Events in Sport
- Jan 1 32nd Orange Bowl: #4 Alabama beats #3 Nebraska, 39-28
- Jan 1 32nd Sugar Bowl: #6 Missouri beats Florida, 20-18
- Jan 1 52nd Rose Bowl: #5 UCLA beats #1 Michigan State, 14-12
- Jan 2 National Football League Championship, Lambeau Field, Green Bay: Green Bay Packers beat Cleveland Browns, 23-12; first NFL title game televised in colour; last one played before Super Bowl era
- Jan 4 Doug Walters scores second Test century in his second Test
- Jan 11 16th NBA All-Star Game, Cincinnati Gardens, Cincinnati, OH: East beats West, 137-94; MVP: Adrian Smith, Cincinnati Royals, PG
Auerbach's 1,000th Win
Jan 12 Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach records his 1,000th NBA career victory (regular season and playoffs), 114-102 over the Los Angeles Lakers in Boston
Sports History
Jan 15 5th AFL All Star Game, Rice Stadium, Houston: All-Stars beat Buffalo Bills, 30-19: MVPs: Joe Namath, NY Jets, QB; Frank Buncom, LA Chargers, LB
NFL Pro Bowl
Jan 16 16th NFL Pro Bowl, LA Memorial Coliseum: East beats West, 36-7; MVPs: Jim Brown, Cleveland Browns, RB; Dale Meinert, St. Louis Cardinals, LB
NHL Record
Jan 16 Chicago Black Hawks' right wing Bobby Hull scores 4 goals (his 17th career hat trick) in a 6-5 loss to NY Rangers; becomes the first player in team history to score 300 goals
- Jan 16 Chicago is granted an NBA franchise to be called the Bulls; become the 3rd NBA franchise in the city, after the Chicago Stags (1946–50) and Chicago Packers/Zephyrs (now Washington Wizards)
World Record
Jan 26 Ard Schenk skates world record 1500m (2:06.2)
- Jan 27 Wisconsin State Circuit Court Judge Elmer W Roller rules either the Braves stay in Milwaukee or NL must promise Wisconsin an expansion team for 1966
Sports History
Jan 29 US female Figure Skating championship won by Peggy Fleming
- Jan 30 Ard Schenk skates world record 1500m (2:05.2)
Australian Men's Tennis Open
Jan 31 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: Roy Emerson makes it 4 straight Australian titles; beats American Arthur Ashe 6-4, 6-8, 6-2, 6-3
Australian Open Women's Tennis
Jan 31 Australian Championships Women's Tennis: Margaret Smith wins her 7th consecutive Australian singles title; beats American Nancy Richey in a walkover, Richey injured
- Jan 31 Bill Lawry (119) & Bob Simpson (225) complete match-winning 244 opening stand in Australia's 1st innings, 4th Test v England in Adelaide
Birthdays in Sport
- Jan 3 Chetan Sharma, Indian cricket fast bowler (23 Tests, 61 wickets; 65 ODI), born in Ludhiana, Punjab, India
- Jan 3 Luis Sojo, Venezuelan MLB infielder (World Series 1996, 1998–2000; Seattle Mariners, NY Yankees), born in Petare, Edo Miranda, Venezuela
- Jan 5 Renaldo Turnbull, American NFL defensive end (New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers), born in Saint Thomas, United States Virgin Islands
- Jan 6 Bob Kratch, NFL guard (NE Patriots), born in Brooklyn, New York
- Jan 6 Chris Antley, American Racing Hall of Fame jockey (Kentucky Derby 1991, 1999; Preakness 1999), born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (d. 2000)
- Jan 6 Shahid Saeed, Pakistani cricketer (Pakistani batsman in Test v India 1989), born in Lahore, Pakistan
- Jan 7 Corrie Sanders, South African boxer, (WBO heavyweight champion, 2003), born in Brits, South Africa (d. 2012)
- Jan 7 Jennifer Luff, Australian rower (Olympics 1996), born in Sydney, Australia
- Jan 7 Randy Burridge, Canadian NHL left wing (NHL All Star 1992; Washington Capitals,; Boston Bruins), born in Fort Erie, Ontario
- Jan 12 Craig Parry, Australian golfer (US Open 1993 3rd; PGA Tour titles), born in Sunshine, Victoria
- Jan 12 Linda Ferrando, Italian tennis star, born in Genoa, Italy
- Jan 14 Matt Brock, American NFL defensive end (NY Jets), born in Ogden, Utah
- Jan 15 Betsy Mitchell, American 100m backstroke swimmer, born in Cincinnati, Ohio
- Jan 16 Anthony Washington, American discus thrower (Olympic 4th 1996), born in Glasgow, Montana
- Jan 16 Jack McDowell, American pitcher (NY Yankees, White Sox, Indians), born in Van Nuys, California
- Jan 17 Anna Ivan, American tennis player, born in Los Angeles, California
- Jan 17 Don Myrah, American cyclist (Olympics 20th-96), born in Oakland, California
- Jan 17 Trish Johnson, British golfer (3 LPGA Tour titles; 19 LET wins), born in Bristol, England
- Jan 18 Alexander Khalifman, Russian chess player, born in Saint Petersburg, Russia
- Jan 19 Anthony Young, American baseball pitcher (NY Met, Chicago Cubs), born in Houston, Texas
Stefan Edberg (57 years old)
Jan 19 Swedish tennis player (6 Grand Slam singles titles), born in Västervik, Sweden
- Jan 19 Sylvain Cote, Canadian NHL defenseman (Washington Capitals), born in Quebec City, Canada
- Jan 20 Chris Morris, American NBA forward (Utah Jazz), born in Atlanta, Georgia
- Jan 20 Rich Gannon, American NFL quarterback (Pro Bowl 1999–2002; First-team All-Pro 2000, 02; NFL MVP 2002; Minnesota Vikings, Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Jan 21 Chris Hammond, American baseball pitcher (Florida Marlins)
- Jan 22 Carlton Haselrig, American football guard (Pro Bowl 1992; Pittsburgh Steelers) and wrestler (6 x NCAA titles; Pitt-Johnstown), born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania (d. 2020)
- Jan 22 Nishantha Ranatunga, Sri Lankan cricketer (bro of Arjuna Sri Lankan ODI allrounder), born in Gampaha, Sri Lanka
- Jan 23 Haywoode Workman, American NBA guard (Indiana Pacers), born in Charlotte, North Carolina
- Jan 23 Mike Brim, American NFL cornerback (Cin Bengals), born in Danville, Virginia (d. 2005)
- Jan 23 Scott Fortune, American volleyball player (Olympic gold 1988, bronze 1992, 96), born in Newport Beach, California
- Jan 24 Mike Forgeron, Canadian rower (Olympics 1996), born in Main-a-dieu, Canada
- Jan 25 John Velyvis, American rower & surgeon (Olympics 1996), born in North Adams, Massachusetts
- Jan 25 Mark Schlereth, American NFL guard (Denver Broncos-Super Bowl 32), born in Anchorage, Alaska
- Jan 25 Paul Ranheim, American NHL left wing (Hartford Whalers), born in St. Louis, Missouri
- Jan 25 Pavel Torgajev, Russian ice hockey player (Calgary Flames), born in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
- Jan 28 Jeff Uhlenhake, NFL center (New Orleans Saints, Washington Redskins)
- Jan 28 Michal Pivonka, Kladno Cze, NHL center (Washington Capitals)
- Jan 29 Romário, Brazilian soccer striker (70 caps; Vasco da Gama, PSV Eindhoven, Fluminense) and politician, born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Jan 30 Danielle Goyette, Canadian ice hockey player (Canada, Olympics 1998)
- Jan 31 Charles Dimry, American football cornerback (Tampa Bay Bucs, Philadelphia Eagles), born in San Diego, California
- Jan 31 Jamie Taras, Canadian football player (BC Lions), born in Acton, Ontario
Deaths in Sport
- Jan 5 George Duckworth, English cricket wicket-keeper (24 Tests, 60 dismissals), dies at 64
- Jan 10 Fen Cresswell, New Zealand cricket slow bower (3 Tests, 13 wickets; Wellington, Central Districts), dies from suicide at 50
- Jan 11 Hannes Kolehmainen, Finnish long-distance runner (Olympic gold 1912), dies at 76
- Jan 14 Bill Carr, American athlete (Olympic gold 400m, 4 x 400m 1932), dies at 56
