...

that General Antonio Valero de Bernabé is said to have used his skills as a ventriloquist
to fool his enemies into believing that their weapons were possessed?

In the news

American actress and comedian Betty White (pictured) dies at the age of
99.

In Hong Kong, Stand News closes down after its staff are arrested for
sedition.

The Supreme Court of Russia orders the closure of Memorial, Russia's

oldest human rights group, for violations of the foreign agent law.

In cricket, Australia retains the Ashes after winning the first three Tests Betty White
against England.

Ongoing: COVID-19 pandemic

Recent deaths: Richard Leakey •
Sam Jones •
Ivan Mozgovenko •
Naren Chandra Das •
Dan Reeves •
Paul B. Kidd

On this day

January 4: Colonial Martyrs Repression Day in Angola (1961)

1698 – Most of London's Palace of Whitehall, the main residence of

English monarchs since 1530, was destroyed by fire.

1885 – Sino-French War: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier

defeated a larger Qing Chinese force at the Battle of Núi Bop in northern
Vietnam.

1948 – Burma achieved independence from the British Empire, with Sao
Shwe Thaik as its first president. Rose Heilbron

1972 – Rose Heilbron (pictured) became the first female judge to sit at the Central Criminal
Court of England and Wales.

2010 – The Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest structure, officially opened in Dubai.

Moses Mendelssohn (d. 1786) • Johanna Westerdijk (b. 1883) • Tom Acker (d. 2021)

More anniversaries: January 3 •

January 4 •
January 5