2024: Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 makes an emergency landing at Portland International Airport after a door plug blows off the Boeing 737 MAX 9 operating the flight. There are no fatalities, but the accident prompts the 737 MAX to be grounded and renews scrutiny on Boeing’s manufacturing and design issues.
2023: The 2023 Sinaloa unrest begins.
2022: Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev dismisses Prime Minister Asqar Mamin and declares state of emergency over the 2022 Kazakh unrest.
2014: A launch of the communication satellite GSAT-14 aboard the GSLV MK.II D5 marks the first successful flight of an Indian cryogenic engine.
2005: The dwarf planet Eris is discovered by Palomar Observatory-based astronomers, later motivating the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to define the term planet for the first time.
2003: A suicide bombing at the Tel Aviv central bus station kills 23 people and injures over 100 more.
1993: The oil tanker MV Braer runs aground on the coast of the Shetland Islands, spilling 84,700 tons of crude oil.
1991: Georgian forces enter Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, Georgia, opening the 1991–92 South Ossetia War.
1991: Somali Civil War: The United States Embassy to Somalia in Mogadishu is evacuated by helicopter airlift days after the outbreak of violence in Mogadishu.
1976: The Khmer Rouge announce that the new Constitution of Democratic Kampuchea is ratified.
1976: The Troubles: Gunmen shoot dead ten Protestant civilians after stopping their minibus at Kingsmill in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, UK, allegedly as retaliation for a string of attacks on Catholic civilians in the area by Loyalists, particularly the killing of six Catholics the night before.
1975: The Tasman Bridge in Tasmania, Australia, is struck by the bulk ore carrier Lake Illawarra, killing twelve people.
1972: US President Richard Nixon announces the Space Shuttle program.
1970: The 7.1 Mw Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). Between 10,000 and 15,000 people are known to have been killed and about another 26,000 are injured.
1970: A Spantax Convair CV-990 Coronado crashes during takeoff from Stockholm Arlanda Airport, killing five people.
Famous Births 👶
2009: Walker Scobell, American actor
2004: Shane Wright, Canadian ice hockey player
2001: Mykhailo Mudryk, Ukrainian footballer
2001: Ellis Simms, English footballer
2000: Gastón Martirena, Uruguayan footballer
1999: Mattias Svanberg, Swedish footballer
1999: Filip Ugrinić, Swiss footballer
1998: Carles Aleñá, Spanish footballer
1998: Corey Horsburgh, Australian rugby league player
1997: Jesús Vallejo, Spanish footballer
1996: James Fisher-Harris, New Zealand rugby league player
1996: Nicolás Tripichio, Argentine footballer
1996: Tyler Ulis, American basketball player and coach
1995: Toafofoa Sipley, New Zealand rugby league player
1994: Lachlan Fitzgibbon, Australian rugby league player
Notable Deaths 🕊️
2025: Mike Rinder, Australian-American former Scientologist, critic (born 1955)
2025: Costas Simitis, Greek economist, lawyer, and politician, Prime Minister of Greece (born 1936)
2024: Joseph Lelyveld, American journalist and executive editor of The New York Times (born 1937)
2024: Mário Zagallo, Brazilian footballer and manager (born 1931)
2022: Kim Mi-soo, South Korean actress and model (born 1992)
2021: Colin Bell, English footballer (born 1946)
2021: John Georgiadis, English violinist and composer (born 1939)
2020: Tafazzul Haque Habiganji, Bangladeshi Islamic scholar and politician (born 1938)
2019: Bernice Sandler, American women’s rights activist (born 1928)
2019: Dragoslav Šekularac, Serbian footballer and manager (born 1937)
2018: Asghar Khan, Pakistani three star general and politician (born 1921)
2018: Thomas Bopp, American astronomer best known as the co-discoverer of comet Hale–Bopp (born 1949)
2018: Karin von Aroldingen, German ballerina (born 1941)
2017: Jill Saward, English rape victim and activist (born 1965)
2016: Pierre Boulez, French pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1925)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
Christian Feast day:
Charles of Mount Argus
Christian Feast day:
John Neumann (Catholic Church)
Christian Feast day:
Pope Telesphorus
Christian Feast day:
Simeon Stylites (Latin Church)
Christian Feast day:
January 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival (Harbin, China)
Joma Shinji (Japan)
National Bird Day (United States)
The Twelfth day of Christmas and the Twelfth Night of Christmas. (Western Christianity)
