- Jan 1 Johannes Brahms' Violin Concerto in D major premieres in Leipzig
Event of Interest
Jan 2 1st Test match hat-trick, Fred Spofforth at the MCG
Fred Spofforth
- Jan 2 British battleship Thunder explodes in Gulf of Ismid, 9 die
- Jan 2 Dr Benjamin Mays, named president of Atlanta Board of Education
- Jan 2 Northwestern League (minor baseball league) organized, Rockford, Illinois
- Jan 9 Cheyenne prisoners led by Dull Knife revolt at Ft Robinson
- Jan 9 Kirland Warbler discovered on Andros Island in Bahamas
Anglo-Zulu War
Jan 11 Anglo-Zulu War begins as British Lt-General Chelmsford invades Zululand in South Africa
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- Jan 16 January record 13" of snow falls in NYC (broken Jan 7, 1996)
- Jan 20 British troops under Lord Chelmsford make camp at Isandlwana
- Jan 21 Henrik Ibsen's "Et Dukkehjem" premieres in Copenhagen
- Jan 22 Zulu warriors attack British Army camp in Isandhlwana, South Africa
- Jan 22 James Shields (D) elected US senator from Missouri after previously serving as US senator from Illinois & Minnesota
- Jan 22 Battle of Rorke's Drift: British garrison of 150 holds off 3,000-4,000 Zulu warriors. Eleven Victoria Crosses and a number of other decorations were awarded to the defenders.
- Jan 23 US National Archery Association forms in Crawfordsville, Indiana
- Jan 25 The Bulgarian National Bank is founded
Battle of Interest
Jan 29 Custer Battlefield National Monument established in Montana
George Armstrong Custer
- Jan 30 French President Patrice de Mac-Mahon resigns