- Jan 1 10th Rose Bowl: Washington ties Navy, 14-14
- Jan 1 Grossdeutsche Volksgemeinschaft/Volkische Block replaces NSDAP
- Jan 6 Francis Poulenc's ballet "Les Biches", choreographed by Bronislava Nijinska, and danced by the Ballets Russe, premieres in Monte Carlo
- Jan 11 A republic is proclaimed in Greece; King George II is deposed and Eleutherios Venizelo is named Prime Minister of the Greek National Assembly
- Jan 12 History of Science Society organized at Boston
- Jan 13 Nationalist Wafd-party wins Egyptian parliament elections
- Jan 15 3rd Dutch government Ruijs de Beerenbrouck forms
British History
Jan 16 British Government of Stanley Baldwin resigns
Event of Interest
Jan 21 Vladimir Lenin's Testament is handed over to the Communist Party; it calls for changes to the Soviet governing structure and criticizes Joseph Stalin, Leon Trotsky and other members
- Jan 22 Dutch Blast Furnace & Steel Factory opens
- Jan 22 KGO-AM in San Francisco CA begins radio transmissions
Event of Interest
Jan 23 After Stanley Baldwin's resignation, Ramsay MacDonald forms Britain's first Labour Government, climaxing 24 years of struggle by the Labour Party
Event of Interest
Jan 24 Benito Mussolini disallows non-fascist work union
- Jan 24 Russian city of St Petersburg renamed Leningrad (changed back in 1991)
1st Winter Olympics
Jan 25 1st Winter Olympic Games open in Chamonix, France
- Jan 26 American skater Charles Jewtraw claims the first ever Winter Olympic gold medal; wins 500m speed skating event in 44.0s at the Chamonix Games in France
- Jan 26 Australasian Championships Men's Tennis. Melbourne: James Anderson wins 2nd of 3 Australasian titles; beats fellow Australian Richard Schlesinger 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3
- Jan 26 Australasian Championships Women's Tennis, Melbourne: All-Australian final; Sylvia Lance Harper beats Esna Boyd Robertson 6-3, 3-6, 8-6
Olympic Gold
Jan 26 Clas Thunberg of Finland claims his first of 5 gold medals when he wins the 5,000m speed skating in 2:20.8 at the Chamonix Winter Olympics
- Jan 27 Clas Thunberg of Finland claims 3 gold medals in one day when he wins the 1,500m, 5,000m and all-round speed skating events at the Chamonix Winter Olympics; won 5,000m the day before
- Jan 27 Egyptian king Foead nominates Saad Zaghloel Pasja premier
- Jan 27 Lenin placed in Mausoleum in Red Square, Moscow
- Jan 27 The Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes sign the Treaty of Rome, agreeing to the annexation of independent Free State of Fiume by Italy (now Rijeka, Croatia)
- Jan 27 The Natal Indian Congress and the Natal Indian Association jointly organise a mass meeting in Durban, South Africa in opposition to the Class Areas Bill
- Jan 29 Ice cream cone rolling machine patented by Carl Taylor, Cleveland
- Jan 29 Swiss team of Denis Vaucher (C), Alfred Aufdenblatten, Antoine Julen & Alfons Julen win the military patrol gold medal at the Chamonix Winter Olympics; first version of the biathlon
- Jan 30 Gillis Grafström of Sweden wins men's figure skating gold medal at the Chamonix Winter Olympics; first to successfully defend his Summer Olympic title (1920) at the Winter Games
- Jan 30 Great Britain clinch inaugural Olympic curling gold medal with a 46-4 win over France at the Chamonix Games
- Jan 30 Norway’s Thorleif Haug claims first of 3 gold medals at the Chamonix Winter Olympics; wins 50k cross country in a Norwegian sweep of the medals; also 18k and Nordic combined champion
- Jan 30 Ponsford scores second 110 of the game in Vic win over NSW
- Jan 31 Austrians Helene Engelmann & Alfred Berger win the pairs skating gold medal at the Chamonix Winter Olympics; beat Finnish pair Ludowika Jakobsson & Walter Jakobsson by just 0.39 points
- Jan 31 Herma Szabo of Austria wins the ladies figure skating gold medal at the Chamonix Winter Olympics; only women's event at the Games