fabian, Swiss singer
 1971 - Angie Martinez, American rapper, actress and television host
 1972 - Sarah Beeny, British television personality
 1973 - Angela Bettis, American actress, movie producer and director
 1974 - Farhan Akhtar, Indian actor, singer, director and producer

From 1976 
 1976 - Radek Bonk, Czech ice hockey player
 1977 - Viktors Dobrecovs, Latvian footballer
 1978 – Gennaro Gattuso, Italian footballer
 1978 – AJ McLean, American singer (Backstreet Boys)
 1979 - Athanassios Prittas, Greek footballer
 1979 - Tomiko Van, Japanese singer
 1980 – Sergio Garcia, Spanish golfer
 1981 – Euzebiusz Smolarek, Polish footballer
 1982 – Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge
 1982 - Grétar Steinsson, Icelandic footballer
 1985 - Juanfran, Spanish footballer
 1986 - Amanda Mynhardt, South African netballer
 1987 – Paolo Nutini, Scottish singer-songwriter
 1987 - Bradley Davies, Welsh rugby player
 1987 - Rhys Priestland, Welsh rugby player
 1987 - Anna Tatangelo, Italian singer
 1987 - Lucas Leiva, Brazilian footballer
 1988 - Marc Crosas, Spanish footballer
 1989 - Michael Beasley, American basketball player
 1989 - Nina Dobrev, Bulgarian-Canadian actress
 1990 - Nam Ji-hyun, South Korean singer and actress
 1992 - Terrence Jones, American basketball player
 1993 - Ashley Argota, American actress
 1993 - Katarina Johnson-Thompson, English athlete
 1993 - Aminata Savadogo, Latvian singer and songwriter
 1995 - Nicola Peltz, American actress
 Unknown year - Fang Bo, Chinese ping-pong player

Deaths

Up to 1900 
 1150 - Emperor Xizong of Jin (b. 1119)
 1282 - Abu 'Ulthman Sa'id ibn Hakam al Qurashi, ruler of Menorca (b. 1204)
 1283 - Wen Tianxiang, Chinese politician (b. 1236)
 1499 - John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1455)
 1514 – Anne, Queen of France (b. 1477)
 1562 - Amago Haruhisa, Japanese warlord (b. 1514)
 1799 – Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Italian scientist (b. 1718)
 1805 - Noble Wimberly Jones, American Continental Congressman (b. 1723)
 1848 – Caroline Herschel, German-born astronomer (b. 1750)
 1858 – Anson Jones, last President of Texas (b. 1798)
 1873 – Napoleon III of France (b. 1808)
 1876 – Samuel Gridley Howe, American abolitionist (b. 1801)
 1878 – Victor Emmanuel II of Italy (b. 1820)

1901  2000 
 1908 – Wilhelm Busch, German painter (b. 1832)
 1911 - Edwin Arthur Jones, American composer (b. 1853)
 1911 - Edvard Rusjan, Slovenian flight pioneer (b. 1886)
 1918 - Charles-Emile Reynaud, French scientist and educator (b. 1844)
 1923 – Katherine Mansfield, New Zealand writer (b. 1888)
 1924 - Ponnambalam Arunachalam, Ceylonese politician (b. 1853)
 1927 - Houston Stewart Chamberlain, English-German author (b. 1855)
 1936 - John Gilbert, American actor (b. 1899)
 1939 - Johann Strauss III, Austrian conductor (b. 1886)
 1940 - J. C. W. Beckham, American politician, Governor of Kentucky (b. 1869)
 1941 - Dimitrios Golemis, Greek runner (b. 1874)
 1944 – Antanas Smetona, President of Lithuania (b. 1874)
 1945 - Jüri Uluots, Estonian journalist and politician (b. 1890)
 1961 – Emily Greene Balch, American writer, Nobel Peace Prize winner (b. 1867)
 1964 - Halide Edip Adivar, Turkish novelist, nationalist and activist (b. 1884)
 1975 - Pierre Fresnay, French actor (b. 1897)
 1975 - Piotr Novikov, Russian mathematician (b. 1901)
 1979 – Pier Luigi Nervi, Italian architect (b. 1891)
 1993 - Paul Hasluck, Governor-General of Australia (b. 1905)
 1993 - Mario Genta, Italian footballer (b. 1912)
 1995 – Souphanouvong, President of Laos (b. 1909)
 1997 – Edward Osobka-Morawski, Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1909)
 1998 – Kenichi Fukui, Japanese chemist (b. 1916)
 1998 - Michael Tippett, English composer (b. 1905)
 2000 - Nigel Tranter, Scottish historian and author (b. 1909)

From 2001 
 2004 - Norberto Bobbio, Italian philosopher (b. 1909)
 2005 – Antonín Klimek, Czech historian (b. 1927)
 2007 - Jean-Pierre Vernant, French philosopher and historian (b. 1914)
 2009 – Dave Dee, British musician (b. 1943)
 2009 – René Herms, German athlete (b. 1982)
 2010 – Armand Razafindratandra, Malagasy cardinal (b. 1924)
 2011 – Peter Yates, British movie director (b. 1929)
 2012 – Malam Bacai Sanha, President of Guinea-Bissau (b. 1947)
 2012 - Mae Laborde, American actress (b. 1909)
 2013 - Rex Trailer, American television host, actor and singer (b. 1928)
 2013 - James M. Buchanan, American economist (b. 1919)
 2014 - Dale T. Mortensen, American economist (b. 1939)
 2014 - Amiri Baraka, American poet (b. 1934)
 2014 - Josep Maria Castellet, Catalan writer (b. 1926)
 2014 - Lorella De Luca, Italian actress (b. 1940)
 2014 - Cliff Carpenter, American actor (b. 1915)
 2015 - Jozef Oleksy, Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1946)
 2015 - Angelo Anquilletti, Italian footballer (b. 1943)
 2015 - Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., American movie producer (b. 1926)
 2015 - Frans Molenaar, Dutch fashion designer (b. 1940)
 2015 - Robert V. Keeley, American diplomat (b. 1929)
 2015 - Roy Tarpley, American basketball player (b. 1964)
 2015 - Popsy Dixon, American musician (b. 1942)
 2015 - Chuck Locke, American baseball player (b. 1932)
 2015 - Michel Jeury, French author (b. 1934)
 2015 - Perpetrators of the Charlie Hebdo shooting and related attacks:
Chérif Kouachi, French Islamic Jihadist (b. 1982)
Saïd Kouachi, French Islamic Jihadist (b. 1980)
Amedy Coulibaly, French Islamic Jihadist (b. 1982)
 2016 - Maria Teresa de Filippis, Italian racing driver (b. 1926)
 2016 - Lawrence H. Cohn, American surgeon (b. 1937)
 2016 - Hamada Emam, Egyptian footballer (b. 1947)
 2016 - Peter Gavin Hall, Australian mathematician (b. 1951)
 2016 - Ed Stewart, English broadcaster (b. 1941)
 2016 - Merab Chigoev, South Ossetian politician (b. 1950)
 2016 - Umberto Raho, Italian actor (b. 1922)
 2016 - Angus Scrimm, American actor (b. 1926)
 2016 - Zelimkhan Yaqub, Azerbaijani poet (b. 1950)
 2016 - John Harvard, Canadian politician (b. 1938)
 2017 - Zygmunt Bauman, Polish-British sociologist (b. 1925)
 2017 - Michael Chamberlain, New Zealand-Australian pastor (b. 1944)
 2017 - Ulf Dinkelspiel, Swedish politician (b. 1939)
 2017 - Ali Shariatmadari, Iranian politician and academic (b. 1923)
 2017 - Ugo Crescenzi, Italian politician (b. 1930)
 2017 - Bob McCullough, Australian sports administrator
 2017 - Warren Allen Smith, American activist and writer (b. 1921)
 2017 - Claude Steiner, French-born American psychologist and writer (b. 1935)
 2017 - Russell Trood, Australian politician and academic (b. 1948)
 2018 - Bob Bailey, American baseball player (b. 1942)
 2018 - Tommy Lawrence, Scottish footballer (b. 1940)
 2018 - Robert Minlos, Russian mathematician (b. 1931)
 2018 - Odvar Nordli, Prime minister of Norway (b. 1927)
 2018 - Mario Perniola, Italian philosopher (b. 1941)
 2018 - Ted Phillips, English footballer (b. 1933)
 2018 - Milton J. Rosenberg, American psychology professor and radio host (b. 1925)

Observances 
 Martyrs' Day (Panama)

January 09