On this day: January 1
Ellis Island Opens: America’s New Year’s Gate of Hope and Fear
On January 1, 1892, Ellis Island officially opened in New York Harbor, marking the beginning of what would become one of the most consequential immigration gateways in modern history.
The “blood rain” over Italy
In early January 1801, residents across parts of Italy reported a phenomenon so disturbing that it immediately ignited fear
Hitler’s New Year’s Warning
On January 1, 1939, Adolf Hitler delivered a New Year’s address that, in hindsight, reads less like political rhetoric and more like a blunt prelude to catastrophe.