Events

• 1055 - Theodora is crowned Empress of the Byzantine Empire.
• 1158 - Vladislav II becomes King of Bohemia.
• 1569 - First recorded lottery in England.
• 1571 - Austrian nobility is granted freedom of religion.
• 1693 - Mt. Etna erupts in Sicily, Italy. A powerful earthquake destroys parts of Sicily and Malta.
• 1759 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the first American life insurance company is incorporated.
• 1779 - Ching-Thang Khomba is crowned King of Manipur.
• 1787 - William Herschel discovers Titania and Oberon, two moons of Uranus.
• 1794 - Robert Forsythe, a U.S. Marshal is killed in Augusta, Georgia when trying to serve court papers, the first US marshal to die while carrying out his duties.
• 1805 - The Michigan Territory is created.
• 1861 - Alabama secedes from the United States.
• 1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Arkansas Post - General John McClernand and Admiral David Dixon Porter capture the Arkansas River for the Union.
• 1867 - Benito Juárez becomes the Mexican president again.
• 1879 - The Anglo-Zulu War begins.
• 1908 - Grand Canyon National Monument is created.
• 1912 - The Lawrence textile strike begins in Lawrence, Massachusetts.
• 1917 - The Kingsland munitions factory explosion occurs as a result of sabotage.
• 1919 - Romania annexes Transylvania.
• 1922 - First use of insulin to treat diabetes in a human patient.
• 1923 - Troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area to force Germany to make its reparation payments.
• 1935 - Amelia Earhart is the first woman to fly solo from Hawaii to California.
• 1942 - Japan declares war on the Netherlands and invades the Netherlands East Indies.
• 1942 - The Japanese capture Kuala Lumpur.
• 1943 - The United States and United Kingdom give up territorial rights in China.
• 1946 - Enver Hoxha declares the People's Republic of Albania with himself as dictator.
• 1949 - First recorded case of snowfall in Los Angeles, California.
• 1957 - The African Convention is founded in Dakar.
• 1957 - Mass-murderer Jack Gilbert Graham is executed via the Gas Chamber.
• 1962 - An avalanche on Huascaran in Peru causes 4,000 deaths.
• 1964 - United States Surgeon General Dr. Luther Leonidas Terry, M.D., publishes a report saying that smoking may be hazardous to health. It is the first such statement ever made by the U.S. government.
• 1972 - East Pakistan renames itself Bangladesh.
• 1986 - The Gateway Bridge, Brisbane in Queensland, Australia is officially opened.
• 1990 - 300,000 march in favor of Lithuanian independence.
• 1994 - The Irish Government announces the end of a 15-year broadcasting ban on the IRA and its political arm Sinn Féin.
• 1996 - Haiti becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
• 1998 - Sidi-Hamed massacre takes place in Algeria, over 100 people are killed.

Births

• 347 - Emperor Theodosius I "The Great" of Rome (d. 395)
• 889 - Abd-ar-Rahman III, Emir and Caliph of Cordoba (d. 961)
• 1322 - Emperor Komyo of Japan (d. 1380)
• 1359 - Emperor Go-En'yu of Japan (d. 1393)
• 1395 - Michelle of Valois, Duchess of Burgundy (d. 1422)
• 1503 - Parmigianino, Italian artist (d. 1540)
• 1591 - Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, English Civil War general (d. 1646)
• 1630 - John Rogers, American President of Harvard in the US (d. 1684)
• 1671 - François-Marie, 1st duc de Broglie, French military leader (d. 1745)
• 1723 - Prithvi Narayan Shah, began the unification of modern Nepal (d. 1774)
• 1755 - Alexander Hamilton, 1st United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1804)
• 1757 - Samuel Bentham, English mechanical engineer (d. 1831)
• 1788 - William Thomas Brande, English chemist (d. 1866)
• 1800 - Ányos Jedlik, Hungarian physicist (d. 1895)
• 1807 - Ezra Cornell, American businessman and university founder (d. 1874)
• 1814 - James Paget, British surgeon and pathologist (d. 1899)
• 1815 - John A. Macdonald, 1st Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1891)
• 1825 - Bayard Taylor, U.S. poet and writer (d. 1878
• 1839 - Eugenio Maria de Hostos, Puerto Rican educator, philosopher and nationalist (d. 1903)
• 1842 - William James, American psychologist and philosopher (d. 1910)
• 1843 - Charles Yelverton O'Connor, Irish-Australian engineer (d. 1902)
• 1845 - Albert Victor Bäcklund, Swedish physicist (d. 1912)
• 1850 - Joseph Charles Arthur, American botanist (d. 1942)
• 1852 - Konstantin Fehrenbach, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1926)
• 1853 - Georgios Jakobides, Greek painter (d. 1926)
• 1856 - Christian Sinding, Norwegian composer (d. 1932)
• 1857 - Fred Archer, English jockey (d. 1886)
• 1858 - Harry Gordon Selfridge, American retailer (d. 1947)
• 1859 - Lord George Nathaniel Curzon, British statesman, Viceroy of India (d. 1925)
• 1864 - Thomas Dixon, American playwright, lecturer, North Carolina state legislator, lawyer, and author (d. 1946)
• 1867 - Edward B. Titchener, British psychologist. (d. 1927)
• 1868 - Cai Yuanpei, Chinese educator (d. 1940)
• 1870 - Alexander Stirling Calder, American sculptor (d. 1945)
• 1872 - George Washington Pierce, American physicist (d. 1956)
• 1873 - John Callan O'Laughlin, American political and military figure and journalist (d. 1949)
• 1875 - Reinhold Glière, Russian composer (d. 1956)
• 1876 - Elmer Flick, American baseball player (d. 1971)
• 1885 - Jack Hoxie, American actor, rodeo performer (d. 1965)
• 1885 - Alice Paul, American women's rights activist (d. 1977)
• 1887 - Aldo Leopold, American ecologist (d. 1948)
• 1888 - Chester Conklin, American comedian and actor (d. 1971)
• 1889 - Calvin Bridges, American geneticist (d. 1938)
• 1890 - Oswald de Andrade, Brazilian author (d. 1954)
• 1890 - Max Carey, American baseball player (d. 1976)
• 1895 - Laurens Hammond, American inventor of the Hammond organ (d. 1973)
• 1897 - August Heissmeyer, German SS officer (d. 1979)
• 1899 - Eva Le Gallienne, English-American actress (d. 1991)
• 1901 - Kwon Ki-ok, Korean pilot (d. 1988)
• 1902 - Maurice Duruflé, French composer (d. 1986)
• 1903 - Alan Paton, South African writer (d. 1988)
• 1905 - Clyde Kluckhohn, American anthropologist (d. 1960)
• 1905 - Manfred B Lee, U.S. writer, co-eponym of Ellery Queen (d. 1971)
• 1906 - Albert Hofmann, Swiss chemist (d. 2008)
• 1907 - Pierre Mendès-France, French politician (d. 1982)
• 1908 - Lionel Stander, American actor (d. 1994)
• 1910 - Sir Shane Paltridge, Australian politician (d. 1966)
• 1910 - Nikos Kavvadias, Greek poet and writer (d. 1975)
• 1910 - Izler Solomon, American conductor (d. 1987)
• 1911 - Nora Heysen, Australian artist (d. 2003)
• 1911 - Zenko Suzuki, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2004)
• 1915 - Robert Blair Mayne, British soldier, co-founder Special Air Service (d. 1955)
• 1916 - Bernard Blier, French actor (d. 1989)
• 1917 - John Robarts, Canadian politician, Premier of Ontario (d. 1982)
• 1921 - Gory Guerrero, professional wrestler (d. 1990)
• 1921 - Juanita M. Kreps, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce
• 1923 - Carroll Shelby, American race car driver, automobile designer and businessman
• 1924 - Slim Harpo, American musician (d. 1970)
• 1924 - Sam B. Hall, American politician (d. 1994)
• 1924 - Don Cherry, American singer and golfer
• 1924 - Roger Guillemin, French neuroendocrinologist, Nobel laureate
• 1925 - Grant Tinker, American television executive
• 1926 - Lev Demin, Soviet cosmonaut (d. 1998)
• 1928 - David L. Wolper, American television producer
• 1930 - Ron Mulock, Australian politician
• 1930 - Rod Taylor, Australian actor
• 1931 - Betty Churcher, director of the National Gallery of Australia
• 1932 - Alfonso Arau, Mexican film director
• 1934 - Jean Chrétien, 20th Prime Minister of Canada
• 1934 - Sir Charles Antony Richard Hoare, Computer scientist
• 1935 - Ghita Nørby, Danish actress
• 1938 - Fischer Black, American economist (d. 1995)
• 1938 - Arthur Scargill, Socialist Labour Party (UK) leader
• 1939 - Anne Heggtveit, Canadian alpine skier
• 1941 - Gérson, Brazilian footballer
• 1942 - Clarence Clemons, American musician (E Street Band)
• 1943 - Jim Hightower, American radio host and author
• 1944 - Mohammed Abed Elhai, Sudanese writer and academic (d. 1989)
• 1944 - Shibu Soren, Indian politician
• 1945 - Christine Kaufmann, German-Austrian actress
• 1945 - Samdech Preah Sanghareach Bour Kry, Supreme Patriarch of the Cambodian Dhammayutt Order
• 1946 - Naomi Judd, American singer
• 1946 - Tony Kaye, British keyboard player (Yes)
• 1946 - John Piper, American theologian
• 1949 - Daryl Braithwaite, Australian rock singer
• 1951 - Willie Maddren, English former footballer (d. 2000)
• 1952 - Bille Brown, Australian actor and playwright
• 1952 - Ben Crenshaw, American golfer
• 1952 - Michael Forshaw, Australian politician
• 1952 - Lee Ritenour, American musician and composer
• 1953 - John Sessions, Scottish actor
• 1956 - Robert Earl Keen, American singer
• 1957 - Bryan Robson, English footballer and manager
• 1958 - Vicki Peterson, American musician (The Bangles)
• 1958 - Diego León Montoya Sánchez, former Columbian crime boss
• 1959 - Rob Ramage, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1961 - Jasper Fforde, British author
• 1961 - Karl Habsburg-Lothringen, Prince of Austria and Prince Royal of Hungary
• 1962 - Susan Lindauer, American peace activist and accused spy
• 1963 - Tracy Caulkins, U.S. Olympic swimmer
• 1963 - Dean Reynolds, English snooker player
• 1965 - Roland Scholten, Dutch Darts Player
• 1966 - Marc Acito, American novelist and humorist
• 1966 - Kelley Law, Canadian curler
• 1967 - Derek Riddell, Scottish actor
• 1968 - Anders Borg, Swedish politician
• 1968 - Tom Dumont, American musician
• 1969 - Manny Acta, Dominican baseball player
• 1969 - Kyle Richards, American actress
• 1970 - Chris Jent, American basketball player and coach
• 1970 - Malcolm D. Lee, American actor, film director, and screenwriter.
• 1971 - Mary J. Blige, American singer
• 1972 - Marc Blucas, American actor
• 1972 - Amanda Peet, American actress
• 1973 - Joanna Brodzik, Polish actress
• 1973 - Rahul Dravid, Indian cricketer
• 1973 - Rockmond Dunbar, American actor
• 1974 - Cody McKay, Canadian baseball player
• 1974 - Jens Nowotny, German footballer
• 1975 - Rory Fitzpatrick, American ice hockey player
• 1976 - Efthimios Rentzias, Greek basketball player
• 1977 - Shomari Buchanan, American football player
• 1977 - Nadia Turner, American singer
• 1978 - Michael Duff, Northern Irish footballer
• 1978 - Emile Heskey, English footballer
• 1978 - Holly Brisley, Australian actress
• 1979 - Darren Lynn Bousman, American film director
• 1979 - Siti Nurhaliza, Malaysian singer
• 1980 - Mike Williams, American football player
• 1980 - Deanna Wright, American actress
• 1981 - Jamelia, English singer
• 1981 - Tom Meighan, British singer (Kasabian)
• 1982 - Ashley Taylor Dawson, British actor and singer
• 1982 - Son Ye-jin, South Korean actress
• 1983 - Matthew Palleschi, Canadian soccer player
• 1983 - Adrian Sutil, German racing driver
• 1985 - Rie fu, Japanese singer
• 1985 - Kazuki Nakajima, Japanese racing driver
• 1987 - Scotty Cranmer, American professional BMX rider
• 1993 - Flora Cross, American actress

Deaths

• 314 - St. Miltiades
• 705 - Pope John VI
• 802 - St. Paulinus II of Aquileia
• 812 - Staurakios, Byzantine Emperor
• 844 - Michael I Rhangabes, Byzantine Emperor
• 1055 - Constantine IX Monomachos, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1000)
• 1083 - Otto of Nordheim, Duke of Bavaria (c. 1020)
• 1494 - Domenico Ghirlandaio, Italian artist (b. 1449)
• 1495 - Pedro González de Mendoza, Spanish cardinal and statesman (b. 1428)
• 1547 - Pietro Bembo, Italian author, literary theorist, and Catholic cardinal (b. 1470)
• 1641 - Juan Martínez de Jáuregui y Aguilar, Spanish poet (b. 1583)
• 1696 - Charles Albanel, French missionary explorer in Canada (b. 1616)
• 1703 - Johann Georg Graevius, German classical scholar and critic (b. 1632)
• 1713 - Pierre Jurieu, French Protestant leader (b. 1637)
• 1735 - Danilo I , Vladika of Montenegro (b. c. 1670)
• 1753 - Sir Hans Sloane, Ulster-Scot physician and collector (b. 1660)
• 1762 - Louis-François Roubiliac, French sculptor (b. 1695)
• 1763 - Caspar Abel, German theologian, historian, and poet (b. 1676)
• 1771 - Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d'Argens, French writer (b. 1704)
• 1775 - Prithvi Narayan Shah, began the unification of modern Nepal (b. 1723)
• 1791 - William Williams Pantycelyn, Welsh hymnist (b. 1717)
• 1801 - Domenico Cimarosa, Italian composer (b. 1749)
• 1836 - John Molson, Canadian brewer (b. 1763)
• 1843 - Francis Scott Key, American lawyer and writer of the American national anthem (b. 1779)
• 1867 - Sir Stuart Donaldson, first Premier of the Colony of New South Wales (b. 1812)
• 1882 - Theodor Schwann, German physiologist (b. 1810)
• 1891 - Baron Georges Haussmann, French civic planner whose name is associated with the rebuilding of Paris (b. 1809)
• 1901 - Vasily Kalinnikov, Russian composer (b. 1866)
• 1902 - Johnny Briggs, English cricketer (b. 1862)
• 1905 - Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter, Hasidic rabbi (b. 1847)
• 1914 - Carl Jacobsen, Danish brewer and patron of the arts after whom the Carlsberg brewery was named (b. 1842)
• 1923 - King Constantine I of Greece (b. 1868)
• 1928 - Thomas Hardy, English writer (b. 1840)
• 1931 - James Milton Carroll, American Baptist pastor, leader, historian, and author (b. 1852)
• 1941 - Emanuel Lasker, German chess player (b. 1868)
• 1944 - Count Galeazzo Ciano, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Benito Mussolini's son-in-law (b. 1903)
• 1947 - Eva Tanguay, Canadian-born singer and entertainer (b. 1879)
• 1952 - Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, French general, posthumous Marshal of France (b. 1889)
• 1952 - Aureliano Pertile, Italian tenor (b. 1885)
• 1954 - Oscar Straus, Austrian composer (b. 1870)
• 1957 - Sir Robert Garran, Australian lawyer and early leading expert in Australian constitutional law (b. 1867)
• 1958 - Alec Rowley, English composer (b. 1892)
• 1958 - Edna Purviance, American actress (b. 1895)
• 1961 - Elena Gerhardt, German mezzo-soprano singer (b. 1883)
• 1966 - Hannes Kolehmainen, Finnish runner (b. 1889)
• 1966 - Alberto Giacometti, Swiss sculptor (b. 1901)
• 1966 - Lal Bahadur Shastri, third Prime Minister of independent India (b. 1904)
• 1968 - Isidor Isaac Rabi, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1898)
• 1969 - Richmal Crompton, British author (b. 1890)
• 1972 - Padraic Colum, Irish poet, novelist, dramatist, biographer and collector of folklore (b. 1881)
• 1975 - Max Lorenz, German heldentenor famous for Wagner roles (b. 1901)
• 1978 - Ibn-e-Insha, Pakistani humorist and Urdu poet (b. 1927)
• 1979 - Jack Soo, American actor (b. 1917)
• 1980 - Barbara Pym, English novelist (b. 1913)
• 1981 - Beulah Bondi, American actress (b. 1888)
• 1983 - Shri Ghanshyam Das Birla, Indian industrialist and educator (b. 1894)
• 1985 - Sir William McKell, Premier of New South Wales, Governor-General of Australia (b. 1891)
• 1986 - Sid Chaplin, UK novelist (b. 1916)
• 1987 - Albert Ferber, Swiss-English pianist (b. 1911)
• 1988 - Florence Knapp, American, one-time oldest person in the world (b. 1873)
• 1988 - Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, American WW II Marine aviator (b. 1912)
• 1991 - Carl David Anderson, American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1905)
• 1994 - Helmut Poppendick, Nazi physician (b. 1902)
• 1995 - Josef Gingold, Russian-American violinist (b. 1909)
• 1998 - Klaus Tennstedt, German conductor (b. 1926)
• 1999 - Naomi Mitchison, Scottish novelist and poet (b. 1897)
• 1999 - Brian Moore, Irish-born writer (b. 1921)
• 1999 - Fabrizio de André, Italian singer (b. 1940)
• 2000 - Betty Archdale, Anglo-Australian educationalist and cricketer (b. 1907)
• 2000 - Ivan Combe, American inventor (b. 1911)
• 2000 - Bob Lemon, American baseball player (b. 1920)
• 2001 - Sir Denys Lasdun, English architect (b. 1914)
• 2001 - Michael Williams, British actor, husband of Judi Dench (b. 1935)
• 2002 - Henri Verneuil, French playwright and film director (b. 1920)
• 2002 - Struan Sutherland, Australian medical researcher (b. 1936)
• 2003 - Richard Simmons, American actor (b. 1913)
• 2003 - Maurice Pialat, French actor and director (b. 1925)
• 2003 - Mickey Finn, English drummer (T. Rex) (b. 1947)
• 2005 - Miriam Hyde, Australian composer (b. 1913)
• 2005 - Spencer Dryden, American drummer (Jefferson Airplane) (b. 1938)
• 2005 - James Griffin, American musician (Bread) (b. 1943)
• 2005 - Fabrizio Meoni, Italian motorcyclist (b. 1957)
• 2006 - Markus Löffel (Mark Spoon), German DJ (b. 1966)
• 2006 - Nixzmary Brown, American child abuse victim (b. 1998)
• 2007 - Puchi Balseiro, Puerto Rican singer & songwriter (b. 1926)
• 2007 - Robert Anton Wilson, American author (b. 1932)
• 2007 - Solveig Dommartin, French-German actress (b. 1961)
• 2008 - Carl Karcher, founded the Carl's Jr. hamburger chain (b. 1917)
• 2008 - Sir Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer, the 1st person to climb Mt Everest in 1953 (b. 1919)

Holidays and observances

• Albania - Republic Day (1946)
• Morocco - Independence Resistance Day
• Nepal - Unity Day
• Puerto Rico - Eugenio Maria de Hostos Day
• Roman Empire - First day of Carmentalia in honor of Carmenta
• Paulinus of Aquileia
• Theodosius the Cenobiarch
• January 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada