The Euro currency was introduced and adopted by 11 Member States.
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Portuguese navigators discovered Rio de Janeiro.
A Scandinavian research collaboration created the first-ever internet domain name Nordu.net.
Ellis Island opened as a US immigration inspection station.
The Union Jack flag was flown for the first time in Dublin, Ireland, to commemorate the union between Great Britain and Ireland.
The country of Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved into two nations, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.