January 3

January 3 is the third day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 362 days remaining until the end of the year (363 in leap years).

More commonly this day is known as buzzball day with the official party celebrated at 29 Garden Place in the Land of the Gods.

Events

Up to 1900

1496 – Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tests a flying machine.
1521 – Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther.
1749 – The first issue of the Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende is published.
1777 – American general George Washington defeats a British–Hessian Army under Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis in the Battle of Princeton.
1795 – Catherine II of Russia and Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor complete a treaty agreeing to the Third Partition of Poland.
1815 – Austria, the United Kingdom and France form a secret defensive alliance against Prussia and Russia.
1823 – Stephen A. Austin receives a grant of land in Texas from the Mexican government.
1848 – Joseph Jenkins Roberts is sworn in as the first President of Liberia.
1851 – French physicist Jean Bernard Léon Foucault experiments with the Foucault pendulum to prove that the Earth rotates.
1861 – Delaware votes to remain in the United States, and not to secede.
1868 – Meiji Restoration in Japan.
1870 – Building work on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City begins.
1888 – The refracting telescope at the Lick Observatory near San Jose, California, measuring 91 centimeters (36 in) in diameter, is used for the first time. It was the world's largest telescope at the time.

1901–2000

1908 – The Kaziranga National Park is created in Assam, northeastern India.
1911 – A magnitude 7.7 earthquake destroys Almaty in present–day Kazakhstan.
1918 – Finland officially gains independence from the Russian Empire.
1919 – Paris Peace Conference: Emir Faisal of Iraq and Chaim Weizmann agree to develop a Jewish homeland in Palestine and an Arab nation in the Middle East.
1925 – Benito Mussolini declares that he is taking dictatorial powers in Italy.
1932 – Martial law is declared in Honduras to stop a revolt by banana workers who had been fired by the United Fruit Company.
1934 – A mine explosion at Ossegg, Bohemia, kills 142 people.
1938 – Franklin D. Roosevelt establishes the March of Dimes.
1945 – Admiral Chester W. Nimitz is placed in command of all US naval forces in preparation for planned attacks against Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
1956 – Fire damages the top part of the Eiffel Tower.
1957 – The Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch.
1958 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
1959 – Alaska becomes the 49th state of the United States. William Egan becomes the first State Governor of Alaska.
1959 – Separatists in the Maldives declare the creation of the United Suvadive Republic.
1961 – Aero Flight 311 crashes near Kavelax, Finland, killing all 25 people on board.
1961 – The United States ends diplomatic relations with Cuba.
1962 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro.
1976 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights comes into effect.
1977 – Apple Computer is incorporated.
1980 – Francisco de Sa Carneiro becomes Prime Minister of Portugal.
1987 – Aretha Franklin is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
1990 – Panama's leader Manuel Noriega surrenders to United States forces.
1992 – The United States and Russia officially establish diplomatic relations.
1993 – In Moscow, George H. W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin sign the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.
1994 – More than 7 million people from the former apartheid homelands receive South African citizenship.
1994 – A Tupolev Tu–154 of Baikal Air crashes near Irkutsk, Siberia, killing all 148 people on board.
1999 – The Mars Polar Lander is launched to Mars.
2000 – The last original weekday Peanuts comic strip is published.

From 2001

2004 – Flash Airlines Flight 604, a Boeing 737, crashes into the Red Sea off Egypt, killing 148 people.
2007 – Kenya closes the border with Somalia and deports Somali refugees.
2009 – The first part of the decentralized payment system Bitcoin, called the Genesis Block, is established by the creator of the system, Satoshi Nakamoto.
2011 – Jerry Brown replaces Arnold Schwarzenegger as Governor of California.
2015 – Boko Haram militants enter Baga in Northern Nigeria and kill up to 2,000 people in the coming days.
2018 – Computer analysts report two major security vulnerabilities named "Meltdown" and "Spectre", affecting the microprocessors of all the computers in the world.
2026 – United States strikes in Venezuela occurs and Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores are captued.

Births

Deaths

Up to 1900

235 – St. Anterus, Pope
323 – Jin Yuandi, Chinese Emperor (b. 276)
492 – Pope Felix III
502 – Genevieve of Paris, Patron Saint of Paris
1322 – King Philip V of France (b. 1293)
1437 – Catherine of Valois, wife of King Henry V of England (b. 1401)
1543 – Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, first European to visit California (b. 1499)
1571 – Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1505)
1641 – Jeremiah Horrocks, English astronomer (b. ca. 1619)
1670 – George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle (b. 1608)
1701 – Prince Louis I of Monaco (b. 1642)
1705 – Luca Giordano, Italian painter (b. 1634)
1785 – Baldassare Galuppi, Italian composer (b. 1706)
1795 – Josiah Wedgwood, English pottery maker (b. 1730)
1863 – John Branch, Governor of North Carolina (b. 1782)
1875 – Pierre Larousse, French editor and encyclopedist (b. 1817)
1881 – Anna McNeill Whistler, mother of James Whistler (b. 1804)
1895 – James Merritt Ives, American lithographer and businessman (b. 1804)

1901–2000

1903 – Alois Hitler, father of Adolf Hitler (b. 1837)
1904 – Larin Paraske, Finnish runic singer (b. 1834)
1915 – James Elroy Flecker, English poet, writer and playwright (b. 1884)
1916 – Grenville M. Dodge, American general (b. 1831)
1923 – Jaroslav Hasek, Czech novelist (b. 1883)
1927 – Carl Runge, German mathematician (b. 1856)
1933 – Wilhelm Cuno, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1876)
1933 – Jack Pickford, Canadian actor (b. 1896)
1943 – Walter James, 5th Premier of Western Australia (b. 1863)
1945 – Edgar Cayce, American psychic (b. 1877)
1946 – William Joyce, Irish Nazi propagandist (executed) (b. 1906)
1950 – Emil Jannings, Swiss actor (b. 1884)
1956 – Alexander Gretchaninov, Russian composer (b. 1864)
1959 – Edwin Muir, Scottish poet, writer and translator (b. 1887)
1967 – Jack Ruby, killer of Lee Harvey Oswald (b. 1911)
1974 – Gino Cervi, Italian actor (b. 1901)
1979 – Conrad Hilton, American hotelier (b. 1887)
1980 – Joy Adamson, Czech conservationist and writer (b. 1910)
1980 – Lucien Buysse, Belgian cyclist (b. 1892)
1981 – Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, the last grandchild of Queen Victoria (b. 1883)
1982 – Fritz Laband, German footballer (b. 1925)
1988 – Rose Auslander, German poet (b. 1901)
1988 – Gaston Eyskens, Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1905)
1989 – Sergei Lvovich Sobolev, Russian mathematician (b. 1909)
1992 – Dame Judith Anderson, Australian actress (b. 1897)

From 2001

2001 – José Greco, flamenco dancer (b. 1918)
2002 – Freddy Heineken, Dutch CEO of Heineken (b. 1923)
2003 – Sid Gillman, American football coach (b. 1911)
2004 – Des Corcoran, 37th Premier of South Australia (b. 1928)
2004 – Leon Wagner, American MLB All-Star (b. 1934)
2005 – Jyotindra Nath Dixit, Indian national security advisor and former foreign secretary (b. 1936)
2005 – Will Eisner, American comic book artist and pioneering graphic novelist (b. 1917)
2005 – Koo Chen-fu, Chinese negotiator with the PRC (b. 1917)
2006 – Bill Skate, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea (b. 1954)
2008 – Yo Sam-Choi, South Korean boxer (b. 1972)
2008 – Werner Dollinger, German politician and economist (b. 1918)
2009 – Pat Hingle, American actor (b. 1924)
2010 – Mary Daly, American theologian and scholar (b. 1928)
2012 – Josef Skvorecky, Czech writer (b. 1924)
2013 – Sergiu Nicolaescu, Romanian movie director, actor and politician (b. 1930)
2013 – Burry Stander, South African cyclist (b. 1987)
2014 – Leon de Wolff, Dutch journalist (b. 1948)
2014 – George Goodman, American economics professor (b. 1930)
2014 – Phil Everly, American singer and musician (Everly Brothers) (b. 1939)
2014 – Alicia Rhett, American actress (b. 1915)
2014 – Saul Zaentz, American movie producer (b. 1921)
2015 – Edward Brooke, American politician, United States Senator from Massachusetts (b. 1919)
2015 – Derek Minter, British motorcycle racer (b. 1932)
2015 – Bernice Madigan, American supercentenarian (b. 1899)
2015 – Olga Knyazeva, Russian fencer (b. 1954)
2016 – Peter Naur, Danish computer scientist (b. 1928)
2016 – Bill Plager, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1945)
2016 – C. B. Forgotston, American political blogger (b. 1945)
2016 – Igor Sergun, Russian military officer (b. 1957)
2016 – Paul Bley, Canadian jazz pianist (b. 1932)
2016 – Stephen W. Bosworth, American diplomat (b. 1939)
2016 – Amby Fogarty, Irish footballer (b. 1933)
2016 – Demmus Hentze, Faroese politician (b. 1923)
2016 – Peter Powell, English kite maker (b. 1932)
2016 – Georg Nees, German academic and artist (b. 1926)
2016 – Tommy Sale, English rugby league player (b. 1918)
2017 – Charles J. Colgan, American politician (b. 1925)
2017 – Rolf Noskwith, German–British businessman (b. 1919)
2017 – Igor Volk, Ukrainian–Russian cosmonaut (b. 1937)
2017 – Rodney Bennett, British television director (b. 1935)
2017 – Martin Brandtner, American Marine Corps general (b. 1938)
2017 – Mike Buchanan, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1932)
2018 – Fred Bass, American bookseller (b. 1928)
2019 – Herb Kelleher, American businessman (b. 1931)
2020 – Qasem Soleimani, Iranian general (b. 1957)
2022 – Beatrice Mintz, American embryologist (b. 1921)
2022 – Viktor Saneyev, Georgian triple jumper and Olympic champion (b. 1945)

Observances

Statehood Day (Alaska)
Perihelion, on or around this date, when Earth is at its closest point to the Sun during its orbit.

January 3

Events

Up to 1900

1901–2000

From 2001

Births

Up to 1900

1901–1950

1951–1975

From 1976

Deaths

Up to 1900

1901–2000

From 2001

Observances