What are the important events that happened on January 3? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
January 3: Facts & Myths About This Day
January 3 is the 3rd day of the year 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 363 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Wednesday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is December 21, 2023 – a Wednesday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 1,704,240,000 seconds has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.
Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘trigon’ day.
Capricorn is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Garnet is the modern birthstone for this month. Emerald is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.
According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 38 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.
The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,030 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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January 3: This Day In History
The Perihelion, the point in the year when the Earth is closest to the Sun, occurs around this date.
January 3 Historical Events
- 1777 –American general George Washington defeats British general Charles Cornwallis at the Battle of Princeton.
- 1815 –Austria, the United Kingdom, and France form a secret defensive alliance treaty against Prussia and Russia.
- 1868 –Meiji Restoration in Japan: The Tokugawa shogunate is abolished; agents of Satsuma and Chōshū seize power.
- 1888 –The refracting telescope at the Lick Observatory, measuring 91 cm in diameter, is used for the first time. It was the largest telescope in the world at the time.
- 1933 –Minnie D. Craig becomes the first female elected as Speaker of the North Dakota House of Representatives, the first female to hold a Speaker position anywhere in the United States.
- 1938 –The March of Dimes is established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
- 1944 –World War II: Top Ace Major Greg “Pappy” Boyington is shot down in his Corsair by Captain Masajiro Kawato flying a Zero.
- 1961 –The SL-1, a government-run reactor near Idaho Falls, Idaho, underwent a core explosion and meltdown, killing three workers.
- 1994 –More than seven million people from the former Apartheid Homelands, receive South African citizenship.
- 1999 –Israel detains, and later expels, 14 members of Concerned Christians.
Who were born on January 3?
- 1886 –Josephine Hull, American actress (d. 1957)
- 1923 –Charles “Bud” Tingwell, Australian actor (d. 2009)
- 1932 –Coo Coo Marlin, American race car driver (d. 2005)
- 1951 –Gary Nairn, Australian politician
- 1954 –Dean Hart, Canadian wrestler (d. 1990)
- 1965 –Steven A. LaChance, American Author
- 1966 –Martin Galway, Northern Ireland composer
- 1977 –Mayumi Iizuka, Japanese voice actress
- 1978 –Park Sol-mi, South Korean actress
- 1985 –John David Booty, American football player
Who died on January 3?
- 1098 –Walkelin, Norman bishop of Winchester
- 1322 –King Philip V of France (b. 1293)
- 1437 –Catherine of Valois, wife of Henry V of England (b. 1401)
- 1826 –Louis Gabriel Suchet, French marshal (b. 1770)
- 1945 –Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski, Polish writer (b. 1879)
- 1950 –Emil Jannings, Swiss actor (b. 1884)
- 1967 –Jack Ruby, American killer of Lee Harvey Oswald (b. 1911)
- 1993 –Johnny Most, American sports announcer (b. 1923)
- 2005 –JN Dixit, Indian government official (b. 1936)
- 2010 –Gustavo Becerra-Schmidt, Chilean composer (b. 1925)
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