Historical Events
- Jan 5 James Clark Ross (UK) is 1st to enter pack ice near Ross Ice Shelf
- Jan 20 China cedes Hong Kong to the British during the First Opium War
- Jan 26 Hong Kong proclaimed a sovereign territory of Britain
- Jan 30 A fire destroys two-thirds of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.
Famous Birthdays
- Jan 10 George Melville, American polar explorer and naval engineer, born in New York City (d. 1912)
- Jan 14 Berthe Morisot, French Impressionist painter who helped start the Impressionist movement, born in Bourges, France (d. 1895)
- Jan 15 Frederick Stanley, British politician (Governor General of Canada 1888-93, presented hockey's Stanley Cup to Canada), born in London, England (d. 1908)
- Jan 18 (Alexis) Emmanuel Chabrier, French pianist and composer (España; Joyeuse marche; Le roi malgré lui), born in Ambert, Puy-de-Dôme, France (d. 1894)
Alonzo Cushing (1841-1863)
Jan 19 American Union officer, born in Delafield, Wisconsin
Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904)
Jan 28 Welsh journalist and African explorer (found Livingstone in Africa), born in Denbigh, Wales
