1847: Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the United States government.
1853: After having been kidnapped and sold into slavery in the American South, Solomon Northup regains his freedom; his memoir Twelve Years a Slave later becomes a national bestseller.
1854: The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the Samarang.
1903: Topsy, an elephant, is electrocuted by the owners of Luna Park, Coney Island. The Edison film company shoots the film Electrocuting an Elephant of Topsy's death.
1959: Luna 1 becomes the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon.
1959: Gypsy opened and closed on Broadway after 120 performances and four previews
1966: A military coup takes place in Upper Volta (later Burkina Faso), dissolving the National Parliament and leading to a new national constitution.
1972: Rose Heilbron becomes the first female judge to sit at the Old Bailey in London, England.
1974: United States President Richard Nixon refuses to hand over materials subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.
1976: The Troubles: The Ulster Volunteer Force shoots dead six Irish Catholic civilians in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The next day, gunmen shoot dead ten Protestant civilians nearby in retaliation.
1987: The Maryland train collision: An Amtrak train en route to Boston from Washington, D.C., collides with Conrail engines in Chase, Maryland, killing 16 people.
1989: Second Gulf of Sidra incident: A pair of Libyan MiG-23 "Floggers" are shot down by a pair of US Navy F-14 Tomcats during an air-to-air confrontation.
1990: In Pakistan's deadliest train accident an overloaded passenger train collides with an empty freight train, resulting in 307 deaths and 700 injuries.
1998: Wilaya of Relizane massacres in Algeria: Over 170 are killed in three remote villages.
1998: A massive ice storm hits eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, continuing through January 10 and causing widespread destruction.
2006: Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel suffers a second, apparently more serious stroke. His authority is transferred to acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.