- 406 80,000 Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine at Mainz, beginning invasion of Gallia
- 535 Byzantine General Belisarius completes the conquest of Sicily, defeating Ostrogothic garrison of Syracuse, and ending his consulship for the year
- 765 Coffin of Ho-tse Shen-hui interred in a stupa built in China
- 870 Skirmish at Englefield: Ethelred of Wessex beats Danish invasion army
- 1229 James I of Aragon the Conqueror enters Medina Mayurqa (Palma) consummating Christian conquest of the island of Majorca
- 1492 100,000 Jews expelled from Sicily
- 1502 Cesare Borgia (son of pope Alexander VI) occupies Urbino
Event of Interest
1564 William I of Orange demands freedom of religious conscience for his subjects in dramatic speech to the Council of State
Treaty of Interest
1621 Hungarian King Bethlen Gabor and Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II sign the Treaty of Mikulov
Gregory Conquers Julius Caesar
1700 Frisia and Groningen adopt Gregorian calendar, tomorrow is 1/12/1701
Event of Interest
1711 John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, fired as English army commander
Scientific Discovery
1744 English astronomer James Bradley announces discovery of Earth's nutation motion (wobble)
Battle of Quebec
1775 Battle of Quebec: American Continental Army led by Richard Montgomery is defeated trying to take the British stronghold of Quebec City in the American Revolutionary War, General Montgomery is killed and Benedict Arnold is injured
- 1776 Rhode Island establishes wage & price controls to curb inflation: Limit is 70 cents a day for carpenters, 42 cents for tailors
- 1779 British fleet beat Dutch Merchant vessels
- 1781 Bank of North America, 1st US bank opens
- 1783 Import of African slaves banned by all of the Northern US states
- 1805 End of French Republican calendar; France returns to Gregorianism
- 1831 Gramercy Park is deeded to New York City
- 1841 Alabama becomes 1st state to license dental surgeons
Event of Interest
1857 Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa as new capital of Canada
Event of Interest
1862 President Abraham Lincoln signs act admitting West Virginia to the Union
- 1862 Skirmish at Parker Cross Roads, Tennessee
- 1862 Union ironclad ship "Monitor" sank off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina
- 1870 J D Schneiter patents rocket mail in France, (not done)
- 1879 Cornerstone laid for Honolulu's Iolani Palace (only royal palace in US)
- 1879 Edison gives 1st public demonstration of his incandescent lamp
- 1897 Brooklyn's last day as a city, it incorporates into NYC (1/1/1898)
- 1901 In the first election under their new constitution, Cuba elects a Congress and their first president, Tomas Estrada Palma
- 1904 First New Year's Eve celebration held in Times Square, New York City
- 1906 Australasian Championships Men's Tennis, Christchurch, NZ: All-NZ final; Antony Wilding beats Francis Fisher 6-0, 6-4, 6-4
- 1906 French, British and Italian treaty concerning rights on Abyssinia
- 1907 For 1st time, a ball drops at Times Square to signal the New Year
Music History
1907 Gustav Mahler conducts the Metropolitan Opera, in New York City
- 1910 US tobacco industry produced 9 billion cigarettes in 1910
Nobel Prize
1911 Marie Curie receives her second Nobel Prize, this time in Chemistry, for her work with radioactivity
International Lawn Tennis Challenge
1920 International Lawn Tennis Challenge, Auckland, NZ: Bill Johnson & Bill Tilden (US) beat Norman Brookes & Gerald Patterson (Australasia) 6-4, 4-6, 6-0, 6-4 for an unassailable 3-0 lead; ends 5-0
- 1920 Victorian all-rounder Roy Park makes Test cricket debut for Australia v England in 2nd Test in Melbourne; bowled by Harry Howell for a first ball 'golden duck' in his first and only Test innings
- 1921 Australasian Championships Men's Tennis, Perth: Australian Rhys Gemmell beats countryman Alf Hedeman 7-5, 6-1, 6-4
- 1921 Last San Francisco firehorses retired
- 1923 1st transatlantic radio broadcast of a voice, Pittsburgh-Manchester
- 1923 BBC begins using Big Ben chime ID
- 1923 Harry Tierney and Joseph McCarthy's musical "Kid Boots," premieres in New York City
- 1930 Pontifical encyclical Casti connubii against mixed marriages
- 1930 US tobacco industry produced 123 billion cigarettes in 1930
- 1932 John P O'Brien sworn-in as mayor of NYC
- 1934 Helen Richey becomes 1st woman to pilot an airmail transport
- 1935 Charles Darrow patents the board game Monopoly, goes on to be the 1st millionaire game designer
- 1935 CPH becomes Dutch Communist Party
- 1938 Daniel Sternefeld conducts premiere of his ballet "Pierlala" at the Royal Flemish Opera of Antwerp; choreographer Wladimir Karnetzky also danced the title role
- 1938 Dr R N Harger's "drunkometer", 1st breath test, introduced in Indiana
- 1938 Dutch national debt hits ƒ3,986,629,805.70
- 1939 Dutch national debt hits ƒ4,218,553,180.99
- 1941 Young Park (2) in the Bronx named in honor of Samuel Young
- 1942 Battle of the Barents Sea between British Navy and German Kriegsmarine off North Cape, Norway
- 1944 48 people die in a train accident in Ogden, Utah
- 1944 Japanese army evacuates harbor city Akyab
- 1944 World War II: Hungary declares war on Germany.
Sports History
1945 Before the biggest Adelaide Oval crowd of the season, batting maestro Don Bradman scores his first post-WWII century; 112 for South Australia v Australian Services
United Nations Charter
1945 Ratification of United Nations Charter completed
- 1946 French troops leave Lebanon
Event of Interest
1946 US President Harry Truman officially proclaims end of WW II
Sports History
1950 American thoroughbred jockeys Bill Shoemaker and Joe Culmone end the year tied, leading the nation with record 388 wins
- 1951 1st battery to convert radioactive energy to electricity announced
Sports History
1952 Danny Nardico stops former world middleweight champion Jake LaMotta in 7 rounds in a light heavyweight non-title bout in Coral Gables, Florida; LaMotta is knocked down for the only time in his career, his corner stopping fight after the round
Davis Cup
1952 Davis Cup Men's Tennis, Memorial Drive, Adelaide: Vic Seixas beats Ken McGregor in 4 sets but Australia retains title for third straight year; beats US, 4-1 in Adelaide
- 1953 42nd Davis Cup: Australia beats USA in Melbourne (3-2)
- 1953 Bill Shoemaker shatters record, riding 485 winners in a year
- 1953 Hulan Jack sworn in as Manhattan Borough president
- 1953 WFBC (now WYFF) TV channel 4 in G'ville-Spartanburg, SC (NBC) begins
- 1955 "Vamp" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 60 performances
Event of Interest
1955 The General Motors Corporation becomes the first U.S. corporation to make over $1 billion USD in a year.
- 1957 AAU awards Bobby Morrow, James Sullivan Memorial Trophy
- 1958 47th Davis Cup: USA beats Australia in Brisbane (3-2)
- 1958 Bill Shoemaker 1st jockey to win national riding championship 4X
Event of Interest
1958 Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista tells his Cabinet he is fleeing the country
- 1958 International Geophyscial Year ends
- 1961 Failed coup by Syrian group in Lebanon
- 1961 Marguerite Monnot and Alexandre Breffort's musical "lrma La Douce" closes at Alvin Theater, NYC, after 527 performances
- 1961 Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than $12 billion
NFL Championship
1961 National Football League Championship, City Stadium, Green Bay: Green Bay Packers shutout NY Giants 37-0; first of 5 NFL titles won in 7-season span by Packers and head coach, Vince Lombardi
- 1961 The Beach Boys play their debut gig under that name
- 1962 "Match Game" debuts on NBC with host Gene Rayburn
- 1962 American Basketball League announces suspension of operation
- 1962 Dutch leave New Guinea
- 1962 Katanga becomes part of Democratic Republic of Congo
- 1962 Ohio ends suit against Reds when they agree to stay in Cin for 10 yrs
- 1963 Dear Abby show premieres on CBS radio (runs 11 years)
Music History
1963 Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir play music together for the 1st time, Dana Morgan's Music Store in Palo Alto, California
- 1964 Donald Campbell (UK) sets world water speed record (276.33 mph)
- 1964 Indonesia proclaims expelled from the UN
- 1966 Monkee's "I'm a Believer" hits #1 & stays there for 7 weeks
- 1966 Pirate Radio 390 (Radio Invicata) off England, resumes transmitting
- 1966 Test Cricket debut of Bishen Singh Bedi, India v WI Calcutta, 2-92
- 1966 Toboggan Chutes begin operation in Cleveland Metroparks
- 1967 "Henry, Sweet Henry" closes at Palace Theater NYC after 80 performances
- 1967 1st NBA game at Great Western Forum, LA Lakers beat Houston 147-118
Sports History
1967 AFL Championship, Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland: Oakland Raiders beat Houston Oilers 40-7; George Blanda 4 field goals for Raiders in club's 1st AFL Championship
Event of Interest
1967 Evel Knievel fails in his attempt to jump the Caesar's Palace Fountain, Las Vegas, breaking his pelvis, femur, wrist, hip and both ankles
Event of Interest
1970 Congress authorizes Eisenhower dollar coin
Music History
1970 Paul McCartney files a lawsuit to dissolve The Beatles
- 1970 President Allende nationalizes Chilean coal mines
- 1970 Would have been start of Aust/Eng Test Cricket at MCG, washed out
- 1971 Edmund Compton, then Northern Ireland Ombudsman, is replaced by John Benn
- 1971 KAID TV channel 4 in Boise, ID (PBS) begins broadcasting
- 1971 Lt Gen Robert E Cushman, Jr, USMC, ends term as deputy director of CIA
- 1972 AFC Championship, Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh: Miami Dolphins beat Pittsburgh Steelers, 21-7
Australian Open Women's Tennis
1972 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Margaret Court beats Evonne Goolagong Cawley 6-4, 7-5 for her record 11th and final Australian singles crown
- 1972 Leap second day; also in 1973-79, 1987
Event of Interest
1972 Martin McGuinness is arrested and held under the new Republic of Ireland legislation
- 1972 NFC Championship, RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.: Washington Redskins beat Dallas Cowboys 26-3
- 1973 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Australian Evonne Goolagong Cawley beats Chris Evert 7-6, 4-6, 6-0 for her first of 4 home singles titles
Sports History
1973 Johan Cruyff chosen European Football Player of theYear
- 1974 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Australian Evonne Goolagong Cawley retains her title; beats Martina Navratilova of Czechoslovakia 6-3, 6-2
- 1974 Ballon d'Or: Ajax forward Johan Cruyff wins back-to-back awards, and his 3rd overall, for best European football player ahead of Bayern Munich defender Franz Beckenbauer and Legia Warsaw midfielder Kazimierz Deyna
- 1974 Gold legal in US, Franklin Mint strikes Panama's Gold 100 balboa coin
Music History
1974 Lindsey Buckingham & Stevie Nicks join Fleetwood Mac
- 1974 New York Yankees sign Cy Young Award winner Jim "Catfish" Hunter for 5 years for a record $3.75 million from the Oakland A's
- 1974 Popular Electronics displays Altair 8800 computer
- 1976 The Cars played their 1st gig
- 1976 TV soap "Somerset" ends 6 year run
- 1977 "Bubbling Brown Sugar" closes at ANTA Theater NYC after 766 performances
- 1977 "Man of La Mancha" closes at Palace Theater NYC after 124 performances
- 1977 Amir Sheikh Jabir al-Ahmad al-Jabir Al Sabah becomes leader of Kuwait
Australian Men's Tennis Open
1977 Australian Open Men's Tennis: American Vitas Gerulaitis wins his first and only Grand Slam event; beats Englishman John Lloyd 6-3, 7-6, 5-7, 3-6, 6-2
- 1977 Cambodia drops diplomatic relations with Vietnam
- 1977 Donald Woods, a banned anti-Apartheid white editor flees South Africa
- 1977 Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o is imprisoned for co-writing a play critical of the Kenyan government
- 1977 WFAT (Brooklyn New York pirate radio station) begins broadcasting on 1620 AM
- 1978 "Magic Show" closes at Cort Theater NYC after 1859 performances
- 1978 "Runaways" closes at Plymouth Theater NYC after 199 performances
- 1978 CIA director, Admiral Stansfield Turner retires from the Navy
- 1978 Iran shah names Chapour Bakhtiar premier
- 1978 Taiwan's final day of diplomatic relations with US
- 1978 The Runaways' band's last ever concert at the Cow Plalce in Daly City, California
- 1978 Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, California closes after 556 concerts; Final show is the Grateful Dead, New Riders of the Purple Sage, and The Blues Brothers; program lasts for over 8 hours, with the Grateful Dead playing for nearly 6 hours; concert broadcast on local PBS TV station KQED, and simulcast by radio station KSAN-FM, after the show, the crowd was treated to a hot, buffet-style breakfast.
- 1980 A Jewish owned hotel in Nairobi Kenya is bombed killing 18
- 1980 After being struck by an orange thrown from the crowd West Indian fast bowler Sylvester Clarke knocks out a spectator with a brick during 4th Test against Pakistan in Multan
Music Concert
1980 Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band's "The River Tour" concert at Nassau Coliseum (Uniondale, New York) clocks in at almost 4 hours
- 1980 NY Islanders greatest shutout margin (9-0) vs Chicago Black Hawks
- 1980 Senegal president Leopold Senghor resigns
- 1981 CNN Headline News cable TV channel debuts in US
- 1981 Lt Jerry Rawlings becomes head of Ghana, suspends constitution
- 1981 Netherlands unemployment stands at record 475,000
- 1982 CBS Mystery Theater final episode on radio after 8 years
- 1982 NBC radio cancels almost all of its network daily features
- 1982 TV soap "Doctors" ends 19 year run
- 1983 Brunei gains complete independence from Britain
- 1983 Jose Happart installed as mayor of Voeren, Belgium
- 1983 Nigeria's National Assembly dissolves after military coup
Coup d'état
1983 President Shagari of Nigeria is overthrown in a military coup and Major General Muhammadu Buhari is installed as Head of State
- 1984 Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen loses his arm in a car crash
- 1984 NYC subway gunman Bernhard Goetz surrenders to police in NH
- 1984 Test Cricket debut of Mohammad Azharuddin, v England at Calcutta
- 1984 US leaves UNESCO
- 1986 Dupont Plaza Hotel fire in San Juan, Puerto Rico kills 97
- 1986 Russian TU-144 flies for 1st time faster than sound
- 1986 WIS-AM in Columbia SC changes call letters to WVOC (now WOMG)
The 1988 Fog Bowl
1988 "The Fog Bowl", a heavy, dense fog rolls over Soldier Field in Chicago during second quarter of the Bears vs Eagles NFC Divisional Playoff Game, cuts visibility to 15-20 yards (Bears win 20-12)
Sports History
1988 Pittsburgh NHL center Mario Lemieux accounts for all his team's goals in Penguins 8-6 win over the NJ Devils; famously scores 5 goals, each in a different way: even strength, power play, shorthanded, penalty shot and empty net; also 3 assists
- 1989 "Me & My Girl" closes at Marquis Theater NYC after 1420 performances
- 1989 "Threepenny Opera" closes at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC after 65 performances
Sports History
1989 Jockey Kent Desormeaux sets record with 598 wins in a year
- 1990 Iraq begins a military draft of 17 year olds
- 1990 Sci-Fi Channel on cable TV begins transmitting
- 1990 United Somali Congress seizes Presidential Palace
- 1991 CPN, Communist Party of Netherland - last day of existence
- 1991 Daniel R. McCarthy elected NY Yankee managing general partner
- 1991 Dow Jones closes at record high 3168.83
- 1991 J. Donald Crump resigns as CFL Commissioner
Music Concert
1993 Barbra Streisand performs her 1st public concert in 20 years before a sell-out crows of over 25,000 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada
