- Jan 1 Benjamin Britten's ballet "Prince & the Pauper," premieres in London
- Jan 1 France returns Saar to becomes the 10th state of German Federal Rep
- Jan 1 International Geophysical Year begins; ends 6/30/1958 (18-mo year)
- Jan 1 George Town, Penang becomes a city by a royal charter granted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
- Jan 1 An Irish Republican Army (IRA) unit attacks Brookeborough RUC barracks in one of the most famous incidents of the IRA's Operation Harvest.
- Jan 1 43rd Rose Bowl: #3 Iowa beats #10 Oregon State, 35-19
- Jan 1 23rd Sugar Bowl: #11 Baylor beats #2 Tennessee, 13-7
- Jan 1 23rd Orange Bowl: #20 Colorado beats #19 Clemson, 27-21
- Jan 3 1st electric watch introduced, Lancaster Pa
- Jan 4 "Blondie" situation comedy premieres on NBC TV (later on CBS)
- Jan 4 Dodgers buy 44 passenger twin-engine airplane for $775,000
Event of Interest
Jan 5 Dodgers' Jackie Robinson announces his retirement rather than be traded to the NY Giants
Jackie Robinson
Event of Interest
Jan 5 US President Eisenhower asks Congress to send troops to the Middle East
Dwight D. Eisenhower
TV Show Appearance
Jan 6 Elvis Presley makes his 7th & final appearance on Ed Sullivan Show
Elvis Presley
- Jan 6 Yeshiva Kol Ya'ackov opens in Moscow Russia
- Jan 7 Algerian militant and National Liberation Front member Djamila Bouhired sets off a bomb in an Algiers cafe killing 11 civilians, precipitating the Battle of Algiers
- Jan 9 Checheno-Ingush ASSR reformed in RSFSR
- Jan 9 Dutch Newspaper Society expels communist daily paper "Truth"
- Jan 9 Kalmyk Autonomous Region reformed in RSFSR
- Jan 9 Karachayevo-Cherkess Autonomous Region reestablished in RSFSR
Election of Interest
Jan 10 After Anthony Eden's resignation Harold Macmillan becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Harold Macmillan
Anthony Eden
Event of Interest
Jan 10 Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick rules Bing Crosby can keep token stock in the Det Tigers, even though he owns part of Pittsburgh Pirates
Bing Crosby
Event of Interest
Jan 13 "All that Fall", first radio play by Samuel Beckett, aired on BBC Third Programme
Samuel Beckett
- Jan 14 Kripalu Maharaj is named fifth Jagadguru (world teacher)
- Jan 15 Brooklyn Dodgers sign a new 3 year lease for Ebbets Field
- Jan 15 7th NBA All-Star Game: East beats West 109-97 at Boston
- Jan 16 3 B-52s leave California for 1st non-stop round world flights
- Jan 16 Cavern Club opens on Matthews Street in Liverpool, England, home of The Beatles' 1st appearance
- Jan 17 9-county commission recommends creation of BART
- Jan 18 3 B-52's set record for around-the-world flight, 45 hr 19 min
- Jan 19 USSR performs atmospheric nuclear test
- Jan 20 Gomulka wins Poland's parliamentary election
- Jan 20 Morton Gould's "Declaration" premieres in Washington, D.C.
- Jan 21 KSAT TV channel 12 in San Antonio, TX (ABC) begins broadcasting
- Jan 22 Israeli forces withdraw from Sinai Peninsula
- Jan 22 Mad Bomber (George P Metesky) accused of 30 explosions, arrested
- Jan 23 Wham-O Company produces the 1st Frisbee disc (originally called the "Pluto Platter" until 1958)
- Jan 23 Indian nationalist V. K. Krishna Menon begins the longest ever speech defending India's stand on Kashmir at the UN - 8 hours over 2 days
- Jan 25 FBI arrests Jack & Myra Sobel, charged with spying for USSR
- Jan 26 Bernanos & Poulenc's opera "Dialogue des Carmelites" premieres
- Jan 26 Dutch Pacifist Socialist Party forms
- Jan 26 India annexes Kashmir
- Jan 26 Joseph F Cairnes succeeds Lou Perini as President of Milwaukee Braves
- Jan 28 "Tonight! America After Dark" premieres, with Jack Lescoulie & Al (Jazzbo) Collins on NBC (between Steve Allen & Jack Paar)
- Jan 28 45th Women's Australian Championships: Shirley Fry Irvin beats Althea Gibson (6-3, 6-4)
Tennis Open
Jan 28 45th Men's Australian Championships: Ashley Cooper beats Neale Fraser (6-3, 9-11, 6-4, 6-2)
Ashley Cooper
Event of Interest
Jan 29 Graham Greene's "Potting Shed" premieres in NYC
Graham Greene
- Jan 30 US Congress accepts "Eisenhower-doctrine"
- Jan 31 Trans-Iranian oil pipe line finished
- Jan 31 Eight people on the ground in Pacoima, California are killed following the mid-air collision between a Douglas DC-7 airliner and a Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighter jet.