Today in History, January 1st!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A few of the great historical events that happened today in history, January 1st!

Today in history facts are from various sites including, but not limited too: the History Channel, The New York Times, WHG Historynet.com, and HistoryOrb.com.

Today in History, January 1st!

1500	The Portuguese explorer Pedro Alvares Cabral searches the coast of Brazil and claims the region for Portugal.
1586	Sir Francis Drake launches a surprise attack on the heavily fortified city of Santo Domingo in Hipanola.
1698	The Abenaki Indians and Massachusetts colonists sign a treaty halting hostilities between the two.
1766	The Old Pretender, son of James III, dies.
1788	The Times, London’s oldest running newspaper, publishes its first edition.
1808	A U.S. law banning the import of slaves comes into effect, but is widely ignored.
1824	The Camp Street Theatre opens as the first English-language playhouse in New Orleans.
1830	William Lloyd Garrison publishes the first edition of a journal entitled The Liberator, calling for the complete and immediate emancipation of all slaves in the United States.
1863	Confederate General Braxton Bragg and Union General William Rosecrans readjust their troops as the Battle of Murfreesboro continues.
1863	President Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the slaves in the Confederacy.
1892	The Ellis Island Immigrant Station in New York opened.
1898	New York City was consolidated into five buroughs.
1901	The Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed.
1907	The Pure Food and Drug Act becomes law in the United States.
1915	The German submarine U-24 sinks the British battleship Formidable in the English Channel.
1918	The first gasoline pipeline begins operation. Along the 40 miles and three inches of pipe from Salt Creek to Casper, Wyoming.
1919	J.D. Salinger, author of “The Catcher in the Rye,” was born in New York City.
1923	Sadi Lecointe sets a new aviation speed record flying an average of 208 mph at Istres.
1937	At a party at the Hormel Mansion in Minnesota, a guest wins $100 for naming a new canned meat–Spam.
1945	In Operation Bodenplatte, German planes attack American forward air bases in Europe. This is the last major offensive of the Luftwaffe.
1953	Country singer Hank Williams Sr., 29, died of a drug and alcohol overdose.
1958	Treaties establishing the European Economic Community went into effect.
1959	Fidel Castro seizes power in Cuba as General Fulgencio Batista flees.
1979	The United States and China established diplomatic relations.
1984	AT&T was divested of its 22 Bell System companies under terms of an antitrust agreement.
1986	As the United States builds its strength in the Mediterranean, Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi threatens to retaliate if attacked.
1990	David Dinkins was sworn in as New York City’s first African-American mayor.
1993	Czechoslovakia peacefully split into two new countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
1994	The North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect.
1999	The euro became the official currency of 11 European countries.
2012	Oprah Winfrey launched the OWN cable TV network.