21st January — International Hug Day & World Squirrel Appreciation Day

Welcome to 21st January! It's International Hug Day and World Squirrel Appreciation Day. Explore 49 historical events, birthdays, deaths, and milestones that shaped this day. From remarkable moments in local and world history to the people who left their mark — find out what makes today special. Tonight's moon is in its waning gibbous phase, and the zodiac sign of the day is Aquarius. If you're curious about the history of a day — this page brings together everything worth knowing about this 21st January.

21 January falls under the zodiac sign of Aquarius, characteristic of those born during this period. The moon is in its waning gibbous phase, gradually decreasing in illumination as it moves away from full. Meteorologically, this date typically marks the depth of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, whilst the Southern Hemisphere experiences summer conditions.

On this day

On 21 January 1976, Concorde, the Anglo-French supersonic airliner, began scheduled commercial flights, marking a historic milestone in aviation. The aircraft commenced regular service to London, Paris, Bahrain, and Rio de Janeiro, representing an unprecedented technological achievement in passenger air travel. The fleet operated successfully for nearly three decades, becoming an iconic symbol of engineering prowess and international cooperation.

Nearly a century earlier, on 21 January 1919, the First Dáil convened at the Mansion House in Dublin and adopted a declaration of independence calling for the establishment of the Irish Republic. This pivotal moment in Irish history laid the constitutional foundation for the nation's independence movement. Additionally, on 21 January 1797, the Battle on Snowshoes occurred during the French and Indian War, when French regulars, Canadien militia, and Indigenous forces ambushed Rogers' Rangers in a significant engagement that demonstrated the strategic importance of irregular warfare tactics in colonial North America.

International Hug Day

International Hug Day falls on 21 January each year and encourages people to embrace one another as a gesture of warmth and connection. The day aims to promote human bonding and reduce social isolation through physical affection. It has been observed for several decades, though its exact origins remain informal and grassroots rather than officially designated by major international bodies. The day serves as a reminder of the psychological and physical benefits of human contact.

World Squirrel Appreciation Day

World Squirrel Appreciation Day is celebrated on 21 January to recognise and promote awareness of squirrels and their ecological importance. The day was established to highlight these small mammals' role in ecosystems, particularly their contribution to forest regeneration through seed dispersal and storage. The observance has grown in popularity since its inception in the early 2000s, particularly among wildlife enthusiasts and educators. It encourages people to observe and appreciate squirrels in their natural habitats.

DayAtlas provides comprehensive information for any date and location, including weather conditions, notable historical events, and records of famous births and deaths. The platform enables users to explore what happened on specific days throughout history and understand the circumstances of past events.

Explore everything about today 16th June.

A bridge stands not by avoiding the gap, but by spanning it.

Fortune of the Day

21st January in the Stars – Star Sign Aquarius

Today, the zodiac sign Aquarius celebrates its birthday.

Personality Profile

Personality Those born on 21 January blend Capricorn ambition with Mercury intellect, creating pragmatic thinkers who build lasting structures. The Master Number 22 grants them visionary depth beyond surface-level goals. Reserved yet quick-witted, they reveal subtle humor to those who earn their trust.

Strengths & Weaknesses These individuals execute plans with remarkable persistence and combine analytical power with genuine communication skills, setting them apart from typical Capricorns. Perfectionism can trigger overwork; their emotional distance sometimes alienates others. Their greatest strength is turning abstract ideas into concrete reality.

Love In relationships, those born this day are loyal but initially cautious. They seek partners who appreciate intellectual connection and respect their need for space. Once trust is established, their devotion becomes unwavering.

Caree & Finance Career represents self-actualization at the highest level, not mere income. Master Number 22 often guides them into roles where they reshape systems and institutions. Financially conservative and long-term focused, they build wealth through patience rather than speculation.

Health Those born 21 January risk stress through overcommitment and must schedule genuine rest. Regular movement and mental stillness counter their tendency toward rumination. Their earth element provides stability, yet conscious wellness practices remain essential.

That night, the moon was in its waning gibbous phase.

Chinese year of the Snake (Wood).

Fun Facts About 21st January

Name Days in Your Language: Agnes, Ethan, Inez, Mayer, Maynard, Ynez

Someone born on this day would be just 146 days old today — roughly 3,511 hours, 210,685 minutes, or 12,641,139 seconds spent on Earth so far.

It's the 21. day of the year. In 2026, 21st January falls on a Wednesday.

There are 344 days still to come.

We’re currently in Week 4 — the year marches on.

Famous Birthdays on 21st January

On this day, 441 notable people were born on 21st January — spanning from 1264 to 2007. From world leaders to artists and scientists, discover who shares this birthday.

21/01/2007

Luke Littler, English darts player

Luke Littler is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is ranked world number one. Nicknamed "the Nuke", Littler has won two PDC World Championships, in 2025 and 2026, and is the youngest world champion in darts history. He has won 13 PDC major titles—ranked third all-time—and a total of 27 PDC titles.

21/01/2005

IShowSpeed, American YouTuber and online streamer

Darren Jason Watkins Jr., better known as IShowSpeed or simply Speed, is an American influencer, musician and online streamer. He is regarded as one of the most popular online streamers and Internet personalities in the world. Watkins is known for his dramatic and energetic behavior he displays during his variety live streams, including in-real-life streams conducted in various worldwide locations. He has been viewed as a cultural ambassador as he visits countries often to showcase their cultures and inventions to both domestic and international audiences.

21/01/2004

Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway

Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway is the elder child of Crown Prince Haakon and the second child of Crown Princess Mette-Marit, and a grandchild of King Harald V. She is second in line of succession to the Norwegian throne after her father. She represents the fifth generation of the sitting Norwegian royal family of the House of Glücksburg. She has a younger brother, Prince Sverre Magnus, whom she ranks above in the line of succession after the implementation of absolute primogeniture in 1990.

21/01/2003

Hannibal Mejbri, Tunisian footballer

Hannibal Mejbri, also known mononymously as Hannibal, is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL Championship club Burnley and the Tunisia national team.

21/01/2002

Moussa Diabaté, French basketball player

Moussa Diabaté is a French professional basketball player for the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines. Diabaté was a consensus five-star recruit and one of the top centers in the 2021 class.

21/01/2001

Baek Jong-bum, South Korean footballer

Baek Jong-bum is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for K League 1 club FC Seoul. Born in Daejeon, he attended Osan Middle and High School, where he underwent training through FC Seoul's development system. Baek signed with the club in 2018 and made his debut professional appearance in the 2022 K League 1 season.

21/01/1999

Rubina Ali, Indian actress

Rubina Ali, also known as Rubina Qureshi, also known as Rubina Jodiyawala is an Indian actress who played the child version of Latika in the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire (2008), for which she won a Screen Actors Guild Award. Following the film's success, she was cast in the Bollywood film Kal Kisne Dekha (2009).

Fūju Kamio, Japanese actor

Fūju Kamio is a Japanese actor.

Alisha Lehmann, Swiss footballer

Alisha Debora Lehmann is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a forward for WSL club Leicester City and the Switzerland national team.

21/01/1998

Pervis Estupiñán, Ecuadorian footballer

Pervis Josué Estupiñán Tenorio is an Ecuadorian professional footballer who plays as a left-back and left wing-back for Serie A club AC Milan and the Ecuador national team.

21/01/1997

Mamadi Diakite, Guinean basketball player

Mamadi Diakite is a Guinean professional basketball player for Saski Baskonia of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for the Virginia Cavaliers, with whom he won an NCAA national championship in 2019. He also won an NBA championship with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021.

Jeremy Shada, American actor, musician and singer

Jeremy Shada is an American actor, musician and singer. He is best known for his work as the voice of Finn the Human from the American animated television franchise Adventure Time and Lance in Voltron: Legendary Defender. He is also known for his performances in the sketch-comedy series Incredible Crew, the 2020 Netflix musical series Julie and the Phantoms, and DreamWorks Dragons: The Nine Realms.

Ilia Topuria, German-Georgian mixed martial artist

Ilia Topuria is a Georgian and Spanish professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the current UFC Lightweight Champion. A professional since 2015, Topuria is the former UFC Featherweight Champion, becoming the first Georgian and Spanish fighter to win a UFC championship. As of November 18, 2025, he is #2 in the UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings.

21/01/1996

Marco Asensio, Spanish footballer

Marco Asensio Willemsen is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe.

Cristian Pavón, Argentine footballer

Cristian David Pavon, nicknamed The Bulgeterrier is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a winger for Grêmio.

21/01/1995

Jake Elliott, American football player

Jake Daniel Elliott is an American professional football placekicker for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Memphis Tigers and was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL draft. Elliott was a member of the team that won Super Bowl LII. He holds the record for longest field goal by a rookie in NFL history. Elliott was also part of the Eagles' winning team in Super Bowl LIX, converting all four of his field goal attempts, and setting a record for the most accurate performance by a kicker during a Super Bowl in NFL history.

Marine Johannès, French basketball player

Marine Johannès is a French professional basketball player for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). A native of Lisieux in Calvados, she also plays for the French national team, where she participated at the 2016, 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics. She is nicknamed "the Wizard" for her creative playing style and passing and shooting skills.

Alanna Kennedy, Australian soccer player

Alanna Stephanie Kennedy is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a defensive midfielder or centre-back for Women's Super League club London City Lionesses and the Australia national team.

Nguyễn Công Phượng, Vietnamese footballer

Nguyễn Công Phượng is a Vietnamese professional footballer who plays as a forward or an attacking midfielder for V.League 2 club Truong Tuoi Dong Nai.

Yuliya Stupak, Russian cross-country skier

Yuliya Sergeyevna Stupak is a Russian cross-country skier who competes internationally with the Russian national team.

21/01/1994

Amin Affane, Swedish footballer

Amin Tareq Affane is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

Laura Robson, Australian-English tennis player

Laura Robson is a British former professional tennis player. She debuted on the ITF Junior Circuit in 2007, and a year later won the Junior Wimbledon championships at the age of 14. As a junior, she also twice reached the final of the girls' singles tournament at the Australian Open, in 2009 and 2010. She won her first tournament on the ITF Women's Circuit in November 2008.

Booboo Stewart, American actor

Nils Allen "Booboo" Stewart Jr. is an American actor, musician, and visual artist. He is known for playing Seth Clearwater in The Twilight Saga, Warpath in X-Men: Days of Future Past, Jay in the Disney television film franchise Descendants, Luca in Good Trouble, and Willie in Julie and the Phantoms.

21/01/1993

Ronald Blair, former professional American football player

Ronald Blair is an American former professional football defensive end who currently serves as the special teams quality control coach for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Appalachian State Mountaineers and was selected by the 49ers in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL draft. Blair also played for the New York Jets.

Muralha, Brazilian footballer

Luiz Philipe Lima de Oliveira, known as Muralha or Luiz Philipe Muralha, is a Brazilian football who plays as a centre midfielder for Saudi club Abha.

21/01/1992

Sven Erik Bystrøm, Norwegian cyclist

Sven Erik Bystrøm is a Norwegian road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Uno-X Mobility. He was the 2014 Under-23 World Road Race Champion.

James Duckworth, Australian tennis player

James “Quackerjack” Duckworth is an Australian professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of World No. 46 achieved on 31 January 2022 and No. 185 in doubles achieved on 10 February 2020. Duckworth represented Australia in tennis at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 ATP Cup.

Quinton Howden, Canadian ice hockey player

Quinton Howden is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a forward for Springfield Winterhawks of the South Eastern Manitoba Hockey League (SEMHL). He was drafted by the Florida Panthers in the first round of the 2010 NHL entry draft, 25th overall. He was also selected to play in the 2011 and 2012 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships for Canada.

Kwame Karikari, Ghanaian footballer

Kwame Amponsah Karikari is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Thai League 2 club Kasetsart.

Tom Kühnhackl, German ice hockey player

Tom Kühnhackl is a German professional ice hockey player with Adler Mannheim of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). He previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders.

Nicolás Mezquida, Uruguayan footballer

Gabriel Nicolás Mezquida Sero is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Vancouver FC on the Canadian Premier League.

Verónica Cepede Royg, Paraguayan tennis player

Verónica Cepede Royg is a Paraguayan former tennis player.

Roland Szolnoki, Hungarian footballer

Roland Szolnoki is a Hungarian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for and captains Nemzeti Bajnokság I club Puskás Akadémia. A versatile international footballer, he can play with both feet. He normally plays as a defender, but he can sometimes play as a deep-lying playmaker.

21/01/1991

Ali Al-Busaidi, Omani footballer

Ali Sulaiman Rashid Al-Busaidi, commonly known as Ali Al-Busaidi, is an Omani footballer who plays for Al-Seeb Club in the Oman Professional League.

Jan Hirt, Czech cyclist

Jan Hirt is a Czech professional racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI ProTeam NSN Cycling Team.

Brayden McNabb, Canadian ice hockey player

Brayden Luke McNabb is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a defenceman for the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was originally selected 66th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2009 NHL entry draft. He previously played for the Sabres and the Los Angeles Kings. McNabb won the Stanley Cup with the Golden Knights in 2023.

Marta Pagnini, Italian gymnast

Marta Pagnini is a retired Italian group rhythmic gymnast from Prato, Italy.

21/01/1990

Knowledge Musona, Zimbabwean footballer

Knowledge Musona is a Zimbabwean professional footballer who plays as a left winger or forward for Scottland. Musona, also captained the Zimbabwe national team prior to retiring from international football. Previously, he has played senior football in South Africa, Belgium and Germany.

Kelly Rohrbach, American model and actress

Kelly Anne Rohrbach is an American fashion model and actress, best known for her role as C. J. Parker in the film Baywatch.

21/01/1989

Doğuş Balbay, Turkish basketball player

Doğuş Balbay is a Turkish former professional basketball player. He is 6 ft 1 in tall and he plays at the point guard position.

Kayla Banwarth, American indoor volleyball player

Kayla Banwarth is an American former volleyball player and coach. She played as a libero for the United States women's national volleyball team. Banwarth won gold with the national team at the 2014 World Championship, and bronze at the 2015 World Cup and 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Férébory Doré, Congolese footballer

Férébory Doré is a Congolese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Maltese club Mosta. Between 2010 and 2017, he made 37 appearances scoring 10 goals for the Congo national team.

Sergey Fesikov, Russian swimmer

Sergey Vasilyevich Fesikov is a Russian professional swimmer. He was part of the Russian 4 × 100 m freestyle relay teams that finished in ninth and third place at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, respectively.

Justin Houston, American football player

Justin Donovan Houston is an American former professional football linebacker. He played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs, earning first-team All-American honors in 2010. Houston was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the third round of the 2011 NFL draft. A four-time Pro Bowl selection, he was also named to the All-Pro team in 2014. He also played for the Indianapolis Colts, Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers and Miami Dolphins.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Armenian footballer

Henrikh Mkhitaryan is an Armenian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Inter Milan. He is the all time top goalscorer for the Armenia national team.

Zhang Shuai, Chinese tennis player

Zhang Shuai is a Chinese professional tennis player. She has a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 2, achieved in July 2022 and a singles ranking of No. 22 reached in January 2023. She is a three-time Grand Slam tournament champion in women's doubles, having won the 2019 Australian Open and the 2021 US Open alongside Samantha Stosur, and the 2026 Australian Open partnering Elise Mertens.

21/01/1988

Glaiza de Castro, Filipino actress and singer

Glaiza Castro Galura-Rainey, professionally known by her stage name Glaiza de Castro, is a Filipino actress and singer. She is known for playing various roles in television and mainstream, independent, and sociopolitical films. Her performances have earned her accolades, including a Luna Award and a Facine Film Festival Award, as well as several FAMAS Awards and Gawad Urian Awards nominations.

Ashton Eaton, American decathlete

Ashton James Eaton is a retired American decathlete and two-time Olympic champion, who previously held the world record in the decathlon and indoor heptathlon event. Eaton was the second decathlete to break the 9,000-point barrier in the decathlon, with 9,039 points, a score he bettered on August 29, 2015, when he beat his own world record with a score of 9,045 points, and remains the only person to exceed 9,000 points twice. His world record was broken on September 16, 2018, by Frenchman Kevin Mayer, who became the third man to pass the 9,000-point barrier, with a total of 9,126 points.

Rolands Freimanis, Latvian basketball player

Rolands Freimanis is a Latvian professional basketball player who plays for the Rīgas Zeļļi of the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League. He plays at the power forward and center positions.

Vanessa Hessler, Italian-American model and actress

Vanessa Hessler is an Italian-American model and actress. A model since she was 15, Hessler has appeared in many publications throughout Italy, Germany, and France.

Aleksandar Lazevski, Macedonian footballer

Aleksandar Lazevski is a professional footballer who plays for OFK Vršac. Born in Serbia, he represented the Macedonian national team.

Ángel Mena, Ecuadorian footballer

Ángel Israel Mena Delgado is an Ecuadorian professional footballer who plays as a winger for LigaPro Serie A club Orense.

Valérie Tétreault, Canadian tennis player

Valérie Tétreault is a Canadian former professional tennis player. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 112 in February 2010, and peaked at No. 307 in the doubles rankings in April of the same year.

Pieter Timmers, Belgian swimmer

Pieter Timmers is a Belgian retired competitive swimmer who specialized in sprint freestyle events. He won the silver medal in the 100 meter freestyle at the 2016 Olympics. Timmers currently holds nine Belgian records, and seven national titles in long and short course freestyle. Timmers is a resident athlete for Brabo Antwerp, and trains under his personal coach Ronald Gaastra. He stands 2.00 m, and weighs 89 kg (196 lb). He ended his career in Budapest in the second season of the International Swimming League in 2020.

Nemanja Tomić, Serbian footballer

Nemanja Tomić is a Serbian retired footballer. He has been described as a "tricky" winger with sublime dribbling skill.

21/01/1987

Oskars Bārtulis, Latvian ice hockey player

Oskars Bārtulis is a Latvian professional ice hockey defenceman for HC Porto of the Liga Nacional de Hockey Hielo. He played parts of two seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Philadelphia Flyers. In 2018, Bartulis became a Russian citizen and initially ineligible to play for Latvia at national level.

Brandon Crawford, American baseball player

Brandon Michael Crawford is an American former professional baseball shortstop. He spent 14 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), playing all but his last season for the San Francisco Giants. Crawford played college baseball for the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He was selected in the fourth round of the 2008 MLB draft by the Giants, and played his final season in 2024 with the St. Louis Cardinals. Internationally, Crawford represents the United States. In the 2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC), he helped win Team USA's first gold medal in a WBC tournament.

Aida Hadzialic, Swedish politician

Aida Hadžialić is a Bosnian-born Swedish politician and a member of the Social Democrats. She served as Minister for Upper Secondary School, Adult Education and Training from 3 October 2014 until her resignation on 15 August 2016. Prior to joining the government she served as deputy mayor 2010–2014 in Halmstad, Halland.

Darren Helm, Canadian ice hockey player

Darren Helm is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played for the Detroit Red Wings and the Colorado Avalanche, winning the Stanley Cup in 2008 and again in 2022.

Shaun Keeling, South African rower

Shaun Keeling is a South African rower. He won a silver medal in the men's coxless pair event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He also competed in the men's coxless pair event at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Augustine Kiprono Choge, Kenyan runner

Augustine Kiprono Choge is a Kenyan middle distance and long distance runner.

Will Johnson, Canadian soccer player

William David Johnson is a Canadian soccer player who plays for Central Florida Panthers in the National Premier Soccer League and the Central Florida Crusaders in the National Indoor Soccer League. A versatile midfielder, Johnson has represented Canada internationally.

Dominik Roels, German cyclist

Dominik Roels is a former German professional road bicycle racer, who previously rode for German Team Milram. He announced his retirement in January 2011.

Maša Zec Peškirič, Slovenian tennis player

Maša Zec Peškirič is a Slovenian former tennis player.

Ikumi Yoshimatsu, Japanese actress

Ikumi Yoshimatsu is a Japanese actress, stunt woman, book author, opinion leader, social activist and beauty queen who was crowned Miss International 2012 in Okinawa. It was Japan's first Miss International win in the 52-year history of the pageant.

21/01/1986

César Arzo, Spanish footballer

César Arzo Amposta is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a central defender.

Edson Barboza, Brazilian mixed martial artist

Edson Mendes Barboza Júnior is a Brazilian and American professional mixed martial artist, former Muay Thai fighter and kickboxer. He currently competes in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and has formerly competed at Lightweight.

Peyton Hillis, American football player

Derek Peyton Hillis is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football for the Arkansas Razorbacks and was selected in the seventh round of the 2008 NFL draft by the Denver Broncos, where he spent his first two seasons. In 2010, Hillis was traded to the Cleveland Browns and rushed for over 1,000 yards during his first season with the team. Unable to match his success, he was released from the Browns the following year. Hillis spent his last three seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and New York Giants.

João Gomes Júnior, Brazilian swimmer

João Luiz Gomes Júnior is a Brazilian breaststroke swimmer.

Javi López, Spanish footballer

Javier 'Javi' López Rodríguez is a Spanish former professional footballer who played mainly as a full-back.

Gina Mambrú, Dominican Republic volleyball player

Gina Altagracia Mambrú Casilla is a volleyball player from the Dominican Republic, who played the 2012 Olympic Games and the 2014 World Championship ranking fifth in both competitions. She won the gold medal at the 2010 and 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games and bronze at the 2015 Pan American Games.

Jonathan Quick, American ice hockey player

Jonathan Douglas Quick is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender who played most of his career for the Los Angeles Kings. Quick was selected in the third round, 72nd overall, by the Los Angeles Kings at the 2005 NHL entry draft. He also played for the Vegas Golden Knights and the New York Rangers.

Sushant Singh Rajput, Indian actor (died 2020)

Sushant Singh Rajput was an Indian actor best known for his work in Hindi cinema. He earned acclaim for his performances in several notable films, including Kai Po Che! (2013), Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (2015), M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016), Kedarnath (2018), Sonchiriya (2019), and Chhichhore (2019). Rajput received a Screen Award and was nominated for the Filmfare Awards on three occasions. He was featured twice on Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list, and was regarded as one of the most talented and versatile actors of his generation.

Óscar Vílchez, Peruvian footballer

Óscar Christopher Vílchez Soto is a Peruvian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Alianza Universidad. He is the younger brother of footballer Walter Vílchez.

21/01/1985

Artur Beterbiev, Russian boxer

Artur Asilbekovich Beterbiev is a Russian and Canadian professional boxer. He held the undisputed light-heavyweight championship between 2024 and 2025. He also held the International Boxing Organization (IBO) and Ring magazine titles during his reign as champion.

Aura Dione, Danish singer and songwriter

Maria Louise Joensen, known as Aura Dione, is a Danish singer and songwriter. In 2008, she released her debut album, Columbine. The album spawned the hit single "I Will Love You Monday (365)", which reached number one in Germany, achieved over 80 million video views and was certified platinum.

Yumi Hara, Japanese voice actress and singer

Yumi Hara is a Japanese voice actress and singer. In December 2017, she had a hiatus from her singing career.

Sasha Pivovarova, Russian model and actress

Aleksandra ''Sasha'' Igorevna Pivovarova is a Russian model and artist. She is best known as the longest appearing fashion model for Prada, posed for 19 advertisement campaigns, a record Pivovarova has set for the brand. Pivovarova has appeared on the cover of Vogue 62 times. She was part of the original "Wide eyed doll era" in the late 2000s.

Ri Se-gwang, North Korean artistic gymnast

Ri Se-gwang is a retired North Korean artistic gymnast, representing the April 25 Sports Club. He is often considered a specialist on vault apparatus in the sport of men’s artistic gymnastics (MAG).

Dmitri Sokolov, Russian basketball player

Dmitry Nikolaevich Sokolov is a Russian former professional basketball player.

Ryan Suter, American ice hockey player

Ryan Suter is an American professional ice hockey player who is a defenseman. He most recently played for the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played for the Nashville Predators, Minnesota Wild, and Dallas Stars. Internationally, Suter has represented the United States national team at the 2010 Winter Olympics. He is also the owner of the Madison Capitols of the United States Hockey League (USHL).

21/01/1984

Luke Grimes, American actor

Luke Timothy Grimes is an American actor and musician. He is known for his role as Navy SEAL Marc Alan Lee in the film American Sniper. He played Christian Grey's older brother, Elliot, in the film Fifty Shades of Grey (2015), and its sequels, Fifty Shades Darker (2017) and Fifty Shades Freed (2018). He starred as Kayce Dutton in the Paramount Network television series Yellowstone (2018–2024) and in the CBS series Marshals (2026).

Haloti Ngata, American football player

Etuini Haloti Ngata is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for thirteen seasons. He played college football for the Oregon Ducks, earning consensus All-American honors. Ngata was selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round of the 2006 NFL draft, and was voted to the Pro Bowl five times. Ngata played for the Ravens for nine seasons before being traded to the Detroit Lions before the 2015 NFL season. Ngata was also a member of the Philadelphia Eagles for one season in 2018 before retiring. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2025.

21/01/1983

Alex Acker, American-Italian basketball player

Alexander Maurice Acker is an American-Italian former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for Pepperdine University. Acker was selected by the Detroit Pistons as the final pick of the 2005 NBA draft and spent two seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Pistons and Los Angeles Clippers.

Svetlana Khodchenkova, Russian actress

Svetlana Viktorovna Khodchenkova is a Russian film, television and theater actress. She is an Honored Artist of the Russian Federation (2018).

Asael Lubotzky, Israeli physician, author and molecular biologist

Asael Lubotzky is an Israeli physician, author, and molecular biologist. Formerly an officer in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), he is a combat veteran of the Second Lebanon War.

Maryse Mizanin, Canadian-American wrestler

Maryse Mizanin is a Canadian media personality, model, actress and retired professional wrestler. She is best known for her tenures in WWE, where she performed mononymously as Maryse.

Álvaro Quirós, Spanish golfer

Álvaro Quirós García is a Spanish professional golfer.

Francesca Segat, Italian swimmer

Francesca Segat is a butterfly swimmer from Italy who won the silver medal in the 200 m butterfly at the European Short Course Swimming Championships 2003.

Marieke van den Ham, Dutch water polo player

Marieke van den Ham is a water polo player of the Netherlands who represents the Dutch national team in international competitions.

Kelly VanderBeek, Canadian alpine skier

Kelly VanderBeek is a Canadian retired alpine skier originally from Kitchener, Ontario. She currently resides in Canmore, Alberta with husband David Ford. Although she has trained at countless ski clubs over the years, she lists Chicopee Ski Club, Kitchener, Ontario as her home club.

Moritz Volz, German footballer

Moritz Volz is a German former professional footballer, media pundit and scout. He played as a right-back with Schalke 04, Arsenal, Wimbledon, Fulham, Ipswich Town, FC St. Pauli and 1860 Munich.

21/01/1982

Richard José Blanco, Venezuelan footballer

Richard José Blanco Delgado is a Venezuelan footballer that currently plays for Primera División club Metropolitanos as striker.

Nicolas Mahut, French tennis player

Nicolas Pierre Armand Mahut is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 1 in men's doubles, holding the top ranking for a total of 39 weeks. Mahut is a five-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having completed the career Grand Slam with victories at the 2015 US Open, 2016 Wimbledon Championships, 2018 French Open, and 2019 Australian Open, all partnering Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

Adriano Ferreira Martins, Brazilian footballer

Adriano Ferreira Martins, or simply Adriano, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a striker.

Sarah Ourahmoune, French boxer

Sarah Ourahmoune is a French former female boxer. She won a silver medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016 before she retired to found a gym in Paris.

Simon Rolfes, German footballer

Simon Rolfes is a German professional football official and a former player who played as a defensive midfielder. He is the managing director of sport for Bayer Leverkusen.

21/01/1981

Gillian Chung, Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actress

Gillian Chung Ka-lai, known by her stage name Chung Yan-tung, is a Hong Kong actress and singer. She is a member of the Cantopop duo Twins, along with Charlene Choi.

Wu Hanxiong, Chinese fencer

Wu Hanxiong is a male Chinese foil fencer who competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Dany Heatley, Canadian ice hockey player

Daniel James Heatley is a German-born Canadian former professional ice hockey winger. Originally drafted by the Atlanta Thrashers second overall in the 2000 NHL entry draft, he won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the National Hockey League (NHL) rookie of the year in 2002. However, Heatley's time with the Thrashers was derailed when he was at the wheel in a car crash in September 2003 that killed teammate Dan Snyder. Heatley, who was also seriously injured but eventually made a full recovery, pled guilty to second-degree vehicular homicide and received probation.

Andy Lee, South Korean singer and actor

Lee Sun-ho, mononymously credited as Andy Lee (앤디), is a South Korean singer, rapper, actor and record producer. He is the youngest member of six-member boy band Shinhwa. Besides rapping for his band, Andy has ventured out into television acting, musicals, and solo singing. Andy is also the producer of duo Jumper and boy groups Teen Top, 100% and Up10tion.

Izabella Miko, Polish actress, dancer, and producer

Izabella Miko is a Polish actress, dancer, film producer, and environmental activist. She is best known for starring in the film Coyote Ugly and the music videos "Mr. Brightside" and "Miss Atomic Bomb" by The Killers. While a dance student in Poland, Miko was recruited to study at the New York City Ballet at age 15 and later studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Institute. She made her American film debut in Coyote Ugly (2000), followed by a starring part in the vampire thriller The Forsaken (2001).

Jung Ryeo-won, South Korean actress

Jung Ryeo-won is an Australian actress and former singer based in South Korea. She began her career as a singer in the girl group Chakra. Following their disbandment of the group, she transitioned to an actress where she rose to fame in the hit television series My Name Is Kim Sam-soon (2005). She is also known for her roles in Two Faces of My Girlfriend (2007), Castaway on the Moon (2009), History of a Salaryman (2012) and Wok of Love (2018).

David F. Sandberg, Swedish filmmaker

David Fredrik Sandberg is a Swedish filmmaker. He came to prominence for writing, directing, producing, editing, and scoring no-budget short horror films, which he released online under the pseudonym "ponysmasher". The most popular of these, Lights Out (2013), received a feature film adaptation in 2016, marking his feature-length directorial debut. He has since directed the films Annabelle: Creation (2017), Shazam! (2019), Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023), and the 2025 film adaptation of the video game Until Dawn.

Michel Teló, Brazilian singer-songwriter

Michel Teló is a Brazilian sertanejo singer-songwriter and actor. Before his solo act, he was a lead singer in various bands, most notably Grupo Tradição. His biggest national and international hit "Ai Se Eu Te Pego" reached number one in most European and Latin American charts.

21/01/1980

Karsten Forsterling, Australian rower

Karsten Forsterling is an Australian former representative rower. He was a national champion, world champion, a dual Olympian and Olympic medal winner. He represented Australia at eight senior world rowing championships between 2002 and 2019 in both sculling and sweep oared boats.

Lee Kyung-won, South Korean badminton player

Lee Kyung-won is a badminton player from South Korea. Lee was the women's doubles gold medallist at the 2002 Asian Games. She competed at the Olympic Games in 2000, 2004, and 2008, winning women's doubles bronze in 2004, and silver in 2008. She captured the women's doubles gold at the Asian Championships in 2003, 2004 and 2005. Lee educated at the Sungji Girls' Middle School, Sungji Girls' High School, and graduated from the Yong In University.

Nana Mizuki, Japanese singer-songwriter and voice actress

Nana Kondō , better known by the stage name Nana Mizuki , is a Japanese voice actress, singer, and narrator. She is represented by the agency StarCrew. Mizuki was trained as an enka singer, releasing one single under her birth name in 1993 and made her debut as a voice actress in 1997. Her prominent roles include Hinata Hyuga in the long-running ninja series Naruto as well in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Tamao Tamamura in Shaman King 2001 and 2021, Colette Brunel in Tales of Symphonia, Fate Testarossa in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Tsubasa Kazanari in Symphogear, Moka Akashiya in Rosario + Vampire, Tsubomi Hanasaki in Heartcatch Precure! and Ann Takamaki in Persona 5. She also had official dubbing roles in live action version of Itazura na Kiss from Korea and Taiwan, as well in Hunger Games film series as Katniss Everdeen. She is also known for dubbing Ariel Lin's roles.

Xavier Pons, Spanish rally diver

Xavier "Xevi" Pons Puigdillers is a Spanish rally driver who competed in the World Rally Championship from 2003 to 2014.

21/01/1979

Quinton Jacobs, Namibian footballer

Quinton Norman Jacobs is a Namibian former footballer who played as a midfielder.

Melendi, Spanish singer

Ramón Melendi Espina, known mononymously as Melendi, is a Spanish singer-songwriter. His specialties are rock, flamenco, and rumba styles.

Brian O'Driscoll, Irish rugby player

Brian Gerard O'Driscoll is an Irish former professional rugby union player. He played his entire career at outside centre for the Irish provincial team Leinster and for Ireland. He captained Ireland from 2003 until 2012, and captained the British & Irish Lions for their 2005 tour of New Zealand. He is often regarded as one of the greatest rugby players of all time.

21/01/1978

Faris Al-Sultan, German triathlete

Faris al-Sultan is a German former triathlete who is now active as a coach. In 2005, he was the third German to win the Ironman Hawaii. He is listed in the best list of German triathletes on the Ironman distance.

Hernán Rodrigo López, Uruguayan footballer

Hernán Rodrigo López Mora, also known as Rodrigo López, is an Uruguayan football manager and former player who played as a forward. He is the current manager of Paraguayan club Sportivo Luqueño.

Peter von Allmen, Swiss cross-country skier

Peter von Allmen is a Swiss cross-country skier who has been competing since 1997. At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver he finished 43rd in the individual sprint event.

Andrei Zyuzin, Russian ice hockey player

Andrei Yurievich Zyuzin is a Russian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the San Jose Sharks, Tampa Bay Lightning, New Jersey Devils, Minnesota Wild, Calgary Flames and Chicago Blackhawks.

21/01/1977

Hussein Abdulghani, Saudi Arabian footballer

Hussein Omar Abdulghani Sulaimani is a Saudi Arabian former professional footballer who played as a left-back in the Saudi Professional League.

Bradley Carnell, South African footballer

Bradley Neil Carnell is a South African soccer coach and former player who played as a defender. He was most recently the head coach of Major League Soccer club Philadelphia Union.

John DeSantis, Canadian actor

John DeSantis, sometimes credited as John De Santis or John Desantis, is a Canadian character actor, best known as Lurch on the Fox Family show The New Addams Family. His other work includes a principal role in Disney's Touchstone Pictures film The 13th Warrior, in which he played a Viking warrior named Ragnar the Dour. He has also appeared in television series Police Academy and Supernatural.

Kirsten Münchow, German hammer thrower

Kirsten Münchow, known as Kirsten Klose from 2002 until 2007, is a German hammer thrower who won the Olympic bronze medal in 2000 with a personal best throw of 69.28 metres.

Denis Lunghi, Italian cyclist

Denis Lunghi is an Italian former professional racing cyclist. He rode in three editions of the Giro d'Italia.

Ulrike Maisch, German runner

Ulrike Maisch is a long-distance runner from Germany, who won the women's marathon at the 2006 European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden. Her husband, Richard Friedrich, won the Munich Marathon in 2011.

Phil Neville, English footballer and manager

Philip John Neville is an English football manager and former player who was most recently the head coach of Major League Soccer club Portland Timbers. He is also the co-owner of Salford City, along with several of his former Manchester United teammates.

Michael Ruffin, American basketball player

Michael David Ruffin is an American former professional basketball player who played nine seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). At 6'8" and 248 lbs, he played as a power forward/center.

Jerry Trainor, American actor, director, and producer

Gerald William "Jerry" Trainor is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as "Crazy" Steve in Drake & Josh and Spencer Shay in the teen sitcom iCarly and its Paramount+ revival series of the same name, winning three Kids' Choice Awards for his performances. He also did voice work in T.U.F.F. Puppy as Dudley Puppy, for which he received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination. Since 2004, Trainor has worked primarily on the Nickelodeon network. Outside of this, he has had recurring and guest roles on young adult–oriented shows on the Disney Channel and Netflix as well as in the more mature shows Crossing Jordan and 2 Broke Girls.

Loïc Lerouge, French sprinter

Loïc Lerouge is a French former sprinter specializing in the 400 metres and the 4th World Athletics Indoor Championships bronze medallist in the 4 × 400 m relay. Lerouge won the relay silver medal at the 1995 European Athletics Junior Championships before winning bronze at the 1997 World Indoor Championships 4 × 400 m. In 2002, Lerouge won his first European medal at the 2002 European Indoor Championships relay before coming a research director focusing on sport at the French National Centre for Scientific Research.

21/01/1976

Aivaras Abromavičius, Lithuanian-Ukrainian banker and politician; 15th Ukrainian Minister of Economic Development

Aivaras Abromavičius is a Lithuanian-born investor and politician. He was Ukraine's Minister of Economy and Trade starting in December 2014. He did not retain his post in the Groysman Government that was installed on 14 April 2016. Abromavičius was Director General of Ukroboronprom, Ukraine's largest defense industry enterprise, from 31 August 2019 until 6 October 2020. He was a majority shareholder of Ukrainian agricultural company Agro Region until the sale in January 2026 to Kernel-related Enselco

Raivis Belohvoščiks, Latvian cyclist

Raivis Belohvoščiks is a Latvian former professional road cyclist who specialized in individual time trial events. He is ten-time Latvian national time trial champion. In 2006 he signed a 2-year contract with UCI ProTour team Saunier Duval–Prodir, but this was not renewed for the 2009 season. In 2010, he rode for Ceramica Flaminia. He didn't achieve any major results in his first Tour de France. He was 40th in the first time trial around Metz. He was one of the major victims of the Passage du Gois in stage 2, and arrived last in stage 6 to Maubeuge. He left the race during the stage (10) to L'Alpe d'Huez.

Emma Bunton, English singer

Emma Lee Bunton is an English singer, actress and media personality. She rose to fame in the mid-1990s as a member of the pop group the Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Baby Spice, due to the fact that she was the youngest member. With over 100 million records sold worldwide, the Spice Girls are the best-selling female group of all time. The group went on an indefinite hiatus in 2000, before reuniting for a greatest hits album (2007) and two concert tours: the Return of the Spice Girls (2007–2008) and Spice World (2019).

Lars Eidinger, German actor

Lars Eidinger is a German actor and rapper, based in Berlin. He has appeared in German and international film and television productions, including the 2020 film My Little Sister, the German series Babylon Berlin (2017–2022), the 2023 American miniseries All the Light We Cannot See, and the 2024 film Dying.

Giorgio Frezzolini, Italian footballer

Giorgio Frezzolini is a retired Italian footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Igors Stepanovs, Latvian footballer

Igors Stepanovs is a Latvian professional football coach and a former player who played as a defender. He was the manager of the Maldives under-19 national team in 2020-21. Stepanovs played 100 international matches and scored four goals for the Latvia national team. He made his debut in 1995, and played in Euro 2004.

21/01/1975

Nicky Butt, English footballer and coach

Nicholas Butt is an English football coach and former player who was a co-owner of League Two club Salford City. Butt played professional football as a midfielder from 1992 to 2011. He spent the majority of his career with Manchester United, where he won six Premier League titles, three FA Cups, four FA Community Shields, the UEFA Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup.

Thomas Castaignède, French rugby player

Thomas Castaignède is a rugby union footballer from Mont-de-Marsan.

Casey FitzRandolph, American speedskater

Casey J. FitzRandolph is an American speed skater.

Yuji Ide, Japanese race car driver

Yuji Ide is a Japanese racing driver. He is the 2005 Formula Nippon runner-up and the 2010 Suzuka 1000km winner. He competed in Formula One with the Super Aguri team in 2006, but was demoted to third driver after four races and subsequently lost his FIA Super Licence.

Ito, Spanish footballer and manager

Antonio Álvarez Pérez, known as Ito, is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.

Willem Korsten, Dutch footballer

Willem Korsten is a former Dutch professional footballer who played as a left winger.

Jason Moran, American jazz pianist, composer and educator

Jason Moran is an American jazz pianist, composer, and educator involved in multimedia art and theatrical installations.

Florin Șerban, Romanian director

Florin Șerban is a Romanian film director whose film If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle won the Jury Grand Prix and the Alfred Bauer Prize at the 2010 Berlin Film festival. The film was also selected as the Romanian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards but it did not make the final shortlist.

Alyaksandr Yermakovich, Belarusian footballer and manager

Alyaksandr Uladzimiravich Yermakovich is a Belarusian football manager and a former midfielder.

21/01/1974

Malena Alterio, Spanish actress

Malena Grisel Alterio Bacaicoa is an Argentine-born Spanish actress. She became a television icon in Spain for her performance in sitcom Aquí no hay quien viva, playing the role of Belén López Vázquez. She is the recipient of numerous awards, such as the Goya Award for Best Actress for Something Is About to Happen (2023).

Maxwell Atoms, American animator, screenwriter and voice actor

Adam Maxwell Burton, known professionally as Maxwell Atoms, is an American animator, screenwriter, storyboard artist and voice actor. He is the creator of the Cartoon Network series Grim & Evil and its subsequent spin-offs, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and Evil Con Carne.

Kim Dotcom, German-Finnish Internet entrepreneur and political activist

Kim Dotcom, also known as Kimble and Kim Tim Jim Vestor, is a German-Finnish Internet entrepreneur and political activist who lives in Glenorchy, New Zealand.

Arthémon Hatungimana, Burundian middle-distance runner

Arthémon Hatungimana is a former middle-distance runner from Burundi. In 1995, he won a silver medal in 800 metres at the World Championships in Athletics.

Vincent Laresca, American actor

Vincent Laresca is an American actor and restaurant owner.

Ulrich Le Pen, French footballer

Ulrich Le Pen is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent most of his career in his native France apart from a short stint at Ipswich Town.

Marco Zanotti, Italian cyclist

Marco Zanotti is a road bicycle racer from Italy, who was a professional rider from 1997 to 2008, with the exception of the year 1999. Zanotti most recently rodes for the UCI Professional Continental team Preti Mangimi.

21/01/1973

Rob Hayles, English cyclist

Robert John Hayles is an English track and road racing cyclist, who rode for Great Britain and England on the track and several professional teams on the road. Hayles competed in the team pursuit and Madison events, until his retirement in 2011. He now occasionally provides studio-based analysis of cycle races for British Eurosport.

Chris Kilmore, American musician and DJ

Incubus is an American rock band from Calabasas, California. The band was formed in 1991 by vocalist Brandon Boyd, lead guitarist Mike Einziger, and drummer José Pasillas while enrolled in Calabasas High School and later expanded to include bassist Alex "Dirk Lance" Katunich, and Gavin "DJ Lyfe" Koppel; the latter two were eventually replaced by bassist Ben Kenney and DJ Kilmore, respectively. Nicole Row replaced Kenney in 2024.

Edvinas Krungolcas, Lithuanian modern pentathlete

Edvinas Krungolcas is a retired Lithuanian modern pentathlete who won the silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

Flavio Maestri, Peruvian footballer

Flavio Francisco Maestri Andrade is a Peruvian former football player.

21/01/1972

Billel Dziri, Algerian footballer and manager

Billel Dziri is an Algerian football manager, former player and the current head coach of ES Ben Aknoun.

Rick Falkvinge, Swedish businessman and politician

Rickard Falkvinge is a Swedish politician and the founder of the Pirate Party, which he led until 2011.

Sead Kapetanović, Bosnian footballer

Sead Kapetanović is a Bosnian retired footballer.

Yasunori Mitsuda, Japanese composer and producer

Yasunori Mitsuda is a Japanese composer, pianist, and guitarist. Mitsuda is best known for his work in video games, primarily for the Chrono, Xeno, Shadow Hearts, and Inazuma Eleven franchises, among various others. He joined Square upon graduation in 1992. He worked there designing sound effects for two years before being assigned his debut project in Chrono Trigger (1995).

Cat Power, American singer, musician and actress

Charlyn Marie "Chan" Marshall, better known by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer-songwriter. Cat Power was originally the name of her first band, but has become her stage name as a solo artist.

Shawn Rojeski, American curler

Shawn Rojeski is an American curler from Chisholm, Minnesota and Olympic medalist. He was born and raised in Biwabik, Minnesota and attended Mesabi East High School. Under skip Pete Fenson, he received a bronze medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, playing as the third. The team was later named the 2006 USOC Team of the Year.

Sabina Valbusa, Italian cross-country skier

Sabina Valbusa is an Italian cross-country skier who competed from 1993 to 2010.

21/01/1971

Uni Arge, Faroese footballer and entertainer

Uni Jógvanson Arge is a Faroese journalist, writer, musician, singer and a former international football striker.

Rafael Berges, Spanish footballer

Rafael Berges Martín is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a left-back. He is currently manager of Gibraltar Football League club Lynx.

Doug Edwards, American basketball player

Douglas Edwards is an American former professional basketball player who was selected by the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the 1993 NBA draft. Edwards played for the Hawks and Vancouver Grizzlies in 3 NBA seasons, averaging 2.4 ppg. He played collegiately at Florida State University. Edwards gained his nickname "Doughboy" while playing in Vancouver. On September 10, 2008, Frank Martin announced the addition of Edwards to his coaching staff at Kansas State University. He has two brothers, both former basketball players: Steven and Allen.

Dmitri Khlestov, Russian footballer

Dmitri Alekseyevich Khlestov is a former Russian football player.

Sergey Klevchenya, Russian speed skater

Sergey Konstantinovich Klevchenya is a Russian speed skater who competed for the Unified Team in the 1992 Winter Olympics and for Russia in the 1994 Winter Olympics, in the 1998 Winter Olympics, and in the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Dylan Kussman, American actor

Dylan Kussman is an American film and television writer and actor. He played the part of Richard Cameron in the 1989 film Dead Poets Society (1989) and Dr. Allen Painter in The Way of the Gun (2000). He has also appeared in such films as Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken (1991), X2 (2003), Leatherheads (2008), Flight (2012) and Jack Reacher (2012), and is the writer, director and star of the online noir drama The Steps. He also co-wrote the screenplay for the 2017 Tom Cruise film The Mummy. In 2019, he appeared in the Clint Eastwood film Richard Jewell.

Doug Weight, American ice hockey player and coach

Douglas Daniel Weight is an American professional ice hockey coach, executive, and former player. He is also the former head coach and assistant general manager for the New York Islanders. During his 19-year National Hockey League career, he played for the New York Rangers, Edmonton Oilers, Carolina Hurricanes, Anaheim Ducks, St. Louis Blues and the New York Islanders.

21/01/1970

Alen Bokšić, former Croatian footballer

Alen Bokšić is a former Croatian professional footballer. A forward who spent most of his career in France, England and Italy, he was renowned for his technique and power, and is regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the Croatia national football team.

Marina Foïs, French actress

Marina Sylvie Foïs is a French actress.

Ken Leung, American actor

Kenneth Leung is an American actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he has gained attention for playing Miles Straume in the ABC drama series Lost (2008–10) and Eric Tao in the HBO drama series Industry (2020–present).

Oren Peli, Israeli-American director, producer and screenwriter

Oren Peli is an Israeli filmmaker, best known for writing and directing the 2007 horror film Paranormal Activity. He acted as producer on subsequent films in the franchise, as well as on the first five films in the Insidious franchise.

21/01/1969

John Ducey, American actor

John Joseph Ducey is an American actor.

Eduard Hämäläinen, Finnish-Belarusian decathlete

Eduard Hämäläinen is a retired decathlete from Finland and Belarus.

Karina Lombard, French-American actress and singer

Karina Lombard is a Tahitian actress. She appeared as Isabel Two in Legends of the Fall, as chief Nonhelema in Timeless, and as Marina Ferrer in the first season of The L Word, reprising the role as a guest in seasons four and six.

Tsubaki Nekoi, Japanese comic artist

Tsubaki Nekoi , is a member of the all-female manga-creating team Clamp. She is the co-director and her duties in the team include applying screentones and correcting manga illustrations. She was also the lead artist on Legal Drug, The One I Love, Wish, Suki and xxxHolic. As the lead artist in xxxHolic, she is in charge of drawing the male characters while Mokona is responsible for the female characters.

21/01/1968

Artur Dmitriev, Russian ice skater

Artur Valeryevich Dmitriev is a Russian former pair skater who competed internationally for the Soviet Union, the Unified Team, and Russia. He is a two-time Olympic champion, having won gold with Natalia Mishkutionok in 1992 and with Oksana Kazakova in 1998. He and Mishkutionok also won Olympic silver in 1994. Dmitriev is the only male pair skater to win the Olympics with two different partners.

Dmitry Fomin, Russian volleyball player

Dmitry Fomin or Dmitri Fomine is a Russian former volleyball player. He was part of the Soviet Union men's national volleyball team that won the bronze medal at the 1990 FIVB World Championship in Brazil. He was part of the Unified Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and the Russian team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

Sébastien Lifshitz, French director

Sébastien Lifshitz is a French screenwriter and director. He teaches at La Fémis, a school that focuses on the subject of image and sound. He studied at the École du Louvre, and has a bachelor's degree from the University of Paris in history of art.

Steven Marshall, Australian politician, 46th Premier of South Australia

Steven Spence Marshall is a former Australian politician who served as the 46th premier of South Australia between 2018 and 2022. He was a member of the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia in the South Australian House of Assembly from 2010 until 2024, representing the electorate of Dunstan.

Charlotte Ross, American actress

Charlotte Ross is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Eve Donovan on the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives from 1987 to 1991, and as Detective Connie McDowell on the ABC police procedural drama series NYPD Blue from 2001 to 2004.

Ilya Smirin, Israeli chess Grandmaster

Ilya Smirin is a Belarusian-Israeli chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1990. Champion of Israel in 1992, 2002 and 2023.

21/01/1967

Ulf Dahlén, Swedish ice hockey player

Ulf Reinhold Dahlén is a Swedish former professional ice hockey player, and former head coach for HV71 and Frölunda HC in the Swedish Hockey League. His son Jonathan Dahlén was drafted 42nd overall in the 2016 NHL entry draft.

Alfred Jermaniš, Slovenian footballer

Alfred Jermaniš is a Slovenian retired footballer who played as a midfielder.

Artashes Minasian, Armenian chess player

Artashes Minasian is an Armenian chess grandmaster. He tied for first in the 1991 USSR Chess Championship and is a six-time Armenian Chess Champion.

Gorō Miyazaki, Japanese film director and landscaper

Goro Miyazaki is a Japanese landscape architect and animation director. His landscape projects include the Ghibli Museum and Ghibli Park. The son of Hayao Miyazaki, Goro has directed three films—Tales from Earthsea (2006), From Up on Poppy Hill (2011), and Earwig and The Witch (2020)—and the television series Ronja, the Robber's Daughter.

21/01/1965

Robert Del Naja, British artist, musician and singer

Robert Del Naja, also known as 3D, is an English singer-songwriter and artist. He emerged as a graffiti artist and member of the Bristol collective the Wild Bunch, and later as a founding member and sole consistent member of the band Massive Attack, with which he is still active. In 2009, he received the British Academy's Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music.

Jam Master Jay, American DJ, rapper, and producer (died 2002)

Jason William Mizell, better known by his stage name Jam Master Jay, was an American musician, record producer and DJ. He was the DJ of the influential hip hop group Run-DMC. During the 1980s, Run-DMC became one of the biggest hip hop groups, credited with breaking hip hop into mainstream music. Mizell was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Run-DMC in 2009.

Masahiro Wada, Japanese footballer

Masahiro Wada is a Japanese former football player and manager. His sons Atsuki Wada and Tomoki Wada are also footballer.

21/01/1964

Andreas Bauer, German ski jumper

Andreas Bauer is a West German/German former ski jumper.

Tony Dolan, English musician and actor

Anthony Michael Dolan, also known by his nickname Demolition Man, is an English musician. He was the bassist and vocalist of heavy metal band Venom in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He currently plays in Atomkraft and Venom Inc., the latter of which he formed with fellow former Venom member Mantas.

Gérald Passi, French footballer

Gérald Passi is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

Ricardo Serna, Spanish footballer

Ricardo Jesús Serna Orozco is a Spanish former footballer who played mostly as a central defender.

Aleksandar Šoštar, Serbian water polo player

Aleksandar Šoštar is a Serbian water polo goalkeeper who played on the bronze medal squad of FR Yugoslavia at the 2000 Summer Olympics and on the gold medal squad for SFR Yugoslavia at the 1988 Summer Olympics.

Danny Wallace, English footballer

David Lloyd "Danny" Wallace is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker and winger. During his career, he played for Southampton, Manchester United, Millwall, Birmingham City and Wycombe Wanderers. He won one full cap for England. His football career was ended prematurely by the effects of multiple sclerosis.

21/01/1963

Hakeem Olajuwon, Nigerian-American basketball player

Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon, nicknamed "the Dream", is a Nigerian and American former professional basketball player who played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A center, he spent a majority of his career with the Houston Rockets and led them to back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995, before a short stint at the end of his career with the Toronto Raptors. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest centers of all time.

Detlef Schrempf, German basketball player and coach

Detlef Schrempf is a German-American businessman, philanthropist and former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Washington Huskies from 1981 to 1985, and was drafted into the National Basketball Association (NBA) by the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the 1985 NBA draft, with the eighth overall pick. He was an All-NBA Third Team member in 1995, a three-time NBA All-Star, the first European player ever to achieve this award, and the NBA Sixth Man of the Year twice.

21/01/1962

Tyler Cowen, American economist and academic

Tyler Cowen is an American economist, author, and public intellectual. He is the Holbert L. Harris Professor of Economics at George Mason University and serves as chairman of the university’s Mercatus Center. Cowen is widely known for his blog Marginal Revolution, which he has co-authored with Alex Tabarrok since 2003, and for hosting the interview podcast Conversations with Tyler.

Isabelle Nanty, French actress, director and screenwriter

Isabelle Marie-Josée Nanty is a French actress, film and theatre director and screenwriter.

Gabriele Pin, Italian footballer and coach

Gabriele Pin is an Italian football coach, and a former player. He is currently an assistant coach at Sepahan.

Zoran Thaler, Slovenian politician

Zoran Thaler is a Slovenian politician and businessman. He is a former Slovenian foreign minister and a former member of the European Parliament.

Marie Trintignant, French actress (died 2003)

Marie Trintignant was a French film and stage actress. She appeared in over 30 movies during her 36-year career. Her family was deeply involved in France's film industry, as her father was an actor and her mother was a director, producer, and screenwriter.

Erik Verlinde, Dutch theoretical physicist

Erik Peter Verlinde is a Dutch theoretical physicist and string theorist. He is the identical twin brother of physicist Herman Verlinde. The Verlinde formula, which is important in conformal field theory and topological field theory, is named after him. His research deals with string theory, gravity, black holes and cosmology. Currently, he works at the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of Amsterdam.

21/01/1961

Kevin Cramer, American politician

Kevin John Cramer is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator for North Dakota since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he represented North Dakota's at-large congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2013 to 2019.

Cornelia Pröll, Austrian alpine skier

Cornelia Pröll is an Austrian former alpine skier who competed in the 1980 Winter Olympics.

Ivo Pukanić Croatian journalist (died 2008)

Ivo Pukanić was a Croatian journalist. He was best known as editor-in-chief of the once influential Croatian political weekly Nacional. In 2008, Pukanić was assassinated by members of organized crime groups.

Gary Shaw, English footballer (died 2024)

Gary Robert Shaw was an English professional football striker who played for Aston Villa in the early 1980s.

Piotr Ugrumov, Russian cyclist

Piotr Ugrumov is a former Russian-Latvian professional road racing cyclist who participated for Latvia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, though he was a part of the Russian delegation at the 1996 Summer Olympics. His career as a professional lasted from 1989 to 1999, he had ten victories. Ugrumov finished second at the 1994 Tour de France. Between 1990 and 1996, he came in the Top 10 of seven Grand Tours, four in the Giro, two in the Tour and one in the Vuelta.

21/01/1960

Sidney Lowe, American basketball player

Sidney Rochell Lowe is an American former basketball player and current assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Lowe played college basketball and served as the head coach at North Carolina State University.

Mike Terrana, American hard rock and heavy metal drummer

Mike Terrana is an American hard rock and heavy metal drummer.

21/01/1959

Sergei Alifirenko, Russian pistol shooter

Sergei Gennadievich Alifirenko is a Russian pistol shooter, originally from Armenia, specializing in the 25 m Rapid Fire Pistol event.

Alex McLeish, Scottish footballer and manager

Alexander McLeish is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He played as a defender for Aberdeen during their 1980s glory years, making nearly 500 League appearances for the club, and won 77 caps for Scotland.

21/01/1958

Hussein Saeed, Iraqi footballer

Hussein Saeed Mohammed is an Iraqi former footballer who played as a forward and is a former president of the Iraq Football Association. Saeed is in twelfth place in the list of top international goal scorers, with 78 goals. Along with Ahmed Radhi, he is considered to be the best Iraqi player of the 20th century and features in 25th place in Asia's Best Players of the Century list. Hussein's 78 international goals make him currently the Iraqi national team's highest scoring player.

Matt Salmon, American politician

Matthew James Salmon is an American politician who served as a U.S. representative from Arizona from 1995 to 2001 and again from 2013 until 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he retired from office after representing Arizona's 5th congressional district. The district is based in Mesa and includes most of the East Valley; he previously represented Arizona's 1st congressional district. In 2002, he lost by less than 1% to Janet Napolitano in a highly competitive gubernatorial race. He regained a congressional seat in the 2012 election.

Sergei Walter, Ukrainian politician (died 2015)

Serhiy Heorhiyovych Valter was a Ukrainian politician. He was the Secretary of the City Council of Melitopol, Ukraine (2002–2010) and Mayor of Melitopol (2010–2015).

Michael Wincott, Canadian actor

Michael Anthony Claudio Wincott is a Canadian actor. His deep, raspy voice has often led to his being cast in villainous roles.

21/01/1956

Robby Benson, American actor and director

Robby Benson is an American actor, director, and musician. He rose to prominence as a teen idol in the late 1970s, appearing in the films Ode to Billy Joe (1976), One on One (1977) and Ice Castles (1978). He subsequently garnered more fame for voicing the Beast in the Disney animated film Beauty and the Beast (1991) and its numerous sequels, spin-offs and most Disney media. He has also worked as a television director, including six episodes of the sitcom Friends. He recently appeared in a recurring role as Dr. Mauer in Apple TV+'s Severance.

Geena Davis, American actress and producer

Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis is an American actor. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.

21/01/1955

Peter Fleming, American tennis player

Peter Blair Fleming is an American former professional tennis player. In his doubles partnership with John McEnroe, he won 52 titles, of which seven were at Grand Slams. As a singles player, he peaked at world No. 8, winning three titles.

Jeff Koons, American painter and sculptor

Jeffrey Lynn Koons is an American artist recognized for his work dealing with popular culture and his sculptures depicting everyday objects, including balloon animals produced in stainless steel with mirror-finish surfaces. He lives and works in both New York City and his hometown of York, Pennsylvania. His works have sold for substantial sums, including at least two record auction prices for a work by a living artist: US$58.4 million for Balloon Dog (Orange) in 2013 and US$91.1 million for Rabbit in 2019.

Nello Musumeci, Italian politician and President of Sicily

Sebastiano "Nello" Musumeci is a right-wing Italian politician. Musumeci is serving as Minister for Civil Protection and Maritime Policies since 22 October 2022 in the government of Giorgia Meloni. He previously served as president of Sicily from 18 November 2017 until 13 October 2022.

21/01/1954

Thomas de Maizière, German politician of the Christian Democratic Union

Karl Ernst Thomas de Maizière is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as Federal Minister of the Interior from 2009 to 2011 and 2013 to 2018, as well as Federal Minister of Defence from 2011 to 2013. He previously served as Head of the Chancellery and Federal Minister for Special Affairs in the First Merkel cabinet from 2005 to 2009. Since 2009, he has been a member of the Bundestag for Meißen.

Idrissa Ouedraogo, Burkinabé director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2018)

Idrissa Ouédraogo was a Burkinabé filmmaker. His work often explored the conflict between rural and city life and tradition and modernity in his native Burkina Faso and elsewhere in Africa. He is best known for his feature film Tilaï, which won the Grand Prix at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival and Samba Traoré (1993), which was nominated for the Silver Bear award at the 43rd Berlin International Film Festival.

Phil Thompson, English footballer and coach

Philip Bernard Thompson is an English retired footballer, who played as a defender for Liverpool in the 1970s and 1980s. During this time, he also represented the England national football team on 42 occasions, and captained England on six occasions. After retiring as a player, he later served Liverpool as assistant manager and, during the 2001–02 season, acted as caretaker for six months while manager Gérard Houllier was ill. He was a pundit on Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports for 22 years until August 2020, does occasional work as a pundit for TV 2 (Norway), and is a regular Visiting Fellow at the University of Liverpool where he teaches on the Football Industries MBA.

21/01/1953

Paul Allen, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Microsoft (died 2018)

Paul Gardner Allen was an American businessman, computer programmer, and investor. He co-founded Microsoft Corporation with his childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which was followed by the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s. Allen was ranked as one of the richest people in American history by Forbes, with an estimated net worth of $20.3 billion at the time of his death in October 2018.

Felipe Yáñez, Spanish cyclist

Felipe Yáñez is a Spanish former professional racing cyclist. He rode in two editions of the Tour de France and nine editions of the Vuelta a España.

21/01/1952

Marco Camenisch, Swiss activist and murderer

Marco Camenisch is a Swiss anarchist and environmental activist.

Werner Grissmann, Austrian alpine skier

Werner Grissmann is an Austrian former alpine skier. He had his best achievements in the downhill event, winning a bronze medal at the 1978 World Championships and placing seventh at the 1980 Winter Olympics. He competed in the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup in 1972–1981 with the best result of eighth place in 1975.

Mikhail Umansky, Russian chess player (died 2010)

Mikhail Markovich Umansky was a Russian chess grandmaster of correspondence chess, who was the 13th ICCF World Champion in correspondence chess between 1989 and 1998. He was also USSR Correspondence Champion in 1978.

21/01/1951

Eric Holder, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 82nd United States Attorney General

Eric Himpton Holder Jr. is an American lawyer who served as the 82nd United States attorney general from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, Holder was the first African American to hold the position.

21/01/1950

Marion Becker, German javelin thrower

Marion Becker is a German athlete who competed mainly in the javelin throw.

Gary Locke, American politician and diplomat, 36th United States Secretary of Commerce

Gary Faye Locke is an American politician, attorney, and former diplomat.

José Marín, Spanish racewalker

José Marín Sospedra is a retired Spanish racewalker.

Billy Ocean, Trinidadian-English singer-songwriter

Leslie Sebastian Charles, known professionally as Billy Ocean, is a Trinidadian-British singer and songwriter. Between 1976 and 1988, he had a series of hit songs in the UK and internationally.

Agnes van Ardenne, Dutch politician and diplomat, Dutch Minister for Development Cooperation

Anna Maria Agnes "Agnes" van Ardenne-Van der Hoeven is a retired Dutch politician and diplomat of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA).

21/01/1949

Clifford Ray, American basketball coach and player

Clifford Ray is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played three of his ten seasons in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls from 1971 to 1974, and the other seven with the Golden State Warriors from 1974 to 1981.

Trương Tấn Sang, Vietnamese politician and 7th President of Vietnam

Trương Tấn Sang is a Vietnamese politician, who served as the eighth President of Vietnam from 2011 to 2016. He was one of Vietnam's top leaders, alongside prime minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng and Party general secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng. In July 2011, Trương Tấn Sang was elected state president of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam by the National Assembly of Vietnam and nominated by his predecessor Nguyễn Minh Triết who retired from office.

21/01/1948

Zygmunt Kukla, Polish footballer (died 2016)

Zygmunt Kukla was a Polish footballer who played as a goalkeeper. During his club career, he played for Stal Mielec and Apollon Athens.

Hugo Tocalli, Argentine footballer

Hugo Daniel Tocalli is an Argentine professional football coach and former player. He is the current youth coordinator of Independiente.

21/01/1947

Andrzej Bachleda, Polish former alpine skier

Andrzej Jan Bachleda-Curuś is a Polish former alpine skier who competed in the 1968 Winter Olympics and 1972 Winter Olympics. In 1968 he finished 6th in slalom race.

Jill Eikenberry, American actress

Jill Susan Eikenberry is an American film, stage, and television actress. She is known for her role as lawyer Ann Kelsey on the NBC drama L.A. Law (1986–94), for which she is a five-time Emmy Award and four-time Golden Globe Award nominee, winning the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama Series in 1989. She received an Obie Award in 1986 for the Off-Broadway plays Lemon Sky and Life Under Water, and was nominated for a 2011 Drama Desk Award for the Off-Broadway musical The Kid. Her film appearances include Hide in Plain Sight (1980), Arthur (1981) and The Manhattan Project (1986).

Dorian M. Goldfeld, American mathematician

Dorian Morris Goldfeld is an American mathematician working in analytic number theory and automorphic forms at Columbia University.

Pye Hastings, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist

Julian Frederick Gordon 'Pye' Hastings is a British musician. Born in Scotland and raised in Canterbury, Kent, he is the guitarist and vocalist of the Canterbury scene band Caravan and brother of Jimmy Hastings.

Michel Jonasz, French singer-songwriter and actor

Michel Jonasz is a French composer-songwriter, singer and actor. His compositions include: La boîte de jazz, Joueurs de blues and Les vacances au bord de la mer.

Joseph Nicolosi, American clinical psychologist (died 2017)

Joseph Nicolosi was an American clinical psychologist who advocated and practised "reparative therapy", a form of the pseudoscientific treatment of conversion therapy that he claimed could help people overcome or mitigate their homosexual desires and replace them with heterosexual ones. Nicolosi was a founder and president of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH).

Giuseppe Savoldi, Italian footballer (died 2026)

Giuseppe Savoldi was an Italian professional football player and coach who played during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s as a forward. A versatile attacker, he played club football in Italy for Atalanta, Bologna and Napoli, and represented the Italy national side at international level.

Roberto Zywica, Argentine footballer (died 2025)

Roberto Zywica was an Argentine football player and manager.

21/01/1946

Ichiro Hosotani, Japanese footballer

Ichiro Hosotani is a former Japanese football player who played for the Japan national football team.

Nella Martinetti, Swiss singer (died 2011)

Nella Martinetti was a Swiss singer, songwriter and actress, affectionately known as "Bella Nella".

Tomás Pineda, El Salvadoran footballer

Tomás Ernesto Pineda Nieto is a retired football player from El Salvador.

Miguel Reina, Spanish footballer

Miguel Reina Santos is a Spanish former footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

21/01/1945

Arthur Beetson, Australian rugby league player and coach (died 2011)

Arthur Henry "Artie" Beetson OAM was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. He represented Australia, New South Wales and Queensland all between 1964 and 1981. His main position was at prop. Beetson became the first Indigenous Australian to captain Australia in any sport and is frequently cited as the best post-war forward in Australian rugby league history. He also had an extensive coaching career, spanning the 1970s to the 1990s, coaching Australia, Queensland, Eastern Suburbs, Redcliffe Dolphins and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.

Pete Kircher, English drummer

Peter Derek Kircher is a retired English rock/pop drummer. He was the drummer for Honeybus (1967–1970), Liverpool Express (1978–1979) and Original Mirrors (1979–1981). Between 1981 and 1985 he was a member of Status Quo, performing with the band at Live Aid and on the albums Back to Back and Live at the N.E.C..

Martin Shaw, English actor and producer

Martin Shaw is an English actor. He came to national recognition in the role of Ray Doyle in ITV crime-action television drama series The Professionals (1977–1983). Further notable television parts include the title roles in The Chief (1993–1995), Judge John Deed (2001–2007) and Inspector George Gently (2007–2017). He has also acted on stage and in film, and has narrated numerous audiobooks and presented various television series.

21/01/1944

Uto Ughi, Italian violinist

Bruto "Uto" Ughi is an Italian violinist and conductor. He was the music director of the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia between 1987 and 1992. He is considered one of Italy's greatest living violinists and is also active in the promotion of classical music in today's culture.

21/01/1943

Zdravko Hebel, Croatian water polo player (died 2017)

Zdravko Hebel was a Croatian water polo player notable for winning a gold medal with the Yugoslavian water polo team at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.

Arnar Jónsson, Icelandic actor

Arnar Jónsson is an Icelandic actor. He has played more leading roles in theaters than any other Icelandic actor. He starred in the film Outlaw and also in 17 other leading roles and about 200 other roles in theater.

Alfons Peeters, Belgian footballer (died 2015)

Alfons Peeters was a Belgian footballer. During his career he played for R.S.C. Anderlecht. He earned 4 caps for the Belgium national football team, and participated in the 1970 FIFA World Cup.

Kenzo Yokoyama, Japanese footballer

Kenzo Yokoyama is a former Japanese football player and manager. He played for, and then managed, the Japan national team.

21/01/1942

Freddy Breck, German singer, producer, and news anchor (died 2008)

Freddy Breck was a German schlager singer, composer, record producer, and news anchor.

Eugène Camara, Prime Minister of Guinea (died 2019)

Eugène Camara was a politician from Guinea who was briefly Prime Minister of Guinea in February 2007.

Mac Davis, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (died 2020)

Morris Mac Davis was an American songwriter, singer, performer, and actor. A native of Lubbock, Texas, he enjoyed success as a crossover artist and writing for Elvis Presley during his early career, providing him with the hits "Memories", "In the Ghetto", "Don't Cry Daddy", and "A Little Less Conversation". A subsequent solo career in the 1970s produced hits such as "Baby Don't Get Hooked on Me". Davis also starred in his own variety show, a Broadway musical, and various films and TV shows.

Han Pil-hwa, North Korean speed skater

Han Pil-hwa is a female North Korean speed skater who competed in the 1964 Winter Olympics and in the 1972 Winter Olympics. She was the first woman to represent North Korea at the Olympics.

Edwin Starr, American singer-songwriter (died 2003)

Charles Edwin Hatcher, known by his stage name Edwin Starr, was an American singer and songwriter. He is best remembered for his Norman Whitfield-produced Motown singles of the 1970s, most notably the number-one hit "War".

Michael G. Wilson, American producer and screenwriter

Michael Gregg Wilson, is an American-British screenwriter and film producer, best known for his association with the James Bond film series.

21/01/1941

Sattam bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Arabian prince (died 2013)

Sattam bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was a Saudi royal and politician who served as the governor of Riyadh Province from November 2011 until his death in February 2013. Before that he was the deputy governor of the province.

Plácido Domingo, Spanish tenor and conductor

José Plácido Domingo Embil is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, German, Spanish, English, and Russian in the most prestigious opera houses in the world. Although primarily a lirico-spinto tenor for most of his career, especially popular for his Cavaradossi, Hoffmann, Don José and Canio, he quickly moved into more dramatic roles, becoming the most acclaimed Otello of his generation. In the early 2010s, he transitioned from the tenor repertory into exclusively baritone parts, including Simon Boccanegra. As of 2020, he has performed 151 different roles.

Richie Havens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2013)

Richard Pierce Havens was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. His music encompassed elements of folk, soul, and rhythm and blues. He had a rhythmic guitar style. He was the opening act at Woodstock, sang many jingles for television commercials, and was also the voice of the GeoSafari toys.

Mike Medavoy, Chinese-born American film producer, co-founded Orion Pictures

Morris Mike Medavoy is an American film producer and business executive. He co-founded Orion Pictures and currently serves as chairman and CEO of Phoenix Pictures. He previously held leadership roles at TriStar Pictures and United Artists.

Ivan Putski, Polish-American wrestler and bodybuilder

Józef Bednarski is a Polish and American former professional wrestler and bodybuilder, best known by the ring name Ivan Putski. He was given the nicknames the "Polish Hammer" and "Polish Power".

Elaine Showalter, American author and critic

Elaine Showalter is an American literary critic, feminist, and writer on cultural and social issues. She influenced feminist literary criticism in the United States academia, developing the concept and practice of gynocritics, a term describing the study of "women as writers".

21/01/1940

Jack Nicklaus, American golfer and sportscaster

Jack William Nicklaus, nicknamed "the Golden Bear", is an American retired professional golfer and golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. He won 117 professional tournaments in his career, including a record 18 major championships. He is an inductee of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Patrick Robinson, English novelist

Patrick Robinson is a British novelist and newspaper columnist.

21/01/1939

Paul Genevay, French sprinter (died 2022)

Paul Louis Marcel Genevay was a French sprinter. He competed in the 200 m and 4 × 100 m events at the 1960 and 1964 Olympics and won a bronze medal in the relay in 1964. He failed to reach the final in three other competitions. Genevay won two gold and one silver medals in the sprint at the 1959 Mediterranean Games. He died on 11 March 2022, at the age of 83.

Friedel Lutz, German footballer (died 2023)

Alfred "Friedel" Lutz was a German professional footballer who played as a full-back. He spent most of his career with Eintracht Frankfurt. At international level, he made 12 appearances for the West Germany national team.

Steve Paxton, American dancer and choreographer (died 2024)

Steven Douglas Paxton was an American experimental dancer and choreographer. His early background was in gymnastics while his later training included three years with Merce Cunningham and a year with José Limón. As a founding member of the Judson Dance Theater, he performed works by Yvonne Rainer and Trisha Brown. He was a founding member of the experimental group Grand Union and in 1972 named and began to develop the dance form known as Contact Improvisation, a form of dance that utilizes the physical laws of friction, momentum, gravity, and inertia to explore the relationship between dancers.

Viacheslav Platonov, Russian volleyball player and coach (died 2005)

Viacheslav Platonov was a Russian volleyball player and coach. He led the Soviet men's national volleyball team to gold medals at the 1978 FIVB World Championship in Italy, 1982 FIVB World Championship in Argentina, and the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.

21/01/1938

Wolfman Jack, radio personality (died 1995)

Robert Weston Smith, known as Wolfman Jack, was an American disc jockey active for over three decades. He was famous for his gravelly voice, and credited it with his success, saying, "It's kept meat and potatoes on the table for years for Wolfman and Wolfwoman. A couple of shots of whiskey helps it. I've got that nice raspy sound."

Romano Fogli, Italian footballer (died 2021)

Romano Fogli was an Italian football player and manager who played as a midfielder.

21/01/1937

Judit Ágoston-Mendelényi, Hungarian fencer (died 2013)

Judit Ágoston-Mendelényi was a Hungarian fencer. She won a gold medal in the women's team foil event at the 1964 Summer Olympics.

Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria, the youngest son of Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria

Max Emanuel Ludwig Maria Herzog in Bayern is the younger son of Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria and his first wife Countess Maria Draskovich of Trakostjan. He is the heir presumptive to both the headship of the former Bavarian royal house and the Jacobite succession.

21/01/1936

Dick Davies, American basketball player (died 2012)

Richard Allan Davies was an American basketball player. He played for the gold medal-winning United States men's national basketball team at the 1964 Summer Olympics. He is also the youngest brother of Bob Davies, who was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 1970.

21/01/1934

Audrey Dalton, Irish actress

Audrey Dalton is an Irish-born American retired actress who mostly worked in the United States during the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Antonio Karmany, Spanish cyclist

Antonio Karmany Mestres was a Spanish professional road racing cyclist.

Alfonso Portugal, Mexican footballer (died 2016)

Alfonso Portugal Díaz was a Mexican football player, who played as defender for Mexico in the 1958 FIFA World Cup.

Ann Wedgeworth, American actress (died 2017)

Elizabeth Ann Wedgeworth was an American character actress, known for her roles as Lana Shields in Three's Company, Hilda Hensley in Sweet Dreams, and Merleen Elldridge in Evening Shade. She won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for Chapter Two (1978).

21/01/1933

Tony Marchi, English footballer (died 2022)

Anthony Marchi was an English football player and manager.

Habib Thiam, Senegalese politician (died 2017)

Habib Thiam was a Senegalese politician. He served as Prime Minister of Senegal on two occasions, from 1 January 1981 to 3 April 1983, and again from 8 April 1991 until 3 July 1998.

21/01/1931

Yoshiko Kuga, Japanese actress (died 2024)

Yoshiko Kuga was a Japanese actress. She starred in The Woman in the Rumor (1954), Equinox Flower (1958), and An Inlet of Muddy Water (1953). She won a Mainichi Film Award in 1954, and a Blue Ribbon Award in 1956. She was the wife of actor Akihiko Hirata.

21/01/1930

Mainza Chona, Zambian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Zambia (died 2001)

Mainza Mathias Chona was a Zambian politician and founder of UNIP who served as the third vice-president of Zambia from 1970 to 1973 and Prime Minister on two occasions: from 25 August 1973 to 27 May 1975 and from 20 July 1977 to 15 June 1978.

Valentin Filatyev, Soviet cosmonaut (died 1990)

Valentin Ignatyevich Filatyev was a Soviet cosmonaut who was dismissed from the Soviet space program for disciplinary reasons. He attended the Stalingrad HAF pilots School, graduating in 1955, and served as a fighter pilot in the Air Defense Force.

21/01/1929

Radley Metzger, American filmmaker (died 2017)

Radley Metzger was an American filmmaker and film distributor, most noted for popular artistic pornographic films, including Thérèse and Isabelle (1968), Camille 2000 (1969), The Lickerish Quartet (1970), Score (1974), The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann (1974), The Image (1975), The Opening of Misty Beethoven (1976) and Barbara Broadcast (1977). According to one film reviewer, Metzger's films, including those made during the Golden Age of Porn (1969–1984), are noted for their "lavish design, witty screenplays, and a penchant for the unusual camera angle". Film and audio works by Metzger have been added to the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City.

21/01/1928

Reynaldo Bignone, Argentinian general and politician, 41st President of Argentina (died 2018)

Reynaldo Benito Antonio Bignone was an Argentine general who served as the de facto President of Argentina from 1 July 1982 to 10 December 1983, the last president to serve under the National Reorganization Process. In 2010, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in the kidnapping, torture, and murder of persons suspected of opposing the government during the Dirty War, and would receive additional convictions and eventually a life sentence in the time afterwards as well.

Gene Sharp, American political scientist and academic, founded the Albert Einstein Institution (died 2018)

Gene Sharp was an American political scientist. He was the founder of the Albert Einstein Institution, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the study of nonviolent action, and professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. He was known for his extensive writings on nonviolent struggle, which have influenced numerous anti-government resistance movements around the world.

21/01/1927

Clive Churchill, Australian rugby league player and coach (died 1985)

Clive Bernard Churchill AM was an Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach in the mid-20th century. An Australian international and New South Wales and Queensland interstate representative fullback, he played the majority of his club football with and later coached the South Sydney Rabbitohs. He won five premierships with the club as a player and three more as coach. Retiring as the most capped Australian Kangaroos player ever, Churchill is thus considered one of the game's greatest ever players and the prestigious Clive Churchill Medal for man-of-the-match in the NRL grand final bears his name. Churchill's attacking flair as a player is credited with having changed the role of the fullback.

Rudolf Kraus, German footballer (died 2003)

Rudolf Krause was a German footballer and coach who won a silver medal as manager of East Germany at the 1980 Summer Olympics.

21/01/1926

Clive Donner, British director (died 2010)

Clive Stanley Donner was a British film director who was part of the British New Wave, directing films such as The Caretaker, Nothing but the Best, What's New Pussycat?, and Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush. He also directed television movies and commercials through the mid-1990s.

Franco Evangelisti, Italian composer (died 1980)

Franco Evangelisti was an Italian composer specifically interested in the scientific theories behind sound.

Steve Reeves, American bodybuilder and actor (died 2000)

Stephen Lester Reeves was an American professional bodybuilder and actor. He was famous in the mid-1950s as a movie star in Italian-made sword-and-sandal films, playing muscular protagonists such as Hercules, Aeneas, and Sandokan. At the peak of his career, he was the highest-paid actor in Europe. Though best known for his portrayal of Hercules, he played the character only twice: in Hercules (1958), and in its 1959 sequel Hercules Unchained. By 1960, Reeves was ranked as the number-one box-office draw in 25 countries.

Roger Taillibert, French architect (died 2019)

Roger Taillibert was a French architect, active as a designer from about 1963 to 1987.

Robert J. White, American neurosurgeon (died 2010)

Robert Joseph White was an American neurosurgeon and bioethicist best known for his work on hypothermia and his experiments with head transplants on mammals, including living monkeys.

21/01/1925

Charles Aidman, American actor (died 1993)

Charles Leonard Aidman was an American stage, film and television actor.

Alex Forbes, Scottish footballer (died 2014)

Alexander Rooney Forbes was a Scottish football player and manager.

Eva Ibbotson, Austrian-English author (died 2010)

Eva Maria Charlotte Michelle Ibbotson was an Austrian-born British novelist, known for her children's literature. Some of her novels for adults have been reissued for the young adult market. The historical novel Journey to the River Sea won her the Smarties Prize in category 9–11 years, garnered an unusual commendation as runner-up for the Guardian Prize, and made the Carnegie, Whitbread, and Blue Peter shortlists. She was a finalist for the 2010 Guardian Prize at the time of her death. Her last book, The Abominables, was among four finalists for the same award in 2012.

Arnold Skaaland, American wrestler and manager (died 2007)

Arnold Skaaland was an American professional wrestler and professional wrestling manager.

21/01/1924

Shafiga Akhundova, Azerbaijani Composer, first professional female author of an opera in the East (died 2013)

Shafiga Akhundova was a prominent Azerbaijani composer, the first professional female author of an opera in the East and People's Artist of Azerbaijan. Akhundova was born into a family of an eminent cultural figure Gulam Akhundov in Shaki in 1924. Gulam Bagir oglu Akhundov, who was a public servant and intellectual of his time, worked as the first secretary of Shaki between 1917 and 1920, while her mother was a housewife.

Benny Hill, English actor, singer, and screenwriter (died 1992)

Alfred Hawthorne "Benny" Hill was an English comedian, actor, writer and musician. He is best remembered for his television programme The Benny Hill Show, a comedy variety show merging slapstick, burlesque, double entendre and innuendo in live and filmed segments with Hill in almost every one.

21/01/1923

Alberto de Mendoza, Argentine actor (died 2011)

Alberto Manuel Rodríguez-Gallego González de Mendoza was an Argentine film actor who appeared in some 114 films between 1930 and 2005, spanning eight decades.

Lola Flores, Spanish singer, dancer, and actress (died 1995)

María Dolores "Lola" Flores Ruiz was a Spanish actress, bailaora and singer. Born in Jerez de la Frontera, Flores became interested in the performing arts at a very young age. Known for her overwhelming personality onstage, she debuted as a dancer at age sixteen at the stage production Luces de España, in her hometown. After being discovered by film director Fernando Mignoni, Flores moved to Madrid to pursue a professional career in music and film, with her first gig being the lead role in Mignoni's Martingala (1940). Flores succeeded as a film and stage actress. In 1943 she obtained her breakthrough role in the musical stage production Zambra alongside Manolo Caracol, in which she sang original compositions by Rafael de León, Manuel López-Quiroga Miquel and Antonio Quintero, including "La Zarzamora" and "La Niña de Fuego", mostly singing flamenco music, copla, rumba and ranchera. She then started to receive widespread media coverage.

Pahiño, Spanish footballer (died 2012)

Manuel Fernández Fernández, known as Pahiño, was a Spanish footballer who played as a striker.

21/01/1922

Lincoln Alexander, Canadian lawyer and politician, 23rd Canadian Minister of Labour (died 2012)

Lincoln MacCauley Alexander was a Canadian lawyer and politician who became the first Black Canadian to be a member of Parliament in the House of Commons, a federal Cabinet Minister, a Chair of the Worker's Compensation Board of Ontario, and the 24th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 1985 to 1991. Alexander was also a governor of the Canadian Unity Council.

Telly Savalas, American actor (died 1994)

Aristotelis "Telly" Savalas was an American actor. Noted for his bald head and deep, resonant voice, he is perhaps best known for portraying Lt. Theo Kojak on the crime drama series Kojak (1973–1978) and James Bond archvillain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the film On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969).

Paul Scofield, English actor (died 2008)

David Paul Scofield was an English actor. During a six-decade career, Scofield achieved the Triple Crown of Acting, winning an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Tony Award for his work. Scofield established a reputation as one of the greatest Shakespearean performers. He declined the honour of a knighthood, but was appointed CBE in 1956 and became a CH in 2001.

Predrag Vranicki, Croatian Marxist humanist (died 2002)

Predrag Vranicki was a Yugoslav and Croatian Marxist academic, philosopher, and author. He worked at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Zagreb from 1947 until his retirement, serving as its dean from 1964 to 1966, and as the rector of the University of Zagreb from 1972 to 1976. He was affiliated with the Praxis School in the 1960s. Born in Benkovac, Vranicki's education spanned all over Yugoslavia, graduating from the University of Zagreb in 1947 and earning his PhD from the University of Belgrade in 1951. Initially an assistant and docent at the Faculty of Philosophy, he became a professor in 1959. He became a member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts (JAZU), later Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, in 1976.

21/01/1920

Errol Barrow, first Prime Minister of Barbados (died 1987)

Errol Walton Barrow was a Barbadian statesman and the first prime minister of Barbados. Born into a family of political and civic activists in the parish of Saint Lucy, he became a WWII aviator, combat veteran, lawyer, politician, gourmet cook and author. He is often referred to as the "Father of Independence" in Barbados.

21/01/1919

Eric Brown, Scottish-English captain and pilot (died 2016)

Captain Eric Melrose "Winkle" Brown,, Hon FRAeS was a British Royal Navy officer and test pilot who flew 487 types of aircraft, more than anyone else in history.

21/01/1918

Jimmy Hagan, English footballer (died 1998)

James Hagan was an English football player and manager. He played between 1938 and 1958 for Sheffield United and once for England. As manager he had his greatest successes with S.L. Benfica in the early 1970s.

Antonio Janigro, Italian cellist and conductor (died 1989)

Antonio Janigro was an Italian cellist and conductor.

Richard Winters, American soldier (died 2011)

Richard Davis Winters was a United States Army officer who served as a paratrooper in "Easy Company" of the 506th Infantry Regiment within the 101st Airborne Division during World War II. Winters was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his successful command of the assault on Brécourt Manor during the invasion of Normandy.

21/01/1917

Erling Persson, H&M founder (died 2002)

Erling Persson was the founder of H&M. He got the idea following a post-World War II trip to the United States: he was impressed by the country's efficient, high-volume stores.

21/01/1916

Pietro Rava, Italian footballer (died 2006)

Pietro Rava was an Italian football defender and coach, who played as a full-back. He won the 1936 Summer Olympics and the 1938 FIFA World Cup with the Italy national team.

Zypora Spaisman, Polish midwife; American and Yiddish-language actress; producer of the Yiddish stage (died 2002)

Zypora Spaisman was an actress and Yiddish theatre empresaria.

21/01/1915

André Lichnerowicz, French mathematician (died 1998)

André Lichnerowicz was a French differential geometer and mathematical physicist. He made pioneering contributions to the theory of the scalar curvature, holonomy groups, Kähler geometry, and the mathematical study of Einstein's equations. He also made contributions to symplectic geometry, and is considered the founder of modern Poisson geometry.

Orazio Mariani, Italian sprinter (died 1981)

Orazio Mariani was an Italian athlete who competed mainly in the 100 metre sprint and competed at the 1936 Summer Olympics.

21/01/1912

Konrad Emil Bloch, German-American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2000)

Konrad Emil Bloch was a German-American biochemist. Bloch received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1964 for discoveries concerning the mechanism and regulation of the cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism.

21/01/1911

Dick Garrard, Australian wrestler (died 2003)

Richard Edward Garrard, OBE was an Australian Olympic wrestler.

Lee Yoo-hyung, Korean footballer and manager (died 2003)

Lee Yoo-hyung was a South Korean football player and manager. He has played for Japan national team and South Korea national team. He was part of South Korea's squad for the 1948 Summer Olympics, but he did not play in any matches. He also played Kyungsung FC. He started coaching career before the Korean War. After the war, he managed South Korea national football team several times.

21/01/1910

Rosa Kellner, German athlete (died 1984)

Rosa Kellner was a German athlete who competed mainly in the 100 metres. She was born in Munich.

Albert Rosellini, American lawyer and politician, 15th Governor of Washington (died 2011)

Albert Dean Rosellini was an American politician who served as the 15th governor of Washington from 1957 to 1965 and was both the first Italian-American and Roman Catholic governor elected west of the Mississippi River.

Hideo Shinojima, Japanese footballer (died 1975)

Hideo Shinojima was a Japanese football player.

Károly Takács, Hungarian shooter (died 1976)

Károly Takács was the first shooter to win two Olympic gold medals in the 25 metre rapid fire pistol event, both with his left hand after his right hand was seriously injured. He is the third known physically disabled athlete to have competed in the Olympic Games after George Eyser in 1904 and Olivér Halassy in 1928, followed by Liz Hartel in 1952, Neroli Fairhall in 1984 and Oscar Pistorius in 2012.

21/01/1909

Todor Skalovski, Macedonian composer and conductor (died 2004)

Todor Skalovski was a Macedonian composer, chorus and orchestra conductor who wrote the music to North Macedonia's national anthem "Denes nad Makedonija". He is regarded as one of the most distinguished composers there. Skalovski is also regarded as one of the trailblazers in composing music inspired by and incorporating Macedonian culture and mythology.

Teofilo Spasojević, Serbian footballer (died 1970)

Teofilo Spasojević was a Serbian football player.

21/01/1907

Carlo Cavagnoli, Italian boxer (died 1991)

Carlo Cavagnoli was an Italian boxer who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics. In 1928 he won the bronze medal in the flyweight class after winning the third-place bout against Baddie Lebanon of South Africa. He was born in Milan.

21/01/1906

Igor Moiseyev, Russian choreographer (died 2007)

Igor Aleksandrovich Moiseyev was a Soviet and Russian ballet master, dancer, choreographer and pedagogue. Moiseyev was widely acclaimed as the greatest 20th-century choreographer of character dance, a dance style similar to folk dance but with more professionalism and theatrics.

21/01/1905

Christian Dior, French fashion designer, founded Christian Dior S.A. (died 1957)

Christian Ernest Dior was a French fashion designer and founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Christian Dior SE. His fashion house is known all around the world, having gained prominence "on five continents in only a decade."

Karl Wallenda, German-American acrobat and tightrope walker, founded The Flying Wallendas (died 1978)

Karl Wallenda was a German-American high wire artist. He was the founder of The Flying Wallendas, a daredevil circus troupe whose members performed dangerous stunts far above the ground, often without a safety net.

21/01/1904

John Porter, Canadian ice hockey player (died 1997)

John Chester "Red" Porter was a Canadian ice hockey player who competed in the 1928 Winter Olympics. He captained the University of Toronto Grads, the Canadian 1927 Allan Cup champions that won the gold medal in 1928, where Porter was Canada's opening-ceremonies flagbearer.

Puck van Heel, Dutch footballer (died 1984)

Gerardus Henricus "Puck" van Heel was a Dutch footballer. He earned 64 caps for the Netherlands national football team, and played in the 1934 and 1938 FIFA World Cups. He also represented the Netherlands at the 1928 Summer Olympics. During his club career, he played for his home town club of Feyenoord. Normally an inside left or left wing half, Van Heel was a slow player but possessed considerable vision and technical ability and was particularly good passer.

21/01/1903

William Lyon, American film editor (died 1974)

William Austin Lyon was an American film editor, from 1934 to 1971. He was born in Texas, and died in Los Angeles. Employed by Columbia Pictures for most of his career, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing six times, and won twice, for From Here to Eternity (1953) and Picnic (1955).

Raymond Suvigny, French weightlifter (died 1945)

Raymond Suvigny was a French weightlifter. He competed at the 1924 and 1932 Olympics and won a gold medal in 1932.

21/01/1901

Ricardo Zamora, Spanish footballer and manager (died 1978)

Ricardo Zamora Martínez was a Spanish football player and manager. He played as a goalkeeper for, among others, RCD Espanyol, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. As an international he played for Spain. As a manager, he won two La Liga titles with Atlético Madrid and briefly managed Spain.

21/01/1900

Elof Ahrle, Swedish actor and director (died 1965)

Elof Ahrle was a Swedish actor and film director. He appeared in 80 films between 1920 and 1960. He also directed ten films between 1942 and 1950. He was married to actress Birgit Rosengren.

Anselm Franz, Austrian engineer (died 1994)

Anselm Franz was a pioneering Austrian jet engine engineer known for the development of the Jumo 004, the world's first mass-produced turbojet engine by Nazi Germany during World War II, and his work on turboshaft designs in the United States after the war as part of Operation Paperclip, including the Lycoming T53, the Honeywell T55, the AGT-1500, and the PLF1A-2, the world's first high-bypass turbofan engine.

Fernando Quiroga Palacios, Spanish Cardinal (died 1971)

Fernando Quiroga Palacios was a Spanish Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela from 1949 until his death and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1953 by Pope Pius XII.

21/01/1899

John Bodkin Adams, British general practitioner and convict (died 1983)

John Bodkin Adams was a British general practitioner, convicted fraudster, and suspected serial killer. Between 1946 and 1956, 163 of his patients died while in comas, which was deemed to be worthy of investigation. In addition, 132 out of 310 patients had left Adams money or items in their wills.

Gyula Mándi, Hungarian footballer and manager (died 1969)

Gyula Mándi, also referred to as Mándi Gyula or Julius Mandel was a Hungarian Olympic national team and club footballer, who played as a defender and fullback/ He was also a manager of club and national teams. He was Jewish.

Alexander Tcherepnin, Russian-American pianist and composer (died 1977)

Alexander Nikolayevich Tcherepnin was a Russian-born composer and pianist.

21/01/1898

Rudolph Maté, Polish-Hungarian-American cinematographer, producer and director (died 1964)

Rudolph Maté was a Polish-Hungarian cinematographer who worked in Hungary, Austria, Germany, and France. He collaborated with notable directors including Fritz Lang, René Clair, and Carl Theodor Dreyer, attracting notable recognition for The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) and Vampyr (1932).

Ahmad Shah Qajar, Shah of Persia (died 1930)

Ahmad Shah Qajar was the shah of Iran (Persia) from 16 July 1909 to 15 December 1925, and the seventh and final ruling member of the Qajar dynasty.

Eduard Zintl, German chemist (died 1941)

Eduard Zintl was a German chemist. He gained prominence for research on intermetallic compounds.

21/01/1897

René Iché, French sculptor (died 1954)

René Iché was a 20th-century French sculptor.

21/01/1896

Guy Gilpatric, American pilot and journalist (died 1950)

John Guy Gilpatric was an American pilot, flight instructor, journalist, short-story writer and novelist, best known for his Mr. Glencannon stories.

Paula Hitler, younger sister of Adolf Hitler (died 1960)

Paula Hitler, also known as Paula Wolff and Paula Hitler-Wolff, was the younger sister of Adolf Hitler and the last child of Alois Hitler and his third wife, Klara Pölzl.

J. Carrol Naish, American actor (died 1973)

Joseph Patrick Carrol Naish was an American actor. He appeared in over 200 films during the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Masa Perttilä, Finnish wrestler (died 1968)

Matti Rudolf "Masa" Perttilä was a Finnish wrestler who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics. He was born and died in Isokyrö.

21/01/1895

Cristóbal Balenciaga, Spanish fashion designer, founded Balenciaga (died 1972)

Cristóbal Balenciaga Eizaguirre was a Spanish fashion designer, and the founder of the Balenciaga clothing brand. He had a reputation as a couturier of uncompromising standards and was referred to as "the master of us all" by Christian Dior and as "the only couturier in the truest sense of the word" by Coco Chanel, who continued, "The others are simply fashion designers". On the day of his death, in 1972, Women's Wear Daily ran the headline "The King is Dead".

Daniel Chalonge, French astrophysicist and astronomer (died 1977)

Daniel Chalonge was a French astronomer and astrophysicist. He was born in Grenoble and studied in Paris under Charles Fabry. Chalonge worked as an astronomer at the Observatoire de Paris, the Observatoire d'Haute Provence and the Swiss Jungfraujoch Scientific Station. One of the founders of the Institut d'astrophysique de Paris, his studies included the stellar spectrum of hydrogen, stellar photometry and classification, and measurement of the ozone layer. During the Nazi occupation of France, Chalogne assumed the position of director of the Institut d'astrophysique de Paris after the previous director, Henri Mineur, was arrested by the Gestapo. Chalonge developed a microphotometer, which was subsequently named after him. Between 1936 and 1982 he authored over 90 scientific papers.

Noe Itō, Japanese anarchist, author and feminist (died 1923)

Itō Noe was a Japanese anarchist, social critic, author, and feminist. She was the editor-in-chief of the feminist magazine Seitō (Bluestocking). Her progressive anarcha-feminist ideology challenged the norms of the Meiji and Taishō periods in which she lived. She drew praise from critics by being able to weave her personal and political ideas into her writings. The Japanese government, however, condemned her for challenging the constructs of the time. She became a martyr of the anarchist ideology in which she believed during the Amakasu Incident, when she was murdered along with her lover, anarchist author Ōsugi Sakae, and his nephew.

21/01/1891

Albert Battel, German Army lieutenant and lawyer (died 1952)

Albert Battel was a German Army lieutenant, lawyer and notary recognized for his resistance during World War II to the Nazi plans for the 1942 liquidation of the Przemyśl Jewish ghetto. He was posthumously recognized as Righteous Among the Nations in 1981.

Francisco Lázaro, Portuguese marathon runner (died 1912)

Francisco Lázaro was a Portuguese Olympic marathon runner and Portugal's standard-bearer in their first-ever participation at the Olympic Games, the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden.

21/01/1889

Pitirim Sorokin, American sociologist and political activist (died 1968)

Pitirim Alexandrovich Sorokin was a Russian American sociologist and political activist, who contributed to the social cycle theory.

Edith Tolkien, wife and muse of J. R. R. Tolkien (died 1971)

Edith Mary Tolkien was the wife of the academic, philologist, poet, and novelist J. R. R. Tolkien. She served as the inspiration for his fictional Middle-earth characters Lúthien Tinúviel and Arwen Undómiel.

21/01/1887

Wolfgang Köhler, German psychologist and phenomenologist (died 1967)

Wolfgang Köhler was a German psychologist and phenomenologist who, like Max Wertheimer and Kurt Koffka, contributed to the creation of Gestalt psychology.

Ernest Holmes, American New Thought writer (died 1960)

Ernest Shurtleff Holmes was an American New Thought writer, teacher, and leader. He was the founder of a spiritual movement known as Religious Science, part of the greater New Thought movement, whose spiritual philosophy is known as "The Science of Mind." He was the author of The Science of Mind and numerous other metaphysical books, and the founder of Science of Mind magazine, in continuous publication since 1927. His books remain in print, and the principles he taught as "Science of Mind" have inspired and influenced many generations of metaphysical students and teachers. Holmes had previously studied another New Thought teaching, Divine Science, and was an ordained Divine Science Minister. His influence beyond New Thought can be seen in the self-help movement.

Georges Vézina, Canadian ice hockey player (died 1926)

Joseph Georges Gonzague Vézina was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. A goaltender, he played seven seasons in the National Hockey Association (NHA) and nine in the National Hockey League (NHL), all with the Montreal Canadiens. After being signed by the Canadiens in 1910, Vézina played in 327 consecutive regular season games and a further 39 playoff games, before leaving early during a game in 1925 due to illness. Vézina was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and died on March 27, 1926.

21/01/1886

John M. Stahl, American director and producer (died 1950)

John Malcolm Stahl was a Russian-born American film director and producer. He is best known for his films such as Leave Her to Heaven (1945), Imitation of Life (1934), The Keys of the Kingdom (1944), and Back Street (1932).

21/01/1885

Duncan Grant, British painter and designer (died 1978)

Duncan James Corrowr Grant was a Scottish painter and designer of textiles, pottery, theatre sets, and costumes. He was a member of the Bloomsbury Group. His father was Bartle Grant, a "poverty-stricken" major in the army, and much of his early childhood was spent in India and Burma. He was a grandson of Sir John Peter Grant GCMG KCB, 12th Laird of Rothiemurchus and sometime Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal.

Umberto Nobile, Italian engineer and explorer (died 1978)

Umberto Nobile was an Italian aviator, aeronautical engineer and Arctic explorer.

Harold A. Wilson, English runner (died 1932)

Harold Allan Wilson was an English runner. Born in Horncastle, Lincolnshire, he was a member of the Hallamshire Harriers in Sheffield. He competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London and won a team gold in the 3 mile and an individual silver in the 1500 metres race. He was the first man to run a sub four minute 1,500 metres, with a time of 3:59.8 in May 1908.

21/01/1883

Olav Aukrust, Norwegian poet and educator (died 1929)

Olav Aukrust was a Norwegian poet and teacher. He popularized the use of Nynorsk as a literary language and is most commonly associated with his poem Himmelvarden (1916).

Oskar Baum, Bohemian writer (died 1941)

Oskar Baum was a Czech music educator and writer in the German language.

Mathias Hynes, British tug of war competitor (died 1926)

Mathias Hynes was a British tug of war competitor who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics. In 1912, he won the silver medal as a member of the British team City of London Police, though he was Irish.

21/01/1882

Pavel Florensky, Russian mathematician and theologian (died 1937)

Pavel Alexandrovich Florensky was a Russian Orthodox theologian, priest, philosopher, mathematician, physicist, electrical engineer, inventor, polymath, neomartyr and folk saint. During the later twentieth century, statements had appeared noting a recognition by the Russian Orthodox Church of him as a saint, though it was later firmly noted that no such decision had been made.

Francis Gailey, Australian-American swimmer (died 1972)

Francis Gailey was an Australian competition swimmer who swam in the 1904 Summer Olympics held in St. Louis, Missouri.

21/01/1881

Ernst Fast, Swedish runner (died 1959)

Ernst Robert Efraim Fast was a Swedish long distance runner who competed in the late 19th century and early 20th century. He specialized in the marathon and participated in the event in Athletics at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris and won the bronze medal, behind second place Émile Champion.

André Godard, French archaeologist, architect and historian (died 1965)

André Godard was a French archaeologist, architect and historian of French and Middle Eastern Art. He served as the director of the Iranian Archeological Service for many years.

Ivan Ribar, Yugoslav politician (died 1968)

Ivan Ribar was a Croatian politician who served in several governments of various forms in Yugoslavia. Ideologically a Yugoslavist and communist, he was a prominent member of the Yugoslav Partisans, the resistance movement to the Nazi occupation of Yugoslavia.

21/01/1880

George Van Biesbroeck, Belgian–American astronomer (died 1974)

George A. Van Biesbroeck was a Belgian–American astronomer. He worked at observatories in Belgium, Germany and the United States. He specialized in the observation of double stars, asteroids and comets. He is notable for his long career as an observational astronomer.

21/01/1878

Vahan Tekeyan, Armenian poet and activist (died 1948)

Vahan Tekeyan was an Armenian poet and public activist. In his lifetime he was the most famous poet of the Armenian diaspora, and he remains a significant symbol of Armenian identity and cultural heritage.

21/01/1877

Baldassarre Negroni, Italian director and screenwriter (died 1948)

Baldassarre Negroni was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed 89 films between 1912 and 1936. He directed the 1932 film Due cuori felici, which starred Vittorio De Sica.

21/01/1875

Paul E. Kahle, German orientalist (died 1964)

Paul Ernst Kahle was a German orientalist and scholar.

21/01/1874

René-Louis Baire, French mathematician (died 1932)

René-Louis Baire was a French mathematician most famous for his Baire category theorem, which helped to generalize and prove future theorems. His theory was published originally in his dissertation Sur les fonctions de variables réelles in 1899.

21/01/1873

Arturo Labriola, Italian revolutionary syndicalist (died 1959)

Arturo Labriola was an Italian revolutionary syndicalist and socialist politician and journalist.

21/01/1871

Olga Preobrajenska, Russian ballerina (died 1962)

Olga Iosifovna Preobrajenska was a Russian ballerina of the Russian Imperial Ballet and a ballet instructor.

21/01/1869

Grigori Rasputin, Russian mystic (died 1916)

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was a Russian mystic and faith healer. He is best known for having befriended the imperial family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, through whom he gained considerable influence in the final years of the Russian Empire.

21/01/1868

Felix Hoffmann, German chemist (died 1946)

Felix Hoffmann was a German chemist notable for re-synthesising diamorphine, which was popularized under the Bayer trade name of "heroin". He is also credited with synthesizing aspirin, though whether he did this under his own initiative or under the instruction of Arthur Eichengrün is contested.

21/01/1867

Ludwig Thoma, German paramedic and author (died 1921)

Ludwig Thoma was a German author, publisher and editor, who gained popularity through his partially exaggerated description of everyday Bavarian life.

Maxime Weygand, Belgian-French general (died 1965)

Maxime Weygand was a French military commander in World War I and World War II, as well as a high-ranking member of the Vichy regime.

21/01/1865

Heinrich Albers-Schonberg, German gynecologist and radiologist (died 1921)

Heinrich Ernst Albers-Schönberg was a German gynecologist and radiologist. He was a native of Hamburg.

21/01/1864

Israel Zangwill, British author (died 1926)

Israel Zangwill was a British author at the forefront of Zionism during the late 19th century, and as such was a close associate of Theodor Herzl. He later rejected the search for a Jewish homeland in Palestine and became the prime thinker behind the Jewish territorial movement.

21/01/1860

Karl Staaff, Swedish lawyer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Sweden (died 1915)

Karl Albert Staaff was a Swedish liberal politician and lawyer who served as the Prime Minister of Sweden from 1905 to 1906 and again from 1911 to 1914. He was chairman of the Liberal Coalition Party from 1907 to 1915. He was Sweden's first liberal prime minister, as well as its last prime minister whose governance was ended by a lack of monarchical support.

21/01/1855

Princess Maria Luisa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, the youngest daughter of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies (died 1874)

Princess Maria Luisa of the Two Sicilies was the youngest daughter of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies and his wife Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria. She was known for her piety and for her charity to the poor.

21/01/1854

Karl Julius Beloch, German classical and economic historian (died 1929)

Karl Julius Beloch was a German classical and economic historian.

Eusapia Palladino, Italian spiritualist (died 1918)

Eusapia Palladino was an Italian spiritualist physical medium. She claimed extraordinary powers such as the ability to levitate tables, communicate with the dead through her spirit guide John King, and to produce other supernatural phenomena.

21/01/1851

Giuseppe Allamano, Italian Roman Catholic priest (died 1926)

Giuseppe Allamano, IMC was an Italian Catholic priest who established the Consolata Missionaries (IMC) for males and another for females, the Consolata Missionary Sisters. Allamano also served as the rector of the Santuario della Consolata and transformed the shrine into a source of spiritual renewal for the faithful. He was beatified in 1990 and canonized on 20 October 2024.

21/01/1848

Henri Duparc, French soldier and composer (died 1933)

Eugène Marie Henri Fouques Duparc was a French composer of the late Romantic period. He is best known for his mélodies.

21/01/1847

Joseph Achille Le Bel, French chemist (died 1930)

Joseph Achille Le Bel was a French chemist. He is best known for his work in stereochemistry. Le Bel was educated at the École Polytechnique in Paris. In 1874 he announced his theory outlining the relationship between molecular structure and optical activity. This discovery laid the foundation of the science of stereochemistry, which deals with the spatial arrangement of atoms in molecules. This hypothesis was put forward in the same year by the Dutch physical chemist Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff and is currently known as Le Bel–van't Hoff rule. Le Bel wrote Cosmologie Rationelle in 1929.

21/01/1846

Pieter Hendrik Schoute, Dutch mathematician and academic (died 1923)

Pieter Hendrik Schoute was a Dutch mathematician known for his work on regular polytopes and Euclidean geometry.

Albert Lavignac, French music scholar (died 1916)

Alexandre Jean Albert Lavignac was a French music scholar, known for his essays on theory, and a minor composer.

21/01/1845

Harriet Backer, Norwegian painter (died 1932)

Harriet Backer was a Norwegian painter who achieved recognition in her own time and was a pioneer among female artists both in the Nordic countries and in Europe generally. She is best known for her detailed interior scenes, communicated with rich colors and the interplay of light and shadow.

21/01/1843

Émile Levassor, French engineer (died 1897)

Émile Constant Levassor was a French engineer and a pioneer of the automobile industry and car racing in France.

21/01/1841

Édouard Schuré, French philosopher and author (died 1929)

Eduard (Édouard) Schuré was a French philosopher, poet, playwright, novelist, music critic, and publicist of esoteric literature.

21/01/1840

Sophia Jex-Blake, English physician and feminist (died 1912)

Sophia Louisa Jex-Blake was an English physician, teacher, and feminist. She led the campaign to secure women access to a university education, when she began studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh in 1869. She was the first practising female doctor in Scotland, and one of the first in the wider United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; a leading campaigner for medical education for women, she was involved in founding two medical schools for women, in London and Edinburgh, at a time when no other medical schools were training women.

21/01/1839

Caterina Volpicelli, Italian Roman Catholic nun (died 1894)

Caterina Volpicelli, ASCV was an Italian religious sister and the foundress of the Volpicelli Handmaids of the Sacred Heart, dedicated to education, who has been declared a saint by the Catholic Church. She was beatified on 29 April 2001 by Pope John Paul II, and canonized on 26 April 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI.

21/01/1831

George Kerferd, English-Australian politician, 10th Premier of Victoria (died 1889)

George Briscoe Kerferd, Australian colonial politician, was the 10th Premier of Victoria.

21/01/1829

Oscar II of Sweden (died 1907)

Oscar II was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death in 1907 and King of Norway from 1872 to 1905.

21/01/1827

Ivan Mikheevich Pervushin, Russian mathematician and theorist (died 1900)

Ivan Mikheevich Pervushin was a Russian clergyman and mathematician of the second half of the 19th century, known for his achievements in number theory. He discovered the ninth perfect number and its odd prime factor, the ninth Mersenne prime. Also, he proved that two Fermat numbers, the 12th and 23rd, were composite.

21/01/1824

Stonewall Jackson, American general (died 1863)

Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson was a Confederate general and military officer who served during the American Civil War. He played a prominent role in nearly all military engagements in the eastern theater of the war until his death. Military historians regard him as one of the most gifted tactical commanders in U.S. history.

21/01/1820

Joseph Wolf, German ornithologist and illustrator (died 1899)

Joseph Wolf was a German artist who specialized in natural history illustration. He moved to the British Museum in 1848 and became the preferred illustrator for explorers and naturalists including David Livingstone, Alfred Russel Wallace and Henry Walter Bates. Wolf depicted animals accurately in lifelike postures and is considered one of the great pioneers of wildlife art. Sir Edwin Landseer thought him "...without exception, the best all-round animal artist who ever lived".

Egide Walschaerts, Belgian mechanical engineer (died 1901)

Egide Walschaerts was a Belgian mechanical engineer, best known as the inventor of the Walschaerts valve gear used in steam locomotives. He was born in Mechelen, Belgium. In 1838 he was recognised as an excellent modeller, presenting his work at a local exhibition in Mechelen. Minister Rogier, who opened the exhibition, was so impressed that he arranged a place for Walschaerts at Liège University.

21/01/1815

Horace Wells, American dentist (died 1848)

Horace Wells was an American dentist who pioneered the use of anesthesia in medicine, specifically the use of nitrous oxide. Although he was urged to patent his discovery, he never did, believing that freedom from pain should be "as free as the air we breathe."

21/01/1814

Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, German bibliographer and historian (died 1885)

Johann Georg Theodor Grässe was a German bibliographer and literary historian. He worked in Dresden at the Münzkabinett and also edited the journal Zeitschrift für Museologie und Antiquitätenkunde. He was born in Grimma and died in Niederlössnitz.

21/01/1813

John C. Frémont, American general, explorer, and politician, 5th Territorial Governor of Arizona (died 1890)

Major-General John Charles Frémont was a United States Army officer, explorer, and politician. He was a United States senator from California and was the first Republican nominee for president of the U.S. in 1856 and founder of the California Republican Party upon being nominated. Frémont lost the election to Democrat James Buchanan.

Giuseppe Montanelli, Italian statesman and author (died 1862)

Giuseppe Montanelli was an Italian statesman and writer.

21/01/1811

James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn, British statesman (died 1885)

James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn, styled Viscount Hamilton from 1814 to 1818 and The Marquess of Abercorn from 1818 to 1868, was a Conservative statesman who twice served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

21/01/1810

Pierre Louis Charles de Failly, French general (died 1892)

Pierre-Louis Charles de Failly was a French general.

21/01/1808

Juan Crisóstomo Torrico, 16th President of Peru (died 1875)

Juan Crisóstomo Torrico Vargas served as the 16th President of Peru during a brief period in 1842. At age 34, he was Peru's youngest President ever.

21/01/1804

Moritz von Schwind, Austrian painter (died 1871)

Moritz von Schwind was an Austrian painter, born in Vienna. Schwind's genius was lyrical—he drew inspiration from chivalry, folklore, and the songs of the people. Schwind died in Pöcking in Bavaria, and was buried in the Alter Südfriedhof in Munich.

21/01/1801

John Batman, Australian entrepreneur and explorer (died 1839)

John Batman was an Australian grazier, entrepreneur and explorer, who had a prominent role in the founding of Melbourne. He was also involved in many attacks against Aboriginal Australians.

21/01/1800

Theodor Fliedner, German Lutheran minister (died 1864)

Theodor Fliedner was a German Lutheran minister and founder of Lutheran deaconess training. In 1836, he and Friederike Fliedner founded the Kaiserswerther Diakonie, a hospital and deaconess training center. They and Caroline Bertheau, are regarded as the renewers of the apostolic deaconess ministry. Their work in nursing was pioneering for Florence Nightingale, who spent a few months in Kaiserswerth in 1850.

21/01/1797

Joseph Méry, French author and journalist (died 1866)

Joseph Méry was a French writer, journalist, novelist, poet, playwright and librettist.

21/01/1796

Princess Marie of Hesse-Kassel, consort of George, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (died 1880)

Princess Marie of Hesse-Kassel was the consort of George, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

21/01/1788

William Henry Smyth, Royal Navy officer, hydrographer, astronomer and numismatist (died 1865)

Admiral William Henry Smyth was an English Royal Navy officer, hydrographer, astronomer and numismatist. He is noted for his involvement in the early history of a number of learned societies, for his hydrographic charts, for his astronomical work, and for a wide range of publications and translations.

21/01/1784

Peter De Wint, English painter (died 1849)

Peter De Wint was a prolific English painter, mostly in landscape painting in oils and watercolour. A number of his pictures are in Tate Britain, the Victoria and Albert Museum and The Collection, Lincoln. He died in London.

21/01/1775

Manuel Garcia, Spanish opera singer and composer (died 1832)

Manuel del Pópulo Vicente Rodriguez García was a Spanish opera singer, composer, impresario, and singing teacher. He is often credited as a key figure in the development of modern vocal technique and vocal pedagogy.

21/01/1763

Augustin Robespierre, younger brother of French Revolutionary leader Maximilien Robespierre (died 1794)

Augustin Bon Joseph de Robespierre, known as Robespierre the Younger, was a French lawyer and politician, the younger brother of revolutionary leader Maximilien Robespierre. His political views were similar to his brother's. When his brother was arrested on 9 Thermidor, Robespierre volunteered to be arrested as well, and he was executed by the guillotine along with Maximilien and 20 of his supporters.

21/01/1741

Chaim of Volozhin, Orthodox rabbi (died 1821)

Chaim of Volozhin was a rabbi, Talmudist, and ethicist. Popularly known as "Reb Chaim Volozhiner" or simply as "Reb Chaim", he was born in Volozhin when it was a part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He died there while it was under the control of the Russian Empire.

21/01/1738

Ethan Allen, American general (died 1789)

Ethan Allen was an American farmer, writer, military officer, and politician. He is best known as one of the founders of Vermont and for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga during the American Revolutionary War, and was also the brother of Ira Allen and the father of Fanny Allen.

21/01/1732

Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg, son of Karl Alexander, Duke of Württemberg, and Princess Maria Augusta of Thurn and Taxis (died 1797)

Friedrich Eugen, Duke of Württemberg was the fourth son of Karl Alexander, Duke of Württemberg, and Princess Maria Augusta of Thurn and Taxis. He was born in Stuttgart. From 1795 until 1797, he was Duke of Württemberg.

21/01/1721

James Murray, Scottish-English general and politician, Governor of Minorca (died 1794)

General James Murray was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of Quebec from 1760 to 1768 and governor of Minorca from 1778 to 1782. Born in Ballencrieff, East Lothian, Murray travelled to North America and took part in the French and Indian War. After the conflict, his administration of the Province of Quebec was noted for its successes, being marked by positive relationships with French Canadians, who were reassured of the traditional rights and customs. Murray died in Battle, East Sussex in 1794.

21/01/1717

Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa, Spanish military officer and governor of Cuba (died 1779)

Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa was a Spanish military officer, governor of Cuba, and Viceroy of New Spain from 1771 until his death in 1779. His military service included campaigns in Italy and Portugal. He rose to the rank of lieutenant general while serving as inspector of coastal fortifications in Granada. In 1766, Bucareli entered the Spanish colonial administration as governor and captain general of Cuba. His record there earned him appointment as viceroy of New Spain in 1771.

21/01/1714

Anna Morandi Manzolini, Italian anatomist (died 1774)

Anna Morandi Manzolini was an Italian anatomist, anatomical wax modeler, and lecturer of anatomical design at the University of Bologna. She became internationally known for the production of anatomical wax models based on anatomical dissections.

21/01/1675

Duchess Sibylle of Saxe-Lauenburg, Margravine of Baden-Baden (died 1733)

Sibylle of Saxe-Lauenburg was Margravine of Baden-Baden. Born a Duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg, she was the wife of Louis William, Margrave of Baden-Baden, a famous Imperial general who was known as the Türkenlouis. She was the consort of the ruler of Baden-Baden (1690–1707) and regent (1707–1727) during the minority of her son Louis George. Her older sister Anna Maria Franziska of Saxe-Lauenburg was the future Grand Duchess of Tuscany as the wife of Gian Gastone de' Medici.

21/01/1659

Adriaen van der Werff, Dutch painter (died 1722)

Adriaen van der Werff was a Dutch painter of portraits and erotic, devotional and mythological scenes. He painted several works for the Medicis. His brother, Pieter van der Werff (1661–1722), was his principal pupil and assistant.

21/01/1655

Antonio Molinari, Italian painter (died 1704)

Antonio Molinari, also known as il Caraccino, was an Italian painter of the Baroque era in Venice.

21/01/1636

Melchiorre Cafà, Maltese Baroque sculptor (baptised; (died 1667)

Melchiorre Cafà was a Maltese Baroque sculptor. Cafà began a promising career in Rome but this was cut short by his premature death following a work accident. He was the older brother of the architect Lorenzo Gafà.

21/01/1612

Henry Casimir I of Nassau-Dietz, count of Nassau-Dietz (died 1640)

Henry Casimir I of Nassau-Dietz was count of Nassau-Dietz and Stadtholder of Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe.

21/01/1598

Matsudaira Tadamasa, Japanese samurai and daimyō (died 1645)

Matsudaira Tadamasa was an early to mid-Edo period Japanese samurai, and daimyō.

21/01/1493

Giovanni Poggio, Italian cardinal and diplomat (died 1556)

Giovanni Poggio was an Italian Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal. He is mainly known for the elaborate decorations he arranged for his residence, the Palazzo Poggi.

21/01/1338

Charles V of France (died 1380)

Charles V, called the Wise, was King of France from 1364 to his death in 1380. His reign marked an early high point for France during the Hundred Years' War as his armies recovered much of the territory held by the English and successfully reversed the military losses of his predecessors.

21/01/1277

Galeazzo I Visconti, lord of Milan (died 1328)

Galeazzo I Visconti was lord of Milan from 1322 to 1327. After being chosen Captain of Milan, he defeated two papal armies and was excommunicated by Pope John XXII. Temporarily imprisoned for murder, Galeazzo retired to Pescia and died in August 1328.

21/01/1264

Alexander, Prince of Scotland (died 1284)

Alexander was an heir apparent to the throne of the Kingdom of Scotland who never acceded due to his early death.

 

Lives Remembered on 21st January

On 21st January, 112 remarkable people passed away — from 420 to 2026. Remember the lives and legacies of those we lost on this day.

21/01/2026

Virginia Oliver (born 1920), American lobster fisherwoman

Virginia Oliver was an American lobster fisherwoman.

21/01/2025

Mauricio Funes, Salvadoran politician, 79th President of El Salvador (born 1959)

Carlos Mauricio Funes Cartagena was a Salvadoran politician and journalist who served as the 41st president of El Salvador from 2009 to 2014. Funes won the 2009 presidential election as the candidate of the left-wing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), though he described himself as center-left.

Garth Hudson, Canadian keyboard player, songwriter, and producer (born 1937)

Eric Garth Hudson was a Canadian multi-instrumentalist best known as the keyboardist and occasional saxophonist for The Band. He was a principal architect of the group's sound and was described as "the most brilliant organist in the rock world" by Keyboard magazine. In 1994, Hudson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Band.

21/01/2022

Louie Anderson, American actor and comedian (born 1953)

Louis Perry Anderson was an American stand-up comedian, actor, author and game show host. He created the cartoon series Life with Louie and the television sitcom The Louie Show, and wrote four books, including Hey Mom: Stories for My Mother, But You Can Read Them Too, which was published in 2018. Anderson was the third host of the game show Family Feud from 1999 to 2002 — the first host in its third and current run.

Leonor Oyarzún, Chilean socialite, First Lady of Chile (born 1919)

Leonor Oyarzún Ivanovic was a Chilean family therapist and member of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC). She served as the First Lady of Chile from 1990 until 1994 as the wife of President Patricio Aylwin.

21/01/2020

Terry Jones, Welsh actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1942)

Terence Graham Parry Jones was a Welsh actor, comedian, director, historian, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe.

Morgan Wootten, American high school basketball coach (born 1931)

Morgan Bayard Wootten was an American high school basketball coach for 46 seasons at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland. He led the Stags to five national championships and 33 Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) titles. In 2000, he was the third high school coach to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the first high school only coach to be inducted.

21/01/2019

Kaye Ballard, American actress (born 1925)

Kaye Ballard was an American actress, comedian, and singer.

Henri, Count of Paris, Head of the House of Orléans (born 1933)

Henri Philippe Pierre Marie d'Orléans was the Orléanist pretender to the defunct French throne as Henry VII. He used the style of Count of Paris.

Emiliano Sala, Argentine footballer (born 1990)

Emiliano Raúl Sala Taffarel was an Argentine professional footballer who played as a striker.

Harris Wofford, American politician, author and civil rights activist (born 1926)

Harris Llewellyn Wofford Jr. was an American attorney, civil rights activist, and Democratic Party politician who represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1991 to 1995. A noted advocate of national service and volunteering, Wofford was also the fifth president of Bryn Mawr College from 1970 to 1978, served as chairman of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party in 1986, served as Pennsylvania Secretary of Labor and Industry in the cabinet of Governor Bob Casey Sr. from 1987 to 1991, and was a surrogate for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. He introduced Obama in Philadelphia at the National Constitution Center before Obama's speech on race in America, "A More Perfect Union."

21/01/2016

Bill Johnson, American skier (born 1960)

William Dean Johnson was an American World Cup alpine ski racer. By winning the downhill at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, Johnson became the first American male to win an Olympic gold medal in alpine skiing and the first racer not from an Alpine country to win an Olympic downhill race.

Mrinalini Sarabhai, a 1992-Padma Bhushan award winner Indian classical dancer, choreographer and instructor. (born 1918)

Mrinalini Vikram Sarabhai was an Indian classical dancer, choreographer and instructor. She was the founder and director of the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, an institute for imparting training in dance, drama, music and puppetry, in the city of Ahmedabad. She received Padma Bhushan in 1992 and Padma Shri in 1965. She also received many other citations in recognition of her contribution to art.

21/01/2015

Marcus Borg, American scholar, theologian, and author (born 1942)

Marcus Joel Borg was an American New Testament scholar and theologian. He was among the most widely known and influential voices in Liberal Christianity. Borg was a fellow of the Jesus Seminar and a major figure in historical Jesus scholarship. He retired as Hundere Distinguished Professor of Religion and Culture at Oregon State University in 2007. He died eight years later at the age of 72, of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis at his home in Powell Butte, Oregon.

Leon Brittan, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (born 1939)

Leon Brittan, Baron Brittan of Spennithorne, was a British Conservative politician and barrister who served as a European Commissioner from 1989 to 1999. As a member of Parliament from 1974 to 1988, he served several ministerial roles in Margaret Thatcher's government, including Home Secretary from 1983 to 1985.

Johnnie Lewis, Liberian lawyer and politician, 18th Chief Justice of Liberia (born 1946)

Johnnie N. Lewis was a Liberian lawyer and politician who served as the 18th Chief Justice of Liberia from 2006 to 2012. Before his appointment to the Supreme Court, he served as a circuit judge in Liberia's judicial system.

Canek Sánchez Guevara, Cuban author and dissident (born 1974)

Canek Sánchez Guevara (1974–2015) was a Cuban author, photographer, musician and dissident. The grandson of Argentinian revolutionary Che Guevara, he grew up in the upper crust of post-revolutionary Cuban society, but soon became disillusioned with the government of Fidel Castro. After his mother's death, he went into exile in Mexico, where he worked as a writer for Proceso, penning criticisms of the Cuban government from a left-wing anarchist perspective. He died in 2015, following complications with cardiac surgery.

21/01/2013

Ahmet Mete Işıkara, Turkish geophysicist and academic (born 1941)

Ahmet Mete Işıkara was a Turkish geophysicist and earthquake scientist known for his efforts to create public awareness of the need for earthquake-related protection and safety.

Chumpol Silpa-archa, Thai academic and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand (born 1940)

Chumpol Silpa-archa was a Thai politician who served in the government of Thailand as Minister of Tourism and Sports from 2008 to 2013; he was also Deputy Prime Minister from 2011 to 2013. Beginning in January 2009, he was the president of the Chartthaipattana Party. He was the younger brother of Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-archa.

Michael Winner, English director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1935)

Michael Robert Winner was a British filmmaker, writer, and media personality. He is known for directing numerous action, thriller, and black comedy films in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, including several collaborations with actors Oliver Reed and Charles Bronson.

21/01/2012

Jonathan Idema, American soldier, mercenary, con artist, vigilante, and criminal (born 1956)

Jonathan Keith "Jack" Idema was an American con artist, mercenary and former United States Army reserve non-commissioned officer, known for his vigilante activities during the War in Afghanistan.

21/01/2011

Theoni V. Aldredge, Greek-American costume designer (born 1922)

Theoni V. Aldredge was a Greek-American stage and screen costume designer.

Dennis Oppenheim, American sculptor and photographer (born 1938)

Dennis Oppenheim was an American conceptual artist, performance artist, earth artist, sculptor and photographer.

E. V. V. Satyanarayana, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1958)

Eedara Veera Venkata Satyanarayana was an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed a total of 51 films in Telugu films and introduced many actors to Telugu cinema. He was well known for making comedy and melodrama films. In 2000, he established his own production company, E. V. V. Cinema. He died in 2011.

21/01/2010

Paul Quarrington, Canadian author, playwright, guitarist, and composer (born 1953)

Paul Lewis Quarrington was a Canadian novelist, playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker, musician, and educator.

21/01/2009

Krista Kilvet, Estonian journalist, politician and diplomat (born 1946)

Krista Kilvet was an Estonian radio journalist, politician and diplomat.

21/01/2006

Ibrahim Rugova, Kosovo journalist and politician, 1st President of Kosovo (born 1944)

Ibrahim Rugova was a Kosovo-Albanian politician, scholar, and writer, who served as the President of the partially recognised Republic of Kosova, serving from 1992 to 2000 and as President of Kosovo from 2002 until his death in 2006. He oversaw a popular struggle for independence, advocating a peaceful resistance to Yugoslav rule and lobbying for U.S. and European support, especially during the Kosovo War.

21/01/2005

Theun de Vries, Dutch author and poet (born 1907)

Theunis Uilke (Theun) de Vries, was a Dutch writer and poet.

John L. Hess, American journalist and critic (born 1917)

John L. Hess was a prominent American investigative journalist who worked for many years at The New York Times. He left the Times in 1978 and wrote a memoir about his years there, My Times: A Memoir of Dissent.

Kaljo Raid, Estonian cellist, composer, and pastor (born 1921)

Kaljo Raid was an Estonian composer, cellist and pastor.

21/01/2004

Yordan Radichkov, Bulgarian author and playwright (born 1929)

Yordan Dimitrov Radichkov was a Bulgarian writer and playwright.

21/01/2003

Paul Haines, American-Canadian poet and songwriter (born 1933)

Paul Haines was an American poet and jazz lyricist. Born in Vassar, Michigan, Haines eventually settled in Canada after spending time in Europe, Asia, and the United States; he had a long stint as a French teacher at Fenelon Falls Secondary School, in Ontario, Canada. Active in New York City in the 60s, he recorded Albert Ayler's Ghosts. A second recording made by Ayler called Spiritual Unity (1965) included a printed folio with text by Paul Haines called "You and the Night and Music."

Paul Kuusberg, Estonian journalist and author (born 1916)

Paul Kuusberg was an Estonian writer and journalist. Novellas by him include "Roostetanud kastekann" (1971) and "Võõras või õige mees" (1978), which won an award in Estonia.

21/01/2002

Peggy Lee, American singer (born 1920)

Norma Deloris Egstrom, known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, and actress whose career spanned seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, Lee created a sophisticated persona, writing music for films, acting, and recording conceptual record albums combining poetry and music. Called the "Queen of American pop music", Lee recorded more than 1,100 masters and co-wrote more than 270 songs. She is best known for her role in the Walt Disney classic Lady and the Tramp, where she voiced Darling, Peg, and the Siamese cats, among others. In 1956, she received an Academy Award nomination for her role in the 1955 film Pete Kelly's Blues. That same year Lee was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.

21/01/1999

Susan Strasberg, American actress (born 1938)

Susan Elizabeth Strasberg was an American stage, film, and television actress. Thought to be the next Hepburn-type ingenue, she was nominated for a Tony Award at age 18, playing the title role in The Diary of Anne Frank. She appeared on the covers of LIFE and Newsweek in 1955. A close friend of Marilyn Monroe, she wrote two best-selling tell-all books. Her later career primarily consisted of slasher and horror films, followed by TV roles, by the 1980s.

21/01/1998

Jack Lord, American actor, director, and producer (born 1920)

John Joseph Patrick Ryan, best known by his stage name, Jack Lord, was an American television, film and Broadway actor, director and producer. He starred as Steve McGarrett in the CBS television program Hawaii Five-O, which ran from 1968 to 1980.

21/01/1994

Bassel al-Assad, Son of the former President of the Syrian Arab Republic Hafez al-Assad (born 1962)

Bassel al-Assad was a Syrian military officer, engineer and politician. He was the eldest son of Syrian president Hafez al-Assad. He was expected to succeed his father as president until his death in a car crash in January 1994. After his death, his younger brother Bashar became heir apparent to the Syrian presidency and ultimately succeeded their father upon his death.

21/01/1993

Charlie Gehringer, American baseball player and manager (born 1903)

Charles Leonard Gehringer, nicknamed "the Mechanical Man", was an American professional baseball second baseman. He played for the Detroit Tigers for 19 seasons from 1924 to 1942. He compiled a .320 career batting average with 2,839 hits and 1,427 runs batted in (RBIs). He had seven seasons with more than 200 hits and was the starting second baseman and played every inning of the first six All Star Games. He won the American League batting title in 1937 with a .371 average and won the American League Most Valuable Player Award. He helped lead the Tigers to three American League pennants and the 1935 World Series championship.

21/01/1992

Eddie Mabo, Australian land rights activist (born 1936)

Edward Koiki Mabo was a Torres Strait Islander man, known for his role in campaigning for Indigenous land rights in Australia, in particular the landmark decision of the High Court of Australia that recognised that indigenous rights to land had continued after the British Crown acquired sovereignty and that the international law doctrine of terra nullius was not applicable to Australian domestic law. High court judges considering the case Mabo v Queensland found in favour of Mabo, which led to the Native Title Act 1993 and established native title in Australia, officially recognising the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia.

21/01/1989

Carl Furillo, American baseball player (born 1922)

Carl Anthony Furillo, nicknamed "the Reading Rifle" and "Skoonj", was an American baseball player who played in Major League Baseball (MLB), spending his entire career with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, primarily as a right fielder.

Billy Tipton, American pianist and saxophonist (born 1914)

Billy Lee Tipton was an American jazz musician, bandleader, and talent broker. He is notable for having been posthumously outed as a transgender man.

21/01/1988

Vincent Lingiari, Australian Aboriginal rights activist (born 1919)

Vincent Lingiari was an Australian Aboriginal rights activist of the Gurindji people. In his early life he started as a stockman at Wave Hill Station, where the Aboriginal workers were given beef, bread, and tobacco as their wages of $6. After the owners of the station refused to improve pay and working conditions at the cattle station and hand back some of Gurindji land, Lingiari was elected and became the leader of the workers in August 1966. He led his people in the Wave Hill walk-off, also known as the Gurindji strike.

21/01/1987

Charles Goodell, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (born 1926)

Charles Ellsworth Goodell Jr. was an American politician who represented New York in the United States House of Representatives from 1959 to 1968 and the United States Senate from 1968 to 1971. In both cases, he took office following the deaths of his predecessors, first in a special election and second as a temporary appointee succeeding Robert F. Kennedy.

21/01/1985

James Beard, American chef and author (born 1903)

James Andrews Beard was an American chef, cookbook author, teacher and television personality. He pioneered television cooking shows, taught at The James Beard Cooking School in New York City and Seaside, Oregon, and lectured widely. He emphasized American cooking, prepared with fresh and wholesome American ingredients, to a country just becoming aware of its own culinary heritage. Beard taught and mentored generations of professional chefs and food enthusiasts. He published more than twenty books, and his memory is honored by his foundation's annual James Beard Awards.

Eddie Graham, American wrestler and promoter (born 1930)

Edward F. Gossett, better known by his ring name Eddie Graham, was an American professional wrestler, promoter, booker, and trainer.

21/01/1984

Giannis Skarimpas, Greek playwright and poet (born 1893)

Giannis Skarimpas, Giannis Skarimbas, or Yiannis Skarimbas, was a Greek writer, dramatist, and poet.

Jackie Wilson, American singer (born 1934)

Jack Leroy Wilson Jr. was an American singer who was a prominent figure in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. Nicknamed "Mr. Excitement", he was considered a master showman and one of the most dynamic singers and performers in the 20th century. Among Wilson's hits are "Lonely Teardrops," "Baby Workout," "Reet Petite", "I Get the Sweetest Feeling" and "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher". His performance style is often cited as a significant influence on contemporary and later artists such as Elvis Presley, James Brown, and Michael Jackson.

21/01/1983

Lamar Williams, American bass player (born 1949)

Lamar Williams was an American musician best known for serving as the bassist of The Allman Brothers Band (1972–1976) and Sea Level (1976–1980).

21/01/1978

Freda Utley, English scholar and author (born 1898)

Winifred Utley, commonly known as Freda Utley, was an English scholar, political activist and best-selling author. After visiting the Soviet Union in 1927 as a trade union activist, she joined the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1928. Later, married and living in Moscow, she quickly became disillusioned with communism. When her Russian husband, Arcadi Berdichevsky, was arrested in 1936, she escaped to England with her young son.

21/01/1977

Sandro Penna, Italian poet and journalist (born 1906)

Sandro Penna was an Italian poet.

21/01/1967

Ann Sheridan, American actress (born 1915)

Clara Lou "Ann" Sheridan was an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in the films San Quentin (1937), Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), They Drive by Night (1940), City for Conquest (1940), The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942), Kings Row (1942), Nora Prentiss (1947), and I Was a Male War Bride (1949).

21/01/1963

Acharya Shivpujan Sahay, Indian author, poet, and academic (born 1893)

Acharya Shivpujan Sahay was a noted Hindi and Bhojpuri novelist, editor and prose writer. He contributed in pioneering modern trends. His auto-biographical story "Mata ka Aanchal" also featured in the NCERT Hindi textbook, Kritika, for the tenth grade. He was also conferred with the Padma Bhushan award by the Government of India.

Spiros Xenos, Greek-Swedish painter (born 1881)

Spiros George Xenos was a Greek-Swedish artist.

21/01/1961

Blaise Cendrars, Swiss author and poet (born 1887)

Frédéric-Louis Sauser, better known as Blaise Cendrars, was a Swiss-born novelist and poet who became a naturalized French citizen in 1916. He was a writer of considerable influence in the European modernist movement.

21/01/1959

Cecil B. DeMille, American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1881)

Cecil Blount DeMille, often known in popular culture as Mr. DeMille, was an American filmmaker and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he created 70 features including silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of American cinema and the most commercially successful producer-director in film history, with many films dominating the box office three or four at a time. His films were distinguished by their epic scale and by his cinematic showmanship. His silent films included social dramas, comedies, Westerns, farces, morality plays, and historical pageants.

Frances Gertrude McGill, pioneering Canadian forensic pathologist (born 1882)

Frances Gertrude McGill was a Canadian forensic pathologist, criminologist, bacteriologist, allergologist and allergist. Nicknamed "the Sherlock Holmes of Saskatchewan" for her deductive skills and public fame, McGill influenced the development of forensic pathology in Canadian police work and was internationally noted for her expertise in the subject.

Carl Switzer, American child actor and hunting guide (born 1927)

Carl Dean Switzer was an American child actor, comic singer, dog breeder, and guide. He was best known for his role as Alfalfa in the Our Gang series of short-subject comedies.

21/01/1955

Archie Hahn, German-American runner and coach (born 1880)

Charles Archibald Hahn was an American track athlete and is widely regarded as one of the best sprinters of the early 20th century. He is the first athlete to win both the 100 m and 200 m race at the same Olympic Games.

21/01/1950

George Orwell, British novelist, essayist, and critic (born 1903)

Eric Arthur Blair was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to all totalitarianism, and support of democratic socialism.

21/01/1948

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Italian composer and educator (born 1876)

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari was an Italian composer and teacher. He is best known for his comic operas such as Il segreto di Susanna (1909). A number of his works were based on plays by Carlo Goldoni, including Le donne curiose (1903), I quatro rusteghi (1906) and Il campiello (1936).

21/01/1945

Rash Behari Bose, founder of the Indian National Army (born 1886)

Rashbehari Bose was an Indian revolutionary leader and freedom fighter who fought against the British Empire. He was one of the key organisers of the Ghadar Mutiny and founded the Indian Independence League. Bose helped organise the Indian National Army (INA), which was formed in 1942 under Mohan Singh.

21/01/1938

Georges Méliès, French actor, director, and producer (born 1861)

Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès was a French filmmaker, actor, magician, and toymaker. He led many technical and narrative developments in the early days of cinema, primarily in the fantasy and science fiction genres. Méliès rose to prominence creating "trick films" and became well known for his innovative use of special effects, popularizing such techniques as substitution splices, multiple exposures, time-lapse photography, dissolves, and hand-painted colour. He was also one of the first filmmakers to use storyboards in his work. His most important films include A Trip to the Moon (1902) and The Impossible Voyage (1904).

21/01/1937

Marie Prevost, Canadian-American actress and singer (born 1896)

Marie Prevost was a Canadian film actress. During her 20-year career, she made 121 silent and sound films.

21/01/1933

George Moore, Irish author, poet, and critic (born 1852)

George Augustus Moore was an Irish novelist, short-story writer, poet, art critic, memoirist and dramatist. Moore came from a landed family of Catholics who lived at Moore Hall in Carra, County Mayo. He originally wanted to be a painter, and studied art in Paris during the 1870s. There, he befriended many of the leading French artists and writers of the day.

21/01/1932

Lytton Strachey, English writer and critic (born 1880)

Giles Lytton Strachey was an English writer and critic. A founding member of the Bloomsbury Group and author of Eminent Victorians, he established a new form of biography in which psychological insight and sympathy are combined with irreverence and wit. His biography Queen Victoria (1921) was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.

21/01/1931

Felix Blumenfeld, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1863)

Felix Mikhailovich Blumenfeld was a Russian and Soviet composer and conductor of the Imperial Opera St-Petersburg, pianist, and teacher.

21/01/1928

George Washington Goethals, American general and engineer (born 1858)

George Washington Goethals was an American military officer and civil engineer, best known for his administration and supervision of the construction and the opening of the Panama Canal. He was the first Governor of Panama Canal Zone from 1914 to 1917, and was also the State Engineer of New Jersey and the Acting Quartermaster General of the United States Army.

21/01/1926

Camillo Golgi, Italian physician and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1843)

Camillo Golgi was an Italian biologist and pathologist who was awarded the 1906 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his works on the central nervous system. He studied medicine at the University of Pavia between 1860 and 1868 under the tutelage of Cesare Lombroso. Inspired by pathologist Giulio Bizzozero, he pursued research in the nervous system. His discovery of a staining technique called black reaction in 1873 was a major breakthrough in neuroscience. Several structures and phenomena in anatomy and physiology are named for him, including the Golgi apparatus, the Golgi tendon organ and the Golgi tendon reflex.

21/01/1924

Vladimir Lenin, Russian lawyer and politician (born 1870)

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 then of the Soviet Union from 1922 until his death in 1924. As the Bolsheviks' founder, Lenin led the October Revolution, which established the world's first communist state. His government won the Russian Civil War and created a one-party state under the Communist Party. Ideologically a Marxist, his developments to the ideology are called Leninism.

21/01/1919

Gojong of Korea (born 1852)

Gojong, personal name Yi Jaehwang, later changed to Yi Hui, also known as the Gwangmu Emperor, was the penultimate Korean monarch. He ruled Korea for 43 years, from 1864 until his forced abdication in 1907, initially as the 26th king of Joseon, and then as the first emperor of the Korean Empire. His wife, Queen Min, played an active role in politics until her assassination carried out by the Japanese.

Ahmed Muhtar Pasha, Ottoman general and politician, 277th Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (born 1839)

Ahmed Muhtar Pasha was a prominent Ottoman field marshal and Grand Vizier, who served in the Crimean and Russo-Turkish wars. Ahmed Muhtar Pasha was appointed as Grand Vizier in July 1912 at age 72, largely due to his prestige as an old military hero.

21/01/1918

Jan Drozdowski, Polish pianist and music teacher (born 1857)

Jan Drozdowski (1857–1918) was a Polish pianist and music teacher.

21/01/1914

Theodor Kittelsen, Norwegian painter and illustrator (born 1857)

Theodor Severin Kittelsen was a Norwegian artist. He is one of the most popular artists in Norway. Kittelsen became famous for his nature paintings, as well as for his illustrations of fairy tales and legends, especially of trolls.

21/01/1901

Elisha Gray, American engineer, co-founded Western Electric (born 1835)

Elisha Gray was an American electrical engineer who co-founded the Western Electric Manufacturing Company. Gray is best known for his development of a telephone prototype in 1876 in Highland Park, Illinois. Some recent authors have argued that Gray should be considered the true inventor of the telephone because Alexander Graham Bell allegedly stole the idea of the liquid transmitter from him. Gray had been using liquid transmitters in his telephone experiments for more than two years previously; however, Bell's patent was upheld in court.

21/01/1891

Calixa Lavallée, Canadian-American lieutenant and composer (born 1842)

Calixa Lavallée was a Canadian musician and Union Army band musician during the American Civil War. He was born in the Province of Canada. He is best known for composing the music for "O Canada", which officially became the national anthem of Canada in 1980, after a vote in the Senate and the House of Commons. The same 1980 Act of Parliament also changed some of the English lyrics. A further alteration to the English lyrics was made again in 2018. The original French lyrics and the music, however, have remained unchanged since 1880.

21/01/1881

Wilhelm Matthias Naeff, Swiss lawyer and politician (born 1802)

Wilhelm Matthias Naeff was a Swiss politician and one of the seven initial members of the Swiss Federal Council (1848–1875).

21/01/1872

Franz Grillparzer, Austrian playwright and poet (born 1791)

Franz Seraphicus Grillparzer was an Austrian writer who was considered to be the leading Austrian dramatist of the 19th century. His plays were and are frequently performed at the Burgtheater in Vienna. He also wrote the oration for his longtime friend Ludwig van Beethoven's funeral, as well as the epitaph for his friend Franz Schubert.

21/01/1870

Alexander Herzen, Russian philosopher and author (born 1812)

Alexander Ivanovich Herzen was a Russian writer and thinker known as the precursor of Russian socialism and one of the main precursors of agrarian populism. With his writings, many composed while exiled in London, he attempted to influence the situation in Russia, contributing to a political climate that led to the emancipation of the serfs in 1861. He published the important social novel Who is to Blame? (1845–46). His autobiography, My Past and Thoughts, is often considered one of the best examples of that genre in Russian literature.

21/01/1862

Božena Němcová, Austrian-Czech author and poet (born 1820)

Božena Němcová was a Czech writer of the final phase of the Czech National Revival movement.

21/01/1851

Albert Lortzing, German actor and composer (born 1801)

Gustav Albert Lortzing was a German composer, librettist, actor and singer. He is considered to be the main representative of the German Spieloper, a form similar to the French opéra comique, which grew out of the Singspiel.

21/01/1831

Ludwig Achim von Arnim, German poet and author (born 1781)

Carl Joachim Friedrich Ludwig von Arnim, better known as Achim von Arnim, was a German poet, novelist, and together with Clemens Brentano and Joseph von Eichendorff, a leading figure of German Romanticism.

21/01/1823

Cayetano José Rodríguez, Argentinian cleric, journalist, and poet (born 1761)

Cayetano José Rodríguez was an Argentine cleric, journalist and poet. He was a representative to the Congress of Tucumán of 9 July 1816 which declared the Independence of Argentina.

21/01/1814

Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, French botanist and author (born 1737)

Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre was a French writer and botanist. He is best known for his 1788 novel, Paul et Virginie, a very popular 18th-century classic of French literature.

21/01/1809

Josiah Hornblower, American engineer and politician (born 1729)

Josiah Hornblower was an English engineer and statesman in Belleville, New Jersey. He was a delegate for New Jersey in the Continental Congress in 1785 and 1786.

21/01/1805

David Ker, Irish-American educator and judge

David Ker, was an Irish-born American Presbyterian minister, educator, lawyer and judge. He was the first presiding professor of the University of North Carolina.

21/01/1795

Samuel Wallis, English navigator and explorer (born 1728)

Captain Samuel Wallis was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who made the first recorded visit by a European navigator to Tahiti.

21/01/1793

Louis XVI of France (born 1754)

Louis XVI was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France, and Maria Josepha of Saxony, Louis became the new Dauphin when his father died in 1765. In 1770, he married Marie Antoinette. He became King of France and Navarre on his paternal grandfather's death on 10 May 1774, and reigned until the abolition of the monarchy on 21 September 1792. From 1791 onwards, he used the style of king of the French.

21/01/1789

Baron d'Holbach, French-German philosopher and author (born 1723)

Paul Thiry, Baron d'Holbach, known as d'Holbach, was a Franco-German philosopher, encyclopedist and writer, who was a prominent figure in the French Enlightenment. He was born in Edesheim, near Landau in the Rhenish Palatinate, but lived and worked mainly in Paris, where he kept a salon. He helped in the dissemination of "Protestant and especially German thought", particularly in the field of the sciences, but was known more for his atheism and voluminous writings against religion, famously including The System of Nature (1770) and The Universal Morality (1776).

21/01/1775

Yemelyan Pugachev, Russian rebel (born 1742)

Yemelyan Ivanovich Pugachev was an ataman of the Yaik Cossacks and the leader of the Pugachev's Rebellion, a major popular uprising in the Russian Empire during the reign of Catherine the Great.

21/01/1774

Mustafa III, Ottoman sultan (born 1717)

Mustafa III was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1757 to 1774. He was a son of Sultan Ahmed III (1703–30), and his consort Mihrişah Kadın. He was succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid I (1774–89). After years of confinement following his father's deposition, he became sultan in 1757. He promoted justice, economic reform, and modernized infrastructure. Admiring Frederick the Great, he aligned diplomatically with Prussia. However, his push for war with Russia in 1768 led to disaster, exposing Ottoman military weakness despite reform efforts. The war ended with major territorial losses.

21/01/1773

Alexis Piron, French playwright and author (born 1689)

Alexis Piron was a French epigrammatist and dramatist.

21/01/1731

Ignjat Đurđević, Croatian poet and translator (born 1675)

Ignjat Đurđević, also known as Ignazio Giorgi was a Ragusan Baroque poet and translator, best known for his long poem Uzdasi Mandaljene pokornice. He wrote poetry in Latin, Italian, and Croatian.

21/01/1722

Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (born 1661)

Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Member of Parliament for Hampshire and a supporter of William III of Orange.

21/01/1710

Johann Georg Gichtel, German mystic and critic (born 1638)

Johann Georg Gichtel was a German mystic and religious leader who was a critic of Lutheranism. His followers ultimately separated from this faith.

21/01/1706

Adrien Baillet, French scholar and critic (born 1649)

Adrien Baillet was a French scholar and critic. He is now best known as a biographer of René Descartes.

21/01/1699

Obadiah Walker, English historian and academic (born 1616)

Obadiah Walker was an English academic and Master of University College, Oxford, from 1676 to 1688.

21/01/1683

Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (born 1621)

Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, was an English statesman. He held senior political office under both the Commonwealth of England and Charles II, serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1661 to 1672 and Lord Chancellor from 1672 to 1673. During the Exclusion Crisis (1679–1681), Shaftesbury headed the movement to bar the Catholic heir, James II, from the royal succession, which is often seen as the origin of the Whig party. He was the first patron of John Locke, who, when they met was a quiet Oxford don and practising physician; as part of Shaftesbury's household and retinue for 15 years, Locke became a major political philosopher.

21/01/1670

Claude Duval, French highwayman (born 1643)

Claude Du Vall (or Duval) (c. 1643 – 21 January 1670) was a French highwayman in Restoration England. He worked in the service of exiled royalists who returned to England under King Charles II. Little else is known of his history. According to popular legend, he abhorred violence, showing courtesy to his victims and chivalry to their womenfolk, thus spawning the myth of the romantic highwayman, as taken up by many novelists and playwrights.

21/01/1638

Ignazio Donati, Italian composer (born 1570)

Ignazio Donati was an Italian composer of the early Baroque era. He was one of the pioneers of the style of the concertato motet.

21/01/1609

Joseph Justus Scaliger, French historian and scholar (born 1540)

Joseph Justus Scaliger was a Franco-Italian Calvinist religious leader and scholar, known for expanding the notion of classical history from Greek and Ancient Roman history to include Persian, Babylonian, Jewish and Ancient Egyptian history. He spent the last sixteen years of his life in the Netherlands.

21/01/1546

Azai Sukemasa, Japanese daimyō (born 1491)

Azai Sukemasa was the Sengoku era head of the Azai clan. Sukemasa was a retainer of the Kyōgoku clan but when the Kyōgoku clan declined for conflicts over the succession, the Azai clan came to power with Sukemasa as its daimyō.

21/01/1527

Juan de Grijalva, Spanish explorer (born 1489)

Juan de Grijalva was a Spanish conquistador, and a relative of Diego Velázquez. He went to Hispaniola in 1508 and to Cuba in 1511. He was one of the early explorers of the Mexican coastline, and was killed by natives in Honduras on 21 January 1527.

21/01/1320

Árni Helgason, Icelandic bishop (born c. 1260)

Árni Helgason was an Icelandic Roman Catholic clergyman, who became the eleventh bishop of the Icelandic diocese of Skálholt in 1304. He served until his death in 1320.

21/01/1203

Agnes II, Abbess of Quedlinburg (born 1139)

Agnes II was a member of the House of Wettin who reigned as Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg.

21/01/1118

Pope Paschal II (born 1050)

Pope Paschal II, born Raniero Raineri di Bleda, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 August 1099 to his death in 1118. A monk of the Abbey of Cluny, he was created the cardinal-priest of San Clemente by Pope Gregory VII (1073–85) in 1073. He was consecrated as pope in succession to Pope Urban II (1088–99) on 19 August 1099. His reign of almost twenty years was exceptionally long for a medieval pope.

21/01/0945

Yang Tan, Chinese general and governor

Yang Guangyuan, né Atan (阿檀), later known as Yang Tang (楊檀) before changing his name to Guangyuan, courtesy name Deming (德明), formally the Prince of Qi (齊王), was a general of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period Later Tang and the Later Jinstates. He rebelled against Later Jin in 944, believing that he would prevail with aid from the Khitan Liao dynasty, but after the Liao aid forces were repelled by Later Jin forces, his son Yang Chengxun (楊承勳) put him under arrest and surrendered. He was subsequently killed by soldiers sent by the Later Jin general Li Shouzhen.

21/01/0942

An Chongrong, Chinese general (Five Dynasties)

An Chongrong (安重榮), nickname Tiehu (鐵胡), was a major general of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Later Jin. Late in the reign of Later Jin's founding emperor Shi Jingtang, An, discontented with the friendly relations between Later Jin and the Khitan Liao state, often provoked Liao and eventually decided to rebel against Later Jin. He was quickly defeated, however, and then was killed by his own subordinates.

21/01/0939

Yang Pu, Chinese emperor (born 900)

Yang Pu, also known by his posthumous name as the Emperor Rui of Yang Wu (楊吳睿帝), was the last ruler of China's Yang Wu dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, and the only one that claimed the title of emperor. During his reign, the state was in effective control of the regents Xu Wen and Xu Wen's adopted son and successor Xu Zhigao. In 938, Xu Zhigao forced Yang Pu to yield the throne to him. Xu Zhigao then established the Southern Tang dynasty.

21/01/0918

Liu Zhijun, Chinese general

Liu Zhijun, courtesy name Xixian (希賢), nicknamed Liu Kaidao, was a general under Zhu Wen while Emperor Taizu was a major warlord during the late Tang dynasty and then during Emperor Taizu's reign in his new Later Liang. Later, fearing that Emperor Taizu was going to act against him, he defected, first to Qi, then to Former Shu. Former Shu's emperor Wang Jian, however, also was apprehensive of his talent and later had him executed.

21/01/0917

Erchanger, Duke of Swabia (born 880)

Erchanger was the duke of Swabia from September 915 to his death. He was the son of Berthold I, count palatine of Swabia, who is sometimes called Erchanger as well, in which case the duke is Erchanger II. His mother was possibly Gisela, daughter of Louis the German and his family is known as the Ahalolfinger.

21/01/0496

Epiphanius of Pavia, Italian bishop and saint (born 438)

Epiphanius of Pavia (438–496), later venerated as Saint Epiphanius of Pavia, was Bishop of Pavia from 466 until his death in 496. Epiphanius additionally held the offices of lector, subdeacon and deacon.

21/01/0420

Yazdegerd I, king of the Sassanid Empire

Year 420 (CDXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Theodosius and Constantius. The denomination 420 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

 

Celebrations & Special Days Worldwide on 21st January

Babinden (Bulgaria, Serbia)

Babinden is a traditional Bulgarian feast, celebrated on 8 January, in honour of the women practicing midwifery. The traditional word for midwife in Bulgarian is baba, same as grandmother. The holiday has pagan origins and is part of the traditional family rituals.

Christian feast day: Agnes

Agnes of Rome was a Roman Christian adolescent who was executed for her faith in the 4th century. She is venerated as a virgin martyr and as a saint in the Catholic Church, Oriental Orthodox Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as the Anglican Communion and Lutheran Churches. She is one of several virgin martyrs commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass, and one of many Christians martyred during the reign of the Roman emperor Diocletian.

Christian feast day: Demiana (Coptic Church)

Demiana and the 40 virgins was a Coptic martyr of the early fourth century.

Christian feast day: Fructuosus

Saint Fructuosus of Tarragona was a Christian saint, bishop and martyr. His is an important name in the early history of Christianity in Hispania. He was bishop of Tarragona and was arrested during the persecutions of Christians under the Roman Emperor Valerian. Along with him were two deacons, St. Augurius and St. Eulogius. In 259, he was questioned by the praeses Aemilianus and burned at the stake in the local amphitheatre in Tarraco. The Acta of the martyrdom of the bishop Fructuosus and his deacons Augurius and Eulogius document his legend; they are the earliest Hispanic Acta, "marked by a realistic simplicity which contrasts very favourably with many of the Acta of Diocletian's persecution".

Christian feast day: John Yi Yun-il (one of The Korean Martyrs)

John Yi Yun-il was a Korean Catholic who was killed during the 19th-century Korean persecution of Christians. He was a family man who made his living as a farmer and who also served as a catechist, i.e. a teacher of Christian religion.

Christian feast day: Meinrad of Einsiedeln

Meinrad, OSB was a German Benedictine hermit and is revered as a Catholic and Orthodox saint. He is known as the "Martyr of Hospitality". His feast day is 21 January.

Christian feast day: January 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

January 20 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - January 22

Errol Barrow Day (Barbados)

Errol Barrow Day is a Barbadian public holiday celebrated on 21 January, to commemorate Errol Barrow, the former Prime Minister of Barbados, who helped lead his country to independence from the United Kingdom. The date is the second public holiday of the calendar year and is the date of birth for the former leader.

Flag Day (Quebec)

The flag of Quebec, called the Fleurdelisé in French, represents the Canadian province of Quebec. It consists of a white cross on a blue background, with four white fleurs-de-lis.

Grandmother's Day (Poland)

Grandparents' Day or National Grandparents' Day is a secular holiday celebrated in various countries; it is celebrated to show the bond between grandparents and grandchildren. It occurs on various days of the year, either as one holiday or sometimes as a separate Grandmother's Day and Grandfather's Day. It was celebrated for the first time in Poland in 1965.

Lady of Altagracia Day (Dominican Republic)

Día de la Altagracia, or Altagracia Day, is a day commemorating the patronal image and protector of the people of the Dominican Republic. It is a feast day and annual public holiday on January 21. "Our Lady of Altagracia" is a portrait of the Virgin Mary painted in the 16th century. The portrait is kept in the Basílica Catedral Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia in the city of Salvaleón de Higüey.

Lincoln Alexander Day (Canada)

Lincoln MacCauley Alexander was a Canadian lawyer and politician who became the first Black Canadian to be a member of Parliament in the House of Commons, a federal Cabinet Minister, a Chair of the Worker's Compensation Board of Ontario, and the 24th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 1985 to 1991. Alexander was also a governor of the Canadian Unity Council.

National Hugging Day (United States)

National Hugging Day is an annual event dedicated to hugging in the United States. It was created by Kevin Zaborney and occurs annually on January 21. The day promotes consensual hugging and the power of hugs between family members and friends. Some hugging events may aim to fundraise for charities.

Squirrel Appreciation Day

Squirrel Appreciation Day is an annual American event devoted to the over 200 species of squirrels. It occurs annually on January 21. It was designed as a fun way to appreciate squirrels' natural characteristics and recognize their contribution to nature and ecology; specifically squirrels' contribution to reforestation.

 

What Happened on 21st January?

49 significant events took place on Friday, 21st January — stretching from 763 to 2025. Explore the moments that shaped history on this day.

21/01/2025

A fire at the Grand Kartal Hotel in the Kartalkaya ski resort in Bolu Province, Turkey, results in 78 people dead and 51 injured.

On 21 January 2025, a fire occurred at the Grand Kartal Hotel at the Kartalkaya ski resort in Bolu Province, Turkey; at least 78 people died, 51 others were injured. The fire started in the hotel's fourth floor kitchen/restaurant section. It occurred during the Turkish winter school break, when the hotel was 80–90% full. The scale of the fire and number of deaths were exacerbated by the absence of smoke detectors, automatic sprinklers, functioning fire alarms, functioning emergency exit lights, and other fire safety measures. Rescue efforts were hampered by freezing weather and the hotel's remote location; firefighters did not arrive until over an hour after the fire was reported. Most victims died from suffocation.

21/01/2023

Huu Can Tran, 72, opens fire in a dance studio in Monterey Park, California, killing eleven people and injuring nine others before later committing suicide. It is the worst mass shooting in Los Angeles County since the 2008 Covina massacre.

On January 21, 2023, a mass shooting occurred in Monterey Park, California, United States. The gunman killed eleven people and injured nine others. The shooting happened at about 10:22 p.m. PST (UTC-8) at Star Ballroom Dance Studio, after an all-day Lunar New Year Festival was held on a nearby street. Shortly afterwards, the gunman drove north to Lai Lai Ballroom in nearby Alhambra to continue his shooting spree but was confronted by staff and disarmed before fleeing by car. The perpetrator was identified as 72-year-old Huu Can Tran. He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound during a standoff with police in Torrance the next day. It is the deadliest mass shooting in the history of Los Angeles County.

21/01/2017

Over 400 cities across America and 160+ countries worldwide participate in a large-scale women's march, including in Portland, on Donald Trump's first full day as President of the United States.

The Women's March was an American protest on January 21, 2017, the day after the first inauguration of Donald Trump as the president of the United States. It was prompted by Trump's policy positions and rhetoric, which were and are seen as misogynistic and representing a threat to the rights of women. It was at the time the largest single-day protest in U.S. history, being surpassed three years later by the George Floyd protests. The goal of the annual marches is to advocate legislation and policies regarding human rights and other issues, including women's rights, immigration reform, healthcare reform, disability justice, reproductive rights, the environment, LGBTQ rights, racial equality, freedom of religion, workers' rights and tolerance. According to organizers, the goal was to "send a bold message to our new administration on their first day in office, and to the world that women's rights are human rights".

21/01/2014

Rojava conflict: The Jazira Canton declares its autonomy from the Syrian Arab Republic.

The Rojava Revolution, also known as the Rojava conflict is a political upheaval and military conflict taking place in northern Syria, known among Kurds as Western Kurdistan or Rojava.

21/01/2011

Anti-government demonstrations take place in Tirana, Albania. Four people die from gunshots, allegedly fired from armed police protecting the Prime Minister's office.

Anti-government protests took place in 2011 in cities across Albania following 18 months of political conflict over alleged electoral fraud by the opposition. A video surfaced which portrayed the deputy prime minister arranging a corrupt deal with the minister of economy. The public outcry over the video resulted in the resignation of the deputy prime minister, Ilir Meta. A demonstration was called by parliamentary opposition parties, which include the Socialist Party and the Unity for Human Rights Party. These were called on 21 January in order to protest the alleged corruption of the Albanian government as well as widespread unemployment and poverty in the country.

21/01/2009

Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip, officially ending a three-week war it had with Hamas. However, intermittent fire by both sides continues in the weeks to follow.

The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories that make up the State of Palestine in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Gaza is bordered by Egypt on the southwest, Israel on the east and north, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Its capital and largest city is Gaza City.

21/01/2005

In Belmopan, Belize, the unrest over the government's new taxes erupts into riots.

Belmopan is the capital city of Belize. Its population in 2022 was 20,754. Belmopan is the smallest capital city in the continental Americas and the second-largest settlement in Belize, behind the former capital Belize City. Founded as a planned community in 1970, it is one of the newest national capital cities in the world. Since 2000, Belmopan has been one of two settlements in Belize to hold official city status, along with Belize City.

21/01/2004

NASA's MER-A (the Mars Rover Spirit) ceases communication with mission control. The problem lies in the management of its flash memory and is fixed remotely from Earth on February 6.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the United States' civil space program and for research in aeronautics and space. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., NASA operates ten field centers across the U.S. and is organized into three mission directorates: Human Spaceflight, Research and Technology, and Science. Established in 1958, NASA succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to give the U.S. space program a distinct civilian orientation focused on peaceful applications. Since then, it has led most American spaceflight programs, including Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the Apollo program, Skylab, the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station (ISS) and the ongoing multi-national Artemis program.

21/01/2003

A 7.6 magnitude earthquake strikes the Mexican state of Colima, killing 29 and leaving approximately 10,000 people homeless.

An earthquake struck the Pacific Coast of Mexico on 21 January 2003 with a moment magnitude of 7.5. It had a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). The epicenter was located on the Pacific coast near the Mexican state of Colima. The earthquake killed 29 people, injured 1,073 others and damaged over 43,300 homes across five states, with minor damage also occurring in Mexico City. The earthquake was felt as far away as the states of Texas and Louisiana.

21/01/2000

Ecuador: After the Ecuadorian Congress is seized by indigenous organizations, Col. Lucio Gutiérrez, Carlos Solorzano and Antonio Vargas depose President Jamil Mahuad. Gutierrez is later replaced by Gen. Carlos Mendoza, who resigns and allows Vice-President Gustavo Noboa to succeed Mahuad.

Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contains the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific, about 1,000 kilometers west of the mainland. The country's capital is Quito and its largest city is Guayaquil.

21/01/1999

War on drugs: In one of the largest drug busts in American history, the United States Coast Guard intercepts a ship with over 4,300 kilograms (9,500 lb) of cocaine on board.

The war on drugs, sometimes referred to in the 21st century as the war on cartels in contexts of military intervention and counterterrorism, is a global anti-narcotics campaign led by the United States federal government, ramped up after 9/11, including drug prohibition and foreign assistance, with the aim of reducing the illegal drug trade in the US. The initiative's efforts includes policies intended to discourage the production, distribution, and consumption of psychoactive drugs that the participating governments, through United Nations treaties, have made illegal.

21/01/1997

The U.S. House of Representatives votes 395–28 to reprimand Newt Gingrich for ethics violations, making him the first Speaker of the House to be so disciplined.

The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of the U.S. Constitution in enumerated matters to pass or defeat federal legislation, known as bills. Those that are also passed by the Senate are sent to the president for signature or veto. The House's exclusive powers include initiating all revenue bills, impeaching federal officers, and electing the president if no candidate receives a majority of votes in the Electoral College.

21/01/1986

Conservative protestors attack a mock shanty town that had been erected on the Green at Dartmouth College as part of anti-apartheid protests.

A shanty town is a settlement of improvised buildings known as shanties or shacks, typically made of materials such as mud and wood, or from cheap building materials such as corrugated iron sheets. A typical shanty town is squatted and, at least initially, lacks adequate infrastructure, including proper sanitation, safe water supply, electricity and street drainage. Over time, shanty towns may develop their infrastructure and even change into middle class neighbourhoods. They can be small informal settlements or they can house millions of people.

21/01/1985

Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 crashes near Reno–Tahoe International Airport in Reno, Nevada, killing 70 people.

Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 was a non-scheduled charter flight of a Lockheed L-188A Electra from Reno to Minneapolis which crashed shortly after taking off from Reno-Tahoe International Airport on 21 January 1985. All but 1 of the 71 on board died. It was the first major air disaster in the U.S in 1985 and the deadliest since the crash of Pan Am Flight 759 in 1982.

21/01/1981

Production of the DeLorean sports car begins in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.

The DMC DeLorean is a rear-engine, two-seat sports car manufactured and marketed by John DeLorean's DeLorean Motor Company (DMC) for the American market from 1981 until 1983—ultimately the only car brought to market by the fledgling company. The DeLorean is sometimes referred to by its internal pre-production designation, DMC-12, although this was not used in sales or marketing materials for the production model.

21/01/1980

Iran Air Flight 291 crashes in the Alborz Mountains while on approach to Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, Iran, killing 128 people.

Iran Air Flight 291 was a charter flight from Mashad Airport to Tehran-Mehrabad Airport. On 21 January 1980, the Boeing 727-86 during its approach crashed on the Tehran-Mehrabad runway 29 in foggy and snowy weather conditions, killing all 128 people on board. At the time, Iran Air Flight 291 was the deadliest aircraft disaster in Iranian history.

21/01/1976

Commercial service of Concorde begins with the London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio routes.

Concorde is a retired Anglo-French supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies began in 1954 and a UK–France treaty followed in 1962, as the programme cost was estimated at £70 million . Construction of six prototypes began in February 1965, with the first flight from Toulouse on 2 March 1969. The market forecast was 350 aircraft, with manufacturers receiving up to 100 options from major airlines. On 9 October 1975, it received its French certificate of airworthiness, and was certified by the UK CAA on 5 December.

21/01/1971

The current Emley Moor transmitting station, the tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom, begins transmitting UHF broadcasts.

The Emley Moor transmitting station is a telecommunications and broadcasting facility on Emley Moor, 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the village centre of Emley, in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England.

21/01/1968

Vietnam War, Battle of Khe Sanh: One of the most publicized and controversial battles of the war begins.

The Vietnam War was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam and their allies. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union and China, while South Vietnam was supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations. The conflict was the second of the Indochina wars and a proxy war of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and US. The Vietnam War was one of the postcolonial wars of national liberation, a theater in the Cold War, and a civil war, with civil warfare a defining feature from the outset. Direct US military involvement escalated from 1965 until US forces were withdrawn in 1973. The fighting spilled into the Laotian and Cambodian civil wars, which ended with all three countries becoming communist in 1975.

A B-52 bomber crashes near Thule Air Base, contaminating the area after its nuclear payload ruptures. One of the four bombs remains unaccounted for after the cleanup operation is complete.

The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American nuclear-capable subsonic jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) since 1955 and was flown by NASA from 1959 to 2007. The bomber can carry up to 70,000 pounds (32,000 kg) of weapons and has a typical combat range of around 8,800 miles (14,200 km) without aerial refueling.

21/01/1963

The Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad ends operation.

The Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad, also known as the North Shore Line, was an interurban railroad that operated passenger and freight service over an 88.9-mile (143.1 km) route between the Chicago Loop and downtown Milwaukee, as well as an 8.6-mile (13.8 km) branch line between the villages of Lake Bluff and Mundelein, Illinois. The North Shore Line also provided streetcar, city bus and motor coach services along its interurban route.

21/01/1960

Little Joe 1B, a Mercury spacecraft, lifts off from Wallops Island, Virginia, with Miss Sam, a female rhesus monkey, on board.

The Little Joe 1B was a launch escape system test of the Mercury spacecraft, conducted as part of the U.S. Mercury program. The mission also carried a female rhesus monkey named Miss Sam in the Mercury spacecraft. The mission was launched January 21, 1960, from Wallops Island, Virginia. The Little Joe 1B flew to an apogee of 9.3 statute miles (15.0 km) and a range of 11.7 miles (18.9 km) out to sea. Miss Sam survived the 8 minute 35 second flight in good condition. The spacecraft was recovered by a Marine helicopter and returned to Wallops Island within about 45 minutes. Miss Sam was one of many monkeys used in space travel research.

Avianca Flight 671 crashes at Montego Bay, Jamaica airport, killing 37 people.

Avianca Flight 671, registration HK-177, was a Lockheed Constellation that crashed and burned on landing at Montego Bay Airport, Montego Bay, Jamaica, on 21 January 1960. The flight had originated at Miami International Airport, Florida. The aircraft operating the flight was a Lockheed L-1049E Super Constellation used by Avianca for its Bogotá-Montego Bay routes. Thirty-seven of the 46 passengers and crew aboard were killed. It was and remains the worst accident in Jamaican aviation history.

A coal mine collapses at Holly Country, South Africa, killing 435 miners.

The Coalbrook mining disaster was the worst mining accident in the history of South Africa. The disaster occurred in the Coalbrook coal mine of Clydesdale Colliery on 21 January 1960 at around 19:00 when approximately 900 pillars caved in, almost 180 metres (590 ft) underground. The mine is situated in the Northern Free State, 21 kilometres (13 mi) south west of Vereeniging. About 1,000 miners were in the mine at the time and 437 died after being trapped, while the rest escaped through an incline shaft. The miners were suffocated by methane gas and crushed to death by rockfall.

21/01/1954

The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, is launched in Groton, Connecticut by Mamie Eisenhower, the First Lady of the United States.

Nuclear marine propulsion is propulsion of a ship or submarine with heat provided by a nuclear reactor. The power plant heats water to produce steam for a turbine used to turn the ship's propeller through a gearbox or through an electric generator and motor. Nuclear propulsion is used primarily within naval warships such as nuclear submarines and supercarriers. A small number of experimental civil nuclear ships have been built.

21/01/1951

The catastrophic eruption of Mount Lamington in Papua New Guinea claims 2,942 lives.

In early January 1951, a series of minor explosions and earthquakes rocked Mount Lamington, a volcano in the Australian-administered Territory of Papua and New Guinea. Prior to the eruption, Mount Lamington was not recognized as a volcano due to the absence of historically recorded eruptions and dense vegetation cover. From January 15, volcanic activity intensified, and tall eruption plumes were generated. The largest eruption occurred on the morning of January 21 when a thick black plume of ash rose 15,000 metres (50,000 ft) into the atmosphere. The eruption collapsed a lava dome and produced a lethal pyroclastic flow that killed 2,942 people. In the years after the eruption, new lava domes formed and collapsed in succession. Activity persisted until July 1956. The eruption is the deadliest natural disaster in Australian history, as the region was under the rule of the Government of Australia.

21/01/1950

American lawyer and government official Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury.

Alger Hiss was an American government official who, in 1948, was accused of spying for the Soviet Union in the 1930s. The statute of limitations had expired for espionage, but he was convicted of perjury in connection with this charge in 1950. Before the trial, Hiss was involved in the establishment of the United Nations, both as a U.S. State Department official and as a UN official. In later life, he worked as a lecturer and author.

21/01/1948

The Flag of Quebec is adopted and flown for the first time over the National Assembly of Quebec. The day is marked annually as Québec Flag Day.

The flag of Quebec, called the Fleurdelisé in French, represents the Canadian province of Quebec. It consists of a white cross on a blue background, with four white fleurs-de-lis.

21/01/1945

The Trade Union Council of Transcarpathian Ukraine is founded in Mukachevo.

The Trade Union Council of Transcarpathian Ukraine was a central body of trade unions in Transcarpathian Ukraine in 1945.

21/01/1942

The Jewish resistance organization, Fareynikte Partizaner Organizatsye, based in the Vilna Ghetto is established.

Jewish resistance in German-occupied Europe during World II took many forms, ranging from underground political activities and smuggling networks to armed uprisings in ghettos and camps. Historian Yehuda Bauer has described resistance broadly, including not only armed struggle but also efforts such as maintaining cultural life, documenting Nazi crimes, and helping others survive during the Holocaust.

21/01/1941

Sparked by the murder of a German officer in Bucharest, Romania, the day before, members of the Iron Guard engage in a rebellion and pogrom killing 125 Jews.

Bucharest is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.71 million residents within a greater metropolitan area of 2.31 million residents, which makes Bucharest the 9th most-populous city by population within city limits in the European Union. The city has an area of 240 km2 (93 sq mi), while the metropolitan area covers 1,811 km2 (699 sq mi). The city proper is administratively known as the "Municipality of Bucharest", and has the same administrative level as that of a national county, being further subdivided into six sectors, each governed by a local mayor. Bucharest is a major cultural, political and economic hub, the country's seat of government, and the capital of the Muntenia region. It is an enclave completely surrounded by Ilfov County.

21/01/1932

Finland and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression treaty.

Finland, or the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, opposite Estonia. Its capital and largest city is Helsinki. Finland has a population of 5.7 million. The official languages are Finnish and Swedish, the mother tongues of 83.5 percent and 5.0 percent of the population, respectively. Finland's climate varies from humid continental in the south to boreal in the north. Its land is predominantly covered by boreal forest, with over 180,000 recorded lakes.

21/01/1931

Sir Isaac Isaacs is sworn in as the first Australian-born Governor-General of Australia.

Sir Isaac Alfred Isaacs was an Australian lawyer, politician, and judge who served as the ninth governor-general of Australia, in office from 1931 to 1936. He was both the first Australian-born and the first Jewish Governor-General of Australia. He had previously served on the High Court of Australia from 1906 to 1931, including as Chief Justice from 1930.

21/01/1925

Albania declares itself a republic.

Albania, officially the Republic of Albania, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, North Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south. With an area of 28,748 km2 (11,100 sq mi), it has a varied range of climatic, geological, hydrological and morphological conditions. Albania's landscapes range from rugged snow-capped mountains in the Albanian Alps and the Korab, Skanderbeg, Pindus and Ceraunian Mountains, to fertile lowland plains extending from the Adriatic and Ionian seacoasts. Tirana is the capital and largest city in the country, followed by Durrës, Vlorë, and Shkodër.

21/01/1919

A revolutionary Irish parliament is founded and declares the independence of the Irish Republic. One of the first engagements of the Irish War of Independence takes place.

The 1st Dáil was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 1919 to 1921. It was the first meeting of the unicameral parliament of the revolutionary Irish Republic. In the December 1918 election to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the Irish republican party Sinn Féin won a landslide victory in Ireland. In line with their manifesto, its MPs refused to take their seats, and on 21 January 1919 they founded a separate parliament in Dublin called Dáil Éireann. They declared Irish independence, ratifying the Proclamation of the Irish Republic that had been issued in the 1916 Easter Rising, and adopted a provisional constitution.

21/01/1915

Kiwanis International is founded in Detroit.

Kiwanis International is an international service club founded in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, and is found in more than 80 nations and geographic areas. In 1987, the organization began to accept women as members. Kiwanis and its affiliated clubs have more than 600,000 members. Kiwanis clubs raise over $100 million each year and report over 18.5 million volunteer hours to strengthen communities and serve children.

21/01/1911

The first Monte Carlo Rally takes place.

The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo is a rallying event organized each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco.

21/01/1908

New York City passes the Sullivan Ordinance, making it illegal for women to smoke in public, only to have the measure vetoed by the mayor.

The Sullivan Ordinance was a municipal law passed on January 21, 1908, in New York City by the board of aldermen, barring the management of a public place from allowing women to smoke within their venue. The ordinance did not bar women from smoking in general nor did the ordinance bar women from smoking in public, only public places. Right after the ordinance was enacted, on January 22, Katie Mulcahey, the only person cited for breaking this ordinance, was fined $5 for smoking in public and arrested for refusing to pay the fine; however, the ordinance itself did not mention fines nor does it ban women from smoking in public. She was released the next day. The mayor at the time, George B. McClellan Jr., vetoed the ordinance two weeks later.

21/01/1893

The Tati Concessions Land, formerly part of Matabeleland, is formally annexed to the Bechuanaland Protectorate, now Botswana.

The Tati Concession was a land and mining concession created in the western borderlands of the Matabele Kingdom. The concession was originally granted by the Matabele King, Lobengula, son of Mzilikazi, to Sir John Swinburne in exchange for gold and arms. It was administered by the territory known as the Bechuanaland Protectorate after 1893, but was formally annexed to it by Proclamation Number 2 of 1911 by the High Commissioner of Bechuanaland. It was locally administered by a Justice of the Peace.

21/01/1854

The RMS Tayleur sinks off Lambay Island on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Australia with great loss of life.

RMS Tayleur was a short-lived, full-rigged iron clipper ship chartered by the White Star Line. She was large, fast and technically advanced. She ran aground off Lambay Island near Dublin, and sank on her maiden voyage in 1854. Of more than 650 aboard, only 280 survived. She has been described as "the first Titanic".

21/01/1824

The Ashantis defeat British forces in the Gold Coast during the First Anglo-Ashanti War.

The Asante, also known as Ashanti in English, are part of the Akan ethnic group and are native to the Ashanti Region of modern-day Ghana. Asantes are the last group to emerge out of the various Akan civilisations. Twi is spoken by over nine million Asante people as their native language.

21/01/1793

After being found guilty of treason by the French National Convention, Louis XVI of France is executed by guillotine.

The National Convention was the constituent assembly of the Kingdom of France for one day and of the French First Republic for its first three years during the French Revolution, following the two-year National Constituent Assembly and the one-year Legislative Assembly. The National Convention was created after the insurrection of 10 August 1792. It was the first French government organized as a republic, abandoning the monarchy altogether. The Convention sat as a single-chamber assembly from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795.

21/01/1789

The first American novel, The Power of Sympathy or the Triumph of Nature Founded in Truth by William Hill Brown, is printed in Boston.

The Power of Sympathy: or, The Triumph of Nature is a 1789 American sentimental novel written in epistolary form by William Hill Brown and is widely considered to be the first American novel. The Power of Sympathy was Brown's first novel. The characters' struggles illustrate the dangers of seduction and the pitfalls of giving in to one's passions, while advocating the moral education of women and the use of rational thinking as ways to prevent the consequences of such actions.

21/01/1774

Abdul Hamid I becomes Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and Caliph of Islam.

Abdülhamid I or Abdul Hamid I was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1774 to 1789. A devout and pacifist sultan, he inherited a bankrupt empire and sought military reforms, including overhauling the Janissaries and navy. Despite internal efforts and quelling revolts in Syria, Egypt, and Greece, his reign saw the critical loss of Crimea and defeat by Russia and Austria. The 1774 Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca granted Russia territorial and religious influence. He died soon after the fall of Ochakov in 1788.

21/01/1749

The Teatro Filarmonico in Verona is destroyed by fire, as a result of a torch being left behind in the box of a nobleman after a performance. It is rebuilt in 1754.

The Teatro Filarmonico is the main opera theater in Verona, Italy, and is one of the leading opera houses in Europe. The Teatro Filarmonico is property of the Accademia Filarmonica di Verona. Having been built in 1716, and later rebuilt after a fire of January 21, 1749, and again after the allied bombing of February 23, 1945.

21/01/1720

Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Stockholm.

The Kingdom of Prussia was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918. It played a significant role in the unification of Germany in 1871 and was a major constituent of the German Empire until its dissolution in 1918. Although it took its name from the region called Prussia, it was based in the Margraviate of Brandenburg. Its capital was Berlin.

21/01/1535

Following the Affair of the Placards, the French king leads an anti-Protestant procession through Paris.

The Affair of the Placards was an incident in which anti-Catholic posters appeared in public places in Paris and in four major provincial cities, Blois, Rouen, Tours and Orléans, in the night of the 17 to 18 October 1534. One of the posters was posted on the bedchamber door of King Francis I at Amboise, an affront and a breach of security that left him shaken. The Affaire des Placards brought an end to the conciliatory policies of Francis, which had formerly attempted to protect the Protestants from the more extreme measures of the Parlement de Paris, and also of the public entreaties for moderation of Philip Melanchthon.

21/01/1525

The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is founded when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz's mother in Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union.

Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located at the intersection of Central, Western, and Southern Europe. It is bordered by Germany to the north, France to the west, Austria and Liechtenstein to the east, and Italy to the south. Switzerland is geographically divided among the Swiss Alps, the Swiss Plateau, and the Jura Mountains; the Alps cover most of the country's territory, whereas the majority of its 9 million people are concentrated on the plateau, which hosts many of the largest cities and economic centres, including Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Bern, Lausanne, Winterthur, and Lucerne.

21/01/0763

Following the Battle of Bakhamra between Alids and Abbasids near Kufa, the Alid rebellion ends with the death of Ibrahim, brother of Isa ibn Musa.

The Alid revolt of 762–763 or Revolt of Muhammad the Pure Soul was an uprising by the Hasanid branch of the Alids against the newly established Abbasid Caliphate. The Hasanids, led by the brothers Muhammad and Ibrahim, rejected the legitimacy of the Abbasid family's claim to power. Reacting to mounting persecution by the Abbasid regime, in 762 they launched a rebellion, with Muhammad rising in revolt at Medina in September and Ibrahim following in Basra in November.