January 15

Events

• 69 - Otho seizes power in Rome, proclaiming himself Emperor of Rome, beginning a reign of only three months.
• 1541 - King Francis I of France gives Jean-François Roberval a commission to settle the province of New France and provide for the spread of the "Holy Catholic faith".
• 1559 - Elizabeth I is crowned Queen of England in Westminster Abbey, London.
• 1582 - Truce of Yam-Zapolsky: Russia cedes Livonia to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
• 1759 - The British Museum opens to the public.
• 1777 - American Revolutionary War: New Connecticut declares its independence.
• 1782 - Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris addresses the U.S. Congress to recommend establishment of a national mint and decimal coinage.
• 1815 - War of 1812: American frigate, commanded by Commodore Stephen Decatur, is captured by a squadron of four British frigates.
• 1818 - A paper by David Brewster is read to the Royal Society, belatedly announcing his discovery of what we now call the biaxial class of doubly-refracting crystals. On the same day, Augustin-Jean Fresnel signs a "supplement" on reflection of polarized light.
• 1822 - Greek War of Independence: Demetrios Ypsilantis is elected president of the legislative assembly.
• 1865 - American Civil War: Fort Fisher in North Carolina falls to the Union, thus cutting off the last major seaport of the Confederacy.
• 1867 - Forty people die when ice covering the boating lake at Regent's Park, London, collapses.
• 1870 - A political cartoon for the first time symbolizes the Democratic Party with a donkey.
• 1876 - The first newspaper in Afrikaans, Die Afrikaanse Patriot, is published in Paarl.
• 1889 - The Coca-Cola Company, then known as the Pemberton Medicine Company, is incorporated in Atlanta.
• 1892 - James Naismith publishes the rules of basketball.
• 1908 - The Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority becomes the first Greek-letter organization founded and established by African American college women.
• 1910 - Construction ends on the Buffalo Bill Dam in Wyoming, United States, which was the highest dam in the world at the time, at.
• 1911 - Palestinian Arabic-language Falastin newspaper founded.
• 1919 - Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, two of the most prominent socialists in Germany, are tortured and murdered by the Freikorps at the end of the Spartacist uprising.
• 1919 - Great Molasses Flood: A wave of molasses released from an exploding storage tank sweeps through Boston, Massachusetts, killing 21 and injuring 150.
• 1934 - The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI, killing an estimated 6,000–10,700 people.
• 1936 - The first building to be completely covered in glass, built for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company, is completed in Toledo, Ohio.
• 1937 - Spanish Civil War: Nationalists and Republican both withdraw after suffering heavy losses, ending the Second Battle of the Corunna Road.
• 1943 - World War II: The Soviet counter-offensive at Voronezh begins.
• 1943 - The Pentagon is dedicated in Arlington, Virginia.
• 1947 - The Black Dahlia murder: the dismembered corpse of Elizabeth Short was found in Los Angeles.
• 1949 - Chinese Civil War: The Communist forces take over Tianjin from the Nationalist Government.
• 1962 - The Derveni papyrus, Europe's oldest surviving manuscript dating to 340 BC, is found in northern Greece.
• 1962 - Netherlands New Guinea Conflict: Indonesian Navy fast patrol boat RI Macan Tutul commanded by Commodore Yos Sudarso sunk in Arafura Sea by the Dutch Navy.
• 1966 - The First Nigerian Republic, led by Abubakar Tafawa Balewa is overthrown in a military coup d'état.
• 1967 - The first Super Bowl is played in Los Angeles. The Green Bay Packers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 35–10.
• 1969 - The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 5.
• 1970 - Nigerian Civil War: Biafran rebels surrender following an unsuccessful 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria.
• 1970 - Muammar Gaddafi is proclaimed premier of Libya.
• 1973 - Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, President Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.
• 1975 - The Alvor Agreement is signed, ending the Angolan War of Independence and giving Angola independence from Portugal.
• 1976 - Gerald Ford's would-be assassin, Sara Jane Moore, is sentenced to life in prison.
• 1981 - Pope John Paul II receives a delegation from Solidarity at the Vatican led by Lech Wałęsa.
• 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.
• 1991 - Elizabeth II, in her capacity as Queen of Australia, signs letters patent allowing Australia to become the first Commonwealth realm to institute its own Victoria Cross in its honours system.
• 2001 - Wikipedia, a free wiki content encyclopedia, goes online.
• 2005 - ESA's SMART-1 lunar orbiter discovers elements such as calcium, aluminum, silicon, iron, and other surface elements on the Moon.
• 2007 - Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, former Iraqi intelligence chief and half-brother of Saddam Hussein, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former chief judge of the Revolutionary Court, are executed by hanging in Iraq.
• 2009 - US Airways Flight 1549 ditches safely in the Hudson River after the plane collides with birds less than two minutes after take-off.
• 2013 - A train carrying Egyptian Army recruits derails near Giza, Greater Cairo, killing 19 and injuring 120 others.
• 2015 - The Swiss National Bank abandons the cap on the franc's value relative to the euro, causing turmoil in international financial markets
• 2016 - The Kenyan Army suffers its worst defeat ever in a battle with Al-Shabaab Islamic insurgents in El-Adde, Somalia. An estimated 150 Kenyan soldiers are killed in the battle.
• 2019 - Somali militants attack the DusitD2 hotel in Nairobi, Kenya killing at least 21 people and injuring 19.
• 2019 - Theresa May's UK government suffers the biggest government defeat in modern times, when 432 MPs voting against the proposed European Union withdrawal agreement, giving her opponents a majority of 230.

  Births

• 961 - Seongjong of Goryeo, Korean ruler
• 1432 - Afonso V of Portugal
• 1462 - Edzard I, Count of East Frisia, German noble
• 1481 - Ashikaga Yoshizumi, Japanese shōgun
• 1538 - Maeda Toshiie, Japanese general
• 1595 - Henry Carey, 2nd Earl of Monmouth, English politician
• 1622 - Molière, French actor and playwright
• 1623 - Algernon Sidney, British philosopher
• 1671 - Abraham de la Pryme, English archaeologist and historian
• 1674 - Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, French poet and playwright
• 1716 - Philip Livingston, American merchant and politician
• 1747 - John Aikin, English surgeon and author
• 1754 - Richard Martin, Irish activist and politician, co-founded the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
• 1791 - Franz Grillparzer, Austrian author, poet, and playwright
• 1795 - Alexander Griboyedov, Russian playwright, composer, and poet
• 1803 - Marjorie Fleming, Scottish poet and author
• 1809 - Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, French economist and politician
• 1812 - Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, Norwegian author and scholar
• 1815 - William Bickerton, English-American religious leader, 3rd President of the Church of Jesus Christ
• 1834 - Samuel Arza Davenport, American lawyer and politician
• 1841 - Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, English captain and politician, 6th Governor General of Canada
• 1842 - Josef Breuer, Austrian physician and psychiatrist
• 1842 - Mary MacKillop, Australian nun and saint, co-founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart
• 1850 - Leonard Darwin, English soldier, eugenicist, and politician
• 1850 - Mihai Eminescu, Romanian journalist, author, and poet
• 1850 - Sofia Kovalevskaya, Russian-Swedish mathematician and physicist
• 1855 - Jacques Damala, Greek-French soldier and actor
• 1858 - Giovanni Segantini, Italian painter
• 1859 - Archibald Peake, English-Australian politician, 25th Premier of South Australia
• 1863 - Wilhelm Marx, German lawyer and politician, 17th Chancellor of Germany
• 1866 - Nathan Söderblom, Swedish archbishop, historian, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1869 - Ruby Laffoon, American lawyer and politician, 43rd Governor of Kentucky
• 1869 - Stanisław Wyspiański, Polish poet, playwright, and painter
• 1870 - Pierre S. du Pont, American businessman and philanthropist
• 1872 - Arsen Kotsoyev, Russian author and translator
• 1875 - Thomas Burke, American sprinter, coach, and journalist
• 1877 - Lewis Terman, American psychologist, eugenicist, and academic
• 1878 - Johanna Müller-Hermann, Austrian composer
• 1879 - Mazo de la Roche, Canadian author and playwright
• 1882 - Henry Burr, Canadian singer, radio performer, and producer
• 1885 - Lorenz Böhler, Austrian physician and author
• 1885 - Grover Lowdermilk, American baseball player
• 1890 - Michiaki Kamada, Japanese admiral
• 1891 - Ray Chapman, American baseball player
• 1891 - Osip Mandelstam, Russian poet and translator
• 1893 - Ivor Novello, Welsh singer-songwriter and actor
• 1895 - Artturi Ilmari Virtanen, Finnish chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1896 - Marjorie Bennett, Australian-American actress
• 1902 - Nâzım Hikmet, Greek-Turkish author, poet, and playwright
• 1902 - Saud of Saudi Arabia
• 1903 - Paul A. Dever, American lieutenant and politician, 58th Governor of Massachusetts
• 1907 - Janusz Kusociński, Polish runner and soldier
• 1908 - Edward Teller, Hungarian-American physicist and academic
• 1909 - Jean Bugatti, German-French engineer
• 1909 - Gene Krupa, American drummer, composer, and actor
• 1912 - Michel Debré, French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France
• 1913 - Eugène Brands, Dutch painter
• 1913 - Lloyd Bridges, American actor
• 1913 - Miriam Hyde, Australian pianist and composer
• 1913 - Alexander Marinesko, Ukrainian-Russian lieutenant
• 1914 - Stefan Bałuk, Polish general
• 1914 - Hugh Trevor-Roper, English historian and academic
• 1917 - K. A. Thangavelu, Indian film actor and comedian
• 1918 - João Figueiredo, Brazilian general and politician, 30th President of Brazil
• 1918 - Édouard Gagnon, Canadian cardinal
• 1918 - Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egyptian colonel and politician, 2nd President of Egypt
• 1919 - Maurice Herzog, French mountaineer and politician, French Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports
• 1919 - George Cadle Price, Belizean politician, 1st Prime Minister of Belize
• 1920 - Bob Davies, American basketball player and coach
• 1920 - Steve Gromek, American baseball player
• 1920 - John O'Connor, American cardinal
• 1921 - Babasaheb Bhosale, Indian lawyer and politician, 8th Chief Minister of Maharashtra
• 1921 - Frank Thornton, English actor
• 1922 - Sylvia Lawler, English geneticist
• 1922 - Eric Willis, Australian sergeant and politician, 34th Premier of New South Wales
• 1923 - Ivor Cutler, Scottish pianist, songwriter, and poet
• 1923 - Lee Teng-hui, Taiwanese-Chinese economist and politician, 4th President of the Republic of China
• 1924 - George Lowe, New Zealand-English mountaineer and explorer
• 1925 - Ruth Slenczynska, American pianist and composer
• 1925 - Ignacio López Tarso, Mexican actor
• 1926 - Maria Schell, Austrian-Swiss actress
• 1927 - Phyllis Coates, American actress
• 1928 - W. R. Mitchell, English journalist and author
• 1929 - Earl Hooker, American guitarist
• 1929 - Martin Luther King, Jr., American minister and activist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1930 - Eddie Graham, American wrestler and promoter
• 1931 - Lee Bontecou, American painter and sculptor
• 1932 - Lou Jones, American sprinter
• 1933 - Frank Bough, English journalist and radio host
• 1933 - Ernest J. Gaines, American author and academic
• 1933 - Peter Maitlis, English chemist and academic
• 1934 - V. S. Ramadevi, Indian civil servant and politician, 13th Governor of Karnataka
• 1937 - Margaret O'Brien, American actress and singer
• 1938 - Ashraf Aman, Pakistani engineer and mountaineer
• 1938 - Estrella Blanca, Mexican wrestler
• 1938 - Chuni Goswami, Indian footballer and cricketer
• 1939 - Per Ahlmark, Swedish journalist and politician, 1st Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden
• 1939 - Tony Bullimore, British sailor
• 1941 - Captain Beefheart, American singer-songwriter, musician, and artist
• 1942 - Frank Joseph Polozola, American academic and judge
• 1943 - George Ambrum, Australian rugby league player
• 1943 - Margaret Beckett, English metallurgist and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
• 1943 - Stuart E. Eizenstat, American lawyer and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the European Union
• 1943 - Mike Marshall, American baseball player
• 1944 - Jenny Nimmo, English author
• 1945 - Ko Chun-hsiung, Taiwanese actor, director, and politician
• 1945 - Vince Foster, American lawyer and political figure
• 1945 - William R. Higgins, American colonel
• 1945 - Princess Michael of Kent
• 1945 - David Pleat, English footballer, manager, and sportscaster
• 1946 - Charles Brown, American actor
• 1947 - Mary Hogg, English lawyer and judge
• 1947 - Andrea Martin, American-Canadian actress, singer, and screenwriter
• 1948 - Ronnie Van Zant, American singer-songwriter
• 1949 - Luis Alvarado, Puerto Rican-American baseball player
• 1949 - Alasdair Liddell, English businessman
• 1949 - Ian Stewart, Scottish runner
• 1949 - Howard Twitty, American golfer
• 1950 - Marius Trésor, French footballer and coach
• 1952 - Boris Blank, Swiss singer-songwriter
• 1952 - Andrzej Fischer, Polish footballer
• 1953 - Randy White, American football player
• 1954 - Jose Dalisay, Jr., Filipino poet, author, and screenwriter
• 1955 - Nigel Benson, English author and illustrator
• 1955 - Andreas Gursky, German photographer
• 1955 - Khalid Islambouli, Egyptian lieutenant
• 1956 - Vitaly Kaloyev, Russian architect
• 1956 - Mayawati, Indian educator and politician, 23rd Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
• 1956 - Marc Trestman, American football player and coach
• 1957 - David Ige, American politician
• 1957 - Marty Lyons, American football player and sportscaster
• 1957 - Andrew Tyrie, English journalist and politician
• 1957 - Mario Van Peebles, American actor and director
• 1958 - Ken Judge, Australian footballer and coach
• 1958 - Boris Tadić, Serbian psychologist and politician, 16th President of Serbia
• 1959 - Greg Dowling, Australian rugby league player
• 1959 - Pavle Kozjek, Slovenian mountaineer and photographer
• 1959 - Pete Trewavas, English bass player and songwriter
• 1961 - Serhiy N. Morozov, Ukrainian footballer and coach
• 1961 - Yves Pelletier, Canadian actor and director
• 1963 - Conrad Lant, English singer-songwriter and bass player
• 1963 - Bruce Schneier, American cryptographer and author
• 1964 - Osmo Tapio Räihälä, Finnish composer
• 1965 - Maurizio Fondriest, Italian cyclist
• 1965 - Bernard Hopkins, American boxer and coach
• 1965 - James Nesbitt, Northern Irish actor
• 1966 - Lisa Lisa, American R&B singer
• 1967 - Ted Tryba, American golfer
• 1968 - Chad Lowe, American actor, director, and producer
• 1969 - Delino DeShields, American baseball player and manager
• 1970 - Shane McMahon, American wrestler and businessman
• 1971 - Regina King, American actress
• 1972 - Shelia Burrell, American heptathlete
• 1972 - Christos Kostis, Greek footballer
• 1972 - Claudia Winkleman, English journalist and critic
• 1973 - Essam El Hadary, Egyptian footballer
• 1973 - Suparno Satpathy, Indian socio-political leader
• 1974 - Séverine Deneulin, international development academic
• 1974 - Ray King, American baseball player
• 1975 - Mary Pierce, Canadian-American tennis player and coach
• 1976 - Doug Gottlieb, American basketball player and sportscaster
• 1976 - Iryna Lishchynska, Ukrainian runner
• 1976 - Scott Murray, Scottish rugby player
• 1976 - Florentin Petre, Romanian footballer and manager
• 1978 - Eddie Cahill, American actor
• 1978 - Franco Pellizotti, Italian cyclist
• 1978 - Ryan Sidebottom, English cricketer
• 1979 - Drew Brees, American football player
• 1979 - Michalis Morfis, Cypriot footballer
• 1979 - Martin Petrov, Bulgarian footballer
• 1980 - Matt Holliday, American baseball player
• 1981 - El Hadji Diouf, Senegalese football player
• 1981 - Pitbull, American rapper and producer
• 1981 - Dylan Armstrong, Canadian shot putter and hammer thrower
• 1981 - Vanessa Henke, German tennis player
• 1981 - Sean Lamont, Scottish rugby player
• 1982 - Benjamin Agosto, American skater
• 1982 - Armando Galarraga, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1982 - Brett Lebda, American ice hockey player
• 1982 - Ari Pulkkinen, Finnish pianist and composer
• 1982 - Francis Zé, Cameroonian footballer
• 1983 - Jermaine Pennant, English footballer
• 1983 - Hugo Viana, Portuguese footballer
• 1984 - Ben Shapiro, American author and commentator
• 1985 - René Adler, German footballer
• 1985 - Enrico Patrizio, Italian rugby player
• 1985 - Kenneth Emil Petersen, Danish footballer
• 1986 - Fred Davis, American football player
• 1987 - Greg Inglis, Australian rugby league player
• 1987 - Tsegaye Kebede, Ethiopian runner
• 1987 - David Knight, English footballer
• 1987 - Kelleigh Ryan, Canadian fencer
• 1987 - Michael Seater, Canadian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1988 - Daniel Caligiuri, German footballer
• 1988 - Skrillex, American DJ and producer
• 1989 - Alexei Cherepanov, Russian ice hockey player
• 1990 - Paul Blake, English sprinter
• 1990 - Fernando Forestieri, Italian footballer
• 1990 - Robert Trznadel, Polish footballer
• 1991 - Marc Bartra, Spanish footballer
• 1991 - Nicolai Jørgensen, Danish footballer
• 1991 - Darya Klishina, Russian long jumper
• 1991 - James Mitchell, Australian basketball player
• 1992 - Joël Veltman, Dutch footballer
• 1994 - Eric Dier, English footballer
• 1998 - Alexandra Eade, Australian artistic gymnast
• 2004 - Grace VanderWaal, American singer-songwriter

  Deaths

• AD 69 - Galba, Roman emperor
• 378 - Chak Tok Ich'aak I, Mayan ruler
• 570 - Íte of Killeedy, Irish nun and saint
• 849 - Theophylact, Byzantine emperor
• 936 - Rudolph of France
• 950 - Wang Jingchong, Chinese general
• 1149 - Berengaria of Barcelona, queen consort of Castile
• 1568 - Nicolaus Olahus, Romanian archbishop
• 1569 - Catherine Carey, lady-in-waiting to Elizabeth I of England
• 1584 - Martha Leijonhufvud, Swedish noblewoman
• 1595 - Murad III, Ottoman Sultan
• 1623 - Paolo Sarpi, Italian lawyer, historian, and scholar
• 1672 - John Cosin, English bishop and academic
• 1683 - Philip Warwick, English politician
• 1775 - Giovanni Battista Sammartini, Italian organist and composer
• 1790 - John Landen, English mathematician and theorist
• 1804 - Dru Drury, English entomologist and author
• 1813 - Anton Bernolák, Slovak linguist and priest
• 1815 - Emma, Lady Hamilton, English-French mistress of Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
• 1855 - Henri Braconnot, French chemist and pharmacist
• 1864 - Isaac Nathan, English-Australian composer and journalist
• 1866 - Massimo d'Azeglio, Piedmontese-Italian statesman, novelist and painter
• 1876 - Eliza McCardle Johnson, American wife of Andrew Johnson, 18th First Lady of the United States
• 1885 - Leopold Damrosch, German-American composer and conductor
• 1893 - Fanny Kemble, English actress
• 1896 - Mathew Brady, American photographer and journalist
• 1905 - George Thorn, Australian politician, 6th Premier of Queensland
• 1909 - Arnold Janssen, German priest and missionary
• 1916 - Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian playwright and translator
• 1919 - Karl Liebknecht, German politician
• 1919 - Rosa Luxemburg, German economist, theorist, and philosopher
• 1926 - Enrico Toselli, Italian pianist and composer
• 1929 - George Cope, American painter
• 1936 - Henry Forster, 1st Baron Forster, English cricketer and politician, 7th Governor-General of Australia
• 1937 - Anton Holban, Romanian author, theoretician, and educator
• 1945 - Wilhelm Wirtinger, Austrian-German mathematician and theorist
• 1948 - Josephus Daniels, American publisher and diplomat, 41st United States Secretary of the Navy
• 1950 - Henry H. Arnold, American general
• 1951 - Ernest Swinton, British Army officer
• 1951 - Nikolai Vekšin, Estonian-Russian captain and sailor
• 1952 - Ned Hanlon, Australian sergeant and politician, 26th Premier of Queensland
• 1955 - Yves Tanguy, French-American painter
• 1959 - Regina Margareten, Hungarian businesswoman
• 1964 - Jack Teagarden, American singer-songwriter and trombonist
• 1967 - David Burliuk, Ukrainian author and illustrator
• 1968 - Bill Masterton, Canadian-American ice hockey player
• 1970 - Frank Clement, English race car driver
• 1970 - William T. Piper, American engineer and businessman, founded Piper Aircraft
• 1972 - Daisy Ashford, English author
• 1973 - Coleman Francis, American actor, director, and producer
• 1973 - Ivan Petrovsky, Russian mathematician and academic
• 1974 - Harold D. Cooley, American lawyer and politician
• 1981 - Graham Whitehead, English race car driver
• 1982 - Red Smith, American journalist
• 1983 - Armin Öpik, Estonian-Australian paleontologist and geologist
• 1983 - Shepperd Strudwick, American actor
• 1984 - Fazıl Küçük, Cypriot journalist and politician
• 1987 - Ray Bolger, American actor, singer, and dancer
• 1988 - Seán MacBride, Irish republican activist and politician, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1990 - Gordon Jackson, Scottish-English actor
• 1990 - Peggy van Praagh, English ballerina, choreographer, and director
• 1993 - Sammy Cahn, American songwriter
• 1994 - Georges Cziffra, Hungarian-French pianist and composer
• 1994 - Harry Nilsson, American singer-songwriter
• 1994 - Harilal Upadhyay, Indian author, poet, and astrologist
• 1996 - Les Baxter, American pianist and composer
• 1996 - Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho
• 1998 - Gulzarilal Nanda, Indian economist and politician, Prime Minister of India
• 1998 - Junior Wells, American singer-songwriter and harmonica player
• 1999 - Betty Box, English composer and producer
• 2000 - Georges-Henri Lévesque, Canadian-Dominican priest and sociologist
• 2001 - Leo Marks, English cryptographer, playwright, and screenwriter
• 2002 - Michael Anthony Bilandic, American politician, 49th Mayor of Chicago
• 2002 - Eugène Brands, Dutch painter
• 2003 - Doris Fisher, American singer-songwriter
• 2004 - Olivia Goldsmith, American author
• 2005 - Victoria de los Ángeles, Spanish soprano and actress
• 2005 - Walter Ernsting, German author
• 2005 - Elizabeth Janeway, American author and critic
• 2005 - Ruth Warrick, American actress
• 2006 - Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Kuwaiti ruler
• 2007 - Awad Hamed al-Bandar, Iraqi lawyer and judge
• 2007 - Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, Iraqi intelligence officer
• 2007 - James Hillier, Canadian-American computer scientist and academic, co-invented the electron microscope
• 2007 - Pura Santillan-Castrence, Filipino educator and diplomat
• 2007 - Bo Yibo, Chinese commander and politician, Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China
• 2008 - Robert V. Bruce, American historian, author, and academic
• 2008 - Brad Renfro, American actor
• 2009 - Lincoln Verduga Loor, Ecuadorian journalist and politician
• 2011 - Nat Lofthouse, English footballer and manager
• 2011 - Pierre Louis-Dreyfus, French soldier, race car driver, and businessman
• 2011 - Susannah York, English actress and activist
• 2012 - Ed Derwinski, American soldier and politician, 1st United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs
• 2012 - Manuel Fraga Iribarne, Spanish lawyer and politician, 3rd President of the Xunta of Galicia
• 2012 - Carlo Fruttero, Italian journalist and author
• 2012 - Samuel Jaskilka, American general
• 2012 - Ib Spang Olsen, Danish author and illustrator
• 2012 - Hulett C. Smith, American lieutenant and politician, 27th Governor of West Virginia
• 2013 - Nagisa Oshima, Japanese director and screenwriter
• 2013 - John Thomas, American high jumper
• 2014 - Curtis Bray, American football player and coach
• 2014 - John Dobson, Chinese-American astronomer and author
• 2014 - Roger Lloyd-Pack, English actor
• 2015 - Ervin Drake, American songwriter and composer
• 2015 - Kim Fowley, American singer-songwriter, producer, and manager
• 2015 - Ray Nagel, American football player and coach
• 2016 - Francisco X. Alarcón, American poet and educator
• 2016 - Ken Judge, Australian footballer and coach
• 2016 - Manuel Velázquez, Spanish footballer
• 2017 - Jimmy Snuka, Fijian professional wrestler
• 2018 - Dolores O'Riordan, Irish pop singer
• 2019 - Carol Channing, American actress
• 2019 - Ida Kleijnen, Dutch chef

  Holidays and observances

• Arbor Day
• Armed Forces Day
• Army Day
• Christian feast day:
• *Abeluzius
• *Arnold Janssen
• *Francis Ferdinand de Capillas
• *Ita
• *Our Lady of the Poor
• *Macarius of Egypt
• *Maurus and Placidus
• *Paul the Hermit
• *January 15
• Earliest day on which Martin Luther King Jr. Day can fall, while January 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Monday in January.
• Earliest day on which Sinulog Festival can fall, while January 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Sunday in January.
• John Chilembwe Day
• Korean Alphabet Day
• Ocean Duty Day
• Sagichō at Tsurugaoka Hachimangū.
• Teacher's Day
• The second day of the sidereal winter solstice festivals in India :
• *Thai Pongal, Tamil harvest festival