On This Day - What happened 3 January

Ping died after being poisoned by Wang Mang, who became acting emperor.

On 1 March 1811, Muhammad Ali invited all of the leading Mamluks to his palace to celebrate the declaration of war against the Wahhabis in Arabia. Between 600 and 700 Mamluks paraded for this purpose in Cairo.

Anna May Wong was born Wong Liu Tsong (Liu Tsong literally meaning "willow frost") on January 3, 1905, on Flower Street in Los Angeles, one block north of Chinatown, in an integrated community of Chinese, Irish, German and Japanese residents.

On 3 January, the representatives recommended Li Yuanhong as the provisional vice president.

After serving as a county judge, Truman wanted to run for Governor or Congress, but Pendergast rejected these ideas. Truman then thought he might serve out his career in some well-paying county sinecure; circumstances changed when Pendergast reluctantly backed him as the fifth choice in the 1934 Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate.

On January 3, 1946, as a presumed reward for his alleged wartime cooperation (in WWII), Dewey reluctantly commuted Luciano's pandering sentence on condition that he did not resist deportation to Italy.

A fire started in the television transmitter on 3 January 1956, damaging the top of the tower. Repairs took a year, and in 1957, the present radio aerial was added to the top.

In 1966 Castro staged a Tri-Continental Conference of Africa, Asia and Latin America in Havana, further establishing himself as a significant player on the world stage.

Apple Computer, Inc. was incorporated on January 3, 1977.

Noriega remained at large for several days, but realizing he had few options in the face of a massive manhunt and a $1 million reward for his capture, he obtained refuge in the Vatican diplomatic mission in Panama City. The U.S. military's psychological pressure on him and diplomatic pressure on the Vatican mission, Noriega finally surrendered to the U.S. military on 3 January 1990. He was immediately put on an MC-130E Combat Talon I aircraft and flown to the U.S.

Shortly after the elections, Gingrich, who had been one of the leading advocates for impeachment, announced he would resign from Congress as soon as he was able to find somebody to fill his vacant seat; Gingrich fulfilled this pledge, and officially resigned from Congress on January 3, 1999.

The United States Senate career of Barack Obama began on January 3, 2005. Obama won the seat in an election against Alan Keyes who replaced Republican Primary election winner Jack Ryan.

On January 3, Pelosi defeated Republican John Boehner of Ohio with 233 votes compared to his 202 votes in the election for speaker of the House.

On 3 January 2009, the bitcoin network was created when Nakamoto mined the starting block of the chain, known as the genesis block. Embedded in the coinbase of this block was the text "The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks". This note references a headline published by The Times and has been interpreted as both a timestamp and a comment on the instability caused by fractional-reserve banking.

On January 3, 2017, Ford CEO Mark Fields announced that in a "vote of confidence" because of the pro-business climate being fostered in part by President-elect Donald Trump, Ford has cancelled plans to invest $1.6 billion in a new plant in Mexico to manufacture the Ford Focus.

She was formally re-elected to the speakership at the start of the 116th Congress on January 3, 2019. Pelosi "clinched the speakership after weeks of whittling down opposition from some fellow Democrats seeking a new generation of leadership. The deal to win over holdouts put an expiration date on her tenure: she promised not to stay more than four years in the job". Two hundred twenty House Democrats voted to elect Pelosi speaker, while 15 other House Democrats cast their ballots for someone else or voted present.

On 4 January 2019, around 300 Arakan Army insurgents launched pre-dawn attacks on four border police outposts—Kyaung Taung, Nga Myin Taw, Ka Htee La and Kone Myint—in northern Buthidaung Township.

In 2019, Johnson started hosting an NBC competition series called The Titan Games.

Abu Mahdi was killed on 3 January 2020 around 1:00 a.m. local time (22:00 UTC 2 January), by missiles shot from American drones which targeted Qasem Soleimani and his convoy near Baghdad International Airport.

Soleimani was killed on 3 January 2020 around 1:00 a.m. local time (22:00 UTC 2 January), by U.S. drone strike near Baghdad International Airport.

On January 3, 2022, Holmes was found guilty of four out of 11 charges of fraud; she was acquitted on four charges; the jury failed to reach a verdict on 3 counts.

The Schouwburg Theater is the first in Amsterdam.

George Washington's army defeated the British at the Battle of Princeton in New Jersey.