January 16

Events

• 27 BC – The title Augustus is bestowed upon Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian by the Roman Senate.
• 550 – Gothic War (535–552): The Ostrogoths, under King Totila, conquer Rome after a long siege, by bribing the Isaurian garrison.
• 1120 – The Council of Nablus is held, establishing the earliest surviving written laws of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.
• 1362 – A storm tide in the North Sea 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 aka Ivan the Terrible becomes Tsar 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.
• 1581 – The English Parliament outlaws Roman Catholicism.
• 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.
• 1707 – The Scottish Parliament ratifies the Act of Union, paving the way for the creation of Great Britain.
• 1761 – The British capture Pondicherry, India from the French.
• 1777 – Vermont declares its independence from New York.
• 1780 – American Revolution: Battle of Cape St. Vincent.
• 1809 – Peninsular War: The British defeat the French at the Battle of La Coruña.
• 1847 – John C. Fremont is appointed Governor of the new California Territory.
• 1878 – Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) – Battle of Plovdiv: Captain 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.
• 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.
• 1956 – President Gamal Abdal Nasser of Egypt vows to reconquer Palestine.
• 1968 – The Youth International Party is founded.
• 1969 – Czech student Jan Palach commits suicide by self-immolation in Prague, in protest against the Soviets' crushing of the Prague Spring the year before.
• 1970 – Buckminster Fuller receives the Gold Medal award from the American Institute of Architects.
• 1979 – The Shah of Iran flees Iran with his family and relocates to Egypt.
• 1986 – First meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force.
• 1991 – The United States goes 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 ending a 12-year civil war that claimed at least 75,000.
• 2001 – The First surviving wikipedia edit is made: UuU
• 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-Qaida, 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.

Births

• 1245 – Edmund Crouchback, son of Henry III of England (d. 1296)
• 1409 – René I of Naples (d. 1480)
• 1477 – Johannes Schöner, German astronomer and cartographer (d. 1547)
• 1501 – Anthony Denny, confidant of King Henry VIII of England (d. 1559)
• 1616 – François de Vendôme, duc de Beaufort, French soldier (d. 1669)
• 1626 – Lucas Achtschellinck, Flemish painter (d. 1699)
• 1634 – Dorthe Engelbrechtsdatter, Norwegian poet (d. 1716)
• 1675 – Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon, French writer (d. 1755)
• 1728 – Niccolò Piccinni, Italian composer (d. 1800)
• 1807 – Charles Henry Davis, American Civil War Admiral (d. 1877)
• 1815 – Henry W. Halleck, American Civil War general (d. 1872)
• 1821 – John C. Breckinridge, U.S. Vice-President and Confederate general (d. 1875)
• 1834 – Robert R. Hitt, American politician (d. 1906)
• 1836 – King Francis II of the Two Sicilies (d. 1894)
• 1838 – Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist (d. 1917)
• 1844 – Ismail Qemali, Albanian nationalist (d. 1919)
• 1853 – Andre Michelin, French industrialist (d. 1931)
• 1853 – Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson, English actor and theatre manager (d. 1937)
• 1853 – Gen Sir Ian Hamilton, British military commander (d. 1947)
• 1853 – Vladimir Sergeyevich Solovyov, Russian philosopher (d. 1900)
• 1872 – Edward Gordon Craig, English actor, producer, director and scenic designer (d. 1966)
• 1872 – Henri Busser, French composer (d. 1973)
• 1874 – Robert W. Service, Canadian poet (d. 1958)
• 1875 – Leonor Michaelis, German enzyme kinetic theorist (d. 1947)
• 1878 – Harry Carey, American silent film actor (d. 1947)
• 1885 – Zhou Zuoren, Chinese writer (d. 1967)
• 1886 – John Hamilton, American actor (d. 1958)
• 1888 – Osip Brik, Russian writer (d. 1945)
• 1893 – Daisy Kennedy, Australian violinist (d. 1981)
• 1894 – Irving Mills, American jazz music publisher (d. 1985)
• 1895 – Nat Schachner, American author (d. 1955)
• 1896 – Ruth Rose, American screenwriter (d. 1978)
• 1897 – Carlos Pellicer, Mexican poet (d. 1977)
• 1898 – Margaret Booth, American film editor (d. 2002)
• 1898 – Irving Rapper, UK-US film director (d. 1999)
• 1901 – Fulgencio Batista, Cuban leader (d. 1973)
• 1901 – Frank Zamboni, American inventor (d. 1988)
• 1902 – Eric Liddell, Scottish runner (d. 1945)
• 1903 – William Grover-Williams, English-French racing driver and WWII resistance fighter (d. 1945)
• 1905 – Ernesto Halffter, Spanish composer and conductor (d. 1989)
• 1906 – Diana Wynyard, British actress (d. 1964)
• 1907 – Alexander Knox, Canadian actor (d. 1995)
• 1907 – Paul Nitze, American government official (d. 2004)
• 1908 – Ethel Merman, American actress and singer (d. 1984)
• 1908 – Günther Prien, German World War II submarine captain (d. 1941)
• 1910 – Dizzy Dean, American baseball player (d. 1974)
• 1911 – Roger Lapébie, French cyclist (d. 1996)
• 1911 – Eduardo Frei Montalva, Chilean politician (d. 1982)
• 1914 – Roger Wagner, American choral musician (d. 1992)
• 1915 – Leslie H. Martinson, American television and film director.
• 1916 – Philip Lucock, Australian politician and Presbyterian minister (d. 1996)
• 1917 – Carl Karcher, founded the Carl's Jr. hamburger chain (d. 2008)
• 1918 – Nel Benschop, Dutch poet (d. 2005)
• 1918 – Clem Jones, Australian Lord Mayor of Brisbane (d. 2007)
• 1918 – Stirling Silliphant, American writer (d. 1996)
• 1920 – Alberto Crespo, Argentine racing driver (d. 1991)
• 1921 – Francesco Scavullo, American photographer (d. 2004)
• 1922 – Ernesto Bonino, Italian singer (d. 2008)
• 1923 – Gene Feist, American stage actor and producer
• 1923 – Anthony Hecht, American poet (d. 2004)
• 1924 – Katy Jurado, Mexican actress (d. 2002)
• 1928 – Pilar Lorengar, Spanish soprano (d. 1996)
• 1928 – William Kennedy, American author
• 1930 – Clarence Ray Allen, American murderer (d. 2006)
• 1930 – Norman Podhoretz, US writer, foreign policy adviser
• 1931 – Johannes Rau, German politician (d. 2006)
• 1932 – Dian Fossey, American zoologist (d. 1985)
• 1933 – Susan Sontag, American writer (d. 2004)
• 1934 – Marilyn Horne, American opera singer
• 1935 – A.J. Foyt, American race car driver and team owner
• 1937 – Lorraine Bayly, Australian actress
• 1937 – Luiz Bueno, Brazilian racing driver
• 1938 – Jô Soares, Brazilian author, musician and TV personality
• 1942 – René Angélil, Canadian music executive
• 1942 – Barbara Lynn, American singer
• 1943 – Gavin Bryars, English composer and double bassist
• 1943 – Brian Ferneyhough, British composer
• 1944 – Jim Stafford, American singer and songwriter
• 1946 – Kabir Bedi, Indian actor
• 1946 – Ronnie Milsap, American singer and songwriter
• 1946 – Katia Ricciarelli, Italian soprano
• 1947 – Magdalen Nabb, British author (d. 2007)
• 1947 – Harvey Proctor, British politician
• 1947 – Dr. Laura Schlessinger, American radio talk show host
• 1948 – John Carpenter, American film director
• 1948 – Dalvanius Prime, New Zealand entertainer (d. 2002)
• 1948 – Ruth Reichl, American magazine editor
• 1948 – Cliff Thorburn, Canadian snooker player
• 1949 – Andrew Refshauge, Australian politician, Deputy Premier of New South Wales
• 1950 – Debbie Allen, American dancer and choreographer
• 1950 – Brian Castro, Australian author
• 1950 – Damo Suzuki, Japanese singer (Can)
• 1951 – Glenn Ordway, American radio talk show host
• 1952 – King Fuad II of Egypt
• 1952 – L. Blaine Hammond, NASA astronaut
• 1953 – Robert Jay Mathews, American neo-Nazi (d. 1984)
• 1955 – Jerry M. Linenger, NASA astronaut
• 1956 – Jennifer Dale, Canadian actress
• 1956 – Martin Jol, Dutch football manager
• 1956 – Ivan Safronov, Russian journalist (d. 2007)
• 1958 – Anatoli Boukreev, Russian climber (d. 1997)
• 1958 – Lena Ek, Swedish politician
• 1959 – Juanita Bynum, American televangelist
• 1959 – Sade, Nigerian-born singer
• 1961 – Paul Raven, English musician (Killing Joke) (d. 2007)
• 1961 – Jill Sobule, American singer-songwriter
• 1962 – Joel Fitzgibbon, Australian politician
• 1962 – Paul Webb, British musician (Talk Talk, .O.rang)
• 1962 – Tracey Moore, voice actress
• 1963 – James May, English television presenter
• 1965 – Maxine Jones, American singer (En Vogue)
• 1968 – David Chokachi, American actor
• 1969 – Dead, Swedish black metal vocalist (Mayhem) (d. 1991)
• 1969 – Roy Jones Jr., American boxer
• 1969 – Neil Back, England rugby player
• 1970 – Garth Ennis, Irish comic book author
• 1970 – Brendan O'Hare, Scottish drummer (Teenage Fanclub, Telstar Ponies)
• 1970 – Ron Villone, American baseball player
• 1971 – Sergi Bruguera, Spanish tennis player
• 1972 – Ruben Bagger, Danish footballer
• 1972 – Ang Christou, Australian rules footballer
• 1972 – Dameon Clarke, Canadian actor
• 1972 – Yuri Drozdov, Russian footballer
• 1972 – Ezra Hendrickson, Vincentian footballer
• 1972 – Salah Hissou, Moroccan long-distance runner
• 1972 – Joe Horn, American football player
• 1972 – Richard T. Jones, American actor
• 1972 – Greg Page, Australian musician and actor
• 1972 – Alen Peternac, Croatian footballer
• 1973 – Josie Davis, American actress
• 1974 – Marlon Anderson, American baseball player
• 1974 – Kate Moss, English model
• 1975 – Greg Strause, American visual effects creator
• 1975 – Gillian Iliana Waters, American actress
• 1976 – Viktor Maslov, Russian racing driver
• 1976 – Martina Moravcová, Slovak female swimmer
• 1977 – Ariel Zeevi, Israeli judoka
• 1977 – Jeff Foster, American basketball player
• 1978 – Alfredo Amézaga, Mexican baseball player
• 1979 – Aaliyah, American singer (d. 2001)
• 1979 – Brenden Morrow, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1979 – Jason Ward, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1980 – Seydou Keita, Malian footballer
• 1980 – Lin Manuel Miranda, American actor, composer, lyricist (In The Heights)
• 1980 – Albert Pujols, Dominican-born baseball player
• 1980 – Michelle Wild, Hungarian model
• 1981 – Nick Valensi, American guitarist (The Strokes)
• 1981 – Bobby Zamora, English footballer
• 1982 – Samuel Preston, British singer (The Ordinary Boys)
• 1982 – Tuncay Şanlı, Turkish footballer
• 1983 – Emanuel Pogatetz, Austrian footballer
• 1984 – Stephan Lichtsteiner, Swiss footballer
• 1984 – Jared Slingerland, Canadian musician
• 1985 – Jonathan Richter, Danish footballer
• 1985 – Joe Flacco, American football player
• 1986 – Paula Pareto, Argentine judoka
• 1987 – Lauren McAvoy, British fashion model
• 1988 – Nicklas Bendtner, Danish footballer
• 1989 – Yvonne Zima, American actress

Deaths

• 960 – Polyeuctus, Patriarch of Constantinople
• 1387 – Elizabeth of Bosnia, Hungarian queen and regent (b. 1340)
• 1400 – John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter, English politician (b. 1352)
• 1545 – George Spalatin, German reformer (b. 1484)
• 1547 – Johannes Schöner, German astronomer and cartographer (b. 1477)
• 1554 – Christiern Pedersen, Danish humanist (b. 1480)
• 1585 – Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln, English admiral (b. 1512)
• 1659 – Charles Annibal Fabrot, French lawyer (b. 1580)
• 1710 – Emperor Higashiyama of Japan (b. 1675)
• 1711 – Joseph Vaz, Apostle of Ceylon (b. 1651)
• 1747 – Barthold Heinrich Brockes, German poet (b. 1680)
• 1748 – Arnold Drakenborch, Dutch classical scholar (b. 1684)
• 1750 – Ivan Trubetskoy, Russian field marshall (b. 1667)
• 1752 – Francis Blomefield, English topographer (b. 1705)
• 1794 – Edward Gibbon, English historian (b. 1737)
• 1809 – John Moore, British general (b. 1761)
• 1817 – Alexander J. Dallas, American statesman (b. 1759)
• 1826 – Lindley Murray, grammarian (b. 1745)
• 1834 – Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette, French mathematician (b. 1769)
• 1856 – Thaddeus William Harris, American naturalist (b. 1795)
• 1864 – Anton Schindler, Austrian biographer of Beethoven (b. 1795)
• 1865 – Edmond François Valentin About, French writer (b. 1828)
• 1879 – Octave Crémazie, French Canadian poet (b. 1827)
• 1886 – Amilcare Ponchielli, Italian opera composer (b. 1834)
• 1891 – Léo Delibes, French composer (b. 1836)
• 1898 – Charles Pelham Villiers, British Member of Parliament (b. 1802)
• 1901 – Jules Barbier, French opera librettist (b. 1825)
• 1901 – Arnold Böcklin, Swiss painter (b. 1827)
• 1901 – Hiram Revels, first African-American to serve in the U. S. Senate (b. 1822)
• 1906 – Marshall Field, American entrepreneur (b. 1834)
• 1917 – George Dewey, American admiral (b. 1837)
• 1919 – Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves, President of Brazil (b. 1848)
• 1920 – Reginald De Koven, American music critic and operetta composer (b. 1859)
• 1924 – Winifred Cochrane, Countess of Dundonald, Scottish philanthropist (b. 1859)
• 1935 – Ma Barker, American criminal (b. 1871)
• 1936 – Albert Fish, American serial killer (b. 1870)
• 1942 – Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, son of Queen Victoria (b. 1850)
• 1942 – Carole Lombard, American actress (b. 1908)
• 1957 – 1st Earl of Athlone, British royal, brother of Queen Mary (b. 1874)
• 1957 – Arturo Toscanini, Italian conductor (b. 1867)
• 1962 – Ivan Meštrović, Croatian sculptor (b. 1883)
• 1962 – Frank Hurley, Australian photographer (b. 1885)
• 1963 – Ike Quebec, American tenor-saxophone player (b. 1918)
• 1967 – Robert J. Van de Graaff, American nuclear physicist (b. 1901)
• 1968 – Bob Jones, Sr, American evangelist (b. 1883)
• 1969 – Vernon Duke, American composer and songwriter (b. 1903)
• 1969 – Jan Palach, Czech political protester (b. 1948)
• 1971 – Philippe Thys, Belgian cyclist (b. 1890)
• 1972 – Teller Ammons, American politician (b. 1895)
• 1972 – Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. (David Seville), American actor (b. 1919)
• 1979 – Ted Cassidy, American actor (b. 1932)
• 1979 – August Heissmeyer, German SS officer (b. 1897)
• 1981 – Bernard Lee, English actor (b. 1908)
• 1982 – Red Smith, American sports columnist (b. 1905)
• 1985 – Robert Fitzgerald, American poet and translator (b. 1910)
• 1986 – Herbert W. Armstrong, American evangelist, author, and publisher (b. 1892)
• 1987 – Bertram Wainer, Australian pro-abortion campaigner (b. 1928)
• 1988 – Andrija Artuković, Croatian war criminal (b. 1899)
• 1988 – Ballard Berkeley, English actor (b. 1904)
• 1989 – Prem Nazir, Malayalam actor (b. 1926)
• 1993 – Jón Páll Sigmarsson, Icelandic strength athlete (b. 1960)
• 1993 – Glenn Corbett, American actor (b. 1930)
• 1995 – Eric Mottram, English poet, teacher, critic, and editor (b. 1924)
• 1996 – Marcia Davenport, American author and music critic (b. 1903)
• 1997 – Ennis Cosby, son of entertainer Bill Cosby (b. 1969)
• 1998 – Dimitris Horn, Greek actor (b. 1921)
• 1999 – Jim McClelland, Australian solicitor and politician (b. 1915)
• 2000 – Will "Dub" Jones, American singer (The Coasters) (b. 1928)
• 2000 – John Morris Rankin, Canadian musical entertainer (b. 1959)
• 2001 – Laurent-Désiré Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (b. 1939)
• 2001 – Auberon Waugh, British author and journalist (b. 1939)
• 2002 – Michael Bilandic, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1923)
• 2002 – Robert Hanbury Brown, British astronomer and physicist (b. 1916)
• 2002 – Bobo Olson, American boxer (b. 1928)
• 2002 – Eddie Meduza, Swedish composer (b. 1948)
• 2002 – Ron Taylor, American actor (b. 1952)
• 2003 – Richard Wainwright, English politician (b. 1918)
• 2004 – Kalevi Sorsa, Prime Minister of Finland (b. 1930)
• 2005 – Marjorie Williams, American journalist (b. 1958)
• 2006 – Stanley Biber, American surgeon (b. 1923)
• 2007 – Ron Carey, American actor (b. 1935)
• 2007 – Benny Parsons, American racecar driver and commentator (b. 1941)
• 2009 – Joe Erskine, American boxer and long distance runner (b. 1930)
• 2009 – John Mortimer, British barrister, screenwriter and author. (b. 1923)
• 2009 – Andrew Wyeth, American realist painter (b. 1917)

Holidays and observances

• Teacher's Day in Thailand
• National Religious Freedom Day in the United States, to commemorate the adoption of Thomas Jefferson's landmark Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom in 1786
• Berard of Carbio
• Saint Fursey
• Honoratus of Arles
• January 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• On this day in Canada

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