Happy New Year! January 1st is officially known as National Hangover Day as well as Z Day.
Same-sex marriage became legal in Austria.
Estonia joined the Eurozone and adopted the Euro as its currency.
Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union.
The Euro currency was introduced and adopted by 11 Member States.
The country of Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved into two nations, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
A Scandinavian research collaboration created the first-ever internet domain name Nordu.net.
A B747 plane by Air India flying from Bombay, India to Dubai, UAE, crashed with no survivors.
America banned all advertisements of cigarettes on TV and radio.
Fidel Castro's revolutionary forces overthrew the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista.
Medical researcher Oswald Hope Robertson performed the first-ever blood transfusion using stored and refrigerated blood.
Ellis Island opened as a US immigration inspection station.
The dwarf planet Ceres was discovered by an Italian monk called Giuseppe Piazzi.
The Union Jack flag was flown for the first time in Dublin, Ireland, to commemorate the union between Great Britain and Ireland.
Portuguese navigators discovered Rio de Janeiro.
A monk put an end to gladiator fighting in Rome.
The Julian Calendar was used for the first time.
