Historical Events
- Jan 2 1st Curling club in US (Orchard Lake Curling Club) opens
- Jan 4 Insurrection of Trinidad negroes
- Jan 6 New England Anti-Slavery Society organizes (Boston)
Historic Event
Jan 16 Charles Darwin lands at Porto Prayo in the Cape Verde islands, the first landing of his HMS Beagle voyage
- Jan 17 Johannes van den Bosch appointed governor general of Dutch East Indies
Famous Birthdays
- Jan 4 George Tryon, British admiral (d. 1893)
- Jan 6 Gustave Doré, French painter and sculptor, born in Strasbourg, France (d. 1883)
- Jan 7 James Munro, Scottish-born Australian politician (Premier of Victoria 1890-92), born in Armadale, Scotland (d. 1908)
- Jan 9 Esquire Maurits A de Savornin Lohman, Dutch governor of Suriname
- Jan 9 Félix-Gabriel Marchand, journalist, author and politician, Premier of Quebec (d. 1900)
- Jan 12 Richard Waterhouse Jr, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1876)
- Jan 13 Horatio Alger, American clergyman and author (Disagreeable Woman, Ragged Dick), born in Chelsea, Massachusetts (d. 1899)
- Jan 19 Ferdinand Laub, composer
- Jan 19 Salvador Giner y Vidal, composer
Edouard Manet
Jan 23 Edouard Manet, French impressionist painter (Olympia, The Luncheon on the Grass), born in Paris, France (d. 1883)
Lewis Carroll
Jan 27 Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], English author (Alice in Wonderland), born in Daresbury, England (d. 1898)