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UPI Almanac for Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017

On Jan. 1, 1959, Fidel Castro declared victory in the Cuban revolution as dictator Fulgencio Batista fled the island.

By United Press International
This photo is believed to be the only existing picture of Fidel Castro (center), leader of Cuba's revolutionary forces, and members of his staff and troop commanders made at a secret base near the coast. The group includes five captains, the entire top command of the guerrilla army. UPI File Photo
This photo is believed to be the only existing picture of Fidel Castro (center), leader of Cuba's revolutionary forces, and members of his staff and troop commanders made at a secret base near the coast. The group includes five captains, the entire top command of the guerrilla army. UPI File Photo | License Photo

Today is Sunday, Jan. 1, the first day of 2017 with 365 days to follow.

This is New Year's Day.

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The moon is waxing. Morning stars are Jupiter and Saturn. Evening stars are Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Uranus and Venus.


Those born on this date are under the sign of Capricorn. They include American patriot Paul Revere in 1735; American Revolution-era Gen. Anthony Wayne in 1745; Betsy Ross, who, legend has it, made the first American flag, in 1752; modern Olympic movement founder Pierre de Coubertin in 1863; photography pioneer Alfred Stieglitz in 1864; English novelist E.M. Forster in 1879; FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover in 1895; bandleader Xavier Cugat in 1900; baseball Hall of Fame member Hank Greenberg in 1911; British-born Soviet master spy Harold "Kim" Philby in 1912; boxer Rocky Graziano and novelist J.D. Salinger, both in 1919; actors Dana Andrews in 1909 and Frank Langella in 1938 (age 79); football Hall of Fame member Doak Walker in 1927; businessman Ron Perelman in 1943 (age 74); writer Shelby Steele in 1946 (age 71) former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine in 1947 (age 70); and Elin Nordegren, former wife of golfer Tiger Woods, in 1980 (age 37).

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On this date in history:

In 45 B.C., New Year's Day was celebrated on Jan. 1 for the first time as the Julian calendar took effect.

In 1801, Ceres, classified as a dwarf planet, was discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi.

In 1803, two months after his defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte's colonial forces, Jean-Jacques Dessalines proclaimed the independence of Saint-Domingue, renaming it Haiti after its original Arawak name.

In 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation, introduced the previous September by Abraham Lincoln, took effect. It declared freedom for slaves in all areas of the Confederacy that were still in rebellion against the Union.

In 1890, the first Tournament of Roses parade took place in Pasadena, Calif.

In 1892, Ellis Island opened in New York Harbor.

In 1902, the University of Michigan beat Stanford, 49-0, in the inaugural Rose Bowl game in Pasadena, Calif.

In 1951, the Zenith Radio Corp. of Chicago demonstrated the first pay-per-view television system, offering three movies, "April Showers," "Welcome Stranger" and "Homecoming."

In 1953, influential country singer Hank Williams, 29, died of a heart attack while in a limousine on the way to a show in Canton, Ohio.

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In 1959, Fidel Castro declared victory in the Cuban revolution as dictator Fulgencio Batista fled the island.

In 1975, a jury convicted former U.S. Attorney General John Mitchell and former White House aides John Ehrlichman and H.R. Haldeman on all counts in the Watergate coverup case.

In 1993, the country of Czechoslovakia dissolved with the New Year, replaced by separate Czech Republic and Slovak states.

In 1994, the North American Free Trade Agreement between Canada, Mexico and the United States, took effect.

In 1998, a law went into effect in California banning smoking in bars and nightclubs. It already was illegal to smoke in the state's restaurants and cafes.

In 1999, 12 European countries turned in their own currency and adopted a common one, the euro. It was the biggest currency change in history.

In 2007, South Korea's Ban Ki-moon succeeded Kofi Annan of Ghana as secretary-general of the United Nations.

In 2009, police said a fire killed at least 52 people and injured about 100 at the two-story Santika Club in Bangkok. The fire erupted shortly after approximately 1,000 revelers rang in the New Year.

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In 2010, a suicide bomber killed nearly 90 people, including children, during a New Year's Day volleyball game in Lakki Marwat in northhwest Pakistan.

In 2013, Ivory Coast authorities said at least 60 people were killed in a stampede as crowds left a New Year's fireworks show at a stadium in Abidjan.

In 2014, Colorado became the first state where specialty shops began legally selling small amounts of recreational marijuana.


A thought for the day: "Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right." -- Oprah Winfrey

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