January 15

January 15 is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 350 days remaining (351 in leap years).

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Events

• 69 – Otho seizes power in Rome, proclaiming himself Emperor of Rome, but only survives for three months before committing suicide.
• 1559 – Elizabeth I of England is crowned in Westminster Abbey by Owen Oglethorpe, the Bishop of Carlisle, instead of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
• 1582 – Russia cedes Livonia and Estonia to Poland.
• 1759 – The British Museum opens.
• 1777 – American Revolutionary War: New Connecticut (present day Vermont) declares its independence.
• 1782 – Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris goes before the U.S. Congress to recommend establishment of a national mint and decimal coinage.
• 1844 – University of Notre Dame receives its charter from Indiana.
• 1870 – A political cartoon for the first time symbolizes the United States Democratic Party with a donkey ("A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion" by Thomas Nast for Harper's Weekly).
• 1892 – James Naismith publishes the rules for basketball.
• 1919 – The Boston Molasses Disaster kills 21 people.
• 1919 – Ignace Paderewski becomes Premier of Poland.
• 1936 – The first building to be completely covered in glass is completed in Toledo, Ohio (the building was for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company).
• 1943 – World War II: Japanese driven off Guadalcanal.
• 1943 – The world's largest office building, The Pentagon, is dedicated (Arlington, Virginia).
• 1951 – Ilse Koch, The "Bitch of Buchenwald", wife of the commandant of the Buchenwald concentration camp, is sentenced to life imprisonment in a court in West Germany.
• 1967 – Super Bowl I is played — The Green Bay Packers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs, 35–10.
• 1969 – The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 5.
• 1970 – After a 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria, Biafra surrenders.
• 1970 – Muammar al-Qaddafi is proclaimed premier of Libya.
• 1973 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, President of the United States Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.
• 1974 – Happy Days premiers on ABC.
• 1975 – Portugal grants independence to Angola.
• 1976 – Gerald Ford's would-be assassin, Sara Jane Moore, is sentenced to life in prison.
• 1990 – AT&T's long distance telephone network suffers a cascade switching failure.
• 1991 – The United Nations deadline for the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait expires, preparing the way for the start of Operation Desert Storm.
• 1992 – The international community recognizes the independence of Slovenia and Croatia from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
• 1999 – The Racak incident: 45 Albanians in the Kosovo village of Racak were killed by Yugoslav security forces.
• 2001 – Wikipedia, a Wiki free content encyclopedia, goes online.

Births

• 1342 – Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1404)
• 1432 – King Afonso V of Portugal (d. 1481)
• 1481 – Ashikaga Yoshizumi, Ashikaga shogun (b. 1511)
• 1622 – Molière, French playwright (d. 1673)
• 1747 – John Aikin, English doctor and writer (d. 1822)
• 1791 – Franz Grillparzer, Austrian writer (1872)
• 1809 – Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, French anarchist (d. 1865)
• 1850 – Mihai Eminescu, Romanian poet (d. 1889)
• 1863 – Wilhelm Marx, German politician, chancellor of the Weimar Republic
• 1866 – Nathan Söderblom, Swedish Nobel Peace Prize laureate
• 1869 – Stanisław Wyspiański, Polish dramatist, poet, painter, architect (d. 1907)
• 1870 – Pierre S. DuPont, industrialist
• 1875 – Tom Burke, American runner
• 1879 – Mazo de la Roche, Canadian author (d. 1961)
• 1891 – Ray Chapman, Baseball player (d. 1920)
• 1891 – Osip Mandelstam, Soviet poet and essayist (d. 1938)
• 1892 – Rex Ingram, director and writer (d. 1950)
• 1893 – Ivor Novello, actor and musician (d. 1951)
• 1899 – Goodman Ace, actor, comedian, and writer (d. 1982)
• 1908 – Edward Teller (d. 2003)
• 1909 – Gene Krupa, drummer (d. 1973)
• 1909 – Jean Bugatti, Automobile designer (d. 1939)
• 1913 – Lloyd Bridges, actor (d. 1998)
• 1914 – Hugh Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton, historian (d. 2004)
• 1917 – Robert Byrd, American politician
• 1918 – Gamal Abdal Nasser, President of Egypt (d. 1970)
• 1918 – João Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo, Brazilian politician (d. 1999)
• 1920 – John Cardinal O'Connor, Catholic Cardinal (d. 2000)
• 1923 – Lee Teng-hui, Taiwanese politician
• 1926 – Maria Schell, Swiss actress (d. 2005)
• 1927 – Norm Crosby, comedian
• 1927 – Phyllis Coates, actress
• 1929 – Martin Luther King Jr, American civil rights leader (d. 1968)
• 1931 – Patricia Blair, American actress
• 1933 – Ernest J. Gaines, author
• 1937 – Margaret O'Brien, actress
• 1941 – Captain Beefheart, singer
• 1942 – Charo, singer, actress
• 1945 – Vince Foster, White House operative (d. 1993)
• 1947 – Andrea Martin, Canadian actress
• 1948 – Ronnie VanZant, lead vocal for Lynyrd Skynyrd (d. 1977)
• 1957 – Mario Van Peebles, actor, director
• 1957 – Julian Sands, actor
• 1965 – Adam Jones, musician of Tool
• 1968 – Chad Lowe, American actor
• 1971 – Regina King, American actress
• 1981 – El Hadji Diouf, Senegalese football star
• 1982 – Benjamin Agosto, American skater
• 1984 – Megan Quann, U.S. swimmer

Deaths

• 41 – Caligula, Roman Emperor (b. 12)
• 570 – Saint Ides, Irish nun, (b. ca. 475)
• 1595 – Murat III, Ottoman Emperor
• 1915 – Mary Slessor, Scottish Christian missionary to West Africa (b. 1848)
• 1919 – Rosa Luxemburg, politician (b. 1870)
• 1947 – Elizabeth Short, AKA The Black Dahlia, murder viction
• 1955 – Yves Tanguy, Surrealist painter (b. 1900)
• 1964 – Jack Teagarden, musician (b. 1905)
• 1983 – Meyer Lansky, mobster (b. 1902)
• 1987 – Ray Bolger, actor, singer, dancer (b. 1904)
• 1990 – Gordon Jackson, film & tv actor; best known as the butler 'Hudson' on Upstairs Downstairs (b. 1923)
• 1993 – Sammy Cahn, songwriter (b. 1913)
• 1994 – Harry Nilsson, musician (b. 1941)
• 1998 – Junior Wells, musician
• 2000 – Zeljko Raznatovic, Serbian leader
• 2001 – Ted Mann, screenwriter
• 2003 – Gladys Kamakakuokalani Ainoa Brandt, Hawaiian educator; fought for native Hawaiian rights
• 2003  – Doris Fisher, singer and songwriter
• 2005 – Victoria de los Angeles, Catalan soprano (b. 1923)
• 2005  – Deem Bristow, video game voice actor
• 2005  – Walter Ernsting, German science fiction author (Perry Rhodan)
• 2005  – Elizabeth Janeway, United States feminist author (b. 1913)
• 2005  – Dan Lee, animator for movie Finding Nemo (b. 1969)
• 2005  – Werner Lesser, German ski jumper
• 2005  – Ruth Warrick, United States actress best known for Citizen Kane and All My Children (b. 1915)

Holidays and observances

• Roman Empire – Second day of the Carmentalia in honor of Carmenta
• Roman Catholic Church – Saint Ides, virgin, died Jan. 15, 570
• Malawi – John Chilembwe Day
• United States – Traditionally, Martin Luther King Day
• Kerala in India – Makaravilakku or Makara Sankranthy at Sabarimala
• Jallikattu in South India
• Wikipedia Day

External links

• BBC: On This Day

January 14 – January 16 – December 15 – February 15 — listing of all days