TUESDAY, JANUARY 1, 2008

Today is Tuesday, January 1, the first day of 2008. There are 365 days left in the year.

4714 B.C. _ The origin of the Julian Period (Year 0)

1 _ The origin of the Christian Era

1583 _ The first day of the Gregorian calendar in Holland and Flanders

1776 _ General George Washington hoists Continental Union Flag

1808 _ Congress prohibits importation of slaves

1893 _ Japan adopts the Gregorian calendar

1899 _ Cuba liberated from Spain by the U.S.

1912 _ Sun Yat-sen forms the Chinese Republic

1923 _ The Union of Socialist Soviet Republics established

1934 _ The International Telecommunication Union established

1948 _ The General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade (GATT) effective

1950 _ Ho Chi Minh begins offensive against French troops in Indochina

1951 _ Massive Chinese/North Korean assault on U.N.-lines

1958 _ European Economic Community (Common Market) starts operation

1959 _ Castro leads Cuba to victory as Fulgencio Batista flees to Dominican Republic

1991 _ Iraq rejects peace proposal from Egyptian President Hosi Mubarak

1992 _ Boutros Boutros-Ghali becomes U.N. secretary-general