366 – The Alemanni cross the frozen Rhine in large numbers, invading the Roman Empire.
533 – Mercurius becomes Pope John II, the first pope to adopt a new name upon elevation to the papacy.
1492 – Reconquista: the Emirate of Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, surrenders.
1777 – American Revolutionary War: American forces under the command of George Washington repulsed a British attack at the Battle of the Assunpink Creek near Trenton, New Jersey.
1788 – Georgia becomes the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution.
1791 – Big Bottom massacre in the Ohio Country, marking the beginning of the Northwest Indian War.
1818 – The British Institution of Civil Engineers is founded.
1833 – Reassertion of British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.
1860 – The discovery of the planet Vulcan is announced at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris, France.
1863 – American Civil War: The Battle of Stones River (a.k.a. Battle of Murfreesboro) resumes in central Tennessee after a day's respite, resulting in a significant Union victory.
1865 – Uruguayan War: The Siege of Paysandú ends as Brazilian and Coloradans capture Paysandú, Uruguay.
1900 – American statesman and diplomat John Hay announces the Open Door Policy to promote trade with China.
1905 – Russo-Japanese War: The Russian garrison surrenders at Port Arthur, China.
1920 – The second Palmer Raid takes place with another 6,000 suspected communists and anarchists arrested and held without trial. These raids take place in several U.S. cities.
1941 – World War II: German bombing severely damages the Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom.
1942 – The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) convicts 33 members of a German spy ring headed by Fritz Joubert Duquesne in the largest espionage case in United States history—the Duquesne Spy Ring.
1942 – World War II: Manila, Philippines is captured by Japanese forces.
1945 – World War II: Nuremberg, Germany is severely bombed by Allied forces.
1949 – Luis Muñoz Marín becomes the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico.
1955 – Panamanian president José Antonio Remón Cantera is assassinated.
1959 – Luna 1, the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and to orbit the Sun, is launched by the Soviet Union.
1963 – Vietnam War: The Viet Cong wins its first major victory.
1967 – Ronald Reagan sworn in as Governor of California
1971 – The second Ibrox disaster kills 66 fans at a Rangers-Celticassociation football (soccer) match.
1974 – United States President Richard Nixon signs a bill lowering the maximum U.S. speed limit to 55 MPH in order to conserve gasoline during an OPEC embargo.
1975 – A bomb blast at Samastipur, Bihar, India, fatally wounds Lalit Narayan Mishra, Minister of Railways
1975 – Bangladeshi Marxist leader Siraj Sikder is arrested and dies in police custody.
1976 – The Gale of January 1976 begins, which results in coastal flooding around the southern North Sea coasts, resulting in at least 82 deaths and US$1.3 billion in damage.
1981 – One of the largest investigations by a British police force ends when serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, the "Yorkshire Ripper", is arrested in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
1992 – Leaders of armed opposition declare the PresidentZviad Gamsakhurdia deposed during a military coup in Georgia.
1993 – Sri Lankan Civil War: The Sri Lanka Navykill 35-100 civilians on the Jaffna Lagoon.
1999 – A brutal snowstorm smashes into the Midwestern United States, causing 14 inches (359 mm) of snow in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and 19 inches (487 mm) in Chicago, where temperatures plunge to -13 °F (-25 °C); 68 deaths are reported.
2004 – Stardust successfully flies past CometWild 2, collecting samples that are returned to Earth.
2006 – An explosion in a coal mine in Sago, West Virginia traps and kills 12 miners, leaving only one survivor.
Births[]
869 – Yōzei, Japanese emperor (d. 949)
1403 – Basilios Bessarion, Greek cardinal and scholar (d. 1472)
1462 – Piero di Cosimo, Italian painter (d. 1522)
1509 – Henry of Stolberg, German nobleman (d. 1572)
1642 – Mehmed IV, Ottoman sultan (d. 1693)
1647 – Nathaniel Bacon, English-American rebel leader (d. 1676)
1699 – Osman III, Ottoman sultan (d. 1757)
1713 – Marie Dumesnil, French actress (d. 1803)
1719 – Jacques-Alexandre Laffon de Ladebat, French shipbuilder and merchant (d. 1797)
1727 – James Wolfe, English general (d. 1759)
1732 – František Brixi, Czech organist and composer (d. 1771)
1777 – Christian Daniel Rauch, German sculptor and educator (d. 1857)
1822 – Rudolf Clausius, Polish-German physicist and mathematician (d. 1888)
1827 – Pyotr Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky, Russian geographer and statistician (d. 1914)
1833 – Frederick A. Johnson, American banker and politician (d. 1893)
1836 – Queen Emma of Hawaii (d. 1885)
1836 – Mendele Mocher Sforim, Russian author (d. 1917)
1837 – Mily Balakirev, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1910)
1851 – Ludwig von Graff, Austrian zoologist (d. 1924)
1852 – Abdülhak Hâmid Tarhan, Turkish playwright and poet (d. 1937)
1857 – M. Carey Thomas, American educator and activist (d. 1935)
1860 – William Corless Mills, American historian and curator (d. 1928)
1860 – Dugald Campbell Patterson, Canadian engineer (d. 1931)
1866 – Gilbert Murray, Australian-English playwright and scholar (d. 1957)
1870 – Ernst Barlach, German sculptor and playwright (d. 1938)
1870 – Tex Rickard, American boxing promoter and businessman (d. 1929)
1873 – Thérèse of Lisieux, French nun and saint (d. 1897)
1873 – Antonie Pannekoek, Dutch astronomer and theorist (d. 1960)
1876 – Aquiles Serdán, Mexican activist and politician (d. 1910)
1878 – Mannathu Padmanabha Pillai, Indian activist, founded the Nair Service Society (d. 1970)
1879 – Rudolf Bauer, Hungarian discus thrower (d. 1932)
1884 – Ben-Zion Dinur, Russian-Israeli historian and politician, 4th Israeli Minister of Education (d. 1973)
1885 – Gordon Flowerdew, Canadian lieutenant, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1918)
1886 – Apsley Cherry-Garrard, English explorer and author (d. 1959)
1886 – Florence Lawrence, Canadian-American actress (d. 1938)
1886 – Billy Zulch, South African cricketer (d. 1924)
1889 – Bertram Stevens, Australian accountant and politician, 25th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1973)
1890 – Henrik Visnapuu, Estonian-American poet and playwright (d. 1951)
1891 – Giovanni Michelucci, Italian architect and urban planner, designed the Firenze Santa Maria Novella railway station (d. 1990)
1892 – Seiichiro Kashio, Japanese tennis player (d. 1962)
1893 – Lillian Leitzel, German acrobat and strongwoman (d. 1931)
1895 – Folke Bernadotte, Swedish lieutenant and diplomat (d. 1948)
1896 – Dziga Vertov, Polish-Russian director and screenwriter (d. 1954)
1896 – Lawrence Wackett, Australian commander and engineer (d. 1982)
1897 – Jim Londos, Greek-American wrestler (d. 1975)
1897 – Theodore Plucknett, English legal historian (d. 1965)
1898 – Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander, American economist and lawyer (d. 1989)
1899 – Burhan Asaf Belge, Turkish diplomat (d. 1967)
1900 – William Haines, American actor and interior designer (d. 1973)
1901 – Bob Marshall, American activist, co-founded The Wilderness Society (d. 1939)
1902 – Dan Keating, Irish Republican Army volunteer (d. 2007)
1904 – Truus Klapwijk, Dutch diver and swimmer (d. 1991)
1905 – Jainendra Kumar, Indian author and translator (d. 1988)
1905 – Lev Schnirelmann, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1938)
1905 – Michael Tippett, English composer and conductor (d. 1998)
1905 – Luigi Zampa, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 1991)
1909 – Riccardo Cassin, Italian mountaineer and author (d. 2009)
1909 – Barry Goldwater, American general and politician (d. 1998)
1913 – Anna Lee, English-American actress (d. 2004)
1913 – Juanita Jackson Mitchell, American lawyer and activist (d. 1992)
1914 – Kenny Clarke, American drummer and composer (d. 1985)
1914 – Noor Inayat Khan, British SOE agent (d. 1944)
1916 – Zypora Spaisman, Polish-American midwife and actress and producer of the Yiddish stage (d. 2002)
1917 – Vera Zorina, German-Norwegian actress and dancer (d. 2003)
1918 – Willi Graf, German physician and activist (d. 1943)
1918 – Beatrice Hicks, American engineer (d. 1979)
1920 – Isaac Asimov, Russian-American chemist, author, and academic (d. 1992)
1921 – Glen Harmon, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2007)
1923 – Rachel Waterhouse, English historian and author
1924 – Evgenios Spatharis, Greek puppeteer, actor, and director (d. 2009)
1925 – William J. Crowe, American admiral and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (d. 2007)
Basil the Great (Catholic Church and Church of England)
Defendens of Thebes
Earliest day on which the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus is observed, while January 5 is the latest; celebrated on Sunday between January 2 and 5. (Roman Catholic Church)
Gregory of Nazianzus (Catholic Church)
Johann Konrad Wilhelm Löhe (Lutheran Church)
Macarius of Alexandria
Seraphim of Sarov (repose)
Vedanayagam Samuel Azariah (Episcopal Church)
January 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics))
Nyinlong (Bhutan)
The first day of Blacks and Whites' Carnival, celebrated until January 7. (southern Colombia)
The first day of the Carnival of Riosucio, celebrated until January 8 every 2 years. (Riosucio)