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Information about 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

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