- Jan 1 CRU becomes the CAFA & turns over the Grey Cup trophy to the CFL
- Jan 1 Day's play in the Calcutta Test v W Indies cancelled by riots
- Jan 1 FCC requires AM-FM sister stations to be at least 50% different
- Jan 1 Green Bay Packers beat Dallas Cowboys 34-27 in NFL championship game
- Jan 1 KC Chiefs beat Buffalo Bills 31-7 in AFL championship game
- Jan 1 St Helena adopts constitution
- Jan 1 Tonga revises constitution
- Jan 1 WABW TV channel 14 in Pelham, GA (PBS) begins broadcasting
- Jan 2 53rd Rose Bowl: #7 Purdue beats Southern California, 14-13
- Jan 2 33rd Sugar Bowl: #6 Alabama beats #3 Nebraska, 34-7
- Jan 2 33rd Orange Bowl: Florida beats #8 Georgia Tech, 27-12
- Jan 3 "Tonight Show" is shortened from 105 to 90 minutes
- Jan 3 Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys is indicted for draft evasion
- Jan 3 WJAN TV channel 17 in Canton, OH (IND) begins broadcasting
- Jan 4 Donald Campbell is killed while driving a Bluebird K7, a jet-powered boat, on Coniston Water; Campbell was trying to beat his own speed record
- Jan 5 KLXA (now KTBN) TV channel 40 in Fontana-San Ana, CA (IND) begins
- Jan 6 "Milton Berle Show" last airs on ABC-TV
- Jan 6 KHTV TV channel 39 in Houston, TX (IND) begins broadcasting
- Jan 6 2 homemade buses collided on a mountain road in Terpate, Philippines plunging off a cliff, killing 84, injuring 140
- Jan 6 United States Marine Corps and ARVN troops launch "Operation Deckhouse Five" in the Mekong River delta.
- Jan 7 "Newlywed Game" premieres on ABC TV
- Jan 9 Georgia legislature seats Rep Julian Bond
- Jan 9 NFL New Orleans' franchise takes name "Saints"
- Jan 9 "More of the Monkees" 2nd album by The Monkees is released
Election of Interest
Jan 10 Edward W. Brooke (Sen-R-Mass), takes his seat as the 1st popularly elected African American to the US Senate
Edward W. Brooke
Event of Interest
Jan 12 Louisville, Kentucky, draft board refuses exemption for boxer Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
- Jan 12 Dr. James Bedford becomes the first person to be cryonically preserved with intent of future resuscitation and remains preserved at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation
- Jan 12 NBC premiers the colorized remake of "Dragnet"
- Jan 13 Bloodless coup in Togo led by Lt. Col. Étienne Eyadéma and Kléber Dadjo
- Jan 13 Rolling Stones appear again on the Ed Sullivan Show
- Jan 14 20,000 attend Human Be-In, San Francisco
- Jan 14 Earthquake in Sicily kills 231
- Jan 14 New York Times reports Army is conducting secret germ warfare experiments
Music Single
- Jan 15 Super Bowl I: Green Bay Packers beat KC Chiefs, 35-10 in LA Super Bowl MVP: Bart Starr, Green Bay, QB
- Jan 16 1st black government installed in Bahamas
- Jan 16 Lucius Amerson, becomes 1st southern (Alabama) African American sheriff in 20th century
- Jan 18 20th NHL All-Star Game: Montreal beat All-Stars 3-0 at Montreal
- Jan 18 Albert DeSalvo (Boston Strangler) sentenced to life in prison
- Jan 18 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Jan 19 Herr Karl Tausch writes shortest will "Vse Zene" (All to wife)
- Jan 21 AFL Pro Bowl: East beats West 30-23
- Jan 21 US female Figure Skating championship won by Peggy Fleming
- Jan 21 US male Figure Skating championship won by Gary Visconti
- Jan 22 NFL Pro Bowl: East beats West 20-10
Event of Interest
Jan 23 Stan Musial is named GM of Cards
Stan Musial
- Jan 26 USSR performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan USSR
- Jan 26 Chicago Blizzard strikes with a record 23 inches of snow fall causing 800 buses and 50,000 automobiles to be abandoned
- Jan 27 A fire in the Apollo I Command Module kills astronauts Grissom, White & Chaffee during a launch rehearsal
- Jan 27 The Beatles sign a 9 year worldwide contract with EMI records
- Jan 27 New Orleans Saints sign their 1st player (Paige Cothren-kicker)
- Jan 27 Treaty signed banning military use of nuclear weapons in space
- Jan 28 Rolling Stones release "Let's Spend the Night Together"
- Jan 29 "Let's Sing Yiddish" closes at Brooks Atkinson NYC after 107 performances
- Jan 29 Branch Rickey & Lloyd Waner elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
- Jan 29 Kees Verkerk becomes European skating champ
- Jan 29 WDAZ TV channel 8 in Devils Lake, ND (ABC) begins broadcasting
- Jan 29 The Arusha Declaration written by Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere is issued, clarifying Tanzania's path towards Ujamaa (African socialism)
Tennis Open
Jan 30 55th Women's Australian Championships: Nancy Richey Gunter beats Lesley Turner Bowrey (6-1, 6-4)
Nancy Richey
- Jan 30 55th Men's Australian Championships: Roy Emerson beats Arthur Ashe (6-4, 6-1, 6-4)