1857January 1 – The biggest Estonian newspaper, Postimees, is established by Johann Voldemar Jannsen. January 7 – The partly French-owned London General Omnibus Company begins operating. January 9 – The 7.9 Fort Tejon earthquake shakes Central and Southern California, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). January 24 – The University of Calcutta is established in Calcutta, as the first multidisciplinary modern university in South Asia. The University of Bombay is also established in Bombay, British India, this year.
1958January 1958 January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. January 4 Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third overland journey to the South Pole, the first to use powered vehicles. Sputnik 1 (launched on October 4, 1957) falls to Earth from its orbit, and burns up. January 13 – Battle of Edchera: The Moroccan Army of Liberation ambushes a Spanish patrol.
1852January 14 – President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte proclaims a new constitution for the French Second Republic. January 15 – Nine men representing various Jewish charitable organizations come together to form what will become Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. January 17 – The United Kingdom recognizes the independence of the Transvaal. February 3 – Battle of Caseros, Argentina: The Argentine provinces of Entre Rios and Corrientes, allied with Brazil and members of Colorado Party of Uruguay, defeat Buenos Aires troops under Juan Manuel de Rosas.
1855January 1 – Ottawa, Ontario, is incorporated as a city. January 5 – Ramón Castilla begins his third term as President of Peru. January 23 The first bridge over the Mississippi River opens in modern-day Minneapolis, a predecessor of the Father Louis Hennepin Bridge. The 8.2–8.3 Wairarapa earthquake claims between five and nine lives near the Cook Strait area of New Zealand. January 26 – The Point No Point Treaty is signed in the Washington Territory. January 27 – The Panama Railway becomes the first railroad to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
1854January 4 – The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the Samarang. January 6 – The fictional detective Sherlock Holmes is perhaps born. January 9 – The Teutonia Männerchor in Pittsburgh, U.S.A. is founded to promote German culture. January 20 – The North Carolina General Assembly in the United States charters the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad, to run from Goldsboro through New Bern, to the newly created seaport of Morehead City, near Beaufort.
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.
1844In the Philippines, it was the only leap year with 365 days, as December 31 was skipped when 1845 began after December 30. The change also applied to Caroline Islands, Guam, Marianas Islands, Marshall Islands, and Palau as part of the Captaincy General of the Philippines. And became the first places on Earth to redraw the International Date Line. January 15 – The University of Notre Dame, based in the city of the same name, receives its charter from Indiana. February 27 – The Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti.
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.
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.
1842January Michael Alexander takes office, as the first appointee to the Anglican-German Bishopric in Jerusalem. American medical student William E. Clarke of Berkshire Medical College becomes the first person to administer an inhaled anesthetic, to facilitate a surgical procedure (dental extraction). January 6–13 – First Anglo-Afghan War – Massacre of Elphinstone's army (Battle of Gandamak): British East India Company troops are destroyed by Afghan forces on the road from Kabul to Jalalabad, Afghanistan, by Akbar Khan, son of Dost Mohammad Khan.
