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.
1901January 1901 January 1 The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia; Edmund Barton becomes the first Prime Minister of Australia. Nigeria becomes a British protectorate. January 9 – Lord Kitchener reports that Christiaan de Wet has shot one of the "peace" envoys, and flogged two more, who had gone to his commando to ask the Burgher citizens of South Africa to halt fighting.
1916Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January 1916 January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. January 9 – WWI: Gallipoli Campaign: The last British troops are evacuated from Gallipoli, as the Ottoman Empire prevails over a joint British and French operation to capture Constantinople. January 10 – WWI: Erzurum Offensive: Russia defeats the Ottoman Empire.
1895January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. January 12 – The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty is founded in England by Octavia Hill, Robert Hunter and Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley. January 13 – First Italo-Ethiopian War: Battle of Coatit – Italian forces defeat the Ethiopians. January 17 – Félix Faure is elected President of the French Republic, after the resignation of Jean Casimir-Perier.
1942The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in these terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was the deadliest such year. Death toll estimates for both 1941 and 1942 range from 2.28 to 7.71 million each. Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
1905As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony is subtitled The Year 1905 to commemorate this) and the start of Revolution in the Kingdom of Poland. Canada and the U.S. expand west, with the Alberta and Saskatchewan provinces and the founding of Las Vegas.
1902January 1902 January 1 The Nurses Registration Act 1901 comes into effect in New Zealand, making it the first country in the world to require state registration of nurses. On January 10, Ellen Dougherty becomes the world's first registered nurse. Nathan Stubblefield demonstrates his wireless telephone device in the U.S. state of Kentucky. January 8 – A train collision in the New York Central Railroad's Park Avenue Tunnel kills 17 people, injures 38, and leads to increased demand for electric trains and the banning of steam locomotives in New York City.
1949January 1949 January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2023. January 2 – Luis Muñoz Marín becomes the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico. January 11 – The first "networked" television broadcasts take place, as KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania goes on the air, connecting east coast and mid-west programming in the United States.
1917Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January 1917 January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's Desert Column. January 10 – Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition: Seven survivors of the Ross Sea party were rescued after being stranded for several months. January 11 – Unknown saboteurs set off the Kingsland Explosion at Kingsland (modern-day Lyndhurst, New Jersey), one of the events leading to United States involvement in WWI.
1926January 1926 January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. January 8 Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of Vietnam. January 12 – Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll premiere their radio program Sam 'n' Henry, in which the two white performers portray two black characters from Harlem looking to strike it rich in the big city (it is a precursor to Gosden and Correll's more popular later program, Amos 'n' Andy).
