1739 - Bouvet Island is discovered by French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier.
1772 - The first traveler's cheques, which can be used in 90 European cities, go on sale in London.
1781 - 1,500 soldiers of the 6th Pennsylvania Regiment under General Anthony Wayne's command rebel against the Continental Army's winter camp in Morristown, New Jersey as part of the Pennsylvania (Continentals; Regiment) Mutiny of 1781.
1788 - First edition of The Times of London, previously The Daily Universal Register, is published.
1894 - The Manchester Ship Canal, England, is 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 25 by Staten Island to create the modern city of five boroughs.
1901 - The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia; Edmund Barton is appointed the first Prime Minister.
1902 - The first American college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl between Michigan and Stanford, is held in Pasadena.
1906 - British India officially adopts the Indian Standard Time.
1908 - For the first time, a ball is dropped in New York City's Times Square to signify the start of the New Year at midnight.
1910 - Captain David Beatty is promoted to Rear Admiral, and becomes the youngest admiral in the Royal Navy (except for Royal family members), since Horatio Nelson.
1911 - Northern Territory is separated from South Australia and transferred to Commonwealth control.
1916 - German troops abandon Yaoundé and their Kamerun colony to British forces and begin the long march to Spanish Guinea.
1919 - Edsel Ford succeeds his father, Henry Ford, as president of the Ford Motor Company.
1920 - The Belorussian Communist Organisation is founded as a separate party.
1922 - The Greek Constitution of 1822 is adopted by the First National Assembly of Epidaurus.
1923 - Britain's Railways are grouped into the Big Four: LNER, GWR, SR, and LMSR.
1925 - The American astronomer Edwin Hubble announces the discovery of galaxies outside the Milky Way.
1927 - Turkey adopts the Gregorian calendar: December 18, 1926 (Julian), is immediately followed by January 1, 1927 (Gregorian).
1929 - The former municipalities of Point Grey, British Columbia and South Vancouver, British Columbia are amalgamated into Vancouver.
1932 - The United States Post Office Department issues a set of 12 stamps commemorating the 200th anniversary of George Washington's birth.
1934 - Alcatraz Island becomes a United States federal prison.
1934 - Nazi Germany passes the "Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring".
1937 - Safety glass in vehicle windscreens becomes mandatory in Great Britain.
1939 - William Hewlett and David Packard found Hewlett-Packard.
1939 - Sydney, Australia, swelters in 45 ˚C (113 ˚F) heat, a record for the city.
1942 - The Declaration by the United Nations is signed by twenty-six nations.
1945 - World War II: In retaliation for the Malmedy massacre, U.S. troops massacre 30 SS prisoners at Chenogne.
1945 - World War II: The German Luftwaffe launches Unternehmen Bodenplatte, a massive, but failed attempt to knock out Allied air power in northern Europe in a single blow.
1947 - The American and British occupation zones in Germany, after the World War II, merge to form the Bizone, that later became the Federal Republic of Germany.
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 - The Constitution of Italy comes into force.
1949 - United Nations cease-fire takes effect in Kashmir from one minute before midnight. War between India and Pakistan stops accordingly.
1950 - The state of Ajaigarh is ceded to the Government of India.
1956 - The Republic of the Sudan achieves independence from the Egyptian Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
1956 - A new year event causes panic and stampedes at Yahiko Shrine, Yahiko, central Niigata, Japan, killing at least 124 people.
1957 - George Town, Penang becomes a city by a royal charter granted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
1957 - An Irish Republican Army (IRA) unit attacks Brookeborough RUC barracks in one of the most famous incidents of the IRA's Operation Harvest.
1981 - The Republic of Greece is admitted into the European Community.
1981 - The Republic of Palau achieves self-government though it is not independent from the United States.
1982 - Peruvian Javier Pérez de Cuéllar becomes the first Latin American to hold the title of Secretary General of the United Nations.
1983 - The ARPANET officially changes to using the Internet Protocol, creating the Internet.
1984 - The original American Telephone & Telegraph Company is broken up into twenty-two independent units as a result of the settlement of the 1974 United States Department of Justice antitrust suit against AT&T .
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 - The Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic are admitted into the European Community.
1988 - The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America comes into existence, creating the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States.
1989 - The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer comes into force.
1990 - David Dinkins is sworn in as New York City's first black mayor.
1993 - Dissolution of Czechoslovakia: Czechoslovakia is divided into the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic.
1993 - A single market within the European Community is introduced.
1994 - The Zapatista Army of National Liberation initiates twelve days of armed conflict in the Mexican State of Chiapas.
1994 - The North American Free Trade Agreement comes into effect.
1994 - The European Economic Area comes into effect.
1994 - The International Tropical Timber 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.
1995 - The Draupner wave in the North Sea in Norway is detected, confirming the existence of freak waves.
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.
1997 - Ghanaian diplomat Kofi Annan is appointed Secretary General of the United Nations.
1998 - Russia begins to circulate new rubles to stem inflation and promote confidence.
2002 - Euro banknotes and coins become legal tender in twelve of the European Union's member states.
2002 - Taiwan officially joins the World Trade Organization, as Chinese Taipei.
2002 - The Open Skies mutual surveillance treaty, initially signed in 1992, officially comes into force.
2004 - In a vote of confidence, General Pervez Musharraf wins 658 out of 1,170 votes in the Electoral College of Pakistan, and according to Article 41(8) of the Constitution of Pakistan, was "deemed to be elected" to the office of President until October 2007.
2006 - Sydney, Australia swelters through its hottest New Years Day on record. The thermometre peaked at 45 degrees celsius, sparking bushfires and power outages.
2007 - Bulgaria and Romania officially join the European Union. Also, Bulgarian, Romanian, and Irish become official languages of the European Union, joining 20 other official languages.
2007 - Slovenia officially adopts the Euro currency and becomes the thirteenth Eurozone country.
2007 - Adam Air Flight 574 disappears over Indonesia with 102 people on board.
2008 - A New Hampshire law legalizing civil unions for same-sex couples comes into effect.
2008 - Malta and Cyprus officially adopt the Euro currency and become the fourteenth and fifteenth Eurozone countries.
2009 - Austria, Japan, Mexico, Turkey, and Uganda assume their seats on the United Nations Security Council.
2009 - The Czech Republic takes over the presidency of the Council of the European Union from France.
2009 - The European small claims procedure comes into force throughout the European Union, other than Denmark.
2009 - At least 61 people are killed in a fire in Bangkok during New Year celebrations.
2009 - Vilnius and Linz become the European Capitals of Culture.
2009 - Slovakia adopts the euro and becomes the 16th member of the Eurozone.
2010 - Spain takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Sweden.
2010 - A suicide bombing occurs at a volleyball game in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least 95, and injuring over 100.
2011 - Start of the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the European Union.
2011 - Lithuania receives chairmanship of Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
2011 - Tallinn and Turku are designated as European capitals of culture by the European Union.
2011 - U.S. President Barack Obama announces that Osama bin Laden, the founder and leader of the militant group Al-Qaeda, has been killed during an American military operation in Pakistan.
