- Jan 1 Boris Vladimirovich Gnedenko, Russian mathematician (d. 1995)
Kim Philby (1912-1988)
Jan 1 British spy and Soviet mole who was a member of the "Cambridge Five", born in Ambala, Punjab, India
- Jan 1 Victor Reuther, American labor leader (United Automobile Workers union), born in Wheeling, West Virginia (d. 2004) [1]
- Jan 2 André Amellér, French double bassist (Paris Opéra, 1937-53), conductor, composer, and educator (École Nationale de Musique - Dijon, 1953-81), born in Arnaville, France (d. 1990)
- Jan 2 Barbara Pentland, Canadian concert pianist and composer, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba (d. 2000)
- Jan 3 Armand Lohikoski, Finnish director (d. 2005)
- Jan 3 Cliff Melton, American baseball pitcher (MLB All Star 1942; NL saves leader 1937; NY Giants), born in Brevard, North Carolina (d. 1986)
- Jan 3 Renaude Lapointe, Canadian journalist and senator (d. 2002)
- Jan 3 Robert Flemyng, British actor (The Deadly Affair, Funny Face), born in Liverpool, England (d. 1995)
- Jan 5 Frank Pace Jr., US Secretary of Army (1950-53), born in Little Rock, Arkansas (d. 1988)
- Jan 6 Danny Thomas, American comedian (Danny Thomas Show), born in Deerfield, Michigan (d. 1991)
- Jan 6 Jacques Cesar Ellul, French philosopher & sociologist, born in Bordeaux, France (d. 1994)
- Jan 7 Bob Zurke [Boguslaw Zukowski], American jazz pianist, arranger (Bob Crosby Orchestra), and composer (Old Tom - "Cat On The Keys"), born in Hamtramck, Michigan (d. 1944)
- Jan 7 Charles Addams, American artist and cartoonist (New Yorker, The Addams Family) known for darkly humorous and macabre characters, born in Westfield, New Jersey (d. 1988)
- Jan 7 Günter Wand, German conductor (Cologne Opera and Gürzenich Orchestra, 1948-74; NDR Symphony, 1982-90), and composer, born in Elberfeld, Germany (d. 2002)
José Ferrer (1912-1992)
Jan 8 Puerto Rican actor and director (Blood Tide, Dune), born in San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Jan 8 Rudolf George Escher, Dutch composer (True Face of Peace), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1980)
- Jan 9 Ralph Tubbs, British architect, born in Hadley Wood, United Kingdom (d. 1996)
- Jan 10 Maria Mandel, Camp leader at Auschwitz, born in Münzkirchen, Austria (d. 1948)
- Jan 10 Nick Cravat [Nicholas Cuccia], American actor (Twilight Zone - "Gremlin" in "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" episode), born in NYC (d. 1994)
- Jan 11 Donald "Red" Barry, American actor (Adventures of Red Ryder, Jesse James' Women), born in Houston, Texas (d. 1980)
- Jan 11 Lynwood Thomas "Schoolboy" Rowe, American baseball pitcher (Detroit Tigers), born in Waco, Texas (d. 1961)
- Jan 11 Roger Lewis, American businessman (CEO of Amtrak, Pan Am), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 1987)
- Jan 12 Charles Moeller, Belgian theologist (Humanism et saintete), born in Brussels, Belgium (d. 1986)
- Jan 15 Michel Debré, French politician, born in Paris, France (d. 1996)
- Jan 16 Franz Tumler, Austrian writer (Cloak, Aufruf), born in Gries near Bozen, South Tyrol (d. 1998)
- Jan 17 Orest Alexandrovich Evlahkov, Russian Soviet composer (d. 1973)
- Jan 18 Wilhelm Herz, German motorcycle racer (first to 200mph), born in Lampertheim, Germany (d. 1998)
- Jan 18 William Sansom, English writer (Loving Eye), born in London, United Kingdom (d. 1976)
- Jan 19 Leonid Kantorovich, Russian Soviet economist (Father of linear programming, Nobel Prize for Economics 1975), born in St Petersburg, Russia (d. 1986)
- Jan 20 Christopher Casson, Irish-English actor (Zardoz, Educating Rita, The Riordans), born in Manchester, Lancashire, England (d. 1996)
- Jan 20 Walter Briggs Jr, American sports executive (owner Detroit Tigers 1952-56), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 1970)
- Jan 21 Konrad Emil Bloch, German-American biochemist (1964 Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology for work on cholesterol), born in Neisse, Germany (d. 2000)
- Jan 22 Harry Parry, Welsh jazz clarinetist and bandleader (BBC's Radio Rhythm Club), born in Bangor, Wales (d. 1956)
- Jan 24 Ken Weekes, West Indian cricket batsman (2 Tests, top score 137; first Test cricketer born in US), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1998)
- Jan 25 Lucius E. Burch Jr., American attorney, born in Nashville, Tennessee (d. 1996)
- Jan 26 Cora Baird, American puppeteer (Kukla, Fran & Ollie), born in NYC, New York (d. 1967)
- Jan 27 Arne Næss, Norwegian philosopher, born in Oslo, Norway (d. 2009)
- Jan 27 E. R. Braithwaite, diplomat and writer (To Sir with Love), born in Georgetown, British Guiana (d. 2016)
Jackson Pollock (1912-1956)
Jan 28 American expressionist painter (Lavender Mist), born in Cody, Wyoming
- Jan 30 Barbara Tuchman, American historian & author (Pulitzer, Guns of August), born in New York (d. 1989)
- Jan 30 Francis Schaeffer, American Evangelical theologian and pastor, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1984)
- Jan 30 Jadwiga Wajsowna-Marcinkiewicz, Polish discus thrower (medals in 1932 and 1936 Olympics), born in Pabianice, Poland (d. 1990)
About January 1912
How Old? 111 years old
Generation: Greatest Generation
Leap Year: Yes