Historical Events
Brahms' Violin Concerto
Jan 1 Johannes Brahms' Violin Concerto in D major premieres in Leipzig
1st Test Hat-trick
Jan 2 Australian fast bowler Fred Spofforth dismisses 3 English batsmen with consecutive deliveries during the 3rd Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for Test cricket's first "hat-trick"
- Jan 2 British battleship HMS Thunderer gun turret explodes during gunnery practice in Gulf of Izmit, near Turkey; 11 sailors killed and 35 injured
- Jan 2 Dr Benjamin Mays, named president of Atlanta Board of Education
- Jan 9 Cheyenne prisoners led by Dull Knife revolt at Ft Robinson
- Jan 9 Kirland Warbler discovered on Andros Island in Bahamas
Anglo-Zulu War
Jan 11 Anglo-Zulu War begins as British Lieutenant-General Lord Chelmsford invades Zululand in South Africa
- Jan 16 January record 13" of snow falls in NYC (broken Jan 7, 1996)
- Jan 16 The Windom Resolution by Minnesota Senator William Windom encourages black migration out of the South, helping trigger the "Exodus of 1879". 6,000 southern blacks flee Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas for Kansas. [1]
- Jan 20 British troops under Lord Chelmsford make camp at Isandlwana
"A Doll's House"
Jan 21 Henrik Ibsen's play "Et Dukkehjem" (A Doll's House) premieres in Copenhagen
The British: 139. Zulu Warriors: 4,000. Let Battle Begin
Jan 22 Battle of Rorke's Drift: British garrison of 150 holds off 3,000-4,000 Zulu warriors. Eleven Victoria Crosses and a number of other decorations were awarded to the defenders.
- Jan 22 James Shields (D) elected US senator from Missouri after previously serving as US senator from Illinois & Minnesota
- Jan 22 Zulu warriors attack British Army camp in Isandhlwana, South Africa
- Jan 23 US National Archery Association forms in Crawfordsville, Indiana
- Jan 25 The Bulgarian National Bank is founded
Custer Battlefield Monument
Jan 29 Custer Battlefield National Monument established in Montana
- Jan 30 French President Patrice de Mac-Mahon resigns
Famous Birthdays
E. M. Forster (1879-1970)
Jan 1 English writer and novelist (A Room With A View; Maurice; A Passage to India), born in Marylebone, Middlesex
- Jan 1 Emile Argand, Swiss geologist (Dekbladen Theory), born in Eaux-Vives, Switzerland (d. 1940)
- Jan 1 Ernest Jones, Welsh psychoanalyst (biographer of Freud - Life & Work of Sigmund Freud), born in Gowerton, Wales (d. 1958)
- Jan 1 William Fox [Wilhem Fuchs], Hungarian-American movie theater pioneer and film producer (Fox Film Corporation), born in Tolcsva, Kingdom of Hungary (d. 1952)
- Jan 2 Johannes L "Jan" Walch, Dutch literary figure (Grimaces) (d. 1946)
- Jan 2 Pieter Tesch, Dutch geologist (Pedestal of Nederlands) (d. 1961)
- Jan 2 Sydney Baynes, British conductor, arranger, bandleader and composer (Destiny Waltz; Endure to Conquer), born in Sudbury, England (d. 1938)
- Jan 3 Grace Anna Goodhue Coolidge, American First Lady (1923-29) wife of Calvin Coolidge, born in Burlington, Vermont (d. 1957)
- Jan 5 Hans Eppinger, Austrian physician, born in Prague, Czech Republic (d. 1946)
- Jan 11 Antonio Beltramelli, Italian writer (d. 1930)
- Jan 12 Ray Harroun, American auto racer (inaugural Indianapolis 500 1911; Motorsports Hall of Fame of America 2000), born in Spartansburg, Pennsylvania (d. 1968)
- Jan 15 Ernest Thesiger, English actor (Bride of Frankenstein, Ghoul), born in London, England (d. 1961)
- Jan 15 Mazo de la Roche, Canadian author, born in Newmarket, Canada (d. 1961)
- Jan 18 Henri Giraud, French general (French Committee of National Liberation in WWII), born in Paris, France (d. 1949)
- Jan 19 Boris Savinkov, Russian writer (d. 1925)
- Jan 22 Francis Picabia, French avante-garde artist, writer and typographist (Amorous Parade), born in Paris, France (d. 1953)
- Jan 24 Stanislaw Lyudkevich, Ukranian composer, born in Jaroslaw, Habsburg Empire (now Poland) (d. 1979)
- Jan 25 Dave Nourse, South African cricket all-rounder (45 Tests, 1 x 100, 41 wickets; Natal, Transvaal, Western Province), born in South Norwood, England (d. 1948)
- Jan 26 Lode Baekelmans, Belgian writer (Tille), born in Antwerp, Belgium (d. 1965)
- Jan 27 Sven Holger Körling, Swedish organist, music teacher, and composer of children's songs, born in Ystad, Sweden (d. 1948)
Famous Weddings
- Jan 7 Dutch King William II marries Emma von Waldeck-Pyrmont
Famous Deaths
- Jan 8 Baldomero Espartero, Spanish general, statesman and Regent of Spain for Isabella II (1840-43), dies at 85
- Jan 13 Henry the Navigator, prince of the Netherlands, third son of King William II of the Netherlands, dies at 58
- Jan 16 Octave Crémazie, French Canadian poet, dies at 51
- Jan 21 John Blair Scribner, American magazine and book publisher, dies of pneumonia at 28
- Jan 22 Anthony Durnford, British colonel, dies in Battle of Isandlwana
- Jan 22 George Shepstone, British political affiliate, dies in battle
- Jan 23 Adolf Jensen, German composer, dies of tuberculosis at 42
- Jan 29 Antonio Benedetto Antonucci, Italian cardinal and diplomat, dies at 80
