- Jan 1 Moerdijk railway bridge over Hollands Diep, South Holland opens - then longest bridge in Europe
- Jan 3 1st patent list issued by US Patent Office
- Jan 12 Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first imperial coronation in that city in over 200 years.
- Jan 20 California Stock Exchange Board organized
- Jan 29 Francis L Cardoza elected State Treasurer of South Carolina