JANUARY 1st Most celebrated holiday in the world 1502 Rio de Janeiro discovered 1660 Samuel Pepys begins his diary of life in London 1776 George Washington unveils Grand Union Flag - 1st national flag 1801 Ireland added to Great Britian 1863 Emancipation Proclamation 1892 Ellis Island in NY opens 1901 Commonwealth of Australia formed 1942 Twenty six countries signed the Declaration of the United Nations, in Washington, D.C., reaffirming their opposition to the Axis powers and confirming that no single nation would make a separate peace 1959 Castro seizes power in Cuba 1979 China & US form diplomatic relations Birthdays: Paul Revere (1735) and Betsy Ross (1752) 3rd 1924 Howard Carter finds King Tut's sarcophagus 1959 Alaska admitted as the 49th state 4th 1790 George Washington delivers 1st State of the Union Address Birthdays: Louis Braille (1809) Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774) - 1st American Catholic Saint 5th 1925 Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming - 1st female governor in US 6th 1941 FDR asks for Lend Lease in his State of the Union Address Birthdays: Joan of Arc (1412) 7th Birthday Millard Fillmore (1800) 13th President of US 8th 1815 Battle of New Orleans 1982 AT&T split up Birthday Elvis Presley (1935) 9th Birthday Richard Nixon (1913) 37th President of US 10th 1776 Thomas Paine's Common Sense is published, influencing Declaration of Independence 1984 US & Vatican establish diplomatic relations after a 116 year break 11th Birthday Alexander Hamilton (1755) founder of US; 1st Sec of Treasury, killed by Aaron Burr 12th Birthday John Hancock (1737) 13th Birthday Horatio Alger (1834) 14th Birthday Benedict Arnold (1741) Albert Schweitzer (1875) Hal Roach (1892) film pioneer 15th 1535 Henry VIII becomes head of the Church of England 1559 Elizabeth I crowned 1970 first use of a jackass to symbolize Democratic Party Birthday Martin Luther King (1929) 16th 1547 Ivan the Terrible has himself crowned 1st Czar of Russia 17th Birthday Benjamin Franklin (1706) Muhammad Ali (aka Cassius Clay) (1942) 18th 1966 Robert Clifton Weaver sworn in as 1st African American cabinet member (Sec. of Housing and Urban Dev.) under LBJ Birthday Daniel Webster (1782) 19th 1966 Indira Gandhi elected Prime Minister of India Birthdays Robert E. Lee (1807) Edgar Allen Poe (1809) 20th 1945 FDR inaugurated for 4th time 1981 Ronald Reagan inaugurated - at 69 oldest president to take office 21st 1793 Louis XVI guillotined 1924 Vladimir Lenin dies 1954 USS Nautilus launched (1st nuclear sub) Birthdays Ethan Allen (1738) Revolutionary Hero "Stonewall" Jackson (1824) 22nd 1901 Queen Victora dies after 64 year reign Birthday Francis Bacon (1561) 23rd 1849 Elizabeth Blackwell award MD - 1st female Dr.. in US 1907 Charles Curtis becomes first person of American Indian ancestry to serve in Senate; later becomes VP under Hoover 1968 USS Pueblo seized by North Korea 24th 1848 gold discoverd in California - begins gold rush 1895 Hawaii's monarchy ends & Hawaii annexed to US 1965 Winston Churchill dies 1972 Japanese soldier Shoichi Yokoi discovered on Guam after 28 years hiding in the jungle not knowing World War II had ended. 25th 1533 Henry VIII marries 2nd wife Anne Boleyn 1947 Al Capone dies at age 48 1961 JFK holds first live Presidential news conference 26th Birthday Douglas MacArthur (1880) 27th 1967 3 American Astronauts killed during Apollo I fire 1973 US involvement in Vietnam war ends Birthday Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756) Lewis Carroll (1832) Alice in Wonderland) Samuel Gompers (1850) - labor leader Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859) 28th 1547 Henry VIII of England dies 1871 Franco-Prussian war ends 1915 U.S. Coast Guard created 1986 Space shuttle Challenger explodes Birthday Henry Stanley - explorer (1841) 29th 1919 18th Amendment ratified (Prohibition) Birthday Thomas Paine (1737) William McKinley (1843) - 25th President Anton Chekhov (1860) playwright 30th 1835 Andrew Jackson survives 1st attempt to assassinate a U.S. President 1933 Adolf Hitler appointed Chancellor of Germany 1948 Mahatma Gandhi assassinated in New Delhi Birthday FDR (1882) 31st Birthday Jackie Robinson (1919) MORE JANUARY DATES: http://www.historyplace.com/specials/calendar/january.htm