January 6

Events 
 Up to 1900 
 1066 – Harold Godwinson is crowned King of England.
 1118 – Reconquista: Alfonso the Battler conquers Zaragoza.
 1311 – Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor becomes King of Italy.
 1355 – Charles I of Bohemia is crowned King of Italy in Milan.
 1389 – The University of Cologne is opened, with a celebratory church service in Cologne Cathedral on the Feast day of the Three Kings, the city's patron saints.
 1492 – The Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella enter Granada, completing the Reconquista.
 1540 – King Henry VIII of England marries Anne of Cleves.
 1612 – Axel Oxenstierna becomes Lord High Chancellor of Sweden.
 1661 – English Restoration: The Fifth Monarchists unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London.
 1759 – George Washington marries Martha Dandridge.
 1781 – Battle of Jersey: Great Britain defeats the last attempt by France to invade Jersey in the Channel Islands.
 1838 – Alfred Vail demonstrates a telegraph system using dots and dashes.
 1839 – Ireland is hit by its most damaging storm in 300 years.
 1853 – US President–elect Franklin Pierce's family are involved in a train accident in Andover, Massachusetts, killing Pierce's 11–year–old son Benjamin. Pierce and his wife suffer from depression after this incident, and Franklin Pierce turns to alcoholism.
 1870 – Vienna's Musikverein is inaugurated.
 1893 – Washington National Cathedral is chartered by the United States Congress.
 1900 – It is reported that millions are starving in India.
 1900 – Boers attack Ladysmith, South Africa – over 1000 people killed.

 1901–2000 
 1907 – Maria Montessori opens her first school and daycare center for working class children in Rome.
 1912 – New Mexico is admitted as the 47th U.S. state.
 1912 – Alfred Wegener presents his theory of Continental drift.
 1921 – Formation of Iraq's Army.
 1926 – Lufthansa, currently Germany's biggest airline, is created.
 1929 – Alexander I of Yugoslavia suspends his country's constitution.
 1929 – Mother Teresa arrives in Calcutta.
 1930 – The first diesel–engine automobile trip is completed (Indianapolis, Indiana, to New York City).
 1931 – Thomas Edison submits his last patent application.
 1939 – Al Capone is released early from prison.
 1940 – Mass execution of Polish people by Germans in the city of Poznań, Warthegau.
 1941 – Franklin D. Roosevelt makes his "Four Freedoms" speech during his State of the Union Address.
 1947 – Pan American Airlines becomes the first commercial airline to schedule a flight around the world.
 1950 – The United Kingdom recognizes the People's Republic of China. The Republic of China ends diplomatic relations with Britain in response.
 1951 – Korean War: Ganghwa massacre.
 1960 – National Airlines Flight 2511 is destroyed in mid–air by a bomb between New York City and Miami.
 1967 – United States Marine Corps and ARVN troops launch "Operation Deckhouse Five" in the Mekong River delta.
 1978 – The United States returns the Crown of St. Stephen to Hungary.
 1991 – Jorge Antonio Serrano Elias is elected President of Guatemala, becoming the first Protestant Head of State in Latin America.
 1992 – The United Nations Security Council condemns Israel's treatment of Palestinians.
 1992 – President Zviad Gamsakhurdia leaves Georgia, after a military coup.
 1993 – The Indian Border Security Force kills 55 Kashmiri civilians in Sopore, Jammu and Kashmir.
 1994 – Nancy Kerrigan is attacked during the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit.
 1998 – Unidentified perpetrators saw off the head of the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen; this is the second time that the statue has been damaged by this kind of vandalism; it previously happened in 1964.

 From 2001 
 2001 – Al Gore, as President of the United States Senate, names George W. Bush as the winner of the 2000 United States presidential election.
 2005 – Edgar Ray Killen is arrested as a suspect in the 1964 murders of three civil rights activists.
 2016 – North Korea declares that nuclear weapons testing of hydrogen atom has been done.
 2018 – The "MV Sanchi" oil tanker collides with a Hong Kong–flagged ship near Shanghai, causing an explosion and leaving 32 sailors missing.
 2021 – The 2021 United States Capitol attack, an attack on the United States capitol.

 Births 
 Up to 1850 
 1256 – Gertrude the Great, German mystic and theologian (d. 1302)
 1367 – Richard II of England (d. 1400)
 1412 – Joan of Arc, Roman Catholic Saint and national heroine of France (legendary date) (d. 1431)
 1486 – Martin Agricola, German composer (d. 1556)
 1525 – Caspar Peucer, German reformer and physician (d. 1602)
 1561 – Thomas Fincke, Danish mathematician and physician (d. 1656)
 1587 – Gaspar de Guzman, Count-Duke of Olivares, Spanish statesman (d. 1645)
 1617 – Kristoffer Gabel, Danish statesman (d. 1673)
 1655 – Eleonore-Magdalena of Neuburg, Holy Roman Empress (d. 1720)
 1670 – Alexander Gordon, Scottish–Russian general (d. 1752)
 1695 – Giuseppe Sammartini, Italian composer (d. 1750)
 1714 – Percival Pott, English physician (d. 1788)
 1730 – Thomas Crittenden, 1st Governor of Vermont (d. 1797)
 1745 – Jacques Etienne Montgolfier, French inventor (d. 1799)
 1787 – Gaspard Théodore-Ignace de la Fontaine, 1st Prime Minister of Luxembourg (d. 1871)
 1793 – James Madison Porter, American politician (d. 1862)
 1798 – Melchior von Diepenbrock, Prince–Bishop of Breslau (d. 1853)
 1799 – Jedediah Smith, American hunter, explorer and writer (d. 1831)
 1801 – Daniel Haines, two–time Governor of New Jersey (d. 1877)
 1803 – Henri Herz, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1888)
 1805 – Charles J. Jenkins, American politician and Governor of Georgia (d. 1883)
 1807 – Joseph Petzval, Slovakian inventor (d. 1891)
 1811 – Charles Sumner, American politician (d. 1874)
 1812 – Melchora Aquino, Filipino revolutionary figure (d. 1919)
 1819 – Baldassare Verazzi, Italian painter (d. 1886)
 1822 – Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist (d. 1890)
 1826 – Adolf Kirchhoff, German philologist (d. 1908)
 1827 – John C. Brown, American Confederate general and politician, Governor of Tennessee (d. 1889)
 1832 – Gustave Dore, French painter and sculptor (d. 1883)
 1837 – Juan Lindolfo Cuestas, President of Uruguay (d. 1905)
 1838 – Max Bruch, German composer (d. 1920)
 1842 – Clarence King, American geologist, mountaineer and critic (d. 1901)
 1848 – Hristo Botev, Bulgarian poet and revolutionary (d. 1876)
 1850 – Eduard Bernstein, German politician and political theorist (d. 1932)
 1850 – Franz Xaver Scharwenka, Polish–German pianist and composer (d. 1924)

 1851–1900 
 1856 – Giuseppe Martucci, Italian composer (d. 1909)
 1857 – William E. Russell, 37th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1896)
 1857 – Hugh Mahon, Australian politician (d. 1931)
 1859 – Samuel Alexander, Australian–English philosopher (d. 1938)
 1861 – Victor Horta, Belgian architect and designer (d. 1947)
 1862 – August Oetker, German businessman (d. 1918)
 1868 – Stefan Luchian, Romanian painter (d. 1937)
 1868 – Vittorio Monti, Italian composer, conductor and violinist (d. 1922)
 1870 – Gustav Bauer, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1944)
 1872 – Alexander Scriabin, Russian composer (d. 1915)
 1874 – Fred Niblo, American actor, director and producer (d. 1948)
 1878 – Carl Sandburg, American poet and historian (d. 1967)
 1880 – Tom Mix, American actor, director and producer (d. 1940)
 1882 – Sam Rayburn, American politician (d. 1961)
 1882 – Fan S. Noli, 14th Prime Minister of Albania (d. 1965)
 1883 – Kahlil Gibran, Lebanese writer (d. 1931)
 1899 – Heinrich Nordhoff, German automobile pioneer (d. 1968)
 1900 – Maria of Yugoslavia (d. 1961)

 1901–1950 
 1902 – Helmut Poppendick, German physician (d. 1994)
 1913 – Edward Gierek, Polish politician (d. 2001)
 1913 – Loretta Young, American actress (d. 2000)
 1915 – Don Edwards, American politician (d. 2015)
 1915 – Alan Watts, English philosopher (d. 1973)
 1920 – John Maynard Smith, English biologist (d. 2004)
 1920 – Early Wynn, American baseball player
 1922 – George Carroll, American lawyer and politician (d. 2016)
 1923 – Norman Kirk, Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1974)
 1924 – Earl Scruggs, American musician (d. 2012)
 1925 – John DeLorean, American engineer and businessman (d. 2005)
 1925 – Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen (d. 2010)
 1925 – Ari Rath, Austrian–Israeli journalist (d. 2017)
 1926 – Ralph Branca, American baseball player (d. 2016)
 1926 – Pat Flaherty, American racing driver (d. 2002)
 1926 – Mickey Hargitay, Hungarian actor and bodybuilder (d. 2006)
 1927 – Jesse Leonard Steinfeld, American physician, 11th Surgeon General of the United States (d. 2014)
 1928 – Capucine, American actress (d. 1990)
 1928 – Derek Saunders, English footballer (d. 2018)
 1929 – Babrak Karmal, Afghan politician (d. 1996)
 1931 – E. L. Doctorow, American writer (d. 2015)
 1931 – Dickie Moore, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2015)
 1932 – José Saraiva Martins, Portuguese cardinal
 1932 – Max Streibl, German politician, Minister–President of Bavaria (d. 1998)
 1933 – Oleg Makarov, Soviet cosmonaut (d. 2003)
 1933 – Leszek Drogosz, Polish boxer (d. 2012)
 1933 – Emil Steinberger, Swiss actor, director and screenwriter
 1934 – Sylvia Sims, English actress
 1935 – Margarita of Bulgaria
 1935 – Claude Steiner, French–born American psychologist and writer (d. 2017)
 1935 – Gerald R. Molen, American film producer
 1936 – Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre, 49th President of Guatemala
 1936 – Julio Maria Sanguinetti, former President of Uruguay
 1937 – Harri Holkeri, 57th Prime Minister of Finland (d. 2011)
 1937 – Paolo Conte, Italian singer-songwriter, jazz musician and composer
 1938 – Adriano Celentano, Italian singer-songwriter, actor and director
 1939 – Murray Rose, British–born Australian swimmer (d. 2012)
 1939 – Valeriy Lobanovskyi, Ukrainian footballer and coach (d. 2002)
 1941 – Philippe Busquin, Belgian politician
 1942 – Vicki Lansky, American writer and publisher (d. 2017)
 1943 – Hak Ja Han, South Korean church leader
 1943 – Terry Venables, English football manager
 1944 – Bonnie Franklin, American actress (d. 2013)
 1944 – Rolf M. Zinkernagel, Swiss immunologist
 1945 – Barry John, Welsh rugby player
 1946 – Syd Barrett, English guitarist, singer and songwriter (Pink Floyd) (d. 2006)
 1948 – Guy Gardner, American air force officer and astronaut
 1949 – Carolyn D. Wright, American poet (d. 2016)
 1950 – Louis Freeh, 10th Director of the FBI

 1951–1975 
 1951 – Kim Wilson, American musician
 1953 – Malcolm Young, Scottish–Australian singer-songwriter, actor and director (d. 2017)
 1953 – Manfred Kaltz, German footballer
 1954 – Yuji Horii, Japanese video game designer
 1954 – Anthony Minghella, English movie director (d. 2008)
 1954 – Trudie Styler, English actress
 1955 – Rowan Atkinson, English comedian and actor
 1956 – Angus Deayton, English comedian, actor and television presenter
 1956 – Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury
 1956 – Clive Woodward, English rugby player and coach
 1957 – Michael Foale, British–American astronaut
 1959 – Kathy Sledge, American actress
 1960 – Nigella Lawson, English chef and writer
 1960 – Paul Azinger, American golfer
 1960 – Kari Jalonen, Finnish ice hockey player
 1961 – Fergal Keane, Irish–British journalist and BBC News correspondent
 1964 – Henry Maske, German boxer
 1964 – Mark O'Toole, English musician
 1964 – Anthony Scaramucci, American financier, entrepreneur and political figure
 1964 – Yuri, Mexican singer
 1965 – Christine Wachtel, German middle–distance runner
 1966 – Attilio Lombardo, Italian footballer
 1968 – John Singleton, American director (d. 2018)
 1969 – Norman Reedus, American actor
 1971 – Karin Slaughter, American crime fiction writer
 1972 – Nek, Italian singer
 1973 – Scott Ferguson, Canadian ice hockey player
 1974 – Daniel Cordone, Argentine footballer

 From 1976 
 1976 – Richard Zednik, Slovakian ice hockey player
 1976 – Judith Rakers, German newsreader
 1976 – David Di Michele, Italian footballer
 1978 – Bubba Franks, American football player
 1980 – Travis Dodd, Australian footballer
 1980 – Steed Malbranque, French footballer
 1981 – Rinko Kikuchi, Japanese actress
 1981 – Asante Samuel, American football player
 1982 – Eddie Redmayne, English actor
 1983 – Adam Burish, American ice hockey player
 1985 – Ben Haenow, English singer
 1985 – Callum McCaig, Scottish politician
 1985 – Inge Vermeulen, Brazilian–Dutch field hockey player (d. 2015)
 1986 – Alex Turner, English musician (Arctic Monkeys)
 1986 – Paul McShane, Irish footballer
 1986 – Petter Northug, Norwegian skier
 1986 – Irina Shayk, Russian model
 1987 – Gemma Gibbons, English judoka
 1987 – Zhang Lin, Chinese swimmer
 1987 – Bongani Khumalo, South African footballer
 1989 – Andy Carroll, English footballer
 1989 – James Durbin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
 1990 – Sandro Cortese, German motorcycle racer
 1996 – Courtney Eaton, Australian actress and model
 2003 – Matty BRaps, American rapper

 Deaths 
 Up to 1900 
 429 – Honoratus, French archbishop (b. 350)
 768 – Abo of Tiflis, Christian saint
 1088 – Berengar of Tours, French theologian (b. 999)
 1537 – Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence (b. 1510)
 1537 – Baldassare Peruzzi, Italian architect and painter (b. 1481)
 1646 – Elias Holl, German architect (b. 1573)
 1689 – Seth Ward, English mathematician and astronomer (b. 1617)
 1693 – Mehmed IV, ex–Ottoman Sultan (b. 1642)
 1829 – Josef Dobrovsky, Czech philologist and theologian (b. 1753)
 1831 – Rodolphe Kreutzer, French violinist, composer and conductor (b. 1766)
 1840 – Fanny Burney, English writer (b. 1752)
 1852 – Louis Braille, French teacher of the blind, inventor of Braille (b. 1809)
 1855 – Giacomo Beltrami, Italian explorer (b. 1779)
 1882 – Richard Henry Dana, Jr., American lawyer and politician (b. 1815)
 1884 – Gregor Johann Mendel, Austrian geneticist (b. 1822)
 1896 – Thomas W. Knox, American writer and journalist (b. 1835)

 1901–2000 
 1918 – Georg Cantor, German mathematician (b. 1845)
 1919 – Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States (b. 1858)
 1934 – Herbert Chapman, English football manager (b. 1878)
 1939 – Gustavs Zemgals, 2nd President of Latvia (b. 1871)
 1942 – Henri de Baillet-Latour, Belgian head of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1876)
 1944 – Ida Tarbell, American journalist (b. 1857)
 1944 – Jacques Rosenbaum, Estonian–German architect (b. 1878)
 1945 – Edith Frank, mother of Anne Frank (b. 1900)
 1949 – Ivar Lykke, Prime Minister of Norway (b. 1872)
 1972 – Chen Yi, Chinese military commander (b. 1901)
 1980 – Georgeanna Tillman, American singer (b. 1944)
 1981 – A. J. Cronin, Scottish writer (b. 1896)
 1990 – Pavel Cherenkov, Soviet–Russian physicist (b. 1904)
 1990 – Ian Charleson, Scottish actor (b. 1949)
 1993 – Dizzy Gillespie, American musician (b. 1917)
 1993 – Rudolf Nureyev, Russian dancer (b. 1938)
 1994 – Virginia Dell Cassidy, mother of Bill Clinton (b. 1923)
 1995 – Karl Guttmann, Dutch theatre director (n. 1913)
 1995 – Joe Slovo, ANC activist and South African minister of Housing (b. 1926)
 1997 – Catherine Scorsese, Italian–American actress (b. 1912)
 1999 – Michel Petrucciani, French jazz pianist (b. 1962)
 2000 – Don Martin, American cartoonist (b. 1931)

 From 2001 
 2002 – Sanya Dharmasakti, Prime Minister of Thailand (b. 1905)
 2004 – Pierre Charles, Prime Minister of Dominica (b. 1954)
 2005 – Makgatho Mandela, South African lawyer, businessman and son of Nelson Mandela (b. 1950)
 2005 – Louis Robichaud, 25th Premier of New Brunswick (b. 1925)
 2006 – Lou Rawls, American singer-songwriter, producer and actor (b. 1933)
 2009 – Ron Asheton, American musician (The Stooges) (b. 1948)
 2011 – Gary Mason, British boxer (b. 1962)
 2012 – Roger Boisjoly, American aeronautical engineer (b. 1938)
 2012 – Bob Holness, South African–born British quiz show host (b. 1928)
 2013 – Neil Adcock, South African cricketer (b. 1931)
 2014 – Larry D. Mann, Canadian–American actor (b. 1922)
 2014 – Lena Smedsaas, Swedish journalist (b. 1951)
 2014 – Don Ward, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1935)
 2015 – Vlastimil Bubnik, Czech ice hockey player and footballer (b. 1931)
 2015 – Johannes de Villiers Graaff, South African economist (b. 1928)
 2015 – Basil John Mason, British meteorologist (b. 1923)
 2015 – Joseph Djida, Cameroonian bishop (b. 1945)
 2015 – Ron Hovey, Australian football player (b. 1932)
 2015 – George H. McKee, American air force lieutenant general (b. 1923)
 2015 – Tim Roberts, American professional wrestler (b. 1976)
 2016 – Christy O'Connor Jnr, Irish golfer (b. 1948)
 2016 – Silvana Pampanini, Italian actress (b. 1925)
 2016 – Nivaria Tejera, Cuban poet and novelist (b. 1929)
 2016 – Florence King, American writer (b. 1936)
 2016 – Pat Harrington, Jr., American actor (b. 1929)
 2016 – Alfredo "Chocolate" Armenteros, Cuban trumpeter (b. 1928)
 2016 – Ioannis Petridis, Greek politician (b. 1931)
 2016 – Yves Vincent, French actor (b. 1921)
 2017 – Om Puri, Indian actor (b. 1950)
 2017 – Octavio Lepage, Venezuelan politician (b. 1923)
 2017 – Ricardo Piglia, Argentine writer (b. 1941)
 2017 – Bayezid Osman, Turkish royalty (b. 1924)
 2017 – Gavin Whittaker, Australian rugby league player (b. 1970)
 2017 – Francine York, American actress (b. 1936)
 2017 – Greg Jelks, American–Australian baseball player (b. 1961)
 2017 – Yaron Ben-Dov, Israeli footballer (b. 1970)
 2017 – Les Lazarowitz, American sound mixer (b. 1941)
 2017 – Tilikum, American–held orca (b. 1981)
 2018 – Horace Ashenfelter, American athlete (b. 1923)
 2018 – Rita Crocker Clements, American political organizer, First Lady of Texas (b. 1931)
 2018 – Thomas Bopp, American astronomer (b. 1949)
 2018 – Marjorie Holt, American politician (b. 1920)
 2018 – Peter Preston, British journalist, former editor of The Guardian (b. 1938)
 2018 – Greta Thyssen, Danish–American actress (b. 1927)
 2018 – Chris Tsangarides, British music producer (b. 1956)
 2019 – Annalise Braakensiek, Australian model and actress (b. 1972)
 2020 – Mike Fitzpatrick, American politician (b. 1963)
 2021 – Maurice Wolin, American former oncologist and convicted sex offender (b. 1958)
 2022 – Peter Bogdanovich, American movie director, actor, and writer (b. 1939)
 2022 – F. Sionil José, Filipino writer (b. 1924)
 2022 – Sidney Poitier, Bahamian–American actor, movie director and activist (b. 1927)

 Holidays and observances 
 Epiphany, feast day of the Three Kings (except Eastern and Oriental Orthodox who follow the Julian Calendar) – Twelfth Day of Christmas
 Public holiday in Spain, Italy and Puerto Rico to mark Epiphany
 Ireland – Little Christmas
 Rastafari – Celebration of the ceremonial birthday of Haile Selassie
 Armenian Christmas (except in the Holy Land where it is on 18 January – old calendar)
 End of Four Hills Ski jumping tournament (Germany, Austria)

January 06