January 3rd

1st clamshell flip mobile phone, the Motorola StarTAC, goes on sale. Eventually 60 million are sold.

Millions of people from the former Apartheid Homelands gain South African citizenship. The apartheid regime had stripped the black inhabitants of the right to citizenship to ensure a white majority of the de jure population.

The second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START II) is signed. The U.S.A. and Russia agreed to reduce the number of nuclear warheads by about 3,000.

Manuel Noriega surrendered to U.S. forces.

Aretha Franklin became the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Israel government confirms resettlement of 10,000 Ethiopian Jews.

Apple Computer, Inc incorporates.

Jack Ruby, the man who shot John Kennedy's assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, died.

Pope John XXIII excommunicated Fidel Castro.

The United States breaks diplomatic relations with Cuba. In April 1961, the U.S. government launched an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the Cuban government by invading the country at the bay of pigs.

Alaska became the 49th state in the United States.

Sir Edmund Hillary reached the South Pole overland.

The first electric watch is available. The Hamilton Electric 500 came in “modern” asymmetrical designs to reflect the revolutionary technology.

Congressional proceedings were televised for the first time.

Benito Mussolini dissolves Italian parliament/becomes dictator.

The New York Yankees acquired Babe Ruth and so began the 'curse of the Bambino' that haunted the Boston Red Sox until 2004.

Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge began.

Britain seized control of the Falkland Islands.

General George Washington's revolutionary army defeats British forces at Battle of Princeton, NJ.

Martin Luther excommunicated by Pope Leo X from the Roman Catholic Church.

Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tests a flying machine.