January 3: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

January 3 is the 3rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. 362 days (363 during leap years) remain in the year after this day.

Events

• 1431 - Joan of Arc is handed over to the Bishop Pierre Cauchon.
• 1496 - Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tests a flying machine.
• 1521 - Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.
• 1749 - Benning Wentworth issues the first of the New Hampshire Grants, leading to the establishment of Vermont.
• 1777 - Battle of Princeton. American general George Washington defeats British general Charles Cornwallis.
• 1815 - Austria, Britain, and France form a secret defensive alliance treaty against Prussia and Russia.
• 1823 - Stephen F. Austin receives a grant of land in Texas from the government of Mexico.
• 1825 - Rensselaer School, the first engineering college in the U.S. is opened in Troy, New York. It is now known as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
• 1833 - Britain seizes control of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic.
• 1834 - The government of Mexico imprisons Stephen F. Austin in Mexico City.
• 1852 - First Chinese arrive in Hawaii.
• 1861 - American Civil War: Delaware votes not to secede from the United States.
• 1868 - The Japanese Meiji dynasty is restored and the Shogunate is abolished.
• 1871 - Henry W. Bradley patents oleomargarine.
• 1888 - The 91 cm refracting telescope at Lick Observatory is used for the first time. It was the largest telescope in the world at the time.
• 1888 - Marvin C. Stone patents the drinking straw.
• 1899 - The first known use of the word automobile, in an editorial in The New York Times.
• 1920 - Curse of the Bambino: The Boston Red Sox sell Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for a sum of $125,000 and a loan of more than $300,000.
• 1921 - Turkey makes peace with Armenia.
• 1924 - English explorer Howard Carter discovers the sarcophagus of Tutankhamen in the Valley of the Kings, near Luxor, Egypt.
• 1925 - Benito Mussolini announces he is taking dictatorial powers over Italy.
• 1938 - The March of Dimes is established by Franklin D. Roosevelt.
• 1938 - Woman in White is first broadcast on the NBC Red network. The program remains on the radio for the next 10 years.
• 1947 - Proceedings of the U.S. Congress are televised for the first time.
• 1951 - Dragnet is first broadcast on NBC-TV.
• 1953 - Frances Bolton and her son, Oliver from Ohio, become the first mother and son to serve simultaneously in the U.S. Congress.
• 1957 - Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch.
• 1958 - The West Indies Federation is formed.
• 1959 - Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. state.
• 1961 - The United States severs diplomatic relations with Cuba.
• 1961 - The SL-1, a government-run reactor near Idaho Falls, Idaho leaks radiation, killing three workers at the installation. The radiation is contained.
• 1962 - Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro.
• 1966 - The first Acid Test at the Fillmore, San Francisco, California.
• 1973 - Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) sells the New York Yankees for $12 million to a 12-person syndicate led by George Steinbrenner.
• 1983 - Tony Dorsett of the Dallas Cowboys makes the longest run from scrimmage in NFL history.
• 1987 - Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
• 1988 - Margaret Thatcher becomes the longest-serving British Prime Minister in the 20th Century.
• 1990 - Former leader of Panama Manuel Noriega surrenders to American forces.
• 1991 - Hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky scores his 700th goal.
• 1991 - Gulf War: The British government announces the expulsion of 75 Iraqis from the country.
• 1993 - In Moscow, George H. W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin sign the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).
• 1994 - An Aeroflot Tupolev TU-154 crashes and explodes after takeoff from Irkhutsk, Russia killing 125 including 1 on the ground.
• 1997 - Bryant Gumbel signs off for the last time as host of NBC's Today show.
• 1997 - China announces it will spend $27.7 billion to fight erosion and pollution in the Yangtze and Yellow river valleys.
• 1999 - The Mars Polar Lander launches.
• 1999 - Israel detains, later to expel, 14 members of Concerned Christians.
• 2000 - The last "Peanuts" comic strip is created by Charles Schulz.
• 2001 - The ATF charges the "Texas 7" with weapons violations.
• 2004 - Flight 604, a Boeing 737 owned by Flash Airlines, an Egyptian airliner, plunges into the Red Sea, killing all 148 aboard.

• 106 BC - Cicero, Roman statesman and philosopher (d. 43 BC)
• 1196 - Emperor Tsuchimikado of Japan (d. 1231)
• 1710 - Richard Gridley, American Revolutionary soldier (d. 1796)
• 1719 - Francisco José Freire, Portuguese historian and philologist (d. 1773)
• 1722 - Fredric Hasselquist, Swedish naturalist (d. 1752)
• 1778 - Antoni Melchior Fijałkowski, Polish bishop (d. 1861)
• 1793 - Lucretia Mott, American women's rights activist and abolitionist (d. 1880)
• 1803 - Douglas William Jerrold, British playwright and satirist (d. 1857)
• 1840 - Father Damien, Belgian missionary in Hawaii (d. 1889)
• 1855 - Hubert Bland, English socialist (d. 1914)
• 1879 - Grace Coolidge, First Lady of the United States (d. 1957)
• 1883 - Clement Attlee, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1967)
• 1887 - August Macke, German painter (d. 1914)
• 1892 - J. R. R. Tolkien, British writer and philologist (d. 1973)
• 1894 - Pola Negri, Polish actress (d. 1987)
• 1894 - ZaSu Pitts, American actress (d. 1963)
• 1897 - Marion Davies, American actress (d. 1961)
• 1901 - Ngo Dinh Diem, President of South Vietnam (d. 1963)
• 1906 - Roman Brandstaetter, Polish writer (d. 1987)
• 1905 - Anna May Wong, American actress (d. 1961)
• 1907 - Ray Milland, Welsh actor (d. 1986)
• 1909 - Victor Borge, Danish entertainer and humorist (d. 2000)
• 1911 - John Sturges, American director (d. 1982)
• 1912 - Armand Lohikoski, Finnish director (d. 2005)
• 1916 - Betty Furness, American actress and consumer activist (d. 1994)
• 1916 - Maxene Andrews, American singer (The Andrews Sisters) (d. 1967)
• 1917 - Roger W. Straus, Jr., American publisher (d. 2004)
• 1920 - Renato Carosone, Italian musician and singer (d. 2001)
• 1924 - Nell Rankin, American soprano (d. 2005)
• 1924 - Hank Stram, American football coach and broadcaster (d. 2005)
• 1926 - George Martin, English producer of The Beatles' records
• 1929 - Sergio Leone, Italian director (d. 1989)
• 1930 - Robert Loggia, American actor
• 1932 - Dabney Coleman, American actor
• 1932 - Coo Coo Marlin, American race car driver (d. 2005)
• 1936 - Georgina Spelvin, actress
• 1939 - Bobby Hull, Canadian hockey player
• 1941 - Van Dyke Parks, American musician, composer
• 1942 - John Thaw, British actor (d. 2002)
• 1945 - Stephen Stills, American singer, songwriter, and guitarist
• 1946 - John Paul Jones, English bassist (Led Zeppelin)
• 1946 - Victoria Principal, American actress
• 1956 - Mel Gibson, Australian actor and director
• 1957 - Bojan Križ, Slovenian skier
• 1960 - Joan Chen, Chinese actress
• 1966 - Robert Stanek, American author
• 1966 - Martin Galway, Northern Ireland composer
• 1969 - Michael Schumacher, German race car driver
• 1975 - Jason Marsden, American actor
• 1975 - Danica McKellar, American actress
• 1976 - Nicholas Gonzalez, American actor
• 1981 - Eli Manning, American football player
• 1989 - Alex D. Linz, American actor

• 722 - Empress Gemmei of Japan (b. 661)
• 1322 - King Philip V of France (b. 1293)
• 1437 - Catherine of Valois, queen of Henry V of England (b. 1401)
• 1543 - Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, Portuguese explorer (b. 1499)
• 1641 - Jeremiah Horrocks, English astronomer
• 1656 - Mathieu Molé, French statesman (b. 1584)
• 1670 - George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, English soldier (b. 1608)
• 1690 - Hillel ben Naphtali Zevi, Lithuanian rabbi (b. 1615)
• 1779 - Claude Bourgelat, French veterinary surgeon (b. 1712)
• 1785 - Baldassare Galuppi, Italian composer (b. 1706)
• 1795 - Josiah Wedgwood, English potter (b. 1730)
• 1826 - Louis Gabriel Suchet, French marshal (b. 1770)
• 1875 - Pierre Larousse, French editor and encyclopedist (b. 1817)
• 1923 - Jaroslav Hasek, Czech novelist (b. 1883)
• 1927 - Carle David Tolmé Runge, German physicist (b. 1856)
• 1933 - Jack Pickford, Canadian actor (b. 1896)
• 1945 - Edgar Cayce, American psychic (b. 1877)
• 1945 - Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski, Polish writer (b. 1879)
• 1946 - William Joyce, American Nazi propagandist (executed) (b. 1906)
• 1950 - Emil Jannings, Swiss actor (b. 1884)
• 1956 - Alexander Gretchaninov, Russian composer (b. 1864)
• 1963 - Jack Carson, Canadian actor (b. 1910)
• 1967 - Mary Garden, Scottish soprano (b. 1874)
• 1967 - Jack Ruby, American killer of Lee Harvey Oswald (b. 1911)
• 1979 - Conrad Hilton, American hotelier (b. 1887)
• 1980 - Joy Adamson, Czech conservationist and author (b. 1910)
• 1981 - Princess Alice of Albany (b. 1883)
• 1988 - Rose Ausländer, German poet (b. 1901)
• 1992 - Dame Judith Anderson, Australian actress (b. 1897)
• 2001 - José Greco, Italian-born flamenco dancer (b. 1918)
• 2002 - Esquivel, Mexican band leader and composer (b. 1918)
• 2002 - Freddy Heineken, Dutch beer executive (b. 1923)
• 2003 - Sid Gillman, American football coach (b. 1911)
• 2004 - Leon Wagner, baseball player (b. 1934)
• 2005 - Koo Chen-fu, Chinese negotiator (b. 1917)
• 2005 - JN Dixit, Indian government official (b. 1936)
• 2005 - Will Eisner, American comic book artist (b. 1917)
• 2006 - Bill Skate, 52, former Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea (b. 1954)

• Feast day of St Genevieve
• Roman Empire - Festival in honour of Pax
• The tenth night and ninth day of Christmas in Western Christianity
• In astronomy the best date to view the Quadrantids meteor shower.
• In astronomy the approximate date of Earth's perihelion.

January 2 - January 4 - December 3 - February 3 — listing of all days