On this day in History - Jan. 7
- 1 BC (O.S.) - Jesus of Nazareth was born. Central figure of Christianity, (date celebrated by Eastern Orthodox churches as Christmas).
- 1355 - Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester was born (d. 1397). Son of Edward III of England.
- 1355 - Inês de Castro dies (assassinated), mistress of the future King Peter I of Portugal
- 1400 - Thomas Holland, 1st Duke of Surrey dies executed (d. 1374). English politician.
- 1451 - Count Amadeus VIII of Savoy dies (b. 1383).
- 1470 - Gil Vicente was born. Great Portuguese writer and one of the most important theatre personalities (playwriter). [webmaster note: This information isn't secure. Even the year is disputed... but who cares? ..lol..]
- 1502 - Pope Gregory XIII was born (d. 1585).
- 1528 - Jeanne d'Albret was born (d. 1572). Queen of Navarre.
- 1536 - Catherine of Aragon dies (b. 1485). Queen of Henry VIII of England.
- 1537 - Alessandro de' Medici of Florence dies assassinated.
- 1539 - Sebastián de Covarrubias Horozco was born, Spanish lexicographer.
- 1566 - Louis de Blois dies (b. 1506). Flemish mystic.
- 1598 - Boris Godunov seizes the throne of Russia.
- 1601 - Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex leads revolt in London against Queen Elizabeth.
- 1608 - Fire destroys Jamestown, Virginia.
- 1610 - Galileo Galilei observes the four largest moons of Jupiter for the first time. He named them and in turn the four are called the Galilean moons.
- 1611 - James Harrington was born (d. 11 Sep 1677). English philosopher.
- 1619 - Nicholas Hilliard dies (b.c. 1547). English painter.
- 1625 - Ruggiero Giovannelli dies (b.c. 1560). Italian composer.
- 1647 - Wilhelm Ludwig, Duke of Württemberg was born (d. 1677).
- 1655 - Pope Innocent X dies (b. 1574).
- 1658 - Theophilus Eaton dies (b. 1590). Connecticut colonist.
- 1685 - Jonas Alströmer was born (d. 1761). Swedish industrialist.
- 1694 - Charles Gerard, 1st Earl of Macclesfield dies. English royalist general.
- 1700 - Raphael Fabretti dies (b. 1618). Italian antiquarian.
- 1706 - Johann Heinrich Zedler was born (d. 1751). German publisher.
- 1715 - François Fénelon dies (b. 1651). French catholic theologian and writer.
- 1718 - Israel Putnam was born (d. 1790). American Revolutionary War general.
- 1735 - Hieronimus de Salis marries hon. Mary ffane, at St. Margaret's Westminster.
- 1745 - Johann Christian Fabricius was born (d. 3 Mar. 1808). Danish zoologist.
- 1758 - Allan Ramsay dies (b. 1686). Scottish poet.
- 1767 - Thomas Clap dies (b. 1703). First president of Yale University.
- 1768 - Joseph Bonaparte was born (d. 1844). King of Naples.
- 1770 - Carl Gustaf Tessin dies (b. 1695). Swedish politician.
- 1782 - The first American commercial bank opens (Bank of North America).
- 1782 - Martinho de Arcada, famous coffee shop at centre of Lisbon (Portugal), on that time named Casa da Neve opens.
- 1783 - William Tans'ur dies (b. 1700). English hymnist.
- 1785 - Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American John Jeffries travel from Dover, England to Calais, France in a gas balloon, becoming the first togreen-white-red tricolour as official flag. It is the birthday of the flag of Italy.
- 1786 - John Catron was born (d. 1865). Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
- 1786 - William C. Bouck was born (d. 19 Apr 1859). American politician, Governor of New York, 1843-45.
- 1786 - Jean-Étienne Guettard dies (b. 1715). French physician and scientist.
- 1789 - First nationwide United States election. Americans voted for electors who, a month later, chose George Washington to be the nation’s first president.
- 1796 - Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales was born (d. 1817).
- 1797 - The modern Italian flag is first used.
- 1800 - Millard Fillmore was born (d. 1874). 13th President of the United States.
- 1827 - Sir Sandford Fleming was born (d. 1915). Canadian engineer; introduced Universal Standard Time.
- 1830 - Albert Bierstadt was born (d. 1902). German-American painter.
- 1830 - Thomas Lawrence dies (b. 1769). English painter.
- 1830 - D. Carlota Joaquina dies. Queen of Portugal / Morte da rainha viúva D. Carlota Joaquina, em Lisboa. Tinha casado com o infante D. João, futuro D. João VI em 1785.
- 1831 - Heinrich von Stephan was born (d. 1897). German labor organizer.
- 1832 - James Munro was born (d. 1908). Premier of Victoria.
- 1834 - Johann Philipp Reis was born (d. 1874). German physicist and inventor.
- 1835 - HMS Beagle anchors off the Chonos Archipelago.
- 1844 - Bernadette Soubirous was born (d. 1879). French saint.
- 1845 - King Ludwig III of Bavaria was born (d. 1921).
- 1854 - Garcia Redondo was born in Rio de Janeiro (d. 6 Oct 1916). Brazilian writer, journalist and engineer.
- 1858 - Eliezer Ben-Yehuda was born (d. 1922). Key figure in the revival of Hebrew as a spoken language.
- 1860 - Emanuil Manolov was born (d. 1902). Bulgarian composer.
- 1861 - Louise Imogen Guiney was born (d. 2 Nov. 1920). American poet (A Roadside Harp).
- 1864 - Caleb Blood Smith dies (b. 1808). U.S. Secretary of the Interior.
- 1870 - Sublevación en Haití contra el presidente Silverio Silvané, que fue fusilado por los rebeldes durante los disturbios.
- 1870 - Lord Gordon Hewart was born (d. 1943). British judge.
- 1871 - Felix Édouard Justin Émile Borel was born (d. 1956). French mathematician, politician, and resistance fighter.
- 1872 - James Fisk dies (b. 1834). American entrepreneur.
- 1873 - Adolph Zukor was born (d. 1976). Hungarian producer.
- 1873 - Charles Péguy was born (d. 1914). French poet and essayist.
- 1875 - Gustav Flatow was born (d. 1945). German gymnast.
- 1875 - Thomas Hicks was born (d. 1963). American runner.
- 1875 - Manuel Aranaz Castellanos was born. Cuban writer.
- 1876 - William Hurlstone was born (d. 1906). English composer.
- 1876 - Juste Olivier dies (b. 1807). Swiss poet.
- 1878 - Anselmo Suárez Romero dies. Cuban writer.
- 1878 - François-Vincent Raspail dies (b. 1794). French chemist.
- 1890 - Henny Porten was born (d. 1960). Actress.
- 1891 - Zora Neale Hurston was born (d. 1960). American author.
- 1892 - Dwight W. Burney was born (d. 10 Mar. 1987). American politician,Governor of Nebraska, 1960-61.
- 1892 - Tewfik Pasha dies (b. 1852). Khedive of Egypt.
- 1893 - Jožef Stefan dies (b. 1835). Slovenian physicist, mathematician, and poet.
- 1895 - Korea proclaimed its independence from China.
- 1895 - Clara Haskil was born (d. 1960). Romanian pianist.
- 1895 - Sir Hudson Fysh was born (d. 1974). Australian aviator and co-founder of QANTAS.
- 1896 - Arnold Ridley was born (d. 1984). British playwright and actor.
- 1899 - Al Bowlly was born (d. 1941). British jazz singer.
- 1899 - Francis Poulenc was born (d. 1963). French composer.
- 1900 - John Brownlee was born (d. 1969). Australian tenor.
- 1901 - Alferd Packer is released from prison after serving 18 years for cannibalism.
- 1903 - Alan Napier was born (d. 1988). English actor.
- 1903 - Warren Hull was born (d. 1974). American actor.
- 1907 - Nicanor Zabaleta was born (d. 1993). Spanish harpist.
- 1908 - Red Allen was born (d. 1967). American musician.
- 1910 - Faiz Ahmed Faiz was born (d. 1984). Pakistani poet.
- 1910 - Orval Faubus was born (d. 1994). Governor of Arkansas.
- 1911 - Mary Pickford marries Owen Moore.
- 1911 - Butterfly McQueen was born (d. 1995). American actress.
- 1912 - Charles Addams was born (d. 1988). American cartoonist.
- 1912 - Günter Wand was born (d. 2002). German conductor, composer.
- 1913 - Johnny Mize was born (d. 1993). Baseball player.
- 1913 - Jack Boyle dies (b. 1866). American baseball player.
- 1916 - Paul Keres was born (d. 1975). Estonian chess player.
- 1917 - Ulysses Kay was born (d. 1995). American composer.
- 1919 - Robert Duncan was born(d. 1988). American poet (Bending the Bow).
- 1919 - Henry Ware Eliot dies (b. 1843). American industrialist, philantropist and the father of T. S. Eliot.
- 1920 - Edmund Barton dies (b. 1849). First Prime Minister of Australia.
- 1921 - Chester Kalmann was born (d. 18 Jan. 1975). American poet, Librettist, translator.
- 1922 - Dáil Éireann ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64-57 votes.
- 1922 - Alvin Dark was born. American baseball player and manager
- 1922 - Eric Jupp was born (d. 2003). British-born Australian composer, arranger, conductor.
- 1922 - Jean-Pierre Rampal was born (d. 2000). French flutist.
- 1922 - Vincent Gardenia was born (d. 1992). Italian-born actor.
- 1923 - Hugh Kenner was born (d. 2003). Canadian literary critic.
- 1924 - The International Hockey Federation (FIH) is founded in Paris by seven member states: Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Hungary, Spain, and Switserland.
- 1924 - George Gershwin completes Rhapsody in Blue.
- 1924 - Pablo Birger was born (d. 1966). Argentine racing driver.
- 1925 - Gerald Durrell was born (d. 1995). British naturalist, zookeeper, author, and television presenter.
- 1926 - George Burns marries Gracie Allen.
- 1927 - The Harlem Globetrotters play their first game.
- 1928 - William Peter Blatty was born. American screenwriter.
- 1929 - Terry Moore was born. American actress.
- 1931 - Guy Menzies flies the first solo non-stop trans-Tasman flight (from Australia to New Zealand) in 11 hours and 45 minutes, crash-landing on New Zealand's west coast.
- 1932 - Joe Berinson was born. Australian politician.
- 1933 - Elliott Kastner was born. U.S. film producer.
- 1934 - Charlie Jenkins was born. American runner.
- 1934 - Jean Corbeil was born (d. 2002). Canadian politician.
- 1934 - Tassos Papadopoulos was born in Nicosia. President of Cyprus.
- 1935 - Kenny Davern was born (d. 2006). American jazz clarinetist.
- 1935 - Valeri Kubasov was born. Soviet cosmonaut.
- 1935 - João Bénard da Costa was born. Portuguese cinematographer critic and essayst.
- 1935 - World War II: Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval sign the Italo-French agreements.
- 1936 - Ben Cropp was born. Australian shark hunter and photographer.
- 1936 - G. Robert Blakey was born. American attorney.
- 1937 - Paul Revere was born. American musician.
- 1938 - Lou Graham was born. American golfer.
- 1938 - Roland Topor was born (d. 1997). French illustrator.
- 1938 - Rory Storm was biorn (d. 1972). British singer.
- 1939 - Maury Povich was born. American TV host.
- 1939 - Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark was born.
- 1941 - World War II - North Africa : British troops capture Torbruk airport.
- 1941 - Frederick D. Gregory was born. NASA astronaut.
- 1941 - Iona Brown was born (d. 2004). British violinist and conductor.
- 1941 - John E. Walker was born. British chemist who won a share of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1997 for his pioneering work on how the enzyme ATP synthase catalyses the formation of the "high-energy" compound adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
- 1941 - Manfred Schellscheidt was born. German American soccer coach.
- 1942 - World War II: Siege of the Bataan Peninsula begins.
- 1942 - Danny Williams was born (d. 2005). South African singer.
- 1942 - Jim Lefebvre was born. American baseball player and manager.
- 1942 - Michael L. Bender was born. American judge, Colorado Supreme Court
- 1942 - Vasily Alexeev was born. Russian weightlifter.
- 1943 - World War II - North Africa : Oum-el-Araneb, the main Axis base in south Libya, is captured by General Philippe Leclerc's Free French troops.
- 1943 - Sir Richard Armstrong was born. British conductor.
- 1943 - Sadako Sasaki was born. World-famous victim of the atomic bomb when it was dropped on Hiroshima
- 1943 - Nikola Tesla dies (b. 1856). Serbian-born inventor and electrical engineer.
- 1944 - Arne Scheie was born. Norwegian sports commentator.
- 1944 - Tony Whitlam was born. Australian judge.
- 1944 - Napoleon Lapathiotis dies (b. 1888). Greek poet.
- 1945 - World War II: British General Bernard Montgomery holds a press conference in which he claims credit for victory in the Battle of the Bulge.
- 1945 - Dick Marty was born. Swiss politician.
- 1945 - Gilles Marotte was born (d. 2008). French Canadian ice hockey player.
- 1945 - Raila Odinga was born. Prime Minister of Kenya.
- 1945 - Tony Conigliaro was born (d. 1990). American baseball player.
- 1946 - Jann Wenner was born. American publisher.
- 1947 - Shobha De was born. Indian writer.
- 1948 - Kenny Loggins was born. American singer.
- 1949 - Anne Schedeen was born. American actress.
- 1949 - Marshall Chapman was born. American singer/songwriter.
- 1949 - Steven Williams was born. American actor.
- 1950 - A fire at the Mercy Hospital in Davenport, Iowa kills 41 people.
- 1950 - Erin Gray was born. American actress.
- 1950 - Johnny Lever was born. Indian actor.
- 1950 - Juan Gabriel was born. Mexican singer and songwriter.
- 1950 - Ross Grimsley was born. American baseball player.
- 1951 - Helen Worth was born. British actress.
- 1951 - James Beard was born. American wrestling referee.
- 1951 - René Guénon dies (b. 1886). French-Egyptian author.
- 1951 - Luiz Melodia was born. Brazilian singer and composer (MPB : música popular brasileira = Brazilian popular music).
- 1952 - Sammo Hung was born. Hong Kong actor
- 1953 - Osa Johnson dies (b. 1894). American explorer.
- 1954 - Georgetown-IBM experiment, the first public demonstration of a machine translation system, was held in New York at the head office of IBM.
- 1954 - José María Vitier was born. Cuban music composer and pianist.
- 1956 - David Caruso was born. American actor.
- 1956 - Mike Liut was born. Canadian ice hockey player.
- 1957 - Sociedade Esportiva Flamengo in Horizontina, Rio Grande do Sul is founded (Brazil). [webmaster note: Don't make confusion with Clube de Regatas do Flamengo].
- 1957 - Julian Solis was born. Puerto Rican boxer.
- 1957 - Katie Couric was born. American television host.
- 1957 - Nicholson Baker was born. American novelist.
- 1957 - Reena Roy was born. Indian actress.
- 1958 - Donna Rice was born. American sex scandal figure.
- 1958 - Linda Kozlowski was born. American actress.
- 1959 - Kathy Valentine was born. American musician (The Go-Gos).
- 1960 - David Marciano was born. American actor.
- 1960 - Loretta Sanchez was born. American politician.
- 1961 - Andrew Thomson was born. Australian politician.
- 1961 - John Thune was born. American politician.
- 1961 - Supriya Pathak was born. Indian actress.
- 1962 - Aleksandr Dugin was born. Russian politician.
- 1962 - Hallie Todd was born. American actress.
- 1963 - Clint Mansell was born. English musician and composer.
- 1964 - Nicolas Cage was born. American actor (Leaving Las Vegas).
- 1964 - Cyril Davies dies (b. 1932). American musician.
- 1965 - Aparece en Colombia la guerrilla procastrista Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN).
- 1966 - Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy was born (d. 1999). American publicist.
- 1966 - Ehab Tawfik was born. Egyptian singer.
- 1967 - Guy Hebert was born. American ice hockey player.
- 1967 - Mark Lamarr was born. British comedian and broadcaster.
- 1967 - Nick Clegg was born. British Liberal Democrat.
- 1967 - David Goodis dies (b. 1917). American writer.
- 1968 - Surveyor Program: Surveyor 7, the final spacecraft in the Surveyor series, lifts off from launch complex 36A, Cape Canaveral.
- 1969 - David Yost was born. American actor.
- 1970 - Andrew Burnham was born. British politician, Member of Parliament for Leigh.
- 1970 - Doug E. Doug was born. American actor.
- 1970 - Joao Ricardo was born. Angolan footballer.
- 1971 - C.W. Anderson was born. American professional wrestler.
- 1971 - David Yost was born. American actor .
- 1971 - Jeremy Renner was born. American actor.
- 1971 - Tina Anderson was born. American comic book writer.
- 1972 - Iberia Airlines Caravelle 6-R crashed into Mont San Jose on approach to Ibiza Airport killing all 104 on board.
- 1972 - Donald Brashear was born. American hockey player.
- 1972 - John Berryman dies (b. 1914). American poet.
- 1972 - Eftichia Papagianopoulos dies. Greek lyricist.
- 1973 - Mark Essex fatally shot 10 people and wounded 13 others at Howard Johnson’s Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana before being shot to death by police officers.
- 1973 - Jonna Tervomaa was born. Finnish singer.
- 1974 - John Rich was born. American guitarist and bassist (Big & Rich).
- 1976 - Alfonso Soriano was born. Dominican baseball player.
- 1976 - Eric Gagné was born. Canadian baseball player.
- 1976 - Luís Person dies (b. 1936). Brazilian actor and director.
- 1976 - Alfonso Soriano was born. Dominican baseball player.
- 1976 - Éric Gagné was born. Canadian baseball player.
- 1977 - Club de Deportes Cobreloa, Calama, Chile, is founded.
- 1977 - Un grupo de intelectuais tchecos escrevem a chamada Carta dos 77, um documento que exige do Governo de Praga o respeito pelos direitos humanos e civis dos cidadãos.
- 1977 - Dustin Diamond was born. American actor.
- 1977 - John Gidding was born. American architect and TV host (Designed to Sell).
- 1977 - Michelle Behennah was born. British model.
- 1978 - Kevin Mench was born. American baseball player.
- 1979 - Phnom Penh fell to the advancing Vietnamese troops, so driving out Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.
- 1979 - Bipasha Basu was born. Indian model.
- 1979 - Mariangel Ruiz was born. Venezuelan actress and model.
- 1979 - Ryan Tedder was born. American singer.
- 1980 - President Jimmy Carter authorizes legislation giving $1.5 billion in loans to bail out Chrysler Corporation.
- 1980 - Gandhi returned by landslide vote : Indians vote Indira Gandhi back into power, less than three years after rejecting her "emergency dictatorship".
- 1980 - Mariangel Ruiz was born. Venezuelan hostees, actress and model.
- 1980 - Larry Williams dies (b. 1935). American singer, pianist and songwriter.
- 1981 - Alex Auld was born. Canadian ice hockey player.
- 1981 - Marquis Daniels was born. American basketball player.
- 1982 - El socialdemócrata Luis Alberto Monge gana las elecciones presidenciales de Costa Rica.
- 1982 - Francisco Rodriguez was born. Venezuelan baseball player.
- 1982 - Hannah Stockbauer was born. German swimmer.
- 1982 - Ianina Zanazzi was born. Argentine racing driver.
- 1983 - Liesbeth Mouha was born. Belgian beach volleyball player.
- 1983 - Natalie Gulbis was born. American golfer.
- 1984 - Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
- 1984 - Jon Lester was born. American baseball player.
- 1984 - Alfred Kastler dies (b. 1902). French investigator whose work give him The Nobel Prize for Physics in 1966.
- 1985 - Lewis Hamilton was born. English F1 racing driver.
- 1985 - José Maria Pedroto dies. Portuguese football coach and footballer.
- 1985 - Lewis Hamilton was born. British racing driver.
- 1986 - Grant Leadbitter was born. English footballer.
- 1986 - Philip D. Eastman dies (b. 1909). American children's book writer and illustrator.
- 1986 - Juan Rulfo dies (b. 1917). Mexican writer, author of "El llano en llamas" (1953) and "Pedro Páramo" (1955).
- 1988 - Halley Banett was born. American actress.
- 1988 - Robert Sheehan was born. Irish actor.
- 1988 - Scott Pendlebury was born. Australian rules footballer.
- 1989 - Emiliano Insúa was born. Argentine footballer.
- 1988 - Trevor Howard dies (b. 1913). English actor.
- 1988 - Michel Auclair dies (b. 1922). French actor.
- 1990 - The interior of the Leaning Tower of Pisa is closed to the public due to safety concerns.
- 1990 - Camryn Grimes was born. American actress.
- 1990 - Elene Gedevanishvili was born. Georgian figure skater
- 1990 - Gregor Schlierenzauer was born. Austrian skijumper.
- 1990 - Liam Aiken was born. American actor.
- 1990 - Bronko Nagurski dies (b. 1908). American football player.
- 1990 - Horace Stoneham dies (b. 1903). American baseball executive.
- 1991 - Beginning of the operation Desert Storm, during the Gulf War.
- 1991 - Roger Lafontant, ex ministro del derrocado dictador haitiano Jean Claude Duvalier, fracasa en su golpe de estado contra el presidente electo, Jean B. Aristide
- 1991 - Max Morrow was born. Canadian actor.
- 1992 - Richard Hunt dies (b. 1951). American puppeteer (The Muppets).
- 1995 - Murray Rothbard dies (b. 1926). American economist.
- 1996 - El conservador Alvaro Arzú, del Partido Avanzada Nacional, es elegido nuevo presidente de Guatemala.
- 1996 - The North American blizzard of 1996 pounds the east coast of the U.S. with 1-4 feet of snow.
- 1996 - Károly Grósz dies (b. 1930). Hungarian politician.
- 1996 - Tarō Okamoto dies (b. 1911). Japanese avant-garde artist.
- 1998 - Vladimir Prelog dies (b. 1906). Croatian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate.
- 1998 - Owen Bradley dies (b. 1915). American record producer.
- 2000 - Aitken freed from prison early: Former Cabinet minister Jonathan Aitken is released from jail after serving less than half of his 18-month sentence.
- 2000 - Don Martin dies (b. 1931). American illustrator.
- 2000 - Gary Albright dies (b. 1963). American professional wrestler.
- 2002 - Gyula Várady dies (b. 1919). Hungarian footballer.
- 2002 - Naughtia Childs dies (suicide) (b. 1979). Porn star.
- 2002 - Avery Schreiber dies (b. 1935). American actor.
- 2003 - Oolong dies. Japanese rabbit which became an Internet meme
- 2003 - Bosko Boskovic dies, Yougoslavian director, writer and actor. Boskovic’s film "Nebeski Odred" was nominated for the Grand Prix Award at the 1961 Moscow film festival.
- 2003 - José Viana, Portuguese actor, died in an automobile accident at age 80. Mr. Viana appeared in numerous films and TV series ( "Senhor Jerónimo", "Love Letters From a Portuguese Nun" ...).
- 2004 - Ingrid Thulin dies (b. 1926). Swedish actress.
- 2004 - Oswald Garrison "Mike" Villard Jr. died this day (b. 1916); American electronics engineer who developed over-the-horizon radar.
- 2005 - Pierre Daninos dies (b. 1913). French novelist.
- 2005 - Eileen Desmond dies (b. 1932). Irish politician.
- 2005 - Rosemary Kennedy dies. Sister of John F. Kennedy
- 2006 - Heinrich Harrer dies (b. 1912). Austrian mountaineer and explorer.
- 2007 - Bobby Hamilton dies (b. 1957). NASCAR team owner.
- 2007 - Magnús Magnússon dies (b. 1929). Icelandic-born television presenter.
- 2008 - Alwyn Schlebusch dies (b. 1917). South African vice state president.
Catholicism - Feast day of St. Raymond of Penafort. - Christmas Day in the Eastern Orthodox Churches and Oriental Orthodox Churches using the Julian Calendar
- European traditional - Distaff day: women's traditional work begins again after Epiphany.
- Italy - Tricolour day (Festa del Tricolore).
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