1 January
Today is New Year’s day – the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar.
What happened today in history?
- 1772 – The world’s first traveller’s cheques went on sale in London.
- 1778 – The Times (UK) newspaper is published for the first time.
- 1877 – Queen Victoria becomes Empress of India.
- 1880 – Construction of the Panama Canal is started by Ferdinand de Lesseps.
- 1892 – Ellis Island in Upper New York Bay starts to process immigrants to the United States.
- 1934 – Alcatraz becomes a United States federal prison.
- 1973 – The United Kingdom, Denmark and Ireland join the EEC (European Economic Community).
- 1999 – The Euro currency is introduced.
Who was born today?
- 1735 – Paul Revere – American military officer.
- 1879 – E. M. Forster – English author (A Passage to India, Howard’s End)
- 1895 – J. Edgar Hoover – 1st director of the FBI.
- 1919 – J. D. Salinger – American author (The Catcher in the Rye)
Who died today?
- 1953 – Hank Williams – American singer-songwriter.
- 1965 – Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson – founded National Allied Publications which became DC Comics.
