Today in History: 6 Zeros Removed from Turkish Lira (TL) New Turkish Lira (YTL) Entered into Circulation

January 1 is the 1st day of the year according to the Gregorian calendar. The number of days left until the end of the year is 364, (365 in leap years). This day is known as New Year's Day as it is the beginning of the year.

Railways

• 1 January 1920 Railway Battalion was established in Yahsihan. The battalion was sent to Eskişehir and Afyon, and the army was evacuated from Eskişehir to Kütahya during the battles of Eskişehir.
• 1 January 1921 The first railway group established in Yozgat Elmadağ was transformed into a battalion and transferred to Yahşihan. The battalion will then be transferred to Eskisehir and from there to Afyon.
• 1 January 1923 The Sarıkamış-Kars-Kızılçakçak line was connected to the General Directorate of Railways and Ports.
• 1 January 1937 After the acquisition of the Orient Railways, the first train in the government was moved from Edirne to Sirkeci. The ceremony was held in Istanbul and Edirne.
• 1 January 1942 Bismil-Sinari line is opened.
• 1 January 1944 Tavşanlı-Tunçbilek line was purchased.
• 1 January 1948 Fevzipaşa-Nusaybin (381km) and Derbesiye-Mardin line (24 km) were operated by Cenup Railways Türk AŞ in accordance with 7 April 1934 agreement. The concession period was over and it was transferred to the State Railways. These lines were made between 1912-17.
• 1 January 1951 Hasankale-Horasan (45 km) line is in operation.
• 1 January 1978 The Association of Alumni of the Vocational School of Railroads Vocational Cultural and Social Solidarity Journal DE-MOK was opened in Ankara.
• 1929 – Haydarpaşa Port was nationalized with the Anatolian railway line.

Events

• 45 BC – The Julian calendar is first used. After being used until the 16th century, it will be replaced by the Gregorian calendar.
• 404 - Telemachus is stoned to death by the crowd when he tries to break up a gladiator fight at the Colosseum. Honorius forbade fighting in his memory. This fight went down in history as the last gladiator fight.
• 1515 – In France, François I ascends the throne.
• 1785 – One of the world's first newspapers Daily Universal Register, started to be published in the UK. The newspaper, whose name will be changed to "The Times" three years later, is still in print.
• 1801 - The dwarf planet Ceres is discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi.
• 1808 - Entry of slaves into the United States is prohibited.
• 1891 – Penalty entered the rulebook after controversy over England's Stoke City v Notts game.
• 1899 - Spanish rule ends in Cuba.
• 1901 - The British colonies in Australia are federated and united under one roof.
• 1901 - Nigeria became a protectorate of the United Kingdom.
• 1901 – The sect of Pentecostalism is founded after the first Mass at Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kansas.
• 1923 – Turkey's first football federation Alliance of Turkish Training Societies (today the Turkish Football Federation) was established.
• 1925 - American astronomer Edwin Hubble announced that he had discovered other galaxies besides the Milky Way.
• 1926 – The International Calendar and Clock are used from midnight.
• 1929 – National Schools were opened.
• 1934 - The island of Alcatraz is made a prison of the United States.
• 1939 – Temperature reaches 45 °C in Sydney, Australia; This is a record in the city.
• 1945 – France was admitted to the United Nations.
• 1949 – In Indonesia, Dutch troops capture Java.
• 1956 - Sudan declared an independent republic.
• 1958 - The European Economic Community is established.
• 1959 – Victory of the Cuban Revolution: Dictator Fulgencio Batista fled Havana in the early hours of the new year. Guerrilla units led by Camilo Cienfuegos and Che Guevara began to enter Havana. Workers and peasants all over Cuba began a general strike at the call of Fidel Castro.
• 1960 - Cameroon gained its independence from UN administration.
• 1960 - The first meteorological satellite 'Tiros' was launched by the United States.
• 1965 – Fatah, which is part of the Palestine Liberation Organization, carried out its first armed action. Guerrilla units led by Ahmet Amr Musa infiltrated the West Bank territories occupied by Israel and blew up a bridge.
• 1971 – cigarette advertisements are banned on television in the United States.
• 1973 – The United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark become members of the European Economic Community (EEC).
• 1974 – The Israeli Labor Party, led by Golda Meir, wins the elections in Israel.
• 1978 – An Indian Airlines Boeing 747 passenger plane exploded in mid-air off Mumbai and crashed into the sea; 213 people died.
• 1979 – Diplomatic relations begin between China and the United States.
• 1981 - Greece was admitted to the European Economic Community.
• 1984 - Brunei gained its independence.
• 1984 – General Muhammadu Buhari seizes power in Nigeria in a bloodless coup.
• 1990 - David Dinkins is inaugurated as New York's first black Mayor.
• 1990 – The Rwandan Civil War begins.
• 1993 - Czechoslovakia dissolved. Slovakia and the Czech Republic were founded.
• 1994 – NAFTA (North American Countries Free Trade Agreement) entered into force.
• 1994 – Indians in the Mexican state of Chiapas revolt for their national organization, led by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, and take control of the area.
• 1995 – PKK members attacked the Hamzalı village of Kulp district of Diyarbakır and killed nineteen people, seven of them children. A PKK member was killed.
• 1995 – The World Trade Organization was established.
• 1995 – Sweden, Austria and Finland are admitted to the European Union.
• 1996 – The Customs Union agreement was published in the Official Gazette and entered into force. The agreement was valid between Turkey and 15 European countries.
• 1997 - Zaire became a member of the World Trade Organization.
• 1998 – The European Central Bank was established.
• 1999 – European currency Euro entered into force (with the exception of the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden and Greece).
• 2002 – Decision legalizing euthanasia came into effect in the Netherlands. The Netherlands became the first country to grant terminally ill patients the right to end their lives.
• 2002 - Taiwan became a member of the World Trade Organization, like Chinese Taipei.
• 2002 – Euro banknotes and coins started to be used in European Union member countries.
• 2005 – 6 zeros were removed from the Turkish lira (TL). New Turkish Lira (YTL) entered into circulation.
• 2007 – Bulgaria and Romania officially become EU members. Slovenia joins the Eurozone.
• 2007 – Indonesian Adam Air Airlines flight AA574 Boeing 737 type passenger plane crashed in a mountainous region of Sulawesi Island. There were 102 people on board.
• 2008 – Malta, Republic of Cyprus, Agrotur and Dhekelia switched to Euro usage.
• 2009 – At least 61 (66?) people died in a fire that broke out during the New Year celebrations in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand.
• 2009 – Austria, Japan, Mexico, Turkey and Uganda took their places as non-permanent members at the United Nations Security Council table.
• 2009 – Starting to use the Euro, Slovakia became the 16th member of the Eurozone.
• 2010 – 105 people were killed and more than 100 injured in a suicide attack at the volleyball tournament held in Lakki Marwat, Pakistan.
• 2010 – Spain took over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Sweden.
• 2010 - A solar eclipse occurred over the Indian Ocean.
• 2011 – 23 people lost their lives in an explosion during the Coptic New Year's Mass in Alexandria, Egypt.
• 2011 – Estonia joins the Eurozone.
• 2011 – Tallinn in Estonia and Turku in Finland became European Capitals of Culture for one year.
• 2011 – Hungary takes over the EU Presidency.
• 2014 – Latvia starts using the Euro and joins the Eurozone.
• 2014 – Umeå becomes Riga European Capital of Culture.
• 2015 – Lithuania becomes the 19th member of the Eurozone.
• 2017 – In Istanbul, the Reina nightclub was attacked.

Births

• 1431 – VI. Alexander, 214th Pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1503)
• 1449 – Lorenzo de' Medici, De facto Ruler of Florence (d. 1492)
• 1467 – Zygmunt I, Jagiellonian King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (d. 1548)
• 1484 – Huldrych Zwingli, leader of the Swiss Protestant Reformation (d. 1531)
• 1638 – Emperor Go-Sai or Emperor Go-Saiin, 111th emperor of Japan in the traditional succession order (d. 1685)
• 1788 – Étienne Cabet, French philosopher, utopian socialist, and theorist (d. 1856)
• 1803 – Manuel Felipe de Tovar, Venezuelan statesman (d. 1866)
• 1823 – Sándor Petőfi, Hungarian poet (d. 1849)
• 1854 – James George Frazer, Scottish anthropologist, author, and folklorist (d. 1941)
• 1863 – Pierre de Coubertin, French pedagogue, historian, and athlete (founder of the Olympic Games) (d. 1937)
• 1864 – Alfred Stieglitz, American photographer (d. 1946)
• 1879 – Edward Morgan Forster, English novelist, short story, and essayist (d. 1970)
• 1879 – William Fox, Hungarian-American filmmaker (d. 1952)
• 1887 – Wilhelm Canaris, German admiral and President of the Abwehr in Nazi Germany (d. 1945)
• 1893 – Behçet Uz, Turkish doctor (d. 1986)
• 1895 – John Edgar Hoover, founder of the FBI, the US federal police agency, and its continuing director from 1924 to 1972 (d. 1972)
• 1901 – Nizamettin Nazif Tepedelenlioğlu, Turkish journalist and writer (d. 1970)
• 1906 – Hacı Ömer Sabancı, Turkish businessman and founder of Sabancı Holding (d. 1966)
• 1908 – Avni Dilligil, Turkish actor and director (d. 1971)
• 1911 – Necdet Kent, Turkish diplomat (d. 2002)
• 1912 – Kim Philby, British intelligence officer (most notable cold war double spy) (d. 1988)
• 1912 – Nikiforos Vrettakos, Greek poet and writer (d. 1991)
• 1915 – İhsan Devrim, Turkish theater and cinema artist (d. 2010)
• 1916 – Danyal Topatan, Turkish film actor (d. 1975)
• 1917 – Fahri Erdinç, Turkish writer and poet (d. 1986)
• 1917 – Nezahat Tanyeri, Turkish theater and cinema artist (d. 1986)
• 1918 – Gündüz Kılıç, Turkish football player and coach (Galatasaray football player) (d. 1980)
• 1919 – Jerome David Salinger, American author (d. 2010)
• 1922 – Rocky Graziano, American boxer (d. 1990)
• 1925 – Sami Hazinses, Armenian-Turkish film actor (d. 2002)
• 1926 – Süleyman Dilbirliği, Turkish soldier (d. 2017)
• 1927 – Vernon L. Smith, American economist and Nobel Prize laureate in Economics
• 1927 – Abdulbasit Abdussamed, Egyptian Hafiz and Qur'anic scribe (d. 1988)
• 1927 – Ahmet Costa Rica, Turkish film actor (d. 1994)
• 1927 – Maurice Béjart, French-Swiss dancer, choreographer, and opera director (d. 2007)
• 1928 – Abdussettar Idhi, Pakistani philanthropist (d. 2016)
• 1929 – Bedih Yoluk (Kazancı Bedih), Turkish gazelhan (d. 2004)
• 1929 – Metin Erksan, Turkish film director (d. 2012)
• 1930 – Adonis, Syrian poet and essayist
• 1930 – Tahsin Saraç, Turkish poet (d. 1989)
• 1932 – Suat Yalaz, Turkish Cartoonist, illustrator, comics writer, film director, screenwriter, film producer (d. 2020)
• 1932 – Leman Çıdamlı, Turkish theater, cinema and TV series actress (d. 2012)
• 1939 – Gül Yalaz, Turkish cinema and TV series actress (d. 2013)
• 1941 – Ayşe Şasa, Turkish screenwriter and writer (d. 2014)
• 1941 – Selçuk Uluergüven, Turkish cinema, theater and TV series actor (d. 2014)
• 1942 – Cevat Yurdakul, Turkish policeman (d. 1979)
• 1942 – Tamer Yiğit, Turkish cinema artist
• 1943 – Baykal Kent, Turkish theater and film actor (d. 2012)
• 1944 – Uğurtan Sayıner, Turkish theater, cinema and TV series actor (d. 2021)
• 1946 – Birsen Ayda, Turkish actress (d. 2011)
• 1948 – Devlet Bahçeli, Turkish economist, politician and Chairman of the MHP
• 1950 – Cengiz Sezici, Turkish theater, cinema and TV series actor (d. 2019)
• 1950 – Ülkü Ülker, Turkish actress and singer (d. 2016)
• 1951 – Yalçın Güzelce, Turkish theater, cinema and TV series actor (d. 2015)
• 1952 – Hüseyin Velioğlu, founding leader of Hezbollah (d. 2000)
• 1952 – İbrahim Tatlıses, Turkish singer, composer, producer and actor
• 1953 – Mehmed Uzun, Turkish writer of Kurdish origin (d. 2007)
• 1953 – Özay Fecht, Turkish jazz singer, actor and educator
• 1954 – Kurtuluş Türkgüven, Turkish musician (d. 2009)
• 1954 – Volkan Saraçoğlu, Turkish cinema, TV series and theater actor (d. 2014)
• 1955 – Cem Gürdap, Turkish film actor (d. 2007)
• 1955 – Burhan Kuzu, Turkish lawyer and politician (d. 2020)
• 1956 – Andy Gill, English post-punk guitarist and record producer (d. 2020)
• 1956 – Dilber Ay (Dilber Karakaş), Turkish singer, songwriter and presenter (d. 2019)
• 1958 – Mustafa Altıoklar, Turkish director, producer and screenwriter
• 1958 – Şükrü Kızılot, Turkish academic and journalist (d. 2017)
• 1958 – Amor Hakkar, Algerian actress
• 1959 – Osman Delikkulak, Turkish politician and former Mayor of Side
• 1959 – Yaman Tarcan, Turkish cinema and theater actor (d. 2009)
• 1960 – Hakan Karahan, Turkish writer, poet, screenwriter, actor and filmmaker
• 1961 – Ahmet Şafak, Turkish musician, composer and actor
• 1961 – Deniz Arman, Turkish journalist and news coordinator
• 1961 – Uğur Polat, Turkish theater, cinema and TV series actor
• 1962 – Korcan Çağrı, Turkish newscaster
• 1962 – Kürşat Alnıçık, Turkish theater and actor
• 1962 – Payidar Tüfekçioğlu, Turkish actor and voice actor (d. 2017)
• 1963 – Devran Çağlar, Turkish arabesque musician and actor (d. 2019)
• 1964 – Ayşen Aydemir, Turkish cinema and theater actor (d. 1999)
• 1964 – Lisa Lynn Masters, American actress and model (d. 2016).
• 1968 – Davor Suker, Croatian football player
• 1968 – Toprak Sergen, Turkish theater, cinema and TV series actor, voice actor
• 1969 – Verne Troyer, American actor, comedian, and stuntman (d. 2018)
• 1970 – Tuba Atav, Turkish newscaster
• 1971 – Emrah, Turkish singer, songwriter and actor
• 1972 – Lilian Thuram, French football player
• 1975 - Marc Paquet, Canadian actor
• 1976 – Mustafa Doğan, Turkish-German football player
• 1979 – Fatih Erbakan, Turkish politician and engineer
• 1983 – Sefa Tantoğlu, Turkish actress
• 1984 – Koray Avcı, Turkish musician
• 1986 – Deniz Celiloğlu, Turkish actress
• 1987 – Serdar Özkan, Turkish football player
• 1989 – Hasan Ali Durtuluk, Turkish football player
• 1991 – Fırat Yılmaz Çakıroğlu, Turkish student (d. 2015)
• 1992 – Hazar Ergüçlü, Turkish actress
• 1992 – Jack Wilshere, English football player
• 1993 – Oğuz Yılmaz, Turkish football player
• 1993 – Sadik Ciftpinar, Turkish football player
• 1995 – Rachel Amanda, Indonesian actress and singer
• 1995 – Nuri Fatih Aydın, Turkish football player
• 1997 – Muhammet Beşir, Turkish football player
• 2000 – Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya, Russian-Australian figure skater (d. 2020)
• 2001 – Arda Akbulut, Turkish football player
• 2001 – Ömercan İlyasoğlu, Turkish basketball player
• 2001 – Ersin Destanoğlu, Turkish football player
• 2001 – Zeynep Şevval Gül, Turkish basketball player
• 2001 – Muhammed Gümüşkaya, Turkish football player
• 2002 – Eren Bülbül, Turkish child who died in the conflict between Turkish Police Forces and PKK members (d. 2017)
• 2002 – Aleyna Özkan, Turkish swimmer

Deaths

• 379 – Basil, Church Father prominent for defending the Church's official teachings against the Arians (b. 329)
• 1515 – XII. Louis, King of France (b. 1462)
• 1560 – Joachim du Bellay, French Rönesans poet (b. 1522)
• 1748 – Johann Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (b. 1667)
• 1782 – Johann Christian Bach, German composer (b. 1735)
• 1803 – Luigi Mayer, Italian painter (b. 1755)
• 1817 – Martin Heinrich Klaproth, German chemist (b. 1743)
• 1851 – Johann Heinrich Friedrich Link, German naturalist and botanist (b. 1767)
• 1891 – Antonio Stoppani, Italian geologist, paleoantologist, and pioneering popular science writer (b. 1824)
• 1894 – Heinrich Hertz, German physicist (b. 1857)
• 1901 – Gottlieb Viehe, German missionary (b. 1839)
• 1921 – Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg, German politician and Chancellor of Germany (b. 1856)
• 1929 – Mustafa Necati, Turkish politician (b. 1894)
• 1929 – Burton Downing, American cyclist (b. 1885)
• 1953 – Hank Williams, American singer, guitarist, and songwriter (b. 1923)
• 1956 – Jean de La Hire, French writer (b. 1878)
• 1958 – Edward Weston, American photographer (b. 1886)
• 1963 – Filippo Del Giudice, Italian filmmaker (b. 1892)
• 1965 – Mehmet Emin Erişirgil, Turkish educator, philosopher, writer and politician (b. 1891)
• 1966 – Ahmet Fetgeri Aseni, Turkish gymnast, one of the founders and 6th President of Beşiktaş Gymnastics Club (b. 1886)
• 1966 – Vincent Auriol, President of France (b. 1884)
• 1969 – Mümtaz Turhan, Turkish social psychologist and Chair of Experimental Psychology at Istanbul University (b. 1908)
• 1972 – Maurice Chevalier, French actor and singer (b. 1888)
• 1976 – Kemal Ergüvenç, Turkish theater, film actor and voice actor (b. 1921)
• 1980 – Pietro Nenni, Italian journalist, politician, and leader of the Italian Socialist Party (b. 1891)
• 1994 – Cesar Romero, Cuban-American actor (b. 1907)
• 1995 – Dilber Ay (Gülşen Demirci), Turkish cinema artist (b. 1958)
• 1995 – Eugene Wigner, Hungarian-American physicist and mathematician (b. 1902)
• 2001 – Ray Walston, American actor (b. 1914)
• 2003 – Yusuf Nalkesen, Turkish composer (b. 1923)
• 2012 – Jorge Andrés Boero, Argentine motorcycle racer (b. 1973)
• 2013 – Patti Page, American singer and actress (b. 1927)
• 2013 – Christopher Martin-Jenkins, English journalist, author and presenter (d. 1945)
• 2015 – Boris Morukov, Russian physicist and cosmonaut (b. 1950)
• 2015 – Donna Douglas, American actress and comedian (b. 1933)
• 2015 – Mario Cuomo, American politician and author (b. 1932)
• 2015 – Omar Karami, Lebanese politician and 2nd Prime Minister of Lebanon (b. 1934)
• 2016 – Antonio Carrizo, Argentinian presenter (b. 1926)
• 2016 – Yiğit Okur, Turkish lawyer and writer (b. 1934)
• 2017 – Talat Tunçalp, Turkish olympic cyclist (b. 1915)
• 2017 – Tony Atkinson, British academic and economist (b. 1944)
• 2017 – Hilarion Capucci, Syrian Catholic Archbishop (b. 1922)
• 2017 – Karl Gerstner, Swiss graphic designer (b. 1930)
• 2017 – Mel Lopez, Filipino bureaucrat and politician (b. 1935)
• 2017 – George Miller, Scottish cricketer (b. 1929)
• 2018 – Gert Brauer, German national football player (b. 1955)
• 2018 – Jahn Otto Johansen, Norwegian journalist, editor, reporter and author (b. 1934)
• 2018 – Robert Mann, American violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1920)
• 2018 – Ibrahim Nafei, Egyptian journalist (b. 1934)
• 2018 – Manuel Olivencia, Spanish lawyer and academic (b. 1929)
• 2018 – Mauro Staccioli, Italian sculptor (b. 1937)
• 2019 – Yuri Artsutanov, Russian engineer (b. 1929)
• 2019 – Dagfinn Bakke, Norwegian painter and graphic artist (b. 1933)
• 2019 – Ivan Dimitrov, Bulgarian national football player (b. 1935)
• 2019 – Feis Ecktuh, Dutch rapper and musician (b. 1986)
• 2019 – Elizabeth Edgar, New Zealand botanist (b. 1929)
• 2019 – Katie Flynn, English writer and novelist (b. 1936)
• 2019 – Ivo Gregurević, Croatian actor (b. 1952)
• 2019 – Joan Guinjoan, Spanish composer and pianist (b. 1931)
• 2019 – Kris Kelmi, Soviet-Russian musician and composer (b. 1955)
• 2019 – Paul Neville, Australian politician (b. 1940)
• 2019 – José Antonio Pujante, Spanish politician and professor of philosophy (b. 1964)
• 2019 – Raymond Ramazani Baya, Democratic Congolese politician and former minister (b. 1943)
• 2019 – María Teresa Uribe, Colombian sociologist (b. 1940)
• 2019 – Pegi Young, American singer, songwriter, environmentalist, educator, and philanthropist (b. 1952)
• 2020 – János Aczél, Hungarian-Canadian mathematician (b. 1924)
• 2020 – Lexii Alijai, American rapper and musician (b. 1998)
• 2020 – Joan Benson, American musician and educator (b. 1925)
• 2020 – Tommy Hancock, American musician (b. 1929)
• 2020 – Roland Minson, American basketball player (b. 1929)
• 2020 – David J. Stern, American Sportsman (NBA boss) (b. 1942)
• 2020 – Peter Lo Sui Yin, Malaysian politician (b. 1923)
• 2021 – Barry Austin was the heaviest known person living in the UK during his lifetime (b. 1968)
• 2021 – Jan de Bie, Dutch painter and photographer (b. 1946)
• 2021 – Clint Boulton, English professional football player (b. 1948)
• 2021 – Carlos do Carmo, Portuguese singer-songwriter (b. 1939)
• 2021 – Simone Chrisostome, French soldier and member of the French Resistance (b. 1923)
• 2021 – Ben Chafin, American lawyer, farmer, and politician (b. 1960)
• 2021 – Traude Dierdorf, Austrian politician (b. 1947)
• 2021 – Zoran Džorlev is a North Macedonian violinist (b. 1967)
• 2021 – Mark Eden, English actor (b. 1928)
• 2021 – Carlos Escudé, Argentine political scientist and writer (b. 1948)
• 2021 – José Cleonâncio da Fonseca, Brazilian politician and businessman (b. 1936)
• 2021 – Seizō Fukumoto, Japanese actor (b. 1943)
• 2021 – Elmira Minita Gordon, Belizenese politician (b. 1930)
• 2021 – Bernard Guignedoux, French football player and manager (b. 1947)
• 2021 – Pablo Hernández, Colombian cyclist (b. 1940)
• 2021 – Floyd Little, American professional football player (b. 1942)
• 2021 – Norma, French comics artist (b. 1946)
• 2021 – Jean Panisse, French actor (b. 1928)
• 2021 – Paatje Phefferkorn, Dutch educator and applied mixed martial artist (b. 1922)
• 2021 – Sun Qiaolu, Chinese actress and model (b. 1995)
• 2021 – Liam Reilly, Irish singer (b. 1955)
• 2021 – Toabur Rahim, Bangladeshi politician
• 2021 – Paige Rense, American writer and editor (b. 1929)
• 2021 – Abdul Hakim Al-Taher, Sudanese actor and film director (b. 1949)
• 2021 – Felix Tarasenko, Russian mathematician (b. 1932)
• 2021 – Jan Vering, German gospel singer, journalist and playwright (b. 1954)
• 2021 – Mohammed Taki Misbah Yazdi, Iranian politician (b. 1934)
• 2021 – George Whitmore, American mountaineer and environmentalist (b. 1931)

Holidays and special occasions

• New Year
• Cuban National Day
• Sudan Independence Day
• Pain Lovers' Day