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The Hanford Site is a decommissioned nuclear production complex on the Columbia River in south-central Washington operated by the United States government. Established in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project, it was home to the B-Reactor, the first full-scale plutonium production reactor in the world. During the Cold War, the project was expanded to include nine nuclear reactors and five massive plutonium processing complexes, which produced plutonium for most of the 60,000 weapons in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. Nuclear technology developed rapidly during this period, and Hanford scientists produced many notable technological achievements. However, many of the early safety procedures and waste disposal practices were inadequate. Government documents have since confirmed that Hanford's operations released significant amounts of radioactive materials to the air and to the Columbia River, threatening the health of residents and ecosystems. Today, Hanford is the most contaminated nuclear site in the United States and is the focus of the nation's largest environmental cleanup effort. While most of the current activity at the site is related to the cleanup project, Hanford also hosts a commercial nuclear power plant, the Columbia Generating Station, and various centers for scientific research and development. (more...)

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• Israeli ground forces enter Gaza after a week of airstrikes against Hamas in the area.
• John Atta Mills (pictured) of the National Democratic Congress is elected President of Ghana.
• In the first running outside of Europe and Africa, the Dakar Rally begins in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• The Sri Lankan military seizes control of Kilinochchi, the de facto capital of the Tamil Tigers.
• Slovakia adopts the euro, replacing the koruna, and becomes the 16th member of the Eurozone.
• In Bangkok, Thailand, a fire at a nightclub kills 61 people and injures 212.
• The discovery of a bed of dinosaur fossils near Zhucheng in Shandong, China, believed to be the world's largest fossil site, is announced.
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January 5: Twelfth Night (Western Christianity)

• 1477 – Burgundian Wars: Charles the Bold (pictured), the Duke of Burgundy, died at the Battle of Nancy, eventually leading to the partition of Burgundy between France and the House of Habsburg.
• 1527 – Felix Manz, co-founder of the original Swiss Brethren Anabaptist congregation in Zürich, was executed by drowning, becoming one of the first martyrs of the Radical Reformation.
• 1968 – Alexander Dubček came to power in Czechoslovakia, beginning a period of political liberalization known as the Prague Spring that still enabled the Communist Party to maintain real power.
• 1975 – The Tasman Bridge, crossing the Derwent River in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, was struck by the bulk carrier Lake Illawarra, killing seven of the ship's crewmen and five motorists on the bridge.
• 2005 – Eris, the largest known dwarf planet in the Solar System, was discovered by a team led by Michael E. Brown using images originally taken on October 21, 2003, at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California, USA.

• More events: January 4 – January 5 – January 6

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