Events
- 38 BC - Octavian marries Livia Drusilla.
- 1287 - King Alfonso III of Aragon invades Minorca.
- 1377 - Pope Gregory XI moves the Papacy back to Rome from Avignon.
- 1524 - Beginning of Giovanni da Verrazzano's voyage to find a passage to China.
- 1562 - France recognizes the Huguenots under the Edict of Saint-Germain.
- 1595 - Henry IV of France declares war on Spain.
- 1605 - First publication of Don Quixote.
- 1648 - England's Long Parliament passes the Vote of No Addresses, breaking off negotiations with King Charles I and thereby setting the scene for the second phase of the English Civil War.
- 1781 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cowpens - Continental troops under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan defeat British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton at the battle in South Carolina.
- 1799 - Maltese patriot Dun Mikiel Xerri, along with a number of other patriot is executed.
- 1819 - Simón BolÃÂvar proclaims the Republic of Colombia.
- 1852 - The United Kingdom recognizes the independence of the Boer colonies of the Transvaal.
- 1873 - First Battle of the Stronghold in the US Modoc War.
- 1885 - A British force defeats a large Dervish army at the Battle of Abu Klea in the Sudan.
- 1893 - The Citizen's Committee of Public Safety, led by Lorrin A. Thurston overthrows the government of Queen Liliuokalani of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
- 1899 - The United States takes possession of Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean.
- 1904 - Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard receives its premiere performance at the Moscow Art Theatre.
- 1912 - Sir Robert Falcon Scott (Scott of the Antarctic) reaches the South Pole, one month after Roald Amundsen.
- 1913 - Raymond Poincaré is elected President of France.
- 1916 - The Professional Golfers Association (PGA) is formed.
- 1917 - The United States pays Denmark $25 million for the Virgin Islands.
- 1929 - Popeye the Sailor Man, a cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar, first appears in the Thimble Theatre comic strip.
- 1941 - Kuomintang forces under orders from Chiang Kai-Shek open fire at communist forces, resuming the Chinese Civil War after WWII.
- 1945 - Soviet forces capture the almost completely destroyed Polish city of Warsaw.
- 1945 - The Nazis begin the evacuation of the Auschwitz concentration camp as Soviet forces close in.
- 1945 - Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg disappears in Hungary while in Soviet custody.
- 1946 - The UN Security Council holds its first session.
- 1949 - The Goldbergs, the first sitcom on American television, first airs.
- 1950 - The Great Brinks Robbery - 11 thieves steal more than $2 million from an armored car Company's offices in Boston, Massachusetts.
- 1956 - Allen Ginsberg writes his poem "America".
- 1961 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhowerdelivers a televised farewell address to the nation three days beforeleaving office, in which he warns against the accumulation of power bythe "military-industrial complex".
- 1966 - A B-52 bomber collides with a KC-135 Stratotanker over Spain, dropping four 70-kiloton hydrogen bombs near the town of Palomares and another one into the sea in the Palomares hydrogen bombs incident.
- 1973 - Ferdinand Marcos becomes "President for Life" of the Philippines.
- 1977 - Convicted murderer Gary Gilmore is executed by a firing squad in Utah, ending a ten-year moratorium on Capital punishment in the United States.
- 1982 - "Cold Sunday" in the United States sees temperatures fall to their lowest levels in over 100 years in numerous cities.
- 1985 - British Telecom announces the retirement of the United Kingdom's red telephone boxes.
- 1989 - Stockton massacre: Patrick Purdy opens fire with an assault rifleat the Cleveland Elementary School playground, killing five childrenand wounding 29 others and one teacher before taking his own life.
- 1991 - Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm begins early in the morning. Iraq fires 8 Scud missiles into Israel in an unsuccessful bid to provoke Israeli retaliation.
- 1991 - Harald V becomes King of Norway on the death of his father, Olav V.
- 1994 - A magnitude 6.7 earthquake hits Northridge, California; see 1994 Northridge Earthquake.
- 1995 - A magnitude 7.3 earthquake (known as "the Great Hanshin earthquake") hits near Kobe, Japan, causing extensive property damage and killing 6,433 people.
- 1996 - The Czech Republic applies for membership of the European Union.
- 1997 - A Delta 2 carrying a GPS2R satellite explodes 13 seconds after launch, dropping 250 tons of burning rocket remains around the launch pad.
- 1998 - Paula Jones accuses President Bill Clinton of sexual harassment.
- 2001 - President Bill Clinton posthumously raises Captain Meriwether Lewis' rank from Lieutenant to Captain.
- 2002 - Mount Nyiragongo erupts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, displacing an estimated 400,000 people.
- 2007 - Doomsday Clock is set to five minutes to midnight in response to N. Korea nuclear testing
- 1463 - Friedrich III, Elector of Saxony (d. 1525)
- 1484 - George Spalatin, German reformer (d. 1545)
- 1501 - Leonhart Fuchs, German physician and botanist (d. 1566)
- 1504 - Pope Pius V (d. 1572)
- 1560 - Gaspard Bauhin, Swiss botanist (d. 1624)
- 1600 - Pedro Calderon de la Barca, Spanish playwright (d. 1681)
- 1612 - Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron, English Civil War general (d. 1671)
- 1686 - Archibald Bower, Scottish historian (d. 1766)
- 1706 - Benjamin Franklin American statesman (d. 1790)
- 1712 - John Stanley, English composer (d. 1786)
- 1719 - William Vernon, American merchant (d. 1806)
- 1761 - James Hall, Scottish geologist (d. 1832)
- 1789 - August Neander, German theologian (d. 1850)
- 1820 - Anne Brontë, British author (d. 1849)
- 1828 - Lewis A. Grant, American Civil War General (d. 1918)
- 1831 - Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria (d. 1903)
- 1832 - Henry Martyn Baird, American educationalist (d. 1906)
- 1851 - A. B. Frost, American illustrator (d. 1928)
- 1853 - Alva Belmont, American socialite (d. 1933)
- 1858 - Tomás Carrasquilla, Colombian writer(d. 1940)
- 1860 - Douglas Hyde, President of Ireland (d. 1949)
- 1863 - David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1945)
- 1863 - Constantin Stanislavski, Russian theatre practitioner (d. 1938)
- 1867 - Carl Laemmle, German-born film executive (d. 1939)
- 1871 - David Earl Beatty British admiral (d. 1936)
- 1871 - Nicolae Iorga, Romanian writer (d. 1940)
- 1875 - Florencio Sánchez, Uruguayan dramatist (d. 1910)
- 1880 - Mack Sennett, Canadian film director (d. 1960)
- 1881 - Antoni Łomnicki, Polish mathematician (d. 1941)
- 1882 - Noah Beery, Sr., American actor (d. 1946)
- 1886 - Glenn L. Martin, American aviation pioneer (d. 1955)
- 1897 - Marcel Petiot, French mass murderer (d. 1946)
- 1899 - Al Capone, American gangster (d. 1947)
- 1899 - Nevil Shute, English author (d. 1960)
- 1901 - Aron Gurwitsch, Lithuanian-born philosopher (d. 1973)
- 1903 - Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, Assamese poet, playwright, film maker (d. 1953)
- 1905 - Guillermo Stábile, Argentine footballer (d. 1966)
- 1905 - Peggy Gilbert, American jazz saxophonist and bandleader (d.2007)
- 1905 - Ray Cunningham, American baseball player (d. 2005)
- 1908 - Cus D'Amato, American boxing manager (d. 1985)
- 1911 - George Joseph Stigler, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991)
- 1914 - William Stafford, American poet and essayist (d. 1993)
- 1914 - Anacleto Angelini, Chilean businessman (d. 2007)
- 1914 - Irving Brecher, American Screenwriter
- 1917 - M. G. Ramachandran, Indian politician, actor (d. 1987)
- 1917 - Ramón Cardemil, Chilean huaso (d. 2007)
- 1918 - Keith Joseph, British politician (d. 1994)
- 1921 - Antonio Prohias, Cuban cartoonist (d. 1998)
- 1922 - Luis EcheverrÃÂa ÃÂlvarez, President of Mexico
- 1922 - Nicholas Katzenbach, American politician
- 1922 - Betty White, American actress
- 1925 - Robert Cormier, American author (d. 2000)
- 1925 - Abdul Kardar, Pakistani cricketer
- 1926 - Newton N. Minow, American lawyer and statesman
- 1926 - Moira Shearer, Scottish actress (d. 2006)
- 1927 - Eartha Kitt, American actress and singer
- 1928 - Jean Barraqué, French composer (d. 1973)
- 1928 - Vidal Sassoon, English cosmetologist
- 1929 - Jacques Plante, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1986)
- 1930 - Eddie LeBaron, American football player
- 1931 - James Earl Jones, American actor
- 1931 - L. Douglas Wilder, 66th Governor of Virginia
- 1931 - Don Zimmer, American baseball coach
- 1932 - Sheree North, American actress (d. 2005)
- 1933 - Dalida, French singer (d. 1987)
- 1933 - Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, French UN High Commissioner for Refugees (d. 2003)
- 1933 - Shari Lewis, American ventriloquist (d. 1998)
- 1935 - Ruth Ann Minner, Governor of Delaware
- 1939 - Maury Povich, American talk show host
- 1940 - Kipchoge Keino, Kenyan runner
- 1942 - Muhammad Ali, American boxer
- 1942 - Ulf Hoelscher, German violinist
- 1942 - Nancy Parsons, American actress (d. 2001)
- 1943 - René Préval, President of Haiti
- 1943 - Geoffrey Deuel, American actor
- 1943 - Chris Montez, American singer
- 1944 - Françoise Hardy, French singer
- 1945 - Javed Akhtar, Indian lyricist, poet and scriptwriter
- 1946 - Michèle Deslauriers, Quebec actress
- 1948 - DavÃÂð Oddsson, former Prime Minister of Iceland
- 1948 - Jim Ladd, American freeform (radio format) Disc Jockey
- 1949 - Mick Taylor, British musician (The Rolling Stones)
- 1949 - Andy Kaufman, American comedian (d. 1984)
- 1952 - Darrell Porter, American baseball player (d. 2002)
- 1952 - Ryuichi Sakamoto, Japanese musician
- 1954 - Susan Kiefel, Australian lawyer and judge
- 1954 - Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., American lawyer and environmental activist
- 1955 - Steve Earle, American musician
- 1956 - Paul Young, English musician
- 1957 - Keith Chegwin, English television presenter
- 1957 - Steve Harvey, American actor, comedian and radio personality
- 1959 - Susanna Hoffs, American musician
- 1959 - Momoe Yamaguchi, Japanese singer and actress
- 1960 - John Crawford, American musician
- 1960 - Chatchai Plengpanich, Thai actor
- 1961 - Brian Helgeland, American writer and film director
- 1962 - Jim Carrey, Canadian actor and comedian
- 1962 - Sebastian Junger, American journalist and author
- 1963 - Kai Hansen, German musician/singer
- 1964 - Andy Rourke, English bass guitarist (The Smiths)
- 1964 - Michelle Obama, wife of Barack Obama
- 1965 - Sylvain Turgeon, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1965 - Nikos Nioplias, Greek footballer
- 1966 - Stephin Merritt, American singer and songwriter (The Magnetic Fields, The 6ths, The Gothic Archies)
- 1966 - Shabba Ranks, Jamaican singer
- 1967 - Richard Hawley, English singer, guitarist and songwriter (Pulp, The Longpigs)
- 1967 - Filippo Raciti, Italian police officer (d. 2007)
- 1967 - Song Kang-ho, South Korean actor
- 1968 - Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer, Dutch writer
- 1968 - Svetlana Masterkova, Russian athlete
- 1969 - Lukas Moodysson, Swedish film writer and director
- 1969 - Naveen Andrews, British actor
- 1969 - Tijs Verwest, (DJ Tiësto) Dutch DJ
- 1970 - Jeremy Roenick, American ice hockey player
- 1970 - Genndy Tartakovsky, Russian-born animator
- 1970 - James Wattana, Thai snooker player
- 1971 - Kid Rock, American singer
- 1971 - Richard Burns, English rally driver (d. 2005)
- 1971 - Leonardo Ciampa, Italian-American musician
- 1971 - Youki Kudoh, Japanese actress
- 1971 - Sylvie Testud, French actress
- 1971 - Ann Wolfe, female boxer
- 1972 - Ken Hirai, Japanese singer and songwriter
- 1972 - Lil Jon, American rapper/producer
- 1973 - Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Mexican footballer
- 1973 - Liz Ellis, Australian netball captain
- 1973 - Aaron Ward, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1974 - Yang Chen, Chinese footballer
- 1974 - Derrick Mason, American football player
- 1974 - Vesko Kountchev, Bulgarian musician
- 1975 - Tom Jenkinson, English musician (Squarepusher)
- 1975 - Freddy Rodriguez, Puerto Rican-American actor
- 1977 - Kevin Fertig, American professional wrestler
- 1977 - Leigh Whannell, Australian screenwriter/actor
- 1980 - Zooey Deschanel, American actress
- 1980 - Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Ukrainian ballroom dancer
- 1980 - Kimberly Spicer, American model
- 1980 - Gareth McLearnon, Northern Irish flautist
- 1981 - Warren Feeney, Northern Irish footballer
- 1981 - Scott Mechlowicz, American actor
- 1981 - Ray J, American R&B singer
- 1982 - Alex Varkatzas, American singer
- 1982 - Dwyane Wade, American basketball player
- 1982 - Amanda Wilkinson, Canadian singer
- 1983 - Alvaro Arbeloa, Spanish Footballer
- 1983 - Johannes Herber, German basketball player
- 1983 - Andrea Lowell, American Model
- 1983 - Rick Kelly, Australian racing driver
- 1985 - Simone Simons, Dutch singer (Epica)
- 1985 - Riyu Kosaka, Japanese singer BeForU
- 1985 - Kang-In, South Korean singer/dancer/actor/MC/DJ(Super Junior)
- 395 - Theodosius I, Roman Emperor
- 1229 - Albert of Buxhoeveden, German soldier
- 1369 - King Peter I of Cyprus (murdered) (b. 1328)
- 1468 - Skanderbeg, Albanian leader (b. 1405)
- 1617 - Faust Vrančić, Croatian inventor (b. 1551)
- 1654 - Paulus Potter, Dutch painter (b. 1625)
- 1705 - John Ray, English naturalist (b. 1627)
- 1718 - Captain Benjamin Church, Plymouth Colony settler and military leader
- 1737 - Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, German architect (b. 1662)
- 1751 - Tomaso Albinoni, Italian composer (b. 1671)
- 1826 - Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga, Spanish composer (b. 1806)
- 1834 - Giovanni Aldini, Italian physicist (b. 1762)
- 1861 - Lola Montez, Irish-born adventurer (b. 1821)
- 1863 - Horace Vernet, French painter (b. 1789)
- 1884 - Hermann Schlegel, German ornithologist (b. 1804)
- 1886 - Amilcare Ponchielli, Italian composer (b. 1834)
- 1893 - Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th President of the United States (b. 1822)
- 1903 - Ignaz Wechselmann, Hungarian architect and philanthropist (b. 1828)
- 1927 - Juliette Gordon Low, American founder of the Girl Scouts of the USA (b. 1860)
- 1931 - Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia, son of Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich (b. 1864)
- 1933 - Louis Comfort Tiffany, American artist and designer (b. 1848)
- 1942 - Walther von Reichenau, German field marshal (b. 1884)
- 1947 - Pyotr Krasnov, Russian counter-revolutionary (b. 1869)
- 1947 - Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Villeneuve, French Archbishop of Quebec (b. 1883)
- 1961 - Patrice Lumumba, Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (b. 1925)
- 1964 - T.H. White, English author (b. 1906)
- 1967 - Evelyn Nesbit, American actress (b. 1884)
- 1970 - Simon Kovar, Russian-American bassoonist (b. 1890)
- 1970 - Billy Stewart, American singer (b. 1937)
- 1972 - Betty Smith, American writer and singer (b. 1896)
- 1977 - Gary Gilmore, American murderer (b. 1940)
- 1981 - Loukas Panourgias, Greek footballer (b. 1899)
- 1983 - Doodles Weaver, American actor (b. 1911)
- 1987 - Hugo Fregonese, Argentine film director (b. 1908)
- 1991 - King Olav V of Norway (b. 1903)
- 1993 - Albert Hourani, English historian (b. 1915)
- 1994 - Helen Stephens, American runner (b. 1918)
- 1996 - Amber Hagerman, American namesake of the Amber Alert system (b. 1986)
- 1996 - Barbara Jordan, American politician (b. 1936)
- 1996 - Mostafa Sid Ahmed, Sudanese singer (b. 1953)
- 1997 - Clyde Tombaugh, American astronomer (b. 1906)
- 1998 - Junior Kimbrough, American bluesman (b. 1930)
- 1999 - Robert Eads, American transexual (b. 1945)
- 2001 - Gregory Corso, American poet (b. 1930)
- 2002 - Bishop Karas, First Coptic Bishop of St. Antony Monastery (b. 1955)
- 2002 - Camilo Jose Cela, Spanish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
- 2003 - Richard Crenna, American actor (b. 1926)
- 2004 - Czeslaw Niemen, Polish musician (b. 1939)
- 2004 - Ray Stark, American stage and film producer (b. 1915)
- 2004 - Noble Willingham, American actor (b. 1931)
- 2004 - Harry Brecheen, American baseball player (b. 1914)
- 2005 - Charlie Bell, Australian fast food executive (b. 1960)
- 2005 - Virginia Mayo, American actress (b. 1920)
- 2005 - Albert Schatz, American microbiologist (b. 1920)
- 2005 - Zhao Ziyang, Premier of the People's Republic of China (b. 1919)
- 2006 - Clarence Ray Allen, American murderer (b. 1930)
- 2006 - Pierre Grondin, French Canadian cardiac surgeon (b. 1925)
- 2007 - Art Buchwald, American humorist (b. 1925)
- 2007 - Yevhen Kushnaryov, Ukrainian politician (b. 1951)
- Ancient Latvia - Zirgu Diena observed
- Catholicism - Feast day of the following saints:
- St. Anthony
- Amelbert
- Sulpitius the Pious
- Eastern (Byzantine) Catholic Church: Venerable Anthony the Great
- January 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)