Brahms' Violin Concerto
Jan 1 Johannes Brahms' Violin Concerto in D major premieres in Leipzig
1st Test Hat-trick
Jan 2 Australian fast bowler Fred Spofforth dismisses 3 English batsmen with consecutive deliveries during the 3rd Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for Test cricket's first "hat-trick"
- Jan 2 British battleship HMS Thunderer gun turret explodes during gunnery practice in Gulf of Izmit, near Turkey; 11 sailors killed and 35 injured
- Jan 2 Dr Benjamin Mays, named president of Atlanta Board of Education
- Jan 9 Cheyenne prisoners led by Dull Knife revolt at Ft Robinson
- Jan 9 Kirland Warbler discovered on Andros Island in Bahamas
Anglo-Zulu War
Jan 11 Anglo-Zulu War begins as British Lieutenant-General Lord Chelmsford invades Zululand in South Africa
- Jan 16 January record 13" of snow falls in NYC (broken Jan 7, 1996)
- Jan 16 The Windom Resolution by Minnesota Senator William Windom encourages black migration out of the South, helping trigger the "Exodus of 1879". 6,000 southern blacks flee Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas for Kansas. [1]
- Jan 20 British troops under Lord Chelmsford make camp at Isandlwana
"A Doll's House"
Jan 21 Henrik Ibsen's play "Et Dukkehjem" (A Doll's House) premieres in Copenhagen
The British: 139. Zulu Warriors: 4,000. Let Battle Begin
Jan 22 Battle of Rorke's Drift: British garrison of 150 holds off 3,000-4,000 Zulu warriors. Eleven Victoria Crosses and a number of other decorations were awarded to the defenders.
- Jan 22 James Shields (D) elected US senator from Missouri after previously serving as US senator from Illinois & Minnesota
- Jan 22 Zulu warriors attack British Army camp in Isandhlwana, South Africa
- Jan 23 US National Archery Association forms in Crawfordsville, Indiana
- Jan 25 The Bulgarian National Bank is founded
Custer Battlefield Monument
Jan 29 Custer Battlefield National Monument established in Montana
- Jan 30 French President Patrice de Mac-Mahon resigns
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