The Strategypage is a comprehensive summary of military news and affairs.
 News As History - January 8, 2009



January Military History

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Born
1 766 Ali ar-Rida, the 10th Shia Imam, d. 818
  1431 Rodrigo Borja [Borgia] - Pope Alexander VI (1492-1503)
  1449 Lorenzo “Il Magnifico” de'Medici - Lord of Florence, d. 1492
  1467 King Sigismund I "the Old" of Poland (1506-1548)
  1735 Paul Revere, patriot, silversmith, gunfounder
  1739 Edmund Burke, Whig politician, author ("Reflections on the Revolution")
  1745 “Mad” Anthony Wayne, Revolutionary general, Victor of Stoney Point, Fallen Timbers, d. 1795
  1752 Elizabeth Griscom “Betsy” Ross, mythic flag maker
  1819 George Foster Shepley, Brig. Gen., U.S.V., d 1878
  1823 Sandor Petofi Kikkoros ("Jaos Vitez"), Hungarian poet and revolutionary
  1827 William Lewis "Old Tige" Cabell, Brig Gen, C.S.A.
  1838 William Hugh Young, Brig. Gen., C.S.A., d 1901
  1839 James Ryder Randall, songwriter ("Maryland, My Maryland")
  1839 Maria Louise Rame "Ouida", novelist ("Under Two Flags"), d. 1908
  1887 Wilhelm Canaris, German admiral and spymaster, executed by Hitler, 1945
  1892 Manuel Roxas y Acuña, 1st President of the Philippines
  1895 J. Edgar Hoover
  1895 Sean Aloysius O'Fearna - John Ford – naval officer, director (“Why We Fight”)
  1909 Barry Goldwater, airman, senator
  1909 Dana Andrews, actor ("Battle of the Bulge")
  1909 John Glenn, Marine fightger ace, astronaut, senator
  1912 Kim Philby, Soviet spy
  1930 Gaafar Muhammad Nimeiry, sometime President of Sudan
  1938 Queen Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard of Netherlands (1980- )
  1947 Vladimir G Titov, Russian cosmonaut (Soyuz T-8, etc.)
  1959 Abdul Ahad Mohmand, Afghan cosmonaut (Soyuz TM-6)
2 1642 Sultan Mehmed IV of Turkey
  1647 Nathaniel Bacon, of Bacon's Rebellion, executed 1676
  1699 Sultan Osman III of Turkey
  1752 Philip Freneau, Patriot poet ("The American Village")
  1835 Charles Russell Lowell Jr, Brig Gen, U.S.,
  1880 Louis Breguet, French aviation pioneer
  1899 Paul-Henri Spaak, Secretary-General of NATO (1957-61)
  1920 Andrew Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire (1950-2004), Military Cross, d. 2004
  1920 Isaac Asimov, sometime soldier, author ("Foundation")
3 106 BC Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman statesman
  700 BC Isaiah [Trad]
  1763 Joseph Fesch, churchman, kinsman to Napoleon
  1777 Elisa Bonaparte, Princess of Lucca and Piombino
  1883 Clement Attlee, Maj., BEF, British PM (1945-51)
  1892 J.R.R. Tolkien, who wrote of battle
  1901 Ngo Dinh Diem, President of Vietnam (1955-63)
  1903 Charles Foulkes, Canadian general
  1905 Ray Milland, Royal Horse Guards, actor (“Beau Geste”)
  1906 Aleksei Grigor'evich Stakhanov, “Hero of Soviet Labor”, d. 1977
  1918 Maxene Andrews, of the "Andrews Sisters"
  1922 Morten Nielsen, Danish poet and resistance fighter
4 1334 Amadeo VI "The Green Count" of Savoy (1343-1383)
  1580 Archbishop Ussher, who “calculated” the age of the universe
  1821 John James Peck, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1878
  1822 Joseph Jones Reynolds, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1899
  1823 Peter Joseph Osterhaus, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1917
  1838 "General Tom Thumb" [Charles Stratton]
  1890 Alfred Jodl, German toady & war criminal
  1906 William Bendix, actor ("Wake Island")
  1908 Angela Maria "Geli" Raubal, Hitler's niece, and girl friend
  1913 King Malietoa Tanumafili II of Samoa
  1914 Jean-Pierre Vernant, “Col Berthier” of the Resistance, classical scholar, d. 2006
  1914 King Mohammed Sahir of Afghanistan
  1920 William Colby, CIA director under Nixon
5 1592 Shah Jahan, Great Mogul of India (1628-58), who built the Taj Mahal
  1759 Jacques Cathelineau, French general
  1779 Stephen Decatur, naval hero, War of 1812
  1779 Zebulon Pike, army explorer who found a mountain
  1813 Thomas Neville Waul, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1903
  1822 Joseph Brevard Kershaw, Maj Gen, C.S.A., d. 1894
  1828 August Valentine Kautz, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1895
  1840 John Doby Kennedy, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1896
  1848 Khristo Botev, poet-hero of the Bulgarian revolt against Turkey
  1876 Konrad "Der Alte" Adenauer, German Chancellor, 1949-1963, d. 1967
  1901 Count Honore d'Estienne d'Orves, French resistance fighter
  1912 Frank Pace Jr, Secretary of Army (1950-53)
  1921 Grand Duke Jean d'Aviano of Luxembourg (1964- )
  1928 Zulfikar Ali Khan Bhutto, president and premier of Pakistan
  1930 Edward G Givens Jr, USAF, astronaut
  1938 King Juan Carlos I of Spain (1975- )
6 1367 King Richard II of England (1377-99), deposed and later murdered
  1412 Joan of Arc, warrior maid
  1425 King Henry IV "The Impotent" of Castile
  1587 Count Gaspar de Guzmán of Olivares, Spanish premier (1621-43)
  1745 James and Jacques Montgolfier, France, pioneer balloonists
  1799 Jedediah Smith, fur trader, Indian fighter
  1807 Joseph Holt, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1894
  1822 Heinrich Schliemann, who found Troy
  1827 John Calvin Brown, Maj Gen, C.S.A., d. 1889
  1827 John Wesley Frazer, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1906
  1854 Sherlock Holmes
  1878 Carl Sandburg, soldier, poet, biographer
  1880 Tom Mix, deserter, movie star, d. 1940
  1897 Peter Veres, Hungarian minister of defense
  1899 Alfonse Gabriel Capone, entrepreneur, Brooklyn, N.Y.
  1905 Eric Frank Russell, SOE toymaker, science fictioneer (“Wasp”)
  1911 Eduardo Frei Montalva, President of Chile (1964-1970)
7 1502 Ugo Buoncocampagni - Pope Gregory XIII (1572-1585)
  1528 Queen Jeanne d'Albret of Navarra (Mother of King Henry IV of France)
  1768 Joseph Bonaparte, King of Naples (1806-1808) and Spain (1808-1814)
  1799 Daniel Tyler, Brig Gen, U.S.,
  1800 Millard Fillmore, militiaman, President, 1850-53,
  1808 Jacob Ammen, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1894
  1816 Stephen Miller, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1881
  1821 Lucius Jeremiah Gartrell, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1891
  1824 James Morrison Hawes, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1889
  1845 King Ludwig III of Bavaria (1913-1918), deposed
  1883 Andrew Browne Cunningham, later Admiral of the Fleet, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope, KT, GCB, OM, DSO
  1912 Charles Addams, veteran, macabre cartoonist
  1935 Valeri Nikolayevich Kubasov, cosmonaut
8 1081 Henry V, King of Germany, Holy Roman Emperor (1098/1111-25)
  1628 François de Montmorency-Bouteville, duc de Luxembourg, Marshal of France, d. 1695
  1814 Thomas Green, Brig Gen, C.S.A., KIA by the U.S. Navy, 1864
  1815 George Webb Morell, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1883
  1815 Lawrence Pike Graham, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1905
  1817 John Selden Roane, Brig Gen, d. 1867
  1821 James “Old Pete” Longstreet, Lt. Gen., C.S.A., Lee's "Old War Horse"
  1830 Gouverneur Kemble Warren, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1882
  1851 Gerad Leman, Belgian general, defender of Liege, 1914
  1870 Miguel Primo de Rivera Orbaneja, Spanish solider, dictator (1923-30)
  1902 Georgy M Malenkov, Stalin's successor as head of CPSU, PM (1953-55)
  1912 Jose Ferrer, actor (“Cockleshell Heroes”)
  1935 Elvis Presley, sometime Sgt, 3rd Armored Division
9 1554 Alessandro Ludovisi - Pope Gregory XV (1621-1623)[or 15th]
  1822 John Porter Hatchm Brig. Gen., U.S.V., d 1901
  1908 Simone de Beauvoir, Vichyite, feminist ("The Second Sex")
  1913 Richard M. Nixon, sometime naval officer, President, 1969-1974
  1922 Ahmed Sekou Toure, President of Guinea (1957-84)
10 1644 Louis Boufflers, Marshal of France
  1738 Ethan Allen, Green Mountain Boy
  1769 Michel Ney, Marshal of France, "Bravest of the Brave," executed, 1815
  1815 Alexander Brydie Dyer, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1874
  1815 Thomas Williams, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1862
  1825 Alexander Travis Hawthorn, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1899
  1898 Sergei Eisenstein, Russian director ("Alexandr Nevski")
11 1403 Duke Jan IV of Brabant and Limburg
  1757 Alexander Hamilton, Maj. Gen., U.S.
  1807 Alfred Eugene "Mudwall" Jackson, Brig Gen, C.S.A.
  1814 Richard Griffith, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1862
  1816 Fitz-Henry Warren, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1878
  1818 John Reese Kenly, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1891
  1831 James Ronald Chalmers, Brig Gen, C.S., d. 1898
  1839 Eugenio Maria de Hostos, Puerto Rican patriot
  1878 Theodorus Pangalos, Greek general & dictator (1926)
  1928 David L Wolper, producer (“Devil's Brigade”)
12 1562 Duke Charles Emanuel I "the Great" of Savoy
  1638 Ernst Tarhemberg, Austrian field marshal, d. 1701
  1737 John Hancock, Signer of the Declaration of Independence
  1751 King Ferdinand I “The Nose” of the Two Sicilies
  1792 Robert Patterson, American soldier, d. 1881
  1810 King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies
  1814 Jones Mitchell Withers, Maj Gen, C.S., d. 1890
  1819 Zealous Bates Tower, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1900
  1825 Joseph R. Davis, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1896; inept nephew of Jefferson Davis
  1832 Richard Waterhouse Jr, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1876
  1852 Joseph "Papa" Joffre, Marshal of France, d. 1931
  1893 Afred Rosenberg, Nazi war criminal
  1893 Hermann Goring, Nazi war criminal
  1902 King Ibn Abdul-Aziz Saud of Saudi Arabia
13 1505 Margraf Joachim II Hector of Brandenburg
  1807 Napoleon Bonaparte Buford, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1883
  1808 Salmon P. Chase, Lncoln’s SecTres
  1812 Humphrey Marshall, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1872
  1815 William Henry French, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1881
  1869 Duke Emanuele Filiberto of Aosta, Italian General
  1904 Richard Addensell, composer ("Warsaw Concerto” aka “Suicide Squadrons")
  1913 Jeff Morrow, actor ("The Gallant Men")
14 1730 William Whipple, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, d. 1785.
  1741 Benedict Arnold, hero, traitor
  1806 Matthew Fontaine Maury, C.S.N.
  1819 Frederick Steele, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1868
  1831 John Bullock Clark Jr, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1903
  1836 Hugh Judson Kilpatrick, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1881
  1861 Sultan Mehmed VI of Turkey (1918-22), the last Ottoman
  1875 Albert Schweitzer, Peace Nobelist
  1892 Martin Niemoller, German clergyman, opponent of Hitler
  1899 Fritz Bayerlein, German general
  1901 Carlos P Romulo, Philippine general and statesman
  1925 Yukio Mishima, Japanese neo-fascist
15 1432 King Afonso V "the African" of Portugal (1438-1481)
  1485 Catherine of Aragon, Mrs. Henry VIII No. 1
  1504 Michele Ghisleri - Pope St. Pius V (1566-1572)
  1716 Philip Livingston, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, d. 1778.
  1815 Henry Morris Naglee, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1886
  1817 Lewis Golding Arnold, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1871
  1821 John C. Breckinridge, Vice-President (1857-1861), Maj Gen, CSA
  1821 Lafayette McLaws, Maj Gen, C.S.A., d. 1897
  1908 Edward Teller, "Father of the H-Bomb," d.2003
  1918 Gamal Abdel Nasser, President of Egypt (1954-1971)
  1920 John J. O'Connor, Vicar-General of the Armed Forces, Archbishop of NY
  1929 Martin Luther King, k. 1968
16 1409 Rene I, King of Naples, Sicily, and Jerusalem (1435-1442)
  1807 Charles Henry Davis, Rear Adm, U.S., d. 1877
  1815 Henry Halleck, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1872; "Old Brians" or "Woodenhead"
  1834 Albert Lindley Lee, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1907
  1837 James Phillip Simms, Brig Gen, C.S., d. 1887
  1901 Fulgencio Batista, President of Cuba (1933-44, 1952-59)
  1910 David McCampbell, Pacific War ace, 34 kills
17 1342 Duke Philip "the Bold" of Burgundy
  1463 Elector Frederick III "the Wise" of Saxony(1486-25), friend to Luther
  1504 Antonio Ghislieri - Pope St. Pius V - (1566-72)
  1612 Thomas Lord Fairfax, Parliamentary General
  1706 Benjamin Franklin, Signer of the Declaration of Independence [NS]
  1732 King Stanislaw II August Poniatowski of Poland (1764-95)
  1811 Joshua Abraham Norton, “Norton I, Emperor of the United States, Protector of Mexico,” in England, d. 1880
  1863 David Lloyd George, PM of Britain, WW I
  1871 Adm. Sir David Betty, d. 1936
  1886 Glenn Martin, aviation pioneer
  1922 Luis Echeverría Alvarez, President of Mexico
18 1657 Heinrich Casimir II of Nassau, general
  1752 Francesco Maria Caracciolo, Neapolitan admiral, executed by Nelson, 1799
  1809 Richard Caswell Gatlin, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1896
  1813 Joseph Farwell Glidden, inventor of barbed wire
  1815 James Chesnut Jr, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1885
  1820 Abraham Buford, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1884
  1831 Edward Ferrero, cowardly Brig. Gen., U.S., d. 1899
  1835 Cesar Antonovich Cui, Russian composer, fortification engineer, d. 1918
  1857 Otto von Below, German general, victor of Caporetto
19 570 Mohammed
  1544 King Francis II of France (1559-60)
  1736 James Watt, inventor of the practical steam engine
  1807 Robert Edward Lee
  1809 Edgar Allan Poe, West Point drop-out
  1816 Henry Gray, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1892
  1830 George Blake Cosby, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1909
  1917 Nigel Nicholson, Guardsman, litterateur, d. 2004
20 225 Gordian III, Roman Emperor (238-244)
  1716 King Charles IV of Naples (1732-1759) and III of Spain (1759-88)
  1831 Pieter J Joubert, Boer general
  1930 Edwin Aldrin, astronaut, 2nd man on the Moon
21 1338 King Charles V “the Wise” of France (1364-80)
  1788 William Smyth, British Admiral
  1813 John C Fremont, soldier, explorer, U.S.
  1824 Thomas J "Stonewall" Jackson, Lt Gen, C.S.A.
  1829 King Oscar II Frederik of Sweden (1872-1907) and Norway (1872-1905) – the Sardine Man
  1855 John M Browning, inventor of fine firearms
  1867 Gen. Maxime Weygand, d. 1965
  1885 Umberto Nobile, Italian general and aeronaut
22 1440 Grand Prince Ivan III "the Great" of Russia(1462-1505)
  1655 Geleyn Evertsen, Dutch Admiral
  1788 Lord Byron, Volunteer for Greek Liberty
  1800 Nat Turner, of the "Great Southampton Slave Rebellion"
  1875 D. W. Griffith, racist movie pioneer ("Birth of a Nation")
  1906 Robert E. Howard, author (“Conan”), d. 1936
23 1730 Joseph Hewes, Signer of the Declaration of Independence
  1737 John Hancock, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, d. 1793
  1828 Calvin Edward Pratt, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1896
  1832 Edouard Manet, French impressionist ("The Kearsarge vs. The Alabama")
  1891 Antonio Gramsci, Italian marxist
  1897 Subhas Chandra Bose, Indian nationalist
  1898 Randolph Scott, actor ("Gung Ho!")
  1898 Sergei Eisenstein, Soviet film maker ("Battleship Potemkin")
  1899 Humphrey Bogart, steersman, USS Leviathan, WW I, actor (“Casablanca”)
  1914 Prince Imperial Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, d. 1997
24 76 Publius Aelius Hadrianus – Hadrian, Roman Emperor (117-138)
  1444 Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza of Milan (1466-1476), assassinated, 1476
  1712 King Frederick II "the Great" of Prussia (1740-86)
  1732 Pierre de Beaumarchais, American agent, author ("The Barber of Seville")
  1746 King Gustav III of Sweden (1771-92)
  1820 John Milton Thayer, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1906
  1828 Adam Jacoby Slemmer, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1868
  1832 John Pegram, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1865
  1847 Radomir Putnik, brilliant Serbian Field Marshal, d. 1917
  1888 Ernst Heinrich Heinkel, aircraft designer
  1891 Walter Model, German Field Marshal, Nazi
  1907 Maurice Couve de Murville, Premier of France (1968-69)
  1915 Ernest Borgnine, sailor, actor ("McHale's Navy")
25 749 Byzantine Emperor Leo IV "the Khazar" (775-780)
  1759 Robert Burns, poet
  1839 Seldon Connor, Brig. Gen., U.S.V., d. 1917
  1841 Adm of the Fleet John “Jackie” Fisher
  1881 Emil Ludwig, biographer ("Napoleon")
26 1763 Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, Marshal of France, King Charles XIV of Sweden (1818-1841)
  1814 Rufus King, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1876
  1816 Lloyd Tilghman, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1863
  1819 Abner Doubleday, Maj Gen, U.S, , d. this day, 1893
  1880 General of the Army Douglas MacArthur
  1887 Adm. Marc "Pete" Mitscher, USN
  1891 Ilya Ehrenburg, Russian war poet
  1918 Nicolae Ceaucescu, Romanian dictator (1965-1989), executed 1989
27 1546 Elector Joachim III Frederick of Brandenburg
  1571 Shah Abbas I "the Great" of Persia (1588-1629)
  1822 Thomas Leiper Kane, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1883
  1826 Richard Taylor, Lt Gen, C.S.A., d. 1879
  1828 Samuel Allen Rice, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1864
  1830 William Henry Fitzhugh Payne, Brig Gen, C.S.A.
  1834 Robert Sanford Foster, Maj Gen, U.S.
  1859 Wilhelm II - "Kaiser Bill (1888-1918), d. 1940
  1900 Hyman Rickover, “Father of the Nuclear Navy,” d. 1986
28 1457 Henry VII, first Tudor king of England (1485-1509)
  1600 Giulio Rospigliosi – Pope Clement IX (1667-69)
  1693 Tsarina Anna Ivanovna of Russia (1730-40) (OS, 2/7 NS)
  1717 Sultan Mustapha III of Turkey (1757-74)
  1768 King Frederick VI of Denmark (1808-39), Napoleon’s ally
  1815 Andrew Jackson Hamilton, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1875
  1825 George Edward Pickett, Maj Gen, C.S.A., d. 1875
  1828 Thomas Carmichael Hindman, Maj Gen, C.S.A., d. 1868
  1831 Henry Brevard Davidson, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1899
  1833 Charles George 'Chinese' Gordon, kia, Khartoum, 1885.
  1841 Henry M. Stanley, CS & US veteran, journalist, explorer, exploiter
  1853 Jose Marti y Perez, Cuban poet, nationalist, kia 1895
  1909 Lionel Crabb, British diver, disappeared 1957  
  1936 Alphonso D'Abruzzo - Alan Alda, actor (“M*A*S*H”)
  1948 Mamoru Mohri, Japanese astronaut
  1950 David Carl Hilmer, Marine, astronaut
29 133 Didius Julianus, Roman Emperor (Mar 28-June 1, 193)
  1584 Prince Frederik Hendrik of Orange, Count of Nassau
  1717 Sir Jeffrey Amherst , Conqueror of Canada, d. 1797
  1737 Thomas Paine, Patriot
  1756 Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, cavalryman, reprobate; father to a more famous son.
  1801 Horatia, daughter of Lord Nelson & Lady Emma Hamilton
  1821 Isaac Ferdinand Quinby, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1891
  1823 Franklin Gardner, Maj Gen, C.S.A
  1836 Benjamin Franklin Potts, Bvt Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1887
  1836 James Meech Warner, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1897
  1843 William McKinley, Bvt Maj, U.S., president, 1897-1901.
  1867 Vicente Blasco Ibanez, Valencian novelist ("Blood and Sand")
  1873 Duke Luigi Amedeo d’Abruzzi, explorer, soldier
  1913 Victor Mature, coastguardsman, actor (“Demetrius and the Gladiators”), d. 1999
  1915 Halfdan Rasmussen, Danish poet and resistance fighter
30 58 BC Livia Drusilla, wife of Augustus, mother of Tiberius
  1797 Edwin Vose Sumner, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1863
  1816 Nathaniel Prentiss Banks, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1894
  1822 John Basil Turchin [Ivan B Turchinoff], Brig Gen, U.S.
  1829 Alfred Cummings, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1910
  1841 Alfred Townsend George, Civil War journalist, d. 1914
  1844 Moritz von Bissing, German Military Governor of Belgium (1914-17)
  1882 FDR, the Commander in Chief, 1933-1945
  1894 King Boris III of Bulgaria (1918-1943)
  1912 Barbara W. Tuchman, historian (“The Guns of August”). D. 1989
  1915 John D Profumo, scandalous British Secretary of State for War
  1921 Helene Deschamps Adams, Heroine of the resistance, d. 2006
  1927 Olof Palme, Swedish Premier (1969-76, 1982-86), assassinated 1986
31 36 BC Antonia Minor, daughter of Marc Antony & Octavia, mother of Claudius
  1512 Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal (1579-1580), see Deaths
  1612 Count Hendrik Casimir I of Nassau-Dietz
  1620 Georg von Waldeck, German general
  1734 Robert Morris, Signer of the Declaration of Independence
  1810 Daniel Ruggles, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1897
  1818 William Raine Peck, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1871
  1923 Norman Mailer, veteran, novelist ("The Naked & the Dead")

Died
1 404 St Telemachus, slain by irate fans for trying to stop a gladiatorial fight
  633 King Edwin of Northumbria, kia at Meicen
  898 Odo, Count of Paris, King of the Franks (888-898)
  962 Count Boudouin [Baldwin] III of Flanders
  1370 Sir John Chandos, Constable of Aquitaine, Senechal of Poitou
  1387 King Charles II "The Bad" of Navarre (1349-1387), at c. 55
  1515 King Louis XII "the Justified" of France (1498-1515), at 52
  1557 Jacques Cartier, French explorer
  1559 King Christian III of Denmark and Norway (1534–59)
  1560 Guillaume du Bellay, Le Sieur de Langey, French soldier
  1588 Qi Jiguang, Ming general, restorer of the Great Wall
  1766 Francis Edward Jacobus III, the "Old Pretender"
  1787 Arthur Middleton, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, at 44
  1950 Leslie Coffelt, Secret Service agent, killed defending Pres Truman
  1961 Dashiell Hammett, veteran, novelist ("The Maltese Falcon")
  1969 Ian Fleming, secret agent, author ("James Bond")
  1972 Maurice Chevalier, entertaining French collaborator
  1992 Grace Hopper, Admiral of the Cyber Sea, at 85
2 17 Publius Ovidius Naso, naughty poet, in exile at 61
  18 Titus Livius, Roman historian, in his beloved Padua
  1322 King Phillip V "The Tall" of France (1317–22), c. 28
  1536 John of Leyden, Anabaptist “Prophet” and rebel, executed
  1591 Alfonso Piccolomini, Duke of Montemarciano, Condotierro, bandit chief, hanged at Florence at 41.
  1698 Pietro and Violante Comparini, murdered by Count Guido Franceschini, their son-in-law
  1861 King Frederik Willem IV of Prussia (1849-1861), at 65
  1863 Roger W. Hanson, Brig. Gen., C.S.A., kia at 35
  1904 Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, C.S.A., b. 1821
  1921 Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg,, who had once scorned "a mere scrap of paper", at 64
  1945 Adm. Sir Betram Home Ramsay, at 61
  1955 President Jose Antonio Remon of Panama (1952-55), assassinated
  1995 Pres Siad Barre of Somalia (1969-91), at 84
  2000 Patrick O'Brien, author ("Master and Commander")
  2008 George MacDonald Fraser, soldier, author (“Flashman” – “Quartered Safe Out Here”), at 82
3 236 Pope St. Anterus (21 Nov 235-3 Jan 236)
  1322 King Philip V "the Tall" of France (1316-1322), b. 1293
  1543 Juan Cabrillo, Conquistador
  1571 Elector Joachim II Hector of Brandenburg, at 65
  1670 George Monk, Duke of Albemarle, sometime “General at Sea,” restorer of the English monarchy, at 61
  1923 Jaroslav Hasek, Czech satirist ("Good Soldier Schveik"), at 39
  1931 Joseph "Papa" Joffre, Marshal of France, at 78
  1933 Wilhelm Cuno, German Chancellor (1922-23), at 56
4 838 Babak Khorramdin, executed at Samarra; 34 year Persian nationalist rebellion against Islam ends
  1248 King Sancho II of Portugal (1233-1247), deposed, b. 1207
  1424 Muzio Attendolo Sforza, Condottiero, drowned at 53
  1695 François de Montmorency-Bouteville, le duc de Luxembourg, Marshal of France, b. 1628
  1701 Ernst Tarhemberg, Austrian, field marshal, at 62
  1707 Count Louis Willem I of Baden-Baden
  1729 Lt. Gen. Joseph de Montesquiou, le Comte d'Artagnan, at 77
  1794 Count Nikolaus von Luckner, Marshal of France, guillotined, 8 days shy of his 72nd birthday
  1913 Alfred von Schlieffen, over-planning German general, at 79
  2008 Sir Edmund Hillary, airman, conqueror of Everest, at 88
5 62 BC Lucius Sergius Catilina, kia at Pistoria, reputedly along with c. 10,000 adherents
  842 Caliph Al-Mu'tasim of Baghdad (833-842), at c. 52
  1066 King Edward the Confessor of England (1043-66)
  1336 Francesco Manfredi, Lord of Valdinoce, condottiero, Captain General of the Papal Army, murdered by Lamberto Malatesta, at c. 45
  1387 King Pedro IV of Aragon, conqueror of Sicily, at 67
  1400 Matteo Colonna, Roman Noble, hanged at Romae
  1425 John of Bavaria, Lord of Holland, Zealand, and Dordrecht, poisoned
  1470 Charles “the Bold” of Burgandy, at 43, his brains having encountered a Swiss halberd
  1537 Alessandro de Medici, Duke of Florence, assassinated
  1589 Catherine de Medici, Queen of France (1547-1559), at 69
  1592 Duke Willem II of Kleef, at 75
  1827 Duke Frederick of York, at 63
  1858 Johann Radetzky von Radetz, Austrian field marshal, at 91
  1941 Amy Johnson, aviatrix, plane crash, b 1903
6 1448 King Christopher III of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden
  1693 Sultan Mehmed IV of Turkey, at 51
  1694 Francesco Morosini, Venetian admiral, on campaign at 75
  1698 Pompilia Comparini, at 17, mortally wounded Jan 2nd by her husband, Count Guido Franceschini, 15 days after bearing his heir
  1799 Prince Frederik of Orange
  1919 Theodore Roosevelt, Medal of Honor, Nobel Peace Prize, at 60
  1945 LtGen Herbert Lumsden, CB, DSO, MC, Churchill’s personal representative to MacArthur’s HQ, 47, kamikaze strike on the bridge of the USS New Mexico (BB-40)
  1946 William “Lord Haw Haw” Joyce, hanged for treason
  1989 Emperor Hirohito of Japan (1926-89), at 87
  2006 CWO Hugh Thompson, who saved lives at My Lai, at 62.
  2007 Roberta Wohlsteter, historian (Pearl Habor: Warning & Decision), at 94
7 1285 King Charles I d'Anjou of Naples and Sicily , at 58
  1325 King Diniz "the Justified" of Portugal (1279-1325), b. 1261
  1451 Count Amadeus VIII of Savory (Anti-pope Felix V), at 67
  1529 Count Peter Vischer "the Old" of Sebaldus
  1598 Tsar Theodore I of Muscovy (1584-1598), the last Rurik, at 40
  1655 Pope Innocent X - Giambattista Pamfili - (1644-55), at 80
  1695 Queen Mary II Stuart of England, at 32 (Mrs. William III)
  1892 Khedive Tewfik Pasha of Egypt, at 39
8 624 Abu Sufjan ibn Harb of the Quraysh, Lord of Mecca, kia against Mohammed
  1107 King Edgar of Scotland (1197-1007), at c. 35
  1198 Pope Celestine III - Giacinto Bobone Orsini (1191-1198), at c. 90
  1353 Don Carlos de la Cerda, Constable of France, murdered in a court intrigue
  1502 Giovanni Fogliani, Lord of Fermo, slain by his beloved nephew Oliverotto Eufreducci and his followers, allies of Cesare Borgia
  1502 Gennaro Fogliani, son of Giovanni, slain by Oliverotto Eufreducci
  1502 Raffaele della Rovere, son of Cardinal Giuliano [Julius II], Genaro’s brother-in-law, slain by Oliverotto Eufreducci
  1502 Two young sons of Raffaele, slain in their mother’s arms by Oliverotto Eufreducci
  1502 Various other leading citizens of Fermo, slain by Oliverotto Eufreducci
  1536 Catherine of Aragon, Mrs Henry VIII No. 1
  1547 King Henry VIII of England
  1598 Elector Johan Georg (1571-91), at 72
  1711 Philips van Almonde, Admiral of Zealand, at 66
  1811 Samuel Story, Dutch admiral, loser at Camperdown, at 58
  1842 Pierre de Cambronne, who once said "Merde!"
  1880 Norton I, Emperor of the United States, Protector of Mexico, in San Francisco at 69
  1922 Charles Young, first black U.S. Army colonel, at 58, in Lagos, Nigeria
  1941 Lord Robert Baden Powell, of the Boy Scouts, at 83
  1996 François Mitterrand, President of France (1981-95)
9 639 King Dagobert I of the Franks (603-639)
  1324 Marco Polo, Venetian merchant, globe trotter, naval officer, b. 1254
  1453 Sefano Porcari, executed for planning a Republican coup against Pope Nicholas V
  1499 Elector Johan Cicero of Brandenburg (1486-1499), at 43
  1514 Duchess Anne of Brittany, last independent Breton ruler, wife to Charles VIII
  1569 St. Philip of Moscow, Primate of the Russian Church, slain by Ivan the Terrible
  1773 Napoleon III, at 64
  1800 Jean Étienne Championnet, French general, looter, c. 38
  1878 King Victor Emanuel II of Sardinia (1849-61) and Italy (1861-78), at 57
  1879 Captain General Joaquin Espartero, Viceroy of Navarre, at 86
  1927 Houston Chamberlain, Anglo-German racial theorist, at 71
  1995 Prince Souphanouvong, President of Laos (1975-87), at 85
  2007 Jean-Pierre Vernant, “Col Berthier” of the Resistance, classical scholar, at 93.
10 681 St. Agatho, Pope (678-81)
  976 Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes (969-976), c. 50
  1271 Count Otto II “the Lame” of Gelre
  1276 Pope Bl. Gregory X - Teobaldo Visconti (1271-1276) at c. 65
  1421 Niccolò I Trinci, Lord of Foligno, condottiero, assassinated, at c. 40
  1645 Archbishop Laud, 72, beheaded by the Roundheads for “treason” in London
  1761 Admiral Boscawen
  1775 Jemeljan Pugatshov, the Pseudo-Peter III, Russian usurper, executed
  1824 King Victor Emanuel I of Sardinia (1802-21)
  1862 Samuel Colt, at 47, firearms designer, just as business was getting good
  1917 William F. Cody - “Buffalo Bill” - b. 1846
11 314 Pope St. Miltiades (c. 310-314)
  705 Pope John VI (701-705)
  1055 Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos (1042-1055), c. 54
  1797 Francis "Lightfoot" Lee, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, at 62
  1843 Francis Scott Key of "The Star Spangled Banner", at 63
  1893 Benjamin F Butler, Maj Gen, U.S., at 74
  1923 King Constantine I of Greece (1913-17, 20-22), at 54
  1943 Carlo Tresca, anti-fascist, murdered in New York
  1944 Galeazzo Ciano, Italian politician, executed by his father-in-law, Mussolini
  1952 Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, Marshal of France, at 61
  1953 Ernst H Ridder Rappard, Dutch Nazi, at 53
  1954 Oscar Straus, Austrian composer ("Brave Soldier"), at 83
  1955 Rodolfo Graziani, Italian general, at 72
  1977 Princess Lelia of Sermoneta, at 64; last member of a 1000 year old family
  1988 Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, of the “Black Sheep”, MoH, b. 1912
12 1517 Vasco Núñez de Balboa, Conquistador, beheaded at 41
  1519 Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I von Habsburg (1493-1519), at 59
  1583 The Duke of Alva, who never lost a battle, at Lisbon
  1789 Ethan Allen, accidentally drowned while drunk, 1789
13 86 BC Gaius Marius, two weeks into his seventh consulship, at c. 70
  858 King Ethelwulf of Wessex (839-858), kia at c. 58
  888 King Charles III "the Fat" of the Franks
  1049 Count Derrick IV of Holland (1039-49), kia
  1177 Duke Hendrik Jasomirgott Babenberg of Austria
  1330 Duke Frederick "the Handsome" of Austria
  1414 45 Lollard rebels, executed in England
  1759 The Duke of Aveiro, Portuguese nobleman, executed for treason
  1759 The Marquis of Tavora, Portuguese nobleman, executed for treason
  1759 The Marquisa of Tavora, his wife, executed for treason
  1759 Various servants of the preceding, executed for treason
  1929 Wyatt Earp, at 80, in bed, in Hollywood
  1934 Jean-Baptiste Marchand, soldier and explorer, at 70
  1986 Pres Abdel Fattah Ismail of Yemen (1969-80), murdered
  1988 Pres Chiang Ching-kuo of Taiwan (1978-88), at 81
14 936 King Rudolph of the Franks (923-926)
  1163 King Ladislaus I Arpad of Hungary (1162-63)
  1208 Papal Legate Pierre de Castelnau, murdered by the Albigensians
  1301 King Andreas III Arpad of Hungary (1290-1301), at 50
  1595 Archduke Ferdinand of Austria
  1766 King Frederik V of Denmark & Norway (1746-66), at 42
  1909 Adm Sinovi Rozhestvensky, who lost at Tsu-Shima, 60
  1948 Ans Van Dike, Dutch Nazi-collaborator, executed
  1972 King Frederick IX of Denmark (1947-1972), b. 1899
  1977 Sir Anthony Eden, sometime PM of Britain (1955-1957)
15 69 Roman Emperor Servius Sulpicius Galba (June 68-Jan 15, 69), murdered in the Forum
  69 L. Calpurnius Piso, his heir, murdered in the Forum
  1208 Pierre de Castelnau, Papal Legate, murdered by the Cahars, initiating the Albigensian Cursade
  1519 Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, Conquistador, beheaded on trumped up charges of treason
  1595 Sultan Murad III of the Turks (1574-1595)
  1705 Earl Walraad "the Young" of Nassau-Ottweiler
  1896 Matthew B Brady, photographer, c. 72
  1919 Karl Liebknecht, revolutionary, murdered in Berlin
  1919 Rosa Luxemburg, revolutionary, murdered in Berlin
  1926 John Harling, the last of the "Light Brigade".
  1988 Sean MacBride, sometime commander of the IRA, at 83
  1996 King Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho (1966-90), 51
16 309 Pope St. Marcellus I Pope (308-309)
  1343 Robert "the Good" of Anjou, King of Naples, Count of Provence
  1443 Erasmo da Narni - “Gattamelata”, Lord of Padua, condottiero, at c. 72
  1595 Sultan Murad III of Turkey (1574-1595)
  1794 Edward Gibbon, militiaman, historian, at 56.
  1942 Carole Lombard, actress, plane crash during a war bond drive
  1957 Arturo Toscanini, anti-fascist conductor, at 89
17 395 Roman Emperor Theodosius I the Great (379-395), at 49
  1119 Count Boudouin VII of Flanders
  1229 Bishop Albert of Riga, Founder of the Knights of the Sword
  1305 Ruggiero di Lauria, Sicilian-Aragonese admiral, at c. 60
  1468 Gjergj Kastrioti Scanderbeg, Albanian national hero
  1861 Lola Montez, adventuress, with a talent for orality, at 39
  1893 Rutherford B Hayes, general, President (1877-81), at 70
  1957 Humphrey Bogart, veteran, actor ("The Caine Mutiny")
  1961 Patrice Lumumba, African revolutionary, murdered at 36
18 52 BC Publius Clodius Pulcher, c. 40, in a brawl on the Appian Way with Titus Annius Milo
  474 Eastern Roman Emperor Leo I (457-474), at c. 74
  888 King Charles III "the Fat" of the West Franks (881-888)
  1169 Sultan Shawar of Egypt, beheaded by Saladin
  1367 King Pedro I of Portugal (1357-1367)
  1479 Duke Louis IX "the Rich" of Bavaria
  1503 Francesco Orsini, the Duke of Gravina, and Paolo Orsini, his cousin, drowned by Michelloto Coreglia, agent of Cesare Borgia
  1862 John Tyler, militiaman, president (1841-1845), at 71
  1890 Amadeo I of Savoy, sometime king of Spain (1870-73)
  1936 Rudyard Kipling, soldier's poet ("Gunga Din")
  1965 Gen. Maxime Weygand, at 98
  1991 Hamilton Fish III, veteran, congressman, isolationist, at 102
19 639 King Dagobert I of Austrasia, Soissons, Burgundy, & Neustria
  1406 Jacopo da Carrara, Lord of Padova, condottiero, assassinated, at c. 25
  1629 Shah Abbas I "the Great" of Persia (1588-1629), at 57
  1871 Alexandre-Georges-Henri Regnault, French artist, kia at 27,
  1927 Carlotta, sometime Empress of Mexico (1864-67), at 87
20 238 Roman co-Emperor Gordian II, kia outside Carthage.
  238 Roman co-Emperor Gordian I, his father, suicide at Carthage, on hearing the news
  250 Pope St Fabian (236-250), martyred at Rome
  288 St. Sebastian, Imperial Guardsman, martyred at Rome
  842 Byzantine Emperor Theophilus II (829-842), at c. 30
  882 King Louis II of Germany (876-82)
  1479 King John II of Aragon (1458-1479)
  1612 HRE Rudolph II von Hapsburg (1576-1612 )
  1639 Sultan Mustafa I of Turkey (1622-23)
  1745 Charles VII Albert, Holy Roman Emperor
  1819 Carlos IV, former King of Spain (1788-1808)
  1862 Felix Zollicoffer, Brig Gen, C.S.A., KIA
  1936 King George V of Great Britain (1910-36)
  1948 The Mahatma, assassinated
21 1774 Sultan Mustafa III of Turkey, at 56
  1793 Louis “Citizen Capet” XVI, beheaded by the Revolution
  1859 Henry Hallam, historian (“View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages”), 71
  1924 V.I. Lenin, intellectually-inclined mass murderer
22 1336 Count Louis III of Loon
  1552 Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, beheaded for treason
  1798 Lewis Morris, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, at 71
  1901 Queen Victoria (1837-1901), at 81
  1922 Pope Benedict XV (Giacomo de Chiesa)(1914-22), at 67
  1968 Duke Kahanamoku of Hawaii, Olympian, at 77
  1973 Lyndon B Johnson, sometime naval officer, at 64
  1979 Ali Hassan Salameh [Abu Hassan], Munich Olympic terrorist, car bomb
  1982 Pres Eduardo Frei Montalva of Chile (1964-70), at 71
  1988 Georgi M Malenkov, Soviet premier (1953-55), at 86
23 1002 Holy Roman Emperor Otto III (983/996-1002), at 21
  1356 Margaretha of Bavaria, Empress of Germany
  1516 King Ferdinand II of Aragon & Sicily (1497-1516), at 63
  1567 Estacio de Sa, Portuguese explorer, d/w, Rio de Janeiro
  1570 Earl of Moray, Regent of Scotland, assassinated
  1800 Edward Rutledge, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, at 50
  1806 William Pitt the Younger, PM (1783-1806), at 46
  1913 Prime Minister Nazim Pasha of Turkey, assassinated
  1926 Cardinal Desire J. Mercier, Hero of the Belgian Resistance, at 74
  1945 Helmuth von Moltke, politician, anti-Nazi, executed
  2004 Bob Keeshan, "Claribell" and "Captain Kangaroo", Marine.
24 41 Caligula, Roman Emperor (37-41), assassinated by Cassius Chaerea, at 28
  41 Caesonia, wife to Caligula, c. 34, murdered by the Praetorians
  41 Julia Drusilla, their daughter, c. 3, murdered by the Praetorians
  661 Caliph Ali ibn Abu Talib(656-61), son-in-law of Mohammed, murdered
  772 Pope Stefan III [IV] (768-72)
  817 Pope Stephen IV [V] (22 June 816-24 Jan 817)
  1336 King Alfonso IV the "Benificent" of Aragon (1327-36), 36
  1494 King Ferrante I of Naples (1458-1494), c. 70
  1547 Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, executed for treason
  1597 Count Jean de Rie of Varas, kia, Turnhout
  1639 George Jenatsch, leader of the Grisons, assassinated
  1895 Sir Randolph Churchill, father of a greater son (see 1965)
  1953 Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, Nazi, at 77
  1965 Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, at 88, son of Sir Randolph(see 1895)
25 41 Praetorian Prefect Cassius Chaerea, assassin of Caligula, executed by Claudius
  98 Roman Emperor Marcus Cocceius Nerva (96-98), of a stroke at c. 67 [or maybe the 7th]
  275 Roman Emperor Aurelian (270-275), murdered [Alt]
  477 King Gaiseric of the Vandals and Alans (428-477), at c. 80
  708 Pope Sisinnius (15 Jan-4 Feb 708)
  844 Pope Gregory IV (827-844)
  1138 Anti-Pope Anacletus II - Pietro Pierleone (1130-38)
  1139 Godfried I “the Bearded,” Duke of Brabant & Count of Louvain
  1906 Joseph Wheeler, Maj. Gen., CSA, Brig. Gen., US, at 70
26 724 Caliph Yazid II (720-724), at c. 37, of grief on the death of his girlfriend, or maybe TB
  1885 Charles George Gordon, slain at 51 by the Mahdists, Khartoum
  1893 Maj. Gen. Abner Doubleday, who did not invent baseball, on his 74th birthday
  1939 PM Armand Calinescu of Romania, assassinated by the Iron Guard
  1943 Nikolai Vavilov, geneticist, in Stalin’s GULAG
  1947 Crown Prince Gustav Adolf of Sweden, airplane crash
  1992 José Ferrer, actor (“Cockleshell Heroes”), at 80
  1993 Jan Gies, Dutch resistance fighter, friend to the Frank family
27 672 Pope St Vitalian (657-672)
  847 Pope St. Sergius II (844-47)
  1556 Moghul Emperor Humayan of India (1530-1556), in a fall from his library
  1816 Adm. Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood
  1967 Alphonse Juin, last Marshal of France
  1967 Edward H White II, astronaut, Apollo I fire
  1967 Roger B Chaffee, astronaut, at 31, Apollo I fire
  1967 Virgil "Gus" Grissom, astronaut, at 41, Apollo I fire
28 814 Charlemagne, at 66, after reigning 47 years
  1256 Wilhelm II Count of Holland (1238-1256), King of Germany (1247-56), at 28
  1330 Ramberto dei Malatesti, Lord of Ciola, Castiglione, & Roncofreddo, murdered by his cousin Malatestino
  1393 Huguet de Guisay, burned to death in the "Bal des Ardents"
  1393 The Count de Joigny, burned to death in the "Bal des Ardents"
  1547 King Henry VIII of England (1509-47), at 55
  1596 Sir Francis Drake, sea dog, of fever at c. 55
  1621 Pope Paul V - Camillo Borghese (1605-21), at 68
  1725 Tsar Peter the Great
  1810 Andreas Hofer, Tyrolian resistance fighter, shot by the French
  1895 Francois Canrobert, Marshal of France
  1918 Lt. Roberto Sarfatti, 17, son of Margherita Sarfatti, Mussolini’s mistress, kia on the Col d’Echele, earning the Medaglia d’oro for bravery.
  1986 Christa McAuliffe, teacher, astronaut, in the Challenger
  1986 Ellison S Onizuka, USAF, astronaut, in the Challenger
  1986 Francis R Scobee, USAF, astronaut, in the Challenger
  1986 Judith Arlene Resnik, astronaut, in the Challenger
  1986 Michael J Smith, USN, astronaut, in the Challenger
  1986 Ronald E McNair, astronaut, in the Challenger
  1996 U San Yu, soldier, President of Burma (1981-88), at 77
29 164 BC Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Seleudics (175-164 BC) [Alt]
  275 Roman Emperor Aurelian (270-275) [Alt]
  282 BC King Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt
  969 Tsar Peter of Bulgaria (927-69)
  1119 Pope Gelasius II - Giovanni Gaetani(1118-119)
  1696 Ivan V, sometime co-tsar of Russia (1682-89)
  1820 George III of England (1760-1820)
  1837 Alexander Pushkin, Russian poet, in a duel, at 38
  1906 King Christian IX of Denmark (1863-1906)
  1941 Gen. Ioannis Metaxas, Greek dictator (1936-41), suicide at 69
  1946 Harry Hopkins, Presidential aide, at 55 
  1970 Basil Henry Liddell Hart, military thinker, at 74
30 405 BC Socrates, noted hoplite, hemlocked [Alt]
  1384 Count Louis van Male of Flanders, Nevers, & Réthel
  1393 Aimery Poitiers, of burns from the "Bal des Ardents" (28th)
  1393 Yvain de Foix, of burns from the "Bal des Ardents" (28th)
  1649 King Charles I of England (1625-49), shortened by Parliament
  1730 Tsar Peter II of Russia (1727-30)
  1838 Chief Osceola of the Seminole, in an Army jail
  1889 Baroness Maria Vetsera, 17, killed by Archduke Rudolf of Austria-Hungary, at Mayerling
  1889 Archduke Rudolf of Austria-Hungary, suicide at Mayerling
  1928 Sir Douglas Haig, British field marshal, at 66
  1948 Orville Wright, aviation pioneer
  1951 Ferdinand Porsche, German tank designer, at 75
  1958 Earnest H Heinkel, German aircraft designer, at 70
  1969 Allan Dulles, CIA Director (1953-61), at 75
31 1431 Obizzo de Polenta, Lord of Ravenna (1389-1431), condottiero, who had imprisoned his father & murdered his brothers
  1580 Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal (1579-1580), on his 78th Birthday, leaving the state to Spain
  1606 Guy Fawkes, executed for the “Gunpowder Plot,” at c. 36
  1788 Charles "Bonnie Prince Charlie" Stuart, the "Young Pretender"
  1828 Alexandros Ypsilanti, Greek nationalist, in exile and poverty at 35
  1945 Pvt Eddie Slovik, executed “to encourage the others”, at 25
  1972 King Bir Bikram Shah Deva Mahendra of Nepal (1955-72), at 51

Event
1 0 New Consuls assumed office, from 153 BC.
  46 BC Caesar captures Leptis, in Africa
  49 BC "Alea iacta est!" - Caesar crosses the Rubicon
  69 Aulus Vitellius is proclaimed Roman Emperor by the Rhine legions (confirmed in April, killed Dec 22nd)
  104 BC Marius’ Triumph for the Jugurthine War
  193 Publius Helvius Pertinax, proclaimed Roman Emperor (Jan 1-Mar 28, 193)
  238 Gordian I and his son Gordian II proclaimed Roman Co-Emperors at Carthage (1-20 Jan 238)
  404 Last recorded gladiatorial fights at Rome
  414 King Athaulf of the Franks marries Galla Placida, sister of Roman Emperor Flavius Honorius
  633 Battle of Meicen: King Edwin of Northumbria defeats King Cadwallon of Cwynedd
  1136 Battle of Swansea: Welsh defeat Anglo-Norman colonists 
  1158 Battle of Galloway: Roland defeats Gilpatrick 
  1189 Saladin abandons the siege of Tyre
  1515 Francis I de Valois becomes King France
  1515 Jews are expelled from Laibach, Austria
  1527 Duke Ferdinand of Austria is elected King of Croatia, merging the Croatian throne into the Hapsburg monarchy until 1918
  1535 Persians capture Tabriz
  1586 Sir Francis Drake attacks Santo Domingo
  1602 Battle of Kinsale: Hugh O'Neil is defeated by the English
  1651 Scotts crown Charles [II] King at Scone
  1660 General Monk marches from Coldstream to install Charles II as king in Londno
  1660 Samuel Pepys begins keeping a diary
  1801 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland formed
  1806 Napoleon abolishes the French Revolutionary calendar, introduced in 1793
  1846 Yucatan declares independence from Mexico
  1860 Battle of Castillejos: Spanish defeat the Moroccans.
  1861 Emancipation Proclamation goes into effect
  1862 Battle of Ft McRee, FL
  1862 Battle of Port Royal, SC
  1863 Battle of Galveston, Texas: Confederates recapture the city
  1863 Battle of Helena, AK
  1865 Sherman's Carolina campaign begins (to Apr 26)
  1877 Queen Victoria proclaimed "Empress of India"
  1880 Dr. John Watson meets Sherlock Holmes
  1892 Annie Moore is the first immigrant to arrive at Ellis Island
  1900 The Commonwealth of Australia is formed
  1906 Count Alfred von Schlieffen retires, leaving a disastrous plan
  1911 Maj Jimmie Erickson takes the first aerial photograph, San Diego
  1912 Sun Yat-sen forms the Chinese Republic
  1920 "Great Raid" of the Red Scare - c. 1,000 "radicals" arrested in 33 US cities
  1920 League of Nations convenes for the first time
  1923 USSR formed
  1935 Mustafa Kemal Pasha adopts the name "Attaturk - Father of the Turks"
  1937 Anastasio Somoza becomes president of Nicaragua
  1937 US Army Air Corps physiological research laboratory completed, Ohio
  1942 Japanese temporarily halted in Malaya.
  1942 Philippine Army covers final withdrawal of South Luzon Force into Bataan
  1943 Guadalcanal: Americal Div resumes its assault on Mt. Austen.
  1944 Oran, Algeria: Army defeats Navy 10-7 in the "Arab Bowl"
  1944 Western New Britain: Allies overcome last Japanese resistance
  1946 Emperor Hirohito of Japan announces he is not a god
  1950 First woman doctor commissioned in the USN, Mary T. Sproul
  1950 Indo-China: major Viet Minh offensive against the French
  1950 Puerto Rican nationalists attempt to kill Pres. Truman
  1951 Massive Chinese/North Korean assault on UN-lines
  1959 Triumphal entry of Fidel Castro into Havana as Fulgencio Batista flees
  1962 US Navy SEAL teams established.
  1993 Czechoslovakia divides into the Czech Republic and Slovakia
2 366 The Allamanni invade the Roman Empire across the frozen Rhine
  1492 Granada surrenders to Ferdinand & Isabella, completing the 781 year liberation of Spain from the Moors
  1502 Cesare Borgia slays six bulls in the arena, decapitating one.
  1570 Tsar Ivan the Terrible begins the conquest of Great Novgorod
  1602 Spanish forces in Ireland surrender to the English at Kinsale
  1631 England & Spain ally against the Dutch Republic
  1698 Count Guido Franceschini mortally wounds his wife Pompilia Comparini, 17, and murders her parents
  1776 First American flag displayed
  1861 South Carolinian forces seize inactive Ft Johnson in Charlestown Harbor
  1861 Washington: Charles Stone organizes an anti-secessionist militia
  1870 Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins
  1905 Russians surrender Port Arthur to the Japanese
  1923 KKKers attack Rosewood, Fla, killing 8 black Americans
  1942 28 Allied nations pledge to make no separate peace with the Axis
  1942 German troops in Bardia surrender
  1942 Japanese occupy Manila and Cavite
  1942 Malaya: Japanese occupy Kampar.
  1943 Papua: U.S. I Corps captures Buna Mission
  1944 New Guinea: Allies land on Saidor, isolating 12,000 Japanese troops.
  1945 USN convoys depart Leyte to invade Luzon, while beating off Kamikaze.
  1954 The film "The Caine Mutiny" premieres, New York
  1964 Assassin fails to kill President Nkrumah of Ghana
3 0 Memorial of St Daniel of Padua, Patron of Women with Husbands at War
  964 Anti-Papal rioting in Rome
  1099 Count Bertrand of Toulouse sets out on Crusade
  1387 Battle of Castagnaro: Giovanni Acuto leads the Carrarans to victory over the Scaligers
  1463 Francois Villon, “Ballad Lord and Thief,” is banished from Paris, and is never seen again.
  1504 French surrender Gaeta to Gonzalo de Cordoba (invested since Dec 30)
  1777 Battle of Princeton: Washington defeats the British
  1799 Gaeta surrenders to the French without a fight
  1861 Forts Pulaski & Jackson, Savannah, seized by Georgia
  1862 Valley Campaign: Stonewall Jackson moves north from Winchester
  1914 Pancho Villa & Mutual Film Corp conclude deal to film his battles
  1920 A baseball team in Boston foolishly trades Babe Ruth to the Yankees
  1926 Mussolini assumes the Ministries of War, Navy, & Air
  1926 Gen Theodorus Pángulos becomes dictator of Greece
  1942 ABDA: Allied forces in SE Asia & East Indies put under Archibald Wavell
  1942 Borac-Guagua line holds on Luzon.
  1942 Malaya: British once again withdraw under pressure.
  1943 Guadalcanal: Americal Div partially surrounds Japanese Gifu position.
  1943 Papua: U.S. and Australian forces mop up in the Buna area.
  1944 Marine ace "Pappy" Boyington (28 kills) captured by the Japanese
  1945 Third Fleet stages raids on Okinawa, Formosa, and the Pescadores
  1962 Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro
  1990 Panama's Gen Manuel Noriega surrenders to US authorities
  1992 32 Cubans defect to the US by helicopter
  2004 Bhutanese Army expels last Indian rebel invaders (begun Dec 15)
4 46 BC Battle of Ruspina, Africa: Labienus defeats Caesar, who retreats.
  48 BC Caesar sails from Brindisi for Greece
  871 Battle of Reading: King Ethelred of Wessex defeated by the Danes
  1493 Columbus sets sail from the New World to return from his first voyage.
  1749 John Jervis (Earl St. Vincent) joins the Royal Navy
  1762 England declares war on Spain and Naples
  1780 Snowstorm hits Washington's army at Morristown, NJ
  1832 Slave insurrection at Trinidad
  1853 USN buys Mare Is, San Francisco Bay, for a shipyard
  1861 Ft Morgan, Mobile, seized by Alabama
  1862 Battle of Ft Hindman/Arkansas Post (to Jan 17)
  1862 Valley Campaign: Stonewall Jackson occupies Bath
  1910 Michigan (BB-27) commissioned, first U.S. dreadnought