January 8

Events

• 307 - Jin Huaidi becomes emperor of China in succession to his father, Jin Huidi, despite a challenge from his uncle, Sima Ying.
• 871 - Alfred the Great leads a West Saxon army to repel an invasion by Danelaw Vikings.
• 1297 - François Grimaldi, disguised as a monk, leads his men to capture the fortress protecting the Rock of Monaco, establishing his family as the rulers of Monaco.
• 1454 - The papal bull Romanus Pontifex awards the Kingdom of Portugal exclusive trade and colonization rights to all of Africa south of Cape Bojador.
• 1499 - Louis XII of France marries Anne of Brittany in accordance with a law set by his predecessor, Charles VIII.
• 1547 - The first Lithuanian-language book, the Catechism of Martynas Mažvydas, is published in Königsberg.
• 1735 - The premiere of George Frideric Handel's Ariodante takes place at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
• 1746 - Second Jacobite rising: Bonnie Prince Charlie occupies Stirling.
• 1790 - George Washington delivers the first State of the Union address in New York City.
• 1806 - Cape Colony in southern Africa becomes a British colony as a result of the Battle of Blaauwberg.
• 1811 - An unsuccessful slave revolt is led by Charles Deslondes in the north American settlements of St. Charles and St. James, Louisiana.
• 1815 - War of 1812: Battle of New Orleans: Andrew Jackson leads American forces in victory over the British.
• 1828 - The Democratic Party of the United States is organized.
• 1835 - The United States national debt is zero for the only time.
• 1863 - American Civil War: Second Battle of Springfield.
• 1867 - African American men are granted the right to vote in Washington, D.C.
• 1877 - Crazy Horse and his warriors fight their last battle against the United States Cavalry at Wolf Mountain, Montana Territory.
• 1889 - Herman Hollerith is issued US patent #395,791 for the 'Art of Applying Statistics' — his punched card calculator.
• 1904 - The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system.
• 1912 - The African National Congress is founded, under the name South African Native National Congress.
• 1918 - U.S. President Woodrow Wilson announces his "Fourteen Points" for the aftermath of World War I.
• 1920 - The steel strike of 1919 ends in failure for the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers labor union.
• 1926 - Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuỵ ascends the throne to become the last monarch of Vietnam.
• 1926 - Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz.
• 1936 - Kashf-e hijab decree is made and immediately enforced by Reza Shah, Iran's head of state, banning the wearing of Islamic veils in public.
• 1940 - World War II: Britain introduces food rationing.
• 1945 - World War II: Philippine Commonwealth troops under the Philippine Commonwealth Army units enter the province of Ilocos Sur in Northern Luzon and attack Japanese Imperial forces.
• 1956 - Operation Auca: Five U.S. missionaries are killed by the Huaorani of Ecuador shortly after making contact with them.
• 1959 - Charles de Gaulle is proclaimed as the first President of the French Fifth Republic.
• 1961 - In France a referendum supports Charles de Gaulle's policies in Algeria.
• 1963 - Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is exhibited in the United States for the first time, at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
• 1964 - President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a "War on Poverty" in the United States.
• 1972 - Bowing to international pressure, President of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto releases Bengali leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from prison, who had been arrested after declaring the independence of Bangladesh.
• 1973 - Soviet space mission Luna 21 is launched.
• 1973 - Watergate scandal: The trial of seven men accused of illegal entry into Democratic Party headquarters at Watergate begins.
• 1975 - Ella T. Grasso becomes Governor of Connecticut, the first woman to serve as a Governor in the United States other than by succeeding her husband.
• 1977 - Three bombs explode in Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union, within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
• 1981 - A local farmer reports a UFO sighting in Trans-en-Provence, France, claimed to be "perhaps the most completely and carefully documented sighting of all time".
• 1982 - Breakup of the Bell System: AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions.
• 1989 - Kegworth air disaster: British Midland Flight 92, a Boeing 737-400, crashes into the M1 motorway, killing 47 of the 126 people on board.
• 1994 - Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov on Soyuz TM-18 leaves for Mir. He would stay on the space station until March 22, 1995, for a record 437 days in space.
• 1996 - An Antonov An-32 cargo aircraft crashes into a crowded market in Kinshasa, Zaire, killing up to 223 on the ground; two of six crew members are also killed.
• 2002 - President George W. Bush signs into law the No Child Left Behind Act.
• 2003 - Turkish Airlines Flight 634 crashes near Diyarbakır Airport, Turkey, killing the entire crew and 70 of the 75 passengers.
• 2003 - Air Midwest Flight 5481 crashes at Charlotte-Douglas Airport, Charlotte, North Carolina, killing all 21 people on board.
• 2004 - The, then the largest ocean liner ever built, is christened by her namesake's granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
• 2005 - The nuclear sub collides at full speed with an undersea mountain south of Guam. One man is killed, but the sub surfaces and is repaired.
• 2009 - A 6.1-magnitude earthquake in northern Costa Rica kills 15 people and injures 32.
• 2010 - Gunmen from an offshoot of the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda attack a bus carrying the Togo national football team on its way to the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, killing three people and injuring another nine.
• 2011 - The attempted assassination of Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords and subsequent shooting in Casas Adobes, Arizona, in which five people were shot dead.
• 2016 - Joaquín Guzmán, widely regarded as the world's most powerful drug trafficker, is recaptured following his escape from a maximum security prison in Mexico.
• 2020 - Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 crashes immediately after takeoff at Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport; all 176 on board are killed. The plane was shot down by an Iranian anti-aircraft missile.

  Births

• 1037 - Su Dongpo, Chinese calligrapher and poet
• 1345 - Kadi Burhan al-Din, poet, kadi, and ruler of Sivas
• 1462 - Walraven II van Brederode, Dutch nobleman
• 1529 - John Frederick II, duke of Saxony
• 1556 - Uesugi Kagekatsu, Japanese daimyō
• 1583 - Simon Episcopius, Dutch theologian and academic
• 1587 - Johannes Fabricius, German astronomer and academic
• 1587 - Jan Pieterszoon Coen, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies
• 1589 - Ivan Gundulić, Croatian poet and playwright
• 1601 - Baltasar Gracián, Spanish priest and author
• 1628 - François-Henri de Montmorency, duc de Luxembourg, French general
• 1632 - Samuel von Pufendorf, German economist and jurist
• 1635 - Luis Manuel Fernández de Portocarrero, Spanish cardinal
• 1638 - Elisabetta Sirani, Italian painter
• 1735 - John Carroll, American archbishop, founder of Georgetown University
• 1763 - Edmond-Charles Genêt, French-American translator and diplomat
• 1786 - Nicholas Biddle, American banker and financier
• 1788 - Rudolf of Austria, Austrian archduke and archbishop
• 1792 - Lowell Mason, American composer and educator
• 1805 - John Bigler, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, 3rd Governor of California
• 1805 - Orson Hyde, American religious leader, 3rd President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
• 1812 - Sigismond Thalberg, Swiss pianist and composer
• 1817 - Theophilus Shepstone, English-South African politician
• 1821 - James Longstreet, American general and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Turkey
• 1823 - Alfred Russel Wallace, Welsh geographer, biologist, and explorer
• 1824 - Wilkie Collins, English novelist, playwright, and short story writer
• 1824 - Francisco González Bocanegra, Mexican poet and composer
• 1830 - Hans von Bülow, German pianist and composer
• 1836 - Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Dutch-English painter and academic
• 1843 - Frederick Abberline, English police officer
• 1843 - Karl Eduard Heusner, German admiral
• 1852 - James Milton Carroll, American pastor and author
• 1854 - Fanny Bullock Workman, American mountaineer, geographer, and cartographer
• 1860 - Emma Booth, English author
• 1862 - Frank Nelson Doubleday, American publisher, founded the Doubleday Publishing Company
• 1864 - Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale
• 1865 - Winnaretta Singer, American philanthropist
• 1866 - William G. Conley, American educator and politician, 18th Governor of West Virginia
• 1867 - Emily Greene Balch, American economist and author, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1870 - Miguel Primo de Rivera, Spanish general and politician, Prime Minister of Spain
• 1871 - James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, Irish captain and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Northern Ireland
• 1873 - Iuliu Maniu, Romanian lawyer and politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Romania
• 1876 - Arturs Alberings, Latvian lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Latvia
• 1879 - Charles Bryant, English-American actor and director
• 1881 - Henrik Shipstead, American dentist and politician
• 1881 - Linnie Marsh Wolfe, American librarian and author
• 1883 - Pavel Filonov, Russian painter and poet
• 1883 - Patrick J. Hurley, American general, politician, and diplomat, 51st United States Secretary of War
• 1885 - John Curtin, Australian journalist and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Australia
• 1885 - Mór Kóczán, Hungarian javelin thrower and pastor
• 1885 - A. J. Muste, Dutch-American pastor and activist
• 1888 - Richard Courant, German-American mathematician and academic
• 1891 - Walther Bothe, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1891 - Storm Jameson, English journalist and author
• 1891 - Bronislava Nijinska, Russian dancer and choreographer name="Jöckle1995">
• 1896 - Jaromír Weinberger, Czech-American composer and academic
• 1897 - Dennis Wheatley, English soldier and author
• 1899 - S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
• 1900 - Dorothy Adams, American character actress
• 1900 - Merlyn Myer, Australian philanthropist
• 1902 - Georgy Malenkov, Russian engineer and politician
• 1902 - Carl Rogers, American psychologist and academic
• 1904 - Karl Brandt, German physician and SS officer
• 1904 - Tampa Red, American guitarist and songwriter
• 1905 - Carl Gustav Hempel, German philosopher from the Vienna and the Berlin Circle
• 1905 - Giacinto Scelsi, Italian composer and poet
• 1906 - Serge Poliakoff, Russian-French painter
• 1907 - Keizō Hayashi, Japanese general and civil servant
• 1908 - Fearless Nadia, Australian-Indian actress and stuntwoman
• 1908 - William Hartnell, English actor
• 1909 - Ashapoorna Devi, Indian author and poet
• 1909 - Willy Millowitsch, German actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1909 - Bruce Mitchell, South African cricketer
• 1909 - Evelyn Wood, American author and educator
• 1910 - Galina Ulanova, Russian actress and ballerina
• 1911 - Gypsy Rose Lee, American actress, dancer, and author
• 1912 - José Ferrer, Puerto Rican-American actor and director
• 1912 - Lawrence Walsh, Canadian-American lawyer, judge, and politician, 4th United States Deputy Attorney General
• 1915 - Walker Cooper, American baseball player and manager
• 1917 - Peter Matthew Hillsman Taylor, American novelist, short story writer, and playwright
• 1922 - Dale D. Myers, American engineer
• 1923 - Larry Storch, American actor and comedian
• 1923 - Giorgio Tozzi, American opera singer and actor
• 1923 - Johnny Wardle, English cricketer
• 1923 - Joseph Weizenbaum, German-American computer scientist and author
• 1924 - Benjamin Lees, Chinese-American soldier and composer
• 1924 - Ron Moody, English actor and singer
• 1925 - Mohan Rakesh, Indian author and playwright
• 1926 - Evelyn Lear, American operatic soprano
• 1926 - Kerwin Mathews, American actor
• 1926 - Kelucharan Mohapatra, Indian dancer and choreographer
• 1926 - Hanae Mori, Japanese fashion designer
• 1926 - Soupy Sales, American comedian and actor
• 1927 - Charles Tomlinson, English poet and academic
• 1928 - Slade Gorton, American colonel, lawyer, and politician, 14th Attorney General of Washington
• 1928 - Gaston Miron, Canadian poet and author
• 1928 - Luther Perkins, American country guitarist
• 1929 - Saeed Jaffrey, Indian-British actor
• 1931 - Bill Graham, German-American businessman
• 1931 - Clarence Benjamin Jones, American lawyer and scholar
• 1933 - Charles Osgood, American soldier and journalist
• 1933 - Jean-Marie Straub, French director and screenwriter
• 1934 - Jacques Anquetil, French cyclist
• 1934 - Gene Freese, American baseball player and manager
• 1934 - Roy Kinnear, British actor
• 1934 - Alexandra Ripley, American author
• 1935 - Lewis H. Lapham, American publisher, founded Lapham's Quarterly
• 1935 - Elvis Presley, American singer, guitarist, and actor
• 1936 - Zdeněk Mácal, Czech-American conductor
• 1936 - Robert May, Baron May of Oxford, Australian-English zoologist, ecologist, and academic
• 1937 - Shirley Bassey, Welsh singer
• 1938 - Bob Eubanks, American game show host and producer
• 1938 - Yevgeny Nesterenko, Russian opera singer and educator
• 1939 - Carolina Herrera, Venezuelan-American fashion designer
• 1939 - Ruth Maleczech, American actress
• 1939 - Alan Wilson, English mathematician and academic
• 1940 - Mark Bretscher, English biologist and academic
• 1940 - Cristy Lane, American country and gospel singer
• 1941 - Graham Chapman, English actor and screenwriter
• 1942 - Stephen Hawking, English physicist and author
• 1942 - Junichirō Koizumi, Japanese politician, 56th Prime Minister of Japan
• 1942 - Yvette Mimieux, American actress
• 1942 - Royce Waltman, American basketball player and coach
• 1943 - Charles Murray, American political scientist and author
• 1944 - Terry Brooks, American lawyer and author
• 1945 - Nancy Bond, American author and academic
• 1945 - Phil Beal, English footballer, defender
• 1945 - Kadir Topbaş, Turkish architect and politician, 31st Mayor of Istanbul
• 1946 - Robby Krieger, American guitarist and songwriter
• 1946 - Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, Mexican drug lord
• 1947 - Don Bendell, American rancher and author
• 1947 - David Bowie, English singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
• 1947 - David Gates, American journalist and novelist
• 1947 - Antti Kalliomäki, Finnish pole vaulter and politician
• 1947 - Luke Williams, New Zealand-American wrestler
• 1948 - Gillies MacKinnon, Scottish director and screenwriter
• 1949 - Lawrence Rowe, Jamaican cricketer
• 1951 - Kenny Anthony, Saint Lucian politician, 5th Prime Minister of Saint Lucia
• 1951 - Karen Tei Yamashita, American author and academic
• 1952 - Vladimir Feltsman, Russian-American pianist and educator
• 1952 - Peter McCullagh, Irish mathematician and academic
• 1953 - Bruce Sutter, American baseball player
• 1954 - Konstantinos Kypriotis, Greek martial artist
• 1955 - Spiros Livathinos, Greek footballer and coach
• 1955 - Mike Reno, Canadian singer and drummer
• 1957 - Nacho Duato, Spanish dancer and choreographer
• 1958 - Betsy DeVos, American businesswoman and politician, 11th Secretary of Education
• 1958 - Rey Misterio, Sr., Mexican wrestler, trainer, and actor
• 1959 - Paul Hester, Australian drummer
• 1960 - Dave Weckl, American drummer
• 1961 - Calvin Smith, American sprinter
• 1966 - Willie Anderson, American basketball player
• 1966 - Igor Vyazmikin, Russian ice hockey player
• 1966 - Andrew Wood, American singer-songwriter
• 1967 - Torsten Gowitzke, German footballer and manager
• 1967 - Steven Jacobs, Australian television host and actor
• 1967 - R. Kelly, American singer-songwriter, record producer, and former professional basketball player
• 1967 - Tom Watson, English politician
• 1971 - Jason Giambi, American baseball player
• 1971 - Jesper Jansson, Swedish footballer
• 1971 - Pascal Zuberbühler, Swiss footballer and coach
• 1972 - Paul Clement, English footballer, coach, and manager
• 1972 - Giuseppe Favalli, Italian footballer
• 1973 - Mike Cameron, American baseball player
• 1975 - Harris Jayaraj, Indian composer and producer
• 1976 - Kenneth Andam, Ghanaian sprinter and businessman
• 1976 - Carl Pavano, American baseball player
• 1977 - Amber Benson, American actress, writer, director, and producer
• 1977 - Francesco Coco, Italian footballer
• 1979 - Seol Ki-hyeon, South Korean footballer and manager
• 1979 - Adrian Mutu, Romanian footballer
• 1979 - Stipe Pletikosa, Croatian footballer
• 1979 - Sarah Polley, Canadian actress, director, and screenwriter
• 1980 - Adam Goodes, Australian footballer
• 1980 - Rachel Nichols, American actress and producer
• 1981 - Jeff Francis, Canadian baseball player
• 1981 - Trent Waterhouse, Australian rugby league player
• 1982 - Gaby Hoffmann, American actress
• 1983 - Jon Daly, Irish footballer
• 1984 - Jeff Francoeur, American baseball player
• 1984 - Jeon Ji-ae, South Korean actress
• 1984 - Kim Jong-un, North Korean soldier and politician, 3rd Supreme Leader of North Korea
• 1986 - David Silva, Spanish footballer
• 1988 - Adrián López, Spanish footballer
• 1988 - Michael Mancienne, English footballer
• 1989 - Aaron Cruden, New Zealand rugby player
• 1991 - Josh Hazlewood, Australian cricketer
• 1991 - Stefan Johansen, Norwegian footballer
• 1991 - Stefan Savić, Montenegrin footballer
• 1992 - Stefanie Dolson, American basketball player
• 1992 - Koke, Spanish footballer
• 1992 - Apostolos Vellios, Greek footballer

  Deaths

• 307 - Hui of Jin, Chinese emperor
• 482 - Severinus of Noricum, Italian apostle and saint
• 871 - Bagsecg, Viking warrior and leader
• 926 - Athelm, archbishop of Canterbury
• 1079 - Adèle of France, countess of Flanders
• 1107 - Edgar, king of Scotland
• 1198 - Celestine III, pope of the Catholic Church
• 1332 - Andronikos III, emperor of Trebizond
• 1337 - Giotto, Italian painter and architect, designed Scrovegni Chapel and Giotto's Campanile
• 1354 - Charles de La Cerda, French nobleman
• 1424 - Stephen Zaccaria, archbishop of Patras
• 1456 - Lawrence Giustiniani, Italian bishop and saint
• 1464 - Thomas Ebendorfer, Austrian historian and academic
• 1538 - Beatrice of Portugal, duchess of Savoy
• 1557 - Albert Alcibiades, margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach
• 1570 - Philibert de l'Orme, French sculptor and architect, designed the Château d'Anet
• 1598 - John George, Elector of Brandenburg
• 1642 - Galileo Galilei, Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher
• 1664 - Moses Amyraut, French physician and theologian
• 1707 - John Dalrymple, 1st Earl of Stair, Scottish soldier and politician, Scottish Secretary of State
• 1713 - Arcangelo Corelli, Italian violinist and composer
• 1775 - John Baskerville, English printer and type designer
• 1789 - Jack Broughton, English boxer
• 1794 - Justus Möser, German lawyer and jurist
• 1815 - Edward Pakenham, Anglo-Irish general and politician
• 1825 - Eli Whitney, American engineer and theorist, invented the cotton gin
• 1853 - Mihály Bertalanits, Slovene-Hungarian poet and educator
• 1854 - William Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford, English field marshal and politician, Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance
• 1865 - Aimé, duc de Clermont-Tonnerre, French general and politician, French Minister of Defence
• 1874 - Charles Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg, French historian and archaeologist
• 1878 - Nikolay Nekrasov, Russian poet and critic
• 1878 - Gauchito Gil, Argentinian saint
• 1880 - Emperor Norton, English-American businessman
• 1883 - Miska Magyarics, Slovene-Hungarian poet
• 1896 - William Rainey Marshall, American banker and politician, 5th Governor of Minnesota
• 1896 - Paul Verlaine, French poet and writer
• 1901 - John Barry, Irish soldier, Victoria Cross recipient
• 1912 - Friedrich Schrempf, German journalist and politician
• 1914 - Simon Bolivar Buckner, American general and 30th Governor of Kentucky
• 1916 - Rembrandt Bugatti, Italian sculptor
• 1916 - Ada Rehan, Irish-American actress
• 1918 - Johannes Pääsuke, Estonian photographer and director
• 1918 - Ellis H. Roberts, American journalist and politician, 20th Treasurer of the United States
• 1920 - Josef Josephi, Polish-born singer and actor
• 1925 - George Bellows, American painter
• 1934 - Andrei Bely, Russian novelist, poet, and critic
• 1934 - Alexandre Stavisky, Ukrainian-French financier
• 1935 - Rauf Yekta, Turkish musicologist and author
• 1938 - Johnny Gruelle, American author and illustrator
• 1941 - Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, English general
• 1942 - Joseph Franklin Rutherford, American lawyer and religious leader
• 1943 - Richard Hillary, Australian pilot and author
• 1943 - Andres Larka, Estonian general and politician, 1st Estonian Minister of War
• 1944 - William Kissam Vanderbilt II, American lieutenant and sailor
• 1945 - Karl Ernst Krafft, Swiss astrologer and author
• 1948 - Kurt Schwitters, German painter and graphic designer
• 1950 - Joseph Schumpeter, Czech-American economist and academic
• 1952 - Antonia Maury, American astronomer and astrophysicist
• 1953 - Hugh Binney, English admiral and politician, 16th Governor of Tasmania
• 1954 - Eduard Wiiralt, Estonian-French painter and illustrator
• 1956 - Jim Elliot, American missionary and martyr
• 1958 - Mary Colter, American architect, designed the Desert View Watchtower
• 1961 - Schoolboy Rowe, American baseball player and coach
• 1963 - Kay Sage, American painter
• 1969 - Albert Hill, English runner and coach
• 1969 - Elmar Kaljot, Estonian footballer and coach
• 1970 - Georges Guibourg, French actor, singer, and playwright
• 1972 - Kenneth Patchen, American poet and author
• 1975 - Richard Tucker, American tenor
• 1976 - Zhou Enlai, Chinese soldier and politician, 1st Premier of the People's Republic of China
• 1976 - Robert Forgan, Scottish-English physician and politician
• 1979 - Sara Carter, American singer-songwriter and harp player
• 1980 - John Mauchly, American physicist and academic
• 1981 - Matthew Beard, American actor
• 1982 - Grégoire Aslan, Swiss-English actor and screenwriter
• 1983 - Gerhard Barkhorn, German general and pilot
• 1983 - Tom McCall, American journalist and politician, 30th Governor of Oregon
• 1983 - Gale Page, American actress
• 1984 - Eerik Kumari, Estonian ornithologist and academic
• 1986 - Pierre Fournier, French cellist and educator
• 1990 - Bernard Krigstein, American illustrator
• 1990 - Terry-Thomas, English actor and comedian
• 1991 - Steve Clark, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1994 - Pat Buttram, American actor and comedian
• 1994 - Harvey Haddix, American baseball player and coach
• 1996 - Metin Göktepe, Turkish photographer and journalist
• 1996 - François Mitterrand, French sergeant and politician, 21st President of France
• 1996 - Howard Taubman, American author and critic
• 1997 - Melvin Calvin, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1998 - Michael Tippett, English composer and conductor
• 2002 - Alexander Prokhorov, Australian-Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 2002 - Dave Thomas, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Wendy's
• 2003 - Ron Goodwin, English composer and conductor
• 2004 - John A. Gambling, American radio host
• 2006 - Tony Banks, Baron Stratford, Northern Irish broadcaster and politician, Minister for Sport and the Olympics
• 2007 - Jane Bolin, American lawyer and judge
• 2007 - Arthur Cockfield, Baron Cockfield, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
• 2007 - Yvonne De Carlo, Canadian-American actress and singer
• 2007 - David Ervine, Northern Irish politician and activist
• 2007 - Iwao Takamoto, American animator, director, and producer
• 2008 - George Moore, Australian jockey and trainer
• 2009 - Lasantha Wickrematunge, Sri Lankan Journalist
• 2010 - Art Clokey, American animator, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 2011 - Jiří Dienstbier, Czech journalist and politician
• 2011 - Thorbjørn Svenssen, Norwegian footballer
• 2012 - Dave Alexander, American singer and pianist
• 2012 - T. J. Hamblin, English haematologist and academic
• 2012 - John Madin, English architect, designed the Birmingham Central Library
• 2012 - Bernhard Schrader, German chemist and academic
• 2012 - Alexis Weissenberg, Bulgarian-French pianist and educator
• 2013 - Kenojuak Ashevak, Canadian sculptor and illustrator
• 2013 - Jeanne Manford, American educator and activist, co-founded PFLAG
• 2013 - Alasdair Milne, Indian-English director and producer
• 2014 - Vicente T. Blaz, American general and politician
• 2014 - Madeline Gins, American poet and architect
• 2014 - Irma Heijting-Schuhmacher, Dutch-Australian swimmer
• 2014 - Antonino P. Roman, Filipino lawyer and politician
• 2015 - Andraé Crouch, American singer-songwriter, producer, and pastor
• 2015 - Kep Enderby, Australian lawyer, judge, and politician, 23rd Attorney-General for Australia
• 2015 - Patsy Garrett, American actress and singer
• 2016 - Maria Teresa de Filippis, Italian racing driver
• 2016 - German Moreno, Filipino television host, actor, comedian and talent manager
• 2017 - Nicolai Gedda, Swedish operatic tenor
• 2017 - James Mancham, Seychellois politician
• 2017 - Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Iranian politician
• 2017 - Peter Sarstedt, Indian-British singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 2020 - Pat Dalton, Australian rules footballer
• 2020 - Buck Henry, American actor, screenwriter, and director

  Holidays and observances

• Babinden
• Christian feast day:
• *Abo of Tiflis
• *Apollinaris Claudius
• *Blessed Eurosia Fabris
• *Gauchito Gil
• *Gudula
• *Harriet Bedell
• *Lawrence Giustiniani
• *Lucian of Beauvais
• *Maximus of Pavia
• *Our Lady of Prompt Succor
• *Pega
• *Severinus of Noricum
• *Thorfinn of Hamar
• *January 8
• Commonwealth Day
• Earliest day on which Children's Day can fall, while January 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Saturday in January.
• Earliest day on which Lee–Jackson Day can fall, while January 14 is the latest; celebrated on Friday before Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
• Typing Day