January 16

For the play by Ayn Rand, see Night of January 16th.

January 16 is the 16th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 349 days remaining until the end of the year (350 in leap years).

Events

• 27 BC – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus is granted the title Augustus by the Roman Senate, marking the beginning of the Roman Empire.
• 378 – General Siyaj K'ak' conquers Tikal, enlarging the domain of King Spearthrower Owl of Teotihuacán.
• 550 – Gothic War: The Ostrogoths, under King Totila, conquer Rome after a long siege, by bribing the Isaurian garrison.
• 929 – Emir Abd-ar-Rahman III established the Caliphate of Córdoba.
• 1120 – The Council of Nablus is held, establishing the earliest surviving written laws of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.
• 1362 – A storm tide in the North Sea destroys the German city of Rungholt on the island of Strand.
• 1412 – The Medici family is appointed official banker of the Papacy.
• 1492 – The first grammar of the Spanish language is presented to Queen Isabella I.
• 1547 – Ivan IV of Russia aka Ivan the Terrible becomes Czar of Russia.
• 1556 – Philip II becomes King of Spain.
• 1572 – Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk is tried for treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot to restore Catholicism in England.
• 1581 – The English Parliament outlaws Roman Catholicism.
• 1605 – The first edition of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (Book One of Don Quixote) by Miguel de Cervantes is published in Madrid, Spain.
• 1707 – The Scottish Parliament ratifies the Act of Union, paving the way for the creation of Great Britain.
• 1761 – The British capture Pondichéry, India from the French.
• 1780 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cape St. Vincent.
• 1786 – Virginia enacted the Statute for Religious Freedom authored by Thomas Jefferson.
• 1809 – Peninsular War: The British defeat the French at the Battle of La Coruña.
• 1847 – John C. Frémont is appointed Governor of the new California Territory.
• 1862 – Hartley Colliery Disaster: 204 men and boys killed in a mining disaster, prompted a change in UK law which henceforth required all collieries to have at least two independent means of escape.
• 1878 – Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) – Battle of Philippopolis: Captain Aleksandr Burago with a squadron of Russian Imperial army dragoons liberates Plovdiv from Ottoman rule.
• 1883 – The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, establishing the United States Civil Service, is passed.
• 1896 – Defeat of Cymru Fydd at South Wales Liberal Federation AGM, Newport, Monmouthshire.
• 1900 – The United States Senate accepts the Anglo-German treaty of 1899 in which the United Kingdom renounces its claims to the Samoan islands.
• 1909 – Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the magnetic South Pole.
• 1919 – Temperance movement: The United States ratifies the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, authorizing Prohibition in the United States one year after ratification.
• 1920 – The League of Nations holds its first council meeting in Paris, France.
• 1924 – Eleftherios Venizelos becomes Prime Minister of Greece for the fourth time.
• 1939 – The Irish Republican Army (IRA) begins a bombing and sabotage campaign in England.
• 1942 – Crash of TWA Flight 3, killing all 22 aboard, including film star Carole Lombard.
• 1945 – Adolf Hitler moves into his underground bunker, the so-called Führerbunker.
• 1956 – President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt vows to reconquer Palestine.
• 1964 – Hello, Dolly! (musical) starring Carol Channing opened on Broadway, beginning a run of 2,844 performances.
• 1969 – Czech student Jan Palach commits suicide by self-immolation in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in protest against the Soviets' crushing of the Prague Spring the year before.
• 1969 – Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 perform the first-ever docking of manned spacecraft in orbit, the first-ever transfer of crew from one space vehicle to another, and the only time such a transfer was accomplished with a space walk.
• 1970 – Buckminster Fuller receives the Gold Medal award from the American Institute of Architects.
• 1979 – The last Iranian Shah flees Iran with his family for good and relocates to Egypt.
• 1986 – First meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force.
• 1991 – The Coalition Forces go to war with Iraq, beginning the Gulf War (U.S. Time).
• 1992 – El Salvador officials and rebel leaders sign the Chapultepec Peace Accords in Mexico City, Mexico ending the 12-year Salvadoran Civil War that claimed at least 75,000 lives.
• 2001 – Congolese President Laurent-Désiré Kabila is assassinated by one of his own bodyguards.
• 2001 – US President Bill Clinton awards former President Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor for his service in the Spanish–American War.
• 2002 – The UN Security Council unanimously establishes an arms embargo and the freezing of assets of Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda, and the remaining members of the Taliban.
• 2003 – The Space Shuttle Columbia takes off for mission STS-107 which would be its final one. Columbia disintegrated 16 days later on re-entry.
• 2005 – Romanian university lecturer and novelist Adriana Iliescu gives birth at 66 to her daughter Eliza, breaking the record for the oldest birth mother in the world
• 2006 – Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is sworn in as Liberia's new president. She becomes Africa's first female elected head of state.
• 2013 – An estimated 41 international workers are taken hostage in an attack in the town of In Aménas, Algeria.

Births

• 1093 – Isaac Komnenos, Byzantine sebastokratōr (d. 1152)
• 1245 – Edmund Crouchback, English prince and crusader (d. 1296)
• 1409 – René of Anjou, King of Naples (d. 1480)
• 1477 – Johannes Schöner, German astronomer and cartographer (d. 1547)
• 1501 – Anthony Denny, English confidant of Henry VIII (d. 1559)
• 1516 – Bayinnaung, Burmese king (d. 1581)
• 1616 – François de Vendôme, Duc de Beaufort, French soldier (d. 1669)
• 1626 – Lucas Achtschellinck, Flemish painter (d. 1699)
• 1634 – Dorthe Engelbrechtsdatter, Norwegian poet (d. 1716)
• 1675 – Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon, French soldier, diplomat, and author (d. 1755)
• 1691 – Peter Scheemakers, Flemish sculptor (d. 1781)
• 1728 – Niccolò Piccinni, Italian composer (d. 1800)
• 1749 – Vittorio Alfieri, Italian playwright (d. 1803)
• 1757 – Richard Goodwin Keats, English admiral (d. 1834)
• 1807 – Charles Henry Davis, American admiral (d. 1877)
• 1815 – Henry Halleck, American general (d. 1872)
• 1821 – John C. Breckinridge, American general and politician, 14th Vice President of the United States (d. 1875)
• 1834 – Robert R. Hitt, American politician, 13th United States Assistant Secretary of State (d. 1906)
• 1836 – Francis II of the Two Sicilies (d. 1894)
• 1838 – Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist (d. 1917)
• 1844 – Ismail Qemali, Albanian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Albania (d. 1919)
• 1853 – Johnston Forbes-Robertson, English actor and manager (d. 1937)
• 1853 – Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton, Greek-English military commander (d. 1947)
• 1853 – André Michelin, French businessman, co-founded the Michelin Tyre Company (d. 1931)
• 1855 – Eleanor Marx, English social activist and translator (d. 1898)
• 1870 – Jüri Jaakson, Estonian politician and businessman (d. 1942)
• 1872 – Henri Büsser, French organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1973)
• 1872 – Edward Gordon Craig, English actor, producer, and director (d. 1966)
• 1874 – Robert W. Service, Canadian poet (d. 1958)
• 1875 – Leonor Michaelis, German biochemist (d. 1947)
• 1878 – Harry Carey, American actor (d. 1947)
• 1880 – Samuel Jones, American high jumper (d. 1954)
• 1882 – Robert Lane, Canadian soccer player (d. 1940)
• 1882 – Margaret Wilson, American novelist (d. 1973)
• 1885 – Zhou Zuoren, Chinese author (d. 1967)
• 1886 – John Hamilton, American actor (d. 1958)
• 1888 – Osip Brik, Russian author and critic (d. 1945)
• 1893 – Daisy Kennedy, Australian violinist (d. 1981)
• 1894 – Irving Mills, American publisher (d. 1985)
• 1895 – T. M. Sabaratnam, Ceylon Tamil politician (d. 1966)
• 1895 – Nat Schachner, American author (d. 1955)
• 1896 – Ruth Rose, American screenwriter (d. 1978)
• 1897 – Carlos Pellicer, Mexican poet (d. 1977)
• 1898 – Margaret Booth, American film editor (d. 2002)
• 1898 – Irving Rapper, English-American director and producer (d. 1999)
• 1900 – Edith Frank, German Holocaust victim, mother of Anne Frank (d. 1945)
• 1901 – Fulgencio Batista, Cuban army officer and politician, 9th President of Cuba (d. 1973)
• 1901 – Frank Zamboni, American inventor and businessman, invented the ice resurfacer (d. 1988)
• 1902 – Eric Liddell, Scottish runner, rugby union player, and missionary (d. 1945)
• 1903 – William Grover-Williams, English-French race car driver (d. 1945)
• 1905 – Ernesto Halffter, Spanish composer and conductor (d. 1989)
• 1906 – Johannes Brenner, Estonian footballer (d. 1975)
• 1906 – Diana Wynyard, English actress (d. 1964)
• 1907 – Alexander Knox, Canadian actor (d. 1995)
• 1907 – Paul Nitze, American banker and politician (d. 2004)
• 1908 – Ethel Merman, American actress and singer (d. 1984)
• 1908 – Günther Prien, German captain (d. 1941)
• 1910 – Dizzy Dean, American baseball player (d. 1974)
• 1911 – Eduardo Frei Montalva, Chilean politician, 28th President of Chile (d. 1982)
• 1911 – Roger Lapébie, French cyclist (d. 1996)
• 1914 – Roger Wagner, French-American conductor (d. 1992)
• 1915 – Leslie H. Martinson, American director
• 1916 – Philip Lucock, English-Australian minister and politician (d. 1996)
• 1917 – Carl Karcher, American businessman, founded Carl's Jr. (d. 2008)
• 1918 – Nel Benschop, Dutch poet (d. 2005)
• 1918 – Allan Ekelund, Swedish film producer (d. 2009)
• 1918 – Clem Jones, Australian politician, 8th Lord Mayor of Brisbane (d. 2007)
• 1918 – Stirling Silliphant, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1996)
• 1919 – Jerome Horwitz, American scientist (d. 2012)
• 1920 – Alberto Crespo, Argentine race car driver (d. 1991)
• 1920 – Elliott Reid, American actor and screenwriter (d. 2013)
• 1921 – Francesco Scavullo, American photographer (d. 2004)
• 1922 – Ernesto Bonino, Italian singer (d. 2008)
• 1923 – Gene Feist, American playwright and director, co-founded the Roundabout Theatre Company
• 1923 – Anthony Hecht, American poet (d. 2004)
• 1923 – Keith Shackleton, English artist
• 1924 – Katy Jurado, Mexican actress (d. 2002)
• 1925 – Peter Hirsch, English metallurgist
• 1925 – James Robinson Risner, American general (d. 2013)
• 1926 – O. P. Nayyar, Indian film music director and composer (d. 2007)
• 1928 – William Kennedy, American journalist and author
• 1928 – Pilar Lorengar, Spanish soprano (d. 1996)
• 1929 – Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah, Sri Lankan anthropologist and academic
• 1930 – Clarence Ray Allen, American murderer (d. 2006)
• 1930 – Mary Ann McMorrow, American judge (d. 2013)
• 1930 – Norman Podhoretz, American author
• 1930 – Paula Tilbrook, English actress
• 1931 – Robert L. Park, American physicist
• 1931 – Johannes Rau, German politician, 8th Federal President of Germany (d. 2006)
• 1932 – Victor Ciocâltea, Romanian chess player (d. 1983)
• 1932 – Dian Fossey, American primatologist (d. 1985)
• 1933 – Susan Sontag, American author (d. 2004)
• 1934 – Marilyn Horne, American soprano
• 1935 – A. J. Foyt, American race car driver
• 1936 – Michael White, Scottish film producer
• 1937 – Lorraine Bayly, Australian actress
• 1937 – Luiz Bueno, Brazilian race car driver (d. 2011)
• 1938 – Michael Pataki, American actor (d. 2010)
• 1938 – Jô Soares, Brazilian comedian, actor, and talk show host
• 1938 – Marina Vaizey, American art critic
• 1939 – Mac Curtis, American singer (d. 2013)
• 1940 – Lepa Lukić, Serbian singer
• 1941 – Christine Truman, English tennis player
• 1942 – René Angélil, Canadian singer and manager
• 1942 – Barbara Lynn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1943 – Gavin Bryars, English bassist and composer
• 1943 – Brian Ferneyhough, English-American composer
• 1944 – Gerd Klier, German footballer (d. 2011)
• 1944 – Jim Stafford, American singer-songwriter
• 1945 – Wim Suurbier, Dutch footballer
• 1946 – Kabir Bedi, Indian actor
• 1946 – Ronnie Milsap, American singer and pianist
• 1946 – Katia Ricciarelli, Italian soprano
• 1947 – Elaine Murphy, English psychogeriatrician and politician
• 1947 – Magdalen Nabb, English author (d. 2007)
• 1947 – Sara Jane Olson, American terrorist
• 1947 – Harvey Proctor, English politician
• 1947 – Laura Schlessinger, American physiologist, talk show host, and author
• 1947 – Harald Stabell, Norwegian lawyer
• 1948 – John Carpenter, American director
• 1948 – Dalvanius Prime, New Zealand singer-songwriter (d. 2002)
• 1948 – Ruth Reichl, American critic
• 1948 – Cliff Thorburn, Canadian snooker player
• 1949 – Anne F. Beiler, American businesswoman, founded Auntie Anne's
• 1949 – Roy Foster, Irish historian
• 1949 – Oliver Humperdink, American wrestling manager (d. 2011)
• 1949 – Caroline Munro, English actress and singer
• 1949 – Andrew Refshauge, Australian politician, 13th Deputy Premier of New South Wales
• 1950 – Debbie Allen, American actress, dancer, and choreographer
• 1950 – Brian Castro, Australian author
• 1950 – Robert Schimmel, American comedian (d. 2010)
• 1950 – Damo Suzuki, Japanese singer and guitarist (Can)
• 1951 – Glenn Ordway, American radio host
• 1952 – Fuad II of Egypt
• 1952 – L. Blaine Hammond, American pilot and astronaut
• 1952 – Piercarlo Ghinzani, Italian racing driver
• 1952 – Julie Anne Peters, American young adult author
• 1953 – Robert Jay Mathews, American militant, founded The Order (d. 1984)
• 1953 – John Stephen Hill, Canadian actor
• 1954 – Vasili Zhupikov, Russian footballer and coach
• 1955 – Jerry M. Linenger, American doctor and astronaut
• 1956 – Jennifer Dale, Canadian actress
• 1956 – Wayne Daniel, Barbadian cricketer
• 1956 – Martin Jol, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1956 – Ivan Safronov, Russian journalist (d. 2007)
• 1957 – Jurijs Andrejevs, Latvian footballer
• 1957 – Ricardo Darín, Argentine actor, screenwriter, and director
• 1957 – Mark Pawsey, English politician
• 1958 – Anatoli Boukreev, Russian mountaineer (d. 1997)
• 1958 – Lena Ek, Swedish politician
• 1958 – Marla Frazee, American children's author and illustrator
• 1959 – Sade Adu, Nigerian-English singer-songwriter and producer
• 1959 – Juanita Bynum, American actress, singer, and author
• 1959 – Lisa Milroy, Canadian painter
• 1961 – Ronnie Lee Gardner, American criminal (d. 2010)
• 1961 – Paul Raven, English bass player (Killing Joke, Prong, Godflesh, Zilch, Society 1, and Ministry) (d. 2007)
• 1962 – Joel Fitzgibbon, Australian politician, 51st Minister of Defence for Australia
• 1962 – Denis O'Hare, Irish-American actor
• 1962 – John T. Riedl, American computer scientist (d. 2013)
• 1962 – Paul Webb, English bass player (Talk Talk and .O.rang)
• 1963 – James May, English journalist and television host
• 1964 – Deyan Nedelchev, Bulgarian pop singer, composer and showman
• 1965 – Maxine Jones, American singer (En Vogue)
• 1965 – Jill Sobule, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1968 – Danni Ashe, American model and businesswoman
• 1968 – David Chokachi, American actor
• 1968 – Rebecca Stead, American author
• 1969 – Neil Back, England rugby player
• 1969 – Marinus Bester, German footballer
• 1969 – Roy Jones, Jr., American boxer
• 1969 – Per "Dead" Ohlin, Swedish singer-songwriter (Mayhem and Morbid) (d. 1991)
• 1969 – Rich Ward, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Fozzy, Stuck Mojo, and Adrenaline Mob)
• 1970 – Rick Bognar, Canadian wrestler
• 1970 – Garth Ennis, British comics writer
• 1970 – Brendan O'Hare, Scottish drummer (Teenage Fanclub, Telstar Ponies, Mogwai)
• 1970 – Ron Villone, American baseball player
• 1971 – Sergi Bruguera, Spanish tennis player
• 1971 – Jonathan Mangum, American actor
• 1972 – Ruben Bagger, Danish footballer
• 1972 – Ang Christou, Australian footballer
• 1972 – Dameon Clarke, Canadian actor
• 1972 – Yuri Drozdov, Russian footballer
• 1972 – Ezra Hendrickson, Vincentian footballer
• 1972 – Salah Hissou, Moroccan runner
• 1972 – Joe Horn, American football player
• 1972 – Richard T. Jones, Japanese-American actor
• 1972 – Greg Page, Australian singer and actor (The Wiggles)
• 1972 – Alen Peternac, Croatian footballer
• 1973 – Josie Davis, American actress and producer
• 1974 – Marlon Anderson, American baseball player
• 1974 – Brent Hinds, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Mastodon)
• 1974 – Kate Moss, English model
• 1975 – Greg Strause, American director and producer
• 1975 – Gillian Iliana Waters, American actress
• 1976 – Viktor Maslov, Russian race car driver
• 1976 – Martina Moravcová, Slovak swimmer
• 1977 – Jeff Foster, American basketball player
• 1977 – Ariel Ze'evi, Israeli martial artist
• 1978 – Alfredo Amézaga, Mexican baseball player
• 1979 – Aaliyah, American singer, dancer, and actress (d. 2001)
• 1979 – Muntadhar al-Zaidi, Iraqi journalist
• 1979 – Mark Anthony Fernandez, Filipino actor
• 1979 – Brenden Morrow, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1979 – Jason Ward, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1980 – Seydou Keita, Malian footballer
• 1980 – Lin-Manuel Miranda, American actor and composer
• 1980 – Albert Pujols, Dominican-American baseball player
• 1980 – Katalin Vad, Hungarian porn actress and model
• 1981 – Jamie Lundmark, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1981 – Nick Valensi, American guitarist (The Strokes)
• 1981 – Bobby Zamora, English footballer
• 1982 – Preston, English singer-songwriter (The Ordinary Boys)
• 1982 – Tuncay Şanlı, Turkish footballer
• 1982 – Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, Danish actress
• 1983 – Emanuel Pogatetz, Austrian footballer
• 1983 – Andriy Rusol, Ukrainian footballer
• 1984 – Stephan Lichtsteiner, Swiss footballer
• 1984 – Jared Slingerland, Canadian guitarist (Left Spine Down and Front Line Assembly)
• 1984 – Kurt Travis, American singer-songwriter (Dance Gavin Dance and A Lot Like Birds)
• 1985 – Joe Flacco, American football player
• 1985 – Gintaras Januševičius, Lithuanian pianist
• 1985 – Sidharth Malhotra, Indian actor
• 1985 – Jonathan Richter, Danish footballer
• 1985 – Simon Richter, Danish footballer
• 1985 – Pablo Zabaleta, Argentine footballer
• 1986 – Mason Gamble, American actor
• 1986 – Irina Kuzmina, Latvian tennis player
• 1986 – Paula Pareto, Argentine martial artist
• 1986 – Johannes Rahn, German footballer
• 1986 – Mark Trumbo, American baseball player
• 1986 – Reto Ziegler, Swiss footballer
• 1987 – Charlotte Henshaw, English swimmer
• 1987 – Lauren McAvoy, English model
• 1988 – Nicklas Bendtner, Danish footballer
• 1988 – Li Xiaoxia, Chinese table tennis player
• 1988 – Jorge Torres Nilo, Mexican footballer
• 1989 – Yvonne Zima, American actress
• 1991 – Matt Duchene, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1992 – Maja Keuc, Slovenian singer
• 1993 – Hannes Anier, Estonian footballer
• 1993 – Amandine Hesse, French tennis player
• 1995 – Mikaela Turik, Australian-Canadian cricketer

Deaths

• 378 – Chak Tok Ich'aak I, Mayan king
• 654 – Gao Jifu, Chinese chancellor (b. 596)
• 960 – Patriarch Polyeuctus of Constantinople (b. 956)
• 1327 – Nikephoros Choumnos, Byzantine politician and scholar (b. 1250)
• 1387 – Elizabeth of Bosnia (b. 1339)
• 1400 – John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter, English politician (b. 1352)
• 1545 – George Spalatin, German reformer (b. 1484)
• 1547 – Johannes Schöner, German astronomer and cartographer (b. 1477)
• 1554 – Christiern Pedersen, Danish publisher and scholar (b. 1480)
• 1585 – Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln, English admiral (b. 1512)
• 1592 – John Casimir of the Palatinate-Simmern (b. 1543)
• 1659 – Charles Annibal Fabrot, French lawyer (b. 1580)
• 1710 – Emperor Higashiyama of Japan (b. 1675)
• 1711 – Joseph Vaz, Indian priest and apostle (b. 1651)
• 1747 – Barthold Heinrich Brockes, German poet (b. 1680)
• 1748 – Arnold Drakenborch, Dutch scholar (b. 1684)
• 1750 – Ivan Trubetskoy, Russian field marshal (b. 1667)
• 1752 – Francis Blomefield, English historian (b. 1705)
• 1794 – Edward Gibbon, English historian and politician (b. 1737)
• 1809 – John Moore, English general (b. 1761)
• 1817 – Alexander J. Dallas, Jamacian-American politician, 6th United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1759)
• 1834 – Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette, French mathematician (b. 1769)
• 1856 – Thaddeus William Harris, American entomologist and botanist (b. 1795)
• 1864 – Anton Schindler, Austrian biographer (b. 1795)
• 1865 – Edmond François Valentin About, French journalist and author (b. 1828)
• 1879 – Octave Crémazie, Canadian poet (b. 1827)
• 1886 – Amilcare Ponchielli, Italian composer (b. 1834)
• 1891 – Léo Delibes, French composer (b. 1836)
• 1898 – Charles Pelham Villiers, English lawyer and politician (b. 1802)
• 1901 – Jules Barbier, French poet (b. 1825)
• 1901 – Arnold Böcklin, Swiss painter (b. 1827)
• 1901 – Hiram Rhodes Revels, American minister and politician (b. 1822)
• 1906 – Marshall Field, American businessman, founded Marshall Field's (b. 1834)
• 1917 – George Dewey, American admiral (b. 1837)
• 1917 – Herbert von Petersdorff, German swimmer (b. 1882)
• 1919 – Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves, Brazilian politician, 5th President of Brazil (b. 1848)
• 1920 – Reginald De Koven, American composer and critic (b. 1859)
• 1935 – Ma Barker, American criminal (b. 1871)
• 1936 – Albert Fish, American serial killer (b. 1870)
• 1938 – Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay Indian author (b. 1876)
• 1939 – William O'Connor, American fencer (b. 1864)
• 1942 – Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (b. 1850)
• 1942 – Villem Grünthal-Ridala, Estonian poet, translator, linguist and folklorist (b. 1885)
• 1942 – Carole Lombard, American actress (b. 1908)
• 1942 – Ernst Scheller, German politician, Mayor of Marburg (b. 1899)
• 1957 – Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone, English general and politician, 16th Governor General of Canada (b. 1874)
• 1957 – Arturo Toscanini, Italian conductor (b. 1867)
• 1959 – Phan Khôi, Vietnamese journalist and author (b. 1887)
• 1960 – Arthur Darby, English rugby player (b. 1876)
• 1961 – Max Schöne, German swimmer (b. 1880)
• 1962 – Frank Hurley, Australian photographer (b. 1885)
• 1962 – Ivan Meštrović, Croatian sculptor, designed the Monument to the Unknown Hero and Pobednik (b. 1883)
• 1963 – Ike Quebec, American saxophonist (b. 1918)
• 1967 – Robert J. Van de Graaff, American physicist (b. 1901)
• 1968 – Bob Jones, Sr., American evangelist, founded Bob Jones University (b. 1883)
• 1968 – Panagiotis Poulitsas, Greek judge and archeologist (b. 1881)
• 1969 – Vernon Duke, Russian-American composer and songwriter (b. 1903)
• 1971 – Philippe Thys, Belgian cyclist (b. 1890)
• 1972 – Teller Ammons, American politician, 28th Governor of Colorado (b. 1895)
• 1972 – Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., American singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, and actor (Alvin and the Chipmunks) (b. 1919)
• 1975 – Israel Abramofsky, Russian-American painter (b. 1888)
• 1978 – A. V. Kulasingham, Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer (b. 1890)
• 1979 – Ted Cassidy, American actor (b. 1932)
• 1979 – August Heissmeyer, German SS officer (b. 1897)
• 1981 – Bernard Lee, English actor (b. 1908)
• 1982 – Red Smith, American columnist (b. 1905)
• 1985 – Robert Fitzgerald, American poet and translator (b. 1910)
• 1986 – Herbert W. Armstrong, American evangelist, author, and publisher (b. 1892)
• 1987 – Bertram Wainer, Australian physician and activist (b. 1928)
• 1988 – Andrija Artuković, Croatian politician (b. 1899)
• 1988 – Ballard Berkeley, English actor (b. 1904)
• 1989 – Prem Nazir, Indian actor (b. 1926)
• 1993 – Glenn Corbett, American actor (b. 1930)
• 1993 – Jón Páll Sigmarsson, Icelandic strongman and powerlifter (b. 1960)
• 1995 – Eric Mottram, English poet and critic (b. 1924)
• 1996 – Marcia Davenport, American author and critic (b. 1903)
• 1996 – Kaye Webb, British journalist and publisher(b. 1914)
• 1997 – Ennis Cosby, American son of Bill Cosby (b. 1969)
• 1997 – Markus Hoffmann, German actor (b. 1971)
• 1998 – Dimitris Horn, Greek actor (b. 1921)
• 1999 – Jim McClelland, Australian jurist and politician (b. 1915)
• 2000 – Will "Dub" Jones, American singer (The Coasters and The Cadets) (b. 1928)
• 2000 – Robert R. Wilson, American physicist (b. 1914)
• 2001 – Auberon Waugh, English author and journalist (b. 1939)
• 2002 – Robert Hanbury Brown, English astronomer and physicist (b. 1916)
• 2002 – Bobo Olson, American boxer (b. 1928)
• 2002 – Ron Taylor, American actor and singer (b. 1952)
• 2003 – Richard Wainwright, English politician (b. 1918)
• 2004 – Kalevi Sorsa, Finnish politician 34th Prime Minister of Finland (b. 1930)
• 2005 – Marjorie Williams, American journalist (b. 1958)
• 2006 – Stanley Biber, American surgeon (b. 1923)
• 2007 – Ron Carey, American actor (b. 1935)
• 2007 – Benny Parsons, American race car driver and sportscaster (b. 1941)
• 2009 – Joe Erskine, American boxer and runner (b. 1930)
• 2009 – John Mortimer, English lawyer and author (b. 1923)
• 2009 – Andrew Wyeth, American painter (b. 1917)
• 2010 – Glen Bell, American businessman, founded Taco Bell (b. 1923)
• 2012 – Gustav Leonhardt, Dutch pianist and conductor (b. 1928)
• 2013 – Wayne D. Anderson, American baseball player and coach (b. 1930)
• 2013 – André Cassagnes, French toy maker, created the Etch A Sketch (b. 1926)
• 2013 – Robert Citron, American politician (b. 1925)
• 2013 – Burhan Doğançay, Turkish painter (b. 1929)
• 2013 – Noé Hernández, Mexican race walker (b. 1978)
• 2013 – Barry Holloway, Australian-Papua New Guinean politician (b. 1934)
• 2013 – Samson Kimobwa, Kenyan runner (b. 1955)
• 2013 – Yevdokiya Mekshilo, Russian skier (b. 1931)
• 2013 – Gussie Moran, American tennis player (b. 1923)
• 2013 – Pauline Phillips, American columnist and radio host, created Dear Abby (b. 1918)
• 2013 – Kroum Pindoff, Greek-Canadian businessman (b. 1915)
• 2013 – Nic Potter, English bass player and songwriter (Van der Graaf Generator and The Misunderstood) (b. 1951)
• 2013 – John R. Powers, American author and playwright (b. 1945)
• 2013 – Perrette Pradier, French actress (b. 1938)
• 2013 – Glen P. Robinson, American businessman, founded Scientific Atlanta (b. 1923)
• 2013 – Aslan Usoyan, Georgian-Russian mobster (b. 1937)
• 2014 – Russell Johnson, American actor (b. 1924)
• 2014 – Dave Madden, Canadian-born American actor (b. 1931)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Pope Marcellus I
  • Blessed Joseph Vaz
  • Berard of Carbio
  • Fursey
  • Honoratus of Arles
  • Titian of Oderzo
  • January 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Flag Day or Magen David Day (Israel)
• Teachers' Day (Thailand)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On this day in Canada