On this day in History - Jan. 03

• 0106 BC - Marcus Tullius Cicero was born (d. 43 BC). Roman statesman and philosopher.
• 0236 - St Anterus ends his reign as Catholic Pope.
• 0269 - St Felix I begins his reign as Catholic Pope.
• 1196 - Emperor Tsuchimikado of Japan was born (d. 1231).
• 1290 - Nascimento de D. Constança de Portugal, infanta de Portugal e rainha de Castela (d. 18 Nov 1313)..
• 1322 - Philip V dies (b. 1923). King of France.
• 1431 - Joan of Arc is handed over to the Bishop Pierre Cauchon.
• 1496 - Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tests a flying machine.
• 1521 - Martin Luther excommunicated by Pope Leo X.
• 1543 - Juan Cabrillo dies. Conqueror of Cen America, discoverer of California.
• 1552 - Henry II of Bavaria dies at 64. Bishop of Utrecht (1524-29).
• 1667 - Russia & Poland sign Truce of Androsovo.
• 1698 - Pietro Metastasio was born (d. 1782). Italian poet.
• 1710 - Richard Gridley was born (d. 1796). American Revolutionary soldier.
• 1719 - Francisco José Freire was born (d. 1773). Portuguese historian and philologist.
• 1722 - Fredric Hasselquist was born (d. 1752). Swedish naturalist.
• 1749 - Benning Wentworth issued the first of the New Hampshire Grants, leading to the establishment of Vermont.
• 1759 - Marquis & Marquess of Tavora dies executed. Portugese nobles.
• 1777 - George Washington defeated Cornwallis's forces at the Battle of Princeton.
• 1778 - Antoni Melchior Fijałkowski was born (d. 1861). Polish bishop.
• 1787 - É inaugurado o Observatório Astronómico da Academia de Ciências de Lisboa, instalado no Castelo de São Jorge.
• 1793 - Lucretia Mott was born (d. 1880). American women's rights activist and abolitionist.
• 1803 - Douglas William Jerrold was born (d. 1857). British dramatic playwright and political satirist.
• 1803 - Clement Attlee was born (d. 1857). English prime minister.
• 1810 - Antoine-Thomson d'Abbadie was born [d.1897]. French geographer, born with his brother Arnaud-Michel d'Abbadie (1815-93) in Ireland, who were notable for their extensive travels in Ethiopia where they studied its geology, natural history and archaeology.
• 1815 - Austria, Britain, and France form a secret defensive alliance treaty against Prussia and Russia.
• 1823 - Stephen F. Austin receives a grant of land in Texas from the government of Mexico .
• 1823 - Robert Whitehead was born [d.1905]; British engineer who invented the modern torpedo .
• 1829 - Konrad Duden was born (d. 1911). Philologist.
• 1833 - Britain seizes control of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic.
• 1834 - The government of Mexico imprisons Stephen F. Austin in Mexico City .
• 1840 - One of the Herald Sun of Melbourne, Australia's predecessor papers The Port Phillip Herald is founded by George Cavanaugh.
• 1840 - Father Damien was born (d. 1889). Belgian missionary in Hawaii.
• 1852 - First Chinese arrive in Hawaii.
• 1855 - Hubert Bland was born (d. 1914). English socialist and co-founder of Fabian Society
• 1861 - American Civil War: Delaware votes not to secede from the United States.
• 1867- Domitila de Castro Canto e Melo dies (Marquess of Santos - Brazil)
• 1868 - Franz Cumont was born [d. 1947]. Belgian archaeologist and philologist who strongly influenced the modern Protestant school of the history of religions through his fundamental studies, particularly on Roman pagan cults.
• 1868 - The Japanese Meiji dynasty is restored and the Shogunate is abolished.
• 1870 - Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge began. It was completed on May 24, 1883
• 1871 - Oleomargarine was patented by Henry Bradley in Binghamton, NY. A "compound for culinary use" called margarine.
• 1875 - Pierre Larousse dies (b. 1817). French editor and encyclopedist.
• 1876 - Wilhelm Pieck was born. Co-founder of the German Communist Party - President (1949-60).
• 1879 - Grace Coolidge was born (d. 1957). First Lady of the United States.
• 1883 - Clement Attlee was born (d. 1967). Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
• 1886 - Josephine Hull was born (d. 1957). American actress
• 1887 - August Macke was born (d. 1914). German painter.
• 1888 - The 91 cm refracting telescope at Lick Observatory is used for the first time. It was the largest telescope in the world at the time.
• 1892 - J. R. R. Tolkien was born in South African (d. 1973). English writer and philologist -"The Lord of the Rings" creator.
• 1894 - ZaSu Pitts was born (d. 1963). American actress.
• 1897 - Marion Davies was born (d. 1961). American actress.
• 1898 - Luís Carlos Prestes was born in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. Brazilian politician, communist.
• 1899 - The first known use of the word automobile, in an editorial in the New York Times.
• 1900 - Robert Adair was born in San Francisco. American actor.
• 1901 - Ngo Dinh Diem was born (d. 1963). President of South Vietnam.
• 1903 - Joe Donahue was born in Boston.
• 1903 - Donald Soper was born (d. 1998). English methodist minister.
• 1905 - Anna May Wong was born (d. 1961). Chinese-American actress.
• 1905 - Ray Milland was born at Neath, Glamorganshire (d. 1986). Welsh actor - Oscar awarded.
• 1906 - William Wilson Morgan was born (d. 1994). American astronomer who, in 1951, provided the first evidence that the Milky Way Galaxy has spiral arms. He spent his entire career at the Yerkes Observatory, including three years as director.
• 1909 - Victor Borge was born (d. 2000). Danish entertainer and humorist.
• 1911 - John Sturges was born. Film director.
• 1912 - Armand Lohikoski was born (d. 2005). Finnish director.
• 1915 - Foundation of Club Atlético Lanús - Argentina.
• 1916 - Betty Furness was born (d. 1994). American actress and consumer activist.
• 1917 - Roger W. Straus, Jr. was born (d. 2004). American publisher.
• 1917 - Assinada uma Convenção com a Grã-bretanha para regulamentação da participação portuguesa na frente europeia, durante a Primeira Guerra Mundial. O Corpo Expedicionário Português (CEP) ficará subordinado ao BEF (British Expeditionary Force).
• 1920 - Terremotos y volcanes en erupción destruyeron varias ciudades mexicanas y ocasionaron más de 7.000 víctimas.
• 1920 - Renato Carosone was born (d. 2001). Italian musician and singer.
• 1920 - The New York Yankees acquired Babe Ruth and so began the "curse of the Bambino" that haunted the Boston Red Sox until 2004.
• 1921 - Turkey makes peace with Armenia.
• 1923 - Jaroslav Hasek dies (b. 1883). Czech novelist (Brave soldaat Schweik)
• 1924 - O egiptólogo inglês Howard Carter descobriu o sarcófago do faraó Tutankhamon, no Vale dos Reis, perto de Luxor, após vários anos de buscas.
• 1924 - Hank Stram was born. American football coach and broadcaster.
• 1924 - Nell Rankin was born (d. 2005). American soprano.
• 1925 - Benito Mussolini dissolves Italian Parliament and announces he is taking dictatorial powers over Italy.
• 1926 - George Martin was born. Producer of The Beatles' records .
• 1926 - Theodorus Pángulos names himself dictator of Greece.
• 1929 - Sergio Leone was born in Rome (d. 1989). Italian director (Fist Full of Dollars).
• 1930 - Robert Loggia was born. American actor.
• 1932 - Dabney Coleman was born. American actor.
• 1932 - Coo Coo Marlin was born (d. 2005). American race car driver.
• 1936 - Georgina Spelvin was born. Actress.
• 1936 - Artur da Távola was born. Brazilian politician.
• 1938 - The March of Dimes is established by Franklin D. Roosevelt.
• 1939 - Bobby Hull was born. Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1941 - Van Dyke Parks was born. American musician, composer .
• 1941 - World War II: North Africa 5,000 Prisoners are taken by Australian troops during a major assault on Italian forces at Bardia.
• 1942 - John Thaw was born (d. 2002). British actor.
• 1944 - Morrem mais de 500 pessoas em um choque entre um trem de viajantes e uma locomotiva em um túnel, sendo o maior desastre ferroviário espanhol.
• 1945 - Stephen Stills was born. American singer, songwriter, and guitarist .
• 1945 - Victoria Principal was born in Fukuoka, Japan; American actress ( Earthquake, Pamela-Dallas).
• 1946 - John Paul Jones was born. English bassist from Led Zeppelin .
• 1947 - Proceedings of the U.S. Congress are televised for the first time.
• 1947 - Congressional proceedings were televised for the first time.
• 1955 - Jose Ramon Guizado becomes President of Panama.
• 1956 - Mel Gibson was born. Australian actor and director.
• 1956 - Arturo Tosi dies. Italian painter.
• 1957 - Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch.
• 1957 - Bojan Križ was born. Slovenian skier
• 1958 - West Indies Federation formed.
• 1958 - Sir Edmund Hillary reached the South Pole overland.
• 1959 - Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. state.
• 1960 - Álvaro Cunhal fugiu do Forte de Peniche, com mais 9 presos, tendo sido auxiliado por alguns pescadores.
• 1960 - Joan Chen was born. Chinese actress.
• 1961 - The United States breaks diplomatic relations with Cuba.
• 1961 - The SL-1, a government-run reactor near Idaho Falls, Idaho leaks radiation, killing three workers at the installation. The radiation is contained.
• 1962 - Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro.
• 1963 - University of Telaviv is officialy founded.
• 1965 - Ricardo Prado was born. Brazilian swimmer: world recordist 400 m Medley (1982): 4'18"45, in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
• 1966 - First Acid Test at the Fillmore, San Francisco, California.
• 1966 - Robert Stanek was born. American author
• 1967 - Jack Ruby dies. He was the man who shot John Kennedy's assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald.
• 1969 - Michael Schumacher was born. German Formula One driver.
• 1969 - Matheus Nachtergaele was born in São Paulo. Brazilian actor.
• 1970 - Marxist government takes over in Congo.
• 1971 - Cave paintings, dated to 6,000 BC, are discovered in the Uweinat Mountains, Egypt.
• 1972 - Frans Masereel dies at 82. Flem WWII resistance fighter (Le Soleil).
• 1973 - Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) sells the New York Yankees for $10 million to a 12-person syndicate led by George Steinbrenner.
• 1974 - Arias Navarro succeeds Carrero Blanco as Premier of Spain.
• 1974 - Burma accepts its constitution.
• 1974 - Gino Cervi dies at 72. Actor (Becket, Don Camillo).
• 1975 - Jason Marsden was born. American actor.
• 1975 - Danica McKellar was born. American actress.
• 1976 - Nicholas Gonzalez was born. American actor.
• 1975 - Milton J Cross dies at 87. TV announcer (Met Opera Auditions)
• 1975 - Robert Neumann dies at 77. Austrian/British author (False Flag).
• 1975 - Walter Linck dies at 71. Swiss sculptor.
• 1976 - Mal Evans dies. Beatles' roadie
• 1976 - Mateusz Glinski dies at 83. Composer.
• 1977 - Avraham Ofer commits suicide. Israeli minister of housing
• 1977 - Benno Stokvis dies at 75. Dutch attorney/politician.
• 1979 - Conrad Hilton dies at 91. US founder (Hilton Hotels).
• 1986 - Michael V Love dies in F-4 crash at 37. US test pilot (X-24)
• 1980 - Joy Adamson dies [b. 1910] . Naturalist, conservationalist and author of the best-selling book "Born Free," was killed in Northern Kenya by a servant in a wage dispute.
• 1980 - Francisco Sá Carneiro toma posse como primeiro-ministro de Portugal, substituindo Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo .
• 1980 - Gold hits record $634 an ounce.
• 1980 - Amos Milburn dies at 52. Rocker.
• 1980 - Axel Springer Jr commits suicide at 38. German photographer.
• 1980 - Ivan Triesault dies at 81. Actor (Von Ryan's Express, Desert Fox).
• 1980 - Joy Adamson dies killed by her servant at 69. Author (Born Free).
• 1981 - Eli Manning was born. American football player.
• 1982 - Derek Sealy dies. Cricketer (West Indies 1930-39).
• 1985 - Israel government confirms resettlement of 10,000 Ethiopian Jews.
• 1985 - Lucien Cailliet dies at 93. Composer.
• 1986 - Jens Bjerre dies at 82. Composer.
• 1987 - Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
• 1988 - Gaston Eyskens dies at 82. PM of Belgium (1949, 1958-61, 1968-72).
• 1988 - Rose Ausländer dies at 70. Writer
• 1988 - William Cagney dies of a heart attack at 82. Actor (Torrid Zone)
• 1989 - Russian newspaper Izvestia gets its 1st commercial advertisement.
• 1989 - Alex D. Linz was born in Santa Barbara, California. American actor.
• 1990 - Former leader of Panama Manuel Noriega surrendered to U.S. forces.
• 1990 - Ken Hill dies. Actor (Cobra, Protocol).
• 1990 - Zita Seabra, uma figura importante do PCP posterior ao 25 de Abril, é expulsa do partido.
• 1991 - Israel reopens consulate in USSR after 23 years.
• 1991 - Hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky scores his 700th goal.
• 1992 - Radomiro Tomic dies. Chilean President (1970).
• 1992 - Anthony Del Casino dies at 79. Band leader (Charlie Barnet Band)
• 1992 - Judith Anderson dies of pneumonia at 93. Actress (Star Trek 3)
• 1992 - Ken Grieves dies. Cricketer (NSW & Lancashire leg-spin all-rounder).
• 1992 - Lewis Michael Friedman dies at 47 of AIDS. Pianist.
• 1993 - In Moscow, George H. W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin sign the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START2).
• 1994 - An Aeroflot Tupolev TU-154 crashes and explodes after takeoff from Irkhutsk, Russia killing 125 including 1 on the ground .
• 1994 - 100s killed in Venezuela in prison revolt.
• 1995 - Sri Lanka: Cease-fire agreement between government and Tamil rebels.
• 1997 - Burton Lane dies at 84. Composer.
• 1998 - El presidente de México Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León acepta la denuncia formal de su ministro del Interior, acusado de ser el máximo responsable de la matanza de 45 indígenas en Chiapas.
• 1999 - The Mars Polar Lander launched.
• 2000 - No estado norte-americano de West Virginia, são iniciadas as negociações de paz entre Israel e Síria.
• 2000 - The last Peanuts comic strip was created by Charles Schulz.
• 2002 - Israeli commandos seize Iranian ship Karim A. in international waters in the Red Sea some 500 km south of Elat. The ship is captained by a Palestinian and carries 50 tons of mainly Iranian-manufactured arms and munitions, including mortars and anti-tank missiles.
• 2002 - Juan Esquivel dies (b. 20 Jan 1918). Mexican musician (pianist and bandleader).
• 2003 - O empresário Jair Ruvieri, sequestrado há 92 dias em Mato Grosso, é encontrado e resgatado pela Divisão Anti Sequestro.
• 2003 - José María Gironella dies from a blood clot on the brain. Catalan author, born on 31 December 1917 [Los Cipreses Creen en Dios (1953), Un Millón de Muertos (1961), Ha Estallado la Paz (1966). Los Hombres Lloran Solos (1986) Se Hace Camino al Andar (1997)...]
• 2004 - Flight 604, a Boeing 737 owned by Flash Airlines, an Egyptian airliner, plunges into the Red Sea, killing all 148 aboard.
• 2004 - Leon Wagner dies (b. 1934). Baseball player.
• 2005 - Koo Chen-fu dies (b. 1917). Chinese negotiator.
• 2005 - JN Dixit dies (b. 1936). Indian government official.
• 2005 - Will Eisner dies (b. 06 Mar 1917). American comic book artis.
• Feast day of St Genevieve
  Roman Empire - Festival in honour of Pax