January 7

Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, the lexicographer and editor central to reviving Hebrew as a spoken language, was born in Luzhki.

Turning his improved telescope on Jupiter, Galileo Galilei noted points of light beside it that he soon recognized as orbiting moons, now called the Galilean satellites.

Nikola Tesla, the inventor and electrical engineer whose work on alternating-current systems shaped modern power distribution, died in New York City at the age of 86.