Events in History
- Jan 1 Coal miners in the Transvaal, South Africa, embark on a strike in response to a wage cut, which quickly escalated into a large-scale revolt against the government, known as the Rand Rebellion.
- Jan 1 Vancouver, BC starts driving on the right side of road
Anglo-Irish Treaty
Jan 7 The Anglo-Irish Treaty is ratified by Dail Eireann by a 64-57 vote
- Jan 9 KQV-AM in Pittsburgh PA begins radio transmissions
- Jan 9 Rotterdam metalworkers strike ends
1st Insulin Injection
Jan 11 Insulin first used on humans to treat diabetes, when Frederick Banting injects fellow Canadian Leonard Thompson, aged 14
- Jan 13 Buck Weaver, a Black Sox, applies unsuccessfully for reinstatement
- Jan 13 Conference of Cannes concerning German retribution payments ended
- Jan 13 WHA-AM in Madison WI begins radio transmissions
Arthur Griffith Elected
Jan 15 Arthur Griffith is elected president of the Irish Free State after Eamon de Valera resigns in opposition to the Anglo-Irish Treaty (De Valera will lead a military opposition seeking a unified and independent Ireland)
- Jan 18 Irish author Liam O'Flaherty & others occupy Rotunda in Dublin
- Jan 19 Geological survey says US oil supply would be depleted in 20 years
- Jan 21 1st slalom ski race run at Murren, Switzerland
- Jan 24 -54°F (-48°C), Danbury, Wisconsin (state record)
- Jan 24 Eskimo Pie patented by Christian K Nelson of Iowa (not an Eskimo)
- Jan 24 Lehman Caves National Monument established
- Jan 28 Knickerbocker Storm, Washington, D.C.'s biggest snowfall, causes the city's greatest loss of life when the roof of the Knickerbocker Theater collapses, killing 98 patrons
- Jan 29 Union of Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador dissolved
- Jan 30 World Law Day 1st celebrated
Birthdays in History
- Jan 1 Ernest "Fritz" Hollings, American Democratic Senator from South Carolina (1966-2005), born in Charleston, South Carolina
- Jan 3 Morten Nielsen, Danish poet/resistance fighter
- Jan 5 Admiral Sir Anthony Synnot, Chief of the Australian Defence Force, born in Corowa, Australia (d. 2001)
- Jan 9 Ahmed Sékou Touré, first President of Guinea (1958-84), born in Faranah, Guinea (d. 1984)
- Jan 9 Har Gobind Khorana, Indian-American biochemist (Nobel 1968), born in Raipur, Punjab, British India (d. 2011)
- Jan 11 Ernle Bradford, English historian and writer (d. 1986)
- Jan 11 Neville Duke, English test pilot
- Jan 12 Tadeusz Żychiewicz, Polish journalist and art historian, born in Bratkowice, Poland (d. 1994)
- Jan 15 Sir Eric Willis, Australian politician, born in Murwillumbah, Australia (d. 1999)
- Jan 17 Luis Echeverria Alvarez, president Mexico
- Jan 17 Nicholas Katzenbach, lawyer (US Attorney General), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2012)
- Jan 18 Bob Bell, American clown, born in Flint, Michigan (d. 1997)
- Jan 19 Ken Hughes, director (Casino Royale), born in Liverpool, England
- Jan 20 James Hanson, English industrialist, born in Huddersfield, United Kingdom (d. 2004)
- Jan 21 Jean P Vroom, Dutch sculptor
- Jan 22 Howard Moss, poet/editor (New Yorker)
- Jan 24 Charles Socarides, American psychiatrist, born in Brockton, Massachusetts (d. 2005)
- Jan 25 Jules de Palm, Antilles writer, born in Curaçao (d. 2013)
- Jan 28 Robert W. Holley, American biochemist who worked with RNA (Nobel Prize 1968), born in Los Gatos, California (d. 1991)
- Jan 29 Gerda Steinhoff, Nazi concetration camp supervisor (d. 1946)
- Jan 31 Michael Wilford, diplomat
Deaths in History
- Jan 4 Eliza Ann Gardner, African-American abolitionist and religious leader, dies at 90
Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922)
Jan 5 British-Irish polar explorer (Endurance, Antarctica), dies of a heart attack at 47
- Jan 6 Jakob Rosanes, German mathematician (algebraic geometry and invariant theory), dies at 79
- Jan 7 Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana'ole, Prince of the Kingdom of Hawaii, dies at 50
- Jan 8 Charles R Young, colonel, dies at 58, in Lagos Nigeria
- Jan 10 Frank Tudor, Australian Labor Opposition leader (b. 1866)
- Jan 10 Ōkuma Shigenobu, Japanese politician (Prime Minister of Japan 1898, 1914-1916), dies at 83
- Jan 15 John Kirk Barry, British physician, explorer and administrator in Zanzibar (companion to explorer David Livingstone), dies at 89
Nellie Bly (1865-1922)
Jan 27 American journalist and writer (Ten Days in a Mad House), dies at 57
Authors
Civil Rights Activists
Inventors
Kings
Revolutionaries
Scientists