What are the important events that happened on January 1? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
January 1: Facts & Myths About This Day
January 1 is the 1st day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Wednesday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is December 19, 2024 – a Wednesday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 482,136 hours has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.
Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘henagon’ day.
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Capricorn is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Garnet is the modern birthstone for this month. Emerald is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.
According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 28 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.
The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,394 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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January 1: This Day In History
The preceding day is December 31 of the previous year.
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 The Republic of 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 (excluding Scotland) and its colonies
January 1 Historical Events
- 1527 –Croatian nobles elect Ferdinand I of Austria as king of Croatia in the Parliament on Cetin.
- 1810 –Major-General Lachlan Macquarie CB officially becomes Governor of New South Wales
- 1880 –Ferdinand de Lesseps begins French construction of the Panama Canal.
- 1885 –Twenty-five nations adopt Sandford Fleming’s proposal for standard time (and also, time zones)
- 1911 –Northern Territory is separated from South Australia and transferred to Commonwealth control.
- 1912 –The Republic of China is established.
- 1957 –George Town, Penang becomes a city by a royal charter granted by Queen Elizabeth II.
- 1962 –Western Samoa achieves independence from New Zealand; its name is changed to the Independent State of Western Samoa.
- 1985 –The first British mobile phone call is made by Ernie Wise to Vodafone.
- 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.
Who were born on January 1?
- 1704 –Soame Jenyns, English writer (d. 1787)
- 1921 –César Baldaccini, French sculptor (d. 1998)
- 1922 –Ernest Hollings, American politician, 106th Governor of South Carolina and United States Senator from South Carolina
- 1930 –Gaafar al-Nimeiry, Sudanese politician (d. 2009)
- 1938 –Clay Cole, American television host and producer (d. 2010)
- 1942 –Alassane Ouattara, former Prime Minister of Ivory Coast
- 1979 –Brody Dalle, Australian singer (The Distillers)
- 1979 –Fadi El Khatib, Lebanese basketball player
- 1983 –Emi Kobayashi, Japanese model
- 1984 –Mohammed Ghaddar, Lebanese footballer
Who died on January 1?
- 404 –Saint Telemachus, Christian monk
- 962 –Baldwin III, Count of Flanders (b. c. 940)
- 1554 –Pedro de Valdivia, Spanish conquistador (b. 1500)
- 1793 –Francesco Guardi, Venetian painter (b. 1712)
- 1869 –Martin W. Bates, American politician (b. 1786)
- 1940 –Panuganti Lakshminarasimha Rao, Indian writer and essayist (b. 1865)
- 1972 –Maurice Chevalier, French actor and singer (b. 1888)
- 1984 –Alexis Korner, British blues musician (b. 1928)
- 1995 –Fred West, British serial killer (suicide) (b. 1941)
- 2005 –Eugene J. Martin, American painter, artist (b. 1938)
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