On This Day: January 3rd

Joseph Jenkins Roberts is sworn in as the first president of Liberia.

Captain James Onslow, in the Clio, reasserts British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.

Austria, the United Kingdom, and France form a secret defensive alliance against Prussia and Russia.

American Revolutionary War: American forces under General George Washington defeat British forces at the Battle of Princeton, helping boost patriot morale.

Benning Wentworth issues the first of the New Hampshire Grants, leading to the establishment of Vermont.

The first issue of Berlingske, Denmark's oldest continually operating newspaper, is published.

By the Coonan Cross Oath, the Eastern Church in India cuts itself off from colonial Portuguese tutelage.

Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.

Emperor Decius orders everyone in the Roman Empire (except Jews) to make sacrifices to the Roman gods.

The Roman legions on the Rhine refuse to declare their allegiance to Galba, instead proclaiming their legate, Aulus Vitellius, as emperor.