January 3
January 3 is the 3rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 363 days remain until the year's end. It falls in winter (northern hemisphere) and under the astrological sign of Capricorn.
Day of year
3
Days remaining
363
ISO week
1
Zodiac
Capricorn
Season
Winter
Sun declination
-22.8°
External references
Curated jump-off points to the major almanacs, encyclopaedias and primary sources for this date.
Wikipedia: this day →Britannica: this day →LoC: Today in History →History.com: this day →On-This-Day.com →BBC: On This Day →NYT: this day →Time and Date →NASA APOD archive →U.S. Naval Observatory →Wolfram|Alpha →Wikidata →Google Books →JSTOR →Internet Archive →
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Astronomy
Computed via Cooper's formula. Positive declination = Sun north of the celestial equator (Northern Hemisphere summer).
- Earth typically reaches perihelion (closest to the Sun) near this date.
- Quadrantids meteor shower peaks tonight in the Northern Hemisphere.
Position in the year
Holidays & observances
- Festival of Sleep Day (informal)
Events
A selection of widely-documented historical events that took place on this date. Years marked BCE follow standard astronomical convention.
- 106 BCE — Roman statesman and orator Marcus Tullius Cicero was born (some sources give January 3). ↗(2132 years ago)
- 1521 — Pope Leo X excommunicated Martin Luther in the bull Decet Romanum Pontificem. ↗(505 years ago)
- 1777 — The Battle of Princeton: George Washington defeated British forces in New Jersey. ↗(249 years ago)
- 1957 — The first electric watch (the Hamilton Electric 500) went on sale. ↗(69 years ago)
- 1959 — Alaska was admitted as the 49th U.S. state. ↗(67 years ago)
- 1977 — Apple Computer was incorporated in California. ↗(49 years ago)
Notable births
Notable deaths
Numerical & calendrical curiosities
| Day-of-year (3) | 3 · prime |
|---|---|
| Days remaining (363) | 3 × 11^2 |
| Date code DDMMYYYY | 03012026 · no palindrome in next 200 years |
| Sun declination | -22.83° (Cooper approximation) |
| Distance from solstice | 14 days |