1622 – William Baffin, English navigator (1st European to discover Baffin Bay) and explorer, dies of a gunshot wound at in an attack on Qeshm, island of Hor about 38
1785 – Matthew Stewart, Scottish mathematician (b. 1717)
1879 – Adolf Jensen, German composer, dies of tuberculosis at 42
1893 – Phillips Brooks, American Episcopal bishop and composer (Little Town of Bethlehem), dies at 57
1975 – Karel Paul van der Mandele, Dutch financier, director (Rotterdam Bank), administrator, and economist, dies at 94
1978 – Vic Ames, American singer (Ames Brothers – “Tammy”), dies in a car accident at 52
2002 – Igor Kipnis, American harpsichordist, pianist, conductor, and educatordies of renal cancer at 71
2015 – Guy Gallo, American poet, playwright, and screenwriter (Under the Volcano), dies of cancer at 59
2019 – Jonas Mekas, American avant garde filmmaker and film critic, dies at 96
2023 – Carol Sloane [Morvan], American jazz singer, dies from complications of a stroke at 85
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 23rd January 2026
1912 – The International Opium Convention is signed at The Hague
1945 – Dutch Prime Minister Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy, exiled in London, tenders his resignation
1950 – Rebel army of Dutch military officer Raymond Westerling occupies Bandung, Java
1959 – 9th NBA All-Star Game, Olympia Stadium, Detroit, Mi: West beats East, 124-108; MVPs: Elgin Baylor, Minneapolis Lakers, F; Bob Pettit, St. Louis Hawks, C; first co-winners of MVP award
1970 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1984 – Greatest unpaced 1-hr bicycle distance, F Moser (Italy), 51.15 km
2017 – Thunderstorms and tornadoes in Georgia and Mississippi leave at least 18 dead in the US
2018 – Twelve camels disqualified from the King Abdulaziz Camel beauty contest, Saudi Arabia after their owners used botox on their lips
Today in History for 23rd January 2026
Historical Events
1779 – French astronomer Charles Messier catalogs M56 (globular cluster in Lyra)
1789 – Georgetown, the first US Catholic college, is founded
1845 – Uniform US election day for President and VP authorized
1926 – Eugene O’Neill’s play “Great God Brown” premieres in NYC
2023 – American Richard Barnett, who was pictured with his feet on Nancy Pelosi’s desk during the Jan 6 riots, convicted on eight counts in a Washington court
Famous Birthdays
1783 – Stendhal [Marie Henri Beyle], French writer (Le Rouge et de Noir, a Chartreuse de Parme), born in Grenoble, France (d. 1842)
1936 – Cécile Ousset, French classical pianist, born in Tarbes, France
1946 – Asif Masood, Pakistani cricketer (Pakistani quick with long and erratic run-up), born in Lahore, Pakistan
1952 – Omar Henry, South African cricketer (1st colored player for South Africa 1992), born in Stellenbosch, South Africa
1967 – Robert Globb, Slovenian politician (Prime Minister of Slovenia 2022-), born in Šempeter pri Gorici, Yugoslavia
Famous Deaths
1939 – Matthias Sindelar, Austrian soccer striker (43 caps; Austria Vienna 312 games), dies under mysterious circumstances at 35
1976 – Paul Robeson, American stage and screen bass-baritone singer (“Old Man River”), actor, and civil rights activist, dies of stroke complications in Philadelphia at 77
2002 – Robert Nozick, American philosopher (Anarchy, State, and Utopia), dies at 63
2018 – Stansfield Turner, American admiral and CIA director (1977-81), dies at 94
2021 – Peter Harper, British medical geneticist known for his work on myotonic dystrophy, dies at 81
Famous Deaths for 22nd January 2026
1581 – Joost de Damhoudere, Flemish lawyer (Praxis rerum criminalium), dies at 73
1666 – Shah Jahan, 5th Mughal Emperor of India (1628-58) who built the Taj Mahal for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, dies at 74
1767 – Johann Gottlob Lehmann, German minterologist and geologist, dies at 47
1879 – Anthony Durnford, British colonel, dies in Battle of Isandlwana
1931 – Alma Rubens, American actress (Humoresque), dies of Lobar pneumonia and bronchitis at 33
1978 – Herbert Sutcliffe, British cricketer (54 Tests for England 4555 runs), dies at 83
2000 – Anne Hébert, French Canadian author and poet (Kamouraska), dies at 83
2007 – Ngô Quang Trưởng, South Vietnamese general (b. 1929)
2007 – Liz Renay [Pearl Elizabeth Dobbins], American actress (Desperate Living), dies at 80
2019 – Charles Vandenhove, Belgian architect (Standard-Omnisporthal, Liège), dies at 91
Historical Events for 22nd January 2026
1850 – Alta California becomes a daily paper, 1st such in Calif
1863 – Union General Burnside’s “Mud March”
1877 – Arthur Tooth, an Anglican clergyman is taken into custody after being prosecuted for using ritualist practices
1914 – Paul Claudel’s play “L’échange” premieres in Paris
1953 – 1953 NFL Draft: Harry Babcock from University of Georgia first pick by San Francisco 49ers
1958 – KRSD (now KEVN) TV channel 7 in Rapid City, SD (ABC) 1st broadcast
1980 – West Indies beat England 2-0 to win cricket’s 1st World Series Cup
2014 – Water vapour is detected on the dwarf planet Ceres
Today in History for 22nd January 2026
Historical Events
1771 – Spain cedes the Falkland Islands to Britain
1983 – Houston is 1st NBA team to be held scoreless in an overtime Portland Trail Blazers out score them 17-0 and win 113-96
1993 – Johan Koss skates a world record 5 km in 6:38.77
2006 – Evo Morales is inaugurated as President of Bolivia, becoming the country’s first indigenous president
2021 – Lloyd Austin confirmed as defense secretary by the US Senate, and the first Black head of the Pentagon
Famous Birthdays
1871 – Léon Jessel, German light classical and operetta composer (The Parade of the Tin Soldiers; Schwarzwaldmädel (The Black Forest Girl)), born in Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin, Poland) (d. 1942)
1945 – Michael Cristofer, American actor and writer (Little Drummer Girl, Shadow Box), born in Trenton, New Jersey
1977 – Jono Gibbes, New Zealand rugby union flanker (8 caps; Chiefs) and coach (Ulster, La Rochelle), born in Henderson, New Zealand
1980 – Ben Moody, American guitarist (Evanescence, 1995-2003 -“Bring Me To Life”), born in Little Rock, Arkansas
1984 – Maceo Rigters, Dutch footballer, born in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Famous Deaths
1666 – Shah Jahan, 5th Mughal Emperor of India (1628-58) who built the Taj Mahal for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, dies at 74
1959 – A J Else Mauhs, German/Dutch actress (Hamlet, Nora), dies at 73
1992 – Ali Amini, Iranian politician and government official (Prime Minister, 1961-62; Ambassador to US, 1956-58; Member of Parliament, 1947-49), dies at 87
2016 – Anthony Simmons, British writer and film director (The Optimists of Nine Elms), dies at 93
2020 – John Karlen, American actor (Harvey Lacey-Cagney and Lacey), dies at 86
Famous Deaths for 21st January 2026
879 – Boudouin with the Iron Arm, earl of Flanders, dies
1344 – Prince Narinaga, 2nd and last Japanese shōgun of the Kenmu Restoration (1335-7), dies at about 18 (b. circa 1326) [death date disputed]
1722 – Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton, English supporter of William III of England (b. 1661)
1948 – Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Italian light opera composer, dies at 72
1966 – Shane Paltridge, Australian politician and minister for the Liberal Party, dies of cancer at 56
1977 – John Vincent, American composer, dies at 74
1984 – Giannis Skaribas, Greek writer, dramatist, and poet (b. 1893)
1996 – Jordan Christopher, American stage and screen actor (Angel, Angel, Down We Go; Secrets of Midland Heights), dies of a heart attack at 55
2007 – U;Nee [Lee Hye-ryeon], Korean pop artist, commits suicide at 25
2019 – Kaye Ballard, American stage and screen actress, comedienne, and singer (Mothers-in-Law – “Kaye”), dies at 93
Historical Events for 21st January 2026
1324 – Zen Buddhist religious debate between Tendai and Shingon
1904 – Leos Janacek’s opera “Jenůfa” premieres at the National Theatre in Brno, Moravia, Austria-Hungary
1943 – Soviet forces reconquer Gumrak airport near Stalingrad
1964 – Carl Rowan named director of US Information Agency
1989 – Wayne Gretzky passes Marcel Dionne to become NHL’s 2nd all time scorer
2013 – 18 people are killed and 24 are injured after a bus falls down a ravine in Yungas, Bolivia
2018 – AFC Championship, Gillette Stadium, Foxborough: New England Patriots beat Jacksonville Jaguars, 24-20
2025 – 79 people are killed in a hotel fire in the ski resort town of Balu in north-west Turkey, with 51 injured
Today in History for 21st January 2026
Historical Events
1077 – German King Henry IV petitions Pope Gregory VII for forgiveness
1938 – Dutch government starts obligatory unemployment insurance
1957 – KSAT TV channel 12 in San Antonio, TX (ABC) begins broadcasting
1993 – Nigerian singer Fela Kuti arrested on suspicion of murder
2020 – World’s oldest asteroid impact at 2.2 billion years old found in Yarrabubba, Western Australia, may have ended an ice age, reported in “Nature Communications”
Famous Birthdays
1891 – Nikolai Golovanov, Russian conductor and composer (Bolshoi Opera), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1953)
1905 – “Ossie” O.S. Stevens Nock, British railway writer, born in Sutton, England (d. 1994)
1952 – Mike Krukow, American baseball pitcher (MLB All Star 1986 SF Giants; Chicago Cubs) and broadcaster (KNBR [with Duane Kuiper] SF Giants), born in Long Beach, California
1981 – Ivan Ergić, Serbian soccer midfielder (11 caps; FC Basel 202 games), born in Šibenik, Croatia
1981 – David F. Sandberg, Swedish film director (Lights Out, Shazam!), born in Jönköping, Sweden
Famous Deaths
1851 – (Gustav) Albert Lortzing, German Spieloper composer and actor (Zar und Zimmerman), dies at 49
1894 – Guillaume Lekeu, Belgian composer (Épithalame), dies of typhoid fever at 24
1928 – George Washington Goethals, American army general and civil engineer who supervised the construction of the Panama Canal, dies at 69
2005 – Parveen Babi, Indian actress (b. 1955)
2015 – Waldemar Kmentt, Austrian operatic tenor (Vienna State Opera, 1951-2005), dies at 85
Famous Deaths for 20th January 2026
882 – Louis II/III the Younger, German king (876-82), dies
1770 – Charles Yorke, British politician and Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, dies by suicide at 47
1838 – Pierre-Louis Hus-Desforges, French composer and cellist, dies at 64
1905 – Stanislaw Pilinski, French pianist and composer, dies at 65
1952 – Arthur Farwell, American composer, dies at 74
1996 – David Robin Francis Guy Greville, 8th Duke of Warwick, dies at 61
2007 – Anatol Rapoport, Ukrainian-American mathematician and biologist (game theory), dies at 95
2009 – Dante Lavelli, American Pro Football HOF end (NFL C’ship 1950, 54, 55 Cleveland Browns; First-team All-Pro 1953; 3 × Pro Bowl), dies at 85
2018 – Jim Rodford, English rock bassist (Argent, 1969-76; The Kinks, 1978-96; Zombies, 2004-18), dies after a fall at 76
2021 – Ted Thompson, American football linebacker (Houston Oilers) and executive (GM Green Bay Packers 2005-17), dies from autonomic disorder at 68