Events in History
- Jan 1 International Year of Elderly
- Jan 1 The Euro currency is introduced.
- Jan 2 A brutal snowstorm smashes into the Midwestern United States, causing 14 inches (359 mm) of snow in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and 19 inches (487 mm) in Chicago, where temperatures plunge to -13°F (-25°C); 68 deaths are reported.
- Jan 3 Israel detains, and later expels, 14 members of Concerned Christians.
- Jan 3 NASA's Mars Polar Lander launched, mission later fails after communication lost trying to land on Mars (Dec 3 1999)
- Jan 4 Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura is sworn in as Governor of Minnesota
- Jan 4 Gunmen open fire on Shiite Muslims worshipping in an Islamabad mosque, killing 16 people and injuring 25.
Impeachment Trial of Bill Clinton
Jan 7 President Bill Clinton's Impeachment trial begins in the US Senate after the House voted to impeach him for lying about his affair with Monica Lewinsky
Event of Interest
Jan 8 Tree planting protest against the privatisation of Karura Forest, including Wangari Maathai, attacked in Kenya prompting outrage
Election of Interest
Jan 11 Bülent Ecevit becomes Prime Minister of Turkey for the 4th time
- Jan 14 Mel Lastman, Mayor of Toronto, calls in the Army to help with snow removal and emergency medical evacuations after major snowstorm hits the city
- Jan 15 The Racak incident: 45 Albanians in the Kosovo village of Racak are killed by Yugoslav security forces
- Jan 20 The China News Service announces new government restrictions on Internet use aimed especially at Internet cafés.
- Jan 21 In one of the largest drug busts in American history, the US Coast Guard intercepts a ship carrying 4,300 kg of cocaine
- Jan 22 Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons are burned alive by radical Hindus while sleeping in their car in Eastern India
- Jan 25 Earthquake hits Colombia, South America, killing around 300 and injuring 1000
Weddings in History
- Jan 23 Princess of Monaco Caroline (42) weds dynastic head of the House of Hanover and Britain's King George I descendant Prince Ernst August (45) in Monaco
Deaths in History
- Jan 2 Sebastian Haffner, German journalist & author, dies at 91
- Jan 10 John Hervey, 7th marquess of Bristol, English flamboyant peer who lost his fortune to drug addiction, dies at 44
- Jan 10 Sir Edward Williams, Australian judge (b. 1921)
- Jan 11 Brian Moore, Irish novelist (Catholics, Doctor's Wife), dies at 77
- Jan 11 Naomi Mitchison, Scottish novelist and poet (The Corn King and the Spring Queen), dies at 101
- Jan 12 Leo Cherne, American economist and commentator (All Star News), dies at 86
- Jan 14 Aldo van Eyck, Dutch architect (City Hall), dies at 80
- Jan 14 Jerzy Grotowski, Polish theatre director (b. 1933)
- Jan 15 William Crosbie, Scottish artist, dies at 83
- Jan 16 Jim McClelland, Australian solicitor, politician, Minister, Royal Commissioner, judge (b. 1915)
- Jan 16 Oscar Cullmann, French-Swiss Lutheran theologist (Das Petrusproblem), dies at 96
- Jan 17 Robert Eads, American transsexual (b. 1945)
- Jan 22 Graham Staines, Australian missionary (b. 1941)
- Jan 22 William M. Batten, American businessman and CEO (NY Stock Exchange 1976-84), dies at 89
- Jan 23 Jay Pritzker, American businessman (b. 1922)
- Jan 23 Thomas C. Mann, American diplomat (U.S. Ambassador to Mexico), dies at 86
- Jan 25 Sarah Louise "Sadie" Delany, American author and teacher, dies at 109
- Jan 27 Gonzalo Torrente Ballester, Spanish writer associated with the Generation of '36 movement, dies at 88
- Jan 28 Markey Robinson, Irish painter (b. 1918)
- Jan 28 Torgny T:son Segerstedt, Swedish sociologist and philosopher (b. 1908)
Authors
Civil Rights Activists
Inventors
Kings
Revolutionaries
Scientists