1 January in Indian and World History is celebrated, observed, and remembered for various reasons. 1 January is the birth anniversary of Sampurnanand, Mahadev Haribhai Desai, Satyendra Nath Bose, Maniram Bagrim, Kashinath Singh, Dr. Rahat Indori, Vishwanath Patekar, Salman Khurshid Alam Khan, and Vidya Balan.
1 January is also observed as the death anniversary of Hemchand Dasgupta, Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar, and Dara Nusserwanji Khurode.
Birth Anniversary
1 January in Indian history is celebrated as the birth anniversary of the following personalities:
Sampurnanand (1 January 1889 – 10 January 1969), a famous freedom fighter and politician, who was also the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and the Governor of Rajasthan. He was a skilled and fearless politician and a writer and teacher with all-around talent. He had deep penetration in history, mythology, philosophy, politics, sociology, etc. He also had a great interest in spiritual subjects. He was a person of socialist ideas and in 1934 he was also a major hand along with Acharya Narendra Dev in the formation of the ‘Samajwadi Party’ within the Congress. He was born on 1 January 1889 in Varanasi.
Mahadev Haribhai Desai (1 January 1892 – 15 August 1942), a famous freedom fighter. He was the trusted secretary of the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi, Mahadev Desai participated in Champaran Satyagraha, Bardoli Satyagraha, and Salt Satyagraha, and during this time he was arrested. He was born on 1 January 1892.
Satyendra Nath Bose (1 January 1894 – 4 February 1974), a famous mathematician and physicist. There are two types of molecules in physics – bosons, and fermions. Of these, the boson is named after Satyendra Nath Bose. He was born on 1 January 1894 in Kolkata.
Maniram Bagri (1 January 1920 – 31 January 2012), a well-known leader of socialist thought, was a member of parliament for three terms (2nd, 6th, and 7th) Lok Sabha. Maniram Bagri, who belonged to a simple family, always fought for his class. Be it the ‘Mujara Andolan’ or the movement of teachers, farmers, and workers, he had active participation in all. He was born on 1 January 1920 in Hisar, Haryana.
Kashinath Singh, a well-known scholar, story writer, and novelist of Hindi. In the year 2011, he was selected for the Sahitya Akademi Award for the Hindi novel ‘Rehan Par Raghu’. He was born on 1 January 1937.
Dr. Rahat Indori (1 January 1950 – 11 August 2020), a famous Urdu poet and lyricist of Hindi films. Very few people know that Rahat Indori used to write songs for Bollywood as well. He was also a former professor and painter of the Urdu language. The slogan of Hindustani Tehzeeb was high in the poetry of Rahat Indori, who ruled the hearts of the listeners for a long time. He was born on 1 January 1950.
Vishwanath Patekar, better known as Nana Patekar, is an actor, writer, and filmmaker, mainly working in Hindi and Marathi cinema. He was given the Padma Shri award for his dedication in the field of Films and Arts in 2013 on the eve of 64th Republic Day. He was born on 1 January 1951 in Murud-Janjira, Raigad District, Bombay State, India.
Salman Khurshid Alam Khan, an Indian politician, designated senior advocate, eminent author, and a law teacher. He was the Cabinet Minister of the Ministry of External Affairs. He belongs to the Indian National Congress. Salman Khurshid was born on 1 January 1953.
Vidya Balan, an Indian actress who works predominantly in Hindi cinema. She is the recipient of several awards, including a National Film Award and six Filmfare Awards. She was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2014. Vidya Balan was born on 1 January 1979.
Read More: 31 December in Indian and World History
Death Anniversary
1 January in Indian history is observed as the death anniversary of the following personalities:
Hemchand Dasgupta (1878 – 1 January 1933), a famous geologist. He had made an important contribution in the development of the ‘Indian Science Congress. Hemchand Dasgupta was also one of the founders of the ‘Geological Mining and Metallurgical Society of India’. He died on 1 January 1933.
Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar (21 February 1894 – 1 January 1955), a renowned Indian scientist who was the Director of the Industrial Research Council. He made an invaluable contribution to the establishment of national laboratories. He died on1 January 1955.
Dara Nusserwanji Khurode (2 January 1906 – 1 January 1983), a noted Indian entrepreneur, known for his contributions to India’s milk industry. He worked in many private and government organizations at the beginning of his career. Later, he also served in many governments’ high posts. D. N. Khurode also served as the Milk Commissioner of Mumbai from 1946 to 1952. In the 1950s in India, their name became synonymous with dairy. In the year 1963, D.N. Khurode was presented the Ramon Magsaysay Award jointly with Verghese Kurien. The Government of India honored him with ‘Padma Bhushan’ in 1964. He died on 1 January 1983.
Read More: 30 December in Indian and World History
Notable events on 1 January in Indian and World history
1 January 1515 – Jews were expelled from the Laibach region of Australia.
1 January 1651 – Charles II Stuart became King of Scotland.
1 January 1600 – In Scotland, the new year started on January 1 instead of March 25.
1 January 1664 – Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj started the Surat campaign.
1 January 1738 – A peace agreement between Australia and France was signed.
1 January 1772 – After the death of Peshwa Madhav Rao I, his younger brother Narayan Rao took the throne.
1 January 1785 – The first issue of the Daily Universal Register (Times of London) was published.
1 January 1808 – The African country of Sierra Leone became a British colony.
1 January 1833 – The Treaty of Jonhoven between Belgium and Holland was signed.
1 January 1877 – Queen Victoria of England became the Empress of India.
1 January 1880 – The money order system was introduced in the country.
1 January 1906 – The British government accepted the Indian standard.
1 January 1912 – The Republic of China was established.
1 January 1915 – Mahatma Gandhi was awarded the Kesar-e-Hind by the Viceroy for his work in South Africa.
1 January 1918 – The northeastern European country of Latvia declared independence from Russia.
1 January 1919 – Ihsan Abdel Kouddous, Egyptian journalist and author, was born.
1 January 1928 – The first air-conditioned office in America opened in San Antonio.
1 January 1937 – Vinod Kumar Shukla, a modern Hindi writer known for his style that often borders on magic-realism, was born.
1 January 1937 – Kashinath Singh, an Indian writer and scholar of Hindi language, was born.
1 January 1948 – The Constitution of Italy came into existence.
1 January 1948 – Five hundred people drowned when the steamer ‘Narayani’ crashed near Patna, the capital of Bihar.
1 January 1949 – The ceasefire in Kashmir was announced.
1 January 1952 – Uday Prakash, a Hindi poet, scholar, journalist, translator, was born.
1 January 1971 – The broadcast of cigarette advertisements on television was banned.
1 January 1972 – the tiger was chosen as the national animal.
1 January 1973 – General Manik Shaw was made Field Marshal.
1 January 1978 – Air India’s Boeing 747 was a victim of an accident. All 213 people were killed.
1 January 1985 – Military training was declared mandatories for all civilians by the Libyan government.
1 January 1992 – India and Pakistan exchanged lists of their nuclear installations for the first time.
1 January 1994 – North Africa became a commercial-free trade agreement (NAFTA).
1 January 1995 – The World Trade Organization came into existence.
1 January 1996 – Singapore became the second developed country in Asia after Japan.
1 January 2001 – Calcutta was officially renamed Kolkata.
1 January 2003 – Giorgio Gaber, an Italian singer, composer, actor, and playwright, died.
1 January 2003 – Elena Lacková, a Slovak Romani writer and playwright, died.
1 January 2009 – 61 people died in a fire at a nightclub in Thailand’s capital Bangkok.
1 January 2013 – The US space agency NASA sent the Maven spacecraft to Mars.
On 1 January, we celebrate Global Family Day. It is celebrated as a day of peace and sharing. By considering and promoting the idea that Earth is one Global Family, it aims to unite and spread a message of peace.