Events in History
- Jan 1 Michigan is 1st state to abolish capital punishment
- Jan 1 Neth's Haarlem's Current newspaper starts publishing
Event of Interest
Jan 4 Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the United States government

Samuel Colt
Historic Publication
Jan 4 Manuscripts of Emily Brontë's "Wuthering Heights" and Anne Brontë's "Agnes Grey" sent to publisher T.C. Newby (published December 1847)

Emily Brontë
- Jan 9 1st San Francisco newspaper published (California Star)
- Jan 15 1st Swedish magazine in US, Skandinavia, published in NYC
- Jan 16 John C. Frémont is appointed Governor of the new California Territory
- Jan 24 1,500 New Mexican Indians & Mexicans defeated by US Colonel Price
- Jan 30 Yerba Buena renamed San Francisco