What happened on January 1
Day one of the count, for everybody at once. Whatever you started measuring this year, this is where the number began.
17 things that happened
- 1983the internet's birth as ARPANET switched to TCP/IPSource
- 1863the Emancipation Proclamation taking effectSource
- 1818the publication of FrankensteinSource
- 1959Fidel Castro's overthrow of the Cuban dictator BatistaSource
- 1801the discovery of Ceres, the first known asteroidSource
- 1892Ellis Island opening to immigrantsSource
- 2024Mickey Mouse entering the public domainSource
- 1934Alcatraz becoming a federal prisonSource
- 1970the start of Unix timeSource
- 1804Haiti becoming the first black-majority republicSource
- 1901the federation of AustraliaSource
- 1995the first scientific confirmation of a rogue waveSource
- 1971the US ban on cigarette ads on televisionSource
- 1985the first mobile phone call in BritainSource
- 404the ban on Roman gladiator fights after a monk was stoned to deathSource
- 1773the first use of the hymn Amazing GraceSource
- 1885the adoption of standard time and time zonesSource
Born on January 1
- 1919J. D. Salinger — Catcher in the Rye authorSource
- 1735Paul Revere — Midnight ride patriotSource
- 1752Betsy Ross — American flag makerSource
- 1895J. Edgar Hoover — First FBI directorSource
- 1958Grandmaster Flash — Hip-hop pioneer DJSource
- 2000Ice Spice — Bronx rap starSource
- 1969Verne Troyer — Mini-Me in Austin PowersSource
- 1449Lorenzo de' Medici — Renaissance Florence rulerSource