January 4
Events
Pre-1600
- 46 BC - Julius Caesar fights Titus Labienus in the Battle of Ruspina.
- 871 - Battle of Reading: Æthelred of Wessex and his brother Alfred are defeated by a Danish invasion army.
1601–1900
- 1642 - English Civil War: King Charles I, accompanied by 400 soldiers, attempts to arrest five members of Parliament for treason, only to discover the men had been tipped off and fled.
- 1649 - English Civil War: The Rump Parliament votes to put Charles I on trial.
- 1717 - The Netherlands, Great Britain, and France sign the Triple Alliance.
- 1762 - Great Britain declares war on Spain, which meant the entry of Spain into the Seven Years' War.
- 1798 - Constantine Hangerli arrives in Bucharest, Wallachia, as its new Prince, invested by the Ottoman Empire.
- 1844 - The first issue of the Swedish-languaged Saima newspaper founded by J. V. Snellman is published in Kuopio, Finland.
- 1853 - After having been kidnapped and sold into slavery in the American South, Solomon Northup regains his freedom; his memoir Twelve Years a Slave later becomes a national bestseller.
- 1854 - The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the Samarang.
- 1863 - The New Apostolic Church, a Christian and chiliastic church, is established in Hamburg, Germany.
- 1878 - Russo-Turkish War : Sofia is liberated from Ottoman rule.
- 1884 - The Fabian Society is founded in London, United Kingdom.
- 1885 - Sino-French War: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing force at Núi Bop in northern Vietnam.
- 1896 - Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state.
1901–present
- 1903 - Topsy, an elephant, is electrocuted by the owners of Luna Park, Coney Island. The Edison film company records the film Electrocuting an Elephant of Topsy's death.
- 1909 - Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes.
- 1912 - The Scout Association is incorporated throughout the British Empire by royal charter.
- 1918 - The Finnish Declaration of Independence is recognized by Russia, Sweden, Germany and France.
- 1944 - World War II: Operation Carpetbagger, involving the dropping of arms and supplies to resistance fighters in Europe, begins.
- 1946 - The first day of a three-day "disastrous" tornado outbreak across the south-central United States leaves 41 people dead and at least 412 others injured.
- 1948 - Burma gains its independence from the United Kingdom, becoming an independent republic.
- 1951 - Korean War: Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time.
- 1956 - The Greek National Radical Union is formed by Konstantinos Karamanlis.
- 1958 - Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, falls to Earth from orbit.
- 1959 - Luna 1 becomes the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon.
- 1965 - Aeroflot Flight 101/X-20 crashes on approach to Alma-Ata Airport, killing 64 people.
- 1967 - The Doors released their eponymous debut album.
- 1972 - Rose Heilbron becomes the first female judge to sit at the Old Bailey in London, UK.
- 1975 - This date overflowed the 12-bit field that had been used in TOPS-10. There were numerous problems and crashes related to this bug while an alternative format was developed.
- 1976 - The Troubles: The Ulster Volunteer Force shoots dead six Irish Catholic civilians in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The next day, gunmen would shoot dead ten Protestant civilians nearby in retaliation.
- 1987 - The Maryland train collision: An Amtrak train en route to Boston from Washington, D.C., collides with Conrail engines in Chase, Maryland, United States, killing 16 people.
- 1989 - Second Gulf of Sidra incident: A pair of Libyan MiG-23 "Floggers" are shot down by a pair of US Navy F-14 Tomcats during an air-to-air confrontation.
- 1990 - In Pakistan's deadliest train accident an overloaded passenger train collides with an empty freight train, resulting in 307 deaths and 700 injuries.
- 1998 - A massive ice storm hits eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, continuing through January 10 and causing widespread destruction.
- 1999 - Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura is sworn in as governor of Minnesota, United States.
- 2000 - A Norwegian passenger train departing from Trondheim, collides with a local train coming from Hamar in Åsta in Åmot Municipality; 19 people are killed and 68 injured in the accident.
- 2004 - Spirit, a NASA Mars rover, lands successfully on Mars at 04:35 UTC.
- 2004 - Mikheil Saakashvili is elected President of Georgia following the November 2003 Rose Revolution.
- 2006 - Ehud Olmert becomes acting Prime Minister of Israel after the incumbent, Ariel Sharon, suffers a second, apparently more serious stroke.
- 2007 - The 110th United States Congress convenes, electing Nancy Pelosi as the first female Speaker of the House in U.S. history.
- 2008 - A Let L-410 Turbolet crashes in the Los Roques Archipelago in Venezuela, killing 14 people.
- 2010 - The Burj Khalifa, the current tallest building in the world, officially opens in Dubai.
- 2013 - A gunman kills eight people in a house-to-house rampage in Kawit, Cavite, Philippines.
- 2018 - Hennenman–Kroonstad train crash: A passenger train operated by Shosholoza Meyl collides with a truck on a level crossing at Geneva Station between Hennenman and Kroonstad, Free State, South Africa. Twenty people are killed and 260 injured.
- 2019 - A fire in an escape room in Koszalin, Poland, kills five teenagers through carbon monoxide poisoning.
Births
Pre-1600
- 659 - Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin
- 1077 - Emperor Zhezong of China
- 1334 - Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy
- 1467 - Bodo VIII, Count of Stolberg-Wernigerode
- 1581 - James Ussher, Irish archbishop and historian
1601–1900
- 1643 - Isaac Newton, English mathematician and physicist
- 1654 - Lars Roberg, Swedish physician and academic
- 1672 - Hugh Boulter, English-Irish archbishop
- 1710 - Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Italian composer, violinist, and organist
- 1720 - Johann Friedrich Agricola, German organist and composer
- 1731 - Karl Abraham Zedlitz, Prussian minister of education
- 1737 – Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau, chemist
- 1785 - Jacob Grimm, German philologist and mythologist
- 1809 - Louis Braille, French educator, invented Braille
- 1813 - Isaac Pitman, English linguist and educator
- 1832 - George Tryon, English admiral
- 1838 - General Tom Thumb, American circus performer
- 1839 - Carl Humann, German archaeologist, architect, and engineer
- 1848 - Katsura Tarō, Japanese general and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Japan
- 1858 - Carter Glass, American publisher and politician, 47th United States Secretary of the Treasury
- 1864 - Clara Emilia Smitt, Swedish doctor and author
- 1869 - Tommy Corcoran, American baseball player and umpire
- 1874 - Josef Suk, Czech violinist and composer
- 1877 - Gibson Gowland, English film actor
- 1877 - Marsden Hartley, American painter and poet
- 1878 - A. E. Coppard, English poet and short story writer
- 1878 - Augustus John, Welsh painter and illustrator
- 1881 - Wilhelm Lehmbruck, German sculptor
- 1883 - Max Eastman, American author and poet
- 1883 - Johanna Westerdijk, Dutch pathologist and academic
- 1884 - Guy Pène du Bois, American painter, critic, and educator
- 1889 - M. Patanjali Sastri, Indian lawyer and jurist, 2nd Chief Justice of India
- 1891 - Edward Brooker, English-Australian sergeant and politician, 31st Premier of Tasmania
- 1895 - Leroy Grumman, American engineer and businessman, co-founded Grumman Aeronautical Engineering Co.
- 1896 - Everett Dirksen, American politician
- 1896 - André Masson, French painter and illustrator
- 1897 - Chen Cheng, Chinese politician, Vice President of the Republic of China
- 1900 - James Bond, American ornithologist and zoologist
1901–present
- 1901 - C. L. R. James, Trinidadian journalist and theorist
- 1902 - John A. McCone, American businessman and politician, 6th Director of Central Intelligence
- 1903 - Georg Elser, German carpenter and attempted assassin of Adolf Hitler
- 1913 - Malietoa Tanumafili II, Samoan ruler
- 1916 - Lionel Newman, American pianist and composer
- 1916 - Robert Parrish, American actor and director
- 1920 - William Colby, American intelligence officer, 10th Director of Central Intelligence
- 1920 - Rosalie Crutchley, British actress
- 1924 - Marianne Werner, German shot putter
- 1925 - Veikko Hakulinen, Finnish skier and technician
- 1927 - Paul Desmarais, Canadian businessman and philanthropist
- 1927 - Barbara Rush, American actress
- 1929 - Günter Schabowski, German journalist and politician
- 1930 - Sorrell Booke, American actor and director
- 1930 - Don Shula, American football player and coach
- 1931 - William Deane, Australian judge and politician, 22nd Governor-General of Australia
- 1931 - Nora Iuga, Romanian poet, writer and translator
- 1932 - Carlos Saura, Spanish director and screenwriter
- 1932 - Clint Hill, American Secret Service agent
- 1934 - Rudolf Schuster, Slovak politician, 2nd President of Slovakia
- 1935 - Floyd Patterson, American boxer
- 1937 - Grace Bumbry, American operatic soprano
- 1937 - Dyan Cannon, American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1938 - Jim Norton, Irish stage, film and television actor
- 1938 - Eberhard Wagner, German academic, linguist and author
- 1940 - Brian Josephson, Welsh physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1940 - Gao Xingjian, Chinese novelist, playwright, and critic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1941 - George P. Cosmatos, Italian-Canadian director and screenwriter
- 1941 - Kalpnath Rai, Indian politician
- 1942 - Bolaji Akinyemi, Nigerian political scientist, academic, and politician
- 1942 - Jim Downing, American race car driver and inventor
- 1942 - John McLaughlin, English guitarist and songwriter
- 1943 - Doris Kearns Goodwin, American historian and author
- 1943 - Hwang Sok-yong, South Korean author and educator
- 1944 - Gary Stevens, Australian rugby league player
- 1944 - Alan Sutherland, New Zealand rugby player
- 1945 - Vesa-Matti Loiri, Finnish actor, musician and comedian
- 1945 - Richard R. Schrock, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1946 - Arthur Conley, American singer-songwriter
- 1947 - Chris Cutler, English percussionist, lyricist and music theorist
- 1947 - Marie-Thérèse Letablier, French sociologist and academic
- 1948 - Kostas Davourlis, Greek footballer
- 1948 - Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé, Malian civil servant and politician, Prime Minister of Mali
- 1949 - Mick Mills, English footballer and manager
- 1949 - Bwanga Tshimen, Congolese footballer
- 1950 - Khondakar Ashraf Hossain, Bangladesh poet and academic
- 1953 - Norberto Alonso, Argentinian footballer
- 1954 - Rob Kerin, Australian politician, 43rd Premier of South Australia
- 1954 - Tina Knowles, American fashion designer, founded House of Deréon
- 1956 - Tom Borton, American jazz saxophonist, songwriter and composer
- 1956 - Zehava Gal-On, Israeli politician
- 1956 - Ann Magnuson, American actress and performance artist
- 1956 - Bernard Sumner, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1957 - Patty Loveless, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1958 - Matt Frewer, American-Canadian actor
- 1958 - Julian Sands, English actor
- 1960 - Gavin Miller, Australian rugby league player
- 1960 - Michael Stipe, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1961 - Sidney Green, American basketball player and coach
- 1961 - Cliff Levingston, American basketball player and coach
- 1961 - Graham McTavish, Scottish actor and author
- 1962 - Joe Kleine, American basketball player and coach
- 1963 - Dave Foley, Canadian comedian, actor, director, and producer
- 1963 - Till Lindemann, German singer, songwriter, and poet
- 1963 - Martina Proeber, German diver
- 1964 - Susan Devoy, New Zealand squash player
- 1964 - Dot-Marie Jones, American actress and athlete
- 1964 - Adrian Shelford, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1965 - Guy Forget, French tennis player
- 1965 - Beth Gibbons, English singer and songwriter
- 1965 - Craig Revel Horwood, Australian-English dancer, choreographer, and director
- 1965 - Julia Ormond, English actress and producer
- 1966 - Deana Carter, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1967 - Johnny Nelson, English boxer and sportscaster
- 1967 - David Toms, American golfer and philanthropist
- 1967 - David Wilson, Australian rugby player
- 1969 - Corie Blount, American basketball player
- 1969 - Kees van Wonderen, Dutch footballer and manager
- 1970 - Josh Stamberg, American actor
- 1971 - Shane Walker, Australian rugby league player
- 1971 - Colin Ward, Australian rugby league player
- 1973 - Frank Høj, Danish cyclist
- 1974 - Danilo Hondo, German cyclist
- 1975 - Shane Carwin, American mixed martial artist and wrestler
- 1975 - Paul Watson, English footballer
- 1976 - Ted Lilly, American baseball player
- 1978 - Dominik Hrbatý, Slovak tennis player
- 1979 - Shergo Biran, German footballer
- 1979 - Tristan Gommendy, French racing driver
- 1980 - D'Arcy Carden, American actress and comedian
- 1980 - Miguel Monteiro, Portuguese footballer
- 1980 - Justin Ontong, South African cricketer
- 1982 - Richard Logan, English footballer
- 1982 - Danny Sullivan, Australian rugby league player
- 1982 - Kang Hye-jung, South Korean actress
- 1983 - Will Bynum, American basketball player
- 1983 - Richard Rankin, Scottish film, television and theatre actor
- 1984 - Javi Fuego, Spanish footballer
- 1984 - Jiří Hudler, Czech ice hockey player
- 1985 - Lenora Crichlow, British actress
- 1985 - Kari Aalvik Grimsbø, Norwegian handball player
- 1985 - Gökhan Gönül, Turkish footballer
- 1985 - Al Jefferson, American basketball player
- 1985 - Jung Sung-ryong, South Korean footballer
- 1985 - Ross Turnbull, English footballer and coach
- 1986 - Younès Kaboul, French footballer
- 1986 - Andrei Krauchanka, Belarusian decathlete
- 1986 - Russell Martin, English footballer and manager
- 1986 - James Milner, English footballer
- 1986 - Charlyne Yi, American actor, comedian, musician, and writer
- 1987 - Marissa Coleman, American basketball player
- 1987 - Przemysław Tytoń, Polish footballer
- 1987 - Danny Simpson, English footballer
- 1987 - Kay Voser, Swiss footballer
- 1988 - Anestis Argyriou, Greek footballer
- 1988 - Maximilian Riedmüller, German footballer
- 1989 - Kevin Pillar, American baseball player
- 1989 - Graham Rahal, American race car driver
- 1990 - Iago Falque, Spanish footballer
- 1990 - Raisel Iglesias, Cuban baseball player
- 1990 - Toni Kroos, German footballer
- 1990 - Alberto Paloschi, Italian footballer
- 1991 - Charles Melton, American actor
- 1992 - Kris Bryant, American baseball player
- 1992 - Quincy Promes, Dutch footballer
- 1993 - James Michael McAdoo, American basketball player
- 1993 - Mahmoud Metwalli, Egyptian footballer
- 1994 - Derrick Henry, American football player
- 1995 - Sarah Nurse, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1995 - Adam Webster, English footballer
- 1996 - Michael Dickson, Australian gridiron football player
- 1996 - Jackson Hastings, Australian rugby league player
- 1996 - Marcus Ingvartsen, Danish footballer
- 1996 - Jasmine Paolini, Italian tennis player
- 1997 - Angeliño, Spanish footballer
- 1997 - Ante Žižić, Croatian basketball player
- 1998 - Coco Jones, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1998 - Arnoldas Kulboka, Lithuanian basketball player
- 1998 - Rodrigo Garro, Argentine footballer
- 1998 - Liza Soberano, Filipina actress
- 1999 - Wessam Abou Ali, Palestinian footballer
- 1999 - Daniel Arzani, Iranian-Australian footballer
- 1999 - Jan-Niklas Beste, German footballer
- 1999 - Nico Hischier, Swiss ice hockey player
- 1999 - Jaeman Salmon, Australian rugby league player
- 1999 - Collin Sexton, American basketball player
- 2000 - Max Aarons, English footballer
- 2000 - Facundo Colidio, Argentine footballer
- 2001 - Odilon Kossounou, Ivorian footballer
- 2001 - Lola Young, English singer and songwriter
- 2002 - Vladyslav Vanat, Ukrainian footballer
- 2003 - Jaeden Martell, American actor
- 2003 - Kevin, Brazilian footballer
- 2004 - Victor Wembanyama, French basketball player
- 2005 - Rob Dillingham, American basketball player
- 2005 - Emil Højlund, Danish footballer
- 2005 - Oscar Højlund, Danish footballer
- 2005 - Dafne Keen, British-Spanish actress
- 2006 - Marc Guiu, Spanish footballer