January 1: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Here a calendar year refers to the order in which the months are displayed, January to December. The first day of the medieval Julian year was usually a day other than January 1. This day was adopted as the first day of the Julian year by all Western European countries except England between about 1450 and 1600. The Gregorian calendar as promulgated in 1582 did not specify that January 1 was to be either New Year's Day or the first day of its numbered year. Although England began its numbered year on March 25 (Lady Day or Annunciation Day), between the 13th century and 1752, January 1 was called New Year's Day, and was, with Christmas and occasionally Twelfth Night, a holiday when gifts were exchanged. 364 days (365 in leap years) remain in the year after this day.

Events

• 45 BC - The Julian calendar first takes effect.
• 404 - Last known gladiator competition in Rome takes place.
• 630 - Prophet Muhammad sets out toward Mecca with the army that will capture it bloodlessly.
• 990 - Kievan Rus' adopts the Julian calendar.
• 1438 - Albert II of Habsburg is crowned King of Hungary.
• 1600 - Scotland begins using the Julian calendar.
• 1651 - Charles II crowned King of Scotland.
• 1673 - Regular mail delivery begins between New York and Boston.
• 1700 - Russia begins using the Julian calendar.
• 1707 - John V is crowned King of Portugal.
• 1738 - Bouvet Island is discovered by French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier.
• 1788 - First edition of The Times of London, previously The Daily Universal Register, is published.
• 1797 - Albany replaces New York City as the capital of New York.
• 1801 - Legislative union of Kingdom of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ireland is completed to form the United Kingdom.
• 1801 - The first known asteroid, 1 Ceres, is discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi.
• 1804 - French rule ends in Haiti.
• 1808 - Importation of slaves into the United States is banned.
• 1818 - Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus is published.
• 1861 - Porfirio Diaz conquers Mexico City.
• 1863 - American Civil War: The Emancipation Proclamation takes effect in Confederate territory.
• 1863 - The first claim under the Homestead Act is made by Daniel Freeman for a farm in Nebraska.
• 1880 - Ferdinand de Lesseps begins French construction of the Panama Canal.
• 1887 - Queen Victoria was proclaimed empress of India in Delhi.
• 1892 - Ellis Island opens to begin accepting immigrants to the United States.
• 1893 - Japan begins using the Gregorian calendar.
• 1894 - The Manchester Ship Canal, England, was officially opened to traffic.
• 1898 - New York City 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 25th by Staten Island to create the modern city of five boroughs.
• 1899 - Spanish rule ends in Cuba.
• 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 becomes first Prime Minister.
• 1901 - The first official Mummers Parade is held.
• 1902 - The first Rose Bowl game is played in Pasadena, California.
• 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.
• 1911 - Northern Territory is separated from South Australia and transferred to Commonwealth control.
• 1912 - The Republic of China is established.
• 1916 - German troops abandon Yaoundé and their Kamerun colony to British forces and begin the long march to Spanish Guinea.
• 1926 - Turkey adopts Gregorian calendar.
• 1934 - Alcatraz Island becomes a U.S. federal prison.
• 1934 - Nazi Germany passes the "Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring".
• 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.
• 1939 - The Vienna New Year's Concert is first held.
• 1942 - The Declaration by the United Nations is signed by twenty-six nations.
• 1948 - British railways are nationalised to form British Rail.
• 1948 - After partition, India declines to pay the agreed share of Rs.550 million in cash balances to Pakistan.
• 1948 - Enrico De Nicola formally becomes President of the Italian Republic, but refuses to be a candidate for the first constitutional election the following May.
• 1949 - UN Cease-fire orders to operate in Kashmir from one minute before midnight. War between India and Pakistan stops accordingly.
• 1953 - Hank Williams is pronounced dead after passing out in the back seat of a car which was travelling to his next gig in Canton, Ohio.
• 1956 - The Republic of the Sudan achieves independence from the Egyptian Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
• 1958 - The European Community is established.
• 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.
• 1960 - The Republic of Cameroon achieves independence from France and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
• 1962 - Western Samoa achieves independence from New Zealand; its name is changed to the Independent State of Western Samoa.
• 1964 - The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is divided into the independent republics of Zambia and Malawi, and the British-controlled Rhodesia.
• 1966 - 12 day New York City transit strike begins.
• 1970 - The Unix epoch begins at 00:00:00 UTC.
• 1971 - Cigarette advertisements are banned on American television.
• 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.
• 1978 - Air India Flight 855 Boeing 747 explodes and crashes into the sea off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
• 1979 - Formal diplomatic relations are established between the People's Republic of China and the United States of America.
• 1981 - The Republic of Greece is admitted into the European Community.
• 1981 - The Republic of Palau achieves self-government; it is not yet independent from the United States of America.
• 1982 - Peruvian Javier Perez de Cuellar becomes the first latinoamerican to hold the title of Secretary-General of the United Nations.
• 1983 - The ARPANET officially changes to using the Internet Protocol, creating the Internet.
• 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.
• 1985 - The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
• 1985 - The first British mobile phone call is made by Ernie Wise to Vodafone.
• 1986 - Aruba becomes independent of Curaçao, though it remains in free association with the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
• 1986 - Spain and Portugal are admitted into the European Community.
• 1988 - The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America comes into existence, creating the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States of America.
• 1993 - Velvet Divorce: Czechoslovakia is divided into the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic.
• 1993 - A single market within the European Community is introduced.
• 1993 - Pakistan is elected member of the 15-nation UN Security Council.
• 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.
• 1995 - The World Trade Organization comes into effect.
• 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.
• 1996 - Curaçao gains limited self-government, though it remains within free association with the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
• 1997 - The Republic of Zaïre officially joins the World Trade Organization, as Zaïre.
• 1999 - The Euro currency is introduced.
• 2000 - As the world celebrates, no major crisis arises from the dreaded Y2K computer 'millennium bug'.
• 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.
• 2003 - Luís Inácio Lula da Silva becomes president of the Federative Republic of Brazil.
• 2004 - Pervez Musharraf receives a vote of confidence to continue as the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan from Parliament and the provincial assemblies.

• 766 - Ali ar-Rida, Shia Imam (d. 818)
• 1431 - Pope Alexander VI (d. 1503)
• 1449 - Lorenzo de Medici, Italian statesman (d. 1492)
• 1484 - Huldrych Zwingli, Swiss Protestant leader (d. 1531)
• 1516 - Margareta Leijonhufvud, queen of Gustav I of Sweden (d. 1551)
• 1557 - Stephen Bocskay, Prince of Transylvania (d. 1606)
• 1600 - Friedrich Spanheim, Dutch theologian (d. 1649)
• 1614 - John Wilkins, English Bishop of Chester (d. 1672)
• 1618 - Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Spanish painter (d. 1682)
• 1638 - Emperor Go-Sai of Japan (d. 1685)
• 1648 - Elkanah Settle, English writer (d. 1724)
• 1655 - Christian Thomasius, German jurist (d. 1728)
• 1684 - Arnold Drakenborch, Dutch classical scholar (d. 1748)
• 1704 - Soame Jenyns, English writer (d. 1787)
• 1711 - Franz Freiherr von der Trenck, Austrian soldier (d. 1749)
• 1714 - Kristijonas Donelaitis, Lithuanian poet (d. 1780)
• 1735 - Paul Revere, American silversmith and patriot (d. 1818)
• 1750 - Frederick Muhlenberg, first speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1801)
• 1752 - Betsy Ross, American seamstress (d. 1836)
• 1774 - André Marie Constant Duméril, French zoologist (d. 1860)
• 1793 - Francesco Guardi, Italian artist (b. 1712)
• 1823 - Sándor Petőfi, Hungarian poet and revolutionary (d. 1849)
• 1833 - Robert Lawson, New Zealand architect (d. 1902)
• 1839 - Ouida, English writer (d. 1908)
• 1854 - Sir James George Frazer, Scottish anthropologist (d. 1941)
• 1860 - George Washington Carver, American educator, inventor, and botanist (d. 1943)
• 1863 - Pierre de Coubertin, French initiator of the modern Olympic Games (d. 1937)
• 1864 - Alfred Stieglitz, American photographer (d. 1946)
• 1873 - Mariano Azuela, Mexican novelist (d. 1952)
• 1874 - Gustave Whitehead, German-American inventor (d. 1927)
• 1876 - Harriet Brooks, Canadian physicist (d. 1933)
• 1879 - E. M. Forster, English novelist (d. 1970)
• 1881 - Vajiravudh, King of Thailand (d. 1925)
• 1887 - Wilhelm Canaris, German admiral (d. 1945)
• 1890 - Anton Melik, Slovenian geographer (d. 1966)
• 1892 - Artur Rodzinski, Croatian conductor (d. 1958)
• 1894 - Satyendra Nath Bose, Indian mathematician (d. 1974)
• 1895 - J. Edgar Hoover, American Federal Bureau of Investigation director (d. 1972)

• 1900 - Xavier Cugat, Catalan-Cuban musician, bandleader (d. 1990)
• 1902 - Buster Nupen, South African cricketer (d. 1977)
• 1904 - Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry, Pakistani politician (d. 1982)
• 1906 - Giovanni D'Anzi, Italian songwriter (d. 1974)
• 1909 - Dana Andrews, American actor (d. 1992)
• 1909 - Barry M. Goldwater, U.S. Senator from Arizona and Presidential candidate (d. 1998)
• 1911 - Hank Greenberg, baseball player (d. 1986)
• 1912 - Kim Philby, British spy (d. 1988)
• 1917 - Jule Gregory Charney, meteorologist (d. 1981)
• 1917 - Albert Mol, Dutch actor (d. 2004)
• 1919 - J. D. Salinger, American novelist
• 1920 - Virgilio Savona, Italian singer and songwriter (Quartetto Cetra)
• 1921 - Isma'il Raji' al-Faruqi, Palestinian-born philosopher and comparative religion scholar (d. 1986)
• 1922 - Rocky Graziano, American boxer (d. 1990)
• 1925 - Stymie Beard, American actor (d. 1981)
• 1927 - Vernon L. Smith, American economist, Bank of Sweden Prize winner
• 1927 - Doak Walker, American football star (d 1998)
• 1928 - Ernest Tidyman, American writer (d. 1984)
• 1933 - Frederick Lowy, Canadian medical educator, ethicist, and university president
• 1933 - Joe Orton, English writer (d. 1967)
• 1940 - Frank Langella American actor
• 1942 - Martin Frost, American politician
• 1942 - Country Joe McDonald, American musician (Country Joe and the Fish)
• 1942 - Gennadi Sarafanov, cosmonaut
• 1943 - Don Novello, American actor, comedian, and writer
• 1945 - Jacky Ickx, Belgian race car driver
• 1946 - Rivelino, Brazilian football player
• 1947 - Jon Corzine, American politician
• 1947 - Paula Tsui, cantopop singer
• 1953 - Greg Carmichael, British guitarist
• 1954 - Robert Menendez, American politician
• 1957 - Luis Guzmán, Puerto Rican actor
• 1958 - Grandmaster Flash, Barbados-born musician
• 1959 - Azali Assoumani, Comorese president
• 1961 - Mark Wingett, British actor
• 1964 - Dedee Pfeiffer, American actress
• 1966 - Embeth Davidtz, American actress
• 1967 - Derrick Thomas, American football player (d. 2000)
• 1968 - Davor Šuker, Croatian footballer
• 1969 - Verne Troyer - American actor

• 1970 - Gabriel Jarret, American actor
• 1972 - Neve McIntosh, Scottish actress
• 1975 - Joe Cannon, American soccer player
• 1977 - Hasan Salihamidžić, Bosnian footballer
• 1978 - Jared Fogle, American personality
• 1978 - Paramahamsa Sri Nithyananda, Indian spiritual guru
• 1978 - Nina Bott, German actress
• 1979 - Brody Dalle, Australian singer (The Distillers)
• 1979 - Koichi Domoto, Japanese artist
• 1980 - Elin Nordegren, Swedish model
• 1981 - Zsolt Baumgartner, Hungarian race car driver
• 1981 - Abdulkadir Kocak, Turkish boxer
• 1982 - David Nalbandian, Argentinian tennis player
• 1985 - Steven Davis, Northern Irish footballer
• 1986 - Alexa Ray Joel, daughter of Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley
• 1996 - Mary Gibbs, American actress

• 379 - Saint Basil of Caesarea (b. 330)
• 404 - Saint Telemachus
• 874 - Hasan al-Askari, eleventh Shia Imam (b. 846)
• 898 - Odo, Count of Paris (b. 860)
• 1204 - King Haakon III of Norway
• 1384 - King Charles II of Navarre (b. 1332)
• 1515 - King Louis XII of France (b. 1462)
• 1554 - Pedro de Valdivia, Spanish conquistador
• 1559 - Christian III of Denmark and Norway (b. 1503)
• 1560 - Joachim Du Bellay, French poet
• 1617 - Hendrik Goltzius, Dutch painter (b. 1558)
• 1679 - Jan Steen, Dutch painter
• 1716 - William Wycherley, English dramatist
• 1730 - Samuel Sewall, English-born judge (b. 1652)
• 1742 - Peregrine Bertie, 2nd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, English statesman (b. 1686)
• 1748 - Johann Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (b. 1667)
• 1766 - James Francis Edward Stuart, "The Old Pretender" (b. 1688)
• 1782 - Johann Christian Bach, German composer (b. 1735)
• 1789 - Fletcher Norton, 1st Baron Grantley, English politician (b. 1716)
• 1793 - Francesco Guardi, Venetian painter (b. 1712)
• 1800 - Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton, French naturalist (b. 1716)
• 1817 - Martin Heinrich Klaproth, German chemist (b. 1743)
• 1862 - Mikhail Vasilievich Ostrogradsky, Russian physicist (b. 1801)
• 1892 - Roswell B. Mason, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1805)
• 1894 - Heinrich Hertz, German physicist (b. 1857)
• 1912 - Pyotr Nikolaevich Lebedev, Russian phsyicist (b. 1866)
• 1933 - Harriet Brooks, Canadian physicist (b. 1876)
• 1944 - Charles Turner, Australian cricketer (b. 1862)
• 1953 - Hank Williams, American singer (b. 1923)
• 1958 - Edward Weston, American photographer (b. 1886)
• 1960 - Margaret Sullavan, American actress (b. 1911)
• 1964 - Bechara El Khoury, President of Lebanon (b. 1890)
• 1972 - Maurice Chevalier, French actor and singer (b. 1888)
• 1981 - Beulah Bondi, American actress (b. 1888)
• 1986 - Alfredo Binda, Italian cyclist (b. 1902)
• 1992 - Grace Hopper, American computer pioneer (b. 1906)
• 1994 - Lord Arthur Espie Porritt, Governor-General of New Zealand (b. 1900)
• 1994 - Cesar Romero, American actor (b. 1907)
• 1995 - Fred West, British serial killer (suicide) (b. 1941)
• 1995 - Eugene Wigner, Hungarian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
• 1996 - Arleigh Burke, U.S. admiral (b. 1901)
• 1997 - Townes Van Zandt, American musician (b. 1944)
• 1998 - Helen Wills Moody, American tennis player (b. 1905)
• 2001 - Ray Walston, American actor (b. 1914)
• 2003 - Joe Foss, American politician and fighter pilot (b. 1915)
• 2005 - Shirley Chisholm, first black U.S. Congresswoman (b. 1924)
• 2005 - Hugh John Frederick Lawson, 6th Baron Burnham, British newspaperman and politician (b. 1931)
• 2005 - Bob Matsui, U.S. Congressman (b. 1941)
• 2006 - Harry Magdoff, American socialist, editor of Monthly Review (b. 1913)
• 2006 - Phillip Whitehead, 68, Labour Party MEP for the East Midlands and former television producer.

• The seventh day of Christmas (and eighth night of same) in Western Christianity.
• Many countries around the world using Gregorian Calendar - New Year's Day; often celebrated at 0:00 with fireworks.
• Catholicism - Holy Day of Obligation in many countries. Final Day of Octave of Christmas, Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (New calendar).
• Catholicism - Feast of the Circumcision (Old calendar).
• 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
• Vienna New Year's Concert
• Pasadena, California - The Tournament of Roses parade and, traditionally, the Rose Bowl football championship.
• World Day for Prayer for Peace
• New Year’s Day Parade in London, United Kingdom.

December 31 - January 2 - December 1 - February 1 — listing of all days