12 Dey 1402

Events

• 1492 (534 years ago) Reconquista: The Emirate of Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, surrenders.
• 1954 (72 years ago) India establishes its highest civilian awards, the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan.
• 1959 (67 years ago) Luna 1, the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and to orbit the Sun, is launched by the Soviet Union.
• 1967 (59 years ago) Ronald Reagan, past movie actor and future President of the United States, is sworn in as Governor of California.
• 1976 (50 years ago) The Gale of January 1976 begins, resulting in coastal flooding around the southern North Sea coasts, affecting countries from Ireland to Yugoslavia and causing at least 82 deaths and US$1.3 billion in damage.
• 1981 (45 years ago) One of the largest investigations by a British police force ends when serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, the "Yorkshire Ripper", is arrested in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
• 2004 (22 years ago) Stardust successfully flies past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that are returned to Earth.
• 2022 (4 years ago) Massive nationwide protests and unrest break out in Kazakhstan over the sudden increase of liquefied petroleum gas prices, leading to 238 people dead and thousands injured by January 11.

Births

• 1642 (384 years ago) Mehmed IV, Ottoman sultan (died 1693)
• 1699 (327 years ago) Osman III, Ottoman sultan (died 1757)
• 1822 (204 years ago) Rudolf Clausius, Polish-German physicist and mathematician (died 1888)
• 1837 (189 years ago) Mily Balakirev, Russian pianist and composer (died 1910)
• 1873 (153 years ago) Thérèse of Lisieux, French nun and saint (died 1897)
• 1896 (130 years ago) Dziga Vertov, Polish-Russian director and screenwriter (died 1954)
• 1968 (58 years ago) Cuba Gooding, Jr., American actor and producer
• 1981 (45 years ago) Maxi Rodríguez, Argentine footballer

Deaths

• 1557 (469 years ago) Pontormo, Italian painter and educator (born 1494)
• 1861 (165 years ago) Frederick William IV of Prussia,
• 1892 (134 years ago) George Biddell Airy, English mathematician and astronomer (born 1801)
• 1995 (31 years ago) Siad Barre, Somalian general and politician; 3rd President of Somalia (born 1919)
• 2011 (15 years ago) Pete Postlethwaite, English actor (born 1946)
• 2016 (10 years ago) Nimr al-Nimr, Saudi Arabian religious leader (born 1959)
• 2017 (9 years ago) John Berger, English art critic, novelist and painter (born 1926)
• 2019 (7 years ago) Bob Einstein, American actor and comedian (born 1942)

All 284 events, births and deaths of January 2