2024 Kerman bombings
2024
At least 91 people are killed in bombings in Kerman, Iran, during a ceremony commemorating the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani four years earlier..
Home > January-3
Historical Events on January 3
January
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Jurong Bird Park
Singapore's Jurong Bird Park permanently closes.
2023
Qasem Soleimani
Iranian General Qasem Soleimani is killed by an American airstrike near Baghdad International Airport, igniting global concerns of a potential armed conflict.
2020
Chang'e 4
Chang'e 4 makes the first soft landing on the far side of the Moon, deploying the Yutu-2 lunar rover.
2019
January 3
For the first time in history, all five major storm surge gates in the Netherlands are closed simultaneously in the wake of a storm.
2018
Nimr al-Nimr
2016
In response to the execution of Nimr al-Nimr, Iran ends its diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia..
Boko Haram
Boko Haram militants destroy the entire town of Baga in north-east Nigeria, starting the Baga massacre and killing as many as 2,000 people.
2015
Payment system
The first block of the blockchain of the decentralized payment system Bitcoin, called the Genesis block, is established by the creator of the system, Satoshi Nakamoto.
2009
Flash Airlines Flight 604
Flash Airlines Flight 604 crashes into the Red Sea, resulting in 148 deaths, making it one of the deadliest aviation accidents in Egyptian history.
2004
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Israeli forces seize the Palestinian freighter Karine A in the Red Sea, finding 50 tons of weapons.
2002
Mars Polar Lander
1999
The Mars Polar Lander is launched by NASA..
Baikal Airlines Flight 130
Baikal Airlines Flight 130 crashes near Mamoney, Irkutsk, Russia, resulting in 125 deaths.
1994
George H. W. Bush
In Moscow, Russia, George H. W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin sign the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).
1993
CommutAir Flight 4821
CommutAir Flight 4821 crashes on approach to Adirondack Regional Airport, in Saranac Lake, New York, killing two people.
1992
United States invasion of Panama
United States invasion of Panama: Manuel Noriega, former leader of Panama, surrenders to American forces.
1990
Varig Flight 797
1987
Varig Flight 797 crashes near Akouré in the Ivory Coast, resulting in 50 deaths..
Apple Inc.
Apple Computer is incorporated.
1977
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, comes into force.
1976
Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro.
1962
Cold War
Cold War: After a series of economic retaliations against one another, the United States severs diplomatic relations with Cuba.
1961
SL-1
1961
The SL-1 nuclear reactor, near Idaho Falls, Idaho, is destroyed by a steam explosion in the only reactor incident in the United States to cause immediate fatalities..
Baixa de Cassanje
A protest by agricultural workers in Baixa de Cassanje, Portuguese Angola, turns into a revolt, opening the Angolan War of Independence, the first of the Portuguese Colonial Wars.
1961
Aero Flight 311
Aero Flight 311 crashes into the forest in Kvevlax, Finland, killing 25 people.
1961
Alaska
Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. state.
1959
West Indies Federation
The West Indies Federation is formed.
1958
Hamilton Watch Company
1957
The Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch..
Eiffel Tower
A fire damages the top part of the Eiffel Tower.
1956
Frances P. Bolton
Frances P. Bolton and her son, Oliver from Ohio, become the first mother and son to serve simultaneously in the U.S. Congress.
1953
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the central bank of the Philippines, is established.
1949
United States Congress
Proceedings of the U.S. Congress are televised for the first time.
1947
Canadian Americans
1946
Popular Canadian American jockey George Woolf suffers a concussion during a freak racing accident; he dies from the injury the following day. The annual George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award is created to honor him..
World War II
World War II: US flying ace Major Greg "Pappy" Boyington is shot down in his Vought F4U Corsair by Captain Masajiro Kawato flying a Mitsubishi A6M Zero.
1944
Minnie D. Craig
Minnie D. Craig becomes the first woman elected as Speaker of the North Dakota House of Representatives, the first woman to hold a Speaker position anywhere in the United States.
1933
1920 Xalapa earthquake
Over 640 are killed after a magnitude 6.4 earthquake strikes the Mexican states Puebla and Veracruz.
1920
January 1913 Atlantic coast storm
An Atlantic coast storm sets the lowest confirmed barometric pressure reading (955.0 mb (28.20 inHg)) for a non-tropical system in the continental United States.
1913
First Balkan War
1913
First Balkan War: Greece completes its capture of the eastern Aegean island of Chios, as the last Ottoman forces on the island surrender..
1911 Kebin earthquake
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake destroys the city of Almaty in Russian Turkestan.
1911
Siege of Sidney Street
A gun battle in the East End of London leaves two dead. It sparked a political row over the involvement of then-Home Secretary Winston Churchill.
1911
Sino-French War
Sino-French War: Beginning of the Battle of Núi Bop.
1885
Battle of Bapaume (1871)
In the Battle of Bapaume, an engagement in the Franco-Prussian War, General Louis Faidherbe's forces bring about a Prussian retreat.
1871
Brooklyn Bridge
1870
Construction work begins on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, United States..
Meiji Restoration
Meiji Restoration in Japan: The Tokugawa shogunate is abolished; agents of Satsuma and Chōshū seize power.
1868
American Civil War
American Civil War: Delaware votes not to secede from the United States.
1861
Joseph Jenkins Roberts
Joseph Jenkins Roberts is sworn in as the first president of Liberia.
1848
Reassertion of British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (1833)
Captain James Onslow, in the Clio, reasserts British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.
1833
Prussia
1815
Austria, the United Kingdom, and France form a secret defensive alliance against Prussia and Russia..
American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War: American forces under General George Washington defeat British forces at the Battle of Princeton, helping boost patriot morale.
1777
Benning Wentworth
Benning Wentworth issues the first of the New Hampshire Grants, leading to the establishment of Vermont.
1749
Berlingske
The first issue of Berlingske, Denmark's oldest continually operating newspaper, is published.
1749
Coonan Cross Oath
By the Coonan Cross Oath, the Eastern Church in India cuts itself off from colonial Portuguese tutelage.
1653
Pope Leo X
1521
Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem..
Decius
Emperor Decius orders everyone in the Roman Empire (except Jews) to make sacrifices to the Roman gods.
250
AD 69
The Roman legions on the Rhine refuse to declare their allegiance to Galba, instead proclaiming their legate, Aulus Vitellius, as emperor.
69