January 4
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January 4 is the fourth day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 361 days remaining until the end of the year (362 in leap years).
Contents
Events[change | edit source]
- 1642 - Charles I of England sends soldiers in to arrest members of parliament.
- 1649 - The English Rump Parliament votes to put Charles I on trial.
- 1717 - The Netherlands, Great Britain and France sign a triple alliance.
- 1847 - Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the US Government.
- 1854 - The Subantarctic McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald.
- 1878 - The city of Sofia is freed from Ottoman Rule.
- 1880 - Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador is first climbed by Edward Whymper.
- 1885 – Dr. William W. Grant of Davenport, Iowa, performs what is thought to be the first appendectomy.
- 1896 – Utah becomes a state of the US.
- 1904 – In Gonzales v. Williams, the U.S. Supreme Court decides that citizens of Puerto Rico are not aliens and can enter the U.S. freely.
- 1948 – Burma gained independence from Great Britain.
- 1950 - Israel declares Jerusalem to be its capital city.
- 1951 – The Communist forces of North Korea and China, seize the city of Seoul.
- 1958 - Sputnik falls back to Earth.
- 1958 - Edmund Hillary reaches the South Pole, leading the first overland expedition there since Robert Falcon Scott.
- 1965 – During the State of the Union Address, President Lyndon Johnson outlines his plan for "The Great Society".
- 1966 - A coup occurs in Upper Volta (present-day Burkina Faso).
- 1967 - Donald Campbell is killed in an attempt to beat his own water speed record on Coniston Water.
- 1970 - An earthquake in Yunnan, China, kills around 10,000 people.
- 1981 - Peter Sutcliffe admits being the Yorkshire ripper.
- 1990 - A train accident in Sangi, Pakistan, kills 350 people.
- 1998 - A massive ice storm in eastern Canada and the northeastern United States causes widespread disruption and power outages.
- 1999 – Former wrestler, Jesse Ventura, becomes Minnesota's governor.
- 1999 – The US Mint begins issuing the 50 state quarters.
- 2004 - Spirit, a NASA Mars Rover, lands successfully on Mars.
- 2004 - Mikheil Saakashvili becomes President of Georgia.
- 2006 - Prime Minister of Israel Ariel Sharon suffers a stroke. His duties are transferred to Ehud Olmert.
- 2007 - Nancy Pelosi becomes the first female Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
- 2010 – The Burj Khalifa is opened in Dubai, officially becoming the world's tallest building.
Births[change | edit source]
- 1077 – Emperor Zhezong of China (d. 1100)
- 1334 – Amadeus VI of Savoy (d. 1383)
- 1341 – Wat Tyler, English leader of the Peasants' Revolt (d. 1381)
- 1643 – Isaac Newton, English scientist (d. 1727)
- 1720 – Johann Friedrich Agricola, German composer (d. 1774)
- 1785 – Jacob Grimm, German storyteller (d. 1863)
- 1809 – Louis Braille, French inventor of Braille (d. 1852)
- 1848 – Katsura Taro, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1913)
- 1874 – Josef Suk, Czech composer (d. 1935)
- 1881 – Wilhelm Lehmbruck, German sculptor (d. 1919)
- 1883 – Max Eastman, American writer (d. 1969)
- 1893 – Yone Minagawa, Japanese supercentenarian (d. 2007)
- 1896 – Everett Dirksen, American politician (d. 1969)
- 1905 – Sterling Holloway, American actor (d. 1992)
- 1913 – Malietoa Tanumafili II, Samoan Head of State (d. 2007)
- 1927 – Barbara Rush, American actress
- 1929 – Guenter Schabowski, East German politician
- 1930 – Don Shula, American football coach
- 1931 – William Deane, former Governor-General of Australia
- 1933 – Ilia II of Georgia, Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church
- 1934 – Zurab Tsereteli, Georgian sculptor
- 1934 – Rudolf Schuster, former President of Slovakia
- 1935 – Floyd Patterson, American boxer (d. 2006)
- 1940 – Brian David Josephson, Welsh physicist
- 1940 – Gao Xingjian, Chinese-French writer
- 1941 – Maureen Reagan, American political activist (d. 2001)
- 1945 – Richard R. Schrock, American chemist
- 1947 – Chris Cutler, British singer and musician
- 1947 – Rick Stein, British chef and restaurateur
- 1949 – Mick Mills, English footballer
- 1954 – Oleg Romantsev, Russian footballer
- 1960 – Michael Stipe, American singer and musician (R.E.M.)
- 1960 – April Winchell, American actress
- 1962 – Peter Steele, American musician (d. 2010)
- 1963 – Till Lindemann, German singer (Rammstein)
- 1965 – Cait O'Riordan, Irish musician (The Pogues)
- 1966 – Deana Carter, American singer
- 1974 – Armin Zoeggeler, Italian luger
- 1977 – David Millar, British cyclist
- 1978 – Karine Ruby, French snowboarder (d. 2009)
- 1980 – Miguel Monteiro, Portuguese footballer
- 1986 – James Milner, English footballer
- 1990 – Toni Kroos, German footballer
- 1991 – Olivia Tennet, New Zealand actress
Deaths[change | edit source]
- 1066 – Edward the Confessor, Saxon king (b. 1003)
- 1248 – King Sancho II of Portugal (b. 1207)
- 1761 – Stephen Hales, English physicist and physiologist (b. 1677)
- 1821 – Elizabeth Ann Seton, American saint (b. 1774)
- 1825 – Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies (b. 1751)
- 1877 – Cornelius Vanderbilt, American businessman (b. 1794)
- 1910 – Leon Delagrange, French aviator and sculptor (b. 1873)
- 1919 – Georg von Hertling, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1843)
- 1931 – Louise, Princess Royal (b. 1867)
- 1941 – Henri Bergson, French philosopher (b. 1859)
- 1960 – Albert Camus, French writer (b. 1913)
- 1961 – Erwin Schroedinger, Austrian physicist (b. 1887)
- 1965 – T. S. Eliot, American poet (b. 1888)
- 1967 – Donald Campbell, English motorboat racer (b. 1921)
- 1986 – Christopher Isherwood, English writer (b. 1904)
- 1986 – Phil Lynott, Irish musician (b. 1949)
- 1990 – Henry Bolte, Australian politician (b. 1907)
- 2004 – Joan Aiken, English writer (b. 1924)
- 2006 – Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai politician (b. 1946)
- 2007 – Marais Viljoen, South African politician (b. 1915)
- 2007 – Sandro Salvadore, Italian footballer (b. 1939)
- 2010 – Casey Johnson, American socialite (b. 1979)
- 2010 – Johan Ferrier, first President of Suriname (b. 1910)
- 2010 – Tsutomu Yamaguchi, Japanese survivor of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs (b. 1916).
- 2011 – Salmaan Taseer, Pakistani politician (b. 1964)
- 2011 – Gerry Rafferty, Scottish singer-songwriter (b. 1947)
- 2011 – Mohamed Bouazizi, Tunisian fruit seller (b. 1984)
- 2011 – Dick King-Smith, British writer (b. 1922)
Observances[change | edit source]
- Independence Day (Burma)
- Day of the Fallen against Colonial Repression (Angola)
- Day of the Martyrs (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
