/year

January 23 in history

234 sourced entries recorded on January 23, from 266 BCE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 266 BCEMarcus Atilius Regulus and Lucius Julius Libo celebrate triumphs over the Salentini.source
  • 393Emperor Theodosius I proclaims his son Honorius, age 8, co-ruler (Augustus) of the Western Roman Empire.source
  • 971A war elephant corps of the Southern Han is defeated at Shao, by crossbow fire from Song dynasty troops. The Southern Han Kingdom is forced to submit to the Song dynasty. Ending Southern Han rule, but also the first regular war elephant corps employed in a Chinese army, that had gained the Southern Han victories throughout the 10th century.source
  • 1045Edward the Confessor, King of England, marries Edith of Wessex (daughter of Earl Godwin) and she is crowned queen consort at Winchester. This year also in England, Edward begins construction of Westminster Abbey.source
  • 1129Henry of Blois becomes bishop of Winchester after the death of William Giffard (who was also Lord Chancellor to King Henry I) in England.source
  • 1229The episcopal seat is moved from Nousiainen to Koroinen (located near the current centre of Turku) by the permission of Pope Gregory IX. The date is starting to be considered as the founding of Turku.source
  • 1264King Louis IX of France ("the Saint") issues the Mise of Amiens, a settlement between King Henry III of England and his rebellious barons under Simon de Montfort, heavily favouring the former – which leads to the Second Barons' War. At Amiens, Henry accuses the barons of destroying his castles and laying waste to royal lands. For this he demands a compensation of some £300,000 and 200,000 marks, which is defended by Louis.source
  • 1302King Ferdinand IV of the Spanish Kingdom of Castile, having recently reached the age of majority at age 16, marries 12-year-old Princess Constance, the only daughter of King Dinis of Portugal, in a ceremony at Valladolid.source
  • 1305Henry II Kőszegi, the Ban of Slavonia, completes his conquest of Croatian territory in Požega and Valkó, and issues a charter of annexation from his encampment at Valkószentgyörgy.source
  • 1318Pope John XXII issues the papal bull Gloriosam ecclesiam, excommunicating the Fraticelli, or Spiritual Franciscans from the Roman Catholic Church. The group is known for pursuing strictly the Franciscan ideal of Apostolic poverty and attempting to force others to do so. The Pope cites as reasons for the excommunication that the adherents are guilty of making accusations of corruption, against the Church, denial of the authority of priests, refusal to take oaths to the church, teaching that priests could not confer sacraments, and claiming to be the only group to be true observers of the Gospel.source
  • 1324England's envoy to France, Ralph Basset, and Raymond-Bernard de Montpezat, decline to obey an order to appear before King Charles IV of France to answer for the October 16 burning of Saint-Sardos. King Charles orders their properties forfeited to the crown.source
  • 1341Ross loses its rights as an open port.source
  • 1368Zhu Yuanzhang establishes the Ming dynasty with himself as the Emperor Hongwu. The new dynasty will last until 1644. The Emperor immediately orders every county magistrate to set up four granaries, and halts government taxation on books. Work begins later year on restoring the surviving Great Wall of China.source
  • 1376In the Holy Roman Empire, Wenceslaus I, Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg and Elector of Saxony, marries Cecilia da Carrara, daughter of Francesco I da Carrara, Lord of Padua.source
  • 1379Maria, Queen of Sicily since 1377, is kidnapped from her home at the Ursino Castle in Catania by Guglielmo Raimondo III of the rival House of Moncada claimants to the throne held by the House of Aragon. The action takes place with the support of King Pero IV of Aragon, who installs his son Martin of Aragon as the Viceroy of Sicily.source
  • 1390Ko Cheng succeeds Che Bong Nga, as King of Champa (now eastern Vietnam).source
  • 1403The Yongle Era in China begins with the first day of the Chinese New Year, six months after King Zhu Di of the Yan State arrived at Nanjing, deposed the southern Chinese Emperor Zhu Yun Wen, and proclaimed himself as the Emperor Cheng Zu.source
  • 1424William Cheyne becomes the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, replacing the late William Hankford.source
  • 1484King Richard III of England assembles his first, and only Parliament, opening a 29-day session.source
  • 1492The Soncino Bible, which includes the Pentateuch, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther is printed.source
  • 1495King Alfonso II of Naples abdicates after almost a year on the throne as the army of King Charles VIII of France approaches the Neapolitan border. Alfonso's son becomes the new monarch as King Ferdinand II.source
  • 1505Lunkaran begins his reign as the Rao of the Indian kingdom of Bikaner in what is now the Rajasthan state of India.source
  • 1510An 18-year-old Henry VIII jousts anonymously at Richmond, Surrey and draws applause, before revealing his identity.source
  • 1512Neagoe Basarab becomes the new Prince of Wallachia at the capital, Târgoviște, after Prince Prince Vlad V is captured at battle in Bucharest and then decapitated.source
  • 1516With the death of Ferdinand II of Aragon, his grandson, Charles of Ghent, becomes King of Spain; his mother Queen Joanna of Castile also succeeds as Queen of Aragon and co-monarch with Carlos, but remains confined at Tordesillas.source
  • 1542Tutul-Xiu, the Mayan ruler of the Maní in Yucatán, arrives at the Spanish settlement of Merida with food supplies for the colonists and offers to assist the Spaniards in their conquest of Yucatan in return for being installed as the leading Mayan ruler in Mexico.source
  • 1556The Shaanxi earthquake, the deadliest earthquake in history, occurs with its epicenter in Shaanxi province, China; 830,000 people may have been killed.source
  • 1565Battle of Talikota: The Vijayanagara Empire, the last Hindu kingdom in South India, is greatly weakened by the Deccan sultanates.source
  • 1570The assassination of Scottish regent James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, by James Hamilton, the first known shooting of a national leader, throws Scotland into civil war. Having loaded a carbine rifle and carried it into the Linlithgow home of his uncle, the Archbishop of St Andrews, Hamilton stands at an upstairs window overlooking the street where Moray will ride by on horseback as part of cavalcade. Once Moray comes into range, Hamilton fires and fatally wounds the regent for King James VI.source
  • 1571The Royal Exchange opens in London, England.source
  • 1579The Union of Utrecht unites the northern Netherlands in a confederation called the United Provinces. William the Silent becomes Stadtholder, and the Duc d'Anjou, younger brother of Henry III of France, is invited to become hereditary sovereign.source
  • 1581The Treaty of Plessis-les-Tours between the Duchy of Anjou and most of the states of the Dutch Republic is ratified at Bourdeaux, granting Francis, Duke of Anjou executive authority over the Republic with the title "Protector of the Liberty of the Netherlands".source
  • 1608Treaty of The Hague, a defensive alliance between France and the United Provinces of the Netherlands, is signed.source
  • 1608Treaty of The Hague, a defensive alliance between France and the United Provinces of the Netherlands, negotiated for France by Pierre Jeannin, is signed.source
  • 1618Charter of Waterford revoked after election of recusants (restored 1626).source
  • 1631Thirty Years' War: Sweden and France sign the Treaty of Bärwalde, a military alliance in which France provides funds for the Swedish army invading northern Germany.source
  • 1631Thirty Years' War: France and Sweden sign the Treaty of Bärwalde, a military alliance in which France provides funds for Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden to maintain an army campaign against northern Germany.source
  • 16351635 Capture of Tortuga: The Spanish Navy captures the Caribbean island of Tortuga off of the coast of Haiti after a three-day battle against the English and French Navy.source
  • 1637John Maurice, Prince of Nassau-Siegen arrives from the Netherlands to become the Governor of Dutch Brazil, and extends the range of the colony over the next six years.source
  • 1638Exports of grain prohibited.source
  • 1643First English Civil War: Leeds falls to Parliamentary forces.source
  • 1651Leopold William, as Captain-General of the Army of Flanders, prohibits all military governors, commanders or officers from levying any taxes or exactions on their own initiative.source
  • 1663The Treaty of Ghilajharighat is signed in India between representatives of the Mughal Empire and the independent Ahom Kingdom (in what is now the Assam state), with the Mughals ending their occupation of the Ahom capital of Garhgaon, in return for payment by Ahom in silver and gold for costs of the occupation, and King Sutamla of Ahom sending one of his daughters to be part of the harem of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.source
  • 1668The Triple Alliance of 1668 is formed between England, Sweden and the United Provinces of the Netherlands.source
  • 1668England signs the Triple Alliance with the Dutch Republic and Sweden.source
  • 1691Spanish colonial administrator Domingo Terán de los Ríos, most recently the governor of Sonora y Sinaloa on the east side of the Gulf of California, is assigned by the Viceroy of New Spain to administer a new province that governs lands on both sides of the Río Bravo del Norte, "Coahuila y Tejas", and effectively becomes the first Governor of Texas.source
  • 1698George Louis becomes Elector of Hanover upon the death of his father, Ernest Augustus. Because the widow of Ernest Augustus, George's mother Sophia, was heiress presumptive as the cousin of Anne, Queen of Great Britain, and Anne's closest eligible heir, George will become King of Great Britain.source
  • 1719The Riksdag of the Estates refuse the recognize Queen Ulrika Eleonora as monarch by inheritance, but agree to recognize her as monarch by election after she agrees to ratify a new constitution, Instrument of Government (1719), introducing a parliamentary system and a constitutional monarchy.source
  • 1719The Principality of Liechtenstein is created, within the Holy Roman Empire.source
  • 1726January 23 (January 12 Old Style) – The Conventicle Act (Konventikelplakatet) is adopted in Sweden, outlawing all non-Lutheran religious meetings outside of church services.source
  • 1732Thomas Tanner becomes Bishop of St Asaph.source
  • 1733first performance of George Frideric Handel's opera Orlando, at the His Majesty's Theatre in London.source
  • 1736The Civil Code of 1734 is passed in Sweden.source
  • 1736The Civil Code of 1734 is passed, thereby replacing the Kristofers landslag and the Stadslagen, giving the country and the cities the same law and Sweden its first national civil code.source
  • 1743With mediation by France, Sweden and Russia begin peace negotiations at Åbo (Turku) to end the Russo-Swedish War. By August 17, Sweden cedes all of its claims to southern Finland.source
  • 1755January 23 (O. S. January 12, Tatiana Day, nowadays celebrated on January 25) – Moscow University is established.source
  • 175523 January (O.S. 12 January) - Empress Elizabeth signs a decree establishing Moscow University, the first university in Russia, on the initiative of Mikhail Lomonosov and Ivan Shuvalov.source
  • 1765Prince Joseph of Austria marries Princess Maria Josepha of Bavaria in Vienna.source
  • 1782local Laird George Ludovic Houston invites purchase of marked plots of land which, when built upon, form the planned town of Johnstone, to provide employment for his thread and cotton mills, and one of the latter is erected by Corse, Burns & Co.source
  • 1782The Laird of Johnstone (George Ludovic Houston) invites people to buy marked plots of land which, when built upon, form the planned town of Johnstone, Scotland, to provide employment for his thread and cotton mills.source
  • 1783The Confederation Congress ratifies two October 8, 1782, treaties signed by the United States with the United Netherlands.source
  • 1789Georgetown University is founded in Georgetown, Maryland (part of modern-day Washington, D.C.), as the first Roman Catholic college in the United States.source
  • 1793Second Partition of Poland: The Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia partition the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.source
  • 1795Flanders campaign: Capture of the Dutch fleet at Den Helder: The Dutch fleet, frozen in Zuiderzee, is captured by the French 8th Hussars.source
  • 1796The distillation of spirits is prohibited.source
  • 1806Invasion of Naples: Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies flees to the Kingdom of Sicily under British protection.source
  • 1806Following the death of William Pitt the Younger, his cousin Lord Grenville succeeds him as wartime Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.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
  • 1815John Scandrett Harford inherits the family estates on the death of his father.source
  • 1823In Paviland Cave on the Gower Peninsula of Wales, William Buckland inspects the "Red Lady of Paviland", the first identification of a prehistoric (male) human burial (although Buckland dates it as Roman).source
  • 1823At Paviland Cave on the Gower Peninsula, William Buckland inspects the "Red Lady of Paviland", the first identification of a prehistoric (male) human burial (although Buckland dates it as Roman).source
  • 1823In Paviland Cave on the Gower Peninsula, William Buckland inspects the "Red Lady of Paviland", the first identification of a prehistoric (male) human burial (first discovered on 21 December last).source
  • 1833Bathurst is gazetted as a townsource
  • 1834The Chateau St. Louis (Quebec) is burned.source
  • 1838A 7.5 earthquake strikes the Romanian district of Vrancea causing damage in Moldavia and Wallachia, killing 73 people.source
  • 1842Antarctic explorer James Clark Ross, charting the eastern side of James Ross Island, reaches a Farthest South of 78°09'30"S.source
  • 1845The United States Congress establishes a uniform date for federal elections, which will henceforth be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.source
  • 1846Ahmad I ibn Mustafa, Bey of Tunis, declares the legal abolition of slavery in Tunisia.source
  • 1849Elizabeth Blackwell is awarded her M.D. by the Medical Institute of Geneva, New York, thus becoming the United States' first woman doctor.source
  • 1851The flip of a coin, subsequently named the Portland Penny, determines whether a new city in the Oregon Territory will be named after Boston, Massachusetts, or Portland, Maine, with Portland winning.source
  • 1853Six members of the Rhyl lifeboat crew are drowned when the boat overturns.source
  • 1855The first bridge over the Mississippi River opens in modern-day Minneapolis, a predecessor of the Father Louis Hennepin Bridge.source
  • 1855The first bridge over the Mississippi River opens in what is now Minneapolis, Minnesota (a crossing made today by the Hennepin Avenue Bridge).source
  • 1855The 8.2–8.3 Mw Wairarapa earthquake claims between five and nine lives near the Cook Strait area of New Zealand.source
  • 1855The 1855 Wairarapa earthquake causes extensive damage but few deaths. The quake, estimated at magnitude 8.2, raises parts of the Wellington harbour foreshore by as much as 6 metres. It is the strongest known New Zealand earthquake since European settlement.source
  • 1856The American sidewheel steamer SS Pacific leaves Liverpool (England) for a transatlantic voyage on which she will be lost with all 186 on board.source
  • 1868the first Uruguayan Civil Code is passed, approved by Law No. 917 of 23 January 1868, and was scheduled to come into force in 19 April of the same year.source
  • 1870Marias Massacre: U.S. soldiers attack a peaceful camp of Piegan Blackfeet Indians, led by chief Heavy Runner.source
  • 1874Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, second son of Queen Victoria, marries Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, only daughter of Tsar Alexander II of Russia, in the Grand Church of the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg.source
  • 1878Benjamin Disraeli orders the British fleet to the Dardanelles.source
  • 1879Anglo-Zulu War – Battle of Rorke's Drift: Following the previous day's defeat, a smaller British force of 140 successfully repels an attack by 4,000 Zulus.source
  • 1888Elections are held for the Chamber of Deputies. They run until 25 January and again from 12 to 14 October.source
  • 1895Philippine Regional Exposition was held in Manila, wherein Governor-General Blanco declares a great future predestined for the Philippines.source
  • 1897Elva Zona Heaster is found dead in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. The resulting murder trial of her husband is perhaps the only capital case in United States history, where spectral evidence helps secure a conviction.source
  • 1899Mubarak Al-Sabah, the emir of Kuwait, signs the Anglo-Kuwaiti Agreement of 1899, a secret treaty with the British Empire to accept protectorate status for the Middle Eastern sheikdom in return for British protection of Kuwaiti territory.source
  • 1899Emilio Aguinaldo is sworn in as President of the First Philippine Republic, a declaration of independence against the U.S. military government of the Philippines.source
  • 1899Malolos Constitution is proclaimed in Malolos, Bulacan, establishing the First Philippine Republic. Emilio Aguinaldo inaugurated as President of the Republic.source
  • 1899The British Southern Cross Expedition crosses the Antarctic Circle.source
  • 1899The New York Stock Exchange has the largest day of business in its history, with 1,527,644 shares of stock changing hands.source
  • 1899Because of illness, King Oscar of Sweden and Norway entrusts the government to Crown Prince Gustav.source
  • 1902Hakkōda Mountains incident: A snowstorm in the Hakkōda Mountains of northern Honshu, Japan, kills 199 during a military training exercise.source
  • 1902The Aomori Infantry, Eighth Division begin their snow march toward the Hakkōda Mountains. 199 soldiers die when a blizzard hits (known as the Snow March to Mt. Hakkoda).source
  • 1904The Ålesund fire destroys most buildings in the town of Ålesund, Norway, leaving about 10,000 people without shelter.source
  • 1907Sweden's record highest atmospheric pressure value occurs in Kalmar and Visby at 1063.7 hPa.source
  • 1909The 7.3 Ml Borujerd earthquake affected central Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing between 6,000–8000.source
  • 1912The First International Opium Convention is signed at The Hague to restrict exports.source
  • 19131913 Ottoman coup d'état: Enver Pasha comes to power.source
  • 1915Chilembwe uprising: Baptist minister John Chilembwe initiates an ultimately unsuccessful uprising against British colonial rule in Nyasaland (modern-day Malawi).source
  • 1918January 18–25 – General strike in Austria-Hungarysource
  • 1920The Netherlands refuses to extradite ex-German Emperor Wilhelm II; on May 15 he moves into Huis Doorn in the country where he remains permanently in exile until his death in 1941.source
  • 1922The Dealul Spirii Trial of members of the Communist Party commences.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
  • 1925The 1925 Chilean coup d'état overthrows the September Junta.source
  • 1927Okuro Oikawa discovers a new asteroid 1266 Tone at the Tokyo Observatory.source
  • 1937Moscow Trials: Trial of the Anti-Soviet Trotskyist Center – In the Soviet Union 17 leading Communists go on trial, accused of participating in a plot led by Leon Trotsky to overthrow Joseph Stalin's regime, and assassinate its leaders.source
  • 1939"Dutch War Scare": Admiral Wilhelm Canaris of the Abwehr leaks misinformation to the effect that Germany plans to invade the Netherlands in February, with the aim of using Dutch air-fields to launch a strategic bombing offensive against Britain. The "Dutch War Scare" leads to a major change in British policies towards Europe.source
  • 1941Aviator Charles Lindbergh testifies before the U.S. Congress, and recommends that the United States negotiate a neutrality pact with Adolf Hitler.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
  • 1943American critic and commentator Alexander Woollcott suffers an eventually fatal heart attack, during a regular broadcast of the CBS Radio round-table program People's Platform.source
  • 1945Annie Landau (born 1873), British-born educator, head of the Tehilla-Evelina de Rothschild Secondary School, recipient of the OBE.source
  • 1950The Knesset passes a resolution that states Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.source
  • 1955The Sutton Coldfield rail crash kills 17, near Birmingham, England.source
  • 1961Santa Maria hijackingsource
  • 1967Milton Keynes in England is founded as a new town by Order in Council, with a planning brief to become a city of 250,000 people. Its initial designated area encloses three existing towns and twenty one villages. The area to be developed is largely farmland, with evidence of permanent settlement dating back to the Bronze Age.source
  • 1967In Munich, the trial begins of Wilhelm Harster, accused of the murder of 82,856 Jews (including Anne Frank) when he led German security police during the German occupation of the Netherlands. He is eventually sentenced to 15 years in prison.source
  • 1968USS Pueblo (AGER-2) captured by North Koreasource
  • 1973Eldfell on Heimaey erupts.source
  • 1974Fire at boarding school in Heusden kills 23 teenagers.source
  • 1982Niki Lauda returns to Formula One competition after an absence of two years to partner John Watson at McLaren.source
  • 1983The European Economic Community's Common Fisheries Policy comes into effect.source
  • 1985Teleantioquia launches as a television programadora.source
  • 1986January 13–24 – South Yemen Civil War.source
  • 1987The 1987 South American U-20 Championship begins in Armenia.source
  • 1997Madeleine Albright becomes the first female Secretary of State of the United States, after confirmation by the United States Senate.source
  • 1998P.W. Botha appears in front of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to answer for apartheid-era policies; he refers to the hearing as a "circus".source
  • 1999The Libyan delegate to the International Olympic Committee resigns as part of the investigation into bribery that led to Salt Lake City being awarded the 2002 Winter Olympics. His son had received scholarships at Utah universities as part of the campaign.source
  • 2001A self-immolation incident takes place in Tiananmen Square in central Beijing, China. Five members of the Falun Gong are alleged to have set themselves on fire, but details surrounding the incident are disputed by Falun Gong sources.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
  • 2003The 1492 painting Descent into Limbo by Andrea Mantegna sells for $28.6 million.source
  • 2003NASA loses contact with the Pioneer 10 probe after nearly 31 years.source
  • 2005Yusuf Ahmed Sarinle, the police chief in the capital, Mogadishu, is shot dead. The new Somali government is slated to begin relocating from Kenya on February 1.source
  • 2006A five-story building in Nairobi collapses and kills at least eight people, burying dozens more. Rescuers use their bare hands to dig through the rubble.source
  • 2008Mirosławiec air disaster; an EADS CASA C-295 military transport plane crashed as it approached the Mirosławiec runway, killing all passengers and crew: 20 victims. 3 days of national mourning followed.source
  • 2009Amos Kimunya is appointed the Minister of Trade. Kimunya resigned from the post of Minister of Finance in July 2008 due to Grand Regency Scandal. Former minister of Trade Uhuru Kenyatta is now appointed for the vacant position of Minister of Finance.source
  • 2012Iran–European Union relations: the European Union adopts an embargo against Iran in protest of its continued effort to enrich uranium.source
  • 2017According to government officials, more than 500 million dalasi are missing from the state coffer after Jammeh left in exile.source
  • 2019Venezuelan presidential crisis: Thousands of people protest in favor of disputed interim President Juan Guaidó. Several people are killed, and President Maduro severs U.S. diplomatic ties.source
  • 2020COVID-19 pandemic: The Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the initial COVID-19 outbreak, is quarantined, with all scheduled public transport services and intercity flights halted.source
  • 2022Tropical Storm Ana kills 115 people in Madagascar, Malawi and Mozambique, days after a series of floods killed 11 people in Madagascar.source
  • 2023Trinidad and Tobago’s Energy Minister Stuart Young proposes the creation of a Caribbean energy alliance with Guyana and Suriname during an energy conference in Port of Spain.source
  • 2025Micheál Martin is re-elected prime minister (Taoiseach) of Ireland by Dáil Éireann for a second non-consecutive term.source
  • 2025Thailand becomes the 38th country and the first in Southeastern Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.source

Births

  • 599Tai Zong, emperor of the Tang dynasty (died 649)source
  • 1350Vincent Ferrer, Valencian missionary and saint (died 1419)source
  • 1378Louis III, Elector Palatine (died 1436)source
  • 1382Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick (died 1439)source
  • 1514Hai Rui, Chinese official of the Ming Dynasty (died 1587)source
  • 1585Mary Ward, English Catholic Religious Sister (died 1645)source
  • 1680Joseph Ames, English author (died 1759)source
  • 1684Christian Rantzau, Governor-general of Norway (died 1771)source
  • 1688Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden (died 1741)source
  • 1714Howell Harris, Methodist leader (died 1773)source
  • 1737John Hancock, American politician and revolutionary (died 1793)source
  • 1765Thomas Todd, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (died 1826)source
  • 1783Stendhal, French writer (died 1842)source
  • 1786Auguste de Montferrand, French architect (died 1858)source
  • 1828Saigō Takamori, Japanese samurai (died 1877)source
  • 1828Saigō Takamori (died 1877), samuraisource
  • 1832Édouard Manet, French painter (died 1883)source
  • 1840Ernst Abbe, German physicist (died 1905)source
  • 1862David Hilbert, German mathematician (died 1943)source
  • 1872Gotse Delchev, Bulgarian revolutionary (died 1903)source
  • 1897Subhas Chandra Bose, Indian political leader, led the Indian National Army (died 1945?)source
  • 1947Megawati Sukarnoputri, politician, President of Indonesiasource
  • 1998XXXTentacion, American rapper (died 2018)source

Deaths

  • 169Lucius Verus, Roman emperor (born 130)source
  • 667Ildefonsus, bishop of Toledosource
  • 989Adalbero, archbishop of Reimssource
  • 1002Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor (born 980)source
  • 1002Emperor Otto III dies, at the age of 22, of smallpox at Castle of Paterno (near Rome) after a 19-year reign. He leaves no son, nor a surviving brother who can succeed by hereditary right to the throne. Otto is buried in Aachen Cathedral alongside the body of Charlemagne.source
  • 1129William Giffard, bishop of Winchestersource
  • 1180Eberhard I, count of Berg-Altena (born 1140)source
  • 1199Caliph Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur dies at Marrakesh after a 15-year reign in which he has defeated the Castilian forces of King Alfonso VIII (the noble) (see 1195) and other Christian enemies in Al-Andalus. He is succeeded by his son Muhammad al-Nasir as ruler of the Almohad Caliphate (until 1213).source
  • 1199Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur, Almohad caliph (born 1160)source
  • 1218Wolfger von Erla, German bishop (born 1140)source
  • 1220Bogislaw II, duke of Pomerania (born 1177)source
  • 1240Albert of Pisa, Italian Franciscan friarsource
  • 1252Isabella, Queen of Armeniasource
  • 1423Margaret of Bavaria, Burgundian regent (born 1363)source
  • 1516King Ferdinand II of Aragon (born 1452)source
  • 1548Bernardo Pisano, Italian composer (born 1490)source
  • 1554Elizabeth Hussey, Baroness Hungerford, English noblewoman (born 1510)source
  • 1567Jiajing Emperor of China (born 1507)source
  • 1567After 45 years' reign, the Jiajing Emperor, Zhu Houcong, dies in the Forbidden City of China.source
  • 1570James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, regent of Scotland (assassinated) (born c.1531)source
  • 1570James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, Regent of Scotland, assassinated by James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh at Linlithgow.source
  • 1577Nicolas of Lorraine, Duke of Mercœur (b.1524).source
  • 1622William Baffin, English explorer (born 1584)source
  • 1628After being incarcerated and blinded on orders of his brother, former Mughal Emperor Shahryar Mirza is put to death, along with his nephews, co-ruler Dawar Bakhsh, and Princes Garshasp, Tahmuras and Hoshang.source
  • 1629Andreas Schott (born 1552), Jesuit writersource
  • 1650Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke (born 1584)source
  • 1662János Kemény, Prince of Transylvania for slightly more than a year, is killed during Transylvania's defeat by the Ottoman Empire in a battle at Nagyszőllős, now the city of Vynohradiv in Ukraine. An Ottoman appointee, Michael Apafi, replaces Kemény in September and the status of the principality of Transylvania (now part of Romania) is never regained.source
  • 1691William Maurice, Prince of Nassau-Siegen (born 1649)source
  • 1692John Page, Virginian planter, merchant and politician (born 1627)source
  • 1698Ernest Augustus, Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg (born 1629)source
  • 1722Henri de Boulainvilliers, French nobleman (born 1658)source
  • 1744Giambattista Vico, Italian philosopher and historian (born 1668)source
  • 1750Ludovico Antonio Muratori, Italian historian and scholar (born 1672)source
  • 1751Peter Schnitler, jurist and military officer (born 1690).source
  • 1753Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon, French royal princess, saloniste (born 1676)source
  • 1773Manuel Pinto da Fonseca, 68th Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller (born 1681)source
  • 1773Pieter van Reede van Oudtshoorn, Dutch administrator of the Cape Colony (born 1714)source
  • 1789Frances Brooke, English writer (born 1724)source
  • 1795John Sullivan, American general in the American Revolutionary War, delegate in the Continental Congress (born 1740)source
  • 1803Arthur Guinness, Irish brewer (born 1725)source
  • 1806William Pitt the Younger, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1759)source
  • 1811Pedro Caro, 3rd Marquis of la Romanasource
  • 1812Robert Craufurd, British general (mortally wounded in battle) (born 1764)source
  • 1820Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, member of British Royal Family and father of Queen Victoria (born 1767)source
  • 1833Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, British admiral (born 1757)source
  • 1837John Field, Irish composer (born 1782)source
  • 1866Thomas Love Peacock, English satirist (born 1785)source
  • 1883Gustave Doré, French artist (born 1832)source
  • 1892Ueki Emori, revolutionary (born 1857)source
  • 1893Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar, U.S. Supreme Court justice (born 1825)source
  • 1931Anna Pavlova, Russian ballerina, died in The Hague (born 1881)source
  • 1944Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter (born 1863)source
  • 1963Mohammad Ali Bogra, Prime Minister of Pakistan (born 1909)source
  • 1976Paul Robeson, American actor, singer, writer and activist (born 1898)source
  • 1998Former president Hilla Limann dies after an illness.source
  • 2005Johnny Carson, 79, United States comedian and television host, emphysema.source
  • 2015Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, 90, Saudi royal, King (since 2005), complications from pneumonia.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
  • 2016Pablo Contessi, physician and politician.source