Events in History
- Jan 1 Bhutan issues its 1st postage stamps
- Jan 2 Panamanian president Jose Antonio Remon is assassinated.
- Jan 3 Jose Ramon Guizado becomes president of Panama
- Jan 15 1st official act of Princess Beatrice, launches tanker Vasum
- Jan 15 USSR ends state of war with German Federal Republic
- Jan 17 US Submarine Nautilus begins 1st nuclear-powered test voyage
- Jan 18 Battle of Yijiangshan Islands between Chinese National Revolutionary Army and the People's Liberation Army
- Jan 19 "Scrabble" debuts on board game market
Historic Communication
Jan 19 1st presidential news conference filmed for TV (Eisenhower)
- Jan 22 Norwegian government of Einar Gerhardsen forms
- Jan 23 Express train travelling from York to Bristol derails, killing 14 and injuring many other passengers
- Jan 24 Photography exhibition "The Family of Man" curated by Edward Steichen opens at MOMA, New York, "greatest photographic enterprise ever undertaken"
- Jan 25 Columbia University scientists develop an atomic clock accurate to within one second in 300 years
- Jan 25 Jill Kinmont hits a tree & breaks her back in Snow Cup Ski Race
- Jan 25 Russia ends state of war with Germany
- Jan 25 US & Panama sign canal treaty
Birthdays in History
- Jan 1 Mary Beard, English classical scholar (University of Cambridge), born in Much Wenlock, England
- Jan 5 Mamata Banerjee, Indian politician (Chief Minister of West Bengal 2011-), born in Calcutta, India
- Jan 9 Michiko Kakutani, American literary critic, born in New Haven, Connecticut
- Jan 10 Luci Martin, American vocalist (Chic - "Le Freak"), born in the Bronx, New York
- Jan 13 Jay McInerney, American novelist (Bright Lights, Big City), born in Hartford, Connecticut
- Jan 13 Titus M Mafolo, South African journalist/ANC-leader
- Jan 16 Jerry M. Linenger, American astronaut (STS 81/84), born in Mt Clemens, Michigan
- Jan 20 Joe Doherty, Irish IRA activist (jailed in US), born in Belfast, Ireland
- Jan 21 Jeff Koons, American artist (balloon animals), born in York, Pennsylvania
- Jan 22 Thomas David Jones, United States astronaut (STS 59, 68, 80, sk: 98), born in Baltimore, Maryland
- Jan 22 Timothy R. Ferguson, American politician, born in Baltimore, Maryland
- Jan 27 Alexander Stuart, British author
- Jan 27 John G Roberts, 17th Chief Justice of the United States, born in Buffalo, New York
Nicolas Sarkozy (68 years old)
Jan 28 23rd President of France (2007-12), born in Paris, France
- Jan 30 Judith Tarr, American sci-fi author (Isle of Glass, Ars Magica), born in Augusta, Maine
Weddings in History
Charles Manson
Jan 17 American murderer Charles Manson (20) weds American waitress Rosalie Jean Willis (17); divorce in 1958
Deaths in History
- Jan 2 Jose Antonio Remon, President of Panama (1952-55), assassinated at 46
- Jan 4 G. G. van der Hoeven, Dutch editor-in-chief (NRC newspaper), dies at 82
- Jan 4 Jan Derk Domela Nieuwenhuis Nyegaard, Dutch vicar (Young Flanders), dies at 84
- Jan 7 Arthur Keith, Scottish anthropologist (human evolution), dies at 88
- Jan 10 Charles Rist, French economist (opposed Keynesian Revolution), dies at 79
- Jan 11 Rodolfo Graziani, Italian Marshal, fascist and Viceroy of Italian East Africa, dies at 72
- Jan 15 Yves Tanguy, French-American sailor/surrealistic painter, dies
- Jan 20 Robert P.T. Coffin, American poet ("Strange Holiness", Pulitzer Prize, 1936), writer, and editor (Yankee Magazine), dies of a heart attack at 62
- Jan 21 Maarten Pleun Vrij, Dutch lawyer and criminologist, dies at 59
- Jan 24 Ira Hayes, American World War II hero (b. 1923)
- Jan 27 Ernst Penzoldt, writer, dies
- Jan 29 Hans Hedtoft, 14th Prime Minister of Denmark (1947-50, 53-55), dies at 51
- Jan 31 John Mott, American theologist and founder (YMCA, Nobel 1946), dies at 89
Authors
Civil Rights Activists
Inventors
Kings
Revolutionaries
Scientists