Historical Events
- Jan 1 1st practical fire engine (horse-drawn) in US enters service
- Jan 3 Solomon Northup, author of the memoir "Twelve Years a Slave, is freed after 7 illegal years in slavery with aid of Washington Hunt, Governor of New York
Historic Event
Jan 6 Franklin Pierce, the President-elect of the United States at the time, and his family are involved in a train wreck in Massachusetts
Music Premiere
Jan 19 Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Il Trovatore" premieres in Rome
Historic Event
Jan 23 John Wilkes Booth is baptized at St. Timothy's Protestant Episcopal Church
- Jan 27 US whaling and sealing vessel the Levant captained by Mercator Cooper, makes the first known landing on mainland Antarctica at Oates Coast, Victoria land
Famous Birthdays
- Jan 1 Hans Koessler, German composer, conductor and music teacher, born in Waldeck, Kingdom of Bavaria (d. 1926)
- Jan 3 Iwan Knorr, German composer, born in Mewe (d. 1916)
- Jan 7 Nikolai Arkas, Ukrainian composer (Katerina), and musicologist, born in Nikolayev (d. 1909)
- Jan 11 Gustav Falke, German author/poet (Der Mann im Nebel)
- Jan 11 Georgios Jakobides, Greek painter (d. 1926)
- Jan 12 Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro, Italian mathematician (tensor analysis)
André Michelin
Jan 16 Andre Michelin, French industrialist, tire manufacturer (Michelin) and publisher of the Michelin Guide, born in Paris (d. 1931)
- Jan 16 Johnston Forbes-Robertson, British actor and theatre director (Kathleen), born in London, England (d. 1937)
- Jan 16 Gen Sir Ian Hamilton, British military commander (d. 1947)
- Jan 16 Vladimir Sergeyevich Solovyov, Russian philosopher, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1900)
- Jan 17 Alva Belmont, American socialite & suffragette (d. 1933)
- Jan 28 Jose Martí y Perez, Cuban poet, essayist and politician (fought for independence from Spain), born in Havana, Cuba (d. 1895)
- Jan 30 Leland Hone, Irish cricket wicketkeeper (1 Test; first Irishman to represent England; MCC), born in Dublin, Ireland (d. 1896)
Famous Weddings
Napoleon III
Jan 30 Emperor and French President Napoleon III marries Eugenie de Montijo, Countess of Teba
