1926

1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar).

Events

January-April

- January 1 - Ireland's first regular radio service, 2RN (later Radio Éireann), begins broadcasting.
- January 1, Turkey switches to the Gregorian calendar after reforms set by Kamal Ataturk
- January 8 - Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz
- January 12 - Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll premiere their radio program Sam 'n' Henry, in which the two white performers portrayed two black characters from Harlem looking for extra money during the Depression. It was a precursor to Gosden and Correll's more popular later program, Amos 'n' Andy.
- January 16 – BBC radio play about worker's revolution causes a panic in London
- January 26 - John Logie Baird demonstrates a mechanical television system.
- January 31 - British and Belgian troops leave Cologne
- February 9 - Flooding on London suburbs
- February 12 - Irish minister for Justice, Kevin O'Higgins, appoints the Committee on Evil Literature
- March 6 - The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon is destroyed by fire
- March 16 - Robert Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket, at Auburn, Massachusetts
- April 7 - Failed assassination attempt against Mussolini
- April 12 - By a vote of 45 to 41, the United States Senate unseats Iowa Senator Smith W. Brookhart and seats Daniel F. Steck, after Brookhart had already served for over one year.
- April 16 - Train crash in San Jose, Costa Rica - 178 dead
- April 21 - Princess Elizabeth born in London
- April 25 - Reza Khan is crowned Shah of Iran under the name "Pahlevi."

May-July

- May 1 - Coal miner's strike begins in Britain
- May 3 - General strike begins in support of the coal strike
- May 9 - Martial law in Britain because of the general strike
- May 9 - French navy bombards Damascus because of Druze riots
- May 9 - Admiral Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett claim to have flown over the North Pole (later discovery of his diary seems to indicate that this did not happen).
- May 10 - Talks between government and strikers begins in UK
- May 12 - March 15 - Military coup by Jozef Pilsudski succeeds in Poland
- May 12 - UK general strike called off
- May 12 - Roald Amundsen flies over north pole
- May 12 - UK General Strike 1926: In the United Kingdom, a general strike by trade unions ends (the strike began on May 3).
- May 18 - Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson disappears while visiting a Venice, California beach.
- May 26 - Rifkabyl rebels surrender in Morocco
- May 28 - 1926 coup d'état commanded by Manuel Gomes da Costa in Portugal that installed the Ditadura Nacional (National Dictatorship) that would be followed be António de Oliveira Salazar's Estado Novo.
- June 4 - Ignacy Moscicki becomes president of Poland
- June 29 - Arthur Meighen returns to office as Prime Minister of Canada.
- July 1 - Kuomingtang begins a campaign in the northern China for unification
- July 9 - New military coup in Portugal, now by general Antonio Carmona
- July 12 - Lightning strike destroys an ammunition depot in Dover, New Jersey
- July 15 - BEST buses make its début in Mumbai.
- July 23 - Fox Film buys the patents of the Movietone sound system for recording sound onto film.

August-October

- August 1 - Failed assassination attempt against Miguel Primo de Rivera in Barcelona
- August 6 - Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim the English Channel from France to England
- August 6 - In New York, the Warner Brothers' Vitaphone system premieres with the movie Don Juan starring John Barrymore.
- August 18 - British miner's union begins negotiations with the government
- August 18 - A weather map is televised for the first time, sent from NAA Arlington to the Weather Bureau Office in Washington, D.C.
- August 22 - In Greece, Georgios Konfylis ousts Theodoros Pangalos
- August 25 - Pavlos Kountouriotis announces that dictatorship is finished in Greece and becomes a president
- September 11 - Spain leaves the League of Nations
- September 11 - Aloha Tower is officially dedicated at Honolulu Harbor in the Territory of Hawai'i
- September 18 - Great Miami Hurricane: A strong hurricane devastates Miami, Florida, leaving over 100 dead and caused several hundred million dollars in damage; equal to nearly $100 billion dollars today.
- September 20 - Twelve cars full of gangsters open fire at the Hawthorne Inn, headquarters of Al Capone in Chicago. Only one of Capone's men is wounded
- September 25 - William Lyon Mackenzie King returns to office as Prime Minister of Canada.
- October 2 - Jozef Pilsudski becomes prime minister of Poland
- October 12 - British miners agree to end their strike
- October 20 - Hurricane kills 650 in Cuba
- October 23 - Decree in Italy bans women from holding public office
- October 31 - Magician Harry Houdini dies of gangrene and peritonitis that developed after his appendix ruptured.

November-December

- November 10 - In San Francisco, California, a necrophiliac serial killer named Earle Nelson (dubbed "Gorilla Man") kills and then rapes his 9th victim, a boardinghouse landlady named Mrs. William Edmonds.
- November 10 - Michinomiya Hirohito is crowned the 124th Emperor of Japan
- November 15 - The NBC radio network opens with 24 stations (it was formed by Westinghouse, General Electric and RCA).
- November 24 - The village of Rocquebillier in French Riviera is almost destroyed in a massive hail
- November 25 - Death penalty re-established in Italy
- November 27 - Vesuvius erupts
- November 27 - In Williamsburg, Virginia, the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg begins.
- December 2 - British prime minister Stanley Baldwin ends the martial law that had been declared due to general strike
- December 3 - Agatha Christie disappears from her home in Surrey; on December 14 she is found in Harrogate hotel
- December 18 - Turkey converted to Gregorian calendar making 'tomorrow' January 1 1927
- December 25 - In Japanese History, end of the Taishō period and beginning of the Shōwa era and the period of Japanese expansionism

Unknown dates

- League of Nations Slavery Convention abolishes all types of slavery.
- Afghanistan declares monarchy.
- Lebanon becomes a republic.
- Eamon de Valera organizes Fianna Fáil.
- The short-lived Western Australian Secession League is founded.
- International African Institute is founded.
- Raymond Pearl publishes landmark book, Alcohol and Longevity.

Births

January

- January 3 - George Martin, English producer of The Beatles
- January 8 - Evelyn Lear, American soprano
- January 8 - Hanae Mori, Japanese fashion designer
- January 8 - Soupy Sales, American comedian
- January 11 - Lev Demin, cosmonaut (d. 1998)
- January 12 - Ray Price, American singer
- January 14 - Maria Schell, Austrian actress (d. 2005)
- January 14 - Tom Tryon, American actor and novelist (d. 1991)
- January 17 - Moira Shearer, Scottish actress and dancer
- January 19 - Fritz Weaver, American actor
- January 20 - Patricia Neal, American actress
- January 20 - David Tudor, American pianist and composer (d. 1996)
- January 21 - Steve Reeves, American actor (d. 2000)
- January 27 - Fritz Spiegl, Austrian journalist (d. 2003)
- January 29 - Abdus Salam, Pakistani physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)

February

- February 2 - Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, President of France
- February 6 - Haskell Wexler, American cinematographer
- February 7 - Konstantin Feoktistov, cosmonaut
- February 8 - Neal Cassady, American writer (d. 1968)
- February 8 - Audrey Meadows, American actress (d. 1996)
- February 11 - Paul Bocuse, French chef
- February 11 - Alexander Gibson, British conductor and founder of the Scottish Opera
- February 11 - Leslie Nielsen, Canadian actor
- February 12 - Paul Kurtz, American philosopher
- February 16 - John Schlesinger, British film director (d. 2003)
- February 20 - Richard Matheson, American author
- February 20 - Bob Richards, American track and field athlete
- February 22 - Kenneth Williams, English actor (d. 1988)
- February 27 - David H. Hubel, Canadian neuroscientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- February 28 - Svetlana Alliluyeva, Russian author

March

- March 1 - Pete Rozelle, American commissioner of the National Football League (d. 1996)
- March 2 - Murray Rothbard, American economist (d. 1995)
- March 3 - James Merrill, American poet (d. 1995)
- March 6 - Alan Greenspan, American economist and Chairman of the Federal Reserve
- March 6 - Andrzej Wajda, Polish film director
- March 8 - Sultan Salahuddin (d. 2001)
- March 13 - Carlos Roberto Reina, President of Honduras (d. 2003)
- March 15 - Norm Van Brocklin, American football player (d. 1983)
- March 16 - Jerry Lewis, American comedian
- March 16 - Charles Goodell, American politician (d. 1987)
- March 17 - Siegfried Lenz, German writer
- March 18 - Peter Graves, American actor
- March 24 - Dario Fo, Italian author, Nobel Prize laureate
- March 26 - László Papp, Hungarian boxer (d. 2003)
- March 30 - Ingvar Kamprad, Swedish businessman
- March 31 - John Fowles, English writer (d. 2005)

April

- April 1 - Charles Bressler, American tenor
- April 1 - Anne McCaffrey, American author
- April 2 - Jack Brabham, Australian race car driver
- April 3 - Gus Grissom, astronaut (d. 1967)
- April 6 - Sergio Franchi, Italian tenor and actor (d. 1990)
- April 6 - Gil Kane, Latvian-born cartoonist (d. 2000)
- April 6 - Ian Paisley, British politician
- April 7 - Dame Joan Sutherland, Australian soprano
- April 9 - Hugh Hefner, American magazine editor
- April 17 - Gerry McNeil, Canadian hockey player (d. 2004)
- April 21 - Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
- April 22 - James Stirling, Scottish architect (d. 1992)
- April 24 - Thorbjörn Fälldin, Prime Minister of Sweden
- April 26 - Michael Mathias Prechtl, German illustrator (d. 2003)
- April 30 - Cloris Leachman, American actress

May

- May 5 - Ann B. Davis, American actress
- May 8 - Don Rickles, American comedian and actor
- May 15 - Peter Shaffer, English playwright
- May 26 - Miles Davis, American jazz trumpeter (d. 1991)

June

- June 1 - Andy Griffith, American actor
- June 1 - Marilyn Monroe, American actress (d. 1962)
- June 3 - Allen Ginsberg, American poet (d. 1997)
- June 6 - Klaus Tennstedt, German conductor (d. 1998)
- June 11 - Frank Plicka, Czech-born photographer
- June 21 - Conrad Hall, Tahitian-born cinematographer (d. 2003)
- June 25 - Ingeborg Bachmann, Austrian writer (d. 1973)
- June 28 - Mel Brooks, American entertainer
- June 30 - Paul Berg, American chemist, Noble Prize laureate

July

- July 1 - Robert Fogel, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- July 1 - Hans Werner Henze, German composer
- July 4 - Alfredo Di Stefano, Argentine-born footballer
- July 8 - Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Swiss-born psychiatrist (d. 2004)
- July 9 - Ben Roy Mottelson, American-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- July 15 - Leopoldo Galtieri, Argentine dictator (d. 2003)
- July 16 - Stanley Clements, American actor (d. 1981)
- July 16 - Irwin Rose, American biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- July 28 - Walt Brown, American Presidential candidate

August

- August 3 - Tony Bennett, American singer
- August 3 - Anthony Sampson, British journalist and biographer (d. 2004)
- August 11 - Aaron Klug, Lithuanian-born chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- August 14 - René Goscinny, French comic book writer (d. 1977)
- August 19 - Arthur Rock, American venture capitalist

September

- September 7 - Don Messick, American voice actor (d. 1997)
- September 15 - Jean-Pierre Serre, French mathematician
- September 16- John Knowles, American author (d. 2001)
- September 21 - Donald A. Glaser, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- September 21 - Noor Jehan, Pakistani and Indian actress (she could have been born in 1929)
- September 23 - John Coltrane, American jazz saxophonist (d. 1967)
- September 26 - Masatoshi Koshiba, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

October

- October 15 - Michel Foucault, French philosopher (d. 1984)
- October 15 - Karl Richter, German conductor (d. 1981)
- October 18 - Chuck Berry, American musician
- October 25 - Galina Vishnevskaya, Russian soprano
- October 29 - Jon Vickers, Canadian tenor

November

- November 2 - Tsung-Dao Lee, Chinese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- November 3 - Valdas Adamkus, President of Lithuania
- November 20 - Andrzej W. Schally, Polish-born endocrinologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- November 23 - Sri Satya Sai Baba, Indian guru
- November 23 - R.L. Burnside, American musician
- November 25 - Poul Anderson, American author (d. 2001)

December

- December 9 - Henry Way Kendall, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1999)
- December 13 - George Rhoden, Jamaican athlete
- December 16 - James McCracken, American tenor (d. 1988)
- December 17 - Allan V. Cox, American geologist (d. 1987)
- December 20 - Sir Geoffrey Howe, British politician
- December 21 - Joe Paterno, American football coach
- December 23 - Robert Bly, American poet

Deaths

- January 21 - Camillo Golgi, Italian physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1843)
- February 21 - Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1853)
- March 5 - Clément Ader, French engineer and inventor, airplane pioneer (b. 1841)
- April 30 - Bessie Coleman, American pilot (b. 1892)
- May 16 - Mehmed VI, last Ottoman Sultan (b. 1861)
- May 26 - Simon Petlyura, Ukrainian independence fighter (b. 1879)
- June 10 - Antoni Gaudí, Catalan architect (b. 1852)
- June 14 - Mary Cassatt, American artist (b. 1844)
- July 12 - Gertrude Bell, English archaeologist, writer, spy, and administrator known as the "Uncrowned Queen of Iraq" (b. 1868)
- July 26 - Robert Todd Lincoln, American statesman and businessman (b. 1843)
- August 22 - Charles W. Eliot, President of Harvard University (b. 1834)
- August 23 - Rodolfo Valentino, Italian actor (b. 1895)
- September 15 - Rudolf Christoph Eucken, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1846)
- September 21 - Leon Charles Thevenin, French telegraph engineer (b. 1857)
- October 20 - Eugene V. Debs, American labor and political leader (b. 1855)
- October 31 - Harry Houdini, Hungarian-born magician (b. 1874)
- October 31 - Charles Vance Millar, Canadian businessman (b. 1853)
- December 4 - Ivana Kobilca, Slovenian painter (b. 1861)
- December 5 - Claude Monet, French painter (b. 1840)
- December 25 - Emperor Taisho, 123rd Emperor of Japan (b. 1879)
- December 29 - Rainer Maria Rilke, Austrian poet (b. 1875)

Nobel Prizes

- Physics - Jean Baptiste Perrin
- Chemistry - Theodor Svedberg
- Physiology or Medicine - Johannes Andreas Grib Fibiger
- Literature - Grazia Deledda
- Peace - Aristide Briand, Gustav Stresemann
- ko:1926년 ms:1926 ja:1926年 simple:1926 th:พ.ศ. 2469

Common year starting on Friday

This is the calendar for any common year starting on Friday (dominical letter C), for example, 2010. (A common year is a year with 365 days—in other words, not a leap year.)

Millennium	Century	Year
2nd Millennium:	19th century:	1802	1813	1819	1830	1841	1847	1858	1869	1875	1886	1897
2nd Millennium:	20th century:	1909	1915	1926	1937	1943	1954	1965	1971	1982	1993	1999
3rd Millennium:	21st century:	2010	2021	2027	2038	2049	2055	2066	2077	2083	2094
3rd Millennium:	22nd century:	2100	2106	2117	2123	2134	2145	2151	2162	2173	2179	2190

Category:Friday Category:Weeks ko:금요일로 시작하는 평년 th:ปีปกติสุรทินที่วันแรกเป็นวันศุกร์

January 1

January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Here a calendar year refers to the order in which the months are displayed, January to December. The first day of the medieval Julian year was usually a day other than January 1. This day was adopted as the first day of the Julian year by all Western European countries except England between about 1450 and 1600. The Gregorian calendar as promulgated in 1582 did not specify that January 1 was to be either New Year's Day or the first day of its numbered year. Although England began its numbered year on March 25 (Lady Day or Annunciation Day), between the 13th century and 1752, January 1 was called New Year's Day, and was, with Christmas and occasionally Twelfth Night, a holiday when gifts were exchanged. 364 days (365 in leap years) remain in the year after this day.

Events

- 45 BC - The Julian calendar first takes effect.
- 404 - Last known gladiator competition in Rome takes place.
- 630 - Prophet Muhammad sets out toward Mecca with the army that will capture it bloodlessly.
- 990 - Kievan Rus' adopts the Julian calendar.
- 1438 - Albert II of Habsburg is crowned King of Hungary.
- 1600 - Scotland begins using the Julian calendar.
- 1651 - Charles II crowned King of Scotland
- 1673 - Regular mail delivery begins between New York and Boston.
- 1700 - Russia begins using the Julian calendar.
- 1707 - John V is crowned King of Portugal
- 1738 - Bouvet Island is discovered by French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier.
- 1788 - First edition of The Times of London, previously The Daily Universal Register, is published.
- 1797 - Albany replaces New York City as the capital on New York.
- 1801 - Legislative union of Kingdom of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ireland is completed to form United Kingdom.
- 1801 - The first known asteroid, 1 Ceres, is discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi.
- 1804 - French rule ends in Haiti.
- 1808 - Importation of slaves into the United States is banned.
- 1818 - Mary Shelley's novelFrankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus is published.
- 1855 - London, Ontario is incorporated as a city.
- 1861 - Porfirio Diaz conquers Mexico City.
- 1863 - American Civil War: The Emancipation Proclamation takes effect.
- 1863 - The first claim under the Homestead Act is made by Daniel Freeman for a farm in Nebraska.
- 1880 - Ferdinand de Lesseps begins French construction of the Panama Canal.
- 1887 - Queen Victoria was proclaimed empress of India in Delhi.
- 1892 - Ellis Island opens to begin accepting immigrants to the United States.
- 1893 - Japan begins using the Gregorian calendar.
- 1894 - The Manchester Ship Canal, England, was officially opened to traffic.
- 1898 - New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York. The four initial boroughs, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx, are joined on January 25th by Staten Island to create the modern city of five boroughs.
- 1899 - Spanish rule ends in Cuba.
- 1901 - Nigeria becomes a British protectorate.
- 1901 - The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia; Edmund Barton becomes first Prime Minister.
- 1901 - The first official Mummers Parade is held.
- 1902 - The first Rose Bowl game is played in Pasadena, California.
- 1908 - For the first time, a ball is dropped in New York City's Times Square to signify the start of the New Year.
- 1911 - Northern Territory is separated from South Australia and transferred to Commonwealth control.
- 1912 - The Republic of China is established.
- 1916 - German troops abandon Yaoundé and their Kamerun colony to British forces and begin the long march to Spanish Guinea.
- 1934 - Alcatraz Island becomes a U.S. federal prison.
- 1934 - Nazi Germany passes the "Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring".
- 1935 - Bucknell University wins the first Orange Bowl 26-0 over the University of Miami.
- 1937 - Anastasio Somoza becomes President of Nicaragua.
- 1937 - The first Cotton Bowl game is played in Dallas, Texas.
- 1939 - The Vienna New Year's Concert is first held.
- 1942 - The Declaration by the United Nations is signed by twenty-six nations.
- 1948 - British railways are nationalised to form British Rail.
- 1948 - After partition, India declines to pay the agreed share of Rs.550 million in cash balances to Pakistan.
- 1948 - Enrico De Nicola formally becomes President of the Italian Republic, but refuses to be a candidate for the first constitutional election the following May.
- 1949 - UN Cease-fire orders to operate in Kashmir from one minute before midnight. War between India and Pakistan stops accordingly.
- 1956 - The Republic of the Sudan achieves independence from the Egyptian Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
- 1958 - The European Community is established.
- 1959 - Fulgencio Batista, President of the Republic of Cuba, is overthrown by Fidel Castro's forces.
- 1960 - The Republic of Cameroon achieves independence from France and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
- 1962 - Western Samoa achieves independence from New Zealand; its name is changed to the Independent State of Western Samoa.
- 1964 - The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is divided into the independent republics of Zambia and Malawi, and the British-controlled Rhodesia.
- 1969 - Marien Ngouabi formally becomes the President of the Republic of Congo.
- 1970 - The Unix epoch begins at 00:00:00 UTC.
- 1971 - Cigarette advertisements are banned on American television.
- 1973 - The Kingdom of Denmark, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland are admitted into the European Community.
- 1976 - NBC introduces its new logo: an abstract N, similar to the Nebraska Educational Television Network logo.
- 1978 - Air India Flight 855 Boeing 747 explodes and crashes into the sea off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
- 1979 - Formal diplomatic relations are established between the People's Republic of China and the United States of America.
- 1981 - The Republic of Greece is admitted into the European Community.
- 1981 - The Republic of Palau achieves self-government; it is not yet independent from the United States of America.
- 1983 - The ARPANET officially changes to using the Internet Protocol, creating the Internet.
- 1984 - AT&T is broken up into twenty-two independent units.
- 1984 - The Sultanate of Brunei becomes independent of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
- 1985 - The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
- 1985 - The first British mobile phone call is made by Ernie Wise to Vodafone.
- 1986 - Aruba becomes independent of Curaçao, though it remains in free association with the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
- 1986 - Spain and Portugal are admitted into the European Community.
- 1988 - The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America comes into existence, creating the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States of America.
- 1993 - Velvet Divorce: Czechoslovakia is divided into the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic.
- 1993 - A single market within the European Community is introduced.
- 1993 - Pakistan is elected member of the 15-nation UN Security Council.
- 1994 - The Zapatista Army of National Liberation initiates twelve days of armed conflict in the Mexican State of Chiapas.
- 1994 - The North American Free Trade Agreement comes into effect.
- 1995 - The World Trade Organization comes into effect.
- 1995 - The Kingdom of Sweden and the republics of Austria and Finland are admitted into the European Union.
- 1995 - The Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe becomes the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
- 1996 - Curaçao gains limited self-government, though it remains within free association with the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
- 1997 - The Republic of Zaïre officially joins the World Trade Organization, as Zaïre.
- 1998 - Smoking is banned in all bars and restaurants in the State of California.
- 1999 - The Euro currency is introduced.
- 2002 - Euro banknotes and coins become legal tender in twelve of the European Union's member states.
- 2002 - The Republic of China officially joins the World Trade Organization, as Chinese Taipei.
- 2002 - The Open Skies mutual surveillance treaty, initially signed in 1992, officially enters into force.
- 2003 - Luís Inácio Lula da Silva becomes president of the Federative Republic of Brazil.
- 2004 - Pervez Musharraf receives a vote of confidence to continue as the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan from Parliament and the provincial assemblies.

Births

- 766 - Ali ar-Rida, Shia Imam (d. 818)
- 1431 - Pope Alexander VI (d. 1503)
- 1449 - Lorenzo de Medici, Italian statesman (d. 1492)
- 1484 - Huldrych Zwingli, Swiss Protestant leader (d. 1531)
- 1516 - Margareta Leijonhufvud, queen of Gustav I of Sweden (d. 1551)
- 1557 - Stephen Bocskay, Prince of Transylvania (d. 1606)
- 1600 - Friedrich Spanheim, Dutch theologian (d. 1649)
- 1614 - John Wilkins, English Bishop of Chester (d. 1672)
- 1618 - Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Spanish painter (d. 1682)
- 1638 - Emperor Go-Sai of Japan (d. 1685)
- 1648 - Elkanah Settle, English writer (d. 1724)
- 1655 - Christian Thomasius, German jurist (d. 1728)
- 1684 - Arnold Drakenborch, Dutch classical scholar (d. 1748)
- 1704 - Soame Jenyns, English writer (d. 1787)
- 1711 - Franz Freiherr von der Trenck, Austrian soldier (d. 1749)
- 1714 - Kristijonas Donelaitis, Lithuanian poet (d. 1780)
- 1735 - Paul Revere, American silversmith and patriot (d. 1818)
- 1750 - Frederick Muhlenberg, first speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1801)
- 1752 - Betsy Ross, American seamstress (d. 1836)
- 1774 - André Marie Constant Duméril, French zoologist (d. 1860)
- 1793 - Francesco Guardi, Italian artist (b. 1712)
- 1823 - Sándor Petőfi, Hungarian poet and revolutionary (d. 1849)
- 1833 - Robert Lawson, New Zealand architect (d. 1902)
- 1839 - Ouida, English writer (d. 1908)
- 1854 - Sir James George Frazer, Scottish anthropologist (d. 1941)
- 1860 - George Washington Carver, American educator, inventor, and botanist (d. 1943)
- 1863 - Pierre de Coubertin, French initiator of the modern Olympic Games (d. 1937)
- 1864 - Alfred Stieglitz, American photographer (d. 1946)
- 1873 - Mariano Azuela, Mexican novelist (d. 1952)
- 1874 - Gustave Whitehead, German-American inventor (d. 1927)
- 1876 - Harriet Brooks, Canadian physicist (d. 1933)
- 1879 - E. M. Forster, English novelist (d. 1970)
- 1887 - Wilhelm Canaris, German admiral (d. 1945)
- 1890 - Anton Melik, Slovenian geographer (d. 1966)
- 1892 - Artur Rodzinski, Croatian conductor (d. 1958)
- 1894 - Satyendra Nath Bose, Indian mathematician (d. 1974)
- 1895 - J. Edgar Hoover, American Federal Bureau of Investigation director (d. 1972)
- 1900 - Xavier Cugat, Catalan-Cuban musician, bandleader (d. 1990)
- 1902 - Buster Nupen, South African cricketer (d. 1977)
- 1904 - Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry, Pakistani politician (d. 1982)
- 1906 - Giovanni D'Anzi, Italian songwriter (d. 1974)
- 1909 - Dana Andrews, American actor (d. 1992)
- 1909 - Barry M. Goldwater, U.S. Senator from Arizona and Presidential candidate (d. 1998)
- 1911 - Hank Greenberg, baseball player (d. 1986)
- 1912 - Kim Philby, British spy (d. 1988)
- 1917 - Jule Gregory Charney, meteorologist (d. 1981)
- 1917 - Albert Mol, Dutch actor (d. 2004)
- 1919 - J. D. Salinger, American novelist
- 1920 - Virgilio Savona, Italian singer and songwriter (Quartetto Cetra)
- 1921 - Isma'il Raji' al-Faruqi, Palestinian-born philosopher and comparative religion scholar (d. 1986)
- 1922 - Rocky Graziano, American boxer (d. 1990)
- 1925 - Stymie Beard, American actor (d. 1981)
- 1927 - Vernon L. Smith, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1927 - Doak Walker, American football star (d 1998)
- 1928 - Ernest Tidyman, American writer (d. 1984)
- 1933 - Frederick Lowy, Canadian medical educator, ethicist, and university president
- 1933 - Joe Orton, English writer (d. 1967)
- 1940 - Frank Langella American actor
- 1942 - Martin Frost, American politician
- 1942 - Country Joe McDonald, American musician (Country Joe and the Fish)
- 1942 - Gennadi Sarafanov, cosmonaut
- 1943 - Don Novello, American actor, comedian, and writer
- 1945 - Jacky Ickx, Belgian race car driver
- 1946 - Rivelino, Brazilian football player
- 1953 - Greg Carmichael, British guitarist
- 1957 - Luis Guzmán, Puerto Rican actor
- 1958 - Grandmaster Flash, West Indian-born singer
- 1959 - Azali Assoumani, Comorese president
- 1961 - Mark Wingett, British actor
- 1964 - Dedee Pfeiffer, American actress
- 1966 - Embeth Davidtz, American actress
- 1968 - Davor Šuker, Croatian footballer
- 1969 - Verne Troyer - American actor
- 1970 - Gabriel Jarret, American actor
- 1972 - Neve McIntosh, Scottish actress
- 1975 - Joe Cannon, American soccer player
- 1977 - Hasan Salihamidžić, Bosnian footballer
- 1978 - Erica Durance, Canadian actress
- 1978 - Jared Fogle, American calibate
- 1978 - Paramahamsa Sri Nithyananda, Indian spiritual guru
- 1978 - Nina Bott, German actress
- 1979 - Brody Dalle, Australian singer (The Distillers)
- 1979 - Koichi Domoto, Japanese artist
- 1980 - Elin Nordegren, Swedish model
- 1981 - Zsolt Baumgartner, Hungarian race car driver
- 1981 - Abdulkadir Kocak, Turkish boxer
- 1982 - David Nalbandian, Argentinian tennis player
- 1985 - Steve Davis, Irish footballer

Deaths

- 379 - Saint Basil of Caesarea (b. 330)
- 404 - Saint Telemachus
- 874 - Hasan al-Askari, eleventh Shia Imam (b. 846)
- 898 - Odo, Count of Paris (b. 860)
- 1204 - King Haakon III of Norway
- 1384 - King Charles II of Navarre (b. 1332)
- 1515 - King Louis XII of France (b. 1462)
- 1554 - Pedro de Valdivia, Spanish conquistador
- 1559 - Christian III of Denmark and Norway (b. 1503)
- 1560 - Joachim Du Bellay, French poet
- 1617 - Hendrik Goltzius, Dutch painter (b. 1558)
- 1679 - Jan Steen, Dutch painter
- 1716 - William Wycherley, English dramatist
- 1730 - Samuel Sewall, English-born judge (b. 1652)
- 1742 - Peregrine Bertie, 2nd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, English statesman (b. 1686)
- 1748 - Johann Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (b. 1667)
- 1766 - James Francis Edward Stuart, "The Old Pretender" (b. 1688)
- 1782 - Johann Christian Bach, German composer (b. 1735)
- 1789 - Fletcher Norton, 1st Baron Grantley, English politician (b. 1716)
- 1793 - Francesco Guardi, Venetian painter (b. 1712)
- 1800 - Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton, French naturalist (b. 1716)
- 1817 - Martin Heinrich Klaproth, German chemist (b. 1743)
- 1892 - Roswell B. Mason, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1805)
- 1894 - Heinrich Hertz, German physicist (b. 1857)
- 1933 - Harriet Brooks, Canadian physicist (b. 1876)
- 1944 - Charles Turner, Australian cricketer (b. 1862)
- 1953 - Hank Williams, American singer (b. 1923)
- 1958 - Edward Weston, American photographer (b. 1886)
- 1960 - Margaret Sullavan, American actress (b. 1911)
- 1964 - Bechara El Khoury, President of Lebanon (b. 1890)
- 1972 - Maurice Chevalier, French actor and singer (b. 1888)
- 1981 - Beulah Bondi, American actress (b. 1888)
- 1986 - Alfredo Binda, Italian cyclist (b. 1902)
- 1992 - Grace Hopper, American computer pioneer (b. 1906)
- 1994 - Lord Arthur Espie Porritt, Governor-General of New Zealand (b. 1900)
- 1994 - Cesar Romero, American actor (b. 1907)
- 1995 - Fred West, British serial killer (suicide) (b. 1941)
- 1995 - Eugene Wigner, Hungarian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
- 1996 - Arleigh Burke, U.S. admiral (b. 1901)
- 1997 - Townes Van Zandt, American musician (b. 1944)
- 1998 - Helen Wills Moody, American tennis player (b. 1905)
- 2001 - Ray Walston, American actor (b. 1914)
- 2003 - Joe Foss, American politician and fighter pilot (b. 1915)
- 2005 - Shirley Chisholm, first black U.S. Congresswoman (b. 1924)
- 2005 - Hugh John Frederick Lawson, 6th Baron Burnham, British newspaperman and politician (b. 1931)
- 2005 - Bob Matsui, U.S. Congressman (b. 1941)

Holidays and observances

- The seventh day and eighth night of Christmas in Western Christianity.
- Many countries around the world using Gregorian Calendar - New Year's Day; often celebrated at 0:00 with fireworks.
- Catholicism - Holy Day of Obligation Octave of Christmas, Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God (New calendar).
- Catholicism - Feast of the Circumcision (Old calendar).
- Catholicism - National Migration Week begins (varying official support by the office of U.S. President, not strictly religious)
- Haiti Independence Day
- Taiwan Founding of Republic of China.
- Sudan Independence Day
- Cuba Liberation Day
- Slovakia: Establishment of Slovak Republic.
- Last day of Kwanzaa
- Vienna New Year's Concert
- Pasadena, California - The Tournament of Roses parade and, traditionally, the Rose Bowl football championship
- World Day for Prayer for Peace

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/1 BBC: On This Day] ---- December 31 - January 2 - December 1 - February 1 — listing of all days ko:1월 1일 ms:1 Januari ja:1月1日 simple:January 1 th:1 มกราคม