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1992

1992

1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday.

Events

January


- January 1 - Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General
- January 1 - George H. W. Bush becomes the first President of the United States to address the Australian Parliament.
- January 8 - Bosnian Serbs declare their own republic within Bosnia-Herzegovina in protest to the decision by Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats to seek EC recognition.
- January 8 - George H. W. Bush falls violently ill in the presence of the Prime Minister of Japan.
- January 11 - Paul Simon is the first major artist to tour South Africa after the end of the cultural boycott.
- January 12 - The second round of Algeria's general elections is cancelled when the first round is favorable to the Islamic Salvation Front.
- January 13 - Japan apologizes for forcing Korean women into sexual slavery during World War II.
- January 13 - Jeffrey Dahmer pleads guilty but insane to the murders of 15 young men and boys.
- January 15 - The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ceases to exist. Slovenia and Croatia gain independence.
- January 16 - El Salvador officials and rebel leaders sign a pact in Mexico City that ends a 12 year civil war that claimed at least 75,000.
- January 22 - Rebel forces occupy Zaire's national radio station in Kinshasa and broadcast a demand for the government's resignation
- January 22 - STS-42: Dr. Roberta Bondar becomes the first Canadian woman in space.
- January 26 - Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia is going to stop targeting United States cities with nuclear weapons.

February


- February 1 - Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bhopal court declares Warren Anderson, ex-CEO of Union Carbide a fugitive under Indian law for failing to appear in the Bhopal Disaster case, and orders the Indian government to press for an extradition from United States
- February 7 - Signing of the Maastricht treaty, which founded the European Union.
- February 10 - In Indianapolis, Indiana boxer Mike Tyson is convicted of raping a Miss Black America contestant named Desiree Washington
- February 11 - F-16 jet crashes into a residential district of Hengelo, the Netherlands. No casualties are reported.
- February 17 - A court in Milwaukee, Wisconsin sentences Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer to life in prison
- February 18 - Iraq disarmament crisis: The Executive Chairman of UNSCOM details Iraq's refusal to abide by UN Security Council disarmament resolutions.
- February 20 - The English FA Premier League was officially formed
- February 21 - United Nations Security Council approves Resolution 743 and decides to send UNPROFOR peacekeeping force to Yugoslavia
- February 26 - Supreme Court of Ireland rules that a 14-year-old rape victim may travel to England to get an abortion

March


- March - Boxer Mike Tyson is given a 6 year sentence for raping an 18 year old Miss Black America contestant, Desiree Washington
- March 1 - After a majority of the Bosnian Muslim and Bosnian Croat communities vote for Bosnian independence, Serb snipers fire on civilians
- March 12 - Mauritius becomes a republic while remaining a member of the British Commonwealth
- March 12 - 13 are killed and several injured when a tram-car crashes into a crowd of people at the tram-station at Vasaplatsen in Gothenburg, Sweden.
- March 13 - In eastern Turkey, an earthquake registering 6.8 on the Richter scale kills over 500.
- March 17 - 29 are killed and 242 injured when a suicide car-bomb goes off in the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires.
- March 25 - Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev returns to Earth after a 10-month stay aboard the Mir space station

April


- April - Bosnia and Herzegovina secedes from Yugoslavia.
- April 2 - In New York, Mafia boss John Gotti is convicted of murder of mob boss Paul Castellano and racketeering and is later sentenced to life in prison
- April 6 - Robert Schumann (record-breaker) becomes the youngest person to visit the north pole
- April 6 - Serbian troops begin to bombard Sarajevo
- April 8 - Punch magazine publishes its final issue
- April 9 - A Miami jury convicts former Panamanian ruler Manuel Noriega of assisting Colombia's cocaine cartel
- April 9 - United Kingdom general election - John Major unexpectedly re-elected.
- April 10 - IRA bomb explodes in the Baltic Exchange in the City of London - 3 dead, 91 injured
- April 13 - Flooding in downtown Chicago, Illinois
- April 13 - Roermond in the Netherlands is rocked by an earthquake along the Peel Fault.
- April 14-October 15 - The trial of the Russian serial killer Andrew Chikatilo - he is sentenced to death
- April 21 - Maria Vladimirovna of Russia succeeds her father as Head of the Imperial Family of Russia and Titular Empress and Autocrat of all the Russias.
- April 22 - Fuel that has leaked into sewer explodes in Guadalajara, Mexico - 215 dead, 1500 injured
- April 27 - Betty Boothroyd elected the first woman to be Speaker of the British House of Commons.
- April 29 - In Los Angeles, California, the police officers that were accused of excessive force in their severe beating of Rodney King, were found "not guilty". The verdict resulted in several days of riots in L.A. and smaller riots around the country.

May


- May 5 - Alabama ratifies a 202-year-old proposed amendment to the United States Constitution making the 27th Amendment law. This amendment bars the U.S. Congress from giving itself a midterm or retroactive pay raise
- May 5 - Russian leaders in Crimea declare their separation from Ukraine as a new republic. They withdraw the secession on May 10
- May 10 - Team of Sweden wins the Ice Hockey World Championships in Prague
- May 15 - The Genoa Expo '92 World's Fair opens in Genoa, Italy
- May 16 - STS-49: Space Shuttle Endeavour lands safely after a successful maiden voyage
- May 19 - Amy Fisher shoots at Mary Jo Buttafuoco
- May 23 - Mafia bomb kills Italian anti-mafia judge Giovanni Falcone
- May 26 - Charles Geschke, President of Adobe Systems is kidnapped from his company car park. Kidnappers demand ransom for $650,000 - they are later apprehended

June


- June 1 - Terrorist Carlos (the Jackal) is sentenced to life imprisonment
- June 1 - Kentucky celebrates its bicentennial statehood.
- June 1 - The Pittsburgh Penguins sweep the Chicago Blackhawks in 4 games in the 1992 Stanley Cup Finals.
- June 8 - The first World Ocean Day celebrated, coinciding with the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- June 12 - Medical doctor Pravin Thakkar is sentenced for 16 years for aborting fetuses of two of his former lovers without their permission
- June 15 - During a spelling bee at a Trenton, New Jersey elementary school, U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle corrects a student's spelling of the word potato by indicating it should have an e at the end.
- June 17 - A 'Joint Understanding' agreement on arms reduction is signed by U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin (this would be later codified in START II). [http://www.fas.org/nuke/control/start2/]
- June 22 - Two skeletons excavated in Yekaterinburg are identified as Czar Nicholas II and his tsarina
- June 23 - Mafia boss John Gotti is sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and racketeering on April 2 [http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/gotti/don_24.html?sect=15]
- June 26 - Denmark beat Germany 2-0 to win Euro 92 at Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden.
- June 29 - Bodyguard assassinates president Mohammed Boudigh of Algeria

July


- July 6-29 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq refuses a U.N. inspection team access to the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture. UNSCOM claimed that it had reliable information that the site contained archives related to illegal weapons activities. U.N. Inspectors stage a 17-day "sit-in" outside of the building, but leave when their safety is threatened by Iraqi soldiers
- July 10 - In Miami, Florida, former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega is sentenced to 40 years in prison for drug and racketeering violations
- July 13 - Britain's former executioner Albert Pierrepoint dies
- July 20 - Václav Havel resigns as president of Czechoslovakia
- July 22 - Near Medellín, Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar escapes from his luxury prison fearing extradiction to the United States.
- July 25 - Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

August


- August 7 - Buckingham Palace opened to the public for the first time
- August 10 - The UK government bans Ulster Defence Association, a loyalist paramilitary organisation that had been legal for twenty years.
- August 17 - US Marshalls start Siege of Ruby Ridge
- August 18 - Wang Laboratories files for bankruptcy
- August 20 - Kristiansunds connection to the main land of Norway, Krifast, opens.
- August 24 - Hurricane Andrew hits South Florida.
- August 28 - Hurricane Andrew dissipates over the Tennessee valley when it merges with a storm system. Twenty-three were killed.

September


- September 11 - Hurricane Iniki hits the Hawaiian Islands, Kauai and Oahu
- September 16 - Pound Sterling and Italian Lira forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (Black Wednesday)
- September 23 - A large IRA bomb destroys the forensic laboratories in Belfast
- September 24 - The Kentucky Supreme Court in Kentucky v. Wasson holds that laws criminalizing same-sex sodomy are unconstitutional, and accurately predicts that other states and the nation will eventually rule the same way.

October


- October 1 - Pittsburgh International Airport's new facility is opened in Findlay Township, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania The new terminal's were built as an expansion for US Air and an upgrade from the older Pittsburgh International Airport facility.
- October 2 - Riot in the Carandiru prison system in São Paulo, Brazil, which leads up to the events known as the Carandiru Massacre.
- October 4 - Plane crash in Amsterdam, Netherlands, known as the Bijlmerramp.
- October 7 - In Turkey, the farmer Tevfik Esenç, the last fluent speaker of the Ubykh language, dies.
- October 9 - A 13-kilogram (29-pound) meteorite landed in the driveway of the Knapp residence in Peekskill, New York destroying the family's 1980 Chevrolet Malibu.
- October 15 - In Russia, Andrei Chikatilo is found guilty of 52 serial murders.
- October 17 - Yoshihiro Hattori, a 16-year-old Japanese exchange student mistakes from an address to a party, and is shot after knocking on the wrong door in Louisiana, United States. The shooter, Rodney Peairs, is acquitted by Jury causing an outrage in Japan.
- October 24 - Toronto Blue Jays win World Series in 6 games. Marking the first Canadian team to win.
- October 26 - In Canada, the Charlottetown Accord is defeated in a national referendum.
- October 29 - The Food and Drug Administration approves Depo Provera for use as a contraceptive in the United States.

November


- November 3 - Bill Clinton defeats George H. W. Bush and H. Ross Perot in the U.S. presidential election
- November 5 - In Detroit, Michigan, black motorist Malice Green is beaten to death by policemen Larry Nevers and Walter Budzyn during a struggle (the officers were later convicted and sentenced to prison)
- November 11 - The Church of England votes to allow women to become priests.
- November 20 - In England, a fire breaks out in the Private Chapel room of Windsor Castle, rages for 15 hours, and seriously damages the northwest side of the building (an investigation found that the fire was ignited after a spotlight came into contact with a curtain over an extended period).
- November 24 - In the People's Republic of China, a China Southern Airlines domestic flight crashes, killing all 141 people on-board
- November 24 - Queen Elizabeth II describes this year as an Annus Horribilis (horrible year) due to various scandals damaging the image of the Royal Family
- November 25 - The Czechoslovakia Federal Assembly votes to split the country into the Czech Republic and Slovakia starting on January 1, 1993
- November 30 - A murder trial of 14 South Vietnamese accused of murder of 24 North Vietnamese begins in Hong Kong (ends November 29, 1994)

December


- December 3 - UN Security Council Resolution 794 is unanimously passed, approving a coalition of United Nations peacekeepers led by the United States to form UNITAF, tasked with ensuring humanitarian aid gets distributed and establishing peace in Somalia.
- December 3 - The Greek oil tanker Aegean Sea carrying 80,000 tonnes of crude oil runs aground in a storm while on approach to La Coruña, Spain, and spills much of its cargo
- December 4 - US military forces invade Somalia.
- December 5 - Kent Conrad of North Dakota resigns his seat in the United States Senate and is sworn into the other seat from North Dakota, becoming the only US Senator ever to have held two seats on the same day.
- December 6 - Hindu activists destroy the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya, India, triggering religious violence around the country.
- December 8 - Last blast fired in Falu Copper Mine in Sweden. The end of a millennium of continuous operation.
- December 20 - The Folies Bergere music hall in Paris, France closes.
- December 29 - Brazil's president Fernando Collor de Mello resigns, following charges that he stole more than $32 million from the government and impeachment precedings.

Unknown Dates


- The Council for National Academic Awards, UK is wound up.
- Pope John Paul II issues an apology and lifts the edict of Inquisition against Galileo Galilei
- The largest shopping mall in the US, Minnesota's Mall of America is constructed spanning 78 acres (316,000 m²)
- Carsington Reservoir opened in England after nearly 20 years planning and construction.
- Image Comics is founded by a number of former Marvel artists, seeking to create a company where creators were given exclusive ownership of their creations.

Fictional Events


- January 12 HAL 9000 is purported to become operational at the H.A.L. plant in Urbana, Illinois.
- The events of the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? take place.

Births

For more 1992 births see :Category:1992 births
- January 10 - Eric & Brandon Billings, Twin American actors
- January 19 - Logan Lerman, American actor
- January 21 - Logan O'Brien, American actor
- February 14 - Freddie Highmore, British actor
- March 15 - Sosie Bacon, American actress
- March 21 - Bobby Preston, American actor
- April 15 - Richard Sandrak, American bodybuilder and actor
- May 18 - Spencer Breslin, American actor
- June 7 - Jordan Fry, American Actor
- June 12 - Ryan Malgarini, American actor
- June 14 - Daryl Sabara, American voice actor
- July 13 - Dylan Patton, American actor and model
- August 4 - Dylan and Cole Sprouse, Twin child actors
- September 19 - Gavin Fink, American actor
- October 9 - Tyler James Williams, American actor
- October 15 - Vincent Martella, American actor
- October 30 - Tequan Richmond, American actor
- November 25 - Zack Shada, American actor
- November 30 - Dylan Smith, American actor
- December 23 - Spencer Daniels, American actor

Deaths

January-April


- January 3 - Dame Judith Anderson, Australian actress (b. 1897)
- January 9 - Bill Naughton, British playwright (b. 1910)
- January 23 - Freddie Bartholomew, Irish actor (b. 1924)
- January 26 - José Ferrer, Puerto Rican actor (b. 1912)
- January 27 - Allan Jones, American actor and singer (b. 1908)
- January 29 - Willie Dixon, American composer and musician (b. 1915)
- February 2 - Bert Parks, American game show host (b. 1914)
- February 4 - Lisa Fonssagrives, Swedish model (b. 1911)
- February 10 - Alex Haley, American author (b. 1921)
- February 12 - Bep van Klaveren, Dutch boxer (b. 1907)
- February 20 - Dick York, American actor (b. 1928)
- March 2 - Sandy Dennis, American actress (b. 1939)
- March 9 - Menachem Begin, Prime Minister of Israel, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1913)
- March 23 - Friedrich Hayek, Austrian economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
- March 29 - Paul Henreid, Austrian-born actor (b. 1908)
- April 5 - Molly Picon, American actress (b. 1898)
- April 6 - Isaac Asimov, Russian-born author (b. 1920)
- April 8 - Daniel Bovet, Swiss-born pharmacologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1907)
- April 18 - Benny Hill, British comedian and actor
- April 21 - Grand Duke Vladimir Cyrillovitch of Russia (b. 1917)
- April 23 - Satyajit Ray, Indian filmmaker (b. 1921)
- April 27 - Olivier Messiaen, French composer (b. 1908)
- April 28 - Francis Bacon, Irish-born painter (b. 1909)

May-December


- May 6 - Marlene Dietrich, German actress (b. 1901)
- May 12 - Robert Reed, American actor (b. 1932
- May 17 - Lawrence Welk, American musician (b. 1903)
- May 22 - Tony Accardo, American gangster (b. 1906)
- May 23 - Giovanni Falcone, Italian judge (b. 1939)
- June 22 - Chuck Mitchell, American actor (b. 1927)
- July 15 - Hammer DeRoburt, first President of Nauru (b. 1922)
- August 5 - Jeff Porcaro, American musician (b. 1954)
- August 12 - John Cage, American composer (b. 1912)
- August - Mark Heard, American singer (b. 1951)
- September 2 - Barbara McClintock, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1902)
- October 7 - Tevfik Esenç, last known speaker of Ubykh (b. 1904)
- October 8 - Willy Brandt, Chancellor of Germany, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1913)
- October 17 - Yoshihiro Hattori, Japanese exchange student (b. 1975)
- October 19 - Arthur Wint, Jamaican runner (b. 1920)
- October 25 - Roger Miller, American singer (b. 1936)
- October 27 - David Bohm, American-born physicist, philosopher, and neuropsychologist (b. 1917)
- November 22 - Sterling Holloway, American actor (b. 1905)
- December 18 - Mark Goodson, American game show producer (b. 1915)
- December 21 - Nathan Milstein, Ukrainian-born violinist (b. 1903)
- December 22 - Albert King, American musician (b. 1930)

Unknown date


- E. Harold Munn, American activist (b. 1903)

Nobel Prizes


- Physics - Georges Charpak
- Chemistry - Rudolph A. Marcus
- Medicine - Edmond H. Fischer, Edwin G. Krebs
- Literature - Derek Walcott
- Peace - Rigoberta Menchu Tum

Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel


- Gary Becker

Templeton Prize


- Kyung-Chik Han

Alternative


- Finnish Village Action Movement, Gonoshasthaya Kendra / Zafrullah Chowdhury, Helen Mack, John Gofman and Alla Yaroshinskaya
- als:1992 ko:1992년 ms:1992 ja:1992年 simple:1992 th:พ.ศ. 2535

Leap year starting on Wednesday

This is the calendar for any leap year starting on Wednesday (dominical letter ED), e.g. 1992. Previous year | Next year This kind of year has 53 weeks in the ISO 8601 week - day format.
Millennium Century Year
2nd Millennium: 19th century: 1812 1840 1868 1896
2nd Millennium: 20th century: 1908 1936 1964 1992
3rd Millennium: 21st century: 2020 2048 2076
3rd Millennium: 22nd century: 2116 2144 2172
Category:WednesdayCategory:Weeksko:수요일로 시작하는 윤년th:ปีอธิกสุรทินที่วันแรกเป็นวันพุธ

Category:1992

Category:1990sko:분류:1992년ja:Category:1992年simple:Category:1992

January 1

January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Here a calendar year refers to the order in which the months are displayed, January to December. The first day of the medieval Julian year was usually a day other than January 1. This day was adopted as the first day of the Julian year by all Western European countries except England between about 1450 and 1600. The Gregorian calendar as promulgated in 1582 did not specify that January 1 was to be either New Year's Day or the first day of its numbered year. Although England began its numbered year on March 25 (Lady Day or Annunciation Day), between the 13th century and 1752, January 1 was called New Year's Day, and was, with Christmas and occasionally Twelfth Night, a holiday when gifts were exchanged. 364 days (365 in leap years) remain in the year after this day.

Events


- 45 BC - The Julian calendar first takes effect.
- 404 - Last known gladiator competition in Rome takes place.
- 630 - Prophet Muhammad sets out toward Mecca with the army that will capture it bloodlessly.
- 990 - Kievan Rus' adopts the Julian calendar.
- 1438 - Albert II of Habsburg is crowned King of Hungary.
- 1600 - Scotland begins using the Julian calendar.
- 1651 - Charles II crowned King of Scotland
- 1673 - Regular mail delivery begins between New York and Boston.
- 1700 - Russia begins using the Julian calendar.
- 1707 - John V is crowned King of Portugal
- 1738 - Bouvet Island is discovered by French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier.
- 1788 - First edition of The Times of London, previously The Daily Universal Register, is published.
- 1797 - Albany replaces New York City as the capital on New York.
- 1801 - Legislative union of Kingdom of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ireland is completed to form United Kingdom.
- 1801 - The first known asteroid, 1 Ceres, is discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi.
- 1804 - French rule ends in Haiti.
- 1808 - Importation of slaves into the United States is banned.
- 1818 - Mary Shelley's novelFrankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus is published.
- 1855 - London, Ontario is incorporated as a city.
- 1861 - Porfirio Diaz conquers Mexico City.
- 1863 - American Civil War: The Emancipation Proclamation takes effect.
- 1863 - The first claim under the Homestead Act is made by Daniel Freeman for a farm in Nebraska.
- 1880 - Ferdinand de Lesseps begins French construction of the Panama Canal.
- 1887 - Queen Victoria was proclaimed empress of India in Delhi.
- 1892 - Ellis Island opens to begin accepting immigrants to the United States.
- 1893 - Japan begins using the Gregorian calendar.
- 1894 - The Manchester Ship Canal, England, was officially opened to traffic.
- 1898 - New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York. The four initial boroughs, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx, are joined on January 25th by Staten Island to create the modern city of five boroughs.
- 1899 - Spanish rule ends in Cuba.
- 1901 - Nigeria becomes a British protectorate.
- 1901 - The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australiafederate as the Commonwealth of Australia; Edmund Barton becomes first Prime Minister.
- 1901 - The first official Mummers Parade is held.
- 1902 - The first Rose Bowl game is played in Pasadena, California.
- 1908 - For the first time, a ball is dropped in New York City's Times Square to signify the start of the New Year.
- 1911 - Northern Territory is separated from South Australia and transferred to Commonwealth control.
- 1912 - The Republic of China is established.
- 1916 - German troops abandon Yaoundé and their Kamerun colony to British forces and begin the long march to Spanish Guinea.
- 1934 - Alcatraz Island becomes a U.S. federal prison.
- 1934 - Nazi Germany passes the "Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring".
- 1935 - Bucknell University wins the first Orange Bowl 26-0 over the University of Miami.
- 1937 - Anastasio Somoza becomes President of Nicaragua.
- 1937 - The first Cotton Bowl game is played in Dallas, Texas.
- 1939 - The Vienna New Year's Concert is first held.
- 1942 - The Declaration by the United Nations is signed by twenty-six nations.
- 1948 - British railways are nationalised to form British Rail.
- 1948 - After partition, India declines to pay the agreed share of Rs.550 million in cash balances to Pakistan.
- 1948 - Enrico De Nicola formally becomes President of the Italian Republic, but refuses to be a candidate for the first constitutional election the following May.
- 1949 - UN Cease-fire orders to operate in Kashmir from one minute before midnight. War between India and Pakistan stops accordingly.
- 1956 - The Republic of the Sudan achieves independence from the Egyptian Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
- 1958 - The European Community is established.
- 1959 - Fulgencio Batista, President of the Republic of Cuba, is overthrown by Fidel Castro's forces.
- 1960 - The Republic of Cameroon achieves independence from France and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
- 1962 - Western Samoa achieves independence from New Zealand; its name is changed to the Independent State of Western Samoa.
- 1964 - The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is divided into the independent republics of Zambia and Malawi, and the British-controlled Rhodesia.
- 1969 - Marien Ngouabi formally becomes the President of the Republic of Congo.
- 1970 - The Unix epoch begins at 00:00:00 UTC.
- 1971 - Cigaretteadvertisements are banned on Americantelevision.
- 1973 - The Kingdom of Denmark, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland are admitted into the European Community.
- 1976 - NBC introduces its new logo: an abstract N, similar to the Nebraska Educational Television Network logo.
- 1978 - Air India Flight 855Boeing 747 explodes and crashes into the sea off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
- 1979 - Formal diplomatic relations are established between the People's Republic of China and the United States of America.
- 1981 - The Republic of Greece is admitted into the European Community.
- 1981 - The Republic of Palau achieves self-government; it is not yet independent from the United States of America.
- 1983 - The ARPANET officially changes to using the Internet Protocol, creating the Internet.
- 1984 - AT&T is broken up into twenty-two independent units.
- 1984 - The Sultanate of Brunei becomes independent of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
- 1985 - The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
- 1985 - The first British mobile phone call is made by Ernie Wise to Vodafone.
- 1986 - Aruba becomes independent of Curaçao, though it remains in free association with the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
- 1986 - Spain and Portugal are admitted into the European Community.
- 1988 - The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America comes into existence, creating the largest Lutherandenomination in the United States of America.
- 1993 - Velvet Divorce: Czechoslovakia is divided into the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic.
- 1993 - A single market within the European Community is introduced.
- 1993 - Pakistan is elected member of the 15-nation UNSecurity Council.
- 1994 - The Zapatista Army of National Liberation initiates twelve days of armed conflict in the MexicanState of Chiapas.
- 1994 - The North American Free Trade Agreement comes into effect.
- 1995 - The World Trade Organization comes into effect.
- 1995 - The Kingdom of Sweden and the republics of Austria and Finland are admitted into the European Union.
- 1995 - The Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe becomes the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
- 1996 - Curaçao gains limited self-government, though it remains within free association with the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
- 1997 - The Republic of Zaïre officially joins the World Trade Organization, as Zaïre.
- 1998 - Smoking is banned in all bars and restaurants in the State of California.
- 1999 - The Euro currency is introduced.
- 2002 - Euro banknotes and coins become legal tender in twelve of the European Union's member states.
- 2002 - The Republic of China officially joins the World Trade Organization, as Chinese Taipei.
- 2002 - The Open Skies mutual surveillance treaty, initially signed in 1992, officially enters into force.
- 2003 - Luís Inácio Lula da Silva becomes president of the Federative Republic of Brazil.
- 2004 - Pervez Musharraf receives a vote of confidence to continue as the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan from Parliament and the provincial assemblies.

Births


- 766 - Ali ar-Rida, Shia Imam (d. 818)
- 1431 - Pope Alexander VI (d. 1503)
- 1449 - Lorenzo de Medici, Italian statesman (d. 1492)
- 1484 - Huldrych Zwingli, Swiss Protestant leader (d. 1531)
- 1516 - Margareta Leijonhufvud, queen of Gustav I of Sweden (d. 1551)
- 1557 - Stephen Bocskay, Prince of Transylvania (d. 1606)
- 1600 - Friedrich Spanheim, Dutch theologian (d. 1649)
- 1614 - John Wilkins, English Bishop of Chester (d. 1672)
- 1618 - Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Spanish painter (d. 1682)
- 1638 - Emperor Go-Sai of Japan (d. 1685)
- 1648 - Elkanah Settle, English writer (d. 1724)
- 1655 - Christian Thomasius, German jurist (d. 1728)
- 1684 - Arnold Drakenborch, Dutch classical scholar (d. 1748)
- 1704 - Soame Jenyns, English writer (d. 1787)
- 1711 - Franz Freiherr von der Trenck, Austrian soldier (d. 1749)
- 1714 - Kristijonas Donelaitis, Lithuanian poet (d. 1780)
- 1735 - Paul Revere, American silversmith and patriot (d. 1818)
- 1750 - Frederick Muhlenberg, first speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1801)
- 1752 - Betsy Ross, American seamstress (d. 1836)
- 1774 - André Marie Constant Duméril, French zoologist (d. 1860)
- 1793 - Francesco Guardi, Italian artist (b. 1712)
- 1823 - Sándor Petőfi, Hungarian poet and revolutionary (d. 1849)
- 1833 - Robert Lawson, New Zealand architect (d. 1902)
- 1839 - Ouida, English writer (d. 1908)
- 1854 - Sir James George Frazer, Scottish anthropologist (d. 1941)
- 1860 - George Washington Carver, American educator, inventor, and botanist (d. 1943)
- 1863 - Pierre de Coubertin, French initiator of the modern Olympic Games (d. 1937)
- 1864 - Alfred Stieglitz, American photographer (d. 1946)
- 1873 - Mariano Azuela, Mexican novelist (d. 1952)
- 1874 - Gustave Whitehead, German-American inventor (d. 1927)
- 1876 - Harriet Brooks, Canadian physicist (d. 1933)
- 1879 - E. M. Forster, English novelist (d. 1970)
- 1887 - Wilhelm Canaris, German admiral (d. 1945)
- 1890 - Anton Melik, Slovenian geographer (d. 1966)
- 1892 - Artur Rodzinski, Croatian conductor (d. 1958)
- 1894 - Satyendra Nath Bose, Indian mathematician (d. 1974)
- 1895 - J. Edgar Hoover, American Federal Bureau of Investigation director (d. 1972)
- 1900 - Xavier Cugat, Catalan-Cuban musician, bandleader (d. 1990)
- 1902 - Buster Nupen, South African cricketer (d. 1977)
- 1904 - Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry, Pakistani politician (d. 1982)
- 1906 - Giovanni D'Anzi, Italian songwriter (d. 1974)
- 1909 - Dana Andrews, American actor (d. 1992)
- 1909 - Barry M. Goldwater, U.S. Senator from Arizona and Presidential candidate (d. 1998)
- 1911 - Hank Greenberg, baseball player (d. 1986)
- 1912 - Kim Philby, British spy (d. 1988)
- 1917 - Jule Gregory Charney, meteorologist (d. 1981)
- 1917 - Albert Mol, Dutch actor (d. 2004)
- 1919 - J. D. Salinger, American novelist
- 1920 - Virgilio Savona, Italian singer and songwriter (Quartetto Cetra)
- 1921 - Isma'il Raji' al-Faruqi, Palestinian-born philosopher and comparative religion scholar (d. 1986)
- 1922 - Rocky Graziano, American boxer (d. 1990)
- 1925 - Stymie Beard, American actor (d. 1981)
- 1927 - Vernon L. Smith, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1927 - Doak Walker, American football star (d 1998)
- 1928 - Ernest Tidyman, American writer (d. 1984)
- 1933 - Frederick Lowy, Canadian medical educator, ethicist, and university president
- 1933 - Joe Orton, English writer (d. 1967)
- 1940 - Frank Langella American actor
- 1942 - Martin Frost, American politician
- 1942 - Country Joe McDonald, American musician (Country Joe and the Fish)
- 1942 - Gennadi Sarafanov, cosmonaut
- 1943 - Don Novello, American actor, comedian, and writer
- 1945 - Jacky Ickx, Belgian race car driver
- 1946 - Rivelino, Brazilian football player
- 1953 - Greg Carmichael, British guitarist
- 1957 - Luis Guzmán, Puerto Rican actor
- 1958 - Grandmaster Flash, West Indian-born singer
- 1959 - Azali Assoumani, Comorese president
- 1961 - Mark Wingett, British actor
- 1964 - Dedee Pfeiffer, American actress
- 1966 - Embeth Davidtz, American actress
- 1968 - Davor Šuker, Croatian footballer
- 1969 - Verne Troyer - American actor
- 1970 - Gabriel Jarret, American actor
- 1972 - Neve McIntosh, Scottish actress
- 1975 - Joe Cannon, American soccer player
- 1977 - Hasan Salihamidžić, Bosnian footballer
- 1978 - Erica Durance, Canadian actress
- 1978 - Jared Fogle, American calibate
- 1978 - Paramahamsa Sri Nithyananda, Indian spiritual guru
- 1978 - Nina Bott, German actress
- 1979 - Brody Dalle, Australian singer (The Distillers)
- 1979 - Koichi Domoto, Japanese artist
- 1980 - Elin Nordegren, Swedish model
- 1981 - Zsolt Baumgartner, Hungarian race car driver
- 1981 - Abdulkadir Kocak, Turkish boxer
- 1982 - David Nalbandian, Argentinian tennis player
- 1985 - Steve Davis, Irish footballer

Deaths


- 379 - Saint Basil of Caesarea (b. 330)
- 404 - Saint Telemachus
- 874 - Hasan al-Askari, eleventh Shia Imam (b. 846)
- 898 - Odo, Count of Paris (b. 860)
- 1204 - King Haakon III of Norway
- 1384 - King Charles II of Navarre (b. 1332)
- 1515 - King Louis XII of France (b. 1462)
- 1554 - Pedro de Valdivia, Spanish conquistador
- 1559 - Christian III of Denmark and Norway (b. 1503)
- 1560 - Joachim Du Bellay, French poet
- 1617 - Hendrik Goltzius, Dutch painter (b. 1558)
- 1679 - Jan Steen, Dutch painter
- 1716 - William Wycherley, English dramatist
- 1730 - Samuel Sewall, English-born judge (b. 1652)
- 1742 - Peregrine Bertie, 2nd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, English statesman (b. 1686)
- 1748 - Johann Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (b. 1667)
- 1766 - James Francis Edward Stuart, "The Old Pretender" (b. 1688)
- 1782 - Johann Christian Bach, German composer (b. 1735)
- 1789 - Fletcher Norton, 1st Baron Grantley, English politician (b. 1716)
- 1793 - Francesco Guardi, Venetian painter (b. 1712)
- 1800 - Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton, French naturalist (b. 1716)
- 1817 - Martin Heinrich Klaproth, German chemist (b. 1743)
- 1892 - Roswell B. Mason, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1805)
- 1894 - Heinrich Hertz, German physicist (b. 1857)
- 1933 - Harriet Brooks, Canadian physicist (b. 1876)
- 1944 - Charles Turner, Australian cricketer (b. 1862)
- 1953 - Hank Williams, American singer (b. 1923)
- 1958 - Edward Weston, American photographer (b. 1886)
- 1960 - Margaret Sullavan, American actress (b. 1911)
- 1964 - Bechara El Khoury, President of Lebanon (b. 1890)
- 1972 - Maurice Chevalier, French actor and singer (b. 1888)
- 1981 - Beulah Bondi, American actress (b. 1888)
- 1986 - Alfredo Binda, Italian cyclist (b. 1902)
- 1992 - Grace Hopper, American computer pioneer (b. 1906)
- 1994 - Lord Arthur Espie Porritt, Governor-General of New Zealand (b. 1900)
- 1994 - Cesar Romero, American actor (b. 1907)
- 1995 - Fred West, British serial killer (suicide) (b. 1941)
- 1995 - Eugene Wigner, Hungarian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
- 1996 - Arleigh Burke, U.S. admiral (b. 1901)
- 1997 - Townes Van Zandt, American musician (b. 1944)
- 1998 - Helen Wills Moody, American tennis player (b. 1905)
- 2001 - Ray Walston, American actor (b. 1914)
- 2003 - Joe Foss, American politician and fighter pilot (b. 1915)
- 2005 - Shirley Chisholm, first black U.S. Congresswoman (b. 1924)
- 2005 - Hugh John Frederick Lawson, 6th Baron Burnham, British newspaperman and politician (b. 1931)
- 2005 - Bob Matsui, U.S. Congressman (b. 1941)

Holidays and observances


- The seventh day and eighth night of Christmas in Western Christianity.
- Many countries around the world using Gregorian Calendar - New Year's Day; often celebrated at 0:00 with fireworks.
- Catholicism - Holy Day of Obligation Octave of Christmas, Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God (New calendar).
- Catholicism - Feast of the Circumcision (Old calendar).
- Catholicism - National Migration Week begins (varying official support by the office of U.S. President, not strictly religious)
- Haiti Independence Day
- Taiwan Founding of Republic of China.
- Sudan Independence Day
- Cuba Liberation Day
- Slovakia: Establishment of Slovak Republic.
- Last day of Kwanzaa
- Vienna New Year's Concert
- Pasadena, California - The Tournament of Roses parade and, traditionally, the Rose Bowl football championship
- World Day for Prayer for Peace

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/1 BBC: On This Day] ---- December 31 - January 2 - December 1 - February 1 — listing of all daysko:1월 1일ms:1 Januarija:1月1日simple:January 1th:1 มกราคม

Egypt

The Arab Republic of Egypt, commonly known as Egypt, (in Arabic: مصر, romanizedMisr), is a republic in North Africa. While it is geographically located in Africa, it is sometimes associated with the Middle East for political reasons. Covering an area of about 1,020,000 km², Egypt shares land borders with Libya to the west, Sudan to the south, and Israel and the Gaza Strip to the northeast and has coasts on the north and east by the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, respectively. Egypt is the second most populous country in Africa, second only to Nigeria, and the vast majority of its 77 million population (2005) live near the banks of the Nile River (about 40,000 km²), where the only arable agricultural land is found. Large areas of land are part of the SaharaDesert and are sparsely inhabited. The majority of Egyptians today are urban, living in the great Arab population centers of greater Cairo, the largest city in Africa, and Alexandria. Egypt is famous for its ancient civilization and some of the world's most stunning ancient monuments, including the Giza Pyramids, the Karnak Temple and the Valley of the Kings; the southern city of Luxor contains a particularly large number of ancient artifacts. Today, Egypt is widely regarded as the main political and cultural centre of the Arab and Middle Eastern regions.

Origin and history of the name

Misr, the Arabic and official name for modern Egypt, is of Semitic origin directly cognate with the Hebrew מִצְרַיִם Misráyim meaning "the two straits", and possibly means "a country" or "a state." The ancient name for the country, kemet, or "black land," is derived from the fertile black soils deposited by the Nile floods, distinct from the 'red land' (deshret) of the desert. This name became keme in a later stage of Coptic. The English name "Egypt" came via the Latin word Aegyptus derived from the ancient Greek word Αίγυπτος Aiguptos (see also List of traditional Greek place names), which in turn is derived from the ancient Egyptian phrase ḥwt-k3-ptḥ ("Hwt ka Ptah") meaning "home of the Ka (part of the soul) of Ptah," the name of a temple of the god Ptah at Memphis. For details see the article Copt.

History

Main article: History of Egypt The regularity and richness of the annual Nile River flood, coupled with semi-isolation provided by deserts to the east and west, allowed for the development of one of the world's great civilizations. A unified kingdom was founded circa 3200 BC by King Menes, and a series of dynasties ruled in Egypt for the next three millennia. The last native dynasty, known as the Thirtieth Dynasty, fell to the Persians in 341 BC who dug the predecessor of the Suez canal and connected the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. Later, Egypt fell to the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Persians again. It was the Muslim Arabs who introduced Islam and the Arabic language in the seventh century changing Egypt into a linguistically and mostly ethnically "Arab" nation. Muslim rulers nominated by the Islamic Caliphate remained in control of Egypt for the next six centuries. A local military caste, the Mamluks took control about 1250 and continued to govern even after the conquest of Egypt by the Ottoman Turks in 1517. Following the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869, Egypt became an important world transportation hub; however, the country also fell heavily into debt. Ostensibly to protect its investments, Britain seized control of Egypt's government in 1882, but nominal allegiance to the Ottoman Empire continued until 1914. Partially independent from the UK in 1922, Egypt acquired full sovereignty following World War II. Between 1924-1936 there existed a short-lived attempt to model Egypt's constitutional government after the European style of government; known as Egypt's Liberal Experiment. In 1952 a popularly-supported military coup d'état forced King Farouk I, a constitutional monarch, to abdicate in support of his son King Ahmed Fouad II. Finally the Egyptian Republic was declared on 18 June1953 with General Muhammad Naguib as the first President of the Republic. After Naguib resigned in 1954, Gamal Abdel Nasser, the real architect of the 1952 Revolution, assumed power as President and nationalized the Suez Canal leading to the 1956Suez Crisis. Nasser came out of the war an Arab hero, and Nasserism won widespread influence in the region. Between 1958 and 1961 Egypt and Syria formed a union known as the United Arab Republic. Three years after the 1967Six Day War, in which Egypt lost the Sinai to Israel, Nasser died and was succeeded by Anwar Sadat, who presented his takeover in terms of a Corrective Revolution. Sadat switched Egypt's Cold War allegiance from the Soviet Union to the United States, expelling Soviet advisors in 1972, and launched the Infitah economic reform, while violently clamping down on religious and secular opposition alike. In 1973, Egypt, along with Syria, launched a surprise attack on Israel in the October War,which despite not being a complete military success was by most accounts a political victory. Both the United States and the USSR intervened and a cease-fire was reached between Egypt and Israel. In 1979, Sadat made peace with Israel in exchange for the Sinai, a move which sparked enormous controversy in the Arab world and led to Egypt's expulsion from the Arab League (it was readmitted in 1989). Sadat was murdered by a religious fundamentalist in 1981, and succeeded by Hosni Mubarak. Hosni Mubarak

Politics

Main article: Politics of Egypt Egypt has been a republic since 18 June1953. President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak has been the President of the Republic since October 141981, following the assassination of former President Anwar Sadat on October 61981. Mubarak is currently serving his fifth term in office. He is the leader of the ruling National Democratic Party. Prime MinisterAhmed Nazif was sworn in as Prime Minister on 9 July2004, following the resignation of Dr. Atef Ebeid from his office. The permanent headquarters for the League of Arab States is located in Cairo. Egypt was the first Arab state to establish peace with the State of Israel after the signing of the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty after the Camp David Accords. Egypt also has a major influence on the other Arab states. Historically, Egypt has played the role of a mediator in resolving disputes of various Arab nations. Most Arab nations still use Egypt in that role. Egypt supposedly operates under a multi-partysemi-presidential system where the executive power is divided between the President and the Prime Minister. Egypt holds regular single-candidate presidential and multi-party parliamentary elections. The last presidential election was held in September 2005, in which Mubarak won again. However, after the September elections there has been expressed concern from international human rights observers concerning freedom of speech, government interference in local elections and vote-rigging. I had been, as previous elections, just a pantomime. There had been many cases of misrespect for the oposition candidates and their followers' human right. In late February 2005, Mubarak announced on a surprise television broadcast that he has ordered the reform of the country's presidential election law, paving the way for multi-candidate polls in the coming election. For the first time in Egypt's history, the people will have a chance to elect their leader in a closely watched election. The President said his initiative came "out of my full conviction of the need to consolidate efforts for more freedom and democracy." However, the new law places draconian restrictions on the filing of presidential candidacies designed to pave the road for Mubarak's easy re-election. As a result most Egyptians are sceptical about the process of democratisation and the role of elections. As expected, Mubarak was re-elected. Newspapers however have exhibited an increasing freedom in criticizing the president, and the results of the parlimentary elections genuinely indicate that a democratic transition is underway, as evidenced by the strong showing of rival political parties.

Military

Main article: Military of Egypt The Egyptian Armed Forces (Arabic: القوات