Monday 8th of January 1601

Writer and philosopher Baltasar Gracián y Morales is born in Belmonte, Aragón, Spain.

Wednesday 8th of January 1642

Astronomer, engineer, philosopher and mathematician Galilei Galileo aka The Father of Science dies of fever and heart palpitations at the age of 78 in Arcetri, Toscana, Italy.

Sunday 8th of January 1775

Printer and type designer John Baskerville dies of unknown causes at the age of 69 in Easy Hill, Birmingham, West Midlands, United Kingdom.

Wednesday 8th of January 1896

Poet Paul Marie Verlaine dies of a kidney and stomach disease at the age of 52 in 39 Rue Descartes, Paris, Ve, Île-de-France, France.

Friday 8th of January 1904

SS-Gruppenführer and leader of the Aktion T4 euthanasia program Karl Brandt is born in Mülhausen, Elsass, Germany.

Friday 8th of January 1926

Murderer William Lawrence is executed by hanging at the age of 26 in Arizona State Prison Complex, 1305 E Butte Avenue, Florence, Arizona, United States.

Tuesday 8th of January 1935

Singer and actor Elvis Aaron Presley aka The King of Rock and Roll is born in 306 Old Saltillo Road, Tupelo, Mississippi, United States.

Friday 8th of January 1937

Singer Shirley Veronica Bassey is born in Cardiff, Tiger Bay, Wales, United Kingdom.

Friday 8th of January 1937

Murderer Frank Duarte is executed by the gas chamber at the age of 25 in Arizona State Prison Complex, 1305 E Butte Avenue, Florence, Arizona, United States.

Friday 8th of January 1943

Murderer Grady B. Cole is executed by the gas chamber at the age of 29 in Arizona State Prison Complex, 1305 E Butte Avenue, Florence, Arizona, United States.

Friday 8th of January 1943

Murderer J. C. Levice is executed by the gas chamber at the age of 23 in Arizona State Prison Complex, 1305 E Butte Avenue, Florence, Arizona, United States.

Friday 8th of January 1943

Murderer Charles Sanders is executed by the gas chamber at the age of 22 in Arizona State Prison Complex, 1305 E Butte Avenue, Florence, Arizona, United States.

Wednesday 8th of January 1947

Musician and actor David Bowie is born as David Robert Jones in 40 Stansfield Road, London, Brixton, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Wednesday 8th of January 1947

Serial killer William George Bonin aka The Freeway Killer is born in Willimantic, Connecticut, United States.

Thursday 8th of January 1948

Dada artist Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters dies of acute pulmonary edema and myocarditis at the age of 61 in Westmorland General Hospital, Burton Road, Kendal, Cumbria, United Kingdom.

Monday 8th of January 1962

93 die in passenger train 464 and express train 164 collision in De Putkop, Harmelen, Utrecht, Netherlands.

Monday 8th of January 1968

the painting 'La Vierge à l'Enfant entourée des saints Innocents' by 391-year-old Painter Peter Paul Rubens is cut into with a knife by an unidentified mentally disturbed person in Musée du Louvre, Paris, Ier, Île-de-France, France.

Tuesday 8th of January 1974

29-year-old Josette Routier is shot dead and violated by serial killer Marcel Barbeault aka Le Tueur de L'Ombre in 19 Rue du Docteur Roux, Nogent-sur-Oise, Oise, France.

Wednesday 8th of January 1975

21-year-old Maria Fasching is stabbed to death by serial killer Joseph Kallinger aka The Shoemaker in 124 Glenwood Avenue, Leonia, New Jersey, United States.

Kallinger had entered the house with his son Mike and tied up 26-year-old Edwina Dee Dee Wiseman, her 4-year-old son Robert, her 90-year-old grandmother Blanche Smith, 21-year-old Randi Romaine, her mother Mrs DeWitt Romaine, her twin sister Retta and Retta's boyfriend Jeffrey Welby to ransack the house and assault the women. Fasching passed by later and refused to cooperate so Kallinger stabbed her in the back and breast.

Saturday 8th of January 1983

Supreme leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Jong-un Kim is born in Pyongyang, P'yŏngan, North Korea.

Sunday 8th of January 1989

47 die in British Midland Boeing 737-400 Flight 92 crash in East Midlands Airport, Kegworth, Leicestershire, United Kingdom.

The plane crashed on to the embankment of the M1 motorway in an attempt to make an emergency landing. Of the 126 people aboard, 47 died and 74 sustained serious injuries.

Monday 8th of January 1996

237 die in Air Africa Antonov An-32B crash in Simbazikita Street Market, Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Congo.

All fatalities were on the ground while the six crew members survived.

Monday 8th of January 1996

President of the French Republic François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterand dies of prostate cancer at the age of 80 in Paris, Île-de-France, France.

A few days before his death Mitterand was joined by family members and close friends for a "last meal" that attracted controversy because it included the serving of roast ortolan bunting, a small wild songbird that is a protected species whose sale is illegal in France.

Friday 8th of January 1999

A water pump on a bridge near my quarters in Taling Chan, Central Thailand, Thailand.