1895 – Dreyfus affair: French army officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island.
1896 – An Austrian newspaper reports that Wilhelm Röntgen has discovered a type of radiation later known as X-rays.
1919 – The German Workers' Party, which would become the Nazi Party, is founded.
1944 – The Daily Mail becomes the first transoceanic newspaper.
1972 – United States President Richard Nixon orders the development of a Space Shuttle program.
1976 – The Khmer Rouge proclaim the Constitution of Democratic Kampuchea.
1993 – The oil tanker MV Braer runs aground on the coast of the Shetland Islands, spilling 84,700 tons of crude oil.
Births
1855 – King C. Gillette, American businessman, founded the Gillette Company (d. 1932)
1931 – Robert Duvall, American actor and director
1932 – Umberto Eco, Italian philosopher and author
1942 – Jan Leeming, English journalist
1946 – Diane Keaton, American actress, director, screenwriter, and producer
1965 – Vinnie Jones, English footballer and actor
Deaths
1922 – Ernest Shackleton, Irish explorer (b. 1874)
1941 – Amy Johnson, English aviator (b. 1903)
1990 – Arthur Kennedy, American actor (b. 1914)
1994 – Brian Johnston, English sportscaster (b. 1912)
1998 – Sonny Bono, American singer-songwriter, producer, actor, and politician (Sonny & Cher) (b. 1935)
2003 – Roy Jenkins, Welsh politician (b. 1920)Statistics: Posted by chenrezig — 05 Jan 2014, 08:29
]]>