Historical Events
Constitution of the United States
Jan 2 Georgia is 4th state to ratify US constitution
- Jan 9 Connecticut becomes 5th state to ratify the US constitution
- Jan 18 First elements of the First Fleet carrying 736 convicts from England to Australia arrives at Botany Bay to set up a penal colony
- Jan 20 Pioneer African Baptist church organizes in Savannah, Georgia
- Jan 24 French La Pérouse expedition arrives in Botany Bay, Australia, meeting the newly arrived "First Fleet" penal colony
Australia Day
Jan 26 Captain Arthur Phillip and British colonists hoist the Union Flag at Sydney Cove, New South Wales, now celebrated as Australia Day. Referred to as Invasion Day by some First Nations people.
- Jan 28 Lord Gordon found guilty of libel of Queen of France
Famous Birthdays
- Jan 5 Kaspar Ett, German organist and composer, born in Eresing, Electorate of Bavaria, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1847)
- Jan 8 Archduke Rudolph of Austria, Austrian clergyman and noble, born in Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany (now Italy) (d. 1831)
- Jan 8 Erik Drake, Swedish composer (Royal Swedish Academy of Music), born on Föllingsö, Östergötland (d. 1870)
- Jan 8 Pavel Kiselyov, Russian general and politician, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1874)
- Jan 11 William Thomas Brande, English chemist (d. 1866)
- Jan 13 Carl Ludwig Cornelius Westenholz, German composer, born in Ludwigslust, Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (d. 1854)
Famous Deaths
- Jan 5 Johann Schneider, German composer and pupil of Bach, dies at 85
Comte de Grasse (1723-1788)
Jan 11 French admiral who commanded the French fleet at the Battle of the Chesapeake, dies at 64
Bonnie Prince Charlie (1720-1788)
Jan 30 English pretender to throne (Jacobite rebellion), dies of a stroke at 67
- Jan 31 Francesco Zannetti, Italian composer, dies at 50
