On this day: January 1
POSTED: 01:21 PM PST Dec 31, 2012
UPDATED: 11:00 PM PST Dec 31, 2012
Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation, Ellis Island opens, the Rose Bowl becomes the first college bowl game, Hank Williams dies, and the Y2K panic fizzles out, all on this day.
Luis Korda/Wikimedia Commons
1959: Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista is overthrown by Fidel Castro's forces during the Cuban Revolution. Batista immediately flees the island with an amassed personal fortune to the Dominican Republic and eventually finds political asylum in Portugal. Castro (right) is seen here with fellow revolutionary Camilo Cienfuegos entering Havana on Jan. 8, 1959.
