Events in History
- Jan 1 The Belorussian Communist Organisation is founded as a separate party.
- Jan 2 Responding to global fear of communism caused by the Russian Revolution, US Attorney General Palmer authorizes raids across the country on unionists and socialists
- Jan 7 Five duly elected Socialist assemblymen are denied by the New York State Assembly
- Jan 10 Inauguration of the League of Nations held in Paris
- Jan 10 Silver reaches record $1.37 an ounce
- Jan 11 French passenger ship Afrique sinks near La Rochelle; 553 die
- Jan 13 NY Times editorial (falsely) reports rockets can never fly
- Jan 16 1st assembly of the League of Nations is held in Paris
- Jan 16 Georgia declares independence
- Jan 16 Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated is founded at Howard University
- Jan 17 First day of prohibition of alcohol comes into effect in the US as a result of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution
- Jan 17 Paul Deschanel elected President of France
- Jan 19 Alexandre Millerand forms French government
- Jan 20 Dutch 2nd Chamber passes school laws
- Jan 20 Russian Imperial Navy Admiral Alexander Kolchak, leader of anti-communist "White Movement" surrenders to Bolshevik troops
- Jan 20 The American Civil Liberties Union is founded
Event of Interest
Jan 23 Dutch refuse to turn over ex-Emperor William II of Germany to allies
- Jan 26 Amedeo Modigliani's fiancé Jeanne Hébuterne jumps out of a window a day after the artist's funeral killing herself and her unborn child
- Jan 26 American Henry Leland's military engine manufacturing company, the Lincoln Motor Company reorganizes as an automobile manufacturer; he sells the struggling company to the Ford Motor Company in 1922yer
- Jan 31 1st Ukrainian daily newspaper in US (NYC) begins publication
- Jan 31 Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity incorporates at Howard University
Birthdays in History
Isaac Asimov (1920-1992)
Jan 2 Russian scientist and sci-fi writer (I Robot, Foundation Trilogy), born in Petrovichi, Russia
- Jan 2 Peter Harrison Swan, bomber pilot/stockbroker
- Jan 3 Siegfried Buback, German Federal Prosecutor, born in Wilsdruff, Saxony, Germany (d. 1977)
- Jan 4 William Egan Colby, CIA director (Nixon)
- Jan 6 Doris Stokes, British psychic medium, born in Grantham, United Kingdom (d. 1987)
- Jan 6 John Maynard Smith, English biologist, born in London, United Kingdom (d. 2004)
- Jan 7 Albert Meltzer, British anarchist (Anarchist Black Flag), born in London, England (d. 1996)
- Jan 7 Lionel Alexander Bethune [Alastair] Pilkington, British engineer/Industrialist (float glass), born in Calcutta, India (d. 1995)
- Jan 9 Chan Canasta, Polish-British magician, born in Kraków, Poland (d. 1999)
- Jan 9 Hakim Mohammed Said, Pakistani scholar & medical researcher, born in New Delhi, India (d. 1998)
- Jan 11 John Powell, campaigner
- Jan 12 James Farmer, American civil rights leader, born in Marshall, Texas (d. 1999)
- Jan 12 Prof Jerzy Zubrzycki, Polish-born Australian sociologist, born in Kraków, Poland (d. 2009)
- Jan 15 John Junor, Scottish journalist (Sunday Express), born in Glasgow, Scotland (d. 1997)
- Jan 15 John O'Connor, Roman Catholic Archbishop of NY, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2000)
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar (1920-2020)
Jan 19 Peruvian diplomat, 5th Secretary-General of the United Nations (1982-91) and Prime Minister of Peru (2000-01), born in Lima, Peru
- Jan 20 Ely Landau, American television and film producer (Play of the Week; Long Day's Journey into Night; King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis), born in New York City (d. 1993)
- Jan 20 Peter Clemoes, British historian, born in Southend-on-Sea, United Kingdom (d. 1996)
- Jan 20 Richard J. C. Atkinson, British archaeologist, born in Evershot, United Kingdom (d. 1994)
- Jan 20 Sam Gibbons, American politician (Rep-D-FL, 1963-97), born in Tampa, Florida (d. 2012)
- Jan 21 Donald Cuthbert Coleman, British economic historian (d. 1995)
- Jan 21 Errol Walton Barrow, Prime Minister of Barbados (DLP) (1966-76, 1986-87)
- Jan 22 Piet Van Lishout, Flemish writer (Eva & I)
- Jan 23 Gottfried Böhm, German architect (1986 Pritzker Prize), born in Offenbach am Main, Germany (d. 2021) [1]
- Jan 26 John Logan Gorlay, British journalist and editor (d. 1994)
- Jan 28 James Whyte, Moderator (General Assembly of Church of Scotland)
- Jan 29 Alec Coppen, British pioneering psychiatrist (serotonin theory of depression), born in London, England (d. 2019)
- Jan 29 José Luis de Villalonga, Spanish aristocrat (d. 2007)
- Jan 30 Carwood Lipton, American WWII veteran, born in Huntingon, West Virginia (d. 2001)
- Jan 30 Patrick Heron, British abstract painter, born in Leeds, South Yorkshire (d. 1999)
- Jan 31 Robert Hersant, press baron
- Jan 31 Stewart L. Udall, US Secretary of Interior (1961-69), born in St Johns, Arizona
Deaths in History
- Jan 1 Paul Adam, French writer (L'enfant d'Austerlitz), dies at 57
- Jan 3 Zygmunt Janiszewski, Polish mathematician, dies at 31
- Jan 4 Benito Pérez Galdós, Spanish novelist (Episodios Nacionales), dies at 76
- Jan 7 Edmund Barton, Australian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Australia (1901-03), dies at 70
- Jan 14 John Francis Dodge, American automobile pioneer (Co-Founder of Dodge Brothers Company), dies at 55
- Jan 25 Amedeo Modigliani, Italian painter and sculptor (Reclining Nude), dies at 35
Authors
Civil Rights Activists
Inventors
Kings
Revolutionaries
Scientists