Historical Events
- Jan 1 Czech born tennis star Hana Mandikova becomes an Australian Citizen
- Jan 1 Miami beats Oklahoma for college football championship
- Jan 1 Year of the Reader begins
- Jan 1 74th Rose Bowl: #8 Michigan State beats #16 Southern California, 20-17
- Jan 1 54th Sugar Bowl: #4 Syracuse ties #6 Auburn, 16-16
- Jan 1 17th Fiesta Bowl: #3 Florida State beats #5 Nebraska, 31-28
- Jan 1 54th Orange Bowl: #2 Miami (FL) beats #1 Oklahoma, 20-14
- Jan 2 Ashland Oil storage tank spills 3.8 million gallons, Penn
Ronald Reagan
Event of Interest
Jan 3 Margaret Thatcher becomes longest-serving British PM this century
Margaret Thatcher
Event of Interest
Jan 8 Hewlett-Packard introduces HP-28S Advanced Scientific Calculator
Bill Hewlett
- Jan 8 US female Figure Skating championship won by Debi Thomas
- Jan 9 August Wilson's "Piano Lesson" premieres in Boston
- Jan 9 US male Figure Skating championship won by Brian Boitano
- Jan 10 "Don't Get God Started" closes at Longacre Theater NYC after 86 performances
- Jan 11 Test debut of Phil Simmons, WI v India, Madras
- Jan 11 USSR announces it will participate in Seoul Summer Olympics
- Jan 11 ABC premiere of fact-based "Evil in Clear River"
- Jan 12 Willie Stargell (Pitts Pirate), elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
- Jan 13 LA Dodger/SD Padre Steve Garvey retires
- Jan 13 Supreme Court rules (5-3) public school officials have broad powers to censor school newspapers, plays & other expressive activities
- Jan 15 NFL analyst Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder makes several questionable comments about African Americans during a lunchtime interview on CBS' NFL Today; fired the next day
- Jan 15 Kiran More stumps five WI batsman at Madras, world Test record
- Jan 15 Narendra Hirwani takes 16-136 (8-61 & 8-75) v WI on Test debut
- Jan 15 19-year-old Indian cricket leg-spinner Narenda Hirwani records best bowling figures on debut in Test history; captures 16-136 in 255 run 4th Test win v West Indies in Madras; Hirwani takes 8 wickets in each innings
- Jan 16 4th Soap Opera Digest Awards - Days of Our Lives wins
- Jan 16 Jimmy "the Greek" Snyder fired from CBS for racial remarks
- Jan 16 NFL St Louis Cardinals announce move to Phoenix
Event of Interest
Jan 16 Czech dissident Václav Havel is arrested in Prague for taking part in demonstrations against the communist government
Václav Havel
AFC Championship
Jan 17 AFC Championship, Mile High Stadium, Denver: Denver Broncos beat Cleveland Browns, 38-33; features infamous "The Fumble", Browns' Earnest Byner at Denver 3-yard line with 1:12 remaining
John Elway
- Jan 17 NFC Championship, RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.: Washington Redskins beat Minnesota Vikings, 17-10
- Jan 18 Airliner crashes in SW China, killing all 108 on board
- Jan 19 "48 Hours" premieres on CBS-TV
- Jan 19 Disabled writer Christopher Nolan wins the Whitbread Book of the Year prize
- Jan 20 Andre Hoffman skates world record 1,500m (1:52.06)
- Jan 20 Arizona committee opens hearing on impeachment of Gov Evan Mecham
- Jan 21 US accepts immigration of 30,000 US-Vietnamese children
- Jan 22 1st-class cricket debut of Brian Lara, Trinidad & Tobago v Leeward Is
- Jan 22 1st-class cricket debut of Hansie Cronje, OFS v Transvaal
Boxing Title Fight
Jan 22 Mike Tyson TKOs Larry Holmes in 4 in Atlantic City to retain his undisputed heavyweight boxing title; 38-year old former champion floored 3 times in 4th before fight stopped
Mike Tyson
Larry Holmes
Golden Globes
Jan 23 45th Golden Globes: The Last Emperor, Michael Douglas, & Sally Kirkland win
Michael Douglas
- Jan 23 Bob Benoit bowls 1st 300-pt game in a televised title match
Tennis Open
Jan 23 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Steffi Graf of Germany wins 1st of 3 consecutive Australian singles crowns; beats American Chris Evert 6-1, 7-6
Steffi Graf
Chris Evert
- Jan 24 1st WWF Royal Rumble - Jim Duggan wins
- Jan 24 9th ACE Cable Awards: Discovery Channel wins the Golden CableACE for "Russia: Live From the Inside"
- Jan 24 Australia beat New Zealand 2-0 to win cricket's World Series Cup
- Jan 24 Cerebral Palsy telethon raises $21 million
- Jan 24 NBC premiere of fact based "The Murder of Mary Phagan"
Australian Tennis Open
Jan 24 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Mats Wilander wins 3rd Australian title; beats home town favourite Pat Cash 6-3, 6-7, 3-6, 6-1, 8-6
Mats Wilander
Pat Cash
- Jan 24 4th Sundance Film Festival: "Heat and Sunlight" wins Grand Jury Prize Dramatic
Music Awards
Jan 25 15th American Music Awards: Anita Baker, Paul Simon & Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Event of Interest
Jan 25 George Harrison releases "When We Was Fab"
George Harrison
Event of Interest
Jan 25 US VP George H. W. Bush & Dan Rather clash on "CBS Evening News" as Rather attempts to question Bush about his role in Iran-Contra affair
George H. W. Bush
- Jan 26 "Phantom of the Opera" opens at Majestic Theater NYC for 4,000+ performances
- Jan 26 Australian 200th anniversary parade of tall ships in Sydney Harbour
- Jan 27 Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approves nomination of Judge Anthony Kennedy to US Supreme Court
- Jan 28 "Saratina!" opens at Cort Theater NYC for 597 performances
- Jan 28 Canada's Supreme court declares anti-abortion law unconstitutional
- Jan 28 Denver Nuggets point guard Michael Adams takes record streak to 79 consecutive games with at least one 3-point field goal in 117-102 loss against Indiana at Market Square Arena; streak ends next game
Event of Interest
Jan 28 New York Rangers' Marcel Dionne scores a 2nd period power play goal in 5-2 win in Philadelphia to become the first player in NHL history to get 20 goals in each of his first 17 seasons
Marcel Dionne
- Jan 29 Canadian Ben Johnson breaks own 50-yard dash world record at 5.15
- Jan 29 Detroit's Kirk Gibson signs a 3-year contract with Dodgers
- Jan 29 Second largest NBA crowd in history; Boston Celtics at Pontiac Silverdome, Detroit (61,938); Pistons win, 125-108
- Jan 29 United Airlines Boeing 747SP, circles world in 36h54m15s
- Jan 29 Detroit Pistons draw a then NBA regular season record crowd of 61,983 fans to the Pontiac Silverdome for a 125-108 win over the Boston Celtics
- Jan 30 Hansie Cronje gets a pair in 2nd 1st-class game (OFS v N Tvl)
- Jan 31 Barge sinks near Anacortes, WA, spills 70,000 gallons of oil
- Jan 31 Super Bowl XXII, Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego, CA: Washington Redskins beat Denver Broncos, 42-10; MVP: Doug Williams, Washington, QB
Famous Birthdays
- Jan 2 Jonny Evans, Northern Irish footballer
- Jan 3 Rodrigo de la Cadena, Mexican artist and performer
- Jan 4 Nabila Jamshed, Indian writer
- Jan 5 Pauline, French singer, born in Lens, France
- Jan 7 Scott Pendlebury, Australian rules footballer, born in Sale, Australia
- Jan 7 Haley Bennett, American singer & actress, born in Fort Myers, Florida
- Jan 7 Robert Sheehan, Irish actor, born in Port Laoise, Republic of Ireland
- Jan 8 Adam T. Siska, American musician
- Jan 11 Alexandria L'Esperance, US quintuplet, born in Royal Oak, Michigan
- Jan 11 Danielle L'Esperance, US quintuplet, born in Royal Oak, Michigan
- Jan 11 Erica L'Esperance, US quintuplet, born in Royal Oak, Michigan
- Jan 11 Raymond L'Esperance, US quintuplet, born in Royal Oak, Michigan
- Jan 11 Veronica L'Esperance, US quintuplet, born in Royal Oak, Michigan
- Jan 12 Andrew Lawrence, American actor (Brotherly Love, Recess), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Jan 12 Chris Casement, Irish footballer, born in Belfast, United Kingdom
- Jan 14 Jordy [Lemoine], French singer, youngest singer (4 years) to have a #1, born in Paris, France
- Jan 14 Mikalah Gordon, American singer, born in Las Vegas, Nevada
- Jan 14 Jack P. Shepherd, English actor (Coronation Street), born in Pudsey, United Kingdom
- Jan 16 Nicklas Bendtner, Danish footballer
- Jan 18 Ronnie Day [Ronald Guglielmone Jr.], American singer-songwriter (Nine Sleepless Nights), born in Redwood City, California
- Jan 18 Angelique Kerber, German tennis player (3-time Grand Slam winner), born in Bremen, Germany
- Jan 21 William Johansson, Swedish composer
- Jan 22 Greg Oden, American basketball player, born in Buffalo, New York
- Jan 25 Tatiana Golovin, Russian-born French tennis player, born in Moscow, Russia
- Jan 26 Mia Rose, British-Portuguese singer
- Jan 27 Kerlon Moura Souza, Brazilian footballer
- Jan 28 Henry Mortensen, American actor
- Jan 29 Stephanie Gilmore, Australian surfer (World Champion 2007-10, 12, 14, 18), born in Murwillumbah, NSW
- Jan 30 Rob Pinkston, American actor (Punk'd), born in Atlanta, Georgia
Famous Weddings
Wedding of Interest
Jan 1 Actor Michael Biehn (31) weds film producer Gina Marsh
Michael Biehn
- Jan 9 English earl of St Andrews marries Sylvana Tomaselli
Wedding of Interest
Jan 17 Publisher Bob Guccione (57) weds actress Katherine Keeton (48)
Bob Guccione
Famous Deaths
- Jan 1 Leo Steiner, NY Carnegie Deli's owner, dies
- Jan 1 Marcel Hillaire, German actor (Take the Money and Run, Seven Thieves), dies from surgery complications at 79
- Jan 2 E.B. Ford, British ecological geneticist, dies at 86
- Jan 3 Gaston Eyskens, Prime Minister of Belgium (1949, 1958-61, 1968-72), dies at 82
- Jan 3 William Cagney, actor (Torrid Zone), dies of a heart attack at 82
- Jan 3 Rose Ausländer, German poet (b. 1901)
- Jan 3 Joie Chitwood, American racedriver & Daredevil (b. 1912)
- Jan 4 Lily Laskine, French harpist, dies at 94
- Jan 5 "Pistol Pete" Mavarich, NBAer (Atlanta), dies of a heart attack at 40
Pete Maravich
Jan 5 Pete Maravich, American basketball player, dies of heart failure at 40
Pete Maravich
- Jan 6 Brent Collins, soap actor (Another World), dies of heart attack at 46
- Jan 7 Trevor Howard, British actor (Brief Encounter, Superman, The Third Man), dies of bronchitis at 71
- Jan 7 Michel Auclair [Vladimir Vujović], German actor (Funny Face, Day of the Jackal), dies at 65
- Jan 8 Frank Pace Jr, US Secretary of Army (1950-53), dies at 76
- Jan 11 Pappy Boyington, American combat pilot (United States Marine Corps fighter ace during World War II), dies of cancer at 75
- Jan 11 Isidor Isaac Rabi, nuclear physicist (Nobel Prize-1944), dies at 89
- Jan 11 Florence Knapp, American, one-time oldest person in the world (b. 1873)
- Jan 12 Connie Mulder, South African politician (b. 1925)
- Jan 13 Chiang Ching-huo, president of Taiwan (1978-88), dies at 69
Georgy Malenkov
Jan 14 Georgi Malenkov, Soviet leader who was briefly leader of the Soviet Union after Stalin's death (1953-55), dies in obscurity at 86
Georgy Malenkov
Seán MacBride
Jan 15 Seán MacBride, Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army and founder of Amnesty International (Nobel 1974), dies at 83
Seán MacBride
- Jan 16 Ballard Berkeley [Blascheck], British actor (Fawlty Towers, East meets West, The BFG), dies at 83
- Jan 16 Andrija Artuković, Croatian war criminal (b. 1899)
- Jan 20 Philippe de Rothschild, French race-car driver and manager (Bordeaux Vineyard), dies at 86
- Jan 20 Dora Stratou, Greek choreographer and folklorist (b. 1903)
- Jan 21 Abraham Sofaer, actor (Naked Jungle, Elephant Walk), dies
- Jan 22 Parker Fennelly, actor (Kettles on Old MacDonald's Farm), dies at 96
- Jan 23 Charles Glen King, American biochemist and pioneer of nutrition research who isolated vitamin C, dies at 91
- Jan 23 Dan Daniel, politician (Rep-D-VA, 1969-88), dies at 73
- Jan 24 Werner Fenchel, German mathematician (b. 1905)
- Jan 25 Colleen Moore, actress (These Girls Won't Talk), dies at 87
- Jan 27 Massa Makan Diabaté, Malian author (b. 1938)
- Jan 27 Edward Pawley, American actor (Angels with Dirty Faces), dies t 86
- Jan 28 Klaus Fuchs, German physicist (b. 1911)
- Jan 29 Bantcho Bantchevsky, US opera singer, commits suicide
- Jan 29 James R. Killian Jr., 10th president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1948-59), dies at 83
- Jan 29 Rogier van Otterloo, Dutch composer and conductor, dies at 46
- Jan 30 Corry [Cornelia Diderika] Vonk, Dutch cabaret performer, dies at 85