Events
Births
- 1732 – Richard Henry Lee, American statesman (d. 1794)
- 1798 – Anson Jones, 5th and last President of Texas (d. 1858)
- 1834 – George D. Robinson, 34th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1896)
- 1837 – David Josiah Brewer, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (d. 1910)
- 1878 – Ruth St. Denis, American dancer (d. 1968)
- 1880 – Walter W. Bacon, American politician (d. 1962)
- 1889 – Allan Haines Loughead, American aviation executive (d. 1969)
- 1894 – Walter Piston, American composer (d. 1976)
- 1896 – George Burns, American actor, comedian (d. 1996)
- 1896 – Isabel Withers, American actress (d. 1968)
- 1902 – Leon Ames, American actor (d. 1993)
- 1908 – Fleur Cowles, American writer, editor and artist (d. 2009)
- 1911 – Wendell J. Westcott, American carillonneur (d. 2010)
- 1912 – Walter Briggs, Jr., American sports executive (d. 1970)
- 1913 – W. Cleon Skousen, American author (d. 2006)
- 1918 – Nevin S. Scrimshaw, American clinical
- 1920 – DeForest Kelley, American actor (d. 1999)
- 1920 – Frank Kush, American football player and coach
- 1922 – Ray Anthony, American trumpeter, bandleader and actor
- 1924 – Slim Whitman, American singer
- 1926 – Patricia Neal, American actress (d. 2010)
- 1926 – David Tudor, American pianist and composer (d. 1996)
- 1929 – Jimmy Cobb, American jazz drummer
- 1929 – Arte Johnson, American actor
- 1929 – Glenn Roberts, American race car driver (d. 1964)
- 1930 – Buzz Aldrin, American astronaut
- 1931 – David Lee, American physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics laureate
- 1933 – Ron Townson, American singer (The 5th Dimension) (d. 2001)
- 1937 – Dorothy Provine, American singer, dancer and actress (d. 2010)
- 1939 – Paul Coverdell, American politician (d. 2000)
- 1940 – Carol Heiss, American figure skater
- 1942 – Linda Moulton Howe, American investigative journalist and documentary producer-writer-director-editor
- 1945 – Robert Olen Butler, American writer
- 1946 – David Lynch, American film director
- 1948 – Nancy Kress, American writer
- 1950 – Edward Hirsch. American poet
- 1952 – Paul Stanley, American musician (Kiss)
- 1954 – Ken Page, American cabaret singer and actor
- 1955 – Wyatt Knight, American actor
- 1956 – Bill Maher, American actor, comedian, and political analyst
- 1958 – Lorenzo Lamas, American actor
- 1960 – Scott Thunes, American musician (Frank Zappa)
- 1960 – Will Wright, American computer game designer
- 1963 – James Denton, American actor
- 1963 – Firebreaker Chip, American professional wrestler
- 1964 – Ron Harper, American basketball player
- 1965 – Greg Kriesel, American bassist (The Offspring)
- 1965 – John Michael Montgomery, American singer
- 1966 – Stacey Dash, American actress
- 1966 – Tracii Guns, American guitarist
- 1966 – Rainn Wilson, American actor
- 1968 – Nick Anderson, American basketball player
- 1968 – Melissa Rivers, American reporter and actress
- 1969 – Patrick K. Kroupa, American computer hacker
- 1970 – Kerri Kenney-Silver, American actress
- 1970 – Skeet Ulrich, American actor
- 1971 – Brian Giles, American baseball player
- 1971 – Derrick Green, American singer (Sepultura)
- 1971 – Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, American drummer (The Roots)
- 1975 – David Eckstein, American baseball player
- 1977 – Sid Wilson, American Musician, (Slipknot)
- 1978 – Joy Giovanni, American actress and glamour model
- 1981 – Jason Richardson, American basketball player
- 1986 – Derek Fathauer, American professional golfer
Deaths
- 1810 – Benjamin Chew, Chief Justice of colonial Pennsylvania (b. 1722)
- 1908 – John Ordronaux, American Civil War army surgeon, a professor of medical jurisprudence, and pioneering mental health commissioner (b. 1830)
- 1940 – Omar Bundy, American army general (b. 1861)
- 1944 – James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist (b. 1860)
- 1947 – Josh Gibson, American baseball player (b. 1911)
- 1962 – Robinson Jeffers, American poet (b. 1887)
- 1965 – Alan Freed, American disk jockey (b. 1922)
- 1971 – Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson, American actor, director, writer, and producer (b. 1880)
- 1984 – Johnny Weissmuller, American swimmer and actor (b. 1904)
- 1990 – Barbara Stanwyck, American actress (b. 1907)
- 1996 – Gerry Mulligan, American musician (b. 1927)
- 1997 – Curt Flood, American baseball player (b. 1938)
- 1998 – Bobo Brazil, American professional wrestler (b. 1924)
- 2002 – Carrie Hamilton, actress and singer (b. 1963). Daughter of comedienne/actress Carol Burnett.
- 2003 – Al Hirschfeld, American caricaturist (b. 1903)
- 2003 – Craig Kelly, American snowboarder (b. 1966)
- 2003 – Nedra Volz, American actress (b. 1908)
- 2004 – Guinn Smith, American athlete (b. 1920)
- 2005 – Roland Frye, American literary critic and theologian (b. 1921)
- 2009 – David Newman, American jazz musician, nicknamed "Fathead" (b. 1933)
- 2011 – Sargent Shriver, American politician and activist (b. 1915)
Holidays and observances
- Christian Feast Day:
- United States presidential inauguration, held every four years since 1937 (with 2 exceptions by Eisenhower & Reagan, on January 21st) in odd-numbered years after years when the United States Presidential Election takes place (as the election takes place in years divisible by four – 2004, 2008, 2012, and so on – the inauguration takes place in 2005, 2009, 2013, etc.). The incoming/reelected President traditionally swears-in as close to Noon as possible.