History of 19 January
- 1981 – The U.S. and Iran signed an agreement paving the way for the release of 52 Americans held hostage for more than 14 months and for arrangements to unfreeze Iranian assets and to resolve all claims against Iran.
- 1983 – China announced that it was bannning 1983 purchases of cotton, soybeans and chemical fibers from the United States.
- 1993 – IBM announced a loss of $4.97 billion for 1992. It was the largest single-year loss in U.S. corporate history.
- 1995 – Russian forces overwhelmed the resistance forces in Chechnya.
- 1996 – U.S. first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton was subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury. The investigation was concerning the discovery of billing records related to the Whitewater real estate investment venture.
- 1997 – Yasser Arafat returned to Hebron for the first time in more than 30 years. He joined 60,000 Palestinians in celebration over the handover of the last West Bank city in Israeli control.
- 2000 – In New York’s Time Square, the first WWF restaurant opened.
- 2001 – Texas officials demoted a warden and suspended three other prison workers in the wake of the escape of the “Texas 7.”
- 2006 – NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft was launched. The mission was the first to investigate Pluto.
- 2013 – In Scottsdale, AZ, the original Batmobile for the TV series “Batman” sold at auction for $4.6 million. It was the first of six Batmobiles produced for the show.
- 2016 – Russian ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov is assassinated while at an art exhibition in Ankara. The assassin, Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, is shot and killed by a Turkish guard.
- 2016 – A vehicular attack in Berlin, Germany, kills and injures multiple people at a Christmas market.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Grégory Dufer, Belgian footballer
- 1982 – Mo Williams, American basketball player
- 1983 – Nektarios Alexandrou, Cypriot footballer
- 1983 – Casey Crescenzo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1983 – Bridget Phillipson, English politician
- 1983 – Laura Pomeroy, Canadian swimmer
- 1983 – Matt Stajan, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1984 – Ian Kennedy, American baseball player
- 1985 – Gary Cahill, English footballer
- 1985 – Andrea Baldini, Italian fencer
- 1985 – Neil Kilkenny, English-Australian footballer
- 1985 – Sally Kipyego, Kenyan runner
- 1985 – Dan Logan, English bass player
- 1985 – Lady Sovereign, English rapper
- 1986 – Calvin Andrew, English footballer
- 1986 – Ryan Babel, Dutch footballer
- 1986 – Ingrid Burley, American rapper and songwriter
- 1986 – Lazaros Christodoulopoulos, Greek footballer
- 1986 – Zuzana Hejnová, Czech hurdler
- 1986 – Miguel Lopes, Portuguese footballer
- 1987 – Cédric Baseya, French-Congolese footballer
- 1987 – Karim Benzema, French footballer
- 1987 – Ronan Farrow, American activist, journalist, and lawyer
- 1988 – Alexis Sánchez, Chilean footballer
- 1988 – Peter Winn, English footballer
- 1989 – Yong Jun-hyung, South Korean singer-songwriter, rapper and producer
- 1989 – Michał Masłowski, Polish footballer
- 1989 – Kousei Miura, Japanese jockey
- 1989 – Hamza Riazuddin, English cricketer
- 1990 – Greg Bretz, American snowboarder
- 1991 – Declan Galbraith, English singer-songwriter
- 1991 – Sumire Uesaka, Japanese voice actress and singer
- 1992 – Iker Muniain, Spanish footballer
- 1992 – Raphael Spiegel, Swiss footballer
- 1993 – Isiah Koech, Kenyan runner
- 1993 – Young K, South Korean singer-songwriter
- 1994 – M’Baye Niang, French footballer
- 1994 – Maudy Ayunda, Indonesian actress and singer-songwriter
- 1996 – Franck Kessié, Ivorian footballer