- Jan 1 Mob storms Russian embassy in Tehran
- Jan 1 Premier Adbou Diouf becomes president of Senegal
- Jan 1 Sweden changes order of succession to throne
- Jan 1 Victoria is crowned princess of Sweden.
- Jan 1 Australian Open Women's Tennis: In an all-American final Barbara Jordan wins her first and only Grand Slam singles title; beats Sharon Walsh 6-3, 6-3
- Jan 1 66th Rose Bowl: #3 Southern California beats #1 Ohio State, 17-16
- Jan 1 46th Sugar Bowl: #2 Alabama beats #6 Arkansas, 24-9
- Jan 1 46th Orange Bowl: #5 Oklahoma beats #4 Florida State, 24-7
- Jan 2 British Steel workers go on a national strike
Australian Men's Tennis Open
Jan 2 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Guillermo Vilas retains title for 4th and last Grand Slam win; beats American John Sadri 7-6, 6-3, 6-2
Guillermo Vilas
Election of Interest
Jan 6 Indira Gandhi's Congress Party wins elections in India
Indira Gandhi
- Jan 6 Phil Flyers set NHL record of 35 straight games without a defeat
- Jan 6 The beginning of the first GPS epoch.
- Jan 6 AFC Championship, Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Houston Oilers, 27-13
- Jan 6 NFC Championship, Tampa Stadium: Los Angeles Rams beat Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 9-0
- Jan 7 Minn ends Philadelphia Flyers' NHL record 35 game unbeaten streak ends
Event of Interest
Jan 7 American President Jimmy Carter authorizes legislation to bail out the Chrysler Corporation with a 1.5 billion dollar loan
Jimmy Carter
Event of Interest
Jan 11 Debut of first The Pretenders album "Pretenders"
Pete Farndon
Chrissie Hynde
- Jan 12 Phoenix point guard Mike Bratz begins NBA free throw streak of 57 games during a 107-96 loss at the Golden State Warriors
Event of Interest
Jan 12 Björn Borg of Sweden wins his first of 2 season-ending ATP Masters Grand Prix tennis titles outclassing American Vitas Gerulaitis 6–2, 6–2 at Madison Square Garden, NYC
Björn Borg
Event of Interest
Jan 16 Paul McCartney is arrested at Tokyo International Airport for possession of marijuana; he is sent to jail for nine days before being deported
Paul McCartney
#1 in the Charts
Jan 18 Pink Floyd's album "The Wall" hits #1
Roger Waters
David Gilmour
- Jan 18 Studio 54 owners Steve Rubell & Ian Schrager sentenced to 3½ years in prison for tax evasion & fined $20,000
- Jan 20 President Jimmy Carter announces US boycott of Olympics in Moscow
- Jan 20 US female Figure Skating championship won by Linda Fratianne
- Jan 20 US male Figure Skating championship won by Charles Tickner
- Jan 20 Super Bowl XIV, Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA: Pittsburgh Steelers beat LA Rams, 31-19; MVP: Terry Bradshaw, Pittsburgh, QB
- Jan 21 Gold hits record $850 an ounce
- Jan 21 Les Henson, Virginia Tech, makes 89' 3" basketball field goal
Event of Interest
Jan 22 Russian dissidents Andrei Sakharov and Yelena Bonner arrested in Moscow and banished to Gorky
Andrei Sakharov
Event of Interest
Jan 26 175,000 pay to hear Frank Sinatra sing in Rio de Janeiro
Frank Sinatra
- Jan 26 Islanders & Whalers play a NHL penalty-free game
- Jan 26 Israel & Egypt establish diplomatic relations
- Jan 26 Mary Decker became 1st woman to run a mile in under 4½ minutes
- Jan 27 "Comin' Uptown" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 45 performances
- Jan 27 NFL Pro Bowl, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI: NFC beats AFC, 37-27; MVP: Chuck Muncie, New Orleans Saints, RB
Event of Interest
Jan 27 Robert Mugabe returns to Rhodesia after 5 years in exile
Robert Mugabe
Golden Globes
Jan 28 37th Golden Globes: "Kramer vs. Kramer", Dustin Hoffman & Sally Field win
Dustin Hoffman
Sally Field
- Jan 28 USCGC Blackthorn (WLB-391) collides with the tanker Capricorn while leaving Tampa Florida and capsizes killing 23 Coast Guard crewmembers.
- Jan 28 New York coach Red Holzman wins his 600th NBA game, only the second (after Red Auerbach) coach at the time to reach the plateau, as the Knicks beat Golden State, 107-103
- Jan 29 6 Iranian-held US hostages escape with help of Canadians
- Jan 29 Cleveland Cavaliers beat LA Lakers 154-153 in quadruple OT
Event of Interest
Jan 30 Edward Albee's "Lady from Dubuque" premieres in NYC
Edward Albee
- Jan 31 Police storm occupied Spanish embassy in Guatemala City, killing 41