- Jan 1 John Garand, American inventor (d. 1974)
- Jan 4 Arthur Berry, English football player (Olympic gold 1908, 12), born in Liverpool, England (d. 1953)
- Jan 5 George "Rube" Foster, American baseball pitcher (World Series 1915, 16; no-hitter 1916; Boston Red Sox), born in Lehigh, Oklahoma (d. 1976)
- Jan 8 Matt Moore, Irish-American actor and director (Coquette, Deluge), born in Kells, County Meath Ireland (d. 1960)
- Jan 8 Richard Courant, German-American mathematician (d. 1972)
- Jan 10 Emile van Bosch, Belgian-Dutch opera singer (Fair Folks), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1940)
- Jan 12 Claude Delvincourt, French composer and pianist, born in Paris, France (d. 1954)
- Jan 15 Joseph Henabery, American director (Cobra), born in Omaha, Nebraska (d. 1976)
- Jan 16 Osip Brik, Russian writer (d. 1945)
Lead Belly (1888-1949)
Jan 20 American blues 12 string guitarist (Rock Island Line), born in Mooringsport, Louisiana
- Jan 21 Herbie Collins, Australian cricket all-rounder and captain (19 Tests, 1,352 runs @ 45.06, 4 x 100s), born in Sydney, Australia (d. 1959)
- Jan 23 Gilbert Ledward, English sculptor, born in Chelsea, London (d. 1960)
- Jan 23 Paul Peter Ewald, German Crystallographer and physicist who devised the theory of X-ray interference by crystals and pioneered X-ray diffraction methods, born in Berlin, Germany (d. 1985)
- Jan 24 Ernst Heinrich Heinkel, German aeronautical engineer (1st rocket-powered aircraft), born in Grunbach, Germany (d. 1958)
- Jan 24 Hedwig "Vicki" Baum, Austrian American author (Men Never Know, Grand Hotel), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1960)