This article is about the calendar date. For the 2023 attack on Brazilian federal government buildings, see 8 January Brasília attacks.
Day of the year January 8 is the eighth day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 357 days remain until the end of the year (358 in leap years).
Events
Pre-1600
1601–1900
1901–present
- 1912 – The African National Congress is founded, under the name South African Native National Congress (SANNC).[20]
- 1918 – U.S. President Woodrow Wilson announces his "Fourteen Points" as conditions for ending World War I.[21]
- 1920 – The steel strike of 1919 ends in failure for the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers labor union.[22]
- 1926 – Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuỵ is crowned emperor of Vietnam, the country's last monarch.[23]
- 1926 – Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz.[24]
- 1933 – Anarchist insurrection of January 1933 breaks out in Barcelona, Spain.[25]
- 1936 – Kashf-e hijab decree is made and immediately enforced by Reza Shah, Iran's head of state, banning the wearing of Islamic veils in public.[26]
- 1940 – World War II: Britain introduces food rationing.[27]
- 1945 – World War II: Philippine Commonwealth troops under the Philippine Commonwealth Army units enter the province of Ilocos Sur in Northern Luzon and attack invading Japanese Imperial forces.[28]
- 1946 – Andrei Zhdanov, Chairman of the Finnish Allied Commission, submitted to the Finnish War Criminal Court an interrogation report by General Erich Buschenhagen, a German prisoner of war, on the contacts between Finnish and German military personnel before the Continuation War and a copy of Hitler's Barbarossa plan.[29]
- 1956 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. missionaries are killed by the Waorani of Ecuador shortly after making first contact.[30]
- 1959 – Charles de Gaulle is proclaimed as the first President of the French Fifth Republic.[31]
- 1961 – In France a referendum supports Charles de Gaulle's policies in Algeria.[32]
- 1964 – President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a "War on Poverty" in the United States.[33]
- 1972 – Bowing to international pressure, President of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto releases Bengali leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from prison, who had been arrested after declaring the independence of Bangladesh.[34]
- 1973 – Soviet space mission Luna 21 is launched.[35]
- 1973 – Watergate scandal: The trial of seven men accused of illegal entry into Democratic Party headquarters at Watergate begins.[36]
- 1975 – Ella T. Grasso becomes Governor of Connecticut, the first woman to serve as a Governor in the United States other than by succeeding her husband.[37]
- 1977 – Three bombs explode in Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union, within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.[38]
- 1981 – A local farmer reports a UFO sighting in Trans-en-Provence, France, claimed to be "perhaps the most completely and carefully documented sighting of all time".[39]
- 1982 – Breakup of the Bell System: In the United States, AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions.[37]
- 1989 – Kegworth air disaster: British Midland Flight 92, a Boeing 737-400, crashes into the M1 motorway, killing 47 of the 126 people on board.[40]
- 1994 – Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov on Soyuz TM-18 leaves for Mir. He would stay on the space station until March 22, 1995, for a record 437 days in space.[41]
- 1996 – An Antonov An-32 cargo aircraft crashes into a crowded market in Kinshasa, Zaire, killing up to 223 people on the ground; two of six crew members are also killed.[42]
- 2002 – President of the United States George W. Bush signs into law the No Child Left Behind Act.[43]
- 2003 – Turkish Airlines Flight 634 crashes near Diyarbakır Airport, Turkey, killing the entire crew and 70 of the 75 passengers.[44]
- 2003 – Air Midwest Flight 5481 crashes at Charlotte-Douglas Airport, in Charlotte, North Carolina, killing all 21 people on board.[45]
- 2004 – The RMS Queen Mary 2, then the largest ocean liner ever built, is christened by her namesake's granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.[46]
- 2005 – The nuclear sub USS San Francisco collides at full speed with an undersea mountain south of Guam. One man is killed, but the sub surfaces and is repaired.[47]
- 2009 – A 6.1-magnitude earthquake in northern Costa Rica kills 15 people and injures 32.[48]
- 2010 – Gunmen from an offshoot of the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda attack a bus carrying the Togo national football team on its way to the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, killing three people and injuring another nine.[49]
- 2011 – Sitting US Congresswoman Gabby Giffords is shot in the head along with 18 others in a mass shooting in Tucson, Arizona. Giffords survived the assassination attempt, but six others died, including John Roll, a federal judge.[50]
- 2016 – Joaquín Guzmán, widely regarded as the world's most powerful drug trafficker, is recaptured following his escape from a maximum security prison in Mexico.[51]
- 2016 – West Air Sweden Flight 294 crashes near the Swedish reservoir of Akkajaure; both pilots, the only people on board, are killed.[52]
- 2020 – Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 crashes immediately after takeoff at Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport; all 176 on board are killed. The plane was shot down by an Iranian anti-aircraft missile.[53]
- 2021 – Twenty-three people are killed in what is described as a police ″massacre″ in La Vega, Caracas, Venezuela.[54]
- 2023 – Supporters of former Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro storm the Brazilian Congress.[55]
Births
Pre-1600
1601–1900
- 1601 – Baltasar Gracián, Spanish priest and author (died 1658)[63]
- 1626 – Jean Talon, first Intendant of New France (died 1694)[64]
- 1628 – François-Henri de Montmorency, duc de Luxembourg, French general (died 1695)[65]
- 1632 – Samuel von Pufendorf, German economist and jurist (died 1694)[66]
- 1635 – Luis Manuel Fernández de Portocarrero, Spanish cardinal (died 1709)[67]
- 1638 – Elisabetta Sirani, Italian painter (died 1665)[68]
- 1735 – John Carroll, American archbishop, founder of Georgetown University (died 1815)[69]
- 1763 – Edmond-Charles Genêt, French-American translator and diplomat (died 1834)[70]
- 1786 – Nicholas Biddle, American banker and financier (died 1844)[71]
- 1788 – Rudolf of Austria, Austrian archduke and archbishop (died 1831)[72]
- 1792 – Lowell Mason, American composer and educator (died 1872)[73]
- 1805 – John Bigler, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, 3rd Governor of California (died 1871)[74]
- 1805 – Orson Hyde, American religious leader, 3rd President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (died 1878)[75]
- 1812 – Sigismond Thalberg, Swiss pianist and composer (died 1871)[76]
- 1817 – Theophilus Shepstone, English-South African politician (died 1893)[77]
- 1821 – James Longstreet, American general and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Turkey (died 1904)[78]
- 1823 – Alfred Russel Wallace, Welsh geographer, biologist, and explorer (died 1913)[79]
- 1824 – Wilkie Collins, English novelist, playwright, and short story writer (died 1889)[80]
- 1824 – Francisco González Bocanegra, Mexican poet and composer (died 1861)[81]
- 1830 – Hans von Bülow, German pianist and composer (died 1894)[82]
- 1836 – Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Dutch-English painter and academic (died 1912)[83]
- 1843 – Frederick Abberline, English police officer (died 1929)[84]
- 1852 – James Milton Carroll, American pastor and author (died 1931)[85]
- 1859 – Fanny Bullock Workman, American mountaineer, geographer, and cartographer (died 1925)[86]
- 1860 – Emma Booth-Tucker, English author (died 1903)[87]
- 1862 – Frank Nelson Doubleday, American publisher, founded the Doubleday Publishing Company (died 1934)[88]
- 1864 – Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (died 1892)[89]
- 1865 – Winnaretta Singer, American philanthropist (died 1943)[90]
- 1866 – William G. Conley, American educator and politician, 18th Governor of West Virginia (died 1940)[91]
- 1867 – Emily Greene Balch, American economist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1961)[92]
- 1870 – Miguel Primo de Rivera, Spanish general and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (died 1930)[93]
- 1871 – Jeanne Adnet, French anarchist (died 1942)[94]
- 1871 – James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, Irish captain and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Northern Ireland (died 1940)[95]
- 1873 – Iuliu Maniu, Romanian lawyer and politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Romania (died 1953)[96]
- 1881 – Henrik Shipstead, American dentist and politician (died 1960)[97]
- 1881 – Linnie Marsh Wolfe, American librarian and author (died 1945)[98]
- 1883 – Pavel Filonov, Russian painter and poet (died 1941)[99]
- 1883 – Patrick J. Hurley, American general, politician, and diplomat, 51st United States Secretary of War (died 1963)
- 1885 – John Curtin, Australian journalist and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Australia (died 1945)[100]
- 1885 – Mór Kóczán, Hungarian javelin thrower and pastor (died 1972)[101]
- 1885 – A. J. Muste, Dutch-American pastor and activist (died 1967)[102]
- 1888 – Richard Courant, German-American mathematician and academic (died 1972)[103]
- 1891 – Walther Bothe, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1957)[104]
- 1891 – Storm Jameson, English journalist and author (died 1986)[105]
- 1891 – Bronislava Nijinska, Russian dancer and choreographer (died 1972)[106]
- 1896 – Jaromír Weinberger, Czech-American composer and academic (died 1967)[107]
- 1897 – Dennis Wheatley, English soldier and author (died 1977)[108]
- 1899 – S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (died 1959)
- 1900 – Dorothy Adams, American character actress (died 1988)[109]
- 1900 – Serge Poliakoff, Russian-French painter (died 1969)[110]
1901–present
- 1902 – Carl Rogers, American psychologist and academic (died 1987)[111]
- 1904 – Karl Brandt, German physician and SS officer (died 1948)[112]
- 1905 – Carl Gustav Hempel, German philosopher from the Vienna and the Berlin Circle (died 1997)[113]
- 1908 – William Hartnell, English actor (died 1975)[114]
- 1908 – Fearless Nadia, Australian-Indian actress and stuntwoman (died 1996)[115]
- 1909 – Ashapoorna Devi, Indian author and poet (died 1995)[116]
- 1909 – Bruce Mitchell, South African cricketer (died 1995)[117]
- 1909 – Evelyn Wood, American author and educator (died 1995)[118]
- 1910 – Galina Ulanova, Russian actress and ballerina (died 1998)[119]
- 1911 – Gypsy Rose Lee, American actress, dancer, and author (died 1970)[120]
- 1912 – José Ferrer, Puerto Rican-American actor and director (died 1992)[121]
- 1912 – Lawrence Walsh, Canadian-American lawyer, judge, and politician, 4th United States Deputy Attorney General (died 2014)[122]
- 1915 – Walker Cooper, American baseball player and manager (died 1991)[123]
- 1917 – Peter Matthew Hillsman Taylor, American novelist, short story writer, and playwright (died 1994)
- 1920 – Douglas Wilmer, English actor (died 2016)[124]
- 1922 – Dale D. Myers, American engineer (died 2015)[125]
- 1923 – Larry Storch, American actor and comedian[126](died 2022)[127]
- 1923 – Giorgio Tozzi, American opera singer and actor (died 2011)[128]
- 1923 – Johnny Wardle, English cricketer (died 1985)[129]
- 1923 – Joseph Weizenbaum, German-American computer scientist and author (died 2008)[130]
- 1924 – Benjamin Lees, Chinese-American soldier and composer (died 2010)[131]
- 1924 – Ron Moody, English actor and singer (died 2015)[132]
- 1925 – Mohan Rakesh, Indian author and playwright (died 1972)[133]
- 1926 – Evelyn Lear, American operatic soprano (died 2012)[134]
- 1926 – Kerwin Mathews, American actor (died 2007)[135]
- 1926 – Kelucharan Mohapatra, Indian dancer and choreographer (died 2004)[136]
- 1926 – Hanae Mori, Japanese fashion designer[137] (died 2022)
- 1926 – Soupy Sales, American comedian and actor (died 2009)[138]
- 1927 – Charles Tomlinson, English poet and academic (died 2015)
- 1928 – Slade Gorton, American colonel, lawyer, and politician, 14th Attorney General of Washington[139] (died 2020)[140]
- 1929 – Saeed Jaffrey, Indian-British actor (died 2015)[141]
- 1931 – Bill Graham, German-American businessman (died 1991)
- 1931 – Clarence Benjamin Jones, American lawyer and scholar[142]
- 1933 – Charles Osgood, American soldier and journalist (died 2024)[143]
- 1933 – Jean-Marie Straub, French director and screenwriter (died 2022)[144]
- 1934 – Jacques Anquetil, French cyclist (died 1987)[145]
- 1934 – Roy Kinnear, British actor (died 1988)[146]
- 1935 – Elvis Presley, American singer, guitarist, and actor (died 1977)[147]
- 1936 – Robert May, Baron May of Oxford, Australian-English zoologist, ecologist, and academic (died 2020)[148]
- 1937 – Shirley Bassey, Welsh singer[149]
- 1938 – Bob Eubanks, American game show host and producer[150]
- 1939 – Carolina Herrera, Venezuelan-American fashion designer[151]
- 1940 – Cristy Lane, American country and gospel singer[152]
- 1941 – Graham Chapman, English actor and screenwriter (died 1989)[153]
- 1941 – Boris Vallejo, Peruvian-American painter[154]
- 1942 – Stephen Hawking, English physicist and author (died 2018)[155]
- 1942 – Junichirō Koizumi, Japanese politician, 56th Prime Minister of Japan[156]
- 1942 – Yvette Mimieux, American actress (died 2022)[157]
- 1944 – Terry Brooks, American lawyer and author[158]
- 1945 – Phil Beal, English footballer[159]
- 1945 – Nancy Bond, American author and academic[160]
- 1945 – Kathleen Noone, American actress[161]
- 1946 – Robby Krieger, American guitarist and songwriter[162]
- 1946 – Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, Mexican drug lord[163]
- 1947 – David Bowie, English singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (died 2016)[164]
- 1947 – Antti Kalliomäki, Finnish pole vaulter and politician[165]
- 1948 – Gillies MacKinnon, Scottish director and screenwriter[166]
- 1949 – Lawrence Rowe, Jamaican cricketer[167]
- 1951 – Kenny Anthony, Saint Lucian politician, 5th Prime Minister of Saint Lucia[168]
- 1952 – Vladimir Feltsman, Russian-American pianist and educator[169]
- 1952 – Peter McCullagh, Irish mathematician and academic[170]
- 1953 – Marián Šťastný, Slovak ice hockey player[171]
- 1953 – Bruce Sutter, American baseball pitcher (died 2022)[172]
- 1955 – Harriet Sansom Harris, American actress[161]
- 1955 – Mike Reno, Canadian singer and drummer[173]
- 1957 – Dwight Clark, American football player (died 2018)[174]
- 1957 – Nacho Duato, Spanish dancer and choreographer[175]
- 1957 – Ron Cephas Jones, American actor (died 2023)[161]
- 1957 – Calvin Natt, American basketball player[176]
- 1958 – Betsy DeVos, American businesswoman and politician, 11th Secretary of Education[177]
- 1958 – Rey Misterio, Mexican wrestler, trainer, and actor. (died 2024)[178]
- 1959 – Paul Hester, Australian drummer (died 2005)[179]
- 1960 – Dave Weckl, American drummer[180]
- 1961 – Calvin Smith, American sprinter[181]
- 1964 – Ron Sexsmith, Canadian singer-songwriter[182]
- 1965 – Michelle Forbes, American actress[161]
- 1966 – Maria Pitillo, American actress[161]
- 1966 – Igor Vyazmikin, Russian ice hockey player (died 2009)[183]
- 1966 – Andrew Wood, American singer-songwriter (died 1990)[184]
- 1967 – Willie Anderson, American basketball player[185]
- 1967 – R. Kelly, American singer-songwriter, producer, and sex offender[186]
- 1967 – Tom Watson, English politician[187]
- 1971 – Jason Giambi, American baseball player[188]
- 1971 – Andreas Kollross, Austrian politician[189]
- 1971 – Pascal Zuberbühler, Swiss footballer and coach[190]
- 1972 – Paul Clement, English footballer, coach, and manager[191]
- 1973 – Mike Cameron, American baseball player[192]
- 1976 – Jenny Lewis, American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress[161]
- 1977 – Amber Benson, American actress, writer, director, and producer[193]
- 1978 – Marco Fu, Hong Kongese snooker player[194]
- 1979 – Seol Ki-hyeon, South Korean footballer and manager[195]
- 1979 – Windell Middlebrooks, American actor (died 2015)[196]
- 1979 – Adrian Mutu, Romanian footballer[197]
- 1979 – Stipe Pletikosa, Croatian footballer[198]
- 1979 – Sarah Polley, Canadian actress and director[199]
- 1980 – Sam Riley, English actor and singer[196]
- 1981 – Genevieve Cortese, American actress[196]
- 1981 – Jeff Francis, Canadian baseball player[200]
- 1982 – Gaby Hoffmann, American actress[201]
- 1982 (or 1983, 1984) – Kim Jong Un, North Korean soldier and politician, 3rd Supreme Leader of North Korea[202]
- 1983 – Chris Masters, American wrestler[203]
- 1984 – Jeff Francoeur, American baseball player and broadcaster[204]
- 1987 – Chris Douglas-Roberts, American basketball player[205]
- 1987 – Cynthia Erivo, English actress and singer-songwriter[161]
- 1987 – Freddie Stroma, English actor[196]
- 1988 – Adrián López, Spanish footballer[206]
- 1988 – Michael Mancienne, English footballer[207]
- 1988 – Alex Tyus, American-Israeli basketball player[208]
- 1989 – Aaron Cruden, New Zealand rugby player[209]
- 1990 – Blair Walsh, American football player[210]
- 1991 – Josh Hazlewood, Australian cricketer[211]
- 1991 – Stefan Johansen, Norwegian footballer[212]
- 1991 – Stefan Savić, Montenegrin footballer[213]
- 1991 – Greg Smith, American basketball player[214]
- 1992 – Stefanie Dolson, American basketball player[215]
- 1992 – Koke, Spanish footballer[216]
- 1992 – Valkyrae, American online streamer[217]
- 1993 – William Karlsson, Swedish ice hockey player[218]
- 1993 – Sophie Pascoe, New Zealand swimmer[219]
- 1994 – Glenn Robinson III, American basketball player[220]
- 1995 – Ryan Destiny, American actress and singer[221]
- 1998 – Tony Bradley, American basketball player[222]
- 1998 – Jhoan Durán, Dominican baseball player[223]
- 1999 – Ignas Brazdeikis, Lithuanian-Canadian basketball player[224]
- 1999 – Damiano David, Italian singer-songwriter[225]
- 2000 – Noah Cyrus, American singer, songwriter, and actress[226]
- 2001 – Zach Charbonnet, American football player[227]
Deaths
Pre-1600
- 307 – Hui of Jin, Chinese emperor (born 259)[228]
- 482 – Severinus of Noricum, Italian apostle and saint[229]
- 871 – Bagsecg, Viking warrior and leader[230]
- 926 – Athelm, archbishop of Canterbury[231]
- 1079 – Adèle of France, countess of Flanders (born 1009)[232]
- 1107 – Edgar, King of Scotland (born 1074)[233]
- 1198 – Celestine III, pope of the Catholic Church (born 1106)[234]
- 1337 – Giotto, Italian painter and architect, designed Scrovegni Chapel and Giotto's Campanile (born 1266)[235]
- 1354 – Charles de la Cerda, French nobleman (born 1327)[236]
- 1424 – Stephen Zaccaria, archbishop of Patras[237]
- 1456 – Lawrence Giustiniani, Italian bishop and saint (born 1381)[238]
- 1538 –
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