Complex sentence: By mid-January, the news had slipped through the official wall of silence, and on 10 January, 1914, the leading nobles of Ethiopia had gathered to discuss their response to his loss and the future of Ethiopia.
Split into simpler sentences: By mid-January, the news had slipped through the official wall of silence. On 10 January 1914, the leading nobles of Ethiopia had gathered to discuss their response to his loss and the future of Ethiopia.