Events
Pre-1600
- 69 – The Roman legions in Germania Superior refuse to swear loyalty to Galba. They rebel and proclaim Vitellius as emperor.
- 366 – The Alemanni cross the frozen Rhine in large numbers, invading the Roman Empire.
- 533 – Mercurius becomes Pope John II, the first pope to adopt a new name upon elevation to the papacy.
- 1444 – Christian forces defeat the Turks in the battle of Kunovica.
- 1492 – Reconquista: The Emirate of Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, surrenders.
1601–1900
- 1680 – Trunajaya rebellion: Amangkurat II of Mataram and his bodyguards execute the rebel leader Trunajaya.
- 1776 – Empress Maria Theresa of Austria amends the Constitutio Criminalis Theresiana to include the abolition of torture throughout the Habsburg-ruled countries of Austria and Bohemia.
- 1777 – American Revolutionary War: American forces under the command of General George Washington repulse a British attack led by General Charles Cornwallis at the Battle of the Assunpink Creek near Trenton, New Jersey.
- 1788 – Georgia becomes the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution.
- 1791 – Northwest Indian War: The Big Bottom massacre is committed by Lenape and Wyandot warriors in the Ohio Country, North America.
- 1818 – The British Institution of Civil Engineers is founded by a group of six engineers; Thomas Telford would later become its first president.
- 1863 – American Civil War: The three-day Battle of Stones River ends in a Union victory when the Confederate Army of Tennessee under General Braxton Bragg are repulsed for the final time by the Army of the Cumberland under General William S. Rosecrans.
- 1865 – Uruguayan War: The Siege of Paysandú ends as the Brazilians and Coloradans capture Paysandú, Uruguay.
- 1900 – American statesman and diplomat John Hay announces the Open Door Policy to promote trade with China.
- 1900 – Chicago Canal opens.
1901–present
- 1920 – The second Palmer Raid, ordered by the US Department of Justice, results in 6,000 suspected communists and anarchists being arrested and held without trial.
- 1921 – World premiere of the science fiction play R.U.R. by the Czech writer Karel Čapek in a theater in Hradec Králové.
- 1932 – The Young Brothers engaged in a gun battle resulting in the deaths of six law enforcement officers; the worst single killing of US police officers in the 20th century.
- 1941 – World War II: The Cardiff Blitz severely damages the cathedral in Cardiff, Wales.
- 1942 – The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) obtains the conviction of 33 members of a German spy ring headed by Fritz Joubert Duquesne in the largest espionage case in United States history; Also known as the Duquesne Spy Ring.
- 1942 – World War II: Manila is captured by Japanese forces, enabling them to control the Philippines.
- 1949 – Luis Muñoz Marín is inaugurated as the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico.
- 1954 – India establishes its highest civilian awards, the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan.
- 1955 – Following the assassination of the Panamanian president José Antonio Remón Cantera, his deputy, José Ramón Guizado, takes power, but is quickly deposed after his involvement in Cantera's death is discovered.
- 1959 – Luna 1, the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and to orbit the Sun, is launched by the Soviet Union.
- 1963 – Vietnam War: The Viet Cong wins its first major victory, at the Battle of Ap Bac.
- 1967 – Ronald Reagan, past movie actor and future President of the United States, is sworn in as Governor of California.
- 1971 – The second Ibrox disaster kills 66 fans at a Rangers-Celtic association football match.
- 1975 – At the opening of a new railway line, a bomb blast at Samastipur, Bihar, India, fatally wounds Lalit Narayan Mishra, Minister of Railways.
- 1976 – The Gale of January 1976 begins, resulting in coastal flooding around the southern North Sea coasts, affecting countries from Ireland to Yugoslavia and causing at least 82 deaths and US$1.3 billion in damage.
- 1978 – On the orders of the President of Pakistan, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, paramilitary forces opened fire on peaceful protesting workers in Multan, Pakistan; it is known as 1978 massacre at Multan Colony Textile Mills.
- 1981 – One of the largest investigations by a British police force ends when serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, the "Yorkshire Ripper", is arrested in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
- 1988 – Condor Flugdienst Flight 3782 crashes near Seferihisar, Turkey, killing 16 people.
- 1991 – Sharon Pratt Dixon becomes the first African American woman mayor of a major city and first woman Mayor of the District of Columbia.
- 1993 – Sri Lankan Civil War: The Sri Lanka Navy kill 35–100 civilians on the Jaffna Lagoon.
- 2004 – Stardust successfully flies past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that are returned to Earth.
- 2022 – Massive nationwide protests and unrest break out in Kazakhstan over the sudden increase of liquefied petroleum gas prices, leading to 238 people dead and thousands injured by January 11.
- 2024 – Two aircraft collide on a runway at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, killing 5 and injuring 18.
Births
Pre-1600
- 869 – Yōzei, Japanese emperor (died 949)
- 1462 – Piero di Cosimo, Italian painter (died 1522)
- 1509 – Henry of Stolberg, German nobleman (died 1572)
1601–1900
- 1642 – Mehmed IV, Ottoman sultan (died 1693)
- 1647 – Nathaniel Bacon, English-American rebel leader (died 1676)
- 1699 – Osman III, Ottoman sultan (died 1757)
- 1713 – Marie Dumesnil, French actress (died 1803)
- 1727 – James Wolfe, English general (died 1759)
- 1732 – František Brixi, Czech organist and composer (died 1771)
- 1777 – Christian Daniel Rauch, German sculptor and educator (died 1857)
- 1803 – Guglielmo Libri Carucci dalla Sommaja, Italian mathematician and academic (died 1869)
- 1822 – Rudolf Clausius, Polish-German physicist and mathematician (died 1888)
- 1827 – Pyotr Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky, Russian geographer and statistician (died 1914)
- 1833 – Frederick A. Johnson, American banker and politician (died 1893)
- 1836 – Mendele Mocher Sforim, Russian author (died 1917)
- 1836 – Queen Emma of Hawaii (died 1885)
- 1837 – Mily Balakirev, Russian pianist and composer (died 1910)
- 1857 – M. Carey Thomas, American educator and activist (died 1935)
- 1860 – Dugald Campbell Patterson, Canadian engineer (died 1931)
- 1860 – William Corless Mills, American historian and curator (died 1928)
- 1866 – Gilbert Murray, Australian-English playwright and scholar (died 1957)
- 1870 – Ernst Barlach, German sculptor and playwright (died 1938)
- 1870 – Tex Rickard, American boxing promoter and businessman (died 1929)
- 1873 – Antonie Pannekoek, Dutch astronomer and theorist (died 1960)
- 1873 – Thérèse of Lisieux, French nun and saint (died 1897)
- 1878 – Jaakko Mäki, Finnish politician (died 1938)
- 1878 – Mannathu Padmanabha Pillai, Indian activist, founded the Nair Service Society (died 1970)
- 1884 – Ben-Zion Dinur, Russian-Israeli historian and politician, 4th Israeli Minister of Education (died 1973)
- 1885 – Gordon Flowerdew, Canadian lieutenant, Victoria Cross recipient (died 1918)
- 1886 – Apsley Cherry-Garrard, English explorer and author (died 1959)
- 1889 – Bertram Stevens, Australian accountant and politician, 25th Premier of New South Wales (died 1973)
- 1891 – Giovanni Michelucci, Italian architect and urban planner, designed the Firenze Santa Maria Novella railway station (died 1990)
- 1892 – Seiichiro Kashio, Japanese tennis player (died 1962)
- 1895 – Folke Bernadotte, Swedish diplomat (died 1948)
- 1896 – Dziga Vertov, Polish-Russian director and screenwriter (died 1954)
- 1896 – Lawrence Wackett, Australian commander and engineer (died 1982)
- 1897 – Theodore Plucknett, English legal historian (died 1965)
- 1900 – Una Ledingham, British physician, known for research on diabetes in pregnancy (died 1965)
1901–present
- 1901 – Bob Marshall, American activist, co-founded The Wilderness Society (died 1939)
- 1902 – Dan Keating, Irish Republican Army volunteer (died 2007)
- 1903 – Kane Tanaka, Japanese Supercentenarian, Oldest Japanese person ever, Second oldest verified person in world history (died 2022)
- 1904 – Walter Heitler, German physicist and chemist (died 1981)
- 1905 – Michael Tippett, English composer and conductor (died 1998)
- 1905 – Luigi Zampa, Italian director and screenwriter (died 1991)
- 1909 – Riccardo Cassin, Italian mountaineer and author (died 2009)
- 1909 – Barry Goldwater, American politician, businessman, and author (died 1998)
- 1913 – Juanita Jackson Mitchell, American lawyer and activist (died 1992)
- 1913 – Anna Lee, English-American actress (died 2004)
- 1917 – Vera Zorina, German-Norwegian actress and dancer (died 2003)
- 1918 – Willi Graf, German physician and activist (died 1943)
- 1919 – Ernest Bender, American Indologist (died 1996)
- 1919 – Beatrice Hicks, American engineer (died 1979)
- 1920 <small>(probable)</small> – Isaac Asimov, American writer and professor of biochemistry (died 1992)
- 1920 – Bob Feerick, American basketball player and coach (died 1976)
- 1921 – Glen Harmon, Canadian ice hockey player (died 2007)
- 1926 – Gino Marchetti, American football player (died 2019)
- 1928 – Dan Rostenkowski, American politician (died 2010)
- 1929 – Charles Beaumont, screenwriter and American author of speculative fiction (died 1967)
- 1929 – Tellervo Koivisto, Finnish politician, former First Lady of Finland
- 1931 – Toshiki Kaifu, Japanese lawyer and politician, 76th Prime Minister of Japan (died 2022)
- 1934 – John Hollowbread, English footballer, goalkeeper (died 2007)
- 1936 – Roger Miller, American singer-songwriter, musician, and actor (died 1992)
- 1938 – David Bailey, English photographer and painter
- 1938 – Lynn Conway, American computer scientist and electrical engineer (died 2024)
- 1938 – Robert Smithson, American sculptor and photographer (died 1973)
- 1940 – Jim Bakker, American televangelist
- 1940 – Saud bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Arabian economist and politician, Saudi Arabian Minister of Foreign Affairs (died 2015)
- 1942 – Thomas Hammarberg, Swedish lawyer and diplomat
- 1942 – Dennis Hastert, American educator and politician, 59th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
- 1943 – Janet Akyüz Mattei, Turkish-American astronomer (died 2004)
- 1944 – Charlie Davis, Trinidadian cricketer
- 1944 – Péter Eötvös, Hungarian composer and conductor (died 2024)
- 1944 – Norodom Ranariddh, Cambodian field marshal and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Cambodia (died 2021)
- 1944 – Mohamed Ali Yusuf, Somali politician (died 2024)
- 1947 – Jack Hanna, American zoologist and author
- 1947 – Calvin Hill, American football player
- 1947 – David Shapiro, American poet, historian, and critic (died 2024)
- 1948 – Judith Miller, American journalist
- 1948 – Deborah Watling, English actress (died 2017)
- 1949 – Christopher Durang, American playwright and screenwriter (died 2024)
- 1949 – Iris Marion Young, American political scientist and academic (died 2006)
- 1952 – Indulis Emsis, Latvian biologist and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Latvia
- 1952 – Wendy Phillips, American actress
- 1954 – Évelyne Trouillot, Haitian playwright and author
- 1961 – Gabrielle Carteris, American actress
- 1961 – Paula Hamilton, English model
- 1961 – Todd Haynes, American film director, screenwriter, and producer
- 1961 – Robert Wexler, American lawyer and politician
- 1963 – David Cone, American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1963 – Edgar Martínez, American baseball player
- 1964 – Chris Welp, German-American basketball player (died 2015)
- 1964 – Pernell Whitaker, American boxer (died 2019)
- 1967 – Francois Pienaar, South African rugby player
- 1967 – Tia Carrere, American actress
- 1967 – Jón Gnarr, Icelandic actor and politician; 20th Mayor of Reykjavík
- 1968 – Cuba Gooding, Jr., American actor and producer
- 1968 – Anky van Grunsven, Dutch dressage champion
- 1969 – István Bagyula, Hungarian pole vaulter
- 1969 – William Fox-Pitt, English horse rider and journalist
- 1969 – Elena Gorolová, Czech Romani activist
- 1969 – Róbert Švehla, Slovak ice hockey player
- 1969 – Christy Turlington, American model
- 1970 – Eric Whitacre, American composer and conductor
- 1971 – Taye Diggs, American actor and singer
- 1971 – Renée Elise Goldsberry, American actress
- 1972 – Rodney MacDonald, Canadian educator and politician, 26th Premier of Nova Scotia
- 1972 – Shiraz Minwalla, Indian theoretical physicist and string theorist
- 1972 – Mattias Norström, Swedish ice hockey player and manager
- 1974 – Ludmila Formanová, Czech runner
- 1974 – Juha Lind, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1974 – Tomáš Řepka, Czech footballer
- 1975 – Dax Shepard, American actor
- 1975 – Jeff Suppan, American baseball player
- 1975 – Reuben Thorne, New Zealand rugby player
- 1976 – Paz Vega, Spanish actress
- 1977 – Brian Boucher, American ice hockey player and sportscaster
- 1977 – Stefan Koubek, Austrian tennis player
- 1979 – Jonathan Greening, English footballer
- 1980 – David Gyasi, British actor
- 1981 – Kirk Hinrich, American basketball player
- 1981 – Maxi Rodríguez, Argentine footballer
- 1983 – Kate Bosworth, American actress
- 1983 – Anthony Carrigan, American actor
- 1988 – Germán Cano, Argentine footballer
- 1988 – Luke Harangody, American basketball player
- 1988 – Damien Tussac, French-German rugby player
- 1991 – Ben Hardy, English actor
- 1992 – Paulo Gazzaniga, Argentine footballer
- 1992 – Teemu Pulkkinen, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1992 – Korbin Sims, Australian-Fijian rugby league player
- 1993 – Bryson Tiller, American singer and rapper
- 1994 – Ronald Darby, American football player
- 1996 – Jonah Bolden, Australian-American basketball player
- 1997 – Arshad Nadeem, Pakistani javelin thrower
- 1997 – Carlos Soler, Spanish footballer
- 1998 – Tfue, American online streamer
- 1998 – Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Dutch footballer
- 1999 – Fernando Tatís Jr., Dominican baseball player
- 1999 – Aaron Wiggins, American professional basketball player
- 2000 – Spencer Arrighetti, American baseball player
- 2001 – Cole Caufield, American ice hockey player
- 2001 – Luiz Henrique, Brazilian footballer
- 2003 – CJ Egan-Riley, English footballer
- 2003 – Elye Wahi, French footballer
- 2006 – Claudio Echeverri, Argentine footballer
Deaths
Pre-1600
- 951 – Liu Chengyou, Emperor Yin of the Later Han (born 931)
- 951 – Su Fengji, Chinese official and chancellor
- 1169 – Bertrand de Blanchefort, sixth Grand Master of the Knights Templar (born c. 1109)
- 1184 – Theodora Komnene, Duchess of Austria, daughter of Andronikos Komnenos
- 1298 – Lodomer, Hungarian prelate, Archbishop of Esztergom
- 1470 – Heinrich Reuß von Plauen, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order
- 1512 – Svante Nilsson, Swedish politician (born 1460)
- 1514 – William Smyth, English bishop and academic (born 1460)
- 1543 – Francesco Canova da Milano, Italian composer (born 1497)
- 1557 – Pontormo, Italian painter and educator (born 1494)
- 1598 – Morris Kyffin, Welsh soldier and writer (born c.1555)
1601–1900
- 1613 – Salima Sultan Begum, Empress of the Mughal Empire (born 1539)
- 1614 – Luisa Carvajal y Mendoza, Spanish mystical poet and Catholic martyr (born 1566)
- 1726 – Domenico Zipoli, Italian organist and composer (born 1688)
- 1763 – John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, English statesman (born 1690)
- 1816 – Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau, French chemist and politician (born 1793)
- 1850 – Manuel de la Peña y Peña, Mexican lawyer and 20th President (1847) (born 1789)
- 1861 – Frederick William IV of Prussia (born 1795)
- 1876 – Meta Heusser-Schweizer, Swiss poet (born 1797)
- 1892 – George Biddell Airy, English mathematician and astronomer (born 1801)
1901–present
- 1904 – James Longstreet, American general and diplomat (born 1821)
- 1913 – Léon Teisserenc de Bort, French meteorologist (born 1855)
- 1915 – Karl Goldmark, Hungarian violinist and composer (born 1830)
- 1920 – Paul Adam, French author (born 1862)
- 1924 – Sabine Baring-Gould, English author and scholar (born 1834)
- 1939 – Roman Dmowski, Polish politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1864)
- 1941 – Mischa Levitzki, Russian-American pianist and composer (born 1898)
- 1946 – Joe Darling, Australian cricketer and politician (born 1870)
- 1950 – James Dooley, Irish-Australian politician, 21st Premier of New South Wales (born 1877)
- 1951 – William Campion, English colonel and politician, 21st Governor of Western Australia (born 1870)
- 1951 – Edith New, English militant suffragette (born 1877)
- 1953 – Guccio Gucci, Italian businessman and fashion designer, founder of Gucci (born 1881)
- 1960 – Paul Sauvé, Canadian lawyer and politician, 17th Premier of Quebec (born 1907)
- 1963 – Dick Powell, American actor, singer, and director (born 1904)
- 1963 – Jack Carson, Canadian-American actor (born 1910)
- 1975 – Siraj Sikder, Bangladesh revolutionary leader (born 1944)
- 1977 – Erroll Garner, American pianist and composer (born 1921)
- 1986 – Una Merkel, American actress (born 1903)
- 1987 – Harekrushna Mahatab, Indian journalist and politician, 1st Chief Minister of Odisha (born 1899)
- 1989 – Safdar Hashmi, Indian actor, director, and playwright (born 1954)
- 1990 – Alan Hale Jr., American film and television actor (born 1921)
- 1994 – Dixy Lee Ray, American biologist and politician; 17th Governor of Washington (born 1914)
- 1994 – Pierre-Paul Schweitzer, French lawyer and businessman (born 1915)
- 1995 – Nancy Kelly, American actress (born 1921)
- 1995 – Siad Barre, Somalian general and politician; 3rd President of Somalia (born 1919)
- 1999 – Rolf Liebermann, Swiss-French composer and manager (born 1910)
- 1999 – Sebastian Haffner, German journalist and author (born 1907)
- 2000 – Elmo Zumwalt, American admiral (born 1920)
- 2000 – Patrick O'Brian, English author and translator (born 1914)
- 2001 – William P. Rogers, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 55th United States Secretary of State (born 1913)
- 2005 – Maclyn McCarty, American geneticist and physician (born 1911)
- 2006 – Cecilia Muñoz-Palma, Filipino lawyer and jurist (born 1913)
- 2006 – Osa Massen, Danish-American actress (born 1914)
- 2007 – A. Richard Newton, Australian-American engineer and academic (born 1951)
- 2007 – Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, American historian and author (born 1941)
- 2007 – Teddy Kollek, Hungarian-Israeli politician, Mayor of Jerusalem (born 1911)
- 2008 – George MacDonald Fraser, Scottish journalist and author (born 1925)
- 2008 – Lee S. Dreyfus, American politician, Governor of Wisconsin (born 1926)
- 2009 – Inger Christensen, Danish poet and author (born 1935)
- 2010 – David R. Ross, Scottish historian and author (born 1958)
- 2011 – Anne Francis, American actress (born 1930)
- 2011 – Bali Ram Bhagat, Indian politician; 16th Governor of Rajasthan (born 1922)
- 2011 – Pete Postlethwaite, English actor (born 1946)
- 2012 – Gordon Hirabayashi, American-Canadian sociologist and academic (born 1918)
- 2012 – Silvana Gallardo, American actress and producer (born 1953)
- 2012 – William P. Carey, American businessman and philanthropist, founded W. P. Carey (born 1930)
- 2013 – Gerda Lerner, Austrian-American historian, author, and academic (born 1920)
- 2013 – Teresa Torańska, Polish journalist and author (born 1944)
- 2014 – Bernard Glasser, American director and producer (born 1924)
- 2014 – Elizabeth Jane Howard, English author and screenwriter (born 1923)
- 2015 – Tihomir Novakov, Serbian-American physicist and academic (born 1929)
- 2016 – Ardhendu Bhushan Bardhan, Indian lawyer and politician (born 1924)
- 2016 – Frances Cress Welsing, American psychiatrist and author (born 1935)
- 2016 – Nimr al-Nimr, Saudi Arabian religious leader (born 1959)
- 2016 – Gisela Mota Ocampo, mayor of Temixco, Morelos, Mexico, assassinated (born 1982)
- 2017 – Jean Vuarnet, French ski racer (born 1933)
- 2017 – John Berger, English art critic, novelist and painter (born 1926)
- 2018 – Guida Maria, Portuguese actress (born 1950)
- 2018 – Thomas S. Monson, American religious leader, 16th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (born 1927)
- 2019 – Daryl Dragon, American musician (born 1942)
- 2019 – Julia Grant, British transgender activist (born 1954)
- 2019 – Bob Einstein, American actor and comedian (born 1942)
- 2019 – Gene Okerlund, American wrestling announcer (born 1942)
- 2025 – Ágnes Keleti, Hungarian Olympic gymnast (born 1921)
- 2025 – Francesc Antich, Spanish politician (born 1958)
Holidays and observances
- Ancestry Day (Haiti)
- Berchtold's Day (Switzerland)
- Christian feast day:
- Basil the Great (Catholic Church and Church of England)
- Gregory of Nazianzus (Catholic Church)
- Blessed Marie Anne Blondin
- Theodore of Marseille
- January 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- The Day after New Year's Day (New Zealand)
- Kaapse Klopse (Cape Town, South Africa)
- The first day of Blacks and Whites' Carnival, celebrated until January 7 (Colombia)
- The ninth of the Twelve Days of Christmas (Western Christianity)
- Bank holiday (Scotland)
References
External links
- BBC: On This Day
- Historical Events on January 2