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Almanac - Friday 1/1/21

Polar bear, by flickr user soumit

It's Polar Bear Swim Day...

Today Friday, 1st of January of 2021...

January 1 or 1 January, is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar.

There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year.

78 days until spring begins

The sun will rise in San Francisco at 7:26 am 

and sunset will be at 5:02 pm.

Today we will have 9 hours and 38 minutes of daylight.

The solar transit will be at 12:14 pm.

The first high tide was at 2:04 am 

The first low tide will be at 6:25 am 

The next high tide will be at 12:20 pm.

and the next low tide at 7:07 pm.

The Moon is 93.8% visible; a Waning Gibbous

Last Quarter Moon in 5 days on Wednesday the 6th of January of 2021 at 1:37 am

Today is…

Apple Gifting Day

Commitment Day

Copyright Law Day

Ellis Island Day

Euro Day

Global Family Day

National Bloody Mary Day

National First-Foot Day

National Hangover Day

New Year's Day

New Year's Dishonor List Day

Polar Bear Swim Day

Public Domain Day

Saint Basil's Day

World Day of Peace

Z Day

Today is also…

Second day of Hogmanay (Scotland) December 31-January 1

The last day of Kwanzaa (African-Americans)

The eighth of the Twelve Days of Christmas

Constitution Day in Italy

Day of the Establishment of the Slovak Republic

Restoration Day of the Independent Czech State

Emancipation Day in United States

Flag Day in Lithuania commemorates raising of the Lithuanian flag on Gediminas' Tower in 1919

Founding Day in Taiwan commemorates the establishment of the Provisional Government in Nanjing

Independence Day in BruneiCameroonHaiti, and Sudan

International Nepali Dhoti and Nepali Topi Day

Jump-up Day in Montserrat

Kalpataru Day in the Ramakrishna Movement

Kamakura Ebisu, January 1–3 in Kamakura, KanagawaJapan

National Tree Planting Day in Tanzania

Japanese New Year          

Novy God Day in Russia

Sjoogwachi in Okinawa Islands

Triumph of the Revolution in Cuba

1772 – The first traveler's cheques, which could be used in 90 European cities, are issued by the London Credit Exchange Company.

1773 – The hymn that became known as "Amazing Grace", then titled "1 Chronicles 17:16–17", is first used to accompany a sermon led by John Newton in the town of Olney, Buckinghamshire, England.

1788 – First edition of The Times of London, previously The Daily Universal Register, is published.

1804 – French rule ends in Haiti. Haiti becomes the first black-majority republic and second independent country in North America after the United States.

1808 – The United States bans the importation of slaves.

1847 – The world's first "Mercy" Hospital is founded in Pittsburgh, United States, by a group of Sisters of Mercy from Ireland; the name will go on to grace over 30 major hospitals throughout the world.

1863 – American Civil War: The Emancipation Proclamation takes effect in Confederate territory.

1885 – Twenty-five nations adopt Sandford Fleming's proposal for standard time (and also, time zones).

1890 – Eritrea is consolidated into a colony by the Italian government.[38]

1892 – Ellis Island begins processing immigrants into the United States.

1898 – New York, New York annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York. The four initial boroughsManhattanBrooklynQueens, and The Bronx, are joined on January 25 by Staten Island to create the modern city of five boroughs.

1899 – Spanish rule ends in Cuba.

1901 – The British colonies of New South WalesQueenslandVictoriaSouth AustraliaTasmania, and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of AustraliaEdmund Barton is appointed the first Prime Minister.[42]

1902 – The first American college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl between Michigan and Stanford, is held in Pasadena, California.

1934 – Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay becomes a United States federal prison.

1947 – The Canadian Citizenship Act 1946 comes into effect, converting British subjects into Canadian citizens.  Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King becomes the first Canadian citizen.

1948 – The British railway network is nationalized to form British Railways.

1958 – The European Economic Community is established.

1970 – The defined beginning of Unix time, at 00:00:00.

1971 – Cigarette advertisements are banned on American television.

1979 – Normal diplomatic relations are established between the People's Republic of China and the United States.

1983 – The ARPANET officially changes to using TCP/IP, the Internet Protocol, effectively creating the Internet.

1984 – The original American Telephone & Telegraph Company is divested of its 22 Bell System companies as a result of the settlement of the 1974 United States Department of Justice antitrust suit against AT&T.

1984 – Brunei becomes independent of the United Kingdom.[76]

1985 – The first British mobile phone call is made by Michael Harrison to his father Sir Ernest Harrison, chairman of Vodafone.

1987 – The Isleta Pueblo tribe elect Verna Williamson to be their first female governor.

1990 – David Dinkins is sworn in as New York City's first black mayor.

1994 – The Zapatista Army of National Liberation initiates twelve days of armed conflict in the Mexican state of Chiapas.

1994 – The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) comes into effect.

1995 – The World Trade Organization comes into being.

Births

1735 – Paul Revere, American silversmith and engraver (d. 1818)

1752 – Betsy Ross, American seamstress, credited with designing the Flag of the United States (d. 1836)

1879 – E. M. Forster, English author and playwright (d. 1970)

1889 – Charles Bickford, American actor (d. 1967)

1895 – J. Edgar Hoover, American law enforcement official; 1st Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (d. 1972)

1900 – Xavier Cugat, Spanish-American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1990)

1911 – Hank Greenberg, American baseball player (d. 1986)

1912 – Kim Philby, British spy (d. 1988)

1919 – J. D. Salinger, American soldier and author (d. 2010)

1923 – Milt Jackson, American jazz vibraphonist and composer (d. 1999)

1929 – Larry L. King, American journalist, author, and playwright (d. 2012)

1934 – Alan Berg, American lawyer and radio host (d. 1984

1938 – Frank Langella, American actor

1942 – Country Joe McDonald, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1943 – Don Novello, American comedian, screenwriter and producer

1958 – Grandmaster Flash, Barbadian rapper and DJ