What Happened in January?

The Cullinan Diamond, the largest diamond ever found is discovered near Pretoria in modern-day South Africa. It was named after the chairman of the mining company, Thomas Cullinan. In its uncut state, it weighed 3,106 metric carats with a size of 10.1 x 6.35 x 5.9 cm. with extraordinary blue-white color and exceptional clarity. The rough stone was gifted to King Edward VII in 1907 and cut into nine major diamonds named Cullinan I through IX, ranked from largest to smallest. More

The coastal liner British SS Valencia caught in heavy fog and rain runs aground on Walla Walla Reef off Vancouver Island. resulting in over 136 deaths. The catastrophe led to the development on Vancouver Island of the West Coast Trail and the construction of the Pachena Point Lighthouse. 

The Short Magazine Lee-Enfield rifle (SMLE) becomes the official service rifle of the British Army.

U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt declares the Grand Canyon in Arizona a National Monument after having it established it as a Game Preserve by Proclamation in 1906. Theodore Roosevelt, protected approximately 230 million acres of public land during his presidency. More

New York City passes the Sullivan Ordinance, prohibiting women from smoking in public establishments.

Ernest Shackleton's expedition reaches the magnetic South Pole.

The first public radio broadcast takes place in the United States, a live performance from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.

The first landing of an aircraft on a ship occurs as Eugene Ely lands a Curtiss Pusher biplane on the USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco Bay.

New Mexico is admitted into the United States becoming the 47th State.

British explorer Robert Falcon Scott and four members of his expedition reached the South Pole, only to discover that Norwegian explorer Roald Engelbregt Amundsen had reached the South Pole a month earlier. Scott and his men died when trying to return to their base camp.

The Mona Lisa is recovered in Florence after being stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris in 1911.

The first telephone line across the Atlantic Ocean is established between New York and London.

An earthquake in Avezzano, Italy, kills over 29,000 people.

The U.S. Congress creates the Coast Guard by combining the Revenue Cutter Service was merged with the U.S. Life-Saving Service, and was officially renamed the Coast Guard. In 1939, the Lighthouse Service was folded in and the Commerce Department's Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation was added to the USCG in 1946.

A German cruiser sinks first American merchant ship, the William P. Frye, off the coast of Brazil. More

The Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA) is established in New York City.

President Woodrow Wilson pleads for "peace without victory" in World War I.

United States President Woodrow Wilson outlines his "Fourteen Points" for peace after World War I.

The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, prohibiting the sale, manufacture, or transportation of intoxicating liquors, is ratified. More

The Paris Peace Conference convenes at Versailles just outside Paris. The conference was called to establish the terms of the peace after World War I. The conference resulted in several treaties, most notably the Treaty of Versailles with Germany, which was signed on June 28, 1919. The treaty's terms led to political instability and resentment in Germany, which ultimately fueled extremist movements like the Nazis and contributed to the outbreak of World War II. More