Euro cash enters circulation in twelve European Union countries, replacing national currencies such as the franc, the Deutsche Mark and the lira.
The North American Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico takes effect, creating one of the world's largest trade blocs.
ARPANET officially switches to the TCP/IP protocol suite, often regarded as the birth of the modern Internet.
Dictator Fulgencio Batista flees Cuba and revolutionary forces led by Fidel Castro take power.
Sun Yat-sen is inaugurated as provisional president in Nanjing, founding Asia's first republic.
Six British colonies united to form the Commonwealth of Australia, with Edmund Barton as its first prime minister.
President Lincoln proclaims freedom for enslaved people in the Confederate states in rebellion.
Jean-Jacques Dessalines proclaims Haiti's independence, making it the second independent nation in the Americas and the first republic founded by formerly enslaved people.