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1993

1993

1993 (MCMXCIII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003).

Events

January

Wikipedia:Categorization#Year categories.]]
- January 1 - Czechoslovakia divides. Establishment of independent Slovakia and Czech Republic.
- January 3 - In Moscow, George H. W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin sign the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).
- January 5 - Washington State executes Westley Allan Dodd by hanging (the first legal hanging in America since 1965)
- January 9 – Jean-Claude Romand kills his family and tries to burn himself with his home in France
- January 11 - First edition of WWF Monday Night RAW appears on the USA Network
- January 15 - Salvatore Riina, the Mafia boss known as 'The Beast', is arrested in Sicily after three-decades as a fugitive
- January 18 - For the first time, Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is officially observed in all 50 American states.
- January 19
  - IBM announces a $4.97 billion loss for 1992 which is the largest single-year corporate loss in United States history
  - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq refuses to allow UNSCOM inspectors to use its own aircraft to fly into Iraq, and begins military operations in the demilitarized zone between Iraq and Kuwait, and the northern No-Fly Zone. US forces fire approximately 40 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Baghdad factories linked to Iraq's illegal nuclear weapons program. Iraq then informs UNSCOM that it will be able to resume its flights
- January 20 - Bill Clinton succeeds George H. W. Bush as President of the United States of America
- January 25
  - Catherine Callbeck becomes Premier of Prince Edward Island, becoming the first female Premier to be elected in Canada. (Rita Johnston was Canada's first female Premier but was not elected)
  - Mir Aimal Kasi fires a rifle and kills two employees outside CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, USA
- January 26 - Václav Havel elected President of the Czech Republic

February


- February 8 - General Motors sues NBC after Dateline NBC allegedly rigged two crashes showing that some GM pickups can easily catch fire if hit in certain places. NBC settles the lawsuit the following day.
- February 11
  - Janet Reno is selected by President Clinton as US Attorney General.
- February 12 - 11-year-old boys Robert Thompson and John Venables kill 2-year-old James Bulger in Liverpool.
- February 17 - Ferry in Haiti sinks - 285 survivors of maybe 1500 passengers
- February 23 - Gary Coleman wins a $1,280,000 lawsuit against his parents.
- February 26 - World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a van bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center goes off, killing 6 and injuring over a thousand.
- February 28 - Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents raid the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas with a warrant to arrest cult leader David Koresh on federal firearms violations. Four agents and five Davidians die in the raid and a 51-day standoff begins.

March


- March - First issue of Wired magazine.
- March 4 - Authorities announce the capture of suspected World Trade Center bombing conspirator Mohammad Salameh
- March 9 - Rodney King testifies at the federal trial of four Los Angeles, California police officers accused of violating King's civil rights when they beat him during an arrest
- March 11 - Janet Reno is confirmed by the United States Senate and sworn-in the next day becoming the first female Attorney General of the United States
- March 12 - Several bombs explode in Bombay, India killing about 300 and injuring hundreds more. See Bombay bombings (1993)
- March 12 - North Korea nuclear weapons program: North Korea says that it plans to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and refuses to allow inspectors access to nuclear sites
- March 13 - The Great Blizzard of 1993 strikes the eastern U.S., bringing record snowfall and other severe weather all the way from Cuba to Québec
- March 16 - The blizzard is reported to have killed 184, including many surprised and stranded people along the Appalachian Trail
- March 20 - Warrington bomb attacks: IRA bomb explodes in Warrington Town Centre and kills two children, Johnathan Ball and Tim Parry
- March 27 - Jiang Zemin becomes President of the People's Republic of China.
- March 28 - Gaullists win legislative election in France and Édouard Balladur becomes prime minister of France.
- March 31 - A bug in a program written by Richard Depew sends an article to 200 newsgroups simultaneously. The term spamming is coined by Joel Furr to describe the incident.

April


- April - The Kuwaiti government claims to uncover an Iraqi assassination plot against former US President George H. W. Bush shortly after his visit to Kuwait. Two Iraqi nationals, caught with smuggled hashish and alcohol inside Kuwait, confess to driving a car-bomb into Kuwait on behalf of the Iraq Secret Service [http://www.newyorker.com/archive/content/?020930fr_archive02]
- April 6 - Russian nuclear accident at Tomsk 7
- April 6 - HMS Richmond launched for the Royal Navy
- April 7 - Attack submarine ex-Queenfish completes being recycled
- April 10 -ANC activist Chris Hani assassinated in South Africa
- April 22 - In Washington, DC, the Holocaust Memorial Museum is dedicated
- April 22 - Murder of Stephen Lawrence, London, UK
- April 23 - WHO declares tuberculosis a Global Emergency
- April 24 - Bishopsgate Bomb explodes in the City of London - 1 dead, 50 injured
- April 30 - The World Wide Web was born at CERN

May


- May 1 - Former prime minister of France Pierre Bérégovoy commits suicide
- May 1 - A Tamil Tigers suicide bomber assassinates President Ranasinghe Premadasa of Sri Lanka
- May 24 - Eritrean independence
- May 27 - A car bomb in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence - 5 dead - Mafia suspected

June


- June 6 - Mongolia holds its first direct presidential elections
- June 8 - Assassination of Rene Bousquet, the Vichy France police chief, at his Paris home
- June 9 – Los Angeles Police Department raids the home of Hollywood Madame Heidi Fleiss
- June 9 - Montreal Canadiens win their 24th Stanley Cup
- June 14? - Tansu Ciller becomes prime minister of Turkey
- June 18 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq refuses to allow UNSCOM weapons inspectors to install remote-controlled monitoring cameras at two missile engine test stands.
- June 22 - Japan's New Party Sakigake breaks away from the Liberal Democratic Party.
- June 23 - Lorena Bobbitt cuts off the penis of her husband John Wayne Bobbitt.
- July 23 - Candelaria massacre - police shoot number of street kids in Candelaria Church in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- June 8 - In Paris, Christian Didier breaks into the home of Rene Bousquet, banker and former Vichy France administrator and shoots him dead
- June 22 - Unabomber bomb injures Charles Epstein in Tiburon, California
- June 24 - Unabomber bomb injures computer scientist David Gelernter in Yale University
- June 25 - Kim Campbell becomes Canada's nineteenth and first female Prime Minister
- June 27 - US President Bill Clinton orders a cruise missile attack on Iraqi intelligence headquarters in the Al-Mansur District, Baghdad, in response to the attempted assassination of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush during his visit to Kuwait in mid-April
- June 27 - In Bad Kleinen, Germany, GSG-9 troopers arrest terrorists Birgit Hogefeld and Wolfgang Grams

July


- July 1 - Gian Luigi Ferry shoots 8 and injures 6 in "Pettit and Martin" law firm in San Francisco, then shoots himself
- July 5 - Iraq disarmament crisis: UN inspection teams leave Iraq. Iraq then agrees to UNSCOM demands and the inspection teams return
- July 12 - A magnitude 7.8 earthquake off Hokkaido, Japan launches a devastating tsunami, killing 202 on the small island of Okushiri, Hokkaido
- July 20 - White House deputy counsel Vincent W. Foster Jr commits suicide in Virginia
- July 23 - Candelaria Massacre ? Brazilian police officers kill 8 street kids in Rio de Janeiro
- July 29 - The Israeli Supreme Court acquits accused Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk of all charges and he is set free.
- July 31 - Windows NT 3.1 has been released with the support of NTFS file system.

August


- August 4 - A federal judge sentences LAPD officers Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell to 30 months in prison for violating motorist Rodney King's civil rights
- August 6 - Louis Freeh is confirmed by the United States Senate to be the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
- August 9 - King Albert II of Belgium is sworn into office nine days after the death of his brother, King Baudouin
- August 21 - NASA loses radio contact with the Mars Observer orbiter three days before the spacecraft is scheduled to enter orbit around Mars

September

Mars and Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, with US President, Bill Clinton.]]
- September 13 - PLO leader Yasir Arafat and Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin shake hands in Washington D.C., after signing a peace accord.
- September 13 - Norwegian parliamentary election, 1993
- September 23 - The IOC selects Sydney, Australia to host the 2000 Summer Olympics.
- September 29 - An earthquake centred on Killari, Maharashtra, India kills nearly 10,000 people.

October


- Polly Klaas is kidnapped at knifepoint from her home in Petaluma, California. She was later strangled by Richard Allen Davis
- October 3 - Large scale battle between US forces and local militia in Mogadishu, Somalia
- October 13 - Andreas Papandreou begins his second term as Prime Minister of Greece.
- October 25 - Jean Chrétien and his Liberal Party defeat the governing Progressive Conservative Party in the Canadian federal election.
- October - Internal Revenue Service of the United States granted full religious recognition and tax exemption to all Scientology Churches, missions and social betterment groups[http://www.religioustolerance.org/scientol1.htm].

November


- November 1 - The Maastricht Treaty activates, formally establishing the European Union
- November 4 - Jean Chrétien becomes Canada's twentieth Prime Minister.
- November 9 - The Stari Most, or Old Bridge of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, is destroyed by tank fire in the fights between Bosnian Croat and Bosnian Muslim forces.
- November 18 - In South Africa, 21 political parties approve a new constitution.
- November 20 - Savings and Loan scandal: The United States Senate Ethics Committee issues a stern censure of California senator Alan Cranston for his "dealings" with savings-and-loan executive Charles Keating.
- November 24 - In the United Kingdom, 11-year-olds Robert Thompson and Jon Venables are convicted of the child murder of 2-year-old James Bulger of Liverpool (they were sentenced to "indefinite detention")
- November 28 - The Observer reveals a channel of communications has existed between the IRA and the British government, despite the government's persistent denials.
- November 30 - US President Bill Clinton signs the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (the Brady Bill) into law

December


- December 2 - Shuttle program: STS-61 - NASA launches the Space Shuttle Endeavour on a mission to repair an optical flaw in the Hubble Space Telescope.
- December 2 - War on Drugs: Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar is gunned down in Medellín when the police try to arrest him
- December 7 - Colin Ferguson opened fire with his Ruger 9mm pistol on a Long Island Railroad train, killing six and injuring 19. The event was dubbed "The Long Island Railroad Massacre."
- December 12 - Earthquake hits Flores, Indonesia - 2200 dead
- December 15 - Downing Street Declaration - United Kingdom commits itself to the search for an answer to the problems of Northern Ireland
- December 30 - Israel and the Vatican establish diplomatic relations

Unknown dates


- The second World Parliament of Religions is held in Chicago, Illinois
- US President Bill Clinton sends 6 American warships to Haiti to enforce United Nations trade sanctions against the military-led regime in that country
- The Mississippi and Missouri Rivers flood large portions of the American Midwest.
- The Late Show with David Letterman premieres on CBS.
- Dominos Pizza Abolishes the 30-minute gaurantee on Pizza Delivery

Births


- March 17 - Julia Winter, Swedish actress
- April 3 - Dakoda Dowd, American golfer
- August 16 - Cameron Monaghan, American actor
- December 6 - Elián González, Cuban refugee
- December 8 - AnnaSophia Robb, American actress

Deaths

February


- February 5 - Joseph L. Mankiewicz, American writer, producer, and director (b. 1909)
- February 5 - Tip Tipping, American actor and stuntman (parachuting accident) (b. 1958)
- February 6 - Arthur Ashe, American tennis player and activist (b. 1943)
- February 11 - Robert W. Holley, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1922)
- February 18 - Jacqueline Hill, British actress (b. 1929)
- February 20 - Ferruccio Lamborghini, Italian automobile manufacturer (b. 1916)
- February 24 - Bobby Moore, English footballer (b. 1941)
- February 27 - Lillian Gish, American actress (b. 1893)
- February 28 - Ruby Keeler, Canadian actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1910)

March


- March 8 - Billy Eckstine, American musician (b. 1914)
- March 11 - Adolph "Dino Bravo" Bresciano, Italian-born professional wrestler (b. 1949)
- March 17 - Helen Hayes, American actress (b. 1900)
- March 20 - Polykarp Kusch, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
- March 24 - John Hersey, American author (b. 1914)
- March 31 - Brandon Lee, American actor (b. 1965)

April


- April 1 - Alan Kulwicki, American race car driver (b. 1954)
- April 3 - Pinky Lee, American children's television host (b. 1907)
- April 8 - Marian Anderson, American contralto (b. 1897)
- April 13 - Wallace Stegner, American writer (car accident) (b. 1909)

May


- May 1 - Pierre Bérégovoy, Prime Minister of France (b. 1925)
- May 8 - Avram Davidson, American writer (b. 1923)
- May 27 - Werner Stocker, German actor (b. 1955)

June


- June 7 - Drazen Petrovic, Croatian basketball player (b. 1964)
- June 9 - Alexis Smith, Canadian actress (b. 1921)
- June 13 - Deke Slayton, astronaut (b. 1924)
- June 15 - John Connally, Governor of Texas (b. 1917)
- June 19 - William Golding, English writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
- June 24 - Archie Williams, American athlete (b. 1915)
- June 26 - William H. Riker, American political scientist (b. 1920)
- June 28 - Boris Christoff, Bulgarian opera singer (b. 1914)
- June 29 - Héctor Lavoe, Puerto Rican singer (b. 1946)
- June 30 - George "Spanky" McFarland, American actor (b. 1928)

July


- July 3 - Don Drysdale, baseball player (b. 1936)
- July 13 - Davey Allison, American race car driver (helicopter crash) (b. 1961)
- July 28 - Reggie Lewis, American basketball player (heart ailment) (b. 1965)
- July 31 - King Baudouin I of Belgium (b. 1930)

August


- August 6 - Tex Hughson, baseball player (b. 1916)
- August 10 - Øystein Aarseth, Norwegian musician (Mayhem) (b. 1968)

September


- September 9 - Helen O'Connell, American singer (b. 1920)
- September 11 - Erich Leinsdorf, Austrian conductor (b. 1912)
- September 22 - Maurice Abravanel, Greek-born conductor (b. 1903)
- September 27 - Jimmy Doolittle, American general (b. 1896)

October


- October 11 - Jess Thomas, American tenor (b. 1927)
- October 12 - Tofik Bakhramov, Russian footballer (b. 1926)
- October 25 - Vincent Price, American actor (b. 1911)
- October 31 - Federico Fellini, Italian film director (b. 1911)
- October 31 - River Phoenix, American actor (drug overdose) (b. 1970)

November


- November 1 - Severo Ochoa, Spanish–born biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1905)
- November 6 - Michael Vernon, Australian consumer activist (b.1932)
- November 12 - H. R. Haldeman, American Watergate scandal figure (b. 1926)
- November 21 - Bill Bixby, American actor (b. 1934)
- November 22 - Anthony Burgess, English author (b. 1917)

December


- December 1 - Ray Gillen, American singer (b. 1961)
- December 2 - Pablo Escobar, Colombian drug lord (b. 1940)
- December 4 - Frank Zappa, American guitarist and composer (b. 1949)
- December 7 - Wolfgang Paul, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1913)
- December 13 - Vanessa Duriès, French novelist (b. 1972)
- December 31 - Zviad Gamsakhurdia, first President of Georgia (b. 1939)

Nobel Prizes


- Physics - Russell Alan Hulse, Joseph Hooton Taylor Jr.
- Chemistry - Kary Mullis, Michael Smith
- Physiology or Medicine - Richard J. Roberts, Philip Allen Sharp
- Literature - Toni Morrison
- Peace - Nelson Mandela and Frederik Willem de Klerk

Templeton Prize


- Charles Colson

Alternative


- Arna Mer-Khamis / Care and Learning, ORAP (The Organisation of Rural Associations for Progress) / Sithembiso Nyoni, Vandana Shiva, Mary and Carrie Dann
- als:1993 ko:1993년 ms:1993 ja:1993年 simple:1993 th:พ.ศ. 2536

Common year starting on Friday

This is the calendar for any common year starting on Friday (dominical letter C), for example, 2010. (A common year is a year with 365 days—in other words, not a leap year.)
Millennium Century Year
2nd Millennium: 19th century: 1802 1813 1819 1830 1841 1847 1858 1869 1875 1886 1897
2nd Millennium: 20th century: 1909 1915 1926 1937 1943 1954 1965 1971 1982 1993 1999
3rd Millennium: 21st century: 2010 2021 2027 2038 2049 2055 2066 2077 2083 2094
3rd Millennium: 22nd century: 2100 2106 2117 2123 2134 2145 2151 2162 2173 2179 2190
Category:FridayCategory:Weeksko:금요일로 시작하는 평년th:ปีปกติสุรทินที่วันแรกเป็นวันศุกร์

Category:1993

Category:1990sko:분류:1993년ja:Category:1993年simple:Category:1993

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

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia (Czech: Československo, Slovak: Česko-Slovensko/before 1990 Československo, German: Tschechoslowakei) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1992 (except for the World War II period). On January 1, 1993, it peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, in what was known as the Velvet Divorce, by analogy with the Velvet Revolution.
Československo
100px Coat of Arms (see the article)
(In Detail)
National motto: (1918–1989) Pravda vítězí (Czech: Truth prevails)
(1989–1992) Veritas Vincit
(Latin: Truth prevails)
Image:LocationCzechoslovakia.png
Official languages Czech and Slovak
Capital Prague
Area (1991) 127,900 km²
Population (1991) 15,600,000
Czechs 54.1%, Slovaks 31%, Moravians 8.7%, Hungarians 3.8%, Gypsies 0.7%
Currency Czechoslovak crown (Kčs) = 100 halers
Time zone UTC+1
National anthem Kde domov můj + Nad Tatrou sa blýska
ISO 3166-1 CS (obsolete)
Internet TLD .cs (obsolete, as .cz and .sk were assigned to the two countries resulting from the split)

Basic characteristics

Form of state:
- 1918–1968 (except for 1938–1945): a centralized country;
- 1969–1992: a federal republic consisting of the Czech Socialist Republic (1990–1992: Czech Republic) and the Slovak Socialist Republic (1990–1992: Slovak Republic);
- 1918–1939 and 1945–1948 and 1990–1992: a democratic republic
- 1939–1945: split into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the Slovak Republic (WWII)
- 1948–1989: a Communist country with a centrally planned economy Neighbors: Germany (1945–1990: West Germany and East Germany), Poland, Soviet Union (1992: Ukraine), Romania (until 1939), Hungary, Austria Topography: Generally irregular terrain. Western area is part of north-central European uplands. Eastern region is composed of northern reaches of Carpathian Mountains and Danube Basin lands. Climate: Predominantly continental but varied from moderate temperatures of Western Europe in the west to more severe weather systems affecting Eastern Europe and the western Soviet Union in the east.

Official names


- 1918–1920: Czecho-Slovak Republic or Czechoslovak Republic (abbreviated RČS); short form Czecho-Slovakia or rarely Czechoslovakia
- 1920–1938 and 1945–1960: Czechoslovak Republic (ČSR [initially abbreviated RČS]); short form Czechoslovakia
- 1938–1939: Czecho-Slovak Republic; Czecho-Slovakia
- 1960–1990: Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (ČSSR); Czechoslovakia
- April 1990: Czechoslovak Federative Republic (Czech version) and Czecho-Slovak Federative Republic (Slovak version),
- afterwards: Czech and Slovak Federative Republic (ČSFR, with the short forms Czechoslovakia (Czech version) and Czecho-Slovakia (Slovak version))

Coat of arms

:1920–1945: [http://193.85.166.213/historie/znaky/cs18znm.gif] small version, [http://193.85.166.213/historie/znaky/cs18zns.gif] middle version, [http://193.85.166.213/historie/znaky/cs18znv.gif] big version :1945–1960: [http://193.85.166.213/historie/znaky/cs18znm.gif] :1960–1990: [http://193.85.166.213/historie/znaky/cs60znm.gif] :1990–1992: [http://193.85.166.213/historie/znaky/cs90zn.gif]

History

Main article: History of Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia arose in October 1918 as one of the succession states of Austria-Hungary at the end of World War I. It consisted of the present-day territories of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and (until 1939/29 June 1945) the Carpathian Ruthenia (Carpatho-Ukraine). Its territory included some of the most industrialized regions of the former Austria-Hungary, it was a democratic republic throughout the pre-World War II period, but was characterized by ethnic problems. The ethnic problems were due to the fact that the second and third largest ethnic groups (Germans and Slovaks, respectively) were not satisfied with the political and economic dominance of the Czechs, and that most Germans and Hungarians of Czechoslovakia never really accepted the creation of the new state. Many Germans, Hungarians and Poles, but also some Slovaks, felt disadvantaged in Czechoslovakia, because the political elite of the country introduced a centralised state and most of the time did not allow political autonomy for the ethnic groups. This policy, combined with increasing Nazi propaganda especially in the industrialised German speaking Sudetenland, led to increasing unrest among the Non-Czech population. Before WWII, Czechoslovakia became Hitler's target. After the Munich Agreement of 1938, Hitler's troops occupied the ethnic-German border regions of Bohemia and Moravia (the Sudetenland), Hungary received territory in southern Slovakia, and the Slovak and Ruthene regions received an autonomous status for a while. Finally Czechoslovakia ceased to exist in March 1939, when Hitler occupied the remainder of the Bohemian lands and (the remaining) Slovakia was forced to declare independence. During the Second World War the Bohemian lands were designated the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and were ruled directly by the German state. The newly independent Slovak state became an ally of Nazi Germany. Slovakia's troops fought on the Russian front until the summer of 1944, when the Slovak armed forces staged an uprising against their government. German forces crushed this uprising after several months of fighting. After World War II, pre-war Czechoslovakia was reestablished, all Germans were expelled from the country and Ruthenia was occupied by (and ultimately ceded to) the Soviet Union. Three years later the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia seized power (1948–1989) following a parliamentary election in which the Communists emerged as the winner and the country came under the influence of the Soviet Union. Except for a short period in the late 1960s (the Prague Spring) the country was characterized by the absence of democracy and relative economic backwardness compared to Western Europe, although its economy remained more advanced than those of its neighbors in Eastern Europe. In the religious sphere, atheism was officially promoted and taught. In 1969, Czechoslovakia was turned into a federation of the Czech Socialist Republic and Slovak Socialist Republic. Under the federation, social and economic inequities between the Czech and Slovak halves of the state were largely eliminated. In 1989, the country became a democratic country again through the Velvet revolution. In 1992, the federal parliament decided to split the country into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, as of January 1, 1993.

From creation to dissolution – Overview

Heads of State and Government


- List of Presidents of Czechoslovakia
- List of Prime Ministers of Czechoslovakia
- see also Communist Party of Czechoslovakia — Leaders

International agreements and membership

After WWII, active participant in Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon), Warsaw Pact, United Nations and its specialized agencies, and Movement of Nonaligned Nations; signatory of conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe

Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of Czechoslovakia
- 1918–1923: different systems on former Austrian territory (Bohemia, Moravia, small part of Silesia) and on former Hungarian territory (Slovakia and Ruthenia): 3 lands [země] (also called district units [obvody]) Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia + 21 counties [župy] in today's Slovakia + 2? counties in today's Ruthenia; both lands and counties were divided in districts [okresy]
- 1923–1927: like above, except that the above counties were replaced by 6 (grand) counties [(veľ)župy] in today's Slovakia and 1 (grand) county in today's Ruthenia, and the number and frontiers of the okresy were changed on these 2 territories
- 1928–1938: 4 lands [in Czech: země / in Slovak: krajiny]: Bohemia, Moravia-Silesia, Slovakia and Subcarpathian Ruthenia; divided in districts [okresy]
- late 1938–March 1939: like above, but Slovakia and Ruthenia were promoted to "autonomous lands"
- 1945–1948: like 1928–1938, except that Ruthenia became part of the Soviet Union
- 1949–1960: 19 regions [kraje] divided in 270 districts [okresy]
- 1960–1992: 10 regions [kraje], Prague, and (since 1970) Bratislava; divided in 109–114 districts [okresy]; the kraje were abol