What Happened in January?

Karl Benz patents the first successful gasoline-driven automobile.

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. 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 in Washington, D.C.

Columbia Phonograph is formed in Washington, D.C., later merging with Edison's company to form Columbia Records.

Alice Sanger becomes the first female White House staffer.

The first official basketball game is played at the YMCA gymnasium in Springfield, Massachusetts.

The Independent Labour Party of the UK holds its first meeting.

The Kingdom of Hawaii is overthrown by a group which called themselves the Committee of Safety, staged a coup d'état against Queen Liliuokalani and her government. The group composed of 13 Caucasian businessmen and lawyers, six citizens of the Kingdom and seven foreign residents of Hawaii (five Americans, one Scotsman, and one German). Their ultimate goal was annexation to the United States. However it took five years until that goal was achieved. More

Dreyfus Affair: French army officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island.

Utah is admitted into the United States becoming the 45th State.

The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty is founded in England.

The United States battleship Maine is commissioned.

The Spanish-American War ends with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, ceding Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to the United States.

The Commonwealth of Australia is established by the Federation of six colonies.

The Lucas Gusher at Spindletop, just south of Beaumont, Texas, blew a stream of oil over 100 feet high until it was capped nine days later and flowed an estimated 100,000 barrels a day. It was found at a depth of 1,139 feet and it herald the beginning of the American Oil era. While some made fortunes, others lost everything. More

Edward VII is proclaimed King after the death of Queen Victoria in the United Kingdom.

The first American college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl, is held in Pasadena, California.

The first large-scale bodybuilding competition in America is held at Madison Square Garden, New York City.

The Russian Revolution of 1905 begins as a peaceful protest by Russian workers in St. Petersburg turns violent.