| 38 | BC | Octavian marries Livia Drusilla, who is pregnant by her previous husband, Ti. Claudius Nero, with the future Emperor Tiberius |
| 0 | | Feast of St. Anthony the Great, Patron of the French Foreign Legion, Animals, Grave Diggers, and more, and that of St. Mildgyth, Princess of Mercia, daughter of St. Eormenburh, sister to St. Mildburh of Wenlock and St. Mildrith |
| 395 | | Arcadius, 18, succeeds his father Theodosius as Roman Emperor in the East (395-408), while his brother Honorius, 10, succeeds in the West (395-423) |
| 1377 | | Gregory XI (1370-1378) returns the papacy to Rome, ending the "Babylonian Captivity" in Avignon (1307-1377) |
| 1475 | | Battle of Krakovicz: Hungarians and Moldavians beat the Turks |
| 1501 | | Triumphal reception at Rome for Cesare Borgia for his victories in the Romagna |
| 1601 | | Spain cedes the alpine regions of Bresse, Bugey, Valromey, & Gex to France |
| 1608 | | Battle of Ebenat: Emperor Susenyos of Ethiopia crushes an Oromo army |
| 1642 | | Battle of Kemper: French defeat the Imperialists |
| 1656 | | Brandenburg & Sweden make peace at Konigsberg |
| 1746 | | Battle of Falkirk: Bonnie Prince Charlie's Highlanders defeat the English |
| 1773 | | Captain Cook in 'Resolution' reaches the Antarctic Circle |
| 1781 | | Battle of the Cowpens: Dan Morgan annihilates Banastare Tarleton's Anglo-Tory force |
| 1794 | | 10-year-old John Shipp joined the 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment of Foot -- Learn More |
| 1811 | | Battle of Calderon Bridge: Spanish forces crush Mexican Revolutionaries |
| 1821 | | Mexico grants Moses Austin extensive lands in Texas |
| 1832 | | USS 'Peacock' conducts a diplomatic mission to Vietnamese court |
| 1862 | | US gunboat 'Lexington' bombards Ft Henry, TN (surrenders Jan 22) |
| 1863 | | Skirmish near Newtown, Virginia |
| 1881 | | the Chileans captured Lima, Peru, invested since the 13th -- Learn More |
| 1885 | | Battle of Abu Klea: Egypto-British Army defeats the Mahdists |
| 1893 | | American businessmen stage a coup in Hawaii, deposing Queen Liliuokalani |
| 1899 | | CDR Taussig of the USS 'Bennington' takes formal possession of Wake Island |
| 1911 | | Attempted assassination of Premier Briand in the French Assembly |
| 1912 | | Briton Robert F. Scott & his party reach the South Pole, five weeks after Amundsen's Norwegian expedition |
| 1915 | | Battle of Sarikamish: After more than three weeks of heavy fighting, the Russians defeat an Ottoman army in what is now northeastern Turkey |
| 1915 | | A Russia offensive captures Bukovina & Western Ukraine |
| 1942 | | Bataan: Heavy fighting continues. |
| 1942 | | British are under heavy pressure on the Muar River line in Malaya. |
| 1943 | | Guadalcanal: Combined Army-Marine Div attacks west along the coast |
| 1943 | | the U.S. held “National Tin Can Drive Day” |
| 1943 | | Papua: Allied forces begin a major offensive against Sanananda. |
| 1944 | | HM Corvette 'Violet' sinks 'U-641' in Atlantic Ocean |
| 1944 | | New Britain: Allies subdue last Japanese at Arawe, southern coast |
| 1945 | | Luzon: Sixth Army steps up its drive on Manila. |
| 1945 | | Raoul Wallenberg, "Righteous Gentile", disappears in Hungary while in Soviet custody |
| 1945 | | Soviets drive the Germans out of Warsaw |
| 1947 | | Ammunition plant explosion at Muiden, Netherlands, 16 die |
| 1948 | | Netherlands & Indonesia agree to a cease fire |
| 1951 | | China refuses cease fire in Korea |
| 1955 | | USS 'Nautilus' (SSN-571) gets underway on nuclear power |
| 1961 | | Pres. Eisenhower's farewell address warns of a "military industrial complex" |
| 1966 | | A B-52 carrying four hydrogen bombs crashes off Spanish coast |
| 1991 | | Operation Desert Storm: Coalition air offensive is unleashed over Iraq, US pilot Jeffrey Zahn is shot down and captured |
| 1991 | | Harald V become King of Norway, in succession to his father, Olav V (1957-1991) |
| 1342 | | Duke Philip II "the Bold" of Burgundy (1363-1404) |
| 1463 | | Elector Frederick III "the Wise" of Saxony (1486-25), friend to Luther |
| 1472 | | Guidobaldo I da Montefeltro, Condottiero and the Duke of Urbino (1482-1508) |
| 1504 | | Antonio Ghislieri - Pope St. Pius V - (1566-72) |
| 1612 | | Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron, Parliamentary General, d. 1671 |
| 1706 | | Benjamin Franklin, American, d. 1790 [NS] -- Learn More |
| 1721 | | Hugh Mercer, Patriot general, kia, 1777 |
| 1732 | | King Stanislaw II August Poniatowski of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania (1764-95), deposed, d. 1798 |
| 1811 | | Joshua Abraham Norton, "Norton I, Emperor of the United States, Protector of Mexico"(1859-1880), in England, d. 1880 |
| 1828 | | Lewis A. Grant, Brig. Gen, USV, Medal of Honor, d. 1918 |
| 1863 | | David Lloyd George, PM of Britain, WW I, d. 1945 |
| 1871 | | David Richard Beatty, later Admiral of the Fleet Earl Beatty, who commanded the British battle cruisers at Jutland, d. 1936 -- Learn More |
| 1886 | | Glenn Martin, American aviation pioneer, d. 1955 |
| 1899 | | Alfonse Gabriel Capone, Brooklyn, entrepreneur, d. 1947 |
| 1922 | | Luis Echeverría Alvarez, President of Mexico (1970-1976) |
| 1929 | | Popeye the Sailor Man, premiered in a 'Thimble Theatre' cartoon |
| 395 | | Emperor Theodosius I "the Great" (379-395), 48, last ruler of the united empire -- Learn More |
| 1168 | | Thierry of Alsace, c. 70, Count of Flanders (1128-1168), Crusader |
| 1229 | | Bishop Albert of Riga, c. 63, builder of Riga, Founder of the Knights of the Sword |
| 1305 | | Ruggiero di Lauria, Sicilian-Aragonese admiral, at c. 60 |
| 1369 | | King Peter I de Lusignan of Cyprus (1358 1369), Titular King of Jerusalem, 40, assassinated |
| 1468 | | Gjergj Kastrioti Scanderbeg, 62, Albanian national hero |
| 1598 | | Tsar Fedor I of Russian (1584-17 January 1598), 40, the last Rurikid |
| 1844 | | Attilio and Emilio Bandini and 18 other Italian nationalists, executed for insurrection at Naples |
| 1861 | | Lola Montez, adventuress, with a talent for orality, at 39 |
| 1891 | | George Bancroft, SecNav, SecWar, Father of the Naval Academy, historian, at 90 |
| 1893 | | Rutherford B Hayes, general, President (1877-81), at 70 -- Learn More |
| 1908 | | Grand Duke Ferdinand IV of Tuscany (1859-1860), 72 |
| 1942 | | Walther von Reichenau, 57, field marshal, Nazi |
| 1957 | | Humphrey Bogart, 57, veteran, actor ("The Caine Mutiny") |
| 1961 | | Patrice Lumumba, leftist Congolese politician, murdered at 36 |
| 1991 | | King Olav V of Norway (1957-1991), 87 |