- Jan 1 Cigarette advertisements banned on TV
- Jan 1 57th Rose Bowl: #12 Stanford beats #2 Ohio State, 27-17
- Jan 1 37th Sugar Bowl: #4 Tennessee beats #11 Air Force, 34-13
- Jan 1 37th Orange Bowl: #3 Nebraska beats #5 LSU, 17-12
- Jan 2 Spectator crush at Ibrox Park in Glasgow, Scotland as Rangers supporters leave the ground with home team 0-1 behind to Old Firm rivals Celtic; 66 deaths and more than 200 injuries; Rangers score late for 1-1
- Jan 3 "President's Daughter" closes at Billy Rose Theater NYC after 72 performances
AFC Championship
Jan 3 1st AFC Championship, Memorial Stadium, Baltimore: Baltimore Colts beat Oakland Raiders, 27-17
John Madden
- Jan 3 1st NFC Championship, Kezar Stadium, SF: Dallas Cowboys beat San Francisco 49ers, 17-10
- Jan 4 Dr Melvin H Evans inaugurated as 1st elected governor of Virgin Is
- Jan 4 Ohio agrees to pay $675,000 to relatives of Kent State victims
- Jan 4 Philadelphia's Veteran's Stadium dedicated
- Jan 5 1st one-day international, Australia v England at the MCG
- Jan 5 Globetrotters lose 100-99 to NJ Reds, ending 2,495-game winning streak
Event of Interest
Jan 5 Body of former world heavyweight boxing champion Charles "Sonny" Liston (40) is found by his wife Geraldine at their Las Vegas home; he had been dead for an estimated 6 days; foul play suspected
Sonny Liston
Music Concert
Jan 6 Neil Young returns to his homeland of Canada for his first concert there since his pre-stardom days
Neil Young
- Jan 7 -40°F (-40°C) in Hawley Lake, Arizona (state record)
- Jan 8 29 pilot whales beach themselves & die at San Clemente Island, California
- Jan 8 Voyageurs National Park, Minn, established
- Jan 9 "Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen" closes at Majestic NYC after 19 performances
- Jan 10 "Light, Lively & Yiddish" closes at Belasco Theater NYC after 87 performances
- Jan 10 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Richard Wilbur
- Jan 10 Irish Republican Army (IRA) carry out a 'punishment attack', tarring and feathering 4 men accused of criminal activities in Belfast
- Jan 11 Tigers ace reliever John Hiller, 27, sufferes a heart attack, but later makes a remarkable comeback to record 38 saves
- Jan 12 "All in the Family" premieres on CBS featuring 1st toilet flush on TV
- Jan 12 "Soon" opens at Ritz Theater NYC for 3 performances
- Jan 12 Congressional Black Caucus organizes
Event of Interest
Jan 12 US Federal grand jury indicts Rev Philip Berrigan & 5 others, including a nun & 2 priests, on charges of plotting to kidnap Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger
NBA All-Star Game
Jan 12 21st NBA All-Star Game, San Diego Sports Arena: West beats East, 108-107; MVP: Lenny Wilkens, Seattle SuperSonics, PG; oldest MVP in All-Star history (33); scores 21 points
Lenny Wilkens
- Jan 13 "Soon" closes at Ritz Theater NYC after 3 performances
Event of Interest
Jan 13 In a high profile NHL trade, the Montreal Canadiens obtain future Hockey Hall of Fame left wing Frank Mahovlich from Detroit, in exchange for Bill Collins, Guy Charron and Mickey Redmond
Frank Mahovlich
Music Single
Jan 15 George Harrison releases "My Sweet Lord" single in the UK
George Harrison
World Record
Jan 16 Ard Schenk skates world record 1500m (1:58.7)
Ard Schenk
- Jan 17 Super Bowl V, Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, FL: Baltimore Colts beat Dallas Cowboys, 16-13; MVP: Chuck Howley, Dallas, LB
- Jan 17 At a party conference in Dublin, Sinn Féin end their 65 year abstentionist policy and agree that any elected representative could take their seat at the Dáil
- Jan 18 Ivan Koloff beats Bruno Sammartino in New York, to become WWF champ
Meeting of Interest
Jan 18 Northern Ireland Prime Minister James Chichester-Clark meets British Home Secretary Reginald Maudling
James Chichester-Clark
- Jan 19 "No, No Nanette" opens at 46th St Theater NYC for 861 performances
NHL All-Star Game
Jan 19 24th NHL All-Star Game, Boston Garden: Western Division beats Eastern Division, 2-1; MVP: Bobby Hull, Chicago, LW
Bobby Hull
Event of Interest
Jan 19 The Beatles' "Helter Skelter" is played at Charles Manson trial
Charles Manson
- Jan 19 NHL Writers' Association renamed Professional Hockey Writers' Association
- Jan 20 Ard Schenk skates world record 1000m (1:18.8)
Meeting of Interest
Jan 20 John Lennon meets Yoko Ono's parents in Japan
Yoko Ono
John Lennon
Music Single
Jan 20 Single "What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye about police brutality is released
Marvin Gaye
- Jan 21 "Alias Smith & Jones" premieres on ABC TV
Music Recording
Jan 22 John Lennon and Plastic Ono Band record "Power to the People" at his Ascot Sound Studio
John Lennon
Yoko Ono
- Jan 23 -80°F (-62°C) in Prospect Creek Camp, Alaska (US record)
- Jan 23 4th ABA All-Star Game: East 126 beats West 122 at Carolina
- Jan 23 UCLA loses to Notre Dame, UCLA then wins next 88 games in a row
- Jan 23 Riots break out in the Shankill Road area of Belfast, North Ireland
- Jan 23 Britain allowed to sell arms to S. Africa, after Commonwealth Conference in Singapore ends in compromise
- Jan 24 21st NFL Pro Bowl, LA Memorial Coliseum: NFC beats AFC, 27-6; MVPs: Fred Carr, Green Bay Packers, LB; Mel Renfro, Dallas Cowboys, CB
- Jan 25 Charles Manson & 3 women followers convicted of Tate-LaBianca murders
- Jan 25 Himachal Pradesh becomes 18th Indian state
Event of Interest
Jan 25 Philadelphia mint's 1st trial strike of Eisenhower dollar
Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Jan 25 WHMB TV channel 40 in Indianapolis, IN (IND) begins broadcasting
- Jan 25 The 170 delegates of the Ulster Unionist Council (UUC) call for the resignation of Northern Ireland Prime Minister James Chichester-Clark
- Jan 26 Dutch 2nd Chamber accepts law against limitation of war crimes
- Jan 27 Montgomery St Station, last link in Bay Area Rapid Transit in San Francisco, 'holed thru'
- Jan 27 The body of a man who had been shot dead is found in Belfast
- Jan 28 1971 NFL Draft: Jim Plunkett from Stanford University first pick by New England Patriots
- Jan 29 Test debut of Dennis Keith Lillee, v England at Adelaide
- Jan 30 "Ari" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 19 performances
- Jan 30 Dennis Lillee takes 5-84 in his 1st Test bowl, v England
- Jan 30 UCLA starts 88 basketball game winning streak
- Jan 31 "My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison hits #1 on UK pop chart
- Jan 31 Apollo 14 launched, 1st landing in lunar highlands
- Jan 31 Special Veterans Committee adds 6 former players and 1 executive to the Baseball Hall of Fame: Dave Bancroft, Jake Beckley, Chick Hafey, Harry Hooper, Joe Kelley, Rube Marquard and George Weiss
- Jan 31 US female Figure Skating championship won by Janet Lynn
- Jan 31 US male Figure Skating championship won by John Misha Petkevich
- Jan 31 Dave Bancroft & George Weiss elected to baseball Hall of Fame