===
Happy independence day to Burma. The same day as in 1649 England put her king on trial.
===
- 1885 – Sino-French War: French troops under General François Oscar de Négrier defeated a numerically superior Qing Chinese force at Nui Bop in northern Vietnam.
- 1903 – Topsy, a domesticated elephant with the Forepaugh Circus atLuna Park, Coney Island, was executed by electrocution after she was deemed a threat to people, an event captured on film by inventorThomas Edison.
- 1973 – Last of the Summer Wine, the longest running sitcom in the world, premiered as an episode of the BBC's Comedy Playhouse.
- 1976 – The Troubles: Volunteers from the Ulster Volunteer Force shot dead five Irish Catholic civilians in County Armagh, Northern Ireland.
- 2006 – Prime Minister of Israel Ariel Sharon (pictured) suffered a severe hemorrhagic stroke, leaving Ehud Olmert as Acting Prime Minister.
===
Events
- 46 BC – Julius Caesar defeats Titus Labienus in the Battle of Ruspina.
- 265 – Sima Yan, the successor to his father Sima Zhao as the Cao Wei regent, forces Cao Huan to abdicate the throne and establishes the Jin Dynasty.
- 871 – Battle of Reading: Æthelred of Wessex fights, and is defeated by, a Danish invasion army.
- 1490 – Anne of Brittany announces that all those who would ally with the King of France will be considered guilty of the crime of Lese-majesty.
- 1642 – King Charles I of England sends soldiers to arrest members of Parliament, commencing England's slide into civil war.
- 1649 – English Civil War: The Rump Parliament votes to put Charles I on trial.
- 1717 – The Netherlands, Great Britain, and France sign the Triple Alliance.
- 1762 – Great Britain declares war on Spain and Naples.
- 1847 – Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the United States government.
- 1854 – The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the Samarang.
- 1863 – The New Apostolic Church, a Christian and chiliastic church, is established in Hamburg, Germany.
- 1865 – The New York Stock Exchange opens its first permanent headquarters at 10-12 Broad near Wall Street in New York, New York.
- 1878 – Sofia is emancipated from Ottoman rule.
- 1884 – The Fabian Society is founded in London, England, United Kingdom.
- 1896 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state.
- 1903 – Topsy, an elephant, is electrocuted by Thomas Edison during the War of Currents campaign.
- 1912 – The Scout Association is incorporated throughout the British Commonwealth by Royal charter.
- 1944 – World War II: Operation Carpetbagger, involving the dropping of arms and supplies to resistance fighters in Europe, begins.
- 1948 – Burma gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
- 1951 – Korean War: Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul.
- 1955 – The Greek National Radical Union is formed by Konstantinos Karamanlis.
- 1958 – Sputnik 1 falls to Earth from its orbit.
- 1959 – Luna 1 becomes the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon.
- 1965 – United States President Lyndon B. Johnson proclaims his "Great Society" during his State of the Union address.
- 1966 – A military coup takes place in Upper Volta (later Burkina Faso), dissolving the National Parliament and leading to a new national constitution.
- 1970 – A magnitude 7.7 earthquake strikes Tonghai County, China, killing at least 15,000 people.
- 1972 – Rose Heilbron becomes the first female judge to sit at the Old Bailey in London, England, United Kingdom.
- 1974 – United States President Richard Nixon refuses to hand over materials subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.
- 1976 – The Troubles: The Ulster Volunteer Force shoots dead six Irish Catholic civilians in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The next day, gunmen shoot dead ten Protestant civilians nearby in retaliation.
- 1987 – The 1987 Maryland train collision: An Amtrak train en route to Boston, Massachusetts from Washington, D.C., collides with Conrail engines in Chase, Maryland, killing 16 people.
- 1989 – Second Gulf of Sidra incident: a pair of Libyan MiG-23 "Floggers" are shot down by a pair of US Navy F-14 Tomcats during an air-to-air confrontation.
- 1990 – Pakistan's deadliest train accident occurs when an overloaded passenger train collides with an empty freight train, resulting in 307 deaths and 700 injuries.
- 1998 – Wilaya of Relizane massacres in Algeria: over 170 are killed in three remote villages.
- 1998 – A massive ice storm hits eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, continuing through January 10 and causing widespread destruction.
- 1999 – Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura is sworn in as governor of Minnesota.
- 2000 – Two trains on the Røros Line collide in Åsta, Norway, resulting in an explosive fire and 19 deaths.
- 2004 – Spirit, a NASA Mars rover, lands successfully on Mars at 04:35 UTC.
- 2004 – Mikheil Saakashvili is elected President of Georgia following the November 2003 Rose Revolution.
- 2006 – Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel suffers a second, apparently more serious stroke. His authority is transferred to acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
- 2007 – The 110th United States Congress convenes, electing Nancy Pelosi as the first female Speaker of the House in U.S. history.
- 2010 – Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, is officially opened.
[edit]Births
- 1077 – Emperor Zhezong of Song of Song Dynasty in China (d. 1100)
- 1334 – Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy (d. 1383)
- 1341 – Wat Tyler leader of the English Peasants' Revolt of 1381 (d. 1381)
- 1581 – James Ussher, Irish Anglican archbishop (d. 1656)
- 1643 – Isaac Newton, English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, and theologian (d. 1727)
- 1664 – Lars Roberg, Swedish physician (d. 1742)
- 1672 – Hugh Boulter, Irish Archbishop of Armagh (d. 1742)
- 1710 – Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Italian composer (d. 1736)
- 1720 – Johann Friedrich Agricola, German composer (d. 1774)
- 1735 – Claude Martin, French then British General (d. 1800)
- 1785 – Jacob Grimm, German philologist and folklorist (one of the Brothers Grimm) (d. 1863)
- 1809 – Louis Braille, French teacher of the blind and inventor of braille (d. 1852)
- 1813 – Isaac Pitman, English inventor (d. 1897)
- 1832 – George Tryon, British admiral (d. 1893)
- 1838 – Charles Sherwood Stratton, American circus performer (d. 1883)
- 1839 – Carl Humann, German engineer (d. 1896)
- 1842 – Frederic T. Greenhalge, American politician and 38th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1896)
- 1848 – Katsura Tarō, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1913)
- 1858 – Carter Glass, American politician (d. 1946)
- 1869 – Tommy Corcoran, American baseball player (d. 1960)
- 1870 – Percy Pitt, English organist and conductor (d. 1932)
- 1872 – Ottilie Sutro, American duo-pianist with her sister Rose Sutro (d. 1970)
- 1874 – Josef Suk, Czech composer (d. 1935)
- 1878 – A. E. Coppard, English poet and short story writer (d. 1957)
- 1878 – Augustus John, Welsh painter (d. 1961)
- 1881 – Wilhelm Lehmbruck, German sculptor (d. 1919)
- 1882 – Aristarkh Lentulov, Russian artist (d. 1943)
- 1883 – Max Eastman, American writer (d. 1969)
- 1889 – M. Patanjali Sastri, second Chief Justice of India
- 1891 – Edward Brooker, Premier of Tasmania (d. 1948)
- 1892 – María Díaz Cortés, Spanish supercentarian (d. 2009)
- 1893 – Yone Minagawa, Japanese supercentarian (d. 2007)
- 1894 – Manuel de Abreu, Brazilian physician (d. 1962)
- 1895 – Leroy Grumman, American industrialist (d. 1982)
- 1896 – Everett Dirksen, American politician (d. 1969)
- 1896 – André Masson, French artist (d. 1987)
- 1900 – James Bond, American ornithologist (d. 1989)
- 1901 – C. L. R. James, Trinidadian writer and journalist (d. 1989)
- 1902 – John McCone, American businessman, civil servant, and 6th Director of Central Intelligence (d. 1991)
- 1905 – Sterling Holloway, American Character Actor (d. 1992)
- 1910 – Arthur Villeneuve, Quebec painter (d. 1990)
- 1913 – Malietoa Tanumafili II, Sovereign Ruler of Samoa (d. 2007)
- 1914 – Herman Franks, American baseball player (d. 2009)
- 1915 – Meg Mundy, American actress
- 1916 – Slim Gaillard, American jazz singer, songwriter, pianist, and guitarist, inventor of the conlang called "Vout" (d. 1991)
- 1916 – Lionel Newman, American film music composer (d. 1989)
- 1916 – Robert Parrish, American film editor and director (d. 1995)
- 1920 – William Colby, American intelligence officer and 10th Director of Central Intelligence (d. 1996)
- 1922 – Rosalie Crutchley, English actress (d. 1997)
- 1923 – Don Butterfield, American jazz and classical tuba player (d. 2006)
- 1924 – Sebastian Kappen, Indian theologian (d. 1993)
- 1925 – Veikko Hakulinen, Finnish cross-country skier (d. 2003)
- 1927 – Paul Desmarais, Canadian businessman
- 1927 – Barbara Rush, American actress
- 1930 – Sorrell Booke, American actor (d. 1994)
- 1930 – Don Shula, American football coach
- 1930 – Herbert O. Sparrow, Canadian politician (d. 2012)
- 1931 – Sir William Deane, Governor-General of Australia
- 1931 – Adi Lady Lala Mara, First Lady of Fiji (d. 2004)
- 1932 – Alfred C. Haynes, American pilot
- 1932 – Jorge Russek, Mexican actor (d. 1998)
- 1932 – Carlos Saura, Spanish director
- 1933 – Ilia II of Georgia, Catholicos-Patriarch of all Georgia
- 1933 – Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, American author
- 1934 – Rudolf Schuster, President of Slovakia
- 1935 – Floyd Patterson, American boxer (d. 2006)
- 1937 – Grace Bumbry, American singer
- 1937 – Dyan Cannon, American actress
- 1937 – Mick O'Connell, Gaelic footballer
- 1940 – Helmut Jahn, German architect
- 1940 – Brian David Josephson, Welsh physicist, Nobel laureate
- 1940 – Gao Xingjian, Chinese-born novelist and dramatist, Nobel laureate
- 1941 – John Bennett Perry, American actor
- 1941 – George P. Cosmatos, Greek film director (d. 2005)
- 1941 – Kalpnath Rai, Indian politician (d. 1999)
- 1941 – Maureen Reagan, American political activist (d. 2001)
- 1941 – Joe Renzetti, American film composer
- 1942 – John McLaughlin, English jazz guitarist
- 1943 – Doris Kearns Goodwin, American writer
- 1943 – Hwang Sok-yong, Korean writer
- 1944 – Charlie Manuel, American baseball player and manager
- 1945 – Vesa-Matti Loiri, Finnish entertainer
- 1945 – Richard R. Schrock, American chemist, Nobel laureate
- 1946 – Arthur Conley, American singer (d. 2003)
- 1946 – S. Rajasekharan, Indian poet and critic
- 1947 – Chris Cutler, English musician and composer (Henry Cow, Art Bears)
- 1947 – Rick Stein, English chef and television presenter
- 1948 – Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé, first female Malian prime minister
- 1948 – Kostas Davourlis, Greek footballer (d. 1992)
- 1948 – Wolfgang Mulack, German footballer
- 1948 – Eugeniusz Wycisło, Polish politician
- 1950 – John Louis Evans, American convicted murderer (d. 1983)
- 1951 – Bob Black, American author, anarchist
- 1951 – Barbara Cochran, American alpine skier
- 1951 – Ronald Corp, English composer, conductor and Church of England priest
- 1953 – Norberto Alonso, Argentine footballer
- 1953 – Dirk Heun, German footballer
- 1953 – Andreas Vgenopoulos, Greek businessman
- 1953 – James Warren, American journalist
- 1954 – Eugene Chadbourne, American composer and musician (Shockabilly)
- 1954 – Tina Knowles, American fashion designer, mother of Beyoncé Knowles
- 1955 – Mark Hollis, English musician and composer (Talk Talk)
- 1956 – Nels Cline, American guitarist and composer (Wilco)
- 1956 – Bernard Sumner, English musician (Joy Division, New Order, Electronic)
- 1957 – Patty Loveless, American singer
- 1957 – Gurdas Maan, Punjabi singer, actor, lyricist
- 1958 – Andy Borowitz, American comedian and satirist
- 1958 – Matt Frewer, American actor
- 1958 – Gary Jones, Welsh-born actor
- 1958 – Julian Sands, English actor
- 1959 – Yoshitomo Nara, Japanese pop artist
- 1960 – Art Paul Schlosser, American comedian,singer and song writer
- 1960 – Michael Stipe, American singer (R.E.M. and Automatic Baby)
- 1960 – April Winchell, American actress
- 1961 – Lee Curreri, American actor
- 1961 – Sidney Green, American basketball player
- 1962 – Harlan Coben, American author
- 1962 – Laila Elwi, Egyptian actress
- 1962 – Robin Guthrie, Scottish guitarist (Cocteau Twins)
- 1962 – Joe Kleine, American basketball player
- 1962 – André Rouvoet, Dutch politician
- 1962 – Peter Steele, American musician (Type O Negative, Carnivore and Fallout) (d. 2010)
- 1963 – Dave Foley, Canadian comedian and actor
- 1963 – Till Lindemann, German singer (Rammstein and First Arsch)
- 1964 – Tom Westman, American reality-show contestant on Survivor: Palau
- 1964 – Dot Jones, American athlete and actress
- 1965 – Yvan Attal, French actor and director
- 1965 – Guy Forget, French tennis player
- 1965 – Beth Gibbons, English singer (Portishead)
- 1965 – Rick Hearst, American actor
- 1965 – Cait O'Riordan, British musician (The Pogues)
- 1965 – Julia Ormond, English actress
- 1965 – Craig Revel Horwood, Australian-British choreographer, dancer and theatre director
- 1966 – Deana Carter, American singer
- 1967 – David Berman, American poet and singer/songwriter (Silver Jews and Ectoslavia)
- 1967 – Johnny Nelson, English boxer
- 1967 – Marina Orsini, Canadian actress
- 1967 – David Toms, American golfer
- 1968 – Mike Wilpolt, American arena football head coach
- 1969 – Corie Blount, American basketball player
- 1969 – Kees van Wonderen, Dutch footballer
- 1970 – Chris Kanyon, American professional wrestler (d. 2010)
- 1971 – Junichi Kakizaki, Japanese artist, sculptor
- 1972 – Charlotte Hudson, British television presenter
- 1972 – James Longley, American documentary filmmaker
- 1973 – Greg de Vries, Canadian hockey player
- 1973 – Frank Høj, Danish cyclist
- 1973 – Harmony Korine, American film director and artist
- 1974 – Danilo Hondo, German cyclist
- 1974 – Ian Moor, English singer
- 1974 – Armin Zöggeler, Italian luger
- 1975 – Shane Carwin, American mixed martial artist
- 1975 – Jill Marie Jones, American actress
- 1976 – Benoît Joachim, Luxembourgish cyclist
- 1976 – Ted Lilly, American baseball player
- 1977 – Irán Castillo, Mexican actress
- 1977 – David Millar, British cyclist
- 1977 – Dan Shanahan, Irish hurler
- 1977 – Tim Wheeler, Irish singer (Ash)
- 1978 – Dominik Hrbatý, Slovakian tennis player
- 1978 – Mai Meneses, Spanish singer
- 1979 – Shergo Biran, German footballer
- 1979 – Tristan Gommendy, French racing driver
- 1979 – Charity Rahmer, American actress
- 1980 – Greg Cipes, American actor
- 1980 – Bobbi Eden, Dutch pornographic actress
- 1980 – Alexandra Jiménez, Spanish actress
- 1980 – Miguel Monteiro, Portuguese footballer
- 1980 – Yaroslav Popovych, Ukrainian cyclist
- 1981 – Silvy De Bie, Belgian singer
- 1981 – Hitomi Obara, Japanese wrestler
- 1982 – Paulo Ferrari, Argentinian footballer
- 1982 – Kang Hye-jung, South Korean actress
- 1982 – Richard Logan, English footballer
- 1982 – Lucie Škrobáková, Czech athlete
- 1983 – Gemma Hunt, English TV presenter
- 1983 – Spencer Chamberlain, American musician (Underoath and This Runs Through)
- 1985 – Fernando Rees, Brazilian race car driver
- 1986 – Hsieh Su-wei, Taiwanese tennis player
- 1986 – James Milner, English footballer
- 1986 – Steve Slaton, American football player
- 1988 – Anestis Argyriou, Greek footballer
- 1988 – Nabila Jamshed, Indian writer
- 1989 – Jeff Gyasi, Nigerian footballer
- 1989 – Graham Rahal, American race car driver
- 1990 – Toni Kroos, German footballer
- 1990 – Iago Falqué, Spanish footballer
- 1990 – Melissa Long, American journalist
- 1990 – Alberto Paloschi, Italian footballer
- 1991 – Tal al-Mallohi, Syrian blogger and activist
- 1991 – Stefan Nenadović, Montenegrin footballer
- 1991 – Olivia Tennet, New Zealand actress
- 1995 – María Isabel, Spanish singer
- 1996 – Jade Jones, English wheelchair racer
- 2000 – Rhiannon Leigh Wryn, American actress
[edit]Deaths
- 1248 – King Sancho II of Portugal (b. 1207)
- 1428 – Frederick I, Elector of Saxony (b. 1370)
- 1564 – Hosokawa Ujitsuna, Japanese military commander (b. 1514)
- 1584 – Tobias Stimmer, Swiss painter and drawer (b. 1539)
- 1695 – François-Henri de Montmorency, duc de Luxembourg, French general (b. 1628)
- 1752 – Gabriel Cramer, Swiss mathematician (b. 1704)
- 1761 – Stephen Hales, English physiologist (b. 1677)
- 1773 – Anton Losenko, Russian painter (b. 1737)
- 1782 – Ange-Jacques Gabriel, French architect (b. 1698)
- 1786 – Moses Mendelssohn, German philosopher (b. 1729)
- 1804 – Charlotte Lennox, English author and poet (b. c.1730)
- 1821 – Elizabeth Ann Seton, American saint (b. 1774)
- 1825 – King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies (b. 1751)
- 1863 – Roger Hanson, American Confederate general (b. 1827)
- 1874 – Thomas Gregson, Premier of Tasmania (b. 1798)
- 1877 – Cornelius Vanderbilt, American entrepreneur (b. 1794)
- 1882 – John William Draper, English scientist, photographer (b. 1811)
- 1883 – Antoine Chanzy, French general (b. 1823)
- 1891 – Antoine Labelle, Quebec catholic priest (b. 1833)
- 1896 – Joseph Hubert Reinkens, German Old Catholic bishop (b. 1821)
- 1901 – Nikolaos Gyzis, Greek painter (b. 1842)
- 1903 – Gulstan Ropert, Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1839)
- 1903 – Topsy the elephant (b. c. 1875)
- 1910 – Léon Delagrange, French aviator and sculptor (b. 1873)
- 1919 – Georg von Hertling, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1843)
- 1920 – Benito Pérez Galdós, Spanish novelist (b. 1843)
- 1924 – Alfred Grünfeld, Austrian pianist and composer (b. 1852)
- 1931 – Art Acord, American actor (b. 1890)
- 1931 – Louise, Princess Royal of Fife (b. 1867)
- 1931 – Mohammad Ali Jouhar, Indian Muslim leader, activist, scholar, journalist and poet (b. December 1878)
- 1940 – Flora Finch, British-American silent-film comedienne (b. 1867)
- 1941 – Henri Bergson, French philosopher, Nobel laureate (b. 1859)
- 1944 – Kaj Munk, Danish playwright and pastor (b. 1898)
- 1945 – Harold Fraser, American golfer (b. 1872)
- 1947 – Julian Ashby Burruss, American academic (b. 1876)
- 1960 – Albert Camus, Algerian-born philosopher and Nobel laureate (b. 1913)
- 1961 – Erwin Schrödinger, Austrian physicist and Nobel laureate (b. 1887)
- 1962 – Hans Lammers, German SS officer (b. 1879)
- 1965 – T. S. Eliot, American-born British Nobel laureate (b. 1888)
- 1967 – Donald Campbell, English motorboat racer (b. 1921)
- 1969 – Daisy and Violet Hilton, British conjoined twins (b. 1908)
- 1970 – Jean-Étienne Valluy, French general (b. 1899)
- 1971 – Arthur Ford, American clairaudient (b. 1896)
- 1974 – Epameinondas Thomopoulos, Greek artist (b. 1878)
- 1975 – Carlo Levi, Italian painter, writer and activist (b. 1902)
- 1981 – Ruth Lowe, Canadian pianist and composer (b. 1914)
- 1985 – Brian Horrocks, British general (b. 1895)
- 1985 – Lovro von Matačić, Croatian conductor (b. 1899)
- 1986 – Christopher Isherwood, English writer (b. 1904)
- 1986 – Phil Lynott, Irish musician (Thin Lizzy) (b. 1949)
- 1988 – Lily Laskine, French harpist (b. 1893)
- 1990 – Henry Bolte, Australian politician (b. 1908)
- 1990 – Harold Edgerton, American electrical engineer (b. 1903)
- 1993 – Charles Bridgford, Australian politician (b. 1910)
- 1994 – R.D. Burman, Indian musician (b. 1939)
- 1995 – Eduardo Mata, Mexican conductor and composer (b. 1942)
- 1995 – Sol Tax, American anthropologist (b. 1907)
- 1996 – Ramón Vinay, Chilean operatic tenor (b. 1911)
- 1997 – Harry Helmsley, American real estate mogul (b. 1909)
- 1998 – John Gary, American singer (b. 1932)
- 1998 – Mae Questel, American actress (b. 1908)
- 1999 – Iron Eyes Cody, American actor (b. 1904)
- 2000 – Tom Fears, American football player (b. 1922)
- 2000 – Spyros Markezinis, Greek politician (b. 1909)
- 2001 – Les Brown, American bandleader (b. 1912)
- 2001 – Yoshika, Japanese fashion model (b. 1983)
- 2003 – Hanno Drechsler, German politician (b. 1931)
- 2003 – Conrad Hall, American cinematographer (b. 1927)
- 2003 – Yfrah Neaman, Lebanese-born violinist (b. 1923)
- 2003 – Sabine Ulibarrí, American writer (b. 1919)
- 2004 – Joan Aiken, English author (b. 1924)
- 2004 – Brian Gibson, English film director (b. 1944)
- 2004 – Jake Hess, American singer (b. 1927)
- 2004 – Jeff Nuttall, English writer (b. 1933)
- 2004 – John Toland, American historian (b. 1912)
- 2005 – Humphrey Carpenter, English author (b. 1946)
- 2005 – Guy Davenport, American author and scholar (b. 1927)
- 2005 – Ali al-Haidari, Iraqi governor of Baghdad
- 2005 – Frank Harary, American mathematician (b. 1921)
- 2005 – Robert Heilbroner, American economist (b. 1919)
- 2005 – Bud Poile, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1924)
- 2005 – Alton Tobey, American artist (b. 1914)
- 2006 – John Hahn-Petersen, Danish actor (b. 1930)
- 2006 – Milton Himmelfarb, American sociographer (b. 1918)
- 2006 – Robert Howard White, New Zealander politician (b. 1914)
- 2006 – Irving Layton, Romanian born Canadian poet (b. 1912)
- 2006 – Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubaian politician and statesman (b. 1946)
- 2007 – Ben Gannon, Australian theatre producer (b. 1952)
- 2007 – Gren, Welsh newspaper cartoonist (b. 1934)
- 2007 – Helen Hill, American filmmaker (b. 1970)
- 2007 – Lewis Hodges, British Air Chief Marshal (b. 1918)
- 2007 – Steve Krantz, American film and TV producer (b. 1923)
- 2007 – Gáspár Nagy, Hungarian poet and writer (b. 1949)
- 2007 – Sandro Salvadore, Italian footballer (b. 1939)
- 2007 – Jan Schröder, Dutch cyclist (b. 1941)
- 2007 – Marais Viljoen, South African politician (b. 1915)
- 2007 – Osman Waqialla, Sudanese artist and calligrapher (b. 1925)
- 2008 – Joyce Carlson, American artist (b. 1923)
- 2008 – Xavier Chamorro Cardenal, Nicaraguan print editor (b. 1932)
- 2008 – Jimmy Nah, Singaporan comedian and actor (b. 1968)
- 2008 – Yannis Tamtakos, Greek political activist (b. 1908)
- 2009 – Gert Jonke, Austrian poet, playwright and novelist (b. 1946)
- 2009 – Giselle Salandy, Trinidadian female boxer (b. 1987)
- 2010 – Johan Ferrier, Surinamian politician (b. 1910)
- 2010 – Casey Johnson, American heiress and socialite (b. 1979)
- 2010 – Rory Markas, American sportscaster (b. 1955)
- 2010 – Sandro, Argentine songwriter (b. 1945)
- 2010 – Tsutomu Yamaguchi, Japanese Businessman, and Survivor of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Atomic Bombings (b. 1916)
- 2011 – Mohamed Bouazizi, Tunisian vegetable vendor and activist (b. 1984)
- 2011 – Mick Karn, Cypriot-born British musician (Japan) (b. 1958)
- 2011 – Dick King-Smith English Author (b. 1922)
- 2011 – Coen Moulijn, Dutch footballer (b. 1937)
- 2011 – Ali-Reza Pahlavi, Iranian Prince and younger son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (b. 1966)
- 2011 – Gerry Rafferty, British musician and songwriter (The Humblebums and Stealers Wheel) (b. 1947)
- 2011 – Salmaan Taseer, Governor of Punjab (b. 1944)
- 2012 – Harry Fowler, British actor (b. 1926)
- 2012 – Kerry McGregor, British singer and reality contestant (b. 1974)
- 2012 – Carmen Naranjo, Costa Rican novelist, poet and essayist (b. 1928)
[edit]Holidays and observances
- Chōna-hajimeshiki (手斧初式) at Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū. (Kamakura, Japan)
- Christian Feast Day:
- Day of the Fallen against the Colonial Repression (Angola)
- Day of the Martyrs (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Burma from the United Kingdom in 1948.
- Ogoni Day (Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People)
- The eleventh day of Christmas. (Western Christianity)
===
BELIEFS CROPPED
Tim Blair – Friday, January 04, 2013 (6:33pm)
Nearly six years after this Ron Bailey column, warmist Mark Lynas admits he was wrong to oppose genetically-modified food:
I apologise for having spent several years ripping up GM crops. I am also sorry that I helped to start the anti-GM movement back in the mid 1990s, and that I thereby assisted in demonising an important technological option which can be used to benefit the environment.As an environmentalist, and someone who believes that everyone in this world has a right to a healthy and nutritious diet of their choosing, I could not have chosen a more counter-productive path. I now regret it completely …I did some reading. And I discovered that one by one my cherished beliefs about GM turned out to be little more than green urban myths.
Anti-GM types are now myth-building about coal seam gas. Expect them to apologise in a decade or two.
===
SEXIST AND AGEIST
Tim Blair – Friday, January 04, 2013 (2:06pm)
The ABC’s Jonathan Green, who has one or two anger issues himself – and who isn’t exactly young – vows to avoid certain folk:
Green prefers imaginary women.
Green prefers imaginary women.
===
THEY ARE THE 67 PER CENT
Tim Blair – Friday, January 04, 2013 (1:33pm)
Warmy panic from the New York Times in 2007:
How Do You Ski if There Is No Snow?
Crisis averted:
With 67 percent of the contiguous U.S. covered by snow, the first day of 2013 marked the widest coverage of snow the U.S. has seen on Jan. 1 in the past ten years.The previous record was set in 2010, when the new year saw 61 percent of the U.S. beneath snow.
As Australians deal with summer heat, enjoy these shots from chilly US reader Lee M.:
An unidentified snowbeast:
An unidentified snowbeast:
===
ROXON WRAPPERS DEFIED
Tim Blair – Friday, January 04, 2013 (11:43am)
The cardboard cops (state and federal) spring into action:
Australia’s largest tobacco franchise could be in breach of state tobacco laws by giving away free cardboard covers designed to cover the graphic imagery on plain cigarette packs.The Tobacco Station Group, with more than 300 stores nationally, is offering covers which feature the company’s logo and website address free of charge to customers who purchase tobacco products in their outlets.The federal Department of Health and Ageing is launching an investigation to see if the products breach federal tobacco laws and has advised its state and territory counterparts to do the same.
If the government is so upset about concealment, perhaps it should investigate itself.
===
IT’S THE QUALITY THAT MATTERS
Tim Blair – Thursday, January 03, 2013 (10:12pm)
The Guardian sticks up for kiddy fiddlers:
Some academics do not dispute the view of Tom O’Carroll, a former chairman of PIE [the Paedophile Information Exchange] and tireless paedophilia advocate with a conviction for distributing indecent photographs of children following a sting operation, that society’s outrage at paedophilic relationships is essentially emotional, irrational, and not justified by science. “It is the quality of the relationship that matters,” O’Carroll insists. “If there’s no bullying, no coercion, no abuse of power, if the child enters into the relationship voluntarily … the evidence shows there need be no harm.”
(Via Damian Thompson)
===
===
===
-Lawyers should never ask a Mississippi grandma a question if they aren't prepared for the answer.
In a trial, a Southern small-town prosecuting attorney called his first witness, a grandmotherly, elderly woman to the stand. He approached her and asked, 'Mrs. Jones, do you know me?' She responded, 'Why, yes, I do know you, Mr. Williams. I've known you since you were a boy, and frankly,you've been a big disappointment to me. You lie, you cheat on your wife, and you manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you're a big shot when you haven't the brains to realize you'll never amount to anything more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I know you.'
The lawyer was stunned. Not knowing what else to do, he pointed across the room and asked, 'Mrs. Jones, do you know the defense attorney?'
She again replied, 'Why yes, I do. I've known Mr. Bradley since he was a
youngster, too. He's lazy, bigoted, and he has a drinking problem. He can't build a normal relationship with anyone, and his law practice is one of the worst in the entire state. Not to mention he cheated on his wife with three different women. One of them was your wife. Yes, I know him.'
The defense attorney nearly died.
The judge asked both counselors to approach the bench and, in a very quiet voice, said,
'If either of you idiots asks her if she knows me, I'll send you both to the electric chair.'
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love is unique. The more you give, the more you have. Aid is not the same as love. - ed===
Average age of enlisteds working the flight deck of a U.S. aircraft carrier? 19.46 years old. So basically you have a piece of equipment that's worth hundreds of millions of dollars, powered by nuclear fission, capable of basically destroying a small nation - that's run by kids. Teenagers.
The issue, Mr. Mayor, is not age. Its training, discipline, commitment to cause, love of country. Teenagers can & do have all of the above, just as much as a 60 year old can. The difference is teenagers are still able to work 5 consecutive 14-hour days, be gone out to sea for months at a time, sleep on cots & still be able to wake up and knock out morning P.T. without pulling a hamstring. America NEEDS well-armed teenagers, sir.
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