The Emancipation Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln, issued on September 22 1862, goes into effect, freeing slaves in Confederate-held territories. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." More
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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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The first claim under the Homestead Act is made by Daniel Freeman for a farm in Nebraska. The law went into effect on January 1, 1863, and Freeman staked his claim near Beatrice, Nebraska, initiating a process that would continue until 1988, when Ken Deardorff received the deed for his claim in Alaska.
Daniel Freeman's homestead is preserved as part of Homestead National Historical Park in Gage County, Nebraska where visitors can learn about homesteading in the United States and the pioneers who, thanks to the Homestead Act, settled the West.
The Bear River Massacre takes place on January 29, 1863. It was the largest massacre of Indigenous people in present-day Montana. It was a United States military attack that killed an estimated 250 to 493 children, women, and men at a Shoshone winter encampment More
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General William T. Sherman begins his march through the Carolinas during the American Civil War on January 1, 1865 by moving north from Savannah, Georgia, into South Carolina.
The campaign was aimed to cripple the Confederacy's ability to wage war by destroying infrastructure and supplies, a strategy continuing the tactics from his "March to the Sea" through Georgia.
The United States Congress passed the 13th Amendment, on January 31, 1865, abolishing slavery and sends it to the States for ratification. The amendment passed 119 to 56, barely above the required two-thirds majority. Ratification from the States was received on December 6, 1865, ending the institution of slavery in the U.S. with a final constitutional solution. More
The Aeronautical Society of Great Britain, the precursor to the modern-day Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) is formed in London on January 12, 1866, making it the world's oldest aeronautical society.
The construction of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City begins on January 2, 1870 after years of planning. The bridge connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn, opened thirteen years later on May 24, 1883.
Wilhelm I is proclaimed the first German Emperor on January 18, 1871 in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles following the German victory in the Franco-Prussian War, as the French army surrendered in Sedan. and the unification of German states into the German Empire takes place.
The selection of Versailles and particularly the Hall of Mirrors, where Louis XIV once held court, was a deliberate symbolic act to humiliate France and assert German dominance.
French poet Arthur Rimbaud decides to stop writing at the age of 18.
The first electric dental drill is patented by George F. Green on January 26, 1875 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. On January 26, 1875, the first electric drill was patented by George Green of Kalamazoo, Michigan. The device went on to revolutionize dentistry.
Alexander Graham Bell receives a patent for the telephone.
Crazy Horse and his warriors fight their last major battle against the U.S. Cavalry at Wolf Mountain, Montana. More
The Anglo - Zulu war begins on January 11, 1879 when British troops invade Zululand from the southern African republic of Natal after Zululand King Cetshwayo refuses the British demands for him to disband his army or join a federation of British colonies and Boer Republics.
The Zulus proved to be formidable opponents but could not overcome the technological advantage the British and were eventually defeated after a series of particularly bloody battles which lasted eight months. It wasn't until 1887 that Zululand was declared British territory and finally annexed to Natal ten years later. More
John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Trust is formed on January 2, 1882, as a business trust agreement that centralized control of numerous oil companies under a board of nine trustees, with Rockefeller as the dominant figure. The structure created a powerful monopoly that managed production, refining, and distribution across the U.S..
The first successful appendectomy is performed by Dr. William Grant in Iowa; saving the life of 22-year-old Mary Gartside. The event was a major turning point in treating appendicitis.
German engineer Karl Benz files for a patent for his "vehicle powered by a gas engine" on January 29, 1886, Patented as number 37435, it is considered the "birth certificate" of the modern automobile.
Benz' Motorwagen featured a 0.75-horsepower, 4-stroke engine, which reached speeds of roughly 16 km/h (10 mph). the first public outing of the three-wheeled vehicle occurred later that year.
Record Snow and cold hit the Northern Plains. The winter of 1886–1887, also known as the Big Die-Up, was extremely harsh for much of continental North America, especially the northern plains of the United States where the cattle industry was decimated. The cattle, already weak from lack of forage from the previous dry summer became weaker as they trudged through the deepening snow in search for food. Hundreds of thousands of cattle are said to have died, Montana ranchers alone lost an estimated 362,000 head of cattle, more than half the territory's herd. The disaster led to a major reorganization of ranching and ending the open range era. More
One of the deadliest winter storms hits the upper Midwest on January 12, 1888. The blizzard with an epicenter in present-day South Dakota caused the deaths of hundreds of people, including 213 children who never made it home from their one-room schoolhouses and became known as the “Children’s Blizzard”.
The frigid temperatures were a nationwide phenomenon. Sub-zero temperatures reached all the way to Texas and Georgia, people could ice skate in San Francisco, and water mains froze in Los Angeles. More
The National Geographic Society is founded at the Cosmos Club in Washington, D.C. on January 27, 1888, by 33 explorers and scientists "For the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge". The National Geographic magazine began publication in October 1888, nine months later, using photographs to illustrate stories.
Columbia Phonograph was founded on January 15, 1889 in Washington, D.C., later merging with Edison's company to form Columbia Records.