Today In History. What Happened This Day In History
A Timeline Of Events That Occurred On This Day In History
A chronological timetable of historical events that occurred on this day in history. Historical facts of the day in the areas of military, politics, science, music, sports, arts, entertainment and more. Discover what happened today in history.
Today in History
January 1
| 1500 | The Portuguese explorer Pedro Alvares Cabral searches the coast of Brazil and claims the region for Portugal. | |
| 1586 | Sir Francis Drake launches a surprise attack on the heavily fortified city of Santo Domingo in Hipanola. | |
| 1698 | The Abenaki Indians and Massachusetts colonists sign a treaty halting hostilities between the two. | |
| 1766 | The Old Pretender, son of James III, dies. | |
| 1788 | The Times, London's oldest running newspaper, publishes its first edition. | |
| 1808 | A U.S. law banning the import of slaves comes into effect, but is widely ignored. | |
| 1824 | The Camp Street Theatre opens as the first English-language playhouse in New Orleans. | |
| 1830 | William Lloyd Garrison publishes the first edition of a journal entitled The Liberator, calling for the complete and immediate emancipation of all slaves in the United States. | |
| 1863 | Confederate General Braxton Bragg and Union General William Rosecrans readjust their troops as the Battle of Murfreesboro continues. | |
| 1863 | President Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the slaves in the Confederacy. | |
| 1891 | Facilities opened on Ellis Island, New York, to cope with the vast flood of immigrants coming into the United States. | |
| 1907 | The Pure Food and Drug Act becomes law in the United States. | |
| 1915 | The German submarine U-24 sinks the British battleship Formidable in the English Channel. | |
| 1918 | The first gasoline pipeline begins operation. Along the 40 miles and three inches of pipe from Salt Creek to Casper, Wyoming. | |
| 1923 | Sadi Lecointe sets a new aviation speed record flying an average of 208 mph at Istres. | |
| 1937 | At a party at the Hormel Mansion in Minnesota, a guest wins $100 for naming a new canned meat–Spam. | |
| 1945 | In Operation Bodenplatte, German planes attack American forward air bases in Europe. This is the last major offensive of the Luftwaffe. | |
| 1959 | Fidel Castro seizes power in Cuba as General Fulgencio Batista flees. | |
| 1986 | As the United States builds its strength in the Mediterranean, Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi threatens to retaliate if attacked. | |
| Born on January 1 | ||
| 1735 | Paul Revere, U.S. patriot. | |
| 1752 | Betsy Ross, flag maker. | |
| 1879 | E.M. [Edward Morgan] Forster, English novelist (A Passage to India, A Room With a View). | |
| 1895 | J. Edgar Hoover, founding director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). | |
| 1919 | J.D. [Jerome David] Salinger, U.S. novelist (The Catcher in the Rye, Franny and Zooey). | |
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