Historical Events
- Jan 1 Slavery abolished in the Dutch East Indies for areas under direct rule
"Jeanie Deans"
Jan 9 Dion Boucicault's stage drama "Jeanie Deans" opens at Laura Keene's Theatre, NYC
Famous Birthdays
- Jan 2 William Corless Mills, American museum curator (excavated Ohio Indian mounds), born in Pyrmont, Ohio. (d. 1928)
- Jan 7 Emanuil Manolov, Bulgarian composer (Siromahkinia - 1st Bulgarian opera), born in Gabrovo, Ottoman Bulgaria (d. 1902)
- Jan 8 Nancy Jones, US African American missionary in Africa, born in Hopksinville, Kentucky (d. 1939)
- Jan 12 Henry Larkin, American baseball player (d. 1942)
- Jan 17 Douglas Hyde, President of Ireland (d. 1949)
- Jan 21 Karl Staaff, Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1915)
Charles Curtis (1860-1936)
Jan 25 American Republican Senator (Kansas: 1907-13, 1915-29) and 31st US Vice President (1929-33) who was the first Native American to become a Senator and Vice President, born in North Topeka, Kansas
- Jan 26 Harry Micajah Daugherty, American politician, lawyer and political manager accused of corruption, born in Washington Court House, Ohio (d. 1941)
Anton Chekhov (1860-1904)
Jan 29 Russian author and playwright (Cherry Orchard, Uncle Vanya), born in Taganrog, Russia
Famous Deaths
- Jan 5 St John Nepomucene Neumann, 1st male US saint, dies
- Jan 12 Martinus Niewindt, Dutch Bishop of Curacao (christened slaves), dies at 63
- Jan 13 William Mason, American politician, dies at 73
- Jan 24 James Pollard Espy, American meteorologist (Philosophy of Storms), dies at 74
- Jan 27 János Bolyai, Hungarian mathematician (non-Euclidean geometry), dies at 57
- Jan 27 Thomas Brisbane, British soldier, administrator and astronomer, dies at 86
- Jan 30 Francesco Antonio Norberto Pinto, Portuguese violinist, hornist and composer (Adoração ao Sol), dies at 44
