Historical Events on January 1

Fidel Castro

Here are some historical events that happened on January 1:

1. 1801: The Act of Union comes into effect, uniting Great Britain and Ireland to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

2. 1863: The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln, took effect in the United States, declaring all slaves in Confederate-held territory to be free.

3. 1892: Ellis Island in New York Harbor opened as a U.S. immigration depot.

4. 1901: The Commonwealth of Australia was officially established as six former British colonies became states.

5. 1959: Fidel Castro led the overthrow of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista, and Castro assumed power.

6. 1984: The Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah became the world's richest person, according to Forbes' inaugural list of the world's wealthiest people.

7. 1994: The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into effect.

8. 2002: The Euro became the official currency for 12 of the European Union countries.

9. 2002: The Open Skies Treaty, allowing unarmed aerial surveillance flights over the territories of its participants, officially went into effect.

10. 2004: In the Indian Ocean, a massive undersea earthquake triggered a series of tsunamis that killed over 230,000 people in 14 countries.

11. 2009: Slovakia officially adopted the Euro as its currency, replacing the Slovak koruna.

These are just a few examples, and many more events have occurred on January 1 throughout history.