- Jan 1 Ernest Blochs "Suite Hebraique," premieres
- Jan 1 WBRE TV channel 28 in Wilkes-Barre Scranton, PA (NBC) 1st broadcast
- Jan 1 The Bantu Education Act (later renamed the Black Education Act) commenced, providing the legal underpinning of several aspects of the apartheid system, most importantly in education
- Jan 1 The first TV detector van, used to track down users of unlicensed television sets, begins operation in the UK
- Jan 1 39th Rose Bowl: #5 Southern California beats #11 Wisconsin, 7-0
- Jan 1 19th Sugar Bowl: #2 Georgia Tech beats #7 Mississippi, 24-7
- Jan 1 19th Orange Bowl: #9 Alabama beats #14 Syracuse, 61-6
- Jan 2 NBA Baltimore Bullets begin a record 32 game road losing streak (12 games in 1952-53; 20 games in 1953-54) with a 73-66 defeat at the Indianapolis Olympians
- Jan 3 Frances Bolton and her son, Oliver from Ohio, become the first mother and son to serve simultaneously in the U.S. Congress.
- Jan 4 KTSM TV channel 9 in El Paso, TX (NBC) begins broadcasting
- Jan 5 -6] Passenger ships Willem Ruys & Orange collide in the Red Sea
Historic Event
Jan 5 Samuel Beckett's "En Attendant Godot" premieres in Paris
Historic Event
Jan 7 US President Harry Truman announces American development of the hydrogen bomb
- Jan 8 Indians bar night games with Browns (who refuse to share TV receipts)
- Jan 8 René Mayer forms French government
- Jan 9 Bevo Francis, Rio Grande College, scores 116 pts in basketball game
- Jan 9 Korean ferryboat "Chang Tyong-Ho" sank off Pusan killing 249
- Jan 10 "My Darlin' Aida" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 89 performances
- Jan 10 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Archibald MacLeish
- Jan 10 3rd NFL Pro Bowl, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum: National Conference beats American Conference, 27-7; MVP: Don Doll, Detroit Lions, DB
Sports History
Jan 11 J. Edgar Hoover declines 6 figure offer to become president of International Boxing Club
NBA All-Star Game
Jan 13 3rd NBA All-Star Game, Allen County Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana: West beats East, 79-75; MVP: George Mikan, Minneapolis Lakers, C
- Jan 14 Vaughan William's "Sinfonia Antartica" premieres in Manchester
- Jan 14 WALA TV channel 10 in Mobile, AL (NBC) begins broadcasting
- Jan 14 Yugoslavia elects its 1st president (Marshal Tito)
- Jan 15 16 car Federal Express train loses brakes & crashes in Washington, D.C. station
- Jan 15 East Germany's first Minister of Foreign Affairs, Georg Dertingen arrested for "espionage", beginning a purge of senior officials, accused of spying for 'imperialistic powers' and plotting against the state
- Jan 16 Egyptian Premier General Naguib disbands all political parties
- Jan 16 KXLY TV channel 4 in Spokane, WA (ABC/CBS) begins broadcasting
Australian Open Women's Tennis
Jan 17 Australian Championships Women's Tennis: In an all-American final Maureen Connolly wins 1st leg of her Grand Slam; beats Julia Sampson 6-3, 6-2
Australian Men's Tennis Open
Jan 17 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: In an all-Australian final Ken Rosewall wins his first Grand Slam title; beats Mervyn Rose 6-0, 6-3, 6-4
Sports History
Jan 19 American track and field olympian Jesse Owens named Illinois Athletic Commission secretary
- Jan 20 1st US telecast transmitted to Canada from Buffalo, New York
Historic Event
Jan 20 1st live US coast-to-coast inauguration address (Eisenhower)
Appointment of Interest
Jan 21 John Foster Dulles appointed as US Secretary of State
Theater Premiere
Jan 22 Arthur Miller's play "Crucible" premieres in NYC
- Jan 22 1953 NFL Draft: Harry Babcock from University of Georgia first pick by San Francisco 49ers
- Jan 23 Future Australian cricket captain and coach Bobby Simpson makes his 1st-class debut for NSW at 16 years and 357 days
- Jan 23 NFL Dallas Texans become Baltimore Colts (now Indianapolis Colts)
- Jan 23 NFL's National & American conference become Eastern & Western conference
- Jan 25 WABI TV channel 5 in Bangor, ME (CBS) begins broadcasting
- Jan 25 Yuri Sergejev skates world record 500m in 40.9 sec
- Jan 27 Netherlands end Marshall aid
- Jan 28 WJTV TV channel 12 in Jackson, MS (CBS) begins broadcasting
- Jan 28 19-year old Derek Bentley is hanged in Wandsworth Prison, London, controversially convicted of the murder of a police officer. He was pardoned on 30th July 1998.
- Jan 31 "Princess Victoria" capsized off Stanraer Scotland; 133 die
- Jan 31 Hurricane-like winds flood Netherlands drowning 1,835
Sports History
Jan 31 New York, Cleveland, & Boston retaliate at Bill Veeck, forcing the Browns to play afternoon games to avoid sharing TV revenues