January 22 in History

Ram Mandir is inaugurated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh after 500 years of dispute.

U.S. President Barack Obama signs an executive order to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp; congressional opposition will prevent it being implemented.

At least 88 people are killed when two car bombs explode in the Bab Al-Sharqi market in central Baghdad, Iraq.

Evo Morales is inaugurated as President of Bolivia, becoming the country's first indigenous president.

Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons are burned alive by radical Hindus while sleeping in their car in Eastern India.

Space Shuttle program: space shuttle Endeavour launches on STS-89 to dock with the Russian space station Mir.

Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Beit Lid suicide bombing: In central Israel, near Netanya, two Gazans blow themselves up at a military transit point, killing 19 Israeli soldiers.

Space Shuttle program: The space shuttle Discovery launches on STS-42 carrying Dr. Roberta Bondar, who becomes the first Canadian woman and the first neurologist in space.

Philippine security forces open fire on a crowd of 10,000–15,000 demonstrators at Malacañang Palace, Manila, killing 13.

The Supreme Court of the United States delivers its decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, legalizing elective abortion in all fifty states. This decision is subsequently overturned in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in 2022.

The crew of Apollo 17 addresses a joint session of Congress after the completion of the final Apollo Moon landing mission.

A chartered Boeing 707 explodes in flames upon landing at Kano Airport, Nigeria, killing 176.

In a bout for the world heavyweight boxing championship in Kingston, Jamaica, challenger George Foreman knocks down champion Joe Frazier six times in the first two rounds before the fight is stopped by referee Arthur Mercante Sr..

The Singapore Declaration, one of the two most important documents to the uncodified constitution of the Commonwealth of Nations, is issued.

The Boeing 747, the world's first "jumbo jet", enters commercial service for launch customer Pan American Airways with its maiden voyage from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport to London Heathrow Airport.

Apollo Program: Apollo 5 lifts off carrying the first Lunar module into space.

Operation Igloo White, a US electronic surveillance system to stop communist infiltration into South Vietnam begins installation.

Between dozens and hundreds of anti-Somocista demonstrators are killed by the Nicaraguan National Guard in Managua.

The Élysée Treaty of cooperation between France and West Germany is signed by Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer.

Israel withdraws from the Sinai Peninsula.

KTLA, the first commercial television station west of the Mississippi River, begins operation in Hollywood.

In Iran, Qazi Muhammad declares the independent people's Republic of Mahabad at Chahar Cheragh Square in the Kurdish city of Mahabad; he becomes the new president and Haji Baba Sheikh becomes the prime minister.

Creation of the Central Intelligence Group, forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency.

World War II: The Allies commence Operation Shingle, an assault on Anzio and Nettuno, Italy.

World War II: Australian and American forces defeat Japanese army and navy units in the bitterly fought Battle of Buna–Gona.

World War II: British and Commonwealth troops capture Tobruk from Italian forces during Operation Compass.

Teddy Wakelam gives the first live radio commentary of a football match, between Arsenal F.C. and Sheffield United at Highbury.

Ramsay MacDonald becomes the first Labour Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Act Zluky is signed, unifying the Ukrainian People's Republic and the West Ukrainian National Republic.

American entry into World War I: President Woodrow Wilson of the still-neutral United States calls for "peace without victory" in Europe.

Over 600 people are killed in Guadalajara, Mexico, when a train plunges off the tracks into a deep canyon.

SS Valencia runs aground on rocks on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, killing more than 130.

Bloody Sunday occurs in Saint Petersburg, beginning the 1905 revolution.

Edward VII is proclaimed King of the United Kingdom after the death of his mother, Queen Victoria.

The United Mine Workers of America is founded in Columbus, Ohio.

Anglo-Zulu War: the Battle of Isandlwana results in a Zulu victory.

Anglo-Zulu War: the Battle of Rorke's Drift, just some 15 km (9.3 mi) away from Isandlwana, results in a British victory.

The January Uprising breaks out in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. The aim of the national movement is to regain Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth from occupation by Russia.

Second Anglo-Sikh War: The Siege of Multan ends after nine months when the last Sikh defenders of Multan, Punjab, surrender.

The Portuguese royal family arrives in Brazil after fleeing the French army's invasion of Portugal two months earlier.

The Convention Parliament convenes to determine whether James II and VII, the last Roman Catholic monarch of England, Ireland and Scotland, had vacated the thrones of England and Ireland when he fled to France in 1688.

The Ava Kingdom falls to the Taungoo Dynasty in what is now Myanmar.

The Ottoman Empire under Selim I defeats the Mamluk Sultanate and captures present-day Egypt at the Battle of Ridaniya.

The first contingent of 150 Swiss Guards arrives at the Vatican.

Battle of Basing: The West Saxons led by King Æthelred I are defeated by the Danelaw Vikings at Basing.

Eight-month-old Heraclius Constantine is crowned as co-emperor (Caesar) by his father Heraclius at Constantinople.

Athena Mapelli Mozzi, daughter of Princess Beatrice, born 11th in line of succession to the British throne

Pau Cubarsí, Spanish footballer

Caitlin Clark, American basketball player

Laia Codina, Spanish footballer

Andrew Thomas, American football player

Walid Cheddira, Moroccan footballer

Fan Zhendong, Chinese table tennis player

Dillon Brooks, Canadian basketball player

Sami Gayle, American actress

Joshua Ho-Sang, Canadian ice hockey player

Kumi Sasaki, Japanese singer and model

Tyrone Taylor, American baseball player

Vincent Aboubakar, Cameroonian footballer

Stefan Kolb, German footballer

Alizé Cornet, French tennis player

Mike Hauschild, American baseball player

Logic, American rapper

Oscar Möller, Swedish ice hockey player

Theo Robinson, English footballer

Greg Oden, American basketball player

Marcel Schmelzer, German footballer

Astrid Jacobsen, Norwegian skier

Shane Long, Irish footballer

Angel Olsen, American singer-songwriter

Ray Rice, American football player

Maher Magri, Tunisian footballer

Matt Simon, Australian footballer

Nicklas Grossmann, Swedish ice hockey player

Fotios Papoulis, Greek footballer

Yan Xu, Singaporean table tennis player

Ben Eager, Canadian ice hockey player

Ubaldo Jiménez, Dominican baseball player

Maceo Rigters, Dutch footballer

Étienne Bacrot, French chess player

Fabricio Coloccini, Argentine footballer

Jason Peters, American football player

Willa Ford, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress

Beverley Mitchell, American actress

Ben Moody, American musician, songwriter, and producer

Ibrahima Sonko, French footballer

Christopher Masterson, American actor

Jonathan Woodgate, English footballer

Lizz Wright, American singer-songwriter

Carlos Ruiz, Panamanian baseball player

Robert Esche, American ice hockey player and sports executive

Chone Figgins, American baseball player

Mario Domm, Mexican singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer

Hidetoshi Nakata, Japanese footballer

Balthazar Getty, American actor and musician

David Výborný, Czech ice hockey player

Cameron McConville, Australian racing driver and sportscaster

Joseph Muscat, Maltese journalist and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Malta

Rogério Ceni, Brazilian footballer

Terry Hill, Australian rugby league player (died 2024)

Gabriel Macht, American actor

Stan Collymore, English footballer and sportscaster

Katie Finneran, American actress

Abraham Olano, Spanish cyclist

Olivia d'Abo, English-American singer-songwriter and actress

Guy Fieri, American chef, author, and television host

Heath, Japanese singer-songwriter and bass player (died 2023)

Frank Leboeuf, French footballer, sportscaster, and actor

Mauricio Serna, Colombian footballer

Manabu Nakanishi (中西 学), Japanese wrestler

Craig Salvatori, Australian rugby league player

Steven Adler, American rock drummer

DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ and producer

Diane Lane, American actress

Nigel Benn, English-Australian boxer

Stojko Vranković, Croatian basketball player

Mizan Zainal Abidin of Terengganu, Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia

Quintin Dailey, American basketball player (died 2010)

Michael Hutchence, Australian singer-songwriter (died 1997)

Linda Blair, American actress

Nikos Anastopoulos, Greek footballer and manager

Filiz Koçali, Turkish journalist and politician

Charles White, American football player (died 2023)

Mike Bossy, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster (died 2022)

Rita Chatterton, American professional wrestling referee

Godfrey Thoma, Nauruan politician

Steve Riley, American drummer (died 2023)

Lester Hayes, American football player

Thomas David Jones, American captain, pilot, and astronaut

John Wesley Shipp, American actor

Tully Blanchard, Canadian-American wrestler

Winfried Berkemeier, German footballer and manager

Myung-whun Chung, South Korean pianist and conductor

Jim Jarmusch, American director and screenwriter

Ondrej Nepela, Slovak figure skater and coach (died 1989)

Paul Bew, Northern Irish historian and academic

Frank Schade, American basketball player and coach

Steve Perry, American singer-songwriter and producer

Vladimir Oravsky, Czech-Swedish author and director

Malcolm McLaren, English singer-songwriter and manager (died 2010)

Serge Savard, Canadian ice hockey player and manager

Christoph Schönborn, Austrian cardinal

Khosrow Golsorkhi, Iranian journalist, poet, and activist (died 1974)

Mimis Domazos, Greek footballer (died 2025)

Jaan Kaplinski, Estonian poet, philosopher, and critic (died 2021)

John Hurt, English actor (died 2017)

Gillian Shephard, English educator and politician, Secretary of State for Education

Jørgen Garde, Danish admiral (died 1996)

Alfredo Palacio, Ecuadoran physician and politician, President of Ecuador (died 2025)

Luigi Simoni, Italian footballer and manager (died 2020)

J. C. Tremblay, Canadian ice hockey player and scout (died 1994)

Peter Beard, Australian photographer and author (died 2020)

Altair Gomes de Figueiredo, Brazilian footballer (died 2019)

Alma Delia Fuentes, Mexican actress (died 2017)

Edén Pastora, Nicaraguan politician (died 2020)

Joseph Wambaugh, American author (died 2025)

Ong Teng Cheong, Singaporean architect and politician, 5th President of Singapore (died 2002)

Alan J. Heeger, American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate

Vijay Anand, Indian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2004)

Bill Bixby, American actor and director (died 1993)

Yuri Chesnokov, Russian volleyball player and coach (died 2010)

Berthold Grünfeld, Norwegian psychiatrist and academic (died 2007)

Piper Laurie, American actress (died 2023)

Tom Railsback, American politician (died 2020)

Sam Cooke, American singer-songwriter (died 1964)

Galina Zybina, Russian shot putter and javelin thrower (died 2024)

Mariví Bilbao, Spanish actress (died 2013)

Daniel Camargo Barbosa, Colombian serial killer (died 1994)

Éamon de Buitléar, Irish wildlife filmmaker, naturalist, writer and musician (died 2013)

Petr Eben, Czech composer, organist and choirmaster (died 2007)

Yoshihiko Amino, Japanese historian, author, and academic (died 2004)

Lou Creekmur, American football player and sportscaster (died 2009)

Joe Perry, American football player (died 2011)

J. J. Johnson, American trombonist and composer (died 2001)

Ján Chryzostom Korec, Slovak cardinal (died 2015)

Charles Lisanby, American production designer and art director (died 2013)

Diana Douglas, British-American actress (died 2015)

Howard Moss, American poet, playwright and critic (died 1987)

Irving Kristol, American journalist, author, and academic, founded The National Interest (died 2009)

Alf Ramsey, English footballer and coach (died 1999)

Diomedes Olivo, Dominican baseball player and scout (died 1977)

Elmer Lach, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (died 2015)

Bruce Shand, British Army officer, and father of Queen Camilla (died 2006)

Bill Durnan, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (died 1972)

Henri Dutilleux, French pianist, composer, and educator (died 2013)

Harilal Upadhyay, Indian author, poet, and astrologist (died 1994)

Heinrich Albertz, German theologian and politician, Mayor of Berlin (died 1993)

Dimitris Dragatakis, Greek violinist and composer (died 2001)

Henry Bauchau, Belgian psychoanalyst and author (died 2012)

William Conway, Irish cardinal (died 1977)

Carl F. H. Henry, American theologian and publisher (died 2003)

Bruno Kreisky, Austrian lawyer and politician, 22nd Chancellor of Austria (died 1990)

Martha Norelius, Swedish-born American swimmer (died 1955)

Porfirio Rubirosa, Dominican racing driver, polo player, and diplomat (died 1965)

Ann Sothern, American actress and singer (died 2001)

U Thant, Burmese educator and diplomat, 3rd United Nations Secretary-General (died 1974)

Lev Landau, Azerbaijani-Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1968)

Douglas Corrigan, American pilot and engineer, famous "wrong way" early solo flyer of the Atlantic (died 1995)

Dixie Dean, English footballer (died 1980)

Robert E. Howard, American author and poet (died 1936)

Willy Hartner, German physicist, historian, and academic (died 1981)

George Balanchine, Georgian-American dancer, choreographer, and director, co-founded the New York City Ballet (died 1983)

Arkady Gaidar, Russian journalist and author (died 1941)

Fritz Houtermans, Polish-German physicist and academic (died 1966)

Daniel Kinsey, American hurdler, coach, and academic (died 1970)

Ernst Busch, German actor and singer (died 1980)

James Hamilton Doggart, English ophthalmic surgeon (died 1989)

Martti Haavio, Finnish poet and mythologist (died 1973)

Ross Barnett, American lawyer and politician, 52nd Governor of Mississippi (died 1987)

Sergei Eisenstein, Russian director and screenwriter (died 1948)

Denise Legeay, French actress (died 1968)

Rosa Ponselle, American operatic soprano (died 1981)

Dilipkumar Roy, a Bengali Indian musician, musicologist, novelist, poet and essayist. (died 1980)

Conrad Veidt, German-American actor, director, and producer (died 1943)

Marcel Dassault, French businessman, founded Dassault Aviation (died 1986)

Antonio Gramsci, Italian philosopher and politician (died 1937)

Fred M. Vinson, American judge and politician, 13th Chief Justice of the United States (died 1953)

Henri Pélissier, French cyclist (died 1935)

Amos Strunk, American baseball player and manager (died 1979)

Helen Hoyt, American poet and author (died 1972)

John J. Becker, American pianist, composer, and conductor (died 1961)

Ira Thomas, American baseball player and manager (died 1958)

Bill O'Neill, Canadian-American baseball player (died 1920)

Frigyes Riesz, Hungarian mathematician and academic (died 1956)

Francis Picabia, French painter and poet (died 1953)

Tom Jones, American baseball player and manager (died 1923)

D. W. Griffith, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1948)

Edward Harkness, American philanthropist (died 1940)

Jay Hughes, American baseball player and coach (died 1924)

José Vicente de Freitas, Portuguese colonel and politician, 97th Prime Minister of Portugal (died 1952)

Gisela Januszewska, Jewish-Austrian physician (died 1943)

Wilbur Scoville, American chemist and pharmacist (died 1942)

George Fuller, Australian politician, 22nd Premier of New South Wales (died 1940)

Beatrice Webb, English sociologist and economist (died 1943)

August Strindberg, Swedish novelist, poet, and playwright (died 1912)

Ernest Wilberforce, English bishop (died 1907)

Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (died 1917)

Dayrolles Eveleigh-de-Moleyns, 4th Baron Ventry, Irish hereditary peer (died 1914)

Richard Upjohn, English-American architect (died 1878)

Ludger Duvernay, Canadian journalist, publisher, and politician (died 1852)

Maria Leopoldina of Austria (died 1826)

Karl Ernst Claus, Estonian-Russian chemist, botanist, and academic (died 1864)

Lady Lucy Whitmore, English noblewoman, hymn writer (died 1840)

Lord Byron, English poet and playwright (died 1824)

François Habeneck, French violinist and conductor (died 1849)

Noah Phelps, American soldier, lawyer, and judge (died 1809)

Philip Carteret, English admiral and explorer (died 1796)

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German philosopher and author (died 1781)

Nicolas Lancret, French painter (died 1743)

Richard Blackmore, English physician and poet (died 1729)

William Kidd, Scottish sailor and pirate hunter (probable); (died 1701)

Pierre Gassendi, French mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher (died 1655)

Sir Robert Cotton, 1st Baronet, of Connington, English historian and politician, founded the Cotton library (died 1631)

Francis Bacon, English philosopher and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (died 1626)

Charles II de Valois, Duke of Orléans, (died 1545)

Ivan III of Russia (died 1505)

Ibn Taymiyyah, Syrian scholar and theologian (died 1328)

Hifumi Katō, Japanese professional shogi player (born 1940)

Lin Brehmer, American disc jockey (born 1954)

Thích Nhất Hạnh, Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk, peace activist, and founder of the Plum Village Tradition (born 1926)

Hank Aaron, American baseball player (born 1934)

Ursula K. Le Guin, American sci-fi and fantasy novelist (born 1929)

William B. Jordan, American art historian (born 1940)

Masaya Nakamura, Japanese businessman (born 1925)

Yordano Ventura, Dominican baseball player (born 1991)

Homayoun Behzadi, Iranian footballer and coach (born 1942)

Cecil Parkinson, English politician (born 1931)

Lois Ramsey, Australian actress (born 1922)

Kamer Genç, Turkish politician (born 1940)

Fabrizio de Miranda, Italian engineer and academic, co-designed the Rande Bridge (born 1926)

Wendell H. Ford, American lieutenant and politician, 53rd Governor of Kentucky (born 1924)

Margaret Bloy Graham, Canadian author and illustrator (born 1920)

Maziar Partow, Iranian cinematographer (born 1933)

Robert Bonnaud, French historian and academic (born 1929)

Hinton Mitchem, American businessman and politician (born 1938)

Simon Marsden, English photographer and author (born 1948)

Joe Paterno, American football player and coach (born 1926)

Clarence Tillenius, Canadian painter and environmentalist (born 1913)

Dick Tufeld, American actor (born 1926)

Louis R. Harlan, American historian and author (born 1922)

Jean Simmons, English-American actress (born 1929)

Billy Werber, American baseball player (born 1908)

Heath Ledger, Australian actor and director (born 1979)

Miles Lerman, Polish Holocaust survivor and activist (born 1920)

Ngô Quang Trưởng, Vietnamese general (born 1929)

Abbé Pierre, French priest and activist (born 1912)

Liz Renay, American actress, author and performer (born 1926)

Aydın Güven Gürkan, Turkish academic and politician, Turkish Minister of Labor and Social Security (born 1941)

César Gutiérrez, Venezuelan baseball player, coach, and manager (born 1943)

Carlo Orelli, Italian soldier (born 1894)

Consuelo Velázquez, Mexican pianist and songwriter (born 1924)

Billy May, American trumpet player and composer (born 1916)

Tom Mead, Australian journalist and politician (born 1918)

Ann Miller, American actress, singer, and dancer (born 1923)

Bill Mauldin, American soldier and cartoonist (born 1921)

Tommie Agee, American baseball player (born 1942)

Roy Brown, American clown and puppeteer (born 1932)

Craig Claiborne, American journalist, author, and critic (born 1920)

Anne Hébert, Canadian author and poet (born 1916)

Graham Staines, Australian-Indian missionary and translator (born 1941)

Billy Mackenzie, Scottish singer-songwriter (born 1957)

Israel Eldad, Polish-Israeli philosopher and author (born 1910)

Jean-Louis Barrault, French actor and director (born 1910)

Telly Savalas, American actor (born 1922)

Kōbō Abe, Japanese playwright and photographer (born 1924)

Robert Choquette, Canadian author, poet and diplomat (born 1905)

S. Vithiananthan, Sri Lankan author and academic (born 1924)

R. Budd Dwyer, American educator and politician, 30th Treasurer of Pennsylvania (born 1939)

Arthur Bryant, English historian and journalist (born 1899)

Eduardo Frei Montalva, Chilean lawyer and politician, 28th President of Chile (born 1911)

Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi, Pakistani historian and academic (born 1903)

Yitzhak Baer, German-Israeli historian and academic (born 1888)

Ali Hassan Salameh, Palestinian rebel leader (born 1940)

Oliver Leese, English general (born 1894)

Herbert Sutcliffe, English cricketer and soldier (born 1894)

Ibrahim bin Abdullah Al Suwaiyel, Saudi Arabian diplomat (born 1916)

Lyndon B. Johnson, American lieutenant and politician, 36th President of the United States (born 1908)

Harry Frank Guggenheim, American businessman and publisher, co-founded Newsday (born 1890)

Duke Kahanamoku, American swimmer and water polo player (born 1890)

Herbert Marshall, English actor (born 1890)

Marc Blitzstein, American pianist and composer (born 1905)

Mike Hawthorn, English racing driver (born 1929)

Ralph Barton Perry, American philosopher and academic (born 1876)

Jonni Myyrä, Finnish-American athlete (born 1892)

Harald Bohr, Danish mathematician and footballer (born 1887)

Lawson Robertson, Scottish-American sprinter and high jumper (born 1883)

Alan Hale, Sr., American actor and director (born 1892)

William Thomas Walsh, American author, poet, and playwright (born 1891)

Else Lasker-Schüler, German poet and playwright (born 1869)

László Batthyány-Strattmann, Hungarian physician and ophthalmologist (born 1870)

Stephen Mather, American businessman and conservationist, co-founded the Thorkildsen-Mather Borax Company (born 1867)

R. C. Lehmann, English journalist, author, and politician (born 1856)

James Ford Rhodes, American historian and author (born 1848)

Fanny Bullock Workman, American geographer and mountain climber (born 1859)

Fredrik Bajer, Danish educator and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1837)

Pope Benedict XV (born 1854)

Camille Jordan, French mathematician and academic (born 1838)

George Streeter, American captain and businessman (born 1837)

Emil Erlenmeyer, German chemist and academic (born 1825)

George Holyoake, English secularist, co-operator and newspaper editor (born 1817)

Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (born 1819)

David Edward Hughes, Welsh-American physicist, co-invented the microphone (born 1831)

Joseph P. Bradley, American lawyer and jurist (born 1813)

Anthony Durnford, Irish colonel (born 1830)

Henry Pulleine, English colonel (born 1838)

Vincent Pallotti, Italian missionary and saint (born 1795)

Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, German physician, physiologist, and anthropologist (born 1752)

Lewis Morris, American judge and politician (born 1726)

Jeremiah Dixon, English surveyor and astronomer (born 1733)

Claudius Smith, American guerrilla leader (born 1736)

Johann Gottlob Lehmann, German meteorologist and geologist (born 1719)

John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (born 1690)

Franz Xaver Josef von Unertl, Bavarian politician (born 1675)

Shah Jahan, Mughal emperor (born 1592)

Cristofano Malvezzi, Italian organist and composer (born 1547)

James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault (born 1516)

Wang Zhi, Chinese pirate

Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, English general and politician, Lord High Treasurer of England (born 1500)

Bernhard Knipperdolling, German religious leader (born 1495)

John of Leiden, Anabaptist leader from the Dutch city of Leiden (born 1509)

Hadım Sinan Pasha, Ottoman politician, 32nd Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (born ?)

Louis I, Duke of Bourbon (born 1279)

Ferdinand II of León (born 1137)

Wang Chongyang, Chinese Daoist and co-founder of the Quanzhen School (born 1113)

Ælfric Puttoc, archbishop of York

Al-Muqallad ibn al-Musayyab, Uqaylid emir of Mosul

Ma, empress of Southern Han

He, empress of the Tang Dynasty

Anastasius of Persia, monk

Cao Rui, Chinese emperor (born 205)