1982 – Ronald Reagan signs a bill to create Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
The day, observed every year on the third Monday of January, commemorates the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. a leader of the African-American Civil Rights Movement.
1964 – Coup in Saudi Arabia
Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud takes over the government of Saudi Arabia while his half-brother, King Saud is overseas for medical reasons.
1938 – Canadian Broadcasting Corporation established
Officially known as CBC/Radio-Canada, the network is Canada's public radio and television broadcaster.
1930 – Haile Selassie I becomes the emperor of Ethiopia
Considered as a leading figure in the Rastafari movement, Selassie reigned over Ethiopia for 44 years.
1917 – Balfour Declaration
Originally sent as a letter on this day to Baron Rothschild from British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour, it declared BRitish support for a Jewish state in Palestine. The letter was eventually added to Sevres peace treaty.
1965 – Shahrukh Khan
Indian actor
1934 – Ken Rosewall
Australian tennis player
1865 – Warren G. Harding
American politician, 29th President of the United States
1755 – Marie Antoinette
Austrian wife of Louis XVI of France
971 – Mahmud of Ghazni
2007 – The Fabulous Moolah
American wrestler
2004 – Theo van Gogh
Dutch director
1966 – Peter Debye
Dutch/American physicist, chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
1963 – Ngo Dinh Diem
South Vietnamese politician, 1st President of the Republic of Vietnam
1950 – George Bernard Shaw
Irish writer, Nobel Prize laureate
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