January 5
Activity of the day
Today is . . .
- Twelfth Night in Western Christianity
- Feast day of St Dorotheus the Younger
On this day . . .
- Wilhelm Röntgen gives the first demonstration of X-rays (1896)
- Billie Holiday records When You're Smiling (the Whole World Smiles with You) (1938)
- FM radio is demonstrated for the first time in the U.S. (1940)
- English words are banned from French advertisements (1976)
Births
- King Camp Gillette, American inventor of the safety razor (1855)
- Alvin Ailey Jr., American choreographer (1931)
- Robert Duvall, American film actor (1931)
- Umberto Eco, Italian novelist (1932)
- King Juan Carlos I of Spain, born (1938)
- Diane Keaton, American actress, born Diane Hall (1946)
- Vinnie Jones, English footballer and actor (1965)
- Marilyn Manson, American singer (1969)
- Marc Yu, American musical prodigy (1999)
Deaths
- Edward the Confessor, King of England (1066)
- Catherine de' Medici, Queen of France (1589)
- Calvin Coolidge, 30th American president (1933)
- Amy Johnson, English aviator (1941)
- George Washington Carver, American educator (1943)
- Sonny Bono, American singer and politician (1998)