The preceding day is December 31 of the previous year.
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The ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1, ever since 153 BC. During the Middle Ages under the influence of the Christian Church, many countries moved the start of the year to one of several important Christian festivals — December 25 (the Nativity of Jesus), March 1, March 25 (the Annunciation), or even Easter. Eastern European countries (most of them with populations showing allegiance to the Orthodox Church) began their numbered year on September 1 from about 988.

In England January 1 was celebrated as the New Year festival, but from the 12th century to 1752 the year in England began on March 25 (Lady Day). So, for example, the Parliamentary record records the execution of Charles I occurring in 1648 (as the year did not end until March 24), although modern histories adjust the start of the year to January 1 and record the execution as occurring in 1649.

Most western European countries changed the start of the year to January 1 before they adopted the Gregorian calendar. For example, Scotland changed the start of the Scottish New Year to January 1 in 1600. England, Ireland and the British colonies changed the start of the year to January 1 in 1752. Later that year in September, the Gregorian calendar was introduced throughout Britain and the British colonies. These two reforms were implemented by the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750.

January 1 became the official start of the year as follows:

• 1522 Venice

• 1544 Holy Roman Empire (Germany)

• 1556 Spain, Portugal

• 1559 Prussia, Sweden

• 1564 France

• 1576 Southern Netherlands

• 1579 Lorraine

• 1583 United Provinces of the Netherlands (northern)

• 1600 Scotland

• 1700 Russia

• 1721 Tuscany

• 1752 Great Britain and its colonies

Events

• 153 BC – Roman consuls begin their year in office.

• 45 BC – The Julian calendar takes effect for the first time.

• 1001 – Grand Prince Stephen I of Hungary is named the first King of Hungary by Pope Silvester II.

• 1259 – Michael VIII Palaiologos is proclaimed co-emperor of the Empire of Nicaea with his ward John IV Laskaris.

• 1438 – Albert II of Habsburg is crowned King of Hungary.

• 1515 – King Francis I of France succeeds to the French throne.

• 1527 – Croatian nobles elect Ferdinand I of Austria as king of Croatia in the Parliament on Cetin.

• 1600 – Scotland begins its numbered year on January 1 instead of March 25.

• 1651 – Charles II is crowned King of Scotland.

• 1700 – Russia begins using the Anno Domini era and no longer uses the Anno Mundi era of the Byzantine Empire.

• 1707 – John V is crowned King of Portugal.

• 1739 – Bouvet Island is discovered by French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier.

• 1772 – The first traveler's cheques, which can be used in 90 European cities, go on sale in London.

• 1781 – 1,500 soldiers of the 6th Pennsylvania Regiment under General Anthony Wayne's command rebel against the Continental Army's winter camp in Morristown, New Jersey as part of the Pennsylvania (Continentals; Regiment) Mutiny of 1781.

• 1788 – First edition of The Times of London, previously The Daily Universal Register, is published.

• 1800 – The Dutch East India Company is dissolved.

• 1801 – The legislative union of Kingdom of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ireland is completed to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

• 1801 – The dwarf planet Ceres is discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi.

• 1803 – Emperor Gia Long orders all bronze wares of the Tây Sơn Dynasty to be collected and melted into nine cannons for the Royal Citadel in Huế, Vietnam.

• 1804 – French rule ends in Haiti. Haiti becomes the first black republic and second independent country on the American Continent after the U.S.

• 1806 – The French Republican Calendar is abolished.

• 1808 – The importation of slaves into the United States is banned.

• 1810 – Major-General Lachlan Macquarie CB officially becomes Governor of New South Wales

• 1822 – The Greek Constitution of 1822 is adopted by the First National Assembly of Epidaurus.

• 1833 – The United Kingdom claims sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.

• 1845 – The Cobble Hill Tunnel in Brooklyn is completed.

• 1861 – Porfirio Díaz conquers Mexico City.

• 1863 – American Civil War: The Emancipation Proclamation takes effect in Confederate territory.

• 1863 – The first claim under the Homestead Act is made by Daniel Freeman for a farm in Nebraska.

• 1873 – Japan begins using the Gregorian calendar.

• 1876 – The Reichsbank opens in Berlin.

• 1877 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom is proclaimed Empress of India.

• 1880 – Ferdinand de Lesseps begins French construction of the Panama Canal.

• 1890 – Eritrea is consolidated into a colony by the Italian government.

• 1892 – Ellis Island opens to begin processing immigrants into the United States.

• 1894 – The Manchester Ship Canal, England, is officially opened to traffic.

• 1898 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York. The four initial boroughs, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx, are joined on January 25 by Staten Island to create the modern city of five boroughs.

• 1899 – Spanish rule ends in Cuba.

• 1901 – Nigeria becomes a British protectorate.

• 1901 – The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia; Edmund Barton is appointed the first Prime Minister.

• 1902 – The first American college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl between Michigan and Stanford, is held in Pasadena.

• 1906 – British India officially adopts the Indian Standard Time.

• 1908 – For the first time, a ball is dropped in New York City's Times Square to signify the start of the New Year at midnight.

• 1909 – Drilling begins on the Lakeview Gusher.

• 1910 – Captain David Beatty is promoted to Rear Admiral, and becomes the youngest admiral in the Royal Navy (except for Royal family members), since Horatio Nelson.

• 1911 – Northern Territory is separated from South Australia and transferred to Commonwealth control.

• 1912 – The Republic of China is established.

• 1916 – German troops abandon Yaoundé and their Kamerun colony to British forces and begin the long march to Spanish Guinea.

• 1919 – Edsel Ford succeeds his father, Henry Ford, as president of the Ford Motor Company.

• 1920 – The Belorussian Communist Organisation is founded as a separate party.

• 1923 – Britain's Railways are grouped into the Big Four: LNER, GWR, SR, and LMSR.

• 1925 – The American astronomer Edwin Hubble announces the discovery of galaxies outside the Milky Way.

• 1927 – Turkey adopts the Gregorian calendar: December 18, 1926 (Julian), is immediately followed by January 1, 1927 (Gregorian).

• 1928 – Boris Bazhanov defects through Iran. He was the only assistant of Joseph Stalin's secretariat to have defected from the Eastern Bloc.

• 1929 – The former municipalities of Point Grey, British Columbia and South Vancouver, British Columbia are amalgamated into Vancouver.

• 1932 – The United States Post Office Department issues a set of 12 stamps commemorating the 200th anniversary of George Washington's birth.

• 1934 – Alcatraz Island becomes a United States federal prison.

• 1934 – Nazi Germany passes the "Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring".

• 1937 – Safety glass in vehicle windscreens becomes mandatory in Great Britain.

• 1939 – William Hewlett and David Packard found Hewlett-Packard.

• 1939 – Sydney, Australia, swelters in 45 ˚C (113 ˚F) heat, a record for the city.

• 1942 – The Declaration by the United Nations is signed by twenty-six nations.

• 1945 – World War II: In retaliation for the Malmedy massacre, U.S. troops massacre 30 SS prisoners at Chenogne.

• 1945 – World War II: The German Luftwaffe launches Unternehmen Bodenplatte, a massive, but failed attempt to knock out Allied air power in northern Europe in a single blow.

• 1947 – The American and British occupation zones in Germany, after the World War II, merge to form the Bizone, that later became the Federal Republic of Germany.

• 1948 – The British railway network is nationalised to form British Railways.

• 1948 – The Constitution of Italy comes into force.

• 1949 – United Nations cease-fire takes effect in Kashmir from one minute before midnight. War between India and Pakistan stops accordingly.

• 1950 – The state of Ajaigarh joins the Union of India.

• 1954 – NBC makes the first coast-to-coast NTSC color broadcast when it telecast the Tournament of Roses Parade , with public demonstrations given across the United States on prototype color receivers.

• 1956 – The Republic of the Sudan achieves independence from the Egyptian Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

• 1956 – A new year event causes panic and stampedes at Yahiko Shrine, Yahiko, central Niigata, Japan, killing at least 124 people.

• 1957 – George Town, Penang becomes a city by a royal charter granted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

• 1957 – An Irish Republican Army (IRA) unit attacks Brookeborough RUC barracks in one of the most famous incidents of the IRA's Operation Harvest.

• 1958 – The European Community is established.

• 1959 – Fulgencio Batista, president of Cuba, is overthrown by Fidel Castro's forces during the Cuban Revolution.

• 1960 – The Republic of Cameroon achieves independence from France and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

• 1962 – Western Samoa achieves independence from New Zealand; its name is changed to the Independent State of Western Samoa.

• 1962 – United States Navy SEALs established.

• 1964 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is divided into the independent republics of Zambia and Malawi, and the British-controlled Rhodesia.

• 1965 – The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan is founded in Kabul.

• 1966 – A twelve-day New York City transit strike begins.

• 1966 – After a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa assumes power as president of the Central African Republic.

• 1970 – Unix epoch time begins at 00:00:00 UTC/GMT.

• 1971 – Cigarette advertisements are banned on American television.

• 1973 – Denmark, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland are admitted into the European Community.

• 1978 – Air India Flight 855 Boeing 747 crashes into the sea, due to instrument failure and pilot disorientation, off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.

• 1978 – The Constitution of the Northern Mariana Islands becomes effective.

• 1979 – Formal diplomatic relations are established between the People's Republic of China and the United States of America.

• 1980 – Victoria is crowned princess of Sweden.

• 1981 – The Republic of Greece is admitted into the European Community.

• 1981 – The Republic of Palau achieves self-government though it is not independent from the United States.

• 1982 – Peruvian Javier Pérez de Cuéllar becomes the first Latin American to hold the title of Secretary General of the United Nations.

• 1983 – The ARPANET officially changes to using the Internet Protocol, creating the Internet.

• 1984 – The original American Telephone & Telegraph Company is broken up into twenty-two independent units as a result of the settlement of the 1974 United States Department of Justice antitrust suit against AT&T .

• 1984 – The Sultanate of Brunei becomes independent of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

• 1985 – The Internet's Domain Name System is created.

• 1985 – The first British mobile phone call is made by Ernie Wise to Vodafone.

• 1986 – Aruba becomes independent of Curaçao, though it remains in free association with the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

• 1986 – The Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic are admitted into the European Community.

• 1988 – The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America comes into existence, creating the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States.

• 1989 – The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer comes into force.

• 1990 – David Dinkins is sworn in as New York City's first black mayor.

• 1992 – Russian Federation proclaimes its complete independence from the Soviet Union, a few days after its collapse.

• 1993 – Dissolution of Czechoslovakia: Czechoslovakia is divided into the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic.

• 1993 – A single market within the European Community is introduced.

• 1994 – The Zapatista Army of National Liberation initiates twelve days of armed conflict in the Mexican State of Chiapas.

• 1994 – The North American Free Trade Agreement comes into effect.

• 1994 – The European Economic Area comes into effect.

• 1994 – The International Tropical Timber Agreement comes into effect.

• 1995 – The World Trade Organization goes into effect.

• 1995 – The Kingdom of Sweden and the republics of Austria and Finland are admitted into the European Union.

• 1995 – The Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe becomes the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

• 1995 – The Draupner wave in the North Sea in Norway is detected, confirming the existence of freak waves.

• 1996 – Curaçao gains limited self-government, though it remains within free association with the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

• 1997 – The Republic of Zaïre officially joins the World Trade Organization, as Zaïre.

• 1997 – Ghanaian diplomat Kofi Annan is appointed Secretary General of the United Nations.

• 1998 – Russia begins to circulate new rubles to stem inflation and promote confidence.

• 1998 – The European Central Bank is established.

• 1999 – The Euro currency is introduced.

• 2002 – Euro banknotes and coins become legal tender in twelve of the European Union's member states.

• 2002 – Taiwan officially joins the World Trade Organization, as Chinese Taipei.

• 2002 – The Open Skies mutual surveillance treaty, initially signed in 1992, officially comes into force.

• 2004 – In a vote of confidence, General Pervez Musharraf wins 658 out of 1,170 votes in the Electoral College of Pakistan, and according to Article 41(8) of the Constitution of Pakistan, is "deemed to be elected" to the office of President until October 2007.

• 2006 – Sydney, Australia swelters through its hottest New Years Day on record. The thermometer peaked at 45 degrees celsius, sparking bushfires and power outages.

• 2007 – Bulgaria and Romania officially join the European Union. Also, Bulgarian, Romanian, and Irish become official languages of the European Union, joining 20 other official languages.

• 2007 – Slovenia officially adopts the Euro currency and becomes the thirteenth Eurozone country.

• 2007 – Adam Air Flight 574 disappears over Indonesia with 102 people on board.

• 2008 – Malta and Cyprus officially adopt the Euro currency and become the fourteenth and fifteenth Eurozone countries.

• 2009 – Slovakia officially adopts the Euro currency and becomes the sixteenth Eurozone country.

• 2009 – 61 die in nightclub fire in Bangkok, Thailand.

• 2009 – The government of the Republic of China adopts Hanyu Pinyin as its official Chinese romanization (before this time, the most commonly used was Tongyong Pinyin).

Births

• 766 – Ali al-Rida, Shia Imam (d. 818)

• 1431 – Pope Alexander VI (d. 1503)

• 1449 – Lorenzo de' Medici, Italian statesman (d. 1492)

• 1467 – Sigismund I the Old, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (d. 1548)

• 1484 – Huldrych Zwingli, Swiss Protestant leader (d. 1531)

• 1511 – Henry, Duke of Cornwall (d. 1511)

• 1516 – Margaret Leijonhufvud, Queen of Gustav I of Sweden (d. 1551)

• 1557 – István Bocskay, Prince of Transylvania (d. 1606)

• 1600 – Friedrich Spanheim, Dutch theologian (d. 1649)

• 1614 – John Wilkins, English Bishop of Chester (d. 1672)

• 1618 – Bartolomé Estéban Murillo, Spanish painter (baptism) (d. 1682)

• 1638 – Emperor Go-Sai of Japan (d. 1685)

• 1648 – Elkanah Settle, English writer (d. 1724)

• 1655 – Christian Thomasius, German jurist (d. 1728)

• 1684 – Arnold Drakenborch, Dutch classical scholar (d. 1748)

• 1704 – Soame Jenyns, English writer (d. 1787)

• 1711 – Franz Freiherr von der Trenck, Austrian soldier (d. 1749)

• 1714 – Kristijonas Donelaitis, Lithuanian poet (d. 1780)

• 1735 – Paul Revere, American patriot (d. 1818)

• 1745 – Anthony Wayne, American general and statesman (d. 1796)

• 1750 – Frederick Muhlenberg, American statesman (d. 1801)

• 1752 – Betsy Ross, American seamstress (d. 1836)

• 1767 – Maria Edgeworth, Anglo-Irish novelist (d. 1849)

• 1774 – André Marie Constant Duméril, French zoologist (d. 1860)

• 1779 – William Clowes, English printer (d. 1847)

• 1803 – Guglielmo Libri Carucci dalla Sommaja, Italian mathematician (d. 1869)

• 1814 – Hong Xiuquan, Chinese rebel (d. 1864)

• 1819 – Arthur Hugh Clough, English poet (d. 1861)

• 1823 – Sándor Petőfi, Hungarian poet and revolutionary (d. 1849)

• 1833 – Robert Lawson, New Zealand architect (d. 1902)

• 1834 – Ludovic Halévy, French playwright (d. 1908)

• 1848 – John Goff, Irish lawyer (d. 1924)

• 1852 – Eugène-Anatole Demarçay, French chemist (d. 1904)

• 1854 – Sir James George Frazer, Scottish anthropologist (d. 1941)

• 1863 – Pierre de Coubertin, French organizer of the Olympic Games (d. 1937)

• 1864 – Qi Baishi, Chinese painter (d. 1957)

• 1864 – Alfred Stieglitz, American photographer (d. 1946)

• 1867 – Lew Fields, American vaudeville performer (d. 1941)

• 1868 – Snitz Edwards, American actor (d. 1937)

• 1873 – Mariano Azuela, Mexican novelist (d. 1952)

• 1874 – Frank Knox, American Secretary of the Navy (d. 1944)

• 1874 – Gustave Whitehead, German inventor (d. 1927)

• 1876 – Harriet Brooks, Canadian physicist (d. 1933)

• 1878 – Agner Krarup Erlang, Danish scientist and engineer (d. 1929)

• 1879 – E. M. Forster, English novelist (d. 1970)

• 1879 – William Fox, Hungarian-born American film producer (d. 1952)

• 1881 – Vajiravudh, King of Thailand (d. 1925)

• 1887 – Wilhelm Canaris, German admiral (d. 1945)

• 1888 – John Garand, American inventor (d. 1974)

• 1888 – Georgios Stanotas, Greek cavalry officer (d. 1965)

• 1889 – Charles Bickford, American film actor (d. 1967)

• 1890 – Anton Melik, Slovenian geographer (d. 1966)

• 1892 – Artur Rodziński, Croatian conductor (d. 1958)

• 1892 – Manuel Roxas, 5^th President of the Philippines (d. 1948)

• 1894 – Satyendra Nath Bose, Indian mathematician (d. 1974)

• 1894 – Shitsu Nakano, Japanese supercentenarian (d. 2007)

• 1895 – J. Edgar Hoover, American FBI director (d. 1972)

• 1900 – Xavier Cugat, Spanish musician (d. 1990)

• 1900 – Chiune Sugihara, Japanese diplomat (d. 1986)

• 1902 – Buster Nupen, South African cricketer (d. 1977)

• 1904 – Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry, Pakistani politician (d. 1982)

• 1905 – Stanisław Mazur, Polish mathematician (d. 1981)

• 1906 – Giovanni D'Anzi, Italian songwriter (d. 1974)

• 1909 – Dana Andrews, American actor (d. 1992)

• 1909 – Stepan Bandera, Ukrainian nationalist leader (d. 1959)

• 1909 – Barry Goldwater, American politician (d. 1998)

• 1911 – Basil Dearden, British film director (d. 1971)

• 1911 – Hank Greenberg, American baseball player (d. 1986)

• 1911 – Roman Totenberg, Polish-American violinist

• 1912 – Boris Vladimirovich Gnedenko, Russian mathematician (d. 1995)

• 1912 – Kim Philby, British spy (d. 1988)

• 1914 – Noor Inayat Khan, Indian princess and SOE agent (d. 1944)

• 1917 – Jule Gregory Charney, American meteorologist (d. 1981)

• 1917 – Albert Mol, Dutch actor (d. 2004)

• 1918 – Patrick Anthony Porteous, Scottish Victoria Cross recipient (d. 2000)

• 1918 – Frances Bay, Canadian actress

• 1919 – Rocky Graziano, American boxer (d. 1990)

• 1919 – Carole Landis, American film actress (d. 1948)

• 1919 – J. D. Salinger, American novelist

• 1919 – Yoshio Tabata, Japanese singer

• 1920 – Virgilio Savona, Italian singer (Quartetto Cetra) (d. 2009)

• 1921 – Ismail al-Faruqi, Palestinian philosopher (d. 1986)

• 1922 – Ernest Hollings, American politician

• 1923 – Daniel Gorenstein, American mathematician (d. 1992)

• 1923 – Milt Jackson, American jazz vibraphonist (d. 1999)

• 1924 – Roberts Blossom, American actor and poet

• 1925 – Matthew "Stymie" Beard, American actor (d. 1981)

• 1925 – Paul Bomani, Tanzanian politician and ambassador (d. 2005)

• 1925 – Valentina Cortese, Italian actress

• 1925 – Raymond Pellegrin, French actor (d. 2007)

• 1926 – Richard Verreau, French-Canadian tenor (d. 2005)

• 1927 – Maurice Béjart, French choreographer (d. 2007)

• 1927 – Pat Heywood, Scottish actress

• 1927 – Calum MacKay, Canadian hockey player (d. 2001)

• 1927 – Vernon L. Smith, American economist, winner

• 1927 – Doak Walker, American football star (d. 1998)

• 1928 – Ernest Tidyman, American writer (d. 1984)

• 1929 – Raymond Chow, Hong Kong film producer

• 1930 – Gaafar al-Nimeiry, President of Sudan 1971–85

• 1930 – Ty Hardin, American film actor

• 1932 – Jackie Parker, American football player (d. 2006)

• 1932 – Giuseppe Patanè, Italian opera conductor (d. 1989)

• 1933 – Frederick Lowy, Canadian educator

• 1933 – Joe Orton, English writer (d. 1967)

• 1933 – Norman Yemm, Australian actor

• 1935 – B. Kliban, American cartoonist (d. 1990)

• 1936 – James Sinegal, American businessman

• 1937 – Matt Robinson, American actor (d. 2002)

• 1937 – Adam Wiśniewski-Snerg, Polish author (d. 1995)

• 1938 – Clay Cole, American television host and producer

• 1938 – Robert Jankel, British coachbuilder (d. 2005)

• 1938 – Frank Langella, American actor

• 1939 – Michèle Mercier, French actress

• 1942 – Dennis Archer, American politician

• 1942 – Martin Frost, American politician

• 1942 – Country Joe McDonald, American musician (Country Joe and the Fish)

• 1942 – Alassane Ouattara, Former Prime Minister of Ivory Coast

• 1942 – Gennadi Sarafanov, Soviet cosmonaut (d. 2005)

• 1942 – Judy Stone, Australian pop singer

• 1943 – Larry Clark, American director

• 1943 – Tony Knowles, 9^th Governor of Alaska

• 1943 – Raghunath Anant Mashelkar, Indian scientist

• 1943 – Don Novello, American actor

• 1944 – Jimmy Hart, American wrestling manager

• 1944 – Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Pakistani politician

• 1945 – Peter Duncan, Australian politician

• 1945 – Jim Gordon, former drummer for Derek & The Dominos

• 1945 – Jacky Ickx, Belgian race car driver

• 1946 – Carl B. Hamilton, Swedish economist and politician

• 1946 – Rick Hurst, American actor

• 1946 – Rivelino, Brazilian football player

• 1947 – Jon Corzine, American politician

• 1947 – Paula Tsui, Hong Kong singer

• 1947 – Frances Yip, Hong Kong singer

• 1948 – Pavel Grachev, Russian general

• 1948 – Ashok Saraf, Marathi/Hindi Film Actor

• 1949 – Daniel E Gawthrop, American composer

• 1950 – Wayne Bennett, Australian rugby league coach

• 1950 – Morgan Fisher, English musician (Mott the Hoople)

• 1950 – Deepa Mehta, Indian-born Canadian film director and screenwriter

• 1951 – Ashfaq Hussain, Urdu poet

• 1951 – Nana Patekar, Indian film and stage actor

• 1951 – Hans-Joachim Stuck, German race car driver

• 1952 – Stephanie Faracy, American actress

• 1953 – Greg Carmichael, British guitarist (Acoustic Alchemy)

• 1954 – Bob Menendez, American politician

• 1956 – Sergei Avdeyev, Russian cosmonaut

• 1956 – Mark R. Hughes, American entrepreneur (d. 2000)

• 1956 – Mike Mitchell, American basketball player

• 1956 – Kōji Yakusho, Japanese actor

• 1957 – Ewa Kasprzyk, Polish actress

• 1957 – Evangelos Venizelos, Greek lawyer, professor and politician

• 1958 – Grandmaster Flash, Barbadian musician

• 1959 – Azali Assoumani, Comorian president

• 1959 – Jennifer Edwards, American actress

• 1959 – Panagiotis Giannakis, Greek basketball player and coach

• 1960 – Michael Seibert, American ice dancer

• 1961 – Sam Backo, Australian rugby league footballer

• 1961 – Sam Palahnuk, American video game designer

• 1961 – Fiona Phillips, British television presenter

• 1961 – Mark Wingett, British actor

• 1962 – Ari Up, German musician (The Slits)

• 1963 – Lina Kačiušytė, Lithuanian swimmer

• 1964 – Juliana Donald, American actress

• 1964 – Clare Holman, British actress

• 1964 – Dedee Pfeiffer, American actress

• 1966 – Anna Burke, Australian politician

• 1967 – John Digweed, English DJ

• 1967 – Tim Dog, American rapper

• 1967 – Derrick Thomas, American football player (d. 2000)

• 1967 – Juanma Bajo Ulloa, Spanish film director

• 1968 – Miki Higashino, Japanese composer

• 1968 – Joey Stefano, American actor (d. 1994)

• 1968 – Davor Šuker, Croatian footballer

• 1969 – Morris Chestnut, American actor

• 1969 – Nicolle Dickson, Australian actress

• 1969 – Paul Lawrie, Scottish golfer

• 1969 – Christi Paul, American news anchor

• 1969 – Verne Troyer, American actor

• 1970 – Shelley O'Donnell, Australian netballer

• 1970 – Kimberly Page, American manager and actress

• 1971 – Sammie Henson, American wrestler

• 1971 – Bobby Holik, Czech ice hockey player

• 1971 – Chris Potter, American jazz saxophonist

• 1972 – Neve McIntosh, Scottish actress

• 1972 – Lilian Thuram, French footballer

• 1973 – Anwar Mansoor Mangrio, Sindhi poet

• 1973 – Magnus Sahlgren, Swedish musician (Lake of Tears)

• 1975 – Sonali Bendre, Indian model and actress

• 1975 – Joe Cannon, American footballer

• 1975 – Eiichiro Oda, Japanese manga artist

• 1975 – Fernando Tatis, Dominican Baseball player

• 1976 – Georgina Chapman, British fashion designer and actress

• 1977 – Hasan Salihamidžić, Bosnian footballer

• 1977 – Robert Roode, Canadian professional wrestler

• 1978 – Vidya Balan, Indian model and actress

• 1978 – Nina Bott, German actress

• 1978 – Phillip Mulryne, Northern Irish footballer

• 1978 – Tarik O'Regan, British composer

• 1979 – Brody Dalle, Australian singer (The Distillers)

• 1979 – Koichi Domoto, Japanese artist

• 1980 – Elin Nordegren, Swedish model

• 1981 – Jonas Armstrong, English actor

• 1981 – Zsolt Baumgartner, Hungarian racing driver

• 1981 – Abdülkadir Koçak, Turkish boxer

• 1981 – Eden Riegel, American actress

• 1982 – David Nalbandian, Argentinian tennis player

• 1983 – Ali Bastian, English actress and model

• 1983 – Calum Davenport, English footballer

• 1983 – Emi Kobayashi, Japanese model

• 1984 – José Paolo Guerrero, Peruvian footballer

• 1984 – Alok Kapali, Bangladeshi cricketer

• 1984 – Michael Witt, Australian rugby league footballer

• 1985 – Jeff Carter, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1985 – Steven Davis, Northern Irish footballer

• 1986 – Colin Morgan, Northern Irish actor

• 1987 – Gilbert Brule, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1987 – Meryl Davis, American ice dancer

• 1987 – Devin Setoguchi, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1992 – Jack Wilshere, English footballer

• 1992 – He Kexin, Chinese gymnast

Deaths

• 379 – Saint Basil of Caesarea (b. 330)

• 404 – Saint Telemachus

• 874 – Hasan al-Askari, eleventh Shia Imam (b. 846)

• 898 – Odo, Count of Paris (b. 860)

• 962 – Baldwin III, Count of Flanders (b. c. 940)

• 1204 – King Haakon III of Norway (b. c. 1170)

• 1387 – King Charles II of Navarre (b. 1332)

• 1515 – King Louis XII of France (b. 1462)

• 1554 – Pedro de Valdivia, Spanish conquistador (b. 1500)

• 1559 – Christian III of Denmark and Norway (b. 1503)

• 1560 – Joachim du Bellay, French poet (b. 1522)

• 1617 – Hendrik Goltzius, Dutch painter (b. 1558)

• 1631 – Thomas Hobson, the "Cambridge Carrier", eponym of Hobson's Choice (b. 1544)

• 1697 – Filippo Baldinucci, Florentine biographer/historian (b. 1624)

• 1716 – William Wycherley, English dramatist (b. 1640)

• 1730 – Samuel Sewall, English judge (b. 1652)

• 1742 – Peregrine Bertie, 2nd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, English statesman (b. 1686)

• 1748 – Johann Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (b. 1667)

• 1759 – Jacques-Joachim Trotti, marquis de La Chétardie, French adventurer (b. 1705)

• 1766 – James Francis Edward Stuart, "The Old Pretender" (b. 1688)

• 1782 – Johann Christian Bach, German composer (b. 1735)

• 1789 – Fletcher Norton, 1st Baron Grantley, English politician (b. 1716)

• 1793 – Francesco Guardi, Venetian painter (b. 1712)

• 1796 – Alexandre-Théophile Vandermonde, French mathematician (b. 1735)

• 1800 – Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton, French naturalist (b. 1716)

• 1817 – Martin Heinrich Klaproth, German chemist (b. 1743)

• 1835 – Mátyás Godina, writer, teacher and pastor (b. 1768)

• 1852 – John George Children, British chemist, mineralogist and zoologist (b. 1777)

• 1853 – Gregory Blaxland, Australian explorer (b. 1778)

• 1862 – Mikhail Vasilievich Ostrogradsky, Russian physicist (b. 1801)

• 1869 – Martin W. Bates, American politician (b. 1786)

• 1881 – Louis Auguste Blanqui, French political activist (b. 1805)

• 1892 – Roswell B. Mason, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1805)

• 1894 – Heinrich Rudolf Hertz, German physicist (b. 1857)

• 1896 – Alfred Ely Beach, American inventor (b. 1826)

• 1906 – Sir Hugh Nelson, Premier of Queensland (b. 1835)

• 1919 – Mikhail Drozdovsky, Russian general (b. 1881)

• 1921 – Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1856)

• 1931 – Martinus Beijerinck, Dutch microbiologist and botanist (b. 1851)

• 1932 – C P Scott, British journalist, publisher and politician (b. 1846)

• 1940 – Panuganti Lakshminarasimha Rao, Indian writer and essayist (b. 1865)

• 1943 – Colonel Andrew Summers Rowan, U.S. military officer who gave "a message to Garcia" (b. 1857)

• 1944 – Sir Edward Lutyens, British architect who designed New Delhi (b. 1869)

• 1944 – Charles Turner, Australian cricketer (b. 1862)

• 1953 – Hank Williams, American singer (b. 1923)

• 1954 – Duff Cooper, British diplomat and writer (b. 1890)

• 1955 – Arthur C. Parker, American archaeologist, folklorist, and historian (b. 1881)

• 1957 – Seán South and Fergal O'Hanlon are killed in the Brookeborough Raid

• 1958 – Edward Weston, American photographer (b. 1886)

• 1960 – Margaret Sullavan, American actress (b. 1909)

• 1964 – Bechara El Khoury, President of Lebanon (b. 1890)

• 1966 – Vincent Auriol, French politician (b. 1884)

• 1969 – Barton MacLane, American actor (b. 1902)

• 1969 – Bruno Söderström, Swedish athlete (b. 1888)

• 1971 – Saint Amphilochius of Pochayiv, Ukrainian Orthodox Christian Saint (b. 1894)

• 1972 – Maurice Chevalier, French actor and singer (b. 1888)

• 1973 – Sergei Kourdakov, former KGB agent

• 1980 – Adolph Deutsch, American composer and arranger (b. 1897)

• 1980 – Pietro Nenni, Italian socialist politician (b. 1891)

• 1981 – Hephzibah Menuhin, American-Jewish concert pianist (b. 1920)

• 1982 – Victor Buono, American actor (b. 1938)

• 1984 – Alexis Korner, British blues musician (b. 1928)

• 1985 – Sigerson Clifford, Irish poet and writer (b. 1913)

• 1985 – Kamatari Fujiwara, Japanese actor (b. 1905)

• 1986 – Alfredo Binda, Italian cyclist (b. 1902)

• 1986 – Bruce Norris, American hockey executive (Detroit Red Wings) (b. 1924)

• 1991 – Buck Ram, American songwriter and businessman (The Platters) (b. 1907)

• 1992 – Grace Hopper, American computer pioneer (b. 1906)

• 1994 – Lord Arthur Porritt, Governor-General of New Zealand (b. 1900)

• 1994 – Cesar Romero, American actor (b. 1907)

• 1994 – Edward Arthur Thompson, British historian (b. 1914)

• 1995 – Fred West, British serial killer (suicide) (b. 1941)

• 1995 – Eugene Wigner, Hungarian American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1902)

• 1996 – Arleigh Burke, American admiral (b. 1901)

• 1996 – Arthur Rudolph, German engineer (b. 1906)

• 1997 – Ivan Graziani, Italian singer-songwriter (b. 1945)

• 1997 – Hagood Hardy, Canadian composer and musician (b. 1937)

• 1997 – Townes Van Zandt, American musician (b. 1944)

• 1998 – Helen Wills Moody, American tennis player (b. 1905)

• 2000 – Colin Vaughan, Australian political journalist (b. 1931)

• 2001 – Ray Walston, American actor (b. 1914)

• 2002 – Julia Phillips, American film producer (b. 1944)

• 2003 – Joe Foss, American politician, fighter pilot and AFL Commissioner (b. 1915)

• 2003 – F. William Free, American advertising executive (b. 1928)

• 2003 – Cyril Shaps, English actor (b. 1923)

• 2005 – Shirley Chisholm, American politician (b. 1924)

• 2005 – Hugh Lawson, 6th Baron Burnham, British newspaperman (b. 1931)

• 2005 – Eugene J. Martin, American painter, artist (b. 1938)

• 2005 – Bob Matsui, American politician (b. 1941)

• 2006 – Bryan Harvey, American musician (House of Freaks) (b. 1956)

• 2006 – Dawn Lake, Australian TV comedienne (b. 1927)

• 2006 – Harry Magdoff, American magazine editor (b. 1913)

• 2006 – Hugh McLaughlin, Irish publisher and inventor (b. 1918)

• 2007 – A. I. Bezzerides, American novelist and screenwriter (b. 1908)

• 2007 – Leon Davidson, American scientist known for studying UFOs (b. 1922)

• 2007 – Leonard Fraser, Australian serial killer (b. 1951)

• 2007 – Julius Hegyi, American conductor (b. 1923)

• 2007 – Tad Jones, American jazz music historian (b. 1952)

• 2007 – Ernie Koy, American baseball player (b. 1909)

• 2007 – Roland Levinsky, South African medical scientist (b. 1943)

• 2007 – Tillie Olsen, American writer (b. 1912)

• 2007 – Del Reeves, American country singer (b. 1932)

• 2007 – Darrent Williams, American football player (b. 1982)

• 2008 – Salvatore Bonanno, son of Joseph Bonanno (b. 1932)

• 2008 – Peter Caffrey, Irish actor (b. 1949)

• 2008 – Pratap Chandra Chunder, Union minister of India (b. 1919)

• 2008 – Harold Corsini, American photographer (b. 1919)

• 2009 – Claiborne Pell, U.S. senator (b. 1918)

• 2009 – Nizar Rayan, Hamas leader (b. 1962)

• 2009 – Aarne Arvonen, Finnish supercentenerian (b.1897)

Holidays and observances

• New Year's Day for many countries around the world using the Gregorian calendar; often celebrated at midnight with fireworks.

• United States – Copyright Expiration Day, celebrating the expiration of the copyright of a year's worth of works of authorship into the public domain. Not celebrated from 1978 to 2018 because of repeated copyright term extensions.

• Last day of Kwanzaa.

• Cuba Liberation Day.

• Czech Republic: Establishment of the Czech Republic.

• Haiti Independence Day.

• Slovakia: Establishment of the Slovak Republic.

• Sudan Independence Day.

• Republic of China: Establishment of the Republic of China

• New Year's Day Parade in London, United Kingdom.

• Vienna New Year's Concert.

• Pasadena, California – the Tournament of Roses Parade and, traditionally, the Rose Bowl.