Historical Events
The following events took place on . The list is arranged in chronological order.
Found 54 events. Showing 31 - 54.
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- The farthing coin ceases to be legal tender in the United Kingdom.
- RTÉ, Ireland’s state broadcaster, launches its first national television service.
- The Central African Federation officially collapses, subsequently becoming Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia.
- Jean-Bédel Bokassa, leader of the Central African Republic army, and his military officers begins a coup d'état against the government of President David Dacko.
- The Youth International Party, popularly known as the “Yippies”, is founded.
- A coup d'état in Ghana removes President Hilla Limann’s PNP government and replaces it with the Provisional National Defence Council led by Flight lieutenant Jerry Rawlings.
- The AT&T Bell System is broken up by the United States Government.
- In Nigeria a coup d'état led by Major General Muhammadu Buhari ends the Second Nigerian Republic.
- A fire at the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, kills 97 and injures 140.
- Pittsburgh Penguins’ Mario Lemieux becomes the only National Hockey League player to score goals in five different ways: even strength, shorthanded, power play, penalty shot, and empty net, during an 8–6 win over the New Jersey Devils.
- First Winter Ascent of Lhotse (8,516m) by Krzysztof Wielicki (solo).
- All official Soviet Union institutions have ceased operations by this date and the Soviet Union is officially dissolved.
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- Czechoslovakia is peacefully dissolved in what is dubbed by media as the Velvet Divorce, resulting in the creation of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
- This date is skipped altogether in Kiribati as the Phoenix Islands and Line Islands change time zones from UTC−11:00 to UTC+13:00 and UTC−10:00 to UTC+14:00, respectively.
- The First Chechen War: Russian army began a New Year’s storming of Grozny.
- The European Exchange Rate Mechanism freezes the values of the legacy currencies in the Eurozone, and establishes the value of the euro currency.
- First President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, resigns from office, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the acting President and successor.
- The United States Government hands control of the Panama Canal (as well all the adjacent land to the canal known as the Panama Canal Zone) to Panama. This act complied with the signing of the 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties.
- Indian Airlines Flight 814 hijacking ended after seven days with the release of 190 survivors at Kandahar Airport, Afghanistan.
- The official opening of Taipei 101, the tallest skyscraper at that time in the world, standing at a height of 509 m.
- Both a blue moon and a lunar eclipse occur.
- Tornadoes touch down in midwestern and southern United States, including Washington County, Arkansas; Greater St. Louis, Sunset Hills, Missouri, Illinois, and Oklahoma, with a few tornadoes in the early hours. A total 36 tornadoes touched down, resulting in the deaths of nine people and $113 million in damages.
- NASA succeeds in putting the first of two Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory satellites in orbit around the Moon.
- A New Year’s Eve celebration stampede in Shanghai kills at least 36 people and injures 49 others.
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