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1340 - King Edward III of England is declared King of France.

1500 - Vicente Yáñez Pinzón becomes the first European to discover Brazil.

1531 - Lisbon, Portugal hit by an earthquake--thousands die.

1564 - The Council of Trent issued its conclusions in the Tridentinum, establishing a distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.

1565 - Battle of Talikota, fought between the Vijayanagara Empire and the Islamic sultanates of the Deccan, 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.

1589 - Job is elected as Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.

1699 - Treaty of Carlowitz signed.

1700 - The magnitude 9 Cascadia Earthquake took place off the west coast of the North America, as evidenced by Japanese records.

1736 - Stanislaus I of Poland abdicates his throne.

1785 - Benjamin Franklin writes a letter to his daughter expressing disappointment over the selection of the eagle as the symbol of the United States; he wanted the turkey.

1788 - The British First Fleet, led by Arthur Phillip, sail into Sydney Harbour to establish Sydney, the first permanent European settlement on the continent. Celebrated as Australia Day.

1802 - The U.S. Congress passes an act calling for a library to be established within the U.S. Capitol; eventually this becomes the Library of Congress.

1808 - Rum Rebellion, the only successful (albeit short-lived) armed takeover of the government in Australia.

1837 - Michigan is admitted as the 26th U.S. state.

1838 - Tennessee enacts the first prohibition law in the United States

1841 - The United Kingdom formally occupies Hong Kong, which China had ceded.

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: Massachusetts Governor receives permission from Secretary of War to raise a militia organization for men of African descent.

1870 - American Civil War: Virginia rejoins the Union.

1885 - Troops loyal to the Mahdi conquer Khartoum.

1887 - Battle of Dogali: Abyssinian troops defeat Italians.

1905 - The Cullinan Diamond is found near Pretoria, South Africa at the Premier Mine.

1911 - Glenn H. Curtiss flies the first successful seaplane.

1920 - Former Ford Motor Co. executive Henry Leland launches The Lincoln Motor Co., which he'd later sell to his former employer.

1930 - The Indian National Congress declares 26 th January as Independence Day or as the day for Poorna Swaraj (Complete Independence)

1934 - The Apollo Theater opens in Harlem, New York City.

1939 - Spanish Civil War: Troops loyal to fascist General Francisco Franco and aided by Italy take Barcelona.

1942 - World War II: The first American forces arrive in Europe landing in Northern Ireland.

1946 - Félix Gouin becomes Prime Minister of France.

1950 - India promulgates its constitution forming a republic and Rajendra Prasad is sworn in as its first president.

1961 - John F. Kennedy appoints Janet G. Travell to be his physician. This is the first time a woman holds this appointment.

1962 - Ranger program: Ranger 3 is launched to study the moon. The space probe later missed the moon by 22,000 miles (35,400 km).

1965 - Hindi becomes the official language of India.

1966 - The Beaumont Children go missing from Glenelg Beach near Adelaide, South Australia.

1980 - Israel and Egypt establish diplomatic relations.

1983 - Lotus 1-2-3 is released.

1986 - The Chicago Bears win the Super Bowl.

1986 - Halley's Comet is visible in the night sky as it passes in its 76-year orbit around the sun.

1988 - The musical 'Phantom of the Opera' opens for the first time on broadway.

1991 - Mohamed Siad Barre is removed in Somalia, ending centralized government

1992 - Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia is going to stop targeting United States cities with nuclear weapons.

1993 - Václav Havel elected President of the Czech Republic.

1998 - Lewinsky scandal: On American television, U.S. President Bill Clinton denies having had "sexual relations" with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

2001 - A 50-year-old Douglas DC-3 crashes near Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela killing 24.

2001 - An earthquake hits Gujarat, India, causing more than 20,000 deaths.

2003 - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers win Super Bowl XXXVII

2004 - President Hamid Karzai signed the new constitution of Afghanistan.

2005 - Glendale train crash: Two trains derail killing 11 and injuring 200 in Glendale, California, near Los Angeles.

2005 - Having been confirmed earlier in the day by a vote of 85-13 in the United States Senate, Condoleezza Rice is sworn in as U.S. Secretary of State, becoming the first African American woman to hold the post.

2005 - A helicopter crash in eastern Iraq kills 31 United States soldiers.

2006 - A large fire breaks out on Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa.

2006 - Western Union discontinues use of its telegram service.

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1497 - Emperor Go-Nara of Japan (d. 1557)

1541 - Florent Chrestien, French writer (d. 1596)

1714 - Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, French sculptor (d. 1785)

1716 - George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville, British soldier and politician (d. 1785)

1722 - Alexander Carlyle, Scottish church leader (d. 1805)

1763 - Charles XIV John of Sweden, Napoleonic general (d. 1844)

1781 - Achim von Arnim, German poet (d. 1831)

1813 - Juan Pablo Duarte, Dominican founding father (d. 1876)

1826 - Julia Dent Grant, First Lady of the United States (d. 1902)

1857 - the 12th Dalai Lama (d. 1875)

1880 - Douglas MacArthur, American general and Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1964)

1891 - Frank Costello, Italian-born gangster (d. 1973)

1887 - François Faber, Luxembourgish cyclist (d. 1915)

1892 - Zara Cully, American actress (d. 1978)

1900 - Karl Ristenpart, German conductor (d. 1967)

1901 - Stuart Symington, American politician (d. 1988)

1902 - Menno ter Braak, Dutch author and polemicist (d. 1940)

1904 - Ancel Keys, American scientist (d. 2004)

1904 - Seán MacBride, Irish statesman, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1988)

1905 - Charles Lane, American actor

1905 - Maria von Trapp, Austrian-born singer (d. 1987)

1908 - Stéphane Grappelli, French jazz violinist (d. 1997)

1911 - Polykarp Kusch, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1993)

1913 - James Van Heusen, American songwriter (d. 1990)

1914 - Princess Hadice Hayriye Ayshe Dürrühsehvar (d. 2006)

1915 - William Hopper, American actor (d. 1970)

1918 - Nicolae Ceauşescu, Romanian dictator (d. 1989)

1918 - Philip José Farmer, American writer

1921 - Akio Morita, Japanese businessman (d. 1999)

1922 - Michael Bentine, British comedian (d. 1996)

1923 - Anne Jeffreys, American actress

1924 - Rauf Denktash, Cypriot politician

1924 - Annette Strauss, philanthropist and Mayor of Dallas, Texas (d. 1998)

1924 - Alice Babs, Swedish singer

1925 - Joan Leslie, American actress

1925 - Paul Newman, American actor

1926 - Farman Fatehpuri, Pakistani scholar, writer and linguist

1927 - José Azcona del Hoyo, President of Honduras (d. 2005)

1927 - Bob Nieman, baseball player (d. 1985)

1928 - Roger Vadim, French film director and actor (d. 2000)

1928 - George H. Ross, American attorney and TV reality show star (The Apprentice)

1929 - Jules Feiffer, American cartoonist and writer

1932 - Clement Seymour "Sir Coxsone" Dodd, Jamaican record producer

1933 - Ercole Baldini, Italian cyclist

1935 - Bob Uecker, baseball player, broadcaster, and actor

1937 - Joseph Saidu Momoh, Sierra Leone political leader (d. 2003)

1941 - Scott Glenn, American actor

1941 - Henry Jaglom, English director

1943 - César Gutiérrez, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player (d. 2005)

1943 - Jean Knight, American singer

1944 - Angela Davis, American feminist and activist

1945 - Jacqueline du Pré, English cellist (d. 1987)

1946 - Gene Siskel, American film critic (d. 1999)

1949 - Jonathan Carroll, American author

1950 - Janet Lupo, American model

1953 - Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark

1953 - Lucinda Williams, American singer

1955 - Eddie Van Halen, Dutch-born musician

1958 - Anita Baker, American singer

1958 - Ellen DeGeneres, American actress, comedian, and talk show host

1958 - Salvador Sánchez, Mexican boxer

1961 - Wayne Gretzky, Canadian hockey player, coach, and team owner

1962 - Oscar Ruggeri, Argentine footballer

1963 - José Mourinho, Portuguese football manager

1963 - Andrew Ridgeley, English musician

1964 - Paul Johansson, American actor

1965 - Natalia Yurchenko, Soviet gymnast

1970 - Kirk Franklin, American singer

1971 - Dorian Gregory, American actor

1971 - Bryan Callen, American actor

1976 - Frankie Rayder, American model

1976 - Maggie Lawson, Australian Musician

1977 - Vince Carter, American basketball player

1977 - Justin Gimelstob, American tennis player

1978 - Corina Morariu, American tennis player

1978 - Kelly Stables, American actress

1979 - Sara Rue, American actress

1986 - Matt Heafy, Japenese-born musician (Trivium)

1986 - Shantelle Taylor, Canadian professional wrestler

1989 - Emily Hughes, American figure skater

1993 - Cameron Bright, Canadian actor

1995 - Kyle Chavarria, American actress

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1567 - Nicholas Wotton, English diplomat

1630 - Henry Briggs, English mathematician (b. 1556)

1636 - Jean Hotman, Marquis de Villers-St-Paul, French diplomat (b. 1552)

1697 - Georg Mohr, Danish mathematician (b. 1640)

1744 - Ludwig Andreas Graf Khevenhüller, Austrian field marshal (b. 1683)

1750 - Albert Schultens, Dutch philologist (b. 1686)

1795 - Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, German composer (b. 1732)

1799 - Gabriel Christie, British general (b. 1722)

1823 - Edward Jenner, English physician (b. 1749)

1824 - Théodore Géricault, French painter (b. 1791)

1855 - Gérard de Nerval, French writer (b. 1808)

1869 - Duncan Gordon Boyes, English recipient of the Victoria Cross (b. 1846)

1870 - Victor, 3rd duc de Broglie, French statesman and diplomat (b. 1785)

1885 - Edward Davy, English inventor (b. 1806)

1885 - Charles George Gordon, British general (b. 1833)

1886 - David Rice Atchison, American politician (b. 1807)

1891 - Nikolaus August Otto, German inventor (b. 1833)

1893 - Abner Doubleday, credited inventor of baseball (b. 1819)

1933 - Alva Belmont, American socialite (b. 1853)

1942 - Felix Hausdorff, German mathematician (b. 1868)

1943 - Harry H. Laughlin, American eugenicist (b. 1880)

1943 - Nikolai Vavilov, Russian botanist (b. 1887)

1947 - Grace Moore, American soprano (b. 1898)

1947 - Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Westrobothnia, (b. 1906)

1952 - Horloogiyn Choybalsan, leader of Mongolia (b. 1895)

1961 - Stan Nichols, English cricketer (b. 1900)

1962 - Lucky Luciano, American mobster (b. 1897)

1968 - Merrill C. Meigs, American newspaper publisher (b. 1883)

1968 - Yvor Winters, American poet (b. 1900)

1973 - Edward G. Robinson, American actor (b. 1893)

1979 - Nelson Rockefeller, 41st Vice President of the United States (b. 1908)

1984 - Paul "Bear" Bryant, American football coach (b. 1913)

1990 - Lewis Mumford, American historian (b. 1895)

1992 - José Ferrer, Puerto Rican actor (b. 1912)

1993 - Jan Gies, Dutch resistance leader (b. 1905)

1993 - Jeanne Sauvé, Governor-General of Canada (b. 1922)

1996 - Harold Brodkey, American author (b. 1930)

1996 - Dave Schultz, American wrestler (b. 1959)

1997 - Jeane Dixon, American astrologer (b. 1904)

1998 - Shinichi Suzuki, Japanese music teacher (b. 1898)

2000 - Don Budge, American tennis player (b. 1915)

2000 - Kathleen Hale, British author (b. 1898)

2000 - A. E. van Vogt, Canadian-born author (b. 1912)

2001 - Al McGuire, American basketball coach (b. 1928)

2001 - Jessica Michalik, Girl that died at big day out mosh pit (b. 1985)

2003 - Hugh Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton, English historian (b. 1917)

2003 - George Younger, 4th Viscount Younger of Leckie, British politician (b. 1931)

2004 - Fred Haas, American golfer (b. 1916)

2004 - Miklós Fehér, Hungarian footballer (b. 1979)

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Australia - Australia Day.

Roman Empire - third day of the Sementivae in honor of Ceres and Terra.

Feast day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church:

Timothy and Titus

Saint Paula

Polycarp

Saint Alberic

Saint Margaret of Hungary

India - Republic Day - One of only three state holidays in India, celebrated with pomp and a military parade in New Delhi.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Uganda - Liberation Day.

International Customs Day.