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January 1 is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. It is preceded by December 31 (in the previous year), and succeeded by January 2. Following January 1, there are 364 days in the year (365 in leap years).
[edit] Events
- 45 BC - Julian calendar goes into effect
- 404 - Last gladiator competition in Rome
- 1438 - Albert II of Habsburg becomes King of Hungary
- 1502 - Rio de Janeiro discovered
- 1622 - In the Gregorian calendar, January 1 is declared as the first day of the year, instead of for example March 25 in England
- 1651 - Charles II crowned King of Scotland
- 1700 - Russia accepts Julian calendar
- 1707 - John V becomes King of Portugal
- 1788 - First edition of The Times, previously The Daily Universal Register, was published.
- 1801 - Legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland completed to form United Kingdom
- 1801 - Discovery of 1 Ceres, first known asteroid
- 1804 - End of French rule in Haiti.
- 1808 - Importation of slaves into the United States is banned
- 1863 - Abraham Lincoln delivers the Emancipation Proclamation during the second year of the American Civil War.
- 1863 - The first claim under the Homestead Act is made for a farm in Nebraska
- 1874 - New York City annexes The Bronx
- 1880 - Construction of the Panama Canal begins
- 1887 - Queen Victoria is proclaimed Empress of India at the first Imperial Assemblage (Durbar) in Delhi.
- 1892 - Ellis Island opens to begin accepting immigrants to the United States
- 1893 - Japan accepts the Gregorian calendar
- 1897 - Brooklyn, New York merges with New York City
- 1899 - End of Spanish rule in Cuba.
- 1899 - Queens and Staten Island merge with New York City
- 1901 - Nigeria becomes a British protectorate
- 1901 - Establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia (Federation).
- 1902 - The first Rose Bowl game is played in Pasadena, California
- 1908 - A ball signifying New Year's Day drops in New York City's Times Square for the first time
- 1911 - Northern Territory is separated from South Australia
- 1912 - Establishment of Republic of China
- 1919 - Edsel Ford succeeds his father as head of the Ford Motor Company
- 1934 - Alcatraz becomes a federal prison
- 1937 - Anastasio Somoza becomes President of Nicaragua
- 1937 - The first Cotton Bowl game is played in Dallas, Texas
- 1942 - World War II: The words "United Nations" is first officially used to describe the Allied pact.
- 1947 - India becomes independent.
- 1956 - End of Anglo-Egyptian Condominium in Sudan.
- 1959 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista overthrown by Fidel Castro.
- 1960 - Nigeria becomes independent
- 1960 - Cameroon becomes independent
- 1962 - Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand
- 1964 - Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland dissolved
- 1970 - Unix epoch begins at 00:00:00 UTC.
- 1971 - Cigarette advertisements banned on United States television
- 1979 - United States and China begin diplomatic relations
- 1981 - Palau becomes self-governing
- 1981 - Greece enters the European Community
- 1983 - The ARPANET officially changes to use the Internet Protocol, creating the Internet
- 1984 - Brunei becomes a fully independent state.
- 1984 - AT&T is broken up into 22 independent units
- 1984 - Spain and Portugal enter the European Community
- 1986 - Aruba becomes independent of Curacao
- 1992 - George H. W. Bush is first President of the United States to address the Australian Parliament
- 1993 - Czechoslovakia divides. Establishment of Slovak Republic and Czech Republic
- 1994 - North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goes into effect
- 1995 - World Trade Organization goes into effect
- 1995 - Austria, Finland and Sweden enter the European Union
- 1996 - Curacao gains limited self-government
- 1998 - Smoking is banned in all California bars and restaurants
- 1999 - Euro currency introduced.
- 2002 - Euro banknotes and coins become legal tender.
- 2003 - Luís Inácio Lula da Silva becomes president of Brazil
[edit] Births
- 1431 - Pope Alexander VI, (d. 1503)
- 1449 - Lorenzo de Medici, statesman, (d. 1492)
- 1484 - Huldrych Zwingli, protestant leader, (d. 1531)
- 1618 - Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, painter, (d. 1682)
- 1735 - Paul Revere, silversmith, United States patriot, (d. 1818)
- 1750 - Frederick Muhlenberg, first speaker of the United States House of Representatives, (d. 1801)
- 1752 - Betsy Ross, seamstress, (d. 1836)
- 1805 - Joseph Smith, Jr, Mormon founder (d. 1844)
- 1839 - Ouida, writer, (d. 1908)
- 1857 - Wojciech Kossak, painter
- 1860 - George Washington Carver, educator, inventor, botanist, (d. 1943)
- 1863 - Pierre de Coubertin, historian and pedagogue, initiator of modern Olympic Games, (d. 1937)
- 1876 - Harriet Brooks, physicist, (d. 1933)
- 1879 - E. M. Forster, novelist, (d. 1970)
- 1887 - Wilhelm Canaris, admiral, (d. 1945)
- 1890 - Anton Melik, Slovene geographer, (d. 1966)
- 1894 - Satyendra Nath Bose, mathematician, (d. 1974)
- 1895 - J. Edgar Hoover, FBI director, (d. 1972)
- 1900 - Xavier Cugat, musician, bandleader, (d. 1990)
- 1909 - Barry M. Goldwater, Arizona Senator, (d. 1998)
- 1909 - John Glenn, astronaut, soldier, Senator from Ohio
- 1909 - Dana Andrews, actor, (d. 1992)
- 1911 - Hank Greenberg, baseball player, (d. 1986)
- 1912 - Kim Philby, spy (d. 1988)
- 1917 - Jule Gregory Charney, meteorologist, (d. 1981)
- 1919 - J. D. Salinger, novelist
- 1922 - Rocky Graziano, boxer, born "Rocky Barbella", (d. 1990)
- 1925 - Stymie Beard, actor, (d. 1981)
- 1925 - Idi Amin, dictator of Uganda
- 1927 - Doak Walker, American football star
- 1928 - Ernest Tidyman, writer, (d. 1984)
- 1933 - Joe Orton, writer, (d. 1967)
- 1940 - Frank Langella, actor
- 1940 - Helmut Jahn, architect
- 1942 - Country Joe McDonald, musician, (Country Joe and the Fish)
- 1943 - Don Novello, actor, comedian, writer ("Father Guido Sarducci")
- 1945 - Jacky Ickx, automobile racer
- 1950 - Rajnikanth, Actor,south India,Tamil
- 1958 - Grandmaster Flash, singer
- 1970 - Paul Thomas Anderson, film director, writer, producer
- 1974 - Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, Cricket Player, India
- 1979 - Koichi Domoto, artist
[edit] Deaths
- 898 - Odo, Count of Paris
- 1817 - Martin Heinrich Klaproth, chemist, (b. 1743)
- 1894 - Heinrich Hertz, physicist, (b. 1857)
- 1953 - Hank Williams, country music singer
- 1972 - Maurice Chevalier, actor and singer
- 1977 - Elvis Aron Presley, singer and acter (b. 1935)
- 1986 - Alfredo Binda, Italian cyclist
- 1992 - Grace Hopper, computer pioneer
- 1994 - Cesar Romero, actor
- 1997 - Townes Van Zandt, musician
- 2001 - Ray Walston, actor
[edit] Holidays and observances
December 31 - January 2 - December 1 - February 1 – listing of all days
