On this day in History - Jan. 15

• 588 BC - Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem under Zedekiah's reign. The siege lasts until July 18, 586 BC.
• 0041 - Caligula dies (b. 0012). Roman Emperor.
• 0069 - Otho seizes power in Rome, proclaiming himself Emperor of Rome, but only survives for three months before committing suicide. / O imperador romano Galba foi morto pela Guarda Pretoriana no Forum de Roma. Tinha sucedido a Nero, e o seu assassinato deu origem a uma época de 30 anos de anarquia governativa no império romano.
• 0069 - Galba dies (b. 3 BC). Roman Emperor.
  
• 0570 - Saint Ita dies (b. 0475). Irish nun.
• 0708 - Pope Sisinnius is elected Pope.
• 0936 - King Rudolph of France.
  
• 1342 - Philip II, Duke of Burgundy was born (d. 1404).
• 1345 - Martin Zaccaria dies. Italo-Greek ruler.
• 1412 - Saint Joan of Arc was born (d. 1431).
• 1432 - King Afonso V of Portugal was born (d. 1481).
• 1481 - Ashikaga Yoshizumi was born (d. 1511). Japanese shogun.
• 1535 - Henrique VIII tornou-se Chefe Supremo da Igreja de Inglaterra em resultado do Acto de Supremacia que tinha provocado a separação da Igreja Católica Romana.
• 1538 - Maeda Toshiie was born (d. 1599). Japanese general.
• 1559 - Queen Elizabeth I was crowned in Westminster Abbey by Owen Oglethorpe, the Bishop of Carlisle, instead of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
• 1582 - Russia cedes Livonia and Estonia to Poland.
• 1595 - Murat III dies (b. 1546). Ottoman Emperor.
• 1597 - Juan de Herrera dies. Spanish architect (Monasterio del Escorial).
• 1622 - Jean Baptiste Poquelín [Molière] was born (d. 1673). French playwright.
• 1623 - Fra Paolo Sarpi dies (b. 1552). Italian patriot, scholar, scientist and church reformer.
  
• 1671 - Abraham de la Pryme was born (d. 1704). English antiquarian.
• 1672 - John Cosin dies (b. 1594). English clergyman.
• 1674 – Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon was born (d. 1762). French writer (d. 1762)
• 1683 - Philip Warwick dies (b. 1609). English writer and politician.
• 1716 - Philip Livingston was born (d. 1778). American signer of the Declaration of Independence.
• 1747 - John Aikin was born (d. 1822). English doctor and writer.
• 1754 - Richard Martin was born (d. 1834). Irish founder of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
• 1759 - The British Museum opens.
• 1774 - El virrey de Buenos Aires, Juan José Vértiz y Salcedo, sale de Montevideo al frente de sus tropas y derrota a los invasores portugueses.
• 1775 - Giovanni Battista Sammartini dies. Italian composer.
• 1777 - American Revolutionary War: New Connecticut declares its independence. Six months later it was renamed Vermont.
• 1781 - Marianne Victoria of Borbón dies (b. 1718). Queen regent of Portugal (wife of King D. Jose I).
• 1782 - Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris goes before the U.S. Congress to recommend establishment of a national mint and decimal coinage.
• 1790 - John Landen dies (b. 1719). English mathematician.
• 1791 - Franz Grillparzer was born (d. 1872). Austrian writer.
• 1795 - Alexandr Griboyedov was born (d. 1829). Russian playwright.
• 1803 - Marjory Fleming was born (d. 1811). Scottish writer and poet.
• 1804 - Dru Drury dies (b. 1725). English entomologist.
• 1809 - Pierre-Joseph Proudhon was born (d. 1865). French anarchist.
• 1810 - Abigail Kelley Foster was born (d. 14 Jan. 1887). American abolitionist and feminist.
• 1810 - José Bonaparte, à frente de Exército de 80 mil homen, chega a Serra Morena, iniciando a ocupação de Andaluzia.
• 1812 - Peter Christian Asbjørnsen was born (d. 1885). Norwegian writer and scientist.
• 1815 - Emma, Lady Hamilton dies (b. 1761). English mistress of Lord Nelson.
  
• 1816 - Marie LaFarge was born (d. 1852). French murderer.
• 1822 - Greek War of Independence: Demetrius Ypsilanti is elected president of the legislative assembly.
• 1824 - Marie Duplessis was born (d. 1847). French courtesan, inspiration for La Dame aux Camelias.
• 1834 - Samuel Arza Davenport was born (d. 1911). American politician.
  
• 1841 - Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby was born (d. 1908). Governor General of Canada.
• 1842 - Blessed Mary McKillop was born (d. 1909). Australian candidate for sainthood.
  
• 1842 - Josef Breuer was born (d. 1925). Austrian psychologist.
• 1844 - University of Notre Dame receives its charter from Indiana.
• 1847 - Francisco Adolfo Coelho was born (d. 1919). Portuguese philologist and anthropologist.
• 1850 – Leonard Darwin was born (d. 1943). Son of Charles Darwin.
• 1850 - Mihai Eminescu was born (d. 15 Jun. 1889). Romanian poet.
• 1850 - Sofia Kovalevskaya was born (d. 1891). Russian mathematician.
• 1855 - Jacques Damala was born (d. 1889). Greek military officer and actor.
• 1859 - Haitian Emperor Faustino I abdicated his throne as result of the revolution begun in 1958 led by General Fabre Geffrard, Duc de Tabara.
• 1859 - Archibald Peake was born (d. 1920). Premier of South Australia.
  
• 1861 - Elisha Otis patenta el ascensor a vapor, formando la base de su compañía de elevadores.
• 1863 - Wilhelm Marx was born (d. 1946). German politician, chancellor of the Weimar Republic.
• 1864 - Isaac Nathan dies (b. 1792). UK-Australian composer.
  
• 1865 - American Civil War - Fort Fisher North Carolina falls to the Union, thus cutting off the last major seaport of the Confederacy.
• 1865 - Joaquín González Camargo was born. Colombian poet.
• 1866 - Nathan Söderblom was born (d. 1931). Swedish archbishop, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 1869 – Ruby Laffoon was born (d. 1941). 43rd Governor of Kentucky.
  
• 1869 - Stanisław Wyspiański was born (d. 1907). Polish dramatist, poet, painter and architect.
• 1870 - A political cartoon for the first time symbolizes the United States Democratic Party with a donkey ("A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion" by Thomas Nast for Harper's Weekly).
• 1870 - Pierre S. DuPont was born (d. 1954). American businessman.
• 1872 - Arsen Kotsoyev was born (d. 1944). Russian writer.
• 1875 - Tom Burke was born (d. 1929). American runner.
• 1876 - Eliza Johnson dies (b. 1810). U.S. First Lady.
• 1877 - Lewis Terman was born (d. 1956). American psychologist.
• 1878 - Johanna Müller-Hermann was born (d. 1941). Austrian composer and pedagogue.
• 1879 - Mazo de la Roche was born (d. 1961). Canadian author.
• 1881 - Batalla de Miraflores, durante la guerra del Pacífico entre los ejércitos chileno y peruano, que da la victoria a los primeros, abriéndoles las puertas de Lima.
• 1882 - Daniel Vázquez Díaz was born. Spanish painter.
• 1882 - Princess Margaret of Connaught was born (d. 1920). Crown Princess of Sweden.
• 1885 - Wilson Bentley takes the first photograph of a snowflake.
• 1885 - Grover Lowdermilk was born (d. 1968). American baseball player.
  
• 1885 - Huang Yuanyong was born (d. 1915). Chinese writer.
• 1885 - Lorenz Böhler was born (d. 1973). Austrian physician.
• 1885 - Leopold Damrosch dies (b. 1832). German-American orchestral conductor.
  
• 1889 - The Coca-Cola Company, then known as the Pemberton Medicine Company, is originally incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia.
• 1890 - Tommy Fleming was born (d. 1965). American soccer player.
  
• 1891 - Osip Mandelstam was born (d. 1938). Soviet poet and essayist.
• 1891 - Ray Chapman was born (d. 1920). American baseball player.
• 1892 - James Naismith publishes the rules for basketball.
• 1892 - Rex Ingram was born (d. 1950). Irish director, writer.
• 1893 - Ivor Novello was born (d. 1951). Welsh actor, musician.
• 1893 - Fanny Kemble dies (b. 1809). British actress and author.
  
• 1895 - Artturi Ilmari Virtanen was born (d. 1973). Finnish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1896 - Víctor de la Serna was born. Chilean writer established in Spain.
• 1896 - Mathew Brady dies (b. 1822). U.S. photographer.
  
• 1897 - Xu Zhimo was born (d. 1931). Chinese poet.
• 1899 - Goodman Ace was born (d. 1982). American actor, comedian, writer.
• 1900 – William Heinesen was born (d. 1991). Faroese writer, poet and artist.
  
• 1901 - Rosita Quiroga was born. Tango singer.
• 1901 - Luis Monti was born (d. 1983). Argentine-Italian footballer.
• 1902 - King Saud of Saudi Arabia was born (d. 1969).
• 1902 – Nazım Hikmet was born (d. 1963). Turkish poet.
  
• 1903 - Paul A. Dever was born (d. 1958). 58^th Governor of Massachusetts.
  
• 1904 - Manuel Amador Guerrero, es elegido primer presidente constitucional de Panamá por la Convención Nacional.
• 1905 - Kamatari Fujiwara was born (d. 1985). Japanese actor.
  
• 1905 - Torin Thatcher was born (d. 1981). English actor.
  
• 1906 - Aristotle Onassis was born (d. 15 Mar 1975). Greek businessman and magnat.
• 1907 - Dr. Lee de Forest gets patent to Wireless Telegraphy" (tunable vacuum tube detector - no grid) USP 841,386.
• 1908 - The Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, the first Greek-letter organization by and for Black college women is established.
• 1908 - Edward Teller was born (d. 2003). Hungarian-born physicist.
• 1909 - Gene Krupa was born (d. 1973). American drummer.
• 1909 - Jean Bugatti was born (d. 1939). German-born automobile designer.
• 1909 - Arnold Janssen dies (b. 1837). Missionary.
• 1910 - France reorganizes its various colonies in Central and West Africa as French Equatorial Africa.
• 1911 - Carlos Côrrea Mascaro was born. Brazilian educator.
• 1912 - Harry Hay was born (d. 2002). American gay rights activist.
  
• 1912 - Michel Debré was born (d. 1996). French politician.
  
• 1913 - Alexander Marinesko was born (d. 1963). Captain of the S-13 submarine, which sank the German ship Wilhelm Gustloff.
• 1913 - Lloyd Bridges was born (d. 1998). American actor.
  
• 1913 - Miriam Hyde was born (d. 2005). Australian composer.
  
• 1914 - Hugh Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton was born (d. 2003). English historian
• 1915 - Mary Slessor dies (b. 1848). Scottish Christian missionary to West Africa.
• 1916 - Modest Tchaikovsky dies (b. 1850). Russian writer.
  
• 1918 - Édouard Gagnon was born (d. 2007). Canadian Roman Catholic cardinal.
• 1918 - Gamal Nasser was born (d. 1970). Egyptian statesman, prime minister and president.
• 1918 - João Figueiredo was born. 42nd President of Brazil (1979-1985).
• 1919 - The Boston Molasses Disaster kills 21 people. A large molasses tank in Boston, Massachusetts, bursts and a wave of molasses rushes through the streets, killing 21 people and injuring 150 others.
• 1919 - Ignace Paderewski becomes Premier of Poland.
• 1919 - Rosa Luxemburg (b. 1870) and Karl Liebknecht (b. 1871), founders of The German Communist Party are assasssinated in Berlin.
• 1919 - Maurice Herzog was born. French mountaineer, first to ascend an 8000m peak, Annapurna in 1950.
• 1920 - John Cardinal O'Connor was born (d. 2000). American Catholic cardinal.
• 1920 - Steve Gromek was born (d. 2002). American baseball player.
• 1921 - Frank Thornton was born. English actor.
• 1922 - Sir Eric Willis was born (d. 1999). Australian politician.
  
• 1923 - Ivor Cutler was born (d. 2006). Scottish poet.
• 1923 - João Manuel Bairrão de Oliveira da Silva Oleiro was born in Abrantes (d. 11 Jun 2000). Portuguese archeologist.
  
• 1923 - Lee Teng-hui was born. Taiwanese politician.
• 1925 - Ruth Slenczynska was born. U.S. pianist.
• 1926 - Domingo de Orueta y Duarte was born. Spanish scientist who was President of la Academia Española de Historia Natural.
• 1926 - Florence Buchsbaum was born (d. 1996). French theater director.
• 1926 - Maria Schell was born (d. 2005). Swiss actress.
• 1926 - Enrico Toselli dies (b. 1883). Italian composer.
  
• 1927 - Norm Crosby was born. American comedian.
• 1927 - Phyllis Coates was born. American actress.
• 1929 - Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia (d. 1968 killed in Menfis). American Civil Rights Leader. Nobel Prize awarded 1964.
• 1930 - Eddie Graham was born (d. 1985). American professional wrestler.
• 1931 - Un terremoto destruye la ciudad de Oaxaca (México).
• 1933 - Ernest J. Gaines was born. American author.
• 1934 - Um terremoto causa a morte de 10.700 pessoas no norte da Índia.
• 1935 - Somaliland and Eritrea joined by Mussolini to form Italian East Africa.
• 1935 – Malcolm Frager was born. American pianist.
• 1936 - The first building to be completely covered in glass is completed in Toledo, Ohio (the building was for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company).
• 1936 - Henry Forster, 1st Baron Forster dies (b. 1866). Governor-General of Australia.
  
• 1937 - Margaret O'Brien was born. American actress.
• 1938 - Chuni Goswami was born. Indian footballer and cricketer.
• 1939 - Tony Bullimore was born. English sailor and adventurer.
• 1941 - Alfonso XIII abdica em Roma de seus direitos ao trono espanhol.
• 1941 – Captain Beefheart was born. American musician and visual artist.
• 1941 - Charo was born. Spanish entertainer.
• 1941 - Don Van Vliet a.k.a. Captain Beefheart was born. American musician and visual artist.
• 1942 - Nehru sucede Gandhi à frente do Partido Popular do Congresso Indiano.
• 1943 - Finalização das obras do Pentágono, sede do Departamento de Defesa do Estados Unidos, em Washington, o maior prédio de escritórios do mundo.
• 1943 - World War II: Japanese driven off Guadalcanal.
• 1943 - World War II: Soviet counter-offensive at Voronezh begins.
• 1943 - The world's largest office building, The Pentagon, is dedicated (Arlington, Virginia).
• 1943 – Ashraf Aman was born. First Pakistani to reach the summit of K2.
• 1943 - Mike Marshall was born. American baseball player.
• 1944 - An earthquake destroys San Juan in Argentina.
• 1945 - Princess Michael of Kent was born. British royal.
• 1945 - Vince Foster was born (d. 1993). American lawyer.
• 1945 – William R. Higgins was born (d. 1990). USMC colonel.
• 1945 - Wilhelm Wirtinger dies (b. 1865). Austrian mathematician.
• 1947 - The brutalized corpse of Elizabeth Short ("The Black Dahlia") is found in Leimert Park, Los Angeles, California. Her murderer has never been found and it has become a notorious case in the history of American crime.
• 1947 - Andrea Martin was born. Canadian actress.
• 1947 - Elizabeth Short dies (b. 1924). The Black Dahlia.
  
• 1948 - Ronnie VanZant was born (d. 1977). Lead vocal for Lynyrd Skynyrd.
• 1949 - The Chinese Communist Party forces took over Tianjin from the Nationalist Government.
• 1949 - Luis Alvarado was born (d. 2001). Puerto Rican baseball player.
• 1949 - Panos Mihalopoulos was born. Greek actor.
• 1950 - Marius Trésor was born. French footballer.
• 1950 - Gen Henry "Hap" Arnold dies (b. 1886). U.S. General of the Air Force.
  
• 1951 - Ilse Koch, The "Bitch of Buchenwald", wife of the commandant of the Buchenwald concentration camp, is sentenced to life imprisonment in a court in West Germany.
• 1951 - Charo was born. Spanish-born singer.
• 1952 - Ned Hanlon dies (b. 1887). Premier of Queensland.
  
• 1953 - Kent Hovind was born. American evangelist and Young Earth creationist.
• 1953 - Randy White was born. American football player.
• 1953 - Ta-Tanisha was born. American actress.
• 1954 - "General China", the Mau Mau's second in command, is wounded and captured by the British.
• 1954 - Jose Dalisay, Jr. was born. Filipino writer.
• 1954 - Nikos Sarganis was born. Greek footballer.
• 1955 - Theresa Saad Thurman was born. American Arbitrator.
• 1955 - Nigel Benson was born. British author.
• 1955 - Yves Tanguy dies (b. 1900). French surrealist painter.
• 1956 – Marc Trestman was born. CFL head coach.
• 1956 - Mayawati was born. Indian politician.
• 1956 – Miki Fujimura was born. Japanese singer.
• 1957 - Julian Sands was born. English actor.
• 1957 - Mario Van Peebles was born in Mexico. American actor.
• 1957 - Marty Lyons was born. American professional football player.
• 1957 - Patrick Dixon was born. British entrepreneur.
• 1958 - Boris Tadić was born. President of Serbia.
• 1959 - Pavle Kozjek was born (d. 2008). Slovenian climber.
  
• 1959 - Pete Trewavas was born. British bass guitarist (Marillion).
• 1959 - Sister Carol was born. Jamaican reggae singer.
• 1960 - Aaron Jay Kernis was born. American composer.
• 1960 - Kelly Asbury was born. American director and actor.
• 1961 - Yves P. Pelletier was born. Quebec comedian (Rock et Belles Oreilles), actor and film director.
• 1962 - Creflo Dollar was born. American televangelist.
• 1963 - Conrad Lant (aka Cronos) was born. English musician.
• 1964 - Osmo Tapio Räihälä was born. Finnish composer.
• 1964 - Jack Teagarden dies (b. 1905). American musician.
• 1965 - Adam Jones was born. Amerian musician (Tool).
• 1965 - Bernard Hopkins was born. American boxer.
• 1965 - James Nesbitt was born. Northern Irish actor.
• 1965 - Maurizio Fondriest was born. Italian cyclist.
• 1966 - First Military Coup in Nigeria, government of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa is overthrown.
• 1966 - The government of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa in Nigeria is overthrown in a military coup.
• 1967 -The first Super Bowl is played - The Green Bay Packers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs, 35-10.
• 1967 - David Burliuk dies (b. 1882). Ukrainian artist.
• 1968 - Chad Lowe was born. American actor.
• 1968 - Iñaki Urdangarín was born. Spanish royalty.
• 1968 - Bill Masterton dies (b. 1938). Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1968 - Tomás Pelayo dies in Santo Tirso (b. 20 May 1898). Portuguese painter and artist.
  
• 1969 - The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 5.
• 1969 - Delino DeShields was born. American baseball player.
• 1970 - After a 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria, Biafra surrenders.
• 1970 - Muammar al-Qaddafi is proclaimed premier of Libya.
• 1970 - Shane McMahon was born. American professional wrestler.
• 1970 - William T. Piper dies (b. 1881). American aircraft designer.
  
• 1971 - Max Beesley was born. English musician and actor.
• 1971 - Regina King was born. American actress.
• 1971 - Fernando Paço Borges was born. Brazilian poet and architect.
• 1971 - Teanna Kai was born. American porn star.
• 1972 – Christos Kostis was born. Greek footballer.
• 1972 - Claudia Winkleman was born. British television presenter.
• 1972 - Kobe Tai was born. American porn star.
• 1972 - Daisy Ashford dies (b. 1881). English child writer (The Young Visiters).
  
• 1973 - Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, President of the United States Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.
• 1973 - Golda Meir é a primeira líder israelita a ser recebida pelo Papa.
• 1973 - Essam El-Hadary was born. Egyptian football goalkeeper.
• 1973 - Ivan Petrovsky dies (b. 1901). Russian mathematician.
• 1973 - Coleman Francis dies (b. 1919). American film director.
• 1974 – Dennis Rader aka the BTK Killer kills his first victims by binding, torturing and murdering Joseph, Joseph II, Josephine and Julie Otero in their house.
• 1974 - Happy Days premiers on ABC.
• 1974 - Ray King was born. American baseball player.
• 1975 - Portugal grants independence to Angola witch takes effects on 11 Nov 1975/ Portugal garante a independencia de Angola pelos acordos de Alvor entre o Governo Português e os Movimentos de Libertação Angolanos. Fixa-se a data da independência: 11 Nov 1975.
• 1975 - Edith Bowman was born. Scottish television and radio presenter.
• 1975 - Greg Strause was born. American artist.
• 1975 - Mary Pierce was born. American tennis player.
• 1976 - Gerald Ford's would-be assassin, Sara Jane Moore, is sentenced to life in prison.
• 1976 - Corey Chavous was born. American football player.
• 1976 - Dorian Missick was born. American actor.
• 1976 - Rodrigo Fabri was born. Brazilian football player.
• 1976 – Scott Murray was born. Scotland rugby player.
• 1977 - The Kälvesta air disaster kills 22 people, the worst air crash in Sweden's history.
• 1978 - Eddie Cahill was born. American actor.
• 1978 - Franco Pellizotti was born. Italian cyclist.
• 1978 – Ryan Sidebottom was born. English cricketer.
• 1979 - Adam Brody was born. American actor.
• 1979 - Drew Brees was born. American football player.
• 1979 - Ken Chu was born. Taiwanese singer-actor and taichi champ.
• 1979 - Martin Petrov was born. Bulgarian footballer.
• 1979 – Michalis Morfis was born. Cypriot footballer.
• 1979 - Young Dro was born. American rapper.
• 1980 - Matt Holliday was born. American baseball player.
• 1981 - El Hadji Diouf was born. Senegalese footballer.
• 1981 - Howie Day was born. American pop singer.
• 1981 - Sean Lamont was born. Scottish rugby union footballer.
• 1982 - Armando Galarraga was born. Venezuelan baseball player.
• 1982 - Benjamin Agosto was born. American skater.
• 1982 - Brett Lebda was born. American hockey player.
• 1982 - Megan Quann was born. American swimmer.
• 1982 - Neil Nitin Mukesh was born. Indian actor.
• 1982 - Philip and Alexander was born. American-born princes of the Yugoslav Royal Family.
• 1983 - Hugo Viana was born. Portuguese footballer.
• 1983 - Jermaine Pennant was born. English footballer.
• 1983 - Meyer Lansky dies (b. 1902). Russian-born gangster.
• 1983 - Shepperd Strudwick dies (b. 1907). American actor.
  
• 1984 - Megan Jendrick was born. American swimmer.
• 1984 - Victor Rasuk was born. American actor.
• 1985 - Tancredo Neves is elected President of Brazil (but he will die before has taken the power).
• 1985 - Kenneth Emil Petersen was born. Danish footballer.
• 1985 – Rene Adler was born. German footballer.
• 1986 - The HBO and Cinemax pay cable television services initiate scrambling of their national satellite feeds on Galaxy 1 with the Videocipher II system.
• 1986 - The Living Seas opens at EPCOT Center in Walt Disney World, Florida.
• 1986 - Acidente de helicóptero no Rally Paris-Dakar. Morrem o organizador, Thierry Sabine e mais quatro pessoas.
• 1986 - Fred Davis was born. American football player.
• 1986 – Jessy Schram was born. American actress.
• 1987 - La Junta militar chilena aprueba la ley de partidos políticos, que los autoriza, por primera vez, desde el golpe de estado de 1973.
• 1987 - Aria C Jalali was born. American musician.
• 1987 - Barbie Blank was born. American model and professional wrestling valet.
• 1987 - David Knight was born. English footballer.
• 1987 - Greg Inglis was born. Australian rugby league player.
• 1987 - Kelly Kelly was born. American WWE Diva.
• 1987 - Michael Seater was born. Canadian actor.
• 1987 - Ray Bolger dies (b. 1904). American actor, singer, and dancer.
• 1988 - Sonny Moore was born. American musician From First to Last.
  
• 1988 - Seán MacBride dies (b. 1904). Irish statesman, Nobel Prize (1974) and Lenin Prize for Peace laureate.
• 1989 - Alexei Cherepanov was born (d. 2008). Russian hockey player.
• 1989 – Keiffer Hubbell was born. American ice dancer.
• 1990 - AT&T's long distance telephone network suffers a cascade switching failure.
• 1990 - Chris Warren Jr. was born. American actor.
• 1990 - Fernando Forestieri was born. Italian footballer.
• 1990 - Dame Peggy van Praagh dies (b. 1910). British ballet dancer, choreographer, director.
  
• 1990 - Gordon Jackson dies (b. 1923). Scottish film tv actor; best known as the butler 'Hudson' on Upstairs Downstairs.
• 1991 - The United Nations deadline for the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait expires, preparing the way for the start of Operation Desert Storm.
• 1992 - The European Community recognized Croatia and Slovenia as separate states, effectively ending the Yugoslav federation, founded in 1918.
• 1992 - Terroristas do ETA assassinam o professor Manuel Broseta, em Valência, na Itália.
• 1992 - The international community recognizes the independence of Slovenia and Croatia from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
• 1992 - Dee Murray dies (b. 1946). English bassist.
• 1993 - Salvatore Riina, the Mafia boss known as 'The Beast', is arrested in Sicily after three decades as a fugitive
• 1993 - Sammy Cahn dies (b. 1913). American songwriter.
• 1994 - The Pan African Congress agrees to renounce the armed struggle against South Africa's government and register as a political party in the forthcoming election.
• 1994 - Georges Cziffra dies (b. 1921). Hungarian-French pianist.
  
• 1994 - Harilal Upadhyay dies (b. 1916). Gujarati-Indian author, poet, astrologist.
  
• 1994 - Harry Nilsson dies (b. 1941). American musician.
  
• 1995 - The first episode of Star Trek: Voyager airs.
• 1995 - Vera Maxwell dies (b. 1901). American fashion designer.
  
• 1996 - O primeiro-ministro socialista da Grécia, Andréas Papandreou, renuncia por motivos de saúde.
• 1996 - Mario Vargas Llosa toma posesión del sillón "L" de la Real Academia Española de la Lengua.
• 1996 - Paramount Chief Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho dies in a car crash (b. 1938).
• 1996 - Les Baxter dies (b. 1922). American musician and composer.
• 1996 - Minnesota Fats dies (b. 1913). American Billiards player.
• 1996 - Paramount Chief Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho dies (b. 1938).
• 1998 - Junior Wells dies (b. 1934). American musician.
• 1999 - The Racak incident: 45 Albanians in the Kosovo village of Racak were killed by Yugoslav security forces.
• 1999 - Betty Box dies (b. 1915). British film producer.
  
• 2000 - Fran Ryan dies (b. 1916). American actress.
• 2000 - Georges-Henri Lévesque dies (b. 1903). French Canadian Dominican priest and sociologist.
• 2000 - Željko Ražnatović, aka Arkan, dies (b. 1952). Serbian paramilitary leader.
  
• 2001 - Wikipedia, a Wiki free content encyclopedia, goes online: Wikipedia Day .
• 2001 - Ted Mann dies (b. 1916). American screenwriter.
• 2002 - Steve Gromek dies (b. 1920). American baseball player.
• 2003 - Gladys Kamakakuokalani Ainoa Brandt dies. Hawaiian educator; fought for native Hawaiian rights .
• 2003 - Doris Fisher dies (b. 1915). American singer and songwriter.
• 2005 - An intense solar flare blasts X-rays across the solar system.
• 2005 - ESA's SMART-1 lunar orbiter discovers elements such as calcium, aluminum, silicon, iron, and other surface elements on the moon.
• 2005 - Dan Lee dies (b. 1969). Canadian animator.
  
• 2005 - Deem Bristow dies (b. 1947). American video game voice actor.
• 2005 - Elizabeth Janeway dies (b. 1913). American author.
• 2005 - Ruth Warrick dies (b. 1915). American actress.
  
• 2005 - Walter Ernsting dies (b. 1920). German author.
  
• 2005 - Victoria de los Angeles dies (b. 1923). Catalan soprano.
  
• 2006 - Michelle Bachelet is elected, the first woman, President of Chile.
• 2006 - O Benfica ganha 3-0 à Académica com golos de Simão Sabrosa, Luisão e Nuno Gomes. O Porto comandava a classificação com mais 3 pontos que o Benfica.
• 2006 - Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah dies (b. 1926). Emir of Kuwait.
• 2007 - O Benfica passado um ano volta a jogar com a Académica agora em Coimbra, vencendo por 2-0.
• 2007 - Comet McNaught makes perigee after coming close to the sun.
• 2007 - Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti dies executed (b. 1951). Former Iraqi intelligence chief and half-brother of Saddam Hussein
• 2007 - Awad Hamed al-Bandar dies executed (b. 1945). Former chief judge of the Iraqi Revolutionary Court.
• 2007 - Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti dies executed (b. 1951). Former Iraqi intelligence chief and half-brother of Saddam Hussein.
  
• 2007 - Bo Yibo dies (b. 1908). Chinese politician.
• 2007 - David Vanole dies (b. 1963). American soccer player.
• 2007 - James Hillier dies (b. 1915). Canadian inventor of electron microscope.
• 2007 - Pura Santillan-Castrence dies (b. 1905). Filipino writer and diplomat.
  
• 2008 - Brad Renfro dies (b. 1982). American actor.
  
• 2008 - Mark Haigh-Hutchinson dies (b. 1964). English video game designer.
• 2009 – US Airways Flight 1549 makes an emergency landing into the Hudson River shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport in New York City. All passengers and crew members survive.
• Roman Empire - Second day of the Carmentalia in honor of Carmenta.
• Roman Catholic Church - Saint Ita, virgin, died January 15, 570.
• Malawi - John Chilembwe Day.
• North Korea - Korean Alphabet Day.
• United States - Traditionally, Martin Luther King Day.
• Kerala in India - Makaravilakku or Makara Sankranthy at Sabarimala.
• Jallikattu in South India.
• Wikipedia Day.
• Pongal in Tamil Nadu (2007).