- Jan 5 Pierre-Jean David d'Angers], French sculptor (Panthéon in Paris), dies at 67
- Jan 6 Nicolas-Charles Bochsa, French harpist, composer, forger, and bigamist, dies at 66
- Jan 11 Nikolai I Nadezjdin, Russian archaeologist, dies [NS=Jan 23]
- Jan 12 Ľudovít Štúr, Slovak politician and author of Slovak language, dies at 40
- Jan 16 Thaddeus William Harris, American naturalist (b. 1795)
- Jan 17 Thomas Attwood Walmisley, English organist, composer and educator (Cathedral Music), dies at 41
- Jan 24 Rabbi Yechezkel of Kuzmir, Polish Hasidic leader (b. 1775)
- Jan 31 Khedrup Gyatso, 11th Dalai Lama of Tibet, dies at 17
Assassination
Car Crash
Hanging
Killed in Action
Plane Crash
Poisoning