EVENTS
- New Year’s Day – The most celebrated holiday around the world.
- 1502 – Portuguese explorers landed at Guanabara Bay on the coast of South America and named it Rio de Janeiro (River of January). Rio de Janeiro is currently Brazil’s second largest city.
- 1660 – Samuel Pepys began his famous diary in which he chronicled life in London including the Great Plague of 1664-65 and the Great Fire of 1666.
- 1776 – During the American Revolution, George Washington unveiled the Grand Union Flag, the first national flag in America.
- 1797 – Albany replaces New York City as the capital of New York.
- 1801 – The first known asteroid, 1 Ceres, is discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi.
- 1801 – Ireland was added to Great Britain by an Act of Union thus creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
- 1863 – The first claim under the Homestead Act is made by Daniel Freeman for a farm in Nebraska.
- 1863 – The Emancipation Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves in the states rebelling against the Union.
- 1877 – Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India.
- 1890 – The first Tournament of Roses is held in Pasadena, California.
- 1892 – Ellis Island in New York Harbor opened. Over 20 million new arrivals to America were processed until its closing in 1954.
- 1901 – The Commonwealth of Australia was founded as six former British colonies became six states with Edmund Barton as the first prime minister.
- 1902 – The first Rose Bowl game is played in Pasadena, California.
- 1915 – During World War I, the British Battleship Formidable was hit by a torpedo in the English Channel, killing 547 crewmen.
- 1934 – Alcatraz Island becomes a U.S. federal prison.
- 1937 – The first Cotton Bowl game is played in Dallas, Texas.
- 1942 – Twenty six countries signed the Declaration of the United Nations, in Washington, D.C., reaffirming their opposition to the Axis powers and confirming that no single nation would make a separate peace. This occurred during WWII.
- 1958 – The EEC (European Economic Community) known as the Common Market was formed by Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands in order to remove trade barriers and coordinate trade policies.
- 1959 – Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba after leading a revolution that drove out Dictator Fulgencio Batista. Castro then established a Communist dictatorship.
- 1973 – Britain, Ireland and Denmark became members of the Common Market (EEC).
- 1975 – During the Watergate scandal, former top aides to President Nixon including former Attorney General John Mitchell, Domestic Affairs Advisor John Ehrlichman and Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman, were found guilty of obstruction of justice.
- 1979 – China and the U.S. established diplomatic relations, 30 years after the foundation of the People’s Republic.
- 1993 – Czechoslovakia broke into separate Czech and Slovak republics.
- 1999 – Eleven European nations began using a new single European currency, the Euro, for electronic financial and business transactions. Participating countries included: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1735 – American Patriot Paul Revere (1735-1818) was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Best known for his ride on the night of April 18, 1775, warning Americans of British plans to raid Lexington and Concord.
- 1752 – Betsy Ross (1752-1836) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was a seamstress credited with helping to originate and sew the Stars and Stripes flag of America in 1776.
- 1895 – J Edgar Hoover (FBI)
- 1911 – Hank Greenburg (Baseball Player)
- 1967 – Derrick Thomas (NFL Linebacker)
DEATHS
- 1782 – Johann Christian Bach (German composer)
- 1894 – Heinrich Hertz (German physicist)
- 1953 – Hank Williams (American singer-songwriter, guitarist)
- 1958 – Edward Weston (American photographer)
- 1997 – Townes Van Zandt (American singer-songwriter, guitarist)