c 1040 BCE- According to one source, King Saul and his sons were killed during the war in Gilboa.
Jan 8, 1598- The Jews were expelled from Genoa, Italy.
Jan. 14, 1793- A tragedy was narrowly averted in the Jewish ghetto of Rome after a mob set fire to the ghetto gates. The fire would likely have swallowed the entire ghetto if not for a downpour of rain.
Jan. 6, 1840- Sultan Abdul Mejid, under pressure from the Montefiore delegation sent in response to the Damascus blood libel, issued a Firman against blood libels. He also unconditionally released the nine Jewish accused who had survived their tortures. (Four had already succumbed.)
Jan. 21, 1882- The beginning of the BILU movement (Bais Yaakov L'chu V'nelcha) in Russia.. The movement was formed by Russian students at the University of Kharkov, creating their own Zionist group which called for active colonization of Israel.