- Jan 1 Presbyterian minister John Miller Dickey and his wife, Sarah Emlen Cresson, found Ashmun Institute, a Black college (later Lincoln University),in Hinsonville, Pennsylvania
- Jan 4 The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the Samarang
- Jan 5 Steamship San Francisco wrecked off US eastern seaboard, 300 die
Bednost ne Porok
Jan 25 Aleksandr Ostrovsky's play "Bednost ne Porok" premieres in Moscow