January 1

Facts & Historical Events On This Day

2019

Same-sex marriage became legal in Austria.

2011

Estonia joined the Eurozone and adopted the Euro as its currency.

2007

Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union.

1999

The Euro currency was introduced and adopted by 11 Member States.

1993

The country of Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved into two nations, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

1985

A Scandinavian research collaboration created the first-ever internet domain name Nordu.net.

1978

A B747 plane by Air India flying from Bombay, India to Dubai, UAE, crashed with no survivors.

1971

America banned all advertisements of cigarettes on TV and radio.

1959

Fidel Castro's revolutionary forces overthrew the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista.

1916

Medical researcher Oswald Hope Robertson performed the first-ever blood transfusion using stored and refrigerated blood.

1892

Ellis Island opened as a US immigration inspection station.

1801

The dwarf planet Ceres was discovered by an Italian monk called Giuseppe Piazzi.

1801

The Union Jack flag was flown for the first time in Dublin, Ireland, to commemorate the union between Great Britain and Ireland.

1502

Portuguese navigators discovered Rio de Janeiro.

404 AD

A monk put an end to gladiator fighting in Rome.

45 BC

The Julian Calendar was used for the first time.