What Happened in January 1866

Historical Events

Music History

Jan 5 Bedřich Smetana's first opera "Branibori v Cechach" ("The Brandenburgers in Bohemia") premieres in Prague

  • Jan 9 Fisk University opens in Nashville, Tennessee
  • Jan 11 Steamship London sinks in storm off Land's End, England and kills 220
  • Jan 12 The Royal Aeronautical Society is formed in London
  • Jan 18 Wesley College is established in Melbourne
  • Jan 20 Prim's Insurrection in Spain ends

Famous Birthdays

  • Jan 2 Prof Gilbert Murray, Australian classical scholar (d. 1957)
  • Jan 8 William G. Conley, American politician (d. 1940)
  • Jan 9 Albert Baertsoen, Flemish painter and etcher, born in Ghent, Belgium (d. 1922)
  • Jan 13 Vasily Kalinnikov, Russian composer influenced by folksong, born in Voina, Russia (d. 1901)
  • Jan 15 Nathan Söderblom, Swedish archbishop & recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, born in Uppsala, Sweden (d. 1931)
  • Jan 19 Harry Davenport, American actor and director (Her Unborn Child, My Sin), born in New York City (d. 1949)
  • Jan 20 Richard Le Gallienne, English writer (had affair with Oscar Wilde, father of actress Eva Le Gallienne), born in Liverpool, England (d. 1947)
  • Jan 25 Emile Vandervelde, President (1900–1918) of the International Socialist Bureau and Minister of 3 Belgian governments (d. 1938)
  • Jan 29 Romain Rolland, French writer (Jean-Christophe, Nobel Prize for Literature 1915), born in Clamecy, France (d. 1944)
  • Jan 30 Gelett Burgess, American humorist and author (The Purple Cow), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1951)
  • Jan 31 Emil Strauss, German writer (Naked Man) (d. 1960)
  • Jan 31 Henry Forster, British politician (Governor-General of Australia 1920-25) and cricketer (Oxford blue 1887-89), born in Catford, England (d. 1936)

Famous Deaths

  • Jan 10 Pyotr Pletnyov, Russian poet (b. 1792)
  • Jan 15 M T d'Azeglio, writer, dies
  • Jan 23 Thomas Love Peacock, English satirical writer (headlong Hill), dies at 80
  • Jan 27 John Gibson, British sculptor (Sir Robert Peel statue at Westminster Abbey), dies at 75