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.
19981998 was designated as the International Year of the Ocean. January 6 – The Lunar Prospector spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently shadowed craters near the Moon's poles. January 11 – Over 100 people are killed in the Sidi-Hamed massacre in Algeria. January 12 – Nineteen European nations agree to forbid human cloning. January 17 – The Drudge Report breaks the story about U.S.
1994The year 1994 was designated as the "International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In Line Islands and Phoenix Islands, this year has only 364 days as Saturday, December 31 was skipped when 1995 began after Friday, December 30. That means aligning the rest of Kiribati within its capital Tarawa by redrawing the international date line on its territorial boundaries. January 1 – The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is established.
20102010 was designated as: International Year of Biodiversity International Year of Youth 2010 European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures There is a debate among experts and the general public on how to pronounce specific years of the 21st century in English. The year 2010 is pronounced either "twenty-ten" or "two thousand [and] ten". 2010 was the first year to have a wide variation in pronunciation, as the years 2000 to 2009 were generally pronounced "two thousand (and) one, two, three, etc.
20092009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Johannes Kepler. It was also declared as the International Year of Natural Fibres by the United Nations General Assembly, as well as the International Year of Reconciliation and the Year of the Gorilla (UNEP and UNESCO). January 1 Japan, Mexico, Turkey and Uganda assume their seats on the United Nations Security Council.
20172017 was designated as International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the Reina nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey, killing 39 people and injuring 79 others. January 8 – 2017 Jerusalem truck attack Palestinian assailant entered the road where the Israeli defense forces were located with a truck, killing 4 people and injuring 15 others.
2011The most notable event of the year was the Arab Spring that involved the killing of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya as part of a series of protests and government overthrows that swept through the Middle East. 2011 was designated as: International Year of Forests International Year of Chemistry International Year for People of African Descent In 2011, the nation of Samoa only had 364 days as it moved across the International Date Line skipping December 30, 2011; it is now 24 hours ahead of American Samoa.
