Events in History
- Jan 1 61 die in nightclub fire in Bangkok, Thailand.
- Jan 1 Slovakia officially adopts the Euro currency and becomes the sixteenth Eurozone country.
Event of Interest
Jan 1 The government of the Republic of China adopts Hanyu Pinyin as its official Chinese romanization (before this time, the most commonly used was Tongyong Pinyin.
- Jan 3 Israeli ground forces invade Gaza.
- Jan 3 The Bitcoin network is created as the first block of the digital currency is mined by a person or group of people using the name Satoshi Nakamoto
- Jan 6 Israel begins an assault on the Gaza Strip
- Jan 8 A 6.2 magnitude earthquake hit Costa Rica´s region of Volcan Poás, with an epicenter near Cinchona. It was caused by Varablanca-Angel fault.
- Jan 13 Global shipping experiences a drop in trade, as exports from South Korea dropping an annualised 30%, with Taiwan and Japan experiencing a 42% and 27% drop respectively
Miracle on the Hudson
Jan 15 Chesley Sullenberger lands US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport in NYC. All passengers and crew members survive in what becomes known as the "Miracle on the Hudson"
Barack Obama Inaugurated
Jan 20 Barack Obama, inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America, becomes the United States' first African-American president
- Jan 23 Dendermonde nursery attack occurred in Dendermonde, Belgium.
- Jan 23 UK officially enters recession as GDP falls by 1.5% in the last quarter of 2008 following a 0.6% drop in the third quarter, with unemployment growing by 131,000 to 1.92 million (6.1%)
Excommunication
Jan 24 Pope Benedict XVI rescinds the excommunications of four bishops consecrated without papal consent in 1988 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
- Jan 29 Rod Blagojevich, Governor of Illinois, is removed from office after being convicted of corruption charges
- Jan 31 In Kenya, at least 113 people are killed and over 200 injured following an oil spillage ignition in Molo, days after a massive fire at a Nakumatt supermarket in Nairobi killed at least 25 people.
Birthdays in History
- Jan 26 Suleman octuplets born to Nadya Suleman in Bellflower, California - longest ever octuplet survival
Deaths in History
- Jan 1 (Johannes Mario) J.M. Simmel, Austrian writer (It Can't Always Be Caviar), dies at 84
- Jan 1 Claiborne Pell, American writer, politician (US Senator (D) from Rhode Island, 1961-97), and sponsor of education grant legislation, dies at 90
- Jan 1 Nizar Rayan, Hamas leader, killed in an airstrike at 49
- Jan 2 Maria de Jesus, Portuguese supercentenarian, dies at 115
- Jan 3 Alan Walters, British political economist (Chief Economic Adviser to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher), dies at 82
- Jan 3 Hisayasu Nagata, Japanese politician (b. 1969)
- Jan 3 Ulf G. Lindén, Swedish entrepreneur (b. 1937)
- Jan 8 Richard John Neuhaus, Canadian-American Christian writer and editor (b. 1936)
- Jan 9 T. Llew Jones, Welsh author (b. 1915)
- Jan 10 William Frederick "Bill" Stone, British World War I veteran (b. 1900)
- Jan 11 Vivian Ridler, British scholar and printer (Oxford University), dies at 95
- Jan 12 Arne Næss, Norwegian philosopher (b. 1912)
- Jan 13 Doña Mary Ejercito, Filipino supercentarian, mother of Philippine President Joseph Ejercito Estrada, dies at 102
- Jan 13 Hortense Calisher, American novelist (President of the American Academy of Arts and Letters), dies at 97
- Jan 13 Nancy Bird Walton, Australian aviator, dies at 93
- Jan 13 William D.W. Snodgrass, American Pulitzer Prize-winning poet (Heart's Needle), also wrote using pseudonym S. S. Gardons, dies at 83
- Jan 14 Jan Kaplický, British architect of Czech origin, dies at 71
- Jan 16 Andrew Wyeth, American realist painter (Christina's World), dies at 91
- Jan 17 Anders Isaksson, Swedish journalist, writer, and historian (b. 1943)
- Jan 18 Grigore Vieru, Romanian poet (b. 1935)
- Jan 20 Sheila O'Nions Walsh (aka Sheila Walsh, Sophie Leyton), English romance writer (b. 1928)
- Jan 20 Stan Hagen, Canadian politician (b. 1940)
- Jan 20 Stéphanos II Ghattas, Patriarch Emeritus of Alexandria for the Coptic Catholic Church (b. 1920)
- Jan 23 Robert W. Scott, American politician, governor of North Carolina (b. 1929)
- Jan 24 Kay Yow, North Carolina State Univ. women's basketball head coach (b. 1942)
- Jan 24 Reg Gutteridge, British Boxing Journalist (b. 1924)
- Jan 27 John Updike, American Novelist (b. 1932)
- Jan 27 R. [Ramaswamy] Venkataraman, Indian politician, eighth President of India, dies at 98
- Jan 29 Alfred Mabbs, British Archivist (Public Records Office), dies at 87
- Jan 29 Hélio Gracie, Brazilian martial artist, co-founder and 'Godfather' of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, dies at 95
- Jan 30 Hans Beck, German inventor, "The Father of Playmobil", dies at 79
Authors
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