What happened on January 3

54 documented historical events happened on January 3, from antiquity to the present day. The best known is this: Decius ordered all people in the Roman Empire (except Jews) to perform a sacrifice to the Roman gods, resulting in widespread persecution of Christians. On the same day, in another year: Pope Leo X issued the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem, excommunicating Martin Luther for refusing to retract 41 alleged errors found in his 95 Theses and other writings. On Almanaccolo every event is listed in chronological order, grouped by century, and links to the Wikipedia article it comes from, so you can always read further or check the source. Alongside the events you find who was born and who died on this date, and which observances are celebrated around the world.

160 people with a Wikipedia article were born on January 3, including Roger Williams Straus Jr., Herbie Nichols, Isabella Bashmakova. The list spans every era and every field — art, science, politics, sport, entertainment — ordered by year of birth, from the earliest to the most recent. The six featured people are those most has been written about: the ordering uses the length of their Wikipedia article as an indicator of prominence. For each one you find their occupation, year of birth and a link to the full biography.

96 people with a Wikipedia article died on January 3, including Emperor Yuan of Jin, Fujiwara no Michinaga, Walkelin. The list is in chronological order by year of death and spans all of documented history, from antiquity to the present day. For each person you find their occupation, the year and a link to the Wikipedia biography, where the full story and its sources can be read.

8 observances are celebrated on January 3 around the world: Christian feast day: Daniel of Padua, Christian feast day: Genevieve, Christian feast day: Holy Name of Jesus, Christian feast day: Kuriakose Elias Chavara (Syro-Malabar Catholic Church), Christian feast day: Pope Anterus, Christian feast day: January 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics). The list gathers national holidays, international days and religious or civil observances falling on this date in different countries, as recorded on Wikipedia. Some are fixed and recur on the same day every year; others depend on the local calendar. Each links to the article explaining its origin and meaning.