January 16

Events

 * 27 BC – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus is granted the title Augustus by the Roman Senate, marking the beginning of the Roman Empire.
 * 378 – General Siyaj K'ak' conquers Tikal, enlarging the domain of King Spearthrower Owl of Teotihuacán.
 * 550 – Gothic War: The Ostrogoths, under King Totila, conquer Rome after a long siege, by bribing the Isaurian garrison.
 * 929 – Emir Abd-ar-Rahman III established the Caliphate of Córdoba.
 * 1120 – The Council of Nablus is held, establishing the earliest surviving written laws of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.
 * 1362 – 'De Grote Mandrenke’ A storm tide in the North Sea ravages the East coast of England and destroys the German city of Rungholt on the island of Strand.
 * 1412 – The Medici family is appointed official banker of the Papacy.
 * 1492 – The first grammar of the Spanish language is presented to Queen Isabella I.
 * 1547 – Ivan IV of Russia a.k.a. Ivan the Terrible becomes Czar of Russia.
 * 1556 – Philip II becomes King of Spain.
 * 1572 – Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk is tried for treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot to restore Catholicism in England.
 * 1605 – The first edition of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (Book One of Don Quixote) by Miguel de Cervantes is published in Madrid, Spain.
 * 1707 – The Scottish Parliament ratifies the Act of Union, paving the way for the creation of Great Britain.
 * 1761 – The British capture Pondichéry, India from the French.
 * 1780 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cape St. Vincent.
 * 1786 – Virginia enacted the Statute for Religious Freedom authored by Thomas Jefferson.
 * 1809 – Peninsular War: The British defeat the French at the Battle of La Coruña.
 * 1847 – John C. Frémont is appointed Governor of the new California Territory.
 * 1862 – Hartley Colliery disaster: Two hundred and four men and boys killed in a mining disaster, prompted a change in UK law which henceforth required all collieries to have at least two independent means of escape.
 * 1878 – Russo-Turkish War (1877–78): Battle of Philippopolis: Captain Aleksandr Burago with a squadron of Russian Imperial army dragoons liberates Plovdiv from Ottoman rule.
 * 1883 – The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, establishing the United States Civil Service, is passed.
 * 1896 – Defeat of Cymru Fydd at South Wales Liberal Federation AGM, Newport, Monmouthshire.
 * 1900 – The United States Senate accepts the Anglo-German treaty of 1899 in which the United Kingdom renounces its claims to the Samoan islands.
 * 1909 – Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the magnetic South Pole.
 * 1919 – Temperance movement: The United States ratifies the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, authorizing Prohibition in the United States one year after ratification.
 * 1920 – Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated was founded on the campus of Howard University.
 * 1920  – The League of Nations holds its first council meeting in Paris, France.
 * 1921 – The Marxist Left in Slovakia and the Transcarpathian Ukraine holds its founding congress in Ľubochňa.
 * 1924 – Eleftherios Venizelos becomes Prime Minister of Greece for the fourth time.
 * 1938 – Benny Goodman and his band performed in concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City
 * 1939 – The Irish Republican Army (IRA) begins a bombing and sabotage campaign in England.
 * 1942 – Crash of TWA Flight 3, killing all 22 aboard, including film star Carole Lombard.
 * 1945 – Adolf Hitler moves into his underground bunker, the so-called Führerbunker.
 * 1964 – Hello, Dolly! opened on Broadway, beginning a run of 2,844 performances.
 * 1969 – Czech student Jan Palach commits suicide by self-immolation in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in protest against the Soviets' crushing of the Prague Spring the year before.
 * 1969  – Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 perform the first-ever docking of manned spacecraft in orbit, the first-ever transfer of crew from one space vehicle to another, and the only time such a transfer was accomplished with a space walk.
 * 1970 – Buckminster Fuller receives the Gold Medal award from the American Institute of Architects.
 * 1979 – The last Iranian Shah flees Iran with his family for good and relocates to Egypt.
 * 1986 – First meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force.
 * 1991 – The Coalition Forces go to war with Iraq, beginning the Gulf War (U.S. Time).
 * 1992 – El Salvador officials and rebel leaders sign the Chapultepec Peace Accords in Mexico City, Mexico ending the 12-year Salvadoran Civil War that claimed at least 75,000 lives.
 * 2001 – Congolese President Laurent-Désiré Kabila is assassinated by one of his own bodyguards.
 * 2001  – US President Bill Clinton awards former President Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor for his service in the Spanish–American War.
 * 2002 – The UN Security Council unanimously establishes an arms embargo and the freezing of assets of Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda, and the remaining members of the Taliban.
 * 2003 – The Space Shuttle Columbia takes off for mission STS-107 which would be its final one. Columbia disintegrated 16 days later on re-entry.
 * 2006 – Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is sworn in as Liberia's new president. She becomes Africa's first female elected head of state.
 * 2016 – 33 out of 126 freed hostages are injured and 23 killed in 2016 Ouagadougou attack in Burkina Faso. The attack was carried out on a hotel and a nearby restaurant in the capital.

Births

 * 1093 – Isaac Komnenos, Byzantine son of Alexios I Komnenos (d. 1152)
 * 1245 – Edmund Crouchback, English politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (d. 1296)
 * 1362 – Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland (d. 1392)
 * 1409 – René of Anjou (d. 1480)
 * 1477 – Johannes Schöner, German astronomer and cartographer (d. 1547)
 * 1501 – Anthony Denny, English politician (d. 1549)
 * 1516 – Bayinnaung, Burmese king (d. 1581)
 * 1616 – François de Vendôme, Duke of Beaufort (d. 1669)
 * 1626 – Lucas Achtschellinck, Belgian painter and educator (d. 1699)
 * 1634 – Dorothe Engelbretsdatter, Norwegian author and poet (d. 1716)
 * 1675 – Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon, French soldier and diplomat (d. 1755)
 * 1691 – Peter Scheemakers, Belgian sculptor and educator (d. 1781)
 * 1728 – Niccolò Piccinni, Italian composer and educator (d. 1800)
 * 1749 – Vittorio Alfieri, Italian poet and playwright (d. 1803)
 * 1757 – Richard Goodwin Keats, English admiral and politician, 3rd Commodore-Governor of Newfoundland (d. 1834)
 * 1807 – Charles Henry Davis, American admiral (d. 1877)
 * 1815 – Henry Halleck, American lawyer, general, and scholar (d. 1872)
 * 1821 – John C. Breckinridge, American general and politician, 14th Vice President of the United States (d. 1875)
 * 1834 – Robert R. Hitt, American lawyer and politician, 13th United States Assistant Secretary of State (d. 1906)
 * 1836 – Francis II of the Two Sicilies (d. 1894)
 * 1838 – Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist (d. 1917)
 * 1844 – Ismail Qemali, Albanian civil servant and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Albania (d. 1919)
 * 1851 – William Hall-Jones, English-New Zealand politician, 16th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1936)
 * 1853 – Johnston Forbes-Robertson, English actor and manager (d. 1937)
 * 1853  – Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton, Greek-English general (d. 1947)
 * 1853  – André Michelin, French businessman, co-founded the Michelin Tyre Company (d. 1931)
 * 1855 – Eleanor Marx, English activist and author (d. 1898)
 * 1870 – Jüri Jaakson, Estonian businessman and politician, State Elder of Estonia (d. 1942)
 * 1872 – Henri Büsser, French organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1973)
 * 1872  – Edward Gordon Craig, English actor, director, and producer (d. 1966)
 * 1874 – Robert W. Service, English-Canadian poet and author (d. 1958)
 * 1875 – Leonor Michaelis, German biochemist and physician (d. 1947)
 * 1876 – Claude Buckenham, English cricketer and footballer (d. 1937)
 * 1878 – Harry Carey, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1947)
 * 1880 – Samuel Jones, American high jumper (d. 1954)
 * 1882 – Margaret Wilson, American author (d. 1973)
 * 1885 – Zhou Zuoren, Chinese author and translator (d. 1967)
 * 1887 – John Hamilton, American actor (d. 1958)
 * 1893 – Daisy Kennedy, Australian-English violinist (d. 1981)
 * 1894 – Irving Mills, American publisher (d. 1985)
 * 1895 – Evripidis Bakirtzis, Greek soldier and politician (d. 1947)
 * 1895  – T. M. Sabaratnam, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (d. 1966)
 * 1895  – Nat Schachner, American lawyer, chemist, and author (d. 1955)
 * 1897 – Carlos Pellicer, Mexican poet and academic (d. 1977)
 * 1898 – Margaret Booth, American producer and editor (d. 2002)
 * 1898  – Irving Rapper, American film director and producer (d. 1999)
 * 1900 – Edith Frank, German-Dutch mother of Anne Frank (d. 1945)
 * 1901 – Fulgencio Batista, Cuban colonel and politician, 9th President of Cuba (d. 1973)
 * 1901  – Frank Zamboni, American businessman, founded the Zamboni Company (d. 1988)
 * 1902 – Eric Liddell, Scottish runner, rugby player, and missionary (d. 1945)
 * 1903 – William Grover-Williams, English-French race car driver (d. 1945)
 * 1905 – Ernesto Halffter, Spanish composer and conductor (d. 1989)
 * 1906 – Johannes Brenner, Estonian footballer and pilot (d. 1975)
 * 1906  – Diana Wynyard, English actress (d. 1964)
 * 1907 – Alexander Knox, Canadian-English actor and screenwriter (d. 1995)
 * 1907  – Paul Nitze, American banker and politician, 10th United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 2004)
 * 1908 – Ethel Merman, American actress and singer (d. 1984)
 * 1908  – Günther Prien, German captain (d. 1941)
 * 1910 – Dizzy Dean, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1974)
 * 1911 – Eduardo Frei Montalva, Chilean lawyer and politician, 28th President of Chile (d. 1982)
 * 1911  – Roger Lapébie, French cyclist (d. 1996)
 * 1914 – Roger Wagner, French-American conductor and educator (d. 1992)
 * 1915 – Leslie H. Martinson, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
 * 1916 – Philip Lucock, English-Australian minister and politician (d. 1996)
 * 1917 – Carl Karcher, American businessman, founded Carl's Jr. (d. 2008)
 * 1918 – Nel Benschop, Dutch poet and educator (d. 2005)
 * 1918  – Allan Ekelund, Swedish director, producer, and production manager (d. 2009)
 * 1918  – Clem Jones, Australian surveyor and politician, 8th Lord Mayor of Brisbane (d. 2007)
 * 1918  – Stirling Silliphant, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1996)
 * 1919 – Jerome Horwitz, American chemist and academic (d. 2012)
 * 1920 – Alberto Crespo, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1991)
 * 1920  – Elliott Reid, American actor and screenwriter (d. 2013)
 * 1921 – Francesco Scavullo, American photographer (d. 2004)
 * 1923 – Anton-Günther, Duke of Oldenburg (d. 2014)
 * 1923  – Gene Feist, American director and playwright, co-founded the Roundabout Theatre Company (d. 2014)
 * 1923  – Anthony Hecht, American soldier, poet, and academic (d. 2004)
 * 1923  – Keith Shackleton, English painter and television host (d. 2015)
 * 1924 – Katy Jurado, Mexican actress (d. 2002)
 * 1925 – Peter Hirsch, German-English metallurgist and academic
 * 1925  – James Robinson Risner, American general and pilot (d. 2013)
 * 1926 – O. P. Nayyar, Indian director and composer (d. 2007)
 * 1928 – William Kennedy, American journalist, historian, and author
 * 1928  – Pilar Lorengar, Spanish soprano and actress (d. 1996)
 * 1929 – Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah, Sri Lankan anthropologist and academic (d. 2014)
 * 1930 – Mary Ann McMorrow, American lawyer and judge (d. 2013)
 * 1930  – Norman Podhoretz, American journalist and author
 * 1930  – Paula Tilbrook, English actress
 * 1931 – John Enderby, English physicist and academic
 * 1931  – Robert L. Park, American physicist and academic
 * 1931  – Johannes Rau, German journalist and politician, 8th Federal President of Germany (d. 2006)
 * 1932 – Victor Ciocâltea, Romanian chess player (d. 1983)
 * 1932  – Dian Fossey, American zoologist and anthropologist (d. 1985)
 * 1933 – Susan Sontag, American author and playwright (d. 2004)
 * 1934 – Marilyn Horne, American soprano and actress
 * 1935 – A. J. Foyt, American race car driver
 * 1935  – Udo Lattek, German footballer, manager, and sportscaster (d. 2015)
 * 1936 – Michael White, Scottish actor and producer (d. 2016)
 * 1937 – Luiz Bueno, Brazilian race car driver (d. 2011)
 * 1937  – Francis George, American cardinal (d. 2015)
 * 1938 – Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria (d. 2015)
 * 1938  – Jô Soares, Brazilian comedian, actor, and talk show host
 * 1938  – Marina Vaizey, American journalist and critic
 * 1939 – Ralph Gibson, American photographer
 * 1941 – Christine Truman, English tennis player and sportscaster
 * 1942 – René Angélil, Canadian singer and manager (d. 2016)
 * 1942  – Barbara Lynn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1943 – Gavin Bryars, English bassist and composer
 * 1943  – Brian Ferneyhough, English-American composer and academic
 * 1943  – Ronnie Milsap, American singer and pianist
 * 1944 – Dieter Moebius, Swiss-German keyboard player and producer (d. 2015)
 * 1944  – Jim Stafford, American singer-songwriter and actor
 * 1944  – Jill Tarter, American astronomer and biologist
 * 1944  – Judy Baar Topinka, American journalist and politician (d. 2014)
 * 1945 – Wim Suurbier, Dutch footballer and manager
 * 1946 – Katia Ricciarelli, Italian soprano and actress
 * 1947 – Elaine Murphy, Baroness Murphy, English academic and politician
 * 1947  – Magdalen Nabb, English author and educator (d. 2007)
 * 1947  – Harvey Proctor, English politician
 * 1947  – Laura Schlessinger, American physiologist, talk show host, and author
 * 1948 – John Carpenter, American director, producer, screenwriter, and composer
 * 1948  – Ants Laaneots, Estonian general
 * 1948  – Dalvanius Prime, New Zealand singer-songwriter (d. 2002)
 * 1948  – Ruth Reichl, American journalist and critic
 * 1949 – Anne F. Beiler, American businesswoman, founded Auntie Anne's
 * 1949  – R. F. Foster, Irish historian and academic
 * 1949  – Andrew Refshauge, Australian physician and politician, 13th Deputy Premier of New South Wales
 * 1950 – Debbie Allen, American actress, dancer, and choreographer
 * 1950  – Robert Schimmel, American comedian, actor, and producer (d. 2010)
 * 1950  – Damo Suzuki, Japanese singer and guitarist
 * 1952 – Piercarlo Ghinzani, Italian race car driver and manager
 * 1952  – L. Blaine Hammond, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
 * 1952  – Julie Anne Peters, American engineer and author
 * 1953 – Robert Jay Mathews, American militant, founded The Order (d. 1984)
 * 1954 – Wolfgang Schmidt, German discus thrower
 * 1954  – Vasili Zhupikov, Russian footballer and coach (d. 2015)
 * 1955 – Jerry M. Linenger, American captain, physician, and astronaut
 * 1956 – Martin Jol, Dutch footballer and manager
 * 1956  – Ivan Safronov, Russian journalist and engineer (d. 2007)
 * 1956  – Greedy Smith, Australian singer-songwriter and keyboardist
 * 1957 – Jurijs Andrejevs, Latvian footballer and manager
 * 1957  – Ricardo Darín, Argentinian actor, director, and screenwriter
 * 1957  – Mark Pawsey, English businessman and politician
 * 1958 – Andriy Bal, Ukrainian footballer and coach (d. 2014)
 * 1958  – Anatoli Boukreev, Russian mountaineer and explorer (d. 1997)
 * 1958  – Lena Ek, Swedish lawyer and politician, 9th Swedish Minister for the Environment
 * 1958  – Marla Frazee, American author and illustrator
 * 1958  – Tony Pulis, Welsh footballer and manager
 * 1958  – Andris Šķēle, Latvian businessman and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Latvia
 * 1959 – Sade, Nigerian-English singer-songwriter and producer
 * 1959  – Lisa Milroy, Canadian painter and educator
 * 1961 – Paul Raven, English bass player (d. 2007)
 * 1961  – Kenneth Sivertsen, Norwegian guitarist and composer (d. 2006)
 * 1962 – Joel Fitzgibbon, Australian electrician and politician, 51st Australian Minister of Defence
 * 1962  – Maxine Jones, American singer-songwriter and actress
 * 1962  – John T. Riedl, American computer scientist and academic (d. 2013)
 * 1962  – Paul Webb, English bass player
 * 1963 – James May, English journalist and television host
 * 1964  – Deyan Nedelchev, Bulgarian singer-songwriter
 * 1965 – Jill Sobule, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1967 – Shim Hye-jin, South Korean actress
 * 1968 – Rebecca Stead, American author
 * 1969 – Neil Back, English rugby player and coach
 * 1969  – Marinus Bester, German footballer
 * 1969  – Stevie Jackson, Scottish guitarist and songwriter
 * 1969  – Per "Dead" Ohlin, Swedish singer-songwriter (d. 1991)
 * 1970 – Ron Villone, American baseball player and coach
 * 1971 – Sergi Bruguera, Spanish tennis player and coach
 * 1971  – Josh Evans, American film producer, screenwriter and actor
 * 1971  – Jonathan Mangum, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
 * 1972 – Ruben Bagger, Danish footballer
 * 1972  – Ang Christou, Australian footballer
 * 1972  – Yuri Alekseevich Drozdov, Russian footballer and manager
 * 1972  – Ezra Hendrickson, Vincentian footballer and manager
 * 1972  – Joe Horn, American football player and coach
 * 1974 – Marlon Anderson, American baseball player and sportscaster
 * 1974  – Brent Hinds, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1974  – John Hopoate, Tongan-Australian rugby league player and boxer
 * 1974  – Kate Moss, English model and fashion designer
 * 1976 – Viktor Maslov, Russian race car driver
 * 1976  – Martina Moravcová, Slovak swimmer
 * 1977 – Jeff Foster, American basketball player
 * 1978 – Alfredo Amézaga, Mexican baseball player
 * 1979 – Aaliyah, American singer and actress (d. 2001)
 * 1979  – Brenden Morrow, Canadian ice hockey player
 * 1979  – Jason Ward, Canadian ice hockey player
 * 1980 – Lin-Manuel Miranda, American actor, playwright, and composer
 * 1980  – Albert Pujols, Dominican-American baseball player
 * 1981 – Jamie Lundmark, Canadian ice hockey player
 * 1981  – Paul Rofe, Australian cricketer
 * 1981  – Nick Valensi, American guitarist
 * 1981  – Bobby Zamora, English footballer
 * 1982 – Preston, English singer-songwriter
 * 1982  – Tuncay Şanlı, Turkish footballer
 * 1983 – Emanuel Pogatetz, Austrian footballer
 * 1983  – Andriy Rusol, Ukrainian footballer
 * 1984 – Stephan Lichtsteiner, Swiss footballer
 * 1984  – Miroslav Radović, Serbian footballer
 * 1984  – Jared Slingerland, Canadian guitarist
 * 1984  – Kurt Travis, American singer-songwriter
 * 1985 – Joe Flacco, American football player
 * 1985  – Jayde Herrick, Australian cricketer
 * 1985  – Gintaras Januševičius, Russian-Lithuanian pianist
 * 1985  – Jonathan Richter, Danish footballer
 * 1986 – Johannes Rahn, German footballer
 * 1986  – Mark Trumbo, American baseball player
 * 1986  – Reto Ziegler, Swiss footballer
 * 1987 – Charlotte Henshaw, English swimmer
 * 1988 – Nicklas Bendtner, Danish footballer
 * 1988  – Jorge Torres Nilo, Mexican footballer
 * 1991 – Matt Duchene, Canadian ice hockey player
 * 1993 – Hannes Anier, Estonian footballer
 * 1993  – Amandine Hesse, French tennis player
 * 1994 – Charlotte Best, Australian model and actress
 * 1995 – Mikaela Turik, Australian-Canadian cricketer

Deaths

 * 654 – Gao Jifu, Chinese politician, Chancellor of the Tang dynasty (b. 596)
 * 957 – Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ali al-Madhara'i, Egyptian politician (b. 871)
 * 970 – Polyeuctus of Constantinople
 * 1327 – Nikephoros Choumnos, Byzantine monk, scholar, and politician (b. 1250)
 * 1387 – Elizabeth of Bosnia (b. 1339)
 * 1400 – John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter, English politician, Lord Great Chamberlain (b. 1352)
 * 1545 – George Spalatin, German priest and reformer (b. 1484)
 * 1547 – Johannes Schöner, German astronomer and cartographer (b. 1477)
 * 1554 – Christiern Pedersen, Danish publisher and scholar (b. 1480)
 * 1585 – Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln, English admiral and politician (b. 1512)
 * 1592 – John Casimir of the Palatinate-Simmern (b. 1543)
 * 1595 – Murad III, Ottoman sultan (b. 1546)
 * 1659 – Charles Annibal Fabrot, French lawyer (b. 1580)
 * 1710 – Emperor Higashiyama of Japan (b. 1675)
 * 1711 – Joseph Vaz, Indian-Sri Lankan priest and saint (b. 1651)
 * 1747 – Barthold Heinrich Brockes, German poet and playwright (b. 1680)
 * 1748 – Arnold Drakenborch, Dutch lawyer and scholar (b. 1684)
 * 1750 – Ivan Trubetskoy, Russian field marshal and politician (b. 1667)
 * 1752 – Francis Blomefield, English historian and author (b. 1705)
 * 1794 – Edward Gibbon, English historian and politician (b. 1737)
 * 1809 – John Moore, Scottish general and politician (b. 1761)
 * 1817 – Alexander J. Dallas, Jamaican-American lawyer and politician, 6th United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1759)
 * 1834 – Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette, French mathematician and academic (b. 1769)
 * 1856 – Thaddeus William Harris, American entomologist and botanist (b. 1795)
 * 1864 – Anton Schindler, Austrian secretary and author (b. 1795)
 * 1865 – Edmond François Valentin About, French journalist and author (b. 1828)
 * 1879 – Octave Crémazie, Canadian-French poet and bookseller (b. 1827)
 * 1886 – Amilcare Ponchielli, Italian composer and academic (b. 1834)
 * 1891 – Léo Delibes, French pianist and composer (b. 1836)
 * 1898 – Charles Pelham Villiers, English lawyer and politician (b. 1802)
 * 1901 – Jules Barbier, French poet and playwright (b. 1825)
 * 1901  – Arnold Böcklin, Swiss painter and academic (b. 1827)
 * 1901  – Hiram Rhodes Revels, American soldier, minister, and politician (b. 1822)
 * 1906 – Marshall Field, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Marshall Field's (b. 1834)
 * 1917 – George Dewey, American admiral (b. 1837)
 * 1919 – Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 5th President of Brazil (b. 1848)
 * 1920 – Reginald De Koven, American composer and critic (b. 1859)
 * 1933 – Bekir Sami Kunduh, Turkish politician (b. 1867)
 * 1938 – Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay Indian author and playwright (b. 1876)
 * 1942 – Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (b. 1850)
 * 1942  – Villem Grünthal-Ridala, Estonian poet and linguist (b. 1885)
 * 1942  – Carole Lombard, American actress (b. 1908)
 * 1942  – Ernst Scheller, German lawyer and politician, Mayor of Marburg (b. 1899)
 * 1957 – Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone, English general and politician, 16th Governor General of Canada (b. 1874)
 * 1957  – Arturo Toscanini, Italian cellist and conductor (b. 1867)
 * 1959 – Phan Khôi, Vietnamese journalist and author (b. 1887)
 * 1960 – Arthur Darby, English rugby player (b. 1876)
 * 1961 – Max Schöne, German swimmer (b. 1880)
 * 1962 – Frank Hurley, Australian photographer, director, producer, and cinematographer (b. 1885)
 * 1962  – Ivan Meštrović, Croatian sculptor and architect, designed the Monument to the Unknown Hero (b. 1883)
 * 1967 – Robert J. Van de Graaff, American physicist and academic (b. 1901)
 * 1968 – Bob Jones, Sr., American evangelist, founded Bob Jones University (b. 1883)
 * 1968  – Panagiotis Poulitsas, Greek archaeologist and judge (b. 1881)
 * 1969 – Vernon Duke, Russian-American composer and songwriter (b. 1903)
 * 1971 – Philippe Thys, Belgian cyclist (b. 1890)
 * 1972 – Teller Ammons, American soldier and politician, 28th Governor of Colorado (b. 1895)
 * 1972  – Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., American singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, and actor, created Alvin and the Chipmunks (b. 1919)
 * 1973 – Edgar Sampson, American musician and composer (1907)
 * 1975 – Israel Abramofsky, Russian-American painter (b. 1888)
 * 1978 – A. V. Kulasingham, Sri Lankan journalist, lawyer, and politician (b. 1890)
 * 1979 – Ted Cassidy, American giant and actor (b. 1932)
 * 1985 – Robert Fitzgerald, American poet, critic, and translator  (b. 1910)
 * 1986 – Herbert W. Armstrong, American evangelist, author, and publisher (b. 1892)
 * 1987 – Bertram Wainer, Australian physician and activist (b. 1928)
 * 1988 – Andrija Artuković, Croatian politician, war criminal, and Porajmos perpetrator, 1st Minister of Interior of the Independent State of Croatia (b. 1899)
 * 1995 – Eric Mottram, English poet and critic (b. 1924)
 * 1996 – Marcia Davenport, American author and critic (b. 1903)
 * 1996  – Kaye Webb, English journalist and publisher (b. 1914)
 * 1999 – Jim McClelland, Australian lawyer, jurist, and politician, 12th Minister for Industry and Science (b. 1915)
 * 2000 – Will "Dub" Jones, American singer (b. 1928)
 * 2000  – Robert R. Wilson, American physicist and academic (b. 1914)
 * 2001 – Auberon Waugh, English author and journalist (b. 1939)
 * 2002 – Robert Hanbury Brown, English astronomer and physicist (b. 1916)
 * 2002  – Bobo Olson, American boxer (b. 1928)
 * 2003 – Richard Wainwright, English politician (b. 1918)
 * 2004 – Kalevi Sorsa, Finnish politician 34th Prime Minister of Finland (b. 1930)
 * 2005 – Marjorie Williams, American journalist and author (b. 1958)
 * 2006 – Stanley Biber, American soldier and physician (b. 1923)
 * 2007 – Benny Parsons, American race car driver and sportscaster (b. 1941)
 * 2009 – Joe Erskine, American boxer and runner (b. 1930)
 * 2009  – John Mortimer, English lawyer and author (b. 1923)
 * 2009  – Andrew Wyeth, American painter (b. 1917)
 * 2010 – Glen Bell, American businessman, founded Taco Bell (b. 1923)
 * 2010  – Jyoti Basu, Indian lawyer and politician, 9th Chief Minister of West Bengal (b. 1914)
 * 2010  – Takumi Shibano, Japanese author and translator (b. 1926)
 * 2012 – Joe Bygraves, Jamaican-English boxer (b. 1931)
 * 2012  – Jimmy Castor, American singer-songwriter and saxophonist (b. 1940)
 * 2012  – Sigursteinn Gíslason, Icelandic footballer and manager (b. 1968)
 * 2012  – Lorna Kesterson, American journalist and politician (b. 1925)
 * 2012  – Gustav Leonhardt, Dutch pianist, conductor, and musicologist (b. 1928)
 * 2013 – Wayne D. Anderson, American baseball player and coach (b. 1930)
 * 2013  – André Cassagnes, French technician and toy maker, created the Etch A Sketch (b. 1926)
 * 2013  – Gussie Moran, American tennis player and sportscaster (b. 1923)
 * 2013  – Pauline Phillips, American journalist and radio host, created Dear Abby (b. 1918)
 * 2013  – Glen P. Robinson, American businessman, founded Scientific Atlanta (b. 1923)
 * 2014 – Gary Arlington, American author and illustrator (b. 1938)
 * 2014  – Ruth Duccini, American actress (b. 1918)
 * 2014  – Wiley W. Hilburn, American journalist and academic (b. 1938)
 * 2014  – Russell Johnson, American actor (b. 1924)
 * 2014  – Dave Madden, Canadian-American actor (b. 1931)
 * 2014  – Hiroo Onoda, Japanese lieutenant (b. 1922)
 * 2014  – Bud Spangler, American drummer, composer, and producer (b. 1938)
 * 2015 – Miriam Akavia, Polish-Israeli author and translator (b. 1927)
 * 2015  – Ian Athfield, New Zealand architect (b. 1940)
 * 2016 – Joannis Avramidis, Greek sculptor (b. 1922)
 * 2016  – Ted Marchibroda, American football player and coach (b. 1931)

Holidays and observances

 * Christian feast day:
 * Berard of Carbio
 * Blaise (Armenian Apostolic)
 * Fursey
 * Joseph Vaz
 * Honoratus of Arles
 * Pope Marcellus I
 * Titian of Oderzo
 * January 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
 * Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (Coptic Church)
 * Zuuruku Nichi (Okinawa Islands, Japan)
 * National Nothing Day (United States)
 * National Religious Freedom Day (United States)
 * Teachers' Day (Thailand)
 * Teacher's Day (Myanmar)
 * Thiruvalluvar Day (Tamil Nadu, India)