- Jan 8 John Baskerville, English printer and type designer (printer to the University of Cambridge), dies at 68
- Jan 10 Jemeljan Pugatshov, Russian kosak leader/"Tsar Peter III", dies
- Jan 11 Prithvi Narayan Shah, began the unification of modern Nepal (b. 1723)
- Jan 11 Yemelyan Pugachov, Don Cossack rebel, executed by tsarist Russia
- Jan 13 Johann Georg Walch, German theologian, dies at 81
- Jan 15 Giovanni Battista Sammartini, Italian composer, musician, and choirmaster, dies at about 74 (born c. 1700)
- Jan 25 Georg Friedrich Schmidt, German engraver and etcher (court artist for King Frederick of Prussia and Empress Elizabeth of Russia), dies at 63