Unix Timestamp: 1009843200
Tuesday, January 1. 2002, 12:00:00 AM UTC

Estonia officially adopts the euro currency and becomes the seventeenth eurozone country.

Estonia adopts the Euro, becoming the 17th Eurozone country.

Thiyagarajah Maheswaran, a minority Sri Lankan Tamil parliamentarian, is shot dead at a Hindu temple in Colombo, Sri Lanka.(//timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Sri_Lankan_Tamil_MP_shot_dead_at_Hindu_temple_in_Colombo/articleshow/2666314.cms Times of India)

Russia cuts natural gas to Ukraine over a price dispute.

Pervez Musharraf wins a vote of confidence from an electoral college consisting of Parliament and the provincial assemblies, confirming him as President of Pakistan and de facto dictator until 2007.

Pascal Couchepin becomes President of the Confederation in Switzerland.

A black monolith—dubbed the Seattle Monolith—measuring approximately tall appears in Seattle, Washington's Magnuson Park, placed by an anonymous artist in reference to the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey".

A black monolith measuring approximately nine feet tall appears in Seattle's Magnuson Park, placed by a Some People, a group of anonymous artists the monolith is in reference to the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey".

New Zealand broadcasting on Chatham Island is watched worldwide to start millennium celebrations and the Year 2000 problem begins.

The euro is established.

King Fahd of Saudi Arabia temporarily gives power to Crown Prince Abdullah, his legal successor, due to illness.

Glasgow begins its year as European City of Culture.

Frobisher Bay, Northwest Territories, changes its name to Iqaluit. In 1999, it becomes the capital of Nunavut.

The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed.

Changes to the Swedish Act of Succession make Princess Victoria of Sweden first in line to the throne (heir apparent) and therefore Crown Princess, ahead of her younger brother.

The Australian state of Queensland abolishes inheritance tax.

An earthquake (Richter Scale 7.7 magnitude) at Yunnan, China kills at least 15,621.

The first episode of US soap opera "All My Children" is broadcast on the ABC television network.

UNIX epoch begins.

Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of the British North America Act, 1867, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.

In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko.

The ship SS ''Catala'' is driven onto the beach in Ocean Shores, Washington, stranding her.

Cameroon gains its independence from French-administered U.N. trusteeship.

The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan.

The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from East Germany.

First week as No. 1 single on "Billboard" and "Cashbox" charts of Patti Page hit song Tennessee Waltz.

The International Police Association (IPA) ndash the largest police organization in the world ndash is formed.

UN sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistan War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which is still continuing as of 2012.

Germany begins Operation Bodenplatte, an attempt by the "Luftwaffe" to cripple Allied air forces in the Low Countries

WWII: United States and Philippines troops fight the Battle of Bataan.

Thailand Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram decrees January 1 as the official start of the Thai solar calendar new year (thus the previous year that began April 1 had only 9 months).

The Hewlett-Packard Company is founded.

Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua.

The Italian colonies of Tripoli and Cyrenaica are joined together as Libya.

Estonia changes its currency from the mark to the kroon.

The Cristero War erupts in Mexico when pro-Catholic rebels attack the government, which had banned the Catholic faith.

January 7 ndash Rosewood massacre, a violent, racially motivated conflict in Florida. At least eight people are killed, and the town of Rosewood is abandoned and destroyed.

The Grouping: All major Britishrailway companies are grouped into four larger companies, under terms of the Railways Act 1921.

Babe Ruth is traded by the Red Sox for $125,000, the largest sum ever paid for a player at that time.

The University of Oregon defeats The University of Pennsylvania 14–0 in college football's 3rd Annual Rose Bowl.

British Board of Film Censors receives the authority to classify and censor films.

The Republic of China is proclaimed.

The Trans-Siberian Railway officially opens after its completion on July 21, 1904.

Edward VII of the United Kingdom is proclaimed Emperor of India.

Hawaii asks for a delegate at the U.S. Republican National Convention.

The first electric bus becomes operational in New York City.

U.S. Secretary of State John Hay announces the Open Door Policy to promote American trade with China.

New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, and Staten Island.

Ellis Island begins accommodating immigrants to the United States.

Paying of old age pensions begins in Germany.

Burma is presented to Queen Victoria as a birthday gift, after the country is annexed into British India in November 1885.

The Specie Resumption Act takes effect. The Greenback is valued the same as gold for the first time since the Civil War.

Queen Victoria is proclaimed "Empress of India" by the "Royal Titles Act 1876", introduced by Benjamin Disraeli, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom .

Midland Railway abolishes Second Class passenger leaving First Class and Third Class. Other British Railway companies follow Midland's lead during the rest of the year (Third Class is renamed Second Class in 1956).

New York City annexes The Bronx.

The CovingtonndashCincinnati Suspension Bridge opens between Cincinnati, Ohio and Covington, Kentucky in the United States, becoming the longest single-span bridge in the world. It will be renamed after its designer, John A. Roebling, in 1983.

The last issue of the abolitionist magazine "The Liberator" is published.

Fisk University established.

Britain annexes Lagos Island in modern-day Nigeria.

The biggest Estonian newspaper "Postimees" is established by Johann Voldemar Jannsen.

The first bridge over the Mississippi River opens in what is now Minneapolis, Minnesota (a crossing made today by the Father Louis Hennepin Bridge).

The region of Wairarapa, New Zealand is hit by the strongest earthquake ever recorded in New Zealand (Magnitude 8.1 on the Richter Scale) there are five deaths.

Ottawa, Ontario is incorporated as a city.

- France issues Ceres, France's first postage st.

Galilee earthquake.

Queen Maria II of Portugal marries Prince Ferdinand Augustus Francis Anthony of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

Zollverein: Customs charges are abolished at borders within Germany.

Trienio Liberal in Spain: A constitutionalist military insurrection at Cádiz leads to the summoning of the Spanish Parliament (March 7).

Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" is published.

The "Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch" (the Austrian civil code) enters into force in the Austrian Empire.

The importation of slaves into the United States is banned by the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves this is also the earliest day under the United States Constitution that an amendment can be made restricting slavery.

Kingdom of Bavaria established by Napoleon.

Haiti gains independence from France and becomes the first black republic, having the only successful slaverevolt ever.

Dutch East India Company dissolves

The first edition of "The Times", previously "The Daily Universal Register", is published in London.

The first issue of the "Daily Universal Register", later known as "The Times", is published in London.

Foundation of Fort George, Bombay laid by Colonel Keating, principal engineer, on the site of the former Dongri Fort.

The "Nautical Almanac" for the first time gives mariners the means to find their longitude while at sea, using tables of lunar distances.

Bonnie Prince Charlie becomes the new Stuart claimant to the throne of Great Britain as King Charles III and figurehead for Jacobitism.

Minimum date value for a datetime field in SQL Server (up version 2005) due to it being the first full year after Britain adopted the Gregorian calendar.

The British Empire adopts the Gregorian calendar (to take effect in September).

Bouvet Island is discovered by French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier.

John V is crowned King of Portugal.

Julian) ndash Russia begins numbering its calendar from the birth of Christ (Anno Domini) instead of since the Creation (Anno Mundi).

The Abenaki tribe and the Massachusetts colonists sign a treaty ending the conflict in New England.

Jean Racine's tragedy "Phèdre" is first performed.

Charles II is crowned King of Scotland at Scone (his first crowning).

James I of England, theatre-going and literary king with absolutist aspirations, attends the masque "The Golden Age Restored", a satire by Ben Jonson on fallen court favorite Somerset. The king asks for a repeat performance on January 6.

The New Netherland Company is granted a 3-year monopoly in North American trade between the 40th and 45thparallels.

The first day of the 17th century.

Scotland adopts January 1 as New Year's Day.

January ndash Sebald de Weert makes the first definite sighting of the Falkland Islands.

Ulrich Zwingli preaches for the first time as people's priest of the Great Minister in Zurich

French troops of King Louis XII surrender Gaeta to the Spanish under Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba.

Portuguese explorers, led by Pedro Álvares Cabral, sail into Guanabara Bay, Brazil, mistaking it for the mouth of a river, which they name Rio de Janeiro.

Jews are expelled from Andalusia.

Albert II of Habsburg becomes King of Hungary.

The Welsh surrender Harlech Castle to the English.

Charles III ascends to the throne of Navarre after the death of his father, Charles II.

Louis IV's son, Louis VI the Roman, marries Cunigunde, a Lithuanian princess.

Enrico Dandolo becomes Doge of Venice.

Eudocia Macrembolitissa marries the general Romanus Diogenes, who becomes Byzantine Emperor.

Emperor Go-Sanjō ascends to the throne of Japan.

William the Conqueror takes Exeter after a brief siege.

Totila becomes king of the Ostrogoths.

John the Cappadocian is dismissed by Theodora for treason.

The Uyghurs come under the rule of the Hephthalites.

Anicius Faustus Albinus Basilius is appointed as consul in Constantinople, the last person to hold this office.

Plague of Justinian: Bubonic plague appears suddenly in the Egyptian port of Pelusium, spreading to Alexandria and, the following year, to Constantinople. This is the beginning of a 200-year long pandemic that will devastate Europe, the Middle East, and northern Africa.

Jacob Baradaeus becomes bishop of Edessa.

March ndash King Gelimer surrenders to Belisarius, after spending a winter in the mountains of Numidia. He and large numbers of captured Vandals are transported to Constantinople. The Vandal Kingdom ends, and the African provinces return to the Byzantine Empire.

Justinian I commemorates the victory against the Vandals by sting medals in his honor with the inscription "Gloria Romanorum" (approximate date).

Decimus Theodorius Paulinus is appointed consul (the last to hold this office in the West).

April ndash Belisarius leaves a small force in Africa under the Byzantine general Solomon to continue the subjugation of the province. He is appointed to governor ("Exarch") and pacifies with success the Moorish tribes. Malta becomes a Byzantine province (until 870).

Summer ndash Belisarius arrives in Constantinople and is permitted by emperor Justinian I to celebrate a triumph, the first non-imperial triumph for over 500 years. In the procession are paraded the spoils of the Temple of Jerusalem and the Vandal treasure.

The Visigoths are granted Aquitaine, and become allies ("foederati") of the Western Roman Empire. King Wallia establishes his capital at Toulouse.

Emperor Honorius forces his half-sister Galla Placidia into marriage to Constantius, his general ("magister militum"). He is appointed "patricius" and becomes a prominent member of the House of Theodosius.

January ndash Pope Innocent I condemns Pelagianism, and excommunicates the ascetic Pelagius.

Galla Placidia, half-sister of emperor Honorius, is married to the Visigothic king Ataulf at Narbonne. The wedding is celebrated with Roman festivities and magnificent gifts from the Gothic booty.

Last known gladiator fight in Rome. This date is usually given as the date of the martyrdom of Saint Telemachus, a Christian monk who was stoned by the crowd for trying to stop a gladiators' fight in a Roman hitheatre.

The dome in Ravenna is built by the entire population of the city.

Arbitio and Lollianus Mavortius begin their term as Roman consuls.

Pertinax suspend the food programs established by Trajan, this provokes the ire of the Praetorians.

Year of the Five Emperors: The Senate chooses Publius Helvius Pertinax, against his will to succeed the late Commodus as Emperor.

Pertinax is forced to reorganize the handling of finances, which was wrecked under Commodus, and to reestablish discipline in the Roman army.

The Roman legions in Germania Superior refuses to swear loyalty to Galba. They rebelled and proclaims Vitellius as emperor.