January 01

This is 1st of January. It is day 1 of the year. As of today, there are 364 days left until the end of the year. If you are curious about the historical footprint of Sri Lanka, let us delve into more On This Day events to uncover fascinating tidbits from the nation's history that covers for 365 days.

Today’s Highlight

• 1797 – James Stuart ended his term as Governor of British Ceylon, and Welbore Ellis Doyle took over.
• 1832 – The Colombo Journal, a bi-weekly newspaper, was launched.
• 1845 – The Court of Requests was established.
• 1858 – The first telegraph line in Ceylon, connecting Colombo and Galle, was opened.
• 1872 – The Rupee and Cent currency system was introduced in Ceylon.
• 1873 – The Post Office started handling Money Orders between Ceylon and the United Kingdom.
• 1877 – The Colombo Museum was officially opened.
• 1880 – The Overland Observer, which started in 1840, changed its name to The Ceylon Observer and became a weekly newspaper.
• 1938 – The Ceylon Naval Volunteer Force (CNVF), the reserve navy force of the British colony, was formed.
• 1958 – Anton Muttukumaru was promoted to Major General, becoming the first native Ceylonese to hold the rank in the Ceylon Army.
• 1958 – Sri Lanka established diplomatic relations with Israel.
• 1958 – The Ceylon Transport Board was founded, later becoming the Sri Lanka Transport Board.
• 1979 – The University Grants Commission granted university status to the University of Moratuwa and the Open University.
• 2009 – The Battle of Paranthan ended with the Sri Lankan military gaining control from the LTTE.
• 2021 – Suranga Udari became Sri Lanka’s first deaf female news reporter and the first sign language journalist.