Historical Events
- Jan 1 Norway adopts Mid-European time
Aguinaldo a Freemason
Jan 1 Philippine Revolutionary Emilio Aguinaldo becomes a Freemason, joining Pilar Lodge No. 203, Imus, Cavite
Dreyfus Affair
Jan 5 French Captain Alfred Dreyfus, convicted of treason, publicly stripped of his rank; later exonerated
- Jan 5 Henry James' play "Guy Domville" opens in London
- Jan 5 Victor Trumper makes first-class debut for NSW 17 yrs 64 days
- Jan 12 The National Trust is founded in Britain
"An Ideal Husband"
Jan 13 Oscar Wilde's play "An Ideal Husband" premieres at the Haymarket Theatre in London
- Jan 15 Australian cricket spin bowler Albert Trott takes 8-43 on debut to end England's 2nd innings at 143 in 3rd Test in Adelaide; Australia wins by 382 in 4 days
- Jan 15 French fleet reaches Majunga, Madagascar
- Jan 17 French president Casimir-Perier resigns; Félix Faure installed.
- Jan 22 National Association of Manufacturers organized in Cincinnati
- Jan 25 New Haven Symphony Orchestra of Connecticut performs its first concert
Gretchaninov's 1st Symphony
Jan 26 Alexander Gretchaninov's 1st Symphony premieres in Saint Petersburg, Russia, with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov conducting
"Swan Lake" Revived
Jan 27 Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov's revival of Pyotr Tchaikovsky's ballet "Swan Lake" premieres in St. Petersburg
- Jan 29 King Koko's Kopermannen assault on Akassa Niger, 100's killed
- Jan 30 C J Eady (Tas) 1st Australian to score twin centuries (v Vic)
- Jan 30 SS Elbe sinks after collision in North Sea, 332 killed
- Jan 30 Tasmania beat Victoria for 1st F-C victory in 41 years
- Jan 31 Jose Martí & others leave NYC for invasion of Spanish Cuba
Famous Birthdays
J. Edgar Hoover (1895-1972)
Jan 1 American 1st Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (1924-72), born in Washington, D.C.
- Jan 1 Nathaniel Shilkret, American conductor and musician (Victor Salon Orchestra), born in New York City (d. 1982)
- Jan 2 Folke Bernadotte, Swedish diplomat (Red Cross; UN mediator for Palestine), born in Stockholm, Sweden (d. 1948)
- Jan 3 Borys Lyatoshynsky, Ukrainian composer, conductor, teacher, known as the father of modern Ukrainian music, born in Zhytomyr, Russian Empire (now Ukraine) (d. 1968)
- Jan 4 Leroy Grumman, American industrialist (d. 1982)
- Jan 4 Lourens Baas Becking, Dutch botanist (Baas Becking hypothesis), born in Deventer, Netherlands (d. 1963)
- Jan 5 Elizabeth Cotten, American folk and blues guitarist and songwriter ("Freight Train"), born in Carrboro, North Carolina (d. 1987)
- Jan 5 Jeannette Piccard, American high-altitude balloonist & Episcopal priest, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1981)
- Jan 6 Tom Fadden, American stage and screen character actor (It's a Wonderful Life; Broken Arrow; Cimarron City), born in Bayard, Iowa (d. 1980)
- Jan 7 Clara Haskil, Romanian pianist, born in Bucharest, Hungary (d. 1960)
Hudson Fysh (1895-1974)
Jan 7 Australian aviator, businessman and co-founder of QANTAS, born in Launceston, Tasmania
- Jan 7 Marie-Dominique Chenu, French Roman Catholic theologist, born in Soisy-sur-Seine, Essonne (d. 1990)
- Jan 11 Laurens Hammond, American engineer and inventor with 91 patents, including musical instruments (Hammond organ; Novachord synthesizer)), born in Evanston, Illinois (d. 1973)
- Jan 13 Anton Betzner, German writer, born in Cologne (d. 1976)
- Jan 13 Fortunio Bonanova, Spanish opera singer and actor, born in Palma de Mallorca Spain (d. 1969)
- Jan 14 George Richard Samways, English children's writer, born in Hampshire, England (d. 1996)
- Jan 15 Artturi Ilmari Virtanen, Finnish chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1973)
- Jan 16 Nat Schachner, American author (d. 1955)
- Jan 18 Virginia Valli [McSweeney], American (mostly silent) film actress (Wild Oranges; Pleasure Garden), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1968)
- Jan 20 Eva Jessye, American singer, actress, songwriter (Hallelujah) and 1st black woman to receive international distinction as a choral conductor, born in Coffeyville, Kansas (d. 1992)
- Jan 20 Roscoe Ates, American actor (Freaks, Cimarron, Marshal of Gunsight Pass), born in Grange, Mississippi (d. 1962)
- Jan 21 Cristóbal Balenciaga, Spanish couturier 'The Master', born in Getaria, Spain (d. 1972)
- Jan 24 Albin Zollinger, Swiss poet and writer (Der Halbe Mensch), born in Zürich, Switzerland (d. 1941)
- Jan 24 Eugen Roth, German poet, born in Munich (d. 1976)
- Jan 27 Cláudio Carneyro, Portuguese violinist, composer, and educator, born in Porto, Portugal (d. 1963)
- Jan 27 Harry Ruby [Harry Rubenstein], American composer and screenwriter, born in New York City (d. 1974)
- Jan 27 Joseph Rosenstock, American conductor (NY City Opera), born in Kraków, Poland (d. 1985)
- Jan 29 Muna Lee, American poet and activist, born in Raymond, Mississippi (d. 1965)
Famous Deaths
- Jan 3 James Merritt Ives, American lithographer and businessman (Currier and Ives), dies at 70
- Jan 4 Manuel Pavía y Rodríguez de Alburquerque, Spanish general, dies at 66
- Jan 9 Aaron Lufkin Dennison, 'Father of American watchmaking', American watch manufacturer and businessman (Tremont Watch Company), dies at 82
- Jan 10 Benjamin Godard, French violinist, orchestral and opera composer (Symphonie légendaire; Jocelyn), dies at 45
- Jan 22 Edward Solomon, English pianist and composer, chiefly of operettas, dies of typhoid fever at 39
- Jan 24 Lord Randolph Churchill, British politician (chancellor of the Exchequer, father of Winston Churchill), dies at 45
- Jan 26 Arthur Cayley, British mathematician (Cayley–Hamilton theorem), dies at 73
- Jan 28 François Certain Canrobert, French marshal and parliament member, dies at 85
