January 23

January 23 is the 23rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 342 days remaining until the end of the year (343 in leap years). This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Monday, Wednesday or Saturday (58 in 400 years each) than on Thursday or Friday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Tuesday or Sunday (56).

Events

• 393 – Roman Emperor Theodosius I proclaims his eight-year-old son Honorius co-emperor.
• 971 – In China, the war elephant corps of the Southern Han are soundly defeated at Shao by crossbow fire from Song dynasty troops.
• 1264 – In the conflict between King Henry III of England and his rebellious barons led by Simon de Montfort, King Louis IX of France issues the Mise of Amiens, a one-sided decision in favour of Henry that later leads to the Second Barons' War.
• 1368 – In a coronation ceremony, Zhu Yuanzhang ascends the throne of China as the Hongwu Emperor, initiating Ming dynasty rule over China that would last for three centuries.
• 1546 – Having published nothing for eleven years, François Rabelais publishes the Tiers Livre, his sequel to Gargantua and Pantagruel.
• 1556 – The deadliest earthquake in history, the Shaanxi earthquake, hits Shaanxi province, China. The death toll may have been as high as 830,000.
• 1570 – James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, regent for the infant King James VI of Scotland, is assassinated by firearm, the first recorded instance of such.
• 1571 – The Royal Exchange opens in London.
• 1579 – The Union of Utrecht forms a Protestant republic in the Netherlands.
• 1656 – Blaise Pascal publishes the first of his Lettres provinciales.
• 1719 – The Principality of Liechtenstein is created within the Holy Roman Empire.
• 1789 – Georgetown College, the first Catholic university in the United States, is founded in Georgetown, Maryland (now a part of Washington, D.C.)
• 1793 – Second Partition of Poland.
• 1795 – After an extraordinary charge across the frozen Zuiderzee, the French cavalry captured 14 Dutch ships and 850 guns, in a rare occurrence of a battle between ships and cavalry
• 1846 – Slavery in Tunisia is abolished.
• 1849 – Elizabeth Blackwell is awarded her M.D. by the Geneva Medical College of Geneva, New York, becoming the United States' first female doctor.
• 1870 – In Montana, U.S. cavalrymen kill 173 Native Americans, mostly women and children, in what becomes known as the Marias Massacre.
• 1879 – Anglo-Zulu War: the Battle of Rorke's Drift ends.
• 1897 – Elva Zona Heaster is found dead in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. The resulting murder trial of her husband is perhaps the only case in United States history where the alleged testimony of a ghost helped secure a conviction.
• 1899 – The Malolos Constitution is inaugurated, establishing the First Philippine Republic.
• 1899 – Emilio Aguinaldo is sworn in as President of the First Philippine Republic.
• 1900 – Second Boer War: The Battle of Spion Kop between the forces of the South African Republic and the Orange Free State and British forces ends in a British defeat.
• 1904 – Ålesund Fire: the Norwegian coastal town Ålesund is devastated by fire, leaving 10,000 people homeless and one person dead. Kaiser Wilhelm II funds the rebuilding of the town in Jugendstil style.
• 1909 – RMS Republic, a passenger ship of the White Star Line, becomes the first ship to use the CQD distress signal after colliding with another ship, the SS Florida, off the Massachusetts coastline, an event that kills six people. The Republic sinks the next day.
• 1912 – The International Opium Convention is signed at The Hague.
• 1920 – The Netherlands refuses to surrender the exiled Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany to the Allies.
• 1937 – The trial of the anti-Soviet Trotskyist center sees seventeen mid-level Communists accused of sympathizing with Leon Trotsky and plotting to overthrow Joseph Stalin's regime.
• 1941 – Charles Lindbergh testifies before the U.S. Congress and recommends that the United States negotiate a neutrality pact with Adolf Hitler.
• 1942 – World War II: The Battle of Rabaul commences Japan's invasion of Australia's Territory of New Guinea.
• 1943 – World War II: Troops of Montgomery's Eighth Army capture Tripoli in Libya from the German–Italian Panzer Army.
• 1943 – World War II: Australian and American forces defeat Japanese army and navy units in the bitterly-fought Battle of Buna–Gona.
• 1943 – World War II: The Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse on Guadalcanal ends.
• 1945 – World War II: German admiral Karl Dönitz launches Operation Hannibal.
• 1950 – The Knesset resolves that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.
• 1957 – American inventor Walter Frederick Morrison sells the rights to his flying disc to the Wham-O toy company, which later renames it the "Frisbee".
• 1958 – After a general uprising and rioting in the streets, President Marcos Pérez Jiménez leaves Venezuela.
• 1960 – The bathyscaphe USS Trieste breaks a depth record by descending to 10,911 metres (35,797 ft) in the Pacific Ocean.
• 1961 – The Portuguese luxury cruise ship Santa Maria is hijacked by opponents of the Estado Novo regime with the intention of waging war until dictator António de Oliveira Salazar is overthrown.
• 1963 – The Guinea-Bissau War of Independence officially begins when PAIGC guerrilla fighters attack the Portuguese army stationed in Tite.
• 1964 – The 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution, prohibiting the use of poll taxes in national elections, is ratified.
• 1967 – Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Ivory Coast are established.
• 1967 – Milton Keynes (England) is founded as a new town by Order in Council, with a planning brief to become a city of 250,000 people. Its initial designated area enclosed three existing towns and twenty one villages.
• 1973 – United States President Richard Nixon announces that a peace accord has been reached in Vietnam.
• 1986 – The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts its first members: Little Richard, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley.
• 1997 – Madeleine Albright becomes the first woman to serve as United States Secretary of State.
• 1998 – Netscape announced Mozilla, with the intention to release Communicator code as open source.
• 2001 – Five people attempt to set themselves on fire in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, an act that many people later claim is staged by the Communist Party of China to frame Falun Gong and thus escalate their persecution.
• 2002 – U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl is kidnapped in Karachi, Pakistan and subsequently murdered.
• 2003 – A very weak signal from Pioneer 10 is detected for the last time, but no usable data can be extracted.

Births

• 1350 – Vincent Ferrer, Spanish missionary and saint (d. 1419)
• 1514 – Hai Rui, Chinese politician (d. 1587)
• 1688 – Ulrika Eleonora, Queen of Sweden (d. 1741)
• 1719 – John Landen, English mathematician and theorist (d. 1790)
• 1737 – John Hancock, American general and politician, 1st Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1793)
• 1745 – William Jessop, English engineer, built the Cromford Canal (d. 1814)
• 1752 – Muzio Clementi, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1832)
• 1780 – Georgios Karaiskakis, Greek general (d. 1827)
• 1783 – Stendhal, French author (d. 1842)
• 1786 – Auguste de Montferrand, French-Russian architect, designed Saint Isaac's Cathedral and Alexander Column (d. 1858)
• 1809 – Surendra Sai, Indian activist (d. 1884)
• 1813 – Camilla Collett, Norwegian author and activist (d. 1895)
• 1828 – Saigō Takamori, Japanese samurai (d. 1877)
• 1832 – Édouard Manet, French painter (d. 1883)
• 1833 – Muthu Coomaraswamy, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (d. 1879)
• 1838 – Marianne Cope, German-American nun and aint (d. 1918)
• 1840 – Ernst Abbe, German physicist and engineer (d. 1905)
• 1846 – Nikolay Umov, Russian physicist and mathematician (d. 1915)
• 1855 – John Browning, American weapons designer, founded the Browning Arms Company (d. 1926)
• 1857 – Andrija Mohorovičić, Croatian meteorologist and seismologist (d. 1936)
• 1862 – David Hilbert, Russian-German mathematician and academic (d. 1943)
• 1872 – Paul Langevin, French physicist and academic (d. 1946)
• 1872 – Jože Plečnik, Slovenian architect, designed Plečnik Parliament (d. 1957)
• 1876 – Otto Diels, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1954)
• 1878 – Rutland Boughton, English composer (d. 1960)
• 1880 – Antonio Díaz Soto y Gama, Mexican politician (d. 1967)
• 1881 – Luisa Casati, Italian-English model (d. 1957)
• 1882 – Eero Kilpi, Finnish actor (d. 1954)
• 1884 – George McManus, American cartoonist (d. 1954)
• 1894 – Jyotirmoyee Devi, Indian author (d. 1988)
• 1896 – Alf Blair, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 1944)
• 1896 – Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (d. 1985)
• 1896 – Alf Hall, English-South African cricketer (d. 1964)
• 1897 – Subhas Chandra Bose, Indian activist and politician (d. 1945)
• 1897 – Georg Kulenkampff, German violinist (d. 1948)
• 1897 – Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, Austrian architect (d. 2000)
• 1897 – Ieva Simonaitytė, Lithuanian author (d. 1978)
• 1897 – William Stephenson, Canadian captain and spy (d. 1989)
• 1898 – Sergei Eisenstein, Latvian-Russian director and screenwriter (d. 1948)
• 1898 – Randolph Scott, American actor (d. 1987)
• 1898 – Freda Utley, English scholar and author (d. 1978)
• 1899 – Glen Kidston, English race car driver and pilot (d. 1931)
• 1900 – William Ifor Jones, Welsh organist and conductor (d. 1988)
• 1901 – Arthur Wirtz, American businessman (d. 1983)
• 1903 – Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, Colombian lawyer and politician, 16th Minister of National Education of Colombia (d. 1948)
• 1905 – Erich Borchmeyer, German sprinter (d. 2000)
• 1907 – Dan Duryea, American actor and singer (d. 1968)
• 1907 – Hideki Yukawa, Japanese physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1981)
• 1910 – Django Reinhardt, Belgian guitarist and composer (d. 1953)
• 1912 – Boris Pokrovsky, Russian director and manager (d. 2009)
• 1913 – Jean-Michel Atlan, Algerian-French painter (d. 1960)
• 1913 – Wally Parks, American businessman, founded the National Hot Rod Association (d. 2007)
• 1915 – Herma Bauma, Austrian javelin thrower and handball player (d. 2003)
• 1915 – W. Arthur Lewis, Saint Lucian-Barbadian economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991)
• 1915 – Potter Stewart, American lawyer and judge (d. 1985)
• 1916 – David Douglas Duncan, American photographer and journalist
• 1916 – Airey Neave, English colonel, lawyer, and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (d. 1979)
• 1918 – Gertrude B. Elion, American biochemist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1999)
• 1918 – Florence Rush, American social worker and theorist (d. 2008)
• 1919 – Frances Bay, Canadian-American actress (d. 2011)
• 1919 – Hans Hass, Austrian biologist and diver (d. 2013)
• 1919 – Ernie Kovacs, American actor and game show host (d. 1962)
• 1919 – Bob Paisley, English footballer and manager (d. 1996)
• 1920 – Henry Eriksson, Swedish runner (d. 2000)
• 1920 – Walter Frederick Morrison, American businessman, invented the Frisbee (d. 2010)
• 1922 – Leon Golub, American painter and academic (d. 2004)
• 1923 – Horace Ashenfelter, American runner
• 1923 – Cot Deal, American baseball player and coach (d. 2013)
• 1923 – Walter M. Miller, Jr., American soldier and author (d. 1996)
• 1924 – Frank Lautenberg, American soldier, businessman, and politician (d. 2013)
• 1925 – Marty Paich, American pianist, composer, producer, and conductor (d. 1995)
• 1926 – Bal Thackeray, Indian journalist, cartoonist, and politician (d. 2012)
• 1927 – Lars-Eric Lindblad, Swedish-American businessman and explorer (d. 1994)
• 1927 – Fred Williams, Australian painter (d. 1982)
• 1928 – Chico Carrasquel, Venezuelan baseball player and manager (d. 2005)
• 1928 – Jeanne Moreau, French actress
• 1929 – Myron Cope, American journalist and sportscaster (d. 2008)
• 1929 – Phillip Knightley, Australian journalist, author, and critic
• 1929 – John Polanyi, German-Canadian chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1930 – Filaret, Patriarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan
• 1930 – Derek Walcott, Saint Lucian poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1930 – Teresa Żylis-Gara, Polish operatic soprano
• 1932 – George Allen, English footballer (d. 2016)
• 1932 – Larri Thomas, American actress and dancer (d. 2013)
• 1933 – Bill Hayden, Australian politician, 21st Governor General of Australia
• 1933 – Chita Rivera, American actress, singer, and dancer
• 1934 – Pierre Bourgault, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 2003)
• 1935 – Mike Agostini, Trinidadian sprinter (d. 2016)
• 1935 – Robert Parris Moses, American educator and activist
• 1935 – Tom Reamy, American author (d. 1977)
• 1936 – Brian Howe, Australian minister and politician, 8th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
• 1936 – Jerry Kramer, American football player and sportscaster
• 1936 – Cécile Ousset, French pianist
• 1938 – Giant Baba, Japanese wrestler and promoter, founded All Japan Pro Wrestling (d. 1999)
• 1938 – Georg Baselitz, German painter and sculptor
• 1940 – Alan Cheuse, American author, critic, and academic (d. 2015)
• 1940 – Johnny Russell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2001)
• 1941 – Jock R. Anderson, Australian economist and academic
• 1941 – João Ubaldo Ribeiro, Brazilian journalist, author, and academic (d. 2014)
• 1942 – Abdur Razzak, Indian-Bangladeshi actor and producer
• 1942 – Herman Tjeenk Willink, Dutch judge and politician
• 1943 – Gary Burton, American vibraphone player and composer
• 1943 – Özhan Canaydın, Turkish basketball player and businessman (d. 2010)
• 1943 – Gil Gerard, American actor and producer
• 1944 – Rutger Hauer, Dutch actor, director, and producer
• 1945 – Mike Harris, Canadian politician, 22nd Premier of Ontario
• 1946 – Arnoldo Alemán, Nicaraguan lawyer and politician, President of Nicaragua
• 1946 – Boris Berezovsky, Russian-English businessman and mathematician (d. 2013)
• 1946 – Zvonko Bušić, Croatian terrorist, hijacker of TWA Flight 355 (d. 2013)
• 1947 – Tom Carper, American captain and politician, 71st Governor of Delaware
• 1947 – Megawati Sukarnoputri, Indonesian politician, 5th President of Indonesia
• 1948 – Alastair Compston, Emeritus of Neurology at the University of Cambridge
• 1948 – David F. Ford, Irish theologian and academic
• 1948 – Anita Pointer, American singer-songwriter
• 1950 – Richard Dean Anderson, American actor, producer, and composer
• 1950 – Bill Cunningham, American bass player and keyboard player
• 1950 – John Greaves, Welsh bass player and songwriter
• 1950 – Suzanne Scotchmer, American economist and academic (d. 2014)
• 1950 – Luis Alberto Spinetta, Argentinian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and poet (d. 2012)
• 1951 – Margaret Bailes, American sprinter
• 1951 – Chesley Sullenberger, American captain and pilot
• 1952 – Omar Henry, South African cricketer
• 1953 – John Luther Adams, American composer
• 1953 – Alister McGrath, Irish priest, historian, and theologian
• 1953 – Antonio Villaraigosa, American politician, 41st Mayor of Los Angeles
• 1954 – Franco De Vita, Venezuelan singer-songwriter
• 1954 – Trevor Hohns, Australian cricketer
• 1957 – Caroline, Princess of Hanover
• 1957 – Lou Schuler, American journalist and author
• 1958 – Sergey Litvinov, Russian hammer thrower
• 1959 – Clive Bull, English radio host
• 1960 – Leilani Kai, American wrestler and trainer
• 1960 – Jean-François Sauvé, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1961 – Mas Selamat bin Kastari, Indonesian-Singaporean criminal
• 1961 – Yelena Sinchukova, Russian long jumper
• 1962 – David Arnold, English composer
• 1962 – Aivar Lillevere, Estonian footballer and coach
• 1962 – Elvira Lindo, Spanish journalist and author
• 1962 – Richard Roxburgh, Australian actor and producer
• 1964 – Jonatha Brooke, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1964 – Mariska Hargitay, American actress and producer
• 1964 – Bharrat Jagdeo, Guyanese economist and politician, 7th President of Guyana
• 1964 – Mario Roberge, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1965 – Louie Clemente, American drummer
• 1966 – Damien Hardman, Australian surfer
• 1966 – Oleg Sakirkin, Kazakhstani triple jumper (d. 2015)
• 1966 – Haywoode Workman, American basketball player and referee
• 1967 – Owen Cunningham, Australian rugby league player
• 1967 – Naim Süleymanoğlu, Bulgarian-Turkish weightlifter and politician
• 1968 – Taro Hakase, Japanese violinist and composer
• 1968 – Petr Korda, Czech-Monacan tennis player
• 1969 – Ariadna Gil, Spanish actress
• 1969 – Andrei Kanchelskis, Ukrainian-Russian footballer and manager
• 1969 – Brendan Shanahan, Canadian ice hockey player and actor
• 1969 – Susen Tiedtke, German long jumper
• 1970 – Constantina Diță, Romanian-American runner
• 1970 – Brendan O'Connor, Irish singer and television host
• 1970 – Oleg Ovsyannikov, Russian ice dancer
• 1970 – Spyridon Vasdekis, Greek long jumper
• 1971 – Scott Gibbs, Welsh-South African rugby player and sportscaster
• 1971 – Kevin Mawae, American football player and coach
• 1971 – Marc Nelson, American singer-songwriter
• 1971 – Adam Parore, New Zealand cricketer and mountaineer
• 1972 – Ewen Bremner, Scottish actor and producer
• 1972 – Lisa Snowdon, English model and television host
• 1972 – Dmitry Shumkov, Russian lawyer and philanthropist (d. 2015)
• 1972 – Marcel Wouda, Dutch swimmer and coach
• 1973 – Lanei Chapman, American actress
• 1973 – Tomas Holmström, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1973 – Epy Quizon, Filipino actor and screenwriter
• 1974 – Sampsa Astala, Finnish singer-songwriter and drummer
• 1974 – Joël Bouchard, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
• 1974 – Rebekah Elmaloglou, Australian actress
• 1974 – Yosvani Pérez, Cuban baseball player
• 1974 – Richard T. Slone, English painter
• 1974 – Tiffani Thiessen, American actress
• 1975 – Phil Dawson, American football player
• 1975 – Tito Ortiz, American mixed martial artist, referee, and actor
• 1976 – Brandon Duckworth, American baseball player and scout
• 1976 – Harmen Fraanje, Dutch pianist and composer
• 1976 – Tony Lucca, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
• 1976 – Angelica Lee, Malaysian actress
• 1977 – Sumit Seth, Indian diplomat
• 1979 – Larry Hughes, American basketball player
• 1979 – Dawn O'Porter, Scottish-English fashion designer and journalist
• 1979 – Juan Rincón, Venezuelan baseball player and coach
• 1981 – Sarai, American rapper and actress
• 1981 – Rob Friend, Canadian soccer player
• 1982 – Patrick Levis, American actor
• 1982 – Wily Mo Peña, Dominican baseball player
• 1982 – Andrew Rock, American sprinter
• 1983 – Irving Saladino, Panamanian long jumper
• 1984 – Robbie Farah, Australian rugby league player
• 1984 – Arjen Robben, Dutch footballer
• 1985 – Dong Fangzhuo, Chinese footballer
• 1985 – Doutzen Kroes, Dutch model and actress
• 1985 – Yevgeny Lukyanenko, Russian pole vaulter
• 1985 – Aselefech Mergia, Ethiopian runner
• 1986 – Gero, Japanese singer
• 1986 – Gelete Burka, Ethiopian runner
• 1986 – Anne Foy, English actress and television host
• 1986 – Yukie Kawamura, Japanese model and actress
• 1986 – Marc Laird, Scottish footballer
• 1986 – José Enrique, Spanish footballer
• 1986 – Steven Taylor, English footballer
• 1987 – The Avener, French DJ and producer
• 1987 – Felicia Brandström, Swedish singer
• 1987 – Leo Komarov, Finnish ice hockey player
• 1988 – Shaun Kenny-Dowall, New Zealand rugby league player
• 1988 – Alan Power, Irish footballer
• 1989 – April Pearson, English actress
• 1990 – Artjom Abramov, Estonian ice hockey player
• 1990 – Şener Özbayraklı, Turkish footballer
• 1990 – Alex Silva, Canadian wrestler
• 1990 – Martyn Waghorn, English footballer
• 1992 – Reina Triendl, Japanese model and actress
• 1995 – Lee Yoo-young, South Korean singer

Deaths

• 1002 – Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 980)
• 1199 – Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur, Moroccan caliph (b. 1160)
• 1516 – Ferdinand II of Aragon (b. 1452)
• 1548 – Bernardo Pisano, Italian priest, scholar, and composer (b. 1490)
• 1549 – Johannes Honter, Romanian-Hungarian cartographer and theologian (b. 1498)
• 1567 – Jiajing Emperor of China (b. 1507)
• 1570 – James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, Scottish politician (b. 1531)
• 1622 – William Baffin, English explorer and navigator (b. 1584)
• 1744 – Giambattista Vico, Italian historian and philosopher (b. 1668)
• 1785 – Matthew Stewart, Scottish mathematician and academic (b. 1717)
• 1789 – Frances Brooke, English author and playwright (b. 1724)
• 1789 – John Cleland, English author (b. 1709)
• 1800 – Edward Rutledge, American captain and politician, 39th Governor of South Carolina (b. 1749)
• 1803 – Arthur Guinness, Irish brewer, founded Guinness (b. 1725)
• 1805 – Claude Chappe, French engineer (b. 1763)
• 1806 – William Pitt the Younger, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1759)
• 1810 – Johann Wilhelm Ritter, German chemist and physicist (b. 1776)
• 1812 – Robert Craufurd, Scottish general and politician (b. 1764)
• 1820 – Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (b. 1767)
• 1833 – Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, English admiral and politician (b. 1757)
• 1837 – John Field, Irish pianist and composer (b. 1782)
• 1866 – Thomas Love Peacock, English author and poet (b. 1785)
• 1875 – Charles Kingsley English priest and author (b. 1819)
• 1883 – Gustave Doré, French engraver and illustrator (b. 1832)
• 1893 – Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II, American lawyer and politician, 16th United States Secretary of the Interior (b. 1825)
• 1893 – José Zorrilla, Spanish poet and playwright (b. 1817)
• 1921 – Mykola Leontovych, Ukrainian composer and conductor (b. 1877)
• 1922 – Arthur Nikisch, Hungarian conductor and academic (b. 1855)
• 1923 – Max Nordau, Austrian physician and author (b. 1849)
• 1931 – Anna Pavlova, Russian-English ballerina (b. 1881)
• 1937 – Orso Mario Corbino, Italian physicist and politician (b. 1876)
• 1939 – Matthias Sindelar, Austrian footballer and manager (b. 1903)
• 1943 – Alexander Woollcott, American actor, playwright, and critic (b. 1887)
• 1944 – Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter and illustrator (b. 1863)
• 1947 – Pierre Bonnard, French painter (b. 1867)
• 1956 – Alexander Korda, Hungarian-English director and producer (b. 1893)
• 1957 – Willie Edwards, American murder victim (b. 1932)
• 1963 – Józef Gosławski, Polish sculptor (b. 1908)
• 1966 – T. M. Sabaratnam, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (d. 1895)
• 1971 – Fritz Feigl, Austrian-Brazilian chemist and academic (b. 1871)
• 1973 – Alexander Onassis, American-Greek businessman (b. 1948)
• 1973 – Kid Ory, American trombonist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1886)
• 1976 – Paul Robeson, American actor, singer, and activist (b. 1898)
• 1977 – Toots Shor, American businessman, founded Toots Shor's Restaurant (b. 1903)
• 1978 – Terry Kath, American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1946)
• 1978 – Jack Oakie, American actor (b. 1903)
• 1980 – Giovanni Michelotti, Italian engineer (b. 1921)
• 1981 – Samuel Barber, American pianist and composer (b. 1910)
• 1983 – Fred Bakewell, English cricketer and coach (b. 1908)
• 1984 – Muin Bseiso, Palestinian-Egyptian poet and critic (b. 1926)
• 1986 – Joseph Beuys, German sculptor and painter (b. 1921)
• 1988 – Charles Glen King, American biochemist and academic (b. 1896)
• 1989 – Salvador Dalí, Spanish painter and sculptor (b. 1904)
• 1989 – Lars-Erik Torph, Swedish race car driver (b. 1961)
• 1990 – Allen Collins, American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1952)
• 1991 – Northrop Frye, Canadian author and critic (b. 1912)
• 1992 – Freddie Bartholomew, American actor (b. 1924)
• 1993 – Thomas A. Dorsey, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1899)
• 1993 – Keith Laumer, American soldier, author, and diplomat (b. 1925)
• 1994 – Nikolai Ogarkov, Russian field marshal (b. 1917)
• 1994 – Brian Redhead, English journalist and author (b. 1929)
• 1997 – Richard Berry, American singer-songwriter (b. 1935)
• 1999 – Joe D'Amato, Italian director and cinematographer (b. 1936)
• 1999 – Jay Pritzker, American businessman, co-founded the Hyatt Corporation (b. 1922)
• 1999 – Lincoln Thompson, Jamaican-English singer-songwriter (b. 1949)
• 2002 – Paul Aars, American race car driver (b. 1934)
• 2002 – Pierre Bourdieu, French sociologist, anthropologist, and philosopher (b. 1930)
• 2002 – Robert Nozick, American philosopher, author, and academic (b. 1938)
• 2003 – Nell Carter, American actress and singer (b. 1948)
• 2004 – Bob Keeshan, American television personality and producer (b. 1927)
• 2004 – Helmut Newton, German-Australian photographer (b. 1920)
• 2005 – Morys Bruce, 4th Baron Aberdare, English lieutenant and politician (b. 1921)
• 2005 – Johnny Carson, American talk show host and producer (b. 1925)
• 2007 – Syed Hussein Alatas, Malaysian sociologist and politician (b. 1928)
• 2007 – E. Howard Hunt, American CIA officer (b. 1918)
• 2007 – Ryszard Kapuściński, Polish journalist and author (b. 1932)
• 2009 – Robert W. Scott, American farmer and politician, 67th Governor of North Carolina (b. 1929)
• 2010 – Kermit Tyler, American colonel and pilot (b. 1913)
• 2010 – Earl Wild, American pianist and composer (b. 1915)
• 2011 – Jack LaLanne, American fitness instructor, author, and television host (b. 1914)
• 2012 – Wesley E. Brown, American lawyer and jurist (b. 1907)
• 2012 – Marcel De Boodt, Belgian agriculturalist and academic (b. 1926)
• 2012 – Maurice Meisner, American historian, author, and academic (b. 1931)
• 2012 – Bingham Ray, American businessman, co-founded October Films (b. 1954)
• 2013 – Józef Glemp, Polish cardinal (b. 1929)
• 2013 – Peter van der Merwe, South African cricketer and referee (b. 1937)
• 2013 – Jean-Félix-Albert-Marie Vilnet, French bishop (b. 1922)
• 2014 – Yuri Izrael, Russian meteorologist and journalist (b. 1930)
• 2014 – Mille Marković, Serbian-Swedish boxer (b. 1961)
• 2014 – Riz Ortolani, Italian composer and conductor (b. 1926)
• 2015 – Ernie Banks, American baseball player and coach (b. 1931)
• 2015 – Prosper Ego, Dutch activist, founded the Oud-Strijders Legioen (b. 1927)
• 2015 – Abdullah of Saudi Arabia (b. 1924)
• 2016 – Jimmy Bain, Scottish bassist (Rainbow, Dio) (b. 1947)
• 2016 – Espectrito, Mexican wrestler (b. 1966)
• 2016 – Barry Brickell, New Zealand potter and author (b. 1935)
• 2016 – Žuži Jelinek, Hungarian-Croatian fashion designer (b. 1920)
• 2016 – Bobby Wanzer, American basketball player and coach (b. 1921)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Abakuh
  • Marianne of Molokai
  • Emerentiana
  • Espousals of the Blessed Virgin Mary
  • Ildefonsus of Toledo
  • Phillips Brooks (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • Saint Sarkis the Warrior
  • January 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Bounty Day (Pitcairn Islands)
• Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's Jayanti (Orissa, Tripura, and West Bengal, India)
• World Freedom Day (Taiwan and South Korea)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to January 23.

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• Today in Canadian History