Timeline January 1863

Events in January 1863 5

• 1862 – 1863 Louisa May Alcott serves as a Civil War nurse Union Hotel Hospital, Georgetown She nurses wounded Union soldiers until she falls ill with typhoid pneumonia. The mercury-based medicine she is given may have damaged her health for life.
• 1863 Emancipation Proclamation takes effect Lincoln declares slaves in rebel states free President Abraham Lincoln's proclamation, effective 1 January 1863, declared enslaved people in Confederate-held territory legally free. It reframed the Civil War as a fight against slavery and authorized the enlistment of Black soldiers into the Union Army.
• 1863 Metropolitan Railway opens in London World's first underground passenger railway The Metropolitan Railway began service between Paddington and Farringdon on 10 January 1863, becoming the world's first underground passenger railway. It used steam locomotives and laid the foundation for what became the London Underground.
• 1863 – 1864 January Uprising Revolt against Russia The longest Polish insurgency against the Russian Empire during the partition era.
• 1863 January Uprising begins in Poland Polish insurgents rise against Russian rule Polish, Lithuanian, and Belarusian rebels launched an uprising against the Russian Empire on 22 January 1863, seeking independence. The revolt was fought largely as guerrilla warfare and was crushed by Russian forces over the following months.