January 5
January 5 is the fifth day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 360 days remaining until the end of the year (361 in leap years).
Events
- 1066 – Edward the Confessor dies childless, sparking a succession crisis that will eventually lead to the Norman conquest of England.
- 1477 – Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is killed and Burgundy becomes part of France.
- 1500 – Duke Ludovico Sforza conquers Milan.
- 1527 – Felix Manz, a leader of the Anabaptist congregation in Zurich, Switzerland, is executed by drowning.
- 1554 – A great fire occurs in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
- 1675 – Battle of Colmar: the French army beats Brandenburg.
- 1757 – Louis XV of France survives an assassination attempt by Robert-François Damiens, the last person to be executed in France by drawing and quartering, the traditional and gruesome form of capital punishment used for regicides.
- 1759 – George Washington marries Martha Dandridge Custis.
- 1781 – American Revolutionary War: Richmond, Virginia, is burned by British naval forces led by Benedict Arnold.
- 1782 – American Revolutionary War: French troops begin a siege of a British garrison on Brimstone Hill in Saint Kitts.
- 1846 – The United States House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Territory with the United Kingdom.
- 1854 – The San Francisco steamer sinks, killing 300 people.
- 1895 – Dreyfus affair: French army officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island.
- 1896 – An Austrian newspaper reports that Wilhelm Röntgen has discovered a type of radiation later known as X-rays.
- 1900 – Irish leader John Redmond calls for a revolt against British rule.
- 1909 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama.
- 1911 – Kappa Alpha Psi, the world's second oldest and largest black fraternity, is founded at Indiana University.
- 1912 – The Prague Party Conference takes place.
- 1913 – First Balkan War: During the Naval Battle of Lemnos, Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it did not venture for the rest of the war.
- 1914 – The Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and a minimum wage of $5 for a day's labor.
- 1918 – The Free Committee for a German Workers Peace, which would become the Nazi Party, is founded.
- 1925 – Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming becomes the first female governor in the United States.
- 1933 – Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge begins in San Francisco Bay.
- 1940 – FM radio is demonstrated to the Federal Communications Commission for the first time.
- 1944 – The Daily Mail becomes the first transoceanic newspaper.
- 1945 – The Soviet Union recognizes the new pro-Soviet government of Poland.
- 1957 – In a speech given to the United States Congress, President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces the establishment of what will later be called the Eisenhower Doctrine.
- 1968 – Alexander Dubček comes to power: "Prague Spring" begins in Czechoslovakia.
- 1969 – Members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary damage property and assault occupants in the Bogside in Derry, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. In response, residents erect barricades and establish Free Derry.
- 1971 – The first One Day International cricket match is held between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
- 1972 – U.S. President Richard Nixon orders the development of a Space Shuttle program.
- 1974 – An earthquake in Lima, Peru, kills six people, and damages hundreds of houses.
- 1974 – Warmest reliably measured temperature in Antarctica of +59°F (+15°C) recorded at Vanda Station
- 1975 – The Tasman Bridge in Tasmania, Australia, is struck by the bulk ore carrier Lake Illawarra, killing twelve people.
- 1976 – The Khmer Rouge proclaim the Constitution of Democratic Kampuchea.
- 1976 – Ten Protestant civilians are shot dead by a paramilitary group at Kingsmill in County Armagh, Northern Ireland (part of The Troubles).
- 1991 – Georgian forces enter Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, Georgia, opening the 1991–1992 South Ossetia War.
- 1993 – The oil tanker MV Braer runs aground on the coast of the Shetland Islands, spilling 84,700 tons of crude oil.
- 1993 – Washington state executes Westley Allan Dodd by hanging (the last legal hanging in America).
- 1996 – Hamas bombmaker Yahya Ayyash is killed by an Israeli-planted booby-trapped cell phone.
- 2003 – Police arrest seven suspects in connection with Wood Green ricin plot.
- 2005 – Eris, the largest known dwarf planet in the solar system, is discovered by the team of Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David L. Rabinowitz using images originally taken on October 21, 2003, at the Palomar Observatory.
Births
- 1209 – Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, King of the Romans (d. 1272)
- 1548 – Francisco Suarez, Spanish theologian (d. 1617)
- 1587 – Xu Xiake, Chinese geographer (d. 1641)
- 1592 – Shah Jahan, Mughal Emperor of India (d. 1666)
- 1614 – Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria (d. 1662)
- 1667 – Antonio Lotti, Italian composer (d. 1740)
- 1696 – Giuseppe Galli-Bibiena, Italian architect/painter (d. 1757)
- 1717 – William Wildman Shute Barrington, British statesman (d. 1793)
- 1762 – Constanze Mozart, wife of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (d. 1842)
- 1767 – Jean-Baptiste Say, French economist, originator of Say's Law (d. 1832)
- 1778 – Zebulon Pike, American explorer (d. 1813)
- 1779 – Stephen Decatur, American naval officer (d. 1820)
- 1808 – Anton Füster, Austrian priest and revolutionary activist (d. 1881)
- 1829 – Sir Roger Ichborne, British heir (d. c. 1854)
- 1834 – William John Wills, English explorer (d. 1861)
- 1838 – Camille Jordan, French mathematician (d. 1922)
- 1846 – Rudolf Christoph Eucken, German writer, Nobel laureate (d. 1926)
- 1855 – King Camp Gillette, American inventor (d. 1932)
- 1864 – Bob Caruthers, American baseball player (d. 1911)
- 1864 – Ban Johnson, American baseball executive (d. 1931)
- 1865 – Julio Garavito Armero, Colombian astronomer (d. 1920)
- 1866 – Dimitrios Gounaris, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1922)
- 1871 – Frederick Converse, American composer (d. 1940)
- 1874 – Joseph Erlanger, American physiologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1965)
- 1876 – Konrad Adenauer, German statesman (d. 1967)
- 1879 – Hans Eppinger, Austrian physician (d. 1946)
- 1880 – Nikolay Medtner, Russian composer (d. 1951)
- 1882 – Herbert Bayard Swope, American journalist (d. 1958)
- 1885 – Humbert Wolfe, Italian-born British poet (d. 1940)
- 1886 – Markus Reiner, Israeli scientist (d. 1976)
- 1893 – Zoltán Böszörmény, Hungarian Nazi politician (d. unknown)
- 1893 – Paramahansa Yogananda, Indian guru (d. 1952)
- 1895 – Elizabeth Cotten, American musician (d. 1987)
- 1895 – Jeannette Piccard, American priest, and aeronaut (d. 1981)
- 1900 – Yves Tanguy, French painter (d. 1955)
- 1902 – Stella Gibbons, English novelist (d. 1989)
- 1903 – Harold Gatty, Australian aviator (d. 1957)
- 1904 – Erica Morini, Austrian violinist (d. 1995)
- 1904 – Jeane Dixon, American astrologer (d. 1997)
- 1906 – Kathleen Kenyon, English archaeologist (d. 1978)
- 1908 – George Dolenz, American actor (d. 1963)
- 1909 – Lucienne Bloch, Swiss-born American sculptor, muralist, photographer (d. 1995)
- 1909 – Stephen Cole Kleene, American mathematician (d. 1994)
- 1910 – Hugh Brannum, American actor (d. 1987)
- 1910 – Jack Lovelock, New Zealand athlete (d. 1949)
- 1911 – Jean-Pierre Aumont, French actor (d. 2001)
- 1914 – Nicolas de Staël, French-Russian painter (d. 1955)
- 1914 – George Reeves, American actor (d. 1959)
- 1915 – Arthur H. Robinson, Canadian cartographer (d. 2004)
- 1917 – Lucienne Day, British textile designer (d. 2010)
- 1917 – Francis L. Kellogg, American diplomat and socialite (d. 2006)
- 1917 – Wieland Wagner, German stage director (d. 1966)
- 1917 – Jane Wyman, American actress (d. 2007)
- 1919 – Severino Gazzelloni, Italian flautist (d. 1992)
- 1920 – Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Italian pianist (d. 1995)
- 1921 – Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Swiss writer (d. 1990)
- 1921 – Paul Governali, American professional football player (d. 1978)
- 1921 – Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
- 1922 – Sir Anthony Synnot, Australian naval officer (d. 2001)
- 1923 – Sam Phillips, American music producer (d. 2003)
- 1924 – Gilbert Bogle, Australian scientist (d. 1963)
- 1926 – William De Witt Snodgrass, American poet
- 1926 – Hosea Williams, American activist (d. 2000)
- 1928 – Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistani statesman (d. 1979)
- 1928 – Walter Mondale, American politician, former United States Senator from Minnesota and 42nd Vice President of the United States
- 1929 – Wilbert Harrison, American singer (d. 1994)
- 1930 – Alfred Masini, American television producer (d. 2010)
- 1931 – Alvin Ailey, American choreographer (d. 1989)
- 1931 – Alfred Brendel, Austrian pianist
- 1931 – Joan Coxsedge, Australian politician
- 1931 – Robert Duvall, American actor
- 1932 – Umberto Eco, Italian philosopher and writer
- 1932 – Raisa Gorbachova, wife of Mikhail Gorbachev (d. 1999)
- 1932 – Chuck Noll, American football coach
- 1934 – William Bendeck, Bolivian rally driver (d. 1971)
- 1936 – Florence King, American humorist
- 1938 – King Juan Carlos I of Spain
- 1938 – Jim Otto, American football player
- 1938 – Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Kenyan writer
- 1940 – Michael O'Donoghue, American writer (d. 1994)
- 1940 – Yuri Ershov, Russian mathematician
- 1940 – Athol Guy, Australian singer (The Seekers)
- 1940 – Sir Michael Rose, British military officer
- 1941 – Hayao Miyazaki, Japanese film maker
- 1941 – Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Indian cricketer (d. 2011)
- 1942 – Jan Leeming, English television presenter and newsreader
- 1942 – Terenci Moix, Spanish writer (d. 2003)
- 1942 – Maurizio Pollini, Italian pianist
- 1942 – Charlie Rose, American talk show host
- 1943 – Mary Gaudron, Australian jurist
- 1944 – Ed Rendell, American politician and 45th Governor of Pennsylvania
- 1945 – Chuck McKinley, American tennis player (d. 1986)
- 1945 – Roger Spottiswoode, Canadian-born film director
- 1946 – Diane Keaton, American actress
- 1947 – Mike Dewine, American politician
- 1947 – Mercury Morris, American football player
- 1948 – Ted Lange, American actor
- 1949 – George Brown, American drummer (Kool & The Gang)
- 1950 – Ioan Petru Culianu, Romanian educator (d. 1991)
- 1950 – John Manley, Canadian politician
- 1950 – Charlie Richmond, Canadian entrepreneur
- 1950 – Chris Stein, American guitarist (Blondie)
- 1950 – Krzysztof Wielicki, Polish mountaineer
- 1951 – Steve Arnold, English footballer
- 1953 – Steve Archer, American singer (The Archers)
- 1953 – Pamela Sue Martin, American actress
- 1953 – Mike Rann, Australian politician
- 1953 – George Tenet, American civil servant, university professor and 18th Director of Central Intelligence
- 1954 – Alex English, American basketball player
- 1954 – László Krasznahorkai, Hungarian writer
- 1956 – Chen Kenichi, Japanese-born chef
- 1956 – Tim Macartney-Snape, Australian mountaineer
- 1957 – Kevin Hastings, Australian rugby league footballer
- 1958 – Nancy Delahunt, Canadian athlete
- 1958 – Ron Kittle, American baseball player
- 1959 – Clancy Brown, American actor
- 1960 – Steve Jones, British aviator (Red Bull Air Race World Series)
- 1960 – Glenn Strömberg, Swedish footballer
- 1960 – Phil Thornalley, English bass guitarist (The Cure)
- 1961 – Iris DeMent, American songwriter and singer
- 1962 – Suzy Amis, American actress and model
- 1962 – Perry Fenwick, English actor
- 1962 – Danny Jackson, American baseball player
- 1963 – Jeff Fassero, American baseball player
- 1964 – Grant Young (musician), American drummer (Soul Asylum)
- 1965 – Vinnie Jones, British footballer-turned-actor
- 1966 – Kate Schellenbach, American drummer (Luscious Jackson)
- 1966 – Steve Tuttle, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1967 – Joe Flanigan, American actor
- 1968 – DJ Bobo, Swiss singer
- 1968 – Ricky Paull Goldin, American actor
- 1968 – Andrew Golota, Polish boxer
- 1968 – Carrie Ann Inaba, American dancer and choreographer
- 1968 – Joé Juneau, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1969 – Marilyn Manson, American singer
- 1969 – Paul McGillion, Scottish actor
- 1970 – Rick Campanelli, Canadian TV presenter
- 1971 – Jayne Middlemiss, British TV presenter and celebrity chef
- 1971 – Mayuko Takata, Japanese actress
- 1972 – Sakis Rouvas, Greek singer
- 1973 – Phil Joel, New Zealand bassist (Newsboys)
- 1974 – Sarah Jane Honeywell, British television presenter
- 1975 – Kylie Bax, New Zealand model
- 1975 – Bradley Cooper, American actor
- 1975 – Warrick Dunn, American football player
- 1975 – Mike Grier, American ice hockey player
- 1976 – Diego Tristán, Spanish footballer
- 1976 – Matt Wachter, American bassist (30 Seconds to Mars)
- 1978 – Sabrina Harman, American military figure and accused torturer
- 1978 – January Jones, American actress
- 1978 – Franck Montagny, French Formula One driver
- 1978 – Marcus Trick, German rugby player
- 1979 – Kyle Calder, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1979 – Ronnie O'Brien, Irish footballer
- 1979 – Masami Tanaka, Japanese swimmer
- 1980 – Bennie Joppru, American football player
- 1981 – Corey Flynn, New Zealand rugby union footballer
- 1981 – Brooklyn Sudano, American actress
- 1981 – Joel Thomas Zimmerman, Canadian musician
- 1982 – Norichika Aoki, Japanese baseball player
- 1982 – Janica Kostelić, Croatian skier
- 1982 – Darren Mackie, Scottish footballer
- 1982 – Benoît Vaugrenard, French cyclist
- 1983 – Sean Dockery, American basketball player
- 1984 – Amanda Hearst, American heiress and model
- 1985 – Michael Cuccione, Canadian actor (d. 2001)
- 1985 – Diego Vera, Uruguayan footballer
- 1985 – Yoon So-Yi, South Korean actress
- 1986 – J. P. Arencibia, American baseball player
- 1986 – Teppei Koike, Japanese actor and singer
- 1986 – Deepika Padukone, Indian model and actress
- 1987 – Kristin Cavallari, American actress
- 1988 – Pauline, French singer
- 1989 – Krisztián Németh, Hungarian footballer
- 1991 – Daniel Pacheco, Spanish footballer
- 1991 – Denis Alibec, Romanian footballer
- 1996 – Max Baldry, English actor
- 1999 – Marc Yu, American musician
Deaths
- 842 – Al-Mu'tasim, Abbasid caliph (b. 794)
- 1066 – Edward the Confessor, King of England (b. 1004)
- 1387 – King Peter IV of Aragon (b. 1319)
- 1400 – John Montacute, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, English politician (b. c. 1350)
- 1448 – Christopher of Bavaria (b. 1416)
- 1465 – Charles, Duke of Orléans, French poet (b. 1394)
- 1477 – Charles, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1433)
- 1524 – Marko Marulić, Croatian poet (b. 1450)
- 1527 – Felix Manz, Swiss leader (executed) (b. 1498)
- 1588 – Qi Jiguang, Chinese general (b. 1528)
- 1589 – Catherine de' Medici, queen of Henry II of France (b. 1519)
- 1713 – Jean Chardin, French explorer (b. 1643)
- 1740 – Antonio Lotti, Italian composer (b. 1667)
- 1762 – Empress Elizabeth of Russia (b. 1709)
- 1771 – John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford, British statesman (b. 1710)
- 1796 – Samuel Huntington,(statesman) (b. 1731)
- 1823 – Major George Johnston, Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales (b. 1764)
- 1846 – Alfred Thomas Agate, American artist (b. 1812)
- 1858 – Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, Austrian field marshal (b. 1766)
- 1860 – Saint John Nepomucene Neumann, first American bishop to be canonized (b. 1811)
- 1883 – Charles Tompson, first Australian published poet (b. 1806)
- 1888 – Henri Herz, Austrian pianist (b. 1803)
- 1891 – Emma Abbott, American soprano (b. 1849)
- 1904 – Karl Alfred von Zittel, German palaeontologist (b. 1839)
- 1910 – Léon Walras, French economist (b. 1834)
- 1919 – Sumako Matsui, Japanese actress and singer (b. 1886)
- 1922 – Sir Ernest Shackleton, Irish explorer (b. 1874)
- 1933 – Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States (b. 1872)
- 1937 – Marie Booth, child of William and Catherine Booth (b. 1864)
- 1939 – Amelia Earhart, American aviator declared dead after disappearance in 1937 (b. 1897)
- 1940 – Humbert Wolfe, Italian-British poet (b. 1885)
- 1941 – Amy Johnson, English aviator (b. 1903)
- 1942 – Tina Modotti, Italian photographer, model, actress, and revolutionary political activist (b. 1896)
- 1943 – George Washington Carver, American educator (b. 1864)
- 1946 – Kitty Cheatham, American singer (b. 1864)
- 1951 – Andrei Platonov, Russian writer (b. 1899)
- 1952 – Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow, Viceroy of India (b. 1887)
- 1952 – Hristo Tatarchev, Bulgarian revolutionary (b. 1869)
- 1954 – Rabbit Maranville, American baseball player (b. 1891)
- 1956 – Mistinguett, French singer (b. 1875)
- 1963 – Rogers Hornsby, American baseball player (b. 1896)
- 1970 – Max Born, German physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1882)
- 1970 – Cyril Fagan, Irish astrologer (b. 1896)
- 1970 – Roberto Gerhard, Catalan composer (b. 1896)
- 1971 – Douglas Shearer, Canadian film engineer (b. 1899)
- 1974 – Lev Oborin, Russian pianist (b. 1907)
- 1976 – John A. Costello, Taoiseach of Ireland (b. 1891)
- 1976 – Mal Evans, Beatles' "roadie" (b. 1935)
- 1978 – Wyatt Cooper, American screenwriter (b. 1927)
- 1979 – Charles Mingus, American musician (b. 1922)
- 1981 – Harold C. Urey, American chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1893)
- 1981 – Lanza del Vasto, Italian philosopher (b. 1901)
- 1982 – Hans Conried, American actor (b. 1917)
- 1982 – Sir Edmund Herring, Australian military commander, Lieutenant Governor of Victoria (b. 1892)
- 1982 – Harvey Lembeck, American actor (b. 1923)
- 1985 – Robert L. Surtees, American Oscar-winning cinematographer (Ben-Hur) (b. 1906)
- 1987 – Herman Smith-Johannsen, Norwegian-born Canadian cross-country skier (b. 1875)
- 1987 – Margaret Laurence, Canadian author (b. 1926)
- 1988 – Pete Maravich, American basketball player (b. 1947)
- 1990 – Arthur Kennedy, American actor (b. 1914)
- 1991 – Vasko Popa, Yugoslav poet (b. 1922)
- 1994 – Brian Johnston, English cricket commentator (b. 1912)
- 1994 – Tip O'Neill, American politician (b. 1912)
- 1996 – Yahya Ayyash, Palestinian Hamas member (b. 1966)
- 1996 – Lincoln Kirstein, American writer, impresario, art connoisseur (b. 1907)
- 1997 – André Franquin, Belgian cartoonist (Gaston Lagaffe) (b. 1924)
- 1997 – Burton Lane, American composer and lyricist (b. 1912)
- 1998 – Sonny Bono, American entertainer and politician (b. 1935)
- 1998 – Ken Forssi, American musician (Love) (b. 1943)
- 2001 – Nancy Parsons, American actress (b. 1942)
- 2003 – Doreen Carwithen, British composer, widow of William Alwyn (b. 1922)
- 2003 – Massimo Girotti, Italian film actor (b. 1918)
- 2003 – Roy Jenkins, British politician (b. 1920)
- 2003 – Jean Kerr, American author (b. 1923)
- 2004 – Norman Heatley, member of the team of Oxford University scientists who developed penicillin (b. 1911)
- 2004 – Tug McGraw, American baseball player, father of Tim McGraw (b. 1944)
- 2005 – Danny Sugerman, American music manager (The Doors) (b. 1954)
- 2006 – Lord Merlyn-Rees, British politician (b. 1920)
- 2007 – Momofuku Ando, inventor of instant noodles and cup noodles (b. 1910)
- 2007 – Chih Ree Sun, Chinese-American physicist and poet (b. 1923)
- 2008 – Clinton Grybas, Australian sports commentator (b. 1975)
- 2009 – Griffin Bell, American lawyer (b. 1918)
- 2009 – Ned Tanen, American movie executive (b. 1931)
- 2010 – Murray Saltzman, Reform Jewish rabbi and civil rights leader (b. 1929)
Holidays and observances
External links