January 29

Events
Up to 1900
757 - An Lushan, leader of the revolt against China's Tang dynasty, is murdered by his son An Qingxu.
904 - Pope Sergius III comes out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed Antipope Christopher.
1616 - Dutch seafarers Jacob Le Maire and Willem Cornelisz Schouten successfully sail around Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America to reach the Pacific Ocean from the Atlantic Ocean.
1676 - Feodor III becomes Tsar of Russia.
1814 - France defeats Russia and Prussia in the Battle of Brienne.
1819 - Singapore is founded.
1834 - Andrew Jackson orders the first use of federal soldiers to suppress a labor dispute.
1845 - The Raven is published in the New York Evening Mirror newspaper, the first publication with the name of the writer, Edgar Allan Poe.
1856 - Queen Victoria institutes the Victoria Cross.
1861 - Kansas becomes the 34th state to join the United States.
1863 - Union forces massacre 400 Native Americans at Bear River, Idaho.
1886 - Karl Benz patents his automobile.
1891 - Liliuokalani is proclaimed Queen of Hawaii.
1900 - The American League is organized in Philadelphia with eight founding teams. It later becomes Major League Baseball.
1901 2000
1907 - Charles Curtis becomes United States Senator for Kansas. He is the first in his position known to have Native American ancestors.
1908 - Frederick VIII of Denmark becomes King.
1916 - World War I: Paris is first bombed by German zeppelins.
1929 - All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque is first published.
1936 - The first inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame are announced.
1940 - Three trains on the Sakurajima Line in Osaka, Japan, collide and explode while approaching Ajikawaguchi Station, killing 181 people.
1941 - Alexandros Koryzis succeeds the Ioannis Metaxas, who died, as Prime Minister of Greece.
1942 - At the end of the Ecuadorian-Peruvian War, Ecuador loses half of its territory to Peru.
1943 - World War II: On the first day of the Battle of Rennell Island, US cruiser Chicago is torpedoed and heavily damaged by Japanese bombers.
1944 - World War II: Around 38 men, women and children die in the Koniuchy massacre in Poland.
1963 - Charles de Gaulle rejects UK membership of the European Community.
1964 - The movie Dr. Strangelove is first shown.
1967 - The 'ultimate high' of the hippie era, the Mantra-Rock Dance, takes place in San Francisco, featuring Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead and Allen Ginsberg.
1979 - Brenda Ann Spencer kills 2 people and injures 8 in the Grover Cleveland Elementary School shooting.
1981 - Adolfo Suarez resigns as Prime Minister of Spain.
1985 - Final recording session for "We Are the World", by the supergroup USA for Africa.
1986 - Yoweri Museveni takes power in Uganda.
1989 - Hungary establishes diplomatic relations with South Korea.
1991 - Gulf War: The Battle of Khafji begins.
1996 - The La Fenice opera house in Venice is destroyed by fire.
1996 - Jacques Chirac announces the end of French nuclear testing in the Pacific.
1998 - In Birmingham, Alabama a bomb explodes at an abortion clinic, killing 1 person, and injuring another.
From 2001
2001 - Thousands of student protesters in Indonesia storm the parliament, demanding the resignation of President Abdurrahman Wahid over corruption scandals.
2002 - US President George W. Bush first used the term "Axis of Evil" in his State of the Union speech to describe the governments of Iraq, Iran, and North Korea.
2005 - The first direct flights between mainland China and the island of Taiwan since 1949 take place.
2006 - India's Irfan Pathan becomes the first bowler to take a test-cricket hat-trick in the opening over of a match.
2009 - Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich is convicted of several corruption charges.
2011 - The Asian football championship is won by the Japan national football team over the Australia national football team, which had reached the final in only its second participation at the tournament.
2012 - Tennis: In the Australian Open, Novak Djokovic wins in five sets against Rafael Nadal in the longest Grand Slam final to date.
2014 - Scientists in Japan announce that shocking blood cells with acid could also trigger the transformation into stem cells.
2015 - Over 30 Egyptian soldiers are killed in an attack by militants linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant on the Sinai Peninsula, where there had also been strong anti-government protests.
Births
Up to 1900
1455 - Johann Reuchlin, German philosopher, humanist, jurist and diplomat (d. 1522)
1499 - Katharina von Bora, religious reformer and wife of Martin Luther (d. 1552)
1584 - Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange (d. 1647)
1688 - Emanuel Swedenborg, Swedish scientist, philosopher and theologian (d. 1772)
1711 - Giuseppe Bonno, Austrian composer (d. 1788)
1715 - Georg Christoph Wagenseil, Austrian composer (d. 1777)
1717 - Jeffrey Amherst, British military leader (d. 1797)
1718 - Paul Rabaut, French Huguenot pastor (d. 1794)
1737 - Thomas Paine, American writer (d. 1809)
1749 - King Christian VII of Denmark (d. 1808)
1751 - Joseph Bradley Varnum, American politician (d. 1821)
1754 - Moses Claeveland, founder of Cleveland, Ohio (d. 1806)
1756 - Henry Lee III, Governor of Virginia (d. 1818)
1761 - Albert Gallatin, Swiss-born United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1849)
1792 - Lemuel H. Arnold, Governor of Rhode Island (d. 1852)
1801 - Johannes Bernardus van Bree, Dutch composer, violinist and conductor (d. 1857)
1801 - Horatia Nelson, daughter of Horatio Nelson and Emma Hamilton (d. 1881)
1810 - Ernst Kummer, German mathematician (d. 1893)
1832 - Nikolay Pavlovich Ignatiev, Russian general and diplomat (d. 1908)
1838 - Edward Morley, American chemist (d. 1923)
1843 - William McKinley, 25th President of the United States (d. 1901)
1846 - Karol Olszewski, Polish scientist (d. 1915)
1850 - Ebenezer Howard, British inventor of the Garden city movement (d. 1928)
1853 - Kitasato Shibasaburo, Japanese physician and bacteriologist (d. 1931)
1860 - Anton Chekhov, Russian writer (d. 1904)
1862 - Frederick Delius, English composer (d. 1934)
1866 - Romain Rolland, French writer (d. 1944)
1866 - Julio Peris Brell, Spanish painter (d. 1944)
1867 - Vicente Blasco Ibanez, Spanish writer (d. 1928)
1874 - John D. Rockefeller, Jr., American businessman (d. 1960)
1880 - WC Fields, American actor (d. 1946)
1884 - Douglass Cadwallader, American golfer (d. 1971)
1887 - Wellington Koo, Chinese diplomat (d. 1985)
1888 - Sydney Chapman, British mathematician and geophysicist (d. 1970)
1891 - Elizaveta Gerdt, Russian ballerina (d. 1975)
1895 - Muna Lee, American poet (d. 1965)
1901 1950
1901 - Arcady Aris, Russian Chuvash writer (d. 1941)
1901 - Allen B. DuMont, American scientist and inventor (d. 1965)
1905 - Barnett Newman, American painter (d. 1970)
1906 - Joe Primeau, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1989)
1911 - Peter von Siemens, German industry (d. 1986)
1913 - Peter von Zahn, German journalist (d. 2001)
1913 - Victor Mature, American actor (d. 1999)
1917 - John Raitt, American actor and singer (d. 2005)
1918 - John Forsythe, American actor (d. 2010)
1920 - Jose Luis de Vilallonga, Spanish aristocrat (d. 2007)
1922 - Borys Yukhymovych Steklyar, Ukrainian military officer (d. 2018)
1923 - Paddy Chayefsky, American playwright, screenwriter and novelist (d. 1981)
1923 - Ivo Robic, Croatian singer-songwriter (d. 2000)
1924 - Dorothy Malone, American actress (d. 2018)
1924 - Luigi Nono, Italian composer (d. 1990)
1925 - Tofik Bakhramov, Soviet-Azerbaijani linesman (d. 1993)
1926 - Franco Cerri, Italian jazz guitarist
1926 - Abdus Salam, Pakistani Nobel Prize in Physics winner (d. 1996)
1926 - Roberto Goyeneche, Argentine tango singer (d. 1994)
1927 - Edward Abbey, American naturalist, philosopher and writer (d. 1989)
1929 - Elio Petri, Italian movie director and screenwriter (d. 1982)
1929 - Ed Shaughnessy, American jazz musician
1930 - Carmino Ravosa, American singer and composer (d. 2015)
1931 - Ferenc Madl, President of Hungary (d. 2011)
1931 - Leslie Bricusse, British composer
1931 - Richard Bakalyan, Armenian-American actor (d. 2015)
1933 - Sacha Distel, French singer (d. 2004)
1933 - Paul Sally, American mathematician
1936 - Walter Lewis, Dutch astrophysicist
1936 - James Jamerson, American bass guitarist (d. 1983)
1937 - Hassan Habibi, 1st Vice president of Iran (d. 2013)
1937 - Bobby Scott, American musician
1939 - Germaine Greer, Australian writer, publicist, feminist and activist
1940 - Katharine Ross, American actress
1940 - Kunimitsu Takahashi, Japanese motorcycle racer and racing driver
1941 - Robin Morgan, American actress, journalist, author and activist
1942 - Claudine Longet, French-American singer, actress and dancer
1943 - Tony Blackburn, British disc jockey
1943 - Molly Meldrum, Australian music critic, journalist, record producer and music entrepreneur
1943 - Pat Quinn, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2014)
1944 - Yoweri Museveni, President of Uganda
1945 - Tom Selleck, American actor
1945 - Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, former Prime Minister of Mali
1947 - Linda B. Buck, American scientist
1947 - David Byron, British musician (d. 1985)
1948 - David Hay, Scottish footballer
1948 - Guido Knopp, German historian, journalist and publicist
1949 - Tommy Ramone, Hungarian-born American musician and record producer (The Ramones) (d. 2014)
1950 - Jody Scheckter, South African racecar driver
1951 1975
1953 - Peter Baumann, German musician
1954 - Oprah Winfrey, American television host and businesswoman
1954 - Doug Riseborough, Canadian ice hockey player, coach and executive
1955 - Eddie Jordan, American basketball player and coach
1956 - Amii Stewart, American singer, dancer and actress
1958 - Glen Cochrane, Canadin ice hockey player
1960 - Greg Louganis, American diver
1962 - Nicholas Turturro, American actor
1963 - Octave Octavian Teodorescu, Romanian composer and musician
1964 - Roddy Frame, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
1966 - Romario, Brazilian footballer
1969 - Hyde, Japanese singer
1969 - Sasa Obradovic, Serbian basketball coach
1970 - Heather Graham, American actress
1970 - Paul Ryan, American politician
1971 - Clare Balding, British television presenter
1973 - Miranda Krestovnikoff, British television presenter, naturalist and archaeologist
1974 - Michael Andersen, Danish basketball player
1974 - Malina Olinescu, Romanian singer (d. 2011)
From 1976
1978 - Rob Bironas, American football player (d. 2014)
1978 - Martin Schmitt, German ski jumper
1979 - Sarah Kuttner, German television presenter and writer
1979 - Sui Feifei, Chinese basketball player
1979 - April Scott, American actress and model
1980 - Ivan Klasnic, Croatian footballer
1980 - Ingimundur Ingimundarson, Icelandic handball player
1980 - Jason James Richter, American musician and actor
1982 - Kim Dong-Jin, South Korean footballer
1982 - Adam Lambert, American singer
1984 - Yukio Peter, Nauruan weightlifter
1985 - Marc Gasol, Spanish basketball player
1985 - Isabel Lucas, Australian actress
1985 - Rag'n'Bone Man, English singer
1985 - Athina Onassis, heiress
1986 - Simon Vukcevic, Montenegrin footballer
1986 - Drew Tyler Bell, American actor
1988 - Tatyana Chernova, Russian athlete
1988 - Stephanie Gilmore, Australian surfer
1989 - Kevin Shattenkirk, American ice hockey player
1990 - Danielle Parsons, Canadian curler
1992 - George Pocheptsov, American painter
1992 - Aleksandr Trokhov, Russian footballer
1993 - Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, Japanese model, blogger and recording artist
1998 - Mion Mukaichi, Japanese singer and actress (AKB48)
Deaths
Up to 1900
969 - Tsar Peter I of Bulgaria (b. 895)
1119 - Pope Gelasius II
1342 - Louis I, Duke of Bourbon (b. 1279)
1477 - Gregory of Sanok, Polish professor and humanist (b. 1403)
1676 - Tsar Alexis I of Russia (b. 1629)
1696 - Tsar Ivan V of Russia (b. 1666)
1743 - Andre-Hercule de Fleury, French statesman (b. 1653)
1763 - Louis Racine, French poet (b. 1692)
1814 - Johann Gottlieb Fichte, German philosopher (b. 1762)
1820 - George III, King of Great Britain and Ireland (b. 1738)
1828 - Paul de Barras, French politician (b. 1775)
1829 - Timothy Pickering, United States Secretary of State (b. 1745)
1860 - Ernst Moritz Arndt, German writer (b. 1769)
1870 - Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1797)
1888 - Edward Lear, British writer, illustrator, artist and poet (b. 1812)
1899 - Alfred Sisley, French impressionist painter (b. 1839)
1901 2000
1901 - Milan I of Serbia (b. 1855)
1906 - King Christian IX of Denmark (b. 1818)
1928 - Douglas Haig, British soldier (b. 1861)
1933 - Sara Teasdale, American poet (b. 1884)
1934 - Fritz Haber, German chemist (b. 1868)
1941 - Ioannis Metaxas, Greek military leader (b. 1871)
1945 - Gustav Flatow, German gymnast (b. 1875)
1946 - Harry Hopkins, American politician (b. 1890)
1948 - Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta, Italian aristocrat (b. 1900)
1950 - Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (b. 1885)
1951 - Frank Tarrant, Australian cricketer (b. 1880)
1956 - H. L. Mencken, American journalist (b. 1880)
1963 - Robert Frost, American poet (b. 1874)
1964 - Alan Ladd, American actor (b. 1913)
1969 - Allen Dulles, CIA director (b. 1893)
1977 - Freddie Prinze, American actor and comedian (b. 1954)
1980 - Jimmy Durante, American actor, singer and pianist (b. 1893)
1986 - Leif Erickson, American actor (b. 1911)
1989 - Halina Konopacka, Polish athlete (b. 1900)
1992 - Willie Dixon, American composer and musician (b. 1915)
1994 - Ulrike Maier, Austrian skier (b. 1967)
1998 - Joseph Alioto, American politician (b. 1916)
From 2001
2002 - Harold Russell, Canadian-born American actor (b. 1914)
2003 - Frank Moss, American politician (b. 1911)
2004 - Janet Frame, New Zealand writer (b. 1924)
2005 - Eric Griffiths, Welsh musician (b. 1940)
2005 - Ephraim Kishon, Israeli author, screenwriter and director (b. 1924)
2006 - Nam June Paik, South Korean artist (b. 1932)
2008 - Bengt Lindstrom, Swedish artist (b. 1925)
2008 - Margaret Truman, American writer (b. 1924)
2009 - John Martyn, British musician (b. 1948)
2011 - Milton Babbitt, American composer (b. 1916)
2012 - Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, 9th President of Italy (b. 1918)
2012 - Camilla Williams, American singer (b. 1919)
2013 - Bernard Horsfall, British actor (b. 1930)
2014 - Francois Cavanna, French journalist and author (b. 1923)
2014 - Lars Andreas Larssen, Norwegian actor (b. 1935)
2015 - Colleen McCullough, Australian author (b. 1937)
2015 - Will McBride, American photographer (b. 1931)
2015 - Rod McKuen, American poet, composer, singer and songwriter (b. 1933)
2015 - Maurizio Arcieri, Italian singer (b. 1942)
2015 - Tenkoko Sonoda, Japanese politician (b. 1919)
2015 - Alexander Vraciu, American Navy fighter ace (b. 1918)
2015 - Israel Yinon, Israeli conductor (b. 1956)
2016 - Jacques Rivette, French movie director (b. 1928)
2016 - Gordon Goody, British criminal (b. 1929)
2016 - John Roper, Baron Roper, British politician (b. 1935)
2016 - Jean-Marie Dore, 11th Prime Minister of Guinea (b. 1938)
2016 - Cayetano Paderanga, Jr., Filipino economist (b. 1948)
2016 - Aurele Nicolet, Swiss flautist (b. 1926)
2017 - Howard Frank Mosher, American author (b. 1942)
2017 - Leonard H. Perroots, American military officer (b. 1933)
2017 - Joop Gouweleeuw, Dutch judoka (b. 1940)
2018 - Ion Ciubuc, Prime minister of Moldova (b. 1943)
2018 - Eddie Shaw, American blues saxophonist, arranger and bandleader (b. 1937)
2019 - George Fernandes, Indian politician (b. 1930)
2019 - Jean-Marc Fontaine, French mathematician (b. 1944)
2019 - Andy Hebenton, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929)
2019 - Mohammad Nabi Habibi, Iranian politician, Mayor of Tehran (b. 1945)
2019 - Charles J. Hynes, American lawyer and politician (b. 1935)
2019 - James Ingram, American singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1952)
Observances
Statehood Day (Kansas)
Days of the year