January 8
| January 8 in recent years |
| 2024 (Monday) |
| 2023 (Sunday) |
| 2022 (Saturday) |
| 2021 (Friday) |
| 2020 (Wednesday) |
| 2019 (Tuesday) |
| 2018 (Monday) |
| 2017 (Sunday) |
| 2016 (Friday) |
| 2015 (Thursday) |
January 8 is the eighth day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 357 days remain until the end of the year (358 in leap years).
Events
- 871 – Alfred the Great leads a West Saxon army to repel an invasion by Danelaw Vikings.
- 1297 – Monaco gains its independence.
- 1499 – Louis XII of France marries Anne of Brittany.
- 1734 – Premiere performance of George Frideric Handel's Ariodante at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
- 1746 – Second Jacobite Rising: Bonnie Prince Charlie occupies Stirling.
- 1790 – George Washington delivers the first State of the Union Address in New York City.
- 1806 – Cape Colony becomes a British colony.
- 1811 – An unsuccessful slave revolt is led by Charles Deslondes in St. Charles and St. James, Louisiana.
- 1815 – War of 1812: Battle of New Orleans – Andrew Jackson leads American forces in victory over the British.
- 1835 – The United States national debt is 0 for the only time.
- 1838 – Alfred Vail demonstrates a telegraph system using dots and dashes (this is the forerunner of Morse code).
- 1863 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Springfield
- 1867 – African American men are granted the right to vote in Washington, D.C.
- 1877 – Crazy Horse and his warriors fight their last battle against the United States Cavalry at Wolf Mountain, Montana Territory.
- 1889 – Herman Hollerith is issued US patent #395,791 for the 'Art of Applying Statistics' — his punched card calculator.
- 1904 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system.
- 1906 – A landslide in Haverstraw, New York, caused by the excavation of clay along the Hudson River, kills 20 people.
- 1912 – The African National Congress is founded.
- 1918 – President Woodrow Wilson announces his "Fourteen Points" for the aftermath of World War I.
- 1940 – World War II: Britain introduces food rationing.
- 1956 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. missionaries are killed by the Huaorani of Ecuador shortly after making contact with them.
- 1961 – In France a referendum supports Charles de Gaulle's policies in Algeria.
- 1962 – The Harmelen train disaster killed 93 people in the Netherlands.
- 1963 – Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is exhibited in the United States for the first time, at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
- 1964 – President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a "War on Poverty" in the United States.
- 1973 – Soviet space mission Luna 21 is launched.
- 1973 – Watergate scandal: The trial of seven men accused of illegal entry into Democratic Party headquarters at Watergate begins.
- 1975 – Ella Grasso becomes Governor of Connecticut, the first woman to serve as a Governor in the United States other than by succeeding her husband.
- 1977 – Three bombs went off in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
- 1978 – Bowing to international pressure, President of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto releases Bengali leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from prison, who had been arrested after declaring the independence of Bangladesh.
- 1979 – The tanker Betelgeuse explodes in Bantry Bay, Ireland.
- 1981 – A local farmer reports a UFO sighting in Trans-en-Provence, France, "perhaps the most completely and carefully documented sighting of all time".
- 1982 – The break up of AT&T: AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions.
- 1989 – The Kegworth air disaster. British Midland flight 92 crashes into the M1 motorway killing 47 people out of 127 on board.
- 1989 – Beginning of Japanese Heisei era.
- 1989 The world famous Patrick Hugh Clayton was born into the world at GMT 20.20 hours.
- 1994 – Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov on Soyuz TM-18 leaves for Mir. He would stay on the space station until March 22, 1995, for a record 437 days in space.
- 1996 – An Antonov 32 cargo turboprop powered plane crashes into the central market in Kinshasa, Zaire killing more than 350 people.
- 2002 – President George W. Bush signs into law the No Child Left Behind Act.
- 2003 – Turkish Airlines Flight 634 crashes near Diyarbakır Airport, Turkey, killing the entire crew and 70 of 75 passengers.
- 2004 – The RMS Queen Mary 2, the largest passenger ship ever built, is christened by her namesake's granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
- 2005 – The nuclear sub USS San Francisco collides at full speed with an undersea mountain south of Guam. One man is killed, but the sub surfaces and is repaired.
- 2010 – Gunmen from an offshoot the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda attacked the bus carrying the Togo national football team on its way to the 2010 African Cup of Nations, killing three.
- 2011 – An attempted assassination of Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and subsequent shooting in Casas Adobes, Arizona at a Safeway grocery store kills 6 people and wounds 13, including Giffords.
Births
- 1556 – Uesugi Kagekatsu, Japanese samurai and warlord (d. 1623)
- 1583 – Simon Episcopius, Dutch theologian (d. 1643)
- 1587 – Johannes Fabricius, German astronomer (d. 1616)
- 1601 – Baltasar Gracián y Morales, Spanish writer (d. 1658)
- 1628 – François Henri de Montmorency-Bouteville, duc de Luxembourg, French general (d. 1695)
- 1632 – Samuel Pufendorf, German jurist (d. 1694)
- 1635 – Luis Manuel Fernández de Portocarrero, Spanish Archbishop (d. 1709)
- 1735 – John Carroll, American Roman Catholic archbishop (d. 1815)
- 1763 – Edmond Charles Genêt, French diplomat (d. 1834)
- 1786 – Nicholas Biddle, American banking executive (d. 1844)
- 1788 – Archduke Rudolph of Austria (d. 1831)
- 1788 – Pavel Kiselyov, Russian general and politician (d. 1874)
- 1792 – Lowell Mason, American composer (d. 1872)
- 1805 – John Bigler, American lawyer, politician and diplomat; 3rd Governor of California; and former United States Envoy to Chile (d. 1871)
- 1805 – Orson Hyde, American religious leader (d. 1878)
- 1812 – Sigismond Thalberg, Swiss virtuoso pianist and composer (d. 1871)
- 1817 – Sir Theophilus Shepstone, South African statesman (d. 1893)
- 1821 – James Longstreet, American Confederate general and diplomat; and former United States Minister to the Ottoman Empire (d. 1904)
- 1821 – W.H.L. Wallace, American Union general (d. 1862)
- 1823 – Alfred Russel Wallace, British naturalist and biologist (d. 1913)
- 1824 – Francisco González Bocanegra, Mexican poet (d. 1861)
- 1824 – Wilkie Collins, British novelist (d. 1889)
- 1830 – Albert Bierstadt, German/American painter (d. 1902)
- 1830 – Hans von Bülow, German pianist and composer (d. 1894)
- 1836 – Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Dutch artist (d. 1912)
- 1843 – Frederick Abberline, British police investigator (d. 1929)
- 1843 – John H. Moffitt, American politician (d. 1926)
- 1852 – James Milton Carroll, American pastor and author (d. 1931)
- 1860 – Emma Booth, daughter of William and Catherine Booth (d. 1903)
- 1862 – Frank Nelson Doubleday, American publisher (d. 1934)
- 1864 – Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (d. 1892)
- 1865 – Winnaretta Singer, Princesse Edmond de Polignac, an American patron of French music, and of the arts, sciences, and letters (d. 1943)
- 1866 – William G. Conley, American politician and 18th Governor of West Virginia (d. 1940)
- 1867 – Emily Greene Balch, American writer and pacifist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (d. 1961)
- 1870 – Miguel Primo de Rivera, Spanish politician (d. 1930)
- 1871 – James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, Irish politician (d. 1940)
- 1873 – Elena of Montenegro, queen of Italy (d. 1956)
- 1873 – Iuliu Maniu, Romanian politician (d. 1953)
- 1881 – Henrik Shipstead, American politician (d. 1960)
- 1883 – Pavel Filonov, Russian painter (d. 1941)
- 1883 – Patrick J. Hurley, American soldier, statesman, and diplomat; 51st United States Secretary of War and former United States Ambassadors to the Republic of China (d. 1963)
- 1885 – John Curtin, Australian politician (d. 1945)
- 1885 – A. J. Muste, Dutch pacifist and activist (d. 1967)
- 1888 – Richard Courant, German-American mathematician (d. 1972)
- 1888 – Matthew Moore, Irish-American actor (d. 1960)
- 1891 – Walther Bothe, German physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics laureate (d. 1957)
- 1891 – Storm Jameson, English writer (d. 1986)
- 1891 – Bronislava Nijinska, Russian choreographer (d. 1972)
- 1894 – St. Maximilian Kolbe, Polish martyr (d. 1941)
- 1896 – Arthur Ford, American medium (d. 1971)
- 1896 – Jaromir Weinberger, Czech-American composer (d. 1967)
- 1897 – Dennis Wheatley, British author (d. 1977)
- 1899 – Solomon Bandaranaike, Ceylonese Prime Minister (d. 1959)
- 1900 – Dame Merlyn Myer, Australian philanthropist (d. 1982)
- 1902 – Georgy Malenkov, Soviet politician (d. 1988)
- 1902 – Carl Rogers, American psychologist (d. 1987)
- 1904 – Karl Brandt, Alsatian Nazi war criminal (d. 1948)
- 1905 – Giacinto Scelsi, Italian composer (d. 1988)
- 1905 – Franjo Šeper, Croatian Catholic cardinal (d. 1981)
- 1908 – William Hartnell, British actor (d. 1975)
- 1909 – Willy Millowitsch, German actor (d. 1999)
- 1909 – Bruce Mitchell, South African cricketer, Wisden COY 1936 (d.1995)
- 1909 – Evelyn Wood, American educator (d. 1995)
- 1910 – Galina Sergeyevna Ulanova, Russian ballerina (d. 1998)
- 1911 – Tom Delaney, British racing driver (d. 2006)
- 1911 – Gypsy Rose Lee, American actress and entertainer (d. 1970)
- 1912 – José Ferrer, Puerto Rican actor (d. 1992)
- 1912 – Lawrence E. Walsh, American jurist and 4th United States Deputy Attorney General
- 1915 – Walker Cooper, American baseball player (d. 1991)
- 1921 – Herta Bothe, Nazi concentration camp guard
- 1922 – Jan Nieuwenhuys, Dutch painter (d. 1986)
- 1922 – Abbey Simon, U.S. pianist
- 1923 – Larry Storch, American actor
- 1923 – Giorgio Tozzi, American bass
- 1923 – Johnny Wardle, English cricketer (d. 1985)
- 1923 – Joseph Weizenbaum, German-American author and computer scientist (d. 2008)
- 1924 – Benjamin Lees, American composer (d. 2010)
- 1924 – Ron Moody, English actor
- 1925 – Helmuth Hubener, German activist (d. 1942)
- 1926 – Evelyn Lear, American soprano
- 1926 – Kelucharan Mohapatra, Indian Odissi dancer (d. 2004)
- 1926 – Hanae Mori, Japanese fashion designer
- 1926 – Soupy Sales, American comedian (d. 2009)
- 1927 – Charles Tomlinson, British poet and translator
- 1928 – Slade Gorton, American politician
- 1928 – Gaston Miron, French-Canadian poet and editor (d. 1996)
- 1929 – Saeed Jaffrey, Indian actor
- 1931 – Bill Graham, German-born American music promoter (d. 1991)
- 1933 – Charles Osgood, American journalist and commentator
- 1933 – Jean-Marie Straub, French film director
- 1933 – Ko Un, Korean poet
- 1934 – Jacques Anquetil, French cyclist (d. 1987)
- 1934 – Gene Freese, American baseball player
- 1934 – Roy Kinnear, English actor (d. 1988)
- 1934 – Alexandra Ripley, American writer (d. 2004)
- 1935 – Elvis Presley, American singer (d. 1977)
- 1935 – Lewis H. Lapham, American writer
- 1936 – Zdeněk Mácal, Czech conductor
- 1936 – Robert May, Baron May of Oxford, Australian-born British scientist
- 1937 – Dame Shirley Bassey, Welsh singer
- 1938 – Bob Eubanks, American game show host
- 1938 – Yevgeny Nesterenko, Russian bass-baritone
- 1939 – Carolina Herrera, Venezuelan fashion designer
- 1941 – Graham Chapman, British comedian (d. 1989)
- 1941 – Boris Vallejo, Peruvian illustrator
- 1942 – Valya Balkanska, Bulgarian folk singer
- 1942 – Stephen Hawking, English theoretical physicist and author
- 1942 – Junichiro Koizumi, Japanese politician, Prime Minister 2001-2006
- 1942 – Yvette Mimieux, American actress
- 1943 – Charles Murray, American author and pundit
- 1944 – Terry Brooks, American writer
- 1945 – Jeannie Lewis, Australian actress and singer
- 1945 – Kojo Nnamdi, Guyanese-born American radio host
- 1945 – Kathleen Noone, American actress
- 1945 – Kadir Topbaş, Turkish politician
- 1946 – Robby Krieger, American musician (The Doors)
- 1947 – Don Bendell, American author & karate master
- 1947 – David Bowie, English musician
- 1947 – Samuel Schmid, Swiss politician
- 1947 – Terry Sylvester, English singer and musician
- 1947 – Laurie Walters, American actress
- 1948 – Gillies MacKinnon, Scottish film director
- 1951 – Kenny Anthony, Saint Lucian politician
- 1951 – John McTiernan, American film director
- 1952 – Vladimir Feltsman, Russian-American pianist
- 1953 – Bruce Sutter, American baseball player
- 1955 – Spiros Livathinos, Greek footballer
- 1955 – Mike Reno, Canadian musician
- 1957 – Nacho Duato, Spanish classical dancer and choreographer
- 1958 – Rey Misterio, Sr., Mexican wrestler
- 1959 – Paul Hester, Australian drummer (Crowded House) (d. 2005)
- 1959 – Duk Koo Kim, Korean boxer (d. 1982)
- 1961 – Keith Arkell, English chess Grandmaster
- 1961 – Calvin Smith, American athlete
- 1962 – Chris Marion, American musician
- 1965 – Michelle Forbes, American actress
- 1965 – Maria Pitillo, American actress
- 1966 – Igor Vyazmikin, Russian ice hockey player (d. 2009)
- 1966 – Andrew Wood, American singer (Mother Love Bone) (d. 1990)
- 1967 – Willie Anderson, American basketball player
- 1967 – R. Kelly, American singer
- 1968 – Keith Mullings, American boxer
- 1969 – Jeff Abercrombie, American musician
- 1969 – Ami Dolenz, American actress
- 1970 – Rachel Friend, Australian actress
- 1971 – Jason Giambi, American baseball player
- 1971 – Mike Süsser, German chef
- 1971 – Pascal Zuberbühler, Swiss footballer
- 1972 – Sean McKeever, American writer
- 1973 – Mark Knight, English sound designer
- 1973 – Henning Solberg, Norwegian rally driver
- 1973 – Jason Stevens, Australian rugby league footballer
- 1974 – Maria Matsouka, Greek politician
- 1975 – DJ Clue, American DJ and producer
- 1975 – Harris Jayaraj, Indian music composer
- 1976 – Jenny Lewis, American actress and musician
- 1976 – Josh Meyers, American actor
- 1976 – Carl Pavano, American baseball player
- 1977 – Amber Benson, American actress
- 1977 – Ron Pederson, Canadian actor
- 1977 – Lee Yoo-jin, Korean actress
- 1978 – Boris Avrukh, Israeli chess grandmaster
- 1978 – Marco Fu, Hong Kong snooker player
- 1979 – Torry Castellano, American musician (The Donnas)
- 1979 – Seol Ki-Hyeon, South Korean footballer
- 1979 – Mirella van Melis, Dutch track and road cyclist
- 1979 – Adrian Mutu, Romanian footballer
- 1979 – Stipe Pletikosa, Croatian footballer
- 1979 – Sarah Polley, Canadian actress
- 1980 – Rachel Nichols, American actress
- 1981 – Jeff Francis, Canadian baseball player
- 1981 – Carmen Schäfer, Swiss curler
- 1981 – Xie Xingfang, Chinese badminton player
- 1982 – Emanuele Calaiò, Italian footballer
- 1982 – Wil Francis, American singer
- 1982 – Gaby Hoffmann, American actress
- 1982 – John Utaka, Nigerian footballer
- 1983 – Felipe Colombo, Argentine/Mexican actor and singer
- 1983 – Chris Mordetzky, American wrestler
- 1984 – Jeff Francoeur, American baseball player
- 1985 – Rachael Lampa, American singer
- 1986 – Jessica Parker Kennedy, Canadian actress
- 1986 – Jaclyn Linetsky, Canadian actress (d. 2003)
- 1986 – Maria Ozawa, Japanese/French-Canadian pornstar
- 1986 – David Silva, Spanish footballer
- 1987 – Carmen Klaschka, German tennis player
- 1988 – Allison Harvard, American artist and fashion model
- 1989 – Aaron Cruden, New Zealand rugby player
- 1989 – Kristján Einar, Icelandic racing driver
- 1991 – Asuka Hinoi, Japanese singer
- 2000 – Noah Cyrus, American actress
Deaths
- 482 – Saint Severinus of Noricum
- 1100 – Antipope Clement III (b. c.1029)
- 1107 – Edgar of Scotland (b. 1074)
- 1198 – Pope Celestine III (b. c.1106)
- 1324 – Marco Polo, Italian explorer (b. 1254)
- 1337 – Giotto di Bondone, Italian artist (b. 1267)
- 1456 – St. Lawrence Justinian, Italian bishop and first Patriarch of Venice (b. 1381)
- 1464 – Thomas Ebendorfer, Austrian historian (b. 1385)
- 1557 – Albert the Warlike, Prince of Bayreuth (b. 1522)
- 1570 – Philibert de l'Orme, French architect (b. c.1510)
- 1598 – John George, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1525)
- 1642 – Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer and scientist (b. 1564)
- 1707 – John Dalrymple, 1st Earl of Stair, Scottish politician (b. 1648)
- 1713 – Arcangelo Corelli, Italian composer (b. 1653)
- 1775 – John Baskerville, English printer (b. 1706)
- 1789 – Jack Broughton, English boxer (b. c.1703)
- 1794 – Justus Möser, German statesman (b. 1720)
- 1815 – Edward Pakenham, British general (b. 1778)
- 1825 – Eli Whitney, American inventor (b. 1765)
- 1854 – William Carr Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford, British general and politician (b. 1768)
- 1865 – Aimé, duc de Clermont-Tonnerre, French general (b. 1779)
- 1874 – Charles Etienne Brasseur de Bourbourg, French writer and historian (b. 1814)
- 1878 – Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov, Russian poet (b. 1821)
- 1880 – Joshua A. Norton, Emperor of the United States, Protector of Mexico (b. 1811)
- 1896 – William Rainey Marshall, Governor of Minnesota (b. 1825)
- 1896 – Paul Verlaine, French poet (b. 1844)
- 1901 – John Barry, Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross (b. 1873)
- 1916 – Ada Rehan, Irish-born American actress (b. 1860)
- 1916 – Rembrandt Bugatti, Italian sculptor (b. 1884)
- 1918 – Ellis H. Roberts, American politician (b. 1827)
- 1932 – Eurosia Fabris, Italian Catholic (b. 1866)
- 1934 – Andrei Bely, Russian writer (b. 1880)
- 1934 – Serge Stavisky, French financier and embezzler (b. 1886)
- 1938 – Johnny Gruelle, Creator of Raggedy Ann and Andy (b. 1880)
- 1941 – Robert Baden-Powell, English founder of scouting (b. 1857)
- 1942 – Joseph Franklin Rutherford, American religious publisher (b. 1869)
- 1943 – Richard Hillary, Australian Spitfire pilot and author (b. 1919)
- 1944 – William Kissam Vanderbilt II, member of the Vanderbilt family (b. 1878)
- 1945 – Karl Krafft, Swiss astrologer who was manipulated by the Nazi regime (b. 1900)
- 1948 – Kurt Schwitters, German painter (b. 1887)
- 1948 – Richard Tauber, Austrian tenor (b. 1891)
- 1950 – Joseph Schumpeter, Austrian economist (b. 1883)
- 1953 – Admiral Sir Hugh Binney, British naval commander and Governor of Tasmania (b. 1883)
- 1956 – Jim Elliot, American Christian missionary (b. 1928)
- 1958 – Paul Pilgrim, American athlete (b. 1883)
- 1963 – Kay Sage, American artist and poet (b. 1898)
- 1967 – Zbigniew Cybulski, Polish actor (b. 1927)
- 1969 – Albert Hill, British athlete (b. 1889)
- 1970 – Georges Guibourg, French performer (b. 1891)
- 1972 – Kenneth Patchen, American poet (b. 1911)
- 1975 – John Gregson, English actor (b. 1919)
- 1975 – Richard Tucker, American tenor (b. 1913)
- 1976 – Zhou Enlai, Premier of the People's Republic of China (b. 1898)
- 1976 – Robert Forgan, British fascist (b. 1891)
- 1979 – Sara Carter, American country musician (b. 1898)
- 1980 – John Mauchly, American physicist (b. 1907)
- 1981 – Matthew "Stymie" Beard, American actor (b. 1925)
- 1982 – Grégoire Aslan, Armenian actor (b. 1908)
- 1983 – Gerhard Barkhorn, German fighter pilot (b. 1919)
- 1983 – Ron Frazer, Australian actor (b. 1924)
- 1983 – Tom McCall, Governor of Oregon (b. 1913)
- 1986 – Pierre Fournier, French cellist (b. 1906)
- 1990 – Terry-Thomas, British actor, comedian (b. 1911)
- 1991 – Steve Clark, English guitarist (Def Leppard) (b. 1960)
- 1994 – Pat Buttram, American actor (b. 1915)
- 1994 – Harvey Haddix, American baseball player (b. 1925)
- 1995 – Carlos Monzon, Argentinian boxer (b. 1942)
- 1996 – John Hargreaves, Australian actor (b. 1945)
- 1996 – François Mitterrand, President of France (b. 1916)
- 1996 – Howard Taubman, American music and theater critic (b. 1907)
- 1997 – Melvin Calvin, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
- 1998 – Michael Tippett, English composer (b. 1905)
- 2000 – Fritz Thiedemann, German equestrianist (b. 1918)
- 2002 – Alexander Prochorow, Nobel Prize in Physics laureate (b. 1916)
- 2002 – Dave Thomas, American fast food entrepreneur (b. 1932)
- 2003 – Ron Goodwin, British composer and conductor (b. 1925)
- 2004 – John A. Gambling, American radio talk-show host (b. 1930)
- 2005 – Campbell McComas, Australian impersonator and broadcaster (b. 1952)
- 2005 – Warren Spears, American choreographer and dancer (b. 1954)
- 2005 – Michel Thomas, Polish linguist (b. 1914)
- 2006 – Tony Banks, British politician (b. 1943)
- 2007 – Jane Bolin, first African American female judge (b. 1908)
- 2007 – Yvonne De Carlo, Canadian-born actress (b. 1922)
- 2007 – Francis Cockfield, British politician (b. 1916)
- 2007 – David Ervine, Northern Irish politician (b. 1953)
- 2007 – Iwao Takamoto, American animator (b. 1925)
- 2008 – George Moore, Australian champion jockey (b. 1923)
- 2009 – Richard John Neuhaus, Canadian-American Christian writer and editor (b. 1936)
- 2010 – Monica Maughan, Australian actor (b. 1933)
- 2010 – Tony Halme, Finnish boxer and politician (b. 1963)
- 2011 – Thorbjørn Svenssen, Norwegian footballer (b. 1924)
- 2011 – John Roll, United States Federal Judge (b.1947)
Holidays and observances
- Christian Feast Day:
- Commonwealth Day (Northern Mariana Islands)
- Earliest day on which Children's Day can fall, while January 15 is the latest; celebrated on the second Saturday in January. (Thailand)
- Kim Jong-un's Birthday (North Korea)
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to January 8.