From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
January 15 is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 350 days remaining until the end of the year (351 in leap years).
[edit] Events
- 588 BC - Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem under Zedekiah's reign. The siege lasts until July 18, 586 BC.
- 69 - Otho seizes power in Rome, proclaiming himself Emperor of Rome, but only survives for three months before committing suicide.
- 1559 - Elizabeth I of England is crowned in Westminster Abbey by Owen Oglethorpe, the Bishop of Carlisle, instead of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
- 1582 - Russia cedes Livonia and Estonia to Poland.
- 1759 - The British Museum opens.
- 1777 - American Revolutionary War: New Connecticut (present day Vermont) declares its independence.
- 1782 - Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris goes before the U.S. Congress to recommend establishment of a national mint and decimal coinage.
- 1822 - Greek War of Independence: Demetrius Ypsilanti is elected president of the legislative assembly.
- 1844 - University of Notre Dame receives its charter from Indiana.
- 1865 - American Civil War-Fort fisher North Carolina Falls to the Union, thus cutting off the last major seaport of the Confederacy
- 1870 - A political cartoon for the first time symbolizes the United States Democratic Party with a donkey ("A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion" by Thomas Nast for Harper's Weekly).
- 1885 - Wilson Bentley takes the first photograph of a snowflake.
- 1892 - James Naismith publishes the rules for basketball.
- 1908 - Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, the first Greek-letter organization by and for Black college women is established.
- 1919 - The Boston Molasses Disaster kills 21 people.
- 1919 - Ignace Paderewski becomes Premier of Poland.
- 1919 - Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, two of the most prominent socialists in Germany, were tortured and murdered by the Freikorps.
- 1936 - The first building to be completely covered in glass is completed in Toledo, Ohio (the building was for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company).
- 1943 - World War II: Japanese driven off Guadalcanal.
- 1943 - World War II: Soviet counter-offensive at Voronezh begun.
- 1943 - The world's largest office building, The Pentagon, is dedicated (Arlington, Virginia).
- 1947 - The brutalized corpse of Elizabeth Short ("The Black Dahlia") is found in Leimert Park, Los Angeles, California.
- 1951 - Ilse Koch, The "Bitch of Buchenwald", wife of the commandant of the Buchenwald concentration camp, is sentenced to life imprisonment in a court in West Germany.
- 1966 - First Military Coup in Nigeria, government of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa is overthrown.
- 1967 - In the first ever Super Bowl, the Green Bay Packers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs, 35-10.
- 1969 - The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 5.
- 1970 - After a 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria, Biafra surrenders.
- 1970 - Muammar al-Qaddafi is proclaimed premier of Libya.
- 1973 - Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, President of the United States Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.
- 1975 - Portugal grants independence to Angola.
- 1976 - Gerald Ford's would-be assassin, Sara Jane Moore, is sentenced to life in prison.
- 1977 - The Kälvesta air disaster kills 22 people, the worst air crash in Sweden's history.
- 1986 - The Living Seas opens at EPCOT Center in Walt Disney World, Florida.
- 1986 - The HBO and Cinemax pay cable television services initiate scrambling of their national satellite feeds on Galaxy 1 with the Videocipher II system.
- 1990 - AT&T's long distance telephone network suffers a cascade switching failure.
- 1991 - The United Nations deadline for the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait expires, preparing the way for the start of Operation Desert Storm.
- 1992 - The international community recognizes the independence of Slovenia and Croatia from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
- 1993 - Salvatore Riina, the Mafia boss known as 'The Beast', is arrested in Sicily after three decades as a fugitive
- 1999 - The Racak incident: 45 Albanians in the Kosovo village of Racak were killed by Yugoslav security forces.
- 2001 - Wikipedia, a free Wiki content encyclopedia, goes online.
- 2005 - An intense solar flare blasted X rays across the solar system. ESA's SMART-1 lunar orbiter discovered elements such as calcium, aluminum, silicon, iron, and other surface elements on the moon.
- 2007 - Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, former Iraqi intelligence chief and half-brother of Saddam Hussein, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former chief judge of the Revolutionary Court, are executed by hanging in Iraq.
- 2007 - Comet McNaught makes perigee after coming close to the sun.
[edit] Births
- 1342 - Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1404)
- 1432 - King Afonso V of Portugal (d. 1481)
- 1481 - Ashikaga Yoshizumi, Japanese shogun (b. 1511)
- 1538 - Maeda Toshiie, Japanese general (d. 1599)
- 1622 - Molière, French playwright (d. 1673)
- 1671 - Abraham de la Pryme, English antiquarian (d. 1704)
- 1674 - Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, French writer (d. 1762)
- 1716 - Philip Livingston, American founding father (d. 1778)
- 1747 - John Aikin, English doctor and writer (d. 1822)
- 1754 - Richard Martin, Irish founder of the SPCA (d. 1834)
- 1791 - Franz Grillparzer, Austrian writer (d. 1872)
- 1795 - Alexandr Griboyedov, Russian playwright (d. 1829)
- 1809 - Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, French anarchist (d. 1865)
- 1812 - Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, Norwegian writer (d. 1885)
- 1816 - Marie LaFarge, French murderer (d. 1852)
- 1824 - Marie Duplessis, French courtesan, inspiration for La Dame aux Camelias (d. 1847)
- 1841 - Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, Governor General of Canada (d. 1908)
- 1842 - Josef Breuer, Austrian psychologist (d. 1925)
- 1850 - Mihai Eminescu, Romanian poet (d. 1889)
- 1850 - Sofia Kovalevskaya, Russian mathematician (d. 1891)
- 1855 - Jacques Damala, Greek military officer and actor (d. 1889)
- 1863 - Wilhelm Marx, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1946)
- 1866 - Nathan Söderblom, Swedish archbishop, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1931)
- 1869 - Stanisław Wyspiański, Polish dramatist (d. 1907)
- 1872 - Arsen Kotsoyev, Russian writer (d. 1944)
- 1875 - Tom Burke, American runner (d. 1929)
- 1879 - Mazo de la Roche, Canadian author (d. 1961)
- 1882 - Princess Margaret of Connaught, Crown Princess of Sweden (d. 1920)
- 1885 - Huang Yuanyong, Chinese writer (d. 1915)
- 1885 - Lorenz Böhler, Austrian physician (d. 1973)
- 1885 - Grover Lowdermilk, American baseball player (d. 1968)
- 1891 - Ray Chapman, American baseball player (d. 1920)
- 1891 - Osip Mandelstam, Russian poet (d. 1938)
- 1892 - Rex Ingram, Irish director (d. 1950)
- 1893 - Ivor Novello, Welsh actor (d. 1951)
- 1895 - Artturi Ilmari Virtanen, Finnish chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1973)
- 1897 - Xu Zhimo, Chinese poet (d. 1931)
- 1899 - Goodman Ace, American actor (d. 1982)
- 1901 - Luis Monti, Argentine-Italian footballer (d. 1983)
- 1906 - Aristotle Onassis, Greek shipping magnate (d. 1975)
- 1908 - Edward Teller, Hungarian-born physicist (d. 2003)
- 1909 - Jean Bugatti, German-born automobile designer (d. 1939)
- 1909 - Gene Krupa, American drummer (d. 1973)
- 1912 - Michel Debré, French politician (d. 1996)
- 1913 - Lloyd Bridges, American actor (d. 1998)
- 1913 - Miriam Hyde, Australian composer (d. 2005)
- 1914 - Hugh Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton, English historian (d. 2003)
- 1918 - Gamal Abdal Nasser, President of Egypt (d. 1970)
- 1918 - Édouard Gagnon, Canadian Roman Catholic cardinal (d. 2007)
- 1920 - John Cardinal O'Connor, American Catholic cardinal (d. 2000)
- 1920 - Steve Gromek, American baseball player (d. 2002)
- 1923 - Lee Teng-hui, Taiwanese politician
- 1923 - Ivor Cutler, Scottish poet (d. 2006)
- 1926 - Maria Schell, Swiss actress (d. 2005)
- 1926 - Florence Buchsbaum, theater director (d. 1996)
- 1927 - Phyllis Coates, American actress
- 1929 - Martin Luther King Jr, American civil rights leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1968)
- 1930 - Eddie Graham, American professional wrestler (d. 1985)
- 1933 - Ernest J. Gaines, American author
- 1937 - Margaret O'Brien, American actress
- 1938 - Chuni Goswami, Indian actor
- 1941 - Captain Beefheart, American singer
- 1945 - Vince Foster, American lawyer (d. 1993)
- 1947 - Andrea Martin, Canadian actress
- 1948 - Ronnie Van Zant, American singer (Lynyrd Skynyrd) (d. 1977)
- 1949 - Luis Alvarado, Puerto Rican baseball player (d. 2001)
- 1949 - Panos Mihalopoulos, Greek actor
- 1950 - Marius Trésor, French footballer
- 1951 - Charo, Spanish-born singer
- 1953 - Kent Hovind, American evangelist and Young Earth creationist
- 1953 - Ta-Tanisha, American actress
- 1954 - Nikos Sarganis, Greek footballer
- 1955 - Nigel Benson, English author
- 1957 - Marty Lyons, American football player
- 1957 - Mario Van Peebles, American actor
- 1957 - Patrick Dixon, British entrepreneur
- 1958 - Boris Tadić, President of Serbia
- 1959 - Pete Trewavas, English bass guitarist (Marillion)
- 1960 - Aaron Jay Kernis, American composer
- 1960 - Kelly Asbury, American director and actor
- 1961 - Yves P. Pelletier, Quebec comedian (Rock et Belles Oreilles), actor and film director
- 1962 - Creflo Dollar, American televangelist
- 1963 - Conrad Lant (aka Cronos), English musician
- 1964 - Osmo Tapio Räihälä, Finnish composer
- 1965 - Bernard Hopkins, American boxer
- 1965 - Adam Jones, American musician (Tool)
- 1965 - James Nesbitt, Northern Irish actor
- 1965 - Maurizio Fondriest, Italian cyclist
- 1968 - Chad Lowe, American actor
- 1968 - Iñaki Urdangarín, Spanish royalty
- 1969 - Delino DeShields, American baseball player
- 1970 - Shane McMahon, American professional wrestler
- 1971 - Teanna Kai, American porn star
- 1971 - Max Beesley, English musician and actor
- 1971 - Regina King, American actress
- 1972 - Kobe Tai, American porn star
- 1972 - Claudia Winkleman, English television presenter
- 1973 - Essam El-Hadary,Egyptian Football goal keeper
- 1974 - Ray King, American baseball player
- 1975 - Mary Pierce, French tennis player
- 1975 - Edith Bowman, Scottish television and radio presenter
- 1975 - Greg Strause, American artist
- 1976 - Corey Chavous, American football player
- 1978 - Franco Pellizotti, Italian cyclist
- 1978 - Eddie Cahill, American actor
- 1979 - Drew Brees, American football player
- 1980 - Matt Holliday, American baseball player
- 1981 - El Hadji Diouf, Senegalese footballer
- 1981 - Howie Day, American pop singer
- 1981 - Sean Lamont, Scottish rugby union footballer
- 1982 - Benjamin Agosto, American skater
- 1982 - Megan Quann, American swimmer
- 1982 - Philip and Alexander, American-born princes of the Yugoslav Royal Family
- 1983 - Jermaine Pennant, English footballer
- 1983 - Hugo Viana, Portuguese footballer
- 1984 - Victor Rasuk, American actor
- 1984 - Megan Jendrick, American professional swimmer
- 1987 - Kelly Kelly, American WWE Diva
- 1987 - David Knight, English footballer
- 1987 - Michael Seater, Canadian actor
[edit] Deaths
- 69 - Galba, Roman Emperor (b. 3 BC)
- 570 - Saint Ita, Irish nun (b. 475)
- 936 - King Rudolph of France
- 1345 - Martin Zaccaria, Italo-Greek ruler
- 1595 - Murat III, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1546)
- 1672 - John Cosin, English clergyman (b. 1594)
- 1683 - Philip Warwick, English writer and politician (b. 1609)
- 1781 - Marianne Victoria of Borbón, queen regent of Portugal (b. 1718)
- 1790 - John Landen, English BUTT mathematician (b. 1719)
- 1804 - Dru Drury, English entomologist (b. 1725)
- 1909 - Arnold Janssen SVD missionary (b. 1837)
- 1915 - Mary Slessor, Scottish missionary (b. 1848)
- 1919 - Karl Liebknecht, German politician (b. 1871)
- 1919 - Rosa Luxemburg, German politician (b. 1870)
- 1945 - Wilhelm Wirtinger, Austrian mathematician (b. 1865)
- 1947 - Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia (b. 1924)
- 1955 - Yves Tanguy, French painter (b. 1900)
- 1964 - Jack Teagarden, American musician (b. 1905)
- 1967 - David Burliuk, Ukrainian artist (b. 1882)
- 1968 - Bill Masterton, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1938)
- 1973 - Ivan Petrovsky, Russian mathematician (b. 1901)
- 1973 - Coleman Francis, American film director (b. 1919)
- 1983 - Meyer Lansky, Russian-born gangster (b. 1902)
- 1987 - Ray Bolger, American actor, singer, and dancer (b. 1904)
- 1988 - Seán MacBride, Irish statesman, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1904)
- 1990 - Gordon Jackson, Scottish actor (b. 1923)
- 1992 - Dee Murray, English bassist (b. 1946)
- 1993 - Sammy Cahn, American songwriter (b. 1913)
- 1994 - Harry Nilsson, American musician (b. 1941)
- 1996 - Les Baxter, American musician and composer (b. 1922)
- 1996 - Minnesota Fats, American Billiards player (b. 1913)
- 1996 - Paramount Chief Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho (b. 1938)
- 1998 - Junior Wells, American musician (b. 1934)
- 2000 - Željko Ražnatović, aka Arkan, Serbian paramilitary leader (b. 1952)
- 2000 - Fran Ryan, American actress (b. 1916)
- 2000 - Georges-Henri Lévesque, French Canadian Dominican priest and sociologist (b. 1903)
- 2001 - Ted Mann, American screenwriter (b. 1916)
- 2002 - Steve Gromek, American baseball player (b. 1920)
- 2003 - Doris Fisher, American singer and songwriter (b. 1915)
- 2005 - Deem Bristow, American video game voice actor (b. 1947)
- 2005 - Victoria de los Angeles, Catalan soprano (b. 1923)
- 2005 - Walter Ernsting, German author (b. 1920)
- 2005 - Elizabeth Janeway, American author (b. 1913)
- 2005 - Dan Lee, Canadian animator (b. 1969)
- 2005 - Ruth Warrick, American actress (b. 1915)
- 2006 - Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (b. 1926)
- 2007 - Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, former Iraqi intelligence chief and half-brother of Saddam Hussein (b. 1951) (executed)
- 2007 - Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former chief judge of the Iraqi Revolutionary Court (b. 1945) (executed)
- 2007 - Bo Yibo, Chinese politician (b. 1908)
- 2007 - David Vanole, American soccer player (b. 1963)
- 2007 - James Hillier, Canadian inventor of electron microscope (b. 1915)
[edit] Holidays and observances
[edit] Religious observances
[edit] References
- ^ Holweck, F. G. A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co. 1924.
- ^ a b c Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-140-51312-4.
[edit] External links
