Charlemagne
814 Charlemagne, German emperor/Roman Emperor (800-814), dies at 71
Charlemagne
- 1061 Duke Spytihněv II of Bohemia (b. 1031)
- 1119 Gelasius II, [Giovannis Caetani], pope (1118-19), dies
- 1256 Willem II, earl of Holland/German emperor (1238, 47-56), dies at 22
- 1271 Isabella of Aragon, wife of Philip III and Queen consort of France (1270-1), dies of complications from childbirth at 22 or 23
- 1393 Earl of Joigny, burned at royal ball in Paris
- 1443 Robert le Maçon, Chancellor of France
- 1528 Philips of Cleve, ruler of Ravenstein, dies
Henry VIII
1547 Henry VIII, King of England (1509-47), dies at 55
Henry VIII
Francis Drake
1596 Francis Drake, English pirate, Admiral and Governor of Newfoundland (Porto Bello West Indies), dies of dysentery at 50
Francis Drake
- 1606 Carolus Gallus [Karel de Haan], Dutch lawyer, pastor and vicar, dies at 85
- 1612 Thomas Bodley, diplomat/founder (Bodleian Library), dies
- 1621 Pope Paul V [Camillo Borghese], 233rd pope (1605-21) and persecutor of Galileo, dies at 68
- 1672 Pierre Séguier, Chancellor of France, dies at 83
- 1681 Richard Allestree, English royalist churchman (b. 1619)
- 1687 Johannes Hevelius, astronomer (star cataloger), dies on 76th birthday
- 1697 John Fenwick, English conspirator
- 1754 Ludvig Holberg, Danish lawyer/writer (Hendrig og Pernille), dies at 69
- 1782 Jean-Baptiste-Bourguignon d'Anville, French geographer and cartographer, dies at 84
- 1810 Andrew Hofer, Tyrolian rebel against French & Bavarians, shot dead
- 1829 William Burke, murderer/body snatcher, executed in Edinburgh
- 1829 Thomas Tredgold, Railway Engineer and Carpenter, dies at 40
- 1832 Augustin Daniel Belliard, French general (b. 1769)
- 1838 Aleksandr Polezhayev, Russian poet (Sasjka), dies at 33 [NS]
- 1859 Frederick John Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1782)
- 1859 William H. Prescott, American historian, dies at 62
- 1864 Émile Clapeyron, French engineer and physicist (b. 1799)
- 1867 John J. Pettus, American politician, Confederate governor (D-Miss, 1859-63), dies at 53
- 1868 Adalbert Stifter, Austrian author (Witiko), commits suicide at 62
- 1890 Prudence Crandall, American educator and founder of School for "young ladies of colour", dies at 86
- 1893 Samuel S. Carroll, American Brigadier General (Union Army), dies at 60
- 1895 François Certain Canrobert, French marshal and parliament member, dies at 85
- 1908 Sidney Paget, British illustrator (Sherlock Holmes), dies at 47
- 1912 Gustave de Molinari, Belgian economist (b. 1819)
- 1915 Nikolay Umov, Russian physicist and mathematician known for discovering the Umov-Poynting vector and Umov effect, dies at 68
John McCrae
1918 John McCrae, Canadian poet/physician/soldier, dies of pneumonia at 45
John McCrae
- 1924 Simon Abramsz, Dutch teacher and writer (For the Young Ones), dies at 56
- 1926 Kaufmann Kohler, German-born American reform rabbi and theologian, dies at 82
- 1933 Theodor Birt [Beatus Rhenanus], German classicist and writer, dies at 80
- 1936 Richard Loeb, American Murder, killed Bobby Franks along with Nathan Leopold, killed in prison at 30
- 1939 W. B. Yeats, Irish poet (Wild Swans at Coole-Nobel 1923), dies at 73
- 1950 Nikolai Luzin, Russian mathematician, dies at 66
- 1951 Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Finnish general and 6th President of Finland (1944-46), dies at 83
- 1953 James Scullin, Australian Labour Party politician and 9th Prime Minister of Australia, dies at 76
- 1953 Derek Bentley (b. 1933) (executed)
- 1957 Fred Stein, TV panelist (Live Begins at 80), dies at 88
- 1959 Joseph Sprinzak, Speaker of Israel Knesset (1949-59), dies at 73
- 1960 Zora Neale Hurston, American author, dies at 69
- 1963 Jean Felix Piccard, swiss explorer, dies on his 79th birthday
- 1965 Maxime Weygand, French soldier (b. 1867)
- 1971 Donald Winnicott, British psychoanalyst (b. 1896)
- 1972 Adriaan B "Jaap" Wagemaker, Dutch sculptor, dies at 66
- 1972 Dino Buzzati, Italian writer (The Tartar Steppe), dies at 67
- 1975 Ola Raknes, Norwegian psychoanalyst and philologist (b. 1887)
- 1979 Eileen Shanahan, Irish Poet (b. 1901)
- 1983 Frank Forde, 15th Prime Minister of Australia (the shortest-serving prime minister in Australia's history-8 days), dies at 92
- 1986 Christa McAuliffe, American teacher, dies in the Challenger space shuttle disaster at 37
- 1986 Ellison S Onizuka, Hawaii, Mjr USAF/ast, dies in Challenger disaster
- 1986 Francis R Scobee, Wash, USAF/astronaut, dies in Challenger disaster
- 1986 Judith Arlene Resnik, Akron Oh, astr, dies in Challenger disaster
- 1986 Michael J. Smith, American astronaut (51L-Challenger disaster), dies in Challenger at 40
- 1986 Ronald E McNair, American astronaut and physicist, dies in Challenger disaster at 35
- 1986 Greg Jarvis - Crew of Space Shuttle Challenger (b. 1944)
- 1988 Klaus Fuchs, German physicist (b. 1911)
- 1991 Dale Long, hit HRs in 8 consecutive games, dies at 66
- 1992 Nahman Avigad, Israeli archaeologist (Discovering Jerusalem), dies at 86
- 1994 Hermanus P "Piet" Mulder, Dutch journalist (Het Parool), dies at 79
- 1994 William Levitt, builder (Levittown), dies of kidney failure at 86
- 1995 Barrie Wilson, British religious scholar (How Jesus Became Christian), dies at 59
- 1995 George Woodcock, author, dies at 82
- 1995 James P Grant, American director of UNICEF (1980-95), dies at 72
- 1995 Jim Gilbert, British artist and criminal, dies at 61
- 1995 Philip Burton, Welsh producer and Richard Burton's teacher, dies at 80
- 1995 Walter Ernest Allen, writer/critic, dies at 83
- 1996 Jerry Siegel, comic book writer (Superman), dies at 81
- 1996 John Mosely, recording expert/entrepreneur, dies at 81
- 1996 Joseph Brodsky, Russian-American poet and writer (Less than One, Nobel 1987), dies at 55
- 1996 San Yu, Burmese General and the 5th President of Burma (1981-88), dies at 77
- 1996 Victor "Toby" Neuberg, teacher/writer, dies at 71
- 1997 Colin Welch, British political journalist and critic of Enid Blyton's Noddy series, dies at 72
- 1997 Pietro Cavallero, bandit, dies at 68
- 1997 Vivien Signy, nurse, dies at 80
- 1999 Markey Robinson, Irish painter (b. 1918)
- 1999 Torgny T:son Segerstedt, Swedish sociologist and philosopher (b. 1908)
- 2002 Astrid Lindgren, Swedish author (b. 1907)
- 2004 Lloyd M. Bucher, U.S. Navy officer (b. 1927)
- 2004 Don Cholito, Puerto Rican radio host (b. 1923)
- 2006 Yitzchak Kaduri, rabbi (b. around 1900)
- 2007 Father Robert Drinan, Roman Catholic Priest and American politician (b. 1920)
- 2007 Emma Tillman, the world's oldest living person from January 24-28, 2007 (b. 1892)
- 2008 Christodoulos, Archbishop of Athens and All Greece (b. 1939)
- 2008 Bengt Lindström, Swedish artist, dies at 82
- 2014 Fernand Leduc, Canadian painter (The Automatistes), dies at 97
- 2019 Kim Bok-dong, Korean sex slave activist, dies at 92
January in History
!['I Did Not Have Sexual Relations With That Woman']()
'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]()
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]()
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![Secret Behind Mona Lisa's Smile]()
Secret Behind Mona Lisa's Smile
The smile has beguiled art lovers for nearly 600 years and made the Mona Lisa the world's most famous work of art. But was her smile due to a medical condition?
January 29, 1987
