- Jan 1 Canadian Amateur Football Association formally becomes successor to Canadian Rugby Football Union; turns over the Grey Cup trophy to the CFL
- Jan 1 Second day's play in Calcutta 2nd cricket Test, India v W Indies is cancelled by riots; ticket holders denied access starts trouble outside ground; escalates with fires in stands and pitch damage; WI win by 45
- Jan 1 FCC requires AM-FM sister stations to be at least 50% different
- Jan 1 NFL Championship, Cotton Bowl, Dallas: Green Bay Packers beat Dallas Cowboys, 34-27
- Jan 1 AFL Championship, War Memorial Stadium, Buffalo: Kansas City Chiefs beat Buffalo Bills, 31-7; QB Len Dawson passes for 2 TDs, RB Mike Garrett runs for 2 TDs
- 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
- Jan 10 Lester Maddox inaugurated as Governor of Georgia
- Jan 10 PBS (the National Educational TV) begins as a 70 station network
- Jan 10 17th NBA All-Star Game: West beats East 135-120 at Daly City, California
- Jan 11 Romeinse Curie installs Council for Pontifical Study commission
- Jan 11 San Diego is granted an NBA franchise to be called the Rockets; franchise moves to Houston for the 1971-72 season
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
Event of Interest
Jan 18 20th NHL All-Star Game, Montreal Forum: Montreal Canadiens beat All-Stars, 3-0; MVP: Henri Richard, Montreal, C
Henri Richard
NBA Record
Jan 20 Philadelphia 76ers center Wilt Chamberlain makes all 15 of his field goal attempts in a 119-108 win over LA Lakers; NBA record for consecutive shots made; beats mark twice before 1966-67 season ends
Wilt Chamberlain
Event of Interest
Jan 22 17th NFL Pro Bowl, LA Memorial Coliseum: Eastern Conference beats Western Conference, 20-10; Gale Sayers, Chicago Bears, HB; Floyd Peters, Philadelphia Eagles, DT
Gale Sayers
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 Australian Championships Women's Tennis: American Nancy Richey wins her first and only Australian title; beats home favourite Lesley Turner Bowrey 6-1, 6-4
Nancy Richey
- Jan 30 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: Roy Emerson repeats previous year's result; beats American Arthur Ashe 6-4, 6-1, 6-4 for his 5th straight Australian title