- 1350 Vincent Ferrer, Spanish missionary and saint, born in Valencia, Aragon (d. 1419)
- 1574 Lucas Franchoys the Elder, Belgian painter, born in Mechelen, Belgium (d. 1643)
- 1688 Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden (d. 1741)
- 1719 John Landen, English mathematician (d. 1790)
- 1730 Joseph Hewes, US merchant (Declaration of Independence signer)
John Hancock
1737 John Hancock, American merchant and statesman who was 1st to sign the Declaration of Independence, born in Braintree, Massachusetts (d. 1793)
John Hancock
- 1745 William Jessop, English canal engineer (d. 1814)
- 1761 Friedrich von Matthison, German poet (Adelaide)
- 1762 Christian A Vulpius, German writer (Rinaldo Rinaldini)
- 1783 Stendhal, [Marie Henri Beyle], French writer (Le Rouge et de Noir, a Chartreuse de Parme), born in Grenoble, France (d. 1842)
- 1785 Carl A Agardh, Swedish botanist/bishop of Karlstad
- 1786 Auguste de Montferrand, French architect (d. 1858)
- 1809 Veer Surendra Sai, Indian Freedom Fighter
- 1816 Carl Herrmann, near stage magician, born in Hanover, Germany
- 1827 Takamori Saigo, Samurai, leader of Satsuma rebellion (d. 1877)
- 1828 Calvin Edward Pratt, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Worcester County, Massachusetts (d. 1896)
- 1830 Gaston AA Marquis de Gallifet, French general/min of War (1899-1900)
Edouard Manet
1832 Edouard Manet, French impressionist painter (Olympia, The Luncheon on the Grass), born in Paris, France (d. 1883)
Edouard Manet
- 1833 John Randolph Chambliss Jr, American Brigadier-General (Confederate Army), born in Greensville County, Virginia (d. 1864)
- 1840 Ernst Abbe, German physicist (Carl Zeiss Optics Company)
- 1855 John Moses Browning, American inventor (d. 1926)
- 1857 Andrija Mohorovicic, Croatian geologist (Moho discontinuity)
- 1862 David Hilbert, German mathematician (Hilbert spaces, invariant theory, axiomatization of geometry), born in Königsberg, East Prussia (d. 1943)
- 1869 Herbert David Croly, American author (Promise of American Life)
- 1872 Paul Langevin, French physicist (d. 1946)
- 1872 Joze Plečnik, Slovenian architect (d. 1957)
- 1878 Oton Zupancic, Slovenian poet (Zimzelen pod Snegom)
- 1888 Gilbert Ledward, British sculptor
- 1888 Paul Peter Ewald, German Crystallographer and Physicist who devised the theory of X-ray interference by crystals and pioneered X-ray diffraction methods, born in Berlin, Germany (d. 1985)
- 1889 Prosper Arents, Flemish bibliographer (Rubens-bibliography)
Antonio Gramsci
1891 Antonio Gramsci, Italian philosopher and marxist theorist, born in Ales, Sardinia, Italy (d. 1937)
Antonio Gramsci
- 1893 Frank Carlson, (Gov/Rep/Sen-R-Ks)
- 1896 Charlotte A E M W, grand duchess of Luxembourg (1919-64)
- 1897 Subhas Chandra Bose, Indian politician and nationalist, born in Cuttack, British India (d. 1945)
- 1897 Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, Austrian architect (d. 2000)
- 1898 Freda Utley, British scholar and author (d. 1978)
- 1899 Joseph Nathan Kane, historian (Famous Firsts)
- 1901 Benno Stokvis, Dutch attorney/politician
- 1903 Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, Colombian politician (d. 1948)
- 1905 Konstanty I Galczynski, Polish poet (Zielona Ges)
- 1907 Hediki Yukawa, Japan, physicist (Nobel 1949)
- 1908 Hubert Nicholson, poet/novelist
- 1908 Pak Saleman Siswowitono, Javan/Surinamese writer
- 1914 Napoleon L Bonaparte, French pretender to the throne
- 1915 Potter Stewart, Mich, 94th Supreme Court justice (1958-81)
- 1916 Airey Neave, British Major, politician and indictment server at the Nuremberg Trials (d. 1979)
- 1916 David Douglas Duncan, American photo-journalist best known for his war photography, born in Kansas City, Missouri (d. 2018)
Gertrude B. Elion
1918 Gertrude B. Elion, American biochemist and drug researcher who developed groundbreaking leukemia and herpes drug treatments (Nobel 1988), born in NYC, New York (d. 1999)
Gertrude B. Elion
- 1919 Hans Hass, Austrian zoologist and underwater scientist, (d. 2013)
- 1920 Erbet Pawel, biographer (Kafka)
- 1923 Walter M[ichael] Miller Jr, American sci-fi author (Hugo, View from Stars)
- 1924 Frank R Lautenberg, (Sen-D-NJ, 1982-2001, 2003-2013), (d. 2013)
- 1927 Lars-Eric Lindblad, Swedish-American entrepreneur and explorer (d. 1994)
- 1929 John Polanyi, Canadian chemist (Nobel 1986), born in Berlin, Germany
- 1929 Patriarch Filaret (Mykhailo Denysenko) of Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate
- 1930 Derek Walcott, Caribbean poet (Omeros), Nobel Prize for Literature 1992, born in Castries, St Lucia (d. 2017)
- 1930 William Reid Pogue, Okemah Oklahoma, Colonel USAF/astronaut (Skylab 4), (d. 2014)
- 1932 Bud Shuster, (Rep-R-PA, 1973- )
- 1934 Pierre Bourgault, Quebec politician and essayist (d. 2003)
- 1938 Anatoly Marchenko, Siberia, Soviet dissident
- 1942 Ivan Ivanovich Bachurin, cosmonaut
- 1942 Willy Bogner Jr, Munich, director (On Her Majesty's Secret Service)
- 1943 William E "Bill" Gibb, Scottish fashion designer
- 1944 Marty Russo, (Rep-D-IL, 1975- )
- 1945 Mike Harris, Canadian politician, Premier of Ontario
- 1946 Don Whittington, American businessman, car & airplane racer and convicted felon
Arnoldo Aleman
1946 Arnoldo Aleman, 81st President of Nicaragua (1997-2002), born in Managua
Arnoldo Aleman
- 1947 Thomas R Carper, (Rep-D-DE, 1983- )
- 1947 Megawati Sukarnoputri, 5th President of Indonesia
- 1947 Gatewood Galbraith, [Louis], Carlisle, Kentucky, Lawyer, American political activist, iconic Kentucky political figure, (d. 2012)
- 1949 Robert Cabana, Mjr USMC/astronaut (STS 41, 53, 68, sk:88), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Chesley Sullenberger
1951 Chesley Sullenberger III, American pilot (successfully executed emergency landing US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River), born in Denison, Texas
Chesley Sullenberger
- 1953 Antonio Villaraigosa, Hispanic-American 52nd Mayor of Los Angeles
Pavlo Lazarenko
1953 Pavlo Lazarenko, Prime Minister of Ukraine (1996-97), born in Karpivka
Pavlo Lazarenko
- 1957 Caroline Louise Marguerite Grimaldi, daughter of Princess Grace and Prince Rainer, born in Monte Carlo, Monaco
- 1957 Lou Schuler, American fitness journalist
- 1961 Mas Selamat bin Kastari, Singapore's most-wanted terror fugitive
- 1962 Elvira Lindo, Spanish writer and journalist
- 1967 Belkis Ayón, Cuban printmaker (collography), born in Havana, Cuba (d. 1999)
- 1974 Richard T. Slone, British artist
- 1975 Tito Ortiz, American UFC fighter
- 1981 Greg Smith, American UFC fighter
January in History
The British: 139. Zulu Warriors: 4,000. Let Battle Begin
It was one of the most remarkable military engagements ever: the day that 139 British soldiers took on 4,000 Zulu warriors – and won.
January 22, 1879
'I Did Not Have Sexual Relations With That Woman'
One of the most notorious denials in political history came on this day when President Bill Clinton held a news conference on his relations with Monica Lewinsky.
January 26, 1998
Crippled Kaiser Had Grip of Iron
German Emperor 'Kaiser Bill,' was born on this day, strong-willed and determined to overcome the deformity that afflicted him from birth.
January 27, 1859
Riot Leader Accuses a Queen
How did Lord George Gordon, an aristocrat who led the Gordon Riots in London, lose a libel case on this day to French Queen Marie Antoinette?
January 28, 1788