Almanac - January 29

W. C. Fields 1880-1946

Events

• 904 – Sergius III comes out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher.
• 1676 – Feodor III becomes Tsar of Russia.
• 1814 – France defeats Russia and Prussia in the Battle of Brienne.
• 1819 – Stamford Raffles lands on the island of Singapore.
• 1834 – US President Andrew Jackson orders first use of federal soldiers to suppress a labor dispute.
• 1845 – "The Raven" is published in the New York Evening Mirror, the first publication with the name of the author, Edgar Allan Poe
• 1850 – Henry Clay introduces the Compromise of 1850 to the U.S. Congress.
• 1856 – Queen Victoria institutes the Victoria Cross.
• 1861 – Kansas is admitted as the 34th U.S. state.
• 1863 – Bear River Massacre.
• 1886 – Karl Benz patents the first successful gasoline-driven automobile.
• 1891 – Liliuokalani is proclaimed Queen of Hawaii, its last monarch.
• 1900 – The American League is organized in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with 8 founding teams.
• 1907 – Charles Curtis of Kansas becomes the first Native American U.S. Senator.
• 1916 – World War I: Paris is first bombed by German zeppelins.
• 1918 – Ukrainian-Soviet War: The Bolshevik Red Army, on its way to besiege Kiev, is met by a small group of military students at the Battle of Kruty.
• 1918 – Ukrainian-Soviet War: An armed uprising organized by the Bolsheviks in anticipation of the encroaching Red Army begins at the Kiev Arsenal, which will be put down six days later.
• 1936 – The first inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame are announced.
• 1940 – Three trains on the Sakurajima Line, in Osaka, Japan, collide and explode while approaching Ajikawaguchi Station. 181 people are killed.
• 1941 – Alexandros Koryzis becomes Prime Minister of Greece upon the sudden death of his predecessor, dictator Ioannis Metaxas.
• 1943 – The first day of the Battle of Rennell Island, U.S. cruiser Chicago is torpedoed and heavily damaged by Japanese bombers.
• 1944 – World War II: Approximately 38 men, women, and children die in the Koniuchy massacre in Poland.
• 1944 – In Bologna, Italy, the Anatomical Theatre of the Archiginnasio is destroyed in an air-raid.
• 1963 – The first inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame are announced.
• 1967 – The "ultimate high" of the hippie era, the Mantra-Rock Dance, takes place in San Francisco and features Janis Joplin, Grateful Dead, and Allen Ginsberg.
• 1979 – Brenda Spencer kills two people and wounds eight at the Grover Cleveland Elementary School shootings.
• 1985 – Final recording session of We Are The World, by the supergroup USA for Africa.
• 1989 – Hungary establishes diplomatic relations with South Korea, making it the first Eastern Bloc nation to do so
• 1991 – Gulf War: The Battle of Khafji, the first major ground engagement of the war, as well as its deadliest, begins.
• 1996 – President Jacques Chirac announces a "definitive end" to French nuclear weapons testing.
• 1996 – La Fenice, Venice's opera house, is destroyed by fire.
• 1998 – In Birmingham, Alabama, a bomb explodes at an abortion clinic, killing one and severely wounding another. Serial bomber Eric Robert Rudolph is suspected as the culprit.
• 2001 – Thousands of student protesters in Indonesia storm parliament and demand that President Abdurrahman Wahid resign due to alleged involvement in corruption scandals.
• 2002 – In his State of the Union Address, President George W. Bush describes "regimes that sponsor terror" as an Axis of Evil, in which he includes Iraq, Iran and North Korea.
• 2005 – The first direct commercial flights from mainland China (from Guangzhou) to Taiwan since 1949 arrived in Taipei. Shortly afterwards, a China Airlines flight lands in Beijing.

Births

• 1584 – Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange (d. 1647)
• 1632 – Johann Georg Graevius, German classical scholar and critic (d. 1703)
• 1688 – Emanuel Swedenborg, Swedish scientist and philosopher (d. 1772)
• 1711 – Giuseppe Bonno, Austrian composer (d. 1788)
• 1715 – Georg Christoph Wagenseil, Austrian composer (d. 1777)
• 1717 – Jeffrey Amherst, British military leader (d. 1797)
• 1718 – Paul Rabaut, French Huguenot pastor (d. 1794)
• 1737 – Thomas Paine, English-born American patriot (d. 1809)
• 1749 – King Christian VII of Denmark (d. 1808)
• 1754 – Moses Cleaveland, founder of Cleveland (d. 1806)
• 1756 – Henry Lee III, American General (d. 1818)
• 1761 – Albert Gallatin, Swiss-American ethnologist, linguist, politician, and 4th United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1849)
• 1782 – Daniel Auber, French composer (d. 1871)
• 1801 – Johannes Bernardus van Bree, Dutch composer, violinist and conductor (d. 1857)
• 1801 – Horatia Nelson, daughter of Emma Hamilton and Horatio Nelson (d. 1881)
• 1810 – Ernst Kummer, German mathematician (d. 1893)
• 1843 – William McKinley, American politician, 39th Governor of Ohio, and 25th President of the United States (d. 1901)
• 1846 – Karol Olszewski, Polish scientist (d. 1915)
• 1860 – Anton Chekhov, Russian writer (d. 1904)
• 1862 – Frederick Delius, English composer (d. 1934)
• 1866 – Julio Peris Brell, Spanish painter (d. 1944)
• 1866 – Romain Rolland, French writer, Nobel Laureate (d. 1944)
• 1867 – Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, Spanish writer (d. 1928)
• 1874 – John D. Rockefeller Jr., American entrepreneur (d. 1960)
• 1876 – Havergal Brian, British composer (d. 1972)
• 1877 – Georges Catroux, French general (d. 1969)
• 1880 – W. C. Fields, American actor (d. 1946)
• 1888 – Sydney Chapman, British mathematician and geophysicist (d. 1970)
• 1891 – Elizaveta Gerdt, Russian ballerina (d. 1975)
• 1891 – R. Norris Williams, American survivor of the RMS Titanic sinking (d. 1968)
• 1895 – Muna Lee, American poet (d. 1965)
• 1901 – Allen B. DuMont, American scientist and inventor (d. 1965)
• 1905 – Barnett Newman, American painter (d. 1970)
• 1910 – Colin Middleton, Irish artist (d. 1983)
• 1911 – Peter von Siemens, German industrialist (d. 1986)
• 1913 – Victor Mature, American actor (d. 1999)
• 1913 – Daniel Taradash, American screenwriter (d. 2003)
• 1913 – Peter von Zahn, German journalist and writer (d. 2001)
• 1915 – Bill Peet, American children's book illustrator (d.2002)
• 1915 – John Serry, Sr., American musician and arranger (d. 2003)
• 1918 – John Forsythe, American actor (d. 2010)
• 1920 – José Luis de Vilallonga, Spanish aristocrat (d. 2007)
• 1921 – Anthony George, American actor (d. 2005)
• 1922 – Gerda Steinhoff, Nazi concentration camp supervisor (d. 1946)
• 1923 – Paddy Chayefsky, American writer (d. 1981)
• 1923 – Ivo Robić, Croatian singer and songwriter (d. 2000)
• 1924 – Marcelle Ferron, French-Canadian painter and stained glass artist (d. 2001)
• 1924 – Luigi Nono, Italian composer (d. 1990)
• 1924 – Peter Voulkos, American artist (d. 2002)
• 1925 – Robert W. McCollum, American virologist, (d. 2010)
• 1925 – Harold C. Agerholm, American Marine (d. 1944)
• 1925 – Tofik Bahramov, Azerbaijani footballer (d. 1993)
• 1925 – Raúl Corrales, Cuban photographer (d. 2006)
• 1926 – Franco Cerri, Italian musician
• 1926 – Abdus Salam, Pakistani physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1996)
• 1927 – Edward Abbey, American author and environmentalist (d. 1989)
• 1928 – Lee Shau Kee, Hong Kong property developer
• 1929 – George Ross Anderson, Jr., American jurist
• 1930 – Derek Bailey, English guitarist (d. 2005)
• 1930 – John Junkin, English radio, television and film performer (d. 2006)
• 1931 – Jim Baumer, American baseball player (d. 1996)
• 1931 – Ferenc Madl, President of Hungary (d. 2011)
• 1932 – George Allen, English footballer
• 1932 – Tommy Taylor, English footballer (d. 1958)
• 1933 – Sacha Distel, French singer and guitarist (d. 2004)
• 1933 – Hugo Herrestrup, Danish actor
• 1933 – Paul Sally, American mathematician
• 1934 – Branko Miljković, Serbian poet (d. 1961)
• 1935 – Roger Payne, American biologist
• 1936 – James Jamerson, American bass guitarist for Motown Records (d. 1983)
• 1937 – Bobby Scott, American musician, producer and songwriter (d. 1990)
• 1938 – Shuji Tsurumi, Men's artistic gymnastics
• 1939 – Germaine Greer, Australian writer
• 1940 – Katharine Ross, American actress
• 1940 – Kunimitsu Takahashi, Japanese motorcycle racer and racing driver
• 1941 – Robin Morgan, American feminist and activist
• 1942 – Claudine Longet, French singer and dancer
• 1943 – Tony Blackburn, English disc jockey
• 1944 – Yoweri Museveni, President of Uganda
• 1944 – Andrew Loog Oldham, English rock and roll producer
• 1944 – Patrick Lipton Robinson, Jamaican judge
• 1944 – Pauline van der Wildt, Dutch swimmer
• 1945 – Jim Nicholson, Irish politician
• 1945 – Tom Selleck, American actor, screenwriter and film producer
• 1945 – Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, Malian prime minister
• 1946 – Bettye Lavette, American soul singer-songwriter
• 1947 – Linda B. Buck, American scientist, Nobel laureate
• 1947 – David Byron, English singer (Uriah Heep) (d. 1985)
• 1947 – Marián Varga, Slovak musician
• 1948 – Pat Kenny, Irish TV presenter and radio host
• 1948 – Cristina Saralegui, American talk-show host
• 1948 – Marc Singer, Canadian-born actor
• 1949 – Tommi Salmelainen, Finnish hockey player
• 1949 – Evgeny Lovchev, Russian footballer
• 1950 – Ann Jillian, American actress
• 1950 – Jody Scheckter, South African race car driver
• 1950 – Miklós Vámos, Hungarian writer, television host
• 1951 – Andy Roberts, West Indian cricketer
• 1951 – Fereydoon Foroughi, Iranian singer,songwriter and multi-instrumentalist (d.2001)
• 1952 – Klaus-Peter Hanisch, German footballer (d. 2009)
• 1952 – Rupert Hanley, South African cricketer
• 1952 – Tommy Ramone, Hungarian-born musician and record producer (The Ramones)
• 1953 – Richard Younger-Ross, British politician
• 1953 – Peter Baumann, German musician (Tangerine Dream)
• 1953 – Paulin Bordeleau, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1953 – Caesar Cervin, American soccer player
• 1953 – Paul Fusco, American puppeteer, voice-over artist and character actor
• 1953 – Steve March-Tormé, American musician
• 1953 – Lynne McGranger, Australian actress
• 1953 – Ronnie Moore, English footballer
• 1953 – Louie Pérez, American songwriter, percussionist and guitarist
• 1953 – Dwight Takamine, Okinawan-American Hawaii state senator
• 1953 – Teresa Teng, Taiwanese singer (d. 1995)
• 1953 – Charlie Wilson, American singer (The Gap Band)
• 1953 – Hwang Woo-Suk, South Korean biomedical scientist
• 1954 – Terry Kinney, American actor
• 1954 – Richard Manitoba, American singer (The Dictators and MC5)
• 1954 – Doug Risebrough, Canadian ice hockey player, coach and executive
• 1954 – Oprah Winfrey, American talk show host and actress
• 1955 – Eddie Jordan, American basketball player and head coach
• 1955 – Femi Pedro, Nigerian politician
• 1956 – Jan Jakub Kolski, Polish film director
• 1956 – Irlene Mandrell, American musician, actress
• 1957 – Grazyna Miller, Italian poet, translator, and journalist
• 1957 – Rino Schreuder, Dutch publisher
• 1958 – Glen Cochrane, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1958 – Linda Smith, British comedian (d. 2006)
• 1958 – Stephen Lerner, American labor organizer
• 1959 – Michael Sloane, American actor
• 1959 – Mike Foligno, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1960 – Matthew Ashford, American actor
• 1960 – Gia Carangi, American model (d. 1986)
• 1960 – Sean Kerly, English field hockey player
• 1960 – Greg Louganis, American diver
• 1960 – Steve Sax, American baseball player
• 1960 – J. G. Thirlwell, Australian-born musician
• 1961 – Petra Thumer, German swimmer
• 1961 – Mike Aldrete, American baseball player
• 1962 – Nicholas Turturro, American actor
• 1963 – Bob Holly, American professional wrestler
• 1963 – Monica Horan, American actress
• 1964 – Andre Reed, American football player
• 1964 – Anna Ryder Richardson, British interior designer and television presenter
• 1965 – Dominik Hašek, Czech ice hockey player
• 1965 – Peter Lundgren, Swedish tennis coach
• 1966 – Romário, Brazilian footballer
• 1967 – Stacey King, American basketball player
• 1967 – Cyril Suk, Czech tennis player
• 1968 – Edward Burns, American actor
• 1968 – Susi Erdmann, German bobsledder and luger
• 1968 – Sora Jung, Korean actress
• 1969 – Hyde, Japanese singer (L'Arc-en-Ciel)
• 1970 – Heather Graham, American actress
• 1970 – Jörg Hoffmann, German swimmer
• 1970 – Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Indian shooter
• 1971 – Clare Balding, British sports presenter
• 1972 – Brian Wood, American writer and artist of graphic novels
• 1973 – Jason Schmidt, American baseball player
• 1974 – Michael Andersen, Danish basketball player
• 1975 – Sara Gilbert, American actress
• 1976 – Chris Castle, American singer-songwriter
• 1976 – Charles Divins, American model and actor
• 1976 – Karsten Kroon, Dutch professional road bicycle racer
• 1977 – Justin Hartley, American actor
• 1977 – Chaly Jones, Dutch footballer
• 1978 – Rob Bironas, American football player
• 1978 – Martin Schmitt, German ski jumper
• 1979 – Marvin Agustin, Filipino actor and entrepreneur
• 1979 – Sui Feifei, Chinese basketball player
• 1979 – Andrew Keegan, American actor
• 1979 – April Scott, American actress and model
• 1979 – Andreas Thorstensson, Swedish website developer
• 1979 – Joseph Todd, Arena Football League player
• 1980 – Yael Bar-Zohar, Israeli actress and model
• 1980 – Ingimundur Ingimundarson, Icelandic handball player
• 1980 – Ivan Klasnić, Croatian football player
• 1980 – Jason James Richter, American actor
• 1981 – Rui En, Singaporean actress & singer
• 1981 – Jonny Lang, American musician
• 1981 – Darío Lopilato, Argentine actor
• 1981 – Álex Ubago, Spanish musician
• 1981 – Christopher Glaser, Spanish poet, British comedian, Impeccable quisling, Polish immigrant
• 1982 – Adam Lambert, American actor and singer
• 1982 – Heidi Mueller, American actress
• 1982 – Irina Shabayeva American fashion designer
• 1983 – Nedžad Sinanović, Bosnian basketball player
• 1984 – Mohd Safee Mohd Sali, Malaysian footballer
• 1984 – Nuno Morais, Portuguese footballer
• 1984 – Natalie du Toit, South African swimmer
• 1984 – David Sencar, Austrian Football Bundesliga
• 1985 – Marc Gasol, Spanish basketball player
• 1985 – Mikey Hachey, American musician (Suburban Legends)
• 1985 – Todd Herzog, American reality-show contestant
• 1985 – Isabel Lucas, Australian actress
• 1985 – Athina Onassis, French heiress
• 1986 – Drew Tyler Bell, American actor
• 1986 – Mark Howard, English football player
• 1986 – Jair Jurrjens, Dutch baseball player
• 1986 – Simon Vukčević, Montenegrin footballer
• 1987 – Matthew Wilson, English world rally driver
• 1987 – Alex Avila, American baseball player
• 1988 – Tatyana Chernova, Russian heptathlete
• 1988 – Stephanie Gilmore, Australian surfer
• 1989 – Kevin Shattenkirk, American ice hockey player
• 1991 – Hugh Grosvenor, Earl Grosvenor, son of the Duke of Westminster
• 1993 – Michelle Larcher de Brito, Portuguese tennis player
• 1993 – Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, Japanese model, blogger and recording artist

Deaths

• 1119 – Pope Gelasius II
• 1240 – Pelagio Galvani, Cardinal-Bishop of Albano (b. c. 1165)
• 1342 – Louis I, Duke of Bourbon (b. 1279)
• 1597 – Elias Ammerbach, German organist (b. 1530)
• 1608 – Frederick I, Duke of Württemberg (b. 1557)
• 1647 – Francis Meres, English writer (b. 1565)
• 1676 – Tsar Alexis I of Russia (b. 1629)
• 1678 – Jeronimo Lobo, Portuguese Jesuit missionary (b. 1593)
• 1696 – Tsar Ivan V of Russia, Russian tsar (b. 1666)
• 1706 – Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset, English poet and courtier (b. 1638)
• 1737 – George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney, British soldier (b. 1666)
• 1743 – André-Hercule de Fleury, French statesman (b. 1653)
• 1763 – Louis Racine, French poet (b. 1692)
• 1820 – King George III of the United Kingdom (b. 1738)
• 1829 – Paul François Jean Nicolas Barras, French politician (b. 1755)
• 1847 – Athanasios Christopoulos, Greek poet (b. 1772)
• 1870 – Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1797)
• 1871 – Philippe-Joseph Aubert de Gaspé, French Canadian writer (b. 1786)
• 1888 – Edward Lear, English artist, illustrator, author, and poet (b. 1812)
• 1899 – Alfred Sisley, British impressionist painter (b. 1839)
• 1901 – King Milan I of Serbia (b. 1855)
• 1906 – King Christian IX of Denmark (b. 1818)
• 1918 – Aleksei Maksimovich Kaledin, Russian-counter revolutionary (b. 1861)
• 1928 – Douglas Haig, British soldier (b. 1861)
• 1933 – Sara Teasdale, American poet (b. 1884)
• 1934 – Fritz Haber, German chemist, Nobel Laureate (b. 1868)
• 1941 – Ioannis Metaxas, Greek general and dictator (b. 1871)
• 1944 – Harold C. Agerholm, United States Marine Corps (b. 1925)
• 1946 – Harry Hopkins, 8th United States Secretary of Commerce (b. 1890)
• 1948 – Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta, Italian aristocrat (b. 1900)
• 1950 – Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (b. 1885)
• 1951 – Frank Tarrant, Australian cricketer (b. 1880)
• 1956 – H. L. Mencken, American journalist (b. 1880)
• 1959 – Winifred Brunton, British-born South African painter (b. 1880)
• 1961 – John F. O'Ryan, American major general (b. 1874)
• 1962 – Fritz Kreisler, Austrian violinist (b. 1875)
• 1963 – Robert Frost, American poet (b. 1874)
• 1964 – Alan Ladd, American actor (b. 1913)
• 1966 – Pierre Mercure, French Canadian composer (b. 1927)
• 1969 – Allen Dulles, American CIA director (b. 1893)
• 1970 – B. H. Liddell Hart, British historian (b. 1895)
• 1975 – Orestis Makris, Greek actor (b. 1898)
• 1977 – Buster Nupen, South African cricketer (b. 1902)
• 1977 – Freddie Prinze, American actor and comedian (b. 1954)
• 1980 – Jimmy Durante, American actor and comedian (b. 1893)
• 1986 – Leif Erickson, American actor (b. 1911)
• 1989 – Halina Konopacka, Polish athlete (b. 1900)
• 1991 – Yasushi Inoue, Japanese historian (b. 1907)
• 1992 – Willie Dixon, American composer and musician (b. 1915)
• 1993 – Adetokunbo Ademola, Nigerian Chief Justice (b. 1906)
• 1993 – Ron Kostelnik, American football player (b. 1940)
• 1993 – Tofik Bahramov, Baku, Azerbaijan SSR (b. 1925)
• 1994 – Ulrike Maier, Austrian alpine skier (b. 1967)
• 1998 – Joseph Alioto, American politician (b. 1916)
• 1999 – Lili St. Cyr, American dancer (b. 1918)
• 2002 – Dick "Night Train" Lane, American football player (b. 1928)
• 2002 – Harold Russell, Canadian-born American actor (b. 1914)
• 2003 – Frank Moss, American politician (b. 1911)
• 2004 – M. M. Kaye, British writer (b. 1908)
• 2004 – Janet Frame, New Zealand writer (b. 1924)
• 2005 – Eric Griffiths, Welsh guitarist (The Quarrymen) (b. 1940)
• 2005 – Ephraim Kishon, Israeli satirist (b. 1924)
• 2006 – Raul Corrales, Ciego de Avila, Cuba (b. 1925)
• 2007 – Barbaro, American thoroughbred racehorse (b. 2003)
• 2007 – Dia Abdul Zahra Kadim, Iraqi extremist leader (b. 1970)
• 2008 – Raymond Jacobs, American soldier (b. 1925)
• 2008 – Philippe Khorsand, French actor (b. 1948)
• 2008 – Bengt Lindström, Swedish artist (b. 1925)
• 2008 – Margaret Truman, American writer, daughter of Harry S. Truman (b. 1924)
• 2009 – Bill Frindall, English cricket scorer and statistician (b. 1939)
• 2009 – Hélio Gracie, Brazilian martial artist (b. 1913)
• 2009 – John Martyn, Scottish singer and songwriter (b. 1948)
• 2010 – Robert W. McCollum, Waco, Texas (b. 1925)

Holidays and observances

• The most notable reason for celebration on this day belongs to the Sherlock fandom. The 29th of January marks the day on which Sherlock Holmes and John Watson were introduced through Mike Stamford.
• Christian Feast Day:
  • Juniper
  • Valerius of Trèves
  • January 29 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Constitution Day (Gibraltar)