1870January 1 The first edition of The Northern Echo newspaper is published in Priestgate, Darlington, England. Plans for the Brooklyn Bridge are completed. January 3 – Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins in New York City. January 6 – The Musikverein, Vienna, is inaugurated in Austria-Hungary. January 10 – John D. Rockefeller incorporates Standard Oil. January 15 – A political cartoon for the first time symbolizes the United States Democratic Party with a donkey (A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion by Thomas Nast for Harper's Weekly).
1875January 1 – The Midland Railway of England abolishes the Second Class passenger category, leaving First Class and Third Class. Other British railway companies follow Midland's lead during the rest of the year (Third Class is renamed Second Class in 1956). January 5 – The Palais Garnier, one of the most famous opera houses in the world, is inaugurated as the home of the Paris Opera. January 12 – Guangxu becomes the 11th Qing dynasty Emperor of China at the age of 3, in succession to his cousin.
20142014 was designated as: International Year of Crystallography International Year of Family Farming International Year of Small Island Developing States International Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People TOC January 1 Latvia officially adopts the euro as its currency and becomes the 18th member of the Eurozone. January 5 – A launch of the communication satellite GSAT-14 aboard the GSLV Mk.II D5 marks the first successful flight of an Indian cryogenic rocket engine.
1879January 1 – The Specie Resumption Act takes effect. The United States Note is valued the same as gold, for the first time since the American Civil War. January 11 – The Anglo-Zulu War begins. January 22 – Anglo-Zulu War – Battle of Isandlwana: A force of 1,200 British soldiers is wiped out by over 20,000 Zulu warriors. January 23 – Anglo-Zulu War – Battle of Rorke's Drift: Following the previous day's defeat, a smaller British force of 140 successfully repels an attack by 4,000 Zulus.
1906January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, and establish a national assembly, the Majlis. January 16–April 7 – The Algeciras Conference convenes, to resolve the First Moroccan Crisis between France and Germany. January 22 – The strikes a reef off Vancouver Island, Canada, killing over 100 (officially 136) in the ensuing disaster.
1910January 1910 January 6 – Abé people in the French West Africa colony of Côte d'Ivoire rise against the colonial administration; the rebellion is brutally suppressed by the military. January 8 – By the Treaty of Punakha, the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan becomes a protectorate of the British Empire. January 11 – Charcot Island is discovered by the Antarctic expedition led by French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charcot on the ship Pourquoi Pas? Charcot returns from his expedition on February 11.
1861Statistically, this year is considered the end of the whale oil industry and (in replacement) the beginning of the petroleum oil industry. January 1 Benito Juárez captures Mexico City. The first steam-powered carousel is recorded, in Bolton, England. January 2 – Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia dies, and is succeeded by Wilhelm I. January 3 – American Civil War: Delaware votes not to secede from the Union. January 9 – American Civil War: Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the Union.
1863January 1 – Abraham Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation during the third year of the American Civil War, making the abolition of slavery in the Confederate states an official war goal. It proclaims the freedom of 3.1 million of the nation's four million slaves and immediately frees 50,000 of them, with the rest freed as Union armies advance. January 2 – Master Lucius Tar Paint Company (Teerfarbenfabrik Meister Lucius), predecessor of Hoechst, as a worldwide chemical manufacturing brand, founded in a suburb of Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
1887January 11 – Louis Pasteur's anti-rabies treatment is defended in the Académie Nationale de Médecine, by Dr. Joseph Grancher. January 20 The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base. British emigrant ship Kapunda sinks after a collision off the coast of Brazil, killing 303 with only 16 survivors. January 21 The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is formed in the United States. Brisbane receives a one-day rainfall of (a record for any Australian capital city).
1871January 3 – Franco-Prussian War – Battle of Bapaume: Prussians win a strategic victory. January 18 – Proclamation of the German Empire: The member states of the North German Confederation and the south German states, aside from Austria, unite into a single nation state, known as the German Empire. The King of Prussia is declared the first German Emperor as Wilhelm I of Germany, in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles. Constitution of the German Confederation comes into effect.
