8 Iconic Events that took place on January 1st Throughout History

Emperor Honorius bans gladiatorial combats (year 404)

Saint Telemachus (a Christian monk) tried to stop a gladiatorial fight in a Roman amphitheater. Unfortunately he was stoned to death by the crowd. Due to his act of bravery combats were banned.

USA Outlaws importation of slaves (year 1808)

This was a major step towards the abolition of slavery, but slavery did not stop until years later.

Satyendra Nath Bose's Birthday (1894)

Bose was an Indian mathematician and physicist. He was acknowledged for his collaboration with Albert Einstein. They worked on quantum mechanics and developed the foundation for Bose statistics and theory of Bose condensate.

Independence Day

Independence day for Brunei (year 1984), Cameroon (1960), Haiti (1844), Sudan (year 1956), and Western Samoa (1962).

The euro was established (1999)

The Euro officially becomes the currency of 11 countries.

OWN launches show (year 2011)

Oprah Winfrey launches a television program through The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).

Antonio Guterres becomes UN Secretary General (year 2017)

South Korea’s Ban Ki-moon is replaced by Portuguese politician and diplomat Antonio Guterres as the United Nations Secretary General.

Croatia joins the eurozone (year 2023)

Croatia is the 20th country to join the Euro.