What happened this coming weekend: January 6th and 7th

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Jannuary 6th


Events
1066 - Harold Godwinson is crowned King of England.
1205 - Philip of Swabia becomes King of the Romans.
1494 - First Mass celebrated in the New World at La Isabela, Hispaniola.
1540 - King Henry VIII of England marries Anne of Cleves.
1579 - The Union of Atrecht was signed.
1661 - The fifth monarchy men unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London.
1690 - Joseph, son of Emperor Leopold I, becomes King of the Romans.
1720 - The Committee of Inquiry on the South Sea Bubble publishes its findings.
1838 - Samuel Morse first successfully tested the electrical telegraph.
1853 - American President-Elect Franklin Pierce, wife Jane, and son Ben are involved in a train wreck near Andover, Massachusetts. Franklin and Jane survive but eleven-year-old Ben is killed.
1870 - The inauguration of the Musikverein (Vienna).
1887 - `Abd-allah II of Harar opens the Battle of Chelenqo with an attack on the camp of the Shewan army of Negus Menelik II early in the morning; prepared for the assault, the Negus orders a counter-attack which routs the enemy, resulting with the capture of Harar a few days later.
1893 - Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress. The charter is signed by President Benjamin Harrison.
1893 - Ben Lafargues, white, lynched in Avangeles Parish, LA for murder
1893 - black man, identity unknown, lynched in Pocket Township, NC for murder
1893 - Paul Scroggs and Henry Allen, both black, lynched in Brinkley, AK for murder
1897 - Lawerence Brown, black, lynched in Stilton, SC for suspected arson
1900 - Boers attack Ladysmith, South Africa - over 1,000 people killed
1907 - Maria Montessori opens her first school and daycare center for working class children in Rome.
1912 - New Mexico is admitted as the 47th U.S. state.
1921 - Sam Williams, black, lynched in Talbor, GA for unknown offense
1929 - King Alexander of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes suspends his country's constitution (the so-called January 6th Dictatorship, Šestojanuarska diktatura.)
1929 - Mother Teresa arrives in Calcutta to begin a legacy of work amongst India's poorest and diseased people
1930 - The first diesel-engine automobile trip is completed (Indianapolis, Indiana, to New York City).
1931 - Thomas Edison submits his last patent application.
1936 - Supreme Court of the United States rules the 1933 Agricultural Adjustment Act unconstitutional in the case United States v. Butler et al..
1936 - Porky Pig premieres.
1940 - Mass execution of Poles, committed by Germans in the city of Poznań, Warthegau.
1941 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivers his Four Freedoms Speech in the State of the Union Address.
1941 - Keel of USS Missouri (BB-63) is laid at New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn
1942 - Pan American Airlines becomes the first commercial airline to have a flight go around the world.
1950 - The United Kingdom recognizes the People's Republic of China. The Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with Britain in response.
1961 - A fire at the Thomas Hotel in San Francisco kills 20 people.
1967 - United States Marine Corps and ARVN troops launch "Operation Deckhouse Five" in the Mekong River delta.
1974 - In response to the energy crisis, daylight saving time commences nearly four months early in the United States.
1977 - The music publisher EMI ends its contract with the notorious punk rock group Sex Pistols after reports of abusive behaviour at Heathrow Airport, London.
1978 - The Crown of St. Stephen (also known as the Holy Crown of Hungary) is returned to Hungary from the United States, where it was held after the Second World War.
1994 - Nancy Kerrigan is clubbed on the right leg by an assailant under orders from figure skating rival Tonya Harding.
1995 - A chemical fire in an apartment complex in Manila, Philippines, leads to the discovery of plans for Project Bojinka, a mass-terrorist attack.
2004 - Jaya Bharata Jananiya Tanujate is declared the official anthem of Karnataka
2005 - Mississippi Civil Rights Workers Murders: Edgar Ray Killen is arrested as a suspect for the 1964 murders of three Civil Rights workers.
2005 - First World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace begins in Brussels, Belgium.
2006 - Tropical Storm Zeta (2005) dissipates, ending the notorious 2005 hurricane season.

Births
1367 - Richard II of England (d. 1400)
1412 - Joan of Arc, Roman Catholic Saint and national heroine of France (legendary date) (d. 1431)
1486 - Martin Agricola, German composer (d. 1556)
1488 - Helius Eobanus Hessus, German poet (d. 1540)
1525 - Caspar Peucer, German reformer (d. 1602)
1561 - Thomas Fincke, Danish mathematician (d. 1656)
1587 - Gaspar de Guzmán y Pimentel, Count-Duke of Olivares, Spanish statesman (d. 1645)
1595 - Claude Favre de Vaugelas, French man of letters (d. 1650)
1617 - Kristoffer Gabel, Danish statesman (d. 1673)
1706 - Benjamin Franklin, American statesman (d. 1790)
1714 - Percivall Pott, English physician (d. 1788)
1745 - Étienne Montgolfier, French inventor (d. 1799)
1793 - James Madison Porter, American politician (d. 1862)
1795 - Anselme Payen, French chemist (d. 1871)
1807 - Jozef Maximilián Petzval, Slovak inventor (d. 1891)
1822 - Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist (d. 1890)
1832 - Gustave Doré, French painter and sculptor (d. 1883)
1838 - Max Bruch, German composer (d. 1920)
1848 - Hristo Botev, Bulgarian poet (d. 1876)
1870 - Gustav Bauer, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1944)
1872 - Alexander Scriabin, Russian composer (d. 1915)
1878 - Carl Sandburg, American poet and historian (d. 1967)
1880 - Tom Mix, American actor (d. 1940)
1882 - Fan S. Noli, Albanian bishop (d. 1965)
1882 - Sam Rayburn, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1961)
1882 - Aleksandra Ekster, Russian painter (d. 1949)
1883 - Khalil Gibran, Lebanese writer (d. 1931)
1898 - James Fitzmaurice, Irish aviation pioneer (d. 1965)
1899 - Phyllis Haver, American actress (d. 1960)
1899 - Heinrich Nordhoff, German automobile engineer (d. 1968)
1903 - Maurice Abravanel, Greek-born conductor (d. 1993)
1905 - Idris Davies, Welsh poet (d. 1953)
1910 - Morris Wright, American writer (d. 1998)
1913 - Loretta Young, American actress (d. 2000)
1913 - Edward Gierek, Polish politician (d. 2001)
1914 - Danny Thomas, American actor (d. 1991)
1915 - Alan Watts, English writer (d. 1973)
1917 - Koo Chen-fu, Chinese negotiator (d. 2005)
1920 - Sun Myung Moon, Korean evangelist
1920 - John Maynard Smith, English biologist (d. 2004)
1920 - Early Wynn, baseball player (d. 1999)
1920 - Doris Stokes, British psychic medium (d. 1987)
1921 - Cary Middlecoff, American golfer (d. 1998)
1923 - Jacobo Timerman, Argentine writer (d. 1999)
1924 - Earl Scruggs, American musician
1925 - John De Lorean, American auto maker (d. 2005)
1926 - Ralph Branca, baseball player
1926 - Kim Dae-jung, President of South Korea and Nobel Prize laureate
1926 - Kid Gavilan, Cuban boxer (d. 2003)
1926 - Mickey Hargitay, Hungarian-born actor and bodybuilder (d. 2006)
1926 - Pat Flaherty, American racecar driver (2002)
1929 - Babrak Karmal, Afghani politician (d. 1996)
1930 - Vic Tayback, American actor (d. 1990)
1931 - Capucine, French actress (d. 1990)
1931 - E. L. Doctorow, American author
1931 - Dickie Moore, Canadian hockey player
1932 - Stuart A. Rice, American chemist
1933 - Oleg Makarov, cosmonaut (d. 2003)
1933 - Emil Steinberger, Swiss comedian
1935 - Nino Tempo, American singer and actor
1936 - Julio María Sanguinetti Coirolo, President of Uruguay
1936 - Rubén Amaro, Sr., baseball player
1937 - Lou Holtz, football coach
1937 - Paolo Conte, Italian singer
1937 - Doris Troy, American singer (d. 2004)
1940 - Penny Lernoux, American journalist (d. 1989)
1940 - Van McCoy, American musician (d. 1979)
1943 - Terry Venables, English football manager
1944 - Bonnie Franklin, American actress
1944 - Rolf M. Zinkernagel, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate
1945 - Allen Appel, American novelist
1945 - Kojo Nnamdi, host on NPR station WAMU
1946 - Syd Barrett, English guitarist, singer and songwriter; formed Pink Floyd (d. 2006)
1947 - Sandy Denny, English vocalist (d. 1978)
1951 - Kim Wilson, American musician
1951 - Don Gullett, Major League Baseball pitcher
1952 - Frank Sivero, Italian-American actor
1952 - Moondog Spot, wrestler (d. 2003)
1953 - Malcolm Young, Scottish-born Australian guitarist (AC/DC)
1954 - Hans Robert Hiegel, German architect
1954 - Yuji Horii, Japanese video game designer
1954 - Anthony Minghella, British director
1955 - Rowan Atkinson, British comedian and actor
1956 - Angus Deayton, British comedian, actor and television presenter
1957 - Nancy Lopez, American golfer
1959 - Kapil Dev, Indian cricketer
1959 - Kathy Sledge, American singer
1960 - Nigella Lawson, British chef and writer
1960 - Howie Long, American football star
1960 - Paul Azinger, American golfer
1962 - Michael Houser, American musician (d. 2002)
1963 - Jazzie B, American musician
1964 - David Wall, Programmer, Public Servant
1964 - Henry Maske, German boxer
1964 - Charles Haley, Former Dallas Cowboy
1964 - Rafael Vidal, Venezuelan athlete (d. 2005)
1964 - Mark O'Toole, British musician
1965 - Muhammed al-Ahari, American Muslim writer
1965 - Konnan, professional wrestler
1966 - Fernando Carrillo, Venezuelan actor
1966 - A. R. Rahman, Indian Music Composer
1966 - Andrew Wood, American singer (Mother Love Bone) (d. 1990)
1968 - John Singleton, American film director
1970 - Julie Chen, American television presenter
1970 - Gabrielle Reece, American volleyball player
1972 - Nek, Italian singer
1973 - Scott Ferguson, Canadian ice hockey player
1974 - Nicole DeHuff. American actress (d. 2005)
1975 - James Farrior, American football player
1975 - Yukana, Japanese seiyū
1976 - Danny Pintauro, American actor
1976 - Richard Zedník, Slovak ice hockey player
1978 - Nikki Einfeld, Canadian opera singer
1980 - Steed Malbranque, French footballer
1980 - Hiromi Oshima, Japanese adult model
1981 - Mike Jones, American rapper
1981 - Jérémie Renier, Belgian actor
1982 - Gilbert Arenas, American basketball player
1984 - AJ Hawk, American footbal player

Deaths
664 - Amr ibn al-A'as, Muslim general (bc. 583)
1088 - Berengar of Tours, French theologian (bc. 999)
1448 - Christopher of Bavaria, King of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (b. 1418)
1537 - Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence (b. 1510)
1537 - Baldassare Peruzzi, Italian architect and painter (b. 1481)
1616 - Philip Henslowe, English theatrical entrepreneur (bc. 1550)
1689 - Seth Ward, English mathematician and astronomer (b. 1671)
1711 - Philipp van Almonde, Dutch admiral (b. 1646)
1718 - Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, Italian writer and jurist (b. 1664)
1718 - Richard Hoare, English goldsmith and banker (b. 1648)
1724 - Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Japanese dramatist (b. 1653)
1731 - Étienne François Geoffroy, French chemist (b. 1672)
1734 - John Dennis, English critic and dramatist (b. 1657)
1813 - Louis Baraguey d'Hilliers, French general (b. 1764)
1831 - Rodolphe Kreutzer, French violinist, composer and conductor (b. 1766)
1840 - Fanny Burney, English novelist and diarist (b. 1752)
1852 - Louis Braille, French teacher of the blind (b. 1809)
1855 - Giacomo Beltrami, Italian explorer (b. 1779)
1884 - Gregor Johann Mendel, Austrian geneticist (b. 1822)
1885 - Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, Norwegian writer and scientist (b. 1812)
1913 - Frederick Hitch, English Victoria Cross Winner (b. 1856)
1918 - Georg Cantor, German mathematician (b. 1845)
1919 - Max Heindel, Danish astrologer and mystic (b. 1865)
1919 - Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States (b. 1858)
1922 - Jakob Rosanes, German mathematician (b. 1842)
1928 - Alvin Kraenzlein, American athlete (b. 1876)
1937 - André Besette, Canadian religious figure (b. 1845)
1941 - Charley O'Leary, American baseball player (b. 1882)
1942 - Henri de Baillet-Latour, Belgian International Olympic Committee president (b. 1876)
1944 - Ida Tarbell, American journalist (b. 1857)
1945 - Vladimir Vernadsky, Russian mineralogist (b. 1863)
1949 - Victor Fleming, American director (b. 1883)
1972 - Chen Yi, Chinese military commander and politician (b. 1901)
1978 - Burt Munro, New Zealand motorcycle racer (b. 1899)
1981 - A.J. Cronin, Scottish writer (b. 1896)
1990 - Ian Charleson, Scottish actor (b. 1949)
1990 - Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
1993 - Dizzy Gillespie, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1917)
1993 - Rudolf Nureyev, Russian ballet dancer (b. 1938)
1995 - Joe Slovo, South African politician (b. 1926)
1996 - Yahya Ayyash, Palestinian leader (b. 1966)
1997 - Catherine Scorsese, Italian-American actress (b. 1912)
1999 - Michel Petrucciani, French jazz pianist (b. 1962)
2000 - Don Martin, American cartoonist (b. 1931)
2004 - Pierre Charles, Prime Minister of Dominica (b. 1954)
2004 - Charles Dumas, American athlete (b. 1937)
2004 - Francesco Scavullo, American photographer (b. 1921)
2005 - Lois Hole, Lt. Governor of Alberta (b. 1933)
2005 - Louis Robichaud, Premier of New Brunswick (b. 1925)
2006 - Lou Rawls, American singer (b. 1933)
2006 - Hugh Thompson, Jr., decorated Vietnam War helicopter pilot (b. 1943)

Holidays and observances
Christianity
Epiphany
(except Eastern and Oriental Orthodox who follow the Julian Calendar) - Twelfth Day of Christmas, also known as Twelfth Day and Three Kings Day
Public holiday in Spain, Italy and Puerto Rico to mark Epiphany
In the Irish Calendar - Little Christmas (Nollaig na mBan, "Women's Christmas")
Rastafari movement - Celebration of the ceremonial birthday of Haile Selassie
Armenian Christmas (except in the Holy Land where it is on 18 January - old calendar)
Ancient Latvia - Zvaigznes Diena observed

External links
BBC: On This Day
NY Times: On this day
On This Day in Canada



January 7th


Events
1325 - Alfonso IV becomes King of Portugal.
1558 - France takes Calais, the last continental possession of England.
1566 - Pius V becomes Pope.
1598 - Boris Godunov seizes the throne of Russia.
1608 - Fire destroys Jamestown, Virginia.
1610 - Galileo Galilei observes the four largest moons of Jupiter for the first time. He named them and in turn the four are called the Galilean moons.
1782 - The first American commercial bank opens (Bank of North America).
1785 - Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American John Jeffries travel from Dover, England, to Calais, France, in a gas balloon.
1797 - The current flag of Italy is first used.
1835 - HMS Beagle anchors off the Chonos Archipelago.
1894 - W.K. Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film.
1904 - The distress signal "CQD" is established only to be replaced two years later by "SOS."
1922 - Dáil Éireann ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by a 64-57 vote.
1924 - George Gershwin completes Rhapsody in Blue.
1924 - The International Hockey Federation (FIH) is founded in Paris by seven member states: Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Hungary, Spain, and Switzerland.
1927 - First transatlantic telephone call - New York City to London.
1927 - The Harlem Globetrotters play their first game.
1935 - World War II: Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval sign the Italo-French agreements.
1942 - World War II: Siege of the Bataan Peninsula begins.
1945 - British General Bernard Montgomery holds a press conference in which he claims credit for victory in the Battle of the Bulge.
1950 - A fire at the Mercy Hospital in Davenport, Iowa, kills 41 people.
1953 - President Harry Truman announces that the United States has developed a hydrogen bomb.
1954 - Georgetown-IBM experiment, the first public demonstration of a machine translation system, was held in New York at the head office of IBM.
1959 - The United States recognizes the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro.
1972 - Iberia Airlines Caravelle 6-R crashed into Mont San Jose on approach to Ibiza Airport killing all 104 on board.
1979 - Phnom Penh fell to the advancing Vietnamese troops, driving out Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.
1980 - President Jimmy Carter authorizes legislation giving $1.5 billion in loans to bail out Chrysler Corporation.
1984 - Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
1989 - Hirohito, Emperor of Japan during World War II, dies.
1990 - The Leaning Tower of Pisa is closed to the public due to safety concerns.
1999 - The impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton begins.

[edit] Births
1 BC (O.S.) - Jesus of Nazareth, central figure of Christianity, (date celebrated by Eastern Orthodox churches as Christmas)
1355 - Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester, son of Edward III of England (d. 1397)
1502 - Pope Gregory XIII (d. 1585)
1528 - Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre (d. 1572)
1647 - Wilhelm Ludwig, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1677)
1685 - Jonas Alströmer, Swedish industrialist (d. 1761)
1706 - Johann Heinrich Zedler, German publisher (d. 1751)
1718 - Israel Putnam, American Revolutionary War general (d. 1790)
1768 - Joseph Bonaparte, King of Naples (d. 1844)
1800 - Millard Fillmore, 13th President of the United States (d. 1874)
1827 - Sir Sandford Fleming, Canadian engineer; introduced Universal Standard Time (d. 1915)
1830 - Albert Bierstadt, an German-American painter (d. 1902)
1831 - Heinrich von Stephan, German labor organizer (d. 1897)
1834 - Johann Philipp Reis, German physicist and inventor (d. 1874)
1844 - Bernadette Soubirous, French saint (d. 1879)
1860 - Emanuil Manolov, Bulgarian composer (d. 1902)
1871 - Émile Borel, French mathematician and politician (d. 1956)
1873 - Adolph Zukor, Hungarian producer (d. 1976)
1873 - Charles Péguy, French poet and essayist (d. 1914)
1875 - Thomas Hicks, American runner (d. 1963)
1891 - Zora Neale Hurston, American author (d. 1960)
1896 - Arnold Ridley, British playwright and actor (d. 1984)
1899 - Francis Poulenc, French composer (d. 1963)
1903 - Warren Hull, American actor (d. 1974)
1903 - Alan Napier, English actor (d. 1988)
1908 - Red Allen, American musician (d. 1967)
1910 - Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Pakistani poet (d. (1984)
1910 - Orval Faubus, Governor of Arkansas (d. 1994)
1911 - Butterfly McQueen, American actress (d. 1995)
1912 - Charles Addams, American cartoonist (d. 1988)
1913 - Johnny Mize, baseball player (d. 1993)
1916 - Paul Keres, Estonian chess player (d. 1975)
1922 - Vincent Gardenia, Italian-born actor (d. 1992)
1922 - Jean-Pierre Rampal, French flutist (d. 2000)
1922 - Alvin Dark, baseball player and manager
1923 - Hugh Kenner, Canadian literary critic (d. 2003)
1925 - Gerald Durrell British naturalist (d. 1995)
1928 - William Peter Blatty, American screenwriter
1929 - Terry Moore, American actress
1934 - Charlie Jenkins, American runner
1934 - Jean Corbeil, Canadian politician (d. 2002)
1935 - Kenny Davern, American jazz clarinetist
1935 - Tommy Johnson, American tubist (d. 2006)
1935 - Valeri Kubasov, Soviet cosmonaut
1937 - Paul Revere, American musician
1938 - Roland Topor, French illustrator (d. 1997)
1938 - Rory Storm, British singer (d. 1972)
1938 - Lou Graham, American golfer
1939 - Maury Povich, American TV host
1939 - Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark
1941 - Iona Brown, British violinist and conductor (d. 2004)
1941 - John E. Walker, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
1942 - Vasily Alexeev, Russian weightlifter
1942 - Danny Williams, South African singer (d. 2005)
1942 - Jim Lefebvre, Major League Baseball player
1944 - Arne Scheie, Norwegian sports commentator
1945 - Tony Conigliaro, American baseball player (d. 1990)
1945 - Dick Marty, Swiss politician
1946 - Jann Wenner, American publisher
1947 - Shobha De, Indian writer
1948 - Kenny Loggins, American singer
1949 - Steven Williams, American actor
1950 - Erin Gray, American actress
1950 - Juan Gabriel, Mexican singer and songwriter
1950 - Ross Grimsley, Major League Baseball pitcher
1951 - Helen Worth, British actress
1951 - James Beard, American wrestling referee
1952 - Sammo Hung, Hong Kong actor
1956 - David Caruso, American actor
1956 - Mike Liut, National Hockey League goaltender
1957 - Nicholson Baker, American novelist
1957 - Katie Couric, American television host
1957 - Julian Solis, Puerto Rican boxer
1959 - Kathy Valentine, American musician (The Go-Gos)
1962 - Aleksandr Dugin, Russian politician
1964 - Nicolas Cage, American actor
1966 - Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, American publicist (d. 1999)
1967 - Mark Lamarr, British comedian and broadcaster
1967 - Guy Hebert, American hockey player
1970 - Doug E. Doug, American actor
1970 - Joao Ricardo, Angolan footballer
1971 - David Yost, American actor
1971 - C.W. Anderson, American professional wrestler
1972 - Donald Brashear, American hockey player
1973 - Jonna Tervomaa, Finnish singer
1976 - Eric Gagné, Canadian baseball player
1976 - Alfonso Soriano, Dominican baseball player
1977 - Michelle Behennah, British model
1977 - Dustin Diamond, American actor
1979 - Bipasha Basu, Indian model
1980 - Mariangel Ruiz, Venezuelan actress and model
1981 - Marquis Daniels, American basketball player
1981 - Alex Auld, Canadian hockey player
1982 - Francisco Rodriguez, Venezuelan baseball player
1985 - Lewis Hamilton, British racing driver
1990 - Liam Aiken, American actor
1990 - Elene Gedevanishvili, Georgian figure skater

[edit] Deaths
1400 - Thomas Holland, 1st Duke of Surrey, English politician (executed) (b. 1374)
1451 - Count Amadeus VIII of Savoy (b. 1383)
1536 - Catherine of Aragon, first wife of Henry VIII of England (b. 1485)
1566 - Louis de Blois, Flemish mystic (b. 1506)
1619 - Nicholas Hilliard, English painter (bc. 1547)
1625 - Ruggiero Giovannelli, Italian composer (bc. 1560)
1658 - Theophilus Eaton, Connecticut colonist (b. 1590)
1694 - Charles Gerard, 1st Earl of Macclesfield, English royalist general (bc. 1618)
1700 - Raphael Fabretti, Italian antiquarian (b. 1618)
1715 - François Fénelon, French catholic theologian and writer (b. 1651)
1758 - Allan Ramsay, Scottish poet (b. 1686)
1767 - Thomas Clap, first president of Yale University (b. 1703)
1770 - Carl Gustaf Tessin, Swedish politician (b. 1695)
1783 - William Tans'ur, English hymnist (b. 1700)
1786 - Jean-Étienne Guettard, French physician and scientist (b. 1715)
1830 - Thomas Lawrence, English painter (b. 1769)
1864 - Caleb Blood Smith, 6th U.S. Secretary of the Interior (b. 1808)
1872 - James Fisk, American entrepreneur (b. 1834)
1878 - François-Vincent Raspail, French chemist (b. 1794)
1892 - Tewfik Pasha, Khedive of Egypt (b. 1852)
1893 - Jožef Stefan, Slovenian physicist, mathematician, and poet (b. 1835)
1913 - Jack Boyle, baseball player (b. 1866)
1919 - Henry Ware Eliot American industrialist and philantropist (b. 1843)
1920 - Edmund Barton, first Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1849)
1943 - Nikola Tesla, Serbian-born inventor and electrical engineer (b. 1856)
1951 - René Guénon, French-Egyptian author (b. 1886)
1964 - Cyril Davies, American musician (b. 1932)
1972 - John Berryman, American poet (b. 1914)
1980 - Larry Williams, American singer, pianist and songwriter (b. 1935)
1984 - Alfred Kastler, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902))
1986 - Juan Rulfo, Mexican novelist (b. 1917)
1988 - Trevor Howard, English actor (b. 1913)
1988 - Michel Auclair, French actor (b. 1922)
1989 - Hirohito, Emperor of Japan (b. 1901)
1990 - Bronko Nagurski, American football player (b. 1908)
1992 - Richard Hunt, American puppeteer (The Muppets) (b. 1951)
1995 - Murray Rothbard, American economist (b. 1926)
1996 - Károly Grósz, Hungarian politician (b. 1930)
1998 - Vladimir Prelog, Croatian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
1998 - Owen Bradley, American record producer (b. 1915)
2000 - Gary Albright, professional wrestler (b. 1963)
2002 - Naughtia Childs porn star (suicide) (b. 1979)
2002 - Jon Lee, Welsh drummer (Feeder) (suicide) (b. 1968)
2002 - Avery Schreiber, American actor (b. 1935)
2004 - Ingrid Thulin, Swedish actress (b. 1926)
2005 - Pierre Daninos, French novelist (b. 1913)
2005 - Eileen Desmond, Irish politician (b. 1932)
2006 - Heinrich Harrer, Austrian mountaineer and explorer (b. 1912)

[edit] Holidays and observances
Catholicism - Feast day of St. Raymond of Peñafort.
Christmas Day in the Julian calendar.
European traditional - Distaff day: women's traditional work begins again after Epiphany.
Japan - Nanakusa (Seven Herbs Festival).

[edit] External links
BBC: On This Day
NY Times: On this day
On This Day in Canada