1820 – British explorer Edward Bransfield aboard Williams sights Trinity Peninsula, Antarctica, claiming it for Britain
1933 – After Paul von Hindenburg appoints Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany, his former WWI colleague General Erich Ludendorff sends a letter to him stating “this accursed man will cast our Reich into the abyss and bring our nation to inconceivable misery”
1944 – World War II: United States troops land on Majuro, Marshall Islands
1954 – Belgium ends trade agreement with USSR
1956 – Home of Martin Luther King Jr. is bombed
1969 – US/Canada ISIS 1 launched to study ionosphere
1993 – Australian Open Women’s Tennis: Monica Seles beats Steffi Graf 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 for her 3rd consecutive Australian singles crown
1995 – Norway’s Statoil announces a newly formed consortium that will supply Norwegian natural gas to the European continent
Author: gil7
Today in History for 30th January 2026
Historical Events
1820 – British explorer Edward Bransfield aboard Williams sights Trinity Peninsula, Antarctica, claiming it for Britain
1925 – Turkish government throws out Constantine VI of Constantinople
1934 – Former Australian cricket spin bowler Bert Ironmonger ends Sheffield Shield career age 51 years 298 days as Victoria draws with NSW at the Sydney Cricket Ground
1960 – US female Figure Skating championship won by Carol Heiss
1993 – 100,000 Europeans demonstrate against fascism and racism
Famous Birthdays
1617 – William Sancroft, 79th Archbishop of Canterbury, born in Fressingfield, Suffolk, England (d. 1693)
1900 – Martita Hunt, Argentine-born English actress (Man in Grey, Great Expectations), born in Buenos Aires (d. 1969)
1920 – George Skibine, Russian-American ballet dancer and choreographer (Tragedy in Verona), born in Yasnaya Polyana, Russia (d. 1981)
1951 – Trevor Laughlin, Australian cricketer (Australian all-rounder 1978-79), born in Nyah West, Australia
1956 – Jeremy Gittins, British actor (Michael the Vicar in “Keeping Up Appearances”), born in Manchester, England
Famous Deaths
1956 – Gerrit Mannoury, Dutch mathematician and philosopher, dies at 88
1972 – Karel Boleslav Jirak, Czech composer and pedagogue, dies at 81
1999 – (Henry) “Huntz” Hall, American radio, stage, and screen actor (Dead End Kids: The Bowery Boys; Gas Pump Girls), dies from congestive heart failure at 78
2016 – Ken Sailors, American basketball point guard (popularised and may have invented the jump shot), dies at 95
2022 – Jon Appleton, American electronic and electro-acoustic music composer, educator and co-developer of the Synclavier, dies at 83
Famous Deaths for 29th January 2026
1888 – Edward Lear, English poet and author (famous for his nonsense poems – The Owl and the Pussycat), dies at 75
1946 – Harry Hopkins, American statesman and presidential advisor (US Secretary of Commerce, Loan and Lease law), dies at 55
1946 – Sidney Jones, British conductor and composer (The Geisha, A Gaiety Girl), dies at 84
1960 – Louis Jean Heydt, American character actor (Waterfront; Gone With The Wind; The Great McGinty), dies from a heart attack at 56
2007 – Barbaro, American thoroughbred racehorse, winner of 2006 Kentucky Derby, dies at 3
2009 – Bill Frindall, English cricket scorer and statistician (BBC, “the Bearded Wonder”), dies from Legionnaires’ disease at 69
2011 – Milton Babbitt, American mathematician, composer of serial and electronic music (Correspondences), and teacher (Princeton; Juilliard), dies at 94
2021 – Yvon Douis, French soccer striker (20 caps; Lille, Le Havre, Monaco, Cannes), dies from COVID-19 at 85
2024 – Héctor Sanabria, Mexican soccer defender (7 caps; UNAM Pumas 1965-78) and manager (UNAM Pumas, CD Toluca, CD Veracruz), dies at 78
2025 – Vadim Naumov, Russian pairs skater (World C’ship gold 1994), dies in American Eagle Flight 5342 collision with Black Hawk helicopter at 55
Historical Events for 29th January 2026
1943 – U.S. cruiser “Chicago” is heavily damaged by Japanese bombers on the first day of the Battle of Rennell Island
1968 – Australian Championships Women’s Tennis: American Billie Jean King beats home favourite Margaret Court 6-1, 6-2 for her 13th Grand Slam singles title
1968 – Nauru (formerly Pleasant Island) adopts constitution
1980 – 6 Iranian-held US hostages escape with help of Canadians
1993 – US postal service issues a stamp commemorating chemist Percy Lavon Julian
1996 – The 6,138th performance of “Cats” is held in London, surpassing the record of Broadway’s longest-running musical, “A Chorus Line”
2012 – 100th Australian Open Men’s Tennis: Novak Đoković beats Rafael Nadal 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7, 7-5; longest Grand Slam singles final in duration in the Open Era, 5 hours 53 minutes
2017 – 62nd NHL All Star Games, Staples Centre, Los Angeles, CA: Metropolitan All Stars win four team 3-on-3 tournament; MVP: Wayne Simmonds, Philadelphia Flyers, RW
Today in History for 29th January 2026
Historical Events
1895 – King Koko’s Kopermannen assault on Akassa Niger, 100’s killed
1908 – Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, at Cornell University, incorporates
1982 – Wayne Garland, baseball’s first millionaire free agent, is waived by the Indians
1995 – Greg Blewett scores century on Test debut vs England, Adelaide
2011 – Australian Open Women’s Tennis: Kim Clijsters wins her 4th and final Grand Slam title; beats Li Na of China 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
Famous Birthdays
1889 – Francisco Santiago, Filipino pianist, composer (Taga-ilog Symphony), conductor, and pedagogue, born in Santa Maria, Bulacan, Philippines (d. 1947)
1940 – Katharine Ross, American actress (Graduate, Francesca-Colbys), born in Hollywood, California
1948 – Felice Taylor, American RandB singer (“I Feel Love Comin’ On”), born in Richmond, California (d. 2017)
1964 – Maarika Järvi, Estonian-American classical flautist), born in Tallinn, Estonian SSR, US
1967 – Sean Burke, Canadian ice hockey goalie (NHL All-Star 1989, 2001, 02; Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes; Canada Cup gold 1991), born in Toronto, Ontario
Famous Deaths
1933 – Sara Teasdale, American lyric poet (Pulitzer Prize 1918 “Love Songs”), commits suicide at 48
1934 – Fritz Haber, German physicist and chemist (Nobel Prize for Chemistry – 1918, for process to synthesize ammonia), dies at 65
1999 – Lili St. Cyr [Marie Van Schaack], American dancer and strip tease performer, dies at 80
2004 – Otto Wilhelm Fischer, Austrian actor (Helden, Ich suche dich), dies of kidney disease at 88
2021 – Hilton Valentine, British rock guitarist (Animals – “House of the Rising Sun”), dies at 77
Famous Deaths for 28th January 2026
1612 – Thomas Bodley, English diplomat and scholar (founder of the Bodleian Library), dies at 66
1896 – Joseph Barnby, English conductor and composer, dies at 57
1942 – Pablo Luna, Spanish composer (De España vengo), dies at 61
1963 – Gustave Garrigou, French cyclist (Tour de France 1911), dies at 78
1963 – Jean Felix Piccard, Swiss scientist, explorer and balloonist (1st flight into stratosphere, by balloon), dies on his 79th birthday
1976 – Ray Nance, American jazz trumpeter, violinist, and vocalist (Duke Ellington Orchestra, 1940-63 – “Take the ‘A’ Train”, “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)”; Earl Hines), dies at 62
1995 – Walter Allen, English writer and literary critic, dies at 83
1997 – Pietro Cavallero ‘the laughing bandit’, Italian bandit, dies at 68
2006 – Henry McGee, British actor and comedian (No, That’s Me Over Here!, The Benny Hill Show), dies at 77
2007 – Yelena Romanova, Russian athlete (Olympic gold Unified Team 3,000m 1992), dies at 43
Historical Events for 28th January 2026
1846 – Battle of Allwal, British beat Sikhs in Punjab
1855 – The first locomotive runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean on the Panama Railway
1917 – Municipally owned streetcars take to the streets of San Francisco, California
1928 – Christopher Hornsrud chosen Prime Minister of Norway
1939 – Australian Championships Women’s Tennis: In an all-Australian final Emily Hood Westacott beats Nell Hall Hopman 6-1, 6-2 for her only Grand Slam singles title
1942 – WW II Navy flier Don Mason sends message “Sighted sub sank same”
1968 – Thai boxer Chartchai Chionoi retains his world flyweight title with a 13th-round TKO of home favourite Efren Torres in Mexico City; first of 3 meetings between the pair
1968 – 29th PGA Seniors Golf Championship: Chandler Harper
Today in History for 28th January 2026
Historical Events
1916 – US President Woodrow Wilson nominates Louis Brandeis for the Supreme Court of the United States
1957 – “Tonight! America After Dark” premieres, with Jack Lescoulie and Al (Jazzbo) Collins on NBC (between Steve Allen and Jack Paar)
2001 – Australian Open Men’s Tennis: Andre Agassi retains title; beats Frenchman Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 for his 3rd Australian trophy
2007 – Australian Open Men’s Tennis: Swiss ace Roger Federer successfully defends his title beating Fernando González of Chile 7-6, 6-4, 6-4
2024 – 100 Ballads names “The Wandering Prince of Troy” the most popular ballad of the 17th century in a project documenting “the earliest form of commercial pop music in England”
Famous Birthdays
1784 – George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (Peelite: 1852-55) and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1841-46), born in Edinburgh, Scotland (d. 1860)
1865 – Lala Lajpat Rai, Indian author, politician, and freedom fighter, born in Dhudike, British India (d. 1928)
1886 – Marthe Bibesco, Romanian-French writer, socialite, and political hostess, born in Bucharest, Kingdom of Romania (d. 1973)
1928 – Martin Sinnatt, British army Major-General (Korean War), and administrator (Secretary and CEO of the Kennel Club, 1984-93), born in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, England (d. 2022)
1986 – Shruti Haasan, Indian actress and one of the highest paid South Indian cinema actresses, born in Madras, India
Famous Deaths
1932 – Franz Xavier Arens, German-American conductor and composer (Cleveland Philharmonic), dies at 75
1939 – W. B. Yeats, Irish poet (Wild Swans at Coole-Nobel 1923), dies at 73
1947 – Reynaldo Hahn, Venezuelan-French singer, composer, conductor, and music critic, dies at 72
2005 – Jim Capaldi, British drummer, singer, and songwriter (Traffic – “The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys”), dies of stomach cancer at 60
2014 – Fernand Leduc, Canadian abstract expressionist painter (Les Automatistes), and teacher, dies of cancer at 97
Famous Deaths for 27th January 2026
1763 – Johann Theodor of Bavaria, Prince-Bishop of Regensburg, Freising and Liège, dies at 59
1802 – Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg, German lieder and ballad composer, and conductor, dies at 42
1864 – Leo von Klenze, German neoclassical architect (Walhalla), dies at 59
1962 – Percy LeSueur, Canadian hockey goaltender (inventor large goalie glove and LeSueur net), dies at 80
1984 – Lou Crosby, American actor, and radio and TV announcer (Lum and Abner; The Lawrence Welk Show), dies at 69
1987 – Allison Danzig, American sports writer (Tennis Pictorial History, NY Times), dies at 88
1989 – Bayani Casimiro, Filipino dancer and actor [Okey Ka Fairy Ko!], dies at 70
1995 – Geoffrey Parsons, Australian-British concert pianist, accompanist, and harpsichord player. dies of cancer at 65
1996 – Olga Havlová (nee Šplíchalová) Czech political activist (First Lady of the Czech Republic, 1993-96; First Lady of Czechoslovakia, 1989-92), dies of cancer at 63
2004 – Jack Paar, American comedian and TV host of the Jack Paar Show and The Tonight Show (1957-62), dies at 85
Historical Events for 27th January 2026
1302 – Dante becomes a Florentine political exile
1927 – Australian Championships Women’s Tennis, Melbourne: Esna Boyd wins title after 5 consecutive runner-up finishes; beats Sylvia Lance Harper 5-7, 6-1, 6-2
1951 – US begins 126 nuclear tests at Nevada Test Site
1964 – South African cricket batsmen Eddie Barlow (201) and Graeme Pollock (175) combine for a 341-run stand in the 4th Tests against Australia at the Adelaide Oval
1973 – US male Figure Skating championship won by Gordon McKellen Jr
1982 – Philadelphia Phillies trade shortstop Larry Bowa and infielder Ryne Sandberg to Chicago Cubs for second baseman Ivan DeJesus
1986 – 13th American Music Awards: Whitney Houston, Huey Lewis and Crystal Gayle
2013 – NFL Pro Bowl, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, Hawaii: NFC beats AFC, 62-35; MVP: Kyle Rudolph, Minnesota Vikings, TE