/year

January 15 in history

239 sourced entries recorded on January 15, from 5 BCE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 708Pope Sisinnius succeeds Pope John VII as the 87th pope.source
  • 859Battle of St. Quentin: Frankish forces, led by Humfrid, defeat King Louis the German at Saint-Quentin (Northern France). Humfrid is enfeoffed with the County of Autun, and appointed Margrave of Burgundy, by King Charles the Bald.source
  • 1005January 13–18 – The Shanyuan Treaty is negotiated between the Liao dynasty and the Song dynasty. The Song government agrees to pay an annual tribute of 200,000 bolts of raw silk and 100,000 taels of silver, ending the northern border clashes against Liao.source
  • 1113The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (Knights Hospitaller), founded to protect pilgrims to the Holy Land, is formally recognized by the papal bull (proclamation) Pie Postulatio Voluntatis issued by Pope Paschal II.source
  • 1128Lý Dương Hoán became the king of Đại Việt, ascending to the throne as Emperor Lý Thần Tông.source
  • 1154Muhammad al-Idrisi, Arab geographer and cartographer, completes his atlas of the world, the Tabula Rogeriana, which will remain one of the most accurate maps until the Age of Discovery.source
  • 1238January 15–20 – Siege of Moscow: The Mongols under Batu Khan and Subutai campaign across the northern heartland of the Kievan Rus', committing numerous atrocities across multiple settlements, including the sacking of an insignificant town known as Moscow. According to the Chronicle of Novgorod, Moscow is a fortified village, a trading post "on a crossroads of four rivers". The village is taken by the Mongols after 5 days of siege.source
  • 1373Majorie Castle in Switzerland becomes the official residence of the Roman Catholic Prince-bishop of Sion, Guichard Tavelli, and the bishops that follow.source
  • 1426England, led by Henry VI, declares war against the Duchy of Brittany and the Kingdom of France after Duke John V of Brittany (Jean le Sage) allies with France's King Charles VI.source
  • 1437The Compacts of Basel are ratified by the Council of Basel in Switzerland, as the Roman Catholic Church ends its campaign against the Hussites. Among other things, the Church authorizes Hussite priests to administer sacramental wine to their congregations as part of the Communion during the Eucharist before Easter without declaring the same to be heresy, but stops short of allowing the Communion wafer.source
  • 1446On his 14th birthday, Afonso V is acclaimed as King of Portugal, with full power to govern the kingdom, although his uncle, Pedro, Duke of Coimbra continues to operate as regent. Afonso had succeeded to the throne in 1438 upon the death of his father, King Duarte I.source
  • 1448Le Mans is not returned to the French by January 15, 1448, as outlined in the Treaty of Tours, resulting in the French army surrounding the city.source
  • 1460At the Battle of Sandwich in England, Yorkists raid Sandwich, Kent, and capture the royal fleet.source
  • 1467In one of his first acts as the new Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Dionysius I removes George Galesiotes and Manuel Christonymos from office in the Church as an act of revenge against their failure to support his candidacy.source
  • 1475At Madrid, Queen Isabella I of Castile, who had been crowned on December 11, declares her husband Prince Fernando de Aragón to be the joint ruler with her, and is proclaimed as King Fernando V of Castile. Fernando, the oldest son and heir to the throne of King Juan II of Aragon, will make Isabella co-ruler of Aragon when he ascends the throne upon his father's death in 1479.source
  • 1478After a three month rebellion that began on October 9, Novgorod surrenders to Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow, bringing an end to the separate existence (under Ivan) of the Novgorod Republic. The annexation of Novgorod becomes the beginning of the transition of the principality of Moscow to the Russian Empire.source
  • 1478The wedding of Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, the 4-year-old son of King Edward IV of England to Anne de Mowbray, the 5-year-old daughter of the Count of Norfolk, takes place in England.source
  • 1479Giovanni Paternione (Paternò), O.S.B., was appointed as the Bishop of Kilmacduagh.source
  • 1484In France, the Estates General, a consultative assembly of 855 delegates (285 apiece) representing the three economic classes — the First Estate (clergy), Second Estate (nobility) and— for the first time, the Third Estate (commoners, including peasants) is convened for the first time since 1468. The convening of the Estates General of 1484 at Tours has been ordered by Anne of France, the mother of and regent for the 13-year-old King Charles VIII since the death of King Louis XI, with the goal of designating the regent during Charles's minority. Although King Louis had designated Anne and her husband, Pierre de Beaujeu, to serve as regents, Louis, Duke of Orleans, the second cousin of the late King, seeks approval from the Estates General for the regency. The session of the Estates General becomes a call for reform of the laws of France.source
  • 1484In Tours, the Estates General of 1484 convenes by order of Anne of France to designate the regent for the period of Charles VIII's minority.source
  • 1492Christopher Columbus meets Ferdinand and Isabella at the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos in Córdoba, Andalusia, and persuades them to support his Atlantic voyage intended to find a new route to the East Indies.source
  • 1493Christopher Columbus and his crew begin their voyage back to Europe on their two remaining ships, the caravel La Niña (guided by Columbus) and the Pinta (piloted by Martín Alonso Pinzón), departing from the island of Hispanola and what becomes known as the Bay of Rincón in the Dominican Republic. The decision to return to Spain comes two days after the crew's battle with the indigenous residents, the Ciguayos.source
  • 1531The third session of the Reformation Parliament of King Henry VIII of England is opened.source
  • 1534The Parliament of England passes the Act Respecting the Oath to the Succession, recognising the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, and their children as the legitimate heirs to the throne.source
  • 1552Henry II of France and Maurice, Elector of Saxony, sign the Treaty of Chambord.source
  • 1552Signing of the Treaty of Chambordsource
  • 1559Elizabeth I of England is crowned, in Westminster Abbey.source
  • 1582Russia cedes its conquered areas in Livonia (Northern Latvia and Southern Estonia), to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.source
  • 1605Shakespeare's play Love's Labour's Lost, copyrighted 1598, is given its second recorded performance, probably presented at the home of the Earl of Southampton for Queen Anne, wife of King James I of England.source
  • 1609One of the world's first newspapers, Avisa Relation oder Zeitung, begins publication in Wolfenbüttel (Holy Roman Empire).source
  • 1616After overwintering with the Huron Indians, Samuel de Champlain and Recollect Father Joseph Le Caron visit the Petun and Ottawa Indians of the Great Lakes. This is Champlain's last trip in North America before returning to France. Having secured Canada, he helps create French America, New France, or L'Acadie.source
  • 1633Edict creating the Parliament of Metz, which supersedes the courts of justice of the Three Bishoprics.source
  • 1648Manchu invaders of China's Fujian province capture Spanish Dominican priest Francisco Fernández de Capillas, torture him and then behead him. Capillas will be canonized more than 350 years later in 2000 in the Roman Catholic Church as one of the Martyr Saints of China.source
  • 1648Alexis, Tsar of Russia, marries Maria Miloslavskaya, who later gives birth to two future tsars (Feodor III and Ivan V) as well as Princess Sophia Alekseyevna, the regent for Peter I.source
  • 1674The Earl of Arlington, a member of the English House of Commons, is impeached on charges of popery, but the Commons rejects the motion to remove him from office, 127 votes for and 166 against.source
  • 1674The Earl of Arlington is impeached by the House of Commons on charges of popery, but the Commons rejects the motion to remove him from office, 127 votes for and 166 against.source
  • 1684January 15 (January 5 O.S.) – To demonstrate that the River Thames, frozen solid during the Great Frost that started in December, is safe to walk upon, "a Coach and six horses drove over the Thames for a wager" and within three days "whole streets of Booths are built on the Thames and thousands of people are continually walking thereon." Sir Richard Newdigate, 2nd Baronet, records the events in his diary.source
  • 1691King Louis XIV of France issues an order specifically prohibiting play of games of chance, specifically naming basset and similar games, on penalty of 1,000 livres for the first offence.source
  • 1719Pope Clement IX issues the breve Pietatis vestrae in response to a letter from the bishops of the Austrian Netherlands protesting their adherence to the 1713 bull Unigenitus.source
  • 1724King Philip V of Spain abdicates the throne in favour of his 16-year-old son Louis I.source
  • 1725James Macrae, a former captain of a freighter for the British East India Company, is hired by the Company to administer the Madras Presidency (at this time, the "Presidency of Fort St. George"), and begins major reforms. The area administered is most of Southern India, including what is now the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, parts the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, Odisha and the union territory of Lakshadweep.source
  • 1759Voltaire's satire Candide is published simultaneously in five countries.source
  • 1759The British Museum opens at Montagu House in London after six years of development.source
  • 1759Voltaire's satire Candide is published simultaneously in five countriessource
  • 1759the British Museum opens at Montagu House, Bloomsbury in London.source
  • 1776The Danish Citizenship Act of 1776 reserves state offices for Danish, Norwegian and Holstein citizens.source
  • 1776A Danish-Norwegian Nationality Act reserves state offices for Norwegian, Danish and Holstein citizens.source
  • 1777Vermont declares its independence from New York, becoming the Vermont Republic, an independent country, a status it retains until it joins the United States as the 14th state in 1791.source
  • 1777Vermont declares its independence from Little York, becoming the Vermont Republic, an independent country, a status it retains until it joins the United States as the 14th state in 1791.source
  • 1782Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris goes before the United States Congress to recommend establishment of a national mint and decimal coinage.source
  • 1784Henry Cavendish's paper to the Royal Society of London, Experiments on Air, reveals the molecular composition of water.source
  • 1784Henry Cavendish's paper Experiments on Air reveals the composition of water.source
  • 1784The Asiatic Society was established.source
  • 1790Fletcher Christian & 8 mutineers aboard the Bounty land on Pitcairn.source
  • 1797January 15–16 – War of the First Coalition – Battle of La Favorita: French forces (28,000 men) under Napoleon Bonaparte stop the Austrian push to relieve Mantua. The garrison under Field Marshal Dagobert von Wurmser is deprived of food and reinforcements. The next day, Napoleon orders the city to be surrounded and sends French troops under General Pierre Augereau to blockade the approaches from Legnago.source
  • 1797London haberdasher John Hetherington wears the first top hat in public and attracts a large crowd of onlookers. He is later fined £50 for causing public nuisance.source
  • 1802Canonsburg Academy (modern-day Washington & Jefferson College) is chartered by the Pennsylvania General Assembly.source
  • 1815War of 1812: Capture of USS President – American frigate USS President, commanded by Commodore Stephen Decatur, is captured by a squadron of four British frigates.source
  • 1821Sumburgh Head Lighthouse in Shetland, designed by Robert Stevenson, is first illuminated.source
  • 1822HM Treasury directs that the Preventive Water Guard, Revenue cruisers and Riding officers should all be placed under the authority of the Board of Customs as HM Coast Guard.source
  • 1826The French newspaper Le Figaro begins publication in Paris, initially as a satirical weekly.source
  • 1827Furman University, founded in 1826, begins its first classes with 10 students, as the Furman Academy and Theological Institution, located in Edgefield, South Carolina. By the end of 2016, it will have 2,800 students at its main campus in Greenville, South Carolina.source
  • 1844The University of Notre Dame, based in the city of the same name, receives its charter from Indiana.source
  • 1851Christian Female College, modern-day Columbia College, receives its charter from the Missouri General Assembly.source
  • 1852Nine men representing various Jewish charitable organizations come together to form what will become Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.source
  • 1852Nine men representing various Hebrew charitable organizations come together to form what will become the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.source
  • 1862Sir Philip Wodehouse becomes Governor of the Cape of Good Hope and High Commissioner for Southern Africa.source
  • 1863French intervention in Mexico: French forces bombard Veracruz.source
  • 1867Regent's Park skating disaster in London: 40 people die when ice on a lake breaks.source
  • 1868Lucie Ingemannm painter (born 1792)source
  • 1870A 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).source
  • 1876Die Patriot, the first Afrikaans newspaper, begins to be published in Paarl.source
  • 1881War of the Pacific – Battle of Miraflores: The Chileans take Lima, capital of Peru, after defeating its second line of defense in Miraflores.source
  • 1881Battle of Mirafloressource
  • 1883January 8 — January 19 – Trial of the 66 in Lyon, targeting the Black International in France.source
  • 1885A law to the redevelopment the city of Naples is approved after a devastating cholera outbreak in 1884 due to extremely poor sanitary conditions. The law provided the needed 100 million lire for the renewal of the city. The radical transformation of the city called risanamento intended to improve the sewerage infrastructure and replace the most clustered areas, considered the main cause of insalubrity, with large and airy avenues.source
  • 1889The Coca-Cola Company is originally incorporated as the Pemberton Medicine Company in Atlanta, Georgia.source
  • 1889The Coca-Cola Company, at this time known as the Pemberton Medicine Company, is incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia.source
  • 1890Ballet The Sleeping Beauty, with music by Tchaikovsky, is premiered at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia.source
  • 1891Foundation of Critica Sociale by Filippo Turati and Anna Kuliscioff, the most influential Marxist review in Italy from 1891 to 1898, tackling all the serious public problems of 1890s: banking scandals, repression of the Fasci Siciliani unrest, the colonial war in Africa, and food riots.source
  • 1891Scottish railway strikers attempt to wreck a train near Greenock, Scotland.source
  • 1893The Telefon Hírmondó service starts with around 60 subscribers, in Budapest.source
  • 1895A warehouse fire and dynamite explosion kills 57 people, including 13 firefighters in Butte, Montana in the U.S.source
  • 1895The first issue of the Boletin del Museo-Biblioteca de Filipinas (Bulletin of the Museum-Library of the Philippines) is published.source
  • 1899The General Federated Union, representing 100,000 laborers in the U.S. state of New York, is formed from a merger of the Central Labor Union and the Central Labor Federation.source
  • 1900The New Zealand Mounted Rifles rout a Boer assault at Slingersfontein, South Africa.source
  • 1900Li Hongzhang, Viceroy of Liangguang, visited Hong Kong and met with Governor Henry Arthur Blake.source
  • 1905A series of three 41 m high tsunamis kill 61 people in Norway, after a rockslide sweeps down Mount Ramnefjell and crashes into Lake Lovatnet.source
  • 1905A major rockfall hit the lake Loenvatnet in Sogn og Fjordane, creating a 40 m flood wave that destroyed the villages of Ytre Nesdal and Bødal, killing 61 people.source
  • 1908Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first race inclusive sorority is founded on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C.source
  • 1910Amidst the constitutional crisis caused by the House of Lords rejecting the People's Budget, the January 1910 United Kingdom general election is held resulting in a hung parliament with neither Liberals nor Conservatives gaining a majority.source
  • 1910Constant rain in Paris causes the Seine to overflow its banks, flooding the city. All but one line of the Paris Métro becomes filled with water, effectively draining water from the city.source
  • 1913unemployment and maternity benefits introduced.source
  • 1913The Ottoman battle cruiser Medjidie attacked and sank the Greek merchant ship Macedonia, which had been armed for use as a troop transport.source
  • 1918The keel of HMS Hermes is laid in Britain, the first purpose-designed aircraft carrier to be laid down.source
  • 1919The Boston Molasses Disaster: A wave of molasses released from an exploding storage tank sweeps through Boston, killing 21 and injuring 150.source
  • 1919Great Molasses Flood: A wave of molasses released from an exploding storage tank sweeps through Boston, Massachusetts, killing 21 people and injuring 150.source
  • 1920Paris Peace Conference presents peace terms to the Hungarian delegationsource
  • 1921January 15-21 – The XVII Congress of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) was held at the Carlo Goldoni Theatre in Livorno from 15 to 21 January 1921. After tumultuous proceedings the congress resulted in a split in the party.source
  • 1921Mitsubishi Electronics was separate section from Mitsubishi Shipbuildings (now Mitsubishi Heavy Industries) which was founded in Ōsone, Nagoya.source
  • 1922Michael Collins becomes Chairman of the Provisional Government of the Irish Free State.source
  • 1924The last internee at Kilmainham Gaol, Ernie O'Malley, was transferred to St. Bricin's Military Hospital.source
  • 1930The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at 356,397 km in recent history, and the next one will be on January 1, 2257, at 356,371 km.source
  • 1931Eleven Italian seaplanes led by Italo Balbo land at Botafogo Bay after a 6,000 mile flight from Italy that began on 17 December. The pilots are greeted by President Getúlio Vargas.source
  • 1932Statue of Honor in Samsun which symbolizes the beginning of Turkish War of Independence.source
  • 1934The 8.0 Mw Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing an estimated 6,000–10,700 people.source
  • 1934The 8.0 Mw Nepal–Bihar earthquake shakes the Himalayas with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), leaving 6,000–10,700 dead.source
  • 1937Spanish Civil War: The Second Battle of the Corunna Road ends inconclusively.source
  • 1937The Empire Exhibition, South Africa closes in Johannesburg.source
  • 1940A large fire destroys much of Shizuoka city center.source
  • 1941John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford Berry describe the workings of the Atanasoff–Berry computer in print.source
  • 1943January 14–24 – WWII: Casablanca Conference: Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States; Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; and generals Henri Giraud and Charles de Gaulle of the French Resistance meet secretly at the Anfa Hotel in Casablanca, Morocco, to plan the Allied European strategy for the next stage of the war.source
  • 1944The Battle of Monte Cassino begins in Italy. British forces cross the Garigliano River. U.S. Fifth Army troops, commanded by Lieutenant-General Mark W. Clark, arrive at the Garigliano, to begin their attack against the Gustav Line south of Rome. The French Expeditionary Corps, under command of General Alphonse Juin, moves into the mountains north of Monte Cassino.source
  • 1944The Soviet Union ceases production of the Mosin–Nagant 1891/30 sniper rifle.source
  • 19441944 San Juan earthquake: An earthquake hits San Juan, Argentina, killing an estimated 10,000 people, in the worst natural disaster in Argentina's history.source
  • 1947Elizabeth Short, an aspiring actress nicknamed the "Black Dahlia", is found brutally murdered in a vacant lot in Los Angeles; the mysterious case is never solved.source
  • 1951In a criminal court in West Germany, Ilse Koch, The "Witch of Buchenwald", wife of the commandant of the Buchenwald concentration camp, is sentenced to life imprisonment.source
  • 1953Georg Dertinger, foreign minister of East Germany, is arrested for spying.source
  • 1953British security forces in West Germany arrest 7 members of the Naumann Circle, a clandestine Neo-Nazi organization.source
  • 1954Mau Mau leader Waruhiu Itote is captured in Kenya.source
  • 1957The film Throne of Blood, Akira Kurosawa's reworking of Macbeth, is released in Japan.source
  • 1959The Soviet Union conducts its first census after World War II.source
  • 1962French designer Yves Saint Laurent launches his own fashion house.source
  • 196431 January London Conference over the issue Cyprus (no consensus)source
  • 19661966 Nigerian coup d'état: A bloody military coup is staged in Nigeria, deposing the civilian government and resulting in the death of Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa.source
  • 1967Louis Leakey announces the discovery of pre-human fossils in Kenya; he names the species Kenyapithecus africanus.source
  • 1967Super Bowl I: The Green Bay Packers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 35–10 in football at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.source
  • 1968The 1968 Belice earthquake in Sicily kills 380 and injures around 1,000.source
  • 1970After a 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria, Biafran forces under Philip Effiong formally surrender to General Yakubu Gowon, ending the Nigerian Civil War.source
  • 1971The Aswan High Dam officially opens in Egypt.source
  • 1973Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. President Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.source
  • 1973Chinese Lim Seng (Guan Suo So), upon order from Pres. Marcos on January 3, is publicly executed by firing squad in a firing range in Fort Bonifacio, Rizal for drug trafficking; the country's first execution by that method after 27 years, and only drug convict executed in the martial law era. He was charged in connection to a case wherein illegal drugs were seized in an operation in parts of Metro Manila in 1972.source
  • 1975Alvor Agreement: Portugal announces that it will grant independence to Angola on November 11.source
  • 197715 January–12 February – FESTAC 77 held in Lagos.source
  • 1981Pope John Paul II receives a delegation led by Polish Solidarity leader Lech Wałęsa at the Vatican.source
  • 1985Tancredo Neves is elected president of Brazil by the Congress, ending the 21-year military rule.source
  • 1986January 13–24 – South Yemen Civil War.source
  • 1987Hu Yaobang, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, is forced into retirement by political conservatives.source
  • 1989Minister of Finance Maílson da Nóbrega launches Plano Verão and a new currency in the country, the Cruzado Novo (NCz$), which is equivalent to 1,000 Cruzados.source
  • 1990The National Assembly of Bulgaria votes to end one party rule by the Bulgarian Communist Party.source
  • 1990Martin Luther King Day Crash: Telephone service in Atlanta, St. Louis and Detroit, including 9-1-1 service, goes down for nine hours, due to an AT&T software bug.source
  • 1991Gulf War: The UN deadline for the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait expires, preparing the way for the start of Operation Desert Storm.source
  • 1992The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia begins to break up; Slovenia and Croatia gain independence and international recognition in some Western countries.source
  • 1993January 6–20 – The Bombay riots take place in Mumbai.source
  • 1993January 8–17 – The Braer Storm of January 1993, the most intense extratropical cyclone on record for the northern Atlantic Ocean, occurs.source
  • 1995January 12–16 – Second pastoral and state visit of Pope John Paul II in the country, coinciding with the 10th World Youth Day (WYD) and marking the fourth centenary of the Archdiocese of Manila and the Dioceses of Cebu, Caceres and Nueva Segovia. On Jan 15, the Mass he led in Luneta, marking the end of WYD, draws a crowd of an estimated 4-million, the largest gathering at such papal Mass at that time. —"Pope John Paul II to visit the Philippines in 1995" UCA News. July 14, 1993.source
  • 1995January 10–15 – The World Youth Day 1995 festival is held in Manila, Philippines, culminating in 5 million people gathering for John Paul II's concluding mass in Quirino Grandstand.source
  • 1997The proceeds of the first Iraqi sale of oil are deposited at a special UN account as part of the Oil-for-Food Programme.source
  • 1998U.N. peacekeepers return Eastern Slavonia to Croatian control; 80,000 displaced Croatians begin returning home, while 60,000 Serbs begin vacating the region. The area will remain under UNPSG supervision until October.source
  • 2000Assassination of Željko Ražnatović, Serbian mobster and paramilitary leader.source
  • 2001Creative Commons is founded.source
  • 2001Wikipedia, which became the world's largest encyclopedia, is launched.source
  • 2004The United Nations call direct elections in advance of July impractical, due to continuing disorder and other factors.source
  • 2006The first round of the 2006 presidential election.source
  • 2006NASA's Stardust mission successfully ends, the first to return dust from a comet.source
  • 2009US Airways Flight 1549 ditches in the Hudson River in an accident that becomes known as the "Miracle on the Hudson", as all 155 people on board are rescued.source
  • 2010The Chadian Civil War officially ends.source
  • 2010The longest annular solar eclipse of the 3rd millennium occurs.source
  • 2011The result of the South Sudanese independence referendum, 2011 is in favour of independence, paving the way for the creation of the new state in July.source
  • 2012South Sudan accuses neighboring Sudan of "stealing" its oil exports.source
  • 2012South Sudan accuses neighboring Sudan of "stealing" its oil exports.source
  • 2015January 15–19 – Pope Francis visits the country for a five-day state and pastoral visit. The pope also visits the victims of Typhoon Haiyan in Leyte. This is the first papal visit to the Philippines in the 21st century.source
  • 2015The Swiss National Bank abandons the cap on the franc's value relative to the euro, causing turmoil in international financial markets.source
  • 2015a big storm left 15,000 people without electricity, mostly in Klaipėda county.source
  • 2016the geostationary telecommunications satellite Belintersat-1 was launched for the Belarusian government's company Belintersat.source
  • 2020Senegalese-born American rapper Akon (Locked Up) announces that plans for his new city, called "Akon City" and located near the Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport have been finalized. The new city will trade exclusively in his digital coin Akoin.source
  • 2021The Lao People's Revolutionary Party elects Thongloun Sisoulith as its new General Secretary, replacing retiring chief Bounnhang Vorachith. Sisoulith is elected for a five-year term as top leader in Laos.source
  • 2021COVID-19 pandemic: The global death toll from COVID-19 passes 2 million.source
  • 2021A magnitude 5.9 earthquake with an epicenter located 3 mi south-southwest of Champerico at a depth of 6 mi shakes buildings in Guatemala City, but no damage or injuries are reported.source
  • 2022A large eruption of Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai, a submarine volcano in Tonga, triggers tsunami warnings in Australia, Canada, Chile, Fiji, Japan, New Zealand, Samoa, and the United States.source
  • 2023Yeti Airlines Flight 691 crashes during final approach into Pokhara, Nepal, killing all 72 people on board.source
  • 2023January 10–17 – A cold snap in Afghanistan kills 166 people and nearly 80,000 livestock.source
  • 2024Following a brief political crisis in the aftermath of the 2023 elections, Bernardo Arévalo is inaugurated as the 52nd President of Guatemala.source
  • 2025Gaza war: Israel and Hamas approve a ceasefire agreement that seeks to end the war, exchange Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and allow in international aid. It takes effect on January 19.source
  • 2025The President of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, is successfully arrested after a second attempt by police following a martial law declaration and successful impeachment motion the previous December.source
  • 2025Colossal Biosciences and University of Melbourne create the world's first artificial womb in marsupials as part of their project toward de-extinction of the thylacine.source

Births

  • 5 BCEGuang Wu, Chinese emperor of the Han Dynasty (died AD 57)source
  • 961Seongjong, ruler of Goryeo (Korea) (died 997)source
  • 1096Theodora Komnene, Byzantine princesssource
  • 1432King Afonso V of Portugal (died 1481)source
  • 1481Ashikaga Yoshizumi, Japanese shōgun (died 1511)source
  • 1512Robert IV de La Marck, Duke of Bouillon, Seigneur of Sedan and a Marshal of France (died 1556)source
  • 1538Maeda Toshiie, Japanese samurai and warlord (died 1599)source
  • 1595Henry Carey, 2nd Earl of Monmouth, English politician (died 1661)source
  • 1613Giovanni Pietro Bellori, Italian art historian (died 1696)source
  • 1622Molière, French playwright (died 1673)source
  • 1623Algernon Sidney, British philosopher (died 1683)source
  • 1664Jean Meslier, French Catholic priest, later discovered to have promoted atheism (died 1729)source
  • 1674Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, French writer (died 1762)source
  • 1689Giovanni Gaetano Bottari, Italian scholar and critic (died 1775)source
  • 1716Philip Livingston, American politician (died 1778)source
  • 1747John Aikin, English doctor and writer (died 1822)source
  • 1754Jacques Pierre Brissot, French politician (died 1795)source
  • 1791Franz Grillparzer, Austrian writer (died 1872)source
  • 1809Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, French anarchist (died 1864)source
  • 1842Mary MacKillop, first Australian saint (died 1909)source
  • 1850Mihai Eminescu, Romanian romantic poet (died 1889)source
  • 1918Gamal Abdel Nasser, 2nd President of Egypt (died 1970)source
  • 1923Lee Teng-hui, Taiwanese politician, 4th President of the Republic of China (died 2020)source
  • 1923Lee Teng-hui, President of the Republic of China (1988–2000)source
  • 1929Martin Luther King Jr., African-American civil rights leader and Nobel laureate (died 1968)source
  • 1977Giorgia Meloni, Italian politiciansource
  • 1979Drew Brees, American football playersource

Deaths

  • 69Cornelius Laco, Roman praetorian prefect (murdered)source
  • 69Lucius Calpurnius Piso Licinianus, Roman deputy emperor (born AD 38)source
  • 69Galba and his adopted son Piso are murdered by the Praetorian Guard on the Roman Forum.source
  • 69Sempronius Densus, Roman bodyguard (killed)source
  • 69Servius Sulpicius Galba, Roman emperor (born 3 BC)source
  • 570Íte of Killeedy, Irish nunsource
  • 849Theophylact, Byzantine co-emperor (born c.793)source
  • 950Wang Jingchong, Chinese generalsource
  • 1149Berengaria of Barcelona, queen of Castile (born 1116)source
  • 1204Gerald FitzMaurice, 1st Lord of Offaly, Cambro-Norman nobleman (born c.1150).source
  • 1208Pierre de Castelnau is murdered by heretics supported by Raymond VI, count of Toulouse. He is held responsible and excommunicated by Pope Innocent III, leading to the Albigensian Crusade.source
  • 1208Pierre de Castelnau, French priest (assassinated)source
  • 1249Archambaud IX, French noblemansource
  • 1315Gyeguk, Korean queen consort of Goryeo (born 1285)source
  • 1394Grand Prince Chinan of the Joseon kingdom in Korea, eldest son of King Taejo and heir to the throne, dies at the age of 39 from complications of alcoholism.source
  • 1421Helvis of Brunswick-Grubenhagen, queen consort of Armenia and Cyprus (born 1353)source
  • 1422Charlotte of Bourbon, Queen of Cyprus, consort and wife of King Janus since 1411, dies after contracting pneumonic plague as an epidemic spreads across the island kingdom.source
  • 1477Adriana of Nassau-Siegen, consort of Count Philip I of Hanau-Münzenberg (born 1449)source
  • 1569Catherine Carey, English lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I (born 1524)source
  • 1584Martha Leijonhufvud, politically active countess (born 1520)source
  • 1595Murad III, Ottoman Sultan (born 1546)source
  • 1615Virginia de' Medici, Italian princess (born 1568)source
  • 1623Paolo Sarpi, Italian theologian (born 1552)source
  • 1658John Colgan (born c.1592), Irish Franciscansource
  • 1698Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Burlington, Anglo-Irish nobleman, Lord High Treasurer of Ireland, Cavalier (born 1612)source
  • 1781Mariana Victoria of Spain, Queen consort of Portugal (born 1718)source
  • 1783William Alexander, Lord Stirling, American major-general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War (born 1726)source
  • 1804Dru Drury, English entomologist (born 1725)source
  • 1919Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht are murdered following the Spartacist uprising.source
  • 1919Rosa Luxemburg, German communist politician; assassinated (born 1871)source
  • 1923Zübeyde Hanım, 66, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's mother.source
  • 1929Priscilla Studd, Protestant Christian missionary, died in Spain (born 1864).source
  • 1945Pedro Abad Santos, Filipino politician. (born 1876)source
  • 1950Henry H. Arnold, American general and aviation pioneer (born 1886)source
  • 2000Željko Ražnatović, war criminal and paramilitary leader (born 1952)source
  • 2018Dolores O'Riordan, 46, Irish singer and guitarist (The Cranberries, D.A.R.K.), drowning due to alcohol intoxication.source