January 26

January 26 is the 26th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 339 days remaining until the end of the year (340 in leap years).

Events

• 1500 – Vicente Yáñez Pinzón becomes the first European to set foot on Brazil.
• 1531 – The 1531 Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people.
• 1564 – The Council of Trent establishes an official distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.
• 1564 – The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Tsardom of Russia in the Battle of Ula during the Livonian War.
• 1565 – Battle of Talikota, fought between the Vijayanagara Empire and the Deccan sultanates, leads to the subjugation, and eventual destruction of the last Hindu kingdom in India, and the consolidation of Islamic rule over much of the Indian subcontinent.
• 1589 – Job is elected as Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.
• 1699 – For the first time, the Ottoman Empire permanently cedes territory to the Christian powers.
• 1700 – The Cascadia earthquake takes place off the west coast of North America, as evidenced by Japanese records.
• 1736 – Stanislaus I of Poland abdicates his throne.
• 1788 – The British First Fleet, led by Arthur Phillip, sails into Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) to establish Sydney, the first permanent European settlement on the continent. Commemorated as Australia Day.
• 1808 – The Rum Rebellion is the only successful (albeit short-lived) armed takeover of the government in Australia.
• 1837 – Michigan is admitted as the 26th U.S. state.
• 1838 – Tennessee enacts the first prohibition law in the United States
• 1841 – James Bremer takes formal possession of Hong Kong Island at what is now Possession Point, establishing British Hong Kong.
• 1855 – Point No Point Treaty is signed in Washington Territory.
• 1856 – First Battle of Seattle. Marines from the USS Decatur drive off American Indian attackers after all day battle with settlers.
• 1861 – American Civil War: The state of Louisiana secedes from the Union.
• 1863 – American Civil War: General Ambrose Burnside is relieved of command of the Army of the Potomac after the disastrous Fredericksburg campaign. He is replaced by Joseph Hooker.
• 1863 – American Civil War: Governor of Massachusetts John Albion Andrew receives permission from the Secretary of War to raise a militia organization for men of African descent.
• 1870 – American Civil War: Virginia rejoins the Union.
• 1885 – Troops loyal to The Mahdi conquer Khartoum, killing the Governor-General Charles George Gordon.
• 1905 – The world's largest diamond ever, the Cullinan weighing 3,106.75 carats (0.621350 kg), is found at the Premier Mine near Pretoria in South Africa.
• 1907 – The Short Magazine Lee–Enfield Mk III is officially introduced into British military Service, and remains the second oldest military rifle still in official use.
• 1911 – Glenn H. Curtiss flies the first successful American seaplane.
• 1911 – Richard Strauss' opera Der Rosenkavalier receives its debut performance at the Dresden State Opera.
• 1915 – The Rocky Mountain National Park is established by an act of the U.S. Congress.
• 1918 – Finnish Civil War: A group of Red Guards hangs a red lantern atop the tower of Helsinki Workers' Hall to symbolically mark the start of the war.
• 1920 – Former Ford Motor Company executive Henry Leland launches the Lincoln Motor Company which he later sold to his former employer.
• 1924 – Saint Petersburg, Russia, is renamed Leningrad.
• 1926 – The first demonstration of the television by John Logie Baird.
• 1930 – The Indian National Congress declares 26 January as Independence Day or as the day for Poorna Swaraj ("Complete Independence") which occurred 17 years later.
• 1934 – The Apollo Theater reopens in Harlem, New York City.
• 1934 – German–Polish Non-Aggression Pact is signed.
• 1939 – Spanish Civil War – Catalonia Offensive: Troops loyal to nationalist General Francisco Franco and aided by Italy take Barcelona.
• 1942 – World War II: The first United States forces arrive in Europe landing in Northern Ireland.
• 1945 – World War II: The Red Army begins encircling the German Fourth Army near Heiligenbeil in East Prussia, which will end in destruction of the 4th Army two months later.
• 1945 – World War II: Audie Murphy in action for which he will be awarded the Medal of Honor.
• 1949 – The Hale telescope at Palomar Observatory sees first light under the direction of Edwin Hubble, becoming the largest aperture optical telescope (until BTA-6 is built in 1976).
• 1950 – The Constitution of India comes into force, forming a republic. Rajendra Prasad is sworn in as its first President of India. Observed as Republic Day in India.
• 1952 – Black Saturday in Egypt: rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses.
• 1952 – World Customs Organization is founded.
• 1956 – Soviet Union hands Porkkala back to Finland.
• 1958 – Japanese ferry Nankai Maru capsizes off southern Awaji Island, Japan, 167 killed.
• 1960 – Danny Heater sets a worldwide high school basketball scoring record when he records 135 points for his school team in Burnsville, West Virginia.
• 1961 – John F. Kennedy appoints Janet G. Travell to be his physician. This is the first time a woman holds the appointment of Physician to the President.
• 1962 – Ranger 3 is launched to study the Moon. The space probe later misses the moon by 22,000 miles (35,400 km).
• 1965 – Hindi becomes the official language of India.
• 1966 – The Beaumont Children go missing from Glenelg Beach near Adelaide, South Australia.
• 1978 – The Great Blizzard of 1978 strikes the Ohio – Great Lakes region with heavy snow and winds up to 100 mph (161 km/h).
• 1980 – Israel and Egypt establish diplomatic relations.
• 1986 – The Ugandan government of Tito Okello is overthrown by the National Resistance Army, led by Yoweri Museveni.
• 1991 – Mohamed Siad Barre is removed from power in Somalia, ending centralized government, and is succeeded by Ali Mahdi.
• 1992 – Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia will stop targeting United States cities with nuclear weapons.
• 1998 – Lewinsky scandal: On American television, U.S. President Bill Clinton denies having had "sexual relations" with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
• 2001 – The 2001 Gujarat earthquake causes more than twenty thousand deaths.
• 2004 – President Hamid Karzai signs the current Constitution of Afghanistan.
• 2004 – A whale explodes in the town of Tainan, Taiwan. A build-up of gas in the decomposing sperm whale is suspected of causing the explosion.
• 2005 – Glendale train crash: Two trains derail killing 11 and injuring 200 in Glendale, California, near Los Angeles.
• 2009 – Rioting breaks out in Antananarivo, Madagascar, sparking a political crisis that will result in the replacement of President Marc Ravalomanana with Andry Rajoelina.
• 2015 – An aircraft crashes at Los Llanos Air Base in Albacete, Spain, killing 11 people and injuring 21 others.
• 2015 – Libby Lane becomes the first woman to be ordained a bishop of the Church of England.

Births

• 1497 – Emperor Go-Nara of Japan (d. 1557)
• 1541 – Florent Chrestien, French poet and translator (d. 1596)
• 1595 – Antonio Maria Abbatini, Italian composer (d. 1679)
• 1708 – William Hayes, English organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1777)
• 1714 – Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, French sculptor and educator (d. 1785)
• 1716 – George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville, English general and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (d. 1785)
• 1722 – Alexander Carlyle, Scottish minister and author (d. 1805)
• 1761 – Jens Zetlitz, Norwegian priest and poet (d. 1821)
• 1763 – Charles XIV John of Sweden (d. 1844)
• 1781 – Ludwig Achim von Arnim, German poet and author (d. 1831)
• 1813 – Juan Pablo Duarte, Dominican philosopher and poet (d. 1876)
• 1826 – Julia Grant, American wife of Ulysses S. Grant, 19th First Lady of the United States (d. 1902)
• 1832 – George Shiras, Jr., American lawyer and jurist (d. 1924)
• 1842 – François Coppée, French poet and author (d. 1908)
• 1852 – Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, Italian-French explorer (d. 1905)
• 1864 – József Pusztai, Slovene-Hungarian poet and journalist (d. 1934)
• 1866 – John Cady, American golfer (d. 1933)
• 1878 – Dave Nourse, English-South African cricketer and coach (d. 1948)
• 1880 – Douglas MacArthur, American general, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1964)
• 1885 – Michael Considine, Irish-Australian politician (d. 1959)
• 1885 – Harry Ricardo, English engineer and academic (d. 1974)
• 1887 – François Faber, French-Luxembourgian cyclist (d. 1915)
• 1887 – Marc Mitscher, American admiral and pilot (d. 1947)
• 1891 – Frank Costello, Italian-American mob boss (d. 1973)
• 1891 – August Froehlich, German priest and martyr (d. 1942)
• 1891 – Wilder Penfield, American-Canadian neurosurgeon and academic (d. 1976)
• 1892 – Bessie Coleman, American pilot (d. 1926)
• 1892 – Zara Cully, American actress (d. 1978)
• 1893 – Giuseppe Genco Russo, Italian mob boss (d. 1976)
• 1899 – Günther Reindorff, Russian-Estonian graphic designer and illustrator (d. 1974)
• 1900 – Karl Ristenpart, German conductor (d. 1967)
• 1902 – Jokichi Ikarashi, Japanese super-centenarian (d. 2013)
• 1902 – Menno ter Braak, Dutch author (d. 1940)
• 1904 – Ancel Keys, American physiologist and nutritionist (d. 2004)
• 1904 – Seán MacBride, Irish lawyer and politician, Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988)
• 1905 – Charles Lane, American actor and singer (d. 2007)
• 1905 – Maria von Trapp, Austrian-American singer (d. 1987)
• 1907 – Dimitrios Holevas, Greek priest and philologist (d. 2001)
• 1908 – Jill Esmond, English actress (d. 1990)
• 1908 – Rupprecht Geiger, German painter and sculptor (d. 2009)
• 1908 – Stéphane Grappelli, French violinist (Quintette du Hot Club de France) (d. 1997)
• 1910 – Jean Image, Hungarian-French animator, director, and screenwriter (d. 1989)
• 1911 – Polykarp Kusch, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1993)
• 1911 – Norbert Schultze, German composer and conductor (d. 2002)
• 1913 – Jimmy Van Heusen, American pianist and composer (d. 1990)
• 1914 – Princess Durru Shehvar of the Ottoman Empire (d. 2006)
• 1915 – William Hopper, American actor (d. 1970)
• 1917 – Louis Zamperini, American runner and captain (d. 2014)
• 1918 – Nicolae Ceaușescu, Romanian general and politician, 1st President of Romania (d. 1989)
• 1918 – Philip José Farmer, American author (d. 2009)
• 1919 – Valentino Mazzola, Italian footballer (d. 1949)
• 1919 – Bill Nicholson, English footballer and manager (d. 2004)
• 1920 – Hans Holzer, Austrian-American paranormal researcher and author (d. 2009)
• 1921 – Eddie Barclay, French record producer, founded Barclay Records (d. 2005)
• 1921 – Akio Morita, Japanese businessman, co-founded Sony (d. 1999)
• 1922 – Michael Bentine, English actor and screenwriter (d. 1996)
• 1922 – Seán Flanagan, Irish footballer and politician, 7th Irish Minister for Health (d. 1993)
• 1922 – Ellen Vogel, Dutch actress (d. 2015)
• 1923 – Patrick J. Hannifin, American admiral (d. 2014)
• 1923 – Patricia Hughes, English radio host (d. 2013)
• 1923 – Anne Jeffreys, American actress and singer
• 1924 – Annette Strauss, American philanthropist and politician, Mayor of Dallas (d. 1998)
• 1925 – David Jenkins, English bishop and theologian
• 1925 – Joan Leslie, American actress and singer (d. 2015)
• 1925 – Paul Newman, American actor, director, race car driver, and businessman, co-founded Newman's Own (d. 2008)
• 1925 – Ben Pucci, American football player and sportscaster (d. 2013)
• 1925 – Claude Ryan, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 2004)
• 1926 – Farman Fatehpuri, Pakistani linguist and scholar (d. 2013)
• 1926 – Joseph Bacon Fraser, Jr., American architect and businessman, co-founded the Sea Pines Company (d. 2014)
• 1927 – José Azcona del Hoyo, Honduran businessman and politician, President of Honduras (d. 2005)
• 1927 – Bob Nieman, American baseball player and scout (d. 1985)
• 1927 – William Redfield, American actor and author (d. 1976)
• 1927 – Hubert Schieth, German footballer and manager (d. 2013)
• 1928 – Roger Vadim, French actor and director (d. 2000)
• 1929 – Jules Feiffer, American cartoonist, playwright, screenwriter, and educator
• 1934 – Roger Landry, Canadian businessman and publisher
• 1934 – Charles Marowitz, American director, playwright, and critic
• 1935 – Corrado Augias, Italian journalist and politician
• 1935 – Bob Uecker, American baseball player, sportscaster and actor
• 1936 – Sal Buscema, American illustrator
• 1936 – Theophanis Lamboukas, Greek-French actor and singer (d. 1970)
• 1937 – Joseph Saidu Momoh, Sierra Leonean soldier and politician, 2nd President of Sierra Leone (d. 2003)
• 1940 – Séamus Hegarty, Irish bishop
• 1941 – Scott Glenn, American actor
• 1941 – Henry Jaglom, English-American director and screenwriter
• 1941 – Joan A. Steitz, American biologist and academic
• 1943 – César Gutiérrez, Venezuelan baseball player and manager (d. 2005)
• 1943 – Jean Knight, American singer
• 1943 – Jack Warner, Trinidadian businessman and politician
• 1944 – Angela Davis, American activist, author, and scholar
• 1944 – Jerry Sandusky, American football player and coach
• 1945 – Jacqueline du Pré, English cellist (d. 1987)
• 1945 – David Purley, English race car driver (d. 1985)
• 1946 – Michel Delpech, French singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2016)
• 1946 – Christopher Hampton, Portuguese-English director, screenwriter, and playwright
• 1946 – Deon Jackson, American singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
• 1946 – Gene Siskel, American journalist and critic (d. 1999)
• 1947 – Patrick Dewaere, French actor and composer (d. 1982)
• 1947 – Les Ebdon, English chemist and academic
• 1947 – Redmond Morris, 4th Baron Killanin, Irish director, producer, and production manager
• 1947 – Michel Sardou, French singer-songwriter and actor
• 1949 – Jonathan Carroll, American author
• 1949 – David Strathairn, American actor
• 1950 – Jörg Haider, Austrian lawyer and politician, Governor of Carinthia (d. 2008)
• 1950 – Jack Youngblood, American football player, sportscaster, and actor
• 1951 – David Briggs, Australian guitarist, songwriter, and producer (Little River Band)
• 1951 – Andy Hummel, American singer-songwriter and bass player (Big Star) (d. 2010)
• 1951 – Anne Mills, English economist and academic
• 1951 – Christopher North, American keyboard player (Ambrosia)
• 1953 – Alik L. Alik, Micronesian politician, 7th Vice President of the Federated States of Micronesia
• 1953 – Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Danish politician and diplomat, 39th Prime Minister of Denmark
• 1953 – Lucinda Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1955 – Eddie Van Halen, Dutch-American guitarist, songwriter, and producer (Van Halen)
• 1957 – Shivlal Yadav, Indian cricketer and manager
• 1958 – Anita Baker, American singer-songwriter
• 1958 – Ellen DeGeneres, American comedian, actress, and talk show host
• 1958 – Salvador Sánchez, Mexican boxer (d. 1982)
• 1960 – Charlie Gillingham, American pianist and accordion player (Counting Crows)
• 1961 – Wayne Gretzky, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1961 – Tom Keifer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Cinderella)
• 1961 – Mark Urban, English journalist and author
• 1962 – Guo Jian, Chinese-Australian painter, sculptor, and photographer
• 1962 – Tim May, Australian cricketer
• 1962 – Oscar Ruggeri, Argentinian footballer and manager
• 1963 – José Mourinho, Portuguese footballer and manager
• 1963 – Tony Parks, English footballer and manager
• 1963 – Andrew Ridgeley, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Wham!)
• 1963 – Gisela Valcárcel, Peruvian actress and publisher, founded Gisela Magazine
• 1964 – Adam Crozier, Scottish businessman
• 1965 – Thomas Östros, Swedish businessman and politician
• 1965 – Natalia Yurchenko, Russian gymnast and coach
• 1966 – Kazushige Nagashima, Japanese baseball player, sportscaster, and actor
• 1967 – Bryan Callen, American actor and screenwriter
• 1967 – Anatoly Komm, Russian chef and businessman
• 1967 – Col Needham, English businessman, co-founded Internet Movie Database
• 1968 – Ravi Teja, Indian actor and singer
• 1969 – George Dikeoulakos, Greek-Romanian basketball player and coach
• 1970 – Kirk Franklin, American singer-songwriter and producer (One Nation Crew)
• 1971 – Deathprod, Norwegian rapper and producer (Supersilent and Motorpsycho)
• 1971 – Dorian Gregory, American actor and television host
• 1973 – Ya Kid K, Congolese-Belgian rapper (Technotronic)
• 1973 – The Maestro, American wrestler and actor
• 1973 – Melvil Poupaud, French actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1973 – Brendan Rodgers, Northern Irish footballer and manager
• 1973 – Mayu Shinjo, Japanese author and illustrator
• 1974 – Rokia Traoré, Malian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1976 – Hitomi, Japanese singer-songwriter and actress
• 1977 – Vince Carter, American basketball player
• 1977 – Justin Gimelstob, American tennis player and coach
• 1977 – Tye Tribbett, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player
• 1978 – Esteban Germán, Dominican baseball player
• 1978 – Atsuko Kurusu, Japanese actress
• 1978 – Corina Morariu, American tennis player and sportscaster
• 1979 – Sara Rue, American actress
• 1980 – Ertuğrul Arslan, Turkish footballer
• 1980 – Sanae Kobayashi, Japanese voice actress
• 1981 – Jesús Corona, Mexican footballer
• 1981 – Gustavo Dudamel, Venezuelan violinist, composer, and conductor
• 1981 – Juan José Haedo, Argentinian cyclist
• 1981 – Volador Jr., Mexican wrestler
• 1981 – Colin O'Donoghue, Irish actor
• 1982 – Gō Ayano, Japanese actor
• 1982 – Reggie Hodges, American football player
• 1982 – Brahim Takioullah, Moroccan giant
• 1982 – Yasushi Tsujimoto, Japanese wrestler
• 1983 – Petri Oravainen, Finnish footballer
• 1983 – Ryan Rowland-Smith, Australian baseball player
• 1983 – Lee Su-hwan, South Korean kick-boxer
• 1984 – Iain Turner, Scottish footballer
• 1984 – Luo Xuejuan, Chinese swimmer
• 1985 – Mads Ibenfeldt, Danish footballer
• 1985 – Heather Stanning, English rower
• 1986 – Gerald Green, American basketball player
• 1986 – Kim Jae-joong, South Korean singer-songwriter and actor (JYJ and TVXQ)
• 1986 – Mustapha Yatabaré, French-Malian footballer
• 1987 – Mário Brandão da Silveira, Brazilian footballer
• 1987 – Sebastian Giovinco, Italian footballer
• 1987 – Mia Rose, English singer-songwriter
• 1987 – Asaph Schwapp, American football player (d. 2013)
• 1988 – Dimitrios Chondrokoukis, Greek high jumper
• 1988 – Yukiyo Mine, Japanese softball player
• 1989 – MarShon Brooks, American basketball player
• 1989 – Emily Hughes, American figure skater
• 1989 – Torrey Smith, American football player
• 1990 – Nina Zander, German tennis player
• 1991 – Manti Te'o, American football player
• 1993 – Cameron Bright, Canadian actor
• 1993 – Peter Čerešňák, Slovak ice hockey player
• 1993 – Florian Thauvin, French footballer
• 1996 – Igor Decraene, Belgian cyclist (d. 2014)
• 1996 – Tyger Drew-Honey, English actor and singer
• 1997 – Ieva Gaile, Latvian figure skater
• 2008 – Paul the Octopus, English octopus (d. 2010)

Deaths

• 724 – Yazid II, Arab caliph (b. 687)
• 738 – John of Dailam, Syrian monk and saint (b. 660)
• 946 – Eadgyth, German wife of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 910)
• 1567 – Nicholas Wotton, English courtier and diplomat (b. 1497)
• 1630 – Henry Briggs, English mathematician and astronomer (b. 1556)
• 1636 – Jean Hotman, Marquis de Villers-St-Paul, French diplomat (b. 1552)
• 1697 – Georg Mohr, Danish mathematician and theorist (b. 1640)
• 1744 – Ludwig Andreas von Khevenhüller, Austrian field marshal (b. 1683)
• 1750 – Albert Schultens, Dutch philologist and academic (b. 1686)
• 1779 – Thomas Hudson, English painter (b. 1701)
• 1795 – Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, German harpsichord player and composer (b. 1732)
• 1799 – Gabriel Christie, Scottish general (b. 1722)
• 1823 – Edward Jenner, English physician and immunologist (b. 1749)
• 1824 – Théodore Géricault, French painter and lithographer (b. 1791)
• 1831 – Sangolli Rayanna, Indian soldier (b. 1798)
• 1831 – Anton Delvig, Russian poet and journalist (b. 1798)
• 1849 – Thomas Lovell Beddoes, English poet, playwright, and physician (b. 1803)
• 1855 – Gérard de Nerval, French poet and translator (b. 1808)
• 1869 – Duncan Gordon Boyes, English soldier Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1846)
• 1870 – Victor de Broglie, French politician, 9th Prime Minister of France (b. 1785)
• 1885 – Edward Davy, English-Australian physician and engineer (b. 1806)
• 1885 – Charles George Gordon, English general and politician (b. 1833)
• 1886 – David Rice Atchison, American general and politician (b. 1807)
• 1891 – Nikolaus Otto, German engineer, invented the Internal combustion engine (b. 1833)
• 1893 – Abner Doubleday, American general (b. 1819)
• 1895 – Arthur Cayley, English mathematician and academic (b. 1825)
• 1904 – Whitaker Wright, English businessman (b. 1846)
• 1926 – John Flannagan, American priest and academic (b. 1860)
• 1932 – William Wrigley, Jr., American businessman, founded the Wrigley Company (b. 1861)
• 1933 – Alva Belmont, American-French activist (b. 1853)
• 1942 – Felix Hausdorff, German mathematician and academic (b. 1868)
• 1943 – Harry H. Laughlin, American sociologist and eugenicist (b. 1880)
• 1943 – Nikolai Vavilov, Russian botanist and geneticist (b. 1887)
• 1946 – Oskar Kallas, Estonian linguist and diplomat (b. 1868)
• 1946 – Adriaan van Maanen, Dutch-American astronomer and academic (b. 1884)
• 1947 – Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten (b. 1906)
• 1947 – Grace Moore, American soprano and actress (b. 1898)
• 1948 – Kâzım Karabekir, Turkish general and politician, 5th Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (b. 1882)
• 1948 – John Lomax, American musicologist and academic (b. 1867)
• 1952 – Khorloogiin Choibalsan, Mongolian general and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Mongolia (b. 1895)
• 1953 – Athanase David, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1882)
• 1957 – Helene Costello, American actress (b. 1906)
• 1961 – Stan Nichols, English cricketer (b. 1900)
• 1962 – Lucky Luciano, Italian-American mob boss (b. 1897)
• 1968 – Merrill C. Meigs, American publisher (b. 1883)
• 1973 – Edward G. Robinson, Romanian-American actor and singer (b. 1893)
• 1976 – João Branco Núncio, Portuguese bullfighter (b. 1901)
• 1977 – Filopimin Finos, Greek production manager and producer, founded Finos Film (b. 1908)
• 1979 – Nelson Rockefeller, American businessman and politician, 41st Vice President of the United States (b. 1908)
• 1980 – Simon Kapwepwe, Zambian politician, 2nd Vice President of Zambia (b. 1922)
• 1983 – Bear Bryant, American football player and coach (b. 1913)
• 1986 – A. J. P. Ponrajah, Sri Lankan engineer (b. 1927)
• 1990 – Bob Gerard, English race car driver and businessman (b. 1914)
• 1990 – Lewis Mumford, American sociologist and historian (b. 1895)
• 1992 – José Ferrer, Puerto Rican-American actor, singer, and director (b. 1912)
• 1993 – Jan Gies, Dutch businessman (b. 1905)
• 1993 – Robert Jacobsen, Danish sculptor and painter (b. 1912)
• 1993 – Jeanne Sauvé, Canadian journalist and politician, 23rd Governor General of Canada (b. 1922)
• 1995 – Pat Welsh, American actress (b. 1915)
• 1996 – Georg Alexander, Duke of Mecklenburg (b. 1921)
• 1996 – Harold Brodkey, American author and academic (b. 1930)
• 1996 – Frank Howard, American football player and coach (b. 1909)
• 1996 – Henry Lewis, American bassist and conductor (b. 1932)
• 1996 – Stevie Plunder, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Whitlams) (b. 1963)
• 1997 – Jeane Dixon, American astrologer and psychic (b. 1904)
• 2000 – Don Budge, American tennis player and coach (b. 1915)
• 2000 – Kathleen Hale, English author and illustrator (b. 1898)
• 2000 – A. E. van Vogt, Canadian-American author (b. 1912)
• 2001 – Al McGuire, American basketball player and coach (b. 1928)
• 2003 – Valeriy Brumel, Russian high jumper (b. 1942)
• 2003 – Hugh Trevor-Roper, English historian and academic (b. 1917)
• 2003 – George Younger, 4th Viscount Younger of Leckie, Scottish banker and politician, Secretary of State for Scotland (b. 1931)
• 2004 – Fred Haas, American golfer (b. 1916)
• 2006 – Khan Abdul Wali Khan, Pakistani politician (b. 1917)
• 2007 – Gump Worsley, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929)
• 2008 – Viktor Schreckengost, American sculptor and designer (b. 1906)
• 2010 – Louis Auchincloss, American lawyer, historian, and author (b. 1917)
• 2011 – Charlie Louvin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Louvin Brothers) (b. 1927)
• 2012 – Ian Abercrombie, English-American actor (b. 1934)
• 2012 – Dimitra Arliss, American actress (b. 1932)
• 2012 – Clare Fischer, American keyboard player and composer (b. 1928)
• 2012 – Roberto Mieres, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1924)
• 2013 – Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner, American guitarist (Ohio Players) (b. 1943)
• 2013 – Christine M. Jones, American educator and politician (b. 1929)
• 2013 – Stefan Kudelski, Polish-Swiss engineer, invented the Nagra (b. 1929)
• 2013 – Padma Kant Shukla, Indian physicist and academic (b. 1950)
• 2013 – Shōtarō Yasuoka, Japanese author (b. 1920)
• 2014 – Tom Gola, American basketball player, coach, and politician (b. 1933)
• 2014 – Paula Gruden, Slovenian-Australian poet and translator (b. 1921)
• 2014 – Margery Mason, English actress and director (b. 1913)
• 2014 – José Emilio Pacheco, Mexican poet and author (b. 1939)
• 2014 – Ralph T. Troy, American banker and politician (b. 1935)
• 2014 – Rusty York, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1935)
• 2015 – Cleven "Goodie" Goudeau, American art director and cartoonist (b. 1932)
• 2015 – Tom Uren, Australian soldier and politician (b. 1921)
• 2016 – Black, English singer-songwriter (b. 1962)
• 2016 – Sahabzada Yaqub Khan, Pakistani politician and diplomat, 14th Pakistani Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1920)
• 2016 – Abe Vigoda, American actor (b. 1921)

Holidays and observances

• Australia Day (Australia)
• Christian feast day:
  • Alberic
  • Blessed Gabriele Allegra
  • Paula
  • Timothy and Titus
  • January 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Duarte Day (Dominican Republic)
• Engineer's Day (Panama)
• International Customs Day
• Liberation Day (Uganda)
• Republic Day (India)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to January 26.

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• Today in Canadian History