- 1886 Art Ross, Canadian ice hockey player and executive (d. 1964)
- 1892 Paul Smart, American yachtsman (Olympic gold 1948)
- 1919 Army Archerd, Hollywood columnist/TV host (Movie Game)
- 1933 Tom B Gola, NBA Hall-of-Famer, (d. 2014)
- 1938 Tord Grip, Swedish football manager
- 1939 Jacek Gmoch, Polish footballer and coach
- 1941 Meinhard Nehmer, German DR, 2 man bobsledder (Olympic gold 1976)
- 1947 Peter Sundelin, Swedish yachtsmen (Olympic gold 1968)
- 1947 Carles Rexach, former Spanish-Catalan footballer and coach
- 1948 Kenia Jayantilal, cricketer (5 at Kingston 71 his only inns for India)
- 1950 Bob Forsch, American baseball player
- 1953 Bob Baffert, American Racing Hall of Fame trainer (Triple Crown 2015, 18), born in Nogales, Arizona
- 1957 Christina Seufert, Sacraento California, diver (Olympic bronze 1984)
- 1957 Mark Francis O'Meara, Goldsboro NC, PGA golfer (1984 Greater Milw)
- 1958 Ricardo Acuna, Chile, tennis star
- 1960 Takis Lemonis, Greek footballer and coach
- 1961 Kelly Hrudey, Edmonton, NHL goalie (LA Kings)
- 1961 Kent Hull, NFL center (Buffalo Bills)
- 1962 Brett Maxie, NFL safety (Carolina Panthers, Green Bay Packers)
- 1962 Kevin Mitchell, American baseball outfielder (NY Met, SF Giants, Cincinnati Reds)
- 1963 Dirk Tazelaar, cricketer (Queensland & Surrey left-arm pace bowler)
- 1963 Felita Carr, dance skater (& Komarov-1995 Pac Champ), born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- 1964 Ronan Rafferty, Northern Irish golfer
- 1966 Joseph Harper, Ventura California, American canoeist (alt-Olympics 1996)
- 1966 Marcus Turner, NFL cornerback/safety (NY Jets)
- 1968 Kelly Boucher, Canadian basketball forward (1996 & 2000 Olympics), born in Calgary, Alberta
- 1968 Mike Whitlow, English footballer
- 1969 Andre Cason, US runner (world record 50 indoor), born in Virginia Beach, Virginia
- 1969 Dan Footman, NFL defensive end (Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts)
- 1969 John Flannery, guard/corner (Dallas Cowboys)
- 1969 Katarzyna Nowak, tennis star (1994 Futures France), born in Łódź, Poland
- 1969 Kevin Foster, American baseball pitcher (Chicago Cubs)
- 1969 Orlando Miller, Changionola Panama, infielder (Houston Astros)
- 1969 Robert Wilson, NFL running back (Miami Dolphins)
- 1969 Stephen Hendry, Scottish professional snooker player (record 7 World Championships), born in Edinburgh, Scotland
- 1970 Frank Kooiman, soccer player (Sparta)
- 1970 Nachi Abe, WLAF tight end (Scotland Claymores)
- 1970 Marco Pantani, Italian cyclist (Tour de France 1998), born in Cesena, Italy (d. 2004)
- 1971 Elmer Dessens, Hermosillo Mexico, pitcher (Pittsburgh Pirates)
- 1972 Byron "Bam" Morris, NFL running back (Pittsburgh Steelers)
- 1972 Richard Woodley, NFL cornerback (Detroit Lions)
- 1972 Vitaly Scherbo, Belarusian gymnast (6 Olympic gold medals Barcelona 1992), born in Minsk, Belarus
- 1973 Nikolai Khabibulin, Sverdlovsk Russia, NHL goalie (Winnipeg Jets)
- 1974 Matt Lepsis, NFL tackle (Denver Broncos-Super Bowl 32)
- 1974 Sergei Brylin, NHL center (NJ Devils), born in Moscow, Russia
- 1975 Angela Holbeck, Australian rower (Olympics 1996)
- 1976 Gary Brent, cricketer (Zimbabwe ODI pace bowler 1996)
- 1976 Vaclav Batlik, American canoeist (alt-Olympics 1996), born in Costa Mesa, California
- 1977 James Posey, American basketball player
- 1980 Nils-Eric Johansson, Swedish footballer
- 1980 Akira Kaji, Japanese footballer
- 1980 Michael Rupp, American ice hockey player
- 1981 Reggie Brown, American football player
- 1981 Darrell Rasner, American baseball player
- 1982 Guillermo Coria, Argentine tennis player
- 1983 Ronny Turiaf, French basketball player
- 1986 Joannie Rochette, Canadian figure skater
- 1989 Bryan Arguez, American soccer player
- 1997 Connor McDavid, Canadian NHL centre (1st pick 2015 Draft by Edmonton Oilers), born in Richmond Hill, Ontario
January in History
A Crackdown on Lovers in New York
New York wasn't always a free and easy city. Time was when not only adultery was a crime, but even looking at a lady in the wrong way could land a guy in trouble.
January 8, 1902
The Man Who Saved Elton John's Life
Long John Baldry was born on this day - a friend of stars from Rod Stewart to The Beatles and who, in 1969, famously took Elton John aside and saved the life.
January 12, 1941
British Museum Opens its Doors
The British Museum opened to visitors on January 15, 1759. Fearing damage to the collections by unruly hordes, nobody was admitted without a ticket.
January 15, 1759
Squaring Up for Radio Commentary
This was the day when the BBC broadcast live sports commentary for the first time and introduced a novel way of involving listeners in the action.
January 15, 1927