What happened on January 7 ?

1 BC (O.S.) - Jesus of Nazareth, central figure of Christianity, date celebrated by Eastern Orthodox churches as Christmas (d. circa 30) (Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on December 25 according to the Julian Calendar, which for now coincides with January 7 on the Gregorian Calendar, but this will eventually shift.)

1355 - Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester, son of Edward III of England (d. 1397)

1502 - Pope Gregory XIII (d. 1585)

1528 - Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre (d. 1572)

1647 - Wilhelm Ludwig, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1677)

1685 - Jonas Alströmer, Swedish industrialist (d. 1761)

1706 - Johann Heinrich Zedler, German publisher (d. 1751)

1718 - Israel Putnam, American Revolutionary War general (d. 1790)

1768 - Joseph Bonaparte, King of Naples (d. 1844)

1800 - Millard Fillmore, 13th President of the United States (d. 1874)

1827 - Sir Sandford Fleming, a Canadian engineer and inventor, known for the introduction of Universal Standard Time

1831 - Heinrich von Stephan, German labor organizer (d. 1897)

1834 - Johann Philipp Reis, German physicist and inventor (d. 1874)

1844 - Bernadette Soubirous, French saint (d. 1879)

1860 - Emanuil Manolov, Bulgarian composer (d. 1902)

1871 - Felix ÿdouard Justin ÿmile Borel, French mathematician, politician, and resistance fighter (d. 1956)

1873 - Adolph Zukor, Hungarian producer (d. 1976)

1875 - Thomas Hicks, American runner (d. 1963)

1891 - Zora Neale Hurston, American author (d. 1960)

1896 - Arnold Ridley, British playwright and actor (d. 1984)

1899 - Francis Poulenc, French composer (d. 1963)

1903 - Warren Hull, American actor (d. 1974)

1903 - Alan Napier, English actor (d. 1988)

1908 - Red Allen, American musician (d. 1967)

1910 - Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Pakistani poet (d. (1984)

1910 - Orval Faubus, Governor of Arkansas (d. 1994)

1911 - Butterfly McQueen, American actress (d. 1995)

1912 - Charles Addams, American cartoonist (d. 1988)

1913 - Johnny Mize, baseball player (d. 1993)

1916 - Paul Keres, Estonian chess player (d. 1975)

1922 - Vincent Gardenia, Italian-born actor (d. 1992)

1922 - Jean-Pierre Rampal, French flutist (d. 2000)

1923 - Hugh Kenner, Canadian literary critic (d. 2003)

1925 - Gerald Durrell British naturalist, zookeeper, author, and television presenter (d. 1995)

1928 - William Peter Blatty, American screenwriter

1929 - Terry Moore, American actress

1934 - Charlie Jenkins, American runner

1935 - Kenny Davern, American jazz clarinetist

1935 - Valeri Kubasov, cosmonaut

1937 - Paul Revere, American musician

1938 - Roland Topor, French illustrator (d. 1997)

1938 - Rory Storm, British singer (d. 1972)

1939 - Maury Povich, TV host (Current Affair, Maury)/Connie Chung's husband

1941 - Iona Brown, British violinist and conductor (d. 2004)

1941 - John E. Walker, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate

1942 - Vasily Alexeev, Russian weightlifter

1945 - Tony Conigliaro, American baseball player (d. 1990)

1945 - Dick Marty, Swiss politician

1946 - Jann Wenner, American publisher

1947 - Shobha De, Indian writer

1947 - Hristo Spasov Tsanoff, Bulgarian composer

1948 - Kenny Loggins, American singer

1949 - Steven Williams, American actor

1950 - Erin Gray, American actress

1951 - Helen Worth, British actress

1956 - David Caruso, American actor

1957 - Nicholson Baker, American novelist

1957 - Katie Couric, American television host

1957 - Julian Solis, Puerto Rican boxer

1959 - Kathy Valentine, American musician (The Go-Gos)

1964 - Nicolas Cage, American actor, director, and producer

1964 - Kenneth Wajda, American filmmaker

1966 - Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, American publicist (d. 1999)

1967 - Mark Lamarr, British comedian and broadcaster

1967 - Guy Hebert, American professional hockey goaltender

1970 - Doug E. Doug, American actor

1971 - David Yost, American actor

1972 - Donald Brashear, American ice hockey player (Philadelphia Flyers)

1976 - Eric Gagné, Canadian baseball player

1976 - Alfonso Soriano, Dominican Major League Baseball player

1977 - Michelle Behennah, British model

1977 - Dustin Diamond, American actor

1979 - Bipasha Basu, Indian model and actress

1980 - Mariangel Ruiz, Venezuelan hostess, actress, and model

1988 - Julian Rodriguez, Asian artist

1990 - Liam Aiken, American actor

1990 - Elene Gedevanishvili, Georgian figure skater