1866January 1 Fisk University, a historically black university, is established in Nashville, Tennessee. The last issue of the abolitionist magazine The Liberator is published. January 6 – Ottoman troops clash with supporters of Maronite leader Youssef Bey Karam, at St. Doumit in Lebanon; the Ottomans are defeated. January 12 The Royal Aeronautical Society is formed as The Aeronautical Society of Great Britain in London, the world's oldest such society.
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.
1723January 25 – English-born pirate Edward Low intercepts the Portuguese ship Nostra Signiora de Victoria. After the Portuguese captain throws his treasure of 11,000 gold coins into the sea rather than surrendering it, Low orders the captain's brutal torture and execution, then has the rest of the Victoria crew murdered. Low commits more atrocities this year, but is not certainly heard of after the end of the year. February 4 – The Kangxi Era ends in Qing dynasty China, and the Yongzheng Era begins, with the coronation of Yinzhen, the Yongzheng Emperor.
