Did you know
The Meiji Restoration marked the end of the Edo period, which had lasted for over 250 years.
January 3 in History
1868 — Meiji Restoration in Japan: The Tokugawa shogunate is abolished; agents of Satsuma and Chōshū seize power
January 3 spans 54 recorded events across recorded history, from 69 to 2026. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Historical Events
54 events
69 – 2026
Today in history
More major events on January 3
The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.
- 2009 The first block of the blockchain of the decentralized payment system Bitcoin, called the Genesis block, is established by the creator of the system, Satoshi Nakamoto. Source
- 1749 Benning Wentworth issues the first of the New Hampshire Grants, leading to the establishment of Vermont. Source
- 1749 The first issue of Berlingske, Denmark's oldest continually operating newspaper, is published. Source
Did you know
Emperor Meiji was only 15 years old when he was restored as the ruler of Japan.
Did you know
The city of Edo was renamed Tokyo and became the new capital of Japan after the Restoration.
Did you know
The Meiji Restoration led to the abolition of the feudal system and the introduction of a modern conscript army.
Did you know
The Restoration period saw the influence of Western advisors, including Itō Hirobumi, who played a key role in drafting Japan's first constitution.
69
The Roman legions on the Rhine refuse to declare their allegiance to Galba, instead proclaiming their legate, Aulus Vitellius, as emperor.
Calendar year
250
Emperor Decius orders everyone in the Roman Empire (except Jews) to make sacrifices to the Roman gods.
Roman emperor from 249 to 251
1521
Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.
Head of the Catholic Church from 1513 to 1521
1653
By the Coonan Cross Oath, the Eastern Church in India cuts itself off from colonial Portuguese tutelage.
1653 oath by members of the Saint Thomas Christians
1749
Benning Wentworth issues the first of the New Hampshire Grants, leading to the establishment of Vermont.
American merchant and colonial administrator (1696–1770)
1749
The first issue of Berlingske, Denmark's oldest continually operating newspaper, is published.
Daily newspaper in Denmark
1777
American Revolutionary War: American forces under General George Washington defeat British forces at the Battle of Princeton, helping boost patriot morale.
1775–1783 conflict in North America
1815
Austria, the United Kingdom, and France form a secret defensive alliance against Prussia and Russia.
German state from 1525 to 1947
1833
Captain James Onslow, in the Clio, reasserts British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.
1848
Joseph Jenkins Roberts is sworn in as the first president of Liberia.
1st and 7th president of Liberia (1848–56, 1872–76)
1861
American Civil War: Delaware votes not to secede from the United States.
1861–1865 conflict in the United States
1870
Construction work begins on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, United States.
Bridge in New York City
1871
In the Battle of Bapaume, an engagement in the Franco-Prussian War, General Louis Faidherbe's forces bring about a Prussian retreat.
Part of the Franco-Prussian War
1885
Sino-French War: Beginning of the Battle of Núi Bop.
1884–1885 conflict between France and China
1911
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake destroys the city of Almaty in Russian Turkestan.
Earthquake in Kazakhstan on 3 January 1911
1911
A gun battle in the East End of London leaves two dead.
It sparked a political row over the involvement of then-Home Secretary Winston Churchill.
1913
An Atlantic coast storm sets the lowest confirmed barometric pressure reading (955.0 mb (28.20 inHg)) for a non-tropical system in the continental United States.
Extratropical cyclone – eastern coast of the United States
1913
First Balkan War: Greece completes its capture of the eastern Aegean island of Chios, as the last Ottoman forces on the island surrender.
1912–1913 war between the Balkan League and the Ottoman Empire
1920
Over 640 are killed after a magnitude 6.4 earthquake strikes the Mexican states Puebla and Veracruz.
Earthquake in Mexico
1933
Minnie D.
Craig becomes the first woman elected as Speaker of the North Dakota House of Representatives, the first woman to hold a Speaker position anywhere in the United States.
1944
World War II: US flying ace Major Greg "Pappy" Boyington is shot down in his Vought F4U Corsair by Captain Masajiro Kawato flying a Mitsubishi A6M Zero.
Global conflict (1939–1945)
1946
Popular Canadian American jockey George Woolf suffers a concussion during a freak racing accident; he dies from the injury the following day.
The annual George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award is created to honor him.
1949
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the central bank of the Philippines, is established.
Central bank of the Philippines
1953
Frances P.
Bolton and her son, Oliver from Ohio, become the first mother and son to serve simultaneously in the U.S. Congress.
1957
The Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch.
Swiss watch manufacturer
1958
The West Indies Federation is formed.
1958–1962 political union of British island colonies in the Caribbean
1961
Cold War: After a series of economic retaliations against one another, the United States severs diplomatic relations with Cuba.
1947–1991 geopolitical rivalry between US and USSR
1961
The SL-1 nuclear reactor, near Idaho Falls, Idaho, is destroyed by a steam explosion in the only reactor incident in the United States to cause immediate fatalities.
Nuclear reactor that killed 3 in 1961
1961
A protest by agricultural workers in Baixa de Cassanje, Portuguese Angola, turns into a revolt, opening the Angolan War of Independence, the first of the Portuguese Colonial Wars.
Kingdom in Angola
1961
Aero Flight 311 crashes into the forest in Kvevlax, Finland, killing 25 people.
1961 aviation accident in Kvevlax, Finland
1962
Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro.
Head of the Catholic Church from 1958 to 1963
1976
The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, comes into force.
Covenant adopted in 1966 by United Nations General Assembly resolution
1987
Varig Flight 797 crashes near Akouré in the Ivory Coast, resulting in 50 deaths.
1987 aviation accident
1990
United States invasion of Panama: Manuel Noriega, former leader of Panama, surrenders to American forces.
1989 military action in Panama
1992
CommutAir Flight 4821 crashes on approach to Adirondack Regional Airport, in Saranac Lake, New York, killing two people.
1992 aviation accident
1993
In Moscow, Russia, George H.
W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin sign the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).
1994
Baikal Airlines Flight 130 crashes near Mamoney, Irkutsk, Russia, resulting in 125 deaths.
1994 aviation accident
2002
Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Israeli forces seize the Palestinian freighter Karine A in the Red Sea, finding 50 tons of weapons.
Ongoing military and political conflict in West Asia
2004
Flash Airlines Flight 604 crashes into the Red Sea, resulting in 148 deaths, making it one of the deadliest aviation accidents in Egyptian history.
2004 aviation accident in the Red Sea
2009
The first block of the blockchain of the decentralized payment system Bitcoin, called the Genesis block, is established by the creator of the system, Satoshi Nakamoto.
System used to settle financial transactions through the transfer of monetary value
2015
Boko Haram militants destroy the entire town of Baga in north-east Nigeria, starting the Baga massacre and killing as many as 2,000 people.
African jihadist organisation
2016
In response to the execution of Nimr al-Nimr, Iran ends its diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia.
Shia Muslim religious figure and Saudi government critic; executed in 2016
2018
For the first time in history, all five major storm surge gates in the Netherlands are closed simultaneously in the wake of a storm.
2019
Chang'e 4 makes the first soft landing on the far side of the Moon, deploying the Yutu-2 lunar rover.
2019 Chinese lunar lander & rover
2020
Iranian General Qasem Soleimani is killed by an American airstrike near Baghdad International Airport, igniting global concerns of a potential armed conflict.
Iranian military officer (1957–2020)
2023
2024
At least 91 people are killed in bombings in Kerman, Iran, during a ceremony commemorating the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani four years earlier.
Suicide bombings in Iran
2026
The United States conducts airstrikes across northern Venezuela, including the capital Caracas and captures Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores.
Country primarily in North America