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 | change source]
Up to 1900[change | change source]
- 46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats Titus Labienus in the Battle of Ruspina.
- 1490 - Anne of Brittany announces that all those who would ally (go on the same side) with the King of France will be guilty of the crime of lese-majesty.
- 1642 - Charles I of England sends soldiers in to arrest members of parliament.
- 1643 - Famous English scientist Isaac Newton is born. In the Julian calendar in use in England at the time, his date of birth was December 25, 1642.
- 1649 - The English Rump Parliament votes to put Charles I on trial.
- 1717 - The Netherlands, Great Britain and France sign a triple alliance.
- 1762 - Great Britain declares war on Spain and Naples.
- 1798 - Constantine Hangerli arrives in Bucharest, then-part of Wallachia, as its new prince, invested by the Ottoman Empire.
- 1847 - Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the US Government.
- 1852 - British steamer RMS Amazon catches fire and explodes and sinks, killing 104 people.
- 1854 - The Subantarctic McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald.
- 1863 - The New Apostolic Church is created in Hamburg.
- 1865 - The New York Stock Exchange opens its first permanent headquarters on Wall Street.
- 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.
- 1889 - The Oklahoma Land Run opens 2 million square acres of unused Oklahoma Territory to first-come, first-served settlers from April 22.
- 1896 – Utah becomes a state of the US.
1901 – 2000[change | change source]
- 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.
- 1912 - The Scout Association is officially created throughout the British Commonwealth of Nations by Royal Charter.
- 1935 - Dry Tortugas National Park in Mexico is created.
- 1944 - World War II: Operation Carpetbagger, involving the dropping of arms and supplies to resistance fighters in Europe, begins.
- 1948 – Burma gained independence from the United Kingdom.
- 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 1 falls back to Earth.
- 1958 - Edmund Hillary reaches the South Pole, leading the first overland expedition there since Robert Falcon Scott.
- 1959 - Luna 1 becomes the first spacecraft to reach the area near the Moon.
- 1964 - Pope Paul VI visits Israel.
- 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.
- 1972 - Rose Heilbron becomes the first female judge to sit on the Old Bailey in London.
- 1976 - The Troubles: The Ulster Volunteer Force shoots dead six Irish Catholic civilians in County Armagh. On January 5, gunmen shoot dead 10 Protestant civilians nearby.
- 1981 - Peter Sutcliffe admits being the Yorkshire ripper.
- 1987 - An Amtrak train travelling from Boston, Massachusetts to Washington, DC, collides with Conrail engines in Chase, Maryland, killing 16 people.
- 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.
From 2001[change | change source]
- 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.
- 2016 - Zinedine Zidane becomes the manager of Real Madrid C.F..
Births[change | change source]
Up to 1900[change | change 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)
- 1581 - James Ussher, Irish bishop and theologian (d. 1656)
- 1643 – Isaac Newton, English scientist (d. 1727)
- 1664 - Lars Roberg, Swedish physician (d. 1742)
- 1710 - Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Italian composer, violinist and organist (d. 1736)
- 1720 – Johann Friedrich Agricola, German composer (d. 1774)
- 1737 - Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau, French chemist and politician (d. 1816)
- 1785 – Jacob Grimm, German storyteller (d. 1863)
- 1793 - Roger Sherman Baldwin, American politician, Senator and Governor of Connecticut (d. 1863)
- 1809 – Louis Braille, French inventor of Braille (d. 1852)
- 1813 - Isaac Pitman, English linguist (d. 1897)
- 1838 - General Tom Thumb, American circus performer (d. 1883)
- 1839 - Carl Humann, German engineer, architect and classical archaeologist (d. 1896)
- 1848 – Katsura Taro, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1913)
- 1858 - Carter Glass, 47th United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1946)
- 1866 - Joel Hastings Metcalf, American astronomer (d. 1925)
- 1866 - Ramon Casas i Carbo, Catalan painter (d. 1932)
- 1869 - Tommy Corcoran, American baseball player (d. 1960)
- 1870 - Percy Pitt, English organist and conductor (d. 1932)
- 1872 - Ottilie Sutro, American pianist (d. 1970)
- 1874 – Josef Suk, Czech composer (d. 1935)
- 1874 - Albert Tyler, American athlete (d. 1945)
- 1878 - Augustus John, Welsh painter (d. 1961)
- 1881 – Wilhelm Lehmbruck, German sculptor (d. 1919)
- 1883 – Max Eastman, American writer (d. 1969)
- 1883 - Pat Ryan, American hammer thrower (d. 1964)
- 1883 - Johanna Westerdijk, Dutch botanist (d. 1961)
- 1887 - Hugo Steinhaus, Polish mathematician (d. 1972)
- 1888 - Walther Kossel, German physicist (d. 1956)
- 1889 - M. Patanjali Sastri, 2nd Chief Justice of India (d. unknown)
- 1890 - Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, American pulp writer and publisher (DC Comics) (d. 1968)
- 1891 - Edward Brooker, Australian politician, 31st Premier of Tasmania (d. 1948)
- 1893 – Yone Minagawa, Japanese supercentenarian (d. 2007)
- 1896 – Everett Dirksen, American politician (d. 1969)
- 1896 - André Masson, French painter (d. 1987)
- 1896 - Arnold Susi, Estonian lawyer and politician (d. 1968)
- 1900 - James Bond, American ornithologist (d. 1980)
1901 – 1950[change | change source]
- 1902 - John McCone, 6th Director of Central Intelligence (d. 1991)
- 1903 - Georg Elser, German resistance activist (d. 1945)
- 1905 – Sterling Holloway, American actor (d. 1992)
- 1910 - Arthur Villeneuve, Canadian painter (d. 1990)
- 1913 – Malietoa Tanumafili II, Samoan Head of State (d. 2007)
- 1914 - Jean-Pierre Vernant, French historian and anthropologist (d. 2007)
- 1915 - Meg Mundy, English-American actress
- 1922 - Mart Port, Estonian architect (d. 2012)
- 1924 - Walter Ris, American swimmer (d. 1989)
- 1924 - Charles Thone, American politician, 34th Governor of Nebraska (d. 2018)
- 1925 - Veikko Hakulinen, Finnish skier (d. 2003)
- 1927 – Barbara Rush, American actress
- 1929 – Günter Schabowski, East German politician (d. 2015)
- 1930 – Don Shula, American football coach
- 1931 – William Deane, former Governor-General of Australia
- 1932 - Carlos Saura, Spanish director
- 1932 - Clint Hill, American secret service agent and author
- 1933 - Norman H. Bangerter, American politician, Governor of Utah (d. 2015)
- 1933 – Ilia II of Georgia, Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church
- 1934 – Zurab Tsereteli, Georgian sculptor
- 1934 - Hellmuth Karasek, German journalist, author and critic (d. 2015)
- 1934 – Rudolf Schuster, former President of Slovakia
- 1935 – Floyd Patterson, American boxer (d. 2006)
- 1935 - Walter Mahlendorf, German athlete
- 1936 - Gianni Vattimo, Italian philosopher, author and politician
- 1937 - Grace Bumbry, American soprano
- 1937 - Dyan Cannon, American actress, director, screenwriter and producer
- 1939 - Veniamin Soldatenko, Soviet athlete
- 1939 - Joseph Bonnel, French footballer (d. 2018)
- 1940 - Antoni Krauze, Polish screenwriter and director (d. 2018)
- 1940 - Helmut Jahn, German-American architect
- 1940 – Brian David Josephson, Welsh physicist
- 1940 – Gao Xingjian, Chinese-French writer
- 1941 – Maureen Reagan, American political activist (d. 2001)
- 1942 - John McLaughlin, English guitarist and songwriter
- 1945 – Richard R. Schrock, American chemist
- 1947 – Chris Cutler, British singer and musician
- 1947 - Doc Neeson, Northern Irish-born Australian singer-songwriter and musician (d. 2014)
- 1947 - Tim Rooney, American actor (d. 2006)
- 1947 – Rick Stein, English chef and restaurateur
- 1948 - Cissé Mariam Kaïdema Sidibé, Prime Minister of Mali
- 1949 – Mick Mills, English footballer
1951 – 1975[change | change source]
- 1951 - Barbara Cochran, American skier
- 1951 - Ronald Corp, English composer, conductor and priest
- 1953 - Norberto Alonso, Argentine footballer
- 1954 – Oleg Romantsev, Russian footballer
- 1955 - Wolfgang Tiefensee, German politician
- 1956 - Bernard Sumner, English singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer
- 1956 - Sarojini Sahoo, Indian feminist writer
- 1957 - Patty Loveless, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1957 - Vesnaja Zmijanac, Montenegrin-Serbian folk singer
- 1957 - Gurdas Maan, Indian singer, songwriter, choreographer and actor
- 1958 - Andy Borowitz, American comedian and actor
- 1958 - Julian Sands, English actor
- 1958 - Gary Jones, Welsh-Canadian actor
- 1960 – Michael Stipe, American singer and musician (R.E.M.)
- 1960 – April Winchell, American actress
- 1961 - Kiyotaka Matsui, Japanese footballer
- 1961 - Oh Se-hoon, South Korean politician
- 1962 - Robin Guthrie, Scottish guitarist and producer
- 1962 - Joe Kleine, American basketball player
- 1962 – Peter Steele, American musician (d. 2010)
- 1962 - André Rouvoet, French educator and politician
- 1963 - Dave Foley, Canadian comedian, actor, director and producer
- 1963 – Till Lindemann, German singer (Rammstein)
- 1963 - May-Britt Moser, Norwegian psychologist and neuroscientist, 2014 Nobel Prize winner
- 1964 - Dot Jones, American actress
- 1965 - Yvan Attal, Israeli-French actor and director
- 1965 - Craig Revel Horwood, Australian-English dancer
- 1965 - Guy Forget, French tennis player
- 1965 - Beth Gibbons, British musician
- 1965 – Cait O'Riordan, Irish musician (The Pogues)
- 1966 - Christian Kern, former Chancellor of Austria
- 1966 – Deana Carter, American singer
- 1971 - Katharine Viner, British newspaper editor (The Guardian)
- 1972 - James Longley, American director and producer
- 1974 – Armin Zöggeler, Italian luger
From 1976[change | change source]
- 1977 – David Millar, British cyclist
- 1977 - Teitur Lassen, Faroese singer-songwriter
- 1978 – Karine Ruby, French snowboarder (d. 2009)
- 1978 - Mai Meneses, Spanish singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1979 - Kevin Kuske, German bobsledder
- 1980 – Miguel Monteiro, Portuguese footballer
- 1980 - Greg Cipes, American actor
- 1980 - Happy Salma, Indonesian model, actress and writer
- 1981 - Zhang Jiewen, Chinese badminton player
- 1982 - Paulo Ferrari, Argentine footballer
- 1982 - Kang Hye-jung, South Korean actress
- 1983 - Gemma Hunt, English television presenter
- 1985 - Al Jefferson, American basketball player
- 1985 - Jung Sung Ryong, South Korean footballer
- 1985 - Ross Turnbull, English footballer
- 1986 – James Milner, English footballer
- 1986 - Younès Kaboul, French footballer
- 1986 - Hsieh Su-wei, Taiwanese tennis player
- 1987 - Nikolaj Misiuk, Lithuanian footballer
- 1988 - Nabila Jamshed, Indian author
- 1989 - Labrinth, English singer
- 1990 – Toni Kroos, German footballer
- 1990 - Alberto Paloschi, Italian footballer
- 1991 – Olivia Tennet, New Zealand actress
- 1991 - Tal Al-Mallohi, Syrian blogger and activist
- 1992 - Kris Bryant, American baseball player
- 1993 - Scott Redding, British motorcycle racer
- 1995 - Maddie Hasson, American actress
- 1995 - Maria Isabel, Spanish singer
- 1998 - Coco Jones, American actress and singer
- 1998 - Liza Soberano, Filipino-American actress and model
- 2003 - Jaeden Lieberher, American actor
Deaths[change | change source]
Up to 1900[change | change source]
- 1066 – Edward the Confessor, Saxon king (b. 1003)
- 1248 – King Sancho II of Portugal (b. 1207)
- 1428 - Frederick I, Elector of Saxony (b. 1370)
- 1564 - Hosokawa Ujitsuna, Japanese military commander (b. 1514)
- 1584 - Tobias Stimmer, Swiss painter and illustrator (b. 1539)
- 1752 - Gabriel Cramer, Swiss mathematician (b. 1704)
- 1761 – Stephen Hales, English physicist and physiologist (b. 1677)
- 1773 - Anton Losenko, Russian painter (b. 1737)
- 1786 - Moses Mendelssohn, German philosopher (b. 1729)
- 1804 - Charlotte Lennox, British writer (b. 1730)
- 1821 – Elizabeth Ann Seton, American saint (b. 1774)
- 1825 – Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies (b. 1751)
- 1843 - Stevens Mason, American politician, 1st Governor of Michigan (b. 1811)
- 1874 - Thomas Gregson, Australian politician, 2nd Premier of Tasmania (b. 1798)
- 1877 – Cornelius Vanderbilt, American businessman (b. 1794)
- 1880 - Anselm Feuerbach, German painter (b. 1829)
- 1882 - John William Draper, English-American physician, chemist and photographer (b. 1811)
- 1895 - Manuel Pavia, Spanish general (b. 1827)
1901 – 2000[change | change source]
- 1910 – Léon Delagrange, French aviator and sculptor (b. 1873)
- 1913 - Hjalmar Johansen, Norwegian explorer (b. 1867)
- 1915 - Anton von Werner, German painter (b. 1843)
- 1919 – Georg von Hertling, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1843)
- 1931 – Louise, Princess Royal (b. 1867)
- 1931 - Mohammad Ali Jouhar, Indian journalist, activist and scholar (b. 1878)
- 1941 – Henri Bergson, French philosopher (b. 1859)
- 1944 - Kaj Munk, Danish minister, poet and activist (b. 1898)
- 1956 - Savielly Tartakower, Polish-French chess player (b. 1887)
- 1960 – Albert Camus, French writer (b. 1913)
- 1961 – Erwin Schrödinger, Austrian physicist (b. 1887)
- 1965 – T. S. Eliot, American poet (b. 1888)
- 1967 – Donald Campbell, English motorboat racer (b. 1921)
- 1975 - Carlo Levi, Italian writer, painter and politician (b. 1902)
- 1986 – Christopher Isherwood, English writer (b. 1904)
- 1986 – Phil Lynott, Irish musician (b. 1949)
- 1990 – Henry Bolte, Australian politician, Premier of Victoria (b. 1907)
- 1995 - Eduardo Mata, Mexican conductor and composer (b. 1942)
- 1998 - John Gary, American singer (b. 1932)
- 1999 - Iron Eyes Cody, American actor (b. 1904)
From 2001[change | change source]
- 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)
- 2009 - Lei Clijsters, Belgian footballer (b. 1956)
- 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, English writer (b. 1922)
- 2011 - Ali-Reza Pahlavi of Iran (b. 1966)
- 2012 - Eve Arnold, American photographer (b. 1912)
- 2013 - Tony Lip, American actor (b. 1930)
- 2014 - Sergey Kozlov, Russian footballer and manager (b. 1960)
- 2015 - Stuart Scott, American sportscaster (b. 1965)
- 2015 - Hank Peters, American baseball executive (b. 1924)
- 2015 - Stu Miller, American baseball player (b. 1927)
- 2015 - Lance Diamond, American singer (b. 1946)
- 2015 - Pino Daniele, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1955)
- 2015 - Natalino Pescarolo, Italian bishop (b. 1929)
- 2015 - René Vautier, French movie director (b. 1928)
- 2016 - Michel Galabru, French actor (b. 1922)
- 2016 - Tom Allin, English cricketer (b. 1987)
- 2016 - S. H. Kapadia, Indian judge (b. 1947)
- 2016 - Jorge Lepra, Uruguayan diplomat and politician (b. 1942)
- 2016 - John Roberts, Welsh footballer (b. 1946)
- 2016 - Fernando Barrachina, Spanish footballer (b. 1947)
- 2016 - Achim Mentzel, German musician and television presenter (b. 1946)
- 2016 - Leo Rucka, American football player (b. 1931)
- 2017 - Milt Schmidt, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1918)
- 2017 - Ezio Pascutti, Italian footballer (b. 1937)
- 2017 - Wayne Westner, South African golfer (b. 1961)
- 2017 - Hisham Al-Otaibi, Kuwaiti politician (b. 1946)
- 2017 - Heinz Billing, German physicist and computer scientist (b. 1914)
- 2017 - Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan, Indian sitar player and composer (b. 1927)
- 2017 - Jordi Pagans i Monsalvatje, Catalan painter (b. 1932)
- 2017 - Douglas Wass, British civil servant (b. 1923)
- 2017 - Georges Pretre, French conductor (b. 1924)
- 2018 - Aharon Appelfeld, Ukrainian-born Israeli writer (b. 1932)
- 2018 - Johannes Brost, Swedish actor (b. 1946)
- 2018 - Brendan Byrne, American politician, 47th Governor of New Jersey (b. 1924)
- 2018 - Bruce Halle, American automobile parts executive (b. 1930)
- 2018 - Senichi Hoshino, Japanese baseball player (b. 1947)
- 2018 - Philipp Jenninger, German politician (b. 1932)
- 2018 - Ray Thomas, English singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
- 2018 - Vladimir Yankilevsky, Russian artist (b. 1938)
Observances[change | change source]
- Independence Day (Burma)
- Day of the Fallen against Colonial Repression (Angola)
- Day of the Martyrs (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
- World Braille Day
