1st of January

Today is the first day of the year in the Gregorian calendar.  There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year.

153 BC - Roman consuls begin their year in office.

45 BC - The Julian calendar takes effect for the first time.

1700 AD - Russia begins using the Anno Domini era and no longer uses the Anno Mundi era of the Byzantine Empire.

1772 - The first traveler's cheques, which can be used in 90 European cities, go on sale in London, England.

1781 - 1,500 soldiers of the 6th Pennsylvania Regiment under General Anthony Wayne's command rebel against the Continental Army's winter camp in Morristown, New Jersey as part of the Pennsylvania Mutiny of the year.

1800 - The Dutch East India Company is dissolved.

1801 - The dwarf planet Ceres, is discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi.

1804 - French rule ends in Haiti.  It becomes the first black republic and second independent country on the North American continent.

1808 - The importation of slaves into the United States is banned.

1847 - The world's first Mercy Hospital is founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, by the Sisters of Mercy.  The name will go on to grace over 30 major hospitals throughout the world.

1863 - The Emancipation Proclamation takes effect in the Confederate territories.

1890 - The Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California is first held.

1892 - Ellis Island opens to begin processing immigrants into the United States.

1898 - New York Ctiy annexes land from surrounding counties, creating Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx.

1902 - The first American college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl, between Michigan and Stanford, is held 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.

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 becomes a United States federal prison.

1939 - William Hewlett and David Packard found Hewlett-Packard.

1945 - Operation Nordwind, the last major German offensive on the Western Front begins.

1947 - The American and British forces merge occupation zones, that later become the Federal Republic of Germany.

1954 - NBC makes the first coast-to-coast color broadcast when it telecasts the Tournament of Roses Parade, with public demonstrations given across the United States on prototype color receivers.

1959 - Fulgencio Batista, dictator of Cuba, is overthrown by Fidel Castro's forces during the Cuban Revolution.

1960 - The Republic of Cameroon achieves its independence.

1962 - The United States Navy SEALs is established.

1971 - Cigarette advertisements are banned on American television.

1983 - The ARPANET officially changes to using another protocol, creating the Internet.

1990 - David Dinkins is sworn in as New York City's first black mayor.

1995 - The World Trade Organization goes into effect.