Editing January 15 (section)

===1601–1900===
*[[1759]] &ndash; The [[British Museum]] opens to the public.<ref>{{cite book|author=Samuel Orchart Beeton|title=Beeton's Dictionary of Universal Information|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h0ICAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA359|year=1870|pages=359}}</ref>
*[[1777]] &ndash; [[American Revolutionary War]]: [[Vermont Republic|New Connecticut]] (present-day [[Vermont]]) declares its independence.<ref name="Thompson1842">{{cite book|author=Zadock Thompson|title=History of Vermont, Natural, Civil and Statistical: In Three Parts, with a New Map of the State, and 200 Engravings|url=https://archive.org/details/HOV_vtrbms|year=1842|publisher=C. Goodrich|pages=[https://archive.org/details/HOV_vtrbms/page/n279 51]}}</ref>
*[[1782]] &ndash; Superintendent of Finance [[Robert Morris (financier)|Robert Morris]] addresses the [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]] to recommend establishment of a national [[Mint (facility)|mint]] and decimal [[coin]]age.<ref>{{cite book|author=Thomas Jefferson|title=The Papers of Thomas Jefferson|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VfIWAQAAIAAJ|year=1950|publisher=Princeton University Press|page=150}}</ref>
*[[1815]] &ndash; [[War of 1812]]: American frigate {{USS|President|1800|6}}, commanded by [[Commodore (rank)|Commodore]] [[Stephen Decatur]], is [[Capture of USS President|captured]] by a squadron of four British frigates.<ref name="Institute1964">{{cite book|author=United States Naval Institute|title=Almanac of Naval Facts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zn5KAAAAMAAJ|year=1964|publisher=US Naval Institute|page=123}}</ref>
*[[1818]] &ndash; A paper by [[David Brewster]] is read to the [[Royal Society]], belatedly announcing his discovery of what we now call the ''biaxial'' class of [[birefringence|doubly-refracting]] crystals.<ref>{{cite book|author=Royal Society (Great Britain)|title=Abstracts of the Papers Printed in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bVdCAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA92|year=1833|publisher=Richard Taylor|pages=92–}}</ref> On the same day, [[Augustin-Jean Fresnel]] signs a "supplement" (submitted four days later) on reflection of [[polarization (waves)|polarized]] light.
*[[1822]] &ndash; [[Greek War of Independence]]: [[Demetrios Ypsilantis]] is elected president of the legislative assembly.
*[[1865]] &ndash; [[American Civil War]]: [[Fort Fisher]] in [[North Carolina]] [[Second Battle of Fort Fisher|falls to the Union]], thus cutting off the last major seaport of the Confederacy.<ref>{{cite book|author=David W. Kummer|title=Fort Fisher, December 1864-January 1865|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=runjNj6qNbUC&pg=PA39|year=2012|publisher=United States Marine Corps History Division|pages=39–43|isbn=9780160911446}}</ref>
*[[1867]] &ndash; [[Regent's Park skating disaster|Forty people die]] when ice covering the boating lake at [[Regent's Park]], [[London]], collapses.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/the-legacy-of-a-cold-weather-disaster-bkjm30b3j|title=The legacy of a cold-weather disaster|date=18 January 2017|work=The Times}}</ref>
*[[1870]] &ndash; [[Thomas Nast]] publishes a [[political cartoon]]  symbolizing the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] with a [[donkey]] ("[[:File:Democraticjackass.jpg|A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion]]") for ''[[Harper's Weekly]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Voorhees |first=Donal A |title=The Book of Totally Useless Information |date=1998 |pages=14–15}}</ref>
*[[1876]] &ndash; The first newspaper in [[Afrikaans]], ''[[Die Afrikaanse Patriot]]'', is published in [[Paarl]].
*[[1889]] &ndash; [[The Coca-Cola Company]], then known as the Pemberton Medicine Company, is [[Incorporation (business)|incorporated]] in [[Atlanta]].
*[[1892]] &ndash; [[James Naismith]] publishes the [[Rules of basketball|rules]] of [[basketball]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Mike Douchant|title=Inside Sports College Basketball|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZhVcZMynUSoC|year=1996|publisher=Visible Ink Press|isbn=978-0-7876-1033-3|page=3}}</ref>