Akihito ascends throne
1989 - Crown Prince Akihito was enthroned as Japan’s 125th Emperor in a brief traditional ritual in Tokyo following the death of his father emperor Hirohito. The four-minute ceremony took place in the Pine Tree room of the Imperial Palace and was attended by more than two dozen members of the imperial family as well as government and parliamentary leaders. The rites took place within three and a half hours of the death of Emperor Hirohito from duodenal cancer at the age of 87. The ceremony comprised handing over the three insignia of the imperial throne — the sacred sword and jewel, the seal of state and the seal of the emperor. After Akihito received the insignia from Grand Chamberlain Satoru Yamamoto, the rites were completed.
January 7
1610 - The astronomer Galileo Galilei sees four of Jupiter’s moons.
1714 - British inventor Henry Mill is granted a patent for the first typewriter.
1782 - The first commercial American bank, the Bank of North America, opens.
1789 - The first US presidential election is held.
1894 - A patent for motion picture film is granted to W.K. Dickson.
1913 - A cracking process to obtain gasoline from crude oil is patented in the US.
1927 - Commercial trans-Atlantic telephone service is inaugurated between New York and London.
1931 - Guy Menzies flies the first solo non-stop trans-Tasman flight (from Australia to New Zealand) in 11 hours and 45 minutes.
1953 - US President Harry Truman announces the development of the hydrogen bomb.
1959 - US recognises Fidel Castro’s Cuban government.
1968 - Surveyor 7 space probe makes a soft landing on the moon.
1972 - India resists US pressure and grants full diplomatic recognition to China.
1979 - Vietnamese forces capture the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.
1997 - British tycoon Richard Branson and two co-pilots soar slowly skyward in a giant balloon on a “great adventure”, hoping to be the first balloonists to fly round the world.
1998 - Oil tanker sinks in Ajman.
1999 - The US Senate opens the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton, first such trial in 130 years.
2009 - John Atta-Mills is sworn in as President of Ghana.
2015 - At least 12 people are killed in shootings at the office of satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo in eastern Paris, France.
