January 2541 – After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman emperor by the Senate. 750 – In the Battle of the Zab, the Abbasid rebels defeat the Umayyad Caliphate, leading to the overthrow of the dynasty. 1348 – A strong earthquake strikes the South Alpine region of Friuli in modern Italy, causing considerable damage to buildings as far away as Rome. 1494 – Alfonso II becomes King of Naples. 1515 – Coronation of Francis I of France takes place at Reims Cathedral, where the new monarch is anointed with the oil of Clovis and girt with the sword of Charlemagne.
19981998 was designated as the International Year of the Ocean. January 6 – The Lunar Prospector spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently shadowed craters near the Moon's poles. January 11 – Over 100 people are killed in the Sidi-Hamed massacre in Algeria. January 12 – Nineteen European nations agree to forbid human cloning. January 17 – The Drudge Report breaks the story about U.S.
1936January 1936 February 1936 January 20 – George V, King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII. January 28 – State funeral of George V of the United Kingdom. After a procession through London, he is buried at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. February 4 – Radium E (bismuth-210) becomes the first radioactive element to be made synthetically.
1910January 1910 January 6 – Abé people in the French West Africa colony of Côte d'Ivoire rise against the colonial administration; the rebellion is brutally suppressed by the military. January 8 – By the Treaty of Punakha, the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan becomes a protectorate of the British Empire. January 11 – Charcot Island is discovered by the Antarctic expedition led by French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charcot on the ship Pourquoi Pas? Charcot returns from his expedition on February 11.
1881January 1–24 – Siege of Geok Tepe: Russian troops under General Mikhail Skobelev defeat the Turkomans. January 13 – War of the Pacific – Battle of San Juan and Chorrillos: The Chilean army defeats Peruvian forces. January 15 – War of the Pacific – Battle of Miraflores: The Chileans take Lima, capital of Peru, after defeating its second line of defense in Miraflores.
1965January 1965 February 1965 January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. January 20 Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in for a full term as President of the United States. Indonesian President Sukarno announces the withdrawal of the Indonesian government from the United Nations. January 30 – The state funeral of Sir Winston Churchill takes place in London with the largest assembly of dignitaries in the world until the 2005 funeral of Pope John Paul II.
1933January 1933 January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wishes of U.S. President Herbert Hoover. January 28 – "Pakistan Declaration": Choudhry Rahmat Ali publishes (in Cambridge, UK) a pamphlet entitled Now or Never; Are We to Live or Perish Forever?, in which he calls for the creation of a Muslim state in northwest India that he calls "Pakstan"; this influences the Pakistan Movement.
1927January 1927 January 1 – The British Broadcasting Company becomes the British Broadcasting Corporation, when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. January 7 The first transatlantic telephone call is made via radio from New York City, United States, to London, United Kingdom. The Harlem Globetrotters exhibition basketball team play their first ever road game in Hinckley, Illinois. January 9 – The Laurier Palace Theatre fire at a movie theatre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, kills 78 children.
1929This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic counter-revolution in Mexico. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, a British high court, ruled that Canadian women are persons in the Edwards v. Canada (Attorney General) case. The 1st Academy Awards for film were held in Los Angeles, while the Museum of Modern Art opened in New York City.
1883January 4 – Life magazine is founded in Los Angeles, California, United States. January 10 – A fire at the Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, kills 73 people. January 16 – The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, establishing the United States civil service, is passed. January 19 – The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires begins service in Roselle, New Jersey, United States, installed by Thomas Edison. February – The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi is first published complete in book form, in Italy.
