January
New Year's Day, and the national day of Cuba, Sudan, and Haiti. Feast day of St Felix of Bourges, St Almachius, St William of Dijon, St Eugendus or Oyend, St Peter of Atroa, St Odilo, and St Fulgentius of Ruspe.
Events
1785 London's oldest daily paper The Daily Universal Register (renamed The Times in 1788) was first published. 1801 Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi became the first person to discover an asteroid; he named it Ceres. 1887 Queen Victoria was proclaimed empress of India in Delhi. 1894 The Manchester Ship Canal was officially opened to traffic. 1901 The Commonwealth of Australia was formed. 1909 The first payments of old-age pensions were made in Britain, with persons over 70 receiving five shillings (25p) a week. 1958 The European Community came into existence. 1959 Fidel Castro overthrew the government of Fulgencio Batista, and seized power in Cuba. 1993 Czechoslovakia split into two separate states, the Czech Republic and Slovakia; the peaceful division had been engineered in 1992.
Births
Lorenzo de' Medici (The Magnificent), Florentine ruler, 1449; Paul Revere, US patriot, 1735; E M Forster, English novelist, 1879; William Fox, US movie mogul, 1879; J Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI, 1895; J D Salinger, US author, 1919; Joe Orton, English dramatist, 1933.
Deaths
William Wycherley, English dramatist, 1716; James Stuart, the Old Pretender, 1766; Heinrich Hertz, German physicist, 1894; Edwin Landseer Lutyens, English architect, 1944; Maurice Chevalier, French actor and singer, 1972; L Ron Hubbard, US science-fiction writer and founder of Scientology, 1986.
Feast day of St Seraphim of Sarov, St Basil, St Gregory Nazianzen, St Munchin, St Adalhard or Adelard, St Caspar of Bufalo, St Macarius of Alexandria, St Vincentian, and the Holy Name of Jesus.
Events
1492 Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, surrendered to the Spaniards. 1635 Cardinal Richelieu established the Académie Française. 1839 French photographer Louis Daguerre took the first photograph of the Moon. 1946 King Zog of Albania, who had been residing in England since 1939, was deposed. 1959 The Russian uncrewed spacecraft Luna I, the first rocket to pass near the Moon, was launched. 1971 A barrier collapsed at the Ibrox Park football stadium in Glasgow, crushing 66 fans to death. 1979 The trial of Sid Vicious, singer accused of murdering his girlfriend Nancy Spungen, began in New York.
Births
James Wolfe, British general, 1727; George Murray, English classical scholar, 1866; Michael Tippett, English composer, 1905; Isaac Asimov, US biochemist and science-fiction writer, 1920; Roger Miller, US singer and composer, 1936; David Bailey, English photographer, 1938.
Deaths
Ovid, Roman poet, 17; Livy, Roman historian, 17; George Airy, English Astronomer Royal, 1892; Emil Janning, US film actor, 1950; Tex Ritter, US stage and screen singing cowboy, 1974; Dick Emery, English comedian, 1983.
Feast day of St Peter Balsam, St Bertilia of Mareuil, St Antherus, pope, and St Genevieve or Genovefa.
Events
1521 Pope Leo X excommunicated Martin Luther. 1777 The Battle of Princeton took place in the War of Independence, in which George Washington defeated the British forces, led by Cornwallis. 1924 English explorer Howard Carter discovered the sarcophagus of Tutankhamen in the Valley of the Kings, near Luxor, Egypt. 1959 Alaska became the 49th of the United States. 1962 Pope John XXIII excommunicated Cuban prime minister Fidel Castro. 1991 The British government announced that seven Iraqi diplomats, another embassy staff member and 67 other Iraqis were being expelled from Britain. 1993 US President George Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) in Moscow.
Births
Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman orator and statesman, 106 BC; Clement Attlee, British statesman, 1883; J R R Tolkien, English writer, 1892; Ray Milland, US film actor, 1907; Victor Borge, Danish musician and comedian, 1909; John Thaw, British actor, 1942.
Deaths
Josiah Wedgwood, English potter, 1795; Pierre Larousse, French editor and encyclopedist, 1875; Jaroslav Hasek, Czech novelist, 1923; Conrad Hilton, US hotel magnate, 1979; Joy Adamson, British naturalist and author, 1980.
The national day of Myanmar. Feast day of St Gregory of Langres, St Roger of Ellant, St Elizabeth Bayley Seton, St Pharaïdis, and St Rigobert of Reims.
Events
1884 The socialist Fabian Society was founded in London. 1885 The first successful surgical removal of an appendix was performed, in Iowa, USA. 1936 The first pop-music chart was compiled, based on record sales published in New York in Billboard. 1944 The attack on Monte Cassino was launched by the British Fifth Army in Italy. 1972 Rose Heilbron became the first woman judge in Britain at the Old Bailey, London. 1981 The Broadway show Frankenstein lost an estimated 2 million dollars, when it opened and closed on the same night. 1991 The UN Security Council voted unanimously to condemn Israel's treatment of the Palestinians in the occupied territories.
Births
Louis Braille, French deviser of an alphabet for the blind, 1809; Augustus John, Welsh painter, 1878; Floyd Patterson, US boxer, 1935; Grace Bumbry, US opera singer, 1937; Dyan Cannon, US actress, 1939; John McLaughlin, British blues and jazz guitarist, 1943.
Deaths
Ralph Vaughan Williams, English composer, 1958; Albert Camus, French novelist and dramatist, 1960; T S Eliot, US poet and critic, 1965; Brian Gwynne Horrocks, British general, 1985; Christopher Isherwood, English novelist and dramatist, 1986.
Feast day of St Simeon Stylites, St Gerlac, St Dorotheus the Younger, St Apollinaris, St Convoyon, St Syncletica, and St John Nepomucene Neumann.
Events
1477 Charles the Bold, King of France, was killed at the Battle of Nancy. 1896 German physicist Röntgen gave the first demonstration of X-rays. 1938 Billie Holiday recorded `When You're Smiling (the Whole World Smiles with You)' in New York. 1964 The London Underground's first automatic ticket barrier was installed, at Stamford Brook. 1964 On his tour of the Holy Land, Pope Paul VI met Patriarch Athenagoras I, the first meeting between the heads of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches in over 500 years. 1976 French premier Giscard d'Estaing promulgated a law making French the only language permitted in advertising in France.
Births
Konrad Adenauer, German statesman, 1876; Stella Gibbons, English poet and novelist, 1902; Alfred Brendel, Austrian concert pianist, 1931; Robert Duvall, US film actor, 1931; Juan Carlos, King of Spain, 1938; Diane Keaton, US film actress, 1946.
Deaths
English king Edward the Confessor, 1066; Catherine de' Medici, Queen of France, 1589; Count Radetzky, Austrian soldier, 1858; Henry Shackleton, Irish Antarctic explorer, 1922; Calvin Coolidge, 30th US president, 1933; Amy Johnson, English aviator, 1941.
Epiphany. Feast day of St John de Ribera, St Erminold, St Wiltrudis, St Guarinus.
Events
871 English king Alfred defeated the Danes at the Battle of Ashdown. 1540 King Henry VIII was married to Anne of Cleves, his fourth wife. 1720 The Committee of Inquiry on the South Sea Bubble published its findings. 1838 The first public demonstration of the electric telegraph was given by its inventor, Samuel Morse. 1928 The River Thames flooded, drowning four people, and severely damaging paintings stored in the Tate Gallery's basement. 1945 The Battle of the Bulge, or Ardennes offensive, ended, with 130,000 German and 77,000 Allied casualties. 1988 La Coupole, the Parisian brasserie made famous by generations of notable artists and writers who frequented it, was sold for £6 million to be converted into an office block.
Births
King Richard II of England, 1367; St Joan of Arc, 1412; Gustave Doré, French artist and illustrator, 1833; Carl Sandburg, US poet, 1878; Loretta Young, US film actress, 1913; Rowan Atkinson, English actor and comedian, 1957; Kapil Dev, Indian cricketer, 1959.
Deaths
Fanny Burney, English novelist and diarist, 1840; Gregor Mendel, Austrian monk and biologist, 1884; Theodore Roosevelt, 26th US president, 1919; Archibald Joseph Cronin, Scottish novelist, 1981; Rudolf Nureyev, Russian dancer, 1993; Dizzy Gillespie, US jazz trumpeter, 1993.
Christmas Day in the Orthodox Church. Feast day of St Valentine, St Raymund of Peñafort, St Aldric, St Lucian of Antioch, St Tillo, St Canute Lavard, and St Reinold.
Events
1558 Calais, the last English possession on mainland France, was recaptured by the French. 1610 Italian astronomer Galileo discovered Jupiter's four satellites, naming them Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. 1785 The first aerial crossing of the English Channel was made by Jean Pierre Blanchard and Dr John Jeffries, in a hot-air balloon. 1927 The London New York telephone service began operating, a three-minute call costing £15. 1975 OPEC agreed to raise crude oil prices by 10%, which began a tidal wave of world economic inflation. 1990 The Leaning Tower of Pisa was closed to the public, as its accelerated rate of `leaning' raised fears for the safety of its many visitors.
Births
Joseph Bonaparte, King of Naples, 1768; Carl Laemmle, US film producer, founder of Universal Pictures, 1867; Adolph Zukor, US film magnate, 1873; Charles Péguy, French poet and socialist, 1873; Francis Poulenc, French composer, 1899; Gerald Durrell, British author and naturalist, 1925.
Deaths
Catherine of Aragon, first wife of Henry VIII, 1536; Nicholas Hilliard, English miniaturist painter, 1619; André Maginot, French politician, 1932; Trevor Howard, British actor, 1988; Michinomiya Hirohito, Emperor of Japan, 1989.
Feast day of St Severinus of Noricum, St Severinus of Septempeda, and St Wulsin.
Events
1815 The Americans, under Andrew Jackson, defeated the British at the Battle of New Orleans. 1886 The Severn Railway Tunnel Britain's longest was opened. 1889 US inventor Herman Hollerith patented his tabulator, the first device for data processing; his firm would later become one of IBM's founding companies. 1916 The final withdrawal of Allied troops from Gallipoli took place. 1921 David Lloyd George became the first prime minister tenant at Chequers Court, Buckinghamshire. 1959 French general Charles de Gaulle became the first president of the Fifth Republic. 1993 Bosnian President Izetbegovic visited the USA to plead his government's case for Western military aid and intervention to halt Serbian aggression.
Births
Wilkie Collins, English novelist, 1824; Elvis Presley, US rock singer, 1935; Shirley Bassey, Welsh-born singer, 1937; Stephen Hawking, English physicist and mathematician, 1942; David Bowie, English rock singer and actor, 1947; Calvin Smith, US athlete, 1961.
Deaths
Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer, 1642; Eli Whitney, US inventor of the cotton gin, 1825; Paul Verlaine, French poet, 1895; Zhou Enlai, Chinese leader, 1976; Gregori Maximilianovich Malenkov, Soviet leader, 1988; Terry-Thomas, English film comedy actor, 1990.
Feast day of Saints Julian and Basilissa, St Berhtwald of Canterbury, St Peter of Sebastea, St Waningus or Vaneng, and St Marciana of Rusuccur.
Events
1799 British prime minister William Pitt the Younger introduced income tax, at two shillings (10p) in the pound, to raise funds for the Napoleonic Wars. 1902 New York State introduced a bill to outlaw flirting in public. 1969 The supersonic aeroplane Concorde made its first trial flight, at Bristol. 1972 The ocean liner Queen Elizabeth was destroyed by fire in Hong Kong harbour. 1972 British miners went on strike for the first time since 1926. 1991 US secretary of state Baker and Iraqi foreign minister Aziz met for 61 2 hours in Geneva, but failed to reach any agreement that would forestall war in the Persian Gulf.
Births
Gracie Fields, English singer, 1898; George Balanchine, US choreographer, 1904; Simone de Beauvoir, French novelist and critic, 1908; Richard Nixon, 37th US president, 1913; Gypsy Rose Lee, US striptease artist and actress, 1914; Joan Baez, US singer, 1941.
Deaths
Caroline Lucretia Herschel, English astronomer, 1848; Napoleon III, French emperor, 1873; Katherine Mansfield, New Zealand writer, 1923; Tommy Handley, English radio comedian, 1949; Frederick Gibberd, British architect, 1984; Robert Mayer, British philanthropist, 1985.
Feast day of St Marcian of Constantinople, St William of Bourges, St Agatho, pope, St Dermot or Diarmaid, St Peter Orseolo, and St John the Good.
Events
1840 The penny post, whereby mail was delivered at a standard charge rather than paid for by the recipient, began in Britain. 1863 Prime Minister Gladstone opened the first section of the London Underground Railway system, from Paddington to Farringdon Street. 1920 The Treaty of Versailles was ratified, officially ending World War I with Germany. 1920 The League of Nations held its first meeting in Geneva. 1926 Fritz Lang's film Metropolis was first shown, in Berlin. 1946 The first meeting of the United Nations General Assembly took place in London. 1949 Vinyl records were launched by RCA (45 r.p.m.) and Columbia (33.3 r.p.m.). 1992 An IRA bomb exploded in Whitehall, London, 300 m/975 ft from Downing Street; the IRA threatened further attacks on the mainland.
Births
Michel Ney, French marshal, 1769; Barbara Hepworth, English sculptor, 1903; Paul Henreid, Austrian actor, 1908; Galina Ulanova, Russian ballerina, 1910; Johnny Ray, US singer, 1927; Rod Stewart, English rock singer, 1945.
Deaths
Carolus Linnaeus, Swedish botanist, 1778; Samuel Colt, US gunsmith, 1862; Sinclair Lewis, US novelist, 1951; Dashiell Hammett, US detective-story writer, 1961; Coco (Gabrielle) Chanel, French fashion designer, 1971; Anton Karas, Austrian composer, 1985.
Feast day of St Salvius or Sauve of Amiens, and St Theodosius the Cenobiarch.
Events
1569 England's first state lottery was held; tickets were obtainable from the West Door of St Paul's Cathedral, London. 1867 Benito Juarez returned to the Mexican presidency, following the withdrawal of French troops and the execution of Emperor Maximilian. 1922 Leonard Thompson became the first person to be successfully treated with insulin, at Toronto General Hospital. 1963 The first disco, called the `Whisky-a-go-go', opened in Los Angeles, USA. 1973 The Open University awarded its first degrees. 1977 Rolling Stone Keith Richards was tried in London for possession of cocaine, found in his car after an accident, and fined £750. 1991 An auction of silver and paintings that had been acquired by the late Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda, brought in a total of $20.29 million at Christie's in New York.
Births
Ezra Cornell, US philanthropist, 1807; Fred Archer, English jockey, 1857; Henry Gordon Selfridge, US entrepreneur and founder of the London department store, 1864; Alan Paton, South African author, 1903; Rod Taylor, Australian film actor, 1929; John Sessions, English actor and comedian, 1953.
Deaths
Hans Sloane, British physician and naturalist, 1753; Thomas Hardy, English poet and novelist, 1928; Alberto Giacometti, Swiss sculptor and painter, 1966; Richmal Crompton, English author, 1969; Padraic Colum, Irish poet, 1972; Isidor Rabi, US physicist, 1988.
Feast day of St Benedict or Benet Biscop, St Tatiana, St Margaret Bourgeoys, St Arcadius, St Caesaria, St Victorian, and St Eutropius.
Events
1866 The Royal Aeronautical Society was founded in London. 1875 Kwang-su was made emperor of China. 1964 The Sultan of Zanzibar was overthrown, following an uprising, and a republic proclaimed. 1971 PLO terrorist Abu Davoud, leader of the Black September group responsible for the killing of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics, was released from prison in France. 1970 The Boeing 747 aircraft touched down at Heathrow Airport at the end of its first transatlantic flight. 1991 US Congress passed a resolution authorising President Bush to use military power to force Iraq out of Kuwait. 1993 Sectarian violence continued for the eighth consecutive day in Bombay, India; 200 people died in nationwide clashes.
Births
Johann Pestalozzi, Swiss educational reformer, 1746; John Singer Sargent, US painter, 1856; Jack London, US author, 1876; Hermann Goering, German Nazi leader, 1893; P W Botha, South African politician, 1916; Joe Frazier, US heavyweight boxer, 1944.
Deaths
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, 1519; Jan Brueghel the Elder, Flemish painter, 1625; Pierre de Fermat, French mathematician, 1665; Isaac Pitman, English teacher and inventor of shorthand, 1897; Nevil Shute, English novelist, 1960; Agatha Christie, English detective-story writer, 1976.
Feast day of St Hilary of Poitiers, St Agrecius, and St Berno.
Events
1893 The British Independent Labour Party was formed by Keir Hardie. 1898 French novelist Emile Zola published J'accuse/I Accuse, a pamphlet indicting the persecutors of Dreyfus. 1910 Opera was broadcast on the radio for the first time Enrico Caruso singing from the stage of New York's Metropolitan Opera House. 1964 Capitol records released the Beatles' first single in the USA; `I Wanna Hold Your Hand' sold one million copes in the first three weeks. 1978 NASA selected its first women astronauts, 15 years after the USSR had a female astronaut orbit the Earth. 1991 Soviet troops killed 15 protesters in Vilnius, capital of Lithuania, in a crackdown on pro-independence forces. 1993 Former East German leader Erich Honecker, who had been awaiting trial on charges of manslaughter, was released from a Berlin prison because of ill health.
Births
Sophie Tucker, US singer and vaudeville star, 1884; Johannes Bjelke-Petersen, Australian politician, 1911; Ted Willis, English dramatist, 1918; Robert Stack, US film actor, 1919; Michael Bond, English creator of the Paddington Bear stories for children, 1926.
Deaths
Edmund Spenser, English poet, 1599; George Fox, English founder of the Society of Friends, 1691; Stephen Foster, US songwriter, 1864; James Joyce, Irish novelist, 1941; Hubert Humphrey, US politician, 1978.
Feast day of The Martyrs of Mount Sinai, St Barbasymas or Barbascemin, St Antony Pucci, St Datius, St Macrina the Elder, St Sava, St Felix of Nola, and St Kentigern or Mungo.
Events
1858 Attempt on the life of Napoleon III, in Paris. 1900 Puccini's opera Tosca was first performed, in Rome. 1907 An earthquake killed over 1,000 people in Kingston, Jamaica, virtually destroying the capital. 1943 US President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Churchill met at Casablanca. 1954 Baseball hero Joe DiMaggio married film star Marilyn Monroe. 1993 Amid increasingly intrusive coverage about the private lives of the British royal family, the government pledged to introduce legislation to criminalise invasions of privacy by the press.
Births
Henri Fantin-Latour, French painter, 1836; Albert Schweitzer, French missionary surgeon, 1875; Cecil Beaton, British photographer and stage designer, 1904; Joseph Losey, US film director, 1909; Trevor Nunn, British stage director, 1940; Faye Dunaway, US actress, 1941.
Deaths
Edmond Halley, English astronomer, 1742; Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, French painter, 1867; Lewis Carroll, English mathematician and author, 1898; Humphrey Bogart, US film actor, 1957; Peter Finch, English actor, 1977; Anaïs Nin, US novelist and diarist, 1977.
Feast day of St Macarius the Elder, St Isidore of Alexandria, St Bonitus or Bonet, St Ita, and St John Calybites.
Events
1559 The coronation of Queen Elizabeth I took place. 1759 The British Museum opened, at Montague House, Bloomsbury, London. 1797 London haberdasher James Hetherington was fined £50 for wearing his new creation, the top hat. 1880 The London Telephone Company published Britain's first telephone directory, listing 255 names. 1927 Captain Teddy Wakelam gave the first live rugby commentary on BBC radio of the match between Wales and England at Twickenham. 1971 The Aswan High Dam, on the Nile, financed by the USSR, was opened. 1973 President Nixon called a halt to the USA's Vietnam offensive. 1992 The EC granted diplomatic recognition to Slovenia and Croatia, essentially recognising the dismemberment of Yugoslavia.
Births
Molière, French dramatist, 1622; Aristotle Onassis, Greek shipowner, 1906; Lloyd Bridges, US film actor, 1913; Gamal Nasser, Egyptian leader, 1918; Martin Luther King, US civil-rights campaigner, 1929; Margaret O'Brien, US film actress, 1937.
Deaths
Emma Hamilton, English courtesan, mistress to Lord Nelson, 1815; Matthew B Brady, US Civil War photographer, 1896; Rosa Luxemburg, German socialist, 1919; Jack Teagarden, US jazz musician, 1964; Sean MacBride, Irish politician, 1988; Sammy Cahn, US lyricist, 1993.
Feast day of St Henry of Cocket, St Marcellus, pope, St Berard and Others, St Fursey, St Priscilla, and St Honoratus of Arles.
Events
1547 Ivan the Terrible was crowned first tsar of Russia. 1809 The British defeated the French at the Battle of Corunna, in the Peninsular War. 1920 The 18th Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified, prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages. 1925 Leon Trotsky was dismissed as Chairman of the Revolutionary Council of the USSR. 1932 Duke Ellington and his Orchestra recorded `It Don't Mean a Thing' in New York. 1970 Colonel Khaddhafi became virtual president of Libya. 1991 A US-led international force launched Operation Desert Storm on Iraq and Iraqi-occupied Kuwait less than 17 hours after the expiration of the UN deadline for Iraqi withdrawal.
Births
Franz Brentano, German philosopher, 1838; André Michelin, French tyre-maker, 1853; Diana Wynyard, British actress, 1906, Alexander Knox, Canadian film actor, 1907; Ethel Merman, US singer and actress, 1909; Cliff Thorburn, snooker player, 1948.
Deaths
Léo Delibes, French composer, 1891; Carole Lombard, US film actress, 1942; Arturo Toscanini, Italian conductor, 1957; Robert Van de Graff, US nuclear physicist, 1967; Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, former Shah of Iran, 1979; Florence Desmond, British actress, 1993.
Feast day of St Sabinus of Piacenza, St Julian Sabas, St Antony the Abbot, St Geulf or Genou, St Richimir, St Sulpicius II or Sulpice of Bourges, and Saints Speusippus, Eleusippus, and Meleusippus.
Events
1377 The Papal See was transferred from Avignon back to Rome. 1773 Captain Cook's Resolution became the first ship to cross the Antarctic Circle. 1852 The independence of the Transvaal Boers was recognised by Britain. 1912 English explorer Robert Falcon Scott reached the South Pole; Norwegian Roald Amundsen had beaten him there by one month. 1959 Senegal and the French Sudan joined to form the Federal State of Mali. 1966 A B-52 carrying four H-bombs collided with a refuelling tanker, killing eight of the crew and releasing the bombs. 1977 US double murderer Gary Gilmore became the first to be executed in the USA in a decade; he chose to be executed by firing squad. 1992 An IRA bomb, placed next to a remote country road in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, killed seven building workers and injured seven others.
Births
Benjamin Franklin, US statesman and scientist, 1706; David Lloyd George, English statesman, 1863; Nevil Shute, English novelist, 1899; Al Capone, US gangster, 1899; Muhammad Ali, US boxer, 1942; Paul Young, English singer, 1956.
Deaths
Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni, Italian composer, 1751; Quintin Hogg, English merchant and philanthropist, 1903; Francis Galton, English anthropologist and explorer, 1911; T W White, English writer, 1964; Ruskin Spear, British artist, 1990.
Feast day of St Prisca, St Peter's Chair, Rome, St Desle or Deicolus, and St Volusian.
Events
1778 Captain Cook discovered the Sandwich Islands, now known as Hawaii. 1871 Wilhelm, King of Prussia from 1861, was proclaimed the first German Emperor. 1911 The first landing of an aircraft on a ship's deck was made by US pilot Eugene Ely, in San Francisco Bay. 1919 The Versailles Peace Conference opened. 1944 The German siege of Leningrad, which began Sept 1941, was relieved. 1972 Former Rhodesian prime minister Garfield Todd and his daughter were placed under house arrest for campaigning against Rhodesian independence. 1977 In Australia, a Sydney-bound train derailed, killing 82 people.
Births
Peter Mark Roget, English lexicographer, 1779; A A Milne, English author, 1882; Oliver Hardy, US comedian, 1892; Cary Grant, US film actor, 1904; Danny Kaye, US film actor and comedian, 1913; David Bellamy, English botanist, 1933.
Deaths
John Tyler, 10th US president, 1862; Rudyard Kipling, English author, 1936; Sydney Greenstreet, British film actor, 1954; Hugh Gaitskell, British statesman, 1963; Cecil Beaton, English photographer and designer, 1980; George Markstein, British author, 1988.
Feast day of St Canute IV of Denmark, Saints Abachum and Audifax, St Fillan or Foelan, St Albert of Cashel, St Charles of Sezze, St Germanicus, Saints Marius and Martha, St Messalina, St Henry of Uppsala, St Nathalan, and St Wulfstan.
Events
1764 John Wilkes was expelled from the British House of Commons for seditious libel. 1793 King Louis XVI was tried by the French Convention, found guilty of treason and sentenced to the guillotine. 1853 Verdi's opera Il Trovatore was first staged in Rome. 1915 More than 20 people were killed when German zeppelins bombed England for the first time; the bombs were dropped on Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn. 1942 The Japanese invaded Burma (now Myanmar). 1966 Indira Gandhi became prime minister of India. 1969 In protest against the Russian invasion of 1968, Czech student Jan Palach set himself alight in Prague's Wenceslas Square. 1993 IBM announced a loss of $4.97 billion for 1992, the largest single-year loss in US corporate history.
Births
James Watt, Scottish inventor, 1736; Edgar Allan Poe, US author and poet, 1809; Paul Cézanne, French painter, 1839; Janis Joplin, US rock singer, 1943; Dolly Parton, US country singer, 1946; Stefan Edberg, Swedish tennis player, 1966.
Deaths
Hans Sachs, German poet and composer, 1576; William Congreve, English dramatist, 1729; Louis Hérold, French composer, 1833; Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, French journalist and anarchist, 1865; Bhagwam Shree Rajneesh, Indian guru, 1990.
Feast day of St Sebastian, St Fabian, pope, St Euthymius the Great, and St Fechin.
Events
1265 The first English parliament met in Westminster Hall, convened by the Earl of Leicester, Simon de Montfort. 1841 Hong Kong was ceded by China and occupied by the British. 1886 The Mersey Railway Tunnel was officially opened by the Prince of Wales. 1892 The game of basketball was first played at the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts. 1944 The RAF dropped 2,300 tons of bombs on Berlin. 1961 John F Kennedy was inaugurated as the 35th US president, and the first Roman Catholic to hold this office. 1981 Fifty-two Americans, held hostage in the US embassy in Teheran for 444 days by followers of Ayatollah Khomeini, were released. 1987 Terry Waite, the Archbishop of Canterbury's special envoy in the Middle East, disappeared on a peace mission in Beirut, Lebanon.
Births
Theobald Wolfe Tone, Irish nationalist, 1763; George Burns, US comedian and actor, 1896; Federico Fellini, Italian film director, 1920; Patricia Neal, US film actress, 1926; Edwin Aldrin, US astronaut, 1930; Malcolm McLaren, British rock impresario, 1946.
Deaths
John Soane, English architect, 1837; John Ruskin, English art critic and writer, 1900; King George V, 1936; Johnny Weissmuller, US film actor and swimmer, 1984; Barbara Stanwyck, US film actress, 1990; Audrey Hepburn, British film actress, 1993.
Feast day of St Agnes, St Fructuosus of Tarragona, St Patroclus of Troyes, St Alban or Bartholomew Roe, St Epiphanius of Pavia, and St Meinrad.
Events
1793 Louis XVI, King of France, was guillotined in Place de la Révolution. 1846 The first issue of the Daily News, edited by Charles Dickens, was published. 1911 The first Monte Carlo car rally was held; it was won seven days later by French racer Henri Rougier. 1941 The British communist newspaper, the Daily Worker, was banned due to wartime restrictions. 1954 The world's first nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus, was launched. 1976 Concorde inaugurated its commercial service with simultaneous take-offs, from Paris to Rio de Janeiro and from London to Bahrain.
Births
John Charles Fremont, US explorer, 1813; Thomas Jonathan (`Stonewall') Jackson, US Confederate general, 1824; Christian Dior, French couturier, 1905; Benny Hill, English comedian, 1924; Jack Nicklaus, US golfer, 1940; Placido Domingo, Spanish operatic tenor, 1941.
Deaths
Elisha Gray, US inventor, 1901; V I Lenin, Russian leader, 1924; Lytton Strachey, English critic and biographer, 1932; George Orwell, British novelist, 1950; Cecil B De Mille, US film director, 1959.
Feast day of St Dominic of Sora, St Berthwald of Ramsbury, St Anastasius the Persian, St Blesilla, St Vincent Pallotti, and St Vincent of Saragossa.
Events
1771 The Falkland Islands were ceded to Britain by Spain. 1879 British troops were massacred by the Zulus at Isandhlwana. 1905 Insurgent workers were fired on in St Petersburg, resulting in `Bloody Sunday'. 1924 Ramsay MacDonald took office as Britain's first Labour prime minister. 1959 British world racing champion Mike Hawthorn was killed while driving on the Guildford bypass. 1972 The United Kingdom, the Irish Republic, and Denmark joined the Common Market. 1973 US boxer George Foreman knocked out Joe Frazier in Kingston, Jamaica, becoming the world heavyweight boxing champion. 1992 Rebel soldiers seized the national radio station in Kinshasa, Zaire's capital, and broadcast a demand for the government's resignation.
Births
Ivan III (the Great), Grand Duke of Muscovy, 1440; Francis Bacon, English politician and philosopher, 1561; Lord Byron, English poet, 1788; D W Griffith, US film producer and director, 1875; John Hurt, English actor, 1940; George Foreman, US boxer, 1948.
Deaths
William Paterson, Scottish financier, 1719; David Edward Hughes, English inventor, 1900; Queen Victoria, 1901; Lyndon B Johnson, 36th US president, 1973; Herbert Sutcliffe, English cricketer, 1978; Arthur Bryant, British historian, 1985.
Newspaper, Salt Lake City, USA, 23 Jan 1949
Feast day of St Bernard of Vienne, Saints Clement and Agathangelus, St Asclas, St John the Almsgiver, St Emerentiana, St Maimbod, St Ildephonsus, and St Lufthidis.
Events
1556 An earthquake in Shanxi Province, China, is thought to have killed some 830,000 people. 1571 The Royal Exchange in London, founded by financier Thomas Gresham, was opened by Queen Elizabeth I. 1849 English-born Elizabeth Blackwell graduated from a New York medical school to become the first woman doctor. 1924 The first Labour government was formed, under Ramsay MacDonald. 1943 The British captured Tripoli from the Germans. 1960 The US Navy bathyscaphe Trieste, designed by Dr Piccard, descended to a record depth of 10,750 m /35,820 ft in the Pacific Ocean. 1985 The proceedings of the House of Lords were televised for the first time.
Births
Stendhal, French novelist, 1783; Edouard Manet, French painter, 1832; Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein, Russian film director, 1898; Alfred Denning, British judge and former Master of the Rolls, 1899; Jeanne Moreau, French actress, 1928; HSH Princess Caroline of Monaco, 1957.
Deaths
William Pitt the Younger, British prime minister, 1806; Anna Pavlova, Russian ballerina, 1931; Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter, 1944; Pierre Bonnard, French painter, 1947; Paul Robeson, US actor and singer, 1976; Salvador Dali, Spanish painter and sculptor, 1989.
Feast day of St Francis of Sales, St Babylas of Antioch, St Felician of Foligno, and St Macedonius the Barley-eater.
Events
1848 James Marshall was the first to discover gold in California, at Sutter's Mill near Coloma. 1916 The US Supreme Court ruled that income tax is unconstitutional. 1916 Conscription was introduced in Britain. 1935 Beer in cans was first sold, in Virginia, USA, by the Kreuger Brewing Company. 1962 French film director François Truffaut's Jules et Jim premiered in Paris. 1978 A Russian satellite crashed near Yellow Knife in Canada's Northwest Territory. 1991 More than 15,000 Allied air sorties were flown in the Gulf War, with 23 aircraft lost.
Births
Hadrian, Roman emperor, 76; Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, 1712; Ernest Borgnine, US film actor, 1917; Desmond Morris, English zoologist and writer, 1928; Neil Diamond, US singer and songwriter, 1941; Nastassja Kinski, German film actress, 1961.
Deaths
Caligula, Roman emperor, assassinated, ad 41; Randolph Churchill, British politician, 1895; Amadeo Modigliani, Italian artist, 1920; Winston Churchill, British prime minister, 1965; George Cukor, US film director, 1983.
Feast day of Saints Juventinus and Maximinimus, the Conversion of St Paul, St Apollo, St Artemas, St Publius, St Dwynwen, St Poppo, and Saint Praejectus or Prix.
Events
1533 King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn were secretly married. 1917 The USA purchased the Danish West Indies (now the Virgin Islands) for $25 million. 1924 The first Winter Olympic Games were inaugurated in Chamonix in the French Alps. 1938 Due to intense sunspot activity, the aurora borealis, or `northern lights', were seen as far south as western Europe. 1971 Idi Amin led a coup that deposed Milton Obote and became president of Uganda. 1971 At a US court, Charles Manson and others were found guilty of murdering actress Sharon Tate and four others. 1981 Jiang Qing, Mao's widow, was tried for treason and received a death sentence, which was subsequently commuted to life imprisonment.
Births
Robert Boyle, Irish physicist and chemist, 1627; Robert Burns, Scottish poet, 1759; William Somerset Maugham, English author, 1874; Virginia Woolf, English author, 1882; Wilhelm Furtwängler, German conductor, 1886; Edvard Shevardnadze, Russian politician, 1928.
Deaths
Marcus Cocceius Nerva, Roman emperor, ad 98; Lucas Cranach the Younger, German painter, 1586; Dorothy Wordsworth, English writer, 1855; Al Capone, US gangster, 1947; Ava Gardner, US film actress, 1990.
The national day of Australia and of India. Feast day of St Timothy, St Margaret of Hungary, St Alberic, St Paula, St Conan of Man, St Titus, St Eystein, and St Thordgith or Theorigitha of Barking.
Events
1500 Vincente Yanez Pinzon discovered Brazil and claimed it for Portugal. 1841 Hong Kong was proclaimed a British sovereign territory. 1871 England's Rugby Football Union was founded in London, by 20 clubs. 1905 The Cullinan diamond, weighing 11 4 lbs, was found by Captain Wells at the Premier Mine, near Pretoria, South Africa. 1939 In the Spanish Civil War, Franco's forces, with Italian aid, took Barcelona. 1950 India became a republic within the Commonwealth. 1965 Hindi was made the official language of India. 1992 Russian President Yeltsin announced that his country would stop targeting US cities with nuclear weapons.
Births
Douglas MacArthur, US general, 1880; Stephane Grappelli, French jazz violinist, 1908; Jimmy Van Heusen, US popular composer, 1913; Paul Newman, US film actor, 1925; Eartha Kitt, US singer, 1928; Roger Vadim, French film director, 1928.
Deaths
Edward Jenner, English physician, 1823; Charles George Gordon, British general, 1885; Nikolaus August Otto, German engineer, 1891; Edward G Robinson, US film actor, 1973; Nelson Rockefeller, US statesman, 1979; José Ferrer, US actor, 1992.
Feast day of St Julian of Le Mans, St Marius or May, St Angela Merici, and St Vitalian, pope.
Events
1879 Thomas Edison patented the electric lamp. 1926 The first public demonstration of television was given by John Logie Baird, at his workshop in London. 1943 The US Air Force carried out its first bombing raid on Germany. 1967 Three US astronauts died in a fire which broke out aboard the spacecraft Apollo during tests at Cape Kennedy. 1973 The Vietnam cease-fire agreement was signed by North Vietnam and the USA. 1992 Former world boxing champion Mike Tyson went on trial for allegedly raping an 18-year-old contestant in the 1991 Miss Black America Contest.
Births
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian composer, 1756; Wilhelm II, Emperor of Germany, 1859; Jerome Kern, US composer, 1891; John Eccles, Australian physiologist, 1903; Mordecai Richler, Canadian novelist and dramatist, 1931; John Ogden, English pianist, 1937.
Deaths
John Audubon, US artist and naturalist, 1851; Giuseppe Verdi, Italian composer, 1901; Giovanni Verga, Italian novelist and dramatist, 1922; Carl Mannerheim, Finnish soldier and statesman, 1951; Mahalia Jackson, US gospel singer, 1972; Thomas Sopwith, British aircraft designer, 1989.
Feast day of St Thomas Aquinas, St Amadeus of Lausanne, St Peter Nolasco, St Peter Thomas, and St Paulinus of Aquileia.
Events
1521 The Diet of Worms began, at which Protestant reformer Luther was declared an outlaw by the Roman Catholic church. 1807 London became the world's first city to be illuminated by gas light, when the lamps on Pall Mall were lit. 1871 In the Franco-Prussian War, Paris fell to the Prussians after a five-month siege. 1935 Iceland became the first country to introduce legalised abortion. 1942 The British Eighth Army retreated to El Alamein. 1986 The US space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after lift-off from Cape Canaveral, killing five men and two women on board. 1993 Solicitors for British prime minister John Major issued writs for libel against the New Statesman and Scallywag for publishing stories detailing rumours of an affair between Major and Clare Latimer, a caterer.
Births
Henry Morton Stanley, British journalist and explorer, 1841; Auguste Piccard, Swiss balloonist and deep-sea explorer, 1884; Ernst Lubitsch, US film director, 1892; Jackson Pollock, US artist, 1921; Alan Alda, US film actor and director, 1936; Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian ballet dancer, 1948.
Deaths
Charlemagne, Holy Roman emperor, 814; Francis Drake, English buccaneer and explorer, 1596; Thomas Bodley, English scholar and diplomat, 1613; Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, Spanish writer and politician, 1928; W B Yeats, Irish poet, 1939; Klaus Fuchs, German spy, 1988.
Feast day of St Sainian of Troyes, St Sulpicius `Severus', and St Gildas the Wise.
Events
1728 John Gay's The Beggar's Opera was first performed at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, London. 1848 Greenwich Mean Time was adopted by Scotland. 1856 Britain's highest military decoration, the Victoria Cross, was founded by Queen Victoria. 1886 The first successful petrol-driven motorcar, built by Karl Benz, was patented. 1916 Paris was bombed by German zeppelins for the first time. 1942 The BBC Radio 4 programme `Desert Island Discs', devised and presented by Roy Plomley, was first broadcast. 1978 The use of environmentally damaging aerosol sprays was banned in Sweden. 1991 In the Gulf War, Iraq began its first major ground offensive into Saudi Arabia.
Births
Thomas Paine, English political writer and reformer, 1737; W C Fields, US film actor and comedian, 1880; Victor Mature, US film actor, 1915; Paddy Chayefsky, US writer, 1923; Germaine Greer, Australian feminist and author, 1939; Katharine Ross, US film actress, 1943.
Deaths
King George III, 1820; Alfred Sisley, English painter, 1899; Douglas Haig, British field marshal, 1928; Fritz Kreisler, US violinist, 1962; Alan Ladd, US film actor, 1964; Jimmy Durante, US comedian, 1980.
Feast day of St Martina, St Bathildis, St Adelelmus or Aleaume, St Aldegundis, St Barsimaeus, and St Hyacintha Mariscotti.
Events
1649 The Commonwealth of England was established upon the execution of Charles I. 1790 The first purpose-built lifeboat was launched on the River Tyne. 1889 Rudolph, crown prince of Austria, and his 17-year-old mistress, Baroness Marie Vetsera, were found shot in his hunting lodge at Mayerling, near Vienna. 1933 Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. 1958 Yves Saint Laurent, aged 22, held his first major fashion show in Paris. 1972 In Londonderry, Northern Ireland, 13 civilians were shot by British troops during riots following an illegal march known as `Bloody Sunday'.
Births
Anton Chekhov, Russian dramatist and writer, 1860; Franklin D Roosevelt, 32nd US president, 1882; Gene Hackman, US film actor, 1932; Vanessa Redgrave, English actress, 1937; Boris Spassky, Russian chess champion, 1938; Phil Collins, English pop singer and drummer, 1951.
Deaths
King Charles I, 1649; Frank Doubleday, US publisher and editor, 1934; Orville Wright, US aviation pioneer, 1948; Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Indian leader, assassinated, 1948; Francis Poulenc, French composer, 1963; Stanley Holloway, English actor and singer, 1982.
Feast day of Saints Cyrus and John of Alexandria, St Francis Xavier Bianchi, St Adamnan of Coldingham, St Aidan or Maedoc of Ferns, St Eusebius of St Gall, St Marcella of Rome, St John Bosco, and St Ulphia.
Events
1606 The executions of Winter, Rockwood, Keys, and Guy Fawkes, the Gunpowder Conspirators, took place in London. 1747 The first clinic specialising in the treatment of venereal diseases was opened at London Dock Hospital. 1858 The Great Eastern, the five-funnelled steamship designed by Brunel, was launched at Millwall. 1876 All Native American Indians were ordered to move into reservations. 1929 The USSR exiled Leon Trotsky; he found asylum in Mexico. 1958 Explorer I, the first US Earth satellite, was launched from Cape Canaveral. 1983 The wearing of seat belts in cars became compulsory in Britain.
Births
Franz Schubert, Austrian composer, 1797; Zane Grey, US novelist, 1872; Anna Pavlova, Russian ballerina, 1882; Freya Stark, English traveller and writer, 1893; Norman Mailer, US novelist, 1923; Jean Simmons, English film actress, 1929.
Deaths
Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender, 1788; John Galsworthy, English novelist, 1933; Jean Giraudoux, French novelist and dramatist, 1944; C B Cochran, British theatrical producer, 1951; A A Milne, English author, 1956; Samuel Goldwyn, US film producer, 1974.