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Today January 16th 2009 this day in history Read more below to view events, deaths, births, Holidays observances and video clips. Last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009
Events
27 BC – The title Augustus is bestowed upon Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian by the Roman Senate.
550 – Gothic War (535–552): The Ostrogoths, under King Totila, conquer Rome after a long siege, by bribing the Isaurian garrison.
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.
1547 – Ivan IV of Russia aka Ivan the Terrible becomes Tsar 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.
1707 – The Scottish Parliament ratifies the Act of Union, paving the way for the creation of Great Britain.
1761 – The British capture Pondicherry, India from the French.
1777 – Vermont declares its independence from New York.
1780 – American Revolution: Battle of Cape St. Vincent.
1809 – Peninsular War: The British defeat the French at the Battle of La Coruña.
1847 – John C. Fremont is appointed Governor of the new California Territory.
1878 – Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) – Battle of Plovdiv: Captain 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 – Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. is founded on the campus of Howard University.
1938 – The famous jazz concert by the Benny Goodman Orchestra and special guests takes place at Carnegie Hall in New York City, the first jazz performance in that venue.
1945 – Adolf Hitler moves into his underground bunker, the so-called Führerbunker.
1956 – President Gamal Abdal Nasser of Egypt vows to reconquer Palestine.
1968 – The Youth International Party is founded.
1969 – Czech student Jan Palach commits suicide by self-immolation in Prague, in protest against the Soviets crushing of the Prague Spring the year before.
1970 – Buckminster Fuller receives the Gold Medal award from the American Institute of Architects.
1979 – The Shah of Iran flees Iran with his family and relocates to Egypt.
1986 – First meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force.
1991 – The United States goes 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 ending a 12-year civil war that claimed at least 75,000.
2001 – The First surviving wikipedia edit is made: UuU
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-Qaida, 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.
2006 – Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is sworn in as Liberia s new president. She becomes Africa s first female elected head of state.
Births
1245 – Edmund Crouchback, son of Henry III of England (d. 1296)
1409 – René I of Naples (d. 1480)
1477 – Johannes Schöner, German astronomer and cartographer (d. 1547)
1501 – Anthony Denny, confidant of King Henry VIII of England (d. 1559)
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 writer (d. 1755)
1728 – Niccolò Piccinni, Italian composer (d. 1800)
1807 – Charles Henry Davis, American Civil War Admiral (d. 1877)
1815 – Henry W. Halleck, American Civil War general (d. 1872)
1821 – John C. Breckinridge, U.S. Vice-President and Confederate general (d. 1875)
1834 – Robert R. Hitt, American politician (d. 1906)
1836 – King Francis II of the Two Sicilies (d. 1894)
1838 – Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist (d. 1917)
1844 – Ismail Qemali, Albanian nationalist (d. 1919)
1853 – Andre Michelin, French industrialist (d. 1931)
1853 – Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson, English actor and theatre manager (d. 1937)
1853 – Gen Sir Ian Hamilton, British military commander (d. 1947)
1853 – Vladimir Sergeyevich Solovyov, Russian philosopher (d. 1900)
1872 – Edward Gordon Craig, English actor, producer, director and scenic designer (d. 1966)
1872 – Henri Busser, French composer (d. 1973)
1874 – Robert W. Service, Canadian poet (d. 1958)
1875 – Leonor Michaelis, German enzyme kinetic theorist (d. 1947)
1878 – Harry Carey, American silent film actor (d. 1947)
1885 – Zhou Zuoren, Chinese writer (d. 1967)
1886 – John Hamilton, American actor (d. 1958)
1888 – Osip Brik, Russian writer (d. 1945)
1893 – Daisy Kennedy, Australian violinist (d. 1981)
1894 – Irving Mills, American jazz music publisher (d. 1985)
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, UK-US film director (d. 1999)
1901 – Fulgencio Batista, Cuban leader (d. 1973)
1901 – Frank Zamboni, American inventor (d. 1988)
1902 – Eric Liddell, Scottish runner (d. 1945)
1903 – William Grover-Williams, English-French racing driver and WWII resistance fighter (d. 1945)
1905 – Ernesto Halffter, Spanish composer and conductor (d. 1989)
1906 – Diana Wynyard, British actress (d. 1964)
1907 – Alexander Knox, Canadian actor (d. 1995)
1907 – Paul Nitze, American government official (d. 2004)
1908 – Ethel Merman, American actress and singer (d. 1984)
1908 – Günther Prien, German World War II submarine captain (d. 1941)
1910 – Dizzy Dean, American baseball player (d. 1974)
1911 – Roger Lapébie, French cyclist (d. 1996)
1911 – Eduardo Frei Montalva, Chilean politician (d. 1982)
1914 – Roger Wagner, American choral musician (d. 1992)
1916 – Philip Lucock, Australian politician and Presbyterian minister (d. 1996)
1917 – Carl Karcher, founded the Carl s Jr. hamburger chain (d. 2008)
1918 – Nel Benschop, Dutch poet (d. 2005)
1918 – Clem Jones, Australian Lord Mayor of Brisbane (d. 2007)
1918 – Stirling Silliphant, American writer (d. 1996)
1920 – Alberto Crespo, Argentine racing driver (d. 1991)
1921 – Francesco Scavullo, American photographer (d. 2004)
1922 – Ernesto Bonino, Italian singer (d. 2008)
1923 – Gene Feist, American stage actor and producer
1923 – Anthony Hecht, American poet (d. 2004)
1924 – Katy Jurado, Mexican actress (d. 2002)
1928 – Pilar Lorengar, Spanish soprano (d. 1996)
1928 – William Kennedy, American author
1930 – Clarence Ray Allen, American murderer (d. 2006)
1930 – Norman Podhoretz, US writer, foreign policy adviser
1931 – Johannes Rau, German politician (d. 2006)
1932 – Dian Fossey, American zoologist (d. 1985)
1933 – Susan Sontag, American writer (d. 2004)
1934 – Marilyn Horne, American opera singer
1935 – A.J. Foyt, American race car driver and team owner
1937 – Lorraine Bayly, Australian actress
1937 – Luiz Bueno, Brazilian racing driver
1938 – Jô Soares, Brazilian author, musician and TV personality
1942 – René Angélil, Canadian music executive
1942 – Barbara Lynn, American singer
1943 – Gavin Bryars, English composer and double bassist
1943 – Brian Ferneyhough, British composer
1944 – Jim Stafford, American singer and songwriter
1946 – Kabir Bedi, Indian actor
1946 – Ronnie Milsap, American singer and songwriter
1946 – Katia Ricciarelli, Italian soprano
1947 – Magdalen Nabb, British author (d. 2007)
1947 – Harvey Proctor, British politician
1947 – Dr. Laura Schlessinger, American radio talk show host
1948 – John Carpenter, American film director
1948 – Dalvanius Prime, New Zealand entertainer (d. 2002)
1948 – Ruth Reichl, American magazine editor
1948 – Cliff Thorburn, Canadian snooker player
1949 – Andrew Refshauge, Australian politician, Deputy Premier of New South Wales
1950 – Debbie Allen, American dancer and choreographer
1950 – Brian Castro, Australian author
1950 – Damo Suzuki, Japanese singer (Can)
1951 – Glenn Ordway, American radio talk show host
1952 – King Fuad II of Egypt
1952 – L. Blaine Hammond, NASA astronaut
1953 – Robert Jay Mathews, American neo-Nazi (d. 1984)
1955 – Jerry M. Linenger, NASA astronaut
1956 – Jennifer Dale, Canadian actress
1956 – Martin Jol, Dutch football manager
1956 – Ivan Safronov, Russian journalist (d. 2007)
1958 – Anatoli Boukreev, Russian climber (d. 1997)
1958 – Lena Ek, Swedish politician
1959 – Juanita Bynum, American televangelist
1959 – Sade, Nigerian-born singer
1961 – Paul Raven, English musician (Killing Joke) (d. 2007)
1961 – Jill Sobule, American singer-songwriter
1962 – Joel Fitzgibbon, Australian politician
1962 – Paul Webb, British musician (Talk Talk, .O.rang)
1963 – James May, English television presenter
1965 – Maxine Jones, American singer (En Vogue)
1968 – David Chokachi, American actor
1969 – Dead, Swedish black metal vocalist (Mayhem) (d. 1991)
1969 – Roy Jones Jr., American boxer
1970 – Garth Ennis, Irish comic book author
1970 – Brendan O Hare, Scottish drummer (Teenage Fanclub, Telstar Ponies)
1970 – Ron Villone, American baseball player
1971 – Sergi Bruguera, Spanish tennis player
1972 – Ruben Bagger, Danish footballer
1972 – Ang Christou, Australian rules footballer
1972 – Dameon Clarke, Canadian actor
1972 – Yuri Drozdov, Russian footballer
1972 – Ezra Hendrickson, Vincentian footballer
1972 – Salah Hissou, Moroccan long-distance runner
1972 – Joe Horn, American football player
1972 – Richard T. Jones, American actor
1972 – Greg Page, Australian musician and actor
1972 – Alen Peternac, Croatian footballer
1973 – Josie Davis, American actress
1974 – Marlon Anderson, American baseball player
1974 – Kate Moss, English model
1975 – Greg Strause, American visual effects creator
1975 – Gillian Iliana Waters, American actress
1976 – Viktor Maslov, Russian racing driver
1976 – Martina Moravcová, Slovak female swimmer
1977 – Ariel Zeevi, Israeli judoka
1977 – Jeff Foster, American basketball player
1978 – Alfredo Amézaga, Mexican baseball player
1979 – Aaliyah, American singer (d. 2001)
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, composer, lyricist (In The Heights)
1980 – Albert Pujols, Dominican-born baseball player
1980 – Michelle Wild, Hungarian model
1981 – Nick Valensi, American guitarist (The Strokes)
1981 – Bobby Zamora, English footballer
1982 – Samuel Preston, British singer (The Ordinary Boys)
1982 – Tuncay Sanli, Turkish footballer
1983 – Emanuel Pogatetz, Austrian footballer
1984 – Jared Slingerland, Canadian musician
1985 – Jonathan Richter, Danish footballer
1985 – Joe Flacco, American football player
1986 – Paula Pareto, Argentine judoka
1987 – Lauren McAvoy, British fashion model
1988 – Nicklas Bendtner, Danish footballer
Deaths
960 – Polyeuctus, Patriarch of Constantinople
1400 – John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter, English politician (executed) (b. 1352)
1545 – George Spalatin, German reformer (b. 1484)
1547 – Johannes Schöner, German astronomer and cartographer (b. 1477)
1554 – Christiern Pedersen, Danish humanist (b. 1480)
1585 – Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln, English admiral (b. 1512)
1659 – Charles Annibal Fabrot, French lawyer (b. 1580)
1710 – Emperor Higashiyama of Japan (b. 1675)
1711 – Joseph Vaz, Apostle of Ceylon (b. 1651)
1747 – Barthold Heinrich Brockes, German poet (b. 1680)
1748 – Arnold Drakenborch, Dutch classical scholar (b. 1684)
1750 – Ivan Trubetskoy, Russian field marshall (b. 1667)
1752 – Francis Blomefield, English topographer (b. 1705)
1794 – Edward Gibbon, English historian (b. 1737)
1809 – John Moore, British general (b. 1761)
1817 – Alexander J. Dallas, American statesman (b. 1759)
1834 – Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette, French mathematician (b. 1769)
1856 – Thaddeus William Harris, American naturalist (b. 1795)
1864 – Anton Schindler, Austrian biographer of Beethoven (b. 1795)
1865 – Edmond François Valentin About, French writer (b. 1828)
1879 – Octave Crémazie, French Canadian poet (b. 1827)
1886 – Amilcare Ponchielli, Italian opera composer (b. 1834)
1891 – Léo Delibes, French composer (b. 1836)
1898 – Charles Pelham Villiers, longest-serving MP in the British House of Commons (b. 1802)
1901 – Hiram Revels, U.S. Senator, first African-American to serve in the United States Congress (b. 1822)
1901 – Jules Barbier, French opera librettist (b. 1825)
1901 – Arnold Böcklin, Swiss painter (b. 1827)
1906 – Marshall Field, founder of Marshall Field and Company (b. 1834)
1917 – George Dewey, U.S. admiral (b. 1837)
1919 – Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves, President of Brazil (b. 1848)
1920 – Reginald De Koven, American music critic and composer of operettas (b. 1859)
1924 – Winifred Cochrane, Countess of Dundonald, philanthropist (b. 1859)
1935 – Ma Barker, American criminal (b. 1871)
1936 – Albert Fish, American serial killer (b. 1870)
1942 – Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, son of Queen Victoria, Governor General of Canada (b. 1850)
1942 – Carole Lombard, American actress (b. 1908)
1957 – Arturo Toscanini, Italian conductor (b. 1867)
1957 – 1st Earl of Athlone, British royal, Governor-General of South Africa and Canada (b. 1874)
1962 – Ivan Meštrovic, Croatian sculptor (b. 1883)
1962 – Frank Hurley, Australian photographer (b. 1885)
1963 – Ike Quebec, American tenor-saxophone player (b. 1918)
1967 – Robert J. Van de Graaff, American nuclear physicist (b. 1901)
1969 – Vernon Duke, American composer and songwriter (b. 1903)
1969 – Jan Palach, Czech protester against the Soviet led invasion.(b. 1948)
1971 – Philippe Thys, Belgian cyclist (b. 1890)
1972 – Teller Ammons, American politician (b. 1895)
1972 – Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., American actor and creator of The Chipmunks (b. 1919)
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 sports columnist (b. 1905)
1985 – Robert Fitzgerald, U.S. poet and translator (b. 1910)
1986 – Herbert W. Armstrong, American evangelist, author, and publisher (b. 1892)
1987 – Bertram Wainer, Australian pro-abortion campaigner (b. 1928)
1988 – Andrija Artukovic, Croatian war criminal (b. 1899)
1988 – Ballard Berkeley, English actor (b. 1904)
1989 – Prem Nazir, Malayalam actor
1993 – Jón Páll Sigmarsson, Icelandic strength athlete (b. 1960)
1995 – Eric Mottram, English poet, teacher, critic, and editor (b. 1924)
1996 – Marcia Davenport, American author and music critic (b. 1903)
1997 – Ennis Cosby, son of entertainer Bill Cosby (b. 1969)
1998 – Dimitris Horn, Greek actor (b. 1921)
1999 – Jim McClelland, Australian solicitor, politician, Minister, Royal Commissioner, judge (b. 1915)
2000 – Will Dub Jones, American singer (The Coasters) (b. 1928)
2000 – John Morris Rankin, musical entertainer (b. 1959)
2001 – Laurent-Désiré Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (b. 1939)
2001 – Auberon Waugh, British author and journalist (b. 1939)
2002 – Robert Hanbury Brown, British-Australian astronomer and physicist (b. 1916)
2002 – Michael Bilandic, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1923)
2002 – Bobo Olson, American boxer (b. 1928)
2002 – Eddie Meduza, Swedish composer (b. 1948)
2002 – Ron Taylor, American actor (b. 1952)
2003 – Richard Wainwright, English politician (b. 1918)
2004 – Kalevi Sorsa, Prime Minister of Finland (b. 1930)
2005 – Marjorie Williams, American journalist (b. 1958)
2006 – Stanley Biber, American physician, pioneer of transgender surgery, (b. 1923)
2007 – Ron Carey, American actor (b. 1935)
2007 – Benny Parsons, American racecar driver and commentator (b. 1941)
Holidays and observances
Teacher s Day in Thailand
National Religious Freedom Day in the United States, to commemorate the adoption of Thomas Jefferson s landmark Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom in 1786
Berard of Carbio
Saint Fursey
Honoratus of Arles
January 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
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