On this day in History - Jan. 1

• 45 BC - Julian calendar goes into effect.
• 0379 - Basilius the Great, of Caesarea, Saint (Moralia), dies .
• 0404 - Last gladiator competition in Rome and martyrdom of Saint Telemachus.
• 0430 - Maomé regressou a Meca, após ter derrotado as forças de Meca e os seus aliados. O Islamismo triunfou na Arábia.
• 0431 - Pope Alexander VI [Rodrigo Borgia] Spanish/Italian pope (1492-1503) was born (d. 1503).
• 0630 - Prophet Muhammad sets out toward Mecca with the army that will capture it bloodlessly.
• 0766 - Ali ar-Rida was born (d. 0818). Shia Imam.
• 0990 - Kievan Rus' adopts the Julian calendar.
• 1259 - Michael VIII Palaeologus is proclaimed co-emperor of the Empire of Nicaea with his ward John IV Lascaris.
• 1431 - Pope Alexander VI was born (d. 1503)
• 1438 - Albert II of Habsburg becomes King of Hungary.
• 1449 - Lorenzo de Medici was born (d.1492). Italian statesman.
• 1467 - Sigismund I the Old was born (d. 1548). King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania
• 1484 - Huldreich Zwingli was born (d. 1531). Swiss Protestant leader.
• 1502 - Navegadores portugueses exploram a Baía da Guanabara e confundem-na com a foz de um rio a que chamam Rio de Janeiro.
• 1502 - Gregorius XIII, [Ugo Buoncampagni] dies. Italian Pope (1572-85).
• 1511 - The first Henry, Duke of Cornwall was born (d. 1511)
• 1515 - Louis XII of France dies (b. 1462) .
• 1516 - Margareta Leijonhufvud was born (d. 1551). Queen of Sweden.
• 1557 - István Bocskay was born (d. 1606)., Prince of Transylvania.
• 1574 - Bolivia: el conquistador español Santiago Barba de Padilla funda la ciudad de Oropesa, que fue llamada Cochabamba a partir de 1786.
• 1600 - Scotland first began the numbered year of its Julian calendar .
• 1600 - Friedrich Spanheim was born (d. 1649). Dutch theologian.
• 1614 - John Wilkins was born (d. 1672). English Bishop of Chester.
• 1618 - Bartolomé Esteban Murillo was born (d. 1682). Spanish painter.
• 1622 - No seguimento das reformas do calendário, começadas em fins do século XVI, o Papado adopta o dia 1 de Janeiro como início do ano novo, em vez do dia 25 de Março.
• 1638 - Emperor Go-Sai of Japan was born (d. 1685)
• 1648 - Elkanah Settle was born (d. 1724). English writer.
• 1651 - Charles II crowned King of Scotland .
• 1655 - Christian Thomasius was born (d. 1728). German jurist.
• 1660 - Samuel Pepys starts his diary / Samuel Pepys, começou a escrever o seu famoso diário, em que descreveu a vida londrina da segunda metade do século XVII, incluindo a Grande Peste de 1664-1665, o Grande Incêndio de 1666, assim como a vida da corte inglesa, em que se inclui notícias sobre a chegada da infanta portuguesa D. Catarina de Bragança.
• 1673 - Regular mail delivery begins between New York and Boston.
• 1684 - Arnold Drakenborch was born (d. 1748). Dutch classical scholar.
• 1700 - Russia first adopted Weste rn numbers for its Julian calendar .
• 1701 - Great Britain & Ireland union is in effect, creating United Kingdom .
• 1704 - Soame Jenyns was born (d. 1787). English writer.
• 1707 - John V becomes King of Portugal .
• 1711 - Franz Freiherr von der Trenck was born (d. 1749). Austrian soldier.
• 1714 - Kristijonas Donelaitis was born (d. 1780). Lithuanian poet.
• 1735 - Paul Revere was born (d. 1818). American silversmith, patriot.
• 1739 - Bouvet Island is discovered by French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier.
• 1745 - Anthony Wayne was born (d. 1796). American general and statesman.
• 1750 - Frederick Muhlenberg was born (d. 1801). 1st Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
• 1752 - Betsy Ross was born (d. 1836). American seamstress.
• 1752 - England and its colonies first began the numbered year of their calendar .
• 1763 - O Brasil é elevado a vice-reino. A capital é transferida de Salvador para o Rio de Janeiro
• 1767 - Maria Edgeworth was born (d. 1849). Anglo-Irish novelist.
• 1772 - The first traveller's cheques, which can be used in 90 European cities, go on sale in London for the first time.
• 1774 - André Marie Constant Duméril was born (d. 1860). French zoologist.
• 1779 - William Clowes was born (d. 1847). English printer.
• 1782 - Johann Christian Bach dies (b. 1735). German composer.
• 1787 - José Anastácio da Cunha dies (b. 11 Mar 1744). Portuguese mathematician and poet.
• 1788 - First edition of The Times, previously The Daily Universal Register, was published.
• 1790 - Portugal: Fundação da Academia Real de Fortificação, Artilharia e Desenho.
• 1797 - Albany replaces New York City as the capital of New York.
• 1800 - The Dutch East India Company ceases to exist.
• 1801 - Legislative union of Kingdom of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ireland completed to form United Kingdom .
• 1801 - Discovery of 1 Ceres, first known asteroid by Giuseppe Piazzi.
• 1803 - Emperor Gia Long orders all bronze wares of the Tay Son dynasty to be collected and melted into nine cannons for the Royal Citadel in Hue, Vietnam
• 1804 - French rule ends in Haiti. Haiti becomes the first black republic and first country independent in the West Indies.
• 1806 - The French Republican Calendar is abolished.
• 1808 - Importation of slaves into the United States is banned .
• 1808 - Sierra Leone becomes a British colony.
• 1816 - Manuel Murillo Toro was born. Colombian politician and writer who was for two times President of Republic of Colombia
• 1818 - Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus is published.
• 1820 - Revolução liberal em Espanha. O general Riego revolta-se em Cádis, sendo acompanhado por levantamentos na Corunha, Saragoça e Barcelona. A Constituição espanhola de 1812 é restabelecida.
• 1821 - A guarnição militar da cidade do Pará, no Brasil, estabelece uma junta constitucional, na ausência do governador.
• 1823 - Sándor Petöfi was born (d. 1849). Hungarian poet and revolutionary.
• 1833 - Britain claims sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.
• 1836 - Casamento por procuração de D. Maria II com o príncipe Fernando Augusto de Saxe-Coburgo-Gotha, irmão do primeiro rei dos Belgas, Leopoldo.
• 1837 - Um violento terramoto atinge Israel, matando aproximadamente 4000 pessoas. Quase todos os mortos foram judeus. Mais de 2000 pessoas morreram em Tzfat e 700 em T’veriya.
• 1838 - 1st official horse race in South Australia-Adelaide .
• 1841 - Francisco Ferrera is elected the first President of Republic in Honduras.
• 1845 - The Cobble Hill Tunnel, in Brooklyn, was finished.
• 1852 - Netherlands begins issuing postage stamps .
• 1858 - Canada begins using decimal currency system .
• 1859 - Henrique Pousão was born. Portuguese naturalist painter prematured died with 25 years old.
• 1861 - Porfirio Diaz conquers Mexico City.
• 1862 - Mikhail Vasilievich Ostrogradsky dies (b. 1801). Russian physicist.
• 1863 - The first claim under the Homestead Act is made by Daniel Freeman for a farm in Nebraska.
• 1863 - Abraham Lincoln delivers the Emancipation Proclamation during the second year of the American Civil War.
• 1863 - Pierre de Coubertin was born (d. 1937). French historian and pedagogue, initiator of modern Olympic Games
• 1864 - Alfred Stieglitz was born (d. 1946). American photographer .
• 1865 - Chile: se establece el sistema métrico decimal.
• 1869 - Martin W. Bates dies (b. 1786). U.S. Senator from Delaware.
• 1871 - Argentina: entra en vigor el Código Civil argentino, redactado por Dalmacio Vélez Sársfield.
• 1873 - Mariano Azuela was born. Mexican novelist (The Flies, The Bosses) .
• 1874 - New York City annexes The Bronx .
• 1874 - Gustave Whitehead was born (d. 1927). German-born inventor.
• 1874 - Frank Knox was born (d. 1944). American Secretary of the Navy.
• 1876 - The Reichsbank opens in Berlin.
• 1877 - Queen Victoria of Britain is proclaimed Empress of India.
• 1878 - Agner Krarup Erlang was born (d. 1929). Danish scientist.
• 1879 - E. M. Forster was born (d. 1979). English novelist.
• 1879 - Ernest Jones was born (d. 1958). Welsh psychoanalyst who introduced psychoanalysis into Great Britain and North America.
• 1880 - Construction of the Panama Canal begins .
• 1881 - Vajiravudh was born (d. 1925). King of Thailand.
• 1885 - The Montgolfier brothers cross the English Channel .
• 1887 - Queen Victoria is proclaimed Empress of India at the first Imperial Assemblage (Durbar) in Delhi.
• 1887 - Wilhelm Canaris was born (d. 1945). German admiral.
• 1890 - The first Tournament of Roses is held in Pasadena, California.
• 1890 - First use of soccer goal nets in England.
• 1890 - Eritrea consolidates into a colony by the Italian government.
• 1890 - Anton Melik was born (d. 1966). Slovenian geographer.
• 1892 - Ellis Island opens to begin accepting immigrants to the United States .
• 1892 - Artur Rodziński was born (d. 1958). Croatian conductor.
• 1892 - Roswell B. Mason dies (b. 1805). Mayor of Chicago
• 1893 - Japan accepts the Gregorian calendar .
• 1894 - Satyendra Nath Bose was born (d. 1974). Indian mathematician and physicist who collaborated with Albert Einstein to develop a theory of statistical quantum mechanics, now called Bose-Einstein statistics.
• 1894 - The Manchester Ship Canal in England opens to traffic .
• 1894 - Heinrich Hertz dies (b. 1857). German physicist.
• 1895 - J. Edgar Hoover was born (d. 1972). FBI director.
• 1897 - Brooklyn, New York merges with New York City.
• 1898 - New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, and Staten Island.
• 1899 - End of Spanish rule in Cuba.
• 1899 - Queens and Staten Island merge with New York City.
• 1900 - Chiune Sugihara was born (d. 1986). Japanese diplomat
• 1900 - Xavier Cugat was born (d. 27 Oct 1990). Spanish composer and conductor.
• 1901 - Nigeria becomes a British protectorate.
• 1901 - The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia; Edmund Barton is appointed the first Prime Minister.
• 1901 - The first official Mummers Parade is held.
• 1902 - The first Rose Bowl game is played in Pasadena, California with the University of Michigan beating Stanford University by a score of 49-0.
• 1902 - Buster Nupen was born (d. 1977). South African cricketer.
• 1904 - Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry was born (d. 1982).Pakistani politician.
• 1904 - Ethan Allen was born (d. 1993). American baseball player.
• 1905 - Kamatari Fujiwara was born (d. 1985). Japanese actor.
• 1906 - British India officially adopts the Indian Standard Time
• 1906 - Giovanni D'Anzi was born (d. 1974). Italian songwriter.
• 1908 - For the first time, a ball is dropped in New York City's Times Square to signify the start of the New Year at midnight.
• 1909 - Drilling began on the Lakeview Gusher.
• 1909 - Dana Andrews was born (d. 1992). American actor.
• 1909 - Barry M. Goldwater was born (d. 1998). American politician.
• 1910 - Captain David Beatty was promoted to Rear Admiral, and became the youngest admiral in the Royal Navy, except for Royal family members, since Horatio Nelson.
• 1911 - Northern Territory is separated from South Australia and transferred to Commonwealth control.
• 1911 - Hank Greenberg was born (d. 1986). American baseball player.
• 1912 - Establishment of Republic of China.
• 1912 - Kim Philby was born (d. 1988). British spy.
• 1912 - Pyotr Nikolaevich Lebedev dies (b. 1866). Russian phsyicist.
• 1916 - German troops abandon Yaoundé and their Kamerun colony to British forces and begin the long march to Spanish Guinea.
• 1916 - Revolución de México, el político Venustiano Carranza llega con su séquito a Querétaro, ciudad a la que proclama capital de la república.
• 1917 - Jule Gregory Charney was born (d. 1981). American meteorologist who, working with John von Neumann, first introduced the electronic computer into weather prediction (1950) and improved understanding of the large-scale circulation of the atmosphere .
• 1917 - Albert Mol was born (d. 2004). Dutch actor.
• 1918 - Patrick Anthony Porteous was born (d. 2000). Scottish Victoria Cross recipient.
• 1919 - J. D. Salinger was born. American novelist
• 1919 - Mikhail Drozdovsky dies (b. 1881). Russian general.
• 1920 - Virgilio Savona was born. Italian singer (Quartetto Cetra)
• 1921 - António de Sousa Freitas was born in Buarcos (d. 30 Jun 2004). Portuguese poet.
• 1921 - Nicaragua, Diego Manuel Chamorro comienza su mandato presidencial, caracterizado por la constante agitación.
• 1921 - Isma'il Raji' al-Faruqi was born (d. 1986). Palestinian-born philosopher.
• 1921 - Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg dies (b. 1856). Chancellor of Germany.
• 1922 - Sport Clube Beira-Mar is founded (Aveiro, Portugal)
• 1922 - Rocky Graziano was born (d. 1990). American boxer.
• 1922 - Ernest Hollings was born. American politician
• 1923 - Milt Jackson was born (d. 1999). American jazz vibraphonist.
• 1925 - Norway's capital Christiania changes name to Oslo.
• 1925 - The American astronomer Edwin Hubble announces the discovery of galaxies outside the Milky Way.
• 1925 - Stymie Beard was born (d. 1981). American actor.
• 1925 - Raymond Pellegrin was born. French actor.
• 1926 - Richard Verreau was born (d. 2005). French Canadian tenor.
• 1927 - Turkey adopts the Gregorian calendar: December 18, 1926 (Julian), is immediately followed by January 1, 1927 (Gregorian).
• 1927 - Vernon L. Smith was born. American economist, Bank of Sweden Prize winner
• 1927 - Doak Walker was born (d. 1998). American football star.
• 1927 - Maurice Béjart was born. French choregrapher
• 1927 - Calum MacKay was born. National Hockey League player
• 1928 - Ernest Tidyman was born(d. 1984). American writer.
• 1930 - Hossain Mohammad Ershad was born. President of Bangladesh
• 1931 - Chun Doo Hwan was born. President of South Korea.
• 1931 - Martinus Beijerinck dies (b. 1851). Dutch microbiologist and botanist.
• 1932 - Jackie Parker was born (d. 2006). American football player.
• 1933 - Galícia Esporte Clube (Baía - Brazil) is founded.
• 1933 - Frederick Lowy was born. Canadian medical educator.
• 1933 - Joe Orton was born (d. 1967). English writer.
• 1933 - Harriet Brooks dies (b. 1876). Canadian physicist.
• 1934 - Alcatraz becomes a federal prison.
• 1934 - Nazi Germany passes the "Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring".
• 1935 - Italian colonies of Tripoli, Cyrenaica and Fezzan are merged to form Libya.
• 1935 - Bucknell University wins the first Orange Bowl 26-0 over the University of Miami.
• 1937 - Anastasio Somoza becomes President of Nicaragua.
• 1937 - The first Cotton Bowl game is played in Dallas, Texas. TCU defeats Marquette University 16-6.
• 1937 - Adam Wiśniewski-Snerg was born (d. 1995). Polish author.
• 1938 - Robert Jankel was born (d. 2005). British coachbuilder.
• 1939 - The first Vienna New Year's Concert is held.
• 1939 - William Hewlett and David Packard found Hewlett-Packard.
• 1939 - Sydney, Australia swelters in 45C heat, a record for the city.
• 1939 - Michèle Mercier was born. French actress
• 1940 - Frank Langella was born. American actor
• 1942 - The Declaration by the United Nations is signed by twenty-six nations.
• 1942 - Martin Frost was born. American politician
• 1942 - Country Joe McDonald was born. American musician (Country Joe and the Fish)
• 1942 - Gennadi Sarafanov was born (d. 2005). Soviet cosmonaut.
• 1943 - Don Novello was born. American actor.
• 1943 - Jimmy Hart was born. Wrestling manager.
• 1944 - Zafarullah Khan Jamali was born. Former Prime Minister of Pakistan
• 1944 - Charles Turner dies (b. 1862). Australian cricketer.
• 1945 - Bahawalpur State issues its own stamps.
• 1945 - France joins the UN .
• 1945 - In retaliation of the Malmedy massacre, U.S. troops massacre 30 SS prisoners at Chenogne.
• 1945 - Jacky Ickx was born. Belgian race car driver
• 1946 - The first civil flight from Heathrow Airport occurs.
• 1946 - Roberto Rivelino was born. Brazilian football player.
• 1947 - Britain nationalizes its coal industry .
• 1947 - The American and British occupation zones in Germany, after the World War II, merge to form the Bizone, that later became the Federal Republic of Germany.
• 1947 - Jon Corzine was born. American politician
• 1947 - Paula Tsui was born. Hong Kong singer
• 1948 - Entra en vigor el Acuerdo General sobre Tarifas Aduaneras y Comercio (GATT).
• 1948 - Nationalisation of UK railways to form British Railways.
• 1948 - The Constitution of Italy comes into force.
• 1948 - De Nicola becomes President of the State of Italy.
• 1948 - After partition, India declines to pay the agreed share of Rs.550 million in cash balances to Pakistan.
• 1948 - The Constitution of Italy comes into force.
• 1948 - Pavel Grachev was born. Russian general
• 1949 - The British Nationality Act 1948 comes into force.
• 1949 - UN Cease-fire orders to operate in Kashmir from one minute before midnight. War between India and Pakistan stops accordingly.
• 1950 - Ho Chi Minh begins offensive against French troops in Indo-China.
• 1950 - The state of Ajaigarh acceded to the Government of India.
• 1951 - Ashfaq Hussain was born. Urdu poet
• 1951 - Nana Patekar was born. Indian film and stage actor
• 1953 - Greg Carmichael was born. British guitarist
• 1953 - Hank Williams dies (b. 1923). American singer.
• 1954 - Robert Menendez was born. American politician
• 1955 - Bhutan issues its 1st postage stamps .
• 1956 - The Republic of the Sudan achieves independence from the Egyptian Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
• 1956 - Mark R. Hughes was born (d. 2000). American enterpeneur.
• 1957 - Luis Guzmán was born. Puerto Rican actor.
• 1958 - The European Community is established.
• 1958 - Grandmaster Flash was born. Barbados-born musician
• 1958 - Edward Weston dies (b. 1886). American photographer.
• 1959 - Cultivars of plants named after this date must be named in a modern language, not in Latin.
• 1959 - Fulgencio Batista, President of the Republic of Cuba, is overthrown by Fidel Castro's forces.
• 1959 - Azali Assoumani was born. Comorese president
• 1960 - Benín becomes independent from France .
• 1960 - Montserrat adopts constitution.
• 1960 - Cameroon becomes independent from France.
• 1960 - Margaret Sullavan dies (b. 1911). American actress.
• 1961 - Mark Wingett was born. British actor
• 1962 - Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. Its name is changed to the Independent State of Western Samoa.
• 1962 - Decca Records turn down the Beatles
• 1962 - US Navy SEAL teams established
• 1962 - La República Dominicana, tras la muerte del dictador Trujillo, asume el poder el Consejo de Estado, presidido por Joaquín Balaguer .
• 1964 - The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is divided into the independent republics of Zambia and Malawi, and the British-controlled Rhodesia.
• 1964 - Dedee Pfeiffer was born. American actress.
• 1964 - Bechara El Khoury dies (b. 1890). President of Lebanon.
• 1965 - Palestinian al-Fatah organization forms .
• 1965 - The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan was founded in Kabul.
• 1966 - A twelve day New York City transit strike begins.
• 1966 - After a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa assumes power as president of the Central African Republic.
• 1966 - Simon & Garfunkel's "Sounds of Silence" reaches #1
• 1966 - Anna Burke was born. Australian politician
• 1966 - Vincent Auriol dies (b. 1884). French politician.
• 1967 - St Helena adopts constitution .
• 1967 - Tonga revises constitution .
• 1967 - Derrick Thomas was born (d. 2000). American football player.
• 1967 - John Digweed was born. English DJ
• 1968 - Netherlands gets color TV .
• 1968 - Davor Šuker was born. Croatian footballer
• 1969 - Marien Ngouabi becomes President of the Republic of Congo.
• 1969 - Verne Troyer was born. American actor
• 1969 - Ian Fleming dies at 80. Writer (James Bond).
• 1969 - Barton MacLane dies (b. 1902). American actor.
• 1970 - Unix epoch begins at 00:00:00 UTC.
• 1970 - Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Miles, and Billy Cox are recorded live at the Fillmore East. The resulting album, Band of Gypsys, is the last Hendrix album to be released before his death.
• 1970 - Gabriel Jarret was born. American actor
• 1970 - Kimberly Page was born. American actress
• 1971 - Cigarette advertisements banned on United States television.
• 1971 - Paul Luscher was born. Singer/songwriter
• 1971 - Bobby Holik was born. Czech hockey player
• 1971 - Saint Amphilochios dies (b. 1894). Ukrainian Orthodox Christian Saint.
• 1972 - Austrian diplomat Kurt Waldheim assumes as Secretary General of the United Nations.
• 1972 - Neve McIntosh was born. Scottish actress
• 1972 - Lilian Thuram was born. French footballer
• 1972 - Maurice Chevalier dies (b. 1888). French actor and singer.
• 1972 - Lucinda do Carmo dies. Portuguese actress.
• 1973 - The Kingdom of Denmark, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland are admitted into the European Community.
• 1973 - Clyde Wijnhard was born. Soccer player (Ajax, RKC).
• 1973 - West African Economic Community formed (Benin, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Upper Volta) .
• 1975 - International Women's Year begins .
• 1975 - Sweden adopts constitution.
• 1975 - Joe Cannon was born. American soccer player
• 1975 - Sonali Bendre was born. Indian model and film actress
• 1975 - Robert Westerholt was born. Dutch guitarist (Within Temptation)
• 1975 - Eiichiro Oda was born. Japanese Manga artist
• 1976 - Venezuela nationalizes oil fields .
• 1976 - NBC introduces its new logo: an abstract "N", similar to the Nebraska Educational Television Network logo.
• 1976 - Caleb Wyatt was born. American motocross rider
• 1977 - 1st woman formally ordained an Episcopal priest (Jacqueline Means) .
• 1977 - Hasan Salihamidžić was born. Bosnian footballer.
• 1977 - Zachary Quinto was born. American actor
• 1978 - Air India Flight 855 Boeing 747 exploded and crashed into the sea off the coast of Bombay killing 213.
• 1978 - The Constitution of the Northern Mariana Islands becomes effective.
• 1978 - Nina Bott was born. German actress
• 1978 - Jared Fogle was born. American personality
• 1978 - Phillip Mulryne was born. Northern Irish footballer
• 1978 - Paramahamsa Sri Nithyananda was born. Indian spiritual guru
• 1979 - United States and the People's Republic of China establish formal diplomatic relations.
• 1979 - International Year of the Child begins.
• 1979 - Brody Dalle was born. Australian singer (The Distillers)
• 1979 - Koichi Domoto was born. Japanese artist
• 1980 - Victoria is crowned princess of Sweden.
• 1980 - Elin Nordegren was born. Swedish model.
• 1980 - Nils-Eric Johansson was born. Swedish footballer.
• 1981 - Greece enters the European Community .
• 1981 - International Year for the Disabled begins.
• 1981 - The Republic of Palau achieves self-government though it is not independent from the United States.
• 1981 - Zsolt Baumgartner was born. Hungarian race car driver
• 1981 - Abdulkadir Kocak was born. Turkish boxer
• 1981 - Eden Riegel was born. American actress
• 1981 - Jonas Armstrong was born. Irish actor
• 1981 - Beulah Bondi dies (b. 1888). American actress.
• 1982 - Peruvian Javier Pérez de Cuéllar becomes the first Latin American to hold the title of Secretary-General of the United Nations.
• 1982 - David Nalbandian, was born.Argentinian tennis player
• 1982 - Victor Buono dies (b. 1938). American actor.
• 1983 - The ARPANET officially changes to use the Internet Protocol, creating the Internet.
• 1983 - Calum Davenport was born. English footballer
• 1983 - Emi Kobayashi was born. Japanese gravure idol
• 1984 - AT&T is broken up into twenty-two independent units.
• 1984 - The Sultanate of Brunei becomes independent of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
• 1984 - Michael Witt was born. Australian rugby league footballer
• 1984 - Jose Paolo Guerrero was born. Peruvian footballer
• 1984 - Alexis Korner dies (b. 1928). British blues musician
• 1984 - Claudio Estrada dies. Mexican composer and guitarist.
• 1985 - The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
• 1985 - The first British mobile phone call is made by Ernie Wise to Vodafone.
• 1985 - Steven Davis was born. Northern Irish footballer.
• 1985 - Don Paysan was born. Canadian professional wrestler.
• 1985 - Kamatari Fujiwara dies (b. 1905). Japanese actor.
• 1986 - Aruba becomes independent of Curaçao, though it remains in free association with the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
• 1986 - The Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic are admitted into the European Community.
• 1986 - International Peace Year begins.
• 1986 - Alfredo Binda dies (b. 1902). Italian cyclist.
• 1986 - Bruce Norris dies (b. 1924). National Hockey League executive (Detroit Red Wings)
• 1987 - Nunavut's capital changes it name to Iqaluit from Frobisher Bay.
• 1987 - Gilbert Brule was born. Canadian hockey player
• 1987 - Meryl Davis was born. American ice dancer
• 1988 - Czech born tennis star Hana Mandikova becomes an Australian Citizen.
• 1988 - The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America comes into existence, creating the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States.
• 1989 - The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer comes into force.
• 1990 - David Dinkins is sworn in as New York City's first black mayor.
• 1991 - Republican John Engler assumes as governor of Michigan.
• 1991 - Buck Ram dies (b. 1907). American songwriter and businessman (The Platters)
• 1992 - George H. W. Bush is first President of the United States to address the Australian Parliament .
• 1992 - Argentina: el peso reemplaza al austral como moneda argentina.
• 1992 - Grace Hopper dies (b. 1906). American computer pioneer.
• 1993 - Velvet Divorce: Czechoslovakia divides into Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
• 1993 - A single market within the European Community is introduced.
• 1993 - Portugal assumes de presidency of EEC
• 1994 - The Zapatista Army of National Liberation initiates twelve days of armed conflict in the Mexican State of Chiapas.
• 1994 - The North American Free Trade Agreement comes into effect.
• 1994 - The European Economic Area comes into effect.
• 1994 - The International Tropical Timber Agreement comes into effect.
• 1994 - North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goes into effect.
• 1994 - International Year of Family .
• 1994 - Lord Arthur Espie Porritt dies (b. 1900). Governor-General of New Zealand.
• 1994 - Cesar Romero dies (b. 1907). American actor.
• 1995 - International Year of Tolerance .
• 1995 - World Trade Organization goes into effect.
• 1995 - Fred West dies (b. 1941). British serial killer awaiting trial, hanged himself in prison.
• 1995 - Fernando Henrique Cardoso toma posse como presidente do Brasil.
• 1995 - The Kingdom of Sweden and the republics of Austria and Finland are admitted into the European Union.
• 1995 - The Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe becomes the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
• 1995 - The Draupner wave in the North Sea in Norway is detected, confirming the existence of freak waves.
• 1995 - Jean-Claude Juncker assumes as Prime Minister of Luxembourg.
• 1995 - Fred West dies (suicide) (b. 1941). British serial killer.
• 1995 - Eugene Wigner dies (b. 1902). Hungarian physicist, Nobel laureate.
• 1996 - Curacao gains limited self-government.
• 1996 - Arleigh Burke dies (b. 1901). American admiral.
• 1996 - Arthur Rudolph dies (b. 1906). German engineer.
• 1997 - The Republic of Zaïre officially joins the World Trade Organization, as Zaïre.
• 1997 - Ghanaian diplomat Kofi Annan assumes as Secretary General of the United Nations.
• 1997 - Townes Van Zandt dies (b. 1944). American musician.
• 1997 - Hagood Hardy dies (b. 1937). Canadian composer and musician.
• 1998 - The European Central Bank is established.
• 1998 - Smoking is banned in all California bars and restaurants.
• 1998 - Fernando Henrique Cardoso toma posse fazendo seu 2º mandato como presidente do Brasil.
• 1998 - Mongolia switches from a 46 hour to 40 hour work week .
• 1998 - Helen Wills Moody dies (b. 1905).American tennis player.
• 1999 - The Euro currency is introduced.
• 1999 - The Polish administrative region of Opole Voivodeship is created, out of the former Opole Voivodeship and parts of Częstochowa Voivodeship.
• 2000 - Proclamação da República de Taiwan.
• 2000 - As the world celebrates, no major crisis arises from the dreaded Y2K computer 'millennium bug'.
• 2000 - Hama Amadou assumes as Prime Minister of Niger.
• 2000 - Colin Vaughan dies. Australian-born political journalist
• 2001 - Tommy Remengesau assumes as president of Palau.
• 2001 - Ray Walston dies (b. 1914). American actor.
• 2002 - Euro banknotes and coins become legal tender in twelve of the European Union's member states.
• 2002 - Taiwan officially joins the World Trade Organization, as Chinese Taipei.
• 2002 - The Open Skies mutual surveillance treaty, initially signed in 1992, officially enters into force.
• 2002 - Julia Phillips dies (b. 1944). American film producer.
• 2003 - Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva assumes as the President of Brazil.
• 2003 - Joe Foss dies (b. 1915). American politician and fighter pilot.
• 2003 - F. William Free dies (b. 1928). American advertising executive.
• 2004 - In a vote of confidence, General Pervez Musharraf won 658 out of 1,170 votes in the Electoral College of Pakistan, and according to Article 41(8) of the Constitution of Pakistan, was "deemed to be elected" to the office of President until October 2007.
• 2004 - Pervez Musharraf gets vote of confidence to continue as President of Pakistan from Parliament and provincial assemblies .
• 2005 - José Serra toma posse como prefeito da maior cidade do Brasil São Paulo.
• 2005 - Shirley Chisholm dies (b. 1924). American politician.
• 2005 - Hugh John Frederick Lawson, 6th Baron Burnham dies (b. 1931). British newspaperman.
• 2005 - Bob Matsui dies (b. 1941). American politician.
• 2005 - Eugene J. Martin dies (b. 1938). American painter, artist.
• 2006 - Harry Magdoff dies (b. 1913). American magazine editor.
• 2006 - Bryan Harvey dies (b. 1956). American musician.
• 2007 - Bulgaria and Romania join to European
• World Day of Peace
• Haiti Independence Day
• Taiwan Founding of Republic of China.
• Sudan Independence Day
• Cuba Liberation Day
• Slovakia: Establishment of Slovak Republic.
• Vienna New Year's Concert
• Last day of Kwanzaa