Events in Sport
- Jan 1 18th Rose Bowl: Southern California beats Tulane, 21-12
- Jan 7 1st game played at Orchard Lake Curling Club, Mich
Hall of Fame
Jan 14 Racing Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Arcaro wins his 1st race

Eddie Arcaro
- Jan 19 Charlie Conacher becomes 1st Toronto Maple Leaf to score 5 goals in a game, 1st coming at 7 seconds of game
Birthdays in Sport
- Jan 1 Jackie Parker, American College and Canadian Football Hall of Fame utility (Mississippi State University; Grey Cup 1954-56; Edmonton Eskimos), born in Knoxville, Tennessee (d. 2006)
- Jan 3 Jaswick Taylor, West Indian cricket fast bowler (3 Tests; 5/109 in Test debut 1958), born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (d. 1999)
- Jan 3 Coo Coo Marlin, American auto racer (NASCAR nine top 5, 51 top 10 finishes in 165 Winston Cup starts), born in Columbia, Tennessee (d. 2005)
Chuck Noll
Jan 5 Chuck Noll, American NFL coach (Pittsburgh Steelers), born in Cleveland, Ohio (d. 2014)

Chuck Noll
- Jan 10 Lou Henson, American College Basketball Hall of Fame coach (all-time leader in victories University of Illinois and New Mexico State), born in Okay, Oklahoma (d. 2020)
- Jan 14 Don Garlits, American racing driver (1st drag racer over 200mph for 1/4 mile), born in Tampa, Florida
- Jan 15 Dean Smith, American actor & relay runner (Olympic gold 1952), born in Emporia, Kansas (d. 2015)
- Jan 15 Lou Jones, American athlete (Olympic gold 4x400m relay 1956), born in New Rochelle, New York (d. 2006)
- Jan 19 Joe Schmidt, College/Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker (10 x Pro Bowl; 8 x First-team All-Pro; NFL C'ship 1953, 57; Detroit Lions) and coach (Detroit Lions 1967-72), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Jan 20 Lou Fontinato, Canadian ice hockey player, born in Guelph, Ontario (d. 2016)
- Jan 20 Frank Arok AM, Yugoslavian-Australian soccer coach (Australia 1983-89), born in Kanjiža, Serbia (d. 2021)
- Jan 21 Boris Shakhlin, Russian gymnast (Olympic gold 1956-60-64)
- Jan 21 John Chaney, American Basketball Hall of Fame college coach (Cheyney University, Temple University), born in Jacksonville, Florida (d. 2021)
- Jan 28 Parry O'Brien, American shot putter (Olympic golds 1952, 1956, silver 1960), born in Santa Monica, California
- Jan 29 Raman Subba Row, CEO (Test/County Cricket Board)
- Jan 29 Tommy Taylor, English soccer striker (19 caps; Manchester United 166 games; died Munich air disaster), born in Smithies, West Riding of Yorkshire (d. 1958)
- Jan 29 George Allen, English footballer
Deaths in Sport
- Jan 26 William K Wrigley, owner (Wrigley Gum, Chicago Cubs), dies