Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/January 3
This is a list of selected January 3 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial or on a day that is or will soon be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only four to five events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is generally not posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled featured article, featured list or picture of the day.
To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
January 3: Perihelion (19:00 UTC, 2011)
- 1521 – Pope Leo X issued the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem, excommunicating Martin Luther from the Roman Catholic Church after Luther refused to retract 41 of his 95 theses.
- 1833 – With the arrival of three British naval ships at the Falkland Islands, the United Kingdom was able to re-assert sovereignty there.
- 1848 – Joseph Jenkins Roberts (pictured) began his term as the first President of Liberia.
- 1938 – The American health charity March of Dimes was founded as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis to help raise money for polio research.
- 1957 – The Hamilton Watch Company introduced the world's first electric watch.
- 1959 – As a result of the Alaska Statehood Act, the Alaska Territory became the 49th U.S. state, and the first outside of the 48 contiguous states.