Events
Pre-1600
*
490 BC –
Battle of Marathon
The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens (polis), Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Achaemenid Empire, Persian force commanded by Datis and Artaph ...
: The conventionally accepted date for the Battle of Marathon. The
Athenians
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
and their
Plataea
Plataea (; , ''Plátaia'') was an ancient Greek city-state situated in Boeotia near the frontier with Attica at the foot of Mt. Cithaeron, between the mountain and the river Asopus, which divided its territory from that of Thebes. Its inhab ...
n allies defeat the
first Persian invasion force of Greece.
*
372
__NOTOC__
Year 372 (Roman numerals, CCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Domitius Modestus, Modestus and Arintheus (or, less frequently, year 1125 ''Ab ...
–
Sixteen Kingdoms
The Sixteen Kingdoms (), less commonly the Sixteen States, was a chaotic period in Chinese history from AD 304 to 439 when northern China fragmented into a series of short-lived dynastic states. The majority of these states were founded b ...
: Sima Yao, age 10, succeeds his father
Emperor Jianwen as
Emperor Xiaowu of the
Eastern Jin dynasty
Eastern or Easterns may refer to:
Transportation
Airlines
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
* Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
*Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...
.
*
1213 –
Albigensian Crusade
The Albigensian Crusade (), also known as the Cathar Crusade (1209–1229), was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, what is now southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted pri ...
:
Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester
Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester ( – 25 June 1218), known as Simon IV (or V) de Montfort and as Simon de Montfort the Elder, was a French nobleman and knight of the early 13th century. He is widely regarded as one of the great militar ...
, defeats
Peter II of Aragon
Peter II the Catholic (; ) (July 1178 – 12 September 1213) was the King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona from 1196 to 1213.
Background
Peter was born in Huesca, the son of Alfonso II of Aragon and Sancha of Castile, Queen of Aragon, Sancha ...
at the
Battle of Muret
The Battle of Muret (Occitan: Batalha de Murèth), fought on 12 September 1213 near Muret, 25 km south of Toulouse, was the last major battle of the Albigensian Crusade and one of the most notable pitched battles of the Middle Ages. Althoug ...
.
*
1229 –
Battle of Portopí: The Aragonese army under the command of
James I of Aragon
James I the Conqueror ( Catalan/Valencian: ''Jaume I or Jaume el Conqueridor''; Aragonese: ''Chaime I'' ''o Conqueridor''; ; 2 February 1208 – 27 July 1276) was King of Aragon, Count of Barcelona, and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1 ...
disembarks at
Santa Ponça,
Mallorca
Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.
The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...
, with the purpose of conquering the island.
*
1297 – The
Treaty of Alcañices
The Treaty of Alcañices or Treaty of Alcanizes (; ) was made in Alcañices between King Denis of Portugal and King Fernando IV of Castile in 1297.
Denis was the grandson of King Alfonso X of Castile and essentially an administrator and not a ...
, mediated by the pope, between the king
Denis of Portugal
Denis (, ; 9 October 1261 – 7 January 1325), called the Farmer King (''Rei Lavrador'') and the Poet King (''Rei Poeta''), was King of Portugal from 1279 until his death in 1325.
Dinis was the eldest son of Afonso III of Portugal by his second ...
and king
Ferdinand IV of Castile
Ferdinand IV of Castile (6 December 1285 – 7 September 1312) called the Summoned (''el Emplazado''), was King of Castile and King of León, León from 1295 until his death.
Ferdinand's upbringing and personal custody was entered to his mother ...
defines the border between the two countries and establishes an alliance of friendship.
*
1309
Year 1309 (Roman numerals, MCCCIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.
Events January – March
* January 6 – The coronation of Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor, Henry of Luxemburg as "King of the Romans" ...
– The
First siege of Gibraltar takes place in the context of the Spanish
Reconquista
The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...
pitting the forces of the
Kingdom of Castile
The Kingdom of Castile (; : ) was a polity in the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages. It traces its origins to the 9th-century County of Castile (, ), as an eastern frontier lordship of the Kingdom of León. During the 10th century, the Ca ...
against the
Emirate of Granada
The Emirate of Granada, also known as the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada, was an Emirate, Islamic polity in the southern Iberian Peninsula during the Late Middle Ages, ruled by the Nasrid dynasty. It was the last independent Muslim state in Western ...
resulting in a Castilian victory.
1601–1900
*
1609
Events
January–March
* January 12 – The Basque witch trials are started in Spain as the court of the Spanish Inquisition, Inquisition at Logroño receives a letter from the commissioner of the village of Zugarramurdi, and ...
–
Henry Hudson
Henry Hudson ( 1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the Northeastern United States.
In 1607 and 16 ...
begins his exploration of the
Hudson River
The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...
while aboard the ''
Halve Maen
''Halve Maen'' (; ) was a Dutch East India Company ''jacht'' (similar to a carrack) that sailed into what is now New York Harbor in September 1609. She had a length of 21 metres and was commissioned by the VOC Chamber of Amsterdam in the Dutch ...
''.
*
1634
Events
January–March
* January 12 – After suspecting that he will be dismissed, Albrecht von Wallenstein, supreme commander of the Holy Roman Empire's Army, demands that his colonels sign a declaration of personal loyalty ...
– A gunpowder factory
explodes in
Valletta
Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...
, Malta, killing 22 people and damaging several buildings.
*
1683
Events
January–March
* January 5 – The Brandenburger-African Company, of the German state of Brandenburg, signs a treaty with representatives of the Ahanta tribe (in modern-day Ghana), to establish the fort and settlement ...
–
Austro-Ottoman War:
Battle of Vienna
The Battle of Vienna took place at Kahlenberg Mountain near Vienna on 1683 after the city had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months. The battle was fought by the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarchy) and the Polish–Li ...
: Several European armies join forces to defeat the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
.
*
1814
Events January
* January 1 – War of the Sixth Coalition – The Royal Prussian Army led by Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher crosses the Rhine.
* January 3
** War of the Sixth Coalition – Siege of Cattaro: French gar ...
–
Battle of North Point: an American detachment halts the British land advance to
Baltimore
Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
in the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
.
*
1847
Events
January–March
* January 4 – Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the U.S. government.
* January 13 – The Treaty of Cahuenga ends fighting in the Mexican–American War in California.
* January 16 – John C. Fr� ...
–
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...
: the
Battle of Chapultepec
The Battle of Chapultepec took place between U.S. troops and Mexican forces holding the strategically located Chapultepec Castle on the outskirts of Mexico City on the 13th of September, 1847 during the Mexican–American War. The castle was buil ...
begins.
*
1848
1848 is historically famous for the wave of revolutions, a series of widespread struggles for more liberal governments, which broke out from Brazil to Hungary; although most failed in their immediate aims, they significantly altered the polit ...
– A new constitution marks the establishment of
Switzerland as a federal state
The rise of Switzerland as a federal state began on 12 September 1848, with the creation of a federal constitution in response to a 27-day civil war, the ''Sonderbundskrieg''. The constitution, which was heavily influenced by the United State ...
.
*
1857
Events January–March
* January 1 – The biggest Estonian newspaper, '' Postimees'', is established by Johann Voldemar Jannsen.
* January 7 – The partly French-owned London General Omnibus Company begins operating.
* Ja ...
– The sinks about 160 miles east of
Cape Hatteras
Cape Hatteras is a cape located at a pronounced bend in Hatteras Island, one of the barrier islands of North Carolina.
As a temperate barrier island, the landscape has been shaped by wind, waves, and storms. There are long stretches of beach ...
,
North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
, drowning a total of 426 passengers and crew, including Captain
William Lewis Herndon
William Lewis Herndon (25 October 1813 – 12 September 1857) was an American naval officer and explorer. In 1851 he led a United States expedition to the Valley of the Amazon, and prepared a report published in 1854 and distributed widely as ' ...
. The ship was carrying 13–15 tons of gold from the
California gold rush
The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...
.
*
1885 –
Arbroath 36–0 Bon Accord
Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast, some east-northeast of Dundee and south-southwest of Aberdeen.
...
, a world record scoreline in professional Association football.
*
1890
Events
January
* January 1 – The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony in the Horn of Africa.
* January 2 – Alice Sanger becomes the first female staffer in the White House.
* January 11 – 1890 British Ultimatum: The Uni ...
–
Salisbury
Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...
,
Rhodesia
Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...
, is founded.
*
1897
Events
January
* January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City.
* January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a punitive expedit ...
–
Tirah campaign: In the
Battle of Saragarhi
The Battle of Saragarhi was a Last stand, last-stand battle fought before the Tirah Campaign between the British Raj, British Indian Empire and Afghans, Afghan tribesmen. On 12 September 1897, an estimated 12,000–24,000 Orakzai and Afridi trib ...
, ten thousand Pashtun tribesmen suffer several hundred casualties while attacking 21 Sikh soldiers in British service.
1901–present
*
1906
Events
January–February
* January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...
– The
Newport Transporter Bridge
The Newport Transporter Bridge () is a transporter bridge that crosses the River Usk in Newport, South East Wales. The bridge is the lowest crossing on the River Usk. It is a Grade I listed structure.
It is one of fewer than 10 transporte ...
is opened in
Newport, South Wales by
Viscount Tredegar.
*
1910
Events
January
* January 6 – Abé people in the French West Africa colony of Côte d'Ivoire rise against the colonial administration; the rebellion is brutally suppressed by the military.
* January 8 – By the Treaty of Punakha, t ...
– Premiere performance of
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic music, Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and ...
's
Symphony No. 8 in Munich (with a chorus of 852 singers and an orchestra of 171 players. Mahler's rehearsal assistant
conductor
Conductor or conduction may refer to:
Biology and medicine
* Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear
* Conduction aphasia, a language disorder
Mathematics
* Conductor (ring theory)
* Conductor of an abelian variety
* Cond ...
was
Bruno Walter
Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876February 17, 1962) was a Germany, German-born Conducting, conductor, pianist, and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French people, French cit ...
).
*
1915
Events
Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix.
January
*January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction".
*January 1
* ...
– French soldiers rescue over 4,000
Armenian genocide
The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...
survivors stranded on
Musa Dagh
Musa Dagh (; ; ; meaning "Moses Mountain") is a mountain in the Hatay Province of Turkey. In 1915, it was the location of a successful Armenian resistance to the Armenian genocide, an event that inspired Franz Werfel to write the novel '' The ...
.
*
1923
In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...
–
Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...
, today called
Zimbabwe
file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map
Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
, is annexed by the United Kingdom.
*
1933
Events
January
* January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand.
* January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...
–
Leó Szilárd
Leo Szilard (; ; born Leó Spitz; February 11, 1898 – May 30, 1964) was a Hungarian-born physicist, biologist and inventor who made numerous important discoveries in nuclear physics and the biological sciences. He conceived the nuclear ...
, waiting for a red light on
Southampton Row
The A4200 is a major thoroughfare in central London. It runs between the A4 at Aldwych, to the A400 Hampstead Road/Camden High Street, at Mornington Crescent tube station, via Holborn, Bloomsbury, Euston and Somers Town.
Kingsway
...
in
Bloomsbury
Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...
, conceives the idea of the
nuclear chain reaction
In nuclear physics, a nuclear chain reaction occurs when one single nuclear reaction causes an average of one or more subsequent nuclear reactions, thus leading to the possibility of a self-propagating series or "positive feedback loop" of thes ...
.
*
1938
Events
January
* January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS).
* January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...
–
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
demands autonomy and self-determination for the
Germans
Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...
of the
Sudetenland
The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and ) is a German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the border districts of Bohe ...
region of
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
.
*
1940
A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280.
Events
Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
*Janu ...
–
Cave painting
In archaeology, cave paintings are a type of parietal art (which category also includes petroglyphs, or engravings), found on the wall or ceilings of caves. The term usually implies prehistoric art, prehistoric origin. These paintings were often c ...
s are discovered in
Lascaux
Lascaux ( , ; , "Lascaux Cave") is a network of caves near the village of Montignac, Dordogne, Montignac, in the Departments of France, department of Dordogne in southwestern France. Over 600 Parietal art, parietal cave painting, wall paintin ...
, France.
* 1940 – The
Hercules Powder plant disaster in the United States kills 51 people and injures over 200.
*
1942
The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...
–
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
:
RMS ''Laconia'', carrying civilians, Allied soldiers and Italian
POWs
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
is
torpedoed off the coast of
West Africa
West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...
and sinks with a heavy loss of life.
* 1942 – World War II: First day of the
Battle of Edson's Ridge
The Battle of Edson's Ridge, also known as the Battle of the Bloody Ridge, Battle of Raiders Ridge, and Battle of the Ridge, was a land battle of the Pacific War, Pacific campaign of World War II between Imperial Japanese Army and Allies of Wo ...
during the
Guadalcanal Campaign
The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by the United States, was an Allies of World War II, Allied offensive against forces of the Empire of Japan in the Solomon Islands during th ...
.
U.S. Marines protecting
Henderson Field are attacked by
Imperial Japanese Army
The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...
troops.
*
1943
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured.
* January 4 � ...
– World War II: Benito Mussolini is
rescued from house arrest by German commando forces led by
Otto Skorzeny
Otto Johann Anton Skorzeny (12 June 1908 – 5 July 1975) was an Austrian-born German SS-''Standartenführer'' in the ''Waffen-SS'' during World War II. During the war, he was involved in a number of operations, including the removal from power ...
.
*
1944
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 2 – WWII:
** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...
– World War II: The
liberation of Yugoslavia from Axis occupation continues.
Bajina Bašta
Bajina Bašta ( sr-Cyrl, Бајина Башта, ) is a town and municipality located in the Zlatibor District of western Serbia. The town lies in the valley of the Drina river at the eastern edge of Tara National Park.
According to the 2022 ce ...
in western Serbia is among the liberated cities.
*
1953
Events
January
* January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma.
* January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo.
* January 14
** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...
– U.S. Senator and future President
John Fitzgerald Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...
marries
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier at
St. Mary's Church in
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...
.
*
1958
Events
January
* January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being.
* January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
* January 4
** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...
–
Jack Kilby
Jack St. Clair Kilby (November 8, 1923 – June 20, 2005) was an American electrical engineer who took part, along with Robert Noyce of Fairchild Semiconductor, in the realization of the first integrated circuit while working at Texas Instrumen ...
demonstrates the first working
integrated circuit
An integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microchip or simply chip, is a set of electronic circuits, consisting of various electronic components (such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors) and their interconnections. These components a ...
while working at
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American multinational semiconductor company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It is one of the top 10 semiconductor companies worldwide based on sales volume. The company's focus is on developing analog ...
.
*
1959
Events
January
* January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance.
* January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...
– The
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
launches a large rocket,
Lunik II, at the Moon.
* 1959 – ''
Bonanza
''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...
'', the first regularly scheduled TV program presented in
color
Color (or colour in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though co ...
, is launched in the United States.
*
1961
Events January
* January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union.
* January 3
** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...
– The
African and Malagasy Union
The African and Malagasy Union (AMU) () was an intergovernmental organization created to promote cooperation among newly independent states in Francophone Africa. The organization derives its name from the name of the continent of Africa and from ...
is founded.
* 1961 –
Air France Flight 2005 crashes near
Rabat–Salé Airport, in
Rabat
Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...
,
Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
, killing 77 people.
*
1962
The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War.
Events January
* January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...
– US President
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...
delivers his "
We choose to go to the Moon" speech at Rice University.
*
1966
Events January
* January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko.
* January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...
–
Gemini 11
Gemini 11 (officially Gemini XI) With Gemini IV, NASA changed to Roman numerals for Gemini mission designations. was the ninth crewed spaceflight mission of NASA's Project Gemini, which flew from September 12 to 15, 1966. It was the 17th crewed ...
, the penultimate mission of NASA's
Gemini program
Project Gemini () was the second United States human spaceflight program to fly. Conducted after the first American crewed space program, Project Mercury, while the Apollo program was still in early development, Gemini was conceived in 1961 and ...
, and the current human altitude record holder (except for the
Apollo lunar missions).
*
1969
1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...
–
Philippine Air Lines Flight 158 crashes in
Antipolo
Antipolo, officially the City of Antipolo (), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Rizal (province), Rizal, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, ...
, near
Manila International Airport
Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA ; ; ), also known as Manila International Airport (MIA), is the main international airport serving Metro Manila in the Philippines. Located between the cities of Pasay and Parañaque, about south of ...
in the Philippines, killing 45 people.
*
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...
–
Dawson's Field hijackings
In September 1970, members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) hijacked four airliners bound for New York City and one for London. Three aircraft were forced to land at Dawson's Field, a remote desert airstrip near Zarqa ...
:
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP; ) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist organization founded in 1967 by George Habash. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation ...
terrorists blow up three hijacked airliners in
Zarqa,
Jordan
Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
, continuing to hold the passengers hostage in various undisclosed locations in
Amman
Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...
.
*
1974
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...
– Emperor
Haile Selassie
Haile Selassie I (born Tafari Makonnen or ''Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Lij, Lij'' Tafari; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles, Rege ...
of
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
, '
Messiah
In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; ,
; ,
; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...
' of the
Rastafari
Rastafari is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by Religious studies, scholars of religion. There is no central authori ...
movement, is deposed following a
military coup
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...
by the
Derg
The Derg or Dergue (, ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when they formally "Civil government, civilianized" the ...
, ending a reign of 58 years.
*
1977
Events January
* January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...
– South African
anti-apartheid activist
Several independent sectors of South African society opposed apartheid through various means, including social movements, passive resistance, and guerrilla warfare. Mass action against the ruling National Party (NP) government, coupled with So ...
Steve Biko
Bantu Stephen Biko Order for Meritorious Service, OMSG (18 December 1946 – 12 September 1977) was a South African internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist. Ideologically an African nationalism, African nationalist and ...
dies in police custody.
*
1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...
– The
43rd government of Turkey is overthrown in a
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup
, is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
led by General
Kenan Evren
Ahmet Kenan Evren (17 July 1917 – 9 May 2015) was a Turkish military officer and dictator who served as the seventh president of Turkey from 1980 to 1989. He assumed the post by leading the 1980 military coup.
On 18 June 2014, a Turkish cou ...
.
*
1983
1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...
– A
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with a significant global presence. The company operates in 35 countries and serves over 70 million customers worldwide. It is a systemically important fi ...
depot in
West Hartford, Connecticut
West Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, west of downtown Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region. The population was 64,083 at the 20 ...
, United States, is robbed of approximately US$7 million by
Los Macheteros
The (" Boricua Popular/People's Army"), also known as ("The Machete Wielders"), is a clandestine militant and insurgent organization based in Puerto Rico, with cells in the broader US and other nations. It campaigns for, and supports, the ...
.
* 1983 – The
USSR
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
vetoes a
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...
Resolution deploring the Soviet destruction of
Korean Air Lines Flight 007
Korean Air Lines Flight 007 (KE007/KAL007)In aviation, two types of Airline codes, airline designators are used. The flight number KAL 007, with the ICAO code for Korean Air Lines, was used by air traffic control. In ticketing, however, IAT ...
.
*
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
–
Dwight Gooden
Dwight Eugene Gooden (born November 16, 1964), nicknamed "Dr. K" and "Doc", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Gooden pitched from 1984 to 1994 and from 1996 to 2000 for the ...
sets the
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
record for
strikeout
In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...
s in a season by a rookie with 276, previously set by
Herb Score with 246 in 1954. Gooden's 276 strikeouts that season, pitched in 218 innings, set the current record.
*
1988
1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...
–
Hurricane Gilbert
Hurricane Gilbert was the second most intense tropical cyclone on record in the Atlantic basin in terms of barometric pressure, only behind Hurricane Wilma in 2005. An extremely powerful tropical cyclone that formed during the 1988 Atlantic hurri ...
devastates
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
; it turns towards Mexico's
Yucatán Peninsula
The Yucatán Peninsula ( , ; ) is a large peninsula in southeast Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north and west of the peninsula from the C ...
two days later, causing an estimated $5 billion in damage.
*
1990
Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
– The two German states and the
Four Powers sign the
Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany
The Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany (),
more commonly referred to as the Two Plus Four Agreement (),
is an international agreement that allowed the reunification of Germany in October 1990. It was negotiated in 1990 betwee ...
in Moscow, paving the way for
German reunification
German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...
.
* 1990 – The
Red Cross organizations of mainland China and
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
sign
Kinmen Agreement
The Kinmen Agreement or Kinmen Accord () is an agreement between Red Cross Society of the Republic of China and Red Cross Society of China in Kinmen, Fujian Province, Republic of China. It is the first formal agreement reached by civil organiz ...
on repatriation of illegal immigrants and criminal suspects after two days of talks in
Kinmen
Kinmen, alternatively known as Quemoy, is a group of islands governed as a county by the Republic of China (Taiwan), only east from the city of Xiamen in Fujian, located at the southeastern coast of the People's Republic of China, from wh ...
,
Fujian Province
Fujian is a province in southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefecture city by population is Qua ...
in response to the two tragedies in repatriation in the previous two months. It is the first agreement reached by private organizations across the
Taiwan Strait
The Taiwan Strait is a strait separating the island of Taiwan and the Asian continent. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is wide.
Names
Former names of the Tai ...
.
*
1991
It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...
– NASA launches
Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' on
STS-48 to deploy the
Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite
The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) was a NASA-operated orbital observatory whose mission was to study the Earth's atmosphere, particularly the protective ozone layer. The satellite was deployed from Space Shuttle Discovery, Space Shu ...
.
*
1992
1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General.
* January 6
** The Republ ...
–
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
launches
Space Shuttle ''Endeavour'' on
STS-47
STS-47 was NASA's 50th Space Shuttle mission of the Space Shuttle program, program, as well as the second mission of the Space Shuttle Endeavour, Space Shuttle ''Endeavour''. The mission mainly involved conducting experiments in life and mater ...
which marked the 50th shuttle mission. On board are
Mae Carol Jemison, the first
African-American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
woman in space,
Mamoru Mohri
Mamoru "Mark" Mohri, (; born 29 January 1948) is a Japanese scientist, a former NASDA astronaut, and a veteran of two NASA Space Shuttle missions. He is the first Japanese astronaut who was part of an official Japanese space program. The fir ...
, the first Japanese citizen to fly in a US spaceship, and
Mark Lee and
Jan Davis
Nancy Jan Davis (; born November 1, 1953) is a former American astronaut. A veteran of three space flights, Davis logged over 673 hours in space. She is now retired from NASA.
Early life
Nancy Jan Davis was born in Cocoa Beach, Florida, but ...
, the first married couple in space.
* 1992 –
Abimael Guzmán
Manuel Rubén Abimael Guzmán Reinoso (; 3 December 1934 − 11 September 2021), also known by his ''nom de guerre'' Chairman Gonzalo (), was a Peruvian Maoist guerrilla leader. He founded the organization Communist Party of Peru – Shining ...
, leader of the
Shining Path
The Shining Path (, SL), self-named the Communist Party of Peru (, abbr. PCP), is a far-left political party and guerrilla group in Peru, following Marxism–Leninism–Maoism and Gonzalo Thought. Academics often refer to the group as the ...
, is captured by
Peru
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
vian special forces; shortly thereafter the rest of
Shining Path
The Shining Path (, SL), self-named the Communist Party of Peru (, abbr. PCP), is a far-left political party and guerrilla group in Peru, following Marxism–Leninism–Maoism and Gonzalo Thought. Academics often refer to the group as the ...
's leadership fell as well.
*
1993
The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as:
* International Year for the World's Indigenous People
The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...
– NASA launches Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' on
STS-51
STS-51 was a NASA Space Shuttle Space Shuttle Discovery, ''Discovery'' mission that launched the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) in September 1993. Discovery's 17th flight also featured the deployment and retrieval of the S ...
.
[ ]
*
1994
The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations.
In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
–
Frank Eugene Corder fatally crashes a single-engine
Cessna
Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufactu ...
150 into the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
's south lawn, striking the West wing. There were no other casualties.
*
2001
The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
–
Ansett Australia
Ansett Australia, originally Ansett Airways, was a major Australian airline group based in Melbourne, Victoria. The company operated domestically within Australia, and from the 1990s, to destinations in Asia. Following 65 years of operation, ...
, Australia's first commercial interstate airline, collapses due to increased strain on the international airline industry, leaving 10,000 people unemployed.
*
2003
2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater.
In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War.
Demographic ...
– The
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
lifts
sanctions against
Libya
Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
after that country agreed to accept responsibility and recompense the families of victims in the
1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
* 2003 –
Iraq War
The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...
: In
Fallujah
Fallujah ( ) is a city in Al Anbar Governorate, Iraq. Situated on the Euphrates, Euphrates River, it is located roughly to the west of the capital city of Baghdad and from the neighboring city of Ramadi. The city is located in the region ...
, U.S. forces mistakenly shoot and kill eight Iraqi police officers.
* 2003 –
Typhoon Maemi, the strongest recorded typhoon to strike South Korea, made landfall near
Busan
Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...
.
*
2005
2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
–
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict about Territory, land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation ...
: the
Israeli disengagement from Gaza
In 2005, Israel disengaged from the Gaza Strip by dismantling all 21 Israeli settlements there. As part of this process, four Israeli settlements in the West Bank were dismantled as well. The disengagement was executed unilaterally: Israeli a ...
is completed, leaving some 2,530 homes demolished.
*
2007
2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year.
Events
January
* January 1
**Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
– Former Philippine President
Joseph Estrada
Joseph Ejercito Estrada (; born Jose Marcelo Ejercito; April 19, 1937), also known by the nickname Erap, is a Filipino politician and former actor, who served as the 13th president of the Philippines from 1998 until his resignation in 2001. ...
is convicted of
plunder
Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...
.
* 2007 –
Two earthquakes measuring 8.4 and 7.9 on the
Richter Scale
The Richter scale (), also called the Richter magnitude scale, Richter's magnitude scale, and the Gutenberg–Richter scale, is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles Richter in collaboration with Beno Gutenberg, and pr ...
hits the
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
n island of
Sumatra
Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...
, killing 25 people and injuring 161.
*
2008
2008 was designated as:
*International Year of Languages
*International Year of Planet Earth
*International Year of the Potato
*International Year of Sanitation
The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
– The
2008 Chatsworth train collision
The 2008 Chatsworth train collision occurred at 4:22:23 p.m. PDT (23:22:23 UTC) on September 12, 2008, when a Union Pacific Railroad freight train and a Metrolink commuter rail passenger train collided head-on in the Chatsworth neigh ...
in Los Angeles between a
Metrolink commuter train and a
Union Pacific
The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...
freight train kills 25 people.
*
2011
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
– The
National September 11 Memorial & Museum
The National September 11 Memorial & Museum (also known as the 9/11 Memorial & Museum) is a memorial and museum that are part of the World Trade Center complex, in New York City, created for remembering the September 11 attacks in 2001 which k ...
in New York City opens to the public.
*
2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
–
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Air Flight 251 crashes on approach to
Palana Airport, killing 10 and injuring four.
*
2013
2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years).
2013 was designated as:
*International Year of Water Cooperation
*International Year of Quinoa
Events
January
* January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
–
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
confirms that its
Voyager 1
''Voyager 1'' is a space probe launched by NASA on September 5, 1977, as part of the Voyager program to study the outer Solar System and the interstellar medium, interstellar space beyond the Sun's heliosphere. It was launched 16 days afte ...
probe has become the first
manmade object to enter interstellar space.
*
2014
The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
–
Synagogue Church building collapse saw the deaths of 115 people and several injured, in the Church run by
Nigeria
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
's,
T. B. Joshua.
*
2015
2015 was designated by the United Nations as:
* International Year of Light
* International Year of Soil __TOC__
Events
January
* January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
– A series of
explosions
An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume of a given amount of matter associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Explosions may also be generate ...
involving
propane
Propane () is a three-carbon chain alkane with the molecular formula . It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but becomes liquid when compressed for transportation and storage. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum ref ...
triggering nearby illegally stored mining detonators in the Indian town of
Petlawad in the state of
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...
kills at least 105 people with over 150 injured.
*
2021
Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
–
Siberian Light Aviation Flight 51 crashes short of the runway at
Kazachinskoye Airport, killing four.
Births
Pre-1600
*
1415
Year 1415 (MCDXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–March
* January 24 – France and England agree to extend their truce in the ongoing Burgundian War after the English Bishop of Durh ...
–
John Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk (died 1461)
*
1494 –
Francis I of France
Francis I (; ; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once removed and father-in-law Louis&nbs ...
(died 1547)
*
1590
Events
January–March
* January 6 – García Hurtado de Mendoza becomes the new Viceroy of Peru (nominally including most of South America except for Brazil). He will serve until 1596.
* January 10 – Construction of th ...
–
María de Zayas
María de Zayas y Sotomayor (born 12 September 1590) was a writer during the Spanish Golden Age. She is considered by many modern critics to be one of the pioneers of feminist literature, while others consider her simply a well-accomplished ba ...
, Spanish writer (died 1661)
1601–1900
*
1605
Events
January–March
* January 1 – William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', copyrighted 1600, is given its earliest recorded performance, and witnessed by the Viscount Dorchester.
* January 7 – Shakespeare's play ' ...
–
William Dugdale
Sir William Dugdale (12 September 1605 – 10 February 1686) was an English antiquary and herald. As a scholar he was influential in the development of medieval history as an academic subject.
Life
Dugdale was born at Shustoke, near Colesh ...
, English genealogist and historian (died 1686)
*
1690
Events
January–March
* January 2 – The Ottoman Empire defeats Serbian rebels and Austrian troops in battle at Kaçanik Gorge, prompting more than 30,000 Serb refugees to flee northward from Kosovo, Macedonia and Sandžak to the Au ...
–
Peter Dens, Flemish theologian and academic (died 1775)
*
1736
Events
January–March
* January 12 – George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney, becomes the Second Field Marshal of Great Britain.
* January 23 – The Civil Code of 1734 is passed in Sweden.
* January 26 – Stanislaus I of P ...
–
Hsinbyushin
Hsinbyushin (, , ; ; 12 September 1736 – 10 June 1776) was the third emperor of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1763 to 1776. The second son of the dynasty founder Alaungpaya is best known for his wars with Qing China and Siam, a ...
, Burmese king (died 1776)
*
1739
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Bouvet Island is discovered by French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier, in the South Atlantic Ocean.
* January 3 – A 7.6 earthquake shakes the Ningxia Hui Autonomou ...
–
Mary Bosanquet Fletcher,
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
preacher and philanthropist (died 1815)
*
1740
Events
January–March
* January 8 – All 237 crewmen on the Dutch East India Company ship ''Rooswijk'' are drowned when the vessel strikes the shoals of Goodwin Sands, off of the coast of England, as it is beginning its second ...
–
Johann Heinrich Jung, German author and academic (died 1817)
*
1768
Events
January–March
* January 9 – Philip Astley stages the first modern circus, with acrobats on galloping horses, in London.
* February 11 – Samuel Adams's circular letter is issued by the Massachusetts House of Re ...
–
Benjamin Carr
Benjamin Carr (September 12, 1768 – May 24, 1831) was an American composer, singer, teacher, and music publisher.Stephen Siek, "Benjamin Carr", Grove Music Online
Biography
Born in London, he was the son of Joseph Carr (music publisher), Jose ...
, English-American singer-songwriter, educator, and publisher (died 1831)
*
1797
Events
January–March
* January 3 – The Treaty of Tripoli, a peace treaty between the United States and Ottoman Tripolitania, is signed at Algiers (''see also'' 1796).
* January 7 – The parliament of the Cisalpine Repu ...
–
Samuel Joseph May
Samuel Joseph May (September 12, 1797 – July 1, 1871) was an American reformer during the nineteenth century who championed education, women's rights, and Abolitionism in the United States, abolition of slavery. May argued on behalf of all ...
, American activist (died 1871)
*
1812
Events
January–March
* January 1 – The ''Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch'' (the Austrian civil code) enters into force in the Austrian Empire.
* January 19 – Peninsular War: The French-held fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo Siege ...
–
Edward Shepherd Creasy, English historian and jurist (died 1878)
* 1812 –
Richard March Hoe
Richard March Hoe (middle name spelled in some 1920s records as "Marsh"; September 12, 1812 – June 7, 1886) was an American inventor from New York City who designed a rotary printing press identical to Josiah Warren's original invention, and re ...
, American engineer and businessman, invented the
Rotary printing press
A rotary printing press is a printing press in which the images to be printed are curved around a cylinder. Printing can be done on various substrates, including paper, cardboard, and plastic. Substrates can be sheet feed or unwound on a contin ...
(died 1886)
*
1818
Events
January–March
* January 1
** Battle of Koregaon: Troops of the British East India Company score a decisive victory over the Maratha Confederacy, Maratha Empire.
** English author Mary Shelley publishes the novel ''Frankenstein ...
–
Richard Jordan Gatling
Richard Jordan Gatling (September 12, 1818 – February 26, 1903) was an American inventor. He is best known for having invented the Gatling gun, which is considered to be the first successful machine gun.
Life
Gatling was born in Hertford Co ...
, American inventor, invented the
Gatling gun
The Gatling gun is a rapid-firing multiple-barrel firearm invented in 1861 by Richard Jordan Gatling of North Carolina. It is an early machine gun and a forerunner of the modern electric motor-driven rotary cannon.
The Gatling gun's operatio ...
(died 1903)
* 1818 –
Theodor Kullak, German pianist, composer, and educator (died 1882)
*
1828
Events
January–March
* January 4 – Jean Baptiste Gay, vicomte de Martignac succeeds the Jean-Baptiste de Villèle, Comte de Villèle, as Prime Minister of France.
* January 8 – The Democratic Party of the United States is organiz ...
–
William Morgan, English-Australian politician, 14th
Premier of South Australia
The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier i ...
(died 1883)
*
1829
Events
January–March
* January 19 – August Klingemann's adaptation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's '' Faust'' premieres in Braunschweig.
* February 27 – Battle of Tarqui: Troops of Gran Colombia and Peru battle to a draw.
* Marc ...
–
Anselm Feuerbach
Anselm Feuerbach (12 September 1829 – 4 January 1880) was a German Painting, painter. He was the leading neoclassicism, neoclassical painter of the German 19th-century school.
Biography Early life
Feuerbach was born at Speyer, the son of ...
, German painter (died 1880)
* 1829 –
Charles Dudley Warner
Charles Dudley Warner (September 12, 1829 – October 20, 1900) was an American essayist, novelist, and friend of Mark Twain, with whom he co-authored the novel '' The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today''.
Biography
Warner was born of Puritan descen ...
, American essayist and novelist (died 1900)
*
1830
It is known in European history as a rather tumultuous year with the Revolutions of 1830 in France, Belgium, Poland, Switzerland and Italy.
Events January–March
* January 11 – LaGrange College (later the University of North Alabama) ...
–
William Sprague, American businessman and politician, 27th Governor of Rhode Island (died 1915)
*1837 – Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse (died 1892)
*1852 – H. H. Asquith, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1928)
*1855 – Simon-Napoléon Parent, Canadian lawyer and politician, 12th Premier of Quebec (died 1920)
*1856 – Johann Heinrich Beck, American composer and conductor (died 1924)
*
1857
Events January–March
* January 1 – The biggest Estonian newspaper, '' Postimees'', is established by Johann Voldemar Jannsen.
* January 7 – The partly French-owned London General Omnibus Company begins operating.
* Ja ...
– Manuel Espinosa Batista, Colombian pharmacist and politician (died 1919)
*1862 – Carl Eytel, German-American painter and illustrator (died 1925)
*1866 – Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon, English cricketer and politician, 13th Governor General of Canada (died 1941)
*1869 – Paweł Owerłło, Polish actor (died 1957)
*1875 – Matsunosuke Onoe, Japanese actor and director (died 1926)
*1880 – H. L. Mencken, American journalist and critic (died 1956)
*1882 – Ion Agârbiceanu, Romanian journalist, politician, and archbishop (died 1963)
*1884 – Martin Klein (wrestler), Martin Klein, Estonian wrestler and coach (died 1947)
*
1885 – Heinrich Hoffmann (photographer), Heinrich Hoffmann, German photographer and art dealer (died 1957)
*1888 – Maurice Chevalier, French actor, singer, and dancer (died 1972)
*1889 – Ugo Pasquale Mifsud, Maltese politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Malta (died 1942)
*1891 – Pedro Albizu Campos, Puerto Rican lawyer and politician (died 1965)
* 1891 – Jean-François Martial, Belgian actor (died 1977)
* 1891 – Arthur Hays Sulzberger, American publisher (died 1968)
*1892 – Alfred A. Knopf Sr., American publisher, founded Alfred A. Knopf, Alfred A. Knopf Inc. (died 1984)
*1894 – Kyuichi Tokuda, Japanese lawyer and politician (died 1953)
* 1894 – Dorothy Maud Wrinch, Argentinian-English mathematician, biochemist and philosopher (died 1976)
*1895 – Freymóður Jóhannsson, Icelandic painter and composer (died 1973)
*
1897
Events
January
* January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City.
* January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a punitive expedit ...
– Irène Joliot-Curie, French chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1956)
* 1897 – Walter B. Gibson, American magician and author (died 1985)
*1898 – Salvador Bacarisse, Spanish composer (died 1963)
* 1898 – Alma Moodie, Australian violinist and educator (died 1943)
* 1898 – Ben Shahn, Lithuanian-American painter and photographer (died 1969)
*1900 – Martha Atwell, American radio director (died 1949)
* 1900 – Haskell Curry, American mathematician, logician, and academic (died 1982)
1901–present
*1901 – Shmuel Hurwitz, Shmuel Horowitz, Israeli agronomist and academic (died 1999)
*1902 – Juscelino Kubitschek, Brazilian physician and politician, 21st President of Brazil (died 1976)
* 1902 – Marya Zaturenska, Ukrainian-American poet and author (died 1982)
*1904 – István Horthy, Hungarian fighter pilot and deputy regent (died 1942)
* 1904 – John Courtney Murray, American priest and theologian (died 1967)
* 1904 – Lou Moore, American race car driver (died 1956)
*1905 – Linda Agostini, English-Australian murder victim (died 1934)
*1907 – Louis MacNeice, Irish poet and playwright (died 1963)
*1908 – Werner Flume, German jurist (died 2009)
*1909 – Donald MacDonald (Nova Scotia politician), Donald MacDonald, Canadian trade union leader and politician (died 1986)
*1913 – Jesse Owens, American sprinter and long jumper (died 1980)
*1914 – Rais Amrohvi, Pakistani psychoanalyst, poet, and scholar (died 1988)
* 1914 – Desmond Llewelyn, Welsh-English soldier and actor (died 1999)
*1916 – Tony Bettenhausen, American race car driver (died 1961)
*1917 – Pierre Sévigny (politician), Pierre Sévigny, Canadian colonel, academic, and politician (died 2004)
* 1917 – Han Suyin, Chinese-Swiss physician and author (died 2012)
*1920 – Irene Dailey, American actress (died 2008)
*1921 – Frank McGee (journalist), Frank McGee, American journalist (died 1974)
* 1921 – Stanisław Lem, Polish philosopher and author (died 2006)
* 1921 – Turgut Cansever, Turkish architect, city planner, and thinker (died 2009)
*1922 – Antonio Cafiero, Argentinian accountant and politician, Governor of Buenos Aires Province (died 2014)
* 1922 – Jackson Mac Low, American poet, playwright, and composer (died 2004)
* 1922 – Mark Rosenzweig (psychologist), Mark Rosenzweig, American psychologist and academic (died 2009)
*1924 – Amílcar Cabral, Guinea-Bissauan political leader (died 1973)
*1925 – Stan Lopata, American baseball player (died 2013)
* 1925 – Dickie Moore (actor), Dickie Moore, American actor (died 2015)
*1927 – Mathé Altéry, French soprano and actress
*1928 – Robert Irwin (artist), Robert Irwin, American painter and gardener (died 2023)
* 1928 – Muriel Siebert, American businesswoman and philanthropist (died 2013)
* 1928 – Ernie Vandeweghe, Canadian-American basketball player and physician (died 2014)
* 1928 – Joseph John Gerry, American Roman Catholic prelate (died 2023)
*1929 – Harvey Schmidt, American composer and illustrator (died 2018)
*1930 – Larry Austin, American composer and educator (died 2018)
*1931 – Ian Holm, English actor (died 2020)
* 1931 – George Jones, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2013)
*1932 – Atli Dam, Faroese engineer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (died 2005)
*1934 – Glenn Davis (athlete), Glenn Davis, American hurdler, sprinter, and football player (died 2009)
* 1934 – Jaegwon Kim, South Korean-American philosopher and academic (died 2019)
* 1934 – Nellie Wong, Chinese American poet and activist
*1935 – Richard Hunt (sculptor), Richard Hunt, American sculptor (died 2023)
*1937 – George Chuvalo, Canadian boxer
* 1937 – Wes Hall, Barbadian cricketer and politician
*
1938
Events
January
* January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS).
* January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...
– Judy Clay, American soul and gospel singer (died 2001)
* 1938 – Claude Ruel, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (died 2015)
* 1938 – Tatiana Troyanos, American operatic soprano (died 1993)
*1939 – Henry Waxman, American lawyer and politician
*
1940
A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280.
Events
Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
*Janu ...
– Linda Gray, American model and actress
*
1942
The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...
– Michel Drucker, French journalist
* 1942 – Tomás Marco, Spanish composer
* 1942 – Maria Muldaur, American folk and blues singer
* 1942 – François Tavenas, Canadian engineer and academic (died 2004)
*
1943
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured.
* January 4 � ...
– Ralph Neely, American football player (died 2022)
* 1943 – Michael Ondaatje, Sri Lankan-Canadian author and poet
*
1944
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 2 – WWII:
** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...
– Lonnie Mayne, American wrestler (died 1978)
* 1944 – Leonard Peltier, American political activist and convicted criminal
* 1944 – Vladimir Spivakov, Russian violinist and conductor
* 1944 – Barry White, American singer-songwriter (died 2003)
*1945 – Jim Liberman, Russell "Jungle Jim" Liberman, American Drag racing, drag racer (died 1977)
* 1945 – Milo Manara, Italian author and illustrator
* 1945 – John Mauceri, American conductor and producer
*1946 – Tony Bellamy, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2009)
* 1946 – Neil Lyndon, British journalist and writer
*1947 – David Grant (academic), David Grant, English engineer and academic
* 1947 – Gerald Howarth, English soldier, pilot, and politician, Minister for International Security Strategy
* 1947 – Christopher Neame, English actor
*1948 – Steve Turre, American trombonist and educator
* 1948 – Max Walker, Australian footballer, cricketer, sportscaster, and architect (died 2016)
*1949 – Charles Burlingame, American captain and pilot (died 2001)
* 1949 – Irina Rodnina, Russian figure skater and politician
*1950 – Marguerite Blais, Canadian journalist and politician
* 1950 – Gustav Brunner, Austrian engineer
* 1950 – Bruce Mahler, American actor and screenwriter
* 1950 – Mike Murphy (ice hockey, born 1950), Mike Murphy, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
*1951 – Bertie Ahern, Irish accountant and politician, 11th Taoiseach, Taoiseach of Ireland
* 1951 – Norm Dubé, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1951 – Ray Gravell, Welsh rugby player and actor (died 2007)
* 1951 – Joe Pantoliano, American actor and producer
* 1951 – Ali-Ollie Woodson, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player (died 2010)
*1952 – Gerry Beckley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
* 1952 – Neil Peart, Canadian drummer, songwriter, and producer (died 2020)
*
1953
Events
January
* January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma.
* January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo.
* January 14
** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...
– Nan Goldin, American photographer
*1954 – Robert Gober, American sculptor
* 1954 – Scott Hamilton (musician), Scott Hamilton, American saxophonist
* 1954 – Peeter Volkonski, Estonian singer-songwriter and actor
*1955 – Peter Scolari, American actor (died 2021)
* 1955 – Brian Smith (footballer, born 1955), Brian Smith, English footballer (died 2013)
*1956 – Barry Andrews (musician), Barry Andrews, English singer and keyboard player
* 1956 – Leslie Cheung, Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actor (died 2003)
* 1956 – David Goodhart, English journalist and author
* 1956 – BA Robertson, Scottish songwriter
* 1956 – Walter Woon, Singaporean lawyer and politician, 7th Attorney-General of Singapore
*1957 – Paul M. Sharp, British academic and educator
* 1957 – Jan Egeland, Norwegian politician, diplomat and humanitarian
* 1957 – Rachel Ward, English-Australian actress
* 1957 – Hans Zimmer, German composer and producer
*
1958
Events
January
* January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being.
* January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
* January 4
** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...
– Wilfred Benítez, American boxer
* 1958 – Gregg Edelman, American actor and singer
*
1959
Events
January
* January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance.
* January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...
– Scott Brown (politician), Scott Brown, American colonel and politician
* 1959 – Deron Cherry, American football player and sportscaster
* 1959 – Sigmar Gabriel, German educator and politician, 17th Vice-Chancellor of Germany
*1960 – Road Warrior Animal, American wrestler (died 2020)
* 1960 – Evan Jenkins (politician), Evan Jenkins, American academic and politician
* 1960 – Stefanos Korkolis, Greek pianist and composer
*
1961
Events January
* January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union.
* January 3
** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...
– Mylène Farmer, Canadian-French singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
*
1962
The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War.
Events January
* January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...
– Sunay Akın, Turkish poet, journalist, and philanthropist
* 1962 – Amy Yasbeck, American actress
*1964 – Greg Gutfeld, American television journalist and author
* 1964 – Dieter Hecking, German footballer and manager
*1965 – Einstein Kristiansen, Norwegian animator and producer
* 1965 – Vernon Maxwell, American basketball player
* 1965 – Midnight (wrestler), Midnight, Jamaican wrestler
*
1966
Events January
* January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko.
* January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...
– Darren E. Burrows, American actor
* 1966 – Ben Folds, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
* 1966 – Vezio Sacratini, Canadian ice hockey player
*1967 – Louis C.K., American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
* 1967 – Pat Listach, American baseball player, coach, and manager
*1968 – Larry LaLonde, American guitarist and songwriter
* 1968 – Nicholas Russell, 6th Earl Russell, English politician (died 2014)
* 1968 – Richard Snell (cricketer), Richard Snell, South African cricketer and physiotherapist
* 1968 – Paul F. Tompkins, American comedian, actor, and writer
*
1969
1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...
– Max Boot, Russian-American historian and author
* 1969 – Ángel Cabrera, Argentinian golfer
* 1969 – James Frey, American author and screenwriter
* 1969 – Shigeki Maruyama, Japanese golfer
*
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...
– Will Chase, American actor, director, and singer
* 1970 – Nathan Larson (musician), Nathan Larson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
*1971 – Younes El Aynaoui, Moroccan tennis player
* 1971 – Shocker (wrestler), Shocker, Mexican wrestler
*1972 – Gideon Emery, English-American actor, producer, and screenwriter
* 1972 – Paul Green (rugby league), Paul Green, Australian rugby league player and coach (died 2022)
* 1972 – Sidney (footballer, born 1972), Sidney Souza, Brazilian footballer
*1973 – Kara David, Filipino journalist and documentarian
* 1973 – Martina Ertl-Renz, German skier
* 1973 – Martin Lapointe, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
* 1973 – Paul Walker, American actor (died 2013)
*
1974
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...
– Caroline Aigle, French soldier and pilot (died 2007)
* 1974 – Jennifer Nettles, American singer-songwriter
* 1974 – Guy Smith (racing driver), Guy Smith, English race car driver
* 1974 – Kenichi Suzumura, Japanese voice actor and singer-songwriter
* 1974 – Nuno Valente, Portuguese footballer and coach
*1975 – Luis Castillo (second baseman), Luis Castillo, Dominican baseball player
* 1975 – Bill Kirby, Australian swimmer and coach
*1976 – Lauren Stamile, American actress
* 1976 – Maciej Żurawski, Polish footballer
*
1977
Events January
* January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...
– Nathan Bracken, Australian cricketer
* 1977 – 2 Chainz, American rapper
* 1977 – Grant Denyer, Australian race car driver and journalist
* 1977 – Jeff Irwin, American singer-songwriter and producer
* 1977 – David Thompson (footballer, born 1977), David Thompson, English footballer
*1978 – Elisabetta Canalis, Italian model and actress
* 1978 – Benjamin McKenzie, American actor
* 1978 – Ruben Studdard, American R&B, pop, and gospel singer
*
1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...
– Sean Burroughs, American baseball player (died 2024)
* 1980 – Fernando César de Souza, Brazilian footballer
* 1980 – Yao Ming, Chinese basketball player
* 1980 – Kevin Sinfield, English rugby player
* 1980 – Josef Vašíček, Czech ice hockey player (died 2011)
*1981 – Marty Adams, Canadian actor and screenwriter
* 1981 – Alan Arruda, Brazilian footballer
* 1981 – Jennifer Hudson, American singer and actress
* 1981 – Staciana Stitts, American swimmer
*1982 – Zoran Planinić, Croatian basketball player
* 1982 – Sal Rinauro, American wrestler
*
1983
1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...
– Tom Geißler, German footballer
* 1983 – Rami Haikal, Jordanian guitarist
* 1983 – Sebastian Hofmann, German footballer
* 1983 – Daniel Muir, American football player
* 1983 – Sergio Parisse, Argentinian-Italian rugby player
* 1983 – Clayton Richard, American baseball player
* 1983 – Carly Smithson, Irish singer-songwriter
*
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
– Nashat Akram, Iraqi footballer
* 1984 – Chelsea Carey, Canadian curler
* 1984 – Petra Marklund, Swedish singer
*1986 – Alfie Allen, English actor
* 1986 – Kamila Chudzik, Polish heptathlete
* 1986 – Akwasi Fobi-Edusei, English footballer
* 1986 – Joanne Jackson (swimmer), Joanne Jackson, English swimmer
* 1986 – Yuto Nagatomo, Japanese footballer
* 1986 – Dimitrios Regas, Greek sprinter
* 1986 – Emmy Rossum, American singer and actress
*
1988
1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...
– Amanda Jenssen, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist
* 1988 – Guðmundur Ari Sigurjónsson, Icelandic politician
*1989 – Freddie Freeman, American-Canadian baseball player
* 1989 – Andrew Luck, American football player
*
1991
It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...
– Mike Towell, Scottish professional boxer (died 2016)
* 1991 – Scott Wootton, English footballer
*
1992
1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General.
* January 6
** The Republ ...
– Alexia Fast, Canadian actress
* 1992 – Sviatlana Pirazhenka, Belarusian tennis player
*
1993
The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as:
* International Year for the World's Indigenous People
The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...
– Kelsea Ballerini, American country pop singer
*
1994
The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations.
In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
– Druski, American comedian and actor
* 1994 – RM (rapper), RM, South Korean rapper, songwriter and record producer
* 1994 – Elina Svitolina, Ukrainian tennis player
*1995 – Steven Gardiner, Bahamian sprinter
*1996 – Colin Ford, American actor
*1997 – Sydney Sweeney, American actress
* 1997 – Almida de Val, Swedish curler
*1999 – Jerome Ford, American football player
*
2001
The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
– Ziaire Williams, American basketball player
Deaths
Pre-1600
* 640 – Sak Kʼukʼ, Mayan queen
* 973 – Nefingus, bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Angers, Angers
*1185 – Andronikos I Komnenos, Byzantine emperor (born 1118)
*
1213 –
Peter II of Aragon
Peter II the Catholic (; ) (July 1178 – 12 September 1213) was the King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona from 1196 to 1213.
Background
Peter was born in Huesca, the son of Alfonso II of Aragon and Sancha of Castile, Queen of Aragon, Sancha ...
(born 1174)
*1362 – Pope Innocent VI (born 1295)
*1368 – Blanche of Lancaster (born 1345/1347)
*1439 – Sidi El Houari, Algerian imam (born 1350)
*1500 – Albert III, Duke of Saxony (born 1443)
*1544 – Clément Marot, French poet (born 1496)
1601–1900
*1612 – Vasili IV of Russia (born 1552)
*1642 – Henri Coiffier de Ruzé, Marquis of Cinq-Mars, French conspirator (born 1620)
*1660 – Jacob Cats, Dutch poet, jurist, and politician (born 1577)
*1665 – Jean Bolland, Belgian priest and hagiographer (born 1596)
*1672 – Tanneguy Le Fèvre, French scholar and author (born 1615)
*1674 – Nicolaes Tulp, Dutch anatomist and politician (born 1593)
*
1683
Events
January–March
* January 5 – The Brandenburger-African Company, of the German state of Brandenburg, signs a treaty with representatives of the Ahanta tribe (in modern-day Ghana), to establish the fort and settlement ...
– Afonso VI of Portugal (born 1643)
*1712 – Jan van der Heyden, Dutch painter and illustrator (born 1637)
*1764 – Jean-Philippe Rameau, French composer and theorist (born 1683)
*1779 – Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire (born 1711)
*1810 – Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet, English banker and politician (born 1740)
*
1814
Events January
* January 1 – War of the Sixth Coalition – The Royal Prussian Army led by Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher crosses the Rhine.
* January 3
** War of the Sixth Coalition – Siege of Cattaro: French gar ...
– Robert Ross (British Army officer), Robert Ross, Irish general (born 1766)
*1819 – Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Prussian general (born 1742)
*1836 – Christian Dietrich Grabbe, German playwright (born 1801)
*1869 – Peter Mark Roget, English physician, theologian, and lexicographer (born 1779)
*1870 – Eleanora Atherton, English philanthropist (born 1782)
* 1870 – Fitz Hugh Ludlow, American journalist, explorer, and author (born 1836)
*1874 – François Guizot, French historian and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of France (born 1787)
1901–present
*1903 – Duncan Gillies, Scottish-Australian businessman and politician, 14th Premier of Victoria (born 1834)
*1907 – Ilia Chavchavadze, Georgian poet, journalist, and lawyer (born 1837)
*1912 – Pierre-Hector Coullié, French cardinal (born 1829)
*1918 – George Reid, Australian accountant and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Australia (born 1845)
*1919 – Leonid Andreyev, Russian author and playwright (born 1871)
*
1923
In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...
– Jules Violle, French physicist and academic (born 1841)
*1927 – Sarah Frances Whiting, American physicist and astronomer (born 1847)
*
1942
The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...
– Valentine Baker (pilot), Valentine Baker, Welsh co-founder of the Martin-Baker, Martin-Baker Aircraft Company (born 1888)
*1945 – Hajime Sugiyama, Japanese field marshal and politician, 44th Ministry of War of Japan, Japanese Minister of War (born 1880)
*1949 – Erik Adolf von Willebrand, Finnish physician (born 1870)
*
1953
Events
January
* January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma.
* January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo.
* January 14
** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...
– James Hamilton, 3rd Duke of Abercorn, English politician, Governor of Northern Ireland (born 1869)
* 1953 – Hugo Schmeisser, German engineer (born 1884)
* 1953 – Lewis Stone, American actor (born 1879)
*1956 – Sándor Festetics, Hungarian politician, Ministry of Defence (Hungary), Hungarian Minister of War (born 1882)
*
1961
Events January
* January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union.
* January 3
** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...
– Carl Hermann, German physicist and academic (born 1898)
*
1962
The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War.
Events January
* January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...
– Spot Poles, American baseball player and soldier (born 1887)
* 1962 – Rangeya Raghav, Indian author and playwright (born 1923)
*1967 – Vladimir Bartol, Italian-Slovene author and playwright (born 1903)
*1968 – Tommy Armour, Scottish-American golfer and journalist (born 1894)
*1971 – Walter Egan (golfer), Walter Egan, American golfer (born 1881)
*1972 – William Boyd (actor), William Boyd, American actor and producer (born 1895)
*
1977
Events January
* January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...
–
Steve Biko
Bantu Stephen Biko Order for Meritorious Service, OMSG (18 December 1946 – 12 September 1977) was a South African internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist. Ideologically an African nationalism, African nationalist and ...
, South African activist (born 1946)
* 1977 – Les Haylen, Australian journalist and politician (born 1898)
* 1977 – Robert Lowell, American poet (born 1917)
*1978 – William Hudson (engineer), William Hudson, New Zealand-Australian engineer (born 1896)
*1981 – Eugenio Montale, Italian writer, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1896)
*1982 – Federico Moreno Torroba, Spanish composer and conductor (born 1891)
*1986 – Jacques Henri Lartigue, French painter and photographer (born 1894)
* 1986 – Charlotte Wolff, German-English psychotherapist and physician (born 1897)
*1987 – John Qualen, Canadian-American actor (born 1899)
*
1990
Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
– Athene Seyler, English actress (born 1889)
*
1991
It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...
– Bruce Matthews (Canadian Army officer), Bruce Matthews, Canadian general and businessman (born 1909)
*
1992
1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General.
* January 6
** The Republ ...
– Ruth Nelson (actress), Ruth Nelson, American actress
* 1992 – Anthony Perkins, American actor, singer, and director (born 1932)
*
1993
The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as:
* International Year for the World's Indigenous People
The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...
– Raymond Burr, Canadian-American actor and director (born 1917)
*
1994
The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations.
In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
– Tom Ewell, American actor (born 1909)
* 1994 – Boris Yegorov, Russian physician and astronaut (born 1937)
*1995 – Jeremy Brett, English actor (born 1933)
* 1995 – Yasutomo Nagai, Japanese motorcycle racer (born 1965)
*1996 – Ernesto Geisel, Brazilian general and politician, 29th President of Brazil (born 1907)
*1997 – Judith Merril, American-Canadian science fiction writer, editor and political activist (born 1923)
*1999 – Bill Quackenbush, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (born 1922)
*2000 – Stanley Turrentine, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (born 1934)
*
2003
2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater.
In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War.
Demographic ...
– Johnny Cash, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (born 1932)
*2003 – Arthur Johnson (canoeist), Arthur Johnson, canoeist (born 1921)
*
2005
2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
– Serge Lang, French-American mathematician, author and academic (born 1927)
*
2007
2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year.
Events
January
* January 1
**Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
– Bobby Byrd, American singer-songwriter and producer (born 1934)
*
2008
2008 was designated as:
*International Year of Languages
*International Year of Planet Earth
*International Year of the Potato
*International Year of Sanitation
The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
– Bob Quinn (Australian footballer), Bob Quinn, Australian footballer and coach (born 1915)
* 2008 – David Foster Wallace, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist (born 1962)
*2009 – Norman Borlaug, American agronomist and humanitarian, Nobel Peace Prize, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1914)
* 2009 – Jack Kramer, American tennis player and sportscaster (born 1921)
* 2009 – Willy Ronis, French photographer and author (born 1910)
*2010 – Claude Chabrol, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1930)
* 2010 – Giulio Zignoli, Italian footballer (born 1946)
*
2011
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
– Alexander Galimov, Russian ice hockey player (born 1985)
*
2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
– Arkadii Dragomoshchenko, Russian poet and author (born 1946)
* 2012 – Jon Finlayson, Australian actor and screenwriter (born 1938)
* 2012 – Derek Jameson, English journalist and broadcaster (born 1929)
* 2012 – Tom Sims, American skateboarder and snowboarder, founded Sims Snowboards (born 1950)
*
2013
2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years).
2013 was designated as:
*International Year of Water Cooperation
*International Year of Quinoa
Events
January
* January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
– Ray Dolby, American engineer and businessman, founded Dolby Laboratories (born 1933)
* 2013 – Warren Giese, American football player, coach, and politician (born 1924)
* 2013 – Erich Loest, German author and screenwriter (born 1926)
* 2013 – Candace Pert, American neuroscientist and pharmacologist (born 1946)
*
2014
The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
– Atef Ebeid, Egyptian academic and politician, 47th List of Prime Ministers of Egypt, Prime Minister of Egypt (born 1932)
* 2014 – John Gustafson (musician), John Gustafson, English singer-songwriter and bass player (born 1942)
* 2014 – Ian Paisley, Northern Irish evangelical pastor (Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster, Free Presbyterian Church) and politician, 2nd First Minister of Northern Ireland (born 1926)
* 2014 – Joe Sample, American pianist and composer (born 1939)
* 2014 – Hugh Royer, Jr., American golfer (born 1936)
*
2015
2015 was designated by the United Nations as:
* International Year of Light
* International Year of Soil __TOC__
Events
January
* January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
– Claudia Card, American philosopher and academic (born 1940)
* 2015 – Frank D. Gilroy, American playwright and screenwriter (born 1925)
* 2015 – Al Monchak, American baseball player and coach (born 1917)
* 2015 – Aronda Nyakairima, Ugandan general and politician (born 1959)
*2017 – Allan MacEachen, Canadian economist and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Canada (born 1921)
* 2017 – Edith Windsor, American LGBT rights activist and technology manager at IBM (born 1929)
*2018 – Shen Chun-shan, Taiwanese academic (born 1932)
*2019 – ʻAkilisi Pōhiva, Tongan politician and activist, Prime Minister of Tonga (born 1941)
*2024 – Sitaram Yechury, Indian politician and leader of CPI(M) (born 1952)
Holidays and observances
* Christian Calendar of saints, feast day:
** Ailbe of Emly, Ailbe (Elvis, Eilfyw) of Emly
** Ebontius
** Guy of Anderlecht
** The Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary
** John Henry Hobart (Episcopal Church (USA))
** Laisrén mac Nad Froích
** Sacerdos of Lyon
** September 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
* Commemoration of the mass hanging of the Saint Patrick's Battalion (Mexico)
* Day of Conception (Russia)
* Defenders Day (Maryland), Defenders Day (Maryland, United States)
* Enkutatash falls on this day if it is a leap year. Celebrated on the first day of Ethiopian calendar, Mäskäräm. (
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
, Eritrea,
Rastafari
Rastafari is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by Religious studies, scholars of religion. There is no central authori ...
)
* Nayrouz (Coptic Orthodox Church) (leap years only, September 11 on normal years)
* Public holidays in Cape Verde, National Day (Cape Verde)
* National Day of Encouragement (United States)
* Battle of Saragarhi#Saragarhi Day, Saragarhi Day (Sikhism)
* UNRIC#UN international days and observances, United Nations Day for South–South Cooperation (International observance, International)
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:September 12
Days of September