jseal didn't actually give me a post for today, but just in case he's not back, I'll put one out here ...

January 1st

1892 ~ the Ellis Island Immigrant Station in New York formally opened.

1898 ~ New York City was consolidated into five boroughs.

1901 ~ the Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed.

1953 ~ country singer Hank Williams Sr., 29, died of a drug and alcohol overdose while en route to a concert date in Canton, Ohio.

1959 ~ Fidel Castro led Cuban revolutionaries to victory over Fulgencio Batista.

1984 ~ the breakup of AT&T took place as the telecommunications giant was divested of its 22 Bell System companies under terms of an antitrust agreement.

1993 ~ Czechoslovakia peacefully split into two new countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

1994 ~ the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect.

1999 ~ the euro, the new single currency of 11 European countries (later 12), officially came into existence with the start of the New Year.