Events Pre-1600 46 BC – Julius Caesar fights Titus Labienus in the Battle of Ruspina. 871 – Battle of Reading: Æthelred of Wessex and his brother Alfred are defeated by a Danish invasion army.
1601–1900 1642 – English Civil War: King Charles I, accompanied by 400 soldiers, attempts to arrest five members of Parliament for treason, only to discover the men had been tipped off and fled. 1649 – English Civil War: The Rump Parliament votes to put Charles I on trial. 1717 – The Netherlands, Great Britain, and France sign the Triple Alliance. 1762 – Great Britain declares war on Spain, which meant the entry of Spain into the Seven Years' War. 1798 – Constantine Hangerli arrives in Bucharest, Wallachia, as its new Prince, invested by the Ottoman Empire.Anton Caragea, "Ceasul cel mare al lui Constantin Hangerli" ("Constantin Hangerli's Big Hour"), in Magazin Istoric, December 2000 1844 – The first issue of the Swedish-languaged Saima newspaper founded by J. V. Snellman is published in Kuopio, Finland. 1853 – After having been kidnapped and sold into slavery in the American South, Solomon Northup regains his freedom; his memoir Twelve Years a Slave later becomes a national bestseller. 1854 – The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the Samarang. 1863 – The New Apostolic Church, a Christian and chiliastic church, is established in Hamburg, Germany.Teacher's Manual for Religious Instruction in the New Apostolic Church Vol 3., NAKI 2001 1878 – Russo-Turkish War (1877–78): Sofia is liberated from Ottoman rule. 1884 – The Fabian Society is founded in London, United Kingdom. 1885 – Sino-French War: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing force at Núi Bop in northern Vietnam.Lecomte, J., Lang-Son: combats, retraite et négociations (Paris, 1895). p. 169–71 1896 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state.
1901–present 1903 – Topsy, an elephant, is electrocuted by the owners of Luna Park, Coney Island. The Edison film company records the film Electrocuting an Elephant of Topsy's death.Daly, Michael (2013). Topsy: The Startling Story of the Crooked-tailed Elephant, P.T. Barnum, and the American Wizard, Thomas Edison, page 282 1909 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. 1912 – The Scout Association is incorporated throughout the British Empire by royal charter. 1918 – The Finnish Declaration of Independence is recognized by Russia, Sweden, Germany and France. 1944 – World War II: Operation Carpetbagger, involving the dropping of arms and supplies to resistance fighters in Europe, begins. 1946 – The first day of a three-day "disastrous" tornado outbreak across the south-central United States leaves 41 people dead and at least 412 others injured. 1948 – Burma gains its independence from the United Kingdom, becoming an independent republic. 1951 – Korean War: Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time. 1956 – The Greek National Radical Union is formed by Konstantinos Karamanlis. 1958 – Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, falls to Earth from orbit. 1959 – Luna 1 becomes the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon. 1965 – Aeroflot Flight 101/X-20 crashes on approach to Alma-Ata Airport, killing 64 people. 1967 – The Doors released their eponymous debut album. 1972 – Rose Heilbron becomes the first female judge to sit at the Old Bailey in London, UK. 1975 – This date overflowed the 12-bit field that had been used in TOPS-10. There were numerous problems and crashes related to this bug while an alternative format was developed. 1976 – The Troubles: The Ulster Volunteer Force shoots dead six Irish Catholic civilians in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The next day, gunmen would shoot dead ten Protestant civilians nearby in retaliation. 1987 – The Maryland train collision: An Amtrak train en route to Boston from Washington, D.C., collides with Conrail engines in Chase, Maryland, United States, killing 16 people. 1989 – Second Gulf of Sidra incident: A pair of Libyan MiG-23 "Floggers" are shot down by a pair of US Navy F-14 Tomcats during an air-to-air confrontation.* Stanik, Joseph T. El Dorado Canyon: Reagan’s Undeclared War with Qaddafi. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2003, page 228. 1990 – In Pakistan's deadliest train accident an overloaded passenger train collides with an empty freight train, resulting in 307 deaths and 700 injuries. 1998 – A massive ice storm hits eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, continuing through January 10 and causing widespread destruction. 1999 – Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura is sworn in as governor of Minnesota, United States. 2000 – A Norwegian passenger train departing from Trondheim, collides with a local train coming from Hamar in Åsta in Åmot Municipality; 19 people are killed and 68 injured in the accident. 2004 – Spirit, a NASA Mars rover, lands successfully on Mars at 04:35 UTC. 2004 – Mikheil Saakashvili is elected President of Georgia following the November 2003 Rose Revolution. 2006 – Ehud Olmert becomes acting Prime Minister of Israel after the incumbent, Ariel Sharon, suffers a second, apparently more serious stroke. 2007 – The 110th United States Congress convenes, electing Nancy Pelosi as the first female Speaker of the House in U.S. history. 2008 – A Let L-410 Turbolet crashes in the Los Roques Archipelago in Venezuela, killing 14 people. 2010 – The Burj Khalifa, the current tallest building in the world, officially opens in Dubai. 2013 – A gunman kills eight people in a house-to-house rampage in Kawit, Cavite, Philippines. 2018 – Hennenman–Kroonstad train crash: A passenger train operated by Shosholoza Meyl collides with a truck on a level crossing at Geneva Station between Hennenman and Kroonstad, Free State, South Africa. Twenty people are killed and 260 injured. 2019 – A fire in an escape room in Koszalin, Poland, kills five teenagers through carbon monoxide poisoning.
Births
Pre-1600 659 – Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin (died 680) 1077 – Emperor Zhezong of China (died 1100) 1334 – Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy (died 1383) 1467 – Bodo VIII, Count of Stolberg-Wernigerode (died 1538) 1581 – James Ussher, Irish archbishop and historian (died 1656)
1601–1900 1643 (NS) – Isaac Newton, English mathematician and physicist (died 1726/27) 1654 – Lars Roberg, Swedish physician and academic (died 1742) 1672 – Hugh Boulter, English-Irish archbishop (died 1742) 1710 – Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Italian composer, violinist, and organist (died 1736) 1720 – Johann Friedrich Agricola, German organist and composer (died 1774) 1731 – Karl Abraham Zedlitz, Prussian minister of education (died 1793) 1737 – Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau, chemist (died 1816) 1785 – Jacob Grimm, German philologist and mythologist (died 1863) 1809 – Louis Braille, French educator, invented Braille (died 1852) 1813 – Isaac Pitman, English linguist and educator (died 1897) 1832 – George Tryon, English admiral (died 1893) 1838 – General Tom Thumb, American circus performer (died 1883) 1839 – Carl Humann, German archaeologist, architect, and engineer (died 1896) 1848 – Katsura Tarō, Japanese general and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Japan (died 1913) 1858 – Carter Glass, American publisher and politician, 47th United States Secretary of the Treasury (died 1946) 1864 – Clara Emilia Smitt, Swedish doctor and author (died 1928)Sveriges dödbok 1901–2013, (Version 6.0) Sveriges släktforskarförbund (2014) (in Swedish) 1869 – Tommy Corcoran, American baseball player and umpire (died 1960) 1874 – Josef Suk, Czech violinist and composer (died 1935) 1877 – Gibson Gowland, English film actor (died 1951); 1877 – Marsden Hartley, American painter and poet (died 1943) 1878 – A. E. Coppard, English poet and short story writer (died 1957) 1878 – Augustus John, Welsh painter and illustrator (died 1961) 1881 – Wilhelm Lehmbruck, German sculptor (died 1919) 1883 – Max Eastman, American author and poet (died 1969) 1883 – Johanna Westerdijk, Dutch pathologist and academic (died 1961) 1884 – Guy Pène du Bois, American painter, critic, and educator (died 1958) 1889 – M. Patanjali Sastri, Indian lawyer and jurist, 2nd Chief Justice of India (died 1963) 1891 – Edward Brooker, English-Australian sergeant and politician, 31st Premier of Tasmania (died 1948)R. P. Davis, 'Brooker, William Edward (1891 - 1948)' , Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 13, Melbourne University Press, 1993, p. 265. 1895 – Leroy Grumman, American engineer and businessman, co-founded Grumman Aeronautical Engineering Co. (died 1982) 1896 – Everett Dirksen, American politician (died 1969) 1896 – André Masson, French painter and illustrator (died 1987) 1897 – Chen Cheng, Chinese politician, Vice President of the Republic of China (died 1965) 1900 – James Bond, American ornithologist and zoologist (died 1989)
1901–present 1901 – C. L. R. James, Trinidadian journalist and theorist (died 1989) 1902 – John A. McCone, American businessman and politician, 6th Director of Central Intelligence (died 1991) 1903 – Georg Elser, German carpenter and attempted assassin of Adolf Hitler (died 1945) 1913 – Malietoa Tanumafili II, Samoan ruler (died 2007) 1916 – Lionel Newman, American pianist and composer (died 1989) 1916 – Robert Parrish, American actor and director (died 1995) 1920 – William Colby, American intelligence officer, 10th Director of Central Intelligence (died 1996) 1920 – Rosalie Crutchley, British actress (died 1997) 1924 – Marianne Werner, German shot putter (died 2023) 1925 – Veikko Hakulinen, Finnish skier and technician (died 2003) 1927 – Paul Desmarais, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (died 2013) 1927 – Barbara Rush, American actress (died 2024) 1929 – Günter Schabowski, German journalist and politician (died 2015) 1930 – Sorrell Booke, American actor and director (died 1994) 1930 – Don Shula, American football player and coach (died 2020) 1931 – William Deane, Australian judge and politician, 22nd Governor-General of Australia 1931 – Nora Iuga, Romanian poet, writer and translator 1932 – Carlos Saura, Spanish director and screenwriter (died 2023) 1932 – Clint Hill, American Secret Service agent (died 2025) 1934 – Rudolf Schuster, Slovak politician, 2nd President of Slovakia 1935 – Floyd Patterson, American boxer (died 2006) 1937 – Grace Bumbry, American operatic soprano (died 2023) 1937 – Dyan Cannon, American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter 1938 – Jim Norton, Irish stage, film and television actor 1938 – Eberhard Wagner, German academic, linguist and author 1940 – Brian Josephson, Welsh physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate 1940 – Gao Xingjian, Chinese novelist, playwright, and critic, Nobel Prize laureate 1941 – George P. Cosmatos, Italian-Canadian director and screenwriter (died 2005) 1941 – Kalpnath Rai, Indian politician (died 1999) 1942 – Bolaji Akinyemi, Nigerian political scientist, academic, and politician 1942 – Jim Downing, American race car driver and inventor 1942 – John McLaughlin, English guitarist and songwriter 1943 – Doris Kearns Goodwin, American historian and author 1943 – Hwang Sok-yong, South Korean author and educator 1944 – Gary Stevens, Australian rugby league player (died 2025) 1944 – Alan Sutherland, New Zealand rugby player (died 2020) 1945 – Vesa-Matti Loiri, Finnish actor, musician and comedian (died 2022) 1945 – Richard R. Schrock, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate 1946 – Arthur Conley, American singer-songwriter (died 2003) 1947 – Chris Cutler, English percussionist, lyricist and music theorist 1947 – Marie-Thérèse Letablier, French sociologist and academic 1948 – Kostas Davourlis, Greek footballer (died 1992)