January 26

Events

• 661 - The Rashidun Caliphate is effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last caliph.
• 945 - The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to become monks by Constantine VII, who becomes sole emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
• 1500 - Vicente Yáñez Pinzón becomes the first European to set foot on Brazil.
• 1531 - The 6.4–7.1 Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people.
• 1564 - The Council of Trent establishes an official distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.
• 1564 - The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Tsardom of Russia in the Battle of Ula during the Livonian War.
• 1565 - Battle of Talikota, fought between the Vijayanagara Empire and the Deccan sultanates, leads to the subjugation, and eventual destruction of the last Hindu kingdom in India, and the consolidation of Islamic rule over much of the Indian subcontinent.
• 1699 - For the first time, the Ottoman Empire permanently cedes territory to the Christian powers.
• 1700 - The 8.7–9.2 Cascadia earthquake takes place off the west coast of North America, as evidenced by Japanese records.
• 1736 - Stanislaus I of Poland abdicates his throne.
• 1788 - The British First Fleet, led by Arthur Phillip, sails into Port Jackson to establish Sydney, the first permanent European settlement on Australia. Commemorated as Australia Day.
• 1808 - The Rum Rebellion is the only successful armed takeover of the government in New South Wales.
• 1837 - Michigan is admitted as the 26th U.S. state.
• 1838 - Tennessee enacts the first prohibition law in the United States.
• 1841 - James Bremer takes formal possession of Hong Kong Island at what is now Possession Point, establishing British Hong Kong.
• 1855 - Point No Point Treaty is signed in Washington Territory.
• 1856 - First Battle of Seattle. Marines from the drive off American Indian attackers after all day battle with settlers.
• 1861 - American Civil War: The state of Louisiana secedes from the Union.
• 1863 - American Civil War: General Ambrose Burnside is relieved of command of the Army of the Potomac after the disastrous Fredericksburg campaign. He is replaced by Joseph Hooker.
• 1863 - American Civil War: Governor of Massachusetts John Albion Andrew receives permission from the Secretary of War to raise a militia organization for men of African descent.
• 1870 - Reconstruction Era: Virginia rejoins the Union.
• 1885 - Troops loyal to The Mahdi conquer Khartoum, killing the Governor-General Charles George Gordon.
• 1905 - The world's largest diamond ever, the Cullinan weighing, is found at the Premier Mine near Pretoria in South Africa.
• 1911 - Glenn Curtiss flies the first successful American seaplane.
• 1915 - The Rocky Mountain National Park is established by an act of the U.S. Congress.
• 1918 - Finnish Civil War: A group of Red Guards hangs a red lantern atop the tower of Helsinki Workers' Hall to symbolically mark the start of the war.
• 1920 - Former Ford Motor Company executive Henry Leland launches the Lincoln Motor Company which he later sold to his former employer.
• 1926 - The first demonstration of the television by John Logie Baird.
• 1930 - The Indian National Congress declares 26 January as Independence Day or as the day for Poorna Swaraj which occurred 17 years later.
• 1934 - The Apollo Theater reopens in Harlem, New York City.
• 1934 - German–Polish Non-Aggression Pact is signed.
• 1939 - Spanish Civil War: Catalonia Offensive: Troops loyal to nationalist General Francisco Franco and aided by Italy take Barcelona.
• 1942 - World War II: The first United States forces arrive in Europe landing in Northern Ireland.
• 1945 - World War II: The Red Army begins encircling the German Fourth Army near Heiligenbeil in East Prussia, which will end in destruction of the 4th Army two months later.
• 1945 - World War II: Audie Murphy displays valor and bravery in action for which he will later be awarded the Medal of Honor.
• 1949 - The Hale telescope at Palomar Observatory sees first light under the direction of Edwin Hubble, becoming the largest aperture optical telescope.
• 1950 - The Constitution of India comes into force, forming a republic. Rajendra Prasad is sworn in as its first President of India. Observed as Republic Day in India.
• 1952 - Black Saturday in Egypt: rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses.
• 1956 - Soviet Union cedes Porkkala back to Finland.
• 1961 - John F. Kennedy appoints Janet G. Travell to be the first woman Physician to the President.
• 1962 - Ranger 3 is launched to study the Moon. The space probe later misses the moon by 22,000 miles.
• 1965 - Hindi becomes the official language of India.
• 1972 - JAT Fight 367 is destroyed by a terrorist bomb, killing 27 of the 28 people on board the DC-9. Flight attendant Vesna Vulović survives with critical injuries.
• 1980 - Egypt–Israel relations are formally established.
• 1986 - The Ugandan government of Tito Okello is overthrown by the National Resistance Army, led by Yoweri Museveni.
• 1991 - Mohamed Siad Barre is removed from power in Somalia, ending centralized government, and is succeeded by Ali Mahdi.
• 1992 - Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia will stop targeting United States cities with nuclear weapons.
• 1998 - Lewinsky scandal: On American television, U.S. President Bill Clinton denies having had "sexual relations" with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
• 2001 - The 7.7 Gujarat earthquake shakes Western India with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X, leaving 13,805–20,023 dead and about 166,800 injured.
• 2009 - Rioting breaks out in Antananarivo, Madagascar, sparking a political crisis that will result in the replacement of President Marc Ravalomanana with Andry Rajoelina.
• 2015 - An aircraft crashes at Los Llanos Air Base in Albacete, Spain, killing 11 people and injuring 21 others.
• 2020 - A Sikorsky S-76B flying from John Wayne Airport to Camarillo Airport crashes in Calabasas, 30 miles west of Los Angeles, killing all nine people on board including former five time NBA champion Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Bryant.

  Births

• 183 - Lady Zhen, wife of Cao Pi
• 1436 - Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset, Lancastrian military commander
• 1467 - Guillaume Budé, French scholar
• 1495 - Emperor Go-Nara of Japan
• 1541 - Florent Chrestien, French poet and translator
• 1549 - Jakob Ebert, German theologian
• 1582 - Giovanni Lanfranco, Italian painter
• 1595 - Antonio Maria Abbatini, Italian composer
• 1624 - George William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
• 1657 - William Wake, Archbishop of Canterbury
• 1708 - William Hayes, English organist, composer, and conductor
• 1714 - Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, French sculptor and educator
• 1715 - Claude Adrien Helvétius, French philosopher
• 1716 - George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville, English general and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies
• 1722 - Alexander Carlyle, Scottish minister and author
• 1763 - Charles XIV John of Sweden
• 1781 - Ludwig Achim von Arnim, German poet and author
• 1813 - Juan Pablo Duarte, Dominican philosopher and poet
• 1824 - Emil Czyrniański, Polish chemist
• 1832 - George Shiras, Jr., American lawyer and jurist
• 1842 - François Coppée, French poet and author
• 1852 - Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, Italian-French explorer
• 1857 - 12th Dalai Lama
• 1861 - Louis Anquetin, French painter
• 1864 - József Pusztai, Slovene-Hungarian poet and journalist
• 1866 - John Cady, American golfer
• 1877 - Kees van Dongen, Dutch painter
• 1878 - Dave Nourse, English-South African cricketer and coach
• 1880 - Douglas MacArthur, American general, Medal of Honor recipient
• 1885 - Michael Considine, Irish-Australian politician
• 1885 - Harry Ricardo, English engineer and academic
• 1885 - Per Thorén, Swedish figure skater
• 1887 - François Faber, French-Luxembourgian cyclist
• 1887 - Marc Mitscher, American admiral and pilot
• 1887 - Dimitris Pikionis, Greek architect and academic
• 1891 - Frank Costello, Italian-American mob boss
• 1891 - August Froehlich, German priest and martyr
• 1891 - Wilder Penfield, American-Canadian neurosurgeon and academic
• 1892 - Bessie Coleman, American pilot
• 1893 - Giuseppe Genco Russo, Italian mob boss
• 1899 - Günther Reindorff, Russian-Estonian graphic designer and illustrator
• 1900 - Karl Ristenpart, German conductor
• 1902 - Menno ter Braak, Dutch author
• 1904 - Ancel Keys, American physiologist and nutritionist
• 1904 - Seán MacBride, Irish lawyer and politician, Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Nobel Prize laureate
• 1905 - Charles Lane, American actor and singer
• 1905 - Maria von Trapp, Austrian-American singer
• 1907 - Henry Cotton, English golfer
• 1907 - Dimitrios Holevas, Greek priest and philologist
• 1908 - Jill Esmond, English actress
• 1908 - Rupprecht Geiger, German painter and sculptor
• 1908 - Stéphane Grappelli, French violinist
• 1910 - Jean Image, Hungarian-French animator, director, and screenwriter
• 1911 - Polykarp Kusch, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1911 - Norbert Schultze, German composer and conductor
• 1913 - Jimmy Van Heusen, American pianist and composer
• 1914 - Dürrüşehvar Sultan, Imperial Princess of the Ottoman Empire
• 1915 - William Hopper, American actor
• 1917 - Louis Zamperini, American runner and captain
• 1918 - Nicolae Ceaușescu, Romanian dictator, 1st President of Romania
• 1918 - Philip José Farmer, American author
• 1919 - Valentino Mazzola, Italian footballer
• 1919 - Bill Nicholson, English footballer and manager
• 1919 - Hyun Soong-jong, South Korean politician, 24th Prime Minister of South Korea
• 1920 - Hans Holzer, Austrian-American paranormal researcher and author
• 1921 - Eddie Barclay, French record producer, founded Barclay Records
• 1921 - Akio Morita, Japanese businessman, co-founded Sony
• 1922 - Michael Bentine, English actor and screenwriter
• 1922 - Seán Flanagan, Irish footballer and politician, 7th Irish Minister for Health
• 1922 - Gil Merrick, English footballer
• 1923 - Patrick J. Hannifin, American admiral
• 1923 - Anne Jeffreys, American actress and singer
• 1924 - Alice Babs, Swedish singer and actress
• 1924 - Annette Strauss, American philanthropist and politician, Mayor of Dallas
• 1925 - David Jenkins, English bishop and theologian
• 1925 - Joan Leslie, American actress
• 1925 - Paul Newman, American actor, activist, director, race car driver, and businessman, co-founded Newman's Own
• 1925 - Ben Pucci, American football player and sportscaster
• 1925 - Claude Ryan, Canadian journalist and politician
• 1926 - Farman Fatehpuri, Pakistani linguist and scholar
• 1926 - Joseph Bacon Fraser, Jr., American architect and businessman, co-founded the Sea Pines Company
• 1927 - José Azcona del Hoyo, Honduran businessman and politician, President of Honduras
• 1927 - Bob Nieman, American baseball player and scout
• 1927 - Hubert Schieth, German footballer and manager
• 1928 - Roger Vadim, French actor and director
• 1929 - Jules Feiffer, American cartoonist, playwright, screenwriter, and educator
• 1934 - Roger Landry, Canadian businessman and publisher
• 1934 - Charles Marowitz, American director, playwright, and critic
• 1934 - Huey "Piano" Smith, American pianist and songwriter
• 1934 - Bob Uecker, American baseball player, sportscaster and actor
• 1935 - Corrado Augias, Italian journalist and politician
• 1935 - Henry Jordan, American football player
• 1935 - Paula Rego, Portuguese-born British visual artist
• 1936 - Sal Buscema, American illustrator
• 1937 - Joseph Saidu Momoh, Sierra Leonean soldier and politician, 2nd President of Sierra Leone
• 1937 - Francisco Gonzales, former 1960 Summer Olympics yachting team member and murderer
• 1938 - Henry Jaglom, English-American director and screenwriter
• 1940 - Séamus Hegarty, Irish bishop
• 1940 - Frank Large, English footballer, centre forward and cricketer
• 1943 - César Gutiérrez, Venezuelan baseball player and manager
• 1943 - Jack Warner, Trinidadian businessman and politician
• 1944 - Angela Davis, American activist, academic, and author
• 1944 - Jerry Sandusky, American football coach and criminal
• 1945 - Jacqueline du Pré, English cellist
• 1945 - David Purley, English race car driver
• 1946 - Christopher Hampton, Portuguese-English director, screenwriter, and playwright
• 1946 - Gene Siskel, American journalist and film critic
• 1946 - Susan Friedlander, American mathematician
• 1947 - Patrick Dewaere, French actor and composer
• 1947 - Les Ebdon, English chemist and academic
• 1947 - Redmond Morris, 4th Baron Killanin, Irish director, producer, and production manager
• 1947 - Michel Sardou, French singer-songwriter and actor
• 1948 - Alda Facio, Costa Rican jurist, writer and teacher
• 1949 - Jonathan Carroll, American author
• 1949 - David Strathairn, American actor
• 1950 - Jörg Haider, Austrian lawyer and politician, Governor of Carinthia
• 1951 - David Briggs, Australian guitarist, songwriter, and producer
• 1951 - Andy Hummel, American singer-songwriter and bass player
• 1951 - Anne Mills, English economist and academic
• 1953 - Alik L. Alik, Micronesian politician, 7th Vice President of the Federated States of Micronesia
• 1953 - Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Danish politician and diplomat, 39th Prime Minister of Denmark
• 1953 - Lucinda Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1954 - Kim Hughes, Australian cricketer
• 1955 - Eddie Van Halen, Dutch-American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
• 1957 - Road Warrior Hawk, American wrestler
• 1958 - Anita Baker, American singer-songwriter
• 1958 - Ellen DeGeneres, American comedian, actress, and talk show host
• 1961 - Wayne Gretzky, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1961 - Tom Keifer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1962 - Guo Jian, Chinese-Australian painter, sculptor, and photographer
• 1962 - Tim May, Australian cricketer
• 1962 - Oscar Ruggeri, Argentinian footballer and manager
• 1963 - José Mourinho, Portuguese footballer and manager
• 1963 - Simon O'Donnell, Australian footballer, cricketer, and sportscaster
• 1963 - Tony Parks, English footballer and manager
• 1963 - Andrew Ridgeley, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1964 - Adam Crozier, Scottish businessman
• 1965 - Thomas Östros, Swedish businessman and politician
• 1965 - Natalia Yurchenko, Russian gymnast and coach
• 1966 - Kazushige Nagashima, Japanese baseball player and sportscaster
• 1967 - Anatoly Komm, Russian chef and businessman
• 1967 - Col Needham, English businessman, co-founded Internet Movie Database
• 1968 - Jupiter Apple, Brazilian singer-songwriter, film director, and actor
• 1969 - George Dikeoulakos, Greek-Romanian basketball player and coach
• 1970 - Kirk Franklin, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1973 - Larissa Lowing, Canadian artistic gymnast
• 1973 - Melvil Poupaud, French actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1973 - Brendan Rodgers, Northern Irish footballer and manager
• 1973 - Mayu Shinjo, Japanese author and illustrator
• 1977 - Vince Carter, American basketball player
• 1977 - Justin Gimelstob, American tennis player and coach
• 1978 - Corina Morariu, American tennis player and sportscaster
• 1981 - José de Jesús Corona, Mexican footballer
• 1981 - Gustavo Dudamel, Venezuelan violinist, composer, and conductor
• 1981 - Juan José Haedo, Argentinian cyclist
• 1981 - Colin O'Donoghue, Irish actor
• 1982 - Reggie Hodges, American football player
• 1983 - Petri Oravainen, Finnish footballer
• 1983 - Eric Werner, American ice hockey player
• 1984 - Ryan Hoffman, Australian rugby league player
• 1984 - Iain Turner, Scottish footballer
• 1984 - Luo Xuejuan, Chinese swimmer
• 1985 - Heather Stanning, English rower
• 1986 - Gerald Green, American basketball player
• 1986 - Kim Jae-joong, South Korean singer, songwriter, actor, director and designer.
• 1986 - Mustapha Yatabaré, French-Malian footballer
• 1987 - Sebastian Giovinco, Italian footballer
• 1988 - Dimitrios Chondrokoukis, Greek high jumper
• 1989 - MarShon Brooks, American basketball player
• 1989 - Emily Hughes, American figure skater
• 1990 - Sergio Pérez, Mexican race car driver
• 1990 - Peter Sagan, Slovak professional cyclist
• 1990 - Nina Zander, German tennis player
• 1991 - Tom Meechan, English footballer
• 1992 - Sasha Banks, American professional wrestler
• 1993 - Lana Clelland, Scottish footballer
• 1993 - Florian Thauvin, French footballer
• 1995 - Sione Katoa, New Zealand rugby league player
• 1997 - Gedion Zelalem, German-born American soccer player
• 2001 - Latalia Bevan, Welsh artistic gymnast

  Deaths

• 724 - Yazid II, Umayyad caliph
• 738 - John of Dailam, Syrian monk and saint
• 910 - Luo Yin, Chinese statesman and poet
• 946 - Eadgyth, Queen consort of Germany
• 1186 - Ismat ad-Din Khatun, wife of Saladin
• 1390 - Adolph IX, Count of Holstein-Kiel
• 1567 - Nicholas Wotton, English courtier and diplomat
• 1568 - Lady Catherine Grey, Countess of Hertford
• 1620 - Amar Singh I, ruler of Mewar
• 1630 - Henry Briggs, English mathematician and astronomer
• 1636 - Jean Hotman, Marquis de Villers-St-Paul, French diplomat
• 1641 - Lawrence Hyde, English lawyer
• 1697 - Georg Mohr, Danish mathematician and theorist
• 1744 - Ludwig Andreas von Khevenhüller, Austrian field marshal
• 1750 - Albert Schultens, Dutch philologist and academic
• 1779 - Thomas Hudson, English painter
• 1795 - Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, German harpsichord player and composer
• 1799 - Gabriel Christie, Scottish general
• 1823 - Edward Jenner, English physician and immunologist
• 1824 - Théodore Géricault, French painter and lithographer
• 1831 - Sangolli Rayanna, Indian soldier
• 1831 - Anton Delvig, Russian poet and journalist
• 1849 - Thomas Lovell Beddoes, English poet, playwright, and physician
• 1855 - Gérard de Nerval, French poet and translator
• 1860 - Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient, opera singer
• 1869 - Duncan Gordon Boyes, English soldier; Victoria Cross recipient
• 1870 - Victor de Broglie, French politician, 9th Prime Minister of France
• 1885 - Edward Davy, English-Australian physician and engineer
• 1885 - Charles George Gordon, English general and politician
• 1886 - David Rice Atchison, American general and politician
• 1887 - Anandi Gopal Joshi, One of the first female Indian physicians
• 1891 - Nicolaus Otto, German engineer, invented the Internal combustion engine
• 1893 - Abner Doubleday, American general
• 1895 - Arthur Cayley, English mathematician and academic
• 1904 - Whitaker Wright, English businessman
• 1926 - John Flannagan, American priest and academic
• 1932 - William Wrigley, Jr., American businessman, founded the Wrigley Company
• 1942 - Felix Hausdorff, German mathematician and academic
• 1943 - Harry H. Laughlin, American sociologist and eugenicist
• 1943 - Nikolai Vavilov, Russian botanist and geneticist
• 1946 - Oskar Kallas, Estonian linguist and diplomat
• 1946 - Adriaan van Maanen, Dutch-American astronomer and academic
• 1947 - Grace Moore, American soprano and actress
• 1948 - Kâzım Karabekir, Turkish general and politician, 5th Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey
• 1948 - Fred Conrad Koch, American biochemist and endocrinologist
• 1948 - John Lomax, American musicologist and academic
• 1952 - Khorloogiin Choibalsan, Mongolian general and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Mongolia
• 1953 - Athanase David, Canadian lawyer and politician
• 1957 - Helene Costello, American actress
• 1962 - Lucky Luciano, Italian-American mob boss
• 1968 - Merrill C. Meigs, American publisher
• 1973 - Edward G. Robinson, Romanian-American actor
• 1975 - Donald Sheldon, American bush pilot
• 1976 - João Branco Núncio, Portuguese bullfighter
• 1977 - Filopimin Finos, Greek production manager and producer, founded Finos Film
• 1979 - Nelson Rockefeller, American businessman and politician, 41st Vice President of the United States
• 1980 - Simon Kapwepwe, Zambian politician, 2nd Vice President of Zambia
• 1983 - Bear Bryant, American football player and coach
• 1985 - Kenny Clarke, American jazz drummer and bandleader
• 1990 - Bob Gerard, English race car driver and businessman
• 1990 - Lewis Mumford, American sociologist and historian
• 1992 - José Ferrer, Puerto Rican-American actor
• 1993 - Jan Gies, Dutch businessman and humanitarian
• 1993 - Robert Jacobsen, Danish sculptor and painter
• 1993 - Jeanne Sauvé, Canadian journalist and politician, 23rd Governor General of Canada
• 1996 - Georg Alexander, Duke of Mecklenburg
• 1996 - Harold Brodkey, American author and academic
• 1996 - Frank Howard, American football player and coach
• 1996 - Henry Lewis, American bassist and conductor
• 1997 - Jeane Dixon, American astrologer and psychic
• 2000 - Don Budge, American tennis player and coach
• 2000 - Kathleen Hale, English author and illustrator
• 2000 - A. E. van Vogt, Canadian-American author
• 2001 - Al McGuire, American basketball player and coach
• 2003 - Valeriy Brumel, Russian high jumper
• 2003 - Hugh Trevor-Roper, English historian and academic
• 2003 - George Younger, 4th Viscount Younger of Leckie, Scottish banker and politician, Secretary of State for Scotland
• 2004 - Fred Haas, American golfer
• 2006 - Khan Abdul Wali Khan, Pakistani politician
• 2007 - Gump Worsley, Canadian ice hockey player
• 2008 - Viktor Schreckengost, American sculptor and designer
• 2010 - Louis Auchincloss, American novelist and essayist
• 2011 - David Kato Kisule, Ugandan teacher and LGBT rights activist, considered a father of Uganda's gay rights movement
• 2011 - Charlie Louvin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 2012 - Roberto Mieres, Argentinian race car driver
• 2013 - Christine M. Jones, American educator and politician
• 2013 - Stefan Kudelski, Polish-Swiss engineer, invented the Nagra
• 2013 - Padma Kant Shukla, Indian physicist and academic
• 2013 - Shōtarō Yasuoka, Japanese author
• 2014 - Tom Gola, American basketball player, coach, and politician
• 2014 - Paula Gruden, Slovenian-Australian poet and translator
• 2014 - José Emilio Pacheco, Mexican poet and author
• 2014 - Ralph T. Troy, American banker and politician
• 2015 - Cleven "Goodie" Goudeau, American art director and cartoonist
• 2015 - Tom Uren, Australian soldier and politician
• 2016 - Sahabzada Yaqub Khan, Pakistani politician and diplomat, 14th Pakistani Minister of Foreign Affairs
• 2016 - Abe Vigoda, American actor
• 2017 - Mike Connors, American actor
• 2017 - Tam Dalyell, Scottish politician
• 2017 - Lindy Delapenha, Jamaican footballer and sports journalist
• 2017 - Barbara Hale, American actress
• 2020 - John Altobelli, American college baseball coach
• 2020 - Kobe Bryant, American basketball player

  Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
• * Alberic
• * Founders of Cîteaux
• * Blessed Gabriele Allegra
• * Paula
• * Timothy and Titus
• * January 26
• Australia Day
• Duarte Day
• Engineer's Day
• International Customs Day
• Liberation Day
• Republic Day