January 1

Historic Events

2026

Bulgaria officially adopts the Euro, becoming the 21st Eurozone country. ›

2026

A fire at a bar during New Year's Eve celebrations in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, kills 41 people and injures 116 others. ›

2025

Fourteen people are killed and 57 others injured during a vehicle-ramming and shooting attack in New Orleans, Louisiana. ›

2024

A 7.5 Mww earthquake strikes the western coast of Japan, killing more than 500 people and injuring over 1,000 others. A majority of direct deaths were due to collapsed homes. ›

2024

Disney's copyright protection on Steamboat Willie and the original Mickey Mouse expires as they enter the public domain. ›

2024

Artsakh ceases to exist. ›

2023

Croatia officially adopts the Euro, becoming the 20th Eurozone country, and becomes the 27th member of the Schengen Area. ›

2017

An attack on a nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey, during New Year's celebrations, kills 39 people and injures 79 others. ›

2015

The Eurasian Economic Union comes into effect, creating a political and economic union between Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. ›

2013

At least 60 people are killed and 200 injured in a stampede after celebrations at Félix Houphouët-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. ›

2011

A bomb explodes as Coptic Christians in Alexandria, Egypt, leave a new year service, killing 23 people. ›

2011

Estonia officially adopts the Euro currency and becomes the 17th Eurozone country. ›

2010

A suicide car bomber detonates at a volleyball tournament in Lakki Marwat, Pakistan, killing 105 and injuring 100 more. ›

2009

Sixty-six people die in a nightclub fire in Bangkok, Thailand. ›

2007

Bulgaria and Romania join the EU. ›

2007

Adam Air Flight 574 breaks apart in mid-air and crashes near the Makassar Strait, Indonesia, killing all 102 people on board. ›

2004

In a vote of confidence, General Pervez Musharraf wins 658 out of 1,170 votes in the Electoral College of Pakistan, and according to Article 41(8) of the Constitution of Pakistan, is "deemed to be elected" to the office of President until October 2007. ›

2001

Greece adopts the Euro, becoming the 12th Eurozone country. ›

1999

The Euro currency is introduced in 11 member nations of the European Union (with the exception of the United Kingdom, Denmark, Greece and Sweden). ›

1998

Following a currency reform, Russia begins to circulate new rubles to stem inflation and promote confidence. ›

1998

Argentinian physicist Juan Maldacena publishes a landmark paper initiating the study of AdS/CFT correspondence, which links string theory and quantum gravity. ›

1995

The World Trade Organization comes into being. ›

1995

The Draupner wave in the North Sea in Norway is detected, confirming the existence of freak waves. ›

1995

Austria, Finland and Sweden join the EU. ›

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 (NAFTA) comes into effect. ›

1993

Dissolution of Czechoslovakia: Czechoslovakia is divided into the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic. ›

1990

David Dinkins is sworn in as New York City's first black mayor. ›

1990

Seven people are killed and one injured in a mass shooting in Narsaq, Greenland. ›

1989

The Montreal Protocol comes into force, stopping the use of chemicals contributing to ozone depletion. ›

1988

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America comes into existence, creating the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States. ›

1987

The Isleta Pueblo tribe elect Verna Williamson to be their first female governor. ›

1985

The first British mobile phone call is made by Michael Harrison to his father Sir Ernest Harrison, chairman of Vodafone. ›

1985

Eastern Air Lines Flight 980 crashes into Mount Illimani in Bolivia, killing all 29 aboard. ›

1984

The original American Telephone & Telegraph Company is divested of its 22 Bell System companies as a result of the settlement of the 1974 United States Department of Justice antitrust suit against AT&T. ›

1984

Brunei becomes independent of the United Kingdom. ›

1983

The ARPANET officially changes to using TCP/IP, the Internet Protocol, effectively creating the Internet. ›

1982

Peruvian Javier Pérez de Cuéllar becomes the first Latin American to hold the title of Secretary-General of the United Nations. ›

1981

Greece is admitted into the European Community. ›

1979

the Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations and Taiwan Relations Act enter into force. Through the Communiqué, the United States establishes normal diplomatic relations with China. Through the Act, the United States guarantees military support for Taiwan. ›

1978

Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747, crashes into the Arabian Sea off the coast of Bombay, India, due to instrument failure, spatial disorientation, and pilot error, killing all 213 people on board. ›

1976

A bomb explodes on board Middle East Airlines Flight 438 over Qaisumah, Saudi Arabia, killing all 81 people on board. ›

1973

Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom are admitted into the European Economic Community. ›

1971

Cigarette advertisements are banned on American television. ›

1970

The defined beginning of Unix time, at 00:00:00. ›

1965

The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan is founded in Kabul, Afghanistan. ›

1964

The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is divided into the independent republics of Zambia and Malawi, and the British-controlled Rhodesia. ›

1962

Western Samoa achieves independence from New Zealand; its name is changed to the Independent State of Western Samoa. ›

1960

Cameroon achieves independence from France and the United Kingdom. ›

1959

Cuban Revolution: Fulgencio Batista, dictator of Cuba, is overthrown by Fidel Castro's forces. ›

1958

The European Economic Community is established. ›

1957

George Town, Penang, is made a city by a royal charter of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. ›

1957

Lèse majesté in Thailand is strengthened to include "insult" and changed to a crime against national security, after the Thai criminal code of 1956 went into effect.: 6, 18 ›

1956

Sudan achieves independence from Egypt and the United Kingdom. ›

1949

United Nations cease-fire takes effect in Kashmir from one minute before midnight. War between India and Pakistan stops accordingly. ›

1948

The British railway network is nationalized to form British Railways. ›

1947

Cold War: The American and British occupation zones in Allied-occupied Germany, after World War II, merge to form the Bizone, which later (with the French zone) became part of West Germany. ›

1947

The Canadian Citizenship Act 1946 comes into effect, converting British subjects into Canadian citizens. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King becomes the first Canadian citizen. ›

1945

World War II: The German Luftwaffe launches Operation Bodenplatte, a massive, but failed, attempt to knock out Allied air power in northern Europe in a single blow. ›

1942

The Declaration by United Nations is signed by twenty-six nations. ›

1934

Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay becomes a United States federal prison. ›

1934

A "Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring" comes into effect in Nazi Germany. ›

1932

The United States Post Office Department issues a set of 12 stamps commemorating the 200th anniversary of George Washington's birth. ›

1929

The former municipalities of Point Grey, British Columbia and South Vancouver, British Columbia are amalgamated into Vancouver. ›

1928

Boris Bazhanov defects through Iran to seek asylum in France. He is the only member of Joseph Stalin's secretariat to have defected from the Soviet Union. ›

1927

New Mexican oil legislation goes into effect, leading to the formal outbreak of the Cristero War. ›

1923

Britain's Railways are grouped into the Big Four: LNER, GWR, SR, and LMS. ›

1914

The SPT Airboat Line becomes the world's first scheduled airline to use a winged aircraft. ›

1912

The Republic of China is established. ›

1910

Captain David Beatty is promoted to rear admiral, and becomes the youngest admiral in the Royal Navy (except for royal family members) since Horatio Nelson. ›

1902

The first American college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl between Michigan and Stanford, is held in Pasadena, California. ›

1901

The Southern Nigeria Protectorate is established within the British Empire. ›

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. ›

1900

Nigeria becomes a British protectorate with Frederick Lugard as high commissioner. ›

1899

Spanish rule ends in Cuba. ›

1898

New York, New York annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York. The four initial boroughs, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx, are joined on January 25 by Staten Island to create the modern city of five boroughs. ›

1892

Ellis Island begins processing immigrants into the United States. ›

1890

Eritrea is consolidated into a colony by the Italian government as Italian Eritrea. ›

1885

Twenty-five nations adopt Sandford Fleming's proposal for standard time (and also, time zones). ›

1877

Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom is proclaimed Empress of India. ›

1863

American Civil War: The Emancipation Proclamation takes effect in Confederate territory. ›

1861

Liberal forces supporting Benito Juárez enter Mexico City. ›

1860

The first Polish postage stamp is issued, replacing the Russian stamps previously in use. ›

1847

The world's first "Mercy" Hospital is founded in Pittsburgh, United States, by a group of Sisters of Mercy from Ireland; the name will go on to grace over 30 major hospitals throughout the world. ›

1845

The Philippines moves its national calendar to align with other Asian countries' calendars by skipping Tuesday, December 31, 1844. The change has been ordered by Governor–General Narciso Claveria to reform the country's calendar so that it aligns with the rest of Asia. Its territory has been one day behind the rest of Asia for 323 years since the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in the Philippines on March 16, 1521. ›

1834

Most of Germany forms the Zollverein customs union, the first such union between sovereign states. ›

1822

The Greek Constitution of 1822 is adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus. ›

1818

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (anonymously) publishes the pioneering work of science fiction, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, in London. ›

1810

Major-General Lachlan Macquarie officially becomes Governor of New South Wales. ›

1808

The United States bans the importation of slaves. ›

1806

The French Republican Calendar is abolished. ›

1804

French rule ends in Haiti. Haiti becomes the first black-majority republic and second independent country in North America after the United States. ›

1801

The legislative union of Kingdom of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ireland is completed, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland is proclaimed. ›

1801

Ceres, the largest and first known object in the Asteroid belt, is discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi. ›

1788

The first edition of The Times of London, previously The Daily Universal Register, is published. ›

1781

American Revolutionary War: One thousand five hundred soldiers of the 6th Pennsylvania Regiment under General Anthony Wayne's command rebel against the Continental Army's winter camp in Morristown, New Jersey in the Pennsylvania Line Mutiny of 1781. ›

1776

American Revolutionary War: Burning of Norfolk – Norfolk, Virginia, is burned to the ground by combined Royal Navy and Continental Army action. ›

1776

General George Washington hoists the first United States flag, the Continental Union Flag, at Prospect Hill. ›

1773

The hymn that becomes known as "Amazing Grace", previously titled "1 Chronicles 17:16–17, Faith's Review and Expectation", is first used to accompany a sermon led by John Newton in the town of Olney, Buckinghamshire, England. ›

1772

The first traveler's cheques, which could be used in 90 European cities, are issued by the London Credit Exchange Company. ›

1739

Bouvet Island, the world's remotest island, is discovered by French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier. ›

1726

J. S. Bach leads the first performance of Herr Gott, dich loben wir, BWV 16, his church cantata for New Year's Day to a libretto by Georg Christian Lehms. ›

1725

J. S. Bach leads the first performance of his chorale cantata Jesu, nun sei gepreiset, BWV 41, which features the trumpet fanfares from the beginning also in the end. ›

1707

John V is proclaimed King of Portugal and the Algarves in Lisbon. ›

1700

Russia begins using the Anno Domini era instead of the Anno Mundi era of the Byzantine Empire. ›

1651

Charles II is crowned King of Scotland at Scone Palace. ›

1604

The Masque of Indian and China Knights is performed by courtiers of James VI and I at Hampton Court. ›

1600

Scotland recognises January 1 as the start of the year, instead of March 25. ›

1527

Croatian nobles elect Ferdinand I, Archduke of Austria as King of Croatia in the 1527 election in Cetin. ›

1515

Twenty-year-old Francis, Duke of Brittany, succeeds to the French throne following the death of his father-in-law, Louis XII. ›

1502

The present-day location of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is first explored by the Portuguese under their commissioned Florentine explorer, Amerigo Vespucci. Vespucci begins his suspicion that there is a whole continent between Europe and Asia. ›

1438

Albert II of Habsburg is crowned King of Hungary. ›

1259

Michael VIII Palaiologos is proclaimed co-emperor of the Empire of Nicaea with his ward John IV Laskaris. ›

1068

Romanos IV Diogenes marries Eudokia Makrembolitissa and is crowned Byzantine Emperor. ›

1001

Grand Prince Stephen I of Hungary is named the first King of Hungary by Pope Sylvester II (probable). ›

947

Emperor Taizong of the Khitan-led Liao dynasty captures Daliang, ending the dynasty and empire of the Later Jin. ›

417

Emperor Honorius forces Galla Placidia into marriage to Constantius, his famous general (magister militum) (probable). ›

404

Saint Telemachus tries to stop a gladiatorial fight in a Roman amphitheatre, and is stoned to death by the crowd. This act impresses the Christian Emperor Honorius, who issues a historic ban on gladiatorial fights. ›

193

The Senate chooses Pertinax against his will to succeed Commodus as Roman emperor. ›

42 BC

The Roman Senate posthumously deifies Julius Caesar. ›

45 BC

The Julian calendar takes effect as the civil calendar of the Roman Republic, establishing January 1 as the new date of the new year. ›

153 BC

For the first time, Roman consuls begin their year in office on January 1. ›