/year

January 6 in history

255 sourced entries recorded on January 6, from 255 CE to 2022 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 303Baptism of Tiridates III of Armenia.source
  • 727Ucha'an K'in B'alam becomes the new ruler of the Mayan city state at Dos Pilas in Guatemala after the death of Itzamnaaj K'awiil and reigns until 741.source
  • 878Battle of Chippenham: King Alfred the Great of Wessex is surprised by a Viking attack at Chippenham in Wiltshire. He is forced to flee, with his retinue, into the Somerset Levels for safety. From his headquarters at Athelney, Alfred wages guerrilla warfare against the Vikings.source
  • 1017Cnut ("the Great") is crowned king of England. In July he marries Emma of Normandy, the widow of Æthelred the Unready, securing his ties with Normandy.source
  • 1066Harold Godwinson (now known as Harold II) is crowned king of England, probably in the new Westminster Abbey, where Edward the Confessor's funeral took place not long before the coronation.source
  • 1083A Castilian army, under Count Gonzalo Salvadórez and his son-in-law Ramiro Garcés, Lord of Calahorra, child of the late King García Sánchez III of Pamplona, enters the surrendered bastion of Rueda, but are then treacherously set upon and killed. Gonzalo, Ramiro, and Ramiro's illegitimate half-brother Sancho Garcés are among the many nobles to lose their lives, in what will be remembered as the 'disaster' or 'treachery of Rueda'.source
  • 1205Philip of Swabia becomes King of the Romans and is crowned again with great ceremony at Aachen by Archbishop Adolf of Cologne. After several threats, Adolf is removed from office by Pope Innocent III and excommunicated, on July 19. Philip is able to increasingly assert his kingship against Otto of Brunswick (who is also crowned king of Germany) in the northern parts of the Alps.source
  • 1285Archbishop Jakub Świnka organizes a synod in Łęczyca. During the meeting, he orders all priests who are subject to his bishopric to deliver their sermons in Polish rather than German. This further unifies the Catholic Church in Poland and fosters a national identity.source
  • 1286The 17-year-old Philip IV (the Fair) is crowned king of France at Reims. He settles the Aragonese conflict, and intensifies his predecessors' efforts to reform and rationalize the administration of the realm. Philip persists in reforms, which strengthen the monarchy's position in Europe. The gabelle – a tax on salt in the form of a state monopoly – will become immensely unpopular and grossly unequal, but persist until 1790.source
  • 1300In the Middle East, Mahmud Ghazan, designated by the Mongol Empire to be the Ilkhanate ruler of what is now Iran, completes the conquest of Damascus.source
  • 1309The coronation of Henry of Luxemburg as "King of the Romans", the person first-in-line to succeed the Holy Roman Emperor, takes place at Aachen (now in Germany). He will become the Emperor in 1312.source
  • 1311Henry VII, the future Holy Roman Emperor, is crowned King of Italy in Milan with a mock-up of the Iron crown of Lombardy. The Tuscan Guelphs refuse to attend the ceremony and begin preparing for resistance against Henry's rule. Henry approves the despotic regimes of Matteo I Visconti in Milan and Cangrande I della Scala in Verona. The cities of Piedmont and Lombardy submit to Henry – in accordance with the proclaimed program of peace and justice. Florence and their Guelph (anti-imperialist) allies in Tuscany and Romagna move to defend themselves against Henry's accession.source
  • 1322Stephen Uroš III Dečanski becomes king of Serbia, having defeated his half-brother Stefan Konstantin in battle. He is crowned by Archbishop Nikodim I, and his 14-year-old son Stefan Dušan becomes co-ruler of Serbia. This is the first coronation for a "young king" in Serbia. Dečanski later grants him the province of Zeta as a fief, indicating his intention for Dušan to be his heir.source
  • 1355Charles IV of Bohemia is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy as King of Italy in Milan.source
  • 1372The coronation of Peter the Fat as King Peter II of Cyprus takes place in Nicosia at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Sophia (now the Selimiye Mosque). Peter had become the ruler of Cyprus at age 14 upon the death of his father, King Peter I.source
  • 1378At the Great Hall of the Conciergerie in Paris, King Charles V of France hosts the Banquet of the Three Kings with his uncle, Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and the Emperor's son, Wenzel the Idle, King of the Romans as his guests (along with 800 German and French knights), to celebrate the friendship between the nations. The banquet, held on the day of the Feast of the Epiphany, has three courses, with 10 dishes in each course.source
  • 1386Officials from the Swiss Canton of Lucerne, arrive in the village of Sempach, at the time under control of Austria and the Habsburg family, and offer Swiss citizenship and rights. Lucerne's representatives enter into similar pacts with other Austrian-controlled towns, including Meienberg, and bring with them soldiers from the Swiss Confederacy.source
  • 1398In Amberg, Ruprecht III "the Righteous" of the House of Wittelsbach becomes the new Elector of the Palatinate within the Holy Roman Empire upon the death of his father, Ruprecht II "the Hard".source
  • 1401Rupert, King of Germany, is crowned King of the Romans at Cologne.source
  • 1423The Electorate of Saxony merges with the Margravate of Meissen and the Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg.source
  • 1429The Congress of Lutsk opens in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the castle of Liubartas in Lutsk. In addition to the Lithuanian nobles gathered there with the Supreme Duke of Lithuania Władysław II Jagiełło and the Grand Duke Vytautas, the Congress is attended by Sigismund, King of Germany, Bohemia, Hungary and Croatia; Erik VII, King of Denmark; a Komtur of the Teutonic Knights; Vasily II, Grand Prince of Moscow; Boris, Duke of Tver; Ivan III, Duke of Ryazan; the Voivode Dan II of Wallachia; and representatives of the Pope, the Byzantine Empire and Moldavia, to discuss the coronation of Vytautas as the King of Lithuania, as well as the siege of Moldavia, entering a against the Ottoman Empire, the ongoing war between Denmark and the Hanseatic League, religious unions and divisions, and assorted economic, trade, and tax-related issues.source
  • 1432The siege of Pouancé is undertaken by Duke John V of Brittany, against his nephew John II, Duke of Alençon, as part of a conflict involving the payment of a dowry. The siege lasts until February 22 when Alençon surrenders.source
  • 1432The siege of Pouancé begins during the Hundred Years' Warsource
  • 1440Ludovico becomes the new Duke of Savoy upon the abdication of his father Amadeus VIII.source
  • 1449Constantine XI Palaiologos is crowned Byzantine Emperor at Mistra; he will be the last in a line of rulers that can be traced to the founding of Rome.source
  • 1454Mehmed II, the Muslim Sultan of the Ottoman empire, restores the Christian Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople, and appoints the Byzantine Greek theologian Gennadius Scholarius as the Patriarch Gennadius II.source
  • 1456After two years as Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, the Eastern Orthodox Christian partriarch in the Islamic Ottoman Empire, Gennadius Scholarius resigns, and Isidore II is elected to replace him.source
  • 1464The first assembly ever of the States General of the Netherlands is held as representatives from at least 17 provinces of the Burgundian Netherlands gather at Bruges. At least 81 delegates come from the clergy, nobility and general public from the Duchy of Brabant, the County of Flanders, Lille, Douai and Orchies, the County of Artois, the County of Hainaut, the County of Holland, the County of Zeeland, the County of Namur, the Lordship of Mechelen, and the Boulonnais, all with the reluctant assent of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy.source
  • 1474At the age of one year and nine months, Bianca Maria Sforza, the daughter of the Duke of Milan, Galeazzo Maria Sforza, is betrothed to the 9-year-old, Philibert I of Savoy, as part of an alliance between the two independent Italian duchies.source
  • 1478At Tabriz, Khalil Mirza is proclaimed the Sultan of Aq Qoyunlu (now in Iran) after the death of his father, Uzun Hasan. Khalil is overthrown by his brother Ya'qub in July.source
  • 1492Ferdinand and Isabella enter Granada.source
  • 1494December 31 – January 6: peaceful French entry into Rome with Pope Alexander VI's permission, but some French looting takes place.source
  • 1529Basarab VI is installed as the new Prince of Wallachia (now in Romania) in the capital at Târgoviște, days after the assassination of the Voivode Radu of Afumați by the other boyars (Wallachian nobles). Basarab's reign lasts only a month and he is removed on February 5.source
  • 1536The Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco, the oldest European school of higher learning in the Americas, is established by Franciscans in Mexico City.source
  • 1540King Henry VIII marries Anne of Cleves, his fourth Queen consort; the marriage lasts six months.source
  • 1542In the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico, the Spanish colonists create the new town of Mérida.source
  • 1550Spanish Captain Hernando de Santana founds the city of Valledupar, in modern-day Colombia.source
  • 1557Italian War of 1551–1559: Gaspard II de Coligny, the French governor of Picardy (in northern France), launches surprise attacks on Douai and Lens in the Spanish Netherlands and captures both cities for France.source
  • 1562Shane O'Neill of Tír Eoghain pleads his cause at the Palace of Whitehall in London, before Queen Elizabeth I of England, who recognises his status. He returns to Ireland on May 26, and resumes his rebellious activities by November.source
  • 1562Shane O'Neill pleads his cause at the Palace of Whitehall in London before Elizabeth I of England, who recognises him as "The O'Neill" and "of Tír Eoghain". He returns to Ireland on 26 May.source
  • 1568In the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom, the delegates of Unio Trium Nationum to the Diet of Torda convene in a session that ends on January 13, during which freedom of religion is debated.source
  • 1579The Union of Arras unites the southern Netherlands under the Duke of Parma, governor in the name of king Philip II of Spain.source
  • 1590García Hurtado de Mendoza becomes the new Viceroy of Peru (nominally including most of South America except for Brazil). He will serve until 1596.source
  • 1592Hugh Roe O'Donnell and the brothers Art and Henry O'Neill escape from Dublin Castle. With the assistance of Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone, O'Donnell reaches refuge in the stronghold of Fiach MacHugh O'Byrne at Glenmalure in the Wicklow Mountains, but loses both big toes to frostbite, while Art O'Neill dies of exposure (See: Art O'Neill Challenge). Hugh's father, Aodh mac Maghnusa Ó Domhnaill, abdicates as An Ó Domhnaill (The O'Donnell) and King of Tír Chonaill in his son's favour at the instance of his second wife (Hugh's mother) Iníon Dubh.source
  • 1596Drake's Assault on Panama: Sir Francis Drake, General Thomas Baskerville and an English force of 15 ships land at the Atlantic Ocean port of Nombre de Dios in an attempt to capture the Isthmus of Panama.source
  • 1610Nossa Senhora da Graça incident: A Portuguese carrack sinks near Nagasaki, after fighting Japanese samurai for four nights.source
  • 1612Axel Oxenstierna becomes Lord High Chancellor of Sweden. He persuades the Riksdag of the Estates to grant the Swedish nobility the right and privilege to hold all higher offices of government.source
  • 1612Axel Oxenstierna becomes the Lord High Chancellor of the Privy Council.source
  • 1618Jahangir, ruler of the Mughal Empire in northern India, gives an audience for the first time to a representative of the British East India Company, receiving Sir Thomas Roe at the capital at Ahmedabad.source
  • 1618Ben Jonson's play Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue is given its premiere performance, presented at the Palace of Whitehall in London.source
  • 16226 January (probably) – the Banqueting House, Whitehall, is opened with a performance of Ben Jonson's The Masque of Augurs designed by the building's architect, Inigo Jones.source
  • 1624Étienne Ier d'Aligre becomes Keeper of the Seals of France.source
  • 1640The Siege of Salses in Catalonia ends almost six months after it had started on June 9, 1639, with the French defenders surrendering to the Spanish attackers.source
  • 1653a law declares any Roman Catholic priest in Ireland to be guilty of treason.source
  • 1654In India, Jaswant Singh of Marwar (in the modern-day state of Rajasthan) is elevated to the title of Maharaja by Emperor Shah Jahan.source
  • 1660The Rump Parliament passes a resolution requesting Colonel Monck to come to London "as speedily as he could", followed by a resolution of approval on January 12 and a vote of thanks and annual payment of 1,000 pounds sterling for his lifetime on January 16.source
  • 1661The Fifth Monarchists, led by Thomas Venner, unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London; George Monck's regiment defeats them.source
  • 1661the Fifth Monarchists unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London. George Monck's regiment defeats them.source
  • 1677Larvik Church was consecrated.source
  • 1683The tragic opera Phaëton, written by Jean-Baptiste Lully and Philippe Quinault, is premiered at the Palace of Versailles.source
  • 1685American-born British citizen Elihu Yale, for whom Yale University in the U.S. is named, completes his term as the first leader of the Madras Presidency in India, administering the colony on behalf of the East India Company, and is succeeded by William Gyfford.source
  • 1690At the age of 11 years old, Prince Joseph, son of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, is named as "King of the Romans", the next in line to become the Emperor.source
  • 1691King William III of England, who rules Scotland and Ireland as well as being the Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, departs from Margate to tend to the affairs of the Netherlands.source
  • 1709Western Europe's Great Frost of 1709, the coldest period in 500 years, begins during the night, lasting three months, with its effects felt for the entire year. In France, the Atlantic coast and Seine River freeze, crops fail, and 24,000 Parisians die. Floating ice enters the North Sea.source
  • 1709Western Europe's Great Frost of 1709, the coldest period in 500 years, begins during the night, lasting three months, with its effects felt for the entire year. In France, the Atlantic coast and Seine River freeze, crops fail, and 24,000 Parisians die. Floating ice enters the North Sea.source
  • 1721The Committee of Inquiry on the collapse of the South Sea Company in Great Britain publishes its findings.source
  • 1721The Committee of Inquiry on the collapse of the South Sea Company publishes its findings.source
  • 1725J. S. Bach leads the first performance of Liebster Immanuel, Herzog der Frommen, BWV 123, a chorale cantata for Epiphany.source
  • 1727Martin Spanberg and two other members of the First Kamchatka expedition arrive in Okhotsk, after a journey from Saint Petersburg of almost two years. After the end of winter, the 63-member group, commanded by Vitus Bering, proceeds to the Kamchatka River, to prepare for exploration of the Arctic.source
  • 1744The Royal Navy ship Bacchus engages the Spanish Navy privateer Begona, and sinks it; 90 of the 120 Spanish sailors die, but 30 of the crew are rescued.source
  • 1759George Washington marries Martha Dandridge Custis.source
  • 1781Battle of Jersey: British troops prevent the French from occupying Jersey in the Channel Islands.source
  • 1784Treaty of Constantinople: The Ottoman Empire agrees to Russia's annexation of the Crimea.source
  • 1786The outward bound East Indiaman Halsewell is wrecked on the south coast of England in a storm, with only 74 of more than 240 on board surviving.source
  • 1786the outward bound East Indiaman Halsewell is wrecked on the Isle of Purbeck in a storm with only 74 of more than 240 on board surviving.source
  • 1787The North Carolina General Assembly authorizes nine commissioners to purchase 100 acres of land for the county seat of Chatham County. The town is named Pittsborough (later shortened to Pittsboro) for William Pitt the Younger.source
  • 1804Mathias Bonsach Krogh became the first Bishop of the Diocese of Hålogaland.source
  • 1816(December 25, 1815 on the Russian Julian calendar): Tsar Alexander I of Russia signs an order, expelling the Jesuits from St. Petersburg and Moscow.source
  • 1818The Treaty of Mandeswar brings an end to the Third Anglo-Maratha War, ending the dominance of Marathas, and enhancing the power of the British East India Company, which controls territory occupied by 180 million Indians.source
  • 1818Treaty of Mandasor is signed between the British and the Marathas.source
  • 1818Treaty of Mundosir annexes Indore and the Rajput states to the British East India Company.source
  • 1818opening of General Post Office (Dublin).source
  • 1832Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison founds the New-England Anti-Slavery Society.source
  • 1838January 6–11 – Samuel Morse first publicly demonstrates electric telegraphy, at Morristown, New Jersey, assisted by Alfred Vail and using dots and dashes, the forerunner of Morse code.source
  • 1839Night of the Big Wind: Ireland is struck by the most damaging cyclone in 300 years.source
  • 1842January 6–13 – First Anglo-Afghan War – Massacre of Elphinstone's army (Battle of Gandamak): British East India Company troops are destroyed by Afghan forces on the road from Kabul to Jalalabad, Afghanistan, by Akbar Khan, son of Dost Mohammad Khan.source
  • 1843Antarctic explorer James Clark Ross discovers Snow Hill Island.source
  • 1843Antarctic explorer James Clark Ross discovers Snow Hill Island.source
  • 1853President-elect Franklin Pierce and his family are involved in a train wreck near Andover, Massachusetts. Pierce's 11-year-old son Benjamin is killed in the crash.source
  • 1853Florida Governor Thomas Brown signs legislation that provides public support for the new East Florida Seminary, leading to the establishment of the University of Florida.source
  • 1853East Florida Seminary is established; it is the oldest institution of what later becomes the University of Florida.source
  • 1854The fictional detective Sherlock Holmes is perhaps born.source
  • 1862French intervention in Mexico: French, Spanish and British forces arrive in Veracruz, Mexico.source
  • 1866Ottoman troops clash with supporters of Maronite leader Youssef Bey Karam, at St. Doumit in Lebanon; the Ottomans are defeated.source
  • 1868Asa Mercer and a number of new "Mercer Girls" sail from Massachusetts for the West Coast, arriving in Seattle on May 23.source
  • 1870The Musikverein, Vienna, is inaugurated in Austria-Hungary.source
  • 1886January 5–9 – Robert Louis Stevenson's novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is published in New York and London.source
  • 1889the Faroese Society is formed.source
  • 1890A state funeral is held for the former Empress Teresa Cristina of Brazil, in Lisbon. A mass is attended by members of several European royal families.source
  • 1893The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress; the charter is signed by President Benjamin Harrison.source
  • 1895The Wilcox rebellion, an attempt led by Robert Wilcox to overthrow the Republic of Hawaii and restore the Kingdom of Hawaii, begins with royalist troops landing at Waikiki Beach in O'ahu and clashing with republican defenders. The rebellion ends after three days and the remaining 190 royalists are taken prisoners of war.source
  • 1896Cecil Rhodes is forced to resign as Prime Minister of the Cape of Good Hope for his involvement in the Jameson Raid.source
  • 1896Cecil Rhodes is forced to resign as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony for his involvement in the Jameson Raid.source
  • 1900Second Boer War: Boers attempt to end the Siege of Ladysmith, which leads to the Battle of Platrand.source
  • 1900In Merionethshire, for the first time in centuries, the sword of the Gorsedd bards is solemnly unsheathed. "The chief bard invoked the blessing of God on British arms in South Africa, and announced that the sword would not be sheathed again till the triumph of the forces of righteousness over the hordes of evil."source
  • 1902Lars Hertervig, painter (born 1830)source
  • 1904The Tasmanian government replaces the state's Central Board of Health with a Public Health Department.source
  • 1905The Lick Observatory announces the discovery on 3 December 1904 of a sixth moon of Jupiter, made by their astronomer Charles D. Perrine.source
  • 1907Education reformer Maria Montessori opens her first Casa dei Bambini, or Children's House, in Rome.source
  • 1910Abé people in the French West Africa colony of Côte d'Ivoire rise against the colonial administration; the rebellion is brutally suppressed by the military.source
  • 1912New Mexico becomes the 47th U.S. state.source
  • 1912Due to a violation of article 379 of the Penal Code, Bishop of the Algarve was prohibited from residing in his diocese for two years by Ministry of Justice António Macieira.source
  • 1912German geophysicist Alfred Wegener first presents his theory of continental drift.source
  • 1912First aircraft crash in Australia, between Mount Druitt and Rooty Hill.source
  • 1926Deutsche Luft Hansa is formed by the merger of Deutsche Aero Lloyd and Junkers Luftverkehrsource
  • 19296 January Dictatorship: King Alexander of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes suspends his country's constitution.source
  • 1929Albanian missionary sister Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, later known as Mother Teresa, arrives in Calcutta from Ireland to begin her work in India.source
  • 1929The abbey on Caldey Island is handed over by the Benedictine order to its new owners, Belgian Cistercians.source
  • 1929Mother Teresa arrives in Kolkata to work amongst poor and sicksource
  • 1930An early literary character licensing agreement is signed by A. A. Milne, granting Stephen Slesinger U.S. and Canadian merchandising rights to the Winnie-the-Pooh works.source
  • 1930Don Bradman scores a record 452 not out in one cricket innings.source
  • 1936Barbara Hanley is elected mayor of Webbwood, Ontario, becoming the first female mayor in Canadasource
  • 1938Construction brand, Kumagai Gumi (熊谷組) has founded in Fukui City.source
  • 1939Otto Hahn's discoveries in the field of nuclear fission are published in Naturwissenschaften.source
  • 1940WWII: Winter War – General Semyon Timoshenko takes command of all Soviet forces.source
  • 1941During his State of the Union address, President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt presents his Four Freedoms, as fundamental global human rights.source
  • 1941The keel of battleship USS Missouri is laid at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn.source
  • 1945Five Hawker Hind aircraft leave Kabul for Jalalabad; they will carry out reconnaissance once every two weeks and return in April.source
  • 1950The United Kingdom recognizes the People's Republic of China; the Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with Britain in response.source
  • 19521952 Beit Jala Raid: an attack committed by an unknown Israeli party who blew up several houses in the West Bank town Beit Jala, killing between six and seven Palestinian-Arabs, including two children. According to leaflets distributed in the scene of the crime, the attack was carried out in retaliation for the rape and murder of a Jewish girl on 4 December 1951. Israel denied involvement in what it called "this sad affair", and voted to condemn the raid.source
  • 1953The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma.source
  • 1953Godfrey Bowen sets a world sheep shearing record, shearing 456 sheep in nine hours.source
  • 1958Shlomo Glickstein, former Israeli tennis player.source
  • 1959The International Maritime Organization is inaugurated.source
  • 1964A British firm, the Leyland Motor Corp., announces the sale of 450 buses to the Cuban government, challenging the United States blockade of Cuba.source
  • 1964The governor of West Pakistan bans opposition party Jamaat-e-Islami, and its leader, Abul A'la Maududi, is arrested.source
  • 1967Two pilgrimage buses fall into a ravine in Indang, Cavite, killing more than 84 passengers.source
  • 1977The first anniversary of the establishment of Democratic Kampuchea as the totalitarian society since the Fall of Phnom Penh after the Cambodian Civil War had ended, China and North Korea provided a significant support to Angkar and the Khmer Rouge, with China as the main backer while North Korea became lesser extent by its diplomatic relations with a very strong support of Communist allies who learned the same lines with Marxist-Leninist ideology in the Far East.source
  • 1978The Holy Crown of Hungary (also known as Stephen of Hungary Crown) is returned to Hungary from the United States, where it was held since World War II.source
  • 1979Geylang Bahru family murders: Four children, aged five to ten, are brutally killed in Geylang Bahru, Singapore.source
  • 1980Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC.source
  • 1980The 1979–80 Four Hills Tournament concludes at the Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze in Bischofshofen. The event has a record field of competitors from 19 countries.source
  • 1981A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz following his death on December 24.source
  • 1982According to Japan Coast Guard official confirmed report, a fishing boat, Akebono Maru No.28 sank with high waves caused by stormy weather in Bering Sea, 32 crew were perished.source
  • 1983Pope John Paul II appoints a bishop over the Czechoslovak exile community, which the Rudé právo newspaper calls a "provocation." This begins a year-long disagreement between the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and the Vatican, leading to the eventual restoration of diplomatic relations between the two states.source
  • 1992The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is proclaimed by the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh.source
  • 19921991–92 Georgian coup d'état: President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia flees the country as a result of the military coup.source
  • 1993January 6–20 – The Bombay riots take place in Mumbai.source
  • 1993Douglas Hurd is the first high-ranking British official to visit Argentina since the Falklands War.source
  • 1996A landslide blocked the North–South Expressway (NSE) near Gua Tempurung, Perak.source
  • 1998The Lunar Prospector spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently shadowed craters near the Moon's poles.source
  • 1999Rebels and government forces continue to clash over the capital of Freetown. The United Kingdom encourages their citizens to leave Sierra Leone.source
  • 2000The last naturally conceived Pyrenean ibex is found dead, presumed to have been killed by a falling tree.source
  • 2002The Boston Globe publishes results of an investigation leading to the criminal prosecutions of five Roman Catholic priests and bringing widespread attention to the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy.source
  • 2003The discovery of OGLE-TR-56b, the first exoplanet to be discovered through transit photometry, is announced.source
  • 2004Pakistan is cited as the source of nuclear weapon technology supplied to Libya, Iran and North Korea. The components intercepted at sea by Italy en route to Libya were fabricated in Malaysia. There is no evidence that the Pakistani government of President Pervez Musharraf knew about the transfer of technology of Libya.source
  • 2010Yemen arrests three suspected al-Qaeda members, including one leader, northwest of the capital Sana'a.source
  • 2012Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller announces that the country is to become a republic, with plans to remove Queen Elizabeth II as head of state and the Jamaican monarchy in general.source
  • 2015January 3–7 – A series of massacres in Baga, Nigeria and surrounding villages by Boko Haram kills more than 2,000 people.source
  • 2015Anti-government protests begin with a demonstration by "Thirrjet e nënave" ("The call of mothers") at the Serbian Orthodox Church in Gjakova.source
  • 2019Thousands of Orthodox Christians dived into icy rivers and lakes throughout the country to retrieve crucifixes placed by priests in the water to celebrate Epiphany.source
  • 2020Day of Kings (Dia de Reyes), national holidaysource
  • 2021Supporters of US President Donald Trump attack the US Capitol, disrupting certification of the 2020 presidential election, and forcing both houses of Congress to evacuate. Five people die during the ensuing riot. The event is classified as a domestic terrorist attack, and draws international condemnation.source
  • 2022The CSTO deploys a "peacekeeping" mission in Kazakhstan, including Russian paratroopers, following a request by Kazakh president Tokayev.source

Births

  • 255Marcellus I, bishop of Rome (died 309)source
  • 1156Matilda of England, daughter of Henry II (died 1189)source
  • 1256Gertrude the Great, German mystic (died 1302)source
  • 1290Otto Bodrugan, English landowner and politician (died 1331)source
  • 1321William de Greystoke, English landowner (died 1359)source
  • 1367King Richard II of England (died 1400)source
  • 1412Joan of Arc, French soldier and patron saint of France (tradition holds that she was born on the Feast of the Epiphany, but there is no documentary evidence) (died 1431)source
  • 1453Girolamo Benivieni, Italian poetsource
  • 1486Martin Agricola, German Renaissance composer and music theorist (died 1556)source
  • 1488Helius Eobanus Hessus, German Latin poet (died 1540)source
  • 1493Olaus Petri, Swedish clergyman (died 1552)source
  • 1500John of Ávila, Spanish mystic and saint (died 1569)source
  • 1534Pavao Skalić, Croatian encyclopedist, Renaissance humanist and adventurer (died 1575)source
  • 1538Jane Dormer, English lady-in-waiting to Mary I (died 1612)source
  • 1568Henri Spondanus, French historian (died 1643)source
  • 1581Countess Palatine Dorothea of Simmern, Princess consort of Anhalt-Dessau (died 1631)source
  • 1587Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares, Spanish politician (died 1645)source
  • 1615Richard Waldron, colonial settler, acting President of the Province of New Hampshire (died 1689)source
  • 1617Christoffer Gabel, statesman (died 1673)source
  • 1655Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg, Holy Roman Empress (died 1720)source
  • 1673James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, Member of Parliament (died 1744)source
  • 1729Anne Penny, née Hughes, poet (died 1784)source
  • 1766José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, Supreme Leader of Paraguay (died 1840)source
  • 1778Thomas Lincoln, Farmer, Carpenter (died 1851)source
  • 1778Thomas Lincoln, farmer and father of President Abraham Lincoln (died 1851)source
  • 1799Jedediah Smith, American fur trapper, explorer (died 1831)source
  • 1799Jedediah Smith, explorer, hunter, trapper and fur trader (died 1831)source
  • 1811Charles Sumner, American senator, civil rights activist (died 1874)source
  • 1822Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist (died 1890)source
  • 1822Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist (died 1890)source
  • 1849Nezam Al Olama Estahbanati, Islamic jurist and scholar.source
  • 1850Eduard Bernstein, German social democratic theoretician, politician (died 1932)source
  • 1858Mirza Ali Asghar Khan Amin al-Soltan, Prime Minister of Iran.source
  • 1872Alexander Scriabin, Russian composer (died 1915)source
  • 1920Sun Myung Moon, Korean evangelist, founder of the Unification Church (died 2012)source
  • 1936Nida Blanca, Filipina actress (died 2001)source
  • 1939Valeriy Lobanovskyi, Ukrainian footballer, manager (died 2002)source
  • 2021Nieves ("Snow"), a white Bengal tiger, born at the zoo near Managua.source

Deaths

  • 429Honoratus, archbishop of Arlessource
  • 664'Amr ibn al-'As, Arab generalsource
  • 884Hasan ibn Zayd, Muslim emir of Tabaristansource
  • 884Hasan ibn Zayd, founder of the Zaydid Dynasty, dies after a 20-year reign at Amul. He is succeeded by his brother Muhammad, as emir of Tabaristan.source
  • 1083Gonzalo Salvadórez, Spanish noblemansource
  • 1083Sancho Garcés, Spanish noblemansource
  • 1083Ramiro Garcés, Spanish noblemansource
  • 1088Berengar of Tours, French theologiansource
  • 1148William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey (born 1119)source
  • 1148Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke (born 1100)source
  • 1196Burchard du Puiset, Norman archdeaconsource
  • 1233Matilda of Chester, Countess of Huntingdon (or Maud), English noblewoman (born 1171)source
  • 1272Alfonso of Molina, Leonese prince (born 1202)source
  • 1275Raymond of Penyafort, Spanish priest (born 1175)source
  • 1337James Butler, 1st Earl of Ormonde.source
  • 1350Giovanni I di Murta, second doge of the Republic of Genoasource
  • 1358Gertrude van der Oosten, Dutch beguinesource
  • 1370January 6 – 11 (Tubah 1086 AM) Pope Gabriel IV is consecrated as the new leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church for the Coptic Christians of Egypt, and assumes the title of Bishop of Alexandria, succeeding the late Pope Yoannis X, who had died eight months earlier.source
  • 1382Basalawarmi, the Yuan dynasty Prince of Liang (now in the Henan province), commits suicide at his palace in Kaifeng after having been forced to retreat from the Ming dynasty armies.source
  • 1387Peter IV of Aragon (born 1319)source
  • 1398Rupert II, Elector Palatine (born 1325)source
  • 1406Roger Walden, English bishopsource
  • 1448Christopher of Bavaria, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, dies at his palace, the Kärnan, in Helsingborg (now in Sweden) with no designated heir, leaving all three kingdoms with vacant thrones. Brothers Bengt Jönsson Oxenstierna and Nils Jönsson Oxenstierna are selected to serve as co-regents of Sweden.source
  • 1448Christopher of Bavaria, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (born 1418)source
  • 1477Jean VIII, Count of Vendômesource
  • 1481Ahmed Khan bin Küchük, Khan of the Great Horde, is killed by the Khan of Sibir, Ibak Khan in battle and is succeeded by his son, Sheikh Ahmed.source
  • 1481Akhmat Khan, khan of the Great Hordesource
  • 1485Saint Leopold of Babenburg, who died almost 350 years earlier in 1136, is canonized as a Roman Catholic saint by Pope Innocent VIII. Saint Leopold will be celebrated as the patron saint of Austria in the centuries that follow.source
  • 1537Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence is assassinated by Lorenzino de' Medici, a distant cousin, who claims that he wants to reintroduce republican rule but has to flee to Venice. Instead Cosimo I of the junior branch of the Medici becomes the new duke.source
  • 1537Baldassare Peruzzi, Italian architect and painter (born 1481)source
  • 1537Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence (born 1510)source
  • 1618Margherita Gonzaga, Duchess of Ferrara (born 1564)source
  • 16516 January (burial) – Jacob Franquart (born 1582/3), artistsource
  • 1663George Goring, 1st Earl of Norwich, English soldier, politician (born 1585)source
  • 1668Luis de Benavides Carrillo, Marquis of Caracena (born 1608)source
  • 1670Charles of Sezze, Italian Franciscan friar and saint (born 1613)source
  • 1671Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh (born 1643)source
  • 1693Mehmed IV, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687 (born 1642)source
  • 1725Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Japanese dramatist (born 1653)source
  • 1725Chikamatsu Monzaemon, playwright (born 1653)source
  • 1785Haym Salomon, Polish-Jewish American financier of the American Revolution (born 1740)source
  • 1809Johann Augustus Eberhard, German theologian, philosopher (born 1739)source
  • 1839Princess Marie of Orléans, Duchess of Wurtenberg (born 1813)source
  • 1840Fanny Burney, English novelist (born 1752)source
  • 1852Louis Braille, French teacher of the blind, inventor of braille (born 1809)source
  • 1853U.S. President-elect Franklin Pierce's only living child, Benjamin "Benny" Pierce, is killed in a train accident.source
  • 1884Gregor Mendel, Czech geneticist (born 1822)source
  • 1909George Dixon, Canadian-born American boxer (born 1870)source
  • 1918Georg Cantor, German mathematician (born 1845)source
  • 1919Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States (born 1858)source
  • 1993Rudolf Nureyev, 54, Russian ballet dancer and choreographer, AIDS.source
  • 1999Lajos Tichy, 63, Hungarian footballer.source
  • 2000David Mitchell, convicted murderersource