Historical Events
- Jan 4 Last sighting of an eastern cougar (Ontario)
- Jan 4 The Fabian Society is founded in London.
- Jan 8 Chrome tanning process for leather patented by Augustus Schultz
- Jan 18 General Charles Gordon departs London for Khartoum
- Jan 18 Dr. William Price attempts to cremate the body of his infant son, Iesu Grist (Welsh for Jesus Christ) Price, setting a legal precedent for cremation in the United Kingdom
- Jan 19 Jules Massenet's opera "Manon" premieres in Paris
- Jan 26 1st Dutch Wagner version of Elizabeth aria
Famous Birthdays
- Jan 2 Jacques Chardonne, [Boutelleau], French writer (l'Epithalame)
- Jan 3 Eli S Jones, American evangelist (Christ of Indian road)
- Jan 3 Raoul Armand Georg Koczalski, composer
- Jan 10 James Philip Dunn, American composer, born in New York (d. 1936)
- Jan 12 Louis Horst, American dance choreographer and composer, born in Kansas City, Missouri (d. 1964)
- Jan 12 Texas Guinan, American actress (The Gun Woman), born in Waco, Texas (d. 1933)
- Jan 13 Sophie Tucker, [Kalish] "last of red hot mammas", Russian-born American singer, born in Tulchyn, Russian Empire (d. 1966)
- Jan 18 Arthur Ransome, English author (Swallows & Amazons)
- Jan 19 Albert Louis Wolff, composer
- Jan 20 A[braham] Merritt, American sci-fi author (The Moon Pool, Burn Witch Bun ), born in Beverly, New Jersey (d. 1943)
- Jan 21 Katie Sandwina, German legendary woman weight-lifter
- Jan 21 Roger Nash Baldwin, founder (American Civil Liberties Union)
- Jan 23 Ralph DePalma, Italian-American race car driver, born in Biccari, Italy (d. 1956)
- Jan 25 Edward Kilenyi, Sr. [Ede Kilényi], Hungarian composer & teacher (Clipped Wings, Outside the Law), born in Békésszentandrás, Hungary (d. 1968)
- Jan 26 Edward Sapir, German linguist/antropologist (indians)
- Jan 26 Roy Chapman Andrews, American scientist/explorer
- Jan 28 Auguste Piccard, Swiss scientist/explorer (balloonist), twin brother of Jean Felix Piccard
- Jan 28 Jean Felix Piccard, Swiss scientist/explorer (balloonist) twin brother of Auguste Piccard
- Jan 28 Lucien H d'Azambuja, French astronomer (chromosome of sun)
- Jan 29 Juhan Aavic, Estonian composer, born in Holstre, Russian Empire (d. 1982)
- Jan 31 Nicholas Joy, French actor (Gentleman's Agreement, Desk Set, Boss Lady), born in Paris, France (d. 1964)
- Jan 31 Theodor Heuss, 1st President of Germany (Bundespräsident) (d. 1963)
Famous Weddings
Wedding of Interest
Jan 19 Painter Thomas Eakins (39) weds painter and photographer Susan Macdowell (32) in a Quaker ceremony
Thomas Eakins
Wedding of Interest
Jan 24 Abolitionist Frederick Douglass marries his second wife suffragist Helen Pitts
Frederick Douglass
Famous Deaths
Gregor Mendel
Jan 6 Gregor Mendel, Austrian monk and geneticist (discoverer of laws of heredity), dies at 61
Gregor Mendel
- Jan 6 Paul Taglioni, "the Great," Ital/Austrian choreographer, dies at 75
- Jan 17 Hermann Schlegel, German ornithologist (b. 1804)
- Jan 21 Auguste Franchomme, French cellist and composer, dies at 75
- Jan 24 Johann Christian Gebauer, Danish composer, dies at 75
- Jan 26 John Letcher, American lawyer and politician, U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia, dies at 70