January 23

## Events
### Up to 1900 
* 393 &ndash; Roman Emperor Theodosius I announces that his eight–year–old son Honorius will be co–Emperor.
* 1556 &ndash; A magnitude 9.0 earthquake hits Shaanxi and Kansu, China. It is estimated that up to 830,000 people are killed in the quake.
* 1570 &ndash; James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, regent for James VI of Scotland, is murdered by a firearm, the first–recorded murder by gunshot.
* 1571 &ndash; The Royal Exchange opens in Moscow.
* 1579 &ndash; The Union of Utrecht forms a Protestant Republic in the Netherlands.
* 1656 &ndash; Blaise Pascal publishes the first of his *Lettres Provinciales*.
* 1719 &ndash; The Principality of Liechtenstein is created within the Holy Roman Empire.
* 1772 &ndash; French seafarer Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresnet and his second–in–command Jules Crozet discover the Crozet Islands in the Indian Ocean.
* 1790 &ndash; The ship HMS *Bounty* is set on fire by mutineers.
* 1793 &ndash; Second Partition of Poland.
* 1812 &ndash; A strong earthquake hits New Madrid, Missouri.
* 1849 &ndash; Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first female American doctor.
* 1855 &ndash; The first bridge crossing the Mississippi River opens in what is now Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is called the Hennepin Bridge.
* 1855 &ndash; At a magnitude estimated to have been 8.2, the Wairarapa earthquake strikes Wellington, New Zealand.
* 1870 &ndash; In Montana, US cavalrymen kill 173 Native Americans, mostly women and children, in the Marias massacre.
* 1879 &ndash; Anglo-Zulu War: The Battle of Rorke's Drift ends.
* 1896 &ndash; Wilhelm Röntgen discovers X-rays. 
* 1899 &ndash; Emilio Aguinaldo becomes President of the Philippines.
* 1900 &ndash; Second Boer War: Battle of Spion Kop, South African forces defeat British forces.

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1904 &ndash; The coastal town of Alesund in Norway is destroyed by fire.
* 1909 &ndash; An earthquake in Iran kills around 5,000 people.
* 1909 &ndash; The ship RMS *Republic* collides with the SS *Florida* off Massachusetts, sinking the next day, killing 6 people.
* 1912 &ndash; International Opium Convention is signed.
* 1913 &ndash; Enver Pasha takes over the Ottoman Empire in a military coup.
* 1920 &ndash; The Netherlands refuses to give ex–Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany to the Allies.
* 1937 &ndash; In Moscow, 17 leading Communists go on trial accused of taking part in a plot led by Leon Trotsky to overthrow Joseph Stalin's regime.
* 1942 &ndash; World War II: Rabaul on the Papua New Guinea island of New Britain is captured by Japanese forces.
* 1943 &ndash; World War II: British forces capture Tripoli, Libya.
* 1943 &ndash; Duke Ellington plays at Carnegie Hall in New York for the first time.
* 1950 &ndash; The Knesset (Israeli parliament) passes a resolution making Jerusalem the capital of Israel.
* 1957 &ndash; On his 37th birthday, American inventor Walter Frederick Morrison sells the rights of his "Flying disc" to the Wham–O toy company, who later rename it Frisbee.
* 1958 &ndash; In Venezuela, Marcos Perez Jimenez is deposed in a two–day strike.
* 1960 &ndash; The Bathyscaphe *Trieste*, with Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh on board, sets a new depth record by travelling 10,911 metres in the Pacific Ocean, at the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench.
* 1963 &ndash; The Guinea-Bissau War of Independence starts.
* 1967 &ndash; The Soviet Union and the Ivory Coast start diplomatic relations with each other.
* 1973 &ndash; A volcanic eruption hits the South Icelandic island of Heimaey.
* 1973 &ndash; Richard Nixon announces a peace accord with Vietnam.
* 1986 &ndash; The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame gets its first members – Little Richard, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley.
* 1996 &ndash; Waltraud Klasnic becomes Premier of Styria, making her the first woman to get this role in an Austrian state.
* 1997 &ndash; Madeleine Albright becomes the first female United States Secretary of State.
* 2000 &ndash; The remains of the *Star Dust* airplane, which disappeared over the Chilean Andes over 50 years earlier, are found. The plane is known for the mysterious final message it sent.

### From 2001 
* 2002 &ndash; The reporter Daniel Pearl is kidnapped in Pakistan.
* 2002 &ndash; "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh returns to the United States in FBI custody.
* 2003 &ndash; Final communication with the Pioneer 12 spacecraft.
* 2005 &ndash; Viktor Yushchenko becomes President of Ukraine.
* 2006 &ndash; Stephen Harper is elected Prime Minister of Canada.
* 2009 &ndash; A stabbing attack occurs at a nursery in Dendermonde, Belgium.
* 2012 &ndash; The EU adopts an embargo against Iran over its uranium enrichment.
* 2015 &ndash; King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia dies aged 90, having reigned since August 2005. The crown passes to his 79–year–old half–brother, Salman of Saudi Arabia.
* 2016 &ndash; Major snowstorm hits the Northeastern United States. It set records for New York City.

## Births
### Up to 1900 
* 1350 &ndash; Vincent Ferrer, Spanish missionary and saint (d. 1419)
* 1688 &ndash; Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden (d. 1741)
* 1719 &ndash; John Landen, English mathematician (d. 1790)
* 1737 &ndash; John Hancock, American statesman (d. 1793)
* 1745 &ndash; William Jessop, canal engineer (d. 1814)
* 1752 &ndash; Muzio Clementi, Italian composer (d. 1832)
* 1783 &ndash; Stendhal, French writer (d. 1842)
* 1786 &ndash; Auguste de Montferrand, French architect (d. 1858)
* 1813 &ndash; Camilla Collett, Norwegian writer (d. 1895)
* 1828 &ndash; Saigo Takamori, Japanese samurai (d. 1877)
* 1832 &ndash; Edouard Manet, French artist (d. 1883)
* 1840 &ndash; Ernst Abbe, German physicist (d. 1905)
* 1846 &ndash; Hermann Clemenz, Estonian chess player (d. 1908)
* 1855 &ndash; John Browning, American inventor (d. 1926)
* 1857 &ndash; Andrija Mohorovičić, Croatian seismologist (d. 1936)
* 1862 &ndash; David Hilbert, German mathematician (d. 1943)
* 1870 &ndash; William G. Morgan, American sportsman, inventor of volleyball (d. 1942)
* 1872 &ndash; Goce Delchev, Bulgarian revolutionary (d. 1903)
* 1872 &ndash; Joze Plečnik, architect (d. 1957)
* 1876 &ndash; Otto Diels, German chemist (d. 1954)
* 1876 &ndash; Rupert Mayer, German Resistance activist (d. 1945)
* 1878 &ndash; Oton Župančič, Slovenian poet (d. 1949)
* 1881 &ndash; Luisa Casati, Italian model (d. 1957)
* 1884 &ndash; Ralph DePalma, race car driver (d. 1956)
* 1888 &ndash; Lead Belly, American musician (d. 1949)
* 1894 &ndash; Jyotirmoyee Devi, Indian writer (d. 1988)
* 1896 &ndash; Alf Hall, South African cricketer (d. 1964)
* 1896 &ndash; Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (d. 1985)
* 1897 &ndash; Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, architect (d. 2000)
* 1897 &ndash; Subhas Chandra Bose, Indian political activist (d. 1948)
* 1897 &ndash; William Stephenson, Canadian captain and spy (d. 1989)
* 1898 &ndash; Sergei Eisenstein, Russian movie director (d. 1948)
* 1898 &ndash; Randolph Scott, American actor (d. 1987)

### 1901 &ndash; 1950 
* 1903 &ndash; Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, Colombian politician (d. 1948)
* 1907 &ndash; Dan Duryea, actor (d. 1968)
* 1907 &ndash; Hideki Yukawa, Japanese physicist (d. 1981)
* 1910 &ndash; Django Reinhardt, Belgian guitarist (d. 1953)
* 1913 &ndash; Jean-Michel Atlan, French philosopher and painter (d. 1960)
* 1913 &ndash; Wally Parks, American racing executive (d. 2007)
* 1915 &ndash; W. Arthur Lewis, Saint Lucian–British economist (d. 1991)
* 1915 &ndash; Potter Stewart, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (d. 1985)
* 1916 &ndash; David Douglas Duncan, American photographer and war reporter
* 1918 &ndash; Gertrude B. Elion, American scientist (d. 1999)
* 1919 &ndash; Frances Bay, Canadian–American actress (d. 2011)
* 1919 &ndash; Hans Hass, Austrian zoologist and underwater scientist (d. 2013)
* 1919 &ndash; Ernie Kovacs, American comedian (d. 1962)
* 1919 &ndash; Bob Paisley, English footballer and manager (d. 1996)
* 1920 &ndash; Walter Frederick Morrison, American inventor (d. 2010)
* 1920 &ndash; Ray Abrams, American jazz saxophonist (d. 1992)
* 1920 &ndash; Henry Eriksson, Swedish runner (d. 2000)
* 1923 &ndash; Walter M. Miller Jr., American science fiction writer (d. 1996)
* 1924 &ndash; Frank Lautenberg, American politician and United States Senator for New Jersey (d. 2013)
* 1926 &ndash; Bal Thackeray, Indian politician (d. 2012)
* 1927 &ndash; Lars-Eric Lindblad, Swedish–American entrepreneur and explorer (d. 1994)
* 1928 &ndash; Chico Carrasquel, the first Latin American player to appear in a Major League Baseball All-Star Game (d. 2005)
* 1928 &ndash; Jeanne Moreau, French actress (d. 2017)
* 1929 &ndash; John Polanyi, German–born Canadian chemist, Nobel Prize winner
* 1930 &ndash; Derek Walcott, West Indies writer, Nobel Prize winner (d. 2017)
* 1930 &ndash; William R. Pogue, American astronaut (d. 2014)
* 1930 &ndash; Filaret, Patriarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
* 1930 &ndash; Mervyn Rose, Australian tennis player (d. 2017)
* 1933 &ndash; Bill Hayden, 21st Governor-General of Australia
* 1933 &ndash; Chita Rivera, actress, dancer
* 1936 &ndash; Brian Howe, Australian politician
* 1936 &ndash; Jerry Kramer, American football player
* 1938 &ndash; Shohei Baba, professional wrestler, founder of All-Japan Pro Wrestling (d. 1999)
* 1938 &ndash; Georg Baselitz, German painter and sculptor
* 1939 &ndash; Sonny Chiba, Japanese actor
* 1939 &ndash; Arlene Golonka, American actress
* 1940 &ndash; Johnny Russell, American country music singer-songwriter (d. 2001)
* 1940 &ndash; Alan Cheuse, American writer and critic (d. 2015)
* 1941 &ndash; Joao Ubaldo Ribeiro, Brazilian journalist, writer and academic (d. 2014)
* 1942 &ndash; Razzak, Bangladeshi actor and director
* 1943 &ndash; Gil Gerard, actor
* 1943 &ndash; Gary Burton, American jazz musician
* 1944 &ndash; Sergei Belov, Russian basketball player (d. 2013)
* 1944 &ndash; Rutger Hauer, Dutch actor
* 1945 &ndash; Richard Dearlove, former Head of MI6
* 1945 &ndash; Mike Harris, 22nd Premier of Ontario
* 1946 &ndash; Boris Berezovsky, Russian businessman (d. 2013)
* 1946 &ndash; Arnoldo Aleman, former President of Nicaragua
* 1947 &ndash; Megawati Sukarnoputri, 5th President of Indonesia
* 1947 &ndash; Tom Carper, 71st Governor of Delaware
* 1948 &ndash; Anita Pointer, American singer
* 1950 &ndash; Richard Dean Anderson, American actor
* 1950 &ndash; Danny Federici, American musician (Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band) (d. 2008)
* 1950 &ndash; John Greaves, English musician
* 1950 &ndash; Luis Alberto Spinetta, Argentine musician (d. 2012)

### 1951 &ndash; 1975 
* 1951 &ndash; David Patrick Kelly, American actor and musician
* 1951 &ndash; Chesley Sullenberger, American pilot
* 1952 &ndash; Omar Henry, South African cricketer
* 1953 &ndash; Robin Zander, American singer
* 1953 &ndash; Pavlo Lazarenko, Ukrainian politician
* 1953 &ndash; Alister McGrath, Northern Irish priest and academic
* 1953 &ndash; Antonio Villaraigosa, former Mayor of Los Angeles, California
* 1954 &ndash; Franco De Vita, singer/songwriter
* 1954 &ndash; Richard Finch, American bassist (KC & the Sunshine Band)
* 1957 &ndash; Princess Caroline of Monaco
* 1960 &ndash; Patrick de Gayardon, French skydiver and skysurfing pioneer (d. 1998)
* 1960 &ndash; Max Keiser, German journalist and filmmaker
* 1961 &ndash; Yelena Sinchukova, Russian long jumper
* 1962 &ndash; David Arnold, British movie score composer
* 1963 &ndash; Gail O'Grady, actress
* 1964 &ndash; Mariska Hargitay, American actress
* 1964 &ndash; Bharrat Jagdeo, former President of Guyana
* 1964 &ndash; Mario Roberge, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1966 &ndash; Oleg Sakirkin, Kazakhstani triple jumper
* 1967 &ndash; Naim Süleymanoğlu, Bulgaria–born Turkish weightlifter
* 1968 &ndash; Petr Korda, Czech tennis player
* 1969 &ndash; Ariadna Gil, Spanish actress
* 1970 &ndash; Moreno Torricelli, Italian footballer
* 1970 &ndash; Oleg Ovsyannikov, Russian ice dancer
* 1970 &ndash; Ewen Bremner, Scottish actor
* 1972 &ndash; Lisa Snowdon, English actress and model
* 1973 &ndash; Dee Caffari, English sailor
* 1973 &ndash; Youddiph, Russian singer
* 1974 &ndash; Sampsa Astala, Finnish musician (Lordi)
* 1974 &ndash; Tiffani Thiessen, American actress

### From 1976 
* 1976 &ndash; Tony Lucca, American singer-songwriter, producer and actor
* 1979 &ndash; Larry Hughes, American basketball player
* 1979 &ndash; Dawn Porter, British television presenter
* 1981 &ndash; Julia Jones, American actress
* 1981 &ndash; Rob Friend, Canadian footballer
* 1982 &ndash; Patrick Levis, American actor
* 1984 &ndash; Arjen Robben, Dutch footballer
* 1985 &ndash; Dong Fangzhuo, Chinese footballer
* 1985 &ndash; Doutzen Kroes, Dutch model
* 1986 &ndash; José Enrique Sanchez, Spanish footballer
* 1986 &ndash; Steven Taylor, English footballer
* 1986 &ndash; Pablo Andujar, Spanish tennis player
* 1989 &ndash; April Pearson, British actress
* 1990 &ndash; Artjom Abramov, Estonian ice hockey player
* 1996 &ndash; Chachi Gonzales, American dancer

## Deaths
### Up to 1900 
* 440 &ndash; Hanzei, Emperor of Japan
* 1002 &ndash; Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 980)
* 1199 &ndash; Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur (b. 1160)
* 1516 &ndash; King Ferdinand II of Aragon (b. 1452)
* 1548 &ndash; Bernardo Pisano, Italian composer (b. 1490)
* 1549 &ndash; Johannes Honter, Transylvanian Saxon humanist and theologian (b. 1498)
* 1567 &ndash; Jiajing, Emperor of China
* 1570 &ndash; James Stewart, Earl of Moray, Regent of Scotland
* 1622 &ndash; William Baffin, English explorer and navigator
* 1744 &ndash; Giambattista Vico, Italian philosopher and historian (b. 1668)
* 1789 &ndash; John Cleland, novelist (b. 1709)
* 1800 &ndash; Edward Rutledge, U.S. statesman (b. 1749)
* 1803 &ndash; Arthur Guinness, Irish brewer (b. 1752)
* 1805 &ndash; Claude Chappe, French telecommunications pioneer (b. 1763)
* 1806 &ndash; William Pitt the Younger, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1759)
* 1810 &ndash; Johann Wilhelm Ritter, German chemist and physicist (b. 1776)
* 1820 &ndash; Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (b. 1767)
* 1837 &ndash; John Field, Irish composer (b. 1782)
* 1875 &ndash; Charles Kingsley English writer (b. 1819)
* 1883 &ndash; Gustave Doré, French artist, engraver, and illustrator (b. 1832)
* 1893 &ndash; Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar, United States Supreme Court (b. 1825)
* 1894 &ndash; Lebengula, King of Matabeleland (in what is now Zimbabwe) (b. 1833)

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1921 &ndash; Mykola Leontovych, Ukrainian composer (b. 1877)
* 1922 &ndash; Arthur Nikisch, Hungarian conductor (b. 1855)
* 1923 &ndash; Max Nordau, Austrian writer, philosopher, and Zionist leader (b. 1849)
* 1931 &ndash; Anna Pavlova, Russian ballerina (b. 1881)
* 1937 &ndash; Marie Prevost, Canadian–American actress (b. 1896)
* 1939 &ndash; Matthias Sindelar, Austrian footballer (b. 1903)
* 1943 &ndash; Alexander Woollcott, actor, writer, and bon vivant (b. 1887)
* 1944 &ndash; Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter (b. 1863)
* 1944 &ndash; Viktor Gusev, Russian poet (b. 1899)
* 1956 &ndash; Alexander Korda, Hungarian director (b. 1893)
* 1971 &ndash; Fritz Feigl, Austrian–Brazilian chemist and academic (b. 1871)
* 1973 &ndash; Kid Ory, jazz trombonist (b. 1886)
* 1976 &ndash; Paul Robeson, actor, singer, social activist (b. 1898)
* 1976 &ndash; Paul Dupuis, French–Canadian movie and television actor (b. 1913)
* 1978 &ndash; Jack Oakie, actor (b. 1903)
* 1978 &ndash; Terry Kath, musician (Chicago) (b. 1946)
* 1980 &ndash; Giovanni Michelotti, Italian sports car designer (b. 1921)
* 1981 &ndash; Samuel Barber, American composer (b. 1910)
* 1983 &ndash; Fred Bakewell, English cricketer (b. 1908)
* 1986 &ndash; Joseph Beuys, German sculptor and performance artist (b. 1921)
* 1989 &ndash; Salvador Dalí, Catalan artist (b. 1904)
* 1990 &ndash; Allen Collins, American musician (b. 1952)
* 1991 &ndash; Northrop Frye, literary critic (b. 1912)
* 1992 &ndash; Freddie Bartholomew, actor (b. 1924)
* 1993 &ndash; Thomas Dorsey, gospel music singer (b. 1899)
* 1994 &ndash; Brian Redhead, journalist and broadcaster (b. 1929)
* 1994 &ndash; Nikolai Ogarkov, Russian marshal (b. 1917)
* 1997 &ndash; Richard Berry, American composer, musician (b. 1935)
* 1999 &ndash; Joe D'Amato, Italian director and cinematographer (b. 1936)
* 1999 &ndash; Jay Pritzker, American businessman (b. 1922)

### From 2001 
* 2002 &ndash; Pierre Bourdieu, French sociologist (b. 1930)
* 2002 &ndash; Robert Nozick, philosopher (b. 1938)
* 2003 &ndash; Nell Carter, singer, actress (b. 1948)
* 2004 &ndash; Bob Keeshan, actor (b. 1927)
* 2004 &ndash; Helmut Newton, German–Australian photographer (b. 1920)
* 2005 &ndash; Johnny Carson, American television personality (b. 1925)
* 2005 &ndash; Morys George Lyndhurst Bruce, 4th Baron Aberdare, British politician (b. 1921)
* 2007 &ndash; Ryszard Kapuscinski, Polish journalist and writer (b. 1932)
* 2009 &ndash; Robert W. Scott, American politician and former Governor of South Carolina (b. 1929)
* 2010 &ndash; Earl Wild, American pianist (b. 1915)
* 2011 &ndash; Jack LaLanne, American fitness and nutrition expert (b. 1914)
* 2013 &ndash; Jozef Glemp, Polish cardinal (b. 1929)
* 2013 &ndash; Janice Knickrehm, American actress (b. 1925)
* 2014 &ndash; Riz Ortolani, Italian composer (b. 1926)
* 2015 &ndash; King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia (b. 1924)
* 2015 &ndash; Ernie Banks, American baseball player (b. 1931)
* 2015 &ndash; Prosper Ego, Dutch activist (b. 1927)
* 2015 &ndash; Nol Heijerman, Dutch footballer (b. 1940)
* 2015 &ndash; Barrie Ingham, English actor (b. 1934)
* 2015 &ndash; Pedro Lemebel, Chilean writer (b. 1952)
* 2015 &ndash; Nick Koback, American baseball player (b. 1935)
* 2016 &ndash; A. C. Jose, Indian politician (b. 1937)
* 2016 &ndash; Barry Brickell, New Zealand ceramic artist (b. 1935)
* 2016 &ndash; Elisabeta Polihroniade, Romanian chess player (b. 1935)
* 2016 &ndash; Bobby Wanzer, American basketball player (b. 1921)
* 2017 &ndash; Dmytro Grabovskyy, Ukrainian–Israeli bicycle racer (b. 1985)
* 2017 &ndash; Gorden Kaye, English actor (b. 1941)
* 2017 &ndash; Ruth Samuelson, American politician (b. 1959)
* 2017 &ndash; Andrew Telegdi, Hungarian–Canadian politician (b. 1946)
* 2017 &ndash; Bimba Bosé, Italian–born Spanish model, designer and actress (b. 1975)
* 2017 &ndash; Ralph Guglielmi, American football player (b. 1933)
* 2017 &ndash; Erland Kolding Nielsen, Danish academic (b. 1947)
* 2017 &ndash; Leslie Koo, Taiwanese business executive (b. 1954)
* 2018 &ndash; Hugh Masekela, South African jazz trumpeter (b. 1939)
* 2018 &ndash; Nicanor Parra, Chilean poet (b. 1914)
* 2018 &ndash; Wyatt Tee Walker, American civil rights activist (b. 1928)
* 2018 &ndash; Lari White, American country singer–songwriter and actress (b. 1965)
* 2021 &ndash; Hal Holbrook, American actor (b. 1925)

## Observances 
* National Pie Day (United States)
* Bounty Day (Pitcairn Island)