Events
- 1325 - Alfonso IV becomes King of Portugal.
- 1558 - France takes Calais, the last continental possession of England.
- 1598 - Boris Godunov seizes the throne of Russia.
- 1608 - Fire destroys Jamestown, Virginia.
- 1610 - Galileo Galilei observes the four largest moons of Jupiter for the first time. He named them and in turn the four are called the Galilean moons.
- 1735 - Hieronimus de Salis marries hon. Mary ffane, at St. Margaret's Westminster.
- 1782 - The first American commercial bank, Bank of North America, opens.
- 1785 - Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American John Jeffries travel from Dover, England, to Calais, France, in a gas balloon.
- 1797 - The modern Italian flag is first used.
- 1835 - HMS Beagle anchors off the Chonos Archipelago.
- 1894 - W.K. Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film.
- 1904 - The distress signal "CQD" is established only to be replaced two years later by "SOS".
- 1922 - Dáil Éireann ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by a 64-57 vote.
- 1924 - George Gershwin completes Rhapsody in Blue.
- 1924 - The International Hockey Federation (FIH) is founded in Paris by seven member states: Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Hungary, Spain, and Switzerland.
- 1927 - First transatlantic telephone call - New York City to London.
- 1927 - The Harlem Globetrotters play their first game.
- 1935 - Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval sign the Franco–Italian Agreement.
- 1942 - World War II: Siege of the Bataan Peninsula begins.
- 1945 - World War II: British General Bernard Montgomery holds a press conference in which he claims credit for victory in the Battle of the Bulge.
- 1950 - A fire at the Mercy Hospital in Davenport, Iowa, kills 41 people.
- 1953 - President Harry Truman announces that the United States has developed a hydrogen bomb.
- 1954 - Georgetown-IBM experiment, the first public demonstration of a machine translation system, is held in New York at the head office of IBM.
- 1959 - The United States recognizes the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro.
- 1972 - Iberia Airlines Caravelle 6-R crashed into Mont San Jose on approach to Ibiza Airport killing all 104 on board.
- 1973 - Mark Essex fatally shot 10 people and wounded 13 others at Howard Johnson’s Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana before being shot to death by police officers.
- 1979 - Phnom Penh fell to the advancing Vietnamese troops, driving out Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.
- 1980 - President Jimmy Carter authorizes legislation giving $1.5 billion in loans to bail out Chrysler Corporation.
- 1984 - Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
- 1990 - The interior of the Leaning Tower of Pisa is closed to the public due to safety concerns.
- 1993 - The Fourth Republic of Ghana is inaugurated with Jerry Rawlings as President.
- 1996 - The North American blizzard of 1996 pounds the east coast of the U.S. with 1-4 feet of snow.
- 1999 - The impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton begins.
Births
- 1355 - Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester, son of Edward III of England (d. 1397)
- 1502 - Pope Gregory XIII (d. 1585)
- 1528 - Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre (d. 1572)
- 1647 - Wilhelm Ludwig, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1677)
- 1685 - Jonas Alströmer, Swedish industrialist (d. 1761)
- 1706 - Johann Heinrich Zedler, German publisher (d. 1751)
- 1718 - Israel Putnam, American Revolutionary War general (d. 1790)
- 1768 - Joseph Bonaparte, King of Naples (d. 1844)
- 1786 - John Catron, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1865)
- 1796 - Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales (d. 1817)
- 1800 - Millard Fillmore, 13th President of the United States (d. 1874)
- 1827 - Sir Sandford Fleming, Canadian engineer; introduced Universal Standard Time (d. 1915)
- 1830 - Albert Bierstadt, German-American painter (d. 1902)
- 1831 - Heinrich von Stephan, German labor organizer (d. 1897)
- 1834 - Johann Philipp Reis, German physicist and inventor (d. 1874)
- 1844 - Bernadette Soubirous, French saint (d. 1879)
- 1860 - Emanuil Manolov, Bulgarian composer (d. 1902)
- 1871 - Émile Borel, French mathematician and politician (d. 1956)
- 1873 - Adolph Zukor, Hungarian producer (d. 1976)
- 1873 - Charles Péguy, French poet and essayist (d. 1914)
- 1875 - Gustav Flatow, German gymnast (d. 1945)
- 1875 - Thomas Hicks, American runner (d. 1963)
- 1891 - Zora Neale Hurston, American author (d. 1960)
- 1896 - Arnold Ridley, British playwright and actor (d. 1984)
- 1899 - Francis Poulenc, French composer (d. 1963)
- 1903 - Warren Hull, American actor (d. 1974)
- 1903 - Alan Napier, English actor (d. 1988)
- 1908 - Red Allen, American musician (d. 1967)
- 1910 - Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Pakistani poet (d. 1984)
- 1910 - Orval Faubus, Governor of Arkansas (d. 1994)
- 1911 - Butterfly McQueen, American actress (d. 1995)
- 1912 - Charles Addams, American cartoonist (d. 1988)
- 1913 - Johnny Mize, American baseball player (d. 1993)
- 1916 - Paul Keres, Estonian chess player (d. 1975)
- 1917 - Ulysses Kay, American composer (d. 1995)
- 1922 - Vincent Gardenia, Italian-born actor (d. 1992)
- 1922 - Jean-Pierre Rampal, French flutist (d. 2000)
- 1922 - Alvin Dark, American baseball player and manager
- 1923 - Hugh Kenner, Canadian literary critic (d. 2003)
- 1924 - Pablo Birger, Argentine racing driver (d. 1966)
- 1925 - Gerald Durrell, British naturalist (d. 1995)
- 1928 - William Peter Blatty, American screenwriter
- 1929 - Terry Moore, American actress
- 1934 - Charlie Jenkins, American runner
- 1934 - Jean Corbeil, Canadian politician (d. 2002)
- 1935 - Kenny Davern, American jazz clarinetist (d. 2006)
- 1935 - Tommy Johnson, American tubist (d. 2006)
- 1935 - Valeri Kubasov, Soviet cosmonaut
- 1937 - Paul Revere, American musician
- 1938 - Roland Topor, French illustrator (d. 1997)
- 1938 - Rory Storm, British singer (d. 1972)
- 1938 - Lou Graham, American golfer
- 1939 - Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark
- 1941 - Iona Brown, British violinist and conductor (d. 2004)
- 1941 - John E. Walker, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1942 - Vasily Alexeev, Russian weightlifter
- 1942 - Danny Williams, South African singer (d. 2005)
- 1942 - Jim Lefebvre, American baseball player and manager
- 1943 - Sadako Sasaki, World-famous victim of the atomic bomb when it was dropped on Hiroshima
- 1944 - Arne Scheie, Norwegian sports commentator
- 1945 - Tony Conigliaro, American baseball player (d. 1990)
- 1945 - Dick Marty, Swiss politician
- 1946 - Jann Wenner, American publisher
- 1947 - Shobha De, Indian writer
- 1948 - Kenny Loggins, American singer
- 1949 - Marshall Chapman, American singer/songwriter
- 1949 - Anne Schedeen, American actress
- 1949 - Steven Williams, American actor
- 1950 - Erin Gray, American actress
- 1950 - Johnny Lever, Indian actor
- 1950 - Juan Gabriel, Mexican singer and songwriter
- 1950 - Ross Grimsley, American baseball player
- 1951 - Helen Worth, British actress
- 1952 - Sammo Hung, Hong Kong actor
- 1956 - David Caruso, American actor
- 1956 - Mike Liut, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1957 - Nicholson Baker, American novelist
- 1957 - Katie Couric, American television host
- 1957 - Julian Solis, Puerto Rican boxer
- 1959 - Kathy Valentine, American musician (The Go-Gos)
- 1960 - Loretta Sanchez, American politician
- 1962 - Aleksandr Dugin, Russian politician
- 1964 - Nicolas Cage, American actor
- 1966 - Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, American publicist (d. 1999)
- 1967 - Mark Lamarr, British comedian and broadcaster
- 1967 - Guy Hebert, American ice hockey player
- 1969 - David Yost, American actor
- 1970 - Doug E. Doug, American actor
- 1970 - Joao Ricardo, Angolan footballer
- 1971 - C.W. Anderson, American professional wrestler
- 1972 - Donald Brashear, American ice hockey player
- 1973 - Jonna Tervomaa, Finnish singer
- 1974 - John Rich, American guitarist and bassist (Big & Rich)
- 1976 - Éric Gagné, Canadian baseball player
- 1976 - Alfonso Soriano, Dominican baseball player
- 1977 - Michelle Behennah, British model
- 1977 - Dustin Diamond, American actor
- 1978 - Kevin Mench, American baseball player
- 1979 - Bipasha Basu, Indian model
- 1979 - Mariangel Ruiz, Venezuelan actress and model
- 1981 - Marquis Daniels, American basketball player
- 1981 - Alex Auld, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1982 - Francisco Rodriguez, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1982 - Hannah Stockbauer, German swimmer
- 1982 - Ianina Zanazzi, Argentine racing driver
- 1983 - Natalie Gulbis, American golfer
- 1984 - Jon Lester, American baseball player
- 1985 - Lewis Hamilton, English F1 racing driver
- 1986 - Grant Leadbitter, English footballer
- 1988 - Scott Pendlebury, Australian rules footballer
- 1990 - Liam Aiken, American actor
- 1990 - Elene Gedevanishvili, Georgian figure skater
- 1990 - Camryn Grimes, American actress
Deaths
- 1400 - Thomas Holland, 1st Duke of Surrey, English politician (b. 1374)
- 1451 - Count Amadeus VIII of Savoy (b. 1383)
- 1536 - Catherine of Aragon, consort of Henry VIII of England (b. 1485)
- 1566 - Louis de Blois, Flemish mystic (b. 1506)
- 1619 - Nicholas Hilliard, English painter (bc. 1547)
- 1625 - Ruggiero Giovannelli, Italian composer (bc. 1560)
- 1655 - Pope Innocent X (b. 1574)
- 1658 - Theophilus Eaton, American colonist (b. 1590)
- 1694 - Charles Gerard, 1st Earl of Macclesfield, English general (bc. 1618)
- 1700 - Raffaello Fabretti, Italian antiquarian (b. 1618)
- 1715 - François Fénelon, French-Catholic theologian and writer (b. 1651)
- 1758 - Allan Ramsay, Scottish poet (b. 1686)
- 1767 - Thomas Clap, 1st president of Yale University (b. 1703)
- 1770 - Carl Gustaf Tessin, Swedish politician (b. 1695)
- 1783 - William Tans'ur, English hymnist (b. 1700)
- 1786 - Jean-Étienne Guettard, French physician and scientist (b. 1715)
- 1830 - Thomas Lawrence, English painter (b. 1769)
- 1864 - Caleb Blood Smith, 6th U.S. Secretary of the Interior (b. 1808)
- 1872 - James Fisk, American entrepreneur (b. 1834)
- 1876 - Juste Olivier, Swiss poet (b. 1807)
- 1878 - François-Vincent Raspail, French chemist (b. 1794)
- 1892 - Tewfik Pasha, Khedive of Egypt (b. 1852)
- 1893 - Jožef Stefan, Slovenian physicist and mathematician (b. 1835)
- 1913 - Jack Boyle, American baseball player (b. 1866)
- 1919 - Henry Ware Eliot American industrialist and philanthropist (b. 1843)
- 1920 - Edmund Barton, 1st Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1849)
- 1943 - Nikola Tesla, Serbian-born inventor and electrical engineer (b. 1856)
- 1944 - Napoleon Lapathiotis, Greek poet (b. 1888)
- 1951 - René Guénon, French-Egyptian author (b. 1886)
- 1953 - Osa Johnson, American explorer (b. 1894)
- 1964 - Cyril Davies, American musician (b. 1932)
- 1967 - David Goodis, American writer (b. 1917)
- 1972 - John Berryman, American poet (b. 1914)
- 1972 - Eftichia Papagianopoulos, Greek lyricist
- 1980 - Larry Williams, American singer and songwriter (b. 1935)
- 1984 - Alfred Kastler, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
- 1986 - Philip D. Eastman, American children's book writer and illustrator (b. 1909)
- 1986 - Juan Rulfo, Mexican novelist (b. 1917)
- 1988 - Trevor Howard, English actor (b. 1913)
- 1988 - Michel Auclair, French actor (b. 1922)
- 1989 - Hirohito, Emperor of Japan (b. 1901)
- 1990 - Bronko Nagurski, American football player (b. 1908)
- 1990 - Horace Stoneham, American baseball executive (b. 1903)
- 1992 - Richard Hunt, American puppeteer (The Muppets) (b. 1951)
- 1995 - Murray Rothbard, American economist (b. 1926)
- 1996 - Tarō Okamoto, Japanese avant-garde artist (b. 1911)
- 1996 - Károly Grósz, Hungarian politician (b. 1930)
- 1998 - Vladimir Prelog, Croatian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
- 1998 - Owen Bradley, American record producer (b. 1915)
- 2000 - Gary Albright, American professional wrestler (b. 1963)
- 2002 - Jon Lee, Welsh musician (Feeder) (b. 1968)
- 2002 - Avery Schreiber, American actor (b. 1935)
- 2004 - Ingrid Thulin, Swedish actress (b. 1926)
- 2005 - Pierre Daninos, French novelist (b. 1913)
- 2005 - Eileen Desmond, Irish politician (b. 1932)
- 2006 - Heinrich Harrer, Austrian mountaineer (b. 1912)
- 2007 - Bobby Hamilton, NASCAR team owner (b. 1957)
- 2007 - Magnús Magnússon, Icelandic-born television presenter (b. 1929)
Holidays and Observances
- European traditional - Distaff day: women's traditional work begins again after Epiphany.
- Italy - Tricolour day (Festa del Tricolore)
- Japan - Nanakusa (Seven Herbs Festival).
Liturgical Feast Days
- Roman Catholic Church
- Canute Lavard[SUP][1][/SUP]
- Charles of Sezze[SUP][1][/SUP]
- Lucian of Antioch[SUP][1][/SUP]
- Raymond of Peñafort[SUP][1][/SUP]
- Coptic Orthodox Church - Synaxis of John the Forerunner & Baptist
- Eastern Orthodox Church - John the Baptist
- Christmas Day in the Eastern Orthodox Churches and Oriental Orthodox Churches using the Julian Calendar
- January 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)