Historical Events
- Jan 1 David Dinkins sworn in as 1st African American mayor of New York City
- Jan 1 Mitsuko Nishiwaki beats Nakano to become Japan Women wrestling champ
- Jan 1 NYC MTA stops token redemption at subway stations
- Jan 1 Sports News Network begins operation on cable TV
- Jan 1 FCC implements "SYNDEX" giving independent stations more rights over cable TV outlets for exclusive syndicated programs
- Jan 1 76th Rose Bowl: #12 Southern California beats #3 Michigan, 17-10
- Jan 1 56th Sugar Bowl: #2 Miami beats #7 Alabama, 33-25
- Jan 1 19th Fiesta Bowl: #5 Florida State beats #6 Nebraska, 41-17
- Jan 1 56th Orange Bowl: #4 Notre Dame beats #1 Colorado, 21-6
Hopman Cup
Jan 1 Hopman Cup Tennis, Perth: Arantxa Sánchez Vicario beats American Pam Shriver 6-3, 6-3 to clinch 2-1 win for Spain's first title
- Jan 2 Dow Jones hits record 2,800 (2,810.15)
Historic Event
Jan 3 Panama's leader General Manuel Noriega surrenders to US authorities
- Jan 4 307 dead and 700 injured after overloaded passenger train collides with empty freight train in Pakistan
- Jan 5 J Donald Crump appointed 8th Commissioner of CFL
- Jan 6 NY Lotto pays $35 million to one winner (#s are 18-25-26-32-42-44)
- Jan 7 Lynn Jennings runs world record indoor 5km indoor at 15:22.64
- Jan 7 Tower of Pisa closed to the public after leaning too far
- Jan 9 64th US manned space mission STS 32 (Columbia 10) launches into orbit
- Jan 9 Boston Celtics worst ever (6 pts in 2nd vs NJ Nets) & lose 87-78
Hall of Fame
Jan 9 Jim Palmer & Joe Morgan elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
Tiananmen Square Massacre
Jan 10 China lifts martial law, imposed after the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989
Sports History
Jan 11 Pat LaFontaine sets NY Islander record of scoring goals in 11 straight
Historic Event
Jan 12 Civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton is stabbed in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
Historic Event
Jan 14 Un Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar says he has lost all hope for peace in Gulf
AFC Championship
Jan 14 AFC Championship, Mile High Stadium, Denver: Denver Broncos beat Cleveland Browns 37-21
- Jan 14 NFC Championship, Candlestick Park, SF: San Francisco 49ers beat Los Angeles Rams, 30-3
Boxing Title Fight
Jan 15 42 year old former world heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman stops Gerry Cooney in 2 rounds in Atlantic City in a non-title bout; Cooney's last fight
- Jan 15 6th Soap Opera Digest Awards: Santa Barbara wins
- Jan 15 AT&T experiences long distance problems due to a computer glitch
- Jan 15 In a shrewd move, Detroit Tigers sign 1st baseman Cecil Fielder who spent previous season in Japan; hits 51 homers this MLB season and becomes a premier power hitter for most of the 1990s
- Jan 15 Golden State coach Don Nelson becomes 2nd man in NBA history to appear in 1,000 games both as a player and coach (joining Lenny Wilkens) as the Warriors lose to the Indiana Pacers, 144-105
- Jan 15 In a bizarre twist in the NHL, Washington Capitals fire coach Brian Murray, who had been head coach since 1981; replace him with his brother Terry, who had been coaching in the minors
- Jan 16 2 Bank of Credit & Commerce members plea guilty to money laundering
- Jan 17 Dave Stewart signs record $3,500,000 per year Oak A's contract
Hall of Fame
Jan 17 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: Hank Ballard; Bobby Darin; The Four Seasons; The Four Tops; The Kinks; The Platters; Simon and Garfunkel; The Who; Louis Armstrong; Charlie Christian; Ma Rainey; Gerry Goffin and Carole King; and Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland
- Jan 18 South Africa says it is reconsidering ban on African National Congress
- Jan 18 Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry arrested in drug enforcement sting
- Jan 19 Test debut of Mushtaq Ahmed, v Australia at Adelaide
- Jan 19 Police break up protests in Johannesburg against the cricket players defying a boycott on playing in apartheid South Africa
- Jan 19 Turning point in the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Kashmiri Hindus from Indian-administrated Kashmir due to violence from Muslim militants
Golden Globes
Jan 20 47th Golden Globes: "Born on the Fourth of July", Tom Cruise and Michelle Pfeiffer win
NHL All-Star Game
Jan 21 41st NHL All-Star Game, Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, PA: Wales beats Campbell, 12-7; MVP: Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins, C
- Jan 21 Bob Goodenow succeeds Alan Eagleson as NHL players association executive director
Sports History
Jan 21 John McEnroe becomes 1st ever player to be expelled from the Australian Open
Music Awards
Jan 22 17th American Music Awards: Paula Abdul & Bobby Brown win
Historic Event
Jan 22 President Mikhail Gorbachev sends Red Troops into the Soviet republic of Azerbaijan
- Jan 23 Australian cricketer Dean Jones scores twin test tons vs. Pakistan at Adelaide Oval
- Jan 24 Japanese MUSES-A (Hiten) launched towards moon
- Jan 24 14th Commonwealth Games open in Auckland, New Zealand
- Jan 24 LAs' Pat Riley becomes the 13th and fastest coach to reach the 500-victory plateau as the Lakers down the Indiana Pacers, 120-111; Riley (500-184) surpasses Don Nelson (500-317) to reach milestone
- Jan 25 Avianca Flight 52, runs out of fuel & crashes in Cove Neck NY, 73 die
- Jan 25 Former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega is transferred to a Miami jail
- Jan 25 The Burns' Day windstorm storm hits northwestern Europe
- Jan 25 Honduras becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty
- Jan 26 Annular eclipse visible over Antarctica & South Atlantic
- Jan 26 Boston Red Sox hires Elaine Weddington as asst GM (highest-ranking African American female in a major-league front office)
Australian Open Women's Tennis
Jan 27 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Steffi Graf beats American Mary Joe Fernández 6-3, 6-4 for her 3rd consecutive Australian singles crown
Super Bowl
Jan 28 Super Bowl XXIV, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA: San Francisco 49ers beat Denver Broncos, 55-10; MVP: Joe Montana, SF, QB
- Jan 28 Romanian protest against Ion Iliescu government
Australian Men's Tennis Open
Jan 28 Australian Open Men's Tennis: American-based Czech star Ivan Lendl of wins 8th and last career Grand Slam title; beats Stefan Edberg 4-6, 7-6, 5-2; Edberg retires injured
- Jan 29 Exxon Valdez capt Joseph Hazelwood goes on trial due to oil spill
NHL Record
Jan 30 LA center Wayne Gretzky sets NHL record by scoring his 100th point of the season for the 11th straight season; milestone comes with an assist in a 5-2 Kings' win over visiting New Jersey Devils
Famous Birthdays
- Jan 3 Yoichiro Kakitani, Japanese soccer midfielder (18 caps; Cerezo Osaka), born in Osaka, Japan
- Jan 4 Toni Kroos, German football player (Real Madrid, German national team), born in Greifswald, East Germany
- Jan 7 Liam Aiken, American actor, born in NYC, New York
- Jan 7 Elene Gedevanishvili, Georgian figure skater, born in Tbilisi, Georgia
- Jan 7 Camryn Grimes, American actress, born in Van Nuys, California
- Jan 7 Gregor Schlierenzauer, Austrian ski jumper, born in Tyrol, Austria
- Jan 8 Maci Wainwright, American singer, born in Edmond, Oklahoma
- Jan 10 Tao Li, Singaporean Olympic swimmer, born in Wuhan, China
- Jan 12 Sergey Karjakin, Ukrainian chess player, born in Simferopol
Liam Hemsworth
Jan 13 Liam Hemsworth, Australian actor (Hunger Games films), born in Melbourne, Victoria
- Jan 14 Grant Gustin, American actor & singer (The Flash), born in Norfolk, Virginia
- Jan 15 Fernando Forestieri, Italian footballer, born in Rosario, Argentina
- Jan 15 Chris Warren Jr., American actor, born in Indianapolis, Indiana
- Jan 18 Gift Ngoepe, South African-born baseball player, 1st black African to play in Major League Baseball, born in Pietersburg, South Africa
- Jan 21 Jacob Smith, American actor
- Jan 26 Christopher Massey, American actor, born in Atlanta, Georgia
- Jan 26 Peter Sagan, Slovakian professional cyclist (World Road Champion 2016), born in Žilina, Slovakia
- Jan 30 Jake Thomas, American actor (A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Lizzie McGuire), born in Knoxville, Tennessee
- Jan 30 Eiza Gonzalez, Mexican actress & singer, born in Mexico City, Mexico
Famous Divorces
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Jan 3 Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber (41) divorces singer/dancer Sarah Brightman (29) after almost 7 years of marriage
Jimmy Johnson
Jan 17 NFL coach Jimmy Johnson (46) divorces Linda Kay Cooper after 26 years of marriage
Michael Keaton
Jan 29 Actor Michael Keaton (38) divorces actress Caroline McWilliams (44) after 7 years of marriage
Famous Deaths
- Jan 1 Charles Boost, Dutch film critic, dies at 82
- Jan 1 Joe Hardstaff Jr., English cricket batsman (23 Tests, 1,636 runs @ 46.74), dies at 78
- Jan 1 Suzuki Sochu, Japanese-born Zen teacher, dies at 80
- Jan 1 James W. Wood, American astronaut (Dynasoar), dies at 65
- Jan 2 Alan Hale Jr., American actor (Skipper-Gilligan's Island), dies of cancer at 68
- Jan 2 Vladimir Ussachevsky, Manchurian-American composer (Creation), dies at 78
- Jan 3 Ken Hill, American actor (Cobra, Protocol), dies at 49
- Jan 3 Arthur Gold, American pianist, half of Gold and Fizdale duo (b. 1917)
- Jan 4 Alberto Lleras Camargo, president of Colombia (1945-46, 58-62), dies
- Jan 4 Robert F Adams, American sci-fi author (Castaways in Time), dies at 57
- Jan 4 Harold Edgerton, American electrical engineer (b. 1903)
- Jan 4 Sir Henry Bolte, Premier of Victoria 1955-1972 (b. 1908)
- Jan 5 Arthur Kennedy, American actor (Fantastic Voyage, Peyton Place), dies of a brain tumor at 76
- Jan 5 Bart LaRue, entertainer, dies
- Jan 6 Hans Jaray, Austrian actor (Lydia, Fedora) and playwright, dies at 83
- Jan 6 Ian Charleson, Scottish actor (Gandhi, Chariots of Fire), dies of AIDS at 40
Bronko Nagurski
Jan 7 Bronko Nagurski, Canadian-American College and Pro Football Hall of Fame fullback (Chicago Bears), dies at 81
- Jan 7 Gail Lucas, American entertainer, dies at 37
- Jan 7 Horace Stoneham, American baseball owner (Giants), dies at 86
- Jan 7 Joseph Robbie, American lawyer and NFL owner and founder of the Miami Dolphins, dies at 73
- Jan 8 Terry-Thomas [Thomas Terry Hoar-Stevens], English comedian and actor (I'm All Right Jack, Private's Progress), dies of Parkinson's disease at 78
- Jan 9 Sir Edward McTiernan, Australian jurist, lawyer and politician (b. 1892)
- Jan 9 Spud Chandler, American baseball player (AL MVP 1943), dies at 82
- Jan 10 Juliet Berto, screenwriter/actress (Bastienne Bastien), dies at 42
- Jan 10 Yvonne Peattie Marquard, actress (Donovan's Reef), dies
- Jan 11 Mary Jane Carr, actress (Forbidden Trail, Second Wife), dies
- Jan 11 Kittens Reichert [Catherine Alma Reichert], American silent screen child actor [House of Cards, Les Misérables], dies at 79
- Jan 12 Laurence J. Peter, Canadian author (Peter Principle), dies of a stroke at 70
- Jan 12 Paul Amadeus Pisk, Austrian-American composer, musicologist, and educator, dies at 96
- Jan 14 David Arkin, actor (I Love You Alice B Toklas), dies
- Jan 14 Mani Madhava Chakyar, Koodiyattam artist and Sanskrit scholar (b. 1899)
- Jan 15 Gordon Jackson, Scottish actor (Upstairs, Downstairs, The Professionals, The Great Escape), dies after a short illness at 66
- Jan 17 Charles Hernu, French minister of Defense (1981-85), dies
- Jan 17 Anna Arnold Hedgeman, African-American social activist (NYC cabinet), dies at 90
- Jan 17 Fritz "Freddie" Brocksieper, German big band jazz drummer, and bandleader, dies at 77
- Jan 18 Melanie Appleby, English singer (Mel & Kim), dies of liver cancer at 23
- Jan 18 Rusty Hamer, American actor (Rusty-Make Room for Daddy), dies at 52
- Jan 19 Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Indian leader of the Rajneesh movement, dies at 58
- Jan 19 Herbert Wehner, German politician (Member of the Bundestag, 1949-83; chairman of the SPD, 1969-83), dies of complications from Binswanger's disease at 83
- Jan 19 (Alberto) Semprini, British pianist and radio broadcaster (BBC's Semprini Serenade), dies at 81
- Jan 19 Myles Horton, American educator and Civil Rights Movement teacher, dies at 84
- Jan 20 Barbara Stanwyck [Ruby Stevens], actress (Big Valley), dies at 82
- Jan 20 Naruhito Higashi-Kuni, Japanese PM (1945), dies
- Jan 20 Hayedeh [Ma'soumeh Dadehbala], Persian classical, pop, and folk singer, dies of a heart attack at 47
- Jan 20 Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni, Japanese imperial prince and 30th Prime Minister of Japan, dies at 102
- Jan 23 Mariano Rumor, Italian politician (PM, 1968-70; 73-1974), dies at 74
- Jan 23 [Piet] "Peter" Sweval, American rock bassist (Looking Glass - "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" ; Starz - "Cherry Baby"), dies of AIDS at 42
- Jan 23 (Larken) Allen Collins, American southern rock guitarist, and songwriter (Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Free Bird"; "Gimme Three Steps"; Rossington-Collins Band - "Don't Misunderstand Me"), dies from chronic pneumonia, a complication of the paralysis suffered in a drunk driving accident, at 37
- Jan 24 Madge Bellamy, American actress, dies of heart failure at 90
- Jan 25 Alexander Lockwood, actor (Duel), dies
Ava Gardner
Jan 25 Ava Gardner, American actress (Barefoot Contessa, On the Beach), dies of pneumonia at 67
- Jan 25 Ian Dudley Hardy, entertainer, dies
- Jan 26 Miloslav Ištvan, Czech composer, dies at 61
- Jan 26 Boy Trip, Dutch minister, dies at 68
- Jan 26 Lewis Mumford, American historian (b. 1895)
- Jan 26 Bob Gerard, British racing driver (b. 1914)
- Jan 27 Helen Jerome Eddy, actress (Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm), dies at 92
- Jan 31 Rashad Khalifa, Egyptian-born imam (b. 1935)
