This Day in History: January 1st

Here are 100 historical events that took place on January 1st:

1. 1 C.E.: The Roman Empire established a tax of 1/100 on goods sold in auction.
2. 10 C.E.: The Roman poet Ovid was born.
3. 45 C.E.: The Roman Republic officially began using the Julian calendar.
4. 404 C.E.: Telemachus tried to stop a gladiatorial fight in a Roman amphitheater, leading to his stoning and the eventual end of gladiator contests.
5. 1502: The present-day location of Rio de Janeiro was first explored by the Portuguese.
6. 1583: The Netherlands adopted the Gregorian calendar.
7. 1622: Papal Chancery adopted January 1st as the beginning of the year.
8. 1622: The Papal Chancery adopted January 1st as the beginning of the year, replacing March 25th.
9. 1651: Charles II was crowned king of Scotland.
10. 1673: Regular mail delivery began between New York and Boston.
11. 1700: Russia replaced the Zemsky Sobor with the Table of Ranks.
12. 1724: Tumult of Thorn: Religious unrest led to the execution of nine Protestant citizens and the mayor of Thorn (Toruń) by Polish authorities.
13. 1735: Paul Revere, American patriot and silversmith, was born.
14. 1745: Anthony Wayne, American general and statesman, was born.
15. 1752: The British Empire and its American colonies adopted the Gregorian calendar, skipping 11 days.
16. 1757: France and Austria signed a treaty of alliance against Great Britain.
17. 1781: Fourth Anglo-Dutch War: Great Britain declared war on the Dutch Republic.
18. 1788: First edition of “The Times,” London’s newspaper, was published.
19. 1795: The Treaty of Basel was signed between France and Prussia, ending the War of the First Coalition.
20. 1797: Albany became the capital of New York state.
21. 1799: Income tax was introduced in the United Kingdom.
22. 1800: The Dutch East India Company was dissolved.
23. 1801: The legislative union of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland was completed to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
24. 1801: The Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
25. 1804: Haiti gained its independence from France.
26. 1806: The French Republican Calendar was abolished.
27. 1817: The first coffee is planted in Hawaii.
28. 1822: The Greek Constitution of 1822 was adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus.
29. 1832: John C. Calhoun became the first Vice President of the United States to resign, stepping down over political differences with President Andrew Jackson.
30. 1833: Robert Lawson, New Zealand architect and designer, was born.
31. 1845: Texas was admitted as the 28th U.S. state.
32. 1846: Iowa was admitted as the 29th U.S. state.
33. 1847: The world’s first “modern” indoor public swimming pool opened in London.
34. 1848: Arthur St. Clair, American general and politician, died.
35. 1851: The American chess magazine “Chess Monthly” began publication.
36. 1863: The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War, came into effect.
37. 1864: Alfred Stieglitz, American photographer and curator, was born.
38. 1873: Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar.
39. 1874: Gustave Whitehead, German-American aviation pioneer, was born.
40. 1879: E. M. Forster, English author, was born.
41. 1880: Ferdinand de Lesseps began French construction of the Panama Canal.
42. 1881: The world’s first electric tramway started in Lichterfelder, near Berlin, Germany.
43. 1888: The Convention of Constantinople was signed, guaranteeing free maritime passage through the Suez Canal during war and peace.
44. 1892: Ellis Island in New York Harbor opened as a U.S. immigration depot.
45. 1895: J. Edgar Hoover, first Director of the FBI, was born.
46. 1898: New York City annexed the Bronx.
47. 1900: Xavier Cugat, Spanish-American bandleader, was born.
48. 1901: The Commonwealth of Australia was established.
49. 1909: Barry Goldwater, American general and politician, was born.
50. 1911: Mongolia gained independence from the Qing Dynasty after the Outer Mongolian Revolution.
51. 1912: The Republic of China was established.
52. 1912: Kim Philby, British intelligence officer and Soviet double agent, was born.
53. 1916: The Banat Republic was founded in the city of Timișoara, present-day Romania.
54. 1921: Cesar Borgia, Spanish-Italian cardinal, died.
55. 1928: Dan Rostenkowski, American politician, was born.
56. 1928: The Soviet Union began the First Five-Year Plan.
57. 1930: Gaafar Nimeiry, Sudanese field marshal and politician, was born.
58. 1933: Joe Orton, English playwright and author, was born.
59. 1934: Alcatraz Island became a U.S. federal prison.
60. 1937: Sir Anthony Hopkins, Welsh actor, was born.
61. 1937: The first Cotton Bowl football game was played in Dallas, Texas.
62. 1938: Dr. R. N. Harger’s “drunkometer,” the first breath test for alcohol consumption, was introduced in Indianapolis.
63. 1939: Sydney, Australia, experienced its highest recorded rainfall in a single day (11.4 inches).
64. 1940: Frank Bridge, English composer, died.
65. 1942: Country Joe McDonald, American musician, was born.
66. 1942: Richard Nixon married Pat Ryan.
67. 1943: Don Novello, American comedian and actor (Father Guido Sarducci), was born.
68. 1943: Hank Williams, American singer-songwriter, died.
69. 1945: Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz ordered the German U-boat fleet to cease operations.
70. 1947: The American and British occupation zones in Germany merged to form Bizonia.
71. 1958: The European Economic Community (EEC) officially came into existence.
72. 1958: Sputnik 1 re-entered Earth’s atmosphere.
73. 1960: Cameroon gained its independence from French-administered UN trusteeship.
74. 1962: The Beatles auditioned for Decca Records.
75. 1967: Canada celebrated its 100th anniversary of Confederation.
76. 1969: BBC One broadcast its first color television program.
77. 1971: Cigarette advertising was banned on U.S. television.
78. 1973: The United States officially recognized the government of José Félix Estigarribia in Paraguay, which had taken power through a coup.
79. 1974: The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began operations.
80. 1979: Formal relations were established between China and the United States.
81. 1983: The Internet’s Domain Name System (DNS) was introduced.
82. 1984: AT&T was broken up into 22 independent units.
83. 1985: VH-1 made its broadcasting debut.
84. 1989: Riots broke out in Czechoslovakia, leading to the downfall of the communist government.
85. 1993: Czechoslovakia peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
86. 1994: The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into effect.
87. 1995: The World Trade Organization (WTO) was established.
88. 1999: The Euro currency was introduced in 11 European countries.
89. 2000: U.S. retail giant Montgomery Ward announced it was going out of business after 128 years.
90. 2002: Euro banknotes and coins became legal tender in twelve of the European Union’s member states.
91. 2003: The last known speaker of Akkala Sami, a critically endangered Finno-Ugric language, passed away in Russia.
92. 2004: An Enlargement of the European Union welcomed 10 new member states.
93. 2006: Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was executed by hanging.
94. 2007: Bulgaria and Romania joined the European Union.
95. 2009: Slovakia adopted the Euro as its official currency.
96. 2010: The Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, officially opened in Dubai.
97. 2011: Estonia adopted the Euro.
98. 2014: Latvia adopted the Euro.
99. 2015: A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck northeastern India, causing widespread damage and resulting in the deaths of at least 11 people.
100. 2022: The International Year of Sustainable Mountain Development officially began.