January 1
153 BC – Roman consuls begin their year in office.
69 – Roman garrison of Mainz uprising
89 – Gov Lucius Antonius Saturninus of Germany becomes emperor of Rome
313 – Start of Roman (Pontifical) Indiction
404 – Last gladiator competition in Rome
1430 – Jews of Sicily are no longer required to attend conversionist services
1801 – The dwarf planet Ceres is discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi.
1898 – d’Annunzio’s “Sogno d’un mattino di primavera,” premieres in Rome
January 2
69 – Roman Lower Rhine army proclaims its commander, Vitellius, emperor
533 – John II begins his reign as Catholic Pope
January 3
1521 – Martin Luther excommunicated by Roman Catholic Church
1925 – Mussolini dissolves Italian parliament/becomes dictator
1925 – Benito Mussolini announces he is taking dictatorial powers over Italy.
1941 – Italian counter offensive in Albania
January 4
1493 – Columbus left new world on return from 1st voyage
1843 – Gaetano Donizetti’s opera “Don Pasquale,” premieres in Paris
January 5
1649 – Francesco Cavalli’s opera “Giasone,” premieres in Venice
January 6
1907 – Maria Montessori opens her 1st (Montessori) school (Rome)
January 7
1566 – Antonio “Michele” Ghislieri is elected Pope Pius V
1584 – Last day of the Julian calendar in Bohemia & Holy Roman empire
1610 – Galileo discovers 1st 3 Jupiter satellites, Io, Europa & Ganymede
1630 – Composer Pier Cavalli marries rich widow Maria Sosomeno
1797 – The modern Italian flag is first used.
1842 – Gioacchino Rossini’s opera “Stabat Mater” premieres in Paris
1904 – Marconi Co establishes “CQD” as 1st intl radio distress signal
1990 – Tower Of Pisa closed to the public after leaning too far
January 8
1198 – Lotario di Segni elected Pope Innocentius III
1598 – Jews are expelled from Genoa Italy
1777 – Filippo Traetta, Italy, composer/musicologist
1822 – Alfredo Carlo Piatti, composer
1917 – Austria-Hungarian troops conquer Forlani Italy
1923 – Giorgio Tozzi, Chicago Illinois, basso
1965 – Maria Pitillo, Matwah NJ, actress (Ryan’s Hope)
1971 – Jason Giambi, West Covina CA, infielder (Oakland A’s)
January 9
1493 – 1st sight of manatees (by Christopher Columbus)
1554 – Gregory XV, [Alessandro Ludovisi], pope (1621-23)
1848 – People’s uprising in Palermo Sicily
1851 – Giuseppi Gallignani, composer
1878 – Umberto I becomes King of Italy
1881 – Giovanni Papini, Italy, writer (Il Diavolo)
1928 – Domenico Modugno, Italy, rocker (Polignano A Mare)
1937 – Italian regime bans marriages between Italians & Abyssinians
1945 – Frank J Biondi Jr, president (HBO)
1970 – Alex Staropoli, Italian keyboardist (Rhapsody Of Fire)
1978 – Gennaro Gattuso, Italian footballer
1982 – Steve D’Innocenzo scores 3 hockey goals in 12 sec in Mass HS game
January 10
49 BC – Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signaling the start of civil war.
69 – Roman emperor Galba adopts Marcus Piso Licinianus as Caesar
1731 – Charles Farnese becomes duke of Parma/Piacenza
1939 – Sal Mineo, NYC, actor (Exodus, Rebel Without a Cause)
1971 – Sergi Bruguera, Italy, tennis star
1974 – Davide Dionigi, Italian footballer
1997 – Italy’s new 1,000 lire coin shows divided Germany on map
January 11
347 – Emperor Theodosius I “The Great” of Rome (d. 395)
1449 – Domenico Ghirlandajo, Italy, renaissance painter
1503 – Francesco Parmigianino, Italian artist (Madonna with the Long Neck)
1879 – Antonio Beltramelli, writer
1952 – Massimo Lopez, Italian comedian
1953 – Anna Marchesini, Italian entertainer
1965 – Loredana Romito, Benevento Italy, model/actress (Fatal Temptation)
January 12
1492 – Andreas Alicatus, Italian author
1493 – Last day for all Jews to leave Sicily
1729 – Lazzaro Spallanzani, Modena Italy, physiologist
1737 – Brizio Petrucci, composer
1810 – Ferdinand II, king of Sicily
1853 – Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro, Italian mathematician (tensor analysis)
1937 – Liliana Cavani, Bologna Italy, director (Berlin Affair)
1961 – Andrea Carnevale, soccer player (Napoli)
1966 – Linda Ferrando, Italy, tennis star
1987 – Salvatore Sirigu, Italian footballer
January 13
1406 – Matteo Palmieri, Italian writer (Della vita civile)
1607 – The Bank of Genoa fails after announcement of national bankruptcy in Spain
1610 – Galileo Galilei discovers Callisto, 4th satellite of Jupiter
1894 – Revolution in Sicily crushed by government troops
1898 – Carlo Tagliabue, Italian baritone (d. 1978)
1915 – Earthquake in Avezzano Italy kills 29,800
1935 – Mauro Forghieri, Italian automotive & mechanical engineer (Scuderia Ferrari)
1935 – Elsa Martinelli, Italian actress
1936 – Renato Bruson, Italian operatic baritone
1970 – Marco Pantani, Italian cyclist (d. 2004)
1987 – 7 top NY Mafia bosses sentenced to 100 years in prison each
1994 – Italian govt of Ciampi resigns
January 14
83 BC – Marcus Antonius, Roman politician (d. 30 BC)
1526 – Francis I forced to give up claims in Burgundy, Italy & Flanders
1551 – Alberico Gentili, Italian jurist (d. 1608)
1566 – Angelo Notari, composer
1601 – Church authorities burn hebrew books in Rome
1655 – Angelo Predieri, composer
1799 – King of Naples flees before advancing French armies
1819 – Fabio Campana, composer
1858 – French Emperor Napoleon III escapes attempt on his life by Felice Orsini, an Italian patriot who was later executed
1889 – Vincenzo Davico, composer
1900 – Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Tosca,” premieres in Rome
1919 – Giulio Andreotti, 7 x premier (Italy)
1936 – L M (Mario) Giannini elected president of Bank of America
1973 – Giancarlo Fisichella, Italian race car driver
January 15
69 – Otho seizes power in Rome, proclaiming himself Emperor of Rome, but only rules for three months before committing suicide.
1858 – Giovanni Segantini, Italy, painter
1955 – Enrico Mentana, Milan Italy, Italian newscaster (RAI)
1965 – Maurizio Fondriest, Italian cyclist
1978 – Franco Pellizotti, Italian cyclist
1990 – Fernando Forestieri, Italian footballer
1993 – Top mafia leader Salvatore “Toto” Riina arrested in Palermo
January 16
27 BC – The title Augustus is bestowed upon Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian by the Roman Senate
550 – Gothic War (535-552): The Ostrogoths, under King Totila, conquer Rome after a long siege, by bribing the Isaurian garrison
1409 – René I of Naples (d. 1480)
1412 – The Medici family is appointed official banker of the Papacy
1493 – Columbus returns to Spain on his 1st trip
1672 – Francesco Mancini, composer
1728 – Niccolo Piccinni, Italian composer (Buona Figliuola)
1749 – Vittoria A Alfieri, Italian count/poet (Maria Stuarda)
1901 – Frank Zamboni, American inventor (d. 1988)
1921 – Francesco Scavullo, American photographer (d. 2004)
1922 – Ernesto Bonino, Italian singer (d. 2008)
January 17
1377 – Pope Gregory XI moves the Papacy back to Rome from Avignon
1504 – Pius V, [Antonio Ghislieri] saint, pope (1566-72)
1517 – Antonio Scandello, Italian composer (Passion of Johannes)
1659 – Antonio Veracini, composer
1899 – Al Capone, Italy, gangster (Chicago bootlegging)
1908 – Cus D’Amato, American boxing manager (d. 1985)
1951 – Rolando Thoeni, Italy, slalom (Olympic-bronze-1972)
1967 – Filippo Raciti, Italian police officer (d. 2007)
1971 – Leonardo Ciampa, Italian-American musician
January 18
350 – General Maxentius drives out Western Roman emperor Constans
1543 – Alfonso Ferrabosco, composer
1905 – Joseph Bonanno, Italian-born gangster (d. 2002)
1941 – Iva Zanicchi, actress (Ragazza Tutta d’Oro)
1954 – Ted DiBiase, Retired Professional Wrestler
1964 – Enrico Lo Verso, Italian actor
1967 – Albert DeSalvo (Boston Strangler) sentenced to life in prison
1971 – Ivan Koloff beats Bruno Sammartino in NY, to become WWF champ
1985 – Riccardo Montolivo, Italian soccer player
1991 – Longest tennis match at the Australian Open, Boris Becker beats Italy’s Omar Camporese in 5 hours & 11 mins
January 19
379 – Theodosius installed as co-emperor of East Roman Empire
1739 – Joseph Bonomi the Elder, Italian architect (d. 1808)
1853 – Verdi’s opera “Il Trovatore,” premieres in Rome
1921 – “Billy Batts” Devino, American gangster (d. 1970)
1940 – Paolo Borsellino, Italian magistrate (d. 1992)
1967 – Christine Tucci, actress (Amanda Cory-Another World)
1973 – Drea de Matteo, American actress
January 20
225 – Gordian III, Roman Emperor (d. 244)
1045 – Giovanni di Sabina elected Pope Sylvester III
1664 – Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, Italian writer and jurist (d. 1718)
1681 – Francesco Bartolomeo Conti, composer
1703 – Joseph-Hector Fiocco, composer
1716 – Carlos III, king of Naples/Spain (1759-88) Pompei/Jesuits
1761 – Giovanni Domenico Perotti, composer
1904 – Renato Caccioppoli, Italian mathematician/grandson of Bakunin
1910 – Ennio Porrino, composer
1932 – Lou Fontinato, Canadian ice hockey player
1967 – Joe Pasquale, rocker (Prey)
1978 – Joy Giovanni, American actress and glamour model
1981 – Frank C Carlucci, ends term as deputy director of CIA
January 21
1921 – The Italian Communist Party was founded at Livorno
1762 – Giuseppe Antonio Silvani, composer
1885 – Umberto Nobile, Italian general
1926 – Franco Evangelisti, Italian composer
1968 – Tom Urbani, Santa Cruz CA, pitcher (St Louis Cards, Detroit Tigers)
1977 – Italy legalizes abortion
January 22
January 25
1494 – Alfonso II becomes King of Naples
1802 – Napoleon elected President of the Italian (Cisalpine) Republic
1817 – Rossini’s opera “La Cenerentola” premieres in Rome
1835- Vincenzo Bellini’s opera “I Puritani,” premieres in Paris
1941- Pope Pius XII elevates the Apostolic Vicariate of the Hawaiian Islands to the dignity of a diocese. It becomes the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu
1947 – Mobster Al Capone dies at age 48
1959 – Pope John XXIII proclaims 2nd Vatican council
January 26
1699 – Venice, Poland & Austria sign peace treaty with Turkey
1802 – The Italian republic created January 26 from the former Cisalpine republic with Napoleon Bonaparte as president annexes Piedmont
1914 – Vatican puts Belgian Nobel winner Maeterlinck’s works in their index September 21 and annexes Parma and Piacenza in October
1942 – Italian supreme command demands dismissal of German marshal Rommel
1959 – Italy government of Fanfani resigns
January 27
98 – Trajan becomes Roman Emperor after the death of Nerva.
672 – St. Vitalian ends his reign as Catholic Pope.
847 – Sergius II ends his reign as Catholic Pope.
January 28
1613 – Galileo may have unknowingly viewed undiscovered planet Neptune
1848 – King of Naples grants his subjects a constitution
1982 – Italian special forces rescue U.S. Brigadier General James L. Dozier, who had been kidnapped by the Red Brigades
1998 – Michelangelo, “Christ & the Woman of Samaria,” sold for $7.4 million
January 29
1613 – Galileo observes Neptune but fails to recognize what he sees
1848 – Sicily accepts new Constitution (choose parliament/freedom of press)
1942 – German & Italian troops occupy Benghazi
1944 – In Bologna, Italy, the Anatomical Theatre of the Archiginnasio is destroyed in an air-raid bombing
1996 – La Fenice, Venice’s opera house, is destroyed by fire.
January 30
1935 – Ezra Pound meets Mussolini, reads from a draft of “Cantos”
1954 – Italy’s Fanfani government resigns
January 31
1504 – France cedes Naples to Aragon?1615 – Claudio Aquaviva, Italian Jesuit (b. 1543)
1736 – Filippo Juvara, Italian architect (b. 1678)
1888 – John Bosco, Italian priest, youth worker, educator, founder of the Salesian Society (b. 1815)
1942 – Daniela Bianchi, Italian actress
1959 – Anthony LaPaglia, Australian actor (Italian decent)