January 15

### Up to 1900

- 69 – Otho seizes power in Rome, proclaiming himself Emperor of Rome, but rules for only three months before committing suicide.
- 1362 – A North Sea flood kills many thousands of people.
- 1541 – King Francis I of France gives Jean-Francois Roberval a commission to settle the Province of New France (Canada) and provide for the spread of the Roman Catholic Faith.
- 1559 – Queen Elizabeth I of England is officially crowned Queen of England.
- 1582 – Russia cedes Livonia and Estonia to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
- 1759 – The British Museum is opened.
- 1777 – American Revolutionary War: New Connecticut (present-day Vermont) declares its independence.
- 1790 – The Bounty mutineers, led by Fletcher Christian, arrive on Pitcairn Island.
- 1815 – War of 1812: American frigate USS _President_, commanded by Stephen Decatur, is captured by a squadron of four British frigates.
- 1822 – Greek War of Independence: Demetrios Ypsilantis is elected President of the Legislative Assembly.
- 1844 – The University of Notre Dame receives its charter from the state of Indiana.
- 1865 – American Civil War: Fort Fisher in North Carolina falls to Union forces.
- 1870 – A political cartoon (by Thomas Nast) for the first time uses a donkey as a symbol of the Democratic Party in the United States.
- 1876 – The first newspaper in Afrikaans, De Afrikaans Patriot, is published.
- 1885 – American Wilson Bentley takes the first photographs of snowflakes.
- 1889 – The Coca-Cola Company, then-known as the Pemberton Medicine Company, is incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia, US.
- 1892 – James Naismith publishes the rules of basketball.

### 1901–2000

- 1910 – Building work begins ends on the Buffalo Bill Dam in Wyoming, United States, at 99 meters.
- 1919 – German socialist activists Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht are tortured and executed by the Freikorps.
- 1919 – The Boston Molasses Disaster, killing 21 and injuring 150 others.
- 1933 – A 12-year-old girl is said to have experienced the first Marian Apparition of Our Lady of Banneux in Banneux, Belgium.
- 1934 – A magnitude 8.1 earthquake on the India–Nepal border kills around 10,700 people.
- 1936 – The first building to be completely covered in glass, built for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company is completed in Toledo, Ohio, United States.
- 1937 – Spanish Civil War: Nationalists and Republicans both withdraw after suffering heavy losses, ending the Second Battle of the Corunna Road.
- 1943 – The Pentagon is dedicated in Arlington, Virginia.
- 1943 – World War II: The Soviet counter-offensive in Voronezh begins.
- 1944 – A magnitude 7.8 earthquake in San Juan, Argentina, kills around 5,000 people.
- 1949 – Chinese Civil War: The Communist forces take over Tianjin from the National Government.
- 1962 – The Derveni papyrus, Europe's oldest-surviving manuscript dating back to 340 BC, is found in Northern Greece.
- 1966 – Nigeria's First Republic, led by Abubakar Tafawa Balewa is overthrown in military coup d'état.
- 1967 – The first-ever Super Bowl takes place in Los Angeles, as the Green Bay Packers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 35–10.
- 1969 – The Soyuz 5 spacecraft is launched by the Soviet Union.
- 1970 – Nigerian Civil War: Biafra surrenders.
- 1970 – Muammar al-Gaddafi is proclaimed Premier of Libya.
- 1971 – The Aswan Dam in Egypt is officially opened.
- 1973 – Vietnam War: Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam, citing the progress of peace negotiations.
- 1975 – The Alvor Agreement is signed, ending the Angolan War of Independence.
- 1976 – Sara Jane Moore is sentenced to life in prison for attempting to kill President Gerald Ford.
- 1981 – Pope John Paul II receives a delegation from the Polish Solidarity Trade Union, led by Lech Walesa.
- 1991 – The United Nations deadline for Iraq's withdrawal from Kuwait expires.
- 1992 – The international community recognizes the independence of Slovenia and Croatia from Yugoslavia.
- 1993 – Mafia boss Salvatore Riina is arrested by police.
- 1996 – Lesotho's King, Moshoeshoe II dies in a car crash. He is succeeded by his son, Letsie III.

### From 2001

- 2001 – Wikipedia goes online.
- 2004 – The South Korean Foreign Minister, Yoon Young-kwan resigns following his support for American policy towards North Korea.
- 2005 – The European Space Agency's _SMART-1_ lunar orbiter discovers elements such as calcium, aluminium, silicon, iron and other elements on the Moon.
- 2006 – Michelle Bachelet is elected President of Chile. She becomes Chile's first female president when she takes office on March 11.
- 2009 – Chesley Sullenberger, pilot of US Airways Flight 1549, steers the plane to a safe emergency landing on the Hudson River after experiencing trouble shortly after takeoff from New York's LaGuardia Airport.
- 2015 – Two suspected Jihadists are killed in an anti-terror raid in Verviers, Belgium.
- 2018 – British newspaper The Guardian changes to a tabloid format.
- 2018 – Mihai Tudose announces his resignation as Prime Minister of Romania after losing support within his own party.
- 2018 – A bomb attack in Baghdad kills 38 people.
- 2019 – A terrorist attack on a hotel complex in Nairobi, Kenya, results in 21 people being killed.
- 2019 – British Prime Minister Theresa May loses a parliamentary vote in the House of Commons by the biggest margin ever for a sitting Prime Minister, losing a vote on her proposed Brexit deal by 432 votes to 202.
- 2024 – The Iranian-backed Houthi movement launch an attack on the Marshall Islands–flagged, United States–owned and operated bulk carrier _Gibraltar Eagle_.

### Up to 1850

- 5 BC – Emperor Guang Wu of Han in China (d. 57)
- 1292 – Joan II, Countess of Burgundy (d. 1330)
- 1342 – Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1404)
- 1432 – Afonso IV of Portugal (d. 1481)
- 1481 – Ashikaga Yoshizuni, Japanese shogun (d. 1511)
- 1538 – Maeda Toshiie, Japanese general (d. 1599)
- 1622 – Molière, French writer and philosopher (d. 1673)
- 1716 – Philip Livingston, American founding father (d. 1778)
- 1780 – Cornelius P. Comegus, American politician, Governor of Delaware (d. 1850)
- 1785 – William Prout, English chemist, physician and theologian (d. 1850)
- 1791 – Franz Grillparzer, Austrian writer (d. 1872)
- 1795 – Alexander Griboyedov, Russian playwright (d. 1829)
- 1803 – Marjorie Fleming, Scottish poet (d. 1811)
- 1807 – Hermann Burmeister, German naturalist (d. 1892)
- 1809 – Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, French anarchist (d. 1865)
- 1815 – William Bickerton, English-American religious leader (d. 1905)
- 1824 – Marie Duplessis, French courtesan (d. 1847)
- 1841 – Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, Governor General of Canada (d. 1908)
- 1842 – Mary MacKillop, Australian saint (d. 1909)
- 1842 – Paul Lafargue, French journalist, literary critic and activist (d. 1911)
- 1842 – Josef Breuer, Austrian physician (d. 1925)
- 1844 – Cole Younger, American outlaw (d. 1916)
- 1850 – Mihai Eminescu, Romanian poet (d. 1889)
- 1850 – Leonard Darwin, son of Charles Darwin (d. 1943)
- 1850 – Sofia Kovalevskaya, Russian mathematician (d. 1891)

### 1851–1900

- 1858 – Giovanni Segantini, Italian painter (d. 1899)
- 1859 – Archibald Peake, Australian politician, Premier of South Australia (d. 1920)
- 1859 – Nathaniel Lord Britton, American geologist and botanist (d. 1934)
- 1862 – Loie Fuller, American dancer (d. 1928)
- 1863 – Wilhelm Marx, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1946)
- 1866 – Nathan Söderblom, Swedish archbishop (d. 1931)
- 1867 – Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (d. 1900)
- 1869 – Ruby Laffoon, American politician, 43rd Governor of Kentucky (d. 1941)
- 1869 – Stanislaw Wyspianski, Polish dramatist (d. 1907)
- 1870 – Pierre S. du Pont, American industrialist (d. 1954)
- 1875 – Thomas Burke, American athlete (d. 1929)
- 1878 – Johanna Mueller-Hermann, Austrian composer and educator (d. 1941)
- 1882 – Princess Margaret of Connaught (d. 1920)
- 1885 – Huang Yuanyong, Chinese writer (d. 1915)
- 1891 – Osip Mandelstam, Russian poet (d. 1938)
- 1892 – Rex Ingram, Irish director (d. 1950)
- 1893 – Ivor Novello, Welsh entertainer and composer (d. 1951)
- 1893 – George, Crown Prince of Saxony (d. 1943)
- 1894 – Ecaterina Teodoriu, Romanian World War I heroine (d. 1917)
- 1895 – Artturi Ilmari Virtanen, Finnish chemist (d. 1973)
- 1897 – Xu Zhimo, Chinese poet (d. 1931)
- 1898 – Erik Byléhn, Swedish runner (d. 1986)
- 1900 – William Heinesen, Faroese writer, poet and artist (d. 1991)
- 1900 – Stanley Lucas, British supercentenarian (d. 2010)

### 1901–1950

- 1902 – King Saud of Saudi Arabia (d. 1969)
- 1903 – Paul A. Dever, American politician, 58th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1958)
- 1906 – Aristotle Onassis, Greek shipping magnate (d. 1975)
- 1908 – Edward Teller, Hungarian physicist (d. 2003)
- 1909 – Jean Bugatti, German-born automobile designer (d. 1939)
- 1909 – Gene Krupa, American automobile designer (d. 1973)
- 1912 – Michel Debré, Prime Minister of France (d. 1996)
- 1913 – Lloyd Bridges, American actor (d. 1998)
- 1913 – Alexander Marinesko, German submarine captain (d. 1963)
- 1914 – Hugh Trevor-Roper, British historian (d. 2003)
- 1916 – Maurice Bavaud, Swiss activist (d. 1941)
- 1918 – Gamal Abdel Nasser, President of Egypt (d. 1970)
- 1918 – Joao Figueiredo, President of Brazil (d. 1999)
- 1918 – David George Kendall, English statistician and mathematician (d. 2007)
- 1918 – Vicente de la Mata, Argentine footballer (d. 1980)
- 1919 – George Cadle Price, 1st Prime Minister of Belize (d. 2011)
- 1919 – Maurice Herzog, French mountaineer (d. 2012)
- 1920 – Bob Davies, American basketball player (d. 1990)
- 1920 – Pamela Cundell, English actress (d. 2015)
- 1920 – John Joseph O'Connor, American cardinal and Archbishop of New York City (d. 2000)
- 1921 – Babasaheb Bhasale, Indian politician, 8th Chief Minister of Maharashtra (d. 2007)
- 1923 – Lee Twng-hui, 4th President of the Republic of China
- 1924 – George Lowe, New Zealand mountaineer (d. 2013)
- 1924 – Georg Ratzinger, brother of Pope Benedict XVI
- 1924 – Jean-Bertrand Pontalis, French philosopher, writer, editor and psychoanalyst (d. 2013)
- 1925 – Ernst Benda, German politician (d. 2009)
- 1926 – Maria Schell, Austrian actress (d. 2005)
- 1926 – Karl-Alfred Jacobsson, Swedish footballer (d. 2015)
- 1927 – Phyllis Coates, American actress
- 1928 – M. V. Devan, Indian artist and writer (d. 2014)
- 1928 – W. R. Mitchell, English writer (d. 2015)
- 1929 – Martin Luther King Jr., American civil rights activist (d. 1968)
- 1929 – Earl Hooker, American blues guitarist (d. 1970)
- 1934 – V. S. Ramadevi, Indian politician, 13th Governor of Karnataka (d. 2013)
- 1939 – Per Ahlmark, Swedish journalist and politician
- 1940 – Arlie Russell Hochschild, American sociologist and academic
- 1941 – Captain Beefheart, American singer (d. 2010)
- 1943 – Ashraf Aman, Pakistani mountaineer
- 1943 – Margaret Beckett, British politician
- 1944 – Jenny Nimmo, British writer
- 1945 – Princess Michael of Kent
- 1945 – David Pleat, English footballer
- 1945 – Maria Antonia Iglesias, Spanish writer (d. 2014)
- 1945 – Ko Chun-hsiung, Taiwanese actor, director and politician (d. 2015)
- 1947 – Martin Chalfie, American biologist and Nobel Prize winner
- 1947 – Pete Waterman, English songwriter and producer
- 1948 – Ronnie Van Zant, American musician (Lynyrd Skynyrd) (d. 1977)
- 1950 – Bebeto de Freitas, Brazilian volleyball coach and football manager (d. 2018)

### 1951–1975

- 1951 – Catherine Trautmann, French politician
- 1954 – Nikos Sarganis, Greek footballer
- 1955 – JoAnne Good, British radio presenter, television presenter, broadcast journalist and actress
- 1955 – Khalid Islambouli, Egyptian assassin (d. 1982)
- 1956 – Mayawati, Indian politician, 23rd Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
- 1957 – Mario Van Peebles, American actor
- 1957 – David Ige, American politician, 8th Governor of Hawaii
- 1958 – Ken Judge, Australian rules footballer (d. 2016)
- 1958 – Boris Tadic, former President of Serbia
- 1959 – Pavle Kozjek, Slovenian climber (d. 2008)
- 1962 – Margherita Buy, Italian actress
- 1962 – Ken Macintosh, Scottish politician
- 1964 – Jackie Baillie, Scottish politician
- 1965 – Bernard Hopkins, American boxer
- 1965 – James Nesbitt, Northern Irish actor
- 1968 – Chad Lorre, American director, actor and producer
- 1968 – Iñaki Urdangarin, Spanish former handball player and royal
- 1970 – Shane McMahon, American professional wrestler, son of WWE President Vince McMahon
- 1972 – Claudia Winkleman, English television presenter
- 1973 – Essam El-Hadary, Egyptian footballer
- 1974 – Edith Bowman, Scottish television and radio presenter
- 1975 – Mary Pierce, French tennis player

### From 1976

- 1977 – Giorgia Meloni, Italian politician
- 1978 – Eddie Cahill, American actor
- 1978 – Ryan Sidebottom, English cricketer
- 1979 – Martin Petrov, Bulgarian footballer
- 1979 – Ken Chu, Taiwanese singer, actor and Tai-chi champion
- 1980 – Matt Holliday, American baseball player
- 1981 – El Hadji Diouf, Senegalese footballer
- 1981 – Sean Lamont, Scottish rugby player
- 1981 – Pitbull, American rapper
- 1982 – Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia
- 1982 – Prince Philip of Yugoslavia
- 1983 – Matic Kralj, Slovenian ice hockey player
- 1983 – Hugo Viana, Portuguese footballer
- 1983 – Jermaine Pennant, English footballer
- 1985 – René Adler, German footballer and goalkeeper
- 1985 – Clara Lee, Swiss-born British-South Korean actress
- 1985 – Enrico Patrizio, Italian rugby player
- 1986 – Jessie Schram, American actress
- 1987 – Tsegaye Kebede, Ethiopian runner
- 1987 – Kelly Kelly, American professional wrestler
- 1987 – Michael Seater, Canadian actor, director, producer and screenwriter
- 1988 – Jun. K, South Korean singer
- 1988 – Skrillex, American musician and producer
- 1989 – Ryan Corr, Australian actor
- 1990 – Paul Blake, English Paralympic athlete
- 1996 – Dove Cameron, American actress and singer

### Up to 1900

- 41 – Caligula, Roman Emperor (b. 12)
- 69 – Galba, Roman Emperor (b. 3 BC)
- 570 – Saint Ides, Irish nun (b. ca. 475)
- 936 – King Rudolph of France
- 1519 – Vasco Nunez de Balboa, Spanish explorer (b. 1475)
- 1595 – Murat III, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1546)
- 1623 – Fra Paolo Sarpi, Italian patriot, scholar, scientist and church reformer (b. 1552)
- 1683 – Philip Warwick, English writer and politician (b. 1609)
- 1775 – Giovanni Battista Sammartini, Italian organist and composer (b. 1700)
- 1781 – Infanta Mariana Victoria of Spain, Queen Regent of Portugal (b. 1718)
- 1815 – Emma, Lady Hamilton, mistress of Horatio Nelson (b. 1765)
- 1876 – Eliza Johnson, First Lady of the United States (b. 1810)
- 1893 – Fanny Kemble, British actress and writer (b. 1809)
- 1896 – Mathew Brady, American photographer (b. 1822)
- 1899 – Serafino Dubois, Italian chess player (b. 1817)

### 1901–2000

- 1915 – Mary Slessor, Scottish Christian missionary to West Africa (b. 1848)
- 1916 – Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian playwright (b. 1850)
- 1919 – Rosa Luxemburg, German politician and activist (b. 1870)
- 1919 – Karl Liebknecht, German politician and activist (b. 1871)
- 1926 – Enrico Toselli, Italian composer (b. 1883)
- 1927 – David R. Francis, American politician, Governor of Missouri (b. 1850)
- 1936 – Henry Forster, 1st Baron Forster, Governor-General of Australia (b. 1866)
- 1947 – Elizabeth Short, AKA The Black Dahlia, murder victim (b. 1924)
- 1948 – Josephus Daniels, American publisher and diplomat (b. 1862)
- 1952 – Ned Hanlon, Australian politician, Premier of Queensland (b. 1866)
- 1955 – Yves Tanguy, French Surrealist painter (b. 1900)
- 1964 – Jack Teagarden, musician (b. 1905)
- 1968 – William Masterton, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1938)
- 1983 – Meyer Lansky, mobster (b. 1902)
- 1987 – Ray Bolger, actor, singer, dancer (b. 1904)
- 1988 – Sean MacBride, Irish politician (b. 1904)
- 1990 – Gordon Jackson, Scottish  movie and TV actor; best known as the butler "Hudson" on _Upstairs Downstairs_ (b. 1923)
- 1993 – Sammy Cahn, songwriter (b. 1913)
- 1994 – Harry Nilsson, American musician (b. 1941)
- 1994 – Georges Cziffra, Hungarian-French pianist (b. 1921)
- 1996 – King Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho (b. 1938)
- 1998 – Gulzarilal Nanda, Indian politician (b. 1898)
- 2000 – Zeljko Raznatovic, Serbian leader (b. 1952)

### From 2001

- 2003 – Doris Fisher, singer and songwriter (b. 1915)
- 2005 – Victoria de los Angeles, Catalan soprano (b. 1923)
- 2005 – Walter Ernsting, German science fiction writer (_Perry Rhodan_) (b. 1920)
- 2005 – Elizabeth Janeway, United States feminist writer (b. 1913)
- 2005 – Dan Lee, animator for movie Finding Nemo (b. 1969)
- 2005 – Ruth Warrick, United States actress best known for _Citizen Kane_ and _All My Children_ (b. 1915)
- 2006 – Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (b. 1926)
- 2007 – James Hiller, Canadian inventor (b. 1915)
- 2008 – Brad Renfro, American actor (b. 1982)
- 2009 – Said Seyam, Palestinian military commander (b. 1959)
- 2010 – Marshall Warren Nirenberg, American biochemist, won the 1968 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1927)
- 2011 – Nat Lofthouse, English footballer (b. 1925)
- 2011 – Susannah York, English actress (b. 1939)
- 2012 – Manuel Fraga Iribarne, former Prime Minister of Spanish Galicia (b. 1922)
- 2012 – Ed Derwinski, American politician (b. 1926)
- 2013 – Nagisa Oshima, Japanese movie director and screenwriter (b. 1932)
- 2013 – Jean-Bertrand Pontalis, French philosopher, writer, editor and psychoanalyst (b. 1924)
- 2014 – Roger Lloyd-Pack, English actor (b. 1944)
- 2014 – John Dobson, American astronomer (b. 1915)
- 2015 – Ervin Drake, American songwriter (b. 1919)
- 2015 – Kim Fowley, American record producer (b. 1939)
- 2015 – Val Holten, Australian cricketer (b. 1927)
- 2015 – Ethel Lang, British supercentenarian (b. 1900)
- 2015 – Jean-Claude Baker, French-American restaurateur (b. 1943)
- 2015 – Joseph Mukasa Zuza, Malawian bishop (b. 1955)
- 2015 – Rameshwar Thakur, Indian politician (b. 1927)
- 2016 – Ken Judge, Australian rules footballer (b. 1958)
- 2016 – Dan Haggerty, American actor (b. 1941)
- 2016 – Oleksandr Shevchenko, Ukrainian scientist, jurist and politician (b. 1937)
- 2016 – P. J. Mara, Irish public affairs consultant and senator (b. 1942)
- 2016 – Noreen Corcoran, American actress (b. 1943)
- 2016 – Aristide von Bienefeldt, Dutch writer (b. 1959)
- 2017 – Ciel Bergman, American painter (b. 1938)
- 2017 – Babette Cole, English children's writer (b. 1949)
- 2017 – Richard Divall, Australian conductor and musicologist (b. 1945)
- 2017 – Aleksandr Ezhevsky, Russian engineer and statesman (b. 1915)
- 2017 – Dermot Gallagher, Irish civil servant and diplomat (b. 1944)
- 2017 – Han Peixin, Chinese politician (b. 1921)
- 2017 – Kozo Kinomoto, Japanese footballer (b. 1949)
- 2017 – Vicki Lansky, American writer and publisher (b. 1942)
- 2017 – Eddie Long, American pastor (b. 1953)
- 2017 – David Poythress, American military officer and politician (b. 1943)
- 2017 – Jimmy Snuka, Fijian-American professional wrestler (b. 1943)
- 2017 – Greg Trooper, American singer-songwriter (b. 1956)
- 2018 – Viktor Anpilov, Russian political activist and trade unionist (b. 1945)
- 2018 – Joe Frank, American radio personality (b. 1938)
- 2018 – Dolores O'Riordan, Irish singer-songwriter and musician (b. 1971)
- 2018 – John Spellman, American politician, former Governor of Washington (b. 1926)
- 2018 – Edwin Hawkins, American musician (b. 1943)
- 2018 – Peter Wyngarde, British actor (b. 1927)
- 2018 – Carl Emil Christiansen, Danish footballer (b. 1937)
- 2018 – Romana Acosta Bañuelos, American public servant (b. 1925)
- 2018 – Dick King, American politician (b. 1934)
- 2018 – Mathilde Krim, Italian-American HIV researcher (b. 1926)
- 2018 – Karl-Heinz Kunde, German racing cyclist (b. 1938)
- 2018 – Roderick Rijnders, Dutch rower (b. 1941)
- 2019 – Carol Channing, American actress and singer (b. 1921)

## Observances

- Earliest day that Martin Luther King, Jr. Day can fall, while January 21 is the latest, on the third Monday in January (United States)
- Armed Forces Day (Nigeria)
- Army Day (India)
- Tree Planting Day (Egypt)