16 January

Events

Pre-1600

*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 establishes the Caliphate of Córdoba.
*1120 – Crusades: The Council of Nablus is held, establishing the earliest surviving written laws of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.
*1362 – Saint Marcellus's flood kills at least 25,000 people on the shores of the North Sea.
*1537 – Bigod's Rebellion, an armed insurrection attempting to resist the English Reformation, begins.
*1547 – Grand Duke Ivan IV of Muscovy becomes the first Tsar of Russia, replacing the 264-year-old Grand Duchy of Moscow with the Tsardom of Russia.
*1556 – Philip II becomes King of Spain.
*1572 – Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk is tried and found guilty of treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot to restore Catholicism in England.

1601–1900

*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.
*1757 – Forces of the Maratha Empire defeat a 5,000-strong army of the Durrani Empire in the Battle of Narela.
*1780 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cape St. Vincent.
*1786 – Virginia enacts the Statute for Religious Freedom authored by Thomas Jefferson.
*1809 – Peninsular War: The British defeat the French at the Battle of La Coruña.
*1847 – Westward expansion of the United States: 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, prompting 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 enacted by Congress.
*1900 – The United States Senate accepts the Anglo-German treaty of 1899 in which the United Kingdom renounces its claims to the Samoan islands.

1901–present

*1909 – Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the magnetic South Pole.
*1919 – Nebraska becomes the 36th state to approve the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. With the necessary three-quarters of the states approving the amendment, Prohibition is constitutionally mandated in the United States one year later.
* 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.
*1942 – The Holocaust: Nazi Germany begins deporting Jews from the Łódź Ghetto to Chełmno extermination camp.
* 1942 – Crash of TWA Flight 3, killing all 22 aboard, including film star Carole Lombard.
*1945 – World War II: Adolf Hitler moves into his underground bunker, the so-called Führerbunker.
*1959 – Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 205 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean near Astor Piazzolla International Airport in Mar del Plata, Argentina, killing 51.
*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 – Space Race: 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.
*1979 – Iranian Revolution: The last Iranian Shah flees Iran with his family for good and relocates to Egypt.
*1983 – Turkish Airlines Flight 158 crashes at Ankara Esenboğa Airport in Ankara, Turkey, killing 47 and injuring 20.
*1991 – Coalition Forces go to war with Iraq, beginning the Gulf War.
* 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.
*1995 – An avalanche hits the Icelandic village Súðavík, destroying 25 homes and burying 26 people, 14 of whom died.
* 2001 – Second Congo War: Congolese President Laurent-Désiré Kabila is assassinated by one of his own bodyguards in Kinshasa.
* 2001 – US President Bill Clinton awards former President Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor for his service in the Spanish–American War.
* 2002 – War in Afghanistan: 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.
* 2011 – Syrian civil war: The Movement for a Democratic Society (TEV-DEM) is established with the stated goal of re-organizing Syria along the lines of democratic confederalism.
*2012 - The Mali War begins when Tuareg militias start fighting the Malian government for independence.
*2016 – Thirty-three out of 126 freed hostages are injured and 23 killed in terrorist attacks in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on a hotel and a nearby restaurant.
*2018 – Myanmar police open fire on a group of ethnic Rakhine protesters, killing seven and wounding twelve.
*2020 – The first impeachment of Donald Trump formally moves into its trial phase in the United States Senate.
* 2020 – The United States Senate ratifies the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement as a replacement for NAFTA.

Births

Pre-1600

* 972 – Sheng Zong, emperor of the Liao Dynasty (d. 1031)
* 1093 – Isaac Komnenos, son of Byzantine emperor 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, king of Naples (d. 1480)
*1477 – Johannes Schöner, German astronomer and cartographer (d. 1547)
*1501 – Anthony Denny, confidant of Henry VIII of England (d. 1559)
*1516 – Bayinnaung, king of Burma (d. 1581)
*1558 – Jakobea of Baden, Margravine of Baden by birth, Duchess of Jülich-Cleves-Berg by marriage (d. 1597)

1601–1900

*1616 – François de Vendôme, duke of Beaufort (d. 1669)
*1626 – Lucas Achtschellinck, Belgian painter and educator (d. 1699)
*1630 – Guru Har Rai – 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, third 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, first 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)
*1870 – Jüri Jaakson, Estonian businessman and politician, State Elder of Estonia (d. 1942)
*1872 – Henri Büsser, French organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1973)
* 1874 – Robert W. Service, English-Canadian poet and author (d. 1958)
*1875 – Leonor Michaelis, German biochemist and physician (d. 1949)
*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)
*1888 – Osip Brik, Russian avant garde writer and literary critic (d. 1945)
*1892 – Homer Burton Adkins, American chemist (d. 1949)
*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 – Kiku Amino, Japanese author and translator (d. 1978)
* 1900 – Edith Frank, German-Dutch mother of Anne Frank (d. 1945)

1901–present

*1901 – Fulgencio Batista, Cuban colonel and politician, ninth President of Cuba (d. 1973)
*1902 – Eric Liddell, Scottish runner, rugby player, and missionary (d. 1945)
*1903 – William Grover-Williams, English-French racing 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, tenth United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 2004)
*1908 – Sammy Crooks, English footballer (d. 1981)
* 1908 – Ethel Merman, American actress and singer (d. 1984)
* 1908 – Günther Prien, German captain (d. 1941)
*1909 – Clement Greenberg, American art critic (d. 1994)
*1910 – Dizzy Dean, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1974)
*1911 – Ivan Barrow, Jamaican cricketer (d. 1979)
* 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, eighth 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 – Elliott Reid, American actor and screenwriter (d. 2013)
* 1921 – Francesco Scavullo, American photographer (d. 2004)
*1923 – Gene Feist, American director and playwright, co-founded the Roundabout Theatre Company (d. 2014)
* 1923 – Anthony Hecht, American poet (d. 2004)
*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)
*1928 – William Kennedy, American novelist and journalist
* 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 (d. 2019)
*1931 – John Enderby, English physicist and academic (d. 2021)
* 1931 – Robert L. Park, American physicist and academic (d. 2020)
* 1931 – Johannes Rau, German journalist and politician, eighth List of German presidents, 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 novelist, essayist, and critic (d. 2004)
*1934 – Bob Bogle, American rock guitarist and bass player (d. 2009)
* 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 (producer), Michael White, Scottish actor and producer (d. 2016)
*1937 – Luiz Bueno, Brazilian racing driver (d. 2011)
* 1937 – Francis George, American cardinal (d. 2015)
*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 – 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 (d. 2020)
*1946 – Kabir Bedi, Indian actor
* 1946 – Katia Ricciarelli, Italian soprano and actress
*1947 – Elaine Murphy, Baroness Murphy, English academic and politician
* 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 – Cliff Thorburn, Canadian snooker player
* 1948 – Ruth Reichl, American journalist and critic
*1949 – Anne F. Beiler, American businesswoman, founded Auntie Anne's
* 1949 – R. F. Foster (historian), 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)
*1952 – Fuad II, King of Egypt
* 1952 – Piercarlo Ghinzani, Italian racing driver and manager
*1953 – Robert Jay Mathews, American militant, founded The Order (white supremacist group), The Order (d. 1984)
*1954 – Wolfgang Schmidt (athlete), Wolfgang Schmidt, German discus thrower
* 1954 – Vasili Zhupikov, Russian footballer and coach (d. 2015)
*1955 – Jerry M. Linenger, American captain, physician, and astronaut
*1956 – Wayne Daniel, Barbadian cricketer
* 1956 – Martin Jol, Dutch footballer and manager
* 1956 – Greedy Smith, Australian singer-songwriter and keyboardist (d. 2019)
*1957 – Jurijs Andrejevs, Latvian footballer and manager
* 1957 – Ricardo Darín, Argentinian actor, director, and screenwriter
*1958 – Anatoli Boukreev, Russian mountaineer and explorer (d. 1997)
* 1958 – Lena Ek, Swedish lawyer and politician, ninth Minister for the Environment (Sweden), Swedish Minister for the Environment
* 1958 – Andris Šķēle, Latvian businessman and politician, fourth Prime Minister of Latvia
*1959 – Lisa Milroy, Canadian painter and educator
* 1959 – Sade (singer), Sade, Nigerian-English singer-songwriter and producer
*1961 – Kenneth Sivertsen (musician), Kenneth Sivertsen, Norwegian guitarist and composer (d. 2006)
*1962 – Joel Fitzgibbon, Australian electrician and politician, 51st Minister for Defence (Australia), Australian Minister of Defence
* 1962 – Maxine Jones, American R&B singer–songwriter and actress
*1963 – James May, British journalist/co-host of ''Top Gear''
*1964 – Gail Graham, Canadian golfer
*1966 – Jack McDowell, American baseball player
*1968 – Rebecca Stead, American author
*1969 – Marinus Bester, German footballer
* 1969 – Stevie Jackson, Scottish guitarist and songwriter
* 1969 – Roy Jones Jr., American boxer
*1970 – Ron Villone, American baseball player and coach
*1971 – Sergi Bruguera, Spanish tennis player and coach
* 1971 – Josh Evans (film producer), Josh Evans, American film producer, screenwriter and actor
* 1971 – Jonathan Mangum, American actor
*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 – Kate Moss, English model and fashion designer
*1976 – Viktor Maslov (racing driver), Viktor Maslov, Russian racing driver
* 1976 – Martina Moravcová, Slovak swimmer
*1977 – Jeff Foster (basketball), 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 (ice hockey), 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 (cricketer), Paul Rofe, Australian cricketer
* 1981 – Bobby Zamora, English footballer
*1982 – Preston (singer), Preston, English singer-songwriter
* 1982 – Tuncay (footballer), Tuncay, Turkish footballer
*1983 – Emanuel Pogatetz, Austrian footballer
* 1983 – Andriy Rusol, Ukrainian footballer
*1984 – Stephan Lichtsteiner, Swiss footballer
* 1984 – Miroslav Radović, Serbian footballer
*1985 – Jayde Herrick, Australian cricketer
* 1985 – Gintaras Januševičius, Russian-Lithuanian pianist
* 1985 – Twins Jonathan Richter, Jonathan and Simon Richter, Danish-Gambian footballers
* 1985 – Sidharth Malhotra, Indian actor
* 1985 – Joe Flacco, American football player
*1986 – Johannes Rahn, German footballer
* 1986 – Mark Trumbo, American baseball player
* 1986 – Reto Ziegler, Swiss footballer
*1987 – Jake Epstein, Canadian actor
* 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
*1995 – Mikaela Turik, Australian-Canadian cricketer
*1996 – Kim Jennie, Korean singer
*1997 – Brendan Donovan, American baseball player
* 2003 – Adriana Hernández, Mexican rhythmic gymnast

Deaths

Pre-1600

* 654 – Gao Jifu, Chinese politician and chancellor (b. 596)
* 957 – Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ali al-Madhara'i, Tulunid vizier (b. 871)
* 970 – Polyeuctus of Constantinople, Byzantine patriarch (b. 956)
*1263 – Shinran, Shinran Shonin, Japanese founder of the Jodo Shinshu branch of Pure Land Buddhism
*1289 – Buqa, Mongol minister
*1327 – Nikephoros Choumnos, Byzantine monk, scholar, and politician (b. 1250)
*1354 – Joanna of Châtillon, duchess of Athens (b. c.1285)
*1373 – Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford (b. 1342)
*1391 – Muhammed V of Granada, Nasrid emir (b. 1338)
*1400 – John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter, English politician, Lord Great Chamberlain (b. 1352)
*1443 – Erasmo of Narni, Italian mercenary (b. 1370)
*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, first Earl of Lincoln, English admiral and politician (b. 1512)
*1595 – Murad III, Ottoman sultan (b. 1546)

1601–1900

*1659 – Charles Annibal Fabrot, French lawyer (b. 1580)
*1710 – Emperor Higashiyama, Higashiyama, Japanese emperor (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 (British Army officer), John Moore, Scottish general and politician (b. 1761)
*1817 – Alexander J. Dallas (statesman), Alexander J. Dallas, Jamaican-American lawyer and politician, sixth 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–present

*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)
* 1901 – Mahadev Govind Ranade, Indian scholar, social reformer, judge and author (b. 1842)
*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, fifth President of Brazil (b. 1848)
*1933 – Bekir Sami Kunduh, Turkish politician (b. 1867)
*1936 – Albert Fish, American serial killer, rapist and cannibal (b. 1870)
*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 and comedian (b. 1908)
* 1942 – Ernst Scheller, German lawyer and politician, List of mayors of Marburg, 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)
*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 (b. 1907)
*1975 – Israel Abramofsky, Russian-American painter (b. 1888)
*1978 – A. V. Kulasingham, Sri Lankan journalist, lawyer, and politician (b. 1890)
*1981 – Bernard Lee, English actor (b. 1908)
*1983 – Virginia Mauret, American musician and dancer
*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, Porajmos perpetrator, first Minister of Interior of the Independent State of Croatia (b. 1899)
*1990 – Lady Eve Balfour, British farmer, educator, and founding figure in the organic movement (b. 1898)
*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 – 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)
* 2003 – Richard Wainwright (politician), 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)
*2009 – Joe Erskine (American boxer), 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 – 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 – Dave Madden, Canadian-American actor (b. 1931)
* 2014 – Hiroo Onoda, Japanese lieutenant (b. 1922)
*2015 – Miriam Akavia, Polish-Israeli author and translator (b. 1927)
* 2015 – Yao Beina, Chinese singer (b. 1981)
*2016 – Joannis Avramidis, Greek sculptor (b. 1922)
* 2016 – Ted Marchibroda, American football player and coach (b. 1931)
*2017 – Eugene Cernan, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1934)
*2018 – Ed Doolan, British radio presenter (b. 1941)
* 2018 – Oliver Ivanović, Kosovo Serb politician (b. 1953)
*2019 – John C. Bogle, American businessman, investor, and philanthropist (b. 1929)
* 2019 – Lorna Doom, American musician (b. 1958)
* 2019 – Chris Wilson (Australian musician), Chris Wilson, Australian musician (b. 1956)
*2020 – Christopher Tolkien, British academic and editor (b. 1924)
*2021 – Pedro Trebbau, German-born Venezuelan zoologist (b. 1929)
* 2021 – Chris Cramer, British journalist (b.1948)
* 2021 – Phil Spector, American record producer, songwriter (b. 1939)
*2022 – Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, Former Malian President (b. 1945)

Holidays and observances

*Christian feast day:
**Benjamin I of Alexandria, Pope Benjamin (Coptic Orthodox Church, Coptic)
**Berard of Carbio
**Saint Blaise, Blaise (Armenian Apostolic Church, Armenian Apostolic)
**Saint Fursey, Fursey
**Joseph Vaz
**Honoratus, Honoratus of Arles
**Pope Marcellus I
**Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (Coptic Church)
**Titian of Oderzo
**Eve of Anthony the Great, Saint Anthony observed with ritual bonfires in San Bartolomé de Pinares
**January 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
*National Religious Freedom Day (United States)
*Teacher's Day (Myanmar)
*Teachers' Day (Thailand)

References

External links

BBC: On This Day
*

Historical Events on January 16

{{months

Days of the year
January