1 404 AD – The last known gladiatorial competition in Rome takes place (gladiators pictured above) 2 630 – Muhammad sets out toward Mecca with the army that captures it bloodlessly. 3 1515 – King Francis I of France (France’s first Renaissance monarch) succeeds to the French throne. 4 1772 – The first traveler’s cheques, which can be used in 90 European cities, go on sale in London. 5 1788 – First edition of The Times of London, previously The Daily Universal Register, is published.
6 1800 – The Dutch East India Company (the first international mega-corporation) is dissolved. 7 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. 8 1804 – French rule ends in Haiti. Haiti becomes the first black republic and first independent country in the West Indies. 9 1808 – The importation of slaves into the United States is banned. 10 1863 – American Civil War: The Emancipation Proclamation (pictured above) takes effect in Confederate territory.
11 1877 – Queen Victoria of Britain is proclaimed Empress of India. 12 1892 – Ellis Island opens to begin processing immigrants into the United States.
13 1901 – The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia; Edmund Barton (pictured above) is appointed the first Prime Minister. 14 1902 – The first American college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl between Michigan and Stanford, is held in Pasadena. 15 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.
16 1925 – The American astronomer Edwin Hubble announces the discovery of galaxies outside the Milky Way. 17 1934 – Alcatraz Island (pictured above) becomes a United States federal prison. 18 1934 – Nazi Germany passes the “Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring”. 19 1956 – A new year event causes panic and stampedes at Yahiko Shrine, Yahiko, central Niigata, Japan, killing at least 124 people. 20 1958 – The European Community is established.
21 1959 – Fulgencio Batista, president of Cuba, is overthrown by Fidel Castro’s forces during the Cuban Revolution. 22 1962 – United States Navy SEALs established. 23 1971 – Cigarette advertisements are banned on American television (vintage cigarette commercial above). 24 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. 25 1985 – The first British mobile phone call is made by Ernie Wise to Vodafone. This article is licensed under the GFDL because it contains quotations from Wikipedia. Read More: Facebook Instagram Email
