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What happened in history on this day: January 9?
On January 9 in ...
- 475 - Emperor Zeno is driven from Constantinople.
- 1038 - In Shensi, China, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake occurs, resulting in 23,000 deaths.
- 1296 - Earl Floris V signs accord with French king.
- 1317 - Phillips V, the Tall, crowned king of France.
- 1349 - 700 Jews of Basel Switzerland, burned alive in their houses.
- 1428 - Pope Martinus V declares Jacoba van Beierens marriage invalid.
- 1464 - First meeting of States-General of Netherlands.
- 1493 - Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, sailing near the Dominican Republic, sees three "mermaids" - in reality manatees.
- 1499 - Johan Cicero elector of (Brandenburg, 1486-99), dies at age 43.
- 1514 - Anna de Bretagne wife of Maximilian, dies at age 36.
- 1522 - Adriaan F Boeyens of Utrecht elected only Dutch/last non-Italian pope (Adrian VI).
- 1554 - Birth of Gregory XV [Alessandro Ludovisi], Roman Catholic pope (1621-23).
- 1558 - Geneva becomes independent from Berne canton, Switzerland.
- 1570 - Tsar Ivan the terrible kills 1000-2000 residents of Novgorod.
- 1574 - Birth of Christoph Buel composer.
- 1674 - Birth of Reinhard Keiser in Weissenfels, Germany; composer of 120 operas, from Baroque to Rococo.
- 1677 - Aernout "Aert" van der Neer cartoonist/landscape painter, dies at age 73.
- 1679 - Werner Fabricius composer, dies at age 45.
- 1699 - Birth of Robert J Pothier French lawyer.
- 1718 - France declares war on Spain.
- 1728 - Birth of Thomas Warton poet laureate of England (Pleasures of Melancholy).
- 1760 - Afghans defeat Marathas in battle of Barari Ghat.
- 1788 - Connecticut becomes 5th state to ratify US Constitution.
- 1792 - Russia and Turkey sign Peace of Jassy.
- 1793 - Dutch Prince Willem V establishes two brigades Drive Artillery.
- 1793 - Jean Pierre Blanchard makes first balloon flight in North America (Philadelphia).
- 1799 - Great Britain passes world's first general income tax bill as a war measure.
- 1803 - Birth of Christopher Memminger in Nayhingen, Germany; secretary of the treasury for the Confederate States of America government.
- 1811 - First Women's Golf Tournament is held.
- 1812 - Swedish Pomerania (Germany) seized by French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.
- 1816 - Birth of John Palmer Usher; US Secretary of the Interior (Union) (dies 1889).
- 1822 - Birth of John Porter Hatch; US Brevet Major General (Union) (dies 1901).
- 1823 - Birth of Friedrich von Esmarch in Tönning, Germany; military surgeon, professor of surgery, handbook on first aid for civilians and military, first-aid bandage on the battlefield.
- 1828 - Pieter Hoen, Dutch journalist/patriot (Neder-Rhijn), dies at age 83.
- 1829 - Birth of Adolf von Schlagintweit; German explorer (Tarimbekken).
- 1829 - Birth of Thomas William Robertson in England; playwright (Caste).
- 1832 - Birth of Esquire Maurits A de Savornin Lohman; Dutch Governor of Suriname.
- 1839 - Thomas Henderson measures first stellar parallax (Alpha Centauri).
- 1843 - Caroline Herschel, "first lady of astronomy", dies at age 98 in Germany.
- 1848 - Death of Caroline Lucretia Herschel in Hannover, Germany; discovered three nebulae and eight comets, given a gold medal by the British Astronomical Society.
- 1851 - Birth of Luis Coloma; Spanish jesuit/writer/theologian (Pequeñeces, Boy).
- 1853 - Juan N Gallego, Spanish poet/interpreter (El dos de Mayo), dies at age 75.
- 1855 - Clipper Guiding Star disappears in Atlantic Ocean, 480 die.
- 1856 - Birth of Anton Askerc; Slavic priest/poet (Primoz Trubar).
- 1856 - Birth of Lizette Woodworth Reese; US poet (Branch of May, Tears).
- 1857 - In Fort Tejon, California, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake occurs on the San Andreas fault, which ruptures a distance of about 300 kilometres.
- 1857 - Birth of Henry B Fuller; American writer (Under the Skylights).
- 1859 - Birth of Carrie Lane Chapman Catt; women's rights leader/founder (League of Women Voters).
- 1859 - Birth of Frederik Pijper; Dutch vicar/church historian (The Monasteries).
- 1861 - First hostile act of coming war in America; US steamship Star of the West carrying troops and ammunition for Fort Sumter is fired on, at Sumter, South Carolina.
- 1861 - Mississippi becomes second state to secede from the USA.
- 1863 - First section of London Underground opens, the Metropolitan Railway from Paddington to King's Cross.
- 1867 - Birth of Jacques Urlus; Dutch tenor (Opera of Leipzig, Song of the Earth).
- 1869 - Birth of Richard Abegg in Danzig, Prussia; physical chemist, concept of valence.
- 1870 - Birth of Joseph B Strauss; civil engineer/builder (Golden Gate Bridge).
- 1876 - Birth of Robert Michels in Cologne, Germany; political sociologist and economist, developed the thesis that all organizations develop into authoritarian oligarchies.
- 1878 - Victor Emmanuel II, king of Sardinia (1849-61)/Italy (1861-78), dies at age 57.
- 1879 - Cheyenne prisoners led by Dull Knife revolt at Fort Robinson.
- 1879 - Don Joaquin BF Espartero, fieldmarshall/viceroy of Navarra, dies at age 86.
- 1879 - Kirland Warbler discovered on Andros Island in Bahamas.
- 1880 - 6 feet (1.8 metres) of snow falls in Seattle, Washington in five days.
- 1881 - Birth of Giovanni Papini in Italy; writer (Il Diavolo).
- 1881 - Birth of Lascelles Abercrombie; English poet/critic (Revaluations).
- 1890 - Birth of Karel Capek in Bohemia, Austrian-Hungarian Empire; writer (Rossum's Univeral Robots); coined the word "robot".
- 1890 - Birth of Kurt Tucholsky in Berlin; German satirist and cabaretist.
- 1891 - Birth of August Gailit in Estonia; writer (Ekke Moor).
- 1893 - Mohara Arab, ivory/slave trader, dies in battle and is eaten.
- 1898 - Birth of Gracie Fields AKA Grace Stansfield in Lancashire, England; comedienne and singer ("Sally", "Now is The Hour", "Walter Walter", "The Biggest Aspidistra in the World").
- 1898 - Birth of Vilma Banky in Budapest, Hungary; silent screen actress (Eagle, Rebel).
- 1901 - Birth of Chic Young; cartoonist (Blondie).
- 1902 - Birth of José María Julian Mariano Escribá, AKA Josémaria Escrivá, in Barbastro, Spain; Spanish priest, founder of Opus Dei.
- 1902 - Birth of Rudolph Bing; opera manager (New York Metropolitan Opera).
- 1902 - Gustaaf Rolin-Jaequemyns, Belgian lawyer/Interior minister, dies at age 66.
- 1903 - Baseball's National and American Leagues of baseball make peace.
- 1903 - Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota, is established.
- 1904 - Alfred Richard, cricket player (6 and 0 in only Test for South Africa 1895-96), dies.
- 1908 - Abraham Goldfaden, US Yiddish stage performer (Shulamis), dies at age 67.
- 1908 - Birth of Simone de Beauvoir in France; author (Mandarins, Second Sex).
- 1908 - Frans Schollaert succeeds Jules De Trooz as premier of Belgium.
- 1908 - Muir Woods National Monument is established in California.
- 1908 - Death of Wilhelm Busch in Mechtshausen bei Seesen, Germany; humorous writer, painter and poet, Max und Moritz (The Katzenjammer Kids) and Die fromme Helene, forerunner to the comic strip.
- 1912 - US marines invade Honduras.
- 1913 - Birth of Richard Milhouse Nixon in Yorba Linda, California, USA; 37th US President (Republican, 1969-74).
- 1914 - Birth of Derek Allhusen in England; equestrian (Olympics-gold-1968).
- 1914 - Birth of Gypsy Rose Lee [Rose Hovick] in Seattle, Washington, USA; burlesque actress (Gypsy).
- 1914 - Birth of Kenny (Klook) Clarke in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; jazz/drummer, composer (Epistrop).
- 1914 - A meteor explosion in Western France breaks windows.
- 1915 - Birth of Anita Louise in New York City, New York, USA; actress (My Friend Flicka).
- 1915 - Birth of Fernando Lamas in Buenos Aires, Argentina; actor (Run for Your Life TV show, It Takes a Thief TV show, Mission Impossible TV show, The Mod Squad TV show, Switch TV show, The Love Boat TV show).
- 1916 - Birth of Alain Bernardin; impressario (Crazy Horse Saloon).
- 1916 - Birth of Victor Mizzy in Brooklyn, New York, USA; orchestra leader, composer (The Don Rickles Show, Green Acres, The Addams Family).
- 1917 - Birth of Herbert Lom in Czechoslovakia; actor (The Pink Panther Strikes Again, Dorian Gray).
- 1922 - Birth of Ahmed Sékou Touré; President of Guinea (1957-84).
- 1922 - Birth of Har G Khorana; India/Canada bio-chemist (Nobel Prize 1968).
- 1922 - Rotterdam metal strike ends.
- 1923 - Pilot Gomez Spencer makes first successful flight of Cierva C-4 autogiro at Getaffe airport in Madrid, Spain. The autogiro was designed by Juan de la Cierva.
- 1923 - Katherine Mansfield, New Zealand/British writer (Dove's Nest), dies at age 34.
- 1924 - Birth of Julián B Coco; Curaçao guitarist/bassist (Utrecht Symphony Orchestra).
- 1925 - Birth of Lee Van Cleef in New Jersey, USA; actor (For a Few Dollars More, Escape from New York).
- 1925 - German Postal Minister A Höfle resigns due to corruption.
- 1927 - Fire in Laurier Palace cinema in Montréal, Quebec, Canada; 78 children die.
- 1928 - Birth of Domenico Modugno in Italy; singer ("Volare", "Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu", "Polignano A Mare").
- 1928 - Birth of Fernand J Saint Germain; American politician (Representative-Democrat-Rhode Island, 1961-).
- 1928 - Birth of Judith Krantz in New York City, New York, USA; author (Scruples, I'll Take Manhattan, Princess Daisy, Dazzle, Mistral's Daughter, Scruples, Till We Meet Again).
- 1930 - Edward W Buck, Dutch/US editor (Ladies Home Journal), dies at age 66.
- 1931 - Birth of Algi[rda]s [Jonas] Budrys in Prussia; sci-fi author (Man of Earth).
- 1931 - Claude Anet [Jean Schopfer], French writer (La fille perdue), dies.
- 1933 - Birth of Robert Garcia; American politician (Representative-Democrat-New York, 1978-).
- 1933 - Birth of Sonia Garmers [Justina] in Curaçao; author (Dear Queen).
- 1934 - Birth of Bart Starr; NFL quarterback/coach (Green Bay Packers).
- 1935 - Birth of Bob Denver in New Rochelle, New York, USA; actor (Dobie Gillis, Gilligan - Gilligan's Island).
- 1935 - Birth of Dick Enberg in Mount Clemens, Michigan, USA; sportscaster (Where's Huddles).
- 1936 - John Gilbert, actor (Love, Downstairs), dies at age 40.
- 1936 - Semi-automatic rifles adopted by US army.
- 1937 - Italian regime bans marriages between Italians and Abyssinians.
- 1938 - Birth of Aad Kosto; Dutch theologist/actor/assistant secretary of Justice.
- 1939 - Johann Strauss, Austrian conductor/Royal ball director, dies at age 72.
- 1940 - Two German officers make emergency landing in Belgium.
- 1940 - Birth of Jimmy Boyd McComb in Missouri, USA; actor/singer (Howard - Bachelor Father).
- 1940 - Finns destroy the remains of the Russian 44th Division at Lake Kianta, taking 1000 prisoners.
- 1940 - Union Castle Line's MV Dunbar Castle hits a mine and sinks, w miles north-east of Godwin Sands in the English Channel.
- 1941 - Columbia Broadcasting System gives its first demonstration of small-screen color television; the TV failed miserably.
- 1941 - 6,000 Jews exterminated in pogrom in Bucharest Romania.
- 1941 - Birth of Joan Baez in Staten Island, New York, USA; folk singer/human rights advocate.
- 1941 - Birth of Susannah York in London, England; actress (A Man for All Seasons, Tom Jones, We'll Meet Again).
- 1941 - Ko Boezeman, Dutch resistance fighter, dies.
- 1941 - Maiden flight by Canada's Avro Lancaster military plane.
- 1942 - Birth of K Callan in Dallas, Texas, USA; actress (This House Possessed, Splendor in the Grass, Martha - Lois and Clark).
- 1942 - Joe Louis knocks out Buddy Baer in one round for heavyweight boxing title.
- 1942 - US Joint Chiefs of Staff created.
- 1943 - Birth of Dick Yount; rocker (Harpers Bizarre).
- 1943 - Birth of Kathryn Walker in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; actress (Beacon Hill, Barbara - Another World).
- 1943 - Birth of Kenneth Kelley; American singer ("Manhattans", One Life to Live).
- 1943 - Birth of Rob Hoeke; Dutch pianist/singer ("Drinking on My Bed").
- 1943 - Japanese government in Java limits sale and use of motorcars.
- 1943 - Robin G Collingwood, English philosopher (Roman Britain), dies at age 53.
- 1944 - Birth of Jimmy Page in London, England; rock guitarist (Led Zeppelin - "Stairway to Heaven").
- 1944 - Birth of Scott Engel; vocalist (Walker Brothers - "Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore").
- 1945 - Birth of Frank J Biondi Junior; president (HBO).
- 1945 - Birth of Harun Farocki; actor/director (Nicht loeschbares Feur).
- 1945 - US soldiers led by General Douglas MacArthur invade Philippines.
- 1946 - Birth of Leo Gullotta; actor (Sinbad of the Seven Seas).
- 1946 - Countee Cullen, American poet (Black Christ, One Way to Heaven), dies in New York City, New York at age 42.
- 1947 - Karl Mannheim, sociologist (Diagnosis of Our Time), dies at age 53.
- 1947 - Lambertus Zijl, sculptor (Merchant Exchange-Amsterdam), dies at age 80.
- 1948 - Birth of Paul King; rocker (Blue Oyster Cult).
- 1948 - Birth of William Cowsill in Newport, Rhode Island, USA; rock guitarist/vocals (Cowsills - "We Can Fly").
- 1950 - Birth of David Johansen AKA Buster Poindexter in New York; singer ("Hot! Hot! Hot!").
- 1951 - Birth of Crystal Gayle in Kentucky, USA; country singer ("Don't it make my brown eyes blue").
- 1951 - Washington Capitals NBA club folds.
- 1952 - Belgian Pholien government resigns.
- 1952 - Birth of Eveline L Herfkens; Dutch Member of Parliament (PvdA).
- 1952 - Karel Sys wins European heavyweight boxing title.
- 1953 - Bevo Francis, Rio Grande College, scores 116 points in basketball game.
- 1953 - Hans Aanrud, Norwegian author (Storken), dies at age 89.
- 1953 - Korean ferryboat Chang Tyong-Ho sinks off Pusan killing 249.
- 1954 - -87 degrees F (-66 degrees C), Northice Station, Greenland (Greenland record).
- 1954 - Bert Olmstead, Montreal Canadiens, ties NHL record of 8 points in game.
- 1954 - Birth of Lance Hoppens; rocker (Orleans - "Still the One", "Dance With Me").
- 1954 - Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Louise Bogan and Leonie Adams.
- 1955 - Birth of J.K. Simmons; actor (The Closer, Law and Order).
- 1956 - Abigail Van Buren's "Dear Abby" column first appears in newspapers.
- 1956 - Birth of David Smith; cricket player (England lefty batsman in two Tests versus West Indies 1986).
- 1956 - Birth of Kimberly Beck Hilton in Glendale, California, USA; actress (Kim - Peyton Place).
- 1956 - Samir el-Rifai forms government in Jordan.
- 1957 - Checheno-Ingush ASSR reformed in RSFSR.
- 1957 - Dutch Newspaper Society expels communist daily paper Truth.
- 1957 - Karachayevo-Cherkess Autonomous Region reestablished in RSFSR.
- 1958 - Paul Fechter, German writer/historian (God's Magician), dies.
- 1959 - CBS TV debuts the western TV series Rawhide, starring Clint Eastwood.
- 1959 - Birth of Otis Nixon; US baseball outfielder (Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers).
- 1959 - Dam across Tera River collapses after heavy winter rains, 135 die.
- 1959 - Pat O'Connor beats Dick Hutton in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA to become NWA champ.
- 1960 - Birth of David Peoples in Augusta, Maine, USA; Nike golfer (1991 Buick Southern Open).
- 1960 - Birth of Lisa Walters in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada; LPGA golfer (Itoki Hawaiian-1992, 1993).
- 1960 - Building of Aswan dam in Egypt begins.
- 1961 - Minnesota Twins agree on US$500,000 payment to AA for Minneapolis/Saint Paul territory.
- 1962 - Birth of Phil Lewis in London, England; rock vocalist (LA Guns - "It's Over Now").
- 1962 - LeRoy B Shield, US pianist/composer (Union Pacific Suite), dies at age 68.
- 1962 - Mister M (Dr X) beats Verne Gagne in Minnesota, to become NWA champ.
- 1962 - NFL prohibits grabbing of face masks.
- 1962 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.
- 1963 - Birth of Eric Erlandson; guitarist (Hole).
- 1964 - Anti-US rioting breaks out in the Panamá Canal Zone.
- 1964 - Birth of Stan Javier in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic; outfielder (Oakland Athletics, San Francisco Giants).
- 1964 - Halide Edib Adevar/Salih, Turkish feminist (Handan), dies at about age 80.
- 1965 - "Beatles' '65" album goes #1 and stays #1 for 9 weeks.
- 1965 - Birth of Atsuo Kudo; hockey defenseman (Team Japan 1998).
- 1965 - Birth of Carin Garbarra in East Orange, New Jersey, USA; soccer forward (Olympics-1996).
- 1965 - Birth of Cindy Brooks in East Hampton, Connecticut, USA; rower (Olympics-1996).
- 1965 - Birth of Darren Bennett; NFL punter (San Diego Chargers).
- 1965 - Birth of Georg Franz in Straubing, Germany; hockey forward (Team Germany, Landshut).
- 1965 - Birth of Vincent Brown; NFL inside linebacker (New England Patriots).
- 1965 - Birth of [Tyrone] Muggsy Bogues; NBA guard (Charlotte Hornets, San Francisco Warriors, Washington Bullets).
- 1965 - Birth of Joely Richardson; actress (Nip/Tuck).
- 1966 - Birth of Jimmie Jones; defensive end/defensive tackle (Philadelphia Eagles).
- 1966 - Polish government denies exit visa to Cardinal Wyszynski revisionism.
- 1967 - Birth of Steve Harwell; singer (Smash Mouth).
- 1967 - Birth of Carl Bell; guitarist (Fuel).
- 1967 - Birth of Dave Matthews; singer/musician (Dave Matthews Band).
- 1967 - Birth of Dave Mcllwain in Seaforth, Ontario, Canada; NHL center (Pittsburgh Penguins).
- 1967 - Birth of Jamie Huscroft in Creston, British Columbia, Canada; NHL defenseman (Calgary Flames).
- 1967 - The NFL New Orleans franchise takes the name "Saints".
- 1968 - First ABA All-Star Game: East 126 beats West 120 at Indiana.
- 1968 - Birth of Jimmy Adams; cricket player (prolific West Indian lefty bat since 1992).
- 1968 - Birth of Joey Lauren Adams; actress-director (Second Noah, Married With Children).
- 1968 - Birth of Katie Anderson in Kingston, Jamaica; Canadian 100m hurdler (Olympics-7th-1992, 1996).
- 1968 - Birth of Mardi Lunn in Liverpool, Sydney, Australia; golfer (1991 Thailand Open).
- 1968 - Kokichi Tsuburaya, Japanese marathon runner (Olympics-bronze-1964), commits suicide.
- 1968 - Louis-François-Marie Aubert, French composer (Habanera), dies at age 90.
- 1968 - The ABC TV network airs the first It Takes a Thief 60-minute adventure TV show in the USA.
- 1968 - US Surveyor 7 space probe soft lands on the Moon.
- 1969 - Birth of Domingo Jean; Dominican/US baseball pitcher (Houston Astros).
- 1969 - Birth of Johanna Ikonen; ice hockey defenseman (Finland, Olympics-1998).
- 1969 - Concorde jetliner's first test flight (Bristol, England).
- 1970 - Birth of Graciela Schutt in El Paso, Texas, USA; WPVA volleyball player (Deerfield-25th-1995).
- 1970 - Constitution of Singapore enacted.
- 1971 - Birth of Bill Schroeder; NFL wide receiver (Green Bay Packers-Super Bowl XXXI).
- 1971 - Birth of Elizabeth Punsalan in Syracuse, New York, USA; dance skater (and Swallow, Olympics-15-1994).
- 1971 - Birth of Scott Thornton in London, Ontario, Canada; NHL left wing (Edmonton Oilers).
- 1972 - Billionaire Howard Hughes says Clifford Irving's biography is a fake.
- 1972 - Birth of Eddie Mason; NFL linebacker (New York Jets).
- 1972 - Birth of Jay Powell in Meridian, Mississippi, USA; pitcher (Florida Marlins).
- 1972 - Birth of Kristie Hicks in Bardstown, Kentucky, USA; Miss Kentucky-America (1995).
- 1972 - Marlene Hagge wins LPGA Burdine's Golf Invitational.
- 1972 - Former Cunard Line's passenger ship Queen Elizabeth catches fire and capsizes in Hong Kong harbor.
- 1972 - Ted Shawn, American dancer, dies at age 80.
- 1973 - Birth of Aaron Holbert; US baseball infielder (Saint Louis Cardinals).
- 1973 - Birth of Ronald Hamming; soccer player (FC Groningen, Fortuna Sittard).
- 1973 - The NBC TV network airs the last The Bold Ones TV show in the USA.
- 1974 - Birth of Craig Wishart; cricket player (Zimbabwe Test batsman versus South Africa 1995).
- 1974 - Birth of Jamain Stephens; NFL offensive tackle (Pittsburgh Steelers).
- 1975 - 600 employees of Royal Canadian Mint go on strike.
- 1975 - Australia beat England by 171 runs in fourth Test to regain Ashes.
- 1975 - Birth of Justin Huish in Fountain Valley, California, USA; archer (Olympics-gold-1996).
- 1975 - Birth of Mariano Friedick in Tarzana, California, USA; pursuit cyclist (Olympics-1996).
- 1975 - John Slater, actor (Deadlock, Three on a Spree), dies at age 58.
- 1975 - Pierre Fresnay, French actor (Monsieur Vincent), dies at age 77.
- 1976 - Birth of Amy Safe; Australian rower (Olympics-1996).
- 1976 - Birth of Radek Bonk in Koprivnice, Czechoslovakia; NHL center (Ottawa Senators, Team Czechoslovakia).
- 1976 - Bryan Trottier faila in fourth New York Islanders' penalty shot.
- 1976 - CW McCall CB song "Convoy" hit #1 on the country music charts.
- 1977 - Hal Sawyer, TV host (Sawyer Views Hollywood), dies at age 62.
- 1977 - Super Bowl XI: Oakland Raiders defeat Minnesota Vikings, 32-14, in Pasadena, California; Most Valuable Player: Fred Biletnikoff, Wide Receiver.
- 1978 - Commonwealth of Northern Marianas established.
- 1978 - Eddie Gilbert, cricket player (Aboriginal Queensland quick got Don for a duck), dies.
- 1978 - Birth of A.J. McLean; American singer (Backstreet Boys).
- 1979 - Birth of Lavinia Magruder; Miss Vermont Teen-USA (1996).
- 1979 - Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to WS Merwin.
- 1979 - High-school basketball player Daryl Moreau makes 126th consecutive free throw.
- 1979 - K-Mart pulls Steve Martin's "Let's Get Small" for being in "bad taste".
- 1979 - The Music for UNICEF Concert is held at the United Nations General Assembly to raise money for UNICEF and promote the Year of the Child. Hosted by The Bee Gees, other performers include Donna Summer, ABBA, Rod Stewart and Earth, Wind & Fire.
- 1979 - US Supreme Court strikes down (6-3) Pennsylvania law requiring doctors performing an abortion to try to preserve lives of potentially viable fetuses.
- 1980 - In Saudi Arabia, 63 Muslim fanatics are beheaded for their part in the siege of the Great Mosque in Mecca in November, 1979.
- 1980 - Birth of Sergio García; Spanish golfer.
- 1981 - Francisco Balsamao elected President of Portugal.
- 1982 - 5.9 earthquake in New England and Canada; first since 1855.
- 1982 - Steve D'Innocenzo scores three hockey goals in 12 seconds in Massachusetts high school game.
- 1983 - British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher visits the Falkland Islands.
- 1984 - First "Where's the beef?" TV ad for Wendy's restaurants airs, spoken by elderly actress Clara Peller.
- 1984 - Wolfgang Staudte, German director (Ciske de Rat), dies at age 77.
- 1984 - TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes premieres on NBC TV.
- 1984 - Atlanta Braves' pitcher Pascual Perez is arrested for cocaine possession.
- 1985 - Don Brennan, cricket wicketkeeper (England in two Tests 1951), dies.
- 1985 - Calgary Flames set NHL record 264th regular season game without being shut-out.
- 1986 - New York Islanders, greatest shutout margin (9-0) versus Pittsburgh Penguins.
- 1986 - After losing a patent battle with Polaroid, Kodak leaves the instant picture camera business.
- 1987 - Death of Arthur Lake at age 81 of a heart attack; actor (Dagwood - Blondie movies and radio shows).
- 1987 - Chinese/Vietnamese border fights, 1500 killed.
- 1987 - The Star Tours attraction opens in Tomorrowland at Disneyland. It cost US$32 million to create.
- 1987 - New Nicaraguan constitution takes effect.
- 1988 - English Earl of Saint Andrews marries Sylvana Tomaselli.
- 1988 - US male Figure Skating championship won by Brian Boitano.
- 1988 - Birth of Glyn Wise, Welsh television/radio personality - runner-up, Big Brother 2006.
- 1989 - The Pat Sajak Show TV show debuts on CBS TV.
- 1989 - Johnny Bench and Carl Yastrzemski elected to Baseball Hall of Fame.
- 1990 - 64th US manned space mission STS 32 (Columbia 10) launches into orbit.
- 1990 - Boston Celtics worst-ever (6 points in second versus New Jersey Nets) and lose 87-78.
- 1990 - Jim Palmer and Joe Morgan are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
- 1990 - Ugandan Lt. Gen. Bazilio Olara-Okello, who led a coup against Dr. Apolo Milton Obote's government, dies in Ormduruman Hospital in Khartoum, Sudan.
- 1991 - American James Baker and Iraqi Terak Aziz meet in Geneva, Switzerland; talks fail to defuse the Persian Gulf crisis.
- 1991 - Baseball officially bans Pete Rose from being elected to Hall of Fame.
- 1991 - Dean Smith of North Carolina is 6th to win 700 career coaching basketball games.
- 1991 - Microsoft releases Microsoft Excel for Windows 3.0, with Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) technology.
- 1992 - Death of Steve Brodie at age 72 of cancer; supporting actor (Desperate, Bodyguard, sheriff - Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955)).
- 1992 - William JF "Bill" Naughton, Irish/British playwright (Alfie), dies at 81 (born 1910).
- 1992 - At the Winter Consumer Electronics Show, Apple Computer chairman John Sculley coins the term Personal Digital Assistant, referring to handheld computers that typically operate via a stylus on a LCD display. Sculley announces that Apple will enter the consumer-electronics market by the end of the year.
- 1992 - Death of Claude Coats at age 78; artist at Walt Disney Company 1935-89 for films, displays at Disneyland attractions, named a Disney Legend 1988.
- 1993 - Alois Brunner, German/Syrian commandant of KZ-Lower Drancy, dies.
- 1993 - Felix Grucci, fireworks expert, dies of Alzheimer's disease at age 87.
- 1993 - Franziska van Almsick swims world record 100 metre free style (53.33).
- 1994 - Death of Johnny Temple, baseball player (born 1927).
- 1995 - Ecuador and Peru are involved in a boundary fight.
- 1995 - Death of Peter Cook at age 57 from gastrointestinal bleeding; English comic/actor (Peter n' Dud, Beyond the Fringe, Bedazzled).
- 1995 - Souphanouvong [Red Prince], President of Laos (1975-87), dies at age 85.
- 1995 - Valeri Polyakov completes 366 days in space while aboard the Mir space station, breaking a duration record.
- 1996 - Kurt Schmucker, German RFA minister of Economy (1963-66), dies.
- 1996 - NBC airs the first episode of TV show 3rd Rock from the Sun.
- 1996 - Art forger Eric Hebborn is assassinated in Rome, Italy.
- 1997 - Edward Osobka-Morawski, prime minister of Poland (1945-47), dies.
- 1997 - Death of Jesse White AKA Marc Weidenfeld of a heart attack at age 80; actor (Maytag Repairman in commercials, Private Secretary, Make Room for Daddy, Bedtime for Bonzo).
- 1997 - Junaidu ibn Buhari, scholar, dies at age 90.
- 1997 - Michael Eisner signs a new ten-year contract as chairman of Disney. His base salary is US$750,000 per year, plus a bonus tied to the company's financial performance, and he receives stock options for 8 million shares to be exercised between 2003 and 2006. The value of the options is estimated at US$195-771 million.
- 1998 - Anatoly Karpov defeats Viswanathan Anand to retain chess title.
- 1998 - Anatoly Solovyov and Pavel Vinogradov spacewalk record 3 hours 8 minutes.
- 1998 - Boston Red Sox player Mo Vaughn pleads not guilty to drunken driving.
- 1998 - Decapitated head of Danish Little Mermaid is returned.
- 1998 - Hockey News selects Wayne Gretzky best NHL player ever.
- 1998 - Death of Kenichi Fukui, Japanese chemist and Nobel Prize laureate, at age 79 (born 1918).
- 1999 - NBC airs the first episode of TV show Providence.
- 2001 - The Cleveland Indians sign Juan Gonzalez to a one-year, US$10 million deal.
- 2001 - ABC-TV airs first episode of reality TV show The Mole, hosted by Anderson Cooper.
- 2001 - Death of Maurice Prather, American motion picture and still photographer (born 1926).
- 2002 - Billy Wagner signs a US$27 million deal with the Houston Astros.
- 2002 - The United States Department of Justice announces it will pursue a criminal investigation of Enron.
- 2004 - Death of Norberto Bobbio, Italian philosophist (born 1909).
- 2005 - The same storm which pounded the U.S. earlier in the month hits England, Scandinavia, and the Baltic States, leaving 13 dead with widespread flooding and power cuts.
- 2005 - Carlos Beltran becomes the tenth $100 million player in major league history as he agrees to seven-year deal for $119 million with the New York Mets.
- 2005 - A peace agreement is signed between north and south Sudan ending about 50 years of war, which killed about 2 million Sudanese.
- 2005 - Mahmoud Abbas is elected to succeed Yasser Arafat as Palestinian Authority President.
- 2006 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 11,000 for the first time since June 7, 2001, closing at 11,011.90.
- 2006 - Death of Don Stewart at age 70 of lung cancer; actor (Mike Bauer - Guiding Light).
- 2007 - An AerianTur-M Antonov An-26 crashes in Balad, Iraq. The Islamic Army in Iraq claims to have shot it down.
- 2007 - A Greek 467-465 BCE silver decadrachm of Athens sells for US$575,000, a record for a Greek coin.
- 2007 - U.S. planes conduct air strikes in Somalia against suspected terrorists.
- 2007 - CBC TV debuts comedy TV show Little Mosque on the Prairie in Canada.
- 2008 - The government of China announces tighter price controls on a range of products.
- 2008 - 70-car pileup along Interstate 4 in Florida, USA, due to fog and smoke. Five deaths.
- 2008 - Death of Sir John Harvey-Jones, British chairman of Imperial Chemical Industries, at age 83.
- 2011 - (to January 15) Southern Sudan holds a referendum on independence. The Sudanese electorate votes in favour of independence, paving the way for the creation of the new state in July.
- 2012 - Death of Malam Bacai Sanhá, 6th and 12th President of Guinea-Bissau (born 1947).
- 2016 - In the United Kingdom, the National Lottery jackpot of 66 million pounds (US$95 million) is won.
- 2020 - Islamic State in the Greater Sahara militants assault a Nigerien military base in Chinagodrar, killing at least 89 Nigerien soldiers.
- 2020 - A rare, circumbinary planet called TOI 1338-b is discovered.
- 2022 - Death of Bob Saget at age 65, found dead in his hotel room in the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Florida, USA of blunt head trauma; comedian, actor (Full House TV show), host (America's Funniest Home Videos TV show).
- 2022 - Death of Dwayne Hickman at age 87 in Los Angeles, California from Parkinson's disease complications; actor (The Many Lives of Dobie Gillis).
- 2023 - Death of Charles Simic at age 84; poet (US poet laureate 2007-2008, Pulitzer Prize winner 1990).
- 2023 - Death of Melinda Dillon at age 83 in Los Angeles, California, USA; actor (Mrs. Parker - A Christmas Story movie (1983), Absence of Malice movie (1981), The Prince of Tides movie (1991), Close Encounters of the Third Kind movie (1977)).
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