1822January 1 – The Greek Constitution of 1822 is adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus. January 3 – The famous French explorer, Aimé Bonpland, is made prisoner in Paraguay accused of being a spy. January 7 – The first group of freed slaves from the United States arrive on the west coast of Africa, founding Monrovia on April 25. January 9 – The Portuguese prince Pedro I of Brazil decides to stay in Brazil against the orders of the Portuguese King João VI, beginning the Brazilian independence process.
1663January 10 – The Royal African Company is granted a Royal Charter by Charles II of England. January 23 – The Treaty of Ghilajharighat is signed in India between representatives of the Mughal Empire and the independent Ahom Kingdom (in what is now the Assam state), with the Mughals ending their occupation of the Ahom capital of Garhgaon, in return for payment by Ahom in silver and gold for costs of the occupation, and King Sutamla of Ahom sending one of his daughters to be part of the harem of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.
1669January 2 – Pirate Henry Morgan of Wales holds a meeting of his captains on board his ship, the former Royal Navy frigate Oxford, and an explosion in the ship's gunpowder supply kills 200 of his crew and four of the pirate captains who had attended the summit. January 4 – A 5.7 magnitude earthquake strikes the city of Shamakhi in Iran (now in Azerbaijan) and kills 7,000 people. Fourteen months earlier, an earthquake in Shamakhi killed 80,000 people.
1678January 10 – England and the Dutch Republic sign a mutual defense treaty in order to fight against France. January 27 – The first fire engine company (in what will become the United States) goes into service in Boston. February 18 – The first part of English nonconformist preacher John Bunyan's Christian allegory, The Pilgrim's Progress, is published in London. March 21 – Thomas Shadwell's comedy A True Widow is given its first performance, at The Duke's Theatre in London, staged by the Duke's Company.
1791January 1 – Austrian composer Joseph Haydn arrives in England, to perform a series of concerts. January 2 – Northwest Indian War: Big Bottom Massacre – The war begins in the Ohio Country, with this massacre. January 12 – Holy Roman troops reenter Liège, heralding the end of the Liège Revolution, and the restoration of its Prince-Bishops. January 25 – The British Parliament passes the Constitutional Act 1791, splitting the old province of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada.
1828January 4 – Jean Baptiste Gay, vicomte de Martignac succeeds the Comte de Villèle, as Prime Minister of France. January 8 – The Democratic Party of the United States is organized. January 22 – Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington succeeds Lord Goderich as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. February 19 – The Boston Society for Medical Improvement is established in the United States. February 21 – The first American-Indian newspaper in the United States is published, named "Cherokee Phoenix".
1781January – William Pitt the Younger, later Prime Minister of Great Britain, enters Parliament, aged 21. January 1 – Industrial Revolution: The Iron Bridge opens across the River Severn in England. January 2 – Virginia passes a law ceding its western land claims, paving the way for Maryland to ratify the Articles of Confederation. January 5 – American Revolutionary War: Richmond, Virginia is burned by British naval forces, led by Benedict Arnold.
1697January 8 – Thomas Aikenhead is hanged outside Edinburgh, becoming the last person in Great Britain to be executed for blasphemy. January 11 – French writer Charles Perrault releases the book Histoires ou contes du temps passé (literally "Tales of Past Times", known in England as "Mother Goose tales") in Paris, a collection of popular fairy tales, including Cinderella, Puss in Boots, Red Riding Hood, The Sleeping Beauty and Bluebeard.
