Events
Pre-1600
*
533 –
Vandalic War
The Vandalic War (533–534) was a conflict fought in North Africa between the forces of the Byzantine Empire (also known as the Eastern Roman Empire) and the Germanic Vandal Kingdom. It was the first war of Emperor Justinian I's , wherein the ...
:
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
general
Belisarius
BelisariusSometimes called Flavia gens#Later use, Flavius Belisarius. The name became a courtesy title by the late 4th century, see (; ; The exact date of his birth is unknown. March 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under ...
defeats the
Vandals
The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vand ...
, commanded by King
Gelimer
Gelimer (original form possibly Geilamir, 480–553), was a Germanic king who ruled the Vandal Kingdom in antique North Africa from 530 to 534. He became ruler on 15 June 530 after deposing his first cousin twice removed, Hilderic, who had a ...
, at the
Battle of Tricamarum
The Battle of Tricamarum took place on December 15, 533 between the armies of the Byzantine Empire, under Belisarius, and the Vandal Kingdom, commanded by King Gelimer, and his brother Tzazo. It followed the Byzantine victory at the Battle of ...
.
*
687 –
Pope Sergius I
Pope Sergius I (8 September 701) was the bishop of Rome from 15 December 687 to his death on 8 September 701, and is revered as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. He was elected at a time when two rivals, Paschal and Theodore, were locked ...
is elected as a compromise between
antipope
An antipope () is a person who claims to be Bishop of Rome and leader of the Roman Catholic Church in opposition to the officially elected pope. Between the 3rd and mid-15th centuries, antipopes were supported by factions within the Church its ...
s Paschal and Theodore.
*
1025 –
Constantine VIII
Constantine VIII (;Also called Porphyrogenitus (), although the epithet is almost exclusively used for Constantine VII. 960 – 11/12 November 1028) was ''de jure'' Byzantine emperor from 962 until his death. He was the younger son of Empe ...
becomes sole
emperor
The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...
of the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
, 63 years after being crowned co-emperor.
*
1161 –
Jin–Song wars: Military officers conspire against the emperor
Wanyan Liang
Digunai (24 February 1122 – 15 December 1161), also known by his sinicised name Wanyan Liang and his formal title Prince of Hailing (海陵王, ''Hǎilíng Wáng''), was the fourth emperor of the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty of China. He was the ...
of the
Jin dynasty after a military defeat at the
Battle of Caishi, and assassinate the emperor at his camp.
*
1167 –
Sicilian Chancellor
Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...
Stephen du Perche moves the royal court to
Messina
Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...
to prevent a rebellion.
*
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 ...
–
Mongol
Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...
forces under
Hulagu
Hulegu Khan, also known as Hülegü or Hulagu; ; ; ; ( 8 February 1265), was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of Western Asia. As a son of Tolui and the Keraite princess Sorghaghtani Beki, he was a grandson of Genghis Khan and brother of Ar ...
enter and dismantle the
Nizari Ismaili (
Assassin
Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives.
Assassinations are orde ...
) stronghold at
Alamut Castle
Alamut (, meaning "eagle's nest") is a ruined mountain fortress located in the Alamut region in the South Caspian Sea, Caspian, near the village of Gazor Khan in Qazvin Province in Iran, approximately 200 km (130 mi) from present-day Teh ...
(in present-day
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
) as part of
their offensive on Islamic southwest Asia.
*
1270 – The
Nizari Ismaili garrison of
Gerdkuh, Persia surrender after 17 years to the
Mongols
Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...
.
*
1467
Year 1467 ( MCDLXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–December
* June 15 – Philip the Good is succeeded as Duke of Burgundy, by Charles the Bold.
* October 29 – Battle of ...
–
Stephen III of Moldavia
Stephen III, better known as Stephen the Great (; ; died 2 July 1504), was Voivode (or Prince) of Moldavia from 1457 to 1504. He was the son of and co-ruler with Bogdan II, who was murdered in 1451 in a conspiracy organized by his brother an ...
defeats
Matthias Corvinus
Matthias Corvinus (; ; ; ; ; ) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia from 1458 to 1490, as Matthias I. He is often given the epithet "the Just". After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and ...
of Hungary, with the latter being injured thrice, at the
Battle of Baia
The Battle of Baia (; ) was fought on December 15, 1467, between Moldavian prince Stephen the Great and the Hungarian king, Matthias Corvinus. Corvinus invaded Moldavia as a consequence of Stephen's annexation of Chilia—a fortress and harb ...
.
*
1546 – The town of
Ekenäs () is founded by
King Gustav Vasa of Sweden.
1601–1900
*
1651
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Charles II is crowned King of Scots at Scone ( his first crowning).
* January 24 – Parliament of Boroa in Chile: Spanish and Mapuche authorities meet at Boroa, renewing the fragile ...
–
Castle Cornet in
Guernsey
Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...
, the last stronghold which had supported the King in the
Third English Civil War, surrenders.
*
1778
Events
January–March
* January 18 – Third voyage of James Cook: Sea captain, Captain James Cook, with ships HMS Resolution (1771), HMS ''Resolution'' and HMS Discovery (1774), HMS ''Discovery'', first views Oahu, Oʻahu th ...
–
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
:
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
and French fleets clash in the
Battle of St. Lucia.
*
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 Count ...
– The
United States Bill of Rights
The United States Bill of Rights comprises the first ten list of amendments to the United States Constitution, amendments to the United States Constitution. It was proposed following the often bitter 1787–88 debate over the Timeline of dr ...
becomes law when ratified by the
Virginia General Assembly
The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, and the first elected legislative assembly in the New World. It was established on July 30, ...
.
*
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 ...
– The
U.S. Patent Office building in Washington, D.C., nearly
burns to the ground, destroying all 9,957 patents issued by the federal government to that date, as well as 7,000 related
patent model
A patent model was a handmade scale model, miniature model no larger than 12" by 12" by 12" (approximately 30 cm by 30 cm by 30 cm) that showed how an invention works. It was one of the most interesting early features of the United ...
s.
*
1862
Events
January
* January 1 – The United Kingdom annexes Lagos Island, in modern-day Nigeria.
* January 6 – Second French intervention in Mexico, French intervention in Mexico: Second French Empire, French, Spanish and British ...
–
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
: The
Battle of Fredericksburg
The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. The combat between the Union Army, Union Army of the Potomac commanded by Major general ( ...
ends in a
Union defeat as General
Ambrose Burnside
Ambrose Everts Burnside (May 23, 1824 – September 13, 1881) was an American army officer and politician who became a senior Union general in the American Civil War and a three-time Governor of Rhode Island, as well as being a successfu ...
withdraws the
Army of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the primary field army of the Union army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the Battle of ...
across the
Rappahannock River
The Rappahannock River is a river in eastern Virginia, in the United States, approximately in length.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 It traverses the enti ...
.
*
1864
Events
January
* January 13 – American songwriter Stephen Foster ("Oh! Susanna", "Old Folks at Home") dies aged 37 in New York City, leaving a scrap of paper reading "Dear friends and gentle hearts". His parlor song "Beautiful Dream ...
– American Civil War: The
Battle of Nashville
The Battle of Nashville was a two-day battle in the Franklin-Nashville Campaign that represented the end of large-scale fighting west of the coastal states in the American Civil War. It was fought at Nashville, Tennessee, on December 15–16, 18 ...
begins at
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
, and ends the following day with the destruction of the
Confederate Army of Tennessee
The Army of Tennessee was a Field army, field army of the Confederate States Army in the Western theater of the American Civil War, Western Theater of the American Civil War. Named for the Confederate States of America, Confederate state of Tenn ...
under General
John Bell Hood
John Bell Hood (June 1 or June 29, 1831 – August 30, 1879) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War. Hood's impetuosity led to high losses among his troops as he moved up in rank. Bruce Catton wrote that "the decision to replace ...
as a fighting force by the Union
Army of the Cumberland under General
George H. Thomas.
*
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 short-lived
Republic of Ezo
The was a short-lived separatist state established in 1869 on the island of Ezo, now Hokkaido, by a part of the former military of the Tokugawa shogunate at the end of the ''Bakumatsu'' period in Japan. It was the first government to attempt t ...
is proclaimed in the
Ezo area of
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. It is the first attempt to establish a
democracy
Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...
in Japan.
*
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 ...
– Sixteen-year-old
telegraphist
A telegraphist (British English), telegrapher (American English), or telegraph operator is a person who uses a telegraph key to send and receive Morse code messages in a telegraphy system. These messages, also called telegrams, can be transmitte ...
Ella Stewart keys and sends the first telegraphed message from
Arizona Territory
The Territory of Arizona, commonly known as the Arizona Territory, was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the ...
at the
Deseret Telegraph Company office in
Pipe Spring.
*
1890
Events
January
* January 1 – The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony in the Horn of Africa.
* January 2 – Alice Sanger becomes the first female staffer in the White House.
* January 11 – 1890 British Ultimatum: The Uni ...
–
Hunkpapa
The Hunkpapa (Lakota: ) are a Native American group, one of the seven council fires of the Lakota tribe. The name ' is a Lakota word, meaning "Head of the Circle" (at one time, the tribe's name was represented in European-American records as ...
Lakota
Lakota may refer to:
*Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes
*Lakota language
Lakota ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan languages, Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of ...
leader
Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull ( ; December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota people, Lakota leader who led his people during years of resistance against Federal government of the United States, United States government policies. Sitting Bull was killed by Indian ...
is killed on
Standing Rock Indian Reservation
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota controls the Standing Rock Reservation (), which straddles the border between North and South Dakota in the United States, and is inhabited by ethnic "Hunkpapa and Sihasapa bands of Lako ...
, leading to the
Wounded Knee Massacre
The Wounded Knee Massacre, also known as the Battle of Wounded Knee, involved nearly three hundred Lakota people killed by soldiers of the United States Army. More than 250 people of the Lakota were killed and 51 wounded (4 men and 47 women a ...
.
*
1893 –
''Symphony No. 9'' ("From the New World" the "New World Symphony") by
Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8September 18411May 1904) was a Czech composer. He frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist example of his predec ...
premieres in a public afternoon rehearsal at
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...
in New York City, followed by a concert premiere on the evening of December 16.
*
1899
Events January
* January 1
** Spanish rule formally ends in Cuba with the cession of Spanish sovereignty to the U.S., concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas.''The American Monthly Review of Reviews'' (February 1899), p ...
–
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 ...
forces are defeated at the
Battle of Colenso in
Natal,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
, the third and final battle fought during the
Black Week of the
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...
.
1901–present
*
1903 –
Italian American
Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...
food cart vendor Italo Marchiony receives a
U.S. patent for inventing a machine that makes
ice cream cone
An ice cream cone (England) or poke (Ireland) is a brittle, cone-shaped pastry, usually made of a wafer similar in texture to a waffle, made so ice cream can be carried and eaten without a bowl or spoon. Many styles of cones are made, includ ...
s.
*
1905 – The
Pushkin House is established in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
, Russia, to preserve the cultural heritage of
Alexander Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is consid ...
.
*
1906
Events
January–February
* January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...
– The
London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England.
The Undergro ...
's
Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway opens.
*
1914
This year saw the beginning of what became known as the First World War, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip ...
–
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
: The
Serbian Army recaptures
Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
from the invading
Austro-Hungarian Army
The Austro-Hungarian Army, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...
.
* 1914 –
A gas explosion at
Mitsubishi
The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries.
Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group traces its origins to the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company that existed from 1870 to 194 ...
Hōjō coal mine, in
Kyushu
is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...
, Japan, kills 687.
*
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 Force's ...
– World War I: An
armistice between Russia and the Central Powers
On , an armistice was signed between the Russian Republic led by the Bolsheviks on the one side, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Kingdom of Bulgaria, the German Empire and the Ottoman Empire—the Central Powers—on the other. The armistice ...
is signed.
*
1933
Events
January
* January 11 – Australian aviator 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 independen ...
–
Anarchist insurrection suppressed in
Zaragoza
Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...
,
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
.
*
1939
This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history.
Events
Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1
** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...
– ''
Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to:
* Gone with the Wind (novel), ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell
* Gone with the Wind (film), ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel
Gone with the Wind ...
'' (highest inflation adjusted grossing film) receives its premiere at
Loew's Grand Theatre
Loew's Grand Theater, originally DeGive's Grand Opera House, was a movie theater at the corner of Peachtree Street, Peachtree and Forsyth Streets in downtown Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. It was most famous as the site o ...
in
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
, United States.
*
1941
The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...
–
The Holocaust in Ukraine
The Holocaust saw the systematic mass murder of Jews in the '' Reichskommissariat Ukraine'', the General Government, the Crimean General Government and some areas which were located to the east of ''Reichskommissariat Ukraine'' (all of those ar ...
:
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
troops murder over 15,000 Jews at
Drobytsky Yar, a ravine southeast of the city of
Kharkiv
Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine. .
*
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
begins during the
Guadalcanal Campaign
The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by the United States, was an Allies of World War II, Allied offensive against forces of the Empire of Japan in the Solomon Islands during th ...
.
*
1943
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured.
* January 4 � ...
– World War II: The
Battle of Arawe begins during the
New Britain campaign
The New Britain campaign was a World War II campaign fought between Allies of World War II, Allied and Empire of Japan, Imperial Japanese forces. The campaign was initiated by the Allies in late 1943 as part of a major offensive which aimed to n ...
.
*
1944
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 2 – WWII:
** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...
– World War II: a single-engine
UC-64A Norseman aeroplane carrying
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
Major
Glenn Miller
Alton Glen "Glenn" Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band conductor, arranger, composer, trombonist, and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Army Air Forces ...
is lost in a flight over the English Channel.
*
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 ...
–
Occupation of Japan
Japan was occupied and administered by the Allies of World War II from the surrender of the Empire of Japan on September 2, 1945, at the war's end until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect on April 28, 1952. The occupation, led by the ...
/
Shinto Directive: General
Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...
orders that
Shinto
, also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...
be abolished as the state religion of Japan.
*
1960
It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism.
Events January
* Janu ...
–
Richard Pavlick is arrested for plotting to assassinate
U.S. President-Elect John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...
.
* 1960 – King
Mahendra of Nepal
Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (; 11 June 1920 – 31 January 1972) was King of Nepal from 13 March 1955 until his death in 1972.
He led the 1960 Nepal coup d'état, 1960 coup d'état, in which he dismissed the government, jailed other political ...
suspends the country's constitution, dissolves parliament, dismisses the cabinet, and imposes direct rule.
*
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 ...
–
Eichmann trial
The Eichmann trial was the 1961 trial of major Holocaust perpetrator Adolf Eichmann who was Operation Eichmann, captured in Argentina by Israeli agents and brought to Israel to stand trial. Eichmann was a senior Nazi party member and served at t ...
:
Adolf Eichmann
Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ;"Eichmann"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; 19 March 1906 – 1 Ju ...
is sentenced to death after being found guilty by an
Israeli court of 15 criminal charges, including charges of crimes against humanity, crimes against the Jewish people, and membership of an outlawed organization.
*
1965
Events January–February
* January 14 – The First 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 Lynd ...
–
Project Gemini
Project Gemini () was the second United States human spaceflight program to fly. Conducted after the first American crewed space program, Project Mercury, while the Apollo program was still in early development, Gemini was conceived in 1961 and ...
:
Gemini 6A, crewed by
Wally Schirra
Walter Marty Schirra Jr. ( ; March 12, 1923 – May 3, 2007) was an American naval aviator (United States), naval aviator, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. In 1959, he became one of the Mercury Seven, original seven astronauts chosen for Pro ...
and
Thomas Stafford, is launched from
Cape Kennedy,
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
. Four orbits later, it achieves the first
space rendezvous
Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...
, with
Gemini 7
Gemini 7 (officially Gemini VII) With Gemini IV, NASA changed to Roman numerals for Gemini mission designations. was a 1965 crewed spaceflight in NASA's Gemini program. It was the fourth crewed Gemini flight, the twelfth crewed American spacef ...
.
*
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 ...
– Soviet spacecraft
Venera 7 successfully lands on
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 ...
. It is the first successful soft
landing on another planet.
*
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 ...
–
John Paul Getty III, grandson of American billionaire
J. Paul Getty, is found alive near
Naples
Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
, Italy, after being kidnapped by an Italian gang on July 10.
* 1973 – The
American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the largest psychiatric organization in the world. It has more than 39,200 members who are in ...
votes 13–0 to remove
homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...
from its official list of
psychiatric disorder
A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...
s, the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
The ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'' (''DSM''; latest edition: ''DSM-5-TR'', published in March 2022) is a publication by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for the classification of mental disorders using a com ...
.
*
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 ...
– U.S. President
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
announces that the United States will
recognize the People's Republic of China and
sever diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan).
*
1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...
– A
suicide car bombing targeting the Iraqi embassy in
Beirut, Lebanon
Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...
, levels the embassy and kills 61 people, including Iraq's ambassador to Lebanon. The attack is considered the first modern
suicide bombing.
*
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 ...
–
Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights relating the
abolition of capital punishment is adopted.
*
1993
The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as:
* International Year for the World's Indigenous People
The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...
–
The Troubles
The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...
: The
Downing Street Declaration is issued by British
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 ...
John Major
Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British retired politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. Following his defeat to Ton ...
and Irish
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
Albert Reynolds
Albert Martin Reynolds (3 November 1932 – 21 August 2014) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1992 to 1994. He held various cabinet positions between 1979 and 1991, including Ministe ...
.
*
1997
Events January
* January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States.
* January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis.
* January 1 ...
–
Tajikistan Airlines Flight 3183 crashes in the desert near
Sharjah
Sharjah (; ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is the capital of the Emirate of Sharjah and forms part of the D ...
,
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...
, killing 85.
*
2000
2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year.
Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
– The third reactor at the
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is shut down.
*
2001
The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
– The
Leaning Tower of Pisa
The Leaning Tower of Pisa ( ), or simply the Tower of Pisa (), is the , or freestanding bell tower, of Pisa Cathedral. It is known for its nearly four-degree lean, the result of an unstable Foundation (engineering), foundation. The tower is on ...
reopens after 11 years and $27,000,000 spent to stabilize it, without fixing its famous lean.
*
2005
2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
– Introduction of the
Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor
The Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor is an American Twinjet, twin-engine, Jet engine, jet-powered, Night fighter, all-weather, supersonic Stealth aircraft, stealth fighter aircraft. As a product of the United States Air Force's Advanced Ta ...
into
USAF
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
active service.
*
2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
– A boat carrying 90
asylum seeker
An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country, and makes in that other country a formal application for the right of asylum according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 14. A per ...
s
crashes into rocks off the coast of
Christmas Island
Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an States and territories of Australia#External territories, Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean comprising the island of the same name. It is about south o ...
, Australia, killing 48 people.
*
2013
2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years).
2013 was designated as:
*International Year of Water Cooperation
*International Year of Quinoa
Events
January
* January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
– The
South Sudanese Civil War begins when opposition leaders Dr.
Riek Machar,
Pagan Amum and
Rebecca Nyandeng vote to boycott the meeting of the National Liberation Council at Nyakuron.
*
2014
The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
– Gunman
Man Haron Monis
Man Haron Monis (; born Mohammed Hassan Manteghi Borujerdi; 19 May 1964 – 16 December 2014) was an Iranian-born refugee and Australian citizen who took hostages in a siege at the Lindt Chocolate Café at Martin Place, Sydney on 15 Dece ...
takes
18 hostages inside a café in
Martin Place
Martin Place is a pedestrian mall in the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. Martin Place has been described as the "civic heart" of Sydney. for 16 hours in Sydney. Monis and two hostages are killed when police raid the café the following morning.
*2017 – A 6.52017 Java earthquake, earthquake strikes the Indonesian island of Java in the city of Tasikmalaya, resulting in four deaths.
Births
Pre-1600
*AD 37 – Nero, Roman emperor (died 68)
*AD 130, 130 – Lucius Verus, Roman emperor (died 169)
*1242 – Prince Munetaka, Japanese List of shōguns, shōgun (died 1274)
*1447 – Albert IV, Duke of Bavaria (died 1508)
*1567 – Christoph Demantius, German composer, poet, and theorist (died 1643)
1601–1900
*1610 – David Teniers the Younger, Flemish painter (died 1690)
*1657 – Michel Richard Delalande, French organist and composer (died 1726)
*1686 – Jean-Joseph Fiocco, Flemish violinist and composer (died 1746)
*1710 – Francesco Zahra, Maltese painter (died 1773)
*1789 – Carlos Soublette, Venezuelan general and politician, 11th President of Venezuela (died 1870)
*1832 – Gustave Eiffel, French architect and engineer, co-designed the Eiffel Tower (died 1923)
*1837 – E. W. Bullinger, English minister, scholar, and theologian (died 1913)
*1846 – Amunda Kolderup, Norwegian opera singer (died 1882)
*1852 – Henri Becquerel, French physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1908)
*1859 – L. L. Zamenhof, Polish linguist and ophthalmologist, created Esperanto (died 1917)
*1860 – Niels Ryberg Finsen, Faroese-Danish physician and educator, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1904)
* 1860 – Abner Powell, American baseball player and manager (died 1953)
*1861 – Charles Duryea, American engineer and businessman, co-founded the Duryea Motor Wagon Company (died 1938)
* 1861 – Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, Finnish lawyer, judge, and politician, 3rd President of Finland (died 1944)
*1863 – Arthur Dehon Little, American chemist and engineer (died 1935)
*
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 ...
– Leon Marchlewski, Polish chemist and academic (died 1946)
*1875 – Emilio Jacinto, Filipino journalist and activist (died 1899)
*1878 – Hans Carossa, German author and poet (died 1956)
*1885 – Leonid Pitamic, Slovenian lawyer, philosopher, and academic (died 1971)
*1886 – Wanda Krahelska-Filipowicz, Polish politician and resistance fighter (died 1968)
* 1886 – Florence Jepperson Madsen, American contralto singer and professor of music (died 1977)
*1888 – Maxwell Anderson, American journalist and playwright (died 1959)
*
1890
Events
January
* January 1 – The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony in the Horn of Africa.
* January 2 – Alice Sanger becomes the first female staffer in the White House.
* January 11 – 1890 British Ultimatum: The Uni ...
– Harry Babcock (pole vaulter), Harry Babcock, American pole vaulter (died 1965)
*1891 – A.P. Carter, American country singer-songwriter and musician (died 1960)
*1892 –
J. Paul Getty, American-English businessman and art collector, founded Getty Oil (died 1976)
*1894 – Vibert Douglas, Canadian astrophysicist and astronomer (died 1988)
* 1894 – Josef Imbach (athlete), Josef Imbach, Swiss sprinter (died 1964)
*1896 – Betty Smith, American author and playwright (died 1972)
*
1899
Events January
* January 1
** Spanish rule formally ends in Cuba with the cession of Spanish sovereignty to the U.S., concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas.''The American Monthly Review of Reviews'' (February 1899), p ...
– Harold Abrahams, English sprinter, lawyer, and journalist (died 1978)
1901–present
*1902 – Robert F. Bradford, American lawyer and politician, 57th Governor of Massachusetts (died 1983)
*
1903 – Tamanishiki San'emon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 32nd Makuuchi#Yokozuna, Yokozuna (died 1938)
*1907 – Gordon Douglas (director), Gordon Douglas, American actor, director, and screenwriter (died 1993)
* 1907 – Oscar Niemeyer, Brazilian architect, designed the United Nations Headquarters and the Cathedral of Brasília (died 2012)
*1908 – Swami Ranganathananda, Indian monk, scholar, and author (died 2005)
*1909 – Sattar Bahlulzade, Azerbaijani-Russian painter (died 1974)
* 1909 – Eliza Atkins Gleason, American librarian (died 2009)
*1910 – John Hammond (producer), John Hammond, American record producer and critic (died 1987)
*1911 – Nicholas P. Dallis, American psychiatrist and illustrator (died 1991)
* 1911 – Stan Kenton, American pianist and composer (died 1979)
*1913 – Roger Gaudry, Canadian chemist and businessman (died 2001)
* 1913 – Muriel Rukeyser, American poet, academic, and activist (died 1980)
*1915 – Eila Campbell, English geographer and cartographer (died 1994)
*1916 – Miguel Arraes, Brazilian lawyer and politician, Governor of Pernambuco (died 2005)
* 1916 – Buddy Cole (musician), Buddy Cole, American pianist and conductor (died 1964)
* 1916 – Maurice Wilkins, New Zealand-English physicist and biologist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2004)
*
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 Force's ...
– Shan-ul-Haq Haqqee, Indian-Pakistani linguist and lexicographer (died 2005)
*1918 – Jeff Chandler (actor), Jeff Chandler, American actor (died 1961)
* 1918 – Chihiro Iwasaki, Japanese painter and illustrator (died 1974)
*1919 – Max Yasgur, American dairy farmer and host of the Woodstock, Woodstock Music & Art Fair (died 1973)
*1920 – Gamal al-Banna, Egyptian author and scholar (died 2013)
* 1920 – Kurt Schaffenberger, German-American sergeant and illustrator (died 2002)
*1921 – Alan Freed, American radio host (died 1965)
*1923 – Pierre Cossette, American producer and manager (died 2009)
* 1923 – Freeman Dyson, English-American physicist and mathematician (died 2020)
* 1923 – Uziel Gal, German-Israeli engineer, designed the Uzi, Uzi gun (died 2002)
* 1923 – Valentin Varennikov, Russian general and politician (died 2009)
*1924 – Frank W. J. Olver, English-American mathematician and academic (died 2013)
* 1924 – Ruhi Sarıalp, Turkish triple jumper and educator (died 2001)
*1925 – Kasey Rogers, American actress and author (died 2006)
*1926 – Bill Pitt (racing driver), Bill Pitt, Australian race car driver (died 2017)
*1928 – Ernest Ashworth, American singer-songwriter (died 2009)
* 1928 – Ida Haendel, Polish-English violinist and educator (died 2020)
* 1928 – Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Austrian-New Zealand painter and architect (died 2000)
*1930 – Edna O'Brien, Irish novelist, playwright, poet and short story writer (died 2024)
*1931 – Klaus Rifbjerg, Danish author and poet (died 2015)
*1932 – Jesse Belvin, American singer-songwriter and pianist (died 1960)
* 1932 – John Meurig Thomas, Welsh chemist and academic (died 2020)
*
1933
Events
January
* January 11 – Australian aviator 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 independen ...
– Bapu (director), Bapu, Indian director and screenwriter (died 2014)
* 1933 – Tim Conway, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter (died 2019)
* 1933 – Donald Woods, South African journalist and activist (died 2001)
*1936 – Joe D'Amato, Italian director and producer (died 1999)
*1938 – Michael Bogdanov, Welsh director and screenwriter (died 2017)
* 1938 – Billy Shaw, American football player (died 2024)
*
1939
This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history.
Events
Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1
** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...
– Cindy Birdsong, American singer-songwriter
* 1939 – Dave Clark (musician), Dave Clark, English musician and songwriter
*1940 – Nick Buoniconti, American football player and sportscaster (died 2019)
*
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 ...
– Kathleen Blanco, American educator and politician, 54th Governor of Louisiana (died 2019)
*
1943
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured.
* January 4 � ...
– Lucien den Arend, Dutch sculptor
*
1944
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 2 – WWII:
** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...
– Jim Leyland, American baseball player and manager
* 1944 – Chico Mendes, Brazilian trade union leader and activist (died 1988)
*
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 ...
– Heather Booth, American civil rights activist, feminist, and political strategist
* 1945 – Ivor Crewe, English political scientist and academic
*1946 – Carmine Appice, American drummer and songwriter
* 1946 – Art Howe, American baseball player and manager
* 1946 – Genny Lim, American writer
* 1946 – Comunardo Niccolai, Italian footballer (SEF Torres 1903, Torres, Cagliari Calcio, Cagliari, Italy national football team, national team) (died 2024)
*1948 – Cassandra Harris, Australian actress (died 1991)
* 1948 – Charlie Scott (basketball), Charlie Scott, American basketball player
*1949 – Don Johnson, American actor
* 1949 – Brian Roper (academic), Brian Roper, English economist and academic
*1950 – Melanie Chartoff, American actress and comedian
* 1950 – Sylvester James Gates, American theoretical physicist and professor
*1951 – George Donikian, Australian journalist
* 1951 – Joe Jordan, Scottish footballer and manager
* 1951 – Tim Webster, Australian journalist and sportscaster
*1952 – Rudi Protrudi, American singer-songwriter and producer
* 1952 – Allan Simonsen, Danish footballer and manager
* 1952 – Julie Taymor, American director, producer, and screenwriter
*1953 – John R. Allen, American general and diplomat
* 1953 – J. M. DeMatteis, American author
* 1953 – Robert Charles Wilson, American-Canadian author
*1954 – Alex Cox, English film director, screenwriter, actor, non-fiction author and broadcaster
* 1954 – Oliver Heald, English lawyer and politician, Solicitor General for England and Wales
* 1954 – Mark Warner, American businessman and politician, 69th Governor of Virginia
*1955 – Hector Sants, English banker
* 1955 – Paul Simonon, English singer-songwriter and bass player
*1956 – John Lee Hancock, American screenwriter, film director, and producer
* 1956 – Tony Leon, South African lawyer and politician
*1957 – Mario Marois, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
* 1957 – Mike McAlary, American journalist and author (died 1998)
* 1957 – Tim Reynolds, German-American singer-songwriter and guitarist
*1958 – Carlo J. Caparas, Filipino director and producer
* 1958 – Richard Kastle, American classical pianist
*1959 – Greg Matthews, Australian cricketer
* 1959 – Alan Whetton, New Zealand rugby player
* 1959 – Gary Whetton, New Zealand rugby player
*
1960
It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism.
Events January
* Janu ...
– Walter Werzowa, Austrian composer and producer
*
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 ...
– Karin Resetarits, Austrian journalist and politician
*1962 – Tim Gaines, American bass player
* 1962 – Simon Hodgkinson, English rugby player and coach
*1963 – Ellie Cornell, American actress and producer
* 1963 – Norman J. Grossfeld, American screenwriter and producer
* 1963 – Helen Slater, American actress
* 1963 – David Wingate (basketball), David Wingate, American basketball player
*1964 – Paul Kaye, English actor
*1966 – Carl Hooper, Guyanese cricketer and coach
* 1966 – Molly Price, American actress
*1967 – David Howells, English footballer and coach
* 1967 – Mo Vaughn, American baseball player
*1968 – Garrett Wang, American actor
*1969 – Ralph Ineson, English actor
* 1969 – Chantal Petitclerc, Canadian wheelchair racer and senator
* 1969 – Adam Setliff, American discus thrower and lawyer
*
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 ...
– Frankie Dettori, Italian jockey
* 1970 – Lawrence Funderburke, American basketball player
* 1970 – Michael Shanks, Canadian actor, screenwriter and director
*1971 – Clint Lowery, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
*1972 – Rodney Harrison, American football player and sportscaster
* 1972 – Lee Jung-jae, South Korean actor
* 1972 – Stuart Townsend, Irish actor
* 1972 – Alexandra Tydings, American actress, director, writer and producer
*
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 ...
– Surya Bonaly, French figure skater
* 1973 – Ryoo Seung-wan, South Korean actor, director, and screenwriter
*1974 – Garath Archer, English rugby player
* 1974 – P. J. Byrne, American actor
*1975 – Samira Saraya, Palestinian actor, filmmaker, poet and rapper
*1976 – Baichung Bhutia, Indian footballer and manager
* 1976 – Kim Eagles, Canadian sport shooter
* 1976 – Aaron Miles, American baseball player and coach
* 1976 – Todd Tichenor, American baseball player and umpire
*1977 – Mehmet Aurélio, Brazilian-Turkish footballer and manager
* 1977 – Geoff Stults, American actor and producer
*
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 ...
– Ned Brower, American drummer
* 1978 – Mark Jansen, Dutch guitarist and songwriter
* 1978 – Jerome McDougle, American football player
*1979 – Adam Brody, American actor
* 1979 – Eric Young (wrestler), Eric Young, Canadian-American wrestler
*1980 – Élodie Gossuin, French beauty pageant titleholder and model
* 1980 – Sergio Pizzorno, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
* 1980 – Manuel Wilhelm, German rugby player
*
1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...
– Michelle Dockery, English actress
* 1981 – Brendan Fletcher, Canadian actor and screenwriter
* 1981 – Andy González (baseball), Andy González, Puerto Rican-American baseball player
* 1981 – Thomas Herrion, American football player (died 2005)
* 1981 – Roman Pavlyuchenko, Russian footballer
*1982 – Charlie Cox, English actor
* 1982 – Borja García (racing driver), Borja García, Spanish race car driver
* 1982 – George O. Gore II, American actor and comedian
* 1982 – Tatiana Perebiynis, Ukrainian tennis player
*1983 – Delon Armitage, Trinidadian-English rugby player
* 1983 – René Duprée, Canadian professional wrestler
* 1983 – Camilla Luddington, English actress
* 1983 – Ronnie Radke, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
* 1983 – Sophia Young, Vincentian-American basketball player
*1984 – Martyn Bernard, English high jumper
* 1984 – Martin Škrtel, Slovak footballer
*1985 – Diogo Fernandes (footballer), Diogo Fernandes, Brazilian footballer
*1986 – Kim Junsu, South Korean singer-songwriter and dancer
* 1986 – Iveta Mazáčová, Czech sprinter
* 1986 – Keylor Navas, Costa Rican footballer
* 1986 – Snejana Onopka, Ukrainian model
*1987 – Josh Norman, American football player
*1988 – Erik Gustafsson (ice hockey, born 1988), Erik Gustafsson, Swedish ice hockey player
* 1988 – Emily Head, English actress
* 1988 – Steven Nzonzi, French 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 ...
– Nichole Bloom, American actress and model
*1991 – Conor Daly, American race car driver
* 1991 – Yanni Gourde, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1991 – Alana Haim, American musician and actress
*1992 – Daiamami Genki, Japanese sumo wrestler
* 1992 – Jesse Lingard, English footballer
* 1992 – Maximiliano Meza (footballer, born 1992), Maximiliano Meza, Argentine footballer
* 1992 – Alex Telles, Brazilian footballer
*
1993
The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as:
* International Year for the World's Indigenous People
The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...
– Daniel Ochefu, American basketball player
*1995 – Jahlil Okafor, American basketball player
*1996 – Jenifer Brening, German singer
* 1996 – Oleksandr Zinchenko (footballer), Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ukrainian footballer
*
1997
Events January
* January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States.
* January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis.
* January 1 ...
– Maude Apatow, American actress
* 1997 – Zach Banks, American race car driver
* 1997 – Magdalena Fręch, Polish tennis player
* 1997 – Stefania LaVie Owen, New Zealand-American actress
*1998 – Chandler Canterbury, American actor
*
2000
2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year.
Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
– Kayvon Thibodeaux, American football player
Deaths
Pre-1600
* 933 – Li Siyuan, Chinese emperor (born 867)
*
1025 – Basil II, Byzantine emperor (born 958)
*1072 – Alp Arslan, Turkish sultan (born 1029)
*
1161 –
Wanyan Liang
Digunai (24 February 1122 – 15 December 1161), also known by his sinicised name Wanyan Liang and his formal title Prince of Hailing (海陵王, ''Hǎilíng Wáng''), was the fourth emperor of the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty of China. He was the ...
, Chinese emperor (born 1122)
*1230 – Ottokar I of Bohemia, Ottokar I, duke of Bohemia (born 1155)
*1283 – Philip I, Latin Emperor, Philip I, Latin emperor (born 1243)
*1343 – Hasan Kucek, Chopanid prince (born c. 1319)
*
1467
Year 1467 ( MCDLXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–December
* June 15 – Philip the Good is succeeded as Duke of Burgundy, by Charles the Bold.
* October 29 – Battle of ...
– Jöns Bengtsson Oxenstierna, archbishop and regent of Sweden (born 1417)
*1574 – Selim II, Ottoman sultan (born 1524)
*1598 – Philips of Marnix, Lord of Saint-Aldegonde, Dutch nobleman (born 1540)
1601–1900
*1621 – Charles d'Albert, duc de Luynes, French courtier, Constable of France (born 1578)
*1673 – Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, English noblewoman (born 1623)
*1675 – Johannes Vermeer, Dutch painter and educator (born 1632)
*1683 – Izaak Walton, English author (born 1593)
*1688 – Gaspar Fagel, Dutch lawyer and politician (born 1634)
* 1698 – Louis Victor de Rochechouart de Mortemart, French nobleman (born 1636)
*1715 – George Hickes (divine), George Hickes, English minister and scholar (born 1642)
*1753 – Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, English architect and politician, designed Chiswick House (born 1694)
*1792 – Joseph Martin Kraus, Swedish pianist, violinist, and composer (born 1756)
*1812 – Shneur Zalman, Russian rabbi, author and founder of Chabad (born 1745)
*1817 – Federigo Zuccari, astronomer, director of the Astronomical Observatory of Naples (born 1783)
*1819 – Daniel Rutherford, Scottish chemist and physician (born 1749)
*1855 – Jacques Charles François Sturm, French mathematician and academic (born 1803)
*1878 – Alfred Bird, English chemist and businessman, invented baking powder (born 1811)
*
1890
Events
January
* January 1 – The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony in the Horn of Africa.
* January 2 – Alice Sanger becomes the first female staffer in the White House.
* January 11 – 1890 British Ultimatum: The Uni ...
–
Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull ( ; December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota people, Lakota leader who led his people during years of resistance against Federal government of the United States, United States government policies. Sitting Bull was killed by Indian ...
,
Hunkpapa
The Hunkpapa (Lakota: ) are a Native American group, one of the seven council fires of the Lakota tribe. The name ' is a Lakota word, meaning "Head of the Circle" (at one time, the tribe's name was represented in European-American records as ...
Lakota
Lakota may refer to:
*Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes
*Lakota language
Lakota ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan languages, Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of ...
tribal chief (born 1831)
1901–present
*
1943
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured.
* January 4 � ...
– Fats Waller, American singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1904)
*
1944
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 2 – WWII:
** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...
–
Glenn Miller
Alton Glen "Glenn" Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band conductor, arranger, composer, trombonist, and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Army Air Forces ...
, American bandleader and composer (born 1904)
*1947 – Arthur Machen, Welsh journalist and author (born 1863)
* 1947 – Crawford Vaughan, Australian politician, 27th Premier of South Australia (born 1874)
*1950 – Vallabhbhai Patel, Indian lawyer and politician, 1st Deputy Prime Minister of India (born 1875)
*1958 – Wolfgang Pauli, Austrian-Swiss physicist and academic, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1900)
*1962 – Charles Laughton, English-American actor, director, and producer (born 1899)
*
1965
Events January–February
* January 14 – The First 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 Lynd ...
– M. Balasundaram, Sri Lankan journalist, lawyer, and politician (born 1903)
*1966 – Keith Arbuthnott, 15th Viscount of Arbuthnott, Indian-Scottish general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Kincardineshire (born 1897)
* 1966 – Walt Disney, American animator, director, producer, and screenwriter, co-founded The Walt Disney Company (born 1901)
*1968 – Antonio Barrette, Canadian politician, 18th List of premiers of Quebec, Premier of Quebec (born 1899)
* 1968 – Jess Willard, American boxer and actor (born 1881)
*1969 – Karl Theodor Bleek, German lawyer and politician, 12th List of mayors of Marburg, Mayor of Marburg (born 1898)
*1971 – Paul Lévy (mathematician), Paul Lévy, French mathematician and theorist (born 1886)
*1974 – Anatole Litvak, Russian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1902)
*1977 – Wilfred Kitching, English 7th General of The Salvation Army (born 1893)
*
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 ...
– Chill Wills, American actor (born 1903)
*1980 – Peter Gregg (racing driver), Peter Gregg, American race car driver (born 1940)
*1984 – Jan Peerce, American tenor and actor (born 1904)
*1985 – Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, Mauritian physician and politician, 1st List of Prime Ministers of Mauritius, Prime Minister of Mauritius (born 1900)
*1986 – Serge Lifar, Russian-French ballet dancer and choreographer (born 1905)
*
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 ...
– Edward Underdown, English actor and jockey (born 1908)
*1991 – Vasily Zaitsev (sniper), Vasily Zaytsev, Russian captain (born 1915)
*
1993
The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as:
* International Year for the World's Indigenous People
The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...
– William Dale Phillips, American chemist and engineer (born 1925)
*
2000
2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year.
Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
– Haris Brkić, Bosnian-Serbian basketball player (born 1974)
*2003 – Vincent Apap, Maltese sculptor (born 1909)
* 2003 – George Fisher (cartoonist), George Fisher, American cartoonist (born 1923)
* 2003 – Keith Magnuson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1947)
*2004 – Vassal Gadoengin, Nauruan educator and politician, List of Speakers of the Parliament of Nauru, Speaker of the Nauru Parliament (born 1943)
*
2005
2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
– Heinrich Gross, Austrian physician and psychiatrist (born 1914)
* 2005 – Stan Leonard, Canadian golfer (born 1915)
* 2005 – William Proxmire, American soldier, journalist, and politician (born 1915)
* 2005 – Darrell Russell (American football), Darrell Russell, American football player (born 1976)
*2006 – Clay Regazzoni, Swiss race car driver (born 1939)
* 2006 – Mary Stolz, American journalist and author (born 1920)
*2007 – Julia Carson, American lawyer and politician (born 1938)
*2008 – León Febres Cordero, Ecuadorian engineer and politician, 46th List of heads of state of Ecuador, President of Ecuador (born 1931)
*2009 – Eliza Atkins Gleason, American librarian (born 1909)
* 2009 – Oral Roberts, American evangelist, founded the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association (born 1918)
*
2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
– Blake Edwards, American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1922)
* 2010 – Bob Feller, American baseball player and sportscaster (born 1918)
* 2010 – Eugene Victor Wolfenstein, American psychoanalyst and theorist (born 1940)
*2011 – Bob Brookmeyer, American trombone player and composer (born 1929)
* 2011 – Christopher Hitchens, English-American essayist, literary critic, and journalist (born 1949)
*2012 – Owoye Andrew Azazi, Nigerian general (born 1952)
* 2012 – Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa, Nigerian politician, 18th List of Governors of Kaduna State, Governor of Kaduna State (born 1948)
* 2012 – Olga Zubarry, Argentinian actress (born 1929)
*
2013
2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years).
2013 was designated as:
*International Year of Water Cooperation
*International Year of Quinoa
Events
January
* January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
– Harold Camping, American evangelist, author, radio host (born 1921)
* 2013 – Joan Fontaine, British-American actress (born 1917)
* 2013 – Dyron Nix, American basketball player (born 1967)
*
2014
The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
– Donald Metcalf, Australian physiologist and immunologist (born 1929)
* 2014 – Fausto Zapata, Mexican journalist, lawyer, and politician, Governor of San Luis Potosí (born 1940)
*2015 – Harry Zvi Tabor, English-Israeli physicist and engineer (born 1917)
*2016 – Craig Sager, American sports journalist (born 1951)
*2017 – Heinz Wolff, scientist and TV presenter (born 1928)
* 2017 – Calestous Juma, academic (born 1953)
*2018 – Eryue He, Chinese historical fiction writer (born1945)
* 2018 – Girma Wolde-Giorgis, President of Ethiopia (born 1924)
*2020 – Saufatu Sopoanga, Tuvaluan politician, 8th Prime Minister of Tuvalu (born 1952)
*2024 – Zakir Hussain (musician), Zakir Hussain, Indian tabla player, musical producer, film actor and composer (born 1951)
Holidays and observances
*Bill of Rights Day (United States)
**2nd Amendment Day (South Carolina)
*Christian feast day:
**Drina Martyrs
**Drostan (Aberdeen Breviary)
**John Horden and Robert McDonald (missionary), Robert McDonald (Episcopal Church (USA))
**Maria Crocifissa di Rosa
**Mesmin
**Valerian of Abbenza
**Virginia Centurione Bracelli
**December 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
*Homecoming Day (Alderney)
*Koninkrijksdag, Kingdom Day (Netherlands), moves to December 16 if the 15th is on a Sunday
*Zamenhof Day (Esperantist, International Esperanto Community)
References
External links
BBC: On This Day*
Historical Events on December 15
{{months
Days of December