Historical Events
- Jan 1 Dutch law makes driver's license mandatory
- Jan 1 First permanent movie theater in Canada, The Ouimetoscope, is opened by Léo Ouimet in Montreal, Quebec
- Jan 1 The poll tax of £1 per head on all adult male inhabitants of Natal, South Africa, except indentured Indians and married Blacks, imposed by the Natal parliament in 1905, becomes payable.
Air Conditioning
Jan 2 Willis Carrier receives a US patent for the world's first air conditioner
- Jan 4 South Africa beat England by one wicket, their 1st Test win
Miroirs
Jan 6 Maurice Ravel's "Miroirs" premieres in Paris
- Jan 8 A landslide in Haverstraw, New York, caused by the excavation of clay along the Hudson River, kills 20 people.
- Jan 10 The British and French begin consultations on military and naval issues
- Jan 12 1st time Dow Jones closes above 100 (100.26)
- Jan 12 Football rules committee legalizes forward pass
Liberal Landslide
Jan 12 Henry Campbell-Bannerman's cabinet (which included H. H. Asquith, David Lloyd George, and Winston Churchill) embarks on sweeping social reforms after a Liberal landslide in the British general election
- Jan 16 -Apr 13] Conference of Algeciras (about Morocco)
"Und Pippa Tanzt!"
Jan 19 Gerhart Hauptmann's play "Und Pippa Tanzt!" premieres in Berlin
- Jan 22 SS Valencia runs aground on rocks on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, killing more than 130
- Jan 25 Del Valle Inclans "El Marqués de Bradomin" premieres in Madrid
- Jan 27 Rudolf Gundersen skates world record 500m at 44.8 sec
- Jan 29 Dutch speed skater Coen de King skates a world record 32,370m in one hour
- Jan 31 Strongest instrumentally recorded earthquake then recorded at 8.8 on the Richter Scale, occurs off the coast of Ecuador and Colombia killing over 1,00 people
Famous Birthdays
- Jan 1 Giovanni D'Anzi, Italian pianist and songwriter ("Malinconia d'amore"), born in Milan, Italy (d. 1974)
- Jan 3 Aleksey Stachanov, Russian model miner, born in Lugovaya, Russian Empire (d. 1977)
- Jan 3 Doc Hayes, American basketball coach (Southern Methodist University 1947-67), born in Krum, Texas (d. 1973)
- Jan 3 Gus Suhr, American baseball first baseman (1435 MLB games Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies; only player to be sued by a fan injured after struck by a foul ball), born in San Francisco, California (d. 2004)
- Jan 3 Roman Brandstaetter, Polish poet, playwright and journalist, born in Tarnów, Poland (d. 1987)
- Jan 5 Kathleen Kenyon, English archaeologist, 1st person to place date on remains of Jericho, born in London (d. 1978)
- Jan 6 Benedict Vilakazi, South African Zulu poet and educator (Zulu-English Dictionary), born in KwaDukuza, Natal (d. 1947)
- Jan 6 Jaap Wagemaker, Dutch sculptor, born in Haarlem, Netherlands (d. 1972)
- Jan 7 Herbert Magidson, American lyricist, winner of first Academy Award for Best Original Song ("The Continental"; "Gone With The Wind"; "The Masquerade Is Over"), born in Braddock, Pennsylvania (d. 1986)
- Jan 8 Jan A.H.J.S. Bruins Slot, Dutch politician, resistance fighter, and underground newspaper co-founder and editor (Trouw (Faithful)), born in Drachten, Friesland. Netherlands (d. 1972) [1]
Albert Hofmann (1906-2008)
Jan 11 Swiss chemist who first synthesized and ingested LSD, born in Baden, Switzerland
- Jan 11 Johannes Paul Thilman, German composer, born in Dresden, Germany (d. 1973)
- Jan 11 Robert Nesbitt, English theatre impresario (Royal Variety Show), born in London, England (d. 1995)
- Jan 12 (Woodward) "Tex" Ritter, American country singer (5 Star Jubilee, "Wayward Wind"), born in Murvaul, Texas (d. 1974)
- Jan 13 Maxime Jacob, French composer and organist, born in Bordeaux, France (d. 1977)
Zhou Youguang (1906-2017)
Jan 13 Chinese economist and linguist known as the "father of pinyin", born in Changchow, Kiangsu, Qing Empire
- Jan 14 Walter Knape, German conductor and composer, born in Bernburg, Germany (d. 2000)
- Jan 14 William Bendix, American actor (Lifeboat, Babe Ruth Story, Life of Riley), born in New York City (d. 1964)
- Jan 15 Aristotle Onassis, Greek shipping magnate, born in Konak, Turkey (d. 1975)
- Jan 15 Rezső Kókai, Hungarian pianist, composer, musicologist, and pedagogue, born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 1962)
- Jan 16 Clement Greenberg, American art critic (Art & Culture), born in New York City (d. 1994)
- Jan 16 Diana Wynyard, British actress (Cavalcade), born in London, England (d. 1964)
- Jan 18 Hans Aeschbacher, Swiss sculptor (Venus de Six-Tours), born in Switzerland (d. 1980)
- Jan 19 Ish Kabbible [Merwyn Bogue], American comedian and cornetist (Kay Kyser's Kollege), born in North East Pennsylvania (d. 1994)
- Jan 19 Lanny Ross, American radio singer (Show Boat, The Swift Show), born in Seattle, Washington (d. 1988)
- Jan 19 Lillian Harvey [Pape], British actress (Invitation to the Waltz; Congress Dance), born in London, England (d. 1968)
- Jan 21 Fred Fehl, Austrian-American photographer, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1995)
- Jan 21 Igor Moiseyev, Russian choreographer (d. 2007)
- Jan 21 John Putz, British journalist (Guardian) (d. 1995)
- Jan 22 Joe Gladwin, British actor (Nearest and Dearest, No Hard Feelings), born in Salford, Lancashire, England (d. 1987)
- Jan 22 Robert E. Howard, American pulp fiction author (Conan the Barbarian), born in Peaster, Texas (d. 1936)
- Jan 22 Willa Brown, American air pioneer (NAAA) and civil rights activist (1st African American woman to hold a pilot's license), born in Glasgow, Kentucky (d. 1992)
- Jan 24 Norman Cook, British museum curator (d. 1994)
- Jan 27 Alberto Ruz Lhuillier, Mexican archaeologist who excavated Palenque, born in Paris, France (d. 1979)
- Jan 27 Radames Gnattali, Brazilian composer and conductor (Rádio Nacional), born in Porto Alegre, Brazil (d. 1988)
- Jan 28 Harry van Kruiningen, Dutch painter and graphic artist, born in Kruiningen, Netherlands (d. 1996)
- Jan 28 Henry Foley, New Zealand cricket batsman (1 Test; NZ's first Test match; Wellington CA), born in Wellington (d. 1948)
- Jan 29 Frans Hin, Dutch yachtsman (Olympic gold 12' Dinghy 1920; aged 14 years 163 days), born in Haarlem, Netherlands (d. 1968)
- Jan 29 Joe Primeau, Canadian Hockey HOF center (Stanley Cup, Lady Byng Memorial Trophy 1931–32; Toronto Maple Leafs) and coach (Stanley Cup 1950-51 Toronto Maple Leafs), born in Lindsay, Ontario (d. 1989)
- Jan 30 Greta Nissen, Norwegian-born American actress (Ambassador Bill), born in Oslo, Norway (d. 1988)
- Jan 31 Benjamin Frankel, British composer, born in London, England (d. 1973)
- Jan 31 Roosevelt Sykes, American blues and boogie-woogie pianist, and singer (The Honeydripper), born in Elmar, Arkansas (d. 1983)
Famous Weddings
Igor Stravinsky
Jan 23 Composer Igor Stravinsky (23) weds Yekaterina Nosenko
Famous Deaths
- Jan 1 Joseph Miroslav Weber, Czech composer, dies at 51
- Jan 1 Sir Hugh Nelson, Australian politician (Premier of Queensland), dies at 72
- Jan 5 Kathleen Kenyon, English Archaeologist who excavated Jericho (the oldest known continuously occupied human settlement that has been inhabited for the last 11,000 years), dies at 72
- Jan 13 Alexander Stepanovich Popov, Russian physicist (b. 1859)
- Jan 16 Marshall Field, American entrepreneur and the founder of Marshall Field and Company, dies at 71
- Jan 19 Bartolomé Mitre [Martínez], Argentine general, author, statesman and President (1862-1868), dies at 84
- Jan 25 Joseph Wheeler, American Major General (Confederacy/Cavalry/Army of Tennessee), dies at 70
- Jan 25 Pierre-Lambert Goossens, Belgian archbishop of Mechelen and Cardinal Primate of Belgium, dies at 78
- Jan 29 Christian IX, King of Denmark (1893-1906), dies at 87
