January 9

January 9 is the ninth day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 356 days remaining until the end of the year (357 in leap years).

Events

• 475 – Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople, and his general, Basiliscus gains control of the empire.
• 681 – Twelfth Council of Toledo: King Erwig of the Visigoths initiates a council in which he implements diverse measures against the Jews in Spain.
• 1127 – Jin–Song Wars: Invading Jurchen soldiers from the Jin dynasty besiege and sack Bianjing (Kaifeng), the capital of the Song dynasty of China, and abduct Emperor Qinzong and others, ending the Northern Song dynasty.
• 1150 – Prince Hailing of Jin and other court officials murder Emperor Xizong of Jin. Hailing succeeds him as emperor.
• 1349 – The Jewish population of Basel, Switzerland, believed by the residents to be the cause of the ongoing Black Death, is rounded up and incinerated.
• 1431 – Judges' investigations for the trial of Joan of Arc begin in Rouen, France, the seat of the English occupation government.
• 1760 – Ahmad Shah Durrani defeats the Marathas in the Battle of Barari Ghat.
• 1788 – Connecticut becomes the fifth state to be admitted to the United States.
• 1792 – Treaty of Jassy between Russian and Ottoman Empire is signed.
• 1793 – Jean-Pierre Blanchard becomes the first person to fly in a balloon in the United States.
• 1799 – British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound to raise funds for Great Britain's war effort in the Napoleonic Wars.
• 1806 – Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson receives a state funeral and is interred in St Paul's Cathedral.
• 1816 – Sir Humphry Davy tests his safety lamp for miners at Hebburn Colliery.
• 1822 – The Portuguese prince Pedro I of Brazil decides to stay in Brazil against the orders of the Portuguese King João VI, beginning the Brazilian independence process.
• 1839 – The French Academy of Sciences announces the Daguerreotype photography process.
• 1857 – The Fort Tejon earthquake strikes California, registering an estimated magnitude of 7.9.
• 1858 – Anson Jones, the last President of the Republic of Texas, commits suicide.
• 1861 – American Civil War: The "Star of the West" incident occurs near Charleston, South Carolina. It is considered by some historians to be the "First Shots of the American Civil War".
• 1861 – Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the Union before the outbreak of the American Civil War.
• 1863 – American Civil War: The Battle of Fort Hindman begins in Arkansas.
• 1878 – Umberto I becomes King of Italy.
• 1880 – The Great Gale of 1880 devastates parts of Oregon and Washington with high winds and heavy snow.
• 1894 – New England Telephone and Telegraph installs the first battery-operated telephone switchboard in Lexington, Massachusetts.
• 1903 – Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson, son of the poet Alfred Tennyson, becomes the second Governor-General of Australia.
• 1909 – Ernest Shackleton, leading the Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole, plants the British flag 97 nautical miles (180 km; 112 mi) from the South Pole, the farthest anyone had ever reached at that time.
• 1914 – Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc., the first historically black intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity to be officially recognized at Howard University, is founded.
• 1916 – World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli concludes with an Ottoman Empire victory when the last Allied forces are evacuated from the peninsula.
• 1917 – World War I: The Battle of Rafa is fought near the Egyptian border with Palestine.
• 1918 – Battle of Bear Valley: The last battle of the American Indian Wars.
• 1921 – Greco-Turkish War: The First Battle of İnönü, the first battle of the war, begins near Eskişehir in Anatolia.
• 1923 – Juan de la Cierva makes the first autogyro flight.
• 1923 – Lithuanian residents of the Memel Territory rebel against the League of Nations' decision to leave the area as a mandated region under French control.
• 1927 – A fire at the Laurier Palace movie theatre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, kills 78 children.
• 1938 – Paul of Greece marries Frederica of Hanover in Athens.
• 1941 – World War II: First flight of the Avro Lancaster.
• 1945 – World War II: The United States invades Luzon in the Philippines.
• 1947 – Elizabeth "Betty" Short, the Black Dahlia, is last seen alive.
• 1957 – British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden resigns from office following his failure to retake the Suez Canal from Egyptian sovereignty.
• 1960 – President of Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser opens construction on the Aswan Dam by detonating ten tons of dynamite to demolish twenty tons of granite on the east bank of the Nile.
• 1964 – Martyrs' Day: Several Panamanian youths try to raise the Panamanian flag on the U.S.-controlled Panama Canal Zone, leading to fighting between U.S. military and Panamanian civilians.
• 1965 – The Mirzapur Cadet College formally opens for academic activities in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
• 1991 – Representatives from the United States and Iraq meet at the Geneva Peace Conference to try to find a peaceful resolution to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
• 1992 – The Assembly of the Serb People in Bosnia and Herzegovina proclaims the creation of Republika Srpska, a new state within Yugoslavia.
• 1996 – First Chechen War: Chechen separatists launch a raid against the helicopter airfield and later a civilian hospital in the city of Kizlyar in the neighboring Dagestan, which turns into a massive hostage crisis involving thousands of civilians.
• 2004 – An inflatable boat carrying illegal Albanian emigrants stalls near the Karaburun Peninsula while on the way to Brindisi, Italy; exposure to the elements kills 28.
• 2005 – Mahmoud Abbas wins the election to replace Yasser Arafat as President of the Palestinian National Authority. He replaces interim president Rawhi Fattouh.
• 2005 – The Sudan People's Liberation Movement and the Government of Sudan sign the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to end the Second Sudanese Civil War.
• 2007 – Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveils the first iPhone.
• 2011 – Iran Air Flight 277 crashes near Orumiyeh in the northeast of the country, killing 77 people.
• 2013 – A SeaStreak ferry traveling to lower Manhattan, New York City, crashes into the dock, injuring 85 people.
• 2014 – An explosion at a Mitsubishi Materials chemical plant in Yokkaichi, Japan, kills at least five people and injures 17 others.
• 2015 – The perpetrators of the Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris two days earlier are both killed after a hostage situation. Elsewhere, a second hostage situation, related to the Charlie Hebdo shooting, occurs at a Jewish market, Hypercacher, in the eastern Paris suburb of Vincennes.

Births

• 727 – Emperor Daizong of Tang (d. 779)
• 1475 – Crinitus, Italian scholar and author (d. 1507)
• 1554 – Pope Gregory XV (d. 1623)
• 1571 – Charles Bonaventure de Longueval, Count of Bucquoy, French commander (d. 1621)
• 1624 – Empress Meishō of Japan (d. 1696)
• 1674 – Reinhard Keiser, German composer (d. 1739)
• 1685 – Tiberius Hemsterhuis, Dutch philologist and critic (d. 1766)
• 1728 – Thomas Warton, English poet, historian, and critic (d. 1790)
• 1735 – John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent, English admiral and politician (d. 1823)
• 1745 – Caleb Strong, American lawyer and politician; 6th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1819)
• 1753 – Luísa Todi, Portuguese soprano and actress (d. 1833)
• 1773 – Cassandra Austen, English painter (d. 1845)
• 1778 – Hammamizade İsmail Dede Efendi, Turkish Ney player and composer (d. 1846)
• 1811 – Gilbert Abbott à Beckett, English journalist and author (d. 1856)
• 1818 – Antoine Samuel Adam-Salomon, French sculptor and photographer (d. 1881)
• 1819 – James Francis, English-Australian businessman and politician; 9th Premier of Victoria (d. 1884)
• 1822 – Carol Benesch, Czech-Romanian architect, designed the Peleș Castle (d. 1896)
• 1823 – Friedrich von Esmarch, German surgeon and academic (d. 1908)
• 1829 – Thomas William Robertson, English director and playwright (d. 1871)
• 1829 – Adolf Schlagintweit, German botanist and explorer (d. 1857)
• 1832 – Félix-Gabriel Marchand, Canadian journalist and politician; 11th Premier of Quebec (d. 1900)
• 1839 – John Knowles Paine, American composer and academic (d. 1906)
• 1848 – Princess Frederica of Hanover (d. 1926)
• 1849 – John Hartley, English tennis player (d. 1935)
• 1854 – Lady Randolph Churchill, American-English wife of Lord Randolph Churchill (d. 1921)
• 1856 – Anton Aškerc, Slovenian priest and poet (d. 1912)
• 1859 – Carrie Chapman Catt, American activist; founded the League of Women Voters and International Alliance of Women (d. 1947)
• 1864 – Vladimir Steklov, Russian mathematician and physicist (d. 1926)
• 1868 – S. P. L. Sørensen, Danish chemist and academic (d. 1939)
• 1870 – Joseph Strauss, American engineer; co-designed the Golden Gate Bridge (d. 1938)
• 1873 – Hayim Nahman Bialik, Ukrainian-Austrian journalist, author, and poet (d. 1934)
• 1873 – Thomas Curtis, American sprinter and hurdler (d. 1944)
• 1873 – John Flanagan, Irish-American hammer thrower (d. 1938)
• 1873 – Harry Spanjer, American boxer (d. 1958)
• 1875 – Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, American sculptor and art collector; founded the Whitney Museum of American Art (d. 1942)
• 1876 – Arthur Darby, English rugby player (d. 1960)
• 1879 – John B. Watson, American psychologist and academic (d. 1958)
• 1881 – Lascelles Abercrombie, English poet and critic (d. 1938)
• 1881 – Édouard Beaupré, Canadian giant and strongman (d. 1904)
• 1881 – Giovanni Papini, Italian journalist, author, and poet (d. 1956)
• 1885 – Charles Bacon, American runner and hurdler (d. 1968)
• 1886 – Lloyd Loar, American sound engineer and instrument designer (d. 1943)
• 1889 – Vrindavan Lal Verma, Indian author and playwright (d. 1969)
• 1890 – Karel Čapek, Czech author and playwright (d. 1938)
• 1890 – Kurt Tucholsky, German-Swedish journalist and author (d. 1935)
• 1891 – August Gailit, Estonian journalist and author (d. 1960)
• 1892 – Eva Bowring, American politician (d. 1985)
• 1893 – Edwin Baker, Canadian co-founder of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) (d. 1968)
• 1896 – Warwick Braithwaite, New Zealand-English conductor (d. 1971)
• 1897 – Karl Löwith, German philosopher, author, and academic (d. 1973)
• 1898 – Gracie Fields, English-Italian actress and singer (d. 1979)
• 1899 – Harald Tammer, Estonian journalist and weightlifter (d. 1942)
• 1900 – Richard Halliburton, American adventurer and author (d. 1939)
• 1901 – Vilma Bánky, Hungarian-American actress (d. 1991)
• 1901 – Chic Young, American cartoonist (d. 1973)
• 1902 – Rudolf Bing, Austrian-English opera manager (d. 1997)
• 1902 – Josemaría Escrivá, Spanish priest and saint, founded Opus Dei (d. 1975)
• 1907 – Eldred G. Smith, American patriarch (d. 2013)
• 1908 – Simone de Beauvoir, French novelist and philosopher (d. 1986)
• 1909 – Anthony Mamo, Maltese lawyer and politician; 1st President of Malta (d. 2008)
• 1909 – Herva Nelli, Italian-American soprano (d. 1994)
• 1909 – Patrick Peyton, American priest and activist (d. 1992)
• 1910 – Tom Evenson, English runner (d. 1997)
• 1912 – Ralph Tubbs, English architect, designed the Dome of Discovery (d. 1996)
• 1913 – Richard Nixon, American commander, lawyer, and politician; 37th President of the United States (d. 1994)
• 1915 – Fernando Lamas, Argentinian-American actor, singer, and director (d. 1982)
• 1915 – Anita Louise, American actress and singer (d. 1970)
• 1916 – Vic Mizzy, American soldier, pianist, and composer (d. 2009)
• 1916 – Peter Twinn, English mathematician and entomologist (d. 2004)
• 1918 – Alma Ziegler, American baseball player and golfer (d. 2005)
• 1919 – William Morris Meredith, Jr., American poet and academic (d. 2007)
• 1920 – Chan Canasta, Polish-English magician (d. 1999)
• 1920 – Clive Dunn, English actor and singer (d. 2012)
• 1920 – Hakim Said, Pakistani scholar and politician, 20th Governor of Sindh (d. 1998)
• 1921 – Lister Sinclair, Indian-Canadian broadcaster and playwright (d. 2006)
• 1921 – John Sperling, American businessman; founded the University of Phoenix (d. 2014)
• 1922 – Har Gobind Khorana, Indian-American biochemist and academic; Nobel laureate (d. 2011)
• 1922 – Ahmed Sékou Touré, Guinean politician, 1st President of Guinea (d. 1984)
• 1923 – Suh Yun-bok, South Korean runner
• 1924 – Sergei Parajanov, Georgian-Armenian director and screenwriter (d. 1990)
• 1925 – Pierre Jalbert, Canadian-American actor (d. 2014)
• 1925 – Len Quested, English footballer and manager (d. 2012)
• 1925 – Lee Van Cleef, American actor and singer (d. 1989)
• 1926 – Jean-Pierre Côté, Canadian politician; 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 2002)
• 1926 – Sydney Lotterby, English director and producer
• 1927 – Sunderlal Bahuguna, Indian environmentalist
• 1928 – Judith Krantz, American author
• 1928 – Domenico Modugno, Italian singer-songwriter, actor, and politician (d. 1994)
• 1928 – Palghat R. Raghu, Carnatic musician and percussionist
• 1929 – Brian Friel, Irish author, playwright, and director (d. 2015)
• 1929 – Heiner Müller, German poet, playwright, and director (d. 1995)
• 1929 – Dorothea Puente, American murderer (d. 2011)
• 1929 – Tom Riley, American lawyer and politician (d. 2011)
• 1931 – Algis Budrys, Lithuanian-American author and critic (d. 2008)
• 1931 – Paul Mantee, American actor (d. 2013)
• 1933 – Robert García, American soldier and politician
• 1933 – Wilbur Smith, Zambian-English journalist and author
• 1934 – Mahendra Kapoor, Indian singer (d. 2008)
• 1934 – Bart Starr, American football player and coach
• 1935 – Bob Denver, American actor and singer (d. 2005)
• 1935 – Dick Enberg, American game show host and sportscaster
• 1935 – Earl G. Graves, Sr., American businessman and publisher (Black Enterprise magazine)
• 1936 – Anne Rivers Siddons, American author
• 1936 – Marko Veselica, Croatian academic and politician
• 1937 – Michael Nicholson, English journalist and author
• 1938 – Claudette Boyer, Canadian educator and politician (d. 2013)
• 1938 – Peter Edelman, American lawyer and educator
• 1938 – Stuart Woods, American author
• 1939 – Jimmy Boyd, American actor and singer (d. 2009)
• 1939 – Rik Kemp, English-Australian cartoonist
• 1939 – Susannah York, English actress, singer, and screenwriter (d. 2011)
• 1940 – Barbara Buczek, Polish composer (d. 1993)
• 1940 – Al Downing, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2005)
• 1940 – Ruth Dreifuss, Swiss journalist and politician; 86th President of the Swiss Confederation
• 1941 – Joan Baez, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1941 – Terry Hands, English director and producer
• 1941 – Gilles Vaillancourt, Canadian politician
• 1942 – K Callan, American actress
• 1942 – John Dunning, American author
• 1942 – Tony Harding, English illustrator (d. 2014)
• 1942 – Lee Kun-hee, South Korean businessman
• 1942 – Judy Malloy, American poet and author
• 1943 – Robert Drewe, Australian author and playwright
• 1943 – Elmer MacFadyen, Canadian politician (d. 2007)
• 1943 – Freddie Starr, English actor and singer
• 1943 – Scott Walker, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (The Walker Brothers)
• 1943 – Jerry Yester, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
• 1944 – Ian Hornak, American painter and sculptor (d. 2002)
• 1944 – Jimmy Page, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer
• 1944 – Mihalis Violaris, Cypriot singer-songwriter and actor
• 1945 – John Doman, American actor
• 1945 – Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Syrian-Armenian politician, 1st President of Armenia
• 1946 – Mohammad Ishaq Khan, Indian historian and academic (d. 2013)
• 1946 – Mogens Lykketoft, Danish politician; 45th Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs
• 1947 – Ronnie Landfield, American painter and educator
• 1947 – Ittoku Kishibe, Japanese actor and musician
• 1948 – Bill Cowsill, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Cowsills) (d. 2006)
• 1948 – Cassie Gaines, American singer (The Honkettes) (d. 1977)
• 1948 – Jan Tomaszewski, Polish footballer and politician
• 1950 – Alec Jeffreys, English geneticist and academic
• 1950 – David Johansen, American singer-songwriter and actor (New York Dolls)
• 1950 – Rio Reiser, German singer-songwriter (d. 1996)
• 1951 – M. L. Carr, American basketball player and coach
• 1951 – Crystal Gayle, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1952 – Kaushik Basu, Indian economist and academic
• 1952 – Hugh Bayley, English politician
• 1952 – Mike Capuano, American politician
• 1953 – Javad Alizadeh, Iranian cartoonist and painter
• 1953 – Morris Gleitzman, English-Australian author
• 1953 – Shigeru So, Japanese runner
• 1953 – Takeshi So, Japanese runner
• 1954 – Philippa Gregory, Kenyan-English author and academic
• 1955 – Michiko Kakutani, American journalist and critic
• 1955 – J. K. Simmons, American actor
• 1956 – Kimberly Beck, American actress
• 1956 – Lucyna Langer, Polish hurdler
• 1956 – Waltraud Meier, German soprano and mezzo-soprano
• 1956 – Imelda Staunton, English actress
• 1956 – Mike Walczewski, American announcer
• 1957 – Bibie, Ghanaian-French singer
• 1957 – Phil Lewis, American singer-songwriter
• 1958 – Mehmet Ali Ağca, Turkish murderer
• 1958 – Stephen Neale, English philosopher and academic
• 1959 – Mark Martin, American race car driver
• 1959 – Rigoberta Menchú, Guatemalan activist and politician; Nobel Prize laureate
• 1959 – Otis Nixon, American baseball player
• 1960 – Lisa Walters, Canadian golfer
• 1961 – Oliver Goldstick, American screenwriter and producer
• 1961 – Al Jean, American screenwriter and producer
• 1961 – Candi Milo, American voice actress
• 1961 – Sandra Myers, American-Spanish sprinter
• 1961 – Henry Omaga-Diaz, Filipino journalist
• 1963 – Michael Everson, American-Irish linguist and type designer
• 1963 – Irwin McLean, Irish biologist and academic
• 1964 – Stan Javier, Dominican baseball player and manager
• 1965 – Haddaway, Trinidadian-German singer
• 1965 – Darren Bennett, Australian-American football player
• 1965 – Muggsy Bogues, American basketball player and coach
• 1965 – Iain Dowie, English-Irish footballer and manager
• 1965 – Eric Erlandson, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
• 1965 – Farah Khan, Indian actress, director, and choreographer
• 1965 – Andrei Nazarov, Estonian decathlete and coach
• 1965 – Joely Richardson, English actress
• 1966 – Jan Johansen, Swedish singer
• 1966 – Stephen Metcalfe, English politician
• 1967 – Carl Bell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1967 – Claudio Caniggia, Argentinian footballer
• 1967 – Steve Harwell, American singer-songwriter (Smash Mouth)
• 1967 – Dave Matthews, South African-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
• 1967 – Gary Teichmann, Rhodesian-South African rugby player
• 1968 – Jimmy Adams, Jamaican cricketer and coach
• 1968 – Joey Lauren Adams, American actress
• 1968 – Catalina Saavedra, Chilean actress
• 1968 – Al Schnier, American guitarist
• 1968 – Giorgos Theofanous, Greek-Cypriot composer and producer
• 1970 – Lara Fabian, Belgian-Italian singer-songwriter and actress
• 1970 – Masashi Goda, Japanese actor
• 1970 – Alex Staropoli, Italian keyboard player and songwriter
• 1970 – Mia X, American rapper and actor
• 1971 – MF Doom, English-American rapper
• 1971 – Angie Martinez, American rapper, actress, and radio host
• 1971 – Yusuke Naora, Japanese art director and producer
• 1971 – Hal Niedzviecki, Canadian author and critic
• 1971 – Scott Thornton, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1972 – Sarah Beeny, English television host
• 1972 – Mat Hoffman, American BMX rider
• 1972 – Jay Powell, American baseball player
• 1972 – Warwick Saint, South African photographer
• 1972 – Rawson Stovall, American video game producer and author
• 1973 – Angela Bettis, American actress, director, and producer
• 1974 – Farhan Akhtar, Indian actor, singer, director, and producer
• 1975 – James Beckford, Jamaican long jumper
• 1975 – Kiko Calero, Puerto Rican baseball player
• 1975 – Julia Lutrova, Russian tennis player
• 1975 – Mattias Olsson, Swedish drummer
• 1976 – Radek Bonk, Czech ice hockey player
• 1976 – Hayes Carll, American singer-songwriter
• 1976 – Simon Gosejohann, German actor and screenwriter
• 1976 – Todd Grisham, American sportscaster
• 1977 – Viktors Dobrecovs, Latvian footballer and manager
• 1977 – Beth Troutman, American television host
• 1978 – Mathieu Garon, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1978 – Gennaro Gattuso, Italian footballer and manager
• 1978 – Chad Johnson, American football player
• 1978 – A. J. McLean, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor (Backstreet Boys)
• 1978 – Maggie Rizer, American model, actress, and activist
• 1979 – Athanassios Prittas, Greek footballer
• 1979 – Tomiko Van, Japanese singer-songwriter and actress (Do As Infinity)
• 1980 – Édgar Álvarez, Honduran footballer
• 1980 – Sergio García, Spanish golfer
• 1980 – Luke Patten, Australian rugby league player and referee
• 1981 – Euzebiusz Smolarek, Polish footballer
• 1982 – Timmy Bowers, American basketball player
• 1982 – Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge
• 1982 – Grétar Steinsson, Icelandic footballer
• 1983 – Marek Doronin, Estonian basketball player
• 1984 – Benjamin Danso, German rugby player
• 1985 – Juan Francisco Torres, Spanish footballer
• 1986 – Jéferson Gomes, Brazilian footballer
• 1986 – Uwe Hünemeier, German footballer
• 1986 – Amanda Mynhardt, South African netball player
• 1987 – Sam Bird, English race car driver
• 1987 – Mao Inoue, Japanese actress
• 1987 – Asami Kai, Japanese actress and model
• 1987 – Lucas Leiva, Brazilian footballer
• 1987 – Paolo Nutini, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1987 – Jami Puustinen, Finnish footballer
• 1987 – Pablo Santos, Mexican-American actor (d. 2006)
• 1988 – Katherine Copely, American ice dancer
• 1988 – Marc Crosas, Spanish footballer
• 1989 – Michael Beasley, American basketball player
• 1989 – Nina Dobrev, Bulgarian-Canadian actress and singer
• 1989 – Michaëlla Krajicek, Dutch tennis player
• 1989 – Yana Maksimava, Belarusian heptathlete
• 1989 – Chris Sandow, Australian rugby league player
• 1990 – Justin Blackmon, American football player
• 1990 – Oteng Oteng, Botswana boxer
• 1990 – Melissa Ricks, Filipino actress
• 1991 – 3LAU, American DJ and producer
• 1991 – Can Maxim Mutaf, Turkish professional basketball player
• 1993 – Ashley Argota, American actress and singer
• 1993 – Katarina Johnson-Thompson, English long jumper and heptathlete
• 1993 – Kevin Korjus, Estonian race car driver
• 1995 – Nicola Peltz, American actress

Deaths

• 1150 – Emperor Xizong of Jin (b. 1119)
• 1282 – Abû 'Uthmân Sa'îd ibn Hakam al Qurashi, Minorcan ruler (b. 1204)
• 1283 – Wen Tianxiang, Chinese general and scholar (b. 1236)
• 1324 – Marco Polo, Italian merchant and explorer (b. 1254)
• 1463 – William Neville, 1st Earl of Kent, English nobleman and soldier (b. c. 1405)
• 1499 – John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1455)
• 1511 – Demetrios Chalkokondyles, Greek scholar and academic (b. 1423)
• 1514 – Anna, Duchess of Brittany (b. 1477)
• 1534 – Johannes Aventinus, Bavarian Renaissance humanist historian and philologist (b. 1477)
• 1543 – Guillaume du Bellay, French general and diplomat (b. 1491)
• 1561 – Amago Haruhisa, Japanese warlord (b. 1514)
• 1571 – Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon, French admiral (b. 1510)
• 1598 – Jasper Heywood, English poet and scholar (b. 1553)
• 1757 – Louis Bertrand Castel, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1688)
• 1757 – Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle, French author, poet, and playwright (b. 1657)
• 1766 – Thomas Birch, English historian and author (b. 1705)
• 1799 – Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Italian mathematician and philosopher (b. 1718)
• 1800 – Jean Étienne Championnet, French general (b. 1762)
• 1805 – Noble Wimberly Jones, American physician and politician (b. 1723)
• 1843 – William Hedley, English engineer (b. 1773)
• 1848 – Caroline Herschel, German-English astronomer (b. 1750)
• 1856 – Neophytos Vamvas, Greek cleric and educator (b. 1770)
• 1858 – Anson Jones, American physician and politician; 4th President of the Republic of Texas (b. 1798)
• 1873 – Napoleon III, French politician, 1st President of France (b. 1808)
• 1876 – Samuel Gridley Howe, American physician and activist (b. 1801)
• 1878 – Victor Emmanuel II of Italy (b. 1820)
• 1895 – Aaron Lufkin Dennison, American-English businessman (b. 1812)
• 1901 – Richard Copley Christie, English lawyer and academic (b. 1830)
• 1908 – Wilhelm Busch, German poet, illustrator, and painter (b. 1832)
• 1908 – Abraham Goldfaden, Russian actor, playwright, and author (b. 1840)
• 1910 – Nathaniel Moore, American golfer (b. 1884)
• 1911 – Edwin Arthur Jones, American violinist and composer (b. 1853)
• 1911 – Edvard Rusjan, Italian-Slovene pilot and engineer (b. 1886)
• 1918 – Charles-Émile Reynaud, French scientist and educator; invented the Praxinoscope (b. 1844)
• 1923 – Katherine Mansfield, New Zealand-English short story writer (b. 1888)
• 1924 – Ponnambalam Arunachalam, Sri Lankan politician (b. 1853)
• 1927 – Houston Stewart Chamberlain, English-German philosopher and author (b. 1855)
• 1930 – Edward Bok, Dutch-American journalist and author (b. 1863)
• 1931 – Wayne Munn, American football player and wrestler (b. 1896)
• 1936 – John Gilbert, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1899)
• 1939 – Johann Strauss III, Austrian violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1866)
• 1941 – Dimitrios Golemis, Greek runner (b. 1874)
• 1945 – Shigekazu Shimazaki, Japanese admiral and pilot (b. 1908)
• 1945 – Jüri Uluots, Estonian journalist and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Estonia (b. 1890)
• 1945 – Osman Cemal Kaygılı, Turkish journalist, author, and playwright (b. 1890)
• 1946 – Countee Cullen, American poet and playwright (b. 1903)
• 1947 – Karl Mannheim, Hungarian-English sociologist and academic (b. 1893)
• 1958 – Dick Grant, Canadian runner (b. 1878)
• 1960 – Elsie J. Oxenham, English author (b. 1880)
• 1961 – Emily Greene Balch, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867)
• 1964 – Halide Edib Adıvar, Turkish author and academic (b. 1884)
• 1971 – Elmer Flick, American baseball player and scout (b. 1876)
• 1972 – Ted Shawn, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1891)
• 1975 – Pierre Fresnay, French actor (b. 1897)
• 1975 – Pyotr Novikov, Russian mathematician and theorist (b. 1901)
• 1979 – Pier Luigi Nervi, Italian engineer and architect, designed the Tour de la Bourse and Pirelli Tower (b. 1891)
• 1981 – Cozy Cole, American drummer (b. 1909)
• 1981 – Kazimierz Serocki, Polish pianist and composer (b. 1922)
• 1984 – Bob Dyer, American-Australian radio and television host (b. 1909)
• 1985 – Robert Mayer, German-English businessman and philanthropist (b. 1879)
• 1987 – Arthur Lake, American actor and singer (b. 1905)
• 1988 – Peter L. Rypdal, Norwegian fiddler and traditional fork music composer (b. 1909)
• 1989 – Bill Terry, American baseball player and manager (b. 1898)
• 1990 – Spud Chandler, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1907)
• 1990 – Cemal Süreya, Turkish poet and writer (b. 1931)
• 1992 – Steve Brodie, American actor (b. 1919)
• 1992 – Bill Naughton, Irish-English playwright and screenwriter (b. 1910)
• 1993 – Paul Hasluck, Australian historian and politician, 17th Governor-General of Australia (b. 1905)
• 1994 – Johnny Temple, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1927)
• 1995 – Souphanouvong, Laotian politician, 1st President of Laos (b. 1909)
• 1995 – Peter Cook, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1937)
• 1996 – Félix González-Torres, Cuban-American visual artist (b. 1957)
• 1996 – Walter M. Miller, Jr., American soldier and author (b. 1923)
• 1997 – Edward Osóbka-Morawski, Polish politician, Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1909)
• 1997 – Jesse White, American actor (b. 1917)
• 1998 – Kenichi Fukui, Japanese chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
• 1998 – Imi Lichtenfeld, Slovakian-Israeli martial artist, founded Krav Maga (b. 1910)
• 1998 – Charito Solis, Filipino actress (b. 1935)
• 2000 – Arnold Alexander Hall, English engineer and academic (b. 1915)
• 2000 – Nigel Tranter, Scottish historian and author (b. 1909)
• 2001 – Maurice Prather, American photographer and director (b. 1926)
• 2003 – Will McDonough, American journalist (b. 1935)
• 2004 – Norberto Bobbio, Italian philosopher and academic (b. 1909)
• 2006 – Andy Caldecott, Australian motorcycle racer (b. 1964)
• 2006 – Mikk Mikiver, Estonian actor and director (b. 1937)
• 2007 – Elmer Symons, South African motorcycle racer (b. 1977)
• 2007 – Jean-Pierre Vernant, French anthropologist and historian (b. 1914)
• 2008 – Johnny Grant, American radio host and producer (b. 1923)
• 2008 – Mehran Ghassemi, Iranian journalist and translator (b. 1977)
• 2008 – John Harvey-Jones, English businessman and television host (b. 1924)
• 2009 – Rob Gauntlett, English mountaineer and explorer (b. 1987)
• 2009 – René Herms, German runner (b. 1982)
• 2009 – T. Llew Jones, Welsh author and poet (b. 1914)
• 2010 – Vimcy, Indian journalist (b. 1925)
• 2011 – Makinti Napanangka, Australian painter (b. 1930)
• 2012 – Brian Curvis, Welsh boxer (b. 1937)
• 2012 – Ruth Fernández, Puerto Rican singer and politician (b. 1919)
• 2012 – Bridie Gallagher, Irish singer (b. 1924)
• 2012 – Augusto Gansser-Biaggi, Swiss geologist and academic (b. 1910)
• 2012 – Mae Laborde, American actress (b. 1909)
• 2012 – Salvador A. Rodolfo, Sr., Filipino soldier (b. 1919)
• 2012 – William G. Roll, German-American psychologist and parapsychologist (b. 1926)
• 2012 – Malam Bacai Sanhá, Guinea-Bissau politician, President of Guinea-Bissau (b. 1947)
• 2012 – László Szekeres, Hungarian physician and academic (b. 1921)
• 2013 – Brigitte Askonas, Austrian-English immunologist and academic (b. 1923)
• 2013 – James M. Buchanan, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1919)
• 2013 – Rizana Nafeek, Sri Lankan murderer (b. 1988)
• 2013 – Robert L. Rock, American politician, 42nd Lieutenant Governor of Indiana (b. 1927)
• 2013 – Rex Trailer, American television host, actor, and singer (b. 1928)
• 2013 – John Wise, Canadian farmer and politician, 23rd Canadian Minister of Agriculture (b. 1935)
• 2014 – Amiri Baraka, American poet, playwright, and academic (b. 1934)
• 2014 – Rynn Berry, American author and activist (b. 1945)
• 2014 – Roy Campbell, Jr., American trumpet player (b. 1952)
• 2014 – Josep Maria Castellet, Spanish poet and critic (b. 1926)
• 2014 – Lorella De Luca, Italian actress and director (b. 1940)
• 2014 – Paul du Toit, South African painter and sculptor (b. 1965)
• 2014 – Luis García, Venezuelan baseball player and manager (b. 1929)
• 2014 – Dale T. Mortensen, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1939)
• 2015 – Amedy Coulibaly, French criminal (b. 1982)
• 2015 – Harry A. DeMaso, American soldier and politician (b. 1921)
• 2015 – Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., American film producer (b. 1926)
• 2015 – Michel Jeury, French author (b. 1934)
• 2015 – Robert V. Keeley, Lebanese-American soldier and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Greece (b. 1929)
• 2015 – Józef Oleksy, Polish economist and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1946)
• 2015 – Bud Paxson, American broadcaster, founded the Home Shopping Network and Pax TV (b. 1935)
• 2015 – Abdul Rahman Ya'kub, Malaysian politician, 3rd Chief Minister of Sarawak (b. 1928)
• 2015 – Roy Tarpley, American basketball player (b. 1964)
• 2016 – Angus Scrimm, American actor and author (b. 1926)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Adrian of Canterbury
  • Black Nazarene (Manila, Philippines)
  • Philip II, Metropolitan of Moscow
  • Julia Chester Emery (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • January 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • St. Stephen's Day (Eastern Orthodox)
• Start of Hōonkō (Nishi Honganji) January 9–16 (Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism)
• Martyrs' Day (Panama)
• Non-Resident Indian Day (India)
• Peace Agreement Day (South Sudan)
• Republic Day (Republika Srpska) (Declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day