- 1992 – The ESPN Radio Network was officially launched.
- 1992 – In Kuala, Lumpur, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Petronas Towers took place.
- 1993 – Czechoslovakia split into two separate states, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The peaceful division had been engineered in 1992.
- 1994 – Bill Gates, Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft and Melinda French were married.
- 1994 – The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect.
- 1995 – Frederick West, an alleged killer of 12 women and girls, was found hanged in his jail cell in Winston Green prison, in Birmingham. West had been under almost continuous watch since his arrest in 1994, but security had reportedly been relaxed in the months preceding the apparent suicide.
- 1995 – The World Trade Organization came into existence. The group of 125 nations monitors global trade.
- 1998 – A new anti-smoking law went into effect in California. The law prohibiting people from lighting up in bars.
- 1999 – The euro became currency for 11 Member States of the European Union. Coins and notes were not available until January 1, 2002.
- 1999 – In California, a law went into effect that defined “invasion of privacy as trespassing with the intent to capture audio or video images of a celebrity or crime victim engaging in a personal of family activity.”
- 2001 – The “Texas 7,” rented space in an RV park in Woodland Park, CO.
- 2007 – Binney & Smith Company became Crayola LLC under its parent company Hallmark.
- 2009 – Sixty-six people die in a nightclub fire in Bangkok, Thailand.
- 2010 – A suicide car bomber detonates at a volleyball tournament in Lakki Marwat, Pakistan, killing 105 and injuring 100 more.
- 2011 – A bomb explodes as Coptic Christians in Alexandria, Egypt, leave a new year service, killing 23 people.
- 2011 – Estonia officially adopts the Euro currency and becomes the 17th Eurozone country.
- 2013 – At least 60 people are killed and 200 injured in a stampede after celebrations at Félix Houphouët-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
- 2015 – The Eurasian Economic Union comes into effect, creating a political and economic union between Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan
- 2017 – An attack on a nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey, during New Year’s celebrations, kills at least 39 people and injures more than 60 others
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Zsolt Baumgartner, Hungarian racing driver
- 1981 – Mladen Petrić, Croatian footballer
- 1982 – David Nalbandian, Argentinian tennis player
- 1982 – Egidio Arévalo Ríos, Uruguayan footballer
- 1983 – Melaine Walker, Jamaican hurdler
- 1983 – Park Sung-hyun, South Korean archer
- 1983 – Calum Davenport, English footballer
- 1984 – Paolo Guerrero, Peruvian footballer
- 1984 – Michael Witt, Australian rugby league player
- 1985 – Steven Davis, Northern Irish footballer
- 1985 – Tiago Splitter, Brazilian basketball player
- 1986 – Pablo Cuevas, Uruguayan tennis player
- 1986 – Ramses Barden, American football player
- 1986 – Colin Morgan, Northern Irish actor
- 1987 – Meryl Davis, American ice dancer
- 1987 – Patric Hörnqvist, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1988 – Marcel Gecov, Czech footballer
- 1989 – Jason Pierre-Paul, American football player
- 1990 – Julia Glushko, Israeli tennis player
- 1991 – Darius Slay, American football player
- 1991 – Xavier Su’a-Filo, American football player
- 1992 – Nathaniel Peteru, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1994 – Brendan Elliot, Australian rugby league player
- 1997 – Keegan Hipgrave, Australian rugby league player
- 1998 – Patrick Carrigan, Australian rugby league player