January 8: Commonwealth Day In The Northern Mariana Islands

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January 8 is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 357 days remaining until the end of the year (358 in leap years).

Events

* 871 - Battle of Ashdown - Ethelred of Wessex defeats a Danish invasion army.

* 1297 - Monaco gains its independence.

* 1499 - Louis XII of France marries Anne of Brittany.

* 1734 - Premiere of George Frideric Handel's Ariodante at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

* 1746 - Bonnie Prince Charlie occupies Stirling.

* 1790 - George Washington delivers the first State of the Union Address address in New York City.

* 1806 - Cape Colony becomes a British colony.

* 1811 - Unsuccessful slave revolt led by Charles Deslandes in St. Charles and St. James, Louisiana.

* 1815 - War of 1812: Battle of New Orleans - Andrew Jackson leads American forces in victory over the British.

* 1835 - US national debt is 0 for the first and only time.

* 1838 - Alfred Vail demonstrates a telegraph using dots and dashes (this is the forerunner of Morse code).

* 1863 - American Civil War: Second Battle of Springfield

* 1867 - African American men granted the right to vote in the District of Columbia.

* 1877 - Crazy Horse and his warriors fight their last battle with the United States Cavalry at Wolf Mountain (Montana Territory).

* 1900 - United States President William McKinley places Alaska under military rule.

* 1906 - A landslide in Haverstraw, New York, caused by the excavation of clay along the Hudson River, kills 20 people .

* 1908 - A train collision occurs in the Park Avenue Tunnel in New York City killing 17 people, injuring 38 and leading to increased demand for electric trains.

* 1912 - The African National Congress is founded.

* 1916 - World War I: Allied forces withdraw from Gallipoli.

* 1918 - President Woodrow Wilson announces his "Fourteen Points" for the aftermath of World War I.

* 1920 - The Czechoslovak Hussite Church is founded by Dr. Karel Farský.

* 1922 - The Social Democratic Youth League of Norway is founded.

* 1926 - Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud becomes the King of Hejaz and renames it Saudi Arabia.

* 1940 - World War II: Britain introduces food rationing.

* 1956 - Operation Auca: Five U.S. missionaries are killed by the Huaorani of Ecuador shortly after making contact with them.

* 1959 - Fidel Castro's Cuban Revolution is completed with the take over of Santiago de Cuba.

* 1961 - In France, a referendum supports Charles de Gaulle's policies in Algeria.

* 1962 - Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is exhibited in the United States for the first time (National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.).

* 1962 - Harmelen train disaster kills 93 people in The Netherlands.

* 1964 - President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a "War on Poverty" in the United States.

* 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 Grasso becomes Governor of Connecticut, becoming the first woman to serve as a Governor in the United States who did not succeed her husband.

* 1979 - The tanker Betelgeuse explodes in Bantry Bay, Ireland (The Betelgeuse incident).

* 1979 - The NBC game show Password Plus premieres, hosted by Allen Ludden.

* 1982 - AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions.

* 1989 - The Kegworth air disaster kills 47 people in Leicestershire, England.

* 1989 - Beginning of Japanese Heisei era.

* 1994 - Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov on Soyuz TM-18 leaves for Mir. He will stay on the space station until March 22, 1995, for a record 437 days in space.

* 1996 - An Antonov 32 cargo turboprop powered plane crashes into the central market in Kinshasa, Zaire killing more than 350 people.

* 2000 - Winning Lines, a worldwide national lottery game show, premieres on CBS and is hosted by Dick Clark.

* 2002 - United States President George W. Bush signs into law the controversial No Child Left Behind Act.

* 2004 - RMS Queen Mary 2, the largest passenger ship ever built, is christened by her namesake's granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.

* 2006 - A magnitude 6.9 earthquake with its epicenter just off the Greek island of Kythira hits much of the country and is felt throughout the entire eastern Mediterranean Sea.

Births

* 1556 - Uesugi Kagekatsu, Japanese samurai and warlord (d. 1623)

* 1583 - Simon Episcopius, Dutch theologian (d. 1643)

* 1601 - Baltasar Gracián y Morales, Spanish writer (d. 1658)

* 1628 - François Henri de Montmorency-Bouteville, duc de Luxembourg, French general (d. 1695)

* 1632 - Samuel Pufendorf, German jurist (d. 1694)

* 1635 - Luis Manuel Fernández de Portocarrero, Spanish Archbishop of Toledo (d. 1709)

* 1735 - John Carroll, American Roman Catholic archbishop (d. 1815)

* 1763 - Edmond Charles Genêt, French diplomat (d. 1834)

* 1786 - Nicholas Biddle, American banking executive (d. 1844)

* 1788 - Pavel Kiselyov, Russian general and politician (d. 1874)

* 1792 - Lowell Mason, American composer (d. 1872)

* 1805 - John Bigler, American politician (d. 1871)

* 1805 - Orson Hyde, American religious leader (d. 1878)

* 1817 - Sir Theophilus Shepstone, South African statesman (d. 1893)

* 1821 - James Longstreet, American Confederate general (d. 1904)

* 1821 - W.H.L. Wallace, American Union general (d. 1862)

* 1823 - Alfred Russel Wallace, British naturalist and biologist (d. 1913)

* 1824 - Francisco González Bocanegra, Mexican poet (d. 1861)

* 1824 - Wilkie Collins, British novelist (d. 1889)

* 1830 - Hans von Bülow, German pianist and composer (d. 1894)

* 1836 - Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Dutch artist (d. 1912)

* 1843 - Frederick Abberline, British police investigator (d. 1929)

* 1843 - John H. Moffitt, American politician (d. 1926)

* 1852 - James Milton Carroll, American pastor and author (d. 1931)

* 1860 - Emma Booth, daughter of William and Catherine Booth (d. 1903)

* 1862 - Frank Nelson Doubleday, American publisher (d. 1934)

* 1866 - William G. Conley, American politician (d. 1940)

* 1867 - Emily Greene Balch, American writer and pacifist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (d. 1961)

* 1870 - Miguel Primo de Rivera, Spanish politician (d. 1930)

* 1871 - James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, Irish politician (d. 1940)

* 1873 - Iuliu Maniu, Romanian politician (d. 1953)

* 1873 - Elena of Montenegro, queen of Italy (d. 1956)

* 1881 - Henrik Shipstead, American politician (d. 1960)

* 1883 - Patrick J. Hurley, United States Secretary of War (d. 1963)

* 1883 - Pavel Filonov, Russian painter (d. 1941)

* 1885 - John Curtin, Australian politician (d. 1945)

* 1885 - A. J. Muste, Dutch activist and pacifist (d. 1967)

* 1888 - Matthew Moore, Irish-American actor (d. 1960)

* 1891 - Walther Bothe, German physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics laureate (d. 1957)

* 1891 - Bronislava Nijinska, Russian choreographer (d. 1972)

* 1896 - Arthur Ford, American psychic (d. 1971)

* 1897 - Dennis Wheatley, British author (d. 1977)

* 1902 - Carl Rogers, American psychologist (d. 1987)

* 1902 - Georgy Malenkov, Soviet politician (d. 1988)

* 1903 - Igor Kurchatov, Russian physicist (d. 1960)

* 1904 - Karl Brandt, Nazi war criminal (d. 1948)

* 1905 - Franjo Cardinal Seper, Croatian Catholic cardinal (d. 1981)

* 1905 - Giacinto Scelsi, Italian composer (d. 1988)

* 1908 - William Hartnell, British actor (d. 1975)

* 1909 - Willy Millowitsch, German actor (d. 1999)

* 1909 - José Ferrer, Puerto Rican actor (d. 1992)

* 1909 - Evelyn Wood, American educator (d. 1995)

* 1910 - Galina Sergeyevna Ulanova, Russian ballerina (d. 1988)

* 1911 - Tom Delaney, British racing driver (d. 2006)

* 1915 - Walker Cooper, American baseball player (d. 1991)

* 1921 - Herta Bothe, Nazi concentration camp guard

* 1923 - Larry Storch, American actor

* 1923 - Johnny Wardle, English cricketer (d. 1985)

* 1923 - Joseph Weizenbaum, German-born computer scientist

* 1924 - Ron Moody, English actor

* 1925 - Helmuth Hubener, German anti-Hitler activist (d. 1942)

* 1926 - Evelyn Lear, American soprano

* 1926 - Hanae Mori, Japanese fashion designer

* 1926 - Soupy Sales, American comedian

* 1926 - Kelucharan Mohapatra, Indian Odissi dancer (d. 2004)

* 1927 - Charles Tomlinson, British poet and translator

* 1928 - Gaston Miron, Quebec poet and editor (d. 1996)

* 1931 - Bill Graham, German-born American music promoter (d. 1991)

* 1933 - Charles Osgood, American journalist and commentator

* 1933 - Jean-Marie Straub, French film director

* 1933 - Ko Un, Korean poet

* 1934 - Jacques Anquetil, French cyclist (d. 1987)

* 1934 - Roy Kinnear, English actor (d. 1988)

* 1934 - Alexandra Ripley, American writer (d. 2004)

* 1934 - Gene Freese, American baseball player

* 1935 - Elvis Presley, American singer and guitarist (d. 1977)

* 1937 - Shirley Bassey, Welsh singer

* 1938 - Bob Eubanks, American game show host

* 1941 - Graham Chapman, British comedian (d. 1989)

* 1941 - Boris Vallejo, Peruvian illustrator

* 1942 - Stephen Hawking, English theoretical physicist and author

* 1942 - Junichiro Koizumi, Japanese politician

* 1942 - Yvette Mimieux, American actress

* 1944 - Terry Brooks, American writer

* 1945 - Kojo Nnamdi, Guyanese-born American radio host

* 1946 - Robby Krieger, American musician (The Doors)

* 1947 - Don Bendell, American author & karate master

* 1947 - David Bowie, English musician

* 1947 - Samuel Schmid, Swiss politician

* 1947 - Terry Sylvester, British singer and musician (The Hollies)

* 1948 - Gillies MacKinnon, Scottish film director

* 1951 - Kenny Anthony, Saint Lucian politician

* 1951 - John McTiernan, American film director

* 1953 - Bruce Sutter, American baseball player

* 1955 - Mike Reno, Canadian musician (Loverboy)

* 1955 - Spiros Livathinos, Greek footballer

* 1958 - Rey Misterio, Sr., Mexican professional wrestler

* 1959 - Paul Hester, Australian drummer (Crowded House) (d. 2005)

* 1961 - Calvin Smith, American athlete

* 1961 - Kazuki Takahashi, Japanese creator of Yu-Gi-Oh

* 1962 - Chris Marion, American musician (Little River Band)

* 1965 - Michelle Forbes, American actress

* 1966 - Igor Vyazmikin, Russian ice hockey player

* 1966 - Andrew Wood, American musician (Mother Love Bone) (d. 1990)

* 1967 - R. Kelly, American singer

* 1968 - Keith Mullings, American boxer

* 1969 - Ami Dolenz, American actress

* 1969 - Jeff Abercrombie, American musician (Fuel)

* 1970 - Melissa Hill, American *** actress

* 1971 - Jason Giambi, American baseball player

* 1971 - Pascal Zuberbühler, Swiss footballer

* 1973 - Mark Knight, English sound designer

* 1973 - Sean Paul, Jamaican singer

* 1973 - Jason Stevens, Australian rugby league footballer

* 1975 - DJ Clue, American DJ and producer

* 1976 - Jenny Lewis, American actress and musician (Rilo Kiley)

* 1976 - Josh Meyers, American actor

* 1976 - Carl Pavano, American baseball player

* 1977 - Amber Benson, American actress

* 1977 - Lee Yoo-jin, Korean actress

* 1978 - Marco Fu, Hong Kong snooker player

* 1978 - Boris Avrukh, Israeli chess grandmaster

* 1979 - Adrian Mutu, Romanian footballer

* 1979 - Sarah Polley, Canadian actress

* 1979 - Seol Ki-Hyeon, South Korean footballer

* 1980 - Rachel Nichols, American actress

* 1981 - Jeff Francis, Canadian baseball player

* 1982 - Emanuele Calaiò, Italian footballer

* 1982 - Gaby Hoffmann, American actress

* 1982 - John Utaka, Nigerian footballer

* 1982 - wiL Francis, American singer

* 1983 - Chris Mordetzky, American professional wrestler

* 1984 - Jeff Francoeur, American baseball player

* 1985 - Rachael Lampa, American singer

* 1986 - Jaclyn Linetsky, Canadian actress (d. 2003)

* 1986 - David Silva, Spanish footballer

* 1988 - Adam T. Siska, American Musician, (The Academy Is...)

* 1990 - Maci Wainwright, American singer

* 1991 - Asuka Hinoi, Japanese singer

* 1995 - Hannah Robinson, American actress

Deaths

* 482 - Saint Severinus of Noricum

* 1100 - Antipope Clement III (bc. 1029)

* 1107 - Edgar of Scotland (b. 1074)

* 1198 - Pope Celestine III (bc. 1106)

* 1324 - Marco Polo, Italian explorer (b. 1254)

* 1337 - Giotto di Bondone, Italian artist (b. 1267)

* 1464 - Thomas Ebendorfer, Austrian historian (b. 1385)

* 1557 - Albert the Warlike, Prince of Bayreuth (b. 1522)

* 1570 - Philibert de l'Orme, French architect (bc. 1510)

* 1642 - Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer and scientist (b. 1564)

* 1707 - John Dalrymple, 1st Earl of Stair, Scottish politician (b. 1648)

* 1713 - Arcangelo Corelli, Italian composer (b. 1653)

* 1775 - John Baskerville, English printer (b. 1706)

* 1789 - Jack Broughton, English boxer (bc. 1703)

* 1794 - Justus Möser, German statesman (b. 1720)

* 1815 - Edward Pakenham, British general (b. 1778)

* 1825 - Eli Whitney, American inventor (b. 1765)

* 1854 - William Carr Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford, British general and politician (b. 1768)

* 1865 - Aimé, duc de Clermont-Tonnerre, French general (b. 1779)

* 1874 - Charles Etienne Brasseur de Bourbourg, French writer and historian (b. 1814)

* 1878 - Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov, Russian poet (b. 1821)

* 1880 - Joshua A. Norton, American eccentric (b. 1811)

* 1896 - William Rainey Marshall, Governor of Minnesota (b. 1825)

* 1896 - Paul Verlaine, French poet (b. 1844)

* 1901 - John Barry, Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross (b. 1873)

* 1916 - Ada Rehan, Irish-born American actress (b. 1860)

* 1918 - Ellis H. Roberts, American politician (b. 1827)

* 1932 - Eurosia Fabris, Italian Catholic (b. 1866)

* 1934 - Andrei Bely, Russian writer (b. 1880)

* 1935 - Jesse Garon Presley, stillborn twin brother of Elvis Presley

* 1938 - Johnny Gruelle, Creator of Raggedy Ann and Andy (b. 1880)

* 1941 - Robert Baden-Powell, English founder of scouting (b. 1857)

* 1942 - Joseph Franklin Rutherford, American religious publisher (b. 1869)

* 1943 - Richard Hillary, Australian Spitfire pilot and author (b. 1919)

* 1944 - William Kissam Vanderbilt II, member of the Vanderbilt family (b. 1878)

* 1948 - Kurt Schwitters, German painter (b. 1887)

* 1948 - Richard Tauber, Austrian tenor (b. 1891)

* 1950 - Joseph Schumpeter, Austrian economist (b. 1883)

* 1956 - Jim Elliot, American Christian missionary (b. 1928)

* 1958 - Paul Pilgrim, American athlete (b. 1883)

* 1963 - Kay Sage, American artist and poet (b. 1898)

* 1967 - Zbigniew Cybulski, Polish actor (b. 1927)

* 1969 - Albert Hill, British athlete (b. 1889)

* 1970 - Georges Guibourg, French performer (b. 1891)

* 1972 - Kenneth Patchen, American poet (b. 1911)

* 1975 - Richard Tucker, American tenor (b. 1913)

* 1976 - Zhou Enlai, Premier of the People's Republic of China (b. 1898)

* 1976 - Robert Forgan, British fascist (b. 1891)

* 1979 - Sara Carter, American country musician (b. 1898)

* 1980 - John Mauchly, American physicist (b. 1907)

* 1981 - Matthew "Stymie" Beard, American actor (b. 1925)

* 1983 - Tom McCall, Governor of Oregon (b. 1913)

* 1986 - Pierre Fournier, French cellist (b. 1906)

* 1990 - Terry-Thomas, British actor, comedian (b. 1911)

* 1991 - Steve Clark, English guitarist (Def Leppard) (b. 1960)

* 1994 - Pat Buttram, American actor (b. 1915)

* 1994 - Harvey Haddix, American baseball player (b. 1925)

* 1995 - Carlos Monzon, Argentinian boxer (b. 1942)

* 1996 - François Mitterrand, President of France (b. 1916)

* 1997 - Melvin Calvin, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)

* 1998 - Michael Tippett, English composer (b. 1905)

* 2000 - Fritz Thiedemann, German equestrianist (b. 1918)

* 2002 - Alexander Prochorow, Nobel Prize in Physics laureate (b. 1916)

* 2002 - Dave Thomas, American fast food entrepreneur (b. 1932)

* 2003 - Ron Goodwin, British composer and conductor (b. 1925)

* 2004 - John A. Gambling, American radio talk-show host (b. 1930)

* 2005 - Campbell McComas, Australian impersonator and broadcaster (b. 1952)

* 2005 - Warren Spears, American choreographer and dancer

* 2005 - Michel Thomas, Polish linguist (b. 1914)

* 2006 - Tony Banks, British politician (b. 1943)

* 2007 - Yvonne De Carlo, Canadian-born actress (b. 1922)

* 2007 - Jane Bolin, first African American female judge (b. 1908)

* 2007 - Francis Cockfield, British politician (b. 1916)

* 2007 - David Ervine, Northern Irish politician (b. 1953)

* 2007 - Iwao Takamoto, American animator (b. 1925)

Holidays and Observances

* Commonwealth Day is celebrated in the Northern Mariana Islands.

Liturgical Calendar

* The feast day of Our Lady of Prompt Succor in the Roman Catholic Church.

* January 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

* Abo of Tiflis

* Gudula

* Lucian of Beauvais

* Pega

* Severinus of Noricum

* Thorfinn of Hamar