Events in History
- Jan 1 A New Hampshire law legalizing civil unions for same-sex couples comes into effect.
- Jan 1 Malta and Cyprus officially adopt the Euro currency and become the fourteenth and fifteenth Eurozone countries.
- Jan 8 New Jersey officially apologizes for slavery, becoming the first Northern state to do so.
- Jan 14 MESSENGER spacecraft performs a Mercury flyby
- Jan 15 Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority members celebrate 100th anniversary by donating $1 million to scholarship funds at Howard University in Washington, D.C.
- Jan 21 Black Monday in worldwide stock markets. FTSE 100 had its biggest ever one-day points fall, European stocks closed with their worst result since 9/11, and Asian stocks drop as much as 15%.
- Jan 21 The Eyak language in Alaska becomes extinct as its last native speaker dies
Deaths in History
- Jan 1 Harold Corsini, American photographer, dies from a stroke at 88
- Jan 1 Pratap Chandra Chunder, Indian union minister, dies at 88
- Jan 1 Salvatore Bonanno, American mafioso & son of crime boss Joseph Bonanno, dies of a heart attack at 75
- Jan 2 Galyani Vadhana, Princess of Naradhiwas, dies at 84
- Jan 2 George MacDonald Fraser, British poet & author (Flashman at the Charge), dies at 82
- Jan 2 Lee S. Dreyfus, American politician, dies at 81
- Jan 3 Werner Dollinger, German politician and economist (b. 1918)
- Jan 4 Jimmy Nah, Singapore celebrity (b. 1968)
- Jan 4 John O'Donohue, Irish poet (Anam Cara; Benedictus), philosopher, theologian, and one-time priest, dies at 52
- Jan 4 Joyce Carlson, American artist (b. 1923)
- Jan 4 Xavier Chamorro Cardenal, Nicaraguan journalist and newspaper editor (La Prensa; El Nuevo Diario), dies of heart disease at 75
- Jan 5 Thomas Gray, English pioneering anaesthetist, dies at 94
- Jan 7 Alwyn Schlebusch, South African vice state president (b. 1917)
- Jan 9 John Harvey-Jones, English businessman and chairman of ICI (1982-87), dies at 83
- Jan 9 Mehran Ghassemi, Iranian journalist (b. 1977)
- Jan 9 William Quinn, Irish Republican Army soldier (b. 1950)
Edmund Hillary (1919-2008)
Jan 11 New Zealand explorer and mountaineer who was 1st to scale Mount Everest with Tenzing Norgay, dies from a heart attack at 88
- Jan 14 Judah Folkman, Surgeon that developed Angiogenesis (b. 1933)
- Jan 15 Mark Haigh-Hutchinson, English Game Designer (Zombies Ate My Neighbors), dies of cancer (b. 1964)
- Jan 18 John Stroger, first African-American Cook County Board President (b. 1929)
- Jan 21 Marie Smith Jones, last native speaker of the Eyak language (b. 1918)
- Jan 21 Pam Barrett, Canadian politician (b. 1953)
- Jan 22 Miles Lerman, Polish-American activist (b. 1920)
- Jan 24 J. Robert Hooper, American politician, dies at 71
- Jan 26 Viktor Schreckengost, American industrial designer, dies at 101
- Jan 27 Gordon B. Hinckley, American religious leader, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1995-2008), dies at 97
- Jan 27 Louie Welch, mayor of Houston (b. 1918)
Suharto (1921-2008)
Jan 27 Indonesian army officer and 2nd President of Indonesia (1967-98), dies at 86
- Jan 28 Bengt Lindström, Swedish artist, dies at 82
- Jan 28 Christodoulos, Archbishop of Athens and All Greece (b. 1939)
- Jan 29 Raymond Jacobs, American Marine Corp sergeant (one of the WWII Iwo Jima flag planters), and news journalist, dies at 82
- Jan 30 Marcial Maciel, Mexican religious leader (b. 1920)
- Jan 31 Zeltim Odie Peterson, famous pug (b. 1997)
Authors
Civil Rights Activists
Inventors
Kings
Revolutionaries
Scientists