Born On This Day:

• Philip the Bold, 1342
• Saint/Pope Pius V, 1504
• Pedro Calderon, 1600
• Benjamin Franklin, 1706
• Konstantin Stanislavsky, 1863
• David Lloyd George, 1863
• Mack Sennett, 1880
• Compton MacKenzie, 1883
• Robert Maynard Hutchins, 1899
• Nevil Shute, 1899
• Al Capone, 1899
• Betty White, 1924
• Newton Minow, 1926
• Moira Shearer, 1926
• Vidal Sassoon, 1928
• James Earl Jones, 1931
• Douglas Wilder, 1931
• Don Zimmer, 1931
• Shari Lewis, 1934
• Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay), 1942
• Francoise Hardy, 1944
• Andy Kaufman, 1949
• David Caruso, 1956
• Jim Carrey, 1962
• Michelle Obama (né Robinson), 1964

Died On This Day:

• Emperor Theodosius I, AD 395
• Lola Montez, 1861
• Chang & Eng (Siamese Twins), 1874
• Rutherford B. Hayes, 1893
• Sir Ernest Benn, 1954
• Patrice Lamumba, 1961
• T.H. White, 1964
• Gary Gilmore executed, 1977
• Doodles Weaver suicide, 1983
• King Olav V of Norway, 1991
• Barbara Jordan, 1996
• Richard Crenna, 2003
• Zhao Ziyang, 2005
• Virginia Mayo, 2005
• Art Buchwald, 2007
• Bobby Fischer, 2008
• Erich Segal, 2010
• Abigail Van Buren, 2013

Today's Events:

• 1746 - Battle of Falkirk in which Bonnie Prince Charlie and Highlanders taste brief victory.
• 1773 - Captain Cook's ship 'Resolution' with 193 man crew first in history to cross Antarctic circle.
• 1775 - Richard Brindsley Sheridan's 'The Rivals' opens at Covent Garden Theatre.
• 1861 - Flush toilet patented in England by Thomas Crapper.
• 1893 - Queen Liliuokalani deposed as Queen of Hawaiian Islands in revolt of businessmen and sugar planters.
• 1899 - U.S. takes possession of Wake Island.
• 1902 - World's first weekly book review first published in London - Times Literary Supplement.
• 1904 - Anton Chekhov's play 'The Cherry Orchard' opens in Moscow.
• 1917 - U.S. purchase of the Virgin Islands from Denmark ratified; U.S. pays $25 million.
• 1921 - Chaplin's 'The Kid' premieres.
• 1944 - First jazz concert at N.Y. Metropolitan Opera.
• 1950 - $2.7 million stolen from Brinks headquarters in Boston by 11 man gang.
• 1966 - American B52 bomber with 4 atom bombs crashes off coast of Spain.
• 1969 - First release of an album by pop group Led Zeppelin.
• 1983 - Breakfast TV comes to Britain.
• 1991 - U.S. bombs Baghdad; Operation Desert Storm against Iraq's Saddam Hussein's seizure of Kuwait.
• 1994 - 6.8 Northridge earthquake at 4:31 a.m. in San Fernando Valley is costliest disaster in U.S. history.
• 1995 - 7.2 earthquake near Kobe, Japan at 5:46 a.m. kills 6,433, destroys 3,000 buildings.
• 2015 - A record six million gather in Manila to greet Pope Francis.
• 2018 - Dow Jones slides over 26,000 a mere 13 days after hitting 25,000.

Feast Day of Saint:

• Anthony
• Sulpice

Holiday:

• Day the Pagans sacrificed swine to the Earth Goddess
• Day of St. Anthony the Abbot in Mexico & Spain
• Constitution Day in Philippines
• Liberation Day in Poland
• Bonten Festival in Japan

Non-Specific Holiday:

• YÜAN TAN. Chinese New Year's Day. Based on lunar calendar - starts sunset on day of 2nd New Moon.
• CHINESE LANTERN FESTIVAL 15th day of first month of lunar calendar marks end of Chinese New Year.
• TU BI-SHEBAT (Judaism) New Year for Trees, celebrated on 15th of lunar month Shebat.
• MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY 3rd Monday in January
• ADULTS DAY in Japan - second Monday in January - 'Seijin no hi'
• SNOW FESTIVAL - Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
• GANESHA CHATURTHI, Hindu Festival of the Elephant God
• VASANT PANCHAMI, Hindu Festival of Spring and of Saraswati, Goddess of Learning (end of January)
• PONGAL AND MAKARA SANKRANTI, mid-January, Harvest festival celebrated in Southern India and Singapore
• LAILAT AL MIRAJ Muslim Festival celebrating ascent of Muhammad into Heaven
• JAPANESE NEW YEAR - 3 day festival
• LOHRI, the Hindu Bonfire Festival, celebrated early January