1815January 2 – Lord Byron marries Anna Isabella Milbanke in Seaham, county of Durham, England. January 3 – Austria, Britain, and Bourbon-restored France form a secret defensive alliance treaty against Prussia and Russia. January 8 – Battle of New Orleans: American forces led by Andrew Jackson defeat British forces led by Sir Edward Pakenham. American forces suffer around 60 casualties and the British lose about 2,000 (the battle lasts for about 30 minutes). January 13 – War of 1812: British troops capture Fort Peter in St.
1864January 13 – American songwriter Stephen Foster ("Oh! Susanna", "Old Folks at Home") dies aged 37 in New York City, leaving a scrap of paper reading "Dear friends and gentle hearts". His parlor song "Beautiful Dreamer" is published in March. January 16 – Denmark rejects an Austrian-Prussian ultimatum to repeal the Danish Constitution, which says that Schleswig-Holstein is part of Denmark. January 21 – New Zealand Wars: The Tauranga campaign begins.
1879January 1 – The Specie Resumption Act takes effect. The United States Note is valued the same as gold, for the first time since the American Civil War. January 11 – The Anglo-Zulu War begins. January 22 – Anglo-Zulu War – Battle of Isandlwana: A force of 1,200 British soldiers is wiped out by over 20,000 Zulu warriors. January 23 – Anglo-Zulu War – Battle of Rorke's Drift: Following the previous day's defeat, a smaller British force of 140 successfully repels an attack by 4,000 Zulus.
1852January 14 – President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte proclaims a new constitution for the French Second Republic. January 15 – Nine men representing various Jewish charitable organizations come together to form what will become Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. January 17 – The United Kingdom recognizes the independence of the Transvaal. February 3 – Battle of Caseros, Argentina: The Argentine provinces of Entre Rios and Corrientes, allied with Brazil and members of Colorado Party of Uruguay, defeat Buenos Aires troops under Juan Manuel de Rosas.
FebruaryFebruary is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The month has 28 days in common years or 29 in leap years, with the 29th day being called the leap day. It is the first of five months not to have 31 days (the other four being April, June, September, and November) and the only one to have fewer than 30 days. February is the third and last month of meteorological winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
1854January 4 – The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the Samarang. January 6 – The fictional detective Sherlock Holmes is perhaps born. January 9 – The Teutonia Männerchor in Pittsburgh, U.S.A. is founded to promote German culture. January 20 – The North Carolina General Assembly in the United States charters the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad, to run from Goldsboro through New Bern, to the newly created seaport of Morehead City, near Beaufort.
1841January 20 – Charles Elliot of the United Kingdom, and Qishan of the Qing dynasty, agree to the Convention of Chuenpi. January 26 – Britain occupies Hong Kong. Later in the year, the first census of the island records a population of about 7,500. January 27 – The active volcano Mount Erebus in Antarctica is discovered, and named by James Clark Ross. January 28 – Ross discovers the "Victoria Barrier", later known as the Ross Ice Shelf. On the same voyage, he discovers the Ross Sea, Victoria Land and Mount Terror.
1874January 1 – New York City annexes The Bronx. January 2 – Ignacio María González becomes head of state of the Dominican Republic for the first time. January 3 – Third Carlist War: Battle of Caspe – Campaigning on the Ebro in Aragon for the Spanish Republican Government, Colonel Eulogio Despujol surprises a Carlist force under Manuel Marco de Bello at Caspe, northeast of Alcañiz. In a brilliant action the Carlists are routed, losing 200 prisoners and 80 horses, while Despujol is promoted to Brigadier and becomes Conde de Caspe.
1871January 3 – Franco-Prussian War – Battle of Bapaume: Prussians win a strategic victory. January 18 – Proclamation of the German Empire: The member states of the North German Confederation and the south German states, aside from Austria, unite into a single nation state, known as the German Empire. The King of Prussia is declared the first German Emperor as Wilhelm I of Germany, in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles. Constitution of the German Confederation comes into effect.
1870January 1 The first edition of The Northern Echo newspaper is published in Priestgate, Darlington, England. Plans for the Brooklyn Bridge are completed. January 3 – Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins in New York City. January 6 – The Musikverein, Vienna, is inaugurated in Austria-Hungary. January 10 – John D. Rockefeller incorporates Standard Oil. January 15 – A political cartoon for the first time symbolizes the United States Democratic Party with a donkey (A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion by Thomas Nast for Harper's Weekly).