So you want to have a drink but you aren't sure why? Here are some GREAT reasons to call your friends over and have a party.
January 29th - holidays
- Christian Feast Day

- Constitution Day (Gibraltar)

January 29th - events
- 2006 - India's Irfan Pathan becomes the first bowler to take a Test cricket hat-trick in the opening over of a match.

- 2005 - The first direct commercial flights from mainland China (from Guangzhou) to Taiwan since 1949 arrived in Taipei. Shortly afterwards, a China Airlines flight lands in Beijing.

- 2002 - In his State of the Union Address, President George W. Bush describes "regimes that sponsor terror" as an Axis of Evil, in which he includes Iraq, Iran and North Korea.

- 2001 - Thousands of student protesters in Indonesia storm parliament and demand that President Abdurrahman Wahid resign due to alleged involvement in corruption scandals.

- 1998 - In Birmingham, Alabama, a bomb explodes at an abortion clinic, killing one and severely wounding another. Serial bomber Eric Robert Rudolph is suspected as the culprit.

- 1996 - President Jacques Chirac announces a "definitive end" to French nuclear weapons testing.

- 1996 - La Fenice, Venice's opera house, is destroyed by fire.

- 1989 - Hungary establishes diplomatic relations with South Korea, making it the first Eastern Bloc nation to do so

- 1985 - Final recording session of We Are The World, by the supergroup USA for Africa.

- 1979 - Brenda Spencer kills two people and wounds eight at the Grover Cleveland Elementary School shootings.

- 1963 - The first inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame are announced.

- 1944 - USS Missouri the last battleship commissioned by the United States Navy is launched.

- 1944 - World War II: The Battle of Cisterna takes place in central Italy.

- 1944 - World War II: Approximately 38 men, women, and children die in the Koniuchy massacre in Poland.

- 1944 - In Bologna, Italy, the Anatomical Theatre of the Archiginnasio is destroyed in an air-raid.

- 1943 - The first day of the Battle of Rennell Island, U.S. cruiser Chicago is torpedoed and heavily damaged by Japanese bombers.

- 1940 - Three trains on the Sakurajima Line, in Osaka, Japan, collide and explode while approaching Ajikawaguchi Station. 181 people are killed.

- 1936 - The first inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame are announced.

- 1916 - World War I: Paris is first bombed by German zeppelins.

- 1900 - The American League is organized in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with 8 founding teams.

- 1891 - Liliuokalani is proclaimed Queen of Hawaii, its last monarch.

- 1886 - Karl Benz patents the first successful gasoline-driven automobile.

- 1863 - Bear River Massacre.

- 1861 - Kansas is admitted as the 34th U.S. state.

- 1856 - Queen Victoria institutes the Victoria Cross.

- 1850 - Henry Clay introduces the Compromise of 1850 to the U.S. Congress.

- 1845 - "The Raven" is published in the New York Evening Mirror, the first publication with the name of the author, Edgar Allan Poe

- 1834 - US President Andrew Jackson orders first use of federal soldiers to suppress a labor dispute.

- 1814 - France defeats Russia and Prussia in the Battle of Brienne.

- 1676 - Feodor III becomes Tsar of Russia.

- 904 - Sergius III comes out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher.

January 29th - births
- 1993 - Michelle Larcher de Brito, Portuguese tennis player

- 1991 - Hugh Grosvenor, Earl Grosvenor, son of the Duke of Westminster

- 1989 - Kevin Shattenkirk, American ice hockey player

- 1988 - Stephanie Gilmore, Australian surfer

- 1987 - Matthew Wilson, English world rally driver

- 1986 - Drew Tyler Bell, American actor

- 1986 - Mark Howard, English football player

- 1986 - Jair Jurrjens, Dutch baseball player

- 1986 - Simon Vuk?evi?, Montenegrin footballer

- 1985 - Athina Onassis, French heiress

- 1985 - Isabel Lucas, Australian actress

- 1985 - Mikey Hachey, American musician (Suburban Legends)

- 1985 - Marc Gasol, Spanish basketball player

- 1985 - Todd Herzog, American reality-show contestant

- 1983 - Nedžad Sinanovi?, Bosnian basketball player

- 1982 - Adam Lambert, American actor and singer

- 1982 - Irina Shabayeva American fashion designer

- 1982 - Heidi Mueller, American actress

- 1981 - Jonny Lang, American musician

- 1981 - Álex Ubago, Spanish musician

- 1981 - Darío Lopilato, Argentine actor

- 1981 - Rui En, Singaporean actress & singer

- 1980 - Yael Bar-Zohar, Israeli actress and model

- 1980 - Ivan Klasni?, Croatian football player

- 1980 - Ingimundur Ingimundarson, Icelandic handball player

- 1979 - April Scott, American actress and model

- 1979 - Sui Feifei, Chinese basketball player

- 1979 - Andrew Keegan, American actor

- 1979 - Joseph Todd, Arena Football League player

- 1979 - Andreas Thorstensson, Swedish website developer

- 1978 - Martin Schmitt, German ski jumper

- 1978 - Rob Bironas, American football player

- 1977 - Justin Hartley, American actor

- 1977 - Chaly Jones, Dutch footballer

- 1976 - Chris Castle, American singer-songwriter

- 1976 - Charles Divins, American model and actor

- 1975 - Sara Gilbert, American actress

- 1973 - Jason Schmidt, American baseball player

- 1972 - Brian Wood, writer and artist of graphic novels

- 1970 - Heather Graham, American actress

- 1970 - Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Indian shooter

- 1970 - Jörg Hoffmann, German swimmer

- 1969 - Hyde, Japanese singer (L'Arc-en-Ciel)

- 1968 - Edward Burns, American actor

- 1968 - Susi Erdmann, German bobsledder and luger

- 1968 - Sora Jung, Korean actress

- 1967 - Cyril Suk, Czech tennis player

- 1967 - Stacey King, American basketball player

- 1966 - Romário, Brazilian footballer

- 1965 - Dominik Hašek, Czech ice hockey player

- 1965 - Peter Lundgren, Swedish tennis coach

- 1964 - Andre Reed, American football player

- 1964 - Anna Ryder Richardson, British interior designer and television presenter

- 1963 - Bob Holly, American professional wrestler

- 1963 - Monica Horan, American actress

- 1962 - Nicholas Turturro, American actor

- 1960 - Matthew Ashford, American actor

- 1960 - Gia Carangi, American model (d. 1986)

- 1960 - Sean Kerly, English field hockey player

- 1960 - Greg Louganis, American diver

- 1960 - Steve Sax, American baseball player

- 1960 - J. G. Thirlwell, Australian-born musician

- 1957 - Grazyna Miller, Italian poet, translator, and journalist

- 1957 - Rino Schreuder, Dutch publisher

- 1955 - Eddie Jordan, American basketball player and head coach

- 1954 - Richard Manitoba, American singer (The Dictators and MC5)

- 1954 - Terry Kinney, American actor

- 1954 - Oprah Winfrey, American talk show host and actress

- 1954 - Doug Risebrough, Canadian ice hockey player, coach and executive

- 1953 - Peter Baumann, German musician with Tangerine Dream

- 1953 - Caesar Cervin, American soccer the Texas Outlaws of the Professional

- 1953 - Paulin Bordeleau, Quebec ice hockey player

- 1953 - Hwang Woo-Suk, South Korean biomedical scientist

- 1953 - Teresa Teng, Taiwanese singer (d. 1995)

- 1953 - Lynne McGranger, Australian actress

- 1953 - Louie Pérez, American songwriter, percussionist and guitarist

- 1953 - Paul Fusco, American puppeteer, voice-over artist and character actor

- 1952 - Klaus-Peter Hanisch, German footballer (d. 2009)

- 1952 - Rupert Hanley, South African cricketer

- 1952 - Tommy Ramone, Hungarian-born musician and record producer (The Ramones)

- 1951 - Andy Roberts, West Indian cricketer

- 1950 - Ann Jillian, American actress

- 1950 - Jody Scheckter, South African race car driver

- 1948 - Cristina Saralegui, American talk-show host

- 1948 - Marc Singer, Canadian-born actor

- 1948 - Pat Kenny, Irish TV presenter and radio host

- 1947 - Linda B. Buck, American scientist, Nobel laureate

- 1947 - David Byron, English singer (Uriah Heep) (d. 1985)

- 1947 - Marián Varga, Slovak musician

- 1945 - Jim Nicholson, Irish politician

- 1945 - Tom Selleck, American actor, screenwriter and film producer

- 1944 - Andrew Loog Oldham, English rock and roll producer

- 1944 - Yoweri Museveni, President of Uganda

- 1944 - Patrick Lipton Robinson, Jamaican judge

- 1943 - Tony Blackburn, English disc jockey

- 1942 - Claudine Longet, French singer and dancer

- 1941 - Robin Morgan, American feminist and activist

- 1940 - Katharine Ross, American actress

- 1940 - Kunimitsu Takahashi, Japanese motorcycle racer and racing driver

- 1939 - Germaine Greer, Australian writer

- 1936 - James Jamerson, American bass guitarist for Motown Records (d. 1983)

- 1933 - Sacha Distel, French singer and guitarist (d. 2004)

- 1933 - Paul Sally, American mathematician

- 1933 - Hugo Herrestrup, Danish actor

- 1932 - Tommy Taylor, English footballer (d. 1958)

- 1932 - George Allen, English footballer

- 1930 - Derek Bailey, English guitar virtuoso (d. 2005)

- 1930 - John Junkin, English radio, television and film performer (d. 2006)

- 1928 - Lee Shau Kee, Hong Kong property developer

- 1927 - Edward Abbey, American author and environmentalist (d. 1989)

- 1926 - Franco Cerri, Italian musician

- 1926 - Abdus Salam, Pakistani physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1996)

- 1924 - Luigi Nono, Italian composer (d. 1990)

- 1924 - Marcelle Ferron, Quebec painter and stained glass artist (d. 2001)

- 1924 - Peter Voulkos, American artist (d. 2002)

- 1923 - Paddy Chayefsky, American writer (d. 1981)

- 1923 - Ivo Robic, Croatian singer and songwriter (d. 2000)

- 1922 - Gerda Steinhoff, Nazi concentration camp supervisor (d. 1946)

- 1921 - Anthony George, American actor (d. 2005)

- 1920 - José Luis de Villalonga, Spanish aristocrat (d. 2007)

- 1918 - John Forsythe, American actor (d. 2010)

- 1915 - John Serry, Sr., American musician and arranger (d. 2003)

- 1913 - Victor Mature, American actor (d. 1999)

- 1913 - Daniel Taradash, American screenwriter (d. 2003)

- 1913 - Peter von Zahn, German journalist and writer (d. 2001)

- 1911 - Peter von Siemens, German industrialist (d. 1986)

- 1910 - Colin Middleton, Irish artist (d. 1983)

- 1905 - Barnett Newman, American painter (d. 1970)

- 1901 - Allen B. DuMont, American scientist and inventor (d. 1965)

- 1895 - Muna Lee, American poet (d. 1965)

- 1891 - Elizaveta Gerdt, Russian ballerina (d. 1975)

- 1891 - R. Norris Williams, American survivor of the RMS Titanic sinking (d. 1968)

- 1888 - Sydney Chapman, British mathematician and geophysicist (d. 1970)

- 1880 - W. C. Fields, American actor (d. 1946)

- 1877 - Georges Catroux, French general (d. 1969)

- 1876 - Havergal Brian, British composer (d. 1972)

- 1874 - John D. Rockefeller Jr., American entrepreneur (d. 1960)

- 1867 - Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, Spanish writer (d. 1928)

- 1866 - Romain Rolland, French writer, Nobel Laureate (d. 1944)

- 1866 - Julio Peris Brell, Spanish painter (d. 1944)

- 1862 - Frederick Delius, English composer (d. 1934)

- 1860 - Anton Chekhov, Russian writer (d. 1904)

- 1846 - Karol Olszewski, Polish scientist (d. 1915)

- 1843 - William McKinley, 25th President of the United States (d. 1901)

- 1810 - Ernst Kummer, German mathematician (d. 1893)

- 1801 - Horatia Nelson, daughter of Emma Hamilton and Horatio Nelson (d. 1881)

- 1782 - Daniel Auber, French composer (d. 1871)

- 1761 - Albert Gallatin, Swiss-American United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1849)

- 1756 - Henry Lee III, American General (d. 1818)

- 1754 - Moses Cleaveland, founder of Cleveland (d. 1806)

- 1749 - King Christian VII of Denmark (d. 1808)

- 1737 - Thomas Paine, English-born American patriot (d. 1809)

- 1718 - Paul Rabaut, French Huguenot pastor (d. 1794)

- 1717 - Jeffrey Amherst, British military leader (d. 1797)

- 1715 - Georg Christoph Wagenseil, Austrian composer (d. 1777)

- 1711 - Giuseppe Bonno, Austrian composer (d. 1788)

- 1688 - Emanuel Swedenborg, Swedish scientist and philosopher (d. 1772)

- 1632 - Johann Georg Graevius, German classical scholar and critic (d. 1703)

- 1584 - Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange (d. 1647)
