January 1





January 1 is the 1st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are
364 days remaining (365 in leap years).

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 word "United Nations" is first officially used
     to describe the Allied pact.
   * 1956 - End of Anglo-Egyptian Condominium in Sudan.
   * 1959 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista overthrown by Fidel Castro.
   * 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
   * 1973 - Britain joins the EEC
   * 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 - Pascal Couchepin becomes president of Switzerland
   * 2003 - Lu's In‡cio Lula da Silva becomes president of Brazil

Births

   * 1431 - Pope Alexander VI (+ 1503)
   * 1449 - Lorenzo de Medici, statesman (+ 1492)
   * 1484 - Huldreich Zwingli, protestant leader (+ 1531)
   * 1618 - BartolomŽ Esteban Murillo, painter (+ 1682)
   * 1735 - Paul Revere, silversmith, United States patriot (+ 1818)
   * 1750 - Frederick Muhlenberg, first speaker of the United States House
     of Representatives (+ 1801)
   * 1752 - Betsy Ross, seamstress (+ 1836)
   * 1839 - Ouida, writer (+ 1908)
   * 1857 - Wojciech Kossak, painter
   * 1860 - George Washington Carver, educator, inventor, botanist (+ 1943)
   * 1863 - Pierre de Coubertin, historian and pedagogue, initiator of
     modern Olympic Games (+ 1937)
   * 1876 - Harriet Brooks, physicist (+ 1933)
   * 1879 - E. M. Forster, novelist (+ 1970)
   * 1887 - Wilhelm Canaris, admiral (+ 1945)
   * 1890 - Anton Melik, Slovene geographer (+ 1966)
   * 1894 - Satyendra Nath Bose, mathematician (+ 1974)
   * 1895 - J. Edgar Hoover, FBI director (+ 1972)
   * 1900 - Xavier Cugat, musician, bandleader (+ 1990)
   * 1909 - Barry M. Goldwater, Arizona Senator (+ 1998)
   * 1909 - John Glenn, astronaut, soldier, Senator from Ohio
   * 1909 - Dana Andrews, actor (+ 1992)
   * 1911 - Hank Greenberg, baseball player (+ 1986)
   * 1912 - Kim Philby, spy (+ 1988)
   * 1917 - Jule Gregory Charney, meteorologist (+ 1981)
   * 1919 - J. D. Salinger, novelist
   * 1922 - Rocky Graziano, boxer, born "Rocky Barbella" (+ 1990)
   * 1925 - Stymie Beard, actor (+ 1981)
   * 1927 - Doak Walker, American football star
   * 1928 - Ernest Tidyman, writer (+ 1984)
   * 1933 - Joe Orton, writer (+ 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
   * 1958 - Grand Master Flash, singer
   * 1970 - Paul Thomas Anderson, film director, writer, producer
   * 1979 - Koichi Domoto, artist

Deaths

   * 898 - Odo, Count of Paris
   * 1817 - Martin Heinrich Klaproth, chemist (* 1743)
   * 1894 - Heinrich Hertz, physicist (* 1857)
   * 1953 - Hank Williams, country music singer
   * 1972 - Maurice Chevalier, actor and singer
   * 1986 - Alfredo Binda, Italian cyclist
   * 1992 - Grace Hopper, computer pioneer
   * 1994 - Cesar Romero, actor
   * 1997 - Townes Van Zandt, musician
   * 2001 - Ray Walston, actor

Holidays and observances

   * Many countries around the world using Gregorian Calendar - New Year's
     Day; often celebrated at 0:00 with fireworks.
   * Vienna New Year's Concert
   * United States - Copyright Expiration Day, celebrating the expiration of
     the copyright of a year's worth of works of authorship into the public
     domain. Not celebrated from 1978 to 2018 because of repeated copyright
     term extensions.
   * Catholicism - Octave of Christmas, Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God.
   * Catholicism - National Migration Week begins (varying official support
     by the office of U.S. President, not strictly religious)
   * Haiti Independence Day
   * Taiwan Founding of Republic of China.
   * Sudan Independence Day
   * Cuba Liberation Day
   * Slovakia: Establishment of Slovak Republic.
   * Last day of Kwanzaa
   * Pasadena, California - The Tournament of Roses parade and,
     traditionally, the Rose Bowl
   * World Day for Prayer for Peace