On January 25, 1871, a statue of Abraham Lincoln was unveiled in the U.S. Capitol rotunda. It was sculpted by a teenage women, Vinnie Ream, who was the most famous early alumna of the school now known as Columbia College. Then known as Christian College, Ream studied art there from 1856-1859. While in Columbia her talent was noticed by James S. Rollins, father of the University of Missouri and trustee of Christian College. Ream and her family moved to Washington D.C. in 1861 after the civil war broke out and Rollins was elected U.S. Representative from Missouri in 1860. Rollins would connect her to President Abraham Lincoln.

On January 24, 1929, the Columbia Missourian announced the construction of a new building for the Columbia Telephone Company at the northwest corner of 7th and Cherry streets. The telephone was patented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 and the first one in Columbia was installed by University of Missouri Professor of Physics Benjamin E. Thomas in the 1880s or 1890s. It ran from from Boone County National Bank at Broadway and 8th Streets to the home of I.O Hockaday at University and College Avenue. By 1896 there was a small “telephone exchange” of less than 100 telephones. J.A Hudson, who had been in the newspaper business, bought the exchange in 1897. As president and general manger of the Columbia Telephone Company he would grow the business to about 2,000 telephones by 1913.

On January 23, 1982, the Missourian published an interview with a 93 year old Mary McKee, who came to Missouri in 1923 to head the Women’s Department of Physical Education at the University of Missouri. McKee was interviewed at Candle Light Lodge, a retirement community in Columbia, where she had been living for three years. Former Dean of Students Jack Matthews was quoted saying “she is a national figure in the field of education.” He had first hand experience, he had been her student in 1923. McKee was a major influence in the development of physical education at the university. She had arrived with enthusiasm and a desire to improve things, for women and men.

On January 22, 1799, John Hiram Lathrop was born in Sherburne, New York. He arrived in Columbia in 1841 to take a job as the first President of the University of Missouri. Lathrop would be hugely influential in the university’s development and in Columbia more generally. He was educated at Hamilton College and then Yale University . As a young man he taught at schools and colleges in New England and, when offered the job in Missouri, was a professor of law, civil polity, and political economy at Hamilton College. When he arrived at the University of Missouri he found an institution that was not yet functioning.

On January 21, 2004, the Ballenger Building in Downtown Columbia, Missouri was placed on the National Register of Historic Places because of its long association with a series of businesses. Over 130 years old, it is located at the northwest corner of 9th Street and Cherry; in 2023 it is one of the oldest continually operating commercial buildings in Downtown Columbia and “reflects Downtown Columbia’s long history as the dominate commercial center in Mid-Missouri. It was built in 1892 for its first tenant, G.F. Troxell Furniture. The basement of the building was constructed over a natural spring, one of several in Downtown Columbia.

On January 20, 2005, the Central Dairy Building in Downtown Columbia was placed on the National Register of Historic Places because of its outstanding architecture and its historic use as a commercial dairy. Central Dairy was founded in Columbia in 1920 by Dot Sappington and Clyde Shepard, both Boone Countians. After operating for seven years at two other locations downtown they built the Central Dairy Building in 1927 to house the growing dairy operation. The exceptional terra cotta ornamentation is very rare for Mid-Missouri and is likely the finest example in Downtown Columbia.

On January 19, 1929, Mayor W.J. Hetzler announced he would run for a second term. He had come to Columbia from Canton, Missouri in 1905 with his brother J.P. Hetzler. They built an ice plant and meat locker in 1906 that still stands at the southeast corner of Providence and Broadway. This was the first ice plant in Columbia, before ice was shipped in by train or manufactured from local bodies of water. The timber used for construction was from temporary structures at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. The limestone was from the quarries on Rock Quarry Road and cut on site.

On January 18, 1884, an elaborate opera house opened at the northeast corner of 9th and Broadway. Called the Haden’s Opera House after its owner Joel H. Haden it was on the second and third stories of a ornate three story building. The building was constructed around 1878 and had been known as Garth Hall. Haden remodeled the building to seat 1,246 with two balconies and four private boxes. African Americans were limited to the upper balcony. Although the Haden Opera House lasted for less than twenty years, burning in a fire in 1901, it was the center of social life for Columbia. It hosted traveling actors, minstrel shows, lectures, and local musicians.

On January 17, 1929 Slater Ensor Lenoir died at his home of Maplewood, he was 95. He had come to Missouri when less than a year old, with his family, in 1834, he grew up and lived at Greenwood (see January 15th entry), which was built for his father Walter Raleigh Lenoir. Slater Lenoir would attend the University of Missouri and participate in the California Gold Rush of 1850. He returned to Columbia in 1851 by sea, crossing the isthmus of Panama. After marrying Margaret A. Bradford in 1864 they continued to live at Greenwood until 1877, at which point they constructed a home and 427 acre farm south of the City of Columbia on the gravel road to Ashland. This home, named Maplewood, was located in a large grove of sugar maple tress. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 13, 1979.

On January 16, 1970, the Columbia Missourian reported that 120 Hickman High School students received special permission to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day at Russell Chapel Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. Less than two years earlier the civil rights leader and champion of non-violence had been assassinated in Montgomery, Alabama. James Earl Ray, who was convicted of the murder, escaped from the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City by hiding in a bread truck in 1967 before assassinating King in 1968.