January 8

January 8 is the eighth 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 an invading army of Danes.
• 1297 – Monaco gains its independence.
• 1499 – Louis XII of France marries Anne of Brittany.
• 1734 – Premiere performance of George Frideric Handel's Ariodante at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
• 1746 – Second Jacobite Rising: Bonnie Prince Charlie occupies Stirling.
• 1790 – George Washington delivers the first State of the Union Address in New York City.
• 1806 – Cape Colony becomes a British colony.
• 1811 – An unsuccessful slave revolt is 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 – The United States national debt is 0 for the only time.
• 1838 – Alfred Vail demonstrates a telegraph system using dots and dashes (this is the forerunner of Morse code).
• 1863 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Springfield
• 1867 – African American men are granted the right to vote in Washington, D.C.
• 1877 – Crazy Horse and his warriors fight their last battle against the United States Cavalry at Wolf Mountain, Montana Territory.
• 1889 – Herman Hollerith is issued US patent #395,791 for the 'Art of Applying Statistics' — his punched card calculator.
• 1904 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system.
• 1906 – A landslide in Haverstraw, New York, caused by the excavation of clay along the Hudson River, kills 20 people.
• 1912 – The African National Congress is founded.
• 1918 – President Woodrow Wilson announces his "Fourteen Points" for the aftermath of World War I.
• 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 takeover of Santiago de Cuba.
• 1961 – In France a referendum supports Charles de Gaulle's policies in Algeria.
• 1962 – The Harmelen train disaster killed 93 people in the Netherlands.
• 1963 – Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is exhibited in the United States for the first time, at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
• 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, the first woman to serve as a Governor in the United States other than by succeeding her husband.
• 1979 – The tanker Betelgeuse explodes in Bantry Bay, Ireland.
• 1982 – The break up of AT&T: AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions.
• 1989 – The Kegworth air disaster. British Midland flight 92 crashes into the M1 motorway killing 47 people out of 127 on board.
• 1989 – Beginning of Japanese Heisei era.
• 1994 – Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov on Soyuz TM-18 leaves for Mir. He would 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.
• 2002 – President George W. Bush signs into law the No Child Left Behind Act.
• 2004 – The RMS Queen Mary 2, the largest passenger ship ever built, is christened by her namesake's granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
• 2005 – The nuclear sub USS San Francisco collides at full speed with an undersea mountain south of Guam. One man is killed, but the sub surfaces and is repaired.

Births

• 1556 – Uesugi Kagekatsu, Japanese samurai and warlord (d. 1623)
• 1583 – Simon Episcopius, Dutch theologian (d. 1643)
• 1587 – Johannes Fabricius, German astronomer (d. 1616)
• 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 (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 – Archduke Rudolph of Austria (d. 1831)
• 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)
• 1812 – Sigismond Thalberg, Swiss virtuoso pianist and composer (d. 1871)
• 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 – Albert Bierstadt, German/American painter (d. 1902)
• 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)
• 1864 – Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (d. 1892)
• 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 – Pavel Filonov, Russian painter (d. 1941)
• 1883 – Patrick J. Hurley, United States Secretary of War (d. 1963)
• 1885 – John Curtin, Australian politician (d. 1945)
• 1885 – A. J. Muste, Dutch pacifist and activist (d. 1967)
• 1888 – Richard Courant, German-American mathematician (d. 1972)
• 1888 – Matthew Moore, Irish-American actor (d. 1960)
• 1891 – Walther Bothe, German physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics laureate (d. 1957)
• 1891 – Storm Jameson, English writer (d. 1986)
• 1891 – Bronislava Nijinska, Russian choreographer (d. 1972)
• 1894 – St Maximilian Kolbe, Polish martyr (d. 1941)
• 1896 – Arthur Ford, American medium (d. 1971)
• 1896 – Jaromir Weinberger, Czech-American composer (d. 1967)
• 1897 – Dennis Wheatley, British author (d. 1977)
• 1899 – Solomon Bandaranaike, Ceylonese Prime Minister (d. 1959)
• 1900 – Dame Merlyn Myer, Australian philanthropist (d. 1982)
• 1902 – Georgy Malenkov, Soviet politician (d. 1988)
• 1902 – Carl Rogers, American psychologist (d. 1987)
• 1904 – Karl Brandt, Alsatian Nazi war criminal (d. 1948)
• 1905 – Giacinto Scelsi, Italian composer (d. 1988)
• 1905 – Franjo Šeper, Croatian Catholic cardinal (d. 1981)
• 1908 – William Hartnell, British actor (d. 1975)
• 1909 – Willy Millowitsch, German actor (d. 1999)
• 1909 – Bruce Mitchell, South African cricketer, Wisden COY 1936 (d.1995)
• 1909 – Evelyn Wood, American educator (d. 1995)
• 1910 – Galina Sergeyevna Ulanova, Russian ballerina (d. 1988)
• 1911 – Tom Delaney, British racing driver (d. 2006)
• 1911 – Gypsy Rose Lee, American actress and entertainer (d. 1970)
• 1912 – José Ferrer, Puerto Rican actor (d. 1992)
• 1912 – Lawrence E. Walsh, American jurist
• 1915 – Walker Cooper, American baseball player (d. 1991)
• 1921 – Herta Bothe, Nazi concentration camp guard
• 1922 – Abbey Simon, U.S. pianist
• 1923 – Larry Storch, American actor
• 1923 – Giorgio Tozzi, American bass
• 1923 – Johnny Wardle, English cricketer (d. 1985)
• 1923 – Joseph Weizenbaum, German-American author and computer scientist (d. 2008)
• 1924 – Benjamin Lees, American composer
• 1924 – Ron Moody, English actor
• 1925 – Helmuth Hubener, German activist (d. 1942)
• 1926 – Evelyn Lear, American soprano
• 1926 – Kelucharan Mohapatra, Indian Odissi dancer (d. 2004)
• 1926 – Hanae Mori, Japanese fashion designer
• 1926 – Soupy Sales, American comedian (d. 2009)
• 1927 – Charles Tomlinson, British poet and translator
• 1928 – Gaston Miron, Quebec poet and editor (d. 1996)
• 1928 – Slade Gorton, American politician
• 1929 – Saeed Jaffrey, Indian actor
• 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 – Gene Freese, American baseball player
• 1934 – Roy Kinnear, English actor (d. 1988)
• 1934 – Alexandra Ripley, American writer (d. 2004)
• 1935 – Elvis Presley, American singer (d. 1977)
• 1936 – Zdeněk Mácal, Czech conductor
• 1936 – Robert May, Baron May of Oxford, Australian-born British scientist
• 1937 – Dame Shirley Bassey, Welsh singer
• 1938 – Bob Eubanks, American game show host
• 1939 – Carolina Herrera, Venezuelan fashion designer
• 1938 – Yevgeny Nesterenko, Russian bass-baritone
• 1941 – Graham Chapman, British comedian (d. 1989)
• 1941 – Boris Vallejo, Peruvian illustrator
• 1942 – Valya Balkanska, Bulgarian folk singer
• 1942 – Stephen Hawking, English theoretical physicist and author
• 1942 – Junichiro Koizumi, Japanese politician, Prime Minister 2001-2006
• 1942 – Yvette Mimieux, American actress
• 1944 – Terry Brooks, American writer
• 1945 – Jeannie Lewis, Australian actress and singer
• 1945 – Kojo Nnamdi, Guyanese-born American radio host
• 1945 – Kathleen Noone, American actress
• 1945 – Kadir Topbaş, Turkish politician
• 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
• 1948 – Gillies MacKinnon, Scottish film director
• 1951 – Kenny Anthony, Saint Lucian politician
• 1951 – John McTiernan, American film director
• 1952 – Vladimir Feltsman, Russian-American pianist
• 1953 – Bruce Sutter, American baseball player
• 1955 – Spiros Livathinos, Greek footballer
• 1955 – Mike Reno, Canadian musician
• 1957 – Nacho Duato, Spanish classical dancer and choreographer
• 1958 – Rey Misterio, Sr., Mexican wrestler
• 1959 – Paul Hester, Australian drummer (Crowded House) (d. 2005)
• 1959 – Duk Koo Kim, Korean boxer (d. 1982)
• 1961 – Calvin Smith, American athlete
• 1961 – Kazuki Takahashi, Japanese comic book writer and artist
• 1961 – Keith Arkell,English Chess Grandmaster
• 1962 – Chris Marion, American musician
• 1965 – Michelle Forbes, American actress
• 1965 – Maria Pitillo, American actress
• 1966 – Igor Vyazmikin, Russian ice hockey player
• 1967 – R. Kelly, American singer
• 1967 – Willie Anderson, American basketball player
• 1968 – Keith Mullings, American boxer
• 1969 – Jeff Abercrombie, American musician
• 1969 – Ami Dolenz, American actress
• 1970 – Rachel Friend, Australian actress
• 1971 – Jason Giambi, American baseball player
• 1971 – Mike Süsser, German chef
• 1971 – Pascal Zuberbühler, Swiss footballer
• 1972 – Sean McKeever, American writer
• 1973 – Mark Knight, English sound designer
• 1973 – Jason Stevens, Australian rugby league footballer
• 1973 – Henning Solberg, Norwegian rally driver
• 1974 – Maria Matsouka, Greek politician
• 1975 – DJ Clue, American DJ and producer
• 1975 – Harris Jayaraj, Indian music composer
• 1976 – Jenny Lewis, American actress and musician
• 1976 – Josh Meyers, American actor
• 1976 – Carl Pavano, American baseball player
• 1977 – Amber Benson, American actress
• 1977 – Ron Pederson, Canadian actor
• 1977 – Lee Yoo-jin, Korean actress
• 1978 – Boris Avrukh, Israeli chess grandmaster
• 1978 – Marco Fu, Hong Kong snooker player
• 1979 – Torry Castellano, American musician (The Donnas)
• 1979 – Seol Ki-Hyeon, South Korean footballer
• 1979 – Mirella van Melis, Dutch track and road cyclist
• 1979 – Adrian Mutu, Romanian footballer
• 1979 – Sarah Polley, Canadian actress
• 1979 – Stipe Pletikosa, Croatian footballer
• 1980 – Rachel Nichols, American actress
• 1981 – Jeff Francis, Canadian baseball player
• 1981 – Xie Xingfang, Chinese badminton player
• 1981 – Carmen Schäfer, Swiss curler
• 1982 – Emanuele Calaiò, Italian footballer
• 1982 – wiL Francis, American singer
• 1982 – Gaby Hoffmann, American actress
• 1982 – John Utaka, Nigerian footballer
• 1983 – Chris Mordetzky, American wrestler
• 1983 – Felipe Colombo, Argentine/Mexican actor and singer
• 1984 – Jeff Francoeur, American baseball player
• 1985 – Rachael Lampa, American singer
• 1986 – Jaclyn Linetsky, Canadian actress (d. 2003)
• 1986 – Maria Ozawa, Japanese/French-Canadian pornstar
• 1986 – David Silva, Spanish footballer
• 1986 – Jessica Parker Kennedy, Canadian actress
• 1987 – Carmen Klaschka, German tennis player
• 1988 – Allison Harvard, American artist and fashion model
• 1989 – Kristján Einar, Icelandic racing driver
• 1991 – Asuka Hinoi, Japanese singer
• 1996 – Ali Ahmed, American football player & comedian
• 2000 – Noah Cyrus, American actress

Deaths

• 482 – Saint Severinus of Noricum
• 1100 – Antipope Clement III (b. c.1029)
• 1107 – Edgar of Scotland (b. 1074)
• 1198 – Pope Celestine III (b. c.1106)
• 1324 – Marco Polo, Italian explorer (b. 1254)
• 1337 – Giotto di Bondone, Italian artist (b. 1267)
• 1456 – St Lawrence Justinian, Italian bishop and first Patriarch of Venice (b. 1381)
• 1464 – Thomas Ebendorfer, Austrian historian (b. 1385)
• 1557 – Albert the Warlike, Prince of Bayreuth (b. 1522)
• 1570 – Philibert de l'Orme, French architect (b. c.1510)
• 1598 – John George, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1525)
• 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 (b. c.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, Emperor of the United States, Protector of Mexico (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)
• 1916 – Rembrandt Bugatti, Italian sculptor (b. 1884)
• 1918 – Ellis H. Roberts, American politician (b. 1827)
• 1932 – Eurosia Fabris, Italian Catholic (b. 1866)
• 1934 – Andrei Bely, Russian writer (b. 1880)
• 1934 – Serge Stavisky, French financier and embezzler (b. 1886)
• 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)
• 1945 – Karl Krafft, Swiss astrologer who was manipulated by the Nazi regime (b. 1900)
• 1948 – Kurt Schwitters, German painter (b. 1887)
• 1948 – Richard Tauber, Austrian tenor (b. 1891)
• 1950 – Joseph Schumpeter, Austrian economist (b. 1883)
• 1953 – Admiral Sir Hugh Binney, British naval commander and Governor of Tasmania (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 – Giannis Christou, Greek composer (b. 1926)
• 1970 – Georges Guibourg, French performer (b. 1891)
• 1972 – Kenneth Patchen, American poet (b. 1911)
• 1975 – John Gregson, English actor (b. 1919)
• 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)
• 1982 – Grégoire Aslan, Armenian actor (b. 1908)
• 1983 – Gerhard Barkhorn, German fighter pilot (b. 1919)
• 1983 – Ron Frazer, Australian actor (b. 1924)
• 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 – John Hargreaves, Australian actor (b. 1945)
• 1996 – François Mitterrand, President of France (b. 1916)
• 1996 – Howard Taubman, American music and theater critic (b. 1907)
• 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 (b. 1954)
• 2005 – Michel Thomas, Polish linguist (b. 1914)
• 2006 – Tony Banks, British politician (b. 1943)
• 2007 – Jane Bolin, first African American female judge (b. 1908)
• 2007 – Yvonne De Carlo, Canadian-born actress (b. 1922)
• 2007 – Francis Cockfield, British politician (b. 1916)
• 2007 – David Ervine, Northern Irish politician (b. 1953)
• 2007 – Iwao Takamoto, American animator (b. 1925)
• 2008 – George Moore, Australian champion jockey (b. 1923)
• 2009 – Richard John Neuhaus, Canadian-American Christian writer and editor (b. 1936)
• 2010 – Monica Maughan, Australian actor (b. 1933)
• 2010 – Tony Halme, Finnish boxer and politician (b. 1963)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day
  • Abo of Tiflis
  • Apollinaris Claudius
  • Gudula
  • Lucian of Beauvais
  • Our Lady of Prompt Succor (Roman Catholic Church)
  • Pega
  • Severinus of Noricum
  • Thorfinn of Hamar
  • January 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Commonwealth Day (Northern Mariana Islands)
• Earliest day on which Children's Day can fall, while January 15 is the latest; celebrated on the second Saturday in January. (Thailand)

External links

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