- 153 BC Roman consuls begin their year in office
Marius Leads Jugurtha in Chains
104 BC Triumphal procession for Roman GeneralGaius Marius with the defeated Numidian King Jugurtha led in chains through Rome
Julian Calendar
45 BC The Julian calendar takes effect for the first time by edict of Roman dictatorJulius Caesar
Commodus Youngest Consul
177Commodus, son of EmperorMarcus Aurelius, becomes consul for the first time at 15, the youngest ever in Roman history
- 313 Start of Roman (Pontifical) Indiction
- 365 Co-emperors and brothers Valentinian I and Valens are made consuls to signify their new reign, and shortly after, they divide the empire into East and West
- 404 Last known gladiator competition in Rome
- 468 Gallo-Roman scholar Sidonius Apollinaris recites a panegyric in verse in honor of the Emperor Anthemius, his third panegyric, in Rome
- 722 Hofmeister Charles Martel flees from Bishop Willibrord
- 1259 Michael VIII Palaiologos is formally proclaimed Emperor of Nicaea in Nymphaion
- 1430 Jews of Sicily are no longer required to attend conversion services
- 1438 Albert II of Habsburg is crowned King of Hungary after the death of his father-in-law, King Sigismund
- 1494 Juw Dekama is elected Potestaat of Frisia
Rio de Janeiro
1502 A Portuguese expedition underPedro Álvares Cabral is the first European group to discover the Bay of Guanabara, naming it Rio de Janeiro after mistaking it for a river entrance
Francis I Ascends Throne
1515 Francis, Duke of Angoulême, succeeds KingLouis XII asFrancis I of France
Gregory Conquers Julius Caesar
1583 First day of the Gregorian calendar in Holland and Flanders
Coronation of Charles II
1651Charles II Stuart is crowned King of Scotland at Scone Palace
- 1660 English Colonel George Monck, with two brigades of troops, crosses the Anglo-Scottish border by fording the River Tweed at Coldstream and heads through knee-deep snow to London to end military rule and restore the monarchy
Samuel Pepys' Diary Begins
1660 First entry in the diary of English civil servantSamuel Pepys
Fairfax Takes York
1660 Rebels within the New Model Army, led by GeneralThomas Fairfax, occupy York
- 1660 The Academia de Bellas Artes is founded in Seville with painter Bartolomé Esteban Murillo as its first president
Bajazet
1672Jean Racine's five-act tragedy play "Bajazet" premieres in Paris, France
- 1675 Don Carlos de Gurrea becomes the Spanish land guardian of Southern Netherlands
- 1700 Protestant Western Europe, except England, begins to use the Gregorian calendar
- 1700 Russia begins using the Anno Domini era and no longer uses the Anno Mundi era of the Byzantine Empire
- 1707 John V succeeds his father, Peter II, as King of Portugal
- 1710 Parisian merchant Jean Marius obtains a five-year royal privilege for his invention of a folding umbrella, the first in Europe
Fahrenheit Scale
1724 GlassblowerDaniel Gabriel Fahrenheit proposes a system for making thermometers and the Fahrenheit temperature scale in a paper to the Royal Society of London and is elected a fellow on this basis
- 1739 French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier discovers and names the uninhabited Bouvet Island, the world's most remote island, 1,700 km from Antarctica in the South Atlantic Ocean[1]
- 1743 French explorers Louis-Joseph and François de La Vérendrye are the first Europeans to reach the foot of the Rocky Mountains at the Yellow River, having crossed the Great Plains[1]
Standardized Species Names
1758 The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature establishes the starting point for standardized species names across the animal kingdom, based on the binomial nomenclature in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae byCarl Linnaeus
Wedgwood Blue
1775 English potterJosiah Wedgwood writes that he has developed his famous 'Wedgwood blue' color in a letter to Thomas Bentley[1]
Event of Interest
1781 1,500 soldiers of the 6th Pennsylvania Regiment under GeneralAnthony Wayne's command rebel against the Continental Army's winter camp in Morristown, New Jersey as part of the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1781
- 1781 World's first iron bridge opens to the public, crossing the Severn River at Coalbrookdale, England; regarded as a symbol of the Industrial Revolution
- 1785 John Walter publishes the first issue of his newspaper "The Daily Universal Register," which is renamed "The Times" of London in 1788
- 1788 Emperor Joseph II's order for the Jews of Galicia, Austria, to adopt family names comes into effect
- 1788 London newspaper "The Daily Universal Register" changes name to "The Times"
- 1788 Quakers in Pennsylvania emancipate their enslaved people
- 1797 Albany replaces New York City as the capital of New York
- 1798 Russia appoints first Jewish censor to censor Hebrew books
- 1800 The dissolution of the Dutch East India Company comes into effect
- 1801 Italian monk Giuseppe Piazzi discovers the dwarf planet Ceres
- 1801 The Irish Parliament votes to join the Kingdom of Great Britain, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
- 1803 Emperor Gia Long orders all bronze wares of the Tây Sơn Dynasty to be collected and melted into nine cannons for the Royal Citadel in Huế, Vietnam
- 1804 Jean-Jacques Dessalines declares Saint-Domingue (Haiti) independent from France, ending the 13-year-long Haitian Revolution; becoming the only state ever founded by formerly enslaved people and without slavery
- 1804 Jean-Jacques Dessalines declares Saint-Domingue (Haiti) independent, ending the 13-year-long Haitian Revolution
- 1806 Napoleon Bonaparte abolishes the French Republican calendar after 12 years of use
- 1807 Curaçao is taken by the English during the Napoleonic Wars until March 1816
- 1808 African Benevolent Society (education) forms
- 1808 Sierra Leone becomes a British colony
- 1808 The US Congress prohibits the importation of slaves
- 1809 Holland Brigade under Brigadier-General David Hendrik Chassé reaches Madrid during the Napoleonic Wars
- 1814 Field Marshal Blücher's troops cross the Rhine at Kaub
Frankenstein Published
1818Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus" is published anonymously by the small London publishing house of Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones
- 1818 The White House officially reopens
- 1826 Godert van der Capellen resigns as Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies
- 1827 The Dutch Trading Company (NHM) is granted a monopoly on the sale of opium in Java and Madura
- 1831 Slave plantation owner Charles Farquharson begins his diary at Prospect Hill Plantation, Watlings Island (San Salvador), the only plantation diary to survive from the Bahamas (ends Dec 1832)[1]
The Liberator
1831William Lloyd Garrison publishes the first issue of the abolitionist newspaper "The Liberator" in Boston; publication continues until the 13th Amendment abolishes slavery in 1865
- 1833 Curaçao census: 2,602 white people, 6,531 free people, 5,894 enslaved people
- 1833 The British government reasserts its sovereignty over the Falkland Islands
- 1834 German Zollverein (Customs Union) comes into effect
- 1838 First official horse race in South Australia takes place in Adelaide
- 1840 First recorded bowling match in the US takes place at Knickerbocker Alleys, New York
- 1842 New York Illustrated News, the first illustrated weekly magazine in the US, publishes its first issue in New York
- 1844 First issue of "Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant" newspaper is published; issued three times per week
- 1845 Cobble Hill Tunnel in Brooklyn is completed, becoming the world's first subway tunnel
- 1846 Legislative Assembly of Yucatán declares independence from Mexico
- 1848 British forces forcibly seize the port of San Juan del Norte (later Greytown) from Nicaragua
- 1851 City of Glasgow steamer inaugurates Philadelphia-Liverpool line
- 1852 National debt of Britain and Ireland is £765,126,582
- 1852 Netherlands begins issuing its first postage stamps
- 1852 The first US public bath opens in New York City
- 1853 The first practical horse-drawn fire engine in the US enters service
- 1854 Presbyterian minister John Miller Dickey and his wife, Sarah Emlen Cresson, found Ashmun Institute, a historically Black college later known as Lincoln University, in Hinsonville, Pennsylvania
- 1860 Slavery is abolished in the Dutch East Indies for areas under direct rule
Díaz Enters Mexico City
1861Porfirio Díaz conquers Mexico City
Emancipation Proclamation
1863Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation to free enslaved people in Confederate states
- 1863 Battle of Galveston, Texas-Confederates recapture the city
- 1863 The first homestead under the Homestead Act is claimed near Beatrice, Nebraska
Carolinas Campaign
1865General Sherman's Union army begins its Carolinas campaign, which lasts until April 26
Asunción Falls to Brazil
1869War of the Triple Alliance: Paraguay's capital, Asunción, is occupied by Brazilian forces led by General João de Souza da Fonseca Costa
- 1871 Belgium disbands its salt tax
- 1872 The Moerdijk railway bridge over Hollands Diep in South Holland opens, becoming the longest bridge in Europe at that time
- 1873 Japan adopts the Gregorian calendar
- 1874 New York City annexes the West Bronx
- 1875 Britain's Midland Railway abolishes second-class travel, ending the practice of carrying third-class passengers in open-air wagons[1]
- 1876 The Reichsbank, the central bank of the German Empire, opens in Berlin
Empress of India
1877Queen Victoria is proclaimed Empress of India
Brahms' Violin Concerto
1879Johannes Brahms' Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77, premieres in Leipzig
The Wasp
1881Ambrose Bierce is appointed editor of "The Wasp" magazine
Watson Meets Holmes
1881 Dr. John Watson is first introduced to the character Sherlock Holmes in a story written byArthur Conan Doyle
- 1881 The French Panama Canal Company begins construction of the Panama Canal
- 1890 Eritrea is consolidated into a colony by the Italian government
- 1890 The Rose Parade, then known as the Tournament of Roses, is first held in Pasadena, California
- 1891 French troops occupy Nioro, West Sudan, and 3,000 people are killed
- 1892 Ellis Island opens as a US immigration inspection station and becomes the gateway to the United States for more than 12 million people
- 1893 First U.S. college extension courses for credit are offered at the University of Chicago
- 1893 The railway line from Germiston to Pretoria, South Africa, is opened to traffic
- 1894 Denmark adopts Central European Time
The American
1894 First public performance of Czech composerAntonín Dvořák's String Quartet No. 12 "The American" by the Kneisel Quartet in Boston, Massachusetts
- 1894 Manchester Ship Canal in England opens to traffic
- 1894 The South African Amateur Athletic Union is founded in Johannesburg
- 1895 Norway adopts Central European time
- 1895 Philippine revolutionaryEmilio Aguinaldo becomes a Freemason, joining Pilar Lodge No. 203 in Imus, Cavite
Discovery of X-rays
1896 German physicistWilhelm Röntgen announces his discovery of X-rays
- 1898 Brooklyn merges with New York City to form the present-day City of New York
Dream of a Spring Morning
1898 Italian poet and playwrightGabriele D'Annunzio's dramatic work "Sogno d'un mattino di primavera" (Dream of a Spring Morning) premieres in Rome
The 42nd Parallel
1900 First date mentioned inJohn Dos Passos' novel The 42nd Parallel is January 1, 1900
- 1900 The Protectorate of Northern Nigeria and the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria are officially established
- 1901 The Commonwealth of Australia is formed when the British (Imperial) Parliament Act and the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 come into effect
- 1902 1st Rose Bowl, Tournament Park, Pasadena, California: Michigan defeats Stanford 49-0; MVP: Michigan fullback Neil Snow
- 1902 Nathan Stubblefield makes his first public demonstration of radio in Kentucky
Great Durbar for Edward VII
1903 In Delhi, a great durbar, or formal reception, marks the coronation of KingEdward VII as Emperor of India; the British release some 16,000 prisoners in honor of the occasion
White House Renovations
1903 PresidentTheodore Roosevelt andEdith Roosevelt unveil new renovations to The White House, including a new West Wing
- 1904 The Dutch East Indies government takes control of opium distribution
- 1906 Dutch law makes a driver's license mandatory
- 1906 The first permanent movie theater in Canada, the Ouimetoscope, opens by Léo Ouimet in Montreal, Quebec
- 1906 The poll tax of £1 per head on all adult male inhabitants of Natal, South Africa, becomes payable, except for indentured Indians and married Blacks, imposed by the Natal Parliament in 1905
- 1907 Joe Gans lands a devastating right to the head of Canadian challenger Kid Herman to retain his world lightweight boxing title with an 8th-round knockout in Tonopah, Nevada
- 1907 US PresidentTheodore Roosevelt shakes a record 8,513 hands in one day
Jack Hobbs Debut
1908Jack Hobbs makes his international debut in England's 2nd Test win over Australia at the MCG, scoring 83 and 28 in his two innings. Goes onto become the leading run scorer and century maker in 1st-class cricket history.
- 1909 American Robert Fowler runs the then-world-record marathon (2:52:45.4) at Yonkers, New York
- 1909 In Great Britain, the Old Age Pension Law is instituted, providing pensions for every British subject over 70 with a low income
- 1909 The Lakeview Oil Company starts drilling its famous Number One well
Beatty Rear-admiral
1910 British naval officerDavid Beatty is promoted to rear-admiral
- 1910 England cricket underhand bowler George Simpson-Hayward takes 6-43 on debut with underarm lobs in 1st Test against South Africa in Johannesburg; SA wins by 19 runs
- 1911 Belgian mining law introduces a 9.5-hour workday
- 1911 South Australia transfers control of the Northern Territory to the Commonwealth of Australia
- 1912 First running of San Francisco's famed "Bay to Breakers" footrace (7.63 miles/12.3 km); Robert Vlught wins in 44:10
Republic Of China
1912Sun Yat-sen officially proclaims the Republic of China
- 1913 The US Post Office begins parcel post delivery
- 1914 Kornelis "Klaas" ter Laan becomes the Netherlands' first socialist mayor in Zaandam
- 1914 St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line becomes the world's first scheduled airline, covering the 18-mile distance in 23 minutes, piloted by Tony Jannus. Service ceases after three months
- 1914 The Protectorate of Southern Nigeria and the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria amalgamate to form the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria
The Clansman
1915D.W. Griffith shows "The Clansman" at a sneak preview
- 1916 The first blood transfusion using stored and cooled blood is performed during World War I
- 1916 The first issue of the "Journal of Negro History" is published
T. E. Lawrence Joins Arabian Forces
1917T. E. Lawrence joins the forces of the Arabian sheikh Faisal al-Hussein, beginning the adventures that lead him to Damascus by October 1918
- 1917 The Quebec Bank is integrated into the Royal Bank of Canada
- 1918 Last day of the Julian calendar in Finland; January 2 becomes January 14
- 1919 Battle of Jutland: British naval commanderDavid Beatty is promoted to full admiral
Henry Ford's Son Succeeds Him
1919 Edsel Ford succeeds his father,Henry Ford, as president of the Ford Motor Company
- 1919 The Belarusian SSR is established
- 1920 Byelorussian Communist Organization is founded as a separate party
- 1922 British Columbia, Canada, starts driving on the right-hand side of the road
- 1922 Coal miners in Transvaal, South Africa, embark on a strike in response to a wage cut, which quickly escalates into a large-scale revolt against the government, known as the Rand Rebellion
- 1923 Britain's Railways are grouped into the Big Four: LNER, GWR, SR, and LMS
- 1924 Grossdeutsche Volksgemeinschaft and Völkische Block replace the banned NSDAP
- 1925 Norway's capital, Kristiania, changes its name to Oslo
- 1926 A major flood on the Rhine River strikes Cologne
- 1927 Communist uprising in West Sumatra
- 1927 MLB Brooklyn Robins announce the release of future Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder Zack Wheat after 18 consecutive seasons with the team; Wheat hits .324 in his final season with the Philadelphia Athletics
- 1927 Turkey adopts the Gregorian calendar: December 18, 1926 (Julian), is immediately followed by January 1, 1927 (Gregorian)
- 1928 Algemeene Vereeniging Radio Omroep (AVRO) begins broadcasting in the Netherlands
- 1928 The Milam Building becomes the first air-conditioned office building in the US, opening in San Antonio
- 1930 Claus von Stauffenberg is promoted to Second Lieutenant
- 1930 Jurgens and Van den Bergh merge with Lever Brothers to form Unilever
- 1932 Jacob Coxey Sr. is chosen as the Mayor of Massillon, Ohio
- 1932 The United States Post Office Department issues a set of 12 stamps commemorating the 200th anniversary of George Washington's birth
- 1934 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (US bank guarantor) comes into effect
- 1934 The International Telegraph Union adopts the name International Telecommunication Union
- 1934 The Nazi Germany "Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring" comes into effect
- 1935 1st Orange Bowl: Bucknell beats Miami (FL), 26-0
- 1935 Associated Press launches its groundbreaking Wirephoto service
- 1935 Eastern Airlines hires Eddie Rickenbacker as the General Manager
- 1937 Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua
- 1937 German officer Claus von Stauffenberg is promoted to captain
- 1937 Safety glass in vehicle windscreens becomes mandatory in the UK
- 1937 The US Army Air Corps physiological research laboratory is completed in Ohio
Hewlett-Packard Founded
1939Hewlett-Packard is founded byBill Hewlett and Dave Packard in a garage in Palo Alto, California, the birthplace of Silicon Valley
- 1939 Sydney, Australia, swelters in a record heat of 45°C (113°F)
Soviet Chief of General Staff
1941 Russian generalGeorgy Zhukov is appointed chief of the Red Army's General Staff
- 1941 The Netherlands introduces a new income tax regime
- 1942 The US and 25 other countries sign the Declaration by United Nations against the Axis
- 1943 German officer Claus von Stauffenberg is promoted to Lieutenant Colonel
- 1943 Negro Baseball League starJosh Gibson suffers a nervous breakdown and is admitted to the hospital for rest and treatment; he is released in time for preseason training
- 1943 The Chicago Blackhawks field the first trio of brothers to play together in an NHL game; Max, Doug, and Reggie Bentley appear for the Blackhawks in a 6-5 win over the New York Rangers at Chicago Stadium
- 1944 Army defeats Navy 10-7 in football "Arab Bowl," Oran, North Africa
Clark Replaces Patton
1944 General Clark replacesGeneral Patton as commander of the US 7th Army
- 1944 The first feature-length foreign movie, "African Journey," is shown on TV in New York City
- 1945 German air raid on Allied airfields at Eindhoven, Saint-Trond, and Brussels
Emperor Not a God
1946Emperor Hirohito of Japan announces he is not a god
