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Pre-1600

*
1256 Year 1256 ( MCCLVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Mongol Empire * Spring – Mongol forces (some 80,000 men), under Hulagu Khan, cross the Oxus River, and begin their campaign to ...
– The Augustinian
monastic order Monasticism (; ), also called monachism or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual activities. Monastic life plays an important role in many Christian churches, especially ...
is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when
Pope Alexander IV Pope Alexander IV (1199 or 1185 – 25 May 1261) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 December 1254 to his death. Early career He was born as Rinaldo di Jenne in Jenne, Italy, Jenne (now in the Province of Rome ...
issues a
papal bull A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden Seal (emblem), seal (''bulla (seal), bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it. History Papal ...
''Licet ecclesiae catholicae''. *
1415 Year 1415 (MCDXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events January–March * January 24 – France and England agree to extend their truce in the ongoing Burgundian War after the English Bishop of Durh ...
– Religious reformer
John Wycliffe John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, Christianity, Christian reformer, Catholic priest, and a theology professor at the University of Oxfor ...
is condemned as a
heretic Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Christianity, Judai ...
at the
Council of Constance The Council of Constance (; ) was an ecumenical council of the Catholic Church that was held from 1414 to 1418 in the Bishopric of Constance (Konstanz) in present-day Germany. This was the first time that an ecumenical council was convened in ...
. * 1436 – Assassination of the Swedish rebel (later national hero)
Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson (1390s – 4 May 1436) was a Swedish nobleman, rebel leader and military leader of German ancestry. He was the leader of the Engelbrekt rebellion in 1434 against Eric of Pomerania, king of the Kalmar Union. Biograp ...
(27 April O.S.). * 1471
Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses, known at the time and in following centuries as the Civil Wars, were a series of armed confrontations, machinations, battles and campaigns fought over control of the English throne from 1455 to 1487. The conflict was fo ...
: The
Battle of Tewkesbury The Battle of Tewkesbury, which took place on Saturday 4 May 1471, was one of the most decisive battles of the Wars of the Roses in England. King Edward IV and his forces loyal to the House of York completely defeated those of the rival Hou ...
:
Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...
defeats a Lancastrian Army and kills
Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales Edward of Westminster (13 October 1453 – 4 May 1471), also known as Edward of Lancaster, was the only child of Henry VI of England and Margaret of Anjou. He was killed aged seventeen at the Battle of Tewkesbury. Early life Edward was born at ...
. *
1493 Year 1493 ( MCDXCIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * January 19 – Treaty of Barcelona: Charles VIII of France returns Cerdagne and Roussillon to Ferdinand of Aragon. ...
– In the
papal bull A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden Seal (emblem), seal (''bulla (seal), bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it. History Papal ...
''
Inter caetera ''Inter caetera'' ('Among other
orks Ork or ORK may refer to: * Ork (folklore), a mountain demon of Tyrol folklore * ''Ork'' (video game), a 1991 game for the Amiga and Atari ST systems * Ork (''Warhammer 40,000''), a fictional species in the ''Warhammer 40,000'' universe * '' Ork!' ...
) was a papal bull issued by Pope Alexander VI on the 4 May 1493, which granted to the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon, King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, Queen Isabella I of ...
'',
Pope Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI (, , ; born Roderic Llançol i de Borja; epithet: ''Valentinus'' ("The Valencian"); – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 August 1492 until his death in 1503. Born into t ...
divides the
New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...
between Spain and Portugal along the
Line of Demarcation The Treaty of Tordesillas, signed in Tordesillas, Spain, on 7 June 1494, and ratified in Setúbal, Portugal, divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Crown of Castile, along a meridian west of ...
.


1601–1900

*
1626 Events January–March * January 7 – Polish–Swedish War (1625–1629), Polish-Swedish War: Battle of Wallhof in Latvia – Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, defeats a Polish army. * January 9 – Peter Minuit sail ...
– Dutch explorer
Peter Minuit Peter Minuit (French language, French: ''Pierre Minuit'', Dutch language, Dutch: ''Peter Minnewit''; 1580 – August 5, 1638) was a Walloons, Walloon merchant and politician who was the 3rd Director of New Netherland, Director of the Dutch Nort ...
arrives in
New Netherland New Netherland () was a colony of the Dutch Republic located on the East Coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva Peninsula to Cape Cod. Settlements were established in what became the states ...
(present day
Manhattan Island Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the smallest county by area in the U.S. state of New York. Located almost entire ...
) aboard the ''See Meeuw''. *
1738 Events January–March * January 1 – At least 664 African slaves drown when the Dutch West Indies Company slave ship ''Leusden'' capsizes and sinks in the Maroni River during its arrival in Surinam. The Dutch crew escapes ...
– The Imperial Theatrical School, the first ballet school in Russia, is founded. *
1776 Events January–February * January 1 – American Revolutionary War – Burning of Norfolk: The town of Norfolk, Virginia is destroyed, by the combined actions of the British Royal Navy and occupying Patriot forces. * January ...
Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...
becomes the first American colony to renounce allegiance to King
George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...
. *
1799 Events January–March * January 9 – British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound, to raise funds for Great Britain's war effort in the French Revolutionary Wars. * January ...
Fourth Anglo-Mysore War: The Battle of Seringapatam: The siege of Seringapatam ends when the city is invaded and
Tipu Sultan Tipu Sultan (, , ''Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu''; 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799) commonly referred to as Sher-e-Mysore or "Tiger of Mysore", was a ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery ...
killed by the besieging British army, under the command of General George Harris. *
1814 Events January * January 1 – War of the Sixth Coalition – The Royal Prussian Army led by Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher crosses the Rhine. * January 3 ** War of the Sixth Coalition – Siege of Cattaro: French gar ...
– Emperor
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
arrives at
Portoferraio Portoferraio () is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Livorno, on the edge of the eponymous harbour of the island of Elba. It is the island's largest town. Because of its terrain, many of its buildings are situated on the slopes of a tiny h ...
on the island of
Elba Elba (, ; ) is a Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano National Park, a ...
to begin his exile. * 1814 – King Ferdinand VII abolishes the
Spanish Constitution of 1812 The Political Constitution of the Spanish Monarchy (), also known as the Constitution of Cádiz () and nicknamed ''La Pepa'', was the first Constitution of Spain and one of the earliest codified constitutions in world history. The Constitution ...
, returning Spain to absolutism. *
1836 Events January–March * January 1 — Hill Street Academy is named Colombo Academy and acquired by the Government, establishing the first public school in Sri Lanka. * January 1 – Queen Maria II of Portugal marries Prince Ferdinand ...
– Formation of
Ancient Order of Hibernians The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH; ) is an Irish Catholic fraternal organization. Members must be male, Catholic, and either born in Ireland or of Irish descent. Its largest membership is in the United States, where it was founded in New Yo ...
. * 1859 – The
Cornwall Railway The Cornwall Railway was a broad gauge railway from Plymouth in Devon to Falmouth, Cornwall, Falmouth in Cornwall, England, built in the second half of the nineteenth century. It was constantly beset with shortage of capital for the construct ...
opens across the Royal Albert Bridge linking
Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
and
Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
in England. *
1869 Events January * January 3 – Abdur Rahman Khan is defeated at Tinah Khan, and exiled from Afghanistan. * January 5 – Scotland's second oldest professional football team, Kilmarnock F.C., is founded. * January 20 – Elizabe ...
– The four-day Naval Battle of Hakodate begins. The newly formed
Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...
defeats the remnants of the
Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...
navy in the
Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...
off the city of
Hakodate is a Cities of Japan, city and seaports of Japan, port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture. As of January 31, 2024, the city had an estimated population of 239,813 with 138,807 househol ...
, leading to the surrender of the Ezo Republic on May 17. *
1871 Events January–March * January 3 – Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Bapaume – Prussians win a strategic victory. * January 18 – Proclamation of the German Empire: The member states of the North German Confederation and the sout ...
– The National Association, the first professional baseball league, opens its first season in
Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 at the 2020 census ...
. *
1886 Events January * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British rule in Burma, British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5–January 9, 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson ...
Haymarket affair The Haymarket affair, also known as the Haymarket massacre, the Haymarket riot, the Haymarket Square riot, or the Haymarket Incident, was the aftermath of a bombing that took place at a labor demonstration on May 4, 1886 at Haymarket Square (C ...
: In Chicago, United States, a homemade bomb is thrown at
police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
officers trying to break up a labor rally, killing one officer. Ensuing gunfire leads to the deaths of a further seven officers and four civilians.


1901–present

*
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. * ...
– The United States begins construction of the
Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...
. *
1910 Events January * January 6 – Abé people in the French West Africa colony of Côte d'Ivoire rise against the colonial administration; the rebellion is brutally suppressed by the military. * January 8 – By the Treaty of Punakha, t ...
– The
Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...
is created. *
1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...
– Italy occupies the Ottoman island of
Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...
. *
1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (later Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off th ...
May Fourth Movement The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese cultural and anti-imperialist political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen to protest the Chinese government's weak response ...
: Student demonstrations take place in
Tiananmen Square Tiananmen Square or Tian'anmen Square () is a city square in the city center of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen ("''Gate of Heavenly Peace''") located to its north, which separates it from the Forbidden City. The square contains th ...
in Beijing, China, protesting the
Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...
, which transferred Chinese territory to Japan. *
1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...
– The
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
general strike A general strike is a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coalitions ...
begins. *
1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...
– The
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...
is incorporated. *
1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...
– Having been incarcerated at the
Cook County Jail The Cook County Jail, located on in South Lawndale, Chicago, Illinois, is operated by the Sheriff of Cook County. It is sometimes referred to as ''California'' or ''Hotel California'', as its address is on California Avenue. A city jail has e ...
since his sentencing on October 24, 1931,
mobster A gangster (informally gangsta) is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level ...
Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone ( ; ; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American organized crime, gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-foun ...
is transferred to the federal penitentiary in Atlanta after the
U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...
denies his appeal for conviction of
tax evasion Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to red ...
. *
1942 The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
: The
Battle of the Coral Sea The Battle of the Coral Sea, from 4 to 8 May 1942, was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces of the United States and Australia. Taking place in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, the battle ...
begins with an attack by aircraft from the United States
aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...
on
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
naval forces at
Tulagi Tulagi, less commonly known as Tulaghi, is a small island in Solomon Islands, just off the south coast of Ngella Sule. The town of the same name on the island (pop. 1,750) was the capital of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate from 1896 t ...
Island in the
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...
. The Japanese forces had invaded Tulagi the day before. *
1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...
– World War II:
Neuengamme concentration camp Neuengamme was a network of Nazi concentration camps in northern Germany that consisted of the main camp, Neuengamme, and List of subcamps of Neuengamme, more than 85 satellite camps. Established in 1938 near the village of Neuengamme, Hamburg, N ...
near
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
is liberated by the
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
. * 1945 – World War II: The German surrender at Lüneburg Heath is signed, coming into effect the following day. It encompasses all
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
units in the Netherlands, Denmark and northwest Germany. *
1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...
– In
San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...
, U.S. Marines from the nearby Treasure Island Naval Base stop a two-day riot at
Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary United States Penitentiary, Alcatraz Island, also known simply as Alcatraz (, ''"the gannet"'') or the Rock, was a maximum security federal prison on Alcatraz Island, 1.25 miles (2.01 km) off the coast of San Francisco, California, United S ...
. Five people are killed in the riot. *
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 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...
– The entire
Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...
football team (except for two players who did not take the trip: Sauro Tomà, due to an injury and Renato Gandolfi, because of coach request) is killed in a plane crash. *
1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...
Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...
wins the
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...
for ''
The Old Man and the Sea ''The Old Man and the Sea'' is a 1952 novella by the American author Ernest Hemingway. Written between December 1950 and February 1951, it was the last major fictional work Hemingway published during his lifetime. It tells the story of Santiag ...
''. *
1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...
– The 1st Annual Grammy Awards are held. *
1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...
American civil rights movement: The "
Freedom Riders Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the Racial segregation in the United States, segregated Southern United States, Southern United States in 1961 and subsequent years to challenge the non-enforcement of t ...
" begin a bus trip through the
South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
. * 1961 – Malcolm Ross and Victor Prather attain a new altitude record for manned balloon flight ascending in the Strato-Lab V open gondola to . *
1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
:
Kent State shootings The Kent State shootings (also known as the Kent State massacre or May 4 massacre"These would be the first of many probes into what soon became known as the Kent State Massacre. Like the Boston Massacre almost exactly two hundred years before (Ma ...
: The
Ohio National Guard The Ohio National Guard comprises the Ohio Army National Guard and the Ohio Air National Guard. The commander-in-chief of the Ohio Army National Guard is the List of governors of Ohio, governor of the U.S. state of Ohio. If the Ohio Army Nation ...
, sent to
Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a Public university, public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Kent State University at Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Kent State ...
after disturbances in the city of Kent the weekend before, opens fire killing four unarmed students and wounding nine others. The students were protesting the Cambodian Campaign of the United States and
South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...
. *
1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
– The ''
Don't Make A Wave Committee The Don't Make a Wave Committee was the name of the anti-nuclear organization which later evolved into Greenpeace, a global environmental organization. The Don't Make a Wave Committee was founded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to protest a ...
'', a fledgling
environmental organization An environmental organization is an organization coming out of the conservation or environmental movements that seeks to protect, analyse or monitor the environment against misuse or degradation from human forces. In this sense the environme ...
founded in Canada in 1971, officially changes its name to " Greenpeace Foundation". *
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 14 - The 16-0 19 ...
– The 108-story
Sears Tower The Willis Tower, formerly and still commonly referred to as the Sears Tower, is a 110- story, skyscraper in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan ...
in Chicago is topped out at as the world's tallest building. *
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 Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...
– The
South African Defence Force The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence Fo ...
attacks a
SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO ; , SWAVO; , SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former independence movement in Namibia (formerly South West Africa). Founded in 1960, it has been ...
base at Cassinga in southern
Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...
, killing about 600 people. *
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 ...
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...
becomes the first female
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...
. *
1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...
– Twenty sailors are killed when the British
Type 42 destroyer The Type 42 or ''Sheffield'' class was a class of fourteen guided-missile destroyers that served in the Royal Navy.Marriott, Leo: ''Royal Navy Destroyers since 1945'', , Ian Allan Ltd, 1989 A further two ships of this class were built for and ...
is hit by an
Argentinian Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...
Exocet The Exocet () is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from Warship, surface vessels, Submarine, submarines, Helicopter, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Etymology The missile's name was given by M. Guil ...
missile during the
Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...
. * 1988 – The PEPCON disaster rocks
Henderson, Nevada Henderson is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, about southeast of downtown Las Vegas. It is the List of cities in Nevada, 2nd most populous city in Nevada, after Las Vegas, with 317,610 residents. The city is part of the Las Vegas V ...
, as tons of
Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...
fuel detonate during a fire. *
1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
Iran–Contra affair The Iran–Contra affair (; ), also referred to as the Iran–Contra scandal, the Iran Initiative, or simply Iran–Contra, was a political scandal in the United States that centered on arms trafficking to Iran between 1981 and 1986, facilitat ...
: Former
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
aide
Oliver North Oliver Laurence North (born October 7, 1943) is an American political commentator, television host, military historian, author, and retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel. A veteran of the Vietnam War, North was a National Sec ...
is convicted of three crimes and acquitted of nine other charges; the convictions are later overturned on appeal. *1989 – Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'' launches on mission STS-30 to deploy the
Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...
-bound '' Magellan'' space probe. *
1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...
declares independence from the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. *
1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
– Israeli
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; , ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the prime minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–1977, and from 1992 until Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, his ass ...
and
PLO The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinian people in both the occupied Palestinian territories and the diaspora. ...
leader
Yasser Arafat Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...
sign a peace accord, granting self-rule in the
Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...
and Jericho. *1998 – A federal judge in Sacramento, California, gives "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski four life sentences plus 30 years after Kaczynski accepts a plea agreement sparing him from the Capital punishment, death penalty. *2000 – Ken Livingstone becomes the 2000 London mayoral election, first Mayor of London (an office separate from that of the Lord Mayor of London). *2002 – One hundred three people are killed and 51 are injured in a EAS Airlines Flight 4226, plane crash near Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano (city), Kano, Nigeria. *2007 – Greensburg, Kansas is almost completely destroyed by the 2007 Greensburg tornado, a 1.7-mile wide Enhanced Fujita scale, EF5 tornado. It was the first-ever tornado to be rated as such with the new Enhanced Fujita scale. *2014 – Three people are killed and 62 injured in a 2014 Nairobi bus bombings, pair of bombings on buses in Nairobi, Kenya. *2019 – The inaugural all-female motorsport series, W Series (championship), W Series, takes place at Hockenheimring. The race was won by Jamie Chadwick, who would go on to become 2019 W Series, the inaugural season's champion. *2023 – Nine people are killed and thirteen injured in Mladenovac and Smederevo shootings, a spree shooting in Mladenovac and Smederevo, Serbia. It is the second mass shooting in the country in two days.


Births


Pre-1600

*1006 – Khwaja Abdullah Ansari, Persian mystic and poet (died 1088) *1559 – Alice Spencer, Countess of Derby, Baroness Ellesmere and Viscountess Brackley, Alice Spencer, English noblewoman (died 1637)


1601–1900

*1634 – Katherine Ferrers, English aristocrat and heiress (died 1660) *1649 – Chhatrasal, Indian ruler (died 1731) *1655 – Bartolomeo Cristofori, Italian instrument maker, invented the piano (died 1731) *1677 – Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, French noblewoman (died 1749) *1715 – Richard Graves, English minister and author (died 1804) *1733 – Jean-Charles de Borda, French mathematician, physicist, and sailor (died 1799) *1752 – John Brooks (governor), John Brooks, American soldier and politician, 11th Governor of Massachusetts (died 1825) *1757 – Manuel Tolsá, Spanish sculptor and first director of the Academy of San Carlos in Mexico City (died 1816) *1767 – Tyagaraja, Indian composer (died 1847) *1770 – François Gérard, French painter (died 1837) *1772 – Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus, German publisher (died 1823) *1796 – Horace Mann, American educator and politician (died 1859) * 1796 – William Pennington, American lawyer and politician, 13th Governor of New Jersey, 23rd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (died 1862) * 1796 – William H. Prescott, American historian and scholar (died 1859) *1820 – Julia Gardiner Tyler, American wife of John Tyler, 11th First Lady of the United States (died 1889) * 1820 – John Whiteaker, American soldier, judge, and politician, 1st Governor of Oregon (died 1902) *1822 – Charles Boucher de Boucherville, Canadian physician and politician, 3rd Premier of Quebec (died 1915) *1825 – Thomas Henry Huxley, English biologist, anatomist, and academic (died 1895) * 1825 – Augustus Le Plongeon, English-American historian, photographer, and academic (died 1908) *1826 – Frederic Edwin Church, American painter (died 1900) *1827 – John Hanning Speke, English soldier and explorer (died 1864) *1843 – Bianka Blume, German opera singer (died 1896) *1851 – Thomas Dewing, American painter (died 1938) *1852 – Alice Liddell, English model (died 1934) *1883 – Wang Jingwei, Chinese politician (died 1944) *1884 – Richard Baggallay (cricketer), Richard Baggallay, English army officer and cricketer (died 1975) *1887 – Andrew Dasburg, French-American painter (died 1979) *1889 – Francis Spellman, American cardinal (died 1967) *1890 – Franklin Carmichael, Canadian painter (died 1945)


1901–present

*1902 – Ronnie Aird, English cricketer and administrator (died 1986) *1903 – Luther Adler, American actor (died 1984) *1905 – Al Dexter, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1984) *1907 – Lincoln Kirstein, American soldier and playwright, co-founded the New York City Ballet (died 1996) * 1907 – Walter Walsh, American target shooter and FBI agent (died 2014) *1913 – Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark (died 2007) *1914 – Maedayama Eigorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 39th Makuuchi#Yokozuna, Yokozuna (died 1971) *1916 – Jane Jacobs, American-Canadian journalist, author, and activist (died 2006) * 1916 – Richard Proenneke, American soldier, carpenter, and meteorologist (died 2003) *1917 – Nick Joaquin, Filipino writer, journalist and historian (died 2004) *1918 – Kakuei Tanaka, Japanese soldier and politician, 64th Prime Minister of Japan (died 1993) *1921 – Edo Murtić, Croatian painter, sculptor, and illustrator (died 2005) *1922 – Eugenie Clark, American biologist and academic (died 2015) *1923 – Eric Sykes, British actor and comedian (died 2012) *1925 – Maurice R. Greenberg, American businessman and philanthropist *1928 – Maynard Ferguson, Canadian trumpet player and bandleader (died 2006) * 1928 – Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian air marshal and politician, 4th President of Egypt (died 2020) * 1928 – Betsy Rawls, American golfer (died 2023) *1929 – Manuel Contreras, Chilean general (died 2015) * 1929 – Audrey Hepburn, Belgian-British actress and humanitarian (died 1993) *1930 – Katherine Jackson, matriarch of the Jackson family *
1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...
– Harlon Hill, American football player and coach (died 2013) *1937 – Ron Carter, American bassist and educator * 1937 – Dick Dale, American surf-rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter (died 2019) *1938 – Carlos Monsiváis, Mexican journalist, author, and critic (died 2010) *1939 – Amos Oz, Israeli journalist and author (died 2018) *1940 – Robin Cook (American novelist), Robin Cook, American physician and author *1941 – George Will, American journalist and author *1943 – Georgi Asparuhov, Bulgarian footballer (died 1971) *1944 – Russi Taylor, American voice actress (died 2019) *
1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...
– Robert Machray (actor), Robert Machray, American actor (died 2025) *
1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...
– John Barnard, English car designer * 1946 – Gary Bauer, American political activist * 1946 – John Watson (racing driver), John Watson, British race car driver *1948 – King George Tupou V of Tonga, (died 2012) *1951 – Colin Bass, English bass player, songwriter, and producer * 1951 – Colleen Hanabusa, American lawyer and politician * 1951 – Jackie Jackson, American singer-songwriter and dancer *1952 – Belinda Green, Australian beauty queen and 1972 Miss World *
1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...
– Pia Zadora, American actress and singer *1954 – Ryan Cayabyab, Filipino pianist, composer, and conductor *1956 – Ken Oberkfell, American baseball player and coach *1957 – Kathy Kreiner, Canadian skier *1958 – Keith Haring, American painter (died 1990) * 1958 – Caroline Spelman, English politician, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs *
1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...
– Randy Travis, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor *1960 – Werner Faymann, Austrian politician, 28th Chancellor of Austria *
1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...
– Jay Aston, English singer-songwriter and dancer *1967 – Kate Garraway, English journalist * 1967 – Ana Gasteyer, American actress and singer *
1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...
– Will Arnett, Canadian actor and producer * 1970 – Dawn Staley, American basketball player *
1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
– Mike Dirnt, American bass player and songwriter * 1972 – Chris Tomlin, American singer-songwriter *
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 14 - The 16-0 19 ...
– Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Argentinian footballer and coach * 1973 – John Madden (ice hockey), John Madden, Canadian ice hockey player and coach *1974 – Tony McCoy, Northern Irish jockey and sportscaster *1975 – Kimora Lee Simmons, American model *
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 Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...
– Erin Andrews, American sportscaster and journalist * 1978 – Igor Biscan, Croatian footballer and manager * 1978 – James Harrison (American football), James Harrison, American football player *
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 ...
– Lance Bass, American singer, dancer, and producer * 1979 – Lesley Vainikolo, Tongan rugby player *1980 – Andrew Raycroft, Canadian ice hockey player *1981 – Eric Djemba-Djemba, Cameroon footballer * 1981 – Ruth Negga, Ethiopian-Irish actress * 1981 – Dallon Weekes, American singer-songwriter and musician *1983 – Derek Roy, Canadian ice hockey player *1984 – Brad Maddox, American wrestler and referee *1985 – Ravi Bopara, English cricketer * 1985 – Fernandinho (footballer, born May 1985), Fernandinho, Brazilian footballer * 1985 – Jamie Adenuga, English MC and rapper *1986 – Devan Dubnyk, Canadian ice hockey player * 1986 – George Hill (basketball), George Hill, American basketball player *1987 – Cesc Fàbregas, Spanish footballer and manager * 1987 – Jorge Lorenzo, Spanish motorcycle racer * 1988 – Radja Nainggolan, Belgian footballer *
1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
– Rory McIlroy, Northern Irish golfer * 1989 – James van Riemsdyk, American ice hockey player *1991 – Brianne Jenner, Canadian women's ice hockey player *1992 – Victor Oladipo, American basketball player *
1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
– Abi Masatora, Japanese sumo wrestler * 1994 – Joseph Tapine, New Zealand rugby league player *1998 – Rex Orange County, Alexander O'Connor, English musician


Deaths


Pre-1600

* 408 – Venerius (bishop of Milan), Venerius, archbishop of Milan * 784 – Arbeo of Freising, Arbeo, bishop of Freising *1003 – Herman II, Duke of Swabia, Herman II, duke of Swabia *1038 – Gotthard of Hildesheim, German bishop (born 960) *1406 – Coluccio Salutati, chancellor of Florence (born 1331) * 1436
Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson (1390s – 4 May 1436) was a Swedish nobleman, rebel leader and military leader of German ancestry. He was the leader of the Engelbrekt rebellion in 1434 against Eric of Pomerania, king of the Kalmar Union. Biograp ...
, Swedish rebel leader (27 April O.S.). * 1471
Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales Edward of Westminster (13 October 1453 – 4 May 1471), also known as Edward of Lancaster, was the only child of Henry VI of England and Margaret of Anjou. He was killed aged seventeen at the Battle of Tewkesbury. Early life Edward was born at ...
, son and heir of Henry VI of England (born 1453) *1483 – George Neville, Duke of Bedford (born 1457) *1506 – Sultan Husayn Mirza Bayqara, Husayn Mirza Bayqara, Timurid ruler of Herat (born 1438) *1519 – Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino, Lorenzo de' Medici, duke of Urbino (born 1492) *1535 – John Houghton (martyr), John Houghton, Carthusian monk and saint *1562 – Lelio Sozzini, Italian Protestant theologian (born 1525) *1566 – Luca Ghini, Italian physician and botanist (born 1490) *1571 – Pierre Viret, Swiss theologian and reformer (born 1511)


1601–1900

*1604 – Claudio Merulo, Italian organist and composer (born 1533) *1605 – Ulisse Aldrovandi, Italian naturalist (born 1522) *1615 – Adriaan van Roomen, Flemish priest and mathematician (born 1561) *
1626 Events January–March * January 7 – Polish–Swedish War (1625–1629), Polish-Swedish War: Battle of Wallhof in Latvia – Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, defeats a Polish army. * January 9 – Peter Minuit sail ...
– Arthur Lake (bishop), Arthur Lake, English bishop and scholar (born 1569) *1677 – Isaac Barrow, English mathematician and theologian (born 1630) *1684 – John Nevison, English criminal (born 1639) *1729 – Louis Antoine de Noailles, French cardinal (born 1651) *1734 – James Thornhill, English painter and politician (born 1675) *1737 – Eustace Budgell, English journalist and politician (born 1686) *1774 – Duke Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick, Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick, Prussian nobleman (born 1714) *
1776 Events January–February * January 1 – American Revolutionary War – Burning of Norfolk: The town of Norfolk, Virginia is destroyed, by the combined actions of the British Royal Navy and occupying Patriot forces. * January ...
– Jacques Saly, French painter and sculptor (born 1717) *1790 – Matthew Tilghman, American politician (born 1718) *
1799 Events January–March * January 9 – British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound, to raise funds for Great Britain's war effort in the French Revolutionary Wars. * January ...
– Tipu Sultan, Tipu, ruler of Mysore (born 1750) *1811 – Nikolay Kamensky, Russian general (born 1776) *1816 – Samuel Dexter, American lawyer and politician, 4th United States Secretary of War, 3rd United States Secretary of the Treasury (born 1761) *1824 – Joseph Joubert, French author (born 1754) *1826 – Sebastián Kindelán y O'Regan, colonial governor of East Florida, Captaincy General of Santo Domingo, Santo Domingo and Cuba (born 1757) *1839 – Denis Davydov, Russian general and poet (born 1784) * 1859 – Joseph Diaz Gergonne, French mathematician and philosopher (born 1771) *1880 – Edward Clark (governor), Edward Clark, American lawyer and politician, 8th Governor of Texas (born 1815)


1901–present

*1901 – John Jones Ross, Canadian lawyer and politician, 7th Premier of Quebec (born 1831) *1903 – Gotse Delchev, Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary IMRO (born 1872) *
1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...
– Nettie Stevens, American geneticist credited with discovering sex chromosomes (born 1861) *1916 – Edward Daly (Irish revolutionary), Ned Daly, Irish rebel commander (Easter Rising) (born 1891) * 1916 – John Murray (Victorian politician), John Murray, Australian politician, 23rd Premier of Victoria (born 1851) * 1916 – Willie Pearse, Irish rebel (born 1881) * 1916 – Joseph Plunkett, Irish rebel and writer (born 1887) *
1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (later Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off th ...
– Milan Rastislav Štefánik, Slovak general and politician (born 1880) *1922 – Viktor Kingissepp, Estonian politician (born 1888) *1923 – Ralph McKittrick, American golfer and tennis player (born 1877) *1924 – E. Nesbit, English author and poet (born 1858) *1937 – Gina Oselio, Norwegian opera singer (born 1858). *1938 – Kanō Jigorō, Japanese founder of judo (born 1860) * 1938 – Carl von Ossietzky, German journalist and activist, Nobel Peace Prize, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1889) *1941 – Chris McKivat, Australian rugby player and coach (born 1880) *
1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...
– Fedor von Bock, German field marshal (born 1880) *
1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...
– Alexandre Pharamond, French rugby player (born 1876) *1955 – George Enescu, Romanian pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1881) *1964 – Karl Robert Pusta, Estonian politician, 4th Minister of Foreign Affairs (Estonia), Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1883) *1969 – Osbert Sitwell, English-Italian author and poet (born 1892) *1971 – William Brown Meloney (1902–1971), William Brown Meloney, writer and theatrical producer (born 1902) *
1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
– Father Chrysanthus, Dutch arachnologist (born 1905) * 1972 – Edward Calvin Kendall, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1886) *
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 14 - The 16-0 19 ...
– Jane Bowles, American author and playwright (born 1917) *1975 – Moe Howard, American actor, singer, and screenwriter (born 1897) *1976 – Frank Strahan, Australian public servant (born 1886) *1980 – Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslav field marshal and politician, 1st President of Yugoslavia (born 1892) *1980 – Joe "Mr Piano" Henderson, Scottish pianist and composer (born 1920) *1981 – C. Loganathan, Sri Lankan banker (born 1913) *1983 – Nino Sanzogno, Italian conductor and composer (born 1911) *1984 – Diana Dors, English actress (born 1931) *1985 – Fikri Sönmez, Turkish tailor and politician (born 1938) * 1985 – Clarence Wiseman, English-Canadian 10th General of The Salvation Army (born 1907) *1987 – Paul Butterfield, American singer and harmonica player (born 1942) * 1987 – Cathryn Damon, American actress (born 1930) * 1988 – Lillian Estelle Fisher, American historian of Spanish America (born 1891) *
1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
– Emily Remler, American guitarist (born 1957) *1991 – Mohammed Abdel Wahab, Egyptian singer-songwriter and mandolin player (born 1902) *1992 – Gregor Mackenzie, Scottish politician (born 1927) *1993 – France Štiglic, Slovenian film director and screenwriter (born 1919) *1995 – Connie Wisniewski, American baseball player (born 1922) *1998 – Christine Kurzhals, German politician (born 1950) *2000 – Hendrik Casimir, Dutch physicist and academic (born 1909) *2001 – Bonnie Lee Bakley, American model, wife of Robert Blake (actor), Robert Blake (born 1956) *2004 – David Reimer, Canadian man, born male but reassigned female and raised as a girl after a botched circumcision (born 1965) *2005 – David Hackworth, American colonel and journalist (born 1930) *2008 – Fred Baur, American chemist and founder of Pringles (born 1918) *2009 – Dom DeLuise, American actor, director, and producer (born 1933) *2011 – Sammy McCrory, Northern Irish footballer (born 1924) *2012 – Mort Lindsey, American pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1923) * 2012 – Bob Stewart (television producer), Bob Stewart, American television producer, founded Stewart Tele Enterprises (born 1920) * 2012 – Adam Yauch, American rapper and director (born 1964) * 2012 – Rashidi Yekini, Nigerian footballer (born 1963) *2013 – Otis Bowen, American physician and politician, 44th Governor of Indiana (born 1918) * 2013 – Christian de Duve, English-Belgian cytologist and biochemist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1917) * 2013 – Javier Diez Canseco, Peruvian sociologist and politician (born 1948) * 2013 – Mario Machado, Chinese-American journalist and actor (born 1935) * 2013 – Morgan Morgan-Giles, English admiral and politician (born 1914) * 2013 – César Portillo de la Luz, Cuban guitarist and composer (born 1922) *2014 – Dick Ayers, American author and illustrator (born 1924) * 2014 – Elena Baltacha, Ukrainian-Scottish tennis player (born 1983) * 2014 – Edgar Cortright, American scientist and engineer (born 1923) * 2014 – Helga Königsdorf, German physicist and author (born 1938) * 2014 – Ross Lonsberry, Canadian-American ice hockey player (born 1947) * 2014 – Jean-Paul Ngoupandé, Central African politician, Prime Minister of the Central African Republic (born 1948) *2015 – William Bast, American screenwriter and author (born 1931) * 2015 – Ellen Albertini Dow, American actress (born 1913) * 2015 – Marv Hubbard, American football player (born 1946) *2016 – Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, Burundian politician (born 1946) *2020 – Don Shula, American football player and coach (born 1930) * 2020 – Greg Zanis, American carpenter and activist (born 1950) *2021 – Nick Kamen, English model, songwriter (born 1962) *2024 – Ron Kavana, Irish singer, songwriter, guitarist and band leader (born 1950) *2024 – Frank Stella, American painter (born 1936)


Holidays and observances

*Anti-Bullying Day (United Nations) *Bird Day (United States) *Cassinga Day (Namibia) *Christian feast day: **Blessed Ceferino Giménez Malla **Blessed Michał Giedroyć **Protestant Reformation, English Saints and Martyrs of the Reformation Era (Church of England) **F. C. D. Wyneken (Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod) **Saint Florian, Florian **José María Rubio **Judas Cyriacus **Saint Monica, Monica of Hippo (General Roman Calendar of 1960#May, 1960 Roman Catholic Calendar) **Sacerdos of Limoges **Venerius of Milan **May 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) *History of coal miners, Coal Miners Day (India) *Remembrance days in Slovakia, Death of Milan Rastislav Štefánik Day (Slovakia) *Greenery Day (Japan) *International Firefighters' Day *
May Fourth Movement The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese cultural and anti-imperialist political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen to protest the Chinese government's weak response ...
commemorations: **Literary Day (Republic of China) **Youth Day (China) *Remembrance Day for Martyrs and Disabled (Afghanistan) *Remembrance of the Dead (Netherlands) *Public holidays in Latvia, Restoration of Independence Day (
Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...
) *Star Wars Day, ''Star Wars'' Day (International observance) *GiveForward.com, World Give Day *List of festivals in Fiji, Youth Day (Fiji)


References


External links


BBC: On This Day
*
Historical Events on May 4
{{months Days of May