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January 4
January 4 is the 4th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 361 days remaining (362 in leap years).
Events
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871 - Battle of Reading - Ethelred of Wessex fights a Danish invasion army .
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1493 - Christopher Columbus leaves the New World, ending his first journey .
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1642 - English Civil War: King Charles I of England attacks Parliament .
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1698 - Most of the Palace of Whitehall in London, the main residence of the English monarchs, is destroyed by fire.
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1717 - The Netherlands, England and France sign the Triple Alliance.
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1762 - England declares war on Spain and Naples .
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1847 - Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the United States government.
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1850 - The first American ice-skating club is formed (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania).
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1854 - The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the Samarang.
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1884 - The Fabian Society is founded in London
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1885 - The first successful appendectomy is performed by Dr. William W. Grant on Mary Gartside.
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1896 - Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state.
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1912 - The Scout Association is incorporated throughout the British Commonwealth by Royal Charter.
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1936 - Mickey's Polo Team, a short animated film featuring Charlie Chaplin, Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel and Harpo Marx in a polo match against various Disney characters, is first released.
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1936 - Billboard magazine publishes its first pop music charts.
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1944 - World War II: The Battle of Monte Cassino begins.
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1948 - Burma gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
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1951 - Korean War: Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul.
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1957 - After 69 years the last issue of Colliers magazine is published.
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1958 - Sputnik 1 falls to Earth from its orbit (launched on October 4, 1957).
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1959 - Luna 1 becomes the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon.
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1962 - New York City introduces a train that operates without a crew on-board.
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1965 - United States President Lyndon B. Johnson proclaims his "Great Society" during his State of the Union address.
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1967 - Donald Campbell dies as his jet-powered Bluebird K7 crashes during an attempt to break the water speed record.
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1972 - Rose Heilbron becomes the first woman judge in the United Kingdom (Old Bailey, London).
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1974 - United States President Richard Nixon refuses to hand over materials subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.
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1987 - An Amtrak train en route to Boston from Washington, DC collides with Conrail engines, killing 16.
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1998 - Wilaya of Relizane massacres in Algeria; over 170 are killed in three remote villages.
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1999 - Gunmen open fire on Shiite Muslims worshipping in an Islamabad mosque killing 16 people injuring 25.
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2004 - Dr. Mikhail Saakashvili is elected the President of the Georgia.
- 2004 - Spirit, a NASA Mars Rover, lands successfully on Mars at 04:35 UTC.
Births
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1643 (Old Style) - Isaac Newton, English scientist and philosopher (d. 1727)
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1710 - Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Italian composer (d. 1736)
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1720 - Johann Friedrich Agricola, German composer (d. 1774)
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1785 - Jakob Grimm, German philologist, one half of the Brothers Grimm (d. 1863)
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1809 - Louis Braille, French teacher, inventor of a writing system for the blind (d. 1852)
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1822 - Georg Büchmann , philologist (d. 1884)
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1832 - George Tryon, British admiral (d. 1893)
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1838 - Charles Stratton ("General Tom Thumb"), American circus performer, entertainer (d. 1883)
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1874 - Josef Suk, Czech composer and violinist (d. 1935)
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1881 - Wilhelm Lehmbruck, German sculptor (d. 1919)
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1883 - Max Eastman, American writer (d. 1969)
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1896 - Everett Dirksen, American politician (d. 1969)
- 1896 - André Masson, French artist (d. 1987)
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1900 - James Bond, American ornithologist (d. 1989)
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1901 - C. L. R. James, writer and journalist (d. 1989)
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1905 - Sterling Holloway, American actor (d. 1992)
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1914 - Jane Wyman, American actress
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1917 - Jesse White , American actor (d. 1997)
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1920 - William Colby, director of the CIA (d. 1996)
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1927 - Barbara Rush , American actress
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1930 - Don Shula, American football coach
- 1930 - Sorrell Booke, American actor (d. 1994)
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1931 - Adi Lady Lala Mara, Fijian chieftainess and First Lady; wife of Prime Minister and President, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara
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1932 - Carlos Saura , director
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1935 - Floyd Patterson, American boxer
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1937 - Dyan Cannon, American actress
- 1937 - Grace Bumbry, American opera singer
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1940 - Helmut Jahn, German architect
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1941 - Maureen Reagan, American political activist (d. 2001)
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1943 - Doris Kearns Goodwin, writer
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1956 - Bernard Sumner, English rock musician
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1957 - Patty Loveless, American singer
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1960 - Michael Stipe, American vocalist for R.E.M.
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1963 - Till Lindemann, German vocalist for Rammstein
- 1963 - Dave Foley, Canadian comedian, actor
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1965 - Julia Ormond, English actress
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1966 - Deana Carter, American singer
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1971 - Garrison Hearst , American football player
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1978 - Dwight Freeney, American football player
Deaths
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1066 - Edward the Confessor, King of England (or January 5)
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1248 - King Sancho II of Portugal (b. 1207)
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1782 - Ange-Jacques Gabriel, French architect (b. 1698)
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1804 - Charlotte Lennox, English author and poet
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1821 - Elizabeth Ann Seton, American saint (b. 1774)
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1831 - James Monroe, President of the United States (b. 1758)
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1877 - Cornelius Vanderbilt, American entrepreneur (b. 1794)
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1896 - Joseph Hubert Reinkens, German Old Catholic bishop (b. 1821)
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1941 - Henri Bergson, French philosopher (b. 1859)
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1960 - Albert Camus, Algerian-born French philosopher and writer (car crash) (b. 1913)
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1961 - Erwin Schrödinger, Austrian physicist (b. 1887)
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1965 - T. S. Eliot, American poet (b. 1888)
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1967 - Donald Campbell, English water speed record setter (b. 1921)
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1969 - Violet and Daisy Hilton, conjoined twins, actresses
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1970 - Jean Etienne Valluy, French general (b. 1899)
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1986 - Christopher Isherwood, English writer (b. 1904)
- 1986 - Phil Lynott, Irish musician (b. 1949)
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1998 - Mae Questel, American actress (b. 1908)
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1999 - Iron Eyes Cody, American actor (b. 1904)
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2000 - Tom Fears , American football star
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2002 - Esquivel, musician (b. 1918)
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2003 - Conrad Hall, American cinematographer (b. 1927)
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2004 - Brian Gibson, English film director (b. 1944)
- 2004 - Jake Hess, American Gospel singer (b. 1927)
- 2004 - Jeff Nuttall, English poet, publisher, actor, painter, sculptor, jazz trumpeter, social commentator, and author (b. 1933)
- 2004 - Joan Aiken, English author (b. 1924)
- 2004 - John Toland, American author and historian (b. 1912)
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2005 - Humphrey Carpenter, English author and biographer (b. 1946)
- 2005 - Ali al-Haidri, Iraqi governor of Baghdad (assassinated)
- 2005 - Frank Harary, mathematician (b. 1921)
- 2005 - Robert Heilbroner, American economist (b. 1919)
- 2005 - Bud Poile, Canadian hockey player (b. 1924)
- 2005 - Alton Tobey , American artist (b. 1914)
Holidays and observances
External links
January 3 - January 5 - December 4 - February 4 -- listing of all days
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