EVENTS OF THIS DAY IN THE PAST 29/1

• 661 – The Rashidun Caliphate ends with the death of Ali, and the Imamah of the Shia going to the second Imam, Hassan ibn Ali
• 757 – An Lushan, leader of a revolt against the Tang dynasty and emperor of Yan, is murdered by his own son, An Qingxu.
• 904 – Sergius III comes out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher.
• 1258 – First Mongol invasion of Đại Việt: Đại Việt defeats the Mongols at the battle of Đông Bộ Đầu, forcing the Mongols to withdraw from the country.
• 1790 – The first boat specializing as a lifeboat is tested on the River Tyne.
• 1814 – War of the Sixth Coalition: France defeats Russia and Prussia in the Battle of Brienne.
• 1819 – Stamford Raffles lands on the island of Singapore.
• 1834 – US President Andrew Jackson orders first use of federal soldiers to suppress a labor dispute.
• 1845 – "The Raven" is published in The Evening Mirror in New York, the first publication with the name of the author, Edgar Allan Poe
• 1850 – Henry Clay introduces the Compromise of 1850 to the U.S. Congress.
• 1856 – Queen Victoria issues a Warrant under the Royal sign-manual that establishes the Victoria Cross to recognise acts of valour by British military personnel during the Crimean War.
• 1861 – Kansas is admitted as the 34th U.S. state.
• 1863 – The Bear River Massacre: A detachment of California Volunteers led by Colonel Patrick Edward Connor engage the Shoshone at Bear River, Washington Territory, killing hundreds of men women and children.
• 1886 – Karl Benz patents the first successful gasoline-driven automobile.
• 1891 – Liliuokalani is proclaimed the last monarch and only queen regnant of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
• 1907 – Charles Curtis of Kansas becomes the first Native American U.S. Senator.
• 1916 – World War I: Paris is first bombed by German zeppelins.
• 1918 – Ukrainian–Soviet War: The Bolshevik Red Army, on its way to besiege Kiev, is met by a small group of military students at the Battle of Kruty.
• 1918 – Ukrainian–Soviet War: An armed uprising organized by the Bolsheviks in anticipation of the encroaching Red Army begins at the Kiev Arsenal, which will be put down six days later.
• 1936 – The first inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame are announced.
• 1941 – Alexandros Koryzis becomes Prime Minister of Greece upon the sudden death of his predecessor, dictator Ioannis Metaxas.
• 1943 – The first day of the Battle of Rennell Island, U.S. cruiser Chicago is torpedoed and heavily damaged by Japanese bombers.
• 1944 – World War II: Approximately 38 people are killed and about a dozen injured when the Polish village of Koniuchy (present-day Kaniūkai, Lithuania) is attacked by Soviet partisan units.
• 1959 – The first Melodifestivalen is held in Stockholm, Sweden.
• 1963 – The first inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame are announced.
• 1967 – The "ultimate high" of the hippie era, the Mantra-Rock Dance, takes place in San Francisco and features Janis Joplin, Grateful Dead, and Allen Ginsberg.
• 1989 – Hungary establishes diplomatic relations with South Korea, making it the first Eastern Bloc nation to do so.
• 1991 – Gulf War: The Battle of Khafji, the first major ground engagement of the war, as well as its deadliest, begins.
• 1996 – President Jacques Chirac announces a "definitive end" to French nuclear weapons testing.
• 2001 – Thousands of student protesters in Indonesia storm parliament and demand that President Abdurrahman Wahid resign due to alleged involvement in corruption scandals.
• 2002 – In his State of the Union address, President George W. Bush describes "regimes that sponsor terror" as an Axis of evil, in which he includes Iraq, Iran and North Korea.
• 2005 – The first direct commercial flights from mainland China (from Guangzhou) to Taiwan since 1949 arrived in Taipei. Shortly afterwards, a China Airlines flight lands in Beijing.
• 2009 – The Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt rules that people who do not adhere to one of the three government-recognised religions, while not allowed to list any belief outside of those three, are still eligible to receive government identity documents.
• 2009 – Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich is removed from office following his conviction of several corruption charges, including the alleged solicitation of personal benefit in exchange for an appointment to the United States Senate as a replacement for then-U.S. president-elect Barack Obama.
• 2013 – SCAT Airlines Flight 760 crashes near the Kazakh city of Almaty, killing 21 people.
• 2017 – Quebec City mosque shooting: Alexandre Bissonnette opens fire at mosque in Sainte-Foy, Quebec, killing six and wounding 19 others in a spree shooting.

Births[edit]

• 919 – Shi Zong, emperor of the Liao Dynasty (d. 951)
• 1451 – John, Prince of Portugal, Prince of Portugal (d. 1451)
• 1455 – Johann Reuchlin, German-born humanist and scholar (d. 1522)
• 1475 – Giuliano Bugiardini, Italian painter (d. 1555)
• 1499 – Katharina von Bora, wife of Martin Luther; formerly a Roman Catholic nun (d. 1552)
• 1525 – Lelio Sozzini, Italian humanist and reformer (d. 1562)
• 1584 – Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange (d. 1647)
• 1591 – Franciscus Junius, pioneer of Germanic philology (d. 1677)
• 1632 – Johann Georg Graevius, German scholar and critic (d. 1703)
• 1650 – Juan de Galavís, Spanish Roman Catholic archbishop of Santo Domingo and Bogotá (d. 1739)
• 1688 – Emanuel Swedenborg, Swedish-English astronomer, philosopher, and theologian (d. 1772)
• 1703 – Carlmann Kolb, German priest and composer (d. 1765)
• 1711 – Giuseppe Bonno, Austrian composer (d. 1788)
• 1715 – Georg Christoph Wagenseil, Austrian organist and composer (d. 1777)
• 1717 – Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, English field marshal and politician, 19th Governor General of Canada (d. 1797)
• 1718 – Paul Rabaut, French pastor (d. 1794)
• 1749 – Christian VII of Denmark (d. 1808)
• 1754 – Moses Cleaveland, American general, lawyer, and politician, founded Cleveland, Ohio (d. 1806)
• 1756 – Henry Lee III, American general and politician, 9th Governor of Virginia (d. 1818)
• 1761 – Albert Gallatin, Swiss-American ethnologist, linguist, and politician, 4th United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1849)
• 1782 – Daniel Auber, French composer (d. 1871)
• 1801 – Johannes Bernardus van Bree, Dutch violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1857)
• 1810 – Ernst Kummer, Polish-German mathematician and academic (d. 1893)
• 1843 – William McKinley, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 25th President of the United States (d. 1901)
• 1846 – Karol Olszewski, Polish chemist, mathematician, and physicist (d. 1915)
• 1852 – Frederic Hymen Cowen, Jamaican-English pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1935)
• 1858 – Henry Ward Ranger, American painter and academic (d. 1916)
• 1860 – Anton Chekhov, Russian playwright and short story writer (d. 1904)
• 1862 – Frederick Delius, English composer (d. 1934)
• 1866 – Julio Peris Brell, Spanish painter (d. 1944)
• 1866 – Romain Rolland, French historian, author, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1944)
• 1867 – Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, Spanish journalist and author (d. 1928)
• 1870 – Süleyman Nazif, Turkish poet and civil servant (d. 1927)
• 1874 – John D. Rockefeller, Jr., American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1960)
• 1876 – Havergal Brian, English composer (d. 1972)
• 1877 – Georges Catroux, French general and diplomat (d. 1969)
• 1880 – W. C. Fields, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter (d. 1946)
• 1881 – Alice Catherine Evans, American microbiologist (d. 1975)
• 1884 – Juhan Aavik, Estonian-Swedish composer and conductor (d. 1982)
• 1888 – Sydney Chapman, English mathematician and geophysicist (d. 1970)
• 1891 – Elizaveta Gerdt, Russian ballerina and educator (d. 1975)
• 1891 – R. Norris Williams, Swiss-American tennis player and banker (d. 1968)
• 1895 – Muna Lee, American poet and author (d. 1965)
• 1901 – Allen B. DuMont, American engineer and broadcaster, founded the DuMont Television Network (d. 1965)
• 1901 – E. P. Taylor, Canadian businessman and horse breeder (d. 1989)
• 1903 – Yeshayahu Leibowitz, Russian-Israeli biochemist and philosopher (d. 1994)
• 1905 – Barnett Newman, American painter and etcher (d. 1970)
• 1906 – Joe Primeau, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1989)
• 1913 – Victor Mature, American actor (d. 1999)
• 1915 – Bill Peet, American author and illustrator (d. 2002)
• 1917 – John Raitt, American actor and singer (d. 2005)
• 1918 – John Forsythe, American actor (d. 2010)
• 1921 – Geraldine Pittman Woods, American science administrator and embryologist (d. 1999)
• 1923 – Jack Burke Jr., American golfer
• 1923 – Paddy Chayefsky, American author and screenwriter (d. 1981)
• 1926 – Abdus Salam, Pakistani-British physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
• 1926 – Amelita Ramos, 11th First Lady of the Philippines
• 1927 – Edward Abbey, American environmentalist and author (d. 1989)
• 1929 – Elio Petri, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 1982)
• 1929 – Joseph Kruskal, American mathematician and computer scientist (d. 2010)
• 1931 – Leslie Bricusse, English playwright and composer
• 1931 – Ferenc Mádl, Hungarian academic and politician, 2nd President of Hungary (d. 2011)
• 1932 – Raman Subba Row, English cricketer and referee
• 1932 – Tommy Taylor, English footballer (d. 1958)
• 1933 – Sacha Distel, French singer and guitarist (d. 2004)
• 1934 – Branko Miljković, Serbian poet and academic (d. 1961)
• 1936 – Veturi Sundararama Murthy, Indian poet and songwriter (d. 2010)
• 1937 – Hassan Habibi, Iranian lawyer and politician, 1st Vice President of Iran (d. 2013)
• 1937 – Bobby Scott, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (d. 1990)
• 1939 – Germaine Greer, Australian journalist and author
• 1940 – Katharine Ross, American actress and author
• 1940 – Kunimitsu Takahashi, Japanese motorcycle racer and race car driver
• 1941 – Robin Morgan, American actress, journalist, and author
• 1943 – Tony Blackburn, English radio and television host
• 1943 – Pat Quinn, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2014)
• 1944 – Andrew Loog Oldham, English record producer and manager
• 1944 – Patrick Lipton Robinson, Jamaican lawyer and judge
• 1944 – Pauline van der Wildt, Dutch swimmer
• 1945 – Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, Malian academic and politician, Prime Minister of Mali
• 1945 – Jim Nicholson, Northern Irish politician
• 1945 – Tom Selleck, American actor and businessman
• 1946 – Bettye LaVette, American singer-songwriter
• 1947 – Linda B. Buck, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1947 – David Byron, English singer-songwriter (d. 1985)
• 1947 – Marián Varga, Slovak organist and composer
• 1948 – Raymond Keene, English chess player and author
• 1949 – Evgeny Lovchev, Russian footballer and manager
• 1949 – Tommy Ramone, Hungarian-American drummer and producer (d. 2014)
• 1950 – Ann Jillian, American actress and singer
• 1950 – Jody Scheckter, South African race car driver and sportscaster
• 1951 – Fereydoon Forooghi, Iranian singer-songwriter (d. 2001)
• 1951 – Andy Roberts, Caribbean cricketer
• 1953 – Peter Baumann, German keyboard player and songwriter
• 1953 – Charlie Wilson, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1953 – Teresa Teng, Taiwanese singer (d. 1995)
• 1954 – Christian Bjelland IV, Norwegian businessman and art collector
• 1954 – Terry Kinney, American actor and director
• 1954 – Oprah Winfrey, American talk show host, actress, and producer, founded Harpo Productions
• 1956 – Jan Jakub Kolski, Polish director, screenwriter, and cinematographer
• 1957 – Philippe Dintrans, French rugby player
• 1957 – Ron Franscell, American author and journalist
• 1957 – Grażyna Miller, Italian journalist and poet
• 1959 – Mike Foligno, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1960 – Greg Louganis, American diver and author
• 1961 – Petra Thümer, German swimmer and photographer
• 1962 – Nicholas Turturro, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1964 – John Anthony Gallagher, English-New Zealand rugby player
• 1965 – Dominik Hašek, Czech ice hockey player
• 1965 – Peter Lundgren, Swedish tennis player and coach
• 1966 – Romário, Brazilian footballer, manager, and politician
• 1967 – Stacey King, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
• 1968 – Edward Burns, American actor, director, and producer
• 1968 – Susi Erdmann, German luger and bobsledder
• 1970 – Heather Graham, American actress
• 1970 – Jörg Hoffmann, German swimmer
• 1970 – Paul Ryan, American economist and politician, 62nd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
• 1970 – Mohammed Yusuf, Nigerian Islamist leader, founded Boko Haram (d. 2009)
• 1971 – Clare Balding, English broadcaster, journalist and author
• 1975 – Sara Gilbert, American actress, producer, and talk show host
• 1977 – Justin Hartley, American film and television actor
• 1980 – Ivan Klasnic, German-Croatian footballer
• 1981 – Rachna Khatau, Indian-American actress and singer
• 1982 – Adam Lambert, American singer-songwriter and actor
• 1983 – Biagio Pagano, Italian footballer
• 1983 – Nedžad Sinanović, Bosnian basketball player
• 1984 – Natalie du Toit, South African swimmer
• 1984 – Nuno Morais, Portuguese footballer
• 1984 – Safee Sali, Malaysian footballer
• 1985 – Marc Gasol, Spanish basketball player
• 1986 – Jair Jurrjens, Dutch baseball player
• 1987 – José Abreu, Cuban baseball player
• 1988 – Tatyana Chernova, Russian heptathlete
• 1988 – Shay Logan, English footballer
• 1988 – Aydın Yılmaz, Turkish footballer
• 1989 – Kevin Shattenkirk, American ice hockey player
• 1993 – Nakjoon, South Korean-American singer

Deaths[edit]

• 661 – Ali, cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad (b. 601)
• 702 – Princess Ōku of Japan (b. 661)
• 757 – An Lushan, Chinese general (b. 703)
• 870 – Salih ibn Wasif, Muslim general
• 1119 – Pope Gelasius II (b. 1060)
• 1327 – Adolf, Count Palatine of the Rhine (b. 1300)
• 1465 – Louis, Duke of Savoy (b. 1413)
• 1597 – Elias Ammerbach, German organist and composer (b. 1530)
• 1608 – Frederick I, Duke of Württemberg (b. 1557)
• 1647 – Francis Meres, English priest and author (b. 1565)
• 1678 – Jerónimo Lobo, Portuguese missionary and author (b. 1593)
• 1706 – Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset, English poet and courtier (b. 1638)
• 1737 – George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney, Scottish-English field marshal and politician, Colonial Governor of Virginia (b. 1666)
• 1743 – André-Hercule de Fleury, French cardinal (b. 1653)
• 1763 – Louis Racine, French poet (b. 1692)
• 1820 – George III of the United Kingdom (b. 1738)
• 1829 – Paul François Jean Nicolas, vicomte de Barras, French captain and politician (b. 1755)
• 1829 – István Pauli, Hungarian-Slovenian priest and poet (b. 1760)
• 1870 – Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1797)
• 1871 – Philippe-Joseph Aubert de Gaspé, Canadian author (b. 1786)
• 1888 – Edward Lear, English poet and illustrator (b. 1812)
• 1899 – Alfred Sisley, French-English painter (b. 1839)
• 1906 – Christian IX of Denmark (b. 1818)
• 1928 – Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, Scottish field marshal (b. 1861)
• 1931 – Henri Mathias Berthelot, French general during World War I (b. 1861)
• 1933 – Sara Teasdale, American poet (b. 1884)
• 1934 – Fritz Haber, Polish-German chemist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1868)
• 1941 – Ioannis Metaxas, Greek general and politician, 130th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1871)
• 1944 – William Allen White, American journalist and author (b. 1868)
• 1946 – Harry Hopkins, American businessman and politician, 8th United States Secretary of Commerce (b. 1890)
• 1948 – Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta (b. 1900)
• 1950 – Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Kuwaiti ruler (b. 1885)
• 1951 – Frank Tarrant, Australian cricketer and umpire (b. 1880)
• 1956 – H. L. Mencken, American journalist and critic (b. 1880)
• 1959 – Winifred Brunton, South African painter and illustrator (b. 1880)
• 1962 – Fritz Kreisler, Austrian-American violinist and composer (b. 1875)
• 1963 – Robert Frost, American poet and playwright (b. 1874)
• 1964 – Alan Ladd, American actor (b. 1913)
• 1969 – Allen Welsh Dulles, American banker, lawyer, and diplomat, 5th Director of Central Intelligence (b. 1893)
• 1970 – B. H. Liddell Hart, French-English soldier, historian, and journalist (b. 1895)
• 1977 – Freddie Prinze, American comedian and actor (b. 1954)
• 1980 – Jimmy Durante, American entertainer (b. 1893)
• 1991 – Yasushi Inoue, Japanese author and poet (b. 1907)
• 1992 – Willie Dixon, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1915)
• 1993 – Adetokunbo Ademola, Nigerian lawyer and jurist, 2nd Chief Justice of Nigeria (b. 1906)
• 1994 – Ulrike Maier, Austrian skier (b. 1967)
• 1999 – Lili St. Cyr, American model and dancer (b. 1918)
• 2002 – Harold Russell, Canadian-American soldier and actor (b. 1914)
• 2003 – Frank Moss, American lawyer and politician (b. 1911)
• 2004 – Janet Frame, New Zealand author and poet (b. 1924)
• 2005 – Ephraim Kishon, Israeli author, screenwriter, and director (b. 1924)
• 2006 – Nam June Paik, South Korean-American artist, (b. 1932)
• 2008 – Bengt Lindström, Swedish painter and sculptor (b. 1925)
• 2008 – Margaret Truman, American singer and author (b. 1924)
• 2009 – Hélio Gracie, Brazilian martial artist (b. 1913)
• 2011 – Milton Babbitt, American composer, educator, and theorist (b. 1916)
• 2012 – Ranjit Singh Dyal, Indian general and politician, 10th Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry (b. 1928)
• 2012 – Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, Italian lawyer and politician, 9th President of Italy (b. 1918)
• 2012 – Camilla Williams, American soprano and educator (b. 1919)
• 2014 – François Cavanna, French journalist and author (b. 1923)
• 2015 – Colleen McCullough, Australian neuroscientist, author, and academic (b. 1937)
• 2015 – Rod McKuen, American singer-songwriter and poet (b. 1933)
• 2015 – Alexander Vraciu, American commander and pilot (b. 1918)
• 2016 – Jean-Marie Doré, Guinean lawyer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Guinea (b. 1938)
• 2016 – Jacques Rivette, French director, screenwriter, and critic (b. 1928)