/year

January 21 in history

213 sourced entries recorded on January 21, from 304 CE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 763Battle of Bakhamra: The Abbasid army under Isa ibn Musa defeats the Alids, and puts an end to their rebellion. The power of the Abbasid dynasty is consolidated.source
  • 1025Chifuru, daughter of powerful Japanese court official Fujiwara no Sanesuke (rival of Fujiwara no Michinaga) has her mogi ceremony. Sanesuke wants to make his daughter an imperial consort which causes the dislike of Empress Ishi (daughter of Michinaga) – eventually Kampaku (Regent) Fujiwara no Yorimichi prevents it. [Unclear significance]source
  • 1277Battle of Desio: Lombard forces under Archbishop Ottone Visconti defeat the Della Torre family troops for the rule of Milan. Later, Ottone enters the city in triumph, and imprisons Napoleone della Torre in the Castello Baradello at Como (Northern Italy).source
  • 1303John XII is forced to resign as Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church after the January 17 earthquake.source
  • 1326The foundation of Oriel College (as King's College), the University of Oxford's fifth oldest (still surviving) college, is confirmed by royal charter.source
  • 1331Parliament at Dublinsource
  • 1342June 27 – An-Nasir Ahmad, Sultan of Egypt, rules prior to being deposed by his half-brother As-Salih Ismail.source
  • 1391Vytautas the Great, claimant to the throne of Lithuania, forges an alliance with the Grand Duchy of Moscow as his daughter, Sophia marries Vasily, Grand Prince of Muscovy.source
  • 1416King Henry V summons the English Parliament to meet on March 16.source
  • 1437The English Parliament, summoned in the name of King Henry VI on October 29, assembles at Westminster. The House of Commons elects the ailing John Tyrrell as its Speaker.source
  • 1457Jan IV, Duke of Oświęcim, sells the duchy to the Kingdom of Poland.source
  • 1464The English Parliament opens its second session during the reign of King Edward IV, gathering at Westminster, and will remain in session until March 28, 1465.source
  • 1466The War of the Succession of Stettin is halted as the Treaty of Soldin is signed by Frederick II, Elector of Brandenburg, and two of the dukes of Pomerania, the brothers Erich II, Duke of Wolgast, and Wartislaw X, Duke of Rügen. The signing takes place at the town of Soldin in the Electorate of Brandenburg, now the city of Myślibórz in Poland. The brothers recognize Frederick II as their liege lord, and Brandenburg recognizes their rights to their fiefdoms.source
  • 1470Jacquetta of Luxembourg, mother of England's Queen Consort Elizabeth Woodville and mother-in-law of King Edward IV, is cleared of allegations of witchcraft that had been made against her in 1469 by a follower of the rebel Earl of Warwick.source
  • 1504After the death of Sten Sture the Elder on December 14 the year before, Svante Nilsson is elected the new Regent of Sweden.source
  • 1509The Portuguese first arrive at the Seven Islands of Bombay and land at Mahim after capturing a barge of the Gujarat Sultanate in the Mahim Creek.source
  • 1525The Anabaptist Movement is born when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz's mother on Neustadt-Gasse, Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union.source
  • 1530Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, issues letters from his winter residence in Bologna, inviting members of the Imperial Diet to convene at Augsburg on April 8 to discuss various theological questions.source
  • 1535The French Protestant leaders of the October 1534 Affaire des Placards are burned to death in front of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris and witnessed by a large crowd that includes King François and the visiting Ottoman diplomats.source
  • 1535King Francis I organized a procession in Paris as a show of religious devotion, displaying holy relics such as the Crown of thorns and giving a speech declaring his faith that has come into question due to some of his alliances.source
  • 1549The Act of Uniformity 1548 is passed by the Parliament of England and establishes the 1549 version of the Book of Common Prayer as the sole legal prayer book in England, replacing the use of different versions of the Latin-language Missal.source
  • 1554Edward Courtenay, one of the four plotters of Wyatt's rebellion in England, is arrested and reveals that an attempt will be made to overthrow the English government.source
  • 1575Queen Elizabeth I of England grants a monopoly on producing printed sheet music, to Thomas Tallis and William Byrd.source
  • 1585Robert Nutter, Thomas Worthington, and 18 other Roman Catholic priests are "perpetually banished" from England by order of Queen Elizabeth, placed on the ship Mary Martin of Colchester, and transported to France.source
  • 1623Voyage of the Pera and Arnhem to Australia: Captains Jan Carstenszoon of the Arnhem and Willem Joosten van Coolsteerdt of the Pera depart on an expedition for the Dutch East India Company from Ambon, Maluku (Amboyna) to explore the Australian coast.source
  • 1623Viscount Falkland, England's Lord Deputy of Ireland, issues a proclamation ordering all Roman Catholic priests to leave Ireland, affecting negotiations over the "Spanish match" (which resume in March).source
  • 1624proclamation ordering all Catholic Church ecclesiastics to leave Ireland within 40 days; suspended after a month.source
  • 1643Abel Tasman sights the island of Tonga.source
  • 1646Philip Sidney, 3rd Earl of Leicester is approved by England's House of Commons as the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.source
  • 1670French-born 'gentleman highwayman' Claude Duval is hanged at Tyburn gallows in London and subsequently buried in St Paul's, Covent Garden.source
  • 1677The first medical publication in America (a pamphlet on smallpox) is produced in Boston.source
  • 1682The Ottoman Empire army is mobilized in preparation for a war against Austria that culminates with the 1683 Battle of Vienna.source
  • 1694January 21 (January 11 O.S.) – The Kiev Academy, predecessor of the national university of Ukraine, receives official recognition by Tsar Ivan V of Russia.source
  • 1696The Recoinage Act, passed by the Parliament of England to pull counterfeit silver coins out of circulation, becomes law.source
  • 1714After being tricked into deserting a battle against India's Mughal Empire by the rebel Sayyid brothers, Prince Azz-ud-din Mirza is blinded on orders of the Emperor Farrukhsiyar as punishment.source
  • 1720Treaties of Stockholm (Great Northern War): Sweden and Prussia sign a treaty by which part of Swedish Pomerania, including the town of Stettin, is ceded to Prussia.source
  • 1732Russia and Persia sign the Treaty of Riascha at Resht. Based on the terms of the agreement, Russia will no longer establish claims over Persian territories.source
  • 1749The Teatro Filarmonico, the main opera theater in Verona, Italy, is destroyed by fire. It is rebuilt in 1754.source
  • 1769first of the Letters of Junius, criticising the government, appears in the Public Advertiser.source
  • 1777The Continental Congress approves a resolution "that an unauthentic copy, with names of the signers of the Declaration of independence, be sent to each of the United States.source
  • 1789The first American novel, The Power of Sympathy or the Triumph of Nature Founded in Truth, is printed in Boston, Massachusetts. The anonymous author is William Hill Brown.source
  • 1789William Hill Brown's anonymous sentimental epistolary novel The Power of Sympathy: or, The Triumph of Nature, usually considered the first American novel, is published in Boston.source
  • 1793French Revolution: After being found guilty of treason by the French National Convention, Citizen Capet, formerly King Louis XVI, is guillotined in Paris.source
  • 1794King George III of Great Britain delivers the speech opening Parliament and recommends a continuation of Britain's war with France.source
  • 1799The Parthenopean Republic is established in Naples by French General Jean Étienne Championnet; King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies flees.source
  • 1800decree abolishing the commissioners of the Treasury and entrusting the service to Bertrand Dufresne, director general subordinate to the Minister of Finance Martin-Michel-Charles Gaudin.source
  • 1813January 18–23 – War of 1812: The Battle of Frenchtown is fought in modern-day Monroe, Michigan between the United States and a British and Native American alliance.source
  • 1821Peter I Island in the Antarctic is first sighted, by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen.source
  • 1824First Anglo-Ashanti War: Battle of Nsamankow – forces of the Ashanti Empire crush British forces in the Gold Coast (modern-day Ghana), killing the British governor Sir Charles MacCarthy.source
  • 1835Airdrie Savings Bank opens its doors to business; it will remain as an independent trustee savings bank until 2017.source
  • 1838The first known report about the lowest temperature on Earth is made, indicating -60 °C in Yakutsk.source
  • 1840Jules Dumont d'Urville discovers Adélie Land in Antarctica, claiming it for France.source
  • 1849Hungarian Revolution of 1848: At Nagyszeben (now Sibiu in Romania)– The Hungarian army in Transylvania, led by Josef Bem, is defeated by the Austrians, led by Anton Puchner.source
  • 1849General elections are held in the Papal States.source
  • 1854The iron clipper RMS Tayleur runs aground off the east coast of Ireland, on her maiden voyage out of Liverpool, bound for Australia, with the loss of at least 300 out of 650 on board.source
  • 1854the iron clipper RMS Tayleur runs aground on Lambay Island on her maiden voyage out of Liverpool with the loss of at least 300 of around 650 on board.source
  • 1854The iron clipper RMS Tayleur runs aground on Lambay Island (off the east coast of Ireland) on her maiden voyage out of Liverpool with the loss of at least 300 of around 650 on board.source
  • 1855Fire at the Monnaie Theatre.source
  • 1859José Mariano Salas (1797–1867) becomes Conservative interim President of Mexico.source
  • 1863Adam Opel founds Opel in Germany, originally for the manufacture of sewing machines.source
  • 1869The P.E.O. Sisterhood, a philanthropic educational organization for women, is founded at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant, Iowa.source
  • 1871Battle of Dijon: Giuseppe Garibaldi's group of French and Italian volunteer troops, in support of the French Third Republic, win a battle against the Prussians.source
  • 1880an underground firedamp explosion at Fair Lady Pit, Leycett, in the North Staffordshire Coalfield, kills 62 coal miners.source
  • 1883Elias Augusto da Silva launches the Reformador, a revision of the Federação Espírita Brasileira.source
  • 1887Brisbane receives a one-day rainfall of 465 mm (a record for any Australian capital city).source
  • 1887Brisbane receives a daily rainfall of 465 millimetres (18.3 inches), a record for any Australian capital city.source
  • 1887The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is formed in the United States.source
  • 1888The Amateur Athletic Union is founded by William Buckingham Curtis in the United States.source
  • 1889American "Professor" Baldwin makes the first balloon ascent in New Zealand at Dunedin.source
  • 1893The Tati Concessions Land, formerly part of Matabeleland, is formally annexed to the Bechuanaland Protectorate (modern-day Botswana).source
  • 1895The U.S. Supreme Court rules in United States v. E. C. Knight Co. that Congress and the U.S. federal government cannot regulate manufacturing, and dismisses an antitrust lawsuit against American Sugar Refining Company, which controls 98 percent of sugar refining in the United States.source
  • 1895The American steamer S.S. Chicora sinks in a storm on Lake Michigan, along with all 21 of its crew and a lone passenger.source
  • 1899Opel Motors opens for business in Germany.source
  • 1903Section of Militia Affairs within the Adjutant General's office.source
  • 1905The Dominican Republic signs an agreement with the United States to allow the U.S. to administer the collection of customs taxes for Santo Domingo for 50 years, with the U.S. to assume responsibility for payment of the Republic's debts to foreign nations from Dominican income. The agreement is done as an exercise of the "Roosevelt Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine.source
  • 1906The Brazilian battleship Aquidabã sinks, after its powder magazines explode near the Jacuacanga strait, in Angra dos Reis bay. A total of 212 people are killed, including three admirals and most of the ship's officers; 98 survive.source
  • 1910The Great Flood of Paris begins when the Seine overflows its banks.source
  • 1911First Monte Carlo Rally inaugurated.source
  • 1913The first French private school opens in Tokyo. Later graduates include Sakaguchi Ango, Tanizaki Junichiro and Takehisa Yumeji.source
  • 1914The Jerusalem Church in Tigensgade in Copenhagen is destroyed in a fire.source
  • 1915Kiwanis International is founded in Detroit, Michigan.source
  • 1915Kiwanis is founded in Detroit, Michigan, as The Supreme Lodge Benevolent Order Brothers.source
  • 1918January 18–25 – General strike in Austria-Hungarysource
  • 1919Dáil Éireann meets for the first time in the Mansion House, Dublin. It comprises Sinn Féin members elected in the 1918 general election who, in accordance with their manifesto, have not taken their seats in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, but chosen to declare an independent Irish Republic. In the first shots of the Anglo-Irish War, two Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) men are killed in an ambush at Soloheadbeg, County Tipperary.source
  • 1920The final session of the Paris Peace Conference is held, even though peace treaties with Hungary and Turkey remain to be concluded. The United States does not conclude its own treaty with Germany until August 25, 1921.source
  • 1920Battle of Shekar Yazi.source
  • 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
  • 1921The full-length silent comedy drama film The Kid, written, produced, directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin (in his Tramp character), with Jackie Coogan, is released in the United States.source
  • 1924January 20–30 – Kuomintang in China holds its first National Congress, initiating a policy of alliance with the Soviet Union and the Chinese Communist Party.source
  • 1924The Earl of Athlone is appointed Governor-General of the Union of South Africa, and High Commissioner for Southern Africa.source
  • 1925Transvaal – Rustenburg to Boshoek, 15 mi 17 ch.source
  • 1926The Belgian Parliament accepts the Locarno Treaties.source
  • 1926Rádio Mayrink Veiga begins broadcasting in Rio de Janeiro.source
  • 1928Nikolai Astrup, painter (born 1880)source
  • 1929Great fire in Istanbulsource
  • 1930Domingos Oliveira becomes Prime Ministersource
  • 1931Isaac Isaacs becomes the first Australian-born Governor-General.source
  • 1937the premiere of the film “Pani Minister Tanczy” (“Miss Minister Dances”), directed by Juliusz Gardan. On the same day, composer Zbigniew Bargielski is born in Łomża,source
  • 1940Lowest ever temperature recorded in Wales, −23.3 °C (−9.9 °F) at Rhayader.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
  • 1943WWII: Pan Am Flight 1104 – Pan American Airways Martin M-130 flying boat crashes about 7 smi southwest of Ukiah, California. All 10 passengers and 9 crew aboard are killed, including Admiral Robert H. English (at this time COMSUBPAC ).source
  • 1945January 21–22 (night) – At the Grünhagen railroad station, located in East Prussia at this date, two trains, heading for Elbing, collide. At dawn the station is reached by Soviet Army infantry and tanks which destroy the station, killing between 140 and 150 people.source
  • 1946The Loyalist wing of the Nacionalista Party holds its convention at the Ciro Club, Santa Mesa, Manila, and nominates Sergio Osmeña for president and Eulogio Rodriguez for vice president.source
  • 1946The Bluenose sinks off Haiti.source
  • 1950In the United States, suspected spy Alger Hiss is convicted on two counts of perjury.source
  • 1951Mount Lamington in Papua New Guinea erupts catastrophically, killing nearly 3,000 people and causing great devastation in Oro Province.source
  • 1954The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, is launched in Groton, Connecticut, by First Lady of the United States Mamie Eisenhower.source
  • 1959The European Court of Human Rights is established.source
  • 1960Avianca Flight 671 crashes and burns upon landing at Montego Bay, Jamaica killing 37, the worst air disaster in Jamaica's history and the first for Avianca.source
  • 1960Coalbrook mining disaster: A coal mine collapses at Holly Country, South Africa, killing 435 miners.source
  • 1960435 miners die in the Coalbrook mining disaster, the worst mine disaster in South Africa.source
  • 1965Nationalist leader Eddie McAteer visits Taoiseach Seán Lemass in Dublin.source
  • 1965The Shalom Meir Tower officially opens, becoming the tallest building in the Middle East (standing at 142 m).source
  • 1966Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro resigns due to a power struggle in his party.source
  • 1968Vietnam War: Battle of Khe Sanh – One of the most publicized and controversial battles of the war begins, ending on April 8.source
  • 19681968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash: A U.S. B-52 Stratofortress crashes in Greenland, discharging 4 nuclear bombs.source
  • 1972Tripura, part of the former independent Twipra Kingdom, becomes a full state of India.source
  • 1972A New Delhi bootlegger sells wood alcohol to a wedding party; 100 people die.source
  • 1980The London Gold Fixing hits its highest price ever of $843 per troy ounce ($2,249.50 in 2020 when adjusted for inflation).source
  • 1981The first DeLorean automobile, a stainless steel sports car with gull-wing doors, rolls off the production line in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland.source
  • 1986January 13–24 – South Yemen Civil War.source
  • 1986Conservative protestors attacked a mock shanty town that had been erected on the Green at Dartmouth College as part of anti-apartheid protests.source
  • 1992The United Nations issue United Nations Security Council Resolution 731, demanding that Libya hand over suspects in the bombings of Pan Am Flight 103 and UTA Flight 772.source
  • 1998Pope John Paul II begins a 5-day visit to Cuba; Fidel Castro releases 300 political prisoners in a gesture of goodwill.source
  • 1999Dr J Ana Water Dispenser captured the 1999 2nd Yakult PBL Centennial Cup crown, becoming the 1st title to win the tournament, defeating Tanduay Gold Rhum Masters, three games to two.source
  • 2001Taba Summit: Talks between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority begin in Egypt.source
  • 2001Pope John Paul II names 37 cardinals in one day for a total of 128.source
  • 2001January 21–27 – Taba Summit: Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority aimed at reaching the "final status" of negotiations. Ehud Barak temporarily withdraws from negotiations during the Israeli elections, subsequently Ariel Sharon refuses to continue negotiating in the face of the newly erupted violence.source
  • 2004Bartholomew I of Constantinople visits Cuba.source
  • 2008Stock markets around the world plunge amid growing fears of a U.S. Great Recession, fueled by the 2007 subprime mortgage crisis.source
  • 2008Online activist group Anonymous initiates Project Chanology, after a leaked interview of Tom Cruise by the Church of Scientology is published on YouTube, and the Church of Scientology issued a "copyright infringement" claim. In response, Anonymous sympathizers took to the streets to protest outside the church (after February 10), while the church's websites and centres were getting DoS attacks, phone line nukes, and black faxes.source
  • 2009Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip, officially ending its three-week war with Hamas. However, intermittent air strikes by both sides continue in the following weeks.source
  • 2009Virginia Tech student Zhu Haiyang decapitates Yang Xin in the first campus murder since the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007.source
  • 2013The National Biosecurity Technical Commission (CTNBio) granted the American company Delta & Pine Land, a subsidiary of the multinational biotechnology company Monsanto, permission to grow genetically modified corn in Costa Rica. There are 443 hectares of biotech crops in Costa Rica, including cotton, soybeans, pineapple, and banana, which are being grown by the companies Semillas Olson, D & PL Semillas, Bayer, Semillas del Trópico, and Del Monte.source
  • 2013The Health Minister of Chad announces that 38 children have been hospitalized after getting vaccinated against Meningitis.source
  • 2014A bomb detonates at a Hezbollah building in Beirut, killing 4 people and wounding 35.source
  • 2015Heavy rains in Zambia cause delays in voting and counting in the presidential election with announcements to resume the next day.source
  • 2016President Joko Widodo announced the construction of a bullet train with its starting route from Jakarta to Bandung, the first in Indonesia and Southeast Asia.source
  • 20172016–2017 Gambian constitutional crisis: Following the military intervention of ECOWAS, President Yahya Jammeh resigns from office after 23 years in power and flees into exile to Equatorial Guinea; the democratically elected Adama Barrow assumes office as President of The Gambia.source
  • 2017Jammeh reportedly leaves the Gambia for a plane to Guinea.source
  • 2017Millions of people worldwide join the Women's March following the inauguration of Donald Trump as President of the United States. 420 marches were reported in the U.S. and 168 in other countries, becoming the largest single-day protest in American history at the time.source
  • 2018January 20–22 – The US government enters a federal government shutdown as a result of a dispute over Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.source
  • 2023Tigray War: Eritrean forces withdraw from Shire and other major towns in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia.source
  • 2025Our Lady of High Gracesource

Births

  • 1264Alexander, Scottish heir apparent (died 1284)source
  • 1277Galeazzo I Visconti, Italian nobleman (died 1328)source
  • 1300Roger Clifford, English nobleman and knight (died 1322)source
  • 1322Sin Don, Korean monk and teacher (died 1371)source
  • 1338Charles V of France (died 1380)source
  • 1532Ludwig Helmbold, German classical singer (died 1598)source
  • 1608Theaurau John Tany, English Christian mystic (died 1659)source
  • 1610Elizabeth Fones, American settler (died 1673)source
  • 1613George Gillespie, Scottish theologian (died 1648)source
  • 1721James Murray, military officer and colonial administrator (died 1794)source
  • 1738Ethan Allen, American patriot (died 1789)source
  • 1804Eliza Roxcy Snow, American poet (died 1887)source
  • 1813John C. Frémont, American soldier, explorer (died 1890)source
  • 1815Horace Wells, American dentist, anesthesia pioneer (died 1848)source
  • 1824Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson, American Confederate general (died 1863)source
  • 1829King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway (died 1907)source
  • 1855John Browning, American firearms inventor (died 1926)source
  • 1861Roberto Landell de Mourasource
  • 1867Maxime Weygand, French general (died 1965)source
  • 1895Noe Itō, anarchist and feminist (died 1923)source
  • 1899John Bodkin Adams, British physician acquitted of murder (died 1983)source
  • 1940Jack Nicklaus, American golfersource
  • 1963Hakeem Olajuwon, basketball playersource
  • 2005IShowSpeed, American YouTubersource

Deaths

  • 304Saint Agnes of Rome (martyred by fire) (born c. 291)source
  • 420Yazdegerd I, king of the Sassanid Empiresource
  • 917Erchanger, East Frankish noblemansource
  • 918Liu Zhijun, Chinese generalsource
  • 939Yang Pu, emperor of Wu (born 900)source
  • 942An Chongrong, Chinese general (Five Dynasties)source
  • 945Yang Tan, Chinese general and governorsource
  • 1059Michael I Cerularius, Byzantine patriarchsource
  • 1118Paschal II, pope of the Catholic Churchsource
  • 1203Agnes II, abbess of Quedlinburg in Saxony (born 1139)source
  • 1314Muhammad III, Nasrid ruler (sultan) (born 1257)source
  • 1314January 21 (3 Shawwal 713 AH) – Muhammad III of Granada, Sultan from 1302 to 1309, is murdered by being drowned in the pool of the Dar al-Kubra on orders of his brother, Sultan Nasr.source
  • 1330Joan II, Countess of Burgundy, queen dowager of France (born 1291)source
  • 1449Giovanni Berardi, Archbishop of Taranto (born 1380)source
  • 1495Magdalena of France, French princess and regent of Navarre (born 1443)source
  • 1495Madeleine of Valois, French princess (born 1443)source
  • 1506Johann IV Roth, German Roman Catholic bishop (born 1426)source
  • 1609Joseph Justus Scaliger, French Protestant scholar (born 1540)source
  • 1628Gregor Aichinger, German composer (born c. 1565)source
  • 1653John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol, English diplomat (born 1580)source
  • 1683Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, British politician (born 1621)source
  • 1684Queen Myeongseong, Korean royal consort (born 1642)source
  • 1686François Blondel, French architect (born 1618)source
  • 1700Henry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort, English politician (born 1629)source
  • 1722Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton, English supporter of William III of England (born 1661)source
  • 1733Bernard Mandeville, Dutch-born English economic philosopher (born 1670)source
  • 1733Bernard Mandeville, economic philosopher (born 1670 in the Dutch Republic)source
  • 1740Nicholas Trott, colonial magistrate, South Carolina Chief Justice (born 1663)source
  • 1765Christian Braunmann Tullin, businessman and poet (born 1728).source
  • 1766James Quin, English actor (born 1693)source
  • 1774Mustafa III, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1757 to 1774 (born 1717)source
  • 1774Mustafa III, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, dies and is succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid I.source
  • 1775Isaac de Forcade de Biaix, Prussian colonel (born 1704)source
  • 1775Yemelyan Pugachev (born 1742)source
  • 1793King Louis XVI of France (executed) (born 1754)source
  • 1810Mariano Álvarez de Castro, military governor (born 1749)source
  • 1892John Couch Adams, English astronomer (born 1819)source
  • 1924Vladimir Lenin, Russian revolutionary, first Premier of the Soviet Union (born 1870)source
  • 1924Vladimir Lenin, USSR politician (born 1870)source
  • 1938Georges Méliès, French film director (born 1861)source
  • 1950George Orwell, British author (born 1903)source
  • 1959Cecil B. DeMille, American film director (born 1881)source
  • 1974Lewis Strauss, American businessman, philanthropist, and naval officer (born 1896)source
  • 2016January 16 – 30 people are killed and 56 injured in terrorist attacks in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, targeting a hotel and a nearby restaurant. A siege occurs and 176 hostages are released afterwards, by government forces.source
  • 2019Ervin Knowles, former cabinet minister (born 1934).source