Historical Events
- Jan 1 Aruba becomes independent from neighbor island Curacao
Event of Interest
Jan 1 Barbra Streisand & Jon Peters relationship breaks up
Barbra Streisand
- Jan 1 International Peace Year begins
- Jan 1 NYC transit fare rises from 90 cents to $1.00
- Jan 1 Spain & Portugal are 11th & 12th to join European Economic Community
- Jan 1 South African Government closes its borders with Lesotho, cutting off important food and fuel supplies, after Lesotho refuses to sign a non-aggression pact
- Jan 1 72nd Rose Bowl: #13 UCLA beats #4 Iowa, 45-28; Iowa's All-American running back, Ronnie Harmon, fumbles the ball 4 times in his last game.
- Jan 1 52nd Sugar Bowl: #8 Tennessee beats #2 Miami, 35-7
- Jan 1 15th Fiesta Bowl: #5 Michigan beats #7 Nebraska, 27-23
- Jan 1 52nd Orange Bowl: #3 Oklahoma beats #1 Penn State, 25-10
- Jan 2 191.66 million shares traded in NY Stock Exchange
Event of Interest
Jan 2 NY Islander, Mike Bossy, scores his 500th goal
Mike Bossy
- Jan 4 David Boon's second Test century, 131 v India at Adelaide
Event of Interest
Jan 4 NCAA basketball's David Robinson blocks a record 14 shots
David Robinson
- Jan 6 British Defense Secretary Michael Heseltine resigns after the 'Westland affair'
- Jan 6 Impala Platinum fires 20,000 black mine workers in Johannesburg
- Jan 6 Last day in Test cricket for Bob Holland
- Jan 6 STS 61-C scrubbed at T-31sec because of liquid oxygen valve problem
- Jan 7 Netherlands Bank issues 250 guilder notes
- Jan 7 STS 61-C mission scrubbed at T -9m because of weather problems
Event of Interest
Jan 7 US President Reagan announces economic sanctions against Libya
Ronald Reagan
- Jan 8 Willie McCovey is 16th elected to Hall of Fame in his 1st year
- Jan 9 NY Islanders repeat their greatest shutout margin (9-0) vs Pittsburgh Penguins
- Jan 9 After losing a patent battle with Polaroid, Kodak must give up its instant camera business.
- Jan 10 Palau signs Compact of Free Association with US
- Jan 10 NASA's STS-61-C mission scrubbed T -9m because of bad weather at Florida's Kennedy Space Center
- Jan 11 1st African American Lieutenant Governor since reconstruction sworn in - Douglas Wilder of Virginia
- Jan 12 24th space shuttle (61-C) mission-Columbia 7-launched
- Jan 12 Chicago Blackhawk centre Denis Savard scores at 4 seconds of 3rd period
- Jan 12 AFC Championship Game: New England Patriots beat Miami Dolphins 31-14
- Jan 12 NFC Championship Game: Chicago Bears beat Los Angeles Rams 24-0
- Jan 13 NCCA institutes eligibility requirements based on college exams
- Jan 13 South Yemen President Ali Nasser Mohammed's bodyguard shoots opponents
- Jan 13 ABC's TV premiere of "The Right of The People", whose writer and director is said to have been inspired by the 14 December 1980 massacre at Bob's Big Boy in Los Angeles
- Jan 14 Constitution of Guatemala takes effect
- Jan 14 Vinicio Cerezo becomes only the second freely elected President of Guatemala since CIA-sponsored coup in 1954
- Jan 15 Living Seas opens (Disneyland)
- Jan 16 Police arrested 3 IRA-terrorists in Amsterdam
- Jan 16 First meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force.
- Jan 17 Tim Witherspoon beats Tony Tubbs in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
- Jan 17 2nd Sundance Film Festival: "Smooth Talk" wins Grand Jury Prize Dramatic
- Jan 18 24th Space Shuttle (61-C) Mission-Columbia 7-returns to Earth
- Jan 18 AIDS charity record "That's What Friends are For" hits #1
- Jan 18 NY Lotto pays $30.5 million to one winner (#s are 19-20-27-34-41-46)
- Jan 19 Cerebral Palsy telethon raises $17 million
Event of Interest
Jan 19 Israeli Premier Shimon Peres visits Netherlands
Shimon Peres
- Jan 19 Spain recognizes Israel
Event of Interest
Jan 20 1st federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr
Martin Luther King Jr.
- Jan 20 Chunnel announced (railroad tunnel under Channel)
- Jan 20 Military coup in Lesotho under major general Lekhanya & premier Leabua Jonathan
- Jan 21 100 participate in Nude Olympics race in 38°F (3°C), Indiana
- Jan 21 Allison J Brown, 17, of Oklahoma, crowned 4th Miss Teen USA
- Jan 21 Bomb attack in East-Beirut, 27 killed
- Jan 21 Czech tennis star Ivan Lendl defeats Boris Becker of Germany 6-2, 7-6, 6-3 to claim the season-ending ATP Masters Grand Prix title for a third time at Madison Square Garden, NYC
- Jan 22 Ghorbanifar 1st suggests diversion of cash to contras, says North
- Jan 23 "Jerome Kern Goes to Hollywood" opens at Ritz Theater NYC for 13 performances
- Jan 23 Columbia returns to Kennedy Space Center via Davis-Monthan AFB
Hall of Fame
Jan 23 1st induction of Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame (Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Domino, Everly Bros, Buddy Holly, J L Lewis & Elvis Presley)
Film and TV Awards
Jan 24 43rd Golden Globes: "Out of Africa", Jon Voight, & Whoopi Goldberg win
Whoopi Goldberg
Jon Voight
- Jan 24 NY Islander Mike Bossy scores his 1,000th point
- Jan 24 South Yemen Premier Haydar Bakr al-Attas becomes interim-president
- Jan 24 Voyager 2 makes 1st fly-by of Uranus (81,593 km), finds new moons
- Jan 24 Leon Brittan, Trade and Industry Secretary under Thatcher is 2nd cabinet minister to resign after 'Westland affair'
- Jan 25 General Tito Okello's government flees Kampala, Uganda
- Jan 26 Hein Vergeer becomes European skating champion
- Jan 26 Val Skinner wins LPGA Mazda Golf Classic
- Jan 26 Yoweri Museveni's rebel army conquers Kampala Uganda
- Jan 26 Super Bowl XX: Chicago Bears beat NE Patriots, 46-10 in New Orleans Super Bowl MVP: Richard Dent, Chicago, DE
Music Awards
Jan 27 13th American Music Awards: Whitney Houston, Huey Lewis & C Gayle
Whitney Houston
- Jan 28 "Uptown... It's Hot!" opens at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC for 24 performances
USS Challenger Explodes
Jan 28 Space Shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, with all 7 crew members killed, including Christa McAuliffe who was to be the first teacher in space
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Famous Birthdays
- Jan 1 Glen Davis, American basketball player
- Jan 1 Vidya Balan, Indian actress
- Jan 3 Lloyd Polite, American R&B singer
- Jan 3 Jacob Timpano, Australian soccer player
- Jan 4 James Milner, English footballer
- Jan 4 Steve Slaton, American football player
- Jan 5 Deepika Padukone, Indian model, actress, and activist (Om Shanti Om, Cocktail, Piki), born in Copenhagen, Denmark
- Jan 5 Teppei Koike, Japanese actor and singer
- Jan 6 Paul McShane, Irish footballer
- Jan 6 Alex Turner, English musician (Arctic Monkeys), born in High Green, Sheffield
- Jan 6 Irina Shayk. Russian model, born in Yemanzhelinsk, USSR
- Jan 7 Grant Leadbitter, English footballer
- Jan 8 Jaclyn Linetsky, Canadian actress (d. 2003)
- Jan 8 David Silva, Spanish footballer
- Jan 10 Saleisha Stowers, American model
- Jan 11 Rachel Riley, English television presenter and mathematician (Countdown, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown), born in Rochford, England
- Jan 12 Miguel Ángel Nieto, Spanish footballer
- Jan 13 Joannie Rochette, Canadian figure skater
- Jan 14 Gary Brolsma, American internet celebrity
- Jan 14 Cristina Aicardi, Peruvian badminton player
- Jan 15 Fred Davis, American football player
- Jan 16 Mason Gamble, actor (Dennis the Menace)
- Jan 21 Coffin Joe, English drummer (The Horrors)
- Jan 22 Lee Pa-ni, South Korean model
- Jan 22 Daniel Wayne Smith, American actor, reality television personality (d. 2006)
- Jan 23 Steven Taylor, English footballer
- Jan 24 Mischa Barton, English-born American actress
- Jan 24 Raviv Ullman, Israeli-born American actor
- Jan 25 Chris O'Grady, English footballer, born in Nottingham, United Kingdom
- Jan 25 Shahriar Nafees, Bangladeshi cricketer, born in Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Jan 26 Gerald Green, American basketball player
- Jan 26 Matt Heafy, American musician (Trivium)
- Jan 26 Shantelle Taylor, Canadian professional wrestler
- Jan 28 Shruti Haasan, Indian actress
- Jan 28 Jessica Ennis, English heptathlete
- Jan 29 Mark Howard, English football player
- Jan 29 Simon Vukčević, Montenegrin football player
- Jan 29 Chris Bourque, American pro hockey player
- Jan 29 Drew Tyler Bell, American actor
- Jan 30 Sam Duckworth, British singer-songwriter
- Jan 30 Nick Evans, American baseball player
- Jan 31 Yves Makabu-Makalambay, Belgian football goalkeeper
Famous Weddings
Wedding of Interest
Jan 3 British golfer Nick Faldo (28) weds manager's secretary Gill Bennett
Nick Faldo
Famous Deaths
- Jan 1 Alfredo Binda, Italian cyclist (b. 1902)
- Jan 1 Bruce Norris, American hockey executive (Detroit Red Wings) (b. 1924)
- Jan 2 Una Merkel, US actress (Abraham Lincoln), dies at 82
- Jan 2 Bill Veeck, American MLB owner, promoter (Brewers, White Sox, Indians, St. Louis Browns), dies of lung cancer at 71
- Jan 3 Jens Bjerre, Danish composer, dies at 82
- Jan 4 Christopher Isherwood, English novelist (Lions & Shadows), dies at 81
- Jan 4 Phil Lynott, Irish rock musician (Thin Lizzy), dies of an overdose at 36
- Jan 5 Ilmari Salminen, Finnish athlete (Olympic gold 10,000m 1936), dies at 83
- Jan 6 Louis Lebeer, Dutch art historian, dies at 90
- Jan 7 Juan Rulfo, writer, dies
- Jan 7 Philip D. Eastman, American children's book writer and illustrator (b. 1909)
- Jan 8 Yaroslav Seifert, Czech poet (Nobel 1984), dies at 84
- Jan 8 Pierre Fournier, French cellist (b. 1906)
- Jan 8 Mansel Treharne Thomas, Welsh composer, dies at 76
- Jan 10 Joseph Kraft, US columnist, dies at 61
- Jan 10 Joe Farrell, American jazz saxophonist, dies at 48
- Jan 11 Sid Chaplin, UK novelist (b. 1916)
- Jan 12 Marcel Arland, French author (L'ordre, Lumière du Soir), dies at 86
- Jan 14 Donna Reed, actress (Donna Reed Show, Dallas), dies of cancer at 64
- Jan 14 Walter Leblanc, Belgian painter, dies at 53
- Jan 14 Daniel Balavoine, French singer (b. 1952)
- Jan 15 James H "Jim" Crowley, US football player (Notre Dame), dies at 83
- Jan 16 Herbert W. Armstrong, American evangelist, author, and publisher (b. 1892)
- Jan 18 Claire James, actress (Jack Armstrong), dies
- Jan 23 Joseph Beuys, West German avant-garde artist/politician, dies at 64
- Jan 24 Gordon MacRae, American singer and actor (Oklahoma!, Carousel), dies of pneumonia at 64
- Jan 24 L. Ron Hubbard, American sci-fi writer (Death Quest) and founder of the Scientology cult, dies at 74
- Jan 24 Flo Hyman, American volleyball player (b. 1954)
- Jan 25 Ernst Schnabel, German writer and pioneer of the radio documentary, dies at 72
- Jan 25 Horace Smith, cricketer (1 Test NZ v Eng 1933, one wkt at 113), dies
- Jan 27 Lilli Palmer [Peiser], German actress (Cloak and Dagger, Anastasia: The Czar's Last Daughter), dies from abdominal cancer at 71
- Jan 28 Christa McAuliffe, American teacher, dies in the Challenger space shuttle disaster at 37
- Jan 28 Ellison S Onizuka, Hawaii, Mjr USAF/ast, dies in Challenger disaster
- Jan 28 Francis R Scobee, Wash, USAF/astronaut, dies in Challenger disaster
- Jan 28 Judith Arlene Resnik, Akron Oh, astr, dies in Challenger disaster
- Jan 28 Michael J Smith, Beaufort NC, Cmdr USN, astr, dies in Challenger
- Jan 28 Ronald E McNair, American astronaut and physicist, dies in Challenger disaster at 35
- Jan 28 Greg Jarvis - Crew of Space Shuttle Challenger (b. 1944)
- Jan 29 Leif Erickson, American actor (Invaders from Mars, On the Waterfront), dies at 74
- Jan 30 Ticker Freeman, American pianist (Dinah Shore Show), dies at 74