January 3

1521 – Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.
1749 – Benning Wentworth issues the first of the New Hampshire Grants, leading to the establishment of Vermont.
1749 – The first issue of Berlingske, Denmark’s oldest continually operating newspaper, is published.
1777 –  George Washington defeats British General Lord Cornwallis at the Battle of Princeton.
1861 – American Civil War: Delaware votes not to secede from the United States.
1870 – Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins.
1913 – An Atlantic coast storm sets the lowest confirmed barometric pressure reading for a non-tropical system in the continental United States.
1925 – Benito Mussolini announces he is taking dictatorial powers over Italy.
1932 – Martial law is declared in Honduras to stop a revolt by banana workers fired by the United Fruit Company.
1933 – Minnie D. Craig becomes the first woman elected as Speaker of the North Dakota House of Representatives, the first woman to hold a Speaker position anywhere in the United States.

1946 – Popular Canadian American jockey George Woolf dies in a freak accident during a race; the annual George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award is created to honor him.
During the running of the fourth race at Santa Anita Park on January 3, 1946, Woolf fell from his horse, Please Me, as he rounded the clubhouse turn. Suffering from a concussion, he was taken to the hospital, where he died the following day. The jockeys in the race and the track stewards reported that they had not witnessed any incident during the race to have caused such a fall. Most observers think his diabetic condition may have resulted in his suffering a dizzy spell or fainting. (wikipedia)
1957 – The Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch.
1959 – Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. state.
1961 – The United States severs diplomatic relations with Cuba over the latter’s nationalization of American assets.
1962 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro.
1977 – Apple Computer is incorporated.
1990 – Manuel Noriega, former leader of Panama, surrenders to American forces.
Births
106 BC – Cicero, Roman philosopher, lawyer, and politician (d. 43 BC)
1892 – J.R.R. Tolkien, English writer, poet, and philologist (d. 1973)
1909 – Victor Borge, Danish-American pianist and conductor (d. 2000)
1917 – Vernon A. Walters, American general and diplomat, 17th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 2002)
1917 – Roger Williams Straus, Jr., American journalist and publisher, co-founded Farrar, Straus and Giroux (d. 2004)
1926 – George Martin, English composer, conductor, producer and the ‘fifth Beatle’ (d. 2016)
1945 – Stephen Stills, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1969 – Michael Schumacher, German race car driver
Deaths
1322 – Philip V of France (b. 1292)
1795 – Josiah Wedgwood, English potter, founded Wedgwood Company (b. 1730)
1945 – Edgar Cayce, American psychic and author (b. 1877)
1967 – Jack Ruby, murderer of Lee Harvey Oswald (b. 1911)
1979 – Conrad Hilton,  founded the Hilton Hotels & Resorts (b. 1887)