1786January 3 – The third Treaty of Hopewell is signed, between the United States and the Choctaw. January 6 – The outward bound East Indiaman Halsewell is wrecked on the south coast of England in a storm, with only 74 of more than 240 on board surviving. February 2 – In a speech before The Asiatic Society in Calcutta, Sir William Jones notes the formal resemblances between Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit, laying the foundation for comparative linguistics and Indo-European studies.
March 20673 – Emperor Tenmu of Japan assumes the Chrysanthemum Throne at the Palace of Kiyomihara in Asuka. 1206 – Michael IV Autoreianos is appointed Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. 1600 – The Linköping Bloodbath takes place on Maundy Thursday in Linköping, Sweden: five Swedish noblemen are publicly beheaded in the aftermath of the War against Sigismund (1598–1599). 1602 – The Dutch East India Company is established. 1616 – Sir Walter Raleigh is freed from the Tower of London after 13 years of imprisonment.
1717January 1 – Count Carl Gyllenborg, the Swedish ambassador to the Kingdom of Great Britain, is arrested in London over a plot to assist the Pretender to the British throne, James Francis Edward Stuart. January 4 (December 24, 1716 Old Style) – Great Britain, France and the Dutch Republic sign the Triple Alliance, in an attempt to maintain the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), Britain having signed a preliminary alliance with France on November 28 (November 17) 1716.
1813January 18–January 23 – War of 1812: The Battle of Frenchtown is fought in modern-day Monroe, Michigan between the United States and a British and Native American alliance. January 24 – The Philharmonic Society (later the Royal Philharmonic Society) is founded in London. January 28 – Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is published anonymously in London. January 31 – The Assembly of the Year XIII is inaugurated in Buenos Aires.
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.
1716January 16 – The application of the Nueva Planta decrees to Catalonia make it subject to the laws of the Crown of Castile, and abolishes the Principality of Catalonia as a political entity, concluding the unification of Spain under Philip V. January 27 – The Tugaloo massacre changes the course of the Yamasee War, allying the Cherokee nation with the British province of South Carolina against the Creek Indian nation. January 28 – The town of Crieff, Scotland, is burned to the ground by Jacobites returning from the Battle of Sheriffmuir.
1696January 21 – The Recoinage Act, passed by the Parliament of England to pull counterfeit silver coins out of circulation, becomes law. January 27 – In England, the ship HMS Royal Sovereign (formerly HMS Sovereign of the Seas, 1638) catches fire and burns at Chatham, after 57 years of service. January 31 – In the Netherlands, undertakers revolt after funeral reforms in Amsterdam. January – Colley Cibber's play Love's Last Shift is first performed in London.
1690January 2 – The Ottoman Empire defeats Serbian rebels and Austrian troops in battle at Kaçanik Gorge, prompting more than 30,000 Serb refugees to flee northward from Kosovo, Macedonia and Sandžak to the Austrian Empire. January 6 – At the age of 11 years old, Prince Joseph, son of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, is named as "King of the Romans", the next in line to become the Emperor. January 7 – The first recorded full peal is rung, at St Sepulchre-without-Newgate in the City of London, marking a new era in change ringing.
December 23484 – The Arian Vandal Kingdom ceases its persecution of Nicene Christianity. 558 – Chlothar I is crowned King of the Franks. 583 – Maya queen Yohl Ik'nal is crowned ruler of Palenque. 962 – The Sack of Aleppo as part of the Arab–Byzantine wars: Under the future Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, Byzantine troops storm the city of Aleppo. 1598 – Arauco War: Governor of Chile Martín García Óñez de Loyola is killed in the Battle of Curalaba by Mapuches led by Pelantaru.
1710In the Swedish calendar it was a common year starting on Saturday, one day ahead of the Julian and ten days behind the Gregorian calendar. January 1 – In Prussia, Cölln is merged with Alt-Berlin by Frederick I to form Berlin. January 4 – Robert Balfour, 5th Lord Balfour of Burleigh, two days before he is due to be executed for murder, escapes from the Edinburgh Tolbooth by exchanging clothes with his sister. February 17 – Mauritius, a Dutch colony since 1638, is abandoned by the Dutch.
