- Jan 1 1st football game between black colleges-Atlanta U 10, Tuskegee 0
- Jan 8 Michael Eagan wins 1st US national amateur handball championship
- Jan 10 Henrik Ibsen's "John Gabriel Borkman" premieres in Helsingfors
- Jan 10 Vincent d'Indy's "Istar" premieres in Amsterdam & Brussels
- Jan 11 M H Cannon becomes 1st woman state senator in US (Utah)
- Jan 14 6,960 m (22,834 ft) Cerro Aconcagua (Argentina) 1st climbed
Event of Interest
Jan 16 John Dewey's essay "My Pedagogic Creed" appears in School Journal
John Dewey
- Jan 23 Start of Sherlock Holmes "Adventure of Abbey Grange" (BG)
- Jan 23 Elva Zona Heaster is found dead in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. Resulting murder trial of her husband perhaps only case in US history where the alleged testimony of a ghost helped secure a conviction.
- Jan 26 Battle at Bida Gold Coast: British troops beat Nupe's army
- Jan 27 British troops occupy Bida Gold Coast (Ghana)