January 1, 404: Last gladiator competition in Rome

January 2, 1492: Muhammad XII. (Boabdil) last Nasird ruler of Moorish fortress Alhambra surrenders to the Catholic Monarchs, marking the end of the Reconquista period.

January 3, 1496: Leonardo Da Vinci unsuccessfully tests a flying machine

January 4, 1847: Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the United States government

January 5, 1896: "Die Presse" newspaper (Germany) publicly announces Wilhelm Röntgen's discovery of X-rays and their potential for new methods of medical diagnoses in a front-page article.

January 6, 1605: Book One of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes  is published in Madrid.

January 7, 1914: 1st steamboat passes through the Panama Canal

January 8, 1816: Sophie Germain is the first woman to win a prize from the Paris Academy of Sciences for her paper on elasticity

January 9, 1945: US soldiers led by General Douglas McArthur invades Philippines

January 10, 49 BC: Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signaling the start of civil war

January 11, 705: John VI, Catholic Pope (701-05), dies

January 12, 1948: Mahatma Ghandi begins his final fast

January 13, 1923: Taking advantage of the chaotic condition of Germany, Adolf Hitler stages a demonstration of 5000 storm troopers and denounces the 'November crime'

January 14, 1785: Mozart completes "Dissonantenkwartet" (opus 10)

January 15, 1870: Donkey first used as symbol of US Democratic Party, in Harper's Weekly.