January 12

Author Jack London born (1876); Boxer Joe Frazier born (1944); HBD Howard Stern (1954); RIP mystery novelist Agatha Christie (1976); Earthquake in Haiti kills more than 100,000 (2010).

January 11

Alexander Hamilton born (1755 or 1757); Grand Canyon becomes a national monument (1908); First use of insulin to treat diabetes in humans (1922); HBD Mary J. Blige (1971); RIP Edmund Hillary, one of first two people to reach summit of Mount Everest (2008).

January 8

George Washington delivers first State of the Union address (1790); Elvis Presley born (1935); HBD fashion designer Carolina Herrera (1939); Stephen Hawking born (1942); David Bowie born (1947).

January 7

Galileo Galilei discovers first three Jupiter moons (1610); First US presidential election held (1789); Author Zora Neale Hurston born (1891); RIP Nikola Tesla (1943); HBD Katie Couric (1957).

January 6

Joan of Arc born (1412); Telegraph publicly demonstrated for first time (1838); RIP geneticist and botanist Gregor Mendel (1884); First Montessori school is opened (1907); RIP President Teddy Roosevelt (1919).

January 5

Actress Jane Wyman born (1917); Dancer and choreographer Alvin Ailey born (1931); Construction of Golden Gate Bridge begins (1933); RIP scientist and inventor George Washington Carver (1943); Singer and congressman Sonny Bono dies in skiing accident (1998).

January 4

Boxer Floyd Patterson born (1935); HBD biographer and journalist Doris Kearns Goodwin (1943); Luna 1 is first spacecraft to reach vicinity of the moon (1959); RIP poet T.S. Eliot (1965); Burj Khalifa, tallest building in the world, opens in Dubai (2010).