January 15
January 15 is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 350 days remaining until the end of the year (351 in leap years).
Events
- 588 BC – Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem under Zedekiah's reign. The siege lasts until July 23, 586 BC.
- 69 – Otho seizes power in Rome, proclaiming himself Emperor of Rome, but rules for only three months before committing suicide.
- 1493 – Christopher Columbus sets sail for Spain from Hispaniola, ending his first voyage to the New World.
- 1559 – Elizabeth I is crowned Queen of England in Westminster Abbey, London.
- 1582 – Russia cedes Livonia and Estonia to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
- 1759 – The British Museum opens.
- 1777 – American Revolutionary War: New Connecticut (present day Vermont) declares its independence.
- 1782 – Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris goes before the U.S. Congress to recommend establishment of a national mint and decimal coinage.
- 1815 – War of 1812: American frigate USS President (1800), commanded by Commodore Stephen Decatur, is captured by a squadron of four British frigates.
- 1822 – Greek War of Independence: Demetrius Ypsilanti is elected president of the legislative assembly.
- 1844 – University of Notre Dame receives its charter from the state of Indiana.
- 1865 – American Civil War: Fort Fisher in North Carolina falls to the Union, thus cutting off the last major seaport of the Confederacy.
- 1870 – A political cartoon for the first time symbolizes the United States Democratic Party with a donkey ("A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion" by Thomas Nast for Harper's Weekly).
- 1889 – The Coca-Cola Company, then known as the Pemberton Medicine Company, is originally incorporated in Atlanta.
- 1892 – James Naismith publishes the rules of basketball.
- 1908 – The Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority becomes the first Greek-letter organization founded and established by African-American college women.
- 1910 – Construction ends on the Buffalo Bill Dam in Wyoming, US, which was the highest dam in the world at the time, at 325 ft (99 m).
- 1919 – Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, two of the most prominent socialists in Germany, are tortured and murdered by the Freikorps.
- 1919 – Boston Molasses Disaster: A large molasses tank in Boston, bursts and a wave of molasses rushes through the streets, killing 21 people and injuring 150 others.
- 1936 – The first building to be completely covered in glass, built for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company, is completed in Toledo, Ohio.
- 1943 – World War II: The Soviet counter-offensive at Voronezh begins.
- 1943 – The world's largest office building, The Pentagon, is dedicated in Arlington, Virginia.
- 1947 – The brutalized corpse of Elizabeth Short ("The Black Dahlia") is found in Leimert Park, Los Angeles.
- 1949 – Chinese Civil War: The Chinese Communist Party forces take over Tianjin from the Nationalist Government.
- 1951 – Ilse Koch, "The Witch of Buchenwald", wife of the commandant of the Buchenwald concentration camp, is sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in West Germany.
- 1966 – The Nigerian First Republic, led by Abubakar Tafawa Balewa is overthrown in a military coup d’état.
- 1967 – The first Super Bowl is played in Los Angeles. The Green Bay Packers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10
- 1969 – The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 5.
- 1970 – Nigerian Civil War: After a 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria, Biafra surrenders.
- 1970 – Muammar al-Qaddafi is proclaimed premier of Libya.
- 1973 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, President Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.
- 1974 – Dennis Rader aka the BTK Killer kills his first victims by binding, torturing and murdering Joseph, Joseph II, Josephine and Julie Otero in their house.
- 1976 – Gerald Ford's would-be assassin, Sara Jane Moore, is sentenced to life in prison.
- 1977 – The Kälvesta air disaster kills 22 people, the worst air crash in Sweden's history.
- 1986 – The Living Seas opens at EPCOT Center in Walt Disney World, Florida.
- 1990 – AT&T's long distance telephone network suffers a cascade switching failure.
- 1991 – The United Nations deadline for the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait expires, preparing the way for the start of Operation Desert Storm.
- 1991 – Elizabeth II, in her capacity as Queen of Australia, signs letters patent allowing Australia to become the first Commonwealth Realm to institute its own separate Victoria Cross award in its own honours system.
- 1992 – The international community recognizes the independence of Slovenia and Croatia from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
- 1993 – Salvatore Riina, the Mafia boss known as "The Beast", is arrested in Sicily after three decades as a fugitive.
- 2001 – Wikipedia, a free Wiki content encyclopedia, goes online.
- 2005 – An intense solar flare blasts X-rays across the solar system.
- 2005 – ESA's SMART-1 lunar orbiter discovers elements such as calcium, aluminum, silicon, iron, and other surface elements on the moon.
- 2007 – Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, former Iraqi intelligence chief and half-brother of Saddam Hussein, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former chief judge of the Revolutionary Court, are executed by hanging in Iraq.
- 2009 – US Airways Flight 1549 makes an emergency landing in the Hudson River shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport in New York City. All passengers and crew members survive.
Births
- 1342 – Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1404)
- 1432 – King Afonso V of Portugal (d. 1481)
- 1481 – Ashikaga Yoshizumi, Japanese shogun (d. 1511)
- 1538 – Maeda Toshiie, Japanese general (d. 1599)
- 1622 – Molière, French playwright (d. 1673)
- 1671 – Abraham de la Pryme, English antiquarian (d. 1704)
- 1674 – Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, French writer (d. 1762)
- 1716 – Philip Livingston, American founding father (d. 1778)
- 1747 – John Aikin, English doctor and writer (d. 1822)
- 1754 – Richard Martin, Irish animal rights activist (d. 1834)
- 1791 – Franz Grillparzer, Austrian writer (d. 1872)
- 1795 – Alexandr Griboyedov, Russian playwright (d. 1829)
- 1803 – Marjory Fleming, Scottish writer and poet (d. 1811)
- 1809 – Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, French anarchist (d. 1865)
- 1812 – Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, Norwegian writer (d. 1885)
- 1815 – William Bickerton, Mormon prophet (d. 1905)
- 1816 – Marie LaFarge, French murderer (d. 1852)
- 1824 – Marie Duplessis, French courtesan (d. 1847)
- 1834 – Samuel Arza Davenport, American politician (d. 1911)
- 1841 – Frederick Arthur Stanley, Governor General of Canada (d. 1908)
- 1842 – Josef Breuer, Austrian psychiatrist (d. 1925)
- 1842 – Saint Mary MacKillop, Australian Saint (d. 1909)
- 1850 – Leonard Darwin, son of Charles Darwin (d. 1943)
- 1850 – Mihai Eminescu, Romanian poet (d. 1889)
- 1850 – Sofia Kovalevskaya, Russian mathematician (d. 1891)
- 1855 – Jacques Damala, Greek military officer and actor (d. 1889)
- 1859 – Archibald Peake, Premier of South Australia (d. 1920)
- 1863 – Wilhelm Marx, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1946)
- 1866 – Nathan Söderblom, Swedish archbishop, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1931)
- 1869 – Ruby Laffoon, 43rd Governor of Kentucky (d. 1941)
- 1869 – Stanisław Wyspiański, Polish dramatist (d. 1907)
- 1870 – Pierre S. du Pont, American businessman (d. 1954)
- 1872 – Arsen Kotsoyev, Russian writer (d. 1944)
- 1875 – Thomas Burke, American sprinter (d. 1929)
- 1877 – Lewis Terman, American psychologist (d. 1956)
- 1878 – Johanna Müller-Hermann, Austrian composer and pedagogue (d. 1941)
- 1879 – Mazo de la Roche, Canadian author (d. 1961)
- 1882 – Princess Margaret of Connaught (d. 1920)
- 1885 – Lorenz Böhler, Austrian physician (d. 1973)
- 1885 – Grover Lowdermilk, American baseball player (d. 1968)
- 1885 – Huang Yuanyong, Chinese writer (d. 1915)
- 1890 – Tommy Fleming, American soccer player (d. 1965)
- 1891 – Ray Chapman, American baseball player (d. 1920)
- 1891 – Osip Mandelstam, Russian poet (d. 1938)
- 1892 – Rex Ingram, Irish director (d. 1950)
- 1893 – Ivor Novello, Welsh composer and actor (d. 1951)
- 1895 – Artturi Ilmari Virtanen, Finnish chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1973)
- 1897 – Xu Zhimo, Chinese poet (d. 1931)
- 1899 – Goodman Ace, American actor (d. 1982)
- 1900 – William Heinesen, Faroese writer, poet and artist (d. 1991)
- 1902 – King Saud of Saudi Arabia (d. 1969)
- 1903 – Paul A. Dever, 58th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1958)
- 1905 – Kamatari Fujiwara, Japanese actor (d. 1985)
- 1905 – Torin Thatcher, English actor (d. 1981)
- 1906 – Aristotle Onassis, Greek shipping magnate (d. 1975)
- 1908 – Edward Teller, Hungarian-born physicist (d. 2003)
- 1909 – Jean Bugatti, German-born automobile designer (d. 1939)
- 1909 – Gene Krupa, American drummer (d. 1973)
- 1912 – Michel Debré, French politician (d. 1996)
- 1913 – Eugène Brands, Dutch painter (d. 2002)
- 1913 – Lloyd Bridges, American actor (d. 1998)
- 1913 – Miriam Hyde, Australian composer (d. 2005)
- 1913 – Alexander Marinesko, captain of the S-13 submarined. 1963)
- 1914 – Hugh Trevor-Roper, English historian (d. 2003)
- 1918 – João Figueiredo, President of Brazil (d. 1999)
- 1918 – Édouard Gagnon, Canadian Roman Catholic cardinal (d. 2007)
- 1918 – Gamal Abdel Nasser, President of Egypt (d. 1970)
- 1919 – Maurice Herzog, French mountaineer, first to ascend an 8000m peak, Annapurna in 1950
- 1920 – John Joseph O'Connor, American Catholic cardinal (d. 2000)
- 1920 – Steve Gromek, American baseball player (d. 2002)
- 1921 – Babasaheb Bhosale, Indian politician (d. 2007)
- 1921 – Frank Thornton, English actor
- 1922 – Sir Eric Willis, Australian politician (d. 1999)
- 1923 – Ivor Cutler, Scottish poet (d. 2006)
- 1923 – Lee Teng-hui, Taiwanese politician
- 1925 – Ruth Slenczynska, U.S. pianist
- 1926 – Maria Schell, Austrian actress (d. 2005)
- 1927 – Phyllis Coates, American actress
- 1929 – Martin Luther King, Jr., American civil rights leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1968)
- 1930 – Eddie Graham, American professional wrestler (d. 1985)
- 1931 – Lee Bontecou, American artist
- 1933 – Ernest J. Gaines, American author
- 1935 – Malcolm Frager, American pianist
- 1937 – Margaret O'Brien, American actress
- 1938 – Chuni Goswami, Indian footballer and cricketer
- 1939 – Tony Bullimore, English sailor and adventurer
- 1940 – Anna Hazare, Indian social activist.
- 1941 – Captain Beefheart, American musician and visual artist (d. 2010)
- 1943 – Ashraf Aman, first Pakistani to reach the summit of K2
- 1943 – Stuart E. Eizenstat, adviser to American Presidents Carter and Clinton
- 1943 – Mike Marshall, American baseball player
- 1944 – Jenny Nimmo, British author
- 1945 – Vincent Foster Jr., American lawyer (d. 1993)
- 1945 – William R. Higgins, USMC colonel (d. 1990)
- 1945 – Princess Michael of Kent, British royal
- 1947 – Andrea Martin, Canadian actress
- 1948 – Ronnie Van Zant, American singer (Lynyrd Skynyrd) (d. 1977)
- 1949 – Luis Alvarado, Puerto Rican baseball player (d. 2001)
- 1949 – Panos Mihalopoulos, Greek actor
- 1950 – Marius Trésor, French footballer
- 1952 – Andrzej Fischer, Polish footballer
- 1953 – Kent Hovind, American evangelist
- 1953 – Ta-Tanisha, American actress
- 1953 – Randy White, American football player
- 1954 – Jose Dalisay, Jr., Filipino writer
- 1954 – Nikos Sarganis, Greek footballer
- 1955 – Nigel Benson, English author
- 1956 – Miki Fujimura, Japanese singer
- 1956 – Mayawati, Indian politician
- 1956 – Marc Trestman, CFL head coach
- 1957 – Patrick Dixon, English entrepreneur
- 1957 – Marty Lyons, American football player
- 1957 – Mario Van Peebles, American actor
- 1958 – Boris Tadić, President of Serbia
- 1959 – Sister Carol, Jamaican reggae singer
- 1959 – Pavle Kozjek, Slovenian climber (d. 2008)
- 1959 – Pete Trewavas, English musician
- 1960 – Kelly Asbury, American director and actor
- 1960 – Aaron Jay Kernis, American composer
- 1961 – Yves P. Pelletier, Canadian comedian and film director
- 1963 – Conrad Lant, English musician
- 1963 – Bruce Schneier, American cryptographer, security expert, and writer
- 1964 – Osmo Tapio Räihälä, Finnish composer
- 1965 – Maurizio Fondriest, Italian cyclist
- 1965 – Bernard Hopkins, American boxer
- 1965 – Adam Jones, American musician (Tool)
- 1965 – James Nesbitt, Northern Irish actor
- 1967 – Lisa Lisa, American R&B singer
- 1968 – Chad Lowe, American actor
- 1968 – Iñaki Urdangarín, Spanish royalty
- 1969 – Meret Becker, German actress and singer
- 1969 – Delino DeShields, American baseball player
- 1969 – Huck Seed, American professional poker player
- 1970 – Shane McMahon, American professional wrestler
- 1971 – Regina King, American actress
- 1972 – Christos Kostis, Greek footballer
- 1972 – Ernie Reyes, Jr. American actor and martial artist
- 1972 – Kobe Tai, American porn star
- 1972 – Claudia Winkleman, English television presenter
- 1973 – Essam El-Hadary, Egyptian footballer
- 1974 – Edith Bowman, Scottish television and radio presenter
- 1974 – Ray King, American baseball player
- 1974 – Tim Shaw, British radio DJ and television presenter
- 1975 – Mary Pierce, French tennis player
- 1975 – 9th Wonder, American producer
- 1976 – Corey Chavous, American football player
- 1976 – Doug Gottlieb, American basketball analyst
- 1976 – Scott Murray, Scotland rugby player
- 1978 – Eddie Cahill, American actor
- 1978 – Franco Pellizotti, Italian cyclist
- 1978 – Ryan Sidebottom, English Cricketer
- 1979 – Drew Brees, American football player
- 1979 – Ken Chu, Taiwanese singer-actor and taichi champ
- 1979 – Young Dro, American rapper
- 1979 – Michalis Morfis, Cypriot footballer
- 1979 – Martin Petrov, Bulgarian footballer
- 1980 – Matt Holliday, American baseball player
- 1981 – Howie Day, American singer
- 1981 – El Hadji Diouf, Senegalese footballer
- 1981 – Sean Lamont, Scottish rugby union footballer
- 1981 – Pitbull, American rapper
- 1982 – Benjamin Agosto, American skater
- 1982 – Armando Galarraga, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1982 – Brett Lebda, American hockey player
- 1982 – Neil Nitin Mukesh, Indian actor
- 1982 – Prince Philip and Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia
- 1982 – Francis Zé, Cameroonian footballer
- 1983 – Jermaine Pennant, English footballer
- 1983 – Matic Kralj, Slovenian ice hockey player
- 1983 – Hugo Viana, Portuguese footballer
- 1984 – Megan Jendrick, American swimmer
- 1984 – Victor Rasuk, American actor
- 1985 – Rene Adler, German footballer
- 1985 – Enrico Patrizio, Italian rugby player
- 1985 – Kenneth Emil Petersen, Danish footballer
- 1986 – Fred Davis, American football player
- 1986 – Jessy Schram, American actress
- 1986 – Isaia Toeava, New Zealand All Black rugby player
- 1987 – Greg Inglis, Australian rugby league player
- 1987 – Aria C Jalali, American musician
- 1987 – Kelly Kelly, American WWE Diva
- 1987 – David Knight, English footballer
- 1987 – Michael Seater, Canadian actor
- 1988 – Sonny Moore (a.k.a Skrillex, American musician (From First to Last)
- 1989 – Alexei Cherepanov, Russian hockey player (d. 2008)
- 1989 – Keiffer Hubbell, American ice dancer
- 1990 – Fernando Forestieri, Italian footballer
- 1990 – Robert Trznadel, Polish footballer
- 1992 – Joshua King, Norwegian footballer
Deaths
- 69 – Galba, Roman Emperor (b. 3 BC)
- 570 – Saint Ita, Irish nun (b. 475)
- 936 – King Rudolph of France
- 1345 – Martin Zaccaria, Italo-Greek ruler
- 1595 – Murat III, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1546)
- 1623 – Fra Paolo Sarpi, Italian patriot, scholar, scientist and church reformer (b. 1552)
- 1672 – John Cosin, English clergyman (b. 1594)
- 1683 – Philip Warwick, English writer and politician (b. 1609)
- 1775 – Giovanni Battista Sammartini, Italian composer
- 1781 – Infanta Mariana Victoria of Spain, queen regent of Portugal (b. 1718)
- 1790 – John Landen, English mathematician (b. 1719)
- 1804 – Dru Drury, English entomologist (b. 1725)
- 1815 – Emma, Lady Hamilton, English mistress of Lord Nelson (b. 1761)
- 1864 – Isaac Nathan, UK-Australian composer (b. 1792)
- 1876 – Eliza Johnson, U.S. First Lady (b. 1810)
- 1885 – Leopold Damrosch, German-American orchestral conductor (b. 1832)
- 1893 – Fanny Kemble, British actress and author (b. 1809)
- 1896 – Mathew Brady, U.S. photographer (b. 1822)
- 1909 – Arnold Janssen, German missionary (b. 1837)
- 1916 – Modest Tchaikovsky, Russian writer (b. 1850)
- 1919 – Karl Liebknecht, German politician (b. 1871)
- 1919 – Rosa Luxemburg, German politician (b. 1871)
- 1926 – August Sedláček, Czech historian (b. 1843)
- 1926 – Enrico Toselli, Italian composer (b. 1883)
- 1936 – Henry Forster, 1st Baron Forster, Governor-General of Australia (b. 1866)
- 1944 – Robert J. Kirby, Warden of New York's Sing Sing Prison (b. 1890)
- 1945 – Wilhelm Wirtinger, Austrian mathematician (b. 1865)
- 1947 – Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia (b. 1924)
- 1948 – Josephus Daniels, American publisher and United States Secretary of the Navy (b. 1862)
- 1950 – General Henry "Hap" Arnold, U.S. General of the Air Force (b. 1886)
- 1952 – Ned Hanlon, Premier of Queensland (b. 1887)
- 1955 – Yves Tanguy, French painter (b. 1900)
- 1964 – Jack Teagarden, American musician (b. 1905)
- 1967 – David Burliuk, Ukrainian artist (b. 1882)
- 1968 – Bill Masterton, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1938)
- 1970 – William T. Piper, American aircraft designer (b. 1881)
- 1972 – Daisy Ashford, English child writer (The Young Visiters) (b. 1881)
- 1973 – Coleman Francis, American film director (b. 1919)
- 1973 – Ivan Petrovsky, Russian mathematician (b. 1901)
- 1983 – Meyer Lansky, Russian-born gangster (b. 1902)
- 1983 – Shepperd Strudwick, American actor (b. 1907)
- 1987 – Ray Bolger, American actor, singer, and dancer (b. 1904)
- 1988 – Seán MacBride, Irish statesman, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1904)
- 1990 – Dame Peggy van Praagh, British ballet dancer, choreographer, director (b. 1910)
- 1992 – Dee Murray, English bassist (b. 1946)
- 1993 – Sammy Cahn, American songwriter (b. 1913)
- 1994 – Georges Cziffra, Hungarian-French pianist (b. 1921)
- 1994 – Harry Nilsson, American musician (b. 1941)
- 1994 – Harilal Upadhyay, Gujarati-Indian author, poet, astrologist (b. 1916)
- 1995 – Vera Maxwell, American fashion designer (b. 1901)
- 1996 – Les Baxter, American musician and composer (b. 1922)
- 1996 – Paramount Chief Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho (b. 1938)
- 1996 – Minnesota Fats, American billiards player (b. 1913)
- 1998 – Junior Wells, American musician (b. 1934)
- 1999 – Betty Box, British film producer (b. 1915)
- 2000 – Georges-Henri Lévesque, Canadian Dominican priest and sociologist (b. 1903)
- 2000 – Željko Ražnatović, aka Arkan, Serbian paramilitary leader (b. 1952)
- 2000 – Fran Ryan, American actress (b. 1916)
- 2001 – Ted Mann, American screenwriter (b. 1916)
- 2001 – Leo Marks, English cryptographer, screenwriter and playwright (b. 1920)
- 2002 – Eugène Brands, Dutch painter (b. 1913)
- 2002 – Steve Gromek, American baseball player (b. 1920)
- 2003 – Doris Fisher, American singer and songwriter (b. 1915)
- 2005 – Walter Ernsting, German author (b. 1920)
- 2005 – Elizabeth Janeway, American author (b. 1913)
- 2005 – Dan Lee, Canadian animator (b. 1969)
- 2005 – Victoria de los Angeles, Catalan soprano (b. 1923)
- 2005 – Ruth Warrick, American actress (b. 1915)
- 2006 – Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (b. 1926)
- 2007 – Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former chief judge of the Iraqi Revolutionary Court (b. 1945) (executed)
- 2007 – James Hillier, Canadian inventor of electron microscope (b. 1915)
- 2007 – Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, former Iraqi intelligence chief and half-brother of Saddam Hussein (b. 1951) (executed)
- 2007 – David Vanole, American soccer player (b. 1963)
- 2007 – Pura Santillan-Castrence, Filipino writer and diplomat (b. 1905)
- 2007 – Bo Yibo, Chinese politician (b. 1908)
- 2008 – Mark Haigh-Hutchinson, English game designer (b. 1964)
- 2008 – Brad Renfro, American actor (b. 1982)
- 2011 – Nat Lofthouse, English footballer (b. 1925)
Holidays and observances
External links