Stephen F. Austin receives a grant of land in Texas from Mexico, initiating American colonization.
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What Happened in January?
Tragic deaths, ravaged cities, and great acts of heroism. Discover what happened this month in history and the defining moments that shaped the world. Dates for earlier events may be approximate.
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Peru defeats Spain in the Battle of Ayacucho, effectively securing South American independence.
Frenchman Louis Braille publishes his system of raised dots for blind readers.
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William Lloyd Garrison publishes the first edition of the Boston abolitionist newspaper, "The Liberator." The weekly paper became a leading voice for the immediate emancipation of enslaved people; it was published until the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the United States in 1865.
The Kingdom of Poland adopts a constitution, granting limited freedoms.
The United States national debt is zero for the first and only time in its history.
Davy Crockett arrives in Texas, on January 9, 1836 to join the fight for independence from Mexico. Crockett died on March 6, 1836: at the Battle of the Alamo defending the mission.
Michigan becomes the 26th state of the United States.
Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail publicly demonstrate their telegraph system for the first time at the Speedwell Iron Works in Morristown, New Jersey, by sending a telegram across two miles of wire. Morse continued to improve the system as well as invented the Morse Code while trying to get financial backing.
The British East India Company captures Aden, establishing a strategic foothold in Yemen.
The United States Naval officer, Lt. Charles Wilkes, exploring expedition of the South Seas reaches the Antarctic continent on January 19, 1840. The six U.S. Navy vessels under Wilkes command had set out in 1838 on a great voyage of exploration with several hundred seamen and scientists to explore and map the Pacific, Antarctica, and the northwest coast of the United States.
Lt. Charles Wilkes' tremendous feat of navigation during his 4 year expedition helped broadened the knowledge of uncharted areas of the world and to expand American scientific knowledge, commerce, industry, and world standing. Wilkes is credited with proving the existence of Antarctica as a land continent, a vital contribution to world geography. More
The first group of European settlers arrive at Petone New Zealand on January 22, 1840 aboard the ship the Aurora, to found the settlement that would become Wellington, named for the first Duke of Wellington.
By July of 1840 there were over 1000 settlers in New Zeeland .On May 21 1840, Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson proclaimed British sovereignty over all of New Zealand even though copies of the treaty with the Māori were still circulating throughout the country for the Māori to sign.
Britain occupies the island of Hong Kong in January 1841 as a result of the First Opium War and takes formal possession of the Island on January 26, 1841 raising the Union Jack at Possession Point. China went on to formally cede the Island of Hong Kong to the British under the Treaty of Nanking (or Nanjing), signed on August 29, 1842, formally making it a British colony.
The treaty was followed 56 years later in 1898 by a 99-year lease that allowed Britain to control even more land with the lease ending in 1997.
Richard Wagner's opera Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman) premiered on January 2, 1843, at the Königliches Hoftheater Dresden (now the Semperoper), with Wagner himself conducting. launching his significant career and his appointment as co-chapel master in Dresden.
Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" is first published under Poes namen tin he New York Evening Mirror on January 29, 1845. Its publication made Poe popular in his lifetime, although it did not bring him much financial success. View Poem
The United States Congress establishes the Smithsonian Institution.
The Battle of the Sacramento River takes place during the Mexican-American War.
Gold is discovered at Sutter's Mill in California by James W. Marshall as he sees shining flecks of gold in the tailrace of the sawmill he was building in partnership with John Sutter.
The discovery unleashed the California Gold Rush and changed the course of California's and the nation's history. The migration rapidly transformed the region, boosting the U.S. economy, accelerating California's statehood, and making San Francisco a major city. The gold rush also caused displacement and harsh conditions for Native Americans. On December 5, 1848, President James K. Polk officially confirmed the discovery of gold during his annual address to Congress, this official confirmation ignited "gold fever" across the nation, leading to the massive migration in 1849. More
Elizabeth Blackwell earns her Medical degree on January 23, 1849, becoming the first woman in the United States to do so. She graduated from Geneva Medical College in New York. and despite facing many rejections and social stigma, she persevered to pioneer women's education in medicine. She eventually opened the New York Infirmary for Women and Children.
Senator Henry Clay introduces on January 29, 1850, the resolutions known as the "Compromise of 1850" to avert a looming civil war over slavery expansion. Although Clay’s legislative bill was defeated in July 1850, the provisions were ultimately passed as separate measures in September 1850.
The Key details of the "Compromise of 1850" proposal were:
- Admission of California as a free state.
- Territorial Governments: Utah and New Mexico territories would be organized without explicit restrictions on slavery, allowing for popular sovereignty.
- A much stricter law would require citizens to assist in the recovery of runaway slaves.
- The slave trade would be abolished in the District of Columbia, but slavery itself would continue.
- The boundary dispute between Texas and New Mexico would be resolved, with the federal government assuming Texas's debt.