January 28 – Events:
- 1077 – Walk toCanossa: The excommunication of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor is lifted.
- 1521 – The Diet ofWormsbegins, lasting until May 25.
- 1547 – Henry VIII dies. His nine year old son, Edward VI becomes King, and the first Protestant ruler ofEngland.
- 1573 – Articles of Warsaw Confederation are signed, sanctioning freedom of religion inPoland.
- 1754 – Horace Walpole, in a letter to Horace Mann, coins the word serendipity.
- 1624 – Sir Thomas Warner founds the first British colony in theCaribbean, on Saint Kitts.
- 1724 – TheRussian Academyof Sciences was founded inSt. Petersburg by Peter the
- Great, and implemented in the Senate decree. It was called St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences until 1917.
- 1760 -Pownal,Vermont created by Benning Wentworth as one of the New Hampshire Grants.
- 1807 -London’sPall Mall isfirst street lit by gaslight.
- 1813 – Pride and Prejudice is first published in theUnited Kingdom.
- 1820 – Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev discovered the Antarctic continent approaching the Antarctic coast.
- 1846 – Battle ofAliwal,Indiawon by British troops commanded by Sir Harry Smith.
- 1848 – King ofNaplesgrants his subjects a constitution.
- 1851 – Northwestern University (Chicago) chartered.
- 1855 – The first locomotive runs from the Atlantic Ocean to thePacific Ocean on the Panama Railway.
- 1860 -Britainformally returns Mosquito Coast toNicaragua.
- 1871 – Franco-Prussian War: Siege of Paris ends in French defeat and an armistice.
- 1878 – Yale Daily News becomes the first daily, college newspaper in theUnited States.
- 1887 – In a snowstorm atFort Keogh,Montana, the world’s largest snowflakes are reported, being 15 inches (38 cm) wide and 8 inches (20 cm) thick.
- 1902 – The Carnegie Institution is founded inWashington, DCwith a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie.
- 1909 -United Statestroops leaveCubawith the exception of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base after being there since the Spanish-American War.
- 1915 – An act of the U.S. Congress creates the United States Coast Guard.
- 1916 – Louis D. Brandeis becomes the first Jew appointed to the United States Supreme Court.
- 1917 – Municipally owned streetcars take to the streets ofSan Francisco,California.
- 1918 – Finnish Civil War: Rebels seized control of the capital,Helsinki, and members of the Senate of Finland go underground.
- 1921 – A symbolic Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is installed beneath the Arc de Triomphe inParisto honor the unknown dead ofWorldWarI.
- 1922 – American Pro Football Association renamed “National Football League.”
- 1922 – Knickerbocker Storm,WashingtonD.C.’s biggest snowfall, causes the city’s greatest loss of life when the roof of the Knickerbocker Theater collapses.
- 1928 – Christopher Hornsrud chosen PM ofNorway at age 101.
- 1932 – Japanese forces attackShanghai.
- 1933 – The namePakistanis coined by Choudhary Rehmat Ali Khan and is accepted by the Indian Muslims who then thereby adopted it further for the Pakistan Movement seeking independence.
- 1934 – The first ski tow in theUnited Statesbegins operation inVermont.
- 1935 -Icelandbecomes the first Western country to legalize therapeutic abortion.
- 1938 – TheWorldLand Speed Record on a public road is broken by driver Rudolf Caracciola in the Mercedes-Benz W195.
- 1945 – World War II: Supplies begin to reach the Republic of China over the newly reopenedBurma Road.
- 1953 – Derek Bentley hanged for a murder carried out by Christopher Craig.
- 1958 – Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate begin their murder spree with the killings of her parents and infant sister.
- 1958 – The Lego company patented their design of Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today.
- 1958 – Construction began on first private thorium-uranium nuclear reactor.
- 1959 -Soviet Unionwins 62-37 for first international basketball loss by US.
- 1960 – NFL announces Dallas Cowboys (1960) & Minnesota Vikings (1961) franchises.
- 1961 -RepublicofRwandaproclaimed.
- 1962 – Johanne Relleke gets stung by bees 2,443 times inRhodesia& survives.
- 1973 – “Barnaby Jones” premiers on CBS TV.
- 1978 – “FantasyIsland” starring Ricardo Montalban premiers on ABC TV.
- 1980 – USCGC Blackthorn (WLB-391) collides with the tanker Capricorn while leavingTampaFlorida and capsizes killing 23 Coast Guard crewmembers.
- 1981 – Ronald Reagan lifts remaining domestic petroleum price and allocation controls in theUnited States helping to end the 1979 energy crisis and begin the 1980s oil glut.
- 1981 – William J. Casey becomes director of the CIA.
- 1981 – Olympic Glory tanker atGalveston Bay, Texas, spills 1 million gallons of oil in a ship collision.
- 1982 -USArmy general James L. Dozier is rescued by Italian anti-terrorism forces from captivity under the Red Brigades.
- 1984 – Los Angeles Kings stop Wayne Gretsky 51 game scoring streak.
- 1984 – Mr. Glynn Wolfe marries for non-bigamous record 26th time,Las Vegas.
- 1984 – Record 295,000 dominoes toppled,Fuerth, West Germany
- 1986 – Space Shuttle program: STS-51-L mission (Space Shuttle Challenger disaster) – Space Shuttle Challenger breaks apart after liftoff killing all seven astronauts onboard.
- 1990 – Defending champion Ivan Lendl beats Stefan Edberg for Australian Open.
- 1990 – East German agreement to form all-party government.
- 1994 – The first trial of accused murderer Lyle Menendez ends in a mistrial. He and his brother Erik are later found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
- 1998 – Gunmen hold at least 400 children and teachers hostage for several hours at an elementary school in Manila,Philippines.
- 2002 – TAME Flight 120, a Boeing 727-100 crashes in the Andes mountains in southernColombiakilling 92.
- 2004 – Lord Hutton publishes his report into the death of U.N. weapons inspector Dr. David Kelly.
January 28 – Birthdays:
- 1225 – Saint Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274)
- 1312 – Queen Joan II ofNavarre (d. 1349)
- 1457 – King Henry VII ofEngland (d. 1509)
- 1540 – Ludolph van Ceulen, German mathematician (d. 1610)
- 1582 – John Barclay, Scottish writer (d. 1621)
- 1600 – Pope Clement IX (d. 1669)
- 1608 – Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, Italian physiologist and physicist (d. 1679)
- 1611 – Johannes Hevelius, astronomer (d. 1687)
- 1622 – Adrien Auzout, French astronomer (d. 1691)
- 1701 – Charles Marie de La Condamine, French mathematician and geographer (d. 1774)
- 1706 – John Baskerville, English printer (d. 1775)
- 1712 – Tokugawa Ieshige, Japanese shogun (d. 1761)
- 1717 – Mustafa III, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1774)
- 1719 – Johann Elias Schlegel, German critic and poet (d. 1749)
- 1755 – Samuel Thomas von Sömmering, German physician (d. 1830)
- 1784 – George Hamilton GordonAberdeen, Prime Minister of theUnited Kingdom(d. 1860)
- 1818 – George S. Boutwell, 20th Governor ofMassachusetts (d. 1905)
- 1822 – Alexander Mackenzie, 2nd Prime Minister ofCanada (d. 1892)
- 1833 – Charles George ‘Chinese’ Gordon, British soldier and administrator (d. 1885)
- 1841 – Henry Morton Stanley, Welsh-born explorer and journalist (d. 1904)
- 1853 – José Martí, Cuban revolutionary (d. 1895)
- 1855 – William Seward Burroughs I, American inventor (d. 1898)
- 1863 – Ernst William Christmas, Australian painter (d. 1918)
- 1864 – Charles W. Nash, co-founder of Nash Motors, which would become American Motors as well as co-founder of Buick (d. 1948)
- 1864 – Herbert Akroyd Stuart, English engineer – inventor of the first compression ignition engine (d. 1927)
- 1865 – Lala Lajpat Rai, Indian freedom fighter (d. 1928)
- 1865 – Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg, first president ofFinland (d. 1952)
- 1873 – Colette, French writer (d. 1954)
- 1874 – Vsevolod Meyerhold, Russian theatre director (d. 1940)
- 1879 – Francis Picabia, French-born painter and poet (d. 1953)
- 1880 – Herbert Strudwick, English cricketer (d. 1970)
- 1884 – Auguste Piccard, Swiss physicist (d. 1962)
- 1886 – Marthe Bibesco, Romanian writer (d. 1973)
- 1887 – Arthur Rubinstein, Polish pianist and conductor (d. 1982)
- 1890 – Robert Stroud, American convict, the Birdman of Alcatraz (d. 1963)
- 1891 – Bill Doak, American baseball player (d. 1954)
- 1892 – Ernst Lubitsch, German-born film director (d. 1947)
- 1897 – Valentin Kataev, Russian writer (d. 1986)
- 1899 – Elias Simojoki, Finnish clergyman and politician (d. 1940)
- 1903 – Aleksander Kaminski, Polish writer (d. 1978)
- 1908 – Paul Misraki, French composer and songwriter (d. 1998)
- 1909 – John Thomson, Scottish footballer (d. 1931)
- 1910 – John Banner, Austrian actor (d. 1973)
- 1910 – Arnold Moss, American actor (d. 1989)
- 1910 – Verda Bryant, American author
- 1912 – Jackson Pollock, American painter (d. 1956)
- 1918 – Harry Corbett, English puppeteer (Sooty) (d. 1989)
- 1918 – Trevor Skeet, New Zealand-born British politician (d. 2004)
- 1919 – Francis Gabreski, American fighter pilot (d. 2002)
- 1922 – Robert W. Holley, American biochemist, Nobel Laureate (d. 1993)
- 1927 – Ronnie Scott, British jazz tenor saxophonist and jazz club owner (d. 1996)
- 1927 – Hiroshi Teshigahara, Japanese director (d. 2001)
- 1929 – Acker Bilk, English jazz clarinetist
- 1929 – Claes Oldenburg, Swedish-born artist
- 1933 – Jack Hill, American film director
- 1934 – Juan Manuel Bordeu, Argentine racing driver (d. 1990)
- 1934 – Mitr Chaibancha, Thai actor (d. 1970)
- 1935 – David Lodge, English author
- 1936 – Ismail Kadare, Albanian writer
- 1936 – Alan Alda, American actor, writer, and director
- 1938 – Leonid Zhabotynsky, Ukrainian weightlifter
- 1940 – Carlos Slim Helú, Mexican businessman
- 1941 – Joel Crothers, American actor (d. 1985)
- 1943 – Paul Henderson, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1943 – Dick Taylor, English musician (The Rolling Stones and The Pretty Things)
- 1944 – Susan Howard, American actress
- 1944 – John Tavener, English composer
- 1945 – Robert Wyatt, English musician
- 1948 – Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian dancer
- 1948 – Charles Taylor, President ofLiberia
- 1949 – Gregg Popovich, NBA Basketball Coach
- 1950 – Barbi Benton, American actress
- 1950 – Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifah, King of Bahrain
- 1951 – Brian Bilbray, American politician
- 1951 – Leonid Kadeniuk, Ukrainian cosmonaut
- 1953 – Colin Campbell, Canadian ice hockey player and executive
- 1953 – Chris Carter, English musician (Throbbing Gristle, Chris & Cosey)
- 1954 – Rick Warren, American pastor and author
- 1955 – Nicolas Sarkozy, President ofFrance
- 1957 – Frank Skinner English comedian
- 1957 – Mark Napier, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1959 – Frank Darabont, American filmmaker
- 1959 – Burkhard Dallwitz, German-born composer
- 1959 – Randi Rhodes, AirAmerica radio personality
- 1959 – Dave Sharp, Welsh guitarist (The Alarm)
- 1960 – Robert von Dassanowsky, American cultural historian, writer, and producer
- 1961 – Normand Rochefort, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1962 – Keith Hamilton Cobb, American actor
- 1962 – Sam Phillips, American singer
- 1963 – Dan Spitz, American musician, guitarist for Anthrax
- 1965 – Lynda Boyd, American actress
- 1968 – Sarah McLachlan, Canadian singer and songwriter
- 1968 – DJ Muggs, American musician (Cypress Hill)
- 1968 – Rakim, born William Michael Griffin Jr., American rapper
- 1969 – Kathryn Morris, American actress
- 1969 – Mo Rocca, American writer and comedian
- 1969 – Linda Sanchez, American politician
- 1971 – Anthony Hamilton, American soul singer
- 1972 – Nicky Southall, English footballer
- 1974 – Tony Delk, American basketball player
- 1974 – Jermaine Dye, American baseball player
- 1974 – Magglio Ordóñez, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1975 – David Zingler, American writer
- 1975 – Anne Montminy, Canadian Olympic diver
- 1975 – Lee Latchford-Evans, English singer
- 1975 – Junior Spivey, American baseball player
- 1975 – Terri Colombino, American Actress
- 1976 – Mark Madsen, American basketball player
- 1976 – Jarrod Montague, American drummer (Taproot)
- 1976 – Lee Ingleby, British actor
- 1976 – Miltiadis Sapanis, Greek footballer
- 1976 – Emiko Kado, Japanese professional wrestler (d. 1999)
- 1977 – Daunte Culpepper, American football player
- 1977 – Joey Fatone, American singer (*NSYNC)
- 1977 – Matt DeVries, American guitarist (Chimaira)
- 1977 – Takuma Sato, Japanese Formula One driver
- 1977 -LyleOverbay, American baseball player
- 1978 – Gianluigi Buffon, Italian footballer
- 1978 – Jamie Carragher, English footballer
- 1978 – Papa Bouba Diop, Senegalese footballer
- 1979 – Pixie, English model
- 1979 – Ali Boulala, Swedish skateboarder
- 1980 – Nick Carter, American singer (Backstreet Boys)
- 1980 – Jesse James Hollywood, American drug dealer and fugitive
- 1981 – Rick Razzano, American football player
- 1981 – Elijah Wood, American actor
- 1984 – Andre Iguodala, American basketball player
- 1985 – Arnold Mvuemba, French footballer
- 1986 – Jessica Ennis, English heptathlete
- 1986 – Shruti Haasan, Indian actress
- 1987 – Sophia Larkin, English artist
- 1988 – Henry Mortensen (actor), American actor
January 28 – Deaths:
- 814 – Charlemagne (b. 742)
- 1061 – Duke Spytihnev II ofBohemia(b. 1031)
- 1271 – Isabella of Aragon, queen of Philip III ofFrance (b. 1247)
- 1443 – Robert le Maçon, Chancellor of France
- 1547 – King Henry VIII ofEngland (b. 1491)
- 1596 – Sir Francis Drake, English explorer and soldier
- 1599 – Cristofano Malvezzi, Italian composer (b. 1547)
- 1613 – Thomas Bodley, English diplomat and library founder (b. 1545)
- 1621 – Pope Paul V (b. 1550)
- 1681 – Richard Allestree, English royalist churchman (b. 1619)
- 1672 – Pierre Séguier, Chancellor ofFrance (b. 1588)
- 1687 – Johannes Hevelius, Polish astronomer (b. 1611)
- 1697 – John Fenwick, English conspirator
- 1725 – Tsar Peter I ofRussia, (b. 1672)
- 1754 – Ludvig Holberg, Norwegian historian and writer (b. 1684)
- 1832 – Augustin Daniel Belliard, French general (b. 1769)
- 1859 – Frederick John Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich, Prime Minister of theUnited Kingdom(b. 1782)
- 1864 – Émile Clapeyron, French engineer and physicist (b. 1799)
- 1903 – Augusta Holmès, French composer (b. 1847)
- 1912 – Gustave de Molinari, Belgian economist (b. 1819)
- 1915 – Nikolay Umov, Russian physicist (b. 1846)
- 1918 – John McCrae, Canadian poet (b. 1872)
- 1935 – Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, Russian composer (b. 1859)
- 1937 – Anastasios Metaxas, Greek architect and shooter (b. 1862)
- 1938 – Bernd Rosemeyer, German racecar driver (b. 1909)
- 1939 – William Butler Yeats, Irish writer, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1865)
- 1947 – Reynaldo Hahn, French composer (b. 1875)
- 1949 – Jean-Pierre Wimille, French race car driver (b. 1908)
- 1950 – Nikolai Luzin, Russian mathematician (b. 1883)
- 1951 – Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, president ofFinland (b.1867)
- 1953 – James Scullin, 9th Prime Minister ofAustralia (b. 1876)
- 1953 – Derek Bentley (b. 1933) (executed)
- 1960 – Zora Neale Hurston, American author (b. 1891)
- 1963 – Gustave Garrigou, French cyclist (b. 1884)
- 1965 – Tich Freeman, English cricketer (b. 1888)
- 1965 – Maxime Weygand, French soldier (b. 1867)
- 1971 – Donald Winnicott, British psychoanalyst (b. 1896)
- 1973 – John Banner, Austrian actor (b. 1910)
- 1983 – Billy Fury, British singer (b. 1940)
- 1983 – Frank Forde, 15th Prime Minister ofAustralia (b. 1890)
- 1986 – Crew of Space Shuttle Challenger:
- Greg Jarvis (b. 1944)
- Christa McAuliffe (b. 1948)
- Ronald McNair (b. 1950)
- Ellison Onizuka (b. 1946)
- Judith Resnik (b. 1949)
- Francis R. Scobee (b. 1939)
- Michael J. Smith (b. 1945)
- 1988 – Klaus Fuchs, German physicist (b. 1911)
- 1991 – Red Grange, American football player (b. 1903)
- 1994 – Hal Smith, American actor (b. 1916)
- 1996 – Joseph Brodsky, Russian-born poet, Nobel Laureate (b. 1940)
- 1996 – Jerry Siegel, American cartoonist (b. 1914)
- 1996 – Burne Hogarth, American cartoonist (b. 1911)
- 1999 – Markey Robinson, Irish painter (b. 1918)
- 1999 – Torgny T:son Segerstedt, Swedish sociologist and philosopher (b. 1908)
- 2001 – Curt Blefary, American baseball player (b. 1943)
- 2002 – Astrid Lindgren, Swedish author (b. 1907)
- 2004 – Lloyd M. Bucher, U.S. Navy officer (b. 1927)
- 2004 – Don Cholito, Puerto Rican radio host (b. 1923)
- 2004 – Elroy Hirsch, American football player (b. 1923)
- 2004 – Don Stansauk, American professional wrestler (b. 1936)
- 2004 – Joe Viterelli, American actor (b. 1937)
- 2005 – Jim Capaldi, English singer and songwriter (b. 1944)
- 2005 – Karen Lancaume, French actress (suicide) (b. 1973)
- 2005 – Jacques Villeret, French actor (b. 1951)
- 2006 – Yitzchak Kaduri, rabbi (b. around 1900)
- 2006 – Henry McGee, English comedian (b. 1929)
- 2007 – Carlo Clerici, Swiss professional road racing cyclist (b. 1929)
- 2007 – Father Robert Drinan, Roman Catholic Priest and American politician (b. 1920)
- 2007 – Karel Svoboda, Czech composer of popular music (b. 1938)
- 2007 – Hsu Wei Lun, Taiwanese actress (b. 1978)
- 2007 – Yelena Romanova, Russian athlete (b. 1963)
- 2007 – Emma Tillman, the world’s oldest living person from January 24-28, 2007 (b. 1892)
- 2008 – Christodoulos, Archbishop ofAthensand AllGreece(b. 1939)
- 2008 – Bengt Lindström, Swedish artist (b. 1925)
January 28 – Holidays:
- Catholicism – Feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas
- World Leprosy Day
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