Events
Pre-1600
*
1404
Year 1404 ( MCDIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–December
* April or May – Battle of Blackpool Sands: Local English forces defeat an attempted ...
– The Italian professor Galeazzo di Santa Sophie performed the first post-mortem
autopsy
An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any dis ...
for the purposes of teaching and demonstration at the Heiligen–Geist Spital in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
.
*
1429
Year 1429 ( MCDXXIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–December
* February 12 – Battle of Rouvray (or "of the Herrings"): English forces under ...
– English forces under Sir
John Fastolf
Sir John Fastolf (6 November 1380 – 5 November 1459) was a late medieval English landowner and knight who fought in the Hundred Years' War. He has enjoyed a more lasting reputation as the prototype, in some part, of Shakespeare's char ...
defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army besieging Orléans in the
Battle of the Herrings
The Battle of the Herrings, also called the Battle of Rouvray, was a military action near the town of Rouvray in France, just north of Orléans, which took place on 12 February 1429, during the siege of Orléans in the Hundred Years' War. Th ...
.
*
1502
Year 1502 ( MDII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–June
* January 1 – Portuguese explorers, led by Gonçalo Coelho, sail into Guanabara B ...
–
Isabella I
Isabella I ( es, Isabel I; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''la Católica''), was Queen of Castile from 1474 until her death in 1504, as well as Queen consort of Aragon from 1479 until 1504 by ...
issues an edict outlawing Islam in the
Crown of Castile, forcing virtually all her Muslim subjects
to convert to Christianity.
* 1502 –
Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea.
His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link ...
with 15 ships and 800 men sets sail from
Lisbon, Portugal on his second voyage to
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
.
*
1541 –
Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, who ...
,
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...
is founded by
Pedro de Valdivia
Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva (; April 17, 1497 – December 25, 1553) was a Spanish conquistador and the first royal governor of Chile. After serving with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in 1534, whe ...
.
*
1593
Events
January–December
* January – Siege of Pyongyang (1593): A Japanese invasion is defeated in Pyongyang by a combined force of Korean and Ming troops.
* January 18 – Siamese King Naresuan, in combat on elephant back, ...
–
Japanese invasion of Korea: Approximately 3,000
Joseon
Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and ...
defenders led by general
Kwon Yul successfully repel more than 30,000 Japanese forces in the
Siege of Haengju
The Battle of Haengju took place on 14 March 1593 during the 1592–1598 Japanese invasion of Korea. The Japanese attack failed to overcome Haengju fortress.
Background
Gwon Yul was stationed at the fortress of Haengju, a wooden stockade o ...
.
1601–1900
*
1689
Events
January–March
* January 22 (January 12, 1688 O.S.) – Glorious Revolution in England: The Convention Parliament is convened to determine if King James II of England, the last Roman Catholic British monarch, vacated ...
– The
Convention Parliament declares that the flight to France in
1688
Events
January–March
* January 2 – Fleeing from the Spanish Navy, French pirate Raveneau de Lussan and his 70 men arrive on the west coast of Nicaragua, sink their boats, and make a difficult 10 day march to the city of ...
by
James II, the last
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
British monarch
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional monarchy, constitutional form of government by which a hereditary monarchy, hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United ...
, constitutes an
abdication
Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of duty, in other societ ...
.
*
1733
Events
January–March
* January 13 – Borommarachathirat V becomes King of Siam (now Thailand) upon the death of King Sanphet IX.
* January 27 – George Frideric Handel's classic opera, ''Orlando'' is performed for the ...
–
Georgia Day
Georgia Day is the holiday which the U.S. state of Georgia recognizes in honor of its colonial founding as the Province of Georgia. On February 12, 1733 Sref name="Anne"> James Oglethorpe landed the first settlers in the ''Anne'', at what was ...
: Englishman
James Oglethorpe
James Edward Oglethorpe (22 December 1696 – 30 June 1785) was a British soldier, Member of Parliament, and philanthropist, as well as the founder of the colony of Georgia in what was then British America. As a social reformer, he hoped to r ...
founds
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to t ...
, the 13th colony of the
Thirteen Colonies
The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th cent ...
, by settling at
Savannah
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...
.
*
1771 –
Gustav III
Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of Adolf Frederick of Sweden and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Prussia.
Gustav was a vocal opponent of what h ...
becomes the
King of Sweden
The monarchy of Sweden is the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the #IOG, Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. which is a constitutional monarchy, constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parliamentary ...
.
*
1817 – An
Argentine
Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish ( masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines ...
/Chilean patriotic army, after
crossing the Andes, defeats Spanish troops at the
Battle of Chacabuco
The Battle of Chacabuco, fought during the Chilean War of Independence, occurred on February 12, 1817. The Army of the Andes of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, led by Captain (land), Captain–General José de San Martín, defeated ...
.
*
1818 –
Bernardo O'Higgins
Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme (; August 20, 1778 – October 24, 1842) was a Chilean independence leader who freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. He was a wealthy landowner of Basque-Spanish and Irish ancestry. Alth ...
formally approves the
Chilean Declaration of Independence
The Chilean Declaration of Independence is a document declaring the independence of Chile from the Spanish Empire. It was drafted in January 1818 and approved by Supreme Director Bernardo O'Higgins on 12 February 1818 at Talca, despite being ...
near
Concepción, Chile.
*
1825
Events
January–March
* January 4 – King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies dies in Naples and is succeeded by his son, Francis.
* February 3 – Vendsyssel-Thy, once part of the Jutland peninsula forming westernmost Denmark, becomes an ...
– The
Creek cede the last of their lands in Georgia to the United States government by the
Treaty of Indian Springs, and migrate west.
*
1832
Events
January–March
* January 6 – Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison founds the New-England Anti-Slavery Society.
* January 13 – The Christmas Rebellion of slaves is brought to an end in Jamaica, after the island's white plant ...
–
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechuan ...
annexes the
Galápagos Islands
The Galápagos Islands ( es, Islas Galápagos) are an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Eastern Pacific, located around the Equator west of the mainland of South America. They form the Galápagos Province of the Republic of Ecuador, with ...
.
*
1855
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Ottawa, Ontario, is incorporated as a city.
* January 5 – Ramón Castilla begins his third term as President of Peru.
* January 23
** The first bridge over the Mississippi River open ...
–
Michigan State University
Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...
is established.
*
1889
Events
January–March
* January 1
** The total solar eclipse of January 1, 1889 is seen over parts of California and Nevada.
** Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka experiences a vision, leading to the start of the Ghost Dance movement in th ...
–
Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist exampl ...
's
Jakobín is premiered at National Theater in Prague
*
1894 –
Anarchist
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessari ...
Émile Henry hurls a bomb into the Cafe Terminus in Paris, killing one person and wounding 20.
1901–present
*
1909
Events
January–February
* January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes.
* January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama.
* J ...
– The
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.& ...
(NAACP) is founded.
* 1909 – New Zealand's worst maritime disaster of the 20th century happens when the , an inter-island
ferry, sinks and explodes at the entrance to
Wellington Harbour.
*
1912
Events January
* January 1 – The Republic of China is established.
* January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens.
* January 6
** German geophysicist Alfred ...
– The
Xuantong Emperor, the last
Emperor of China
''Huangdi'' (), translated into English as Emperor, was the superlative title held by monarchs of China who ruled various imperial regimes in Chinese history. In traditional Chinese political theory, the emperor was considered the Son of Heave ...
,
abdicates.
*
1915
Events
Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix.
January
*January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction".
*January 1
...
– In Washington, D.C., the first stone of the
Lincoln Memorial
The Lincoln Memorial is a U.S. national memorial built to honor the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is on the western end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., across from the Washington Monument, and is in ...
is put into place.
*
1921
Events
January
* January 2
** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in Brazil.
** The Spanish liner ''Santa Isabel'' breaks ...
–
Bolsheviks
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
launch a revolt in
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to t ...
as a preliminary to the
Red Army invasion of Georgia
The Red Army invasion of Georgia (15 February17 March 1921), also known as the Soviet–Georgian War or the Soviet invasion of Georgia,Debo, R. (1992). ''Survival and Consolidation: The Foreign Policy of Soviet Russia, 1918-1921'', pp. 182, 361� ...
.
*
1924
Events
January
* January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after.
* January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China h ...
–
George Gershwin's ''
Rhapsody in Blue
''Rhapsody in Blue'' is a 1924 musical composition written by George Gershwin for solo piano and jazz band, which combines elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects. Commissioned by bandleader Paul Whiteman, the work premiered ...
'' received its premiere in a concert titled "An Experiment in Modern Music", in Aeolian Hall, New York, by
Paul Whiteman
Paul Samuel Whiteman (March 28, 1890 – December 29, 1967) was an American bandleader, composer, orchestral director, and violinist.
As the leader of one of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s and early 1930s, W ...
and his band, with Gershwin playing the piano.
*
1935
Events
January
* January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims.
* January 12 – Amelia Earhart bec ...
– , one of the two largest
helium
Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...
-filled
airship
An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air.
In early ...
s ever created, crashes into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
and sinks.
*
1946 –
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
:
Operation Deadlight
Operation Deadlight was the code name for the Royal Navy operation of November 1945 – February 1946 to scuttle German U-boats surrendered to the Allies after the defeat of Germany near the end of World War II.
Operation
Of the 156 U-bo ...
ends after scuttling 121 of 154 captured
U-boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...
s.
* 1946 –
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
veteran
Isaac Woodard
Isaac Woodard Jr. (March 18, 1919 – September 23, 1992) was an American soldier and victim of racial violence. An African-American World War II veteran, on February 12, 1946, hours after being honorably discharged from the United States ...
is severely beaten by a
South Carolina
)'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = "Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = G ...
police officer to the point where he loses his vision in both eyes. The incident later galvanizes the
civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...
and partially inspires
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...
' film ''
Touch of Evil
''Touch of Evil'' is a 1958 American film noir written and directed by Orson Welles, who also stars in the film. The screenplay was loosely based on the contemporary Whit Masterson novel '' Badge of Evil'' (1956). The cast included Charlton He ...
''.
*
1947
It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Events
January
* January– February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the count ...
– The
largest observed iron meteorite until that time creates an
impact crater
An impact crater is a circular depression in the surface of a solid astronomical object formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal collapse, impact crater ...
in
Sikhote-Alin
The Sikhote-Alin (russian: Сихотэ́-Али́нь, , , ) is a mountain range in Primorsky Krai, Primorsky and Khabarovsk Krais, Russia, extending about to the northeast of the Russian Pacific seaport of Vladivostok. The highest summits are ...
, in the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
.
* 1947 –
Christian Dior
Christian Ernest Dior (; 21 January 1905 – 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Christian Dior SE, which is now owned by parent company LVMH. His fashion houses a ...
unveils a "
New Look", helping Paris regain its position as the capital of the fashion world.
*
1961
Events January
* January 3
** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015).
** Aero Flight 311 ...
– The Soviet Union launches ''
Venera 1'' towards
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...
.
*
1963
Events January
* January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...
– Construction begins on the
Gateway Arch
The Gateway Arch is a monument in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of a weighted catenary arch, it is the world's tallest arch and Missouri's tallest accessible building. Some sources conside ...
in
St. Louis,
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
.
*
1965
Events January–February
* January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years.
* January 20
** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...
–
Malcolm X
Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of ...
visits
Smethwick
Smethwick () is an industrial town in Sandwell, West Midlands, England. It lies west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire.
In 2019, the ward of Smethwick had an estimated population of 15,246, while the wider bu ...
near Birmingham following the racially-charged
1964 United Kingdom general election
The 1964 United Kingdom general election was held on 15 October 1964, five years after the previous election, and thirteen years after the Conservative Party, first led by Winston Churchill, had regained power. It resulted in the Conservatives ...
.
*
1968
The year was highlighted by Protests of 1968, protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide.
Events January–February
* January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechos ...
–
Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất massacre
The Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất massacre ( ko, 퐁니·퐁넛 양민학살 사건, Vietnamese: ''Thảm sát Phong Nhất và Phong Nhị'') was a massacre of unarmed citizens in the villages of Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất, Điện Bàn ...
.
*
1974
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of President of the United States, United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom K ...
–
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Russian novelist. One of the most famous Soviet dissidents, Solzhenitsyn was an outspoken critic of communism and helped to raise global awareness of political repress ...
, winner of the
Nobel Prize in Literature
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, caption =
, awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature
, presenter = Swedish Academy
, holder = Annie Ernaux (2022)
, location = Stockholm, Sweden
, year = 1901 ...
in
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and 1 ...
, is exiled from the Soviet Union.
*
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
– One hundred women protest in
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest ...
, Pakistan against military dictator
Zia-ul-Haq's proposed Law of Evidence. The women were tear-gassed, baton-charged and thrown into lock-up. The women were successful in repealing the law.
*
1988 –
Cold War: The
1988 Black Sea bumping incident: The U.S. missile cruiser is intentionally rammed by the Soviet frigate ''
Bezzavetnyy'' in the Soviet
territorial waters
The term territorial waters is sometimes used informally to refer to any area of water over which a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potenti ...
, while ''Yorktown'' claims
innocent passage.
*
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
–
Carmen Lawrence
Carmen Mary Lawrence (born 2 March 1948) is an Australian academic and former politician who was the Premier of Western Australia from 1990 to 1993, the first woman to become the premier of an Australian state. A member of the Labor Party, s ...
becomes the first female Premier in Australian history when she becomes
Premier of Western Australia
The premier of Western Australia is the head of government of the state of Western Australia. The role of premier at a state level is similar to the role of the prime minister of Australia at a federal level. The premier leads the executive br ...
.
*
1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...
– The current
Constitution of Mongolia
The current Constitution of Mongolia (, ''Mongol Ulsyn Ündsen Khuuli'', "Fundamental Law of Mongolia") was adopted on 13 January 1992, put into force on 12 February, and amended in 1999, 2000 and 2019. The new constitution established a represen ...
comes into effect.
*
1993
File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...
– Two-year-old
James Bulger is abducted from
New Strand Shopping Centre by two ten-year-old boys, who later torture and murder him.
*
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson Ma ...
– Four thieves break into the
National Gallery of Norway
The National Gallery ( no, Nasjonalgalleriet) is a gallery in Oslo, Norway. Since 2003 it is administratively a part of the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design.
, the admission cost is 100 Norwegian kroner.
History
It was establishe ...
and steal
Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch ( , ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His best known work, '' The Scream'' (1893), has become one of Western art's most iconic images.
His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the d ...
's iconic painting ''
The Scream
''The Scream'' is a composition created by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch in 1893. The agonized face in the painting has become one of the most iconic images of art, seen as symbolizing the anxiety of the human condition. Munch's work, including ...
''.
*
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...
– United States President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (Birth name, né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 ...
is acquitted by the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and ...
in his
impeachment
Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements.
I ...
trial.
*
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...
–
NEAR Shoemaker
''Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous – Shoemaker'' (''NEAR Shoemaker''), renamed after its 1996 launch in honor of planetary scientist Eugene Shoemaker, was a robotic space probe designed by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Labora ...
spacecraft touches down in the "
saddle
The saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not kno ...
" region of
433 Eros
Eros ( minor planet designation: (433) Eros), provisional designation is a stony asteroid of the Amor group and the first discovered and second-largest near-Earth object with an elongated shape and a mean diameter of approximately . V ...
, becoming the first spacecraft to land on an
asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet of the Solar System#Inner solar system, inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic o ...
.
*
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...
– The
trial of Slobodan Milošević, the former President of the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Y ...
, begins at the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars, war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to try ...
in
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's ad ...
, Netherlands. He dies four years later before its conclusion.
* 2002 – An
Iran Airtour
Iran Airtour ( fa, ایران ایرتور, ''Iran Airtur'') is an airline based in Tehran, Iran. Iran Airtour's hubs are at Mehrabad International Airport and Mashhad International Airport. In total, the group has 11 aircraft in service. It op ...
Tupolev Tu-154
The Tupolev Tu-154 (russian: Tyполев Ту-154; NATO reporting name: "Careless") is a three-engined, medium-range, narrow-body airliner designed in the mid-1960s and manufactured by Tupolev. A workhorse of Soviet and (subsequently) Rus ...
crashes in the mountains outside
Khorramabad
Khorramabad ( fa, خرمآباد, Khorramâbâd ), alternatively romanized as Khorramābād, Khoramabad, Khurramabad, Khorram Abad, or Khur Ramābād, is a city and the capital of Lorestan Province, Iran. At the time of the 2016 census, its pop ...
,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...
while descending for a landing at
Khorramabad Airport, killing 119.
*
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
– The city of
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
begins issuing
marriage licenses
A marriage license (or marriage licence in Commonwealth spelling) is a document issued, either by a religious organization or state authority, authorizing a couple to marry. The procedure for obtaining a license varies between jurisdictio ...
to same-sex couples in response to a directive from
Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...
Gavin Newsom
Gavin Christopher Newsom (born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman who has been the 40th governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California fro ...
.
*
2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
–
Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashes into a house in
Clarence Center, New York while on approach to
Buffalo Niagara International Airport
Buffalo Niagara International Airport is in Cheektowaga, New York. The airport serves Buffalo, New York and Niagara Falls, New York United States, and the southern Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. It is the third-busiest airport ...
, killing all on board and one on the ground.
*
2016 –
Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
and
Patriarch Kirill
Kirill or Cyril (russian: link=Russian, Кирилл, chu, , secular name Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyayev, russian: link=no, Владимир Михайлович Гундяев; born 20 November 1946) is a Russian Orthodox bishop. He beca ...
sign an
Ecumenical Declaration in the first such meeting between leaders of the
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
and
Russian Orthodox Church
, native_name_lang = ru
, image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg
, imagewidth =
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia
, abbreviation = ROC
, type ...
es since their
split in 1054.
*
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
– The country known as the Republic of Macedonia renames itself the
Republic of North Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...
in accordance with the
Prespa agreement
The Prespa agreement,; In mk, Договорот од Преспа, translit=Dogovorot od Prespa or Преспански договор, ''Prespanski dogovor'' also known as the Treaty of Prespa, the Prespes deal or the Prespa accord, is an agre ...
, settling
a long-standing naming dispute with
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...
.
Births
Pre-1600
*
AD 41
AD 41 ( XLI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of C. Caesar Augustus Germanicus and Cn. Sentius Saturninus (or, less freque ...
–
Britannicus
Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus (12 February AD 41 – 11 February AD 55), usually called Britannicus, was the son of Roman emperor Claudius and his third wife Valeria Messalina. For a time he was considered his father's heir, but tha ...
, Roman son of
Claudius (d. 55)
*
528 –
Daughter of Emperor Xiaoming of Northern Wei, nominal empress regnant of Northern Wei
*
661 –
Princess Ōku
Ōku (Japanese: or ) (February 12, 661 – January 29, 702) was a Japanese princess during the Asuka period in Japanese history. She was the daughter of Emperor Tenmu and sister of Prince Ōtsu. As a young girl, she witnessed the Jinshin War. ...
of Japan (d. 702)
*
1074
Year 1074 ( MLXXIV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* Spring – Norman mercenaries, led by Roussel de Bailleul, proclaim ...
–
Conrad II of Italy
Conrad II of Italy, also known as Conrad (III) (12 February 1074 – 27 July 1101), was the Duke of Lower Lorraine (1076–1087), King of Germany (1087–1098) and King of Italy (1093–1098). He was the second son of Holy Roman Emperor Henry& ...
(d. 1101)
*
1218 –
Kujo Yoritsune
Kujo is an American outdoor footwear company specializing in shoes made for yard work. The company is based out of Cleveland, Ohio.
History
Kujo successfully launched on Kickstarter
Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation bas ...
, Japanese
shōgun
, officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...
(d. 1256)
*
1322 –
(d. 1375)
*
1443 –
Giovanni II Bentivoglio
Giovanni II Bentivoglio (12 February 144315 February 1508) was an Italian nobleman who ruled as tyrant of Bologna from 1463 until 1506. He had no formal position, but held power as the city's "first citizen." The Bentivoglio family ruled over Bo ...
, Italian noble (d. 1508)
*
1480 –
Frederick II of Legnica
Frederick II, Duke of Legnica ( pl, Fryderyk II Legnicki) (12 February 1480 – 17 September 1547), also known as the Great of Legnica ( pl, Legnicki Wielki), was a Duke of Legnica from 1488 (until 1495 and 1505 with his brothers), of Brzeg from ...
, Duke of Legnica (d. 1547)
*
1540 –
Won Gyun
Won Gyun (; 12 February 1540 – 27 August 1597) was a Korean general and admiral during the Joseon Dynasty. He is best known for his campaigns against the Japanese during Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea. Won was a member of Wonju Won family ...
, Korean general and admiral (d. 1597)
*
1567
__NOTOC__
Year 1567 ( MDLXVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events January–June
* January – A Spanish force under the command of Captain Juan Pardo estab ...
–
Thomas Campion
Thomas Campion (sometimes spelled Campian; 12 February 1567 – 1 March 1620) was an English composer, poet, and physician. He was born in London, educated at Cambridge, studied law in Gray's inn. He wrote over a hundred lute songs, masques f ...
, English composer, poet, and physician (d. 1620)
*
1584 –
Caspar Barlaeus, Dutch historian, poet, and theologian (d. 1648)
1601–1900
*
1606
Events
January–June
* January 24 – Gunpowder Plot: The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators, for plotting against Parliament and James I of England, begins.
* January 29 – Pedro Fernandes de Queirós discovers the P ...
–
John Winthrop the Younger
John Winthrop the Younger (February 12, 1606 – April 6, 1676) was an early governor of the Connecticut Colony, and he played a large role in the merger of several separate settlements into the unified colony.
Early life
Winthrop was born ...
, English-American lawyer and politician,
Governor of Connecticut
The governor of Connecticut is the head of government of Connecticut, and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Conne ...
(d. 1676)
*
1608
Events
January–June
*January – In the Colony of Virginia, Powhatan releases Captain John Smith.
* January 2 – The first of the Jamestown supply missions returns to the Colony of Virginia with Christopher Newport comma ...
–
Daniello Bartoli
Daniello Bartoli, SJ (; 12 February 160813 January 1685) was an Italian Jesuit writer and historiographer, celebrated by the poet Giacomo Leopardi as the "Dante of Italian prose"
Ferrara
He was born in Ferrara. His father, Tiburzio was a chemi ...
, Italian Jesuit priest (d. 1685)
*
1637
Events
January–March
* January 5 – Pierre Corneille's tragicomedy ''Le Cid'' is first performed, in Paris, France.
* January 16 – The siege of Nagpur ends in what is now the Maharashtra state of India, as Kok Shah, t ...
–
Jan Swammerdam
Jan Swammerdam (February 12, 1637 – February 17, 1680) was a Dutch biologist and microscopist. His work on insects demonstrated that the various phases during the life of an insect—egg, larva, pupa, and adult—are different forms of the ...
, Dutch biologist and zoologist (d. 1680)
*
1663 –
Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather (; February 12, 1663 – February 13, 1728) was a New England Puritan clergyman and a prolific writer. Educated at Harvard College, in 1685 he joined his father Increase as minister of the Congregationalist Old North Meetin ...
, English-American minister and author (d. 1728)
*
1665 –
Rudolf Jakob Camerarius, German botanist and physician (d. 1721)
*
1704
In the Swedish calendar it was a leap year starting on Friday, one day ahead of the Julian and ten days behind the Gregorian calendar.
Events
January–June
* January 7 – Partial solar eclipse, Solar Saros 146, is visible in A ...
–
Charles Pinot Duclos
Charles Pinot (or Pineau) Duclos (12 February 1704 – 26 March 1772) was a French author and contributor to the ''Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers''.
Biography
Duclos was born at Dinan in Brittany ...
, French author (d. 1772)
*
1706
In the Swedish calendar it was a common year starting on Monday, one day ahead of the Julian and ten days behind the Gregorian calendar.
Events
January–March
* January 26 – War of Spanish Succession: The uprising by Bavarian ...
–
Johann Joseph Christian, German Baroque sculptor and woodcarver (d. 1777)
*
1728 –
Étienne-Louis Boullée
Étienne-Louis Boullée (12 February 17284 February 1799) was a visionary French neoclassical architect whose work greatly influenced contemporary architects.
Life
Born in Paris, he studied under Jacques-François Blondel, Germain Bo ...
, French architect (d. 1799)
*
1753
Events
January–March
* January 3 – King Binnya Dala of the Hanthawaddy Kingdom orders the burning of Ava, the former capital of the Kingdom of Burma.
* January 29 – After a month's absence, Elizabeth Canning retur ...
–
François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers, French admiral (d. 1798)
*
1761 –
Jan Ladislav Dussek
Jan Ladislav Dussek (baptized Jan Václav Dusík, Černušák, p. 271 with surname also written as Duschek or Düssek; 12 February 176020 March 1812) was a Czech classical composer and pianist. He was an important representative of Czech musi ...
, Czech pianist and composer (d. 1812)
*
1768
Events
January–March
* January 9 – Philip Astley stages the first modern circus, with acrobats on galloping horses, in London.
* February 11 – Samuel Adams's circular letter is issued by the Massachusetts House of Re ...
–
Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor
Francis II (german: Franz II.; 12 February 1768 – 2 March 1835) was the last Holy Roman Emperor (from 1792 to 1806) and the founder and Emperor of the Austrian Empire, from 1804 to 1835. He assumed the title of Emperor of Austria in response ...
(d. 1835)
*
1775
Events
Summary
The American Revolutionary War began this year, with the first military engagement being the April 19 Battles of Lexington and Concord on the day after Paul Revere's now-legendary ride. The Second Continental Congress t ...
–
Louisa Adams
Louisa Catherine Adams ( ''née'' Johnson; February 12, 1775 – May 15, 1852) was the First Lady of the United States from 1825 to 1829 during the presidency of John Quincy Adams.
Early life
Adams was born on February 12, 1775, in the City o ...
, 6th
First Lady of the United States
The first lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is the title held by the hostess of the White House, usually the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never ...
(d. 1852)
*
1777
Events
January–March
* January 2 – American Revolutionary War – Battle of the Assunpink Creek: American general George Washington's army repulses a British attack by Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis, in a seco ...
–
Bernard Courtois
Bernard Courtois, also spelled Barnard Courtois, (8 February 1777 – 27 September 1838) was a French chemist credited with first isolating iodine.
By 1811 the Napoleonic Wars had made the government-controlled saltpeter business taper off sinc ...
, French chemist and academic (d. 1838)
* 1777 –
Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué
Friedrich Heinrich Karl de la Motte, Baron Fouqué (); (12 February 1777 – 23 January 1843) was a German writer of the Romantic style.
Biography
He was born at Brandenburg an der Havel, of a family of French Huguenot origin, as evidenced in h ...
, German author and poet (d. 1843)
*
1785 –
Pierre Louis Dulong
Pierre Louis Dulong FRS FRSE (; ; 12 February 1785 – 19 July 1838) was a French physicist and chemist. He is remembered today largely for the law of Dulong and Petit, although he was much-lauded by his contemporaries for his studies into t ...
, French physicist and chemist (d. 1838)
*
1787
Events
January–March
* January 9 – The North Carolina General Assembly authorizes nine commissioners to purchase of land for the seat of Chatham County. The town is named Pittsborough (later shortened to Pittsboro), for ...
–
Norbert Provencher
Joseph-Norbert Provencher (February 12, 1787 – June 7, 1853) was a Canadian clergyman and missionary and one of the founders of the modern province of Manitoba. He was the first Bishop of Saint Boniface and was an important figure in the histo ...
, Canadian bishop and missionary (d. 1853)
*
1788
Events
January–March
* January 1 – The first edition of ''The Times'', previously ''The Daily Universal Register'', is published in London.
* January 2 – Georgia ratifies the United States Constitution, and becomes the fourth ...
–
Carl Reichenbach
Carl Ludwig von Reichenbach (full name: Karl Ludwig Freiherr von Reichenbach; February 12, 1788January 1869) was a German chemist, geologist, metallurgist, naturalist, industrialist and philosopher, and a member of the Prussian Academy of Scien ...
, German chemist and philosopher (d. 1869)
*
1791
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Austrian composer Joseph Haydn arrives in England, to perform a series of concerts.
* January 2 – Northwest Indian War: Big Bottom Massacre – The war begins in the Ohio Countr ...
–
Peter Cooper
Peter Cooper (February 12, 1791April 4, 1883) was an American industrialist, inventor, philanthropist, and politician. He designed and built the first American steam locomotive, the ''Tom Thumb'', founded the Cooper Union for the Advancement of ...
, American businessman and philanthropist, founded
Cooper Union
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...
(d. 1883)
*
1794
Events
January–March
* January 1 – The Stibo Group is founded by Niels Lund as a printing company in Aarhus (Denmark).
* January 13 – The U.S. Congress enacts a law providing for, effective May 1, 1795, a United Sta ...
–
Alexander Petrov, Russian chess player and composer (d. 1867)
* 1794 –
Valentín Canalizo, Mexican general and politician (d. 1850)
*
1804
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Haiti gains independence from France, and becomes the first black republic, having the only successful slave revolt ever.
* February 4 – The Sokoto Caliphate is founded in West Africa.
* Februar ...
–
Heinrich Lenz
Heinrich Friedrich Emil Lenz (; ; also Emil Khristianovich Lenz, russian: Эмилий Христианович Ленц; 12 February 1804 – 10 February 1865), usually cited as Emil Lenz or Heinrich Lenz in some countries, was a Russian physic ...
, German-Italian physicist and academic (d. 1865)
*
1809
Events
January–March
* January 5 – The Treaty of the Dardanelles, between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Ottoman Empire, is concluded.
* January 10 – Peninsular War – French Marshal Jean ...
–
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...
, English geologist and theorist (d. 1882)
* 1809 –
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
, American lawyer and statesman, 16th
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...
(d. 1865)
*
1819
Events
January–March
* January 2 – The Panic of 1819, the first major peacetime financial crisis in the United States, begins.
* January 25 – Thomas Jefferson founds the University of Virginia.
* January 29 – ...
–
William Wetmore Story, American sculptor, architect, poet and editor
*
1824 –
Dayananda Saraswati
Dayanand Saraswati () (born Mool Shankar Tiwari; 2 February 1824 – 30 October 1883) also known as Maharshi Dayanand is an Indian philosopher, social leader and founder of the Arya Samaj, a Hindu reform movement. His Magnum Opus is the bo ...
, Indian monk and philosopher, founded
Arya Samaj
Arya Samaj ( hi, आर्य समाज, lit=Noble Society, ) is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. The samaj was founded by the san ...
(d. 1883)
*
1828 –
George Meredith
George Meredith (12 February 1828 – 18 May 1909) was an English novelist and poet of the Victorian era. At first his focus was poetry, influenced by John Keats among others, but he gradually established a reputation as a novelist. '' The Ord ...
, English novelist and poet (d. 1909)
*
1837
Events
January–March
* January 1 – The destructive Galilee earthquake causes 6,000–7,000 casualties in Ottoman Syria.
* January 26 – Michigan becomes the 26th state admitted to the United States.
* February – Charles Dickens ...
–
Thomas Moran
Thomas Moran (February 12, 1837 – August 25, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker of the Hudson River School in New York whose work often featured the Rocky Mountains. Moran and his family, wife Mary Nimmo Moran and daughter Ruth too ...
, British-American painter and printmaker of the Hudson River School (d. 1926)
*
1857
Events January–March
* January 1 – The biggest Estonian newspaper, ''Postimees'', is established by Johann Voldemar Jannsen.
* January 7 – The partly French-owned London General Omnibus Company begins operating.
* J ...
–
Eugène Atget
Eugène Atget (; 12 February 1857 – 4 August 1927) was a French '' flâneur'' and a pioneer of documentary photography, noted for his determination to document all of the architecture and street scenes of Paris before their disappearance to mo ...
, French photographer (d. 1927)
* 1857 –
Bobby Peel, English cricketer and coach (d. 1943)
*
1861
Statistically, this year is considered the end of the whale oil industry and (in replacement) the beginning of the petroleum oil industry.
Events
January–March
* January 1
** Benito Juárez captures Mexico City.
** The first steam- ...
–
Lou Andreas-Salomé
Lou Andreas-Salomé (born either Louise von Salomé or Luíza Gustavovna Salomé or Lioulia von Salomé, russian: link=no, Луиза Густавовна Саломе; 12 February 1861 – 5 February 1937) was a Russian-born psychoanalyst and a ...
, Russian-German psychoanalyst and author (d. 1937)
*
1866
Events January–March
* January 1
** Fisk University, a historically black university, is established in Nashville, Tennessee.
** The last issue of the abolitionist magazine ''The Liberator'' is published.
* January 6 – Ottoman troo ...
–
Lev Shestov
Lev Isaakovich Shestov (russian: Лев Исаа́кович Шесто́в; 31 January .S. 13 February 1866 – 19 November 1938), born Yehuda Leib Shvartsman (russian: Иегуда Лейб Шварцман), was a Russian existentialist and re ...
, Russian philosopher (d. 1938)
*
1869 –
Kiến Phúc, Vietnamese emperor (d. 1884)
*
1870 –
Marie Lloyd
Matilda Alice Victoria Wood (12 February 1870 – 7 October 1922), professionally known as Marie Lloyd (), was an English music hall singer, comedian and musical theatre actress. She was best known for her performances of songs such as "Th ...
, English actress and singer (d. 1922)
*
1876
Events
January–March
* January 1
** The Reichsbank opens in Berlin.
** The Bass Brewery Red Triangle becomes the world's first registered trademark symbol.
* February 2 – The National League, National League of Professional Ba ...
–
13th Dalai Lama (d. 1933)
*
1877 –
Louis Renault, French engineer and businessman, co-founded
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufacture ...
(d. 1944)
*
1880
Events
January–March
* January 22 – Toowong State School is founded in Queensland, Australia.
* January – The international White slave trade affair scandal in Brussels is exposed and attracts international infamy.
* February � ...
–
George Preca
George Preca (in mt, Ġorġ Preca) (12 February 1880 – 26 July 1962) was a Maltese Catholic priest and the founder of the Society of Christian Doctrine as well as a Third Order Carmelite. He is known as "Dun Ġorġ" in Maltese and Pope John P ...
, Maltese priest and saint (d. 1962)
*
1880
Events
January–March
* January 22 – Toowong State School is founded in Queensland, Australia.
* January – The international White slave trade affair scandal in Brussels is exposed and attracts international infamy.
* February � ...
–
John L. Lewis, American miner and union leader (d. 1969)
*
1881 –
Anna Pavlova
Anna Pavlovna Pavlova ( , rus, Анна Павловна Павлова ), born Anna Matveyevna Pavlova ( rus, Анна Матвеевна Павлова; – 23 January 1931), was a Russian prima ballerina of the late 19th and the early 20t ...
, Russian-English ballerina and actress (d. 1931)
*
1882 –
Walter Nash
Sir Walter Nash (12 February 1882 – 4 June 1968) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 27th prime minister of New Zealand in the Second Labour Government from 1957 to 1960. He is noted for his long period of political service, havin ...
, English-New Zealand lawyer and politician, 27th
Prime Minister of New Zealand
The prime minister of New Zealand ( mi, Te pirimia o Aotearoa) is the head of government of New Zealand. The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, took office on 26 October 2017.
The prime minister (inform ...
(d. 1968)
*
1884 –
Max Beckmann
Max Carl Friedrich Beckmann (February 12, 1884 – December 27, 1950) was a German painter, draftsman, printmaker, sculptor, and writer. Although he is classified as an Expressionist artist, he rejected both the term and the movement. In the 192 ...
, German painter and sculptor (d. 1950)
* 1884 –
Johan Laidoner, Estonian-Russian general (d. 1953)
* 1884 –
Alice Roosevelt Longworth
Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth (February 12, 1884 – February 20, 1980) was an American writer and socialite. She was the eldest child of U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt and his only child with his first wife, Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt. L ...
, American author (d. 1980)
* 1884 –
Marie Vassilieff
Mariya Ivanovna Vassiliéva ( Russian: Мария Ивановна Васильева), (12 February 1884 – 14 May 1957), better known as Marie Vassilieff, was a Russian-born painter active in Paris.
She moved to Paris at the age of twenty ...
, Russian-French painter (d. 1957)
*
1885
Events
January–March
* January 3– 4 – Sino-French War – Battle of Núi Bop: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing Chinese force, in northern Vietnam.
* January 4 &ndash ...
–
James Scott James Scott may refer to:
Entertainment
* James Scott (composer) (1885–1938), African-American ragtime composer
* James Scott (director) (born 1941), British filmmaker
* James Scott (actor) (born 1979), British television actor
* James Scott (Sh ...
, American composer (d. 1938)
* 1885 –
Julius Streicher
Julius Streicher (12 February 1885 – 16 October 1946) was a member of the Nazi Party, the ''Gauleiter'' (regional leader) of Franconia and a member of the '' Reichstag'', the national legislature. He was the founder and publisher of the virul ...
, German publisher, founded ''
Der Stürmer
''Der Stürmer'' (, literally "The Stormer / Attacker / Striker") was a weekly German tabloid-format newspaper published from 1923 to the end of the Second World War by Julius Streicher, the ''Gauleiter'' of Franconia, with brief suspensions ...
'' (d. 1946)
*
1889
Events
January–March
* January 1
** The total solar eclipse of January 1, 1889 is seen over parts of California and Nevada.
** Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka experiences a vision, leading to the start of the Ghost Dance movement in th ...
–
Bhante Dharmawara, Cambodian monk, lawyer, and judge (d. 1999)
*
1893
Events
January–March
* January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America.
* Mark Twain started writing Puddn'head Wilson.
* January 6 – Th ...
–
Omar Bradley
Omar Nelson Bradley (February 12, 1893April 8, 1981) was a senior officer of the United States Army during and after World War II, rising to the rank of General of the Army. Bradley was the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and over ...
, American general (d. 1981)
*
1895
Events
January–March
* January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island.
* January 12 – The National Trust for Places of Histor ...
–
Kristian Djurhuus, Faroese lawyer and politician, 2nd
Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands
The prime minister of the Faroe Islands is the head of government of the Faroe Islands
The Faroese term (plural: ) literally means "lawman" and originally referred to the legal function of lawspeaker. This old title was brought back into use ...
(d. 1984)
*
1897 –
Charles Groves Wright Anderson
Lieutenant Colonel Charles Groves Wright Anderson, VC, MC (12 February 1897 – 11 November 1988) was a South African-born soldier, Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, a member of the Australian House of Representatives, and a farmer. ...
, South African-Australian colonel and politician (d. 1988)
* 1897 –
Lincoln LaPaz, American astronomer and academic (d. 1985)
*
1898
Events
January–March
* January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...
–
Wallace Ford
Wallace Ford (born Samuel Grundy Jones; 12 February 1898 – 11 June 1966) was an English-born naturalized American vaudevillian, stage performer and screen actor. Usually playing wise-cracking characters, he combined a tough but friendly-face ...
, English-American actor and singer (d. 1966)
*
1900
As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), ...
–
Roger J. Traynor, American lawyer and jurist, 23rd
Chief Justice of California (d. 1983)
1901–present
*
1902 –
William Collier, Jr., American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1987)
*
1903 –
Jorge Basadre, Peruvian historian (d. 1980)
* 1903 –
Chick Hafey
Charles James "Chick" Hafey (February 12, 1903 – July 2, 1973) was an American player in Major League Baseball (MLB). Playing for the St. Louis Cardinals (1924–1931) and Cincinnati Reds (1932–1935, 1937), Hafey was a strong line-drive hit ...
, American baseball player and manager (d. 1973)
*
1904
Events
January
* January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''.
* January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system.
* ...
–
Ted Mack, American radio and television host (d. 1976)
*
1907
Events
January
* January 14 – 1907 Kingston earthquake: A 6.5 Moment magnitude scale, Mw earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills between 800 and 1,000.
February
* February 11 – The French warship French cruiser Jean Bart ( ...
–
Joseph Kearns
Joseph Sherrard Kearns
TV Guide. July 15–21, 1961, Savetheorgan.org; retrieved September 28, 2011. ...
, American actor (d. 1962)
*
1908 –
Jean Effel, French painter, caricaturist, illustrator and journalist (d. 1982)
* 1908 –
Jacques Herbrand
Jacques Herbrand (12 February 1908 – 27 July 1931) was a French mathematician. Although he died at age 23, he was already considered one of "the greatest mathematicians of the younger generation" by his professors Helmut Hasse and Richard Cour ...
, French mathematician and philosopher (d. 1931)
*
1909
Events
January–February
* January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes.
* January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama.
* J ...
–
Zoran Mušič, Slovene painter and illustrator (d. 2005)
* 1909 –
Sigmund Rascher, German physician (d. 1945)
*
1911 –
Charles Mathiesen, Norwegian speed skater (d. 1994)
*
1912
Events January
* January 1 – The Republic of China is established.
* January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens.
* January 6
** German geophysicist Alfred ...
–
R. F. Delderfield
Ronald Frederick Delderfield (12 February 1912 – 24 June 1972) was an English novelist and dramatist, some of whose works have been adapted for television and film.
Biography
Childhood in London and Surrey
Ronald Frederick Delderfield ...
, English author and playwright (d. 1972)
*
1914
This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It also saw the first airline to provide schedule ...
–
Tex Beneke
Gordon Lee "Tex" Beneke ( ; February 12, 1914 – May 30, 2000) was an American saxophonist, singer, and bandleader. His career is a history of associations with bandleader Glenn Miller and former musicians and singers who worked with Miller. Hi ...
, American singer, saxophonist, and bandleader (d. 2000)
* 1914 –
Johanna von Caemmerer, German mathematician (d. 1971)
*
1915
Events
Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix.
January
*January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction".
*January 1
...
–
Lorne Greene
Lorne Hyman Greene (born Lyon Himan Green; 12 February 1915 – 11 September 1987) was a Canadian actor, musician, singer and radio personality. His notable television roles include Ben Cartwright on the Western ''Bonanza'' and Commander A ...
, Canadian-American actor (d. 1987)
* 1915 –
Olivia Hooker, American sailor (d. 2018)
*
1916 –
Joseph Alioto
Joseph Lawrence Alioto (February 12, 1916 – January 29, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 36th mayor of San Francisco, California, from 1968 to 1976.
Biography
Alioto was born in San Francisco in 1916. His father, Giuseppe ...
, American lawyer and politician, 36th
Mayor of San Francisco
The mayor of the City and County of San Francisco is the head of the executive branch of the San Francisco city and county government. The officeholder has the duty to enforce city laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by t ...
(d. 1998)
*
1917
Events
Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix.
January
* January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary For ...
–
Al Cervi
Alfred Nicholas Cervi (February 12, 1917 – November 9, 2009) was an American professional basketball player and coach in the National Basketball League (NBL) and National Basketball Association (NBA). One of the strongest backcourt players of ...
, American basketball player and coach (d. 2009)
* 1917 –
Dom DiMaggio
Dominic Paul DiMaggio (February 12, 1917 – May 8, 2009), nicknamed "The Little Professor", was an American Major League Baseball center fielder. He played his entire 11-year baseball career for the Boston Red Sox (1940–1953). DiMaggio wa ...
, American baseball player (d. 2009)
*
1918
This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide.
Events
Below, the events ...
–
Norman Farberow
Norman Louis Farberow (February 12, 1918 – September 10, 2015) was an American psychologist, and one of the founding fathers of modern suicidology. He was among the three founders in 1958 of the Los Angeles Suicide Prevention Center, which be ...
, American psychologist and academic (d. 2015)
* 1918 –
Julian Schwinger
Julian Seymour Schwinger (; February 12, 1918 – July 16, 1994) was a Nobel Prize winning American theoretical physicist. He is best known for his work on quantum electrodynamics (QED), in particular for developing a relativistically invariant ...
, American physicist and academic,
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfre ...
laureate (d. 1994)
*
1919
Events
January
* January 1
** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia.
** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the ...
–
Forrest Tucker
Forrest Meredith Tucker (February 12, 1919 – October 25, 1986) was an American actor in both movies and television who appeared in nearly a hundred films. Tucker worked as a vaudeville straight man at the age of fifteen. A mentor provided ...
, American actor (d. 1986)
*
1920
Events January
* January 1
** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20.
** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own m ...
–
Raymond Mhlaba, South African anti-apartheid and
ANC activist (d. 2005)
*
1922
Events
January
* January 7 – Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes.
* January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éireann, the day after Éamon de Valera ...
–
Hussein Onn
Tun Hussein bin Dato' Onn ( ms, حسين بن عون, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 12 February 1922 – 29 May 1990) was a Malaysian lawyer and politician who served as the 3rd Prime Minister of Malaysia from the death of his predec ...
, Malaysian lawyer and politician, 3rd
Prime Minister of Malaysia
The prime minister of Malaysia ( ms, Perdana Menteri Malaysia; ms, ڤردان منتري مليسيا, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset) is the head of government of Malaysia. The prime minister directs the executive branch of the fede ...
(d. 1990)
*
1923 –
Franco Zeffirelli
Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli (12 February 1923 – 15 June 2019), was an Italian stage and film director, producer, production designer and politician. He was one of the most significant opera and theatre directors of the post-World War II era, ...
, Italian director, producer, and politician (d. 2019)
*
1925
Events January
* January 1
** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria.
* January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the It ...
–
Sir Anthony Berry, British Conservative politician (d. 1984)
* 1925 –
Joan Mitchell
Joan Mitchell (February 12, 1925 – October 30, 1992) was an American artist who worked primarily in painting and printmaking, and also used pastel and made other works on paper. She was an active participant in the New York School of artis ...
, American-French painter (d. 1992)
*
1926
Events January
* January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos (general), Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece.
* January 8
**Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Kingdom of Hejaz, Hejaz.
** Bảo Đại, Crown Prince Nguyễn P ...
–
Rolf Brem
Rolf Brem (12 February 1926 – 11 April 2014) was a Swiss sculptor, illustrator and graphic artist. He worked in Meggen close to Lake Lucerne.
Biography
Childhood
Rolf Brem grew up in a quarter in Lucerne where most people had conventional p ...
, Swiss sculptor and illustrator (d. 2014)
* 1926 –
Joe Garagiola, Sr.
Joseph Henry Garagiola Sr. (February 12, 1926 – March 23, 2016) was an American professional baseball catcher, later an announcer and television host, popular for his colorful personality.
Garagiola played nine seasons in Major League Basebal ...
, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2016)
* 1926 –
Charles Van Doren, American academic (d. 2019)
*
1928
Events January
* January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA.
* January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhano ...
–
Vincent Montana, Jr., American drummer and composer (d. 2013)
*
1930
Events
January
* January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...
–
John Doyle, Irish hurler and politician (d. 2010)
* 1930 –
Arlen Specter
Arlen Specter (February 12, 1930 – October 14, 2012) was an American lawyer, author and politician who served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1981 to 2011. Specter was a Democrat from 1951 to 1965, then a Republican fr ...
, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (d. 2012)
*
1931
Events
January
* January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics.
* January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa.
* January 22 – Sir I ...
–
Janwillem van de Wetering, Dutch-American author and translator (d. 2008)
*
1932 –
Axel Jensen
Axel Buchardt Jensen (12 February 1932 – 13 February 2003) was a Norwegian author. From 1957 until 2002, he published both fiction and non-fiction texts which include novels, poems, essays, a biography, and manuscripts for cartoons and animate ...
, Norwegian author and poet (d. 2003)
* 1932 –
Julian Simon
Julian Lincoln Simon (February 12, 1932 – February 8, 1998) was an American professor of business administration at the University of Maryland and a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute at the time of his death, after previously serving as a ...
, American economist, author, and academic (d. 1998)
*
1933
Events
January
* January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand.
* January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...
–
Costa-Gavras
Costa-Gavras (short for Konstantinos Gavras; el, Κωνσταντίνος Γαβράς; born 12 February 1933) is a Greek-French film director, screenwriter, and producer who lives and works in France. He is known for films with political and s ...
, Greek-French director and producer
* 1933 –
Brian Carlson, Australian rugby league player (d. 1987)
*
1934
Events
January–February
* January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established.
* January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a max ...
–
Annette Crosbie
Annette Crosbie (born 12 February 1934) is a Scottish actor.[Annette Crosbie fil ...](_blank)
, Scottish actress
* 1934 –
Anne Osborn Krueger, American economist and academic
* 1934 –
Bill Russell
William Felton Russell (February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who played as a center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. A five-time NBA Most V ...
, American basketball player and coach (d. 2022)
*
1935
Events
January
* January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims.
* January 12 – Amelia Earhart bec ...
–
Gene McDaniels
Eugene Booker McDaniels (February 12, 1935 – July 29, 2011) was an American singer and songwriter. He had his greatest recording success in the early 1960s, reaching number three on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart with "A Hund ...
, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2011)
*
1936
Events
January–February
* January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...
–
Alan Ebringer, Australian immunologist
*
1938 –
Judy Blume
Judith Blume (née Sussman; born February 12, 1938) is an American writer of children's, young adult and adult fiction. Blume began writing in 1959 and has published more than 25 novels. Among her best-known works are ''Are You There God? It's ...
, Jewish-American author and educator
*
1939
This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history.
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1
** Third Reich
*** Jews are forbidde ...
–
Leon Kass, American physician, scientist, and educator
* 1939 –
Ray Manzarek
Raymond Daniel Manzarek Jr. (né Manczarek; February 12, 1939 – May 20, 2013) was an American keyboardist. He is best known as a member of the Doors, co-founding the band with singer and lyricist Jim Morrison in 1965.
Manzarek was induct ...
, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer (d. 2013)
*
1941
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January– August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar E ...
–
Dominguinhos, Brazilian singer-songwriter and accordion player (d. 2013)
* 1941 –
Naomi Uemura
was a Japanese adventurer who was known particularly for his solo exploits. For example, he was the first person to reach the North Pole solo, the first person to raft the Amazon solo, and the first person to climb Denali solo. He disappeared a ...
, Japanese mountaineer and explorer (d. 1984)
*
1942
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in wh ...
–
Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak ( he-a, אֵהוּד בָּרָק, Ehud_barak.ogg, link=yes, born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli general and politician who served as the tenth prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until Ja ...
, Israeli general and politician, 10th
Prime Minister of Israel
The prime minister of Israel ( he, רֹאשׁ הַמֶּמְשָׁלָה, Rosh HaMemshala, Head of the Government, Hebrew acronym: he2, רה״מ; ar, رئيس الحكومة, ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief exec ...
* 1942 –
Pat Dobson, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2006)
*
1945
1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat.
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
Januar ...
–
Maud Adams
Maud Adams (born Maud Solveig Christina Wikström; 12 February 1945) is a Swedish actress and model, known for her roles as two different Bond girls, first in '' The Man with the Golden Gun'' (1974) and then as the eponymous character in ''Oct ...
, Swedish model and actress
* 1945 –
David D. Friedman, American economist, physicist, and scholar
*
1946 –
Jean Eyeghé Ndong, Gabonese politician,
Prime Minister of Gabon
* 1946 –
Ajda Pekkan, Turkish singer-songwriter and actress
*
1948
Events January
* January 1
** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated.
** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect.
** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...
–
Ray Kurzweil
Raymond Kurzweil ( ; born February 12, 1948) is an American computer scientist, author, inventor, and futurist. He is involved in fields such as optical character recognition (OCR), text-to-speech synthesis, speech recognition technology, and ...
, American computer scientist and engineer
* 1948 –
Nicholas Soames, English politician,
Minister of State for the Armed Forces
The minister of state for the armed forces is a mid-level ministerial position at the Ministry of Defence in the Government of the United Kingdom.
When of Minister of State rank (until the appointment of James Heappey as a Parliamentary Under ...
*
1949
Events
January
* January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022.
* January 2 – ...
–
Gundappa Viswanath
Gundappa Ranganath Viswanath (born 12 February 1949) is a former Indian cricketer. Vishwanath was rated as one of India's finest batsmen throughout the 1970s. Viswanath played Test cricket for India from 1969 to 1983, making 91 appearances an ...
, Indian cricketer
*
1950
Events January
* January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed.
* January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...
–
Angelo Branduardi
Angelo Branduardi (born 12 February 1950) is an Italian folk/folk rock singer-songwriter and composer who scored relative success in Italy and European countries such as France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Greece.
Biography
Branduardi was ...
, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist
* 1950 –
Steve Hackett
Stephen Richard Hackett (born 12 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who gained prominence as the lead guitarist of the progressive rock band Genesis from 1971 to 1977. Hackett contributed to six Genesis ...
, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
* 1950 –
Michael Ironside
Frederick Reginald Ironside (born February 12, 1950), known as Michael Ironside, is a Canadian actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He is known for playing villains and "tough guy" heroes, and has also portrayed sympathetic characters.
E ...
, Canadian actor, director, and screenwriter
*
1952
Events January–February
* January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses.
* February 6
** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh ...
–
Simon MacCorkindale, English actor, director, and producer (d. 2010)
* 1952 –
Michael McDonald, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player
*
1953 –
Joanna Kerns, American actress and director
*
1954 –
Joseph Jordania
Joseph Jordania ( Georgian იოსებ ჟორდანია, born February 12, 1954 and also known under the misspelling of Joseph Zhordania) is an Australian– Georgian ethnomusicologist and evolutionary musicologist and professor. He i ...
, Georgian-Australian musicologist and academic
* 1954 –
Tzimis Panousis, Greek comedian, singer, and author (d. 2018)
* 1954 –
Phil Zimmermann
Philip R. Zimmermann (born 1954) is an American computer scientist and cryptographer. He is the creator of Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), the most widely used email encryption software in the world. He is also known for his work in VoIP encryptio ...
, American cryptographer and programmer
*
1955
Events January
* January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama.
* January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut.
* January 18– 20 – Battle of Yiji ...
–
Bill Laswell
William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, ...
, American bass player and producer
* 1955 –
Chet Lemon
Chester Earl Lemon (born February 12, 1955) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder.
A native of Jackson, Mississippi, he grew up in Los Angeles. He was drafted in the first round of the 1972 Major League Baseball draft and played 16 season ...
, American baseball player and coach
*
1956
Events
January
* January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan.
* January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...
–
Arsenio Hall
Arsenio Hall (born February 12, 1956) is an American comedian, actor and talk show host. He hosted the late-night talk show, '' The Arsenio Hall Show'', from 1989 until 1994, and again from 2013 to 2014.
He has appeared in ''Martial Law'', '' Co ...
, American actor and talk show host
* 1956 –
Ad Melkert
Adrianus Petrus Wilhelmus "Ad" Melkert (; born 12 February 1956) is a Dutch politician and diplomat of the Labour Party (PvdA) who has served as a Member of the Council of State since 20 January 2016.
Melkert studied Political science at the U ...
, Dutch lawyer and politician,
Dutch Minister of Social Affairs and Employment
* 1956 –
Brian Robertson, Scottish rock guitarist and songwriter
*
1958 –
Outback Jack
''Outback Jack'' is a 2004 American reality TV show filmed in outback Australia. It was produced by Nash Entertainment. It starred Vadim Dale, a 6-foot-tall former underwear model, as ''Outback Jack'', and started with twelve women who vied for ...
, Australian-American wrestler
*
1961
Events January
* January 3
** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015).
** Aero Flight 311 ...
–
Di Farmer
Dianne Elizabeth Farmer (born 12 February 1961) is an Australian politician currently serving as the Minister for Employment and Small Business and Minister for Training and Skills of Queensland. She was first elected for the seat of Bulimba ...
, Queensland Member of Parliament
* 1961 –
David Graeber
David Rolfe Graeber (; February 12, 1961September 2, 2020) was an American anthropologist and anarchist activist. His influential work in economic anthropology, particularly his books '' Debt: The First 5,000 Years'' (2011) and '' Bullshit Jobs ...
, American anthropologist and
Occupy activist (d. 2020)
* 1961 –
Jim Harris, Canadian environmentalist and politician
* 1961 –
Michel Martelly
Michel Joseph Martelly (; born 12 February 1961) is a Haitian musician and politician who was the President of Haiti from May 2011 until February 2016. He was sanctioned by the Canadian Government for his involvement in human rights violations ...
, Haitian singer and politician, 56th
President of Haiti
The president of Haiti ( ht, Prezidan peyi Ayiti, french: Président d'Haïti), officially called the president of the Republic of Haiti (french: link=no, Président de la République d'Haïti, ht, link=no, Prezidan Repiblik Ayiti), is the head ...
*
1964
Events January
* January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved.
* January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...
–
Omar Hakim
Omar Hakim (born February 12, 1959) is an American jazz, jazz fusion and pop music drummer, producer, arranger and composer. He has worked with Weather Report, David Bowie, Foo Fighters, Sting, Madonna, Dire Straits, Bryan Ferry, Journey, Kat ...
, American drummer, producer, arranger, and composer
*
1965
Events January–February
* January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years.
* January 20
** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...
–
Rubén Amaro, Jr., American baseball player and manager
* 1965 –
Christine Elise
Christine Elise McCarthy, professionally known as Christine Elise, is an American film and television actress. She is best known for her roles as Emily Valentine in '' Beverly Hills, 90210'' and '' BH90210'' and Kyle in the ''Child's Play'' f ...
, American actress and producer
* 1965 –
Brett Kavanaugh
Brett Michael Kavanaugh ( ; born February 12, 1965) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on July 9, 2018, and has served since ...
, American lawyer and jurist,
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
* 1965 –
David Westlake
David Westlake is an English singer/songwriter. He led indie band The Servants from 1985 to 1991.
History
Westlake formed indie band the Servants in 1985 in Hayes, Middlesex, England.
The Servants appeared on 1986’s '' NME''-associated ...
, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
*
1966
Events January
* January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko.
* January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo is ...
–
Paul Crook
Paul Crook (born February 12, 1966) is an American guitarist known for his work recording and performing with Meat Loaf. He has also recorded and toured with Anthrax, Sebastian Bach and Marya Roxx.
Biography
Growing up in Green Brook Town ...
, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
*
1968
The year was highlighted by Protests of 1968, protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide.
Events January–February
* January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechos ...
–
Josh Brolin
Joshua James Brolin (; born February 12, 1968) is an American actor. He has appeared in films such as '' The Goonies'' (1985), '' Mimic'' (1997), '' Hollow Man'' (2000), ''Grindhouse'' (2007), '' No Country for Old Men'' (2007), '' American Gan ...
, American actor
* 1968 –
Chynna Phillips, American singer and actress
*
1969
This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon.
Events January
* January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco.
* January 5
** Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...
–
Darren Aronofsky
Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. His films are noted for their surrealistic, melodramatic, and sometimes disturbing elements, often in the form of psychological fiction.
Arono ...
, American director, producer, and screenwriter
* 1969 –
Alemayehu Atomsa, Ethiopian educator and politician (d. 2014)
* 1969 –
Steve Backley
Stephen James Backley, OBE (born 12 February 1969) is a retired British track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He formerly held the world record, and his throw from 1992 is the British record. During his career, he was a fi ...
, English javelin thrower
* 1969 –
Anneli Drecker
Anneli Marian Drecker (born 12 February 1969, in Tromsø, Norway) is a Norwegian singer and actress from the city of Tromsø. She is the frontwoman for the dream pop band Bel Canto.
Life and career
Drecker's father Peter, a German from Biele ...
, Norwegian singer and actress
* 1969 –
Hong Myung-bo
Hong Myung-bo ( ko, 홍명보, Hanja: 洪明甫; ; born 12 February 1969) is a South Korean former footballer who played as a sweeper, and the current head coach of Ulsan Hyundai. Hong is often considered one of the greatest Asian footballe ...
, South Korean footballer and manager
*
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and 1 ...
–
Jim Creeggan, Canadian singer-songwriter and bass player
* 1970 –
Bryan Roy, Dutch footballer and manager
* 1970 –
Judd Winick
Judd Winick (born February 12, 1970) is an American cartoonist, comic book writer and screenwriter, as well as a former reality television personality. He first gained fame for his stint on MTV's '' The Real World: San Francisco'' in 1994, befor ...
, American author and illustrator
*
1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...
–
Scott Menville
Scott David Menville (born February 12, 1971) is an American actor who is known for his voice work in animated films, television series and video games.
Life and career
Menville was born on February 12, 1971, to television animator and writer ...
, American voice actor, singer, actor and musician
*
1973
Events January
* January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 15 – Vietnam War: ...
–
Gianni Romme
Gianni Petrus Cornelis Romme (born 12 February 1973) is a Dutch marathoner and a former long track speed skater. He won two gold medals at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano and was the World all-round champion in 2000 and 2003. Romme has been a ...
, Dutch speed skater
* 1973 –
Tara Strong
Tara Lyn Strong (née Charendoff; born February 12, 1973) is a Canadian-American actress. She is known for her voice work in animation, websites, and video games. Strong's voice roles include animated series such as ''The New Batman Adventures ...
, Canadian voice actress and singer
*
1974
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of President of the United States, United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom K ...
–
Naseem Hamed
Naseem Hamed (born 12 February 1974), nicknamed Prince Naseem and Naz, is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2002.. Retrieved 25 February 2016. He held multiple featherweight world championships, including the WBO ti ...
, English boxer
*
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phil ...
–
Christian Cullen
Christian Mathias Cullen (born 12 February 1976) is a retired New Zealand rugby union player. He played most of his rugby at fullback for New Zealand (the All Blacks), for the Hurricanes in the Super 12, and for Manawatu, Wellington and la ...
, New Zealand rugby player
*
1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrati ...
–
Jimmy Conrad
James Paul Conrad (born February 12, 1977) is an American retired association football player who played as a defender. During his 13-year MLS career, he was four-time MLS Best XI and the 2005 MLS Defender of the Year. He also earned 27 caps ...
, American soccer player and manager
*
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government).
* January 6 – ...
–
Paul Anderson, English actor
* 1978 –
Brett Hodgson, Australian rugby league player and coach
*
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
–
Antonio Chatman, American football player
* 1979 –
Jesse Spencer
Jesse Gordon Spencer (born 12 February 1979) is an Australian actor and musician. He is best known for his roles as Billy Kennedy on the Australian soap opera '' Neighbours'' (1994–2000, 2005, 2022), Robert Chase on the American medical dra ...
, Australian actor and violinist
*
1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning Syst ...
–
Juan Carlos Ferrero
Juan Carlos Ferrero Donat (; born 12 February 1980) is a Spanish former world No. 1 tennis player. He won the men's singles title at the 2003 French Open, and in September of that year became the 21st player to hold the top ranking, which he ...
, Spanish tennis player
* 1980 –
Sarah Lancaster, American actress
* 1980 –
Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci ( ; born February 12, 1980) is an American actress. Known for playing unusual characters with a dark edge, Ricci predominantly works in independent productions, but has also appeared in numerous box office hits. She has receiv ...
, American actress and producer
* 1980 – Gucci Mane, American rapper
*1981 – Wade McKinnon, Australian rugby league player
*1982 – Jonas Hiller, Swiss ice hockey player
* 1982 – Louis Tsatoumas, Greek long jumper
* 1982 – Anthony Tuitavake, New Zealand rugby player
*
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
– Carlton Brewster, American football player and coach
*1984 – Brad Keselowski, American race car driver
* 1984 – Andrei Sidorenkov, Estonian footballer
* 1984 – Peter Vanderkaay, American swimmer
*1987 – Jérémy Chardy, French tennis player
*
1988 – DeMarco Murray, American football player
* 1988 – Nicolás Otamendi, Argentine footballer
* 1988 – Mike Posner, American singer-songwriter and producer
*
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
– Robert Griffin III, American football player
*1991 – Patrick Herrmann, German footballer
*
1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...
– Magda Linette, Polish tennis player
*
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson Ma ...
– Arman Hall, American sprinter
*
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...
– Maggie Coles-Lyster, Canadian cyclist
*2000 – Kim Ji-min (actress), Kim Ji-min, South Korean actress
Deaths
Pre-1600
* 821 – Benedict of Aniane, French monk and saint (b. 747)
* 890 – Henjō, Japanese priest and poet (b. 816)
* 981 – Ælfstan (bishop of Ramsbury), Ælfstan, Bishop of Ramsbury (ancient), bishop of Ramsbury
[Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 220]
* 901 – Antony II of Constantinople, Antony II, patriarch of Constantinople
* 914 – Empress Li (Liu Shouguang's wife), Li, empress of Yan (Five Dynasties period), Yan
* 941 – Wulfhelm, Archbishop of Canterbury
*1247 – Ermesinde, Countess of Luxembourg, ruler (b. 1185)
*1266 – Amadeus of the Amidei, Italian saint
*1517 – Catherine of Navarre (b. 1468)
*1538 – Albrecht Altdorfer, German painter, engraver, and architect (b. 1480)
*1554 – Lord Guildford Dudley, English son of Jane Dudley, Duchess of Northumberland (b. 1536; executed)
* 1554 – Lady Jane Grey, de facto monarch of England and Ireland for nine days (b. 1537; executed)
*1571 – Nicholas Throckmorton, English politician and diplomat (b. 1515)
*1590 – François Hotman, French lawyer and author (b. 1524)
*1600 – Edward Denny (soldier), Edward Denny, Knight Banneret of Bishop's Stortford, English soldier, privateer and adventurer (b. 1547)
1601–1900
*1612 – Jodocus Hondius, Flemish cartographer (b. 1563)
*1624 – George Heriot, Scottish goldsmith and philanthropist, founded George Heriot's School (b. 1563)
*1713 – Jahandar Shah, Mughal emperor (b. 1664)
*
1728 – Agostino Steffani, Italian priest and composer (b. 1653)
*1763 – Pierre de Marivaux, French author and playwright (b. 1688)
*
1771 – Adolf Frederick, King of Sweden (b. 1710)
*1789 – Ethan Allen, American farmer, general, and politician (b. 1738)
*
1804
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Haiti gains independence from France, and becomes the first black republic, having the only successful slave revolt ever.
* February 4 – The Sokoto Caliphate is founded in West Africa.
* Februar ...
– Immanuel Kant, German anthropologist, philosopher, and academic (b. 1724)
*1834 – Friedrich Schleiermacher, German philosopher and scholar (b. 1768)
*1839 – Moulvi Syed Qudratullah, Bengali judge (b. 1750)
*1886 – Randolph Caldecott, English-American painter and illustrator (b. 1846)
*
1894 – Hans von Bülow, German pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1830)
*1896 – Ambroise Thomas, French composer and academic (b. 1811)
1901–present
*
1912
Events January
* January 1 – The Republic of China is established.
* January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens.
* January 6
** German geophysicist Alfred ...
– Gerhard Armauer Hansen, Norwegian physician (b. 1841)
*
1915
Events
Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix.
January
*January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction".
*January 1
...
– Émile Waldteufel, French pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1837)
*
1916 – Richard Dedekind, German mathematician, philosopher, and academic (b. 1831)
*1929 – Lillie Langtry, English singer and actress (b. 1853)
*
1931
Events
January
* January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics.
* January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa.
* January 22 – Sir I ...
– Samad bey Mehmandarov, Azerbaijani-Russian general and politician, 3rd Ministry of Defense (Azerbaijan), Azerbaijani Minister of Defense (b. 1855)
*
1935
Events
January
* January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims.
* January 12 – Amelia Earhart bec ...
– Auguste Escoffier, French chef and author (b. 1846)
*
1942
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in wh ...
– Eugene Esmonde, Irish-English lieutenant and pilot, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1909)
* 1942 – Avraham Stern, Polish-Israeli militant leader (b. 1907)
* 1942 – Grant Wood, American painter and academic (b. 1891)
*
1947
It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Events
January
* January– February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the count ...
– Moses Gomberg, Ukrainian-American chemist and academic (b. 1866)
*
1949
Events
January
* January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022.
* January 2 – ...
– Hassan al-Banna, Egyptian educator, founded the Muslim Brotherhood (b. 1906)
*
1954 – Dziga Vertov, Polish-Russian director and screenwriter (b. 1896)
*
1958 – Douglas Hartree, English mathematician and physicist (b. 1897)
*1960 – Oskar Anderson, Bulgarian-German mathematician and academic (b. 1887)
*
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and 1 ...
– Clare Turlay Newberry, American author and illustrator (b. 1903)
*
1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...
– James Cash Penney, American businessman and philanthropist, founded J. C. Penney (b. 1875)
*1975 – Carl Lutz, Swiss vice-consul to Hungary during WWII, credited with saving over 62,000 Jews (b. 1895)
*
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phil ...
– Frank Stagg (Irish republican), Frank Stagg, Irish Republican hunger striker (b. 1941)
*
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phil ...
– Sal Mineo, American actor (b. 1939)
*
1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrati ...
– Herman Dooyeweerd, Dutch philosopher and scholar (b. 1894)
*
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
– Jean Renoir, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1894)
*
1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning Syst ...
– Muriel Rukeyser, American poet and activist (b. 1913)
*1982 – Victor Jory, Canadian-American actor (b. 1902)
*
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
– Eubie Blake, American pianist and composer (b. 1887)
*1984 – Anna Anderson, Polish-American woman, who claimed to be Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia (b. 1896)
* 1984 – Julio Cortázar, Belgian-Argentinian author and poet (b. 1914)
*1985 – Nicholas Colasanto, American actor and director (b. 1924)
*1989 – Thomas Bernhard, Austrian playwright and author (b. 1931)
*1991 – Roger Patterson (bassist), Roger Patterson, American bass player (b. 1968)
*
1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...
– Bep van Klaveren, Dutch boxer (b. 1907)
*
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson Ma ...
– Donald Judd, American painter and sculptor (b. 1928)
*1995 – Philip Taylor Kramer, American bass player (b. 1952)
*1998 – Gardner Ackley, American economist and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Italy (b. 1915)
*2000 – Tom Landry, American football player and coach (b. 1924)
* 2000 – Charles M. Schulz, American cartoonist, created ''Peanuts'' (b. 1922)
*
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...
– Kristina Söderbaum, Swedish-German actress and producer (b. 1912)
*
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...
– John Eriksen, Danish footballer (b. 1957)
*2005 – Dorothy Stang, American-Brazilian nun and missionary (b. 1931)
*2007 – Ann Barzel, American writer and dance critic (b. 1905)
* 2007 – Peggy Gilbert, American saxophonist and bandleader (b. 1905)
*2008 – David Groh, American actor (b. 1939)
*
2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
–
Colgan Air Flight 3407 victims:
**Alison Des Forges, American historian and activist (b. 1942)
**Beverly Eckert, American activist (b. 1951)
**Mat Mathews, Dutch accordion player (b. 1924)
**Coleman Mellett, American guitarist (b. 1974)
**Gerry Niewood, American saxophonist (b. 1943)
*2010 – Nodar Kumaritashvili, Georgian luger (b. 1988)
*2011 – Peter Alexander (Austrian performer), Peter Alexander, Austrian singer and actor (b. 1926)
* 2011 – Betty Garrett, American actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1919)
* 2011 – Kenneth Mars, American actor and comedian (b. 1935)
*2012 – Zina Bethune, American actress, dancer, and choreographer (b. 1945)
* 2012 – Denis Flannery, Australian rugby player and coach (b. 1928)
* 2012 – David Kelly (actor), David Kelly, Irish actor (b. 1929)
* 2012 – John Severin, American illustrator (b. 1921)
*2013 – Sattam bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Arabian prince (b. 1941)
* 2013 – Reginald Turnill, English journalist and author (b. 1915)
* 2013 – Hennadiy Udovenko, Ukrainian politician and diplomat, 2nd Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine), Minister of Foreign Affairs for Ukraine (b. 1931)
*2014 – Sid Caesar, American actor and comedian (b. 1922)
* 2014 – John Pickstone, English historian and author (b. 1944)
*2015 – Movita Castaneda, American actress and singer (b. 1916)
* 2015 – Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, Malaysian cleric and politician, 12th List of Menteris Besar of Kelantan, Menteri Besar of Kelantan (b. 1931)
* 2015 – Gary Owens, American radio host and voice actor (b. 1934)
* 2015 – Steve Strange, Welsh singer (b. 1959)
*
2016 – Dominique D'Onofrio, Italian-Belgian footballer and coach (b. 1953)
* 2016 – Yannis Kalaitzis, Greek cartoonist (b. 1945)
* 2016 – Yan Su, Chinese general and composer (b. 1930)
*2017 – Al Jarreau, American singer (b. 1940)
* 2017 – Anna Marguerite McCann, first female American underwater archaeologist (b. 1933)
* 2017 – Ren Xinmin, Chinese rocket scientist (b. 1915)
*2018 – Bill Crider, American author (b. 1941)
*
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
– Gordon Banks, English footballer (b. 1937)
* 2019 – Lyndon LaRouche, American political activist (b. 1922)
* 2019 – Pedro Morales, Puerto Rican professional wrestler and commentator (b. 1942)
*2020 – Christie Blatchford, Canadian newspaper columnist, journalist and broadcaster (b. 1951)
*2022 – Ivan Reitman, Slovak-Canadian actor, director, and producer (b. 1946)
Holidays and observances
* Christian Calendar of saints, feast day:
** Benedict of Aniane
** Damian (martyrs, February 12), Damian (?)
** Julian the Hospitaller
** Martyrs of Abitinae
** February 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
* Darwin Day (International observance, International)
*
Georgia Day
Georgia Day is the holiday which the U.S. state of Georgia recognizes in honor of its colonial founding as the Province of Georgia. On February 12, 1733 Sref name="Anne"> James Oglethorpe landed the first settlers in the ''Anne'', at what was ...
(Georgia (U.S. state))
* Lincoln's Birthday (United States)
* Red Hand Day (
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
)
* Union Day (Myanmar)
* Youth Day (Venezuela)
References
External links
BBC: On This Day*
Historical Events on February 12
{{months
Days of the year
February