📅 January 3

← On this day index

What happened on January 3? Below are the notable events chosen by Wikipedia’s editors for this date, followed by celebrated births, deaths and the observances recognised around the world.

Events

• 2026 — The United States launches a military operation in Venezuela, capturing president Nicolás Maduro (pictured) and his wife.

  United States2026 United States intervention in VenezuelaVenezuela

• 2009 — The cryptocurrency network of bitcoin was created when Satoshi Nakamoto mined the first block of the chain.

  CryptocurrencyBitcoinSatoshi Nakamoto

• 2004 — Flash Airlines Flight 604 crashed shortly after departure from Sharm El Sheikh International Airport which killed all 148 occupants on board.

  Flash Airlines Flight 604Sharm El Sheikh International Airport

• 2002 — Second Intifada: Israeli forces seized MV Karine A, which was carrying 50 tons of smuggled weapons on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.

  Second IntifadaKarine A affairArms trafficking

• 1990 — United States invasion of Panama: Manuel Noriega, the deposed strongman of Panama, surrendered to American forces outside the apostolic nunciature in Panama City.

  United States invasion of PanamaManuel NoriegaPolitical strongman

• 1973 — CBS announced the sale of the New York Yankees professional baseball team to a group of investors headed by American businessman George Steinbrenner.

  CBSNew York YankeesGeorge Steinbrenner

• 1961 — All 25 people on board Aero Flight 311 died in Finland's worst civilian air accident when the aircraft crashed near Kvevlax.

  Aero Flight 311Kvevlax

• 1941 — Second World War: As part of Operation Compass, Australian and United Kingdom forces attacked Italian forces at the Battle of Bardia in Egypt.

  World War IIOperation CompassBattle of Bardia

• 1938 — The American health charity March of Dimes was founded as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis to help raise money for polio research.

  March of DimesPolio

• 1911 — An earthquake registering 7.7 Mw destroyed Almaty in Russian Turkestan.

  1911 Kebin earthquakeMoment magnitude scaleAlmaty

• 1911 — A gun battle in the East End of London left two dead and sparked a political row over the operational involvement of Winston Churchill, then Home Secretary.

  Siege of Sidney StreetEast End of LondonWinston Churchill

• 1777 — American Revolutionary War: American forces commanded by George Washington defeated British troops at the Battle of Princeton (depicted).

  American Revolutionary WarGeorge WashingtonBattle of Princeton

• 1749 — The first issue of Berlingske, Denmark's oldest continually operating newspaper, was published.

  Berlingske

• 1521 — Pope Leo X issued the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem, excommunicating Martin Luther for refusing to retract 41 alleged errors found in his 95 Theses and other writings.

  Pope Leo XDecet Romanum PontificemMartin Luther

• 250 — Decius ordered all people in the Roman Empire (except Jews) to perform a sacrifice to the Roman gods, resulting in widespread persecution of Christians.

  DeciusRoman EmpireRoman mythology

Births

• 2008 — Raegan Revord, American actor

  Raegan Revord

• 2004 — Carlos Baleba, Cameroonian footballer

  Carlos Baleba

• 2004 — Toby Collyer, English footballer

  Toby Collyer

• 2004 — Habib Diarra, Senegalese footballer

  Habib Diarra

• 2003 — Kyle Rittenhouse, American conservative personality

  Kyle Rittenhouse

• 2003 — Greta Thunberg, Swedish environmental activist

  Greta Thunberg

• 2003 — Alan Virginius, French footballer

  Alan Virginius

• 2002 — Nico González, Spanish footballer

  Nico González (footballer, born 2002)

• 2001 — Deni Avdija, Israeli-Serbian basketball player

  Deni Avdija

• 2000 — Leandro Barreiro, Luxembourgish footballer

  Leandro Barreiro

• 2000 — João Mário, Portuguese footballer

  João Mário (footballer, born 2000)

• 1998 — Patrick Cutrone, Italian footballer

  Patrick Cutrone

Deaths

• 2025 — Jeff Baena, American filmmaker (born 1977)

  Jeff Baena

• 2025 — Brenton Wood, American R&B singer-songwriter and keyboard player (born 1941)

  Brenton Wood

• 2025 — Niko Lekishvili, Georgian politician (born 1947)

  Niko Lekishvili

• 2023 — Elena Huelva, Spanish cancer activist and influencer (born 2002)

  Elena Huelva

• 2021 — Eric Jerome Dickey, American author (born 1961)

  Eric Jerome Dickey

• 2020 — Qasem Soleimani, Iranian major general, commander of the Iranian Quds Force (born 1957)

  Qasem SoleimaniQuds Force

• 2019 — Herb Kelleher, American businessman, co-founder of Southwest Airlines (born 1931)

  Herb KelleherSouthwest Airlines

• 2018 — Colin Brumby, Australian composer (born 1933)

  Colin Brumby

• 2017 — H. S. Mahadeva Prasad, Indian politician (born 1958)

  H. S. Mahadeva Prasad

• 2016 — Paul Bley, Canadian-American pianist and composer (born 1932)

  Paul Bley

• 2016 — Peter Naur, Danish computer scientist, astronomer, and academic (born 1928)

  Peter Naur

• 2016 — Bill Plager, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1945)

  Bill Plager

Observances & holidays

• Christian feast day: Daniel of Padua

  Daniel of Padua

• Christian feast day: Genevieve

  Genevieve

• Christian feast day: Holy Name of Jesus

  Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus

• Christian feast day: Kuriakose Elias Chavara (Syro-Malabar Catholic Church)

  Kuriakose Elias ChavaraSyro-Malabar Church

• Christian feast day: Pope Anterus

  Pope Anterus

• Christian feast day: January 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

  January 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Tamaseseri Festival (Hakozaki Shrine, Fukuoka, Japan)

  Hakozaki ShrineFukuoka

• The tenth of the Twelve Days of Christmas (Western Christianity)

  Twelve Days of ChristmasWestern Christianity

Content & data: Wikipedia “On this day” (CC BY-SA 4.0). Cached on our server for 30 days so the page loads fast and survives feed outages.