January 4 in history — What Happened Today in History

In Pakistan's deadliest train accident an overloaded passenger train collides with an empty freight train, resulting in 307 deaths and 700 injuries.

Second Gulf of Sidra incident: A pair of Libyan MiG-23 "Floggers" are shot down by a pair of US Navy F-14 Tomcats during an air-to-air confrontation.

The Maryland train collision: An Amtrak train en route to Boston from Washington, D.C., collides with Conrail engines in Chase, Maryland, United States, killing 16 people.

The Troubles: The Ulster Volunteer Force shoots dead six Irish Catholic civilians in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The next day, gunmen would shoot dead ten Protestant civilians nearby in retaliation.

This date overflowed the 12-bit field that had been used in TOPS-10. There were numerous problems and crashes related to this bug while an alternative format was developed.

Rose Heilbron becomes the first female judge to sit at the Old Bailey in London, UK.

The Doors released their eponymous debut album.

Aeroflot Flight 101/X-20 crashes on approach to Alma-Ata Airport, killing 64 people.

Luna 1 becomes the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon.

Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, falls to Earth from orbit.

The Greek National Radical Union is formed by Konstantinos Karamanlis.

Korean War: Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time.

Burma gains its independence from the United Kingdom, becoming an independent republic.

The first day of a three-day "disastrous" tornado outbreak across the south-central United States leaves 41 people dead and at least 412 others injured.

World War II: Operation Carpetbagger, involving the dropping of arms and supplies to resistance fighters in Europe, begins.

The Finnish Declaration of Independence is recognized by Russia, Sweden, Germany and France.

The Scout Association is incorporated throughout the British Empire by royal charter.

Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes.

Topsy, an elephant, is electrocuted by the owners of Luna Park, Coney Island. The Edison film company records the film Electrocuting an Elephant of Topsy's death.

Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state.

Sino-French War: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing force at Núi Bop in northern Vietnam.

The Fabian Society is founded in London, United Kingdom.

Russo-Turkish War (1877–78): Sofia is liberated from Ottoman rule.

The New Apostolic Church, a Christian and chiliastic church, is established in Hamburg, Germany.

The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the Samarang.

After having been kidnapped and sold into slavery in the American South, Solomon Northup regains his freedom; his memoir Twelve Years a Slave later becomes a national bestseller.

The first issue of the Swedish-languaged Saima newspaper founded by J. V. Snellman is published in Kuopio, Finland.

Constantine Hangerli arrives in Bucharest, Wallachia, as its new Prince, invested by the Ottoman Empire.

Facundo Colidio, Argentine footballer

Wessam Abou Ali, Palestinian footballer

Daniel Arzani, Iranian-Australian footballer

Jan-Niklas Beste, German footballer

Nico Hischier, Swiss ice hockey player

Jaeman Salmon, Australian rugby league player

Collin Sexton, American basketball player

Coco Jones, American singer-songwriter and actress

Arnoldas Kulboka, Lithuanian basketball player

Rodrigo Garro, Argentine footballer

Liza Soberano, Filipina actress

Angeliño, Spanish footballer

Ante Žižić, Croatian basketball player

Stephen W. Bosworth, American academic and diplomat, United States Ambassador to South Korea (born 1939)

Pino Daniele, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1955)

Anwar Shamim, Pakistani general (born 1931)

Zoran Žižić, Montenegrin politician, 4th Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (born 1951)

Eve Arnold, American photographer and journalist (born 1912)

Rod Robbie, English-Canadian architect, designed the Canadian Pavilion and Rogers Centre (born 1928)

Coen Moulijn, Dutch footballer (born 1937)

Gerry Rafferty, Scottish singer-songwriter (born 1947)

Salmaan Taseer, Pakistani businessman and politician, 26th Governor of Punjab, Pakistan (born 1944)

Mohamed Bouazizi, Tunisian street vendor who caused the Tunisian Revolution, which was the first revolution in the Arab Spring. (born 1984)

Johan Ferrier, Surinamese educator and politician, 1st President of Suriname (born 1910)

Tsutomu Yamaguchi, Japanese engineer (born 1916)

Gert Jonke, Austrian poet, playwright, and author (born 1946)