January 26661 – The Rashidun Caliphate is effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last caliph. 1531 – The 6.4–7.1 Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people. 1564 – The Council of Trent establishes an official distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. 1564 – The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Tsardom of Russia in the Battle of Ula during the Livonian War. 1699 – For the first time, the Ottoman Empire permanently cedes territory to the Christian powers. 1700 – The 8.7–9.
1990Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South Africa, and the Baltic states declaring independence from the Soviet Union amidst Perestroika. Yugoslavia's communist regime collapses amidst increasing internal tensions and multiparty elections held within its constituent republics result in separatist governments being elected in most of the republics marking the beginning of the breakup of Yugoslavia.
19921992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. January 6 The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is proclaimed by the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. 1991–92 Georgian coup d'état: President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia flees the country as a result of the military coup.
20202020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in the 1930s. Geospatial World also called 2020 "the worst year in terms of climate change" in part due to major climate disasters worldwide, including major bushfires in Australia and the western United States, as well as extreme tropical cyclone activity affecting large parts of North America.
20192019 is noted as the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding the pandemic which was declared the following year. 2019 was described as the "best year in human history" up to that point by some newspapers and media outlets in the United States, including The New York Times and WNYC. January 1 New Horizons makes a close approach to the Kuiper belt object (KBO) 486958 Arrokoth at 05:33 UTC. Jair Bolsonaro begins his four-year term as President of Brazil. Qatar withdraws from OPEC.
19891989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin Wall in November, the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia and the overthrow of the communist dictatorship in Romania in December; the movement ended in December 1991 with the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
20222022 saw the removal of nearly all COVID-19 restrictions and the reopening of international borders in most countries, and the global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines continued. The global economic recovery from the pandemic continued, though many countries experienced an ongoing inflation surge; in response, many central banks raised their interest rates to landmark levels. The world population reached eight billion people in 2022, though the year also witnessed numerous natural disasters, including two devastating Atlantic hurricanes (Fiona and Ian), and the most powerful volcano eruption of the century so far.
2021Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued in 2021. Most major events scheduled for 2020 that were postponed due to the pandemic were hosted in 2021, including the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference, Expo 2020, and sporting events such as UEFA Euro 2020, the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, as well as the 2021 Copa América.
1980January 1980 January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. January 9 – In Saudi Arabia, 63 Islamist insurgents are beheaded for their part in the siege of the Great Mosque in Mecca in November 1979. January 14 – Congress (I) party leader, Indira Gandhi returns to power as the Prime Minister of India. January 20 – At least 200 people are killed when the Corralejas Bullring collapses at Sincelejo, Colombia.
1997January 1 – the Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States of America January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. January 17 – A Delta II rocket carrying a military GPS payload explodes, shortly after liftoff from Cape Canaveral. January 18 – In northwest Rwanda, Hutu militia members kill 6 Spanish aid workers and three soldiers, and seriously wound another.
