January 15 is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 350 days remaining (351 in leap years).

Events

• 69 - Otho seizes power in Rome, proclaiming himself Emperor of Rome, but only survives for three months before committing suicide.
• 1559 - Elizabeth I of England is crowned in Westminster Abbey by Owen Oglethorpe, the Bishop of Carlisle, instead of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
• 1582 - Russia cedes Livonia and Estonia to Poland.
• 1759 - The British Museum opens.
• 1777 - American Revolutionary War: New Connecticut (present day Vermont) declares its independence.
• 1782 - Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris goes before the U.S. Congress to recommend establishment of a national mint and decimal coinage.
• 1844 - University of Notre Dame receives its charter from Indiana.
• 1870 - A political cartoon for the first time symbolizes the United States Democratic Party with a donkey ("A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion" by Thomas Nast for Harper's Weekly).
• 1892 - James Naismith publishes the rules for basketball.
• 1919 - The Boston Molasses Disaster kills 21 people.
• 1919 - Ignace Paderewski becomes Premier of Poland.
• 1936 - The first building to be completely covered in glass is completed in Toledo, Ohio (the building was for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company).
• 1943 - World War II: Japanese driven off Guadalcanal.
• 1943 - The world's largest office building, The Pentagon, is dedicated (Arlington, Virginia).
• 1951 - Ilse Koch, The "Bitch of Buchenwald", wife of the commandant of the Buchenwald concentration camp, is sentenced to life imprisonment in a court in West Germany.
• 1967 - Super Bowl I is played -- The Green Bay Packers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs, 35-10.
• 1969 - The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 5.
• 1970 - After a 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria, Biafra surrenders.
• 1970 - Muammar al-Qaddafi is proclaimed premier of Libya.
• 1973 - Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, President of the United States Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.
• 1974 - Happy Days premiers on ABC.
• 1975 - Portugal grants independence to Angola.
• 1976 - Gerald Ford's would be assassin, Sara Jane Moore, is sentenced to life in prison.
• 1990 - AT&T's long distance telephone network suffers a cascade switching failure.
• 1991 - The United Nations deadline for the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait expires, preparing the way for the start of Operation Desert Storm.
• 1992 - The international community recognizes the independence of Slovenia and Croatia from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
• 1999 - The Racak incident: 45 Albanians in the Kosovo village of Racak were killed by Yugoslav security forces.
• 2001 - Wikipedia, a Wiki free content encyclopedia, goes online.

Births

• 1432 - King Afonso V of Portugal (d. 1481)
• 1481 - Ashikaga Yoshizumi, Ashikaga shogun (b. 1511)
• 1622 - Molière, French playwright (d. 1673)
• 1747 - John Aikin, English doctor and writer (d. 1822)
• 1791 - Franz Grillparzer, Austrian lyricist
• 1809 - Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, French anarchist (d. 1865)
• 1850 - Mihai Eminescu, Romanian poet (d. 1889)
• 1863 - Wilhelm Marx, German politician, chancellor of the Weimar Republic
• 1869 - Stanisław Wyspiański, Polish dramatist, poet, painter, architect (d. 1907)
• 1870 - Pierre S. DuPont, industrialist
• 1875 - Tom Burke, American runner
• 1879 - Mazo de la Roche, Canadian author (d. 1961)
• 1891 - Osip Mandelstam, Soviet poet and essayist (d. 1938)
• 1892 - Rex Ingram, director, writer (d. 1950)
• 1893 - Ivor Novello, actor, musician (d. 1951)
• 1899 - Goodman Ace, actor, comedian, writer (d. 1982)
• 1908 - Edward Teller (d. 2003)
• 1909 - Gene Krupa, drummer (d. 1973)
• 1913 - Lloyd Bridges, actor (d. 1998)
• 1914 - Hugh Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton, historian (d. 2004)
• 1918 - Gamal Abdal Nasser, President of Egypt (d. 1970)
• 1918 - João Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo, Brazilian politician (d. 1999)
• 1918 - Robert Byrd, American politician
• 1920 - John Cardinal O'Connor, Catholic Cardinal (d. 2000)
• 1923 - Lee Teng-hui, Taiwanese politician
• 1926 - Maria Schell, Swiss actress
• 1927 - Norm Crosby, comedian
• 1927 - Phyllis Coates, actress
• 1929 - Martin Luther King Jr, American civil rights leader (d. 1968)
• 1931 - Patricia Blair, American actress
• 1933 - Ernest J. Gaines, author
• 1937 - Margaret O'Brien, actress
• 1941 - Captain Beefheart, singer
• 1942 - Charo, singer, actress
• 1945 - Vince Foster, White House operative (d. 1993)
• 1947 - Andrea Martin, Canadian actress
• 1948 - Ronnie VanZant, lead vocal for Lynyrd Skynyrd (d. 1977)
• 1957 - Mario Van Peebles, actor, director
• 1957 - Julian Sands, actor
• 1965 - Adam Jones, musician of Tool
• 1968 - Chad Lowe, American actor
• 1971 - Regina King, American actress
• 1981 - El Hadji Diouf, Senegalese football star
• 1982 - Benjamin Agosto, American skater
• 1984 - Megan Quann, U.S. swimmer

Deaths

• 41 - Caligula, Roman Emperor (b. 12)
• 1595 - Murat III, Ottoman Emperor
• 1915 - Mary Slessor, Scottish Christian missionary to West Africa (b. 1848)
• 1919 - Rosa Luxemburg, politician (b. 1870)
• 1947 - Elizabeth Short, AKA The Black Dahlia, murder viction
• 1955 - Yves Tanguy, Surrealist painter (b. 1900)
• 1964 - Jack Teagarden, musician (b. 1905)
• 1983 - Meyer Lansky, mobster (b. 1902)
• 1987 - Ray Bolger, actor, singer, dancer (b. 1904)
• 1990 - Gordon Jackson, film & tv actor; best known as the butler 'Hudson' on Upstairs Downstairs (b. 1923)
• 1993 - Sammy Cahn, songwriter (b. 1913)
• 1994 - Harry Nilsson, musician (b. 1941)
• 1998 - Junior Wells, musician
• 2000 - Zeljko Raznatovic, Serbian leader
• 2001 - Ted Mann, screenwriter
• 2003 - Gladys Kamakakuokalani Ainoa Brandt, Hawaiian educator; fought for native Hawaiian rights
• 2003 - Doris Fisher, singer and songwriter
• 2005 - Ruth Warrick, actress

Holidays and observances

• Roman Empire - Second day of the Carmentalia in honor of Carmenta
• United States - Traditionally, Martin Luther King Day
• Kerala in India- Makaravilakku or Makara Sankranthy at Sabarimala
• Jallikattu in South India

January 14 - January 16 - December 15 - February 15 -- listing of all days