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What happened in history on this day: January 1?
On January 1 in ...
- 1776 - General George Washington hoists Continental Union Flag.
- 1788 - Quakers in Pennsylvania emancipate their slaves.
- 1791 - The Bank of North America converts accounts from Mexican dollars to US dollars.
- 1793 - Representative Elias Boudinot recommends portrait of Christopher Columbus be placed on first US coinage.
- 1797 - Albany replaces New York City as capital of New York.
- 1808 - US Congress prohibits importation of slaves.
- 1818 - Official re-opening of the White House.
- 1834 - The final lottery in New York state is drawn, as a ban on new lotteries comes into effect.
- 1842 - First illustrated weekly magazine in US publishes first issue, New York City, New York.
- 1851 - City of Glasgow steamer inaugurates Philadelphia-Liverpool line.
- 1852 - First US public bath opens in New York City, New York.
- 1853 - First practical fire engine (horse-drawn) in US enters service.
- 1856 - Prepayment of domestic letters in the USA by means of adhesive postage stamps or stamped envelopes is made compulsory.
- 1862 - First US income tax (3 percent of incomes > $600, 5 percent of incomes > $10,000).
- 1862 - Battle of Fort McRee, Florida, and Battle of Port Royal, South Carolina (Port Royal Ferry).
- 1863 - First homestead under the US Homestead Act claimed, near Beatrice, Nebraska, by Daniel Freeman.
- 1863 - Battle of Galveston, Texas - Confederates recapture the city.
- 1863 - Battle of Helena, Arkansas.
- 1863 - US President Abraham Lincoln issues an executive order, naming ten specific States where his order of September 22 would apply (freedom of slaves in Confederate states).
- 1874 - New York City annexes the Bronx.
- 1892 - Ellis Island Immigration Station becomes reception center for new immigrants to the USA. 17 year-old Annie Moore is first immigrant to be processed.
- 1893 - First US college extension courses for credit, University of Chicago.
- 1897 - Brooklyn merges with New York to form present City of New York.
- 1899 - Cuba liberated from Spain by US (National Day).
- 1902 - First Rose Bowl college football game (Pasadena, California). University of Michigan beats Stanford 49 to 0.
- 1902 - Nathan Stubblefield makes the first public demonstration of radio in Pennsylvania, USA.
- 1913 - US Post office begins parcel post deliveries.
- 1925 - American astronomer Edwin Hubble announces the discovery of galaxies outside the Milky Way.
- 1928 - First US air-conditioned office building opens, San Antonio, New Mexico.
- 1930 - Early US radio comedy program The Cuckoo Hour debuts on NBC-Blue, created by Raymond Knight.
- 1934 - Alcatraz officially becomes a federal prison.
- 1934 - Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (US bank guarantor) effective.
- 1934 - Radio horror show Light's Out debuts on WENR Chicago.
- 1934 - Fiorello La Guardia becomes mayor of New York City, begining a campaign of ridding the city of slot machines.
- 1936 - First newspaper to microfilm its current issues, New York Herald Tribune.
- 1937 - US Army Air Corps physiological research laboratory completed, Ohio.
- 1939 - William Hewlett and David Packard found Hewlett-Packard in the USA.
- 1939 - Anglo-American trade agreement goes into effect, cutting tariffs in US, England, and Crown Colonies.
- 1942 - In Washington, D.C., representatives of 26 countries sign the Declaration of United Nations.
- 1942 - Japanese forces enter Manila in the Philippines.
- 1944 - First feature-length foreign movie, African Journey, shown on TV, New York City, New York.
- 1944 - US General Clark replaces General George Patton as commander of 7th Army.
- 1947 - The United States and Great Britain join their German zones of administration.
- 1948 - First color newsreel is filmed, in Pasadena, California, USA.
- 1958 - BOAC Britannia flies London to New York in a record 7 hours 57 minutes.
- 1959 - Highway 91 in Nevada is officially renamed Las Vegas Boulevard.
- 1960 - Johnny Cash plays his first free concert for inmates, at a show at San Quentin Prison in California.
- 1961 - Largest check issued, National Bank of Chicago to Sears (US$960.242 billion).
- 1966 - The Aladdin Hotel opens in Las Vegas, with 15-story high Aladdin's lamp.
- 1966 - All US cigarette packs have to carry "Caution Cigarette smoking may be hazardous to your health".
- 1967 - US Federal Communications Commission requires AM-FM sister stations to be at least 50 percent different.
- 1968 - Criswell predicts in print and on TV that a black civil rights leader would be assassinated before October.
- 1971 - Tobacco advertisements are banned on radio and TV in the USA.
- 1974 - NBC radio begins on-the-hour news 24 hours a day (following CBS lead).
- 1975 - Chief of Staff Harry Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Mitchell and Mardian convicted of Watergate crime.
- 1975 - Private ownership of gold is legalized in the USA.
- 1976 - Liberty Bell moves to new home behind Independence Hall.
- 1976 - NBC Television replaces the 20-year old 'peacock' logo with a new abstract capital "N".
- 1978 - The US Copyright Act of 1976 takes effect, making sweeping changes to United States copyright law.
- 1979 - The United States and the People's Republic of China establish full diplomatic relations.
- 1981 - Roger Smith becomes CEO of General Motors.
- 1982 - MTA launches five year capital program to overhaul New York City, New York subway system.
- 1983 - The ARPANET officially changes to using the Internet Protocol, creating the Internet.
- 1984 - AT&T's Bell System companies divest into 24 independent units.
- 1985 - US's first manadatory seat belt law goes into effect (New York).
- 1985 - VH-1 premieres on US cable as an adult contemporary music video channel.
- 1985 - The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
- 1986 - In the USA, regular leaded gasoline at public pumps can only include 0.1 grams of lead per gallon.
- 1988 - In the USA, regular gasoline at public pumps can include no lead.
- 1988 - The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is established.
- 1990 - US Federal Communications Commission implements "SYNDEX" giving independent stations more rights over cable TV outlets for exclusive syndicated programs.
- 1992 - George H. W. Bush becomes the first U.S. President to address the Australian Parliament.
- 1992 - The ESPN Radio Network debuts.
- 1994 - The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goes into effect in Canada, USA, and Mexico.
- 1998 - Smoking is banned in all California bars and restaurants.
- 1998 - US Census Bureau estimates population at 268,921,733.
- 2000 - Y2K passes without serious, widespread computer failures, as many experts and businesses had feared.
- 2001 - Many people celebrate the beginning of the new millennium - the 21st century (but not as much as the celebrations in 2000) and have a millennium feast. A black monolith measuring approximately 9 feet tall appears in Seattle, Washington's Magnuson Park, placed by an anonymous artist in reference to the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.
- 2009 - The U.S. military in Iraq falls under Iraqi authority for the first time since the U.S.-led invasion ousted Saddam Hussein in 2003.
- 2019 - Works published by authors who died in 1948 enter the public domain in many countries. In the United States, all works published in 1923 enter the public domain, the first entry of published works into the public domain since 1998.
- 2022 - Eric Adams replaces Bill de Blasio as mayor of New York City.
Births on January 1
- 1861 - Birth of William Morris in Boston, Massachusetts, USA; actor (Brothers, The Roadhouse Murder).
- 1867 - Birth of Lew Fields in New York City, New York, USA; comedian/actor (of Weber and Fields, 23-Skidoo).
- 1873 - Birth of Willis Robards in Texas, USA; actor/director (Mothers of Men, Every Woman's Problem).
- 1879 - Birth of Edward Dillon in New York City, New York, USA; actor/director (Young Ironsides, The Golden West).
- 1884 - Birth of George W Meyer in Boston, Massachusetts, USA; composer/lyricist ("Bells of St. Mary's", "Broadway Babies").
- 1885 - Birth of Lawrence Alfred Bowes in Newark, California, USA; actor (Big Town Ideas).
- 1885 - Birth of Winifred Greenwood in Geneseo, New York, USA; actress (Don't Call Me Little Girl, Love Never Dies).
- 1886 - Birth of Willard Robertson in Runnels, Texas, USA; actor (Deep Valley, Fury at Furnace Creek).
- 1888 - Birth of Chesley Bonestell in San Francisco, California, USA; special effects/actor/writer (Swiss Family Robinson, War of the Worlds).
- 1891 - Birth of Charles Bickford in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA; character actor for 25 years in Hollywood films before the TV era (Playhouse 90, Ford TV Theater, John - The Virginian, Wagon Train, The Dick Powell Show, Days of Wine and Roses).
- 1892 - Birth of Lillian Lorraine in San Francisco, California, USA; actress (Lonesome Corners, Should a Wife Forgive?).
- 1893 - Birth of Jay Rescher in Bayonne, New Jersey, USA; cinematographer (Girl of the Sea, Straight To Heaven).
- 1895 - Birth of J. Edgar Hoover in Washington DC; Director of US Fedreal Bureau of Investigation (dies 1972).
- 1897 - Birth of Walter Greaza in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; actor (Martin Kane Private Eye, Edge of Night).
- 1900 - Birth of Erwin S. Gelsey New York City, New York, USA; screenwriter (Cover Girl, Touchdown Army).
- 1900 - Birth of William Haines in Staunton, Virginia, USA; actor (Fast Life, Little Annie Rooney).
- 1909 - Birth of Dana Andrews in Collins, Mississippi, USA; American actor (Battle of the Bulge, Laura, The Best Years of Our Lives, I was a Communist for the FBI) (dies 1992).
- 1916 - Birth of Earl Wrightson in Baltimore, Maryland, USA; American singer/actor (The At Home Show, Paul Whiteman's Goodyear Revue) (dies 1993).
- 1919 - Birth of Carole Landis in Fairchild, Wisconsin, USA; actress (One Million BC, Topper Returns).
- 1919 - Birth of Jerome David Salinger in New York City, New York, USA; novelist (Catcher in the Rye).
- 1923 - Birth of Milton Jackson in the USA; vibraphonist (Milt of Bags).
- 1927 - Birth of Barbara Baxley in Stockton, California, USA; actress (Norma Rae, Countdown).
- 1928 - Birth of Ernest R Tidyman in Ohio, USA; novelist/screenwriter (The French Connection).
- 1938 - Birth of Frank Langella; actor (Kitchen Confidential, Unscripted, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Dracula, Diary of a Mad Housewife, Twelve Chairs).
- 1940 - Birth of Jack Kiefer in Columbia, Pennsylvania, USA; PGA golfer (1994 Ralphs Senior Classic).
- 1942 - Birth of Country Joe McDonald in California, USA; rock guitarist/vocalist (Country Joe and the Fish).
- 1943 - Birth of Don Novello [Father Guido Sarducci] in Ashtabula, Ohio, USA; comedian (Saturday Night Live).
- 1943 - Birth of Jerilyn Britz in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; LPGA golfer (1979 US Women's Open).
- 1946 - Birth of Rick Hurst in Houston, Texas, USA; actor (The Dukes of Hazzard).
- 1955 - Birth of Michael James Sullivan in Gary, Indiana, USA; PGA golfer (1980 Southern Open).
- 1958 - Birth of Joseph "Grandmaster Flash" Saddler in New York City, New York, USA; rocker (Message).
- 1958 - Birth of Ren Woods in Portland, Oregon, USA; actress (Fanta - Roots, Beauty and the Beast, We've Got Each Other).
- 1965 - Birth of Andrew O Valmon in Brooklyn, New York, USA; 400m runner.
- 1966 - Birth of Rawley Valberde in Oceanside, California, USA; actor (Amado - Santa Barbara).
Deaths on January 1
- 1869 - Death of James Barton Longacre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; engraver of US Mint for 25 years, portrait painter.
- 1901 - Ignatius Donnelly, US attorney/Lieutenant-Governor (Minnesota), dies at age 69.
- 1953 - Hank Williams, legendary country singer ("Cold Cold Heart", "Half as Much", "Jambalaya", "Your Cheatin' Heart", "Hey, Good Lookin", "I'm So Lonesome I Could Die"), dies at age 29 from a drug/alcohol-related heart attack.
- 1972 - Jane Morgan, actress (Mrs Margaret Davis - Our Miss Brooks), dies at age 91.
- 1972 - Kenneth Patchen, American poet/writer (Cloth of Tempest), dies at age 60.
- 1982 - Vladimir K Zworykin, Russian/American engineer (cathode-ray tube), dies at age 93.
- 1992 - American Rear Admiral Grace Hopper dies, at age 85. Her computer-related career included programming the Mark I in the 1940s, helping invent the COBOL language, contributing to the first practical compiler, and coining the term "bug" in 1945.
- 1994 - Cesar Romero, Cuban-American actor (Joker - Batman, Falcon Crest), dies at age 86 from bronchitis and pneumonia (born 1907).
- 1995 - Ted Hawkins, US blues singer ("Watch Your Step", "The Next Hundred Years"), dies at age 58 after a stroke, in Los Angeles, California.
- 1998 - Death of Helen Wills Moody, American tennis player (31 Grand Slams), at age 92 (born 1905).
- 2001 - Death of Ray Walston in his sleep at age 86, American actor (Damn Yankees (Tony award), My Favorite Martian, Picket Fences) (born 1914).
- 2005 - Death of Shirley Chisholm, U.S. Congresswoman (born 1924).
- 2005 - Death of Bob Matsui, U.S. Congressman from California (born 1941).
- 2006 - Death of Charles Steen, American geologist, the "Uranium King".
- 2009 - Claiborne Pell, Rhode Island Democratic Senator (1961-97), dies at age 90 of Parkinson's disease.
- 2015 - Death of Mario Cuomo, American politician (born 1932).
- 2020 - Death of David Stern, American businessman and NBA commissioner (born 1942).
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