Imperial China (Qin and Han dynasties)
Ping died
Ping died after being poisoned by Wang Mang, who became acting emperor.
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- Roman Empire
Caligula was assassinated
In 41, Caligula was assassinated by the commander of the guard Cassius Chaerea. Also killed were his fourth wife Caesonia and their daughter Julia Drusilla. For two days following his assassination, the senate debated the merits of restoring the Republic.
- Roman Empire
Claudius
Claudius was a younger brother of Germanicus and had long been considered a weakling and a fool by the rest of his family. The Praetorian Guard, however, acclaimed him as emperor. Claudius was neither paranoid like his uncle Tiberius, nor insane like his nephew Caligula, and was, therefore, able to administer the Empire with reasonable ability.
- Roman Empire
Marcus Otho
Marcus Otho was Roman emperor for three months, from 15 January to 16 April 69. He was the second emperor of the Year of the Four Emperors. Inheriting the problem of the rebellion of Vitellius, commander of the army in Germania Inferior, Otho led a sizeable force that met Vitellius' army at the Battle of Bedriacum. After initial fighting resulted in 40,000 casualties, and a retreat of his forces, Otho committed suicide rather than fight on, and Vitellius was proclaimed emperor.
- Roman Empire
Nerva died
After barely fifteen months in office, Nerva died of natural causes on 27 January 98. Upon his death, he was succeeded and deified by Trajan.
- Imperial China (Qin and Han dynasties)
Huan of Han died
Huan of Han died.
- Roman Empire
Claudius Gothicus died
However, he fell victim to the Plague of Cyprian (possibly smallpox) and died early in January 270. Before his death, he is thought to have named Aurelian as his successor, though Claudius' brother Quintillus briefly seized power.
- Justinian I
Nika riots
In January 532, partisans of the chariot racing factions in Constantinople, normally rivals, united against Justinian in a revolt that has become known as the Nika riots.
- Holy Roman Empire
Otto III died
Otto died young in 1002, and was succeeded by his cousin Henry II, who focused on Germany.
- Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah
House of Knowledge
In the area of education and learning, one of Hakim's most important contributions was the founding in 1005 of the Dar al-Alem (House of Knowledge) or Dar al-Hikma (House of Wisdom). A wide range of subjects ranging from the Qur'an and hadith to philosophy and astronomy were taught at the Dar al-alem, which was equipped with a vast library. Access to education was made available to the public and many Fatimid da'is received at least part of their training in this major institution of learning which served the Ismaili da'wa (mission) until the downfall of the Fatimid dynasty.
- Holy Roman Empire
Walk to Canossa
The Pope, in turn, excommunicated the king, declared him deposed, and dissolved the oaths of loyalty made to Henry IV. The king found himself with almost no political support and was forced to make the famous Walk to Canossa in 1077, by which he achieved a lifting of the excommunication at the price of humiliation. Meanwhile, the German princes had elected another king, Rudolf of Swabia.
- Crusades
Battle of Mount Cadmus
Louis (Louis VII of France) was not as lucky at the battle of Mount Cadmus on 6 January 1148, where the Seljuk army inflicted heavy losses on the Crusaders. The army sailed for Antioch in January, almost totally destroyed by battle and sickness.
- Holy Roman Empire
Frederick Barbarossa was crowned Emperor
Frederick I, also called Frederick Barbarossa, was crowned Emperor in 1155. He emphasized the "Romanness" of the empire, partly in an attempt to justify the power of the Emperor independent of the (now strengthened) Pope. An imperial assembly at the fields of Roncaglia in 1158 reclaimed imperial rights in reference to Justinian's Corpus Juris Civilis. Imperial rights had been referred to as regalia since the Investiture Controversy but were enumerated for the first time at Roncaglia. This comprehensive list included public roads, tariffs, coining, collecting punitive fees, and the investiture or seating and unseating of office holders. These rights were now explicitly rooted in Roman Law, a far-reaching constitutional act.
- Leaning Tower of Pisa
Beginning of the Construction
Construction of the tower occurred in three stages over 199 years. On 5 January 1172, Donna Berta di Bernardo, a widow and resident of the house of dell' Opera di Santa Maria, bequeathed sixty soldi to the Opera Campanilis petrarum Sancte Marie. The sum was then used toward the purchase of a few stones which still form the base of the bell tower.
- The palace of Westminster England
Simon de Montfort's parliament
The Palace of Westminster was the monarch's principal residence in the late Medieval period. The predecessor of Parliament, the Curia Regis (Royal Council), met in Westminster Hall (although it followed the King when he moved to other palaces). Simon de Montfort's parliament, the first to include representatives of the major towns, met at the Palace in 1265.
- Mamluks
Al-Malik an-Nasir was the Bahri Mamluk sultan of Egypt in 1342
An-Nasir Shihab ad-Din Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Qalawun, better known as an-Nasir Ahmad, was the Bahri Mamluk sultan of Egypt, ruling from January to June 1342.
- Holy Roman Empire
Golden Bull of 1356
The difficulties in electing the king eventually led to the emergence of a fixed college of prince-electors (Kurfürsten), whose composition and procedures were set forth in the Golden Bull of 1356, which remained valid until 1806. This development probably best symbolizes the emerging duality between emperor and realm (Kaiser und Reich), which were no longer considered identical. The Golden Bull also set forth the system for election of the Holy Roman Emperor. The emperor now was to be elected by a majority rather than by consent of all seven electors. For electors the title became hereditary, and they were given the right to mint coins and to exercise jurisdiction. Also it was recommended that their sons learn the imperial languages – German, Latin, Italian, and Czech.
- Disasters with highest death tolls
St. Marcellus Flood
Saint Marcellus' flood or Grote Mandrenke was a massive southwesterly Atlantic gale (also known as a European windstorm) which swept across the British Isles, the Netherlands, northern Germany, and Denmark (including Schleswig/Southern Jutland) around 16 January 1362, causing at minimum 25,000 deaths.
- Mamluks
Al-Muzaffar Ahmad was a Mamluk sultan of Egypt in 1421
Al-Muzaffar Ahmad was the son of Shaykh al-Mahmudi, and a Mamluk sultan of Egypt from 13 January to 29 August 1421.
- Mamluks
Qaitbay was the eighteenth Burji Mamluk Sultan of Egypt
Sultan Abu Al-Nasr Sayf ad-Din Al-Ashraf Qaitbay was the eighteenth Burji Mamluk Sultan of Egypt from (1468–1496 C.E.).
- Holy Roman Empire
Ferdinand II of Aragon
Ferdinand II (10 March 1452 – 23 January 1516), called the Catholic, was King of Aragon from 1479 until his death. In 1469, he married Infanta Isabella, the future queen of Castile, which was regarded as the marital and political "cornerstone in the foundation of the Spanish monarchy". As a consequence of the marriage, in 1474 he became de jure uxoris King of Castile as Ferdinand V, when Isabella held the crown of Castile, until her death in 1504. At Isabella's death the crown of Castile passed to their daughter Joanna, by the terms of their prenuptial agreement and Isabella‘s last will and testament, and Ferdinand lost his monarchical status in Castile. Joanna's husband Philip became de jure uxoris King of Castile, but died in 1506, and Joanna ruled in her own right. In 1504, after a war with France, he became King of Naples as Ferdinand III, reuniting Naples with Sicily permanently and for the first time since 1458. In 1506, as part of a treaty with a France, Ferdinand married Germaine of Foix of France, but Ferdinand's only son and child of that marriage died soon after birth. (Had the child survived, the personal union of the crowns of Aragon and Castile would have ceased.) In 1508, Ferdinand was recognized as regent of Castile, following Joanna's alleged mental illness, until his own death in 1516. In 1512, he became King of Navarre by conquest.
- Elizabeth Woodville
Richard III's first Parliament
Richard III's first Parliament of January 1484 stripped Elizabeth of all the lands given to her during Edward IV's reign.
- Mamluks
Tuman bay I was the twenty fifth Mamluk Sultan of Egypt
Al-Adil Sayf ad-Din Tuman bay was the twenty fifth Mamluk Sultan of Egypt from the Burji dynasty. He ruled for about one hundred days in 1501.
- Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo had begun working on a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo
By this same month, Leonardo had begun working on a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo, the model for the Mona Lisa, which he would continue working on until his twilight years.
- Leonardo da Vinci
Statue of David
In January 1504, Leonardo was part of a committee formed to recommend where Michelangelo's statue of David should be placed.
- Holy Roman Empire
Ferdinand II of Aragon death
In 1516, Ferdinand II of Aragon, grandfather of the future Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, died.
- Ottoman Empire
Selim I established Ottoman rule in Egypt
Selim I established Ottoman rule in Egypt by defeating and annexing the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt and created a naval presence on the Red Sea.
- Mamluks
The Mamluk Sultanate collapsed
On January 25, the Mamluk Sultanate collapsed.
- Disasters with highest death tolls
1556 Shaanxi Earthquake
The 1556 Shaanxi earthquake or Huaxian earthquake is the deadliest earthquake in recorded history: according to imperial records approximately 830,000 people lost their lives. It occurred on the morning of 23 January 1556 in Shaanxi, during the Ming Dynasty. More than 97 counties in the provinces of Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Gansu, Hebei, Shandong, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu and Anhui were affected.
- Galileo Galilei
Ottavio Brenzoni's letter
Tycho and others had observed the supernova of 1572. Ottavio Brenzoni's letter of 15 January 1605 to Galileo brought the 1572 supernova and the less bright nova of 1601 to Galileo's notice. Galileo observed and discussed Kepler's supernova in 1604. Since these new stars displayed no detectable diurnal parallax, Galileo concluded that they were distant stars, and, therefore, disproved the Aristotelian belief in the immutability of the heavens.
- Galileo Galilei
"Three fixed stars, totally invisible by their smallness"
On 7 January 1610, Galileo observed with his telescope what he described at the time as "three fixed stars, totally invisible by their smallness", all close to Jupiter, and lying on a straight line through it.
- Galileo Galilei
Monsignor Francesco Ingoli initiated a debate with Galileo
In addition to Bellarmine, Monsignor Francesco Ingoli initiated a debate with Galileo, sending him in January 1616 an essay disputing the Copernican system. Galileo later stated that he believed this essay to have been instrumental in the action against Copernicanism that followed in February.
- Galileo Galilei
Death
Galileo continued to receive visitors until 1642, when, after suffering fever and heart palpitations, he died on 8 January 1642, aged 77. The Grand Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinando II, wished to bury him in the main body of the Basilica of Santa Croce, next to the tombs of his father and other ancestors, and to erect a marble mausoleum in his honor.
- 1693 Sicily earthquake
Foreshock
A destructive earthquake occurred two days before the mainshock at 21:00 local time, centered in the Val di Noto. It had an estimated magnitude of 6.2 and a maximum perceived intensity of VIII–XI on the Mercalli intensity scale. Intensities of VIII or higher have been estimated for Augusta, Avola Vecchia, Floridia, Melilli, Noto Antica, Catania, Francofonte, Lentini, Scicli, Sortino, and Vizzini. Augusta lies well outside the main zone of severe shaking; its extensive damage is probably due to its construction on unconsolidated sediments. From the shape and location of the area of maximum damage, this earthquake is thought to have been caused by movement on the Avola fault. Some buildings collapsed in Catania, Vizzini, and Sortini. There were an estimated 200 deaths in both Augusta and Noto.
- Disasters with highest death tolls
1693 Sicily Earthquake
The 1693 Sicily earthquake struck parts of southern Italy near Sicily, Calabria, and Malta on January 11 at around 21:00 local time. The main quake had an estimated magnitude of 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, the most powerful in Italian recorded history, and a maximum intensity of XI (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale, destroying at least 70 towns and cities, seriously affecting an area of 5,600 square kilometres (2,200 sq mi) and causing the death of about 60,000 people.
- Ottoman Empire
Treaty of Karlowitz
The alliance of the Holy League pressed home the advantage of the defeat at Vienna, culminating in the Treaty of Karlowitz (26 January 1699), which ended the Great Turkish War. The Ottomans surrendered control of significant territories, many permanently.
- Johann Sebastian Bach
Bach was appointed court musician in the chapel of Duke Johann Ernst III
In January 1703, shortly after graduating from St. Michael's and being turned down for the post of organist at Sangerhausen, Bach was appointed court musician in the chapel of Duke Johann Ernst III in Weimar.
- Johann Sebastian Bach
Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht, BWV 134a
Bach also composed secular cantatas for the court, such as Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht, BWV 134a.
- Johann Sebastian Bach
Bach's daughter marriage
In January 1749, Bach's daughter Elisabeth Juliane Friederica married his pupil Johann Christoph Altnickol. Bach's health was, however, declining.
- Mozart
Mozart's birth
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on 27 January 1756 to Leopold Mozart (1719–1787) and Anna Maria, née Pertl (1720–1778), at Getreidegasse 9 in Salzburg.
- George Washington
Marriage
On January 6, 1759, Washington, at age 26, married Martha Dandridge Custis, the 28-year-old widow of wealthy plantation owner Daniel Parke Custis. The marriage took place at Martha's estate; she was intelligent, gracious, and experienced in managing a planter's estate, and the couple created a happy marriage.
- Mozart
Accademia Filarmonica of Verona
The taste of success continued into the new year of 1771. Just days before his 15th birthday, Mozart received yet more honors, this time a diploma from the Accademia Filarmonica of Verona. Italy.
- Mozart
Jubilate
The person singing the lead role in Lucio Silla was a castrato named Venanzio Rauzzini in his late 20s. Mozart was especially fascinated with him, and he wrote him a three-movement motet, 'Exsultate, jubilate,' which women sopranos generally sing these days. To both composer and artist the last movement was a bit of a show-off. Mozart gave himself the challenge of setting only one term for the entire campaign, "Alleluia." Rauzzini would have loved it with its fast-paced and amazingly catchy vocal line. This was first heard on 17 January; at the Theatine Church in Milan in 1773. Exsultate, jubilate, for Mozart, is an important piece and one of the few pieces he wrote before adulthood that has remained among his most popular works.
- Mozart
Lafinta giardiniera
The resulting work, when a commission came from Munich that year, Lafinta giardiniera (an opera buffa) is yards more accomplished than his former comic work, Lafinta semplice. Naturally it also offered a justification for Mozart to leave Salzburg. On 6 December the same year, he and his father arrived in Munich to attend the rehearsals of the new opera.
- George Washington
Congress allowed free blacks to serve in the militia
Washington initially protested enlistment of slaves in the Continental Army, but later he relented when the British emancipated and used theirs. On January 16, 1776, Congress allowed free blacks to serve in the militia. By the end of the war one-tenth of Washington's army were blacks.
- George Washington
The Continental Army reduced by half to 9,600 men
The Continental Army, further diminished by expiring short-term enlistments, and by January 1776 reduced by half to 9,600 men, had to be supplemented with militia, and was joined by Knox with heavy artillery captured from Fort Ticonderoga.
- George Washington
Returned to New Jersey
Washington retreated across the Delaware to Pennsylvania but returned to New Jersey on January 3, launching an attack on British regulars at Princeton, with 40 Americans killed or wounded and 273 British killed or captured.
- Mozart
Idomeneo Premier
Idomeneo's first dress rehearsal was coinciding with the 25th birthday of Mozart. His father Leopold had arrived with Nannerl in Munich sometime between then and the premiere. The first night-the only fair night-went really well. Mozart had achieved the popularity he had wished for, but for another 5 years the opera would not be performed again.
- Napoleon
Napoleon enrolled at a religious school
Napoleon enrolled at a religious school in Autun in January 1779.
- Disasters with highest death tolls
1780 Tabriz Earthquake
1780 Tabriz earthquake occurred on January 8, 1780 in Iran, there were an estimated 200,000 deaths.
- George Washington
Clinton assembled 12,500 troops and attacked Charlestown
Clinton assembled 12,500 troops and attacked Charlestown, South Carolina in January 1780, defeating General Benjamin Lincoln who had only 5,100 Continental troops
- George Washington
Hamilton resigned
In January 1795, Hamilton, who desired more income for his family, resigned office and was replaced by Washington appointment Oliver Wolcott, Jr.. Washington and Hamilton remained friends. However, Washington's relationship with his Secretary of War Henry Knox deteriorated. Knox resigned office on the rumor he profited from construction contracts on U.S. Frigates.
- Napoleon
Decisive French triumph at Rivoli
The decisive French triumph at Rivoli in January 1797 led to the collapse of the Austrian position in Italy. At Rivoli, the Austrians lost up to 14,000 men while the French lost about 5,000.
- Halloween
Halloween became a major holiday in North America
It was not until mass Irish and Scottish immigration in the 19th century that Halloween became a major holiday in North America.
- George Washington
Slaves are Free
A year after George Washington's death, on January 1, 1801, Martha Washington signed an order freeing his slaves. Many of them, having never strayed far from Mount Vernon, were naturally reluctant to try their luck elsewhere; others refused to abandon spouses or children still held as dower slaves (the Custis estate) and also stayed with or near Martha. Following George Washington's instructions in his will, funds were used to feed and clothe the young, aged, and sickly slaves until the early 1830s.
- The palace of Westminster England
House of Lords of the United Kingdom
The Chamber of the House of Lords is located in the southern part of the Palace of Westminster. The lavishly decorated room measures 13.7 by 24.4 metres (45 by 80 ft).
- Library of Congress
librarian and Joint Committee
President Thomas Jefferson played an important role in establishing the structure of the Library of Congress. On January 26, 1802, he signed a bill that allowed the president to appoint the librarian of Congress and establishing a Joint Committee on the Library to regulate and oversee it. The new law also extended borrowing privileges to the president and vice president.
- USA civil war
Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves
The amount of indentured servitude dropped dramatically throughout the country. An Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves sailed through Congress with little opposition. President Thomas Jefferson supported it, and it went into effect on January 1, 1808.
- Robert Fulton
Marriage
On January 8, 1808, Fulton married Harriet Livingston (1786–1824), the daughter of Walter Livingston and niece of Robert Livingston, prominent men in the Hudson River area, whose family dated to the colonial era. Harriet, who was nineteen years his junior, was well educated and was an accomplished amateur painter and musician. Together, they had four children.
- Napoleon
Battle of Corunna
Napoleon then unleashed his soldiers against Moore and the British forces. The British were swiftly driven to the coast, and they withdrew from Spain entirely after a last stand at the Battle of Corunna in January 1809.
- Napoleon
Napoleon divorced Joséphine
Napoleon turned his focus to domestic affairs after the war. Empress Joséphine had still not given birth to a child from Napoleon, who became worried about the future of his empire following his death. Desperate for a legitimate heir, Napoleon divorced Joséphine on 10 January 1810 and started looking for a new wife.
- Robert Fulton
Member of the Erie Canal Commission
From 1811 until his death, Fulton was a member of the Erie Canal Commission, appointed by the Governor of New York.
- Mamluks
Mamluks End of power in Egypt
On 1 March 1811, Muhammad Ali invited all of the leading Mamluks to his palace to celebrate the declaration of war against the Wahhabis in Arabia. Between 600 and 700 Mamluks paraded for this purpose in Cairo.
- Library of Congress
An Offer
Within a month, Thomas Jefferson offered to sell his personal library as a replacement. Congress accepted his offer in January 1815, appropriating $23,950 to purchase his 6,487 books.
- Unification of Italy
Mazzini's activity in revolutionary movements
Mazzini's activity in revolutionary movements caused him to be imprisoned soon after he joined. While in prison, he concluded that Italy could − and therefore should − be unified, and he formulated a program for establishing a free, independent, and republican nation with Rome as its capital.
- Simón Bolívar
Back to Bogota
Bolívar is thus one of the few people to have a country named after him. Bolívar returned to Caracas on 12 January 1827, and then back to Bogotá.
- Abraham Lincoln
Sister died
Ten years later, on January 20, 1828, Sarah died while giving birth to a stillborn son, devastating Lincoln.
- Simón Bolívar
Venezuela was proclaimed independent
After the facts, Bolivar continued to govern in a rarefied environment, cornered by fractional disputes. Uprisings occurred in New Granada, Venezuela, and Ecuador during the following two years. The separatists accused him of betraying republican principles and of wanting to establish a permanent dictatorship. Gran Colombia declared war against Peru when president General La Mar invaded Guayaquil. He was later defeated by Marshall Antonio José de Sucre in the Battle of the Portete de Tarqui, 27 February 1829. Sucre was killed on 4 June 1830. General Juan José Flores wanted to separate the southern departments (Quito, Guayaquil, and Azuay), known as the District of Ecuador, from Gran Colombia to form an independent country and become its first President. Venezuela was proclaimed independent on 13 January 1830 and José Antonio Páez maintained the presidency of that country, banishing Bolivar.
- Simón Bolívar
Dream fell apart
On 20 January 1830, as his dream fell apart, Bolívar delivered his final address to the nation, announcing that he would be stepping down from the presidency of Gran Colombia. In his speech, a distraught Bolívar urged the people to maintain the union and to be wary of the intentions of those who advocated for separation.
- German revolutions of 1848–1849
The first major outbreak came in Palermo
The first major outbreak came in Palermo, Sicily, starting in January 1848. There had been several previous revolts against Bourbon rule; this one produced an independent state that lasted only 16 months before the Bourbons came back.
- Revolutions of 1848
Urban workers
The liberalization of trade laws and the growth of factories had increased the gulf between master tradesmen, and journeymen and apprentices, whose numbers increased disproportionately by 93% from 1815 to 1848 in Germany.
- German revolutions of 1848–1849
Causes of events of 1848 in the Austrian Empire
The events of 1848 were the product of mounting social and political tensions after the Congress of Vienna of 1815. During the "pre-March" period, the already conservative Austrian Empire moved further away from ideas of the Age of Enlightenment, restricted freedom of the press, limited many university activities, and banned fraternities.
- Unification of Italy
Unification process was precipitated by the revolutions of 1848
The unification process was precipitated by the revolutions of 1848, and reached completion in 1871, when Rome was officially designated the capital of the Kingdom of Italy.
- Unification of Italy
The revolutionary disturbances began with a civil disobedience strike in Lombardy
On 5 January 1848, the revolutionary disturbances began with a civil disobedience strike in Lombardy, as citizens stopped smoking cigars and playing the lottery, which denied Austria the associated tax revenue. Shortly after this, revolts began on the island of Sicily and in Naples.
- Revolutions of 1848
Revolutions of 1848 Denmark
In January 1848 during a period of rising opposition from farmers and liberals. The demands for constitutional monarchy, led by the National Liberals, ended with a popular march to Christiansborg on 21 March. The new king, Frederick VII, met the liberals' demands and installed a new Cabinet that included prominent leaders of the National Liberal Party.
- David Copperfield
A Visit to two Cities
On 7 January 1849, Dickens visited Norwich and Yarmouth in Norfolk, with two close friends, John Leech (1817–1864) and Mark Lemon (1809–1870). Leech was an illustrator at Punch, a satirical magazine, and the first illustrator for A Christmas Carol by Dickens in 1843. Lemon was a founding editor of Punch, and soon a contributor to Household Words, the weekly magazine Dickens was starting up; he co-authored Mr Nightingale's Diary, a farce, with Dickens in 1851. The two towns, especially the second, became important in the novel, and Dickens informed Forster that Yarmouth seemed to him to be "the strangest place in the world" and that he would "certainly try my hand at it". During a walk in the vicinity of Yarmouth, Dickens noticed a sign indicating the small locality of Blunderston, which became in his novel the village of "Blunderstone" where David is born and spends his childhood.
- David Copperfield
Henry Fielding Dickens
A week after Charles's arrival in Yarmouth, his sixth son, Henry Fielding Dickens, was named after Henry Fielding, his favorite past author. Per Forster, Dickens refers to Fielding "as a kind of homage to the novel he was about to write".
- Elizabeth Blackwell
Blackwell became the first woman to achieve a medical degree in the United States
On January 23, 1849, Blackwell became the first woman to achieve a medical degree in the United States.
- Alfred Nobel
To Paris to further the work
As a young man, Nobel studied with chemist Nikolai Zinin; then, in 1850, went to Paris to further the work.
- Alfred Nobel
to United States
At age 18, he went to the United States for one year to study, working for a short period under Swedish-American inventor John Ericsson, who designed the American Civil War ironclad USS Monitor.
- Unification of Italy
Expedition of the Thousand
The Expedition of the Thousand was an event of the Italian Risorgimento that took place in 1860. A corps of volunteers led by Giuseppe Garibaldi sailed from Quarto, near Genoa and landed in Marsala, Sicily, in order to conquer the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, ruled by the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.Milan, Italy.
- Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln told a group of political allies that he would accept the nomination if offered
In January 1860, Lincoln told a group of political allies that he would accept the nomination if offered, and in the following months several local papers endorsed his candidacy.
- USA civil war
General Winfield Scott had devised the Anaconda Plan
By early 1861, General Winfield Scott had devised the Anaconda Plan to win the war with as little bloodshed as possible. Scott argued that a Union blockade of the main ports would weaken the Confederate economy.
- Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln replaced War Secretary Simon Cameron with Edwin Stanton
Lincoln painstakingly monitored the telegraph reports coming into the War Department. He tracked all phases of the effort, consulting with governors, and selecting generals based on their success, their state, and their party. In January 1862, after complaints of inefficiency and profiteering in the War Department, Lincoln replaced War Secretary Simon Cameron with Edwin Stanton. Stanton centralized the War Department's activities, auditing and canceling contracts, saving the federal government $17,000,000.
- Abraham Lincoln
Effective Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation, issued on September 22, 1862 and effective January 1, 1863, affirmed the freedom of slaves in 10 states not then under Union control, with exemptions specified for areas under such control.
- Juneteenth
Emancipation Proclamation was formally issued
Emancipation Proclamation was formally issued on January 1, 1863, declaring that all enslaved persons in the Confederate States of America in rebellion and not in Union hands were freed.
- Frederick Douglass
Emancipation Proclamation
President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, which took effect on January 1, 1863, declared the freedom of all slaves in Confederate-held territory.
- USA civil war
Lincoln made Grant commander of all Union armies
Lincoln made Grant commander of all Union armies. Grant made his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac and put Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman in command of most of the western armies.
- Alfred Nobel
Nobel invented dynamite in 1867
Nobel invented dynamite in 1867, a substance easier and safer to handle than the more unstable nitroglycerin.
- Impeachment of Andrew Johnson
Resignation of Grant
Contrary to Johnson's belief that Grant had agreed to remain in office, when the Senate voted and reinstated Stanton in January 1868, Grant immediately resigned, before the president had an opportunity to appoint a replacement.
- Unification of Germany
Bismarck negotiated with representatives of the southern German states
Bismarck acted immediately to secure the unification of Germany. He negotiated with representatives of the southern German states, offering special concessions if they agreed to unification. The negotiations succeeded; patriotic sentiment overwhelmed what opposition remained. While the war was in its final phase, Wilhelm I of Prussia was proclaimed German Emperor on 18 January 1871 in the Hall of Mirrors in the Château de Versailles.
- Greyfriars Bobby
Death
Bobby is said to have sat by the grave for 14 years. He died in 1872 and a necropsy by Prof Thomas Walley of the Edinburgh Veterinary College concluded he had died from cancer of the jaw.
- Memorial day
The first official celebration of Confederate Memorial Day
The first official celebration of Confederate Memorial Day as a public holiday occurred in 1874, following a proclamation by the Georgia legislature.
- Alfred Nobel
Nobel invented gelignite
In 1875 Nobel invented gelignite, more stable and powerful than dynamite.
- Incandescent light bulb
Swan gave a working demonstration
Swan gave a working demonstration at The Newcastle Chemical Society meeting on 17 January 1879.
- Nikola Tesla
left Gospić for Prague
In January 1880, two of Tesla's uncles put together enough money to help him leave Gospić for Prague, where he was to study. He arrived too late to enroll at Charles-Ferdinand University; he had never studied Greek, a required subject; and he was illiterate in Czech, another required subject. Tesla did, however, attend lectures in philosophy at the university as an auditor but he did not receive grades for the courses.
- Incandescent light bulb
Latimer received a patent for The "Process of Manufacturing Carbons"
Lewis Latimer, employed at the time by Edison, developed an improved method of heat-treating carbon filaments which reduced breakage and allowed them to be molded into novel shapes, such as the characteristic "M" shape of Maxim filaments. On 17 January 1882, Latimer received a patent for the "Process of Manufacturing Carbons", an improved method for the production of light bulb filaments, which was purchased by the United States Electric Light Company. Latimer patented other improvements such as a better way of attaching filaments to their wire supports.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
Birth
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882, in the Hudson Valley town of Hyde Park, New York, to businessman James Roosevelt Sr. and his second wife, Sara Ann Delano.
- Statue of Liberty
Setting up the Statue for the Voyage
The statue remained intact in Paris pending sufficient progress on the pedestal; by January 1885, this had occurred and the statue was disassembled and crated for its ocean voyage.
- The palace of Westminster England
Fenian bombs
The New Palace became the target of Fenian bombs on 24 January 1885, along with the Tower of London.