On January 3, 1959, Alaska became America’s forty-ninth state. Read the Alaskan Statehood Act, which was passed by Congress and signed by then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower during the preceding year.

On January 2, 1920, over 500 government agents acting on the direction of US Attorney General Mitchell Palmer carried out a massive counter-terror operation in 33 US cities, arresting between six and ten thousand aliens suspected of Communism, radicalism and anarchism. The “Palmer Raids” and the detentions and deportation proceedings that followed them were denounced [...]

On January 2, 1942, twenty-eight countries formally agreed not to make peace with the Axis Powers separately. At the time, all twenty-eight were fighting against the Axis as Allies in World War II. The agreement was part of the Declaration by the United Nations, signed the previous day. In December of 1941, U.S. President Franklin [...]

On January 1, 1863, US President Abraham Lincoln issued the final version of the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in states in rebellion against the Union. Lincoln had issued a previous version in September 1862, warning of the January action. Learn more about the Emancipation Proclamation.

On January 1, 1958, the European Community (EC), the predecessor to the European Union (EU), was created when the Treaty of Rome officially went into effect. This represented the culmination of efforts since the end of World War II to closely tie the nations of Europe as a way of preventing future wars. The original [...]

On December 31, 1862, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signed legislation, creating the State of West Virginia. The Bill split the western section of Virginia from the rest of the state, which had left the Union to join the Confederacy. However, West Virginia was not granted formal statehood until this legislation took effect on June 20, [...]

On December 31, 1970, Paul McCartney filed suit in London to dissolve the Beatles’ artistic and commercial partnership. Read a detailed legal analysis of Paul’s case against John, George and Ringo.

On December 30, 1922, representatives of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and the Transcaucus approved the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR and the Declaration of the Creation of the USSR, creating the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). During World War II, the USSR would also annex Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Moldova. Learn more about [...]

On December 30, 1952, the Tuskegee Institute reported that 1952 was the first year of no lynchings of African Americans in the United States in the 71 years it had kept records. Learn more about lynching and listen to Billie Holiday’s jazz recording of the 1938 protest song Strange Fruit.

On December 29, 1845, Texas became the twenty-eighth state to join the United States of America when US President James K. Polk signed the Ordinance of Annexation. Texas had a complicated path to statehood because it had formerly been part of Mexico and then an independent republic. The US Congress passed the Annexation of the [...]