About the day » Sunday January 5, 1879Calender converter

• Agnes Allegonda Maria Jansen, Rotterdam
• Andries Brantenaar, Harderwijk († 1879)
• Aartje van Leenen, Beijerland, Zuid-Holland, Nederland († 1953)
• Alma Moebius, Bonndorf, Baden, Germany
• Adrianus Van Mil, Kethel en Spaland,, Zuid-Holland, Nederland
• Bruijs, Bergen op Zoom († 1879)
• Aaltje Stegink, Emmen,Drenthe,Niederlande,Erica († 1951)
• Adrianus Verhagen, Brielle, Zuid Holland, Nederland († 1954)
• Aafje Ham, Wijdenes († 1942)
• Adriaan de Boot, Heinkenszand († 1962)

• Alida van Bottenburg (0), Amersfoort (utrecht)
• Adriana van Laarhoven (37), Vught, Noord-Brabant, Nederland
• Alida Cornelia van der Burg (22), Schiedam
• Adriana van Laarhoven (37), Vught
• Antonius Hendrikus Gerbrands (1), Rheden, Nederland
• Anna Maria Henrica van Berckel (26), Rotterdam,Gemeente Rotterdam,South Holland,Netherlands
• Alida Martina van der Bijl (3), Nieuwer-Amstel, Netherlands
• Antonius Josephus Hubertus Lousberg (0), Maastricht, Limburg, Nederland
• Aaltje Claas Roos (70), Oostzaan, Noord-Holland, Nederland
• Anna Clement (63), Wissenkerke

• 1867 » Dimitrios Gounaris, Greek lawyer and politician, 94th Prime Minister of Greece († 1922)
• 1871 » Frederick Converse, American composer and academic († 1940)
• 1874 » Joseph Erlanger, American physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate († 1965)
• 1876 » Konrad Adenauer, German lawyer and politician, Chancellor of West Germany († 1967)
• 1879 » Hans Eppinger, Austrian physician and academic († 1946)
• 1880 » Nikolai Medtner, Russian pianist and composer († 1951)
• 1881 » Pablo Gargallo, Spanish sculptor and painter († 1934)
• 1882 » Herbert Bayard Swope, American journalist († 1958)
• 1885 » Humbert Wolfe, Italian-English poet and civil servant († 1940)
• 1886 » Markus Reiner, Israeli physicist and engineer († 1976)

• 1845 » Robert Smirke, English painter and illustrator (b. 1753)
• 1846 » Alfred Thomas Agate, American painter and illustrator (b. 1812)
• 1858 » Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, Austrian field marshal (b. 1766)
• 1860 » John Neumann, Czech-American bishop and saint (b. 1811)
• 1883 » Charles Tompson, Australian poet and public servant (b. 1806)
• 1885 » Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, Norwegian author and scholar (b. 1812)
• 1888 » Henri Herz, Austrian pianist and composer (b. 1803)
• 1899 » Ezra Otis Kendall, American professor, astronomer and mathematician (b. 1818)
• 1904 » Karl Alfred von Zittel, German paleontologist and geologist (b. 1839)
• 1910 » Léon Walras, French-Swiss economist and academic (b. 1834)

• Koning Willem III (Huis van Oranje-Nassau) was from 1849 till 1890 sovereign of the Netherlands (also known as Koninkrijk der Nederlanden)
• In The Netherlands , there was from November 3, 1877 to August 20, 1879 the cabinet Kappeijne van de Coppello, with Mr. J. Kappeijne van de Coppello (liberaal) as prime minister.
• In The Netherlands , there was from August 20, 1879 to April 23, 1883 the cabinet Van Lijnden van Sandenburg, with Mr. C.Th. baron Van Lijnden van Sandenburg (conservatief-AR) as prime minister.
• The Netherlands had about 4.0 million citizens.
• February 8 » The England cricket team led by Lord Harris is attacked in a riot during a match in Sydney.
• March 11 » Shō Tai formally abdicated his position of King of Ryūkyū, under orders from Tokyo, ending the Ryukyu Kingdom.
• March 23 » War of the Pacific: The Battle of Topáter, the first battle of the war is fought between Chile and the joint forces of Bolivia and Peru.
• March 29 » Anglo-Zulu War: Battle of Kambula: British forces defeat 20,000 Zulus.
• May 14 » The first group of 463 Indian indentured laborers arrives in Fiji aboard the Leonidas.
• October 7 » Germany and Austria-Hungary sign the "Twofold Covenant" and create the Dual Alliance.

The temperature on January 5, 1879 was about 1.7 °C. There was 1 mm of rain. The air pressure was 3 kgf/m² and came mainly from the west-northwest. The airpressure was 76 cm mercury. The atmospheric humidity was 94%.