Born on January 4
January 4 birthdays & history
If you were born on January 4, you share a birthday with Gao Xingjian, Louis Braille and Toni Kroos. January 4 babies are Capricorn, with garnet as their birthstone and the carnation as their birth flower. January 4 is the 4th day of the year in leap years.
Famous people born on January 4
- 1940Gao Xingjian, Chinese novelist, playwright, and critic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1809Louis Braille, French educator, invented Braille
- 1990Toni Kroos, German footballer
- 1785Jacob Grimm, German philologist and mythologist
- 1940Brian Josephson, Welsh physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1986James Milner, English footballer
- 1963Till Lindemann, German singer, songwriter, and poet
- 1710Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Italian composer, violinist, and organist
- 1932Carlos Saura, Spanish director and screenwriter
- 1945Richard R. Schrock, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
What happened on January 4
- 1798After his appointment as Prince of Wallachia, Constantine Hangerli arrived in Bucharest to assume the throne.
- 1844The first issue of the Swedish-languaged Saima newspaper founded by J. V. Snellman is published in Kuopio, Finland.
- 1854The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the Samarang.
- 1863The New Apostolic Church, a Christian and chiliastic church, is established in Hamburg, Germany.
- 1884The Fabian Society is founded in London, United Kingdom.
- 1896Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state.
- 1936Billboard published its first music hit parade.
- 1973Last of the Summer Wine, the longest-running sitcom in the world, premiered as an episode of the BBC's Comedy Playhouse.
- 2004Spirit (artist's impression depicted), the first of two rovers of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover mission, successfully landed on Mars.
- 2007Nancy Pelosi became Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, becoming the highest-ranking woman in the history of the U.S. government.
- 2010The Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest structure, officially opened in Dubai.
- 2020Sembawang Hot Spring Park in Singapore reopened after being redeveloped by the National Parks Board.
Also observed on January 4
- The eleventh of the Twelve Days of Christmas. (Western Christianity)
- Independence Day (Myanmar), celebrates the independence of Myanmar from the United Kingdom in 1948.
- Ogoni Day (Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People)
- Tokyo Dome Show: The annual Wrestle Kingdom event run by New Japan Pro-Wrestling
- World Braille Day
Questions, answered
What star sign is January 4?
People born on January 4 are Capricorn. Their birthstone is garnet and their birth flower is the carnation.
Which famous people were born on January 4?
Gao Xingjian (1940), Louis Braille (1809), Toni Kroos (1990), Jacob Grimm (1785), Brian Josephson (1940), James Milner (1986) were all born on January 4.
What happened on January 4 in history?
Among other things: in 2007, Nancy Pelosi became Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, becoming the highest-ranking woman in the history of the U.S. government; in 2010, The Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest structure, officially opened in Dubai; in 2020, Sembawang Hot Spring Park in Singapore reopened after being redeveloped by the National Parks Board.
Can I get a newspaper front page from January 4?
Yes. The Birthday Gazette makes a personalised vintage-style front page for any January 4 birth year, with their name in the headline, events, famous birthdays and typical US prices. The preview is free and the print files cost $9.
Events, birthdays and observances are adapted from Wikipedia contributors, “January 4”, English Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0 (shortened and filtered). Ranking uses Wikidata (CC0). Sources.