January 1 is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar; 364 days remain until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the year. 153 BC – For the first time, Roman consuls begin their year in office on January 1.
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.
42 BC – The Roman Senate posthumously deifies Julius Caesar.
404 – Saint Telemachus tries to stop a gladiatorial fight in a Roman ampitheater, and is stoned to death by the crowd. This act impresses the Christian Emperor Honorius, who issues a historic ban on gladiatorial fights 1001 – Grand Prince Stephen I of Hungary is named the first King of Hungary by Pope Sylvester II (probable) 1438 – Albert II of Habsburg is crowned King of Hungary.
1502 – The presentday location of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is first explored by the Portuguese 1515 – Twenty-yearold Francis, Duke of Brittany, succeeds to the French throne following the death of his father-inlaw, Louis XII.
1527 – Croatian nobles elect Ferdinand I, Archduke of Austria as King of Croatia in the 1527 election in Cetin.
1600 – Scotland recognizes January 1 as the start of the year, instead of March 25.
1604 – The Masque of Indian and China Knights is performed by courtiers of James VI and I at Hampton Court 1651 – Charles II is crowned King of Scotland at Scone Palace. 1700 – Russia begins using the Anno Domini era instead of the Anno Mundi era of the Byzantine Empire 1707 – John V is proclaimed King of Portugal and the Algarves in Lisbon.
1772 – The first traveler's cheques, which could be used in 90 European cities, are issued by the London Credit Exchange Company 1773 – The hymn that became known as 'Amazing Grace', then 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.
1776 – American Revolutionary War: Norfolk, Virginia is burned by combined Royal Navy and Continental Army action.
1776 – General George Washington hoists the first United States flag, the Grand Union Flag, at Prospect Hill.
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 1788 – The first edition of The Times of London, previously The Daily Universal Register, is published.
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.
1804 – French rule ends in Haiti. Haiti becomes the first blackmajority republic and second independent country in North America after the United States.
1808 – The United States bans the importation of slaves.
1818 – Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley publishes the world’s first science fiction novel: Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus 1847 – The world's first 'Mercy' Hospital is founded in Pittsburgh, United States, by a group of Sisters of Mercy from Ireland;[38] the name will go on to grace over 30 major hospitals throughout the world.
1861 – Liberal forces supporting Benito Juárez enter Mexico City 1877 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom is proclaimed Empress of India.
1885 – Twenty-five nations adopt Sandford Fleming's proposal for standard time (and also, time zones).
1890 – Eritrea is consolidated into a colony by the Italian government.
1892 – Ellis Island begins processing immigrants into the United States.
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. 1899 – Spanish rule ends in Cuba.
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.
1902 – The first American college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl between Michigan and Stanford, is held in Pasadena, California.
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.
1912 – The Republic of China is established.
1927 – New Mexican oil legislation goes into effect, leading to the formal outbreak of the Cristero War.
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.
1929 – The former municipalities of Point Grey, British Columbia and South Vancouver, British Columbia are amalgamated into Vancouver 1932 – The United States Post Office Department issues a set of 12 stamps commemorating the 200th anniversary of George Washington's birth.
1934 – Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay becomes a United States federal prison.[59] 1934 – A 'Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring' comes into effect in Nazi Germany.
1942 – The Declaration by United Nations is signed by twenty-six nations.
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.