1984January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). January 9 – Van Halen releases their sixth studio album 1984 (MCMLXXXIV), which debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and went on to sell over 10 million copies in the United States. January 10 The United States and the Vatican (Holy See) restore full diplomatic relations.
1940A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January 1940 January 4 – WWII: Luftwaffe Colonel Hermann Göring assumes control of most war industries in Germany. January 6 – WWII: Winter War – General Semyon Timoshenko takes command of all Soviet forces. January 7 – WWII: Winter War: Battle of Raate Road – Outnumbered Finnish troops decisively defeat Soviet forces.
1931January 1931 January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. January 22 – Sir Isaac Isaacs is sworn in as the first Australian-born Governor-General of Australia. January 25 – Mohandas Gandhi is again released from imprisonment in India. January 27 – Pierre Laval forms a government in France.
1929This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic counter-revolution in Mexico. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, a British high court, ruled that Canadian women are persons in the Edwards v. Canada (Attorney General) case. The 1st Academy Awards for film were held in Los Angeles, while the Museum of Modern Art opened in New York City.
1906January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, and establish a national assembly, the Majlis. January 16–April 7 – The Algeciras Conference convenes, to resolve the First Moroccan Crisis between France and Germany. January 22 – The strikes a reef off Vancouver Island, Canada, killing over 100 (officially 136) in the ensuing disaster.
1954January 1954 January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head office of IBM. January 10 – BOAC Flight 781, a de Havilland Comet jet plane, disintegrates in mid-air due to metal fatigue, and crashes in the Mediterranean near Elba; all 35 people on board are killed.
1901January 1901 January 1 The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia; Edmund Barton becomes the first Prime Minister of Australia. Nigeria becomes a British protectorate. January 9 – Lord Kitchener reports that Christiaan de Wet has shot one of the "peace" envoys, and flogged two more, who had gone to his commando to ask the Burgher citizens of South Africa to halt fighting.
1937January 1937 January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into February, leaving 1 million people homeless and 385 people dead. January 15 – Spanish Civil War: Second Battle of the Corunna Road ends inconclusively. January 20 – Second inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt: Franklin D. Roosevelt is sworn in for a second term as President of the United States.
1939This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January 1939 January 1 Coming into effect in Nazi Germany of: The Protection of Young Persons Act, passed on April 30, 1938, the Working Hours Regulations. The small businesses obligation to maintain adequate accounting. The Jews name change decree. With his traditional call to the New Year in Nazi Germany, Führer and Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler addresses the members of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP).
1938January 1938 January 1 – State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Safinaz Zulficar, who becomes Queen Farida, in Cairo. January 27 – The Honeymoon Bridge at Niagara Falls, New York, collapses as a result of an ice jam. February 1938 February 4 Adolf Hitler abolishes the War Ministry and creates the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (High Command of the Armed Forces), giving him direct control of the German military.
