Today is Friday, Jan. 1, the 1st day of 2010. There are 364 days left in the year. Today is New Year's Day.
Today's Highlight in History:
On Jan. 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that slaves in rebel states were free.
On this date:
In 1760, the first two volumes of Laurence Sterne's novel "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman" were published in London.
In 1808, a law prohibiting the importation of slaves into the United States went into effect.
In 1890, the first Tournament of Roses was held in Pasadena, Calif.
In 1892, the Ellis Island Immigrant Station in New York formally opened.
In 1953, country singer Hank Williams Sr., 29, was discovered dead in the back seat of his car during a stop in Oak Hill, W.Va. while he was being driven to a concert date in Canton, Ohio.
In 1959, Fidel Castro and his revolutionaries overthrew Cuban leader Fulgencio Batista, who fled to the Dominican Republic.
In 1960, French Cameroun became an independent republic.
In 1984, the breakup of AT&T took place as the telecommunications giant was divested of its 22 Bell System companies under terms of an antitrust agreement.
In 1994, the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect.
In 1999, the euro, the new single currency of 11 European countries (later 16), officially came into existence with the start of the New Year. (The euro became legal tender on this date in 2002.)
Ten years ago: The arrival of 2000 saw no terrorist attacks, Y2K meltdowns or mass suicides among doomsday cults, but did see seven continents stepping joyously and peacefully into the New Year. On his first full day as acting president, Vladimir Putin assured Russians there would be no "vacuum of power" after Boris Yeltsin's surprise resignation. Wisconsin beat Stanford 17-9 to become the first Big Ten team to win consecutive Rose Bowls.
Five years ago: Desperate, homeless villagers on the tsunami-ravaged island of Sumatra mobbed American helicopters carrying aid as the U.S. military launched its largest operation in the region since the Vietnam War. Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to the U.S. Congress, died near Daytona Beach, Fla., at age 80. California Congressman Robert T. Matsui died in Bethesda, Md., at age 63.