January 8

Holidays

• Commonwealth Day is celebrated in Northern Mariana Islands.

Events

• 2019 Syrian Civil War: The military police of Russia says that it has started patrolling the area surrounding Manbij. (TASS)The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces say that they captured five foreign nationals who fought for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Two are reportedly from the United States, two from Pakistan and one from Ireland. (BBC)
• 2018 Pharmaceutical company Pfizer discontinues research into treating patients with Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. (The Telegraph)
• 2017 January 2017 Jerusalem vehicular attack: A truck rams into a group of Israeli soldiers in a deliberate attack in East Jerusalem, killing four and wounding 21. The perpetrator was previously convicted of terrorism and was jailed for 10 years. (CNN) (The Guardian)
• 2016 2016 Hurghada attack: Two suspected ISIS militants are killed and three tourists injured in an unsuccessful attack on a hotel in the city of Hurghada. (BBC)
• 2015 Charlie Hebdo shooting: One of the suspects in the killings, Hamyd Mourad, voluntarily surrenders to police in Charleville-Mézières while the other two suspects are still at large. (The New York Times) (CNN)On the night of January 7 and morning of January 8, assailants throw grenades and fire guns at three mosques throughout France. (ForeignPolicy.com)
• 2014 South Yemen insurgency:: Two suspected Al-Qaeda militants are killed in a U.S. drone strike in the southeastern province of Hadhramaut. (Reuters)
• 2013 War in North-West Pakistan:: Four are killed and a further four are wounded in a U.S. drone strike in North Waziristan, Pakistan. (AFP)
• 2012 Piracy in Somalia: Georgia announces 15 Georgian sailors held hostage by pirates for over a year are released through the government's efforts. (AFP via Google News)
• 2011 An attempted assassination of Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and subsequent shooting in Casas Adobes, Arizona at a Safeway grocery store kills 6 people and wounds 13, including Giffords.
• 2010 Gunmen from an offshoot the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda attacked the bus carrying the Togo national football team on its way to the 2010 African Cup of Nations, killing three.
• 2009 In Los Angeles, California, the Critics' Choice Awards are announced. Best picture: Slumdog Millionaire
• 2008 In New Hampshire, USA, the Democratic caucuses choose Hillary Clinton as candidate for the presidential election on November. The Republican caucuses choose John McCain.
• 2007 The United States Supreme Court declines to hear an appeal of Gilmore v. Gonzales, which was a challenge to travel papers and secret laws. (USAToday) (PapersPlease)
• 2006 An estimated two million Muslims officially begin the annual pilgrimage, or hajj, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia (CNN).
• 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.
• 2004 The RMS Queen Mary 2, the largest passenger ship ever built, is christened by her namesake's granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
• 2003 US Airways Express Flight 5481 crashes at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, killing all 21 people aboard.
• 2002 IBM announces it will no longer manufacture desktop personal computers in most of the world. It will sell its desktop facilities in US and Europe to Sanmina-SCI.
• 2000 During the 1999–2000 NFL playoffs, one of the most memorable and debated plays in NFL history takes place at then-Adelphia Coliseum. The "Music City Miracle" was a last-minute trick play on a kickoff return that resulted in a touchdown and catapulted the Tennessee Titans past the Buffalo Bills to the Divisional Playoffs. It also ensured that the Titans would go undefeated in the first season in the team's new home. The victory is seen in front of a franchise-record crowd of 66,782.
• 1999 3.4 million copies of the film The Rescuers are recalled after a photo of a topless woman was discovered in two of the 110,000 frames of the movie.
• 1998 Roseanne files for divorce from 3rd husband Ben Thomas
• 1997 Intel releases the 166 MHz and 200 MHz Pentium processors with MMX multimedia extension instructions. Bus speed is 66 MHz. They incorporate 4.5 million transistors. Performance of the 200 MHz version is 350 MIPS. Code-name during development was P55C. MMX originally stood for "matrix-multiplication extensions".
• 1996 Blizzard buries eastern US causing at least 50 deaths
• 1995 Guys & Dolls closes at Martin Beck Theater NYC after 1143 performances
• 1994 Russian manned space craft TM-18, launches into orbit
• 1993 Elvis Presley Commemorative Postage Stamp goes on sale
• 1992 US President George H. W. Bush is televised falling violently ill at a state dinner in Japan, vomiting into the lap of Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa and fainting.
• 1991 Davis Rules, with Jonathan Winters and Randy Quaid premieres on ABC-TV
• 1989 42nd Street closes at Winter Garden Theater in New York City, New York after 3,486 performances.
• 1988 Dow Jones down 140.58 points
• 1987 Dow Jones Industrial Index closes above 2,000 for first time (2,002.25).
• 1986 US President Ronald Reagan freezes Libyan assets in the US.
• 1984 Washington Capitals Bengt Gustafsson scores 5 goals to beat Philadelphia 7-1
• 1983 A riot breaks out at Sing Sing prison, New York.
• 1982 Johnny Cash Parkway opens in Hendersonville Tennessee
• 1981 Pirates of Penzance opens at Uris Theater in New York City, New York for 772 performances.
• 1979 512 die as oil tanker Bantry Bay blows up
• 1978 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.
• 1977 Three bombs went off in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
• 1976 Franklin Mint strikes first gold coins for Netherlands Antilles.
• 1975 US Judge Sirica orders release of Watergate's John W Dean III, Herbert W Kalmbach and Jeb Stuart Magruder from prison.
• 1974 Loch Ness Monster photographed
• 1973 Tricks opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 8 performances
• 1972 Kenneth Patchen, American writer (See You in the Morning), dies at age 60.
• 1971 Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota established.
• 1968 British Prime Minister Harold Wilson endorses the 'I'm Backing Britain' campaign for working an additional half hour each day without pay.ref name=quotWilson after-dinner speechquotJohn Chartres, quotWilson Joins 'I Back Britain'quot, ''The Times'', 9 January 1968, p. 1.
• 1967 Vietnam War: Operation Cedar Falls starts.
• 1966 Who and the Kinks perform on the last Shindig TV show on ABC
• 1965 Star of India returned to American Museum of Natural History.
• 1964 European Parliament accepts Mansholt Plan.
• 1963 Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is exhibited in the United States for the first time, at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
• 1962 Golfer Jack Nicklaus, 21, first pro appearance, comes in 50th.
• 1961 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Yvor Winters.
• 1959 Charles De Gaulle is inaugurated as the first president of the French Fifth Republic.
• 1958 Cuban revolutionary forces capture Havana.
• 1956 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Conrad Aiken.
• 1955 WUNC TV channel 4 in Chapel Hill, NC (PBS) begins broadcasting
• 1952 Jordan adopts constitution.
• 1951 Thought extinct since 1615, a Cahow is rediscovered in Bermuda.
• 1949 Make Mine Manhattan play closes at Broadhurst Theater in New York City, New York after 429 performances.
• 1947 Toronto Maple Leafs' rookie Howie Meeker scores five goals in a game.
• 1945 Youth for Christ organizes
• 1944 WWII: Philippine Commonwealth troops enter the province of Ilocos Sur in Northern Luzon and attack Japanese forces.
• 1941 British Air Marshal Richard Peirse resigns.
• 1940 World War II: Britain introduces food rationing.
• 1937 -50 degrees F (-45.6 degrees C), San Jacinto, Nevada (state record low).
• 1935 Spectrophotometer patented, AC Hardy.
• 1934 Jaap Speyers Bluejackets premieres in Amsterdam
• 1932 Ratification of present SF City Charter
• 1931 Philadelphia Quakers set then NHL record of 15 straight loses
• 1929 CBS radio network buys WABC in New York City
• 1925 1st all-female US State Supreme Court appointed, Texas
• 1923 Typography strike in Amsterdam
• 1918 Mississippi becomes first state to ratify 18th amendment (prohibition).
• 1917 Austria-Hungarian troops conquer Forlani Italy.
• 1913 Frank Chance becomes New York Yankees manager.
• 1906 A landslide in Haverstraw, New York, caused by the excavation of clay along the Hudson River, kills 20 people.
• 1904 Pope Pius X banned low cut dresses in the presence of churchmen.
• 1902 A train collision in the New York Central Railroad's Park Avenue Tunnel kills 17, injures 38, and leads to increased demand for electric trains and led to the banning of Steam locomotives in the state.
• 1901 New South Wales score 918 all out versus South Australia in 560 minutes.
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Famous Birthday

• Elvis Presley

  American pop singer, one of the most...

• Elvis Presley

  American pop singer, one of the most...

• David Bowie

  British rock star and actor with an...

• Stephen Hawking

  British theoretical physicist who was a...

• Géraldine Pailhas

  French actress, starred with Johnny Depp...

• Rachel Nichols

  American actress.

• Sarah Polley

  Actress (Sweet Hereafter).

• Graham Chapman

  English actor and writer, played in...

• Raffaëla Anderson
• Amber Benson

  American actress.

• José Ferrer

  Puerto Rican-American actor and director...

• Gaby Hoffmann

  Movie Actress.

• Yvette Mimieux

  American film, stage and TV actress with...

• Jenny Lewis

  Rock Singer.

• Michelle Forbes

  Actress (Julianna Cox-Homicide).

• David Silva

  Spanish footballer.

• Kerwin Mathews

  American actor (Born 1926).

• Sam Riley

  Movie Actor.

• Soupy Sales

  American comedian, clever and...

• Ami Dolenz

  American actress.

• John McTiernan

  American director and producer.

• Loletta Lee
• Freddie Stroma

  Movie Actor.

• Harriet Sansom Harris
• Ron Moody

  London, England -- Actor (12 Chairs,...

• Maria Pitillo
• Anne Schedeen

  American actress.

• James Carroll

  American pastor and author (d. 1931).

• John Carroll

  American archbishop ex-Jesuit founder of...

• Douglas Wilmer

  English actor.

• Charles Murray

  American political scientist and author.

• Emma Booth

  English author (d. 1903).

• William Hartnell

  London, England -- Actor (Agitator,...

• John Liu

  Politician.

• Larry Storch

  American actor.

• Josh Meyers

  American actor.

• Saeed Jaffrey

  Indian-English actor (d. 2015).

• Cynthia Erivo

  Actress.

• Roy Kinnear

  Lancashire, England -- Actor (TW3,...

• Kim Jong-un
• R Kelly

  American singer-songwriter producer and...

• Pascal Obispo

  French singer-songwriter, one of the...

• Carolina Herrera

  Venezuelan fashion designer.

• Maria Ozawa

  Japanese/French-Canadian pornstar.

• Sean Paul

  Musician.

• Sean Paul
• Shirley Bassey

  British-Welsh singer noted for her...

• Manuela Arcuri

  Italian actress, television personality,...

• Rachel Nichols

  American actress.

• Jacques Anquetil

  French cyclist, winner of the Tour de...

• Allison Harvard

  American artist and fashion model.

• Carl Rogers

  American psychologist and academic (d....

• Noah Cyrus

  American actress.

• Manuella Maury
• Miquel Barceló
• Genevieve Cortese

  American actress.

• William Bonin

  American homicide; convicted of sex...

• Robbie Krieger
• Helena Karel
• Yvette Mimieux

  American film, stage and TV actress with...

• Leonardo Sciascia

  Italian writer, teacher and civil...

• Junichiro Koizumi

  Japanese politician, elected Prime...

• Michèle Delaunay
• Andrew Wood (singer)
• Jenny Lewis

  Rock Singer.

• Mathieu Gallet
• Louis Le Pensec

  French politician who is a member of the...

• Arthur Johnson

  American astronomer.

• Juan Marsé
• Paola Pezzo

  Italian athlete, winner of a Gold Medal...

• Susan Watkins

  American writer who was stated by Jane...

• John Utaka

  Nigerian footballer.

• Warren Kenton

  British Kabbalist and astrologer.

• Heather Rene Smith
• Edmond Vandercammen

  Belgian writer/poet (Grand Combat), dies...

• José Bénazéraf
• Pascal Zuberbuehler
• Giacinto Scelsi

  Italian composer and poet (d. 1988).

• Lucien Kouassi

  African singer, musician and songwriter.

• Old Melusine
• Rose Murphy

  American singer, pianist and club...

• Livia Gyarmathy
• Gerry Spence

  American attorney, a trial lawyer who...

• Enrique Rodriguez

  American artist, a painter and...

• Gaston Miron

  French-Canadian poet and editor (Born...

• Adrian Mutu

  Romanian footballer.

• Yazid Sabeg
• Serge Poliakoff
• Andrew Hunter

  British politician and Member of...

• Susumu Fujita
• Klaus von Schierstedt
• Giorgio Tozzi

  American singer who began a career as a...

• Walter Scavolini

  Italian industrial entrepreneur, the...

• Willie Anderson (basketball)
• Jack Lantier
• Sander Vanocur

  American broadcast journalist, NBC's...

• Stephen Jourdain
• Peng Shuai
• Jean-Marie Straub

  France -- Director (Chronicle of Anna...

• Calvin Natt
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Famous Deaths

• John Gregson

  Actor (Rooney, Assassin), dies at 55.

• Zbigniew Cybulski

  Polish actor (See You Tommorrow), dies...

• Gale Page

  Actress (4 Daughters, Knute Rockney),...

• Lois Wilson

  Actress (Alice-Aldrich Family), dies at...

• Robert Baden-Powell

  British military figure who, as a result...

• Yvonne De Carlo

  Canadian-American actress, singer, and...

• Terry-Thomas

  British actor, comedian (Born 1911).

• Tom McCall

  American politician, the Governor of...

• Reta Shaw

  Actress (Ghost & Mrs Muir), dies of...

• Steve Clark

  English guitarist (Def Leppard -...

• Edward Duke

  Actor (Decadence, Silver Bears), dies of...

• Jay Blackton

  US conductor/arranger (Oklahoma!), dies...

• Joseph Franklin Rutherford

  American religious publisher (Born...

• Kay Sage

  American artist and poet (Born 1898).

• John A Gambling

  American radio talk-show host (Born...

• Campbell McComas

  Australian impersonator and broadcaster...

• Michel Thomas

  Polish linguist (Born 1914).

• George Moore

  American doctor, administrative surgeon...

• Antonia Maury

  discoverer (supergiant, giant and dwarf...

• Albert Hill

  English-Canadian runner (d. 1969).

• Charles R Young

  Colonel, dies at 58 in Lagos, Nigeria.

• Richard Hillary

  Australian Spitfire pilot and author...

• Ada Rehan

  Irish-born American actress (Born 1860).

• Andrei Bely

  Russian author poet and critic (d....

• Paul Pilgrim

  American athlete (Born 1883).

• Julius Raab

  Austrian engineer and politician 19th...

• Johnny Gruelle

  Creator of Raggedy Ann and Andy (Born...

• Francois Mitterrand

  President of France (1981-95), dies of...

• John Hargreaves

  Australian actor (Born 1945).

• Barry John

  Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross...

• Jane Bolin

  first African American female judge...

• John Felix August Korling

  Composer, dies at 72.

• Arvo Hannikainen

  Composer, dies at 44.

• Aloys-Henri-Gerard Fornerod

  Composer, dies at 74.

• Jani Christou

  Composer, dies on 44th birthday.

• Woody Chamblis

  Actor (Mr Lathrop-Gunsmoke), dies at 66.

• Adriano Lualdi

  Composer, dies at 85.

• Anthony Warde

  Actor (Big Punch, Buck Rogers), dies at...

• Gertrude Olmsted

  Actress (Cobra, Torrent), dies at 70.

• John Dierkes

  Actor (Red Badge of Courage), dies at...

• Louis J H C A de Bourbon

  Dutch writer / Poet (Gypsy Blood), dies...

• Gregoire Aslan

  Actor (Concrete Jungle), dies at 73 of a...

• Peter Adams

  Actor (Alternative, Blowing Hot & Cold),...

• Ken McMillan

  Actor (Malone, Concrete Beat), dies of...

• Kenneth McMillan

  Actor (Our Family Honor, Malone), dies...

• Menachim Begin

  Israeli Prime Minister, dies at 78 of a...

• Warren Spears

  American choreographer and dancer (Born...

• Theodoor Verstraete Flemish painter/etcher

  dies at age 57.

• Michael Hertz composer

  dies at age 73.

• Peter Altenberg writer

  dies at age 59.

• Luis Villalba Munoz composer

  dies at age 48.

• Alexandre Stavisky

  French swindler, dies.

• Joseph A Schumpeter

  Austrian/American economist/Minister of...

• Joseph Issac Shneerson

  Jewish Lubavitch Chabal leader, dies.

• Arnoldus JC Krafft

  theologist (Atlas of Netherlands...

• Richard Tucker [Reuben Ticker]

  US tenor (La Gioconda), dies at age 61.

• Yaroslav Seifert

  Czechoslovakian poet (Nobel Prize 1984),...

• Frank Pace Jr

  US Secretary of Army (1950-53), dies at...

• Johnny Jordaan [Jan van Musscher]

  Dutch folk singer, dies at age 64.

• Abderrahim Bouabid

  Morroco prime secretary (1972), dies.

• Johnny [Jan] Meijer

  Dutch king of accordions (Body and...

• Theo Bruins

  Dutch pianist/composer (Syncope), dies...

• Hakija Turajlic

  Bosnian vice-premier, murdered.

• Asif Nawaz

  Pakistani General, dies.

• Lady Caithness

  wife of British undersecretary, commits...

• Sri Chandrashekhara Saraswathi

  guru of Kanchi, dies at age 99.

• Carlos Monzon [El Macho]

  Argentine middleweight boxing champion...

• Joyce McCartan

  peace campaigner, dies at age 68.

• William Mac Lance "Tiny" McCloud

  musician/songwriter, dies at age 52.

• Francois Mitterrand

  President of France (1981-95), dies of...

• Joseph George Handy Hendleman

  musician, dies at age 76.

• Phyllis Hartnoll

  writer/editor, dies at age 90.

• Carole Carr

  singer/actress (Down Among the Z Men),...

• Ronald William Eastman

  cinematographer, dies at age 60.

• Ellis H Roberts

  American politician (Born 1827).

• Serge Stavisky

  French financier and embezzler (Born...

• William Kissam Vanderbilt II

  member of the Vanderbilt family (Born...

• Lieutenant-General Robert Baden-Powell

  1st Baron Baden-Powell, British soldier,...

• Admiral Sir Hugh Binney

  British naval commander and Governor of...

• Robert Forgan

  British fascist (Born 1891).

• Matthew ''Stymie'' Beard

  American actor (Born 1925).

• Gerhard Barkhorn

  German fighter pilot (Born 1919).

• Ron Frazer

  Australian actor (Born 1924).

• Francis Cockfield

  British politician (Born 1916).

• David Ervine

  Northern Irish politician (Born 1953).

• Richard John Neuhaus

  Canadian-American Christian writer and...

• Tony Halme

  Finnish boxer and politician (Born...

• Thorbj?rn Svenssen

  Norwegian footballer (Born 1924).

• John Roll

  United States Federal Judge (Born1947).

• Georges Guibourg

  French singer, author, songwriter,...

• Harvey Haddix

  American baseball player, a left-handed...

• Karl Krafft

  Swiss-German astrologer, statistician...

• Fritz Thiedemann

  German equestrian, considered to be one...

• Matthew Beard

  American actor and singer (d. 1981).

• Joseph Schumpeter

  Czech-American economist and political...

• Zhou Enlai

  Chinese politician 1st Premier of the...

• Pat Buttram

  American actor (Haney - Green Acres),...

• Kurt Schwitters

  German painter and illustrator (d....

• Howard Taubman

  American music and theater critic (Born...

• Emile Paladilhe

  Composer, dies at 81.

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Top #1 songs in the USA

• 2018 Ed Sheeran - Perfect
• 2017 The Weeknd Featuring Daft Punk - Starboy
• 2016 Adele - Hello
• 2015 Taylor Swift - Blank Space
• 2014 Eminem Featuring Rihanna - The Monster
• 2014 Eminem - The Monster
• 2013 Bruno Mars - Locked Out Of Heaven
• 2012 LMFAO - Sexy And I Know It
• 2011 Bruno Mars - Grenade
• 2010 Ke$ha - TiK ToK
• 2009 Beyonce - Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)
• 2008 Flo Rida - Low
• 2007 Beyonce - Irreplaceable
• 2006 Mariah Carey - Don't Forget About Us
• 2005 Mario - Let Me Love You
• 2004 OutKast - Hey Ya!
• 2003 Eminem - Lose Yourself
• 2002 Nickelback - How You Remind Me
• 2001 Destiny's Child - Independent Women Part I
• 2000 Santana - Smooth
• 1999 R. Kelly - I'm Your Angel
• 1998 Elton John - Candle In The Wind 1997
• 1998 Elton John - Something About The Way You Look Tonight
• 1997 Toni Braxton - Un-Break My Heart
• 1996 Mariah Carey - One Sweet Day
• 1995 Boyz II Men - On Bended Knee
• 1994 Mariah Carey - Hero
• 1993 Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You
• 1992 Michael Jackson - Black Or White
• 1991 Madonna - Justify My Love
• 1990 Phil Collins - Another Day In Paradise
• 1989 Poison - Every Rose Has Its Thorn
• 1988 Whitney Houston - So Emotional
• 1987 Bangles - Walk Like An Egyptian
• 1986 Lionel Richie - Say You, Say Me
• 1985 Madonna - Like A Virgin
• 1984 Paul McCartney - Say Say Say
• 1983 Daryl Hall & John Oates - Maneater
• 1982 Olivia Newton-John - Physical
• 1981 John Lennon - (Just Like) Starting Over
• 1980 K.C and the Sunshine Band - Please Don't Go
• 1979 Bee Gees - Too Much Heaven
• 1978 Bee Gees - How Deep Is Your Love
• 1977 Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr. - You Don't Have To Be A Star (To Be In My Show)
• 1976 Bay City Rollers - Saturday Night
• 1975 Elton John - Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
• 1974 Jim Croce - Time In A Bottle
• 1973 Carly Simon - You're So Vain
• 1972 Melanie - Brand New Key
• 1971 George Harrison - My Sweet Lord
• 1970 B.J. Thomas - Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head
• 1969 Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through The Grapevine
• 1968 The Beatles - Hello Goodbye
• 1967 The Monkees - I'm A Believer
• 1966 The Beatles - We Can Work It Out
• 1965 The Beatles - I Feel Fine
• 1964 Bobby Vinton - There! I've Said It Again
• 1963 The Tornadoes - Telstar
• 1962 The Tokens - The Lion Sleeps Tonight
• 1961 Elvis Presley - Are You Lonesome To-Night?
• 1960 Marty Robbins - El Paso
• 1959 The Chipmunks - The Chipmunk Song
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Top #1 Rock songs

• 2018 Imagine Dragons - Thunder
• 2017 twenty one pilots - Heathens
• 2016 twenty one pilots - Stressed Out
• 2015 Hozier - Take Me To Church
• 2014 Lorde - Royals
• 2013 The Lumineers - Ho Hey
• 2012 The Black Keys - Lonely Boy
• 2011 The Black Keys - Tighten Up
• 2010 Three Days Grace - Break