Historical Events
- Jan 1 Denmark adopts Mid-European time
- Jan 1 Manchester Ship Canal in England opens to traffic
- Jan 1 South African Amateur Athletic Union is founded in Johannesburg
- Jan 4 France ratifies Duple Alliance with Russia
"Fred Ott's Sneeze"
Jan 7 William K.L. Dickson captures "Fred Ott's Sneeze" as a motion picture at Thomas Edison's Black Mariah Studio, West Orange, New Jersey [1]
- Jan 8 Columbus World's fair in Chicago destroyed by fire
- Jan 9 Georges Feydeau's "Un à la Patte" premieres in Paris
- Jan 9 New England Telephone and Telegraph installs the first battery-operated telephone switchboard in Lexington, Massachusetts.
- Jan 9 William K.L. Dickson's motion picture "Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze" aka "Fred Ott's Sneeze" receives first US copyright for the format; it was filmed a few days earlier at Edison Studio, West Orange, New Jersey [1]
- Jan 11 Donghak Peasant Rebellion begins in Mujiang, Korea over local corruption, sparking the 1st Sino-Japanese War
- Jan 13 Revolution in Sicily crushed by government troops
- Jan 21 Oscar Fredriksen skates world record 500m in 47.8 sec
- Jan 23 G. W. Bunbury of Dublin sets shorthand record of 250 wpm for 10 min
Corbett vs. Mitchell
Jan 25 In his only successful title defense, James J Corbett KOs English champion Charley Mitchell in 3 rounds at the Duvall Athletic Club, Jacksonville, Florida for the world heavyweight boxing title
Famous Birthdays
- Jan 1 Satyendra Nath Bose, Indian physicist (Bose–Einstein statistics), born in Calcutta, British India (d. 1974)
- Jan 1 Shitsu Nakano, Japanese supercentenarian (d. 2007)
- Jan 2 Robert Nathan, American poet and novelist (Portrait of Jennie), born in New York City (d. 1985)
- Jan 3 ZaSu Pitts, American actress (Life With Father; Dames; Wedding March), born in Parsons, Kansas (d. 1963)
- Jan 4 Manuel de Abreu, Brazilian physician (d. 1962)
- Jan 4 Wesley LaViolette, American composer and teacher, born in St. James, Minnesota (d. 1978)
- Jan 7 José Rozo Contreras, Colombian saxophonist, conductor, and composer, born in Bochalema, Colombia (d. 1976)
- Jan 8 St Maximilian Kolbe, Polish martyr (d. 1941)
- Jan 9 Henryk Stazewski, Polish abstract painter and graphic artist, born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 1988)
- Jan 10 Reginald Denham, English writer and director (Obsession, The Bad Seed), born in London, England (d. 1983)
- Jan 11 Jaroslav Vogel, Czech composer and conductor (Brno Philharmonic, 1959-62; Ostrava Orchestra 1919- 43), born in Pilsen, Kingdom of Bohemia (d. 1970)
- Jan 12 Georges Carpentier, French boxer (world light heavyweight champion; 1920-22; 1st $1m gate v J Dempsey), born in Lievin, France (d. 1975)
- Jan 15 Edmond Rubbens, Belgian attorney and politician, born in Zele, Belgium (d. 1938)
- Jan 16 Guy Chamberlin, American College/Pro Football HOF end (Uni of Nebraska; 5×NFL C'ship; First-team All-Pro 1920), born in Blue Springs, Nebraska (d. 1967)
- Jan 16 Irving Mills [Isadore Minsky], American jazz music publisher, manager (Duke Ellington, 1926-48), singer and lyricist, born in Odessa, Ukraine (d. 1985)
- Jan 18 Wilhelm H. C. Tenhaeff, Dutch parapsychologist, born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 1981)
- Jan 20 Harold Gray, American cartoonist (created Little Orphan Annie), born in Kankakee, Illinois (d. 1968)
Walter Piston (1894-1976)
Jan 20 Jr., American two-time Pulitzer Prize winning composer (Incredible Flutist), music theorist, and educator (Harvard, 1926-60), born in Rockland, Maine
- Jan 22 Charles Morgan, English writer (Fountain) (d. 1958)
- Jan 22 Matt McHugh, American actor (Taxi, Freaks, Barbary Coast, Innocent Affair), born in Connellsville, Pennsylvania (d. 1971)
- Jan 23 Remy Angenot, Flemish actor (Met den helm geboren, Patriot, Idiot), born in Antwerpen, Flanders, Belgium (d. 1964)
- Jan 27 Albert Patterson, American politician and attorney, born in New Site, Alabama (d. 1954)
- Jan 27 Fritz Pollard, early African American NFL star (1920-26) and coach, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1986)
- Jan 30 Marcel Canneel, Flemish painter (Reuzenstoet) (d. 1953)
- Jan 31 Isham Jones, American musician, bandleader ("Star Dust") and songwriter ("It Had To Be You"; "I'll See You in My Dreams"), born in Coalton, Ohio (d. 1956) [1]
- Jan 31 Percy Helton, American actor (Jail Busters, Harbor of Missing Men), born in New York City (d. 1971)
Famous Deaths
- Jan 1 Heinrich Hertz, German physicist (1st to broadcast & receive radio waves), dies after surgical complications at 36
- Jan 8 Pierre-Joseph van Beneden, Belgian paleontologist (life cycle of tapeworms), dies at 84
- Jan 13 Nadezhda von Meck, Russian patroness of Pyotr Tchaikovsky, dies of tuberculosis at 62
- Jan 19 Francois Haverschmidt, Dutch writer (Snikken en grimlachjes), dies at 58
- Jan 21 Guillaume Lekeu, Belgian composer (Épithalame), dies of typhoid fever at 24
- Jan 24 Constance Fenimore Woolson, American writer (Jupiter Lights), dies falls to her death in Venice at 53
- Jan 27 Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, English sculptor and naturalist, dies at 86
