On This Day = January 13
Bithdays + Events + Holidays + Observances
BIRTHDAYS
915 = Al-Hakam II = Caliph of Córdoba, patron of arts and sciences 🌈
1713 = Charlotte Charke = English actor and playwright 🌈
1804 = Paul Gavarni = French illustrator
1832 = Horatio Alger, Jr. = American novelist and journalist 🌈
1886 = Sophie Tucker = Russian-born American singer and actress
1893 = Clark Ashton Smith = American poet, sculptor, painter, and author
1905 = Kay Francis = American actress
1910 = Yannis Tsarouchis = Greek artist 🌈
1925 = Gwen Verdon = American actress and dancer
1926 = Michael Bond = English author and Paddington Bear creator
1927 = Liz Anderson = American singer-songwriter
1929 = Joe Pass = American guitarist and composer
1931 = Charles Nelson Reilly = American actor and comedian 🌈
1931 = Rip Taylor = American actor and comedian 🌈
1940 = Edmund White = American writer 🌈
1943 = Richard Moll = American actor
1949 = Brandon Tartikoff = American tv executive
1952 = Stephen Glover = English journalist and The Independent co-founder
1960 = Matthew Bourne = English choreographer and director 🌈
1961 = Julia Louis-Dreyfus = American actress, comedian, and producer
1962 = Trace Adkins = American singer-songwriter and actor
1964 = Penelope Ann Miller = American actress
1966 = Patrick Dempsey = American actor and race car driver
1968 = Traci Bingham = American actress, model, and tv personality
1970 = Shonda Rhimes = American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
1972 = Nicole Eggert = American actress
1976 = Michael Peña = American actor
1976 = Ross McCall = Scottish actor
1977 = Orlando Bloom = English actor
1978 = Nate Silver = American statistician, journalist, and writer 🌈
1983 = Julian Morris = English actor
1990 = Liam Hemsworth = Australian actor
EVENTS
1888 = The National Geographic Society is founded in Washington, D.C.
1898 = Émile Zola's J'accuse…! exposes the Dreyfus affair.
1898 = In Germany, the Reichstag debates a petition urging the revocation of the anti-gay Paragraph 175. Promoted by Magnus Hirschfeld and signed by dozens of prominent German opinion leaders, the motion is supported by only one political party in the Reichstag, the Social Democratic Party led by August Bebel.
1958 = In the landmark case One, Inc. v. Olesen, the SCOTUS reverses three lower court rulings and rules in favor of the First Amendment rights of ONE. The Court unanimously reverses the lower court rulings thereby protecting the right to publish material about homosexuality. This was the first Supreme Court ruling on a gay issue. The Court’s affirmation of free speech for gay and lesbian writing opens the way for more widely distributed publications.
1968 = Johnny Cash performs live at Folsom State Prison.
1983 = A lesbian couple, Zandra Rolon and Deborah Johnson, are refused seating in a semi-private booth at LA restaurant Papa Choux. They are told that a city ordinance prohibits such seating, which is not true. They sue and win, but the restaurant removes the section rather than seat gay or lesbian couples, proclaiming “True romantic dining died on this date.”
1998 = Alfredo Ormando sets himself on fire in St. Peter's Square, protesting against the Roman Catholic Church’s homophobic teachings.
2014 = Nigerian President Goodluck Johnathan signs the controversial Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act that includes punishment for up to 14 years in prison for being LGBTQ. The law also bans and makes punishable by jail time membership in any LGBTQ rights group.
2021 = Outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump is impeached for a second time on a charge of incitement of insurrection following the January 6 United States Capitol attack one week prior.