On January 1, Ellis Island opened its gates to the world as New Horizons reached the farthest object ever visited by a spacecraft.
January 1 in History
New Horizons Reaches Arrokoth, Farthest Object Ever Visited by Spacecraft
The NASA probe's flyby of the icy Kuiper Belt object opens a new window into the solar system's ancient past.
The outer solar system now has a new frontier. NASA's New Horizons spacecraft flew past the trans-Neptunian object Arrokoth on Tuesday, making it the most distant world ever visited by a human-made probe — 43.4 astronomical units from the Sun.
The encounter, which occurred at 12:33 a.m. Eastern time, capped a $700 million mission spanning 15 years. New Horizons launched from Cape Canaveral atop an Atlas V rocket on Jan. 19, 2006, at a blistering 16.26 km/s relative to the Sun, the fastest launch speed ever achieved. It had already become the first spacecraft to explore a dwarf planet when it swept within 12,500 km of Pluto on July 14, 2015.
Arrokoth is a classical Kuiper Belt object, one of countless icy bodies in low-eccentricity orbits clustered near 44 AU. Scientists believe these objects are pristine remnants from the solar system's formation 4.6 billion years ago, preserved in deep freeze. The flyby data, transmitted across billions of miles of space, will take 20 months to arrive in full.
Principal investigator Alan Stern called the achievement "a milestone in human exploration" during a post-flyby briefing at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. The probe remains healthy and is now speeding deeper into the Kuiper Belt.
Ellis Island Opens Its Gates to the World
The new immigration station in New York Harbor begins processing the first of 12 million souls who would shape America.
Ellis Island, the historic gateway that processed millions of immigrants to the United States — Carol M. Highsmith
In an age of steam and steel, when millions across Europe sought escape from poverty and persecution, a new gateway rose in New York Harbor. On the first day of 1892, the immigration station on Ellis Island opened its doors, beginning an operation that would process nearly 12 million immigrants to the United States over the next six decades.
The first arrivals passed through the red-brick and limestone building on a Tuesday morning, examined by doctors and clerks before being admitted to the New World. The station replaced an earlier facility at Castle Garden, overwhelmed by the tide of humanity that had been washing ashore for decades.
The island itself was modest — just a few sandy acres before federal officials began expanding it through land reclamation. Between the late 1890s and 1930, the footprint grew to 27.5 acres. A fire destroyed the original inspection building in 1897, but a larger, fireproof replacement rose in its place.
World Trade Organization Takes Over From GATT
The new Geneva-based body inherits 47 years of trade liberalization as it begins supervising global commerce.
The World Trade Organization came into being Sunday, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade as the principal forum for international trade talks. The new body, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, began operations under the terms of the Marrakesh Agreement signed by 123 nations on April 15, 1994.
WTO officials said the organization inherits the GATT's 47-year legacy of tariff reductions and trade liberalization, but with a far broader mandate. The GATT, signed by 23 nations in Geneva on Oct. 30, 1947, and applied provisionally from Jan. 1, 1948, focused primarily on goods. The WTO will also oversee trade in services, intellectual property, and dispute resolution.
The new organization counts 166 members representing more than 98 percent of global trade and global GDP. Director-General Renato Ruggiero, a former Italian trade minister, said Sunday that the WTO "provides a permanent and legally enforceable framework" for the rules-based trading system. The Uruguay Round, which concluded in Marrakesh, took seven years to negotiate and produced 26,000 pages of agreements.
New Daily Paper Debuts in London
John Walter launches The Daily Universal Register, a venture built on a new typesetting patent.
A new newspaper appeared on London streets this morning. The Daily Universal Register, founded by John Walter, began publication on the first day of 1785 from a printing house on Printing House Square.
Walter acquired the patent for logography, a typesetting system that uses entire words rather than individual letters, and built his paper around that innovation. The venture is a bold bet on mechanical efficiency in an industry still dominated by hand-set type.
The paper, which will later adopt the shorter title The Times, enters a crowded market. But Walter's investment in the logographic process could give it a speed advantage over competitors. By 1815, the paper would achieve a circulation of 5,000, and by 1854 that figure would grow to 51,200.
Friedrich Koenig's steam-driven cylinder press, which would begin printing the paper in 1814, later revolutionized newspaper production. William Howard Russell's dispatches from the Crimean War would make the paper's name synonymous with independent reporting.
New Star Discovered by Palermo Astronomer
Giuseppe Piazzi identifies a moving celestial body on New Year's Day.
Signor Giuseppe Piazzi, astronomer at the Royal Observatory of Palermo, discovered a new star on the first day of January 1801. He initially mistook the object for a fixed star, but soon observed its motion across the heavens. Piazzi has named the body Ceres, after the Roman goddess of agriculture and motherly love. His findings, published under the title 'Risultati delle osservazioni della nuova stella, scoperta il dì 1. Gennaio all'Osservatorio Reale di Palermo', describe it as a new star. The discovery promises to enrich our knowledge of the celestial spheres. Piazzi tracked Ceres for several weeks before illness interrupted his observations. The object's orbit, he calculates, lies between those of Mars and Jupiter. European astronomers await his full data to verify the discovery.
Newton's New Hymn Sung at Olney
'Amazing Grace' debuts in a prayer meeting on New Year's Day.
The congregation at Olney, in Buckinghamshire, heard a new hymn on New Year's Day. The Reverend John Newton wrote the verses to illustrate his sermon. It is set to a familiar tune and will be sung at future services. The hymn is titled "Sovereign Grace."
Bach's Festive Cantata Premieres in Leipzig
Trumpet fanfares mark the New Year's Day performance of 'Jesu, nun sei gepreiset'.
The Leipzig congregation heard a stirring new work on New Year's Day. Johann Sebastian Bach led the Thomanerchor in the first performance of his chorale cantata 'Jesu, nun sei gepreiset'. Cantor Bach composed the cantata for the Feast of the Circumcision. The work's text is drawn from the familiar hymn by Johann Heermann.
Britain's Railways Nationalised as British Railways
The Big Four companies become part of a single state-owned transport system.
The era of private railway companies in Britain ended today with the birth of British Railways. Transport Minister Alfred Barnes said the unified system would improve efficiency and end the wasteful competition of the old companies.
Jannus Pilots World's First Scheduled Airline Flight
Antony H. Jannus guided the St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line's inaugural flight before 3,000 spectators.
Antony H. Jannus today piloted the first scheduled flight of the St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line, the world's first scheduled airline using a winged aircraft. The Benoist airboat carried one passenger, former St.
Norfolk in Ashes: British and Whig Forces Combine to Destroy Town
Lord Dunmore's order to burn Norfolk, Virginia, on January 1, 1776, left the port town in ruins.
The town of Norfolk, Virginia, was burned and destroyed by the combined actions of British and Whig forces on the first day of January, 1776. Lord Dunmore gave the order for the conflagration after the Third Virginia Convention refused to disband its militia or accept martial law. Whig troops completed the destruction, firing homes to deny the British shelter. Hundreds of families were left homeless by the blaze.
Importation of Slaves Banned by U.S. Law
The Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves took effect today, ending the legal slave trade from abroad.
The importation of slaves into the United States was officially banned today, as the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves took effect on January 1, 1808, the earliest date permitted by the Constitution. President Thomas Jefferson promoted the legislation, calling for its enactment in his 1806 State of the Union address. Ships caught violating the ban face seizure and fines. The law does not affect the domestic slave trade.
