January 12, 1808: The organizational meeting that led to the creation of the Wernerian Natural History Society (a former Scottish learned society) is held in Edinburgh.
January 13, 1785: John Walter publishes the first issue of the Daily Universal Register, later renamed The Times.
January 14, 1814: Frederick VI of Denmark cedes Norway to Sweden in return for Pomerania in the Treaty of Kiel.
January 15, 1759: The British Museum opens.
January 16, 1809: The British defeat the French at the Battle of La Coruña.
January 17, 1773: Captain James Cook and his crew become the first Europeans to sale below the Antarctic Circle.
January 18, 1788: The first elements of the First Fleet carrying 736 convicts from England to Australia arrives at Botany Bay.