Events on January 4 41
Year 871
Battle of Reading: Æthelred of Wessex fights, and is defeated by, a Danish invasion army.
Year 1490
Anne of Brittany announces that all those who would ally with the King of France will be considered guilty of the crime of lèse-majesté.
Year 1642
King Charles I of England attempts to arrest Five Members of Parliament, commencing England's slide into civil war.
Year 1798
Constantine Hangerli arrives in Bucharest, Wallachia, as its new Prince, invested by the Ottoman Empire.
Year 1853
After having been kidnapped and sold into slavery in the American South, Solomon Northup regains his freedom; his memoir Twelve Years a Slave later becomes a national bestseller.
Year 1854
The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the Samarang.
Year 1865
The New York Stock Exchange opens its first permanent headquarters near Wall Street in New York City.
Year 1878
Russo-Turkish War (1877-78): Sofia is liberated from Ottoman rule and becomes capital of Liberated Bulgaria in 1879.
Year 1903
Topsy, an elephant, is electrocuted by the owners of Luna Park, Coney Island. The Edison film company shoots the film Electrocuting an Elephant of Topsy's death.
Year 1912
The Scout Association is incorporated throughout the British Empire by royal charter.
Year 1918
The Finnish Declaration of Independence is recognized by Russia, Sweden, Germany and France.
Year 1944
World War II: Operation Carpetbagger, involving the dropping of arms and supplies to resistance fighters in Europe, begins.
Year 1966
A military coup takes place in Upper Volta (later Burkina Faso), dissolving the National Parliament and leading to a new national constitution.
Year 1972
Rose Heilbron becomes the first female judge to sit at the Old Bailey in London, England.
Year 1974
United States President Richard Nixon refuses to hand over materials subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.
Year 1976
The Troubles: The Ulster Volunteer Force shoots dead six Irish Catholic civilians in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The next day, gunmen shoot dead ten Protestant civilians nearby in retaliation.
Year 1987
The Maryland train collision: An Amtrak train en route to Boston from Washington, D.C., collides with Conrail engines in Chase, Maryland, killing 16 people.
Year 1989
Second Gulf of Sidra incident: A pair of Libyan MiG-23 "Floggers" are shot down by a pair of US Navy F-14 Tomcats during an air-to-air confrontation.
Year 1990
In Pakistan's deadliest train accident an overloaded passenger train collides with an empty freight train, resulting in 307 deaths and 700 injuries.
Year 1998
Wilaya of Relizane massacres in Algeria: Over 170 are killed in three remote villages.
Year 1998
A massive ice storm hits eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, continuing through January 10 and causing widespread destruction.
Year 1999
Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura is sworn in as governor of Minnesota.
Year 2004
Mikheil Saakashvili is elected President of Georgia following the November 2003 Rose Revolution.
Year 2006
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel suffers a second, apparently more serious stroke. His authority is transferred to acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Year 2007
The 110th United States Congress convenes, electing Nancy Pelosi as the first female Speaker of the House in U.S. history.
Year 2013
A gunman kills eight people in a house-to-house rampage in Kawit, Cavite, Philippines.