Events in History
- Jan 1 AT&T's 22 owned Bell system companies divests into 8 companies
- Jan 1 Brunei becomes independent of UK
- Jan 1 NYC transit fare rises from 75 cents to 90 cents
Coup d'état
Jan 2 Major-General Muhammadu Buhari is declared Head of State in Nigeria, following a military coup
- Jan 2 Riot in Tunis kills over 100
- Jan 2 Wilson Goode, sworn-in as Philadelphia's 1st black mayor
- Jan 3 Syria frees captured US pilot after appeal from Jesse Jackson
- Jan 6 Challenger moves to Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center (Florida) for mating of STS 41 B mission
- Jan 7 Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
- Jan 8 Wash Caps Bengt Gustafsson scores 5 goals to beat Philadelphia 7-1
- Jan 9 EAA moves operations to Oshkosh
- Jan 10 Argentine ex-president and general Reynaldo Bignone arrested
- Jan 10 Bulgarian Tupolev 134 crashes at Sofia airport in Bulgaria, 50 die
- Jan 10 Clara Peller 1st asks, "Where's the Beef?" in commercial for Wendy's hamburger chain
- Jan 10 US re-establishes full diplomatic relations with Vatican after almost 117 years
- Jan 11 NASA space shuttle STS 41-B moves to launch pad
- Jan 11 Supreme Court reinstated $10M award to Karen Silkwood's family
- Jan 13 TV anchor Christine Craft wins $325,000 in her case against KMBC-TV
- Jan 15 Schonbrun skates world record 5 km (7:39.44)
- Jan 15 Tony Benn, described as a “leftwing rebel” wins Labour's nomination for the by-election in Chesterfield, UK
- Jan 18 80th Islander & 3rd dual hat trick (Carroll & Bossy) 9-1 win
- Jan 19 California Supreme Court rejects the request of quadriplegic Elizabeth Bouvia's to starve herself to death in a public hospital
- Jan 20 US female Figure Skating championship won by Rosalynn Sumners
- Jan 22 Hilbert van de Thumb becomes European all-round skates
Apple Macintosh Personal Computer
Jan 24 Apple Computer Inc unveils its revolutionary Macintosh personal computer
Event of Interest
Jan 29 President Reagan formally announces he will seek a 2nd term
- Jan 31 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Birthdays in History
- Jan 2 Colleen Taylor, American journalist
- Jan 5 Amanda Hearst, American heiress, born in NYC, New York
- Jan 18 Michael Kearney, American child prodigy, born in Honolulu, Hawaii
- Jan 18 Seung-Hui Cho, South Korean-born spree killer (Virginia Tech), born in Onyang-dong, South Korea (d. 2007)
- Jan 19 Euan Blair, eldest son of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, born in London, United Kingdom
Weddings in History
- Jan 28 Mr Glynn Wolfe marries for non-bigamous record 26th time, Las Vegas
Deaths in History
- Jan 7 Alfred Kastler, French physicist (Nobel 1966 - Hertzian resonances within atoms), dies at 81
- Jan 9 Wolfgang Staudte, German director (Ciske de Rat), dies at 77
- Jan 10 Souvanna Phouma, Prince and Prime Minister of Laos (1951–54, 1956–58, 1960 and 1962–75), dies at 82
- Jan 14 Mary Zeldenrust-Noordanus, Dutch sexuologist (NVSH), dies at 55
- Jan 18 Malcolm H. Kerr, 9th President of American University of Beirut, shot dead at 52
- Jan 21 Giannis Skaribas, Greek writer, dramatist, and poet (b. 1893)
- Jan 22 Mikiel Gonzi, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Malta (1944-76), dies at 98
- Jan 23 Mu'in Bseiso, Palestinian poet (b. 1926)
Authors
Civil Rights Activists
Inventors
Kings
Revolutionaries
Scientists