January 4 is the fourth day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 361 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Monday, Wednesday or Friday (58 in 400 years each) than on Saturday or Sunday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Tuesday or Thursday (56).
+ 1865 – The New York Stock Exchange opens its first permanent headquarters near Wall Street in New York City.
+ 1958 – Sputnik 1 falls to Earth from orbit.
+ 1959 – Luna 1 becomes the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon.
+ 1974 – United States President Richard Nixon refuses to hand over materials subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.
+ 1999 – Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura is sworn in as governor of Minnesota.
+ 2007 – The 110th United States Congress convenes, electing Nancy Pelosi as the first female Speaker of the House in U.S. history.
( Births )
+ 1643 – Isaac Newton, English mathematician and physicist (d. 1727)
+ 1930 – Don Shula, American football player and coach
+ 1935 – Floyd Patterson, American boxer (d. 2006)
+ 1957 – Patty Loveless, American singer-songwriter and guitarist