January 2005 in History

Events in History

Jan 5 Eris, the largest known dwarf planet in the solar system, is discovered by the team of Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David L. Rabinowitz using images originally taken on October 21, 2003, at the Palomar Observatory.
Jan 6 Mississippi Civil Rights Workers Murders: Edgar Ray Killen is arrested as a suspect for the 1964 murders of three Civil Rights workers.

Election of Interest

Jan 9 Elections are held to replace Yasser Arafat as head of the Palestine Liberation Organization. He is succeeded by Rawhi Fattouh.

Jan 9 The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, commonly known as the Naivasha Agreement between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement rebel group in Naivasha, Kenya.
Jan 10 A mudslide occurs in La Conchita, California, killing 10 people, injuring many more and closing the Highway 101, the main coastal corridor between San Francisco and Los Angeles, for 10 days.
Jan 12 Deep Impact (space mission) launches from Cape Canaveral on a Delta 2 rocket.
Jan 14 Landing of the Huygens probe on Saturn's moon Titan
Jan 15 An intense solar flare blasts X-rays across the solar system
Jan 15 ESA's SMART-1 lunar orbiter discovers elements such as calcium, aluminum, silicon, iron, and other surface elements on the moon.
Jan 16 At 66 years old, Romanian university lecturer Adriana Illiescu becomes the oldest birth mother in the world
Jan 18 The world's largest commercial jet, the Airbus A380, is unveiled in France
Jan 21 In Belmopan, Belize, the unrest over the government's new taxes erupts into riots
Jan 25 A stampede at the Mandher Devi temple in Mandhradevi in India kills at least 258

Event of Interest

Jan 26 Condoleezza Rice is sworn in as U.S. Secretary of State, the first African American woman to hold the post

Jan 26 Glendale train crash: Two trains derail killing 11 and injuring 200 in Glendale, California, near Los Angeles.
Jan 29 The first direct commercial flights from the mainland China (from Guangzhou) to Taiwan since 1949 arrives in Taipei. Shortly afterwards, a China Airlines carrier lands in Beijing.
Jan 30 Denmark's Queen Margrethe unveils monument at North Atlantic Wharf, Copenhagen, to the 95 people lost on MS Hans Hedtoft

Birthdays in History

Jan 30 Prince Hashem bin Abdullah II, Jordanian royal, born in Amman, Jordan

Deaths in History

Jan 1 Bob Matsui, American politician, dies at 63
Jan 1 Eugene J. Martin, American painter & artist, dies at 66
Jan 1 Hugh Lawson, 6th Baron Burnham, British newspaperman, dies at 73

Shirley Chisholm (1924-2005)

Jan 1 1st African American Congresswoman (Rep-D-NY) and presidential candidate, dies of a stroke at 80

Jan 2 Edo Murtić, Croatian painter, dies at 83
Jan 2 Frank Kelly Freas, American artist, dies at 82
Jan 2 Maclyn McCarty, American geneticist, dies at 93
Jan 2 Ronald "Bo" Ginn, American politician, dies at 70
Jan 3 Edward R. Roybal, American politician (Rep-D-CA, 1963-93), dies at 89
Jan 3 JN Dixit, Indian government official (b. 1936)
Jan 3 Koo Chen-fu, Chinese negotiator (b. 1917)
Jan 3 Will Eisner, American comic book artist (b. 1917)
Jan 4 Alton Tobey, American artist, dies at 90
Jan 4 Frank Harary, American mathematician (b. 1921)
Jan 4 Guy Davenport, American author, artist, and scholar (b. 1927)
Jan 4 Humphrey Carpenter, English author (b. 1946)
Jan 4 Robert Heilbroner, American economist (b. 1919)
Jan 6 Lois Hole, Lt. Governor of Alberta (b. 1933)
Jan 6 Louis Robichaud, Premier of New Brunswick (b. 1925)
Jan 7 Eileen Desmond, Irish politician (b. 1932)
Jan 7 Pierre Daninos, French novelist (b. 1913)
Jan 8 Michel Thomas, Polish linguist (b. 1914)
Jan 10 James Forman, American civil rights leader (b. 1928)
Jan 10 Joséphine-Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, Princess of Belgium, dies at 77
Jan 10 Metropolitan Wasyly Fedak, primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada (b. 1909)
Jan 12 Alessia di Matteo, first survivor of eight transplants in one operation (b. 2003)
Jan 12 Edmund S. Valtman, Estonian-born cartoonist (b. 1914)
Jan 14 Charlotte MacLeod, American writer (b. 1922)
Jan 14 Conroy Maddox, English painter (b. 1912)
Jan 14 Jesús-Rafael Soto, Venezuelan kinetic artist (b. 1923)
Jan 14 Rudolph Moshammer, German fashion designer (b. 1940)
Jan 15 Elizabeth Janeway, American author (b. 1913)
Jan 15 Walter Ernsting, German author (b. 1920)
Jan 16 Marjorie Williams, American journalist (b. 1958)
Jan 17 Albert Schatz, American microbiologist (b. 1920)
Jan 17 Charlie Bell, Australian fast food executive (b. 1960)
Jan 17 Zhao Ziyang, Premier of the People's Republic of China (b. 1919)
Jan 19 Anita Kulcsár, Hungarian handball player (b. 1976)
Jan 19 Bill Andersen, New Zealand communist and trade union leader (b. 1924)
Jan 19 K. Sello Duiker, South African novelist (b. 1974)
Jan 20 Jan Nowak-Jeziorański, Polish journalist, writer, and politician (b. 1913)
Jan 20 Miriam Louisa Rothschild, British zoologist, entomologist, and author (b. 1908)
Jan 20 Per Borten, 18th Prime Minister of Norway (1965-71), dies at 91
Jan 20 Roland Frye, American literary critic and theologian (b. 1921)
Jan 21 John L. Hess, American journalist (b. 1917)
Jan 21 Theun de Vries, Dutch writer (The Girl with the Red Hair), dies at 97
Jan 22 Carlo Orelli, Italian veteran of World War I (b. 1894)
Jan 22 Rose Mary Woods, American secretary to Richard Nixon (claimed to have erased part of Watergate tapes by accident), dies at 87
Jan 23 Morys George Lyndhurst Bruce, 4th Baron Aberdare, British politician (b. 1921)
Jan 24 Vladimir Savchenko, Ukrainian writer (b. 1933)
Jan 25 Manuel Lopes, Cape Verdean writer and poet (b. 1907)
Jan 25 Philip Johnson, American architect (International and Postmodern Style, 1st Pritzker Prize), dies at 98
Jan 25 Stanisław Albinowski, Polish economist and journalist (b. 1923)
Jan 25 William Augustus Bootle, American judge (b. 1902)