/year

January 24 in history

208 sourced entries recorded on January 24, from 41 CE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 41Claudius succeeds his nephew, Caligula, as emperor.source
  • 771Kʼakʼ Tiliw Chan Yopaat dedicates a 65-ton stele, the largest stone known to be quarried by the Maya civilization, at his city of Quiriguá.source
  • 901Emperor Zhao Zong of the Tang Dynasty (after he is briefly deposed by general Liu Jishu) is restored to the Chinese throne. Liu, with four eunuch family members are killed.source
  • 914The Fatimid general, Hubasa ibn Yusuf of the Kutama Berber tribe, marches out with his troops to invade Egypt. He follows the coastline, and takes possession of the only two towns of any size Syrte and Ajdabiya, without a struggle. The garrisons of the two towns—the westernmost outposts of the Abbasid Caliphate—have already fled.source
  • 1023A solar eclipse is visible from London.source
  • 1059Pope Nicholas II succeeds Stephen IX as the 155th pope of the Catholic Church. He is installed in Rome in opposition to Antipope Benedict X – the brother of the late Pope Benedict IX (deposed in 1048).source
  • 1076Synod of Worms: Emperor Henry IV, holds a synod in Worms (modern Germany). The assembly declares Pope Gregory VII deposed, and the bishops abandon their allegiance to him.source
  • 1118Pope Gelasius II succeeds Pope Paschal II as the 161st pope.source
  • 1328Philippa of Hainault marries King Edward III of England a year after his coronation. The marriage produces ten children, the eldest of whom is Edward the Black Prince.source
  • 1388Eleanor of Arborea, regent for her son Marianus V of the independent Judicate of Arborea, on the island of Sardinia, signs a peace agreement with the Crown of Aragon in Spain, ending a war between the two nations.source
  • 1389The University of Cologne (Universität zu Köln) begins operations and continues for more than 400 years before closing in 1798. It will be re-established in 1918.source
  • 1415France and England agree to extend their truce in the ongoing Burgundian War after the English Bishop of Durham and of Norwich meet with representatives of King Charles VI, prolonging a ceasefire until May 1.source
  • 1438The Council of Basel, with only 16 bishops present, votes to suspend Pope Eugene from papal authority.source
  • 1446The Battle of Arbroath takes place in Scotland as the monks of the Abbey of Arbroath dismiss Alexander Lindsay, son of the Earl of Crawford, from the position of Bailie of the Regality, and replace him with Alexander Ogilvy, Baron of Inverquharity. Lindsay attacks the abbey with fellow members of his own Clan Lindsay and the assistance of Clan Hamilton, while Ogilvy is supported by Clan Oliphant, Clan Seton, Clan Gordon and Clan Forbes. The Earl of Crawford, seeking to avert the battle, rides his horse to the battlefield in hopes of conferring with Ogilvy, but is killed by a member of Ogilvy's infantry. In the battle that follows, Clan Lindsay prevails and Ogilvy is killed.source
  • 1456After Dorino II Gattilusio seizes ownership of the Greek mainland harbor of Ainos and the islands of Samothrace and Imbros, Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II orders a blockade the port with 10 ships and leads a ground invasion. After the surrender off Ainos, Mehmed II sends his Admiral Mirza Yunus Beg commences the take control of Samothrace and Imbros.source
  • 1458Matthias Corvinus becomes king of Hungary, at age 14.source
  • 1465Chilia is conquered by Stephen the Great of Moldavia, following a second siege.source
  • 1502Commissioners from Scotland and England meet at Richmond Palace in London to finalize an agreement on the marriage between Scotland's King James IV to the daughter of England's King Henry VII, the princess Margaret Tudor, with a dowry of 35,000 Scottish Punnds and an agreement for a "treaty of perpetual peace". The marriage will be completed by proxy on January 25, 1503.source
  • 1502Commissioners from Scotland and England meet at Richmond Palace in London to finalize an agreement on the marriage between James IV of Scotland and Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII of England, with a dowry of 35,000 Scottish Punnds and an agreement for a "Treaty of Perpetual Peace". The "marriage of the thistle and the rose" will be completed by proxy the following day and in person the following year.source
  • 1503Construction of the Henry VII Chapel at Westminster Abbey begins in the perpendicular Gothic style, the final stage of English Gothic art.source
  • 1505Under the terms of the Treaty of Tordesillas, Pope Julius II sets the line of demarcation in the New World between Spain's and Portugal's territory as a line of longitude 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands. The ambiguous definition of the measure of a league places the line between 42°30' W to 49°45' W.source
  • 1507Sigismund I the Old is formally crowned King of Poland, at a ceremony in Kraków.source
  • 1508Maximilian, King of the Romans, requests permission to march to Rome through Venetian territory, but is denied and begins his Italienzug.source
  • 1536King Henry VIII of England is seriously injured when he falls from his horse at a jousting tournament in Greenwich, after which the fully armored horse falls on him. The King is unconscious for two hours, sustaining an injury to an ulcerated leg and a concussion.source
  • 1544During a solar eclipse visible over the Netherlands, Dutch mathematician and designer Gemma Frisius makes the first recorded use of a camera obscura and uses it to observe the event without directly looking at the Sun. Frisius writes about the event the next year and illustrates it in his book De Radio Astronomica et Geometrica (Regarding rays of light in astronomy and geometry).source
  • 1556In India, at the Sher Mandal in Delhi, the Mughal Emperor Humayun trips while descending the stairs from his library and strikes the side of his head against a stone step, sustaining a fatal injury. He never regains consciousness and dies seven days later.source
  • 1588War of the Polish Succession: The Battle of Pitschen takes place at Pitschen (modern Byczyna in Poland) with Polish and Lithuanian troops commanded by the Polish hetman Jan Zamoyski defending against an invading Austrian force commanded by Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria. After his army is routed, Archduke Maximilian surrenders and is taken as a prisoner of war, and will be held for more than a year until his release is compelled by the intervention of Pope Sixtus V.source
  • 1594William Shakespeare's play Titus Andronicus, is given its first performance, presented by the Admiral's Men company of players at The Rose in London.source
  • 1595Matthias of Habsburg is appointed by his brother Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, to become the Archduke of die Vorlande, the possessions of the Austrian Habsburgs in Southern Germany outside of Austria, also called Further Austria (Vorderösterreich). The appointment follows the death of their uncle, Ferdinand II. Matthias will later become Archduke of Austria (in 1608) and the Emperor in 1612.source
  • 1597Battle of Turnhout: Maurice of Nassau defeats a Spanish force under Jean de Rie of Varas, in the Netherlands.source
  • 1600Sebald de Weert makes the first recorded sighting of the Falkland Islands.source
  • 1603Anglo-Spanish War: English Admiral Christopher Newport leads an unsuccessful attempt to take the Spanish-controlled Caribbean island of Jamaica, where he was attempting to pillage the area to obtain supplies. The Spanish defenders repel the fleet, and Newport leads the attackers to the coast of Central America.source
  • 1606Gunpowder Plot: The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators, for plotting against Parliament and James I of England, begins in London. They are hanged, drawn and quartered on January 30–31.source
  • 1621Twelve days after the murder of Prince Mehmed on orders of Sultan Osman II, Constantinople is hit by bitter winter weather, leading to rioting by persons who believe that the punishment of Osman is the will of Allah.source
  • 1624Afonso Mendes, appointed by Pope Gregory XV as Prelate of Ethiopia, arrives at Massawa from Goa.source
  • 1634Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, signs a classified order dismissing Albrecht von Wallenstein, the supreme commander of the Imperial Army.source
  • 1651Parliament of Boroa in Chile: Spanish and Mapuche authorities meet at Boroa, renewing the fragile peace established at the parliaments of Quillín, in 1641 and 1647.source
  • 1656The first Jewish doctor in the Thirteen Colonies of America, Jacob Lumbrozo, arrives in Maryland.source
  • 1659Pierre Corneille's Oedipe premieres in Paris.source
  • 1679King Charles II of England dissolves the "Cavalier Parliament", after nearly 18 years.source
  • 1679King Charles II dismisses the Cavalier Parliament after nearly 18 years in an attempt to avoid the impeachment of Lord Danby by the House of Commons.source
  • 1680William Harris, one of the four English Puritans who established the Plymouth Colony and then the Providence Plantations at Rhode Island in 1636, is captured by Algerian pirates when his ship is boarded while he is making a voyage back to England. After being sold into slavery on 23 February, he remains a slave until ransom is paid. He dies in 1681, three days after his return to England.source
  • 1680William Harris, one of the four English Puritans who established the Plymouth Colony and then the Providence Plantations at Rhode Island in 1636, is captured by Algerian pirates, when his ship is boarded while he is making a voyage back to England. After being sold into slavery on February 23, he remains a slave until ransom is paid. He dies in 1681, three days after his return to England.source
  • 1682The first public theater in Brussels, the Opéra du Quai au Foin, is opened.source
  • 1695Milan's Court Theater is destroyed in a fire.source
  • 1709The Central Naval Museum was established.source
  • 1711The first performance of Francesco Gasparini's most famous opera Tamerlano takes place at the Teatro San Cassiano in Venice.source
  • 1742Charles VII becomes Holy Roman Emperor.source
  • 1744The Dagohoy rebellion in the Philippines begins, with the killing of Father Giuseppe Lamberti.source
  • 1750A fire in Istanbul destroys 10,000 homes.source
  • 1781Tolerance Act (Sweden)source
  • 1787Hamlet is played for the first time in Sweden by Andreas Widerberg at the Comediehuset in Gothenburg.source
  • 1788The La Perouse expedition in the Astrolabe and Boussole arrives off Botany Bay, just as Captain Arthur Phillip is attempting to move his colony from there to Sydney Cove in Port Jackson.source
  • 1813The Philharmonic Society of London is formed, holding its first concert on 8 March.source
  • 1813The Philharmonic Society (later the Royal Philharmonic Society) is founded in London.source
  • 1826Treaty of Washington between the United States government and the Creek National Council, in which they cede much of their land in the State of Georgia.source
  • 1835Malê Revolt: African slaves of Yoruba Muslim origin revolt against Brazilian owners at Salvador, Bahia.source
  • 1835January 24-25: The Muslim slave revolt, known as the Malê Revolt, takes place in Salvador, capital of the Province of Bahia.source
  • 1848California Gold Rush: James W. Marshall finds gold at Sutter's Mill, in Coloma, California.source
  • 1856U.S. President Franklin Pierce declares the new Free-State Topeka government in "Bleeding Kansas" to be in rebellion.source
  • 1857The University of Calcutta is established in Calcutta, as the first multidisciplinary modern university in South Asia. The University of Bombay is also established in Bombay, British India, this year.source
  • 1857University of Calcutta is founded through the Calcutta University Act.source
  • 1859January 24 (O. S.) – Under the rule of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, the provinces of Wallachia and Moldavia are united under the jurisdiction of the Ottoman Empire. It would be a principal step in forming the modern state of Romania.source
  • 1874Four pilots and two apprentices are drowned in an accident off Llanddwyn on Anglesey.source
  • 1875Camille Saint-Saëns' orchestral Danse macabre receives its première.source
  • 1878Russian revolutionary Vera Zasulich shoots at Fyodor Trepov, Governor of Saint Petersburg.source
  • 1881William Edward Forster, chief secretary for Ireland, introduces his Coercion Bill, which temporarily suspends habeas corpus so that those people suspected of committing an offence can be detained without trial; it goes through a long debate before it is accepted February 2. Note that Coercion bills had been passed almost annually in the 19th century, with a total of 105 such bills passed from 1801 to 1921.source
  • 1885Irish rebels damage Westminster Hall and the Tower of London with dynamite.source
  • 1885Irish terrorists damage Westminster Hall and the Tower of London with dynamite.source
  • 1887Battle of Dogali: Abyssinian troops defeat the Italians.source
  • 1895An effort to restore the Hawaiian monarchy ends as the former Queen Liliʻuokalani abdicates and pledges allegiance to the Republic of Hawaii.source
  • 1895Compagnie Maritime Belge foundedsource
  • 1899The Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine is founded.source
  • 1900Second Boer War: Battle of Spion Kop – Boer troops defeat the British Army.source
  • 1908Robert Baden-Powell's Scouting for Boys begins publication in London. The book eventually sells over 100 million copies, and effectively begins the worldwide Boy Scout movement.source
  • 1909The White Star Line RMS Republic sinks the day after a collision with SS Florida off Nantucket. Almost all of the 1,500 passengers are rescued.source
  • 1913Borges de Medeiros begins his second term as President of Rio Grande do Sul, taking over from Carlos Barbosa Gonçalves.source
  • 1915WWI: Battle of Dogger Bank – The British Grand Fleet defeats the German High Seas Fleet, sinking the armoured cruiser SMS Blücher.source
  • 1916In Browning, Montana, the temperature drops from +6.7 °C to −48.8 °C (44 °F to −56 °F) in one day, the greatest change ever on record for a 24-hour period.source
  • 1918January 18–25 – General strike in Austria-Hungarysource
  • 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
  • 1927U.S. Marines invade Nicaragua by orders of President Calvin Coolidge, intervening in the Nicaraguan Civil War, and remaining in the country until 1933.source
  • 1932Marshal Pietro Badoglio declares the end of Libyan resistance.source
  • 1934new constitution in effect.source
  • 1935The first canned beer is sold in Richmond, Virginia, United States, by Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company.source
  • 1938Han Fuju was sentenced to death and executed in Wuchang at 7 pm.source
  • 19391939 Chillán earthquake: An earthquake in Chile kills an estimated 30,000 people and razes about 50,000 sq mi of land.source
  • 1942A record temperature of -38.5 °C is recorded at Bod, Brașov.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
  • 1950Cold War: Klaus Fuchs, German émigré physicist, confesses to a British MI5 interrogator that he is a Soviet spy: for seven years, he passed top secret data on U.S. and British nuclear weapons research to the Soviet Union. Fuchs is formally charged on February 2.source
  • 1952Vincent Massey appointed first Canada-born Governor General of Canadasource
  • 1953Mau Mau Uprising: Rebels in Kenya kill the Ruck family (father, mother, and six-year-old son).source
  • 1953Leader of East Germany Walter Ulbricht announces that agriculture will be collectivized in East Germany.source
  • 1953The opening of Xiluo Bridge connecting Changhua County and Yunlin County.source
  • 1955Mine accident in Zonguldaksource
  • 1960A major insurrection occurs in Algiers against French colonial policy.source
  • 19611961 Goldsboro B-52 crash: A B-52 Stratofortress, carrying two nuclear bombs, crashes near Goldsboro, North Carolina.source
  • 1962The Organisation armée secrète (OAS, a right-wing paramilitary organization opposed to Algerian independence) bombs the French Foreign Ministry.source
  • 1965Syria announces that it has captured the Israeli spy Eli Cohen.source
  • 1966President Ferdinand Marcos, in his emergency address to the country, says, "We are in crisis!"source
  • 1966Air India Flight 101 crashes into Mont Blanc, killing all 117 people on board, including Homi J. Bhabha, chairman of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission.source
  • 1966Air India Flight 101 crashed into Mont Blanc killing the 117 passengers including Homi J. Bhabha who was in the flight. There was a similar aviation accident in the same spot in 1950.source
  • 1971The Guinean government sentences to death 92 Guineans who helped Portuguese troops in the failed landing attempts in November 1970; 72 are sentenced to hard labor for life; 58 of the sentenced are hanged the next day.source
  • 1974Cyclone Wanda makes landfall near Double Island Point. Large parts of South East Queensland, particularly Brisbane, and northern New South Wales are flooded.source
  • 1976Pinhas Lavon (born 1910), Austro-Hungarian (Galicia)-born Israeli politician, minister and labor leader, best known for the Lavon Affair.source
  • 1977The Massacre of Atocha occurs, during the Spanish transition to democracy.source
  • 1977Former Selangor Menteri Besar, Datuk Harun Idris was found guilty and sentenced by the High Court to six months jail for forgery and fined RM 15,000 or six months jail for abetting criminal breach of trust involving nearly RM 6.5 million worth of Bank Rakyat's stocks and sharessource
  • 1978Soviet satellite Kosmos 954 burns up in Earth's atmosphere, scattering radioactive debris over Canada's Northwest Territories.source
  • 1978The Kosmos 954 ends its missionsource
  • 1978Rose Dugdale and Eddie Gallagher become the first convicted prisoners to marry in prison since the establishment of the Republic of Ireland.source
  • 1981An earthquake of Ms magnitude in Sichuan, China, kills 150 people. Japan suffers a less serious earthquake on the same day.source
  • 1982The San Francisco 49ers defeat the Cincinnati Bengals to win Super Bowl XVI at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan.source
  • 1983January 24 – 25 members of the Red Brigades are sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1978 murder of Italian politician Aldo Moro.source
  • 1984Steve Jobs launches the Macintosh personal computer in the United States.source
  • 1984Yotam Halperin, Israeli basketball player.source
  • 1986January 13–24 – South Yemen Civil War.source
  • 1986The Voyager 2 space probe makes its first encounter with Uranus.source
  • 1986Raviv Ullman, Israeli-born American actor.source
  • 19871987 Forsyth County protests: About 20,000 protestors marched in a civil rights demonstration in Forsyth County, Georgia, United States.source
  • 1993In Turkey, thousands protest against the murder of journalist Uğur Mumcu.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 Ethiopian government denies harassing teachers and students opposed to the regime during riots in 2001.source
  • 2004Abdul Rahman Munif, authorsource
  • 2007A Sudanese airliner, Air West Flight 612, carrying 103 people, is hijacked by a lone gunman and diverted to N'Djamena, Chad. The Air West flight lands at the airport in N'Djamena and the hijacker is arrested.source
  • 2008A peace deal is signed in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, ending the Kivu conflict.source
  • 2009Muttiah Muralitharan got his 500th ODI wicket (vs Pakistan)source
  • 2011Yemen frees a female activist accused of inciting disorder after protests demanding her release.source
  • 2013The first Data Innovation Day, a day designed to raise awareness on how increased use of information can benefit individuals from the public and private sector, takes place.source
  • 2015Edgar Lungu of the ruling Patriotic Front party wins the Zambian presidential election.source
  • 2018Scientists in China report in the journal Cell the creation of the first monkey clones using somatic cell nuclear transfer, named Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua.source
  • 2018Tsz-kei Lau, the president of Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) Students' Union, and Andrew Lok-hang Chan, a fifth-year student at the HKBU School of Chinese Medicine, are suspended for violating the students' code of conduct, until a disciplinary investigation into their protest on 17 January is complete. Over 10 students, including Lau and Chan, protested at the Language Centre for 8 hours, and demanded more transparency in an exemption test for an otherwise mandatory Putonghua course. A video clip later showed Lau speaking profanity to staff members.source
  • 2022The High Court of Botswana upholds the exclusive license of Fresh Standard to cultivate cannabis, ruling that it was improperly withdrawn.source
  • 2023The United States grants Trinidad and Tobago a license to develop Venezuela’s Dragon gas field with Shell and PDVSA, aimed at boosting regional energy security.source
  • 20242024 Korochansky Ilyushin Il-76 crash: A Russian Ilyushin Il-76 military transport plane carrying (according to Russia) 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, 6 crew members, and 3 guards crashes in Russia's Korochansky District, near the Ukrainian border, killing everyone on board.source
  • 2025A series of ongoing boycotts in Southeastern European countries took place of several retail stores in that region, in response to raised food prices and alleged price fixing.source
  • 2025Storm Éowyn hits Ireland and the United Kingdom. Record high wind speeds of 183 km/h are recorded in Ireland, while over a million homes are left without power.source

Births

  • 76Hadrian, Roman emperor (died 138)source
  • 1256Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, Spanish nobleman (died 1309)source
  • 1287Richard Aungerville, English bishop (died 1345)source
  • 1444Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan (died 1476)source
  • 1544Gillis van Coninxloo, Flemish painter (died 1607)source
  • 1547Joanna of Austria, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Austrian Archduchess (died 1578)source
  • 1556Christian Barnekow, Danish noble, explorer and diplomat (died 1612)source
  • 1619Yamazaki Ansai, Japanese philosopher (died 1682)source
  • 1643Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset, English poet and courtier (died 1706)source
  • 1664John Vanbrugh, English architect and dramatist (died 1726)source
  • 166424 January (bapt.) – John Vanbrugh, playwright and architect (died 1726)source
  • 1670William Congreve, English playwright (died 1729)source
  • 1674Thomas Tanner, English bishop and antiquarian (died 1735)source
  • 1679Christian Wolff, German philosopher (died 1754)source
  • 1684Charles Alexander, Duke of Württemberg, regent of the Kingdom of Serbia (1720–1733) (died 1737)source
  • 1705Farinelli, Italian castrato (died 1782)source
  • 1712Frederick the Great, King of Prussia (1740–1786) (died 1786)source
  • 1732Pierre de Beaumarchais, French writer (died 1799)source
  • 1733Benjamin Lincoln, major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and politician (died 1810)source
  • 1746King Gustav III of Sweden (died 1792)source
  • 1749Charles James Fox, English politician (died 1806)source
  • 1752Muzio Clementi, Italian composer, pianist (died 1832)source
  • 1763Louis Alexandre Andrault de Langeron, Russian general (died 1831)source
  • 1763Peder von Cappelen, merchant and politician (died 1837).source
  • 1776E. T. A. Hoffmann, German writer, composer and painter (died 1822)source
  • 1824João Manuel Mena Barreto, brigadiersource
  • 1862Edith Wharton, American fiction writer (died 1937)source
  • 1881André Godard, French archeologist and architect.source
  • 1884Thomas Blamey, Australian field marshal (died 1951)source
  • 1891Walter Model, German field marshal (died 1945)source
  • 1932Jaan Puhvel, linguist (died 2026)source
  • 1953Moon Jae-in, 19th President of South Koreasource
  • 1953Moon Jae-in, former South Korean presidentsource
  • 1965Kim Sung-moon, wrestlersource
  • 1987Luis Suárez, Uruguayan football playersource
  • 2012Countess Athena of Monpezatsource

Deaths

  • 41Caligula, Roman emperor (assassinated) (born 12 AD)source
  • 41Caligula, known for his eccentricity and cruel despotism, is assassinated by his disgruntled Praetorian Guards.source
  • 41Julia Drusilla, daughter of Caligula (assassinated) (born 39 AD)source
  • 41Milonia Caesonia, wife of Caligula (assassinated) (born 6 AD)source
  • 772Pope Stephen III dies after a 3½-year reign, in which he has approved the acceptable reverence of icons in the Eastern Church. On February 1 he is succeeded by Adrian I (also referred to as Hadrian) as the 95th pope of Rome.source
  • 817Stephen IV, pope of the Catholic Churchsource
  • 817Pope Stephen IV dies at Rome after a 7-month reign, and is succeeded by Paschal I as the 98th pope of the Catholic Church.source
  • 847Pope Sergius II dies of gout after a 3-year reign.source
  • 901Liu Jishu, general of the Tang Dynastysource
  • 1046Eckard II, Margrave of Meissen (or Ekkehard), German nobleman (born 985)source
  • 1121Adeliza of Louvain, age 17, marries King Henry I of England two months after the accidental death of the heir to the English throne, Henry's only legitimate son, William Adelin.source
  • 1125David IV (the Builder), king of Georgia (born 1073)source
  • 1148Ascelin (or Anselm), English bishopsource
  • 1157January 24 or January 25 – Agnes of Babenberg, Politically active High Duchess consort of Poland (born 1111)source
  • 1165William of Ypres, Flemish nobleman (born 1090)source
  • 1175Ibn Asakir, Syrian historian and mystic (born 1105)source
  • 1276Walram II, Count of Nassau, German nobleman (born 1220)source
  • 1376Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel, English military leadersource
  • 1473Conrad Paumann, German composer (born c. 1410)source
  • 1595Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria, regent of Tyrol and Further Austria (born 1529)source
  • 1626Samuel Argall, English adventurer and naval officer (born 1580)source
  • 1639Georg Jenatsch, Swiss politician (born 1596)source
  • 1692King William's War – Candlemas Massacre: At least 75 residents of what is now York, Maine are killed by French soldiers, led by missionary Louis-Pierre Thury, along with a larger force of Abenaki and Penobscot Indians, under the command of Penobscot Chief Madockawando.source
  • 1709George Rooke, English admiral (born 1650)source
  • 1738Samuel Andrew, American Congregational clergyman, educator (born 1656)source
  • 1768Morten Leuch, timber merchant and landowner (born 1732).source
  • 1822Ali Pasha of Yanina, ruler of European Turkey (born 1741)source
  • 1895Lord Randolph Churchill, British statesman (born 1849)source
  • 1945WWII: AP war correspondent Joseph Morton, nine OSS men, and four SOE agents are executed by the Germans at Mauthausen concentration camp under Hitler's Commando Order of 1942, which stipulates the immediate execution of all captured Allied commandos or saboteurs without trial, even those in proper uniforms. Morton is the only Allied correspondent to be executed by the Axis during the war.source
  • 1965Sir Winston Churchill, British politician and statesman, twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, World War II leader, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature (born 1874)source
  • 1972A month after bringing the Emirate of Sharjah into the United Arab Emirates, the emir, Khalid bin Mohammed Al Qasimi was assassinated in a coup attempt by the previous ruler, Saqr bin Sultan al-Qasimi, whom Khalid had overthrown in 1965. Saqr failed to regain the throne, and Sharjah has been ruled since then by Khalid's brother, Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi.source
  • 1982Alfredo Ovando Candía, 63, 48th president of Bolivia (born 1918)source
  • 1986L. Ron Hubbard, 74, American author (Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, Battlefield Earth), founder of the Church of Scientology, complications from a stroke.source
  • 1989Ted Bundy, 42, American serial killer, executed.source
  • 2003Gianni Agnelli, 81, Italian entrepreneur and president of Fiat, prostate cancer.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