This Day in History for 4th January
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All Events Birthdays Deaths | ||||||
Historical Events
Results 1 - 100 of 158
46 BC - Titus Labienus defeats Julius Caesar in the Battle of Ruspina.
274 - St Eutychian begins his reign as Catholic Pope
871 - Battle at Reading: Ethelred of Wessex beats Danish invasion army
1357 - Flemish earl Louis & Luxembourg Duke Wenceslaus sign peace treaty
1490 - Anna of Brittany announces that all those who would ally with the king of France will be considered guilty of the crime of lese-majesty.
1493 - Columbus left new world on return from 1st voyage
1519 - -6] 1st Altenburger sermon (Luther & Karl von Miltitz)
1570 - Spanish viceroy Alva banishes Zutphen City's only physician, Joost Sweiter, "because he is a Jew"
1642 - King Charles I with 400 soldiers attacks the English parliament
1698 - Most of the Palace of Whitehall in London, the main residence of the English monarchs, is destroyed by fire.
1717 - Netherlands, England & France sign Triple Alliance
1725 - Benjamin Franklin arrives in London [OS=Dec 24 1724]
1754 - Columbia University founded, as Kings College (NYC)
1762 - England declares war on Spain & Naples
1780 - Snowstorm hit Washington's army at Morristown, NJ
1781 - Andre Méchain discovers M80 (globular cluster in Scorpio)
1790 - Pres Washington delivers 1st "State of the Union"
1832 - Insurrection of Trinidad negroes
1843 - Gaetano Donizetti's opera "Don Pasquale," premieres in Paris
1843 - Royal Academy (Technical Hague court) Delft opens
1847 - Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the United States government.
1854 - The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the Samarang.
1861 - Pres Buchanan appoints a fast on account of threatened succession
1861 - US Ft Morgan, Mobile, seized by Alabama
1862 - -Jan 17th) Battle of Ft Hindman, AK (Arkansas Post)
1862 - Romney Campaign-Stonewall Jackson occupies Bath
1863 - 4 wheeled roller skates patented by James Plimpton of NY
1865 - The New York Stock Exchange opens its first permanent headquarters at 10-12 Broad near Wall Street in New York City.
1878 - Sofia is emancipated from Ottoman rule.
1881 - Johannes Brahms' "Academic Festival Overture" premieres, Breslau
1883 - Ontario Rugby Football Union (forerunner of CFL) forms
1884 - Last sighting of an eastern cougar (Ontario)
1884 - The Fabian Society is founded in London.
1885 - Dr W W Grant of Iowa, performs 1st appendectomy (on Mary Gartside, 22)
1887 - Thomas Stevens is 1st man to bicycle around the world (SF-SF)
1893 - US pres Cleveland grants amnesty to Mormon polygamy
1894 - France ratifies Duple Alliance with Russia
1896 - AFL charters Actors' National Protective Union, NYC
1896 - Following Mormon abandonment of polygamy, Utah admitted as 45th state
1898 - 1st installment of William Dean Howell's "Life & Letters" appears
1902 - Hugh Trumble takes a hat-trick v England at the MCG
1903 - Topsy, an elephant, was electrocuted by Thomas Edison during the War of Currents campaign.
1904 - Stanley Cup: Ottawa Silver 7 beat Winnipeg Rowing Club, 2 games to 1
1904 - Supreme Court rules Puerto Ricans cannot be denied admission to US
1906 - South Africa beat England by one wicket, their 1st Test win
1907 - George Bernard Shaw's "Don Juan in Hell," premieres in London
1912 - Smallest earth-moon distance this century, 356,375 km center-to-ctr
1912 - The Scout Association is incorporated throughout the British Commonwealth by Royal Charter.
1915 - 1st elected Jewish governor, Moses Alexander, takes office in Idaho
1915 - Trans-Caucausus Russian defeat Turkish troops
1920 - 1st Black baseball league, National Negro Baseball League, organizes
1920 - Amsterdam actors decide to strike for retirement benefits
1921 - Eugene O'Neill's "Diff'rent," premieres in NYC
1923 - 1st broadcast of "Barn Dance Show" (WBAP - Ft Worth Texas)
1923 - Lenin's "Political Testament" calls for removal of Stalin
1925 - French psychologist Emil Coué brings his self-esteem therapy to US "Every day in every way I am getting better & better"
1926 - Theodorus Pangalos resigns as Greek dictator
1932 - Bradman scores 167 for Australia v South Africa at the MCG
1932 - British East Indies Viceroy Willingdon arrests Gandhi & Nehru
1932 - State of siege proclaimed in Honduras
1934 - 1st Dutch talkie movie, Jan Teunissen's "Willem of Orange," premieres
1935 - Bob Hope 1st heard on network radio as part of "The Intimate Revue"
1935 - Ft Jefferson National Monument, Fla established
1936 - Billboard magazine publishes its 1st music hit parade
1936 - Grimmett becomes world record wicket taker with no 190 v S Afr
1939 - Frieda Wunderlich elected 1st woman dean of a US graduate school
1939 - Hermann Goering appoints Reinhard Heydrich head of Jewish Emigration
1941 - Resistance fighters counter d'Estienne d'Orves/Jan Doornik, 1st meet
1941 - Sergey Rachmaninov's "Symphonie Dances," premieres in Philadelphia
1942 - NFL Pro Bowl: Chi Bears beats NFL All-Stars 35-24
1942 - Premier Churchill & General Marshall fly to Florida
1942 - Rogers Hornsby is 14th player selected to the Hall of Fame
1943 - Thomas Mann completes his tetralogy, "Joseph & His Brothers"
1944 - Ralph Bunche appointed 1st Negro official in US State Department
1945 - Germans execute resistance fighters in Amsterdam
1945 - US jeep-aircraft carrier Ommaney Bay sinks after kamikaze attack
1947 - "Park Avenue" closes at Shubert Theater NYC after 72 performances
1947 - "Show Boat" closes at Ziegfeld Theater NYC after 417 performances
1948 - Burma declares independence from UK
1951 - During Korean conflict, Chinese forces capture Seoul
1953 - KTSM TV channel 9 in El Paso, TX (NBC) begins broadcasting
1954 - Elvis Presley records a 10 minute demo in Nashville
1954 - Soap Opera "The Brighter Day" premieres
1957 - "Blondie" situation comedy premieres on NBC TV (later on CBS)
1957 - Dodgers buy 44 passenger twin-engine airplane for $775,000
1958 - Sputnik 1 reenters atmosphere & burns up
1959 - Luna 1 (Mechta) becomes 1st craft to leave Earth's gravity
1960 - European Free Trade Association forms in Stockholm
1961 - Longest recorded strike ends-33 yrs-Danish barbers' assistants
1962 - 1st automated (unmanned) subway train (NYC)
1962 - New York City introduces a train that operates without a crew on-board.
1963 - Soviet Luna (4) reaches Earth orbit but fails to reach Moon
1965 - LBJ's "Great Society" State of the Union Address
1966 - Doug Walters scores second Test century in his second Test
1966 - WFLD TV channel 32 in Chicago, IL (IND) begins broadcasting
1968 - Duck hunter accidentally shoots endangered whooping crane in Texas
1968 - Leo Fender sells Fender Guitars for $13 million
1969 - "Fig Leaves Are Falling" closes at Broadhurst NYC after 4 perfs
1969 - France begins arms embargo against Israel
1970 - Beatles last recording session at EMI studios
Famous Birthdays
Results 1 - 100 of 232
1077 - Emperor Zhezong of Song Dynasty in China (d. 1100)
1334 - Amadeus VI, [Green Earl], earl of Savoye
1334 - Amadeus VI of Savoy (d. 1383)
1567 - Franciscus Aguilon, physicist/mathematician/jesuit/architect
1579 - Willem Teellinck, Dutch theologist/vicar
1581 - James Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh (gave age to Earth based on bible)
1604 - Jacob Balde, German jesuit/barok conductor (Jephthe)
1643 - Isaac Newton, Grantham England, physicist, mathematician and astronomer ("Whatever goes up must come down") [NS]
1664 - Lars Roberg, Swedish physician (d. 1742)
1672 - Hugh Boulter, Irish Archbishop of Armagh (d. 1742)
1710 - Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Italian composer (Il Prigioniero Superbo)
1717 - Antonio Maria Mazzoni, composer
1720 - Johann Friedrich Agricola, German (court)composer/organist
1726 - Cornelis Ploos van Amstel, Dutch engraver/art collector
1739 - Henrik C Cras, Dutch lawyer (Laudatio Hugonis Grotii)
1756 - Anne Nagell van Ampsen, Dutch politician
1759 - Maria Rosa Coccia, composer
1772 - Paul-Louis Courier, (de Mere), French writer/interpreter
1773 - Johann Peter Heuschkel, composer
1785 - Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm, Germany, librarian (fairy tale collector)
1785 - Jakob Grimm, German philologist and folklorist (d. 1863)
1789 - Benjamin Lundy, philanthropist/abolitionist
1797 - Wilhelm Beer, Germany, amateur astronomer (constructed 1st Moon map)
1805 - Stephan Hale Alonzo Marsh, composer
1807 - Baltasar Saldoni, composer
1809 - Louis Braille, Coupvray France, developer (reading system for blind)
1813 - Alexander Freiherr von Bach, Austria attorney/premier (1852-59)
1813 - Isaac Pitman, Britain, inventor (stenographic shorthand)
1813 - Louis L Bonaparte, English/French linguist/senator
1821 - John James Peck, Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1878
1822 - Joseph Jones Reynolds, Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1899
1823 - Otto van Rees, gov-gen of Dutch-Indies (1884-88)
1823 - Peter Joseph Osterhaus, Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1917
1832 - George Tryon, British admiral (d. 1893)
1837 - Casimiro de Abreu, Brazil, poet (Camoes e o jau)
1838 - Charles Stratton, [General Tom Thumb] (famous short person)
1839 - Carl Humann, German engineer (d. 1896)
1842 - Frederic T. Greenhalge, 38th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1896)
1844 - Thomas H Rollinson, composer
1847 - Hendrik Goeman Borgesius, Dutch politician
1848 - Katsura Taro, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1913)
1869 - Percy Pitt, composer
1869 - Tommy Corcoran, American baseball player (d. 1960)
1872 - Edmund Rumpler, Austria, auto/airplane builder
1874 - Josef Suk, Czech violinist/composer (Asrael)
1874 - Sven Fleuron, writer
1877 - Gibson Gowland, England, actor (Blind Husbands, Phantom of the Opera)
1878 - Alfred Edgar Coppard, England, writer (Black Dogs & Other Stories)
1878 - Augustus John, Welsh painter (d. 1961)
1881 - Wilhelm Lehmbruck, German painter/poet/sculptor (Seated Youth)
1882 - Aristarkh Lentulov, Russian artist (d. 1943)
1883 - Johanna Westerdijk, botanist/Neth 1st female prof (Utrecht, 1917-52)
1883 - Max F Eastman, US, critic/essayist (Masses)
1883 - Max Eastman, American writer (d. 1969)
1888 - Arthur Berry, England, soccer player (Olympic-gold-1908, 12)
1889 - Albertus W "Albert" van Dalsum, actor/director (Abandoned Child)
1890 - Alfred G Jodl, German Wehrmacht general/chief of staff
1890 - Mosa Pijade, Yugoslavia, MP (communist)
1891 - Edward Brooker, Premier of Tasmania (d. 1948)
1893 - Manuel Palau Boix, composer
1893 - Yone Minagawa, Japanese, became worlds Oldest living person January 29, 2007. (d. Aug. 13, 2007)
1894 - Wesley La Violette, composer
1894 - Manuel de Abreu, Brazilian physician (d. 1962)
1895 - Lourens G M Baas Becking, Dutch botanist/resistance fighter
1895 - Leroy Grumman, American industrialist (d. 1982)
1896 - Everett McKinley Dirkson, (Sen-R-Ill)
1896 - Everett Dirksen, American politician (d. 1969)
1898 - Roger Vuataz, composer
1900 - James Bond, American ornithologist (d. 1989)
1901 - C. L. R. James, writer and journalist (d. 1989)
1902 - John McCone, CIA Director (d. 1991)
1903 - Joris Diels, Flemish actor/director (Haagsche Comedy)
1905 - Sterling Holloway, Cedartown Ga, actor (Waldo-Life of Riley)
1908 - Angela Maria "Geli" Raubal, Austrian nude model/Hitler's lover
1908 - Walther Vanbeselaere, Flemish art historian
1910 - Arthur Villeneuve, Quebec painter (d. 1990)
1913 - Malietoa Tanumafili II, King of West-Samoa (1962- )
1914 - Jane Wyman, St Joseph Mo, 1st Mrs Ron Reagan, (Magnificent Obsession)
1914 - Mohammed Sahir, shah (Afghanistan)
1914 - Herman Franks, American baseball player
1916 - Catherina Elisabeth "Tootje" Vreede, portrait painter
1916 - Robert Parrish, Columbus Ga, director (Casino Royale)
1916 - Lionel Newman, American film music composer (d. 1989)
1917 - Maurice Wohl, English broker/multi-millionaire
1919 - Al "Jazbo" Collins, NYC, DJ (Tonight! America After Dark)
1919 - Havelock Henry Trevor Hudson, underwriter (Lloyd's of London)
1920 - Benito Perez Galdos, Spanish writer (Fortunata y Jacinta)
1920 - William Egan Colby, CIA director (Nixon)
1922 - Frank Wess, flutist/saxophonist/composer
1922 - Rosalie Crutchley, English actress (d. 1997)
1923 - Flavio Testi, composer
1924 - Sebastian Kappen, Indian theologian (d. 1993)
1925 - Veikko Hakulinen, Finland, 30K/50K cross country skier (Oly-gold-1956)
1927 - Barbara Rush, Denver Co, actress (Marsha-Peyton Place, Flamingo Road)
1927 - Paul Desmarais, Canadian businessman
1929 - Amitai W Etzioni, US sociologist (Active Society)
1929 - Bobby Tulloch, ornithologist
1929 - Yayoi Kusama, Japanese artist, sculptor
1930 - Don Shula, winningest NFL coach (Miami Dolphins)
1930 - Iain Cuthbertson, British actor (Guilty, Scandal, Rep, Danger UXB)
Famous Deaths
Results 1 - 100 of 155
838 - Babak, Persian social/religious reformer, martyred
1248 - King Sancho II of Portugal (b. 1207)
1428 - Frederick I, Elector of Saxony, 'The Warlike' (b. 1370)
1564 - Hosokawa Ujitsuna, Japanese military commander (b. 1514)
1584 - Tobias Stimmer, Swiss painter/cartoonist/playwright, dies at 44
1612 - Henry L Spieghel, Dutch merchant/writer, dies at 62
1678 - Johan Maetsuyker, Dutch gov-general of Ceylon (1653-78), dies at 71
1695 - Duke of Luxembourg, Luxembourg/French marshal, dies
1701 - Ernst R Tarhemberg, Austria, field marshal, dies at 62
1707 - Louis Willem I, count of Baden-Baden, dies
1729 - Joseph de Montesquiou earl d'Artagnan, French lt-general, dies at 77
1729 - Meir Bacharach, Hebrew poet, dies
1745 - Willem I Kerricx, the Young, Flemish architect/painter, dies at 62
1752 - Gabriel Cramer, Swiss mathematician (paradox of Cramer), dies at 47
1761 - Stephen Hales, English vicar/inventor (ventilator), dies at 83
1765 - Joseph Franz Xaver Dominik Stalder, composer, dies at 39
1773 - Anton Losenko, Russian painter (b. 1737)
1778 - Charles D J Eisen, French engraver/painter, dies at 57
1782 - Ange-Jacques Gabriel, French architect (Ecole Military), dies at 83
1786 - Mozes Mendelssohn, Jewish/German philosopher (Haksalah), dies at 56
1793 - Bengt Lidner, Swedish poet (Medea/Yttersa domen), dies at 35
1804 - Charlotte Lennox, English novelist (The Female Quixote), dies
1809 - Bartolomeo Giacometti, composer, dies at 67
1821 - Elizabeth Ann Seton, 1st native-born American saint, dies in Maryland
1825 - Ferdinand I, King of Sicily/Naples (Ferdinand IV), dies at 73
1831 - Nikola P Neofit Rilski, Bulgaria abbot/poet, dies at 37
1843 - Petronella Moens, Frisian author/poetess, dies at 80
1864 - Mateo Ferrer, composer, dies at 75
1874 - Thomas Gregson, Premier of Tasmania (b. 1798)
1877 - Cornelius Vanderbilt, US robber baron, dies at 82
1880 - Anselm Feuerbach, German painter, dies
1882 - John William Draper, English scientist, photographer (b. 1811)
1883 - Nicolas Ledesma, composer, dies at 91
1883 - Antoine Eugène Alfred Chanzy, French general (b. 1823)
1885 - Eduard Yosif Kotek, composer, dies at 29
1886 - Ernest Panckoucke, French publisher (Horace), dies at 77
1891 - Joe Hunter, cricket wicket-keeper (England on 1884-85 Aust tour), dies
1891 - Antoine Labelle, Quebec catholic priest (b. 1833)
1896 - Joseph Hubert Reinkens, German Old Catholic bishop (b. 1821)
1898 - Frantisek Pivoda, composer, dies at 73
1903 - Geo[rge J H] Poggenbeek, Dutch surrealist painter, dies at 49
1903 - W H M "Dicky" Richards, cricketer (score 4 & 0 in Test for S Af), dies
1903 - Gulstan Ropert, Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1839)
1903 - Topsy the elephant (b. circa 1875)
1908 - Antony Winkler Prins, writer (Groiller Encyclopaedia), dies at 70
1910 - Leon Delagrange, French aviation pioneer, dies
1913 - Alfred von Schlieffen, Prussian general-field marshal, dies at 79
1914 - Silas Weir Mitchell, US physician/author (Free Quaker), dies at 84
1919 - Georg von Hertling, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1843)
1920 - Benito Pérez Galdós, Spanish novelist (b. 1843)
1924 - Alfred Grünfeld, Austrian pianist, composer (b. 1852)
1931 - Art Acord, western actor (Set Free, Spurs & Saddles), dies at 40
1933 - Lucas Lindeboom, Dutch evangelist (Vredebond), dies at 87
1940 - Conrad Weiss, German writer/poet (Heart of Words), dies at 59
1941 - Henri Bergson, French philosopher (Le Rire, Nobel 1928), dies at 81
1942 - Leon Jessel, composer, dies at 70
1944 - Henri "Hans" Flu, Indonesian/Dutch family doctor/antifascist, murder
1944 - Kaj Munk, [Harald Leininger], anti-fascist writer (Kaj Munk), dies
1946 - Barney Oldfield, daredevil, dies at 67
1947 - Forrest Reid, Irish author/critic (Young Tom, Apostate), dies at 71
1952 - Constantly Permeke, Flemish painter (Boerin), dies at 65
1953 - Arthur Hoyt, actor (Gold Rush Gertie, Lost World), dies at 78
1955 - Dominicus Johner, composer, dies at 80
1955 - Francois Rasse, composer, dies at 81
1955 - Jan D Domela Nieuwenhuis Nyegaard, Dutch preacher, dies at 84
1956 - Alexandr Tikhonovich Grechaninov, composer, dies at 91
1957 - Theodor Korner von Siegringen, Austrian pres (1951-57), dies at 84
1958 - Waverley John Anderson, Scot, viscount/governor of Bengal, dies at 75
1960 - Albert Camus, French author (Stranger), dies in an auto accident at 46
1961 - Barry Fitzgerald, actor (Going My Way), dies at 72
1962 - Hans Lammers, German SS officer (b. 1879)
1964 - Ralph Dumke, actor (Movieland Quiz), dies at 64
1965 - T S Eliot, poet (Washed Country), dies in London at 76
1965 - T. S. Eliot, American-born writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1888)
1967 - Donald Campbell, boat racer, dies trying to break 300 mph on water
1968 - Joseph Pholien, Belgian PM (1950-52) communist fighter, dies at 83
1969 - Montague Fawcett Phillips, composer, dies at 83
1969 - Daisy and Violet Hilton, British conjoined twins (b. 1908)
1970 - Jean-Étienne Valluy, French general (b. 1899)
1971 - Arthur Ford, American clairaudient (b. 1896)
1972 - Carl-Olof Anderberg, composer, dies at 57
1974 - Karel Janacek, composer, dies at 70
1975 - Carlo Levi, Italian writer (Parole Sono Pietre), dies at 72
1976 - Jan B Cammans, Flemish actor (Brothers Karamazov), dies at 84
1978 - Willem Bruynzeel, Dutch timber/lumber/wood manufacturer, dies at 76
1979 - Charles Mingus, jazz bassist, dies of heart attack
1985 - Brian Gwynne Horrocks, English lt-general (A Full Life), dies at 89
1985 - Lovro von Matacic, Croatian conductor (b. 1899)
1986 - Christopher Isherwood, British writer (Lions & Shadows), dies at 81
1986 - Phil Lynott, rocker (Thin Lizzy), dies of overdose at 34
1987 - F van Heek, Dutch sociologist, dies at 79
1987 - Jack Martin, cricketer (Eng pace bowler, 1-111 & 0-18 in Test), dies
1987 - Peggy Bacon, author/illustrator (Off With Their Heads), dies at 91
1988 - Lily Laskine, French harpist (b. 1893)
1990 - Alberto Lleras Camargo, president of Colombia (1945-46, 58-62), dies
1990 - Robert F Adams, US, sci-fi author (Castaways in Time), dies at 57
1990 - Harold Edgerton, American electrical engineer (b. 1903)
1990 - Sir Henry Bolte, Premier of Victoria 1955-1972 (b. 1908)
1991 - Berry Kroeger, actor (Demon Seed), dies of kidney failure at 78
1991 - Harry Krimer, actor (Napoleon), committed suicide at 94

