Historical Events
- Jan 1 Joe Gans lands a devastating right to the head of Canadian challenger Kid Herman to retain his world lightweight boxing title with an 8th round knockout in Tonopah, Nevada
Roosevelt's Record Handshakes
Jan 1 US President Theodore Roosevelt shakes a record 8,513 hands in 1 day
"Don Juan in Hell"
Jan 4 George Bernard Shaw's play "Don Juan in Hell" premieres in London
First Montessori School
Jan 6 Maria Montessori opens her 1st Montessori school, in Rome
"The Truth"
Jan 7 Clyde Fitch's play "The Truth" premieres in NYC
- Jan 12 Britain grants responsible government to former colony of Transvaal
- Jan 14 An earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills more than 1,000
- Jan 15 3-element vacuum tube patented by American inventor Lee De Forest
- Jan 15 Gold dental inlays first described by William Taggart, who invented them
- Jan 21 Stanley Cup Hockey, Montreal Arena, Westmount, Quebec: Kenora Thistles (ON) beat Montreal Wanderers, 8-6 for 12-8 aggregate challenge series victory
- Jan 25 Julia Ward Howe is first woman elected to National Institute of Arts & Letters (USA)
- Jan 26 1st US federal corrupt election practices law passed
- Jan 26 In Austria, universal and direct suffrage (limited to males over 24) is introduced, a reform long demanded by the socialists and others
- Jan 26 John Millington Synge's "Playboy of Western World" opens in Dublin; play claimed as immoral and causes riots
- Jan 26 The Short Magazine Lee-Enfield Mk III rifle officially introduced into British Military Service, 2nd oldest military rifle still in official use
First Native American Senator
Jan 29 Republican Charles Curtis of Kansas becomes the 1st Native American US Senator
Famous Birthdays
- Jan 1 Erich Schmid, Swiss composer and conductor, born in Balsthal, Switzerland (d. 2000)
- Jan 2 Edward Albert Radice, British economist, born in London, England (d. 1996)
- Jan 2 Salvador Ley, Guatemalan pianist, composer, and educator (National Conservatory; Westchester Conservatory), born in Guatemala City, Guatemala (d. 1985)
- Jan 5 Anton Ingolic, Slavic author (After Splavih, After Prelomu), born in Spodnja Polskava, Slovenia (d. 1992)
- Jan 5 Volmari Iso-Hollo, Finnish athlete (Olympic gold 3,000m steeplechase 1936), born in Ylöjärvi, Finland (d. 1969)
- Jan 5 Willi Soukop, sculptor and member of Royal Academy of Arts, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1995)
- Jan 6 David Fleay, Australian naturalist, born in Ballarat, Victoria (d. 1993)
- Jan 7 Nicanor Zabaleta, Spanish harpist, born in San Sebastián, Spain (d. 1993)
- Jan 11 Abraham Joshua Heschel, Jewish American rabbi and theologian, born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 1972)
- Jan 11 Pierre Mendès-France, French Premier (1954-55), born in Paris (d. 1982)
Sergei Korolev (1907-1966)
Jan 12 Soviet Russian rocket engineer and spacecraft designer (Sputnik; Voskhod), born in Zhytomyr, Russian Empire (now Ukraine)
- Jan 13 Jeff Morrow [Leslie Irving Morrow], American actor (Robe, Union Pacific, Temperatures Rising), born in New York City (d. 1993)
- Jan 13 Sabine Zlatin, Polish-born French nurse who tried save Izieu children from Nazis), born in Warsaw (d. 1996)
- Jan 14 Derek Richter, British neuroscientist (learning & memory), born in bath, United Kingdom (d. 1995)
- Jan 14 Georges-Émile Lapalme, Quebec politician, born in Montreal, Quebec (d. 1985)
- Jan 14 Sophie Redmond, Suriname's 1st female physician, born in Paramaribo, Suriname (d. 1955)
- Jan 16 Alexander Knox, Canadian actor and author (Gorky Park, 2 of a Kind), born in Strathroy, Ontario, Canada (d. 1995)
- Jan 16 Paul Nitze, American government official (d. 2004)
- Jan 16 Phillip Vellacott, English classical scholar (Penguin Books classical translations) (d. 1997)
- Jan 17 Henk Badings, Dutch opera composer (Orestes), born in Bandung, Java, Dutch East Indies (d. 1987)
- Jan 18 Janos Ferencsik, Hungarian conductor (Budapest Opera), born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 1984)
- Jan 20 Paula Wessely, Austrian actress and producer (Masquerade), born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary (d. 2000)
- Jan 20 Roy Welensky, Northern Rhodesian politician, born in Harare, Zimbabwe (d. 1991)
- Jan 22 Dixie Dean, English soccer striker (16 caps; Everton), born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, England (d. 1980)
- Jan 22 Douglas Corrigan, American pilot, born in Galveston, Texas (d. 1995)
- Jan 22 Mary Dresselhuys, Dutch actress (Village by the River), born in Tiel, Gelderland, Netherlands (d. 2004)
- Jan 23 Bob Steele [Robert Adrian Bradbury], American actor (Monogram, Supreme, Tiffany), born in Portland, Oregon (d. 1988)
- Jan 23 Dan Duryea, American actor (Pride of the Yankees), born in White Plains, New York (d. 1968)
- Jan 23 Hideki Yukawa, Japanese physicist (Nobel 1949), born in Tokyo, Japan (d. 1981)
- Jan 24 Maurice Couve de Murville, French politician (Foreign Minister and Prime Minister of France 1968-69), born in Reims, France (d. 1999)
- Jan 26 Eddie Ballantine, American orchestra leader (Don McNeill TV Club), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1995)
- Jan 26 Hans Selye, Austrian-Canadian endocrinologist, born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary (d. 1982)
- Jan 28 Constantin Regamey, Ukranian pianist, composer and music critic, born in Kiev, Russian Empire (now Kyiv, Ukraine) (d. 1987)
- Jan 28 Henry Cotton, British golfer (British Open 1934, 1937, 1948), born in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, England (d. 1987)
- Jan 31 Benny Morton, American jazz trombonist (Teddy Wilson Sextet), born in New York City (d. 1985)
- Jan 31 Emanuel Sayles, American jazz banjo player (Preservation Hall Jazz Band), born in Donaldsonville, Louisiana (d. 1986)
Famous Deaths
- Jan 1 Cyrill Kistler, German composer, educator, and music theorist, dies at 58
- Jan 3 Josef Foerster, Czech composer, and music teacher, dies at 73
- Jan 6 Walter Read, cricketer (Engl batsman, 117 at no 10 v Aust 1884), dies
- Jan 7 Anton Urspruch, German composer, dies at 56
- Jan 8 Theodoor Verstraete, Flemish painter/etcher, dies at 57
- Jan 9 Marie of Saxe-Altenburg, Queen of Hanover, dies at 88
- Jan 14 Karl von Perfall, German composer, dies at 82
- Jan 14 Sir James Fergusson, British politician, and governor of South Australia, New Zealand and Bombay (b. 1832)
- Jan 16 Alfred Shaw, English cricket medium/spin bowler (7 Tests; bowled first ball in Test cricket; first to take 5 wickets in a Test innings; Nottinghamshire CCC, MCC), dies at 64
- Jan 25 René Pottier, French racing cyclist (Tour de France 1906), dies of suicide at 27
- Jan 31 Timothy Eaton, Irish-born Canadian department store founder (Eatons), dies at 72
