January 7

2024 Calendar

January 7 is the seventh day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 358 days remaining until the end of the year (359 in leap years). For Orthodox Christians, this is when Christmas is celebrated.

Events

Up to 1900

1325 – Alfonso IV becomes King of Portugal.
1350 – Guttorm Palsson, Bishop of Stavanger in Norway, dies, as the last known death from Europe's 1347-1350 plague epidemic.
1558 – France takes Calais, the last continental possession of England.
1566 – Pius V becomes Pope.
1598 – Boris Godunov seizes the throne of Russia.
1601 – Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex leads revolt in London against Queen Elizabeth I of England.
1608 – Fire destroys Jamestown, Virginia.
1610 – Galileo Galilei observes the four largest moons of Jupiter for the first time. He named them and in turn the four are called the Galilean moons.
1782 – The first American commercial bank opens (Bank of North America).
1785 – Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American John Jeffries travel from Dover, England to Calais, France in a gas balloon, becoming the first to cross the English Channel by air.
1789 – George Washington is elected the first President of the United States, taking office on April 30.
1797 – The parliament of the Repubblica Cisalpina adopts the Italian green-white-red tricolour as the official flag. It is the birthday of the flag of Italy.
1835 – HMS Beagle anchors off the Chonos Archipelago.
1894 – W.K. Dickson receives a patent for movie film.
1896 – Fannie Farmer publishes her first cookbook.

1901–1950

1901 – Alferd Packer is released from prison after serving 18 years for cannibalism.
1904 – The distress signal "CQD" is established only to be replaced two years later by "SOS."
1911 – Mary Pickford marries Owen Moore.
1919 – Montenegrin guerrilla fighters rebel against the planned annexation (take-over) of Montenegro by Serbia, but fail.
1922 – Dáil Éireann ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64-57 votes.
1924 – George Gershwin completes "Rhapsody in Blue".
1926 – George Burns marries Gracie Allen.
1927 – First international telephone call – New York City to London.
1927 – The Harlem Globetrotters play their first basketball game.
1931 – Guy Menzies becomes the first person to, on his own, fly non-stop from Australia to New Zealand in 11 hours and 45 minutes, crash-landing on New Zealand's west coast after crossing the Tasman Sea.
1935 – World War II: Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval sign the Italo-French agreements.
1940 – Winter War: The Finnish 9th Division stops and completely destroys the overwhelming Soviet forces on the Raate-Suomussalmi road.
1942 – World War II: Siege of the Bataan Peninsula begins.
1945 – British General Bernard Montgomery holds a press conference in which he claims credit for victory in the Battle of the Bulge.
1950 – A fire at Mercy Hospital in Davenport, Iowa kills 41 people.

1951–2000

1953 – President Harry Truman announces that the United States has developed a hydrogen bomb.
1954 – The first public demonstration of a machine translation system was held in New York at the head office of IBM.
1955 – Contralto Marian Anderson becomes the first African American person to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
1958 – Walter Hallstein becomes the first President of the European Commission.
1959 – The United States recognizes the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro.
1960 – The UGM-27 Polaris missile is test-launched.
1968 – The Surveyor 7 spacecraft is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
1972 – While landing on Ibiza, a Sud Caravelle airplane of the Iberia airline crashes, killing 104 people.
1973 – Mark Essex shoots 10 people dead and injures 13 at a Howard Johnson's hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana, before being shot dead by police.
1975 – OPEC agrees to raise crude oil prices by 10%.
1979 – Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia are overthrown by Vietnamese troops.
1980 – US President Jimmy Carter authorizes legislation giving $1.5 billion in loans to bail out Chrysler Corporation.
1984 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
1989 – Long-serving Japanese Emperor Hirohito dies aged 87; His son Akihito becomes Emperor of Japan.
1990 – The Leaning Tower of Pisa is closed to the public due to safety concerns.
1991 – Roger Lafontant attempts a coup in Haiti.
1993 – The Fourth Republic of Ghana is inaugurated, with Jerry Rawlings as President.
1993 – The Bosnian Army executes a surprise attack on the village of Kravica in Srebrenica.
1996 – One of the worst blizzards in American history hits eastern states killing more than 100.
1997 – A team of programmers at the University of Regensburg, Germany releases Tibia, one of the earliest graphical MMORPGs.
1999 – The impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton begins.
1999 – A series of landslides in Indonesia kills over 100 people.

From 2001

2006 – In the UK, Charles Kennedy resigns as leader of the Liberal Democrats, having come under pressure after admitting that he had a drink problem.
2010 – Muslim gunmen in Egypt open fire on a crowd of Coptic Christians, killing 8 of them and one Muslim bystander.
2012 – A hot-air balloon crashes near Carterton, New Zealand, killing all 11 people on board.
2015 – A bomb attack in Sana'a, Yemen, kills at least 30 people.
2015 – Charlie Hebdo shooting: Islamic extremist gunmen storm the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris, killing 12 people, including 2 police officers and several prominent French journalists and cartoonists. 11 people are seriously injured.

Births

From 1976

1976 – Marcelo Bordon, Brazilian footballer
1977 – Dustin Diamond, American actor
1977 – Sofi Oksanen, Finnish writer
1978 – Emilio Palma, first person to be born on the continent of Antarctica
1978 – Jean Charles de Menezes, Brazilian electrician, shot dead by police in London (d. 2005)
1979 – Christian Lindner, German politician
1982 – Lauren Cohan, American actress
1982 – Camilo Villegas, Colombian golfer
1983 – Natalie Gulbis, American golfer
1985 – Lewis Hamilton, English racecar driver, two-time Formula One world champion
1985 – Wayne Routledge, English footballer
1986 – Grant Leadbitter, English footballer
1987 – Davide Astori, Italian footballer (d. 2018)
1987 – Lyndsy Fonseca, American actress
1988 – Haley Bennett, American singer and actress
1988 – Hardwell, Dutch DJ and producer
1989 – Emiliano Insua, Argentine footballer
1990 – Liam Aiken, American actor
1990 – Elene Gedevanishvili, Georgian figure skater
1990 – Camryn Grimes, American actress
1990 – Gregor Schlierenzauer, Austrian ski jumper
1991 – Caster Semenya, South African athlete
1991 – Eden Hazard, Belgian footballer
1991 – Max Morrow, Canadian actor
1991 – Roberto Pereyra, Argentine footballer
1992 – Erik Gudbranson, Canadian ice hockey player
1997 – Ayumi Ishida, Japanese singer (Morning Musume)

Deaths

Up to 1900

312 – Lucianus of Antioch, theologist/saint
672 – Emperor Tenji of Japan (b. 626)
1131 – Canute Lavard, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and saint (b. 1096)
1285 – King Charles I of Naples (b. 1226)
1325 – King Dinis of Portugal (b. 1261)
1355 – Ines de Castro, Castilian royal (b. 1320)
1451 – Antipope Felix V (b. 1383)
1536 – Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England (b. 1485)
1609 – Nicholas Hilliard, English painter (b. 1547)
1625 – Ruggiero Giovanelli, Italian composer (b. 1560)
1655 – Pope Innocent X (b. 1574)
1658 – Theophilus Eaton, American farmer and politician (b. 1590)
1730 – Arni Magnusson, Icelandic scholar (b. 1663)
1758 – Allan Ramsay, Scottish poet (b. 1686)
1770 – Carl Gustaf Tessin, Swedish politician (b. 1695)
1830 – Thomas Lawrence, English painter (b. 1769)
1830 – Carlota Joaquina of Spain, Queen of Portugal (b. 1775)
1864 – Caleb Blood Smith, U.S. Secretary of the Interior (b. 1808)
1872 – James Fisk, American entrepreneur (b. 1834)
1882 – Ignacy Lukasiewicz, Polish inventor and chemist (b. 1822)
1892 – Tewfik Pasha, Khedive (ruler) of Egypt (b. 1852)
1893 – Jožef Stefan, Slovene physicist, mathematician and poet (b. 1835)

1901–2000

1913 – Jack Boyle, American baseball player (b. 1866)
1920 – Edmund Barton, 1st Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1849)
1927 – Nikolaos Kalogeropoulos, Greek politician (b. 1851)
1932 – André Maginot, French civil servant, soldier and politician (b. 1877)
1943 – Nikola Tesla, Serbian-born inventor and electrical engineer (b. 1856).
1944 – Lou Henry Hoover, First Lady of the United States (b. 1874)
1945 – Alexander Stirling Calder, American sculptor (b. 1870)
1951 – René Guénon, French-Egyptian writer (b. 1886)
1963 – Arthur Moore, Australian politician, Premier of Queensland (b. 1876)
1964 – Cyril Davies, blues musician (b. 1932)
1972 – John Berryman, American poet (b. 1914)
1973 – Mark Essex, American spree killer (b. 1949)
1975 – Sinéad de Valera, wife of Irish statesman Éamon de Valera (b. 1878)
1980 – Larry Williams, American singer-songwriter, pianist and producer (b. 1935)
1984 – Alfred Kastler, French physicist (b. 1902)
1986 – P. D. Eastman, American writer and illustrator (b. 1909)
1988 – Trevor Howard, English actor (b. 1913)
1989 – Hirohito, Emperor of Japan (b. 1901)
1989 – Frank Adams, English mathematician (b. 1930)
1990 – Bronko Nagurski, American football player (b. 1908)
1992 – Richard Hunt, American puppeteer (b. 1951)
1995 – Murray Rothbard, American economist (b. 1926)
1998 – Vladimir Prelog, Croatian chemist (b.1906)

From 2001

2002 – Avery Schreiber, American actor (b. 1935)
2004 – Ingrid Thulin, Swedish actress (b. 1926)
2005 – Pierre Daninos, French novelist (b. 1913)
2005 – Rosemary Kennedy, third child and first daughter of Joseph and Rose Kennedy (b. 1918)
2005 – Eileen Desmond, Irish politician, former Minister for Health & Social Welfare (b. 1932)
2007 – Magnus Magnusson, Icelandic television presenter (b. 1929)
2008 – Alwyn Schlebusch, South African politician (b. 1917)
2013 – Carl Berner, German-American supercentenarian (b. 1902)
2013 – Huell Howser, American television host (b. 1945)
2013 – David R. Ellis, American director, actor and stuntman (b. 1952)
2014 – Run Run Shaw, Hong Kong movie producer and entrepreneur (b. 1907)
2015 – People killed in the Charlie Hebdo shooting:
- Cabu, French cartoonist (b. 1938)
- Elsa Cayat, French psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and columnist (b. 1960)
- Charb, French cartoonist and journalist, Editor-in-Chief of Charlie Hebdo (b. 1967)
- Philippe Honoré, French cartoonist (b. 1941)
- Bernard Maris, French economist and journalist (b. 1946)
- Tignous, French cartoonist (b. 1957)
- Georges Wolinski, French cartoonist (b. 1934)
2015 – Tadeusz Konwicki, Polish writer and filmmaker (b. 1926)
2015 – Rod Taylor, Australian actor (b. 1930)
2015 – Mompati Merafhe, former Vice President of Botswana (b. 1947)
2015 – B. S. Abdur Rahman, Indian business executive (b. 1947)
2015 – Arch A. Moore, Jr., American politician, 28th and 30th Governor of West Virginia (b. 1923)
2015 – Jethro Pugh, American football player (b. 1944)
2015 – J. P. Parisé, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1941)
2015 – David Rolfe, Australian swimmer (b. 1964)
2015 – José Arias, Spanish skier (b. 1922)
2016 – Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Indian politician (b. 1936)
2016 – Sergey Shustikov, Russian footballer (b. 1970)
2016 – Robert M. Cundick, American organist and composer (b. 1926)
2016 – Judith Kaye, American lawyer (b. 1938)
2016 – Kitty Kallen, American singer (b. 1921)
2016 – Klaas Bakker, Dutch footballer (b. 1926)
2016 – Sol Polansky, American diplomat (b. 1926)
2016 – Richard Libertini, American actor (b. 1933)
2016 – Anton Srholec, Slovakian writer and priest (b. 1929)
2016 – Ashraf Pahlavi, Iranian princess (b. 1919)
2016 – Valerio Zanone, Italian politician (b. 1936)
2017 – Mario Soares, President of Portugal (b. 1924)
2017 – Nat Hentoff, American political philosopher, columnist and music critic (b. 1925)
2017 – Jerzy Kossela, Polish guitarist and singer (b. 1942)
2017 – Lech Trzeciakowski, Polish historian (b. 1931)
2017 – Lelio Lagorio, Italian politician (b. 1925)
2017 – Lucina da Costa Gomez-Matheeuws, Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles (b. 1929)
2017 – Ramanuja Devnathan, Indian Sanskrit scholar (b. 1959)
2017 – John Deely, American philosopher (b. 1942)
2018 – Jim Anderton, New Zealand politician (b. 1938)
2018 – France Gall, French singer (b. 1947)
2018 – Anna Mae Hays, American military officer and nurse (b. 1920)
2018 – Markku Into, Finnish poet (b. 1945)
2018 – Peter Sutherland, Irish businessman (b. 1946)
2019 – Moshe Arens, Lithuanian-born Israeli aeronautical engineer, diplomat, and politician (b. 1925)
2019 – Jocelyne Saab, Lebanese film director (b. 1948)
2020 – Neil Peart, Canadian drummer (Rush) (b. 1952)
2021 – Tommy Lasorda, American baseball player/manager for the L.A. Dodgers (b. 1927)

Observances

Christmas in Eastern Orthodox Churches that still use the Julian calendar
Tricolour Day (Italy)
Victory from Genocide Day (Cambodia)

January 7

Events

Up to 1900

1901–1950

1951–2000

From 2001

Births

Up to 1900

1901–1950

1951–1975

From 1976

Deaths

Up to 1900

1901–2000

From 2001

Observances