January 8 is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 357 days remaining until the end of the year (358 in leap years).
- 871 - Battle of Ashdown - Ethelred of Wessex defeats an invading army of Danes.
- 1297 - Monaco gains its independence.
- 1499 - Louis XII of France marries Anne of Brittany.
- 1734 - Premiere of George Frideric Handel's Ariodante at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
- 1746 - Second Jacobite Rising: Bonnie Prince Charlie occupies Stirling.
- 1790 - George Washington delivers the first State of the Union Address in New York City.
- 1806 - Cape Colony becomes a British colony.
- 1811 - An unsuccessful slave revolt was led by Charles Deslandes in St. Charles and St. James, Louisiana.
- 1815 - War of 1812: Battle of New Orleans - Andrew Jackson leads American forces in victory over the British.
- 1835 - The United States national debt is 0 for the only time.
- 1838 - Alfred Vail demonstrates a telegraph system using dots and dashes (this is the forerunner of Morse code).
- 1863 - American Civil War: Second Battle of Springfield
- 1867 - African American men are granted the right to vote in Washington, D.C.
- 1877 - Crazy Horse and his warriors fight their last battle with the United States Cavalry at Wolf Mountain (Montana Territory).
- 1900 - President William McKinley places Alaska under military rule.
- 1906 - A landslide in Haverstraw, New York, caused by the excavation of clay along the Hudson River, kills 20 people.
- 1912 - The African National Congress is founded.
- 1918 - President Woodrow Wilson announces his "Fourteen Points" for the aftermath of World War I.
- 1926 - Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud becomes the King of Hejaz and renames it Saudi Arabia.
- 1940 - World War II: Britain introduces food rationing.
- 1956 - Operation Auca: Five U.S. missionaries are killed by the Huaorani of Ecuador shortly after making contact with them.
- 1959 - Fidel Castro's Cuban Revolution is completed with the take over of Santiago de Cuba.
- 1961 - In France a referendum supports Charles de Gaulle's policies in Algeria.
- 1962 - 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 - The Harmelen train disaster kills 93 people in The Netherlands.
- 1964 - President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a "War on Poverty" in the United States.
- 1973 - Soviet space mission Luna 21 is launched.
- 1973 - Watergate scandal: The trial of seven men accused of illegal entry into Democratic Party headquarters at Watergate begins.
- 1975 - Ella Grasso becomes Governor of Connecticut, becoming the first woman to serve as a Governor in the United States other than by succeeding her husband.
- 1979 - The tanker Betelgeuse explodes in Bantry Bay, Ireland (The Betelgeuse incident).
- 1982 - The break up of AT&T: AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions.
- 1989 - The Kegworth air disaster. British Midland flight 92 crashes into the M1 motorway killing 47 people out of 127 on board.
- 1989 - Beginning of Japanese Heisei era.
- 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.
- 1996 - An Antonov 32 cargo turboprop powered plane crashes into the central market in Kinshasa, Zaire killing more than 350 people.
- 2002 - President George W. Bush signs into law the No Child Left Behind Act.
- 2004 - The RMS Queen Mary 2, the largest passenger ship ever built, is christened by her namesake's granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
- 2005 - The nuclear sub USS San Francisco (SSN-711) collides with an undersea mountain at full speed south of Guam. One man is killed, but she surfaces and is repaired.
- 2006 - A magnitude 6.9 earthquake with its epicenter just off the Greek island of Kythira hits much of the country and is felt throughout the entire eastern Mediterranean Sea.
- 1556 - Uesugi Kagekatsu, Japanese samurai and warlord (d. 1623)
- 1583 - Simon Episcopius, Dutch theologian (d. 1643)
- 1587 - Johannes Fabricius, German astronomer (d. 1616)
- 1601 - Baltasar Gracián y Morales, Spanish writer (d. 1658)
- 1628 - François Henri de Montmorency-Bouteville, duc de Luxembourg, French general (d. 1695)
- 1632 - Samuel Pufendorf, German jurist (d. 1694)
- 1635 - Luis Manuel Fernández de Portocarrero, Spanish Archbishop (d. 1709)
- 1735 - John Carroll, American Roman Catholic archbishop (d. 1815)
- 1763 - Edmond Charles Genêt, French diplomat (d. 1834)
- 1786 - Nicholas Biddle, American banking executive (d. 1844)
- 1788 - Archduke Rudolph of Austria (d. 1831)
- 1788 - Pavel Kiselyov, Russian general and politician (d. 1874)
- 1792 - Lowell Mason, American composer (d. 1872)
- 1805 - John Bigler, American politician (d. 1871)
- 1805 - Orson Hyde, American religious leader (d. 1878)
- 1812 - Sigismond Thalberg, French pianist and composer (d. 1871)
- 1817 - Sir Theophilus Shepstone, South African statesman (d. 1893)
- 1821 - James Longstreet, American Confederate general (d. 1904)
- 1821 - W.H.L. Wallace, American Union general (d. 1862)
- 1823 - Alfred Russel Wallace, British naturalist and biologist (d. 1913)
- 1824 - Francisco González Bocanegra, Mexican poet (d. 1861)
- 1824 - Wilkie Collins, British novelist (d. 1889)
- 1830 - Hans von Bülow, German pianist and composer (d. 1894)
- 1836 - Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Dutch artist (d. 1912)
- 1843 - Frederick Abberline, British police investigator (d. 1929)
- 1843 - John H. Moffitt, American politician (d. 1926)
- 1852 - James Milton Carroll, American pastor and author (d. 1931)
- 1860 - Emma Booth, daughter of William and Catherine Booth (d. 1903)
- 1862 - Frank Nelson Doubleday, American publisher (d. 1934)
- 1864 - Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (d. 1892)
- 1866 - William G. Conley, American politician (d. 1940)
- 1867 - Emily Greene Balch, American writer and pacifist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (d. 1961)
- 1870 - Miguel Primo de Rivera, Spanish politician (d. 1930)
- 1871 - James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, Irish politician (d. 1940)
- 1873 - Iuliu Maniu, Romanian politician (d. 1953)
- 1873 - Elena of Montenegro, queen of Italy (d. 1956)
- 1881 - Henrik Shipstead, American politician (d. 1960)
- 1883 - Pavel Filonov, Russian painter (d. 1941)
- 1883 - Patrick J. Hurley, United States Secretary of War (d. 1963)
- 1885 - John Curtin, Australian politician (d. 1945)
- 1885 - A. J. Muste, Dutch pacifist and activist (d. 1967)
- 1888 - Richard Courant, German-American mathematician (d. 1972)
- 1888 - Matthew Moore, Irish-American actor (d. 1960)
- 1891 - Walther Bothe, German physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics laureate (d. 1957)
- 1891 - Storm Jameson, English writer (d. 1986)
- 1891 - Bronislava Nijinska, Russian choreographer (d. 1972)
- 1894 - St Maximilian Kolbe, Polish martyr (d. 1941)
- 1896 - Arthur Ford, American psychic (d. 1971)
- 1896 - Jaromir Weinberger, Czech-American composer (d. 1967)
- 1897 - Dennis Wheatley, British author (d. 1977)
- 1899 - Solomon Bandaranaike, Ceylonese Prime Minister (d. 1959)
- 1900 - Dame Merlyn Myer, Australian philanthropist (d. 1982)
- 1902 - Georgy Malenkov, Soviet politician (d. 1988)
- 1902 - Carl Rogers, American psychologist (d. 1987)
- 1903 - Igor Kurchatov, Russian physicist (d. 1960)
- 1904 - Karl Brandt, Alsacian Nazi war criminal (d. 1948)
- 1905 - Giacinto Scelsi, Italian composer (d. 1988)
- 1905 - Franjo Cardinal Seper, Croatian Catholic cardinal (d. 1981)
- 1908 - William Hartnell, British actor (d. 1975)
- 1909 - Willy Millowitsch, German actor (d. 1999)
- 1909 - Evelyn Wood, American educator (d. 1995)
- 1910 - Galina Sergeyevna Ulanova, Russian ballerina (d. 1988)
- 1911 - Tom Delaney, British racing driver (d. 2006)
- 1911 - Gypsy Rose Lee, American actress and entertainer (d. 1970)
- 1912 - José Ferrer, Puerto Rican actor (d. 1992)
- 1915 - Walker Cooper, American baseball player (d. 1991)
- 1921 - Herta Bothe, Nazi concentration camp guard
- 1922 - Abbey Simon, U.S. pianist
- 1923 - Larry Storch, American actor
- 1923 - Giorgio Tozzi, American bass
- 1923 - Johnny Wardle, English cricketer (d. 1985)
- 1923 - Joseph Weizenbaum, German-American author and computer scientist (d. 2008)
- 1924 - Benjamin Lees, American composer
- 1924 - Ron Moody, English actor
- 1925 - Helmuth Hubener, German activist (d. 1942)
- 1926 - Evelyn Lear, American soprano
- 1926 - Kelucharan Mohapatra, Indian Odissi dancer (d. 2004)
- 1926 - Hanae Mori, Japanese fashion designer
- 1926 - Soupy Sales, American comedian
- 1927 - Charles Tomlinson, British poet and translator
- 1928 - Gaston Miron, Quebec poet and editor (d. 1996)
- 1928 - Slade Gorton, American politician
- 1929 - Saeed Jaffrey, Indian actor
- 1931 - Bill Graham, German-born American music promoter (d. 1991)
- 1933 - Charles Osgood, American journalist and commentator
- 1933 - Jean-Marie Straub, French film director
- 1933 - Ko Un, Korean poet
- 1934 - Jacques Anquetil, French cyclist (d. 1987)
- 1934 - Gene Freese, American baseball player
- 1934 - Roy Kinnear, English actor (d. 1988)
- 1934 - Alexandra Ripley, American writer (d. 2004)
- 1935 - Elvis Presley, American singer (d. 1977)
- 1936 - Zdeněk Mácal, Czech conductor
- 1936 - Robert May, Baron May of Oxford, Australian-born British scientist
- 1937 - Dame Shirley Bassey, Welsh singer
- 1938 - Bob Eubanks, American game show host
- 1939 - Carolina Herrera, Venezuelan fashion designer
- 1938 - Yevgeny Nesterenko, Russian bass-baritone
- 1941 - Graham Chapman, British comedian (d. 1989)
- 1941 - Boris Vallejo, Peruvian illustrator
- 1942 - Valya Balkanska, Bulgarian folk singer
- 1942 - Stephen Hawking, English theoretical physicist and author
- 1942 - Junichiro Koizumi, Japanese politician
- 1942 - Yvette Mimieux, American actress
- 1944 - Terry Brooks, American writer
- 1945 - Jeannie Lewis, Australian actress and singer
- 1945 - Kojo Nnamdi, Guyanese-born American radio host
- 1945 - Kathleen Noone, American actress
- 1946 - Robby Krieger, American musician (The Doors)
- 1947 - Don Bendell, American author & karate master
- 1947 - David Bowie, English musician
- 1947 - Samuel Schmid, Swiss politician
- 1947 - Terry Sylvester, British singer and musician
- 1948 - Gillies MacKinnon, Scottish film director
- 1951 - Kenny Anthony, Saint Lucian politician
- 1951 - John McTiernan, American film director
- 1952 - Vladimir Feltsman, Russian-American pianist
- 1953 - Bruce Sutter, American baseball player
- 1955 - Spiros Livathinos, Greek footballer
- 1955 - Mike Reno, Canadian musician
- 1957 - Nacho Duato, Spanish classical dancer and choreographer
- 1958 - Rey Misterio, Sr., Mexican wrestler
- 1959 - Paul Hester, Australian drummer (Crowded House) (d. 2005)
- 1961 - Calvin Smith, American athlete
- 1961 - Kazuki Takahashi, Japanese comic book writer and artist
- 1962 - Chris Marion, American musician
- 1965 - Michelle Forbes, American actress
- 1966 - Igor Vyazmikin, Russian ice hockey player
- 1967 - R. Kelly, American singer
- 1968 - Keith Mullings, American boxer
- 1969 - Jeff Abercrombie, American musician
- 1969 - Ami Dolenz, American actress
- 1970 - Rachel Friend, Australian actress
- 1971 - Jason Giambi, American baseball player
- 1971 - Pascal Zuberbühler, Swiss footballer
- 1972 - Sean McKeever, American writer
- 1973 - Mark Knight, English sound designer
- 1973 - Sean Paul, Jamaican singer
- 1973 - Jason Stevens, Australian rugby league footballer
- 1975 - DJ Clue, American DJ and producer
- 1975 - Harris Jayaraj, Indian music composer
- 1976 - Jenny Lewis, American actress and musician
- 1976 - Josh Meyers, American actor
- 1976 - Carl Pavano, American baseball player
- 1976 - Brad Snyder, Canadian shot putter
- 1977 - Amber Benson, American actress
- 1977 - Ron Pederson, Canadian actor
- 1977 - Lee Yoo-jin, Korean actress
- 1978 - Boris Avrukh, Israeli chess grandmaster
- 1978 - Marco Fu, Hong Kong snooker player
- 1979 - Seol Ki-Hyeon, South Korean footballer
- 1979 - Adrian Mutu, Romanian footballer
- 1979 - Sarah Polley, Canadian actress
- 1979 - Stipe Pletikosa, Croatian footballer
- 1980 - Rachel Nichols, American actress
- 1981 - Jeff Francis, Canadian baseball player
- 1981 - Xie Xingfang, Chinese badminton player
- 1982 - Emanuele Calaiò, Italian footballer
- 1982 - wiL Francis, American singer
- 1982 - Gaby Hoffmann, American actress
- 1982 - John Utaka, Nigerian footballer
- 1983 - Chris Mordetzky, American wrestler
- 1983 - Felipe Colombo, Argentine/Mexican actor and singer
- 1984 - Jeff Francoeur, American baseball player
- 1985 - Rachael Lampa, American singer
- 1985 - Cho Cheng, American fashion designer
- 1986 - Jaclyn Linetsky, Canadian actress (d. 2003)
- 1986 - David Silva, Spanish footballer
- 1988 - Adam T. Siska, American musician (The Academy Is...)
- 1990 - Maci Wainwright, American singer
- 1991 - Asuka Hinoi, Japanese singer
- 482 - Saint Severinus of Noricum
- 1100 - Antipope Clement III (b. c.1029)
- 1107 - Edgar of Scotland (b. 1074)
- 1198 - Pope Celestine III (b. c.1106)
- 1324 - Marco Polo, Italian explorer (b. 1254)
- 1337 - Giotto di Bondone, Italian artist (b. 1267)
- 1456 - St Lawrence Justinian, Italian bishop and first Patriarch of Venice (b. 1381)
- 1464 - Thomas Ebendorfer, Austrian historian (b. 1385)
- 1557 - Albert the Warlike, Prince of Bayreuth (b. 1522)
- 1570 - Philibert de l'Orme, French architect (b. c.1510)
- 1598 - John George, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1525)
- 1642 - Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer and scientist (b. 1564)
- 1707 - John Dalrymple, 1st Earl of Stair, Scottish politician (b. 1648)
- 1713 - Arcangelo Corelli, Italian composer (b. 1653)
- 1775 - John Baskerville, English printer (b. 1706)
- 1789 - Jack Broughton, English boxer (b. c.1703)
- 1794 - Justus Möser, German statesman (b. 1720)
- 1815 - Edward Pakenham, British general (b. 1778)
- 1825 - Eli Whitney, American inventor (b. 1765)
- 1854 - William Carr Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford, British general and politician (b. 1768)
- 1865 - Aimé, duc de Clermont-Tonnerre, French general (b. 1779)
- 1874 - Charles Etienne Brasseur de Bourbourg, French writer and historian (b. 1814)
- 1878 - Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov, Russian poet (b. 1821)
- 1880 - Joshua A. Norton, American eccentric (b. 1811)
- 1896 - William Rainey Marshall, Governor of Minnesota (b. 1825)
- 1896 - Paul Verlaine, French poet (b. 1844)
- 1901 - John Barry, Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross (b. 1873)
- 1916 - Ada Rehan, Irish-born American actress (b. 1860)
- 1916 - Rembrandt Bugatti, Italian sculptor (b. 1884)
- 1918 - Ellis H. Roberts, American politician (b. 1827)
- 1932 - Eurosia Fabris, Italian Catholic (b. 1866)
- 1934 - Andrei Bely, Russian writer (b. 1880)
- 1934 - Serge Stavisky, French financier and embezzler (b. 1886)
- 1938 - Johnny Gruelle, Creator of Raggedy Ann and Andy (b. 1880)
- 1941 - Robert Baden-Powell, English founder of scouting (b. 1857)
- 1942 - Joseph Franklin Rutherford, American religious publisher (b. 1869)
- 1943 - Richard Hillary, Australian Spitfire pilot and author (b. 1919)
- 1944 - William Kissam Vanderbilt II, member of the Vanderbilt family (b. 1878)
- 1945 - Karl Krafft, Swiss astrologer who was manipulated by the Nazi regime (b. 1900)
- 1948 - Kurt Schwitters, German painter (b. 1887)
- 1948 - Richard Tauber, Austrian tenor (b. 1891)
- 1950 - Joseph Schumpeter, Austrian economist (b. 1883)
- 1953 - Admiral Sir Hugh Binney, British naval commander and Governor of Tasmania (b. 1883)
- 1956 - Jim Elliot, American Christian missionary (b. 1928)
- 1958 - Paul Pilgrim, American athlete (b. 1883)
- 1963 - Kay Sage, American artist and poet (b. 1898)
- 1967 - Zbigniew Cybulski, Polish actor (b. 1927)
- 1969 - Albert Hill, British athlete (b. 1889)
- 1970 - Georges Guibourg, French performer (b. 1891)
- 1972 - Kenneth Patchen, American poet (b. 1911)
- 1975 - John Gregson, English actor (b. 1919)
- 1975 - Richard Tucker, American tenor (b. 1913)
- 1976 - Zhou Enlai, Premier of the People's Republic of China (b. 1898)
- 1976 - Robert Forgan, British fascist (b. 1891)
- 1979 - Sara Carter, American country musician (b. 1898)
- 1980 - John Mauchly, American physicist (b. 1907)
- 1981 - Matthew "Stymie" Beard, American actor (b. 1925)
- 1982 - Grégoire Aslan, Armenian actor (b. 1908)
- 1983 - Gerhard Barkhorn, German fighter pilot (b. 1919)
- 1983 - Ron Frazer, Australian actor (b. 1924)
- 1983 - Tom McCall, Governor of Oregon (b. 1913)
- 1986 - Pierre Fournier, French cellist (b. 1906)
- 1990 - Terry-Thomas, British actor, comedian (b. 1911)
- 1991 - Steve Clark, English guitarist (Def Leppard) (b. 1960)
- 1994 - Pat Buttram, American actor (b. 1915)
- 1994 - Harvey Haddix, American baseball player (b. 1925)
- 1995 - Carlos Monzon, Argentinian boxer (b. 1942)
- 1996 - John Hargreaves, Australian actor (b. 1945)
- 1996 - François Mitterrand, President of France (b. 1916)
- 1996 - Howard Taubman, American music and theater critic (b. 1907)
- 1997 - Melvin Calvin, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
- 1998 - Michael Tippett, English composer (b. 1905)
- 2000 - Fritz Thiedemann, German equestrianist (b. 1918)
- 2002 - Alexander Prochorow, Nobel Prize in Physics laureate (b. 1916)
- 2002 - Dave Thomas, American fast food entrepreneur (b. 1932)
- 2003 - Ron Goodwin, British composer and conductor (b. 1925)
- 2004 - John A. Gambling, American radio talk-show host (b. 1930)
- 2005 - Campbell McComas, Australian impersonator and broadcaster (b. 1952)
- 2005 - Warren Spears, American choreographer and dancer (b. 1954)
- 2005 - Michel Thomas, Polish linguist (b. 1914)
- 2006 - Tony Banks, British politician (b. 1943)
- 2007 - Jane Bolin, first African American female judge (b. 1908)
- 2007 - Yvonne De Carlo, Canadian-born actress (b. 1922)
- 2007 - Francis Cockfield, British politician (b. 1916)
- 2007 - David Ervine, Northern Irish politician (b. 1953)
- 2007 - Iwao Takamoto, American animator (b. 1925)
- 2008 - George Moore, Australian champion jockey (b. 1923)
- 2009 - Richard John Neuhaus, Canadian-American Christian writer and editor (b. 1936)
