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Events
250 - Emperor Decius begins a widespread persecution of Christians in Rome. Pope Fabian is martyred. Afterwards the Donatist controversy over readmitting lapsed Christians disaffects many in North Africa.
1156 - According to legend, freeholder Lalli slays English crusader Bishop Henry with an axe on the ice of the lake Köyliönjärvi in Finland.
1265 - In Westminster, the first English parliament conducts its first meeting in the Palace of Westminster, now also known as the "Houses of Parliament".
1320 - Dante - Quaestio de Aqua et Terra.
1320 - Duke Wladyslaw Lokietek becomes king of Poland.
1356 - Edward Balliol resigns as King of Scotland.
1523 - Christian II is forced to abdicate as King of Denmark and Norway.
1576 - The Mexican city of León is founded by order of the viceroy Don Martín Enríquez de Almansa.
1649 - Charles I of England goes on trial for treason and other "high crimes"
1667 - Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth cedes Kiev, Smolensk, and left-bank Ukraine to Imperial Russia in the treaty of Andrusovo.
1783 - The Kingdom of Great Britain signs a peace treaty with France and Spain, officially ending hostilities in the Revolutionary War.
1801 - John Marshall is appointed the Chief Justice of the United States.
1839 - In the Battle of Yungay, Chile defeats a Peruvian and Bolivian alliance.
1840 - Dumont D'Urville discovers Adélie Land, Antarctica.
1840 - Willem II becomes King of the Netherlands.
1841 - Hong Kong Island occupied by the British Empire.
1885 - L.A. Thompson patents the roller coaster.
1887 - The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base.
1892 - At the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts, the first official basketball game is played.
1920 - American Civil Liberties Union founded.
1921 - The first Constitution of Turkey was adopted, which made fundamental changes in the source and exercise of sovereignty by consecrating the principle of national sovereignty.
1929 - In Old Arizona, the first full-length talking film filmed outdoors, is released.
1936 - Edward VIII becomes King of the United Kingdom.
1937 - Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated for a second term as President of the United States. This is the first inauguration scheduled on January 20, following adoption of the 20th Amendment. Previous inaugurations were scheduled on March 4.
1942 - World War II: Nazis at the Wannsee conference in Berlin decide the "final solution to the Jewish problem".
1944 - World War II: The Royal Air Force drops 2,300 tons of bombs on Berlin.
1945 - Hungary drops out of the Second World War, agreeing an armistice with the Allies.
1952 - Edgar Faure becomes Prime Minister of France.
1954 - The National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations.
1960 - Hendrik Verwoerd announced a plebiscite on whether South Africa should become a Republic.
1964 - Meet the Beatles, the first Beatles album in the United States, is released.
1968 - Game of the Century, which allowed the NCAA to gradually have influence over college sports broadcasting and introduce NCAA higher education opportunities; also a game that influenced the enactment of Title IX.
1969 - The first pulsar is discovered, in the Crab Nebula.
1981 - Iran releases 52 American hostages twenty minutes after Ronald Reagan is inaugurated as U.S. President.
1986 - Martin Luther King, Jr., day was celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.
1986 - The United Kingdom and France announce plans to construct the Channel Tunnel.
1987 - Church of England envoy Terry Waite is kidnapped.
1990 - Black January - bloody crackdown of Azerbaijani peaceful pro-independence demonstrations by Soviet army in Baku.
1991 - Sudan's government imposes Islamic law nationwide, worsening the civil war between the country's Muslim north and Christian south.
1996 - Yasser Arafat is elected president of the Palestinian Authority.
1999 - The China News Service announces new government restrictions on Internet use aimed especially at Internet bars.
2001 - Philippine president Joseph Estrada is ousted in the EDSA II Revolution, succeeded by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
2001 - George W Bush is sworn in as President of the United States.
2005 - Ireland completes metrication.

Births
225 - Gordian III, Roman Emperor (d. 244)
1358 - Eleanor of Aragon, wife of John I of Castile (d. 1382)
1435 - Ashikaga Yoshimasa, Japanese shogun (d. 1490)
1554 - King Sebastian of Portugal (d. 1578)
1586 - Johann Schein, German composer (d. 1630)
1664 - Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, Italian writer and jurist (d. 1718)
1716 - King Charles III of Spain (d. 1788)
1716 - Jean-Jacques Barthélemy, French writer and numismatist (d. 1795)
1775 - Andre Marie Ampere, French physicist (d. 1836)
1783 - Justus Johann Friedrich Dotzauer, German cellist and composer (d. 1860)
1798 - Anson Jones, 5th and last President of Texas (d. 1858)
1804 - Eugène Sue, French novelist (d. 1857)
1812 - Thomas Meik, Scottish engineer (d. 1896)
1837 - David Josiah Brewer, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (d. 1910)
1855 - Ernest Chausson, French composer (d. 1899)
1867 - Yvette Guilbert, French singer and actress (d. 1944)
1873 - Johannes Vilhelm Jensen, Danish writer, Nobel Prize in Literature laureate (d. 1950)
1876 - Józef Hofmann, Polish pianist (d. 1967)
1878 - Ruth St. Denis, dancer (d. 1968)
1878 - Finlay Currie, British actor (d. 1968)
1880 - Walter W. Bacon, Governor of Delaware (d. 1962)
1891 - Mischa Elman, Ukrainian born violinist (d. 1967)
1894 - Walter Piston, American composer (d. 1976)
1896 - George Burns, American actor, comedian (d. 1996)
1898 - U Razak, Burmese politician (d. 1947)
1900 - Colin Clive, British actor (d. 1937)
1902 - Leon Ames, American actor (d. 1993)
1906 - Aristotle Onassis, Greek industrialist (d. 1975)
1910 - Joy Adamson, Austrian naturalist and writer (d. 1980)
1915 - Ghulam Ishaq Khan, President of Pakistan (d. 2006)
1918 - Juan Garcia Esquivel, Mexican musician (d. 2002)
1920 - Federico Fellini, Italian film director (d. 1993)
1920 - DeForest Kelley, American actor (d. 1999)
1920 - Thorleif Schjelderup, Norwegian author and ski jumper (d. 2006)
1922 - Ray Anthony, American trumpeter, bandleader, songwriter and actor
1923 - Nora Brockstedt, Norwegian singer
1924 - Slim Whitman, American singer
1925 - Ernesto Cardenal, Nicaraguan theologian and author and politician
1926 - Jamiluddin Aali, Pakistani poet, essayist and columnist
1926 - Patricia Neal, American actress
1926 - David Tudor, American pianist and composer (d. 1996)
1929 - Jimmy Cobb, American jazz drummer
1929 - Bob Denard, French mercenary
1929 - Arte Johnson, American actor
1929 - Glenn "Fireball" Roberts, American race car driver (d. 1964)
1930 - Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr., astronaut
1931 - David Lee, American physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics laureate
1932 - Lou Fontinato, National Hockey League defenceman
1934 - Tom Baker, British actor
1937 - Dorothy Provine, American singer, dancer and actress
1938 - William Berger, Austrian actor (d. 1993)
1938 - Derek Dougan, Northern Irish footballer
1939 - Paul Coverdell, American politician (d. 2000)
1940 - Carol Heiss, American figure skater
1941 - Pierre Lalonde, Quebec singer and television host
1941 - Ron Townson, American singer (The Fifth Dimension) (d. 2001)
1945 - Christopher Martin-Jenkins, cricket commentator and chief cricket correspondent of The Times
1945 - Eric Stewart, English musician and songwriter (10cc)
1946 - David Lynch, American film director
1947 - Cyrille Guimard, French cyclist and directeur sportif
1948 - Natan Sharansky, Russian-born physicist and politician
1949 - Göran Persson, Prime Minister of Sweden
1950 - Mahamane Ousmane, President of Niger
1950 - Liza Goddard, actress
1950 - Chuck Lefley, National Hockey League player
1951 - Ian Hill, British musician (Judas Priest)
1951 - Ivan Fischer, Hungarian conductor
1952 - Paul Stanley, American musician (KISS)
1955 - Wyatt Knight, American actor
1956 - Bill Maher, American actor, comedian, and political analyst
1958 - Lorenzo Lamas, American actor
1960 - Will Wright, American computer game designer
1960 - Scott Thunes, American musician (Frank Zappa)
1963 - James Denton, American actor
1965 - Greg Kriesel, American bassist (The Offspring)
1965 - Sophie, The Countess of Wessex, the wife of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
1965 - John Michael Montgomery, American singer
1968 - Melissa Rivers, American reporter and actress
1968 - Rainn Wilson, American actor
1969 - Patrick K. Kroupa, American writer, hacker
1970 - Mitch Benn, UK comedian, songwriter, actor
1970 - Skeet Ulrich, American actor
1971 - Derrick Green, American singer (Sepultura)
1971 - Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson, American drummer (The Roots)
1975 - David Eckstein, baseball player
1976 - Gretha Smit, Dutch speed skater
1979 - Rob Bourdon, American musician (Linkin Park)
1979 - Will Young, British singer
1981 - Owen Hargreaves, English international footballer
1981 - Crystal Lowe, Canadian actress
1989 - Nadia Di Cello, Argentine actress

Deaths
1156 - Bishop Henry, patron saint of Finland
1479 - King John II of Aragon (b. 1397)
1568 - Myles Coverdale, English Bible translator
1612 - Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1552)
1666 - Anna of Austria, wife of Louis XIII of France and regent (b. 1601)
1707 - Humphrey Hody, English theologian (b. 1659)
1709 - François de la Chaise, French confessor of Louis XIV of France (b. 1624)
1739 - Francesco Galli-Bibiena, Italian architect/designer (b. 1659)
1745 - Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1697)
1751 - John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol, English politician (b. 1665)
1770 - Charles Yorke, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1722)
1779 - David Garrick, English actor (b. 1717)
1810 - Benjamin Chew, Chief Justice of colonial Pennsylvania (b. 1722)
1819 - King Charles IV of Spain (b. 1748)
1848 - Christian VIII of Denmark (b. 1786)
1850 - Adam Oehlenschläger, Danish poet (b. 1779)
1873 - The Venerable Father Basil Anthony Marie Moreau, Founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross (b. 1799)
1891 - David Kalakaua, King of Hawaii (b. 1836)
1900 - John Ruskin, art critic (b. 1819)
1901 - Zénobe Gramme, Belgian engineer (b. 1826)
1907 - Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev, Russian chemist (b. 1834)
1920 - Georg Lurich, Estonian wrestler (b. 1876)
1936 - King George V of the United Kingdom (b. 1865)
1944 - James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist (b. 1860)
1947 - Josh Gibson, African-American baseball player (b. 1911)
1954 - Fred Root, English cricketer (b. 1890)
1962 - Robinson Jeffers, American poet (b. 1887)
1965 - Alan Freed, American disk jockey (b. 1922)
1979 - Gustav Winckler, Danish singer (b. 1925)
1971 - Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson, American actor, director, writer, and producer (b. 1880)
1973 - Lorenz Böhler, Austrian physician (b. 1885)
1983 - Garrincha, Brazilian footballer (b. 1933)
1984 - Johnny Weissmuller, American swimmer and actor (b. 1904)
1988 - Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Pashtun Nationalist & non-violent freedom fighter (b. 1890)
1990 - Hayedeh, Persian singer (b. 1942)
1990 - Barbara Stanwyck, American actress (b. 1907)
1993 - Audrey Hepburn, Anglo-Dutch actress (b. 1929)
1994 - Matt Busby, Scottish football manager (b. 1909)
1996 - Gerry Mulligan, American musician (b. 1927)
1997 - Curt Flood, baseball player (b. 1938)
1998 - Bobo Brazil, American professional wrestler (b. 1924)
2003 - Al Hirschfeld, American caricaturist (b. 1903)
2003 - Nedra Volz, American actress (b. 1908)
2003 - Bill Werbeniuk, Canadian snooker player (b. 1947)
2004 - Guinn Smith, American athlete (b. 1920)
2005 - Per Borten, Prime Minister of Norway (b. 1913)
2005 - Roland Frye, American literary critic and theologian
2005 - Jan Nowak-Jeziorański, Polish journalist, writer, and politician (b. 1913)
2005 - Miriam Louisa Rothschild, British zoologist, entomologist, and author (b. 1908)