On January 4

Sembawang Hot Spring Park in Singapore reopened after being redeveloped by the National Parks Board.

A fire in an escape room in Koszalin, Poland, killed five teenagers.

The Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest structure, officially opened in Dubai.

Nancy Pelosi became Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, becoming the highest-ranking woman in the history of the U.S. government.

Spirit (artist's impression depicted), the first of two rovers of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover mission, successfully landed on Mars.

Two American F-14 Tomcats shot down two Libyan MiG-23 Floggers that appeared to be attempting to engage them over the Gulf of Sidra.

The English punk-rock band Sex Pistols' lewd and disruptive behaviour at Heathrow Airport prompted the record label EMI to end their contract.

Last of the Summer Wine, the longest-running sitcom in the world, premiered as an episode of the BBC's Comedy Playhouse.

Rose Heilbron (pictured) became the first female judge to sit at the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales.

A magnitude-7.1 earthquake occurred in Tonghai County, China, killing at least 15,000 people.

Korean War: Chinese and North Korean troops captured Seoul from United Nations forces.

Billboard published its first music hit parade.

British explorer Aeneas Mackintosh, a member of the Nimrod Expedition, escaped death by fleeing across ice floes.

Solomon Northup (pictured) regained his freedom after having been sold into slavery in the American South; his memoir Twelve Years a Slave later became a bestseller.

After his appointment as Prince of Wallachia, Constantine Hangerli arrived in Bucharest to assume the throne.

Most of London's Palace of Whitehall, the main residence of English monarchs since 1530, was destroyed by fire.