January 3

January 3 is the third day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 362 days remaining until the end of the year (363 in leap years). The Perihelion, the point in the year when the Earth is closest to the Sun, occurs around this date.

Events

• 1431 – Joan of Arc is handed over to the Bishop Pierre Cauchon.
• 1496 – Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tests a flying machine.
• 1521 – Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.
• 1749 – Benning Wentworth issues the first of the New Hampshire Grants, leading to the establishment of Vermont.
• 1777 – American general George Washington defeats British general Charles Cornwallis at the Battle of Princeton.
• 1782 – Sylhet District was established
• 1815 – Austria, the United Kingdom, and France form a secret defensive alliance treaty against Prussia and Russia.
• 1823 – Stephen F. Austin receives a grant of land in Texas from the government of Mexico.
• 1848 – Joseph Jenkins Roberts is sworn in as the first president of the independent African Republic of Liberia.
• 1861 – American Civil War: Delaware votes not to secede from the United States.
• 1868 – Meiji Restoration in Japan: The Tokugawa shogunate is abolished; agents of Satsuma and Chōshū seize power.
• 1870 – The construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins.
• 1888 – The refracting telescope at the Lick Observatory, measuring 91 cm in diameter, is used for the first time. It was the largest telescope in the world at the time.
• 1921 – Turkey makes peace with Armenia.
• 1924 – British explorer Howard Carter discovers the sarcophagus of Tutankhamen in the Valley of the Kings, near Luxor, Egypt.
• 1925 – Benito Mussolini announces he is taking dictatorial powers over Italy.
• 1932 – Martial law is declared in Honduras to stop revolt by banana workers fired by United Fruit.
• 1933 – Minnie D. Craig becomes the first female elected as Speaker of the North Dakota House of Representatives, the first female to hold a Speaker position anywhere in the United States.
• 1938 – The March of Dimes is established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
• 1944 – World War II: Top Ace Major Greg "Pappy" Boyington is shot down in his Corsair by Captain Masajiro Kawato flying a Zero.
• 1945 – World War II: Admiral Chester W Nimitz is placed in command of all U.S. Naval forces in preparation for planned assaults against Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Japan.
• 1947 – Proceedings of the U.S. Congress are televised for the first time.
• 1953 – Frances Bolton and her son, Oliver from Ohio, become the first mother and son to serve simultaneously in the U.S. Congress.
• 1956 – A fire damages the top part of the Eiffel Tower.
• 1957 – The Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch.
• 1958 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
• 1959 – Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. State.
• 1961 – The United States severs diplomatic relations with Cuba.
• 1961 – The SL-1, a government-run reactor near Idaho Falls, Idaho, leaks radiation, killing three workers.
• 1962 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro.
• 1977 – Apple Computer is incorporated.
• 1988 – Margaret Thatcher becomes the longest-serving British Prime Minister in the 20th Century.
• 1990 – Former leader of Panama Manuel Noriega surrenders to American forces.
• 1993 – In Moscow, George H. W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin sign the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).
• 1994 – An Aeroflot Tupolev TU-154 crashes and explodes after takeoff from Irkutsk, Russia, killing 125 people including one on the ground.
• 1994 – More than seven million people from the former Apartheid Homelands, receives South African citizenship.
• 1997 – The People's Republic of China announces it will spend $27.7 billion USD to fight erosion and pollution in the Yangtze and Yellow river valleys.
• 1999 – The Mars Polar Lander is launched.
• 1999 – Israel detains, and later expels, 14 members of Concerned Christians.
• 2004 – Flight 604, a Boeing 737 owned by Flash Airlines, an Egyptian airliner, plunges into the Red Sea, killing all 148 people on board.
• 2007 – National Express has its worst ever coach crash just outside Heathrow Airport.
• 2010 – Leeds United Football Club of League One defeated their arch rivals, Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford in one of the biggest shocks in football (soccer) history.

Births

• 106 BC – Cicero, Roman statesman and philosopher (d. 43 BC)
• 1196 – Emperor Tsuchimikado of Japan (d. 1231)
• 1698 – Pietro Metastasio, Italian poet (d. 1782)
• 1710 – Richard Gridley, American Revolutionary soldier (d. 1796)
• 1719 – Francisco José Freire, Portuguese historian (d. 1773)
• 1722 – Fredric Hasselquist, Swedish naturalist (d. 1752)
• 1733 – Sir Richard Arkwright, British industrialist and inventor (d. 1792)
• 1760 – John Storm, American Revolutionary soldier (d. 1835)
• 1778 – Antoni Melchior Fijałkowski, Polish bishop (d. 1861)
• 1793 – Lucretia Mott, American women's rights activist (d. 1880)
• 1802 – Charles Pelham Villiers, British House of Commons member (d. 1898)
• 1803 – Douglas William Jerrold, British playwright (d. 1857)
• 1806 – Henriette Sontag, German soprano (d. 1854)
• 1810 – Antoine Thomson d'Abbadie, French geographer (d. 1897)
• 1819 – Charles Piazzi Smyth, Astronomer Royal for Scotland (d. 1900)
• 1821 – Dragotin Dežman, Slovenian politician, archeologist and botanist (d. 1889)
• 1831 – Savitribai Phule, Female social activist, first female teacher in India, and first female poet in Marathi language (d. 1897)
• 1836 – Sakamoto Ryoma, Japanese revolutionary (d. 1867)
• 1840 – Father Damien, Flemish missionary (d. 1889)
• 1855 – Hubert Bland, British socialist (d. 1914)
• 1856 – R.C. Lehmann, English writer (d. 1929)
• 1861 – William Renshaw, British champion tennis player (d. 1904)
• 1862 – Sir Matthew Nathan, British Governor of Queensland and other places (d. 1939)
• 1865 – Henry Lytton, British actor and opera singer (d. 1936)
• 1870 – Henry Handel Richardson, Australian author (d. 1946)
• 1873 – Ichizo Kobayashi, Japanese businessman (d. 1957)
• 1875 – Alexandros Diomidis, governor of the Bank of Greece and Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1950)
• 1876 – Wilhelm Pieck, first President of East Germany (d. 1960)
• 1879 – Grace Coolidge, First Lady of the United States (d. 1957)
• 1883 – Clement Attlee, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1967)
• 1884 – Raoul von Koczalski, Polish pianist and composer (d. 1948)
• 1885 – Harry Elkins Widener, book collector, businessman, victim of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, and person after whom Harvard University's largest library is named (d. 1912)
• 1886 – John Gould Fletcher, American poet and author (d. 1950)
• 1886 – Josephine Hull, American actress (d. 1957)
• 1887 – August Macke, German painter (d. 1914)
• 1887 – Helen Parkhurst, American educator (d. 1973)
• 1892 – J. R. R. Tolkien, British writer (d. 1973)
• 1894 – ZaSu Pitts, American actress (d. 1963)
• 1895 – Borys Lyatoshynsky, Ukrainian composer (d. 1968)
• 1897 – Marion Davies, American actress (d. 1961)
• 1898 – Carlos Keller, Chilean fascist politician (d. 1974)
• 1900 – Donald J. Russell, North American railroad executive (d. 1985)
• 1901 – Ngô Đình Diệm, President of South Vietnam (d. 1963)
• 1905 – Ray Milland, British actor (d. 1986)
• 1905 – Anna May Wong, American actress (d. 1961)
• 1909 – Victor Borge, Danish entertainer (d. 2000)
• 1910 – Frenchy Bordagaray, American baseball player (d. 2000)
• 1911 – John Sturges, American director (d. 1982)
• 1912 – Renaude Lapointe, Canadian journalist and senator (d. 2002)
• 1912 – Armand Lohikoski, Finnish director (d. 2005)
• 1915 – Mady Rahl, German stage and film actress (d. 2009)
• 1915 – Jack Levine, American social realist painter
• 1916 – Maxene Andrews, American singer (The Andrews Sisters) (d. 1995)
• 1916 – Betty Furness, American actress (d. 1994)
• 1916 – Bernard Greenhouse, American cellist
• 1917 – Roger W. Straus, Jr., American publisher (d. 2004)
• 1917 – General Vernon Walters, U.S. military officer, diplomat (d. 2002)
• 1920 – Renato Carosone, Italian musician (d. 2001)
• 1921 – John Russell, American actor (d. 1991)
• 1922 – Ronald Smith, British pianist (d. 2004)
• 1922 – Bill Travers, British actor and director (d. 1994)
• 1923 – Hank Stram, American football coach (d. 2005)
• 1923 – Charles Tingwell, Australian actor (d. 2009)
• 1924 – Doug Ellis, British entrepreneur
• 1924 – André Franquin, Belgian cartoonist (Gaston Lagaffe) (d. 1997)
• 1924 – Nell Rankin, American singer (d. 2005)
• 1926 – George Martin, British producer
• 1929 – Sergio Leone, Italian director (d. 1989)
• 1929 – Ernst Mahle, Brazilian composer
• 1930 – Marcel Dubé, Quebec playwright
• 1930 – Robert Loggia, American actor
• 1932 – Dabney Coleman, American actor
• 1932 – Coo Coo Marlin, American race car driver (d. 2005)
• 1932 – Tongolele, US-born dancer in Mexican movies
• 1934 – Carla Hills, American politician and lawyer
• 1935 – Raymond Garneau, French Canadian politician and businessman
• 1936 – David Vine, British sports commentator (d. 2009)
• 1937 – Seri Wangnaitham, Thai dancer and choreographer (d. 2007)
• 1939 – Nikos Alefantos, Greek football manager
• 1939 – Janice Crosio, Australian politician
• 1939 – Bobby Hull, Canadian hockey player
• 1939 – Ruben Reyes, Filipino Supreme Court jurist
• 1941 – Van Dyke Parks, American musician
• 1942 – John Marsden, Australian lawyer, gay activist (d. 2006)
• 1942 – John Thaw, British actor (d. 2002)
• 1943 – Jarl Alfredius, Swedish news anchor (d. 2009)
• 1944 – David Atherton, British conductor
• 1944 – Blanche d'Alpuget, Australian novelist, biographer
• 1945 – Stephen Stills, American musician
• 1946 – John Paul Jones, British musician (Led Zeppelin)
• 1946 – Cissy King, American entertainer
• 1949 – Sylvia Likens, American torture victim (d. 1965)
• 1950 – Victoria Principal, American actress
• 1951 – Gary Nairn, Australian politician
• 1952 – Jim Ross, American wrestling announcer
• 1953 – Justin Fleming, Australian playwright and writer
• 1954 – Dean Hart, Canadian wrestler (d. 1990)
• 1954 – Ned Lamont, American businessman and political figure
• 1954 – Ross the Boss, American guitarist
• 1955 – Palmolive, British musician (The Slits, The Raincoats)
• 1956 – Mel Gibson, American-Australian actor and director
• 1956 – Willy T. Ribbs, American race-car driver
• 1957 – Bojan Križај, Slovenian skier
• 1958 – Shim Hyung-rae, South Korean filmmaker
• 1958 – James J. Greco, American businessman
• 1962 – Francesca Lia Block, American author
• 1963 – Vic Grimes, American professional wrestler
• 1963 – Alex Wheatle, British novelist
• 1963 – Jerome Young, American professional wrestler
• 1964 – Bruce LaBruce, Canadian filmmaker
• 1965 – Steven A. LaChance, American Author
• 1966 – Martin Galway, Northern Ireland composer
• 1969 – Michael Schumacher, German seven-time racing driver
• 1969 – Gerda Weissensteiner, Italian bobsledder and luger
• 1970 – Christian Duguay, American comic actor
• 1970 – Mahaya Petrosian, Iranian actress
• 1970 – Matt Ross, American actor
• 1971 – Cory Cross, Canadian ice-hockey player
• 1971 – Sarah Alexander, English actress
• 1972 – Yoon Chan, South Korean actor
• 1972 – Nichole Nordeman, American singer
• 1974 – Alessandro Petacchi, Italian cyclist
• 1975 – Thomas Bangalter, French DJ (Daft Punk)
• 1975 – Jason Marsden, American actor
• 1975 – Danica McKellar, American actress
• 1976 – Angelos Basinas, Greek footballer
• 1976 – Alisen Down, Canadian actress
• 1976 – Dinara Drukarova, Russian actress
• 1976 – Nicholas Gonzalez, American actor
• 1977 – Lee Bowyer, British footballer
• 1977 – A.J. Burnett, American baseball player
• 1977 – Michelle Stephenson, Former Spice Girl
• 1977 – Mayumi Iizuka, Japanese voice actress (seiyū)
• 1978 – Liya Kebede, Ethiopian model
• 1978 – Kimberley Locke, American singer
• 1978 – Park Sol-mi, South Korean actress
• 1978 – Dominic Wood, English children's television presenter
• 1978 – Mike York, American ice hockey player
• 1980 – Bryan Clay, American decathlete
• 1980 – Angela Ruggiero, American ice hockey player
• 1980 – David Tyree, American football player
• 1981 – Eli Manning, American football player
• 1983 – Antti Arst, Estonian footballer
• 1984 – Billy Mehmet, Irish footballer
• 1985 – John David Booty, American football player
• 1985 – Linas Kleiza, Lithuanian basketball player for the Denver Nuggets
• 1985 – Evan Moore, American football player
• 1986 – Lloyd Polite, American R&B singer
• 1986 – Jacob Timpano, Australian footballer
• 1986 – Jessica O'Rourke, American footballer
• 1987 – Leonidas Panagopoulos, Greek footballer
• 1988 – Rodrigo de la Cadena, Mexican artist and performer
• 1989 – Alex D. Linz, American actor
• 1989 – Julia Nunes, American singer and ukulele player
• 1989 – Anya Rozova, Russian model and America's Next Top Model contestant
• 1989 – Mustapha Hussein, Saddam Hussein's grandson, Qusay Hussein's son (d. 2003)

Deaths

• 235 – Pope St Anterus
• 1098 – Walkelin, first Norman bishop of Winchester
• 1322 – King Philip V of France (b. 1293)
• 1437 – Catherine of Valois, wife of Henry V of England (b. 1401)
• 1543 – Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, Portuguese explorer (b. 1499)
• 1571 – Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1505)
• 1641 – Jeremiah Horrocks, British astronomer (b. 1618)
• 1656 – Mathieu Molé, French statesman (b. 1584)
• 1670 – George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, British soldier (b. 1608)
• 1690 – Hillel ben Naphtali Zevi, Lithuanian rabbi (b. 1615)
• 1701 – Prince Louis I of Monaco (b. 1642)
• 1743 – Ferdinando Galli-Bibiena, Italian architect and designer (b. 1657)
• 1779 – Claude Bourgelat, French veterinary surgeon (b. 1712)
• 1785 – Baldassare Galuppi, Italian composer (b. 1706)
• 1795 – Josiah Wedgwood, British potter (b. 1730)
• 1813 – Bennelong, Aborigine interlocutor (b. c.1764)
• 1826 – Louis Gabriel Suchet, French marshal (b. 1770)
• 1871 – Kuriakose Elias Chavara, Indian Saint (b. 1805)
• 1875 – Pierre Larousse, French editor (b. 1817)
• 1882 – William Harrison Ainsworth, British novelist (b. 1805)
• 1895 – James Merritt Ives, American lithographer (b. 1824)
• 1903 – Alois Hitler, father of Adolf Hitler (b. 1837)
• 1911 – Alexandros Papadiamantis, Greek author (b. 1851)
• 1915 – James Elroy Flecker, British author (b. 1884)
• 1916 – Grenville M. Dodge, American Major General (b. 1831)
• 1923 – Jaroslav Hasek, Czech novelist (b. 1883)
• 1927 – Carle David Tolmé Runge, German physicist (b. 1856)
• 1931 – Joseph Joffre, French general (b. 1852)
• 1933 – Wilhelm Cuno, 6th Chancellor of the Weimar Republic (b. 1876)
• 1933 – Jack Pickford, Canadian actor (b. 1896)
• 1943 – F. M. Cornford, English classical scholar and poet (b. 1874)
• 1943 – Sir Walter James, Premier of Western Australia (b. 1863)
• 1944 – Jurgis Baltrušaitis, Lithuanian poet (b. 1873)
• 1945 – Edgar Cayce, American psychic (b. 1877)
• 1945 – Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski, Polish writer (b. 1879)
• 1946 – William Joyce, American propagandist (b. 1906)
• 1950 – Emil Jannings, Swiss actor (b. 1884)
• 1956 – Alexander Gretchaninov, Russian composer (b. 1864)
• 1956 – Joseph Wirth, 5th Chancellor of the Weimar Republic (b. 1876)
• 1959 – Edwin Muir, Orcadian poet, novelist and translator (b. 1887)
• 1967 – Mary Garden, British singer (b. 1874)
• 1967 – Jack Ruby, American killer of Lee Harvey Oswald (b. 1911)
• 1969 – Jean Focas, Greek-born astronomer (b. 1909)
• 1969 – Howard McNear, American actor (b. 1905)
• 1970 – Gladys Aylward, British missionary (b. 1902)
• 1974 – Gino Cervi, Italian actor (b. 1901)
• 1979 – Conrad Hilton, American hotelier (b. 1887)
• 1980 – Joy Adamson, Czech conservationist (b. 1910)
• 1980 – Lucien Buysse, Belgian cyclist (b. 1892)
• 1980 – George Sutherland Fraser, Scottish poet, literary critic and academic (b. 1915)
• 1981 – Princess Alice of Albany (b. 1883)
• 1988 – Rose Ausländer, German poet (b. 1901)
• 1988 – Joie Chitwood, American racing driver and stuntman (b. 1912)
• 1989 – Sergei Lvovich Sobolev, Russian mathematician (b. 1909)
• 1990 – Arthur Gold, American pianist (b. 1917)
• 1992 – Dame Judith Anderson, Australian actress (b. 1897)
• 1993 – Johnny Most, American sports announcer (b. 1923)
• 1994 – Heather Sears, British actress (b. 1935)
• 2002 – Juan García Esquivel, Mexican band leader (b. 1918)
• 2002 – Freddy Heineken, Dutch president of Heinekin International (b. 1923)
• 2003 – Sid Gillman, American football coach (b. 1911)
• 2004 – Des Corcoran, Premier of South Australia (b. 1928)
• 2004 – Leon Wagner, American baseball player (b. 1934)
• 2005 – Koo Chen-fu, Chinese negotiator (b. 1917)
• 2005 – JN Dixit, Indian government official (b. 1936)
• 2005 – Will Eisner, American comic book artist (b. 1917)
• 2006 – Steve Rogers, Australian rugby league footballer (b. 1954)
• 2006 – Bill Skate, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea (b. 1954)
• 2007 – Janos Furst, Hungarian orchestral conductor (b. 1935)
• 2007 – Sergio Jiménez, Mexican actor (b. 1937)
• 2007 – Earl Reibel, Canadian hockey player (b. 1930)
• 2007 – William Verity Jr., American Secretary of Commerce (b. 1917)
• 2007 – Sir Cecil Walker, Member of Parliament for North Belfast (b. 1924)
• 2007 – Michael Yeats, Irish barrister, politician and son of W.B. Yeats (b. 1921)
• 2008 – Aleksandr Abdulov, Russian actor (b. 1953)
• 2008 – Natasha Collins, British actress and television presenter (b. 1976)
• 2008 – Yo-Sam Choi, South Korean boxer (b. 1972)
• 2008 – Werner Dollinger, German politician and economist (b. 1918)
• 2009 – Pat Hingle, American actor (b. 1924)
• 2009 – Ulf G. Lindén, Swedish entrepreneur (b. 1937)
• 2009 – Hisayasu Nagata, Japanese politician (b. 1969)
• 2010 – Professor Sir Ian Brownlie, International law specialist
• 2010 – Mary Daly, American theologian and feminist scholar (b. 1928)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day
  • Genevieve
  • January 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Tamaseseri Festival (Hakozaki Shrine, Fukuoka)
• The tenth day of Christmas (Western Christianity)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada