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Can you name the significant events that occurred on January 1?
created by
LTH
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This Day in History: January
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Year
Answer
Clue
404
The last of these games takes place in Rome
1502
Portuguese navigators discover Guanabara Bay, the site that would become this large South American city
1735
Birth of the American patriot who would one day make a famous midnight ride
1788
The England newspaper known as the Daily Universal Register officially changes its name to this
1804
This Caribbean nation gains independence from France
1818
The White House reopens after the British burned it down during this war
1831
This man publishes the first issue of his abolitionist newspaper 'The Liberator'
1840
The first recorded US match of this game is played at Knickerbocker Alleys in New York City
1847
This state is the first to abolish capital punishment
1863
Abraham Lincoln issues this historic document outlawing slavery
1880
French construction on this massive project begins, but is later abandoned only to be resumed by the United States 24 years later
1892
This location becomes the center for US immigration, where over 12 million people would pass through in 62 years of operation
1895
The first director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is born
1899
Spanish rule ends in Cuba as a result of this war
1907
A world record is set when this president shakes hands with 8,513 people
1908
New York City starts a New Year's tradition with the dropping of the ball at this location
Year
Answer
Clue
1919
Author of 'The Catcher in the Rye' is born
1928
The first air-conditioned high-rise office building opens in this Texas city
1934
This former San Francisco military fortress becomes a federal prison
1942
The Rose Bowl game between Oregon State and Duke is played in this East Coast state due to fears of Japanese attack
1946
Japanese Emperor Hirohito publicly declares that he is not this
1956
This African nation achieves independence from the UK and Egypt
1960
This musician plays the first of many free concerts behind bars, this time at San Quentin
1968
This daredevil is seriously injured when he fails in his attempt to jump the fountain at Caesar's Palace
1971
At 11:59 pm, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson broadcasts the last TV commercial for this product before a ban goes into effect
1975
John Mitchell, John Ehrlichman and H. R. Haldeman are convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and perjury in the fallout of this scandal
1977
Jacqueline Means is the first woman to be officially ordained by this church
1994
Wedding bells ring when Bill Gates marries this Dallas woman
1995
Cartoonist Gary Larson brings this comic strip to a close after 15 years of publication
2000
The world's computer system does NOT come crashing down due to this event, despite all the sensationalism
2002
This currency becomes official in twelve countries
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54 comments
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(Warning: comments may contain spoilers)
January 1st Quiz
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:
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Created by
:
LTH
-
Contributed
: December 20th, 2009
Published
: January 1st, 2010
Category
:
History
Plays
: 58,044
Tags:
date
,
1st
,
january
,
world history pack
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Archived comments:
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sporcl_er
:
Dec 21st, 2009 at 16:48 GMT
2 points
Maybe accept Episcopalian as well. I typed that so quickly that I guess it didn't take Episcopal and I didn't try it simplistically.
Game published: Jan 1st, 2010 at 04:18 GMT
American
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 04:21 GMT
19 points
Happy New Year Sporclians!
MovieDynamic
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 04:31 GMT
-4 points
WOW!!! A new decade? Can you peeps believe it?!
DLJessup
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 04:42 GMT
14 points
Er, the official name of the newspaper is *not* the "London Times"; it is simply "The Times", and that should be accepted as an answer.
ef232623
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 05:15 GMT
10 points
It should be noted, because this is very much an educational website, that the Emancipation Proclamation did not abolish slavery. Many were freed; however, most remained enslaved because of the Proclamation's direct application to states where the Union had no control. I would highly suggest rewording the applicable clue in this quiz. Great job, by the way:)
Djibouti
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 05:18 GMT
2 points
One of these days, the historians of the world need to come together in a giant conference and declare that 1 BC is now officially 0 AD, thus ending the "when does a decade start?" debate
smarty
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 05:21 GMT
14 points
1901, australia becomes a sovereign federation
steeltown
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 05:33 GMT
18 points
*^@%$)*# on how to spell the motorcycle daredevil's name!
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kulzen24
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 05:42 GMT
-6 points
William Lloyd Garrison is the least guessed? Very surprising to me.
eln77
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 06:48 GMT
11 points
I wish people would stop dismissing the Y2K threat as sensationalism. Certainly, the idea of a total worldwide apocalypse was absurd, but the threat of the Y2K bug was very real. The Y2K threat was neutralized due to the tireless work of thousands of IT professionals over the course of more than 2 years. Had the money and effort not been spent to fix it, it would have been a much bigger problem than it turned out to be.
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kingstony
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 07:12 GMT
-13 points
Why can't you just call it 2000 instead of trying to be clever. Oh, and by the way eln77, you were led up the garden path.
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tonicX2000
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 08:46 GMT
-24 points
shouldn't "smoking" work?
Havok3595
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 12:15 GMT
6 points
@Djibouti: I think the real solution to the whole decade debacle is to say that the calendar year number is pretty arbitrary anyway, so cultures should be able to define decades however they see fit. People who protest the nine year decade (during which the current calendar didn't exist) should be aware that any accounting of time on this planet is not going to fit cleanly if taken all the way back, since we still can't agree on the date of creation.
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McNeal
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 13:02 GMT
-8 points
Anyone else try to spell Rio thinking of how Bugs Bunny pronounces it?
MeltedMan
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 13:50 GMT
6 points
@eln77; Ok, so maybe the computer glitch was real but it was over hyped.I knew several people that bought extra gas, bottled water, food, and ammo. All this to prepare for y2k. Of course now they don't admit to doing it.
mamalegs
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 13:51 GMT
-1 points
Happy New Year to the clearest thinking one of the above (McNeal). Aw...what the heck - Happy New Year to all of ya! (and lighten up - it's the only way to get through the day...year..decade)
jrchappell
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 15:00 GMT
0 points
Accept some variations on Evel Knievel's names, especially if you accept simply "Melinda" for Bill Gates' wife.
kdt2009
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 15:47 GMT
10 points
1812 should be ok for "war of" as "war" is in the question.
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polar_bear
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 16:18 GMT
-11 points
Very informative quiz, thanks! I think new millennium should be accepted as an answer in addition to Y2K though. I struggled...
eln77
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 16:27 GMT
5 points
@MeltedMan: Oh I agree, it was definitely overhyped. My issue is how people these days act like it was never any kind of problem at all. None of us in the industry really thought it was going to be the end of the world (except those who were making money selling books to that effect), but we knew it wasn't just something to waste money on either.
JayZed
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 16:36 GMT
7 points
First question is a bit misleading. "Gladiator Games" was not the name of the event.
mcory
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 16:54 GMT
0 points
I thought Hirohito publicly declared that he was not gay.
smart_mom
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 17:31 GMT
9 points
Couldn't spell Knievel to save my life...
Grandy
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 17:42 GMT
1 point
Great quiz to welcome in a new year! Thanks for jogging our memories.
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GoldenBo
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 17:57 GMT
-13 points
1st!!!!!!! heh
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davepro14
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 18:00 GMT
-23 points
Perhaps simply "Rio" could be accepted?
chikka2
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 18:05 GMT
-1 points
we're finally going to be able to say "twenty" instead of "two thousand". HNY everyone
dicko
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 18:22 GMT
4 points
ten pin bowling not accepted??? In UK bowling covers more than one sport........ and we called Y2K the "Millennium bug". usa is not the only place where things happen
maineflavor
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 18:26 GMT
-4 points
This quiz was easier than I thought it would be...
beth61
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 19:26 GMT
11 points
To provide context for the many Sporcle users outside the US, I suggest changing "This state is the first to abolish capital punishment" to "This US state...". And thanks for a great quiz!
kagomeshuko
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 19:42 GMT
1 point
Good quiz.
shnubby
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 20:43 GMT
5 points
The Emancipation Proclamation was issued in September of 1862. On Jan 1st, 1863 it went into effect, which ef#### already pointed out was not much.
MagsYoLove
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 21:56 GMT
2 points
Brilliant quiz! I like the wide range of topics and countries covered.
LAD1992
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 22:33 GMT
-2 points
8/31 isn't bad seeing as most of them are to do with America...
LaTriviata
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 23:02 GMT
-2 points
It would be nice if millennium bug could be accepted. I wasn't aware of the term Y2K.
beforever
:
Jan 1st, 2010 at 23:16 GMT
14 points
364 more quizzes to come...
Krzysztof
:
Jan 2nd, 2010 at 00:51 GMT
4 points
I agree with the "war of 1812" - it's not a linguistics quiz and for people who don't live in US (or any other English speaking country) it's not that easy to figure out the exact name commonly used in the US culture. For example, I tried simply "1812" and "1812 war" and gave up, the same for the other war, I tried "US Spain war" then "US Spanish war". Happy New Year to everybody!
caramba
:
Jan 2nd, 2010 at 01:37 GMT
2 points
Much more timely than my December 16th quiz every was! (c'mon people - Dec 16th! That special day, that wonderful anniversary of...oh I give up!)
briantravelman
:
Jan 2nd, 2010 at 01:41 GMT
4 points
Good game! Very origiinal!
LAD1992
:
Jan 2nd, 2010 at 04:35 GMT
3 points
I find something very interesting- whenever you say anything bad about america on this site you get a billion -'s.... even when it's true...
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