TODAY IN HISTORY

January 1

1863:Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

1908:The ball signifying the New Year was dropped for the first time at Times Square in New York City.

1914:The world's first airline, St. Petersburg Tampa Airboat Line, starts operation in St. Petersburg, Florida.

1959:Fidel Castro and his revolutionaries took over Cuba and toppled Fulgencio Batista's regime.

1975:John Mitchell, H. R. Haldeman, and John Ehrlichman were convicted of obstruction of justice in the Watergate affair.

1993:Czechoslovakia peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

1994:The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect.

2002:Euro coins and notes went into circulation in twelve European nations.