Almanac - January 12

Joe Frazier 1944-21011

Events

• 475 – Basiliscus becomes Byzantine Emperor, with a coronation ceremony in the Hebdomon palace in Constantinople.
• 1528 – Gustav I of Sweden crowned king of Sweden.
• 1539 – Treaty of Toledo signed by King Francis I of France and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.
• 1773 – The first public Colonial American museum opens in Charleston, South Carolina.
• 1777 – Mission Santa Clara de Asís is founded in what is now Santa Clara, California.
• 1808 – The organizational meeting that led to the creation of the Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is held in Edinburgh.
• 1848 – The Palermo rising takes place in Sicily against the Bourbon kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
• 1866 – The Royal Aeronautical Society is formed in London.
• 1872 – Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first imperial coronation in that city in over 200 years.
• 1875 – Kwang-su becomes emperor of China.
• 1895 – The National Trust is founded in the United Kingdom.
• 1898 – Ito Hirobumi begins his third term as Prime Minister of Japan.
• 1899 – 13 crew members and 5 apprentices are rescued from the stricken schooner Forest Hall by the Lynmouth Lifeboat when it floundered off the coast of Devon, England.
• 1906 – Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman's cabinet (which included amongst its members H. H. Asquith, David Lloyd George, and Winston Churchill) embarks on sweeping social reforms after a Liberal landslide in the British general election.
• 1908 – A long-distance radio message is sent from the Eiffel Tower for the first time.
• 1911 – The University of the Philippines College of Law is formally established; three future Philippine presidents are among the first enrollees.
• 1915 – The Rocky Mountain National Park is formed by an act of U.S. Congress.
• 1915 – The United States House of Representatives rejects a proposal to give women the right to vote.
• 1918 – Finland's "Mosaic Confessors" law went into effect, making Finnish Jews full citizens.
• 1921 – Acting to restore confidence in baseball after the Black Sox Scandal, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis is elected as Major League Baseball's first commissioner.
• 1926 – Original Sam 'n' Henry aired on Chicago radio later renamed Amos 'n' Andy in 1928.
• 1932 – Hattie W. Caraway becomes the first woman elected to the United States Senate.
• 1942 – World War II: President Franklin Roosevelt creates the National War Labor Board.
• 1964 – Rebels in Zanzibar begin a revolt known as the Zanzibar Revolution and proclaim a republic.
• 1966 – Lyndon B. Johnson states that the United States should stay in South Vietnam until Communist aggression there is ended.
• 1967 – Dr. James Bedford becomes the first person to be cryonically preserved with intent of future resuscitation.
• 1970 – Biafra capitulates, ending the Nigerian civil war.
• 1971 – The Harrisburg Seven: The Reverend Philip Berrigan and five others are indicted on charges of conspiring to kidnap Henry Kissinger and of plotting to blow up the heating tunnels of federal buildings in Washington, D.C.
• 1976 – The UN Security Council votes 11-1 to allow the Palestine Liberation Organization to participate in a Security Council debate (without voting rights).
• 1986 – Space Shuttle program: Congressman Bill Nelson lifts off from Kennedy Space Center aboard Columbia on mission STS-61C as a Mission Specialist.
• 1991 – Gulf War: An act of the U.S. Congress authorizes the use of military force to drive Iraq out of Kuwait.
• 1998 – Nineteen European nations agree to forbid human cloning.
• 2001 – Downtown Disney opens to the public as part of the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California.
• 2004 – The world's largest ocean liner, RMS Queen Mary 2, makes its maiden voyage.
• 2005 – Deep Impact launches from Cape Canaveral on a Delta 2 rocket.
• 2006 – A stampede during the Stoning the Devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills at least 362 Muslim pilgrims.
• 2006 – The French warship Clemenceau reaches Egypt and is barred access to the Suez Canal. Greenpeace activists board the ship.
• 2007 – Comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught) reaches perihelion becoming the brightest comet in more than 40 years.
• 2010 – The 2010 Haiti earthquake occurs killing an estimated 316,000 and destroying the majority of the capital Port-au-Prince.

Births

• 1483 – Henry III of Nassau-Breda, German nobleman (d. 1538)
• 1562 – Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy (d. 1630)
• 1576 – Petrus Scriverius, Dutch writer (d. 1660)
• 1577 – Jan Baptist van Helmont, Flemish chemist (d. 1644)
• 1580 – Lord Alexander Ruthven, Scottish nobleman (d. 1600)
• 1588 – John Winthrop, English-born governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (d. 1649)
• 1591 – José Ribera, Spanish painter (d. 1652)
• 1597 – François Duquesnoy, French sculptor (d. 1643)
• 1628 – Charles Perrault, French folklorist (d. 1703)
• 1715 – Jacques Duphly, French composer (d. 1789)
• 1716 – Antonio de Ulloa, Spanish general (d. 1795)
• 1721 – Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick, Prussian general (d. 1792)
• 1723 – Samuel Langdon, American college educator (d. 1797)
• 1729 – Edmund Burke, Irish statesman and philosopher (d. 1797)
• 1737 – John Hancock, American merchant, statesman, & Founding Father; 4th & 13th President of the Continental Congress; and 1st & 3rd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1793)
• 1746 – Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, Swiss pedagogue (d. 1827)
• 1751 – King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies (d. 1825)
• 1772 – Count Mikhail Speransky, Russian reformer (d. 1839)
• 1786 – Sir Robert Inglis, Bt, English politician (d. 1855)
• 1792 – Johan August Arfwedson, Swedish chemist (d. 1841)
• 1797 – Gideon Brecher, Austrian physician (d. 1873)
• 1810 – King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies (d. 1859)
• 1822 – Étienne Lenoir, French engineer (d. 1900)
• 1837 – Adolf Jensen, German pianist, composer (d. 1879)
• 1849 – Jean Béraud, French painter (d. 1935)
• 1856 – John Singer Sargent, American artist (d. 1925)
• 1863 – Swami Vivekananda, Indian philosopher (d. 1902)
• 1873 – Spiridon Louis, Greek marathon runner (d. 1940)
• 1876 – Jack London, American author (d. 1916)
• 1876 – Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Italian composer (d. 1948)
• 1876 – Fevzi Çakmak, Turkish Field Marshal and Prime Minister (d. 1950)
• 1877 – Frank J. Corr, American politician (d. 1934)
• 1878 – Ferenc Molnár, Hungarian writer (d. 1952)
• 1879 – Ray Harroun, American race car driver (d. 1968)
• 1879 – Anton Uesson, Estonian politician and engineer (d. 1942)
• 1882 – Milton Sills, American actor (d. 1930)
• 1884 – Texas Guinan, American actress (d. 1933)
• 1889 – Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad, 2nd Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and 2nd successor to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (d. 1965)
• 1892 – Mikhail Gurevich, Russian aircraft designer (d. 1976)
• 1893 – Hermann Göring, German Nazi official (d. 1946)
• 1893 – Alfred Rosenberg, German Nazi official (d. 1946)
• 1894 – Georges Carpentier, French boxer (d. 1975)
• 1895 – Leo Aryeh Mayer, Israeli professor and scholar of Islamic art (d. 1959)
• 1896 – David Wechsler, American psychologist (d. 1981)
• 1899 – Pierre Bernac, French baritone (d. 1979)
• 1899 – Paul Hermann Müller, Swiss chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1965)
• 1903 – Igor Kurchatov, Russian physicist (d. 1960)
• 1904 – Fred McDowell, American blues musician (d. 1972)
• 1905 – James Bennett Griffin, American archaeologist (d. 1997)
• 1905 – Tex Ritter, American country singer and actor (d. 1974)
• 1906 – Emmanuel Levinas, French philosopher (d. 1995)
• 1907 – Sergei Korolev, Russian rocket scientist (d. 1966)
• 1908 – Jean Delannoy, French film director (d. 2008)
• 1908 – Clement Hurd, American illustrator (d. 1988)
• 1910 – Patsy Kelly, American actress (d. 1981)
• 1910 – Luise Rainer, German actress
• 1915 – Paul Jarrico, American writer (d. 1997)
• 1915 – Joseph-Aurèle Plourde, Catholic archbishop of Ottawa
• 1916 – P. W. Botha, South African politician (d. 2006)
• 1916 – Jay McShann, American musician (d. 2006)
• 1916 – William Pleeth, British cellist (d. 1999)
• 1917 – Walter Hendl, American conductor (d. 2007)
• 1917 – Jimmy Skinner, Canadian hockey coach (d. 2007)
• 1917 – Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Indian spiritualist (d. 2008)
• 1920 – James L. Farmer, Jr., American activist (d. 1999)
• 1920 – Prof Jerzy Zubrzycki, Polish-born Australian sociologist (d. 2009)
• 1922 – Tadeusz Zychiewicz, Polish journalist and art historian (d. 1994)
• 1923 – Ira Hayes, US Marine (d. 1955)
• 1924 – Olivier Gendebien, Belgian racing driver (d. 1998)
• 1924 – Grethe Holmer, Danish actress (d. 2004)
• 1925 – Bill Burrud, American television host (d. 1990)
• 1925 – Scottie MacGregor, American actress
• 1925 – Bodil Udsen, Danish actress (d. 2008)
• 1926 – Morton Feldman, American composer (d. 1987)
• 1926 – Ray Price, American singer
• 1928 – Ruth Brown, American singer (d. 2006)
• 1928 – Lloyd Ruby, American race car driver (d. 2009)
• 1929 – Alasdair MacIntyre, Scottish-born American philosopher
• 1930 – Tim Horton, Canadian hockey player (d. 1974)
• 1930 – Glenn Yarborough, American singer
• 1932 – Tzeni Karezi, Greek actress (d. 1992)
• 1932 – Des O'Connor, British television presenter
• 1933 – Michael Aspel, English broadcaster
• 1934 – Mick Sullivan, English rugby league footballer
• 1935 – Kreskin, American mentalist
• 1935 – Tomiko Ishii, Japanese actress
• 1936 – Raimonds Pauls, Latvian Composer
• 1937 – Marie Dubois, French actress
• 1937 – Shirley Eaton, British actress
• 1937 – Vicente Sardinero, Spanish baritone (d. 2002)
• 1938 – Lewis Fiander, Australian actor
• 1941 – Long John Baldry, British blues singer (d. 2005)
• 1942 – Bernardine Dohrn, former leader of the radical leftist organization Weather Underground
• 1944 – Joe Frazier, American boxer (d. 2011)
• 1944 – Hans Henning Atrott, Prussian euthanasia advocate
• 1944 – Vlastimil Hort, Czechoslovakian chess player
• 1944 – Viktoria Postnikova, Russian pianist
• 1944 – Carlos Villagrán, Mexican actor
• 1945 – Maggie Bell, Scottish singer (Stone the Crows)
• 1946 – Lady Cosgrove, Scottish judiciary figure
• 1946 – George Duke, American musician
• 1946 – Cynthia Robinson, American musician (Sly & the Family Stone)
• 1947 – Tom Dempsey, American football player
• 1948 – Kenny Allen, English footballer
• 1948 – Anthony Andrews, English actor
• 1948 – Gordon Campbell, Premier of British Columbia
• 1948 – Khalid Abdul Muhammed, American Nation of Islam spokesman (d. 2001)
• 1948 – William Nicholson, English writer
• 1949 – Kentaro Haneda, Japanese composer (d. 2007)
• 1949 – Ottmar Hitzfeld, German football manager
• 1949 – Haruki Murakami, Japanese novelist
• 1949 – Michael W. Vannier, American radiologist
• 1949 – Wayne Wang, Hong Kong-born American film director
• 1950 – Sheila Jackson Lee, American politician
• 1950 – Göran Lindblad, Swedish politician
• 1950 – Bob McEwen, American politician
• 1950 – Dorrit Moussaieff, First Lady of Iceland
• 1950 – Ricky Ray Rector, American murderer (d. 1992)
• 1951 – Kirstie Alley, American actress
• 1951 – Ann Althouse, American law professor
• 1951 – Rush Limbaugh, American radio personality, author and political commentator
• 1951 – Drew Pearson, American football player
• 1952 – Charles Faulkner, American motivational speaker and author
• 1952 – Walter Mosley, American author
• 1952 – John Walker, New Zealand middle distance runner
• 1953 – Mary Harron, Canadian screenwriter
• 1954 – Howard Stern, American radio personality and author
• 1955 – Rockne S. O'Bannon, American screenwriter
• 1957 – John Lasseter, American animation director
• 1958 – Christiane Amanpour, American news anchor
• 1958 – Curt Fraser, American ice hockey coach
• 1959 – Blixa Bargeld, German singer and musician (Einstürzende Neubauten, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds)
• 1959 – Per Gessle, Swedish songwriter and musician (Roxette)
• 1959 – Nick Nairn, British celebrity chef
• 1960 – Oliver Platt, Canadian actor
• 1960 – Jorge Pupo, Cuban American actor
• 1960 – Dominique Wilkins, American basketball player
• 1962 – Luna Vachon, Canadian professional wrestler (d. 2010)
• 1963 – Nando Reis, Brazilian singer and composer
• 1963 – François Girard, French-Canadian film director and screenwriter
• 1964 – Jeff Bezos, American entrepreneur
• 1964 – Laura Gildemeister, Argentine tennis player
• 1964 – Clare Holman, British actress
• 1965 – Mark Moore, British record producer
• 1965 – Rob Zombie, American musician and film director (White Zombie, Solo)
• 1966 – Olivier Martinez, French actor
• 1967 – Vendela Kirsebom, Swedish supermodel
• 1968 – Keith Anderson, American country music singer-songwriter
• 1968 – Rachael Harris, American actress
• 1968 – Junichi Masuda, Japanese composer
• 1968 – Heather Mills, British activist and model
• 1968 – Mauro Silva, Brazilian footballer
• 1969 – Margaret Nagle, American screenwriter and TV producer
• 1969 – Robert Prosinecki, Croatian footballer
• 1970 – Mig Ayesa, Australian musician
• 1970 – Raekwon, American rapper
• 1970 – Zack de la Rocha, American musician (Rage Against the Machine)
• 1971 – Scott Burrell, American basketball player
• 1972 – Priyanka Gandhi, daughter of Rajiv Gandhi
• 1972 – Espen Knutsen, Norwegian ice hockey player
• 1972 – Jason Sklar, American comedian
• 1972 – Randy Sklar, American comedian
• 1973 – Dan Haseltine, American singer (Jars of Clay)
• 1973 – Matthew Wong, American musician (Reel Big Fish)
• 1973 – Hande Yener, Turkish singer
• 1974 – Melanie Chisholm, British singer (Spice Girls)
• 1974 – Claudia Conserva, Chilean television presenter
• 1974 – Tor Arne Hetland, Norwegian cross-country skier
• 1975 – Jason Freese, American musician (Green Day)
• 1975 – Jocelyn Thibault, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1976 – Miki Nakatani, Japanese actress and singer
• 1977 – Yoandy Garlobo, Cuban baseball player
• 1977 – Cade McNown, American football player
• 1977 – Piolo Pascual, Filipino actor
• 1978 – Luis Ayala, Mexican baseball pitcher
• 1978 – Jeremy Camp, American musician
• 1978 – Bonaventure Kalou, Ivorian footballer
• 1978 – Kim Sa-rang, Korean actress
• 1978 – Kris Roe, American musician (The Ataris)
• 1978 – Maurizio Zaffiri, Italian rugby player
• 1979 – Lee Bo-young, South Korean actress and model
• 1979 – Marián Hossa, Slovak ice hockey player
• 1979 – Grzegorz Rasiak, Polish footballer
• 1979 – David Zabriskie, American cyclist
• 1980 – Bobby Crosby, American baseball player
• 1981 – Amerie, American singer
• 1981 – Dan Klecko, American football player
• 1981 – Angus Macdonald, New Zealand All Black rugby player
• 1981 – João Paulo, Brazilian footballer
• 1982 – Sherzod Abdurahmonov, Uzbek boxer
• 1982 – Paul-Henri Mathieu, French tennis player
• 1982 – Chris Ray, American baseball player
• 1982 – Dimitrios Tsiamis, Greek triple jumper
• 1982 – Hans Van Alphen, Belgian decathlete
• 1982 – Dontrelle Willis, American baseball player
• 1984 – Scott Olsen, American baseball player
• 1984 – Daniel Sepulveda, American football player
• 1985 – Yohana Cobo, Spanish actress
• 1985 – Gerard Lawson, American football player
• 1985 – Artem Milevskiy, Ukrainian footballer
• 1986 – Gemma Arterton, English actress
• 1986 – Pablo Daniel Osvaldo, Italian Argentine footballer
• 1986 – Kehoma Brenner, Greman rugby player
• 1986 – Miguel Ángel Nieto, Spanish footballer
• 1986 – Kieron Richardson, English actor
• 1987 – Naya Rivera, American actress
• 1987 – Will Rothhaar, American actor
• 1987 – Salvatore Sirigu, Italian footballer
• 1988 – Chris Casement, Irish footballer
• 1988 – Claude Giroux, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1988 – Andrew Lawrence, American actor
• 1988 – Ytalo, Brazilian footballer
• 1990 – Sergey Karjakin, Ukrainian chess player
• 1991 – Pixie Lott, English singer
• 1992 – Mao Kobayashi, Japanese gravure idol
• 1993 – Aika Mitsui, Japanese singer
• 1993 – Zayn Malik, Member of British/Irish boy band One Direction
• 1995 – Laurel McGoff, American reality show contestant
• 1998 – Nathan Gamble, American actor

Deaths

• 690 – Benedict Biscop, saint (b. 628)
• 1167 – Ailred of Rievaulx, saint (b. 1110)
• 1321 – Maria of Brabant, wife of Philip III of France (b. 1256)
• 1519 – Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1459)
• 1665 – Pierre de Fermat, French mathematician and lawyer (b. 1601)
• 1674 – Giacomo Carissimi, Italian composer (b. 1605)
• 1700 – Marguerite Bourgeoys, saint (b. 1620)
• 1705 – Luca Giordano, Italian artist (b. 1634)
• 1732 – John Horsley, British archaeologist (b. 1685)
• 1735 – John Eccles, English composer (b. 1668)
• 1759 – Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange (b. 1709)
• 1765 – Johann Melchior Molter, German composer (b. 1696)
• 1777 – Hugh Mercer, American Revolutionary War officer (mortally wounded in battle) (b. 1726)
• 1781 – Richard Challoner, English Catholic prelate (b. 1691)
• 1829 – Friedrich von Schlegel, German poet (b. 1772)
• 1833 – Marie-Antoine Carême, French chef (b. 1784)
• 1834 – William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1759)
• 1856 – Ludovít Štúr, Slovak politician, author of Slovak language, (b. 1815)
• 1861 – Václav Hanka, Czech philologist, (b. 1791)
• 1892 – William Reeves, bishop, antiquarian (b. 1815)
• 1897 – Isaac Pitman, British inventor (Pitman Shorthand) (b. 1813)
• 1899 – Hiram Walker, American distiller (b. 1816)
• 1909 – Hermann Minkowski, German mathematician (b. 1864)
• 1921 – Gervase Elwes, English tenor (b. 1866)
• 1926 – Sir Austin Chapman, Australian politician (b. 1864)
• 1934 – Paul Kochanski, Polish violinist, composer and arranger (b. 1887)
• 1938 – Gösta Ekman, Swedish actor (b. 1890)
• 1940 – Edward Smith, English soldier, recipient of the Victoria Cross (b. 1899)
• 1943 – Jan Campert, Dutch journalist and writer (b. 1902)
• 1944 – Lance C. Wade, American pilot (b. 1915)
• 1956 – Norman Kerry, American actor (b. 1894)
• 1958 – Charles Mallory Hatfield, U.S. rainmaker (b. 1875)
• 1960 – Nevil Shute, English writer (b. 1899)
• 1962 – Ariadna Tyrkova-Williams, Russian writer and feminist (b. 1869)
• 1965 – Lorraine Hansberry, American writer (b. 1936)
• 1974 – Princess Patricia of Connaught (b. 1886)
• 1976 – Agatha Christie, English writer (b. 1890)
• 1977 – Henri-Georges Clouzot, French film director and screenwriter (b. 1907)
• 1983 – Rebop Kwaku Baah, Ghanaian percussionist (b. 1944)
• 1983 – Nikolai Podgorny, President of the USSR (b. 1903)
• 1988 – Connie Mulder, South African politician (b. 1925)
• 1990 – Laurence J. Peter, Canadian-born educator and writer (b. 1919)
• 1991 – Mary Francis Shura, American writer (b. 1923)
• 1996 – Joachim Nitsche, German mathematician (b. 1926)
• 1997 – Jean-Edern Hallier, French author (b. 1936)
• 1997 – Charles B. Huggins, Canadian-born cancer researcher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1901)
• 1999 – Betty Lou Gerson, American voice actress (b. 1914)
• 1999 – Doug Wickenheiser, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1961)
• 2000 – Marc Davis, American animator (b. 1913)
• 2000 – Bobby Phills, American basketball player (b. 1969)
• 2001 – Affirmed, American racehorse (b. 1975)
• 2001 – Luiz Bonfá, Brazilian guitarist and composer (b. 1922)
• 2001 – William Hewlett, American engineer and businessman (b. 1913)
• 2002 – Stanley Unwin, South African comedian (b. 1911)
• 2002 – Cyrus Vance, 57th U.S. Secretary of State (b. 1917)
• 2003 – Dean Amadon, American ornithologist (b. 1912)
• 2003 – Kinji Fukasaku, Japanese director (b. 1930)
• 2003 – Leopoldo Galtieri, dictator of Argentina (b. 1926)
• 2003 – Maurice Gibb, British singer, songwriter, and musician (Bee Gees) (b. 1949)
• 2003 – Alan Nunn May, English physicist and Soviet spy (b. 1911)
• 2004 – Olga Aleksandrovna Ladyzhenskaya, Russian mathematician (b. 1921)
• 2004 – Randy VanWarmer, American singer and songwriter (b. 1955)
• 2005 – Alessia di Matteo, first survivor of eight transplants in one operation (b. 2003)
• 2005 – Amrish Puri, Indian actor (b. 1932)
• 2005 – Edmund S. Valtman, Estonian-born cartoonist (b. 1914)
• 2007 – Alice Coltrane, American jazz musician (b. 1937)
• 2007 – Sir James Killen, Australian politician (b. 1925)
• 2009 – Claude Berri, French movie director (b. 1934)
• 2009 – Arne Næss, Norwegian philosopher (b. 1912)
• 2010 – Daniel Bensaid, French philosopher (b. 1946)
• 2010 – Hasib Sabbagh, Palestinian businessman and philanthropist, co-founder of Consolidated Contractors Company (b. 1920)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Ailred of Rievaulx
  • Benedict Biscop
  • Tatiana
  • January 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Memorial Day (Turkmenistan)
• National Youth Day (India)
• Zanzibar Revolution Day (Tanzania)