1920January 1920 January 1 Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own market town. January 3 – The 1920 Xalapa earthquake in Mexico kills over 600 people, making it the second deadliest in the country. January 7 – Russian Civil War: The forces of Russian White Admiral Alexander Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk; the Great Siberian Ice March ensues.
1886January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. January 5–9 – Robert Louis Stevenson's novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is published in New York and London. January 16 – A resolution is passed in the German Parliament to condemn the Prussian deportations, the politically motivated mass expulsion of ethnic Poles and Jews from Prussia, initiated by Otto von Bismarck.
1882January 2 The Standard Oil Trust is secretly created in the United States to control multiple corporations set up by John D. Rockefeller and his associates. Irish-born author Oscar Wilde arrives in the United States for an extended lecture tour; when asked by a customs official if he has anything to declare, he replies "I have nothing to declare but my genius" according to later tradition. January 5 – Charles J. Guiteau is found guilty of the assassination of James A.
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.
1976January 1976 January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. January 18 – Full diplomatic relations are established between Bangladesh and Pakistan 5 years after the Bangladesh Liberation War. January 27 The United States vetoes a United Nations resolution that calls for an independent Palestinian state. The First Battle of Amgala breaks out between Morocco and Algeria in the Spanish Sahara.
1915Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January 1915 January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". January 1 WWI: British Royal Navy battleship HMS Formidable is sunk off Lyme Regis, Dorset, England, by an Imperial German Navy U-boat, with the loss of 547 crew. Battle of Broken Hill: A train ambush near Broken Hill, Australia, is carried out by two men (claiming to be in support of the Ottoman Empire) who are killed, together with four civilians.
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.