Historical Events
- Jan 1 16th Rose Bowl: Southern California beats Pittsburgh, 47-11
- Jan 1 Claus von Stauffenberg promoted to 2nd lieutenant
- Jan 1 Jurgens & Van den Berg merge with Lever Brothers to form Unilever
Bonnie Meets Clyde
Jan 5 Bonnie Parker meets Clyde Barrow for the first time at Clarence Clay's house
"A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire"
Jan 5 Mao Zedong writes the essay "A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire" to criticize cadres not creating rural revolutionary base areas
- Jan 6 1st diesel engine automobile trip (in a Packard sedan) completed
Bradman's World Record Score
Jan 6 Australian cricket icon Don Bradman scores 452 not out for New South Wales v Queensland in Sydney; then world record individual score in a first-class match; runs scored in 415 minutes
- Jan 7 Edwin Justus Mayer's "Children of Darkness" premieres in NYC
- Jan 7 Marguerite Perey discovers francium (Fr), the last naturally occurring element to be found
Albert Kahn Soviet Architects
Jan 9 Architectural firm Albert Kahn Associates becomes the consulting architects for all industrial construction in the Soviet Union
Headley Scores 157
Jan 15 Brilliant West Indian cricket batsman George Headley scores 157 of 176 on debut on the 4th day of the drawn 1st Test against England in Bridgetown, Barbados
- Jan 18 -27°F (-33°C), Watts, Oklahoma (state record)
"The Nose"
Jan 18 Dmitri Shostakovich's satirical opera "The Nose" premieres in Leningrad
- Jan 20 1st radio broadcast of "Lone Ranger" (WXYZ-Detroit)
- Jan 21 Boston Bruins become first team in NHL history to score 100 goals in a season, in a 5-1 win over Chicago at Boston Garden; Cooney Weiland scores Bruins' 100th goal in their 26th game of the year
- Jan 22 -35°F (-37°C), Mount Carroll, Illinois (state record)
- Jan 23 Clyde Tombaugh photographs dwarf planet Pluto
- Jan 23 George Washington Birthplace National Monument, Virginia established
- Jan 23 WIS-AM (now WOMG) in Columbia SC begins radio transmissions
- Jan 24 John Mills scores New Zealand's 1st Test century in cricket, sharing a record 276 run opening stand with Stewie Dempster
Australian Men's Tennis Open
Jan 25 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: Edgar Moon wins his first and only Grand Slam singles title; beats fellow Australian Harry Hopman 6-3, 6-1, 6-3
- Jan 25 Australian Championships Women's Tennis, Melbourne: Daphne Akhurst Cozens wins 3rd straight Australian singles title; beats Sylvia Lance Harper 10-8, 2-6, 7-5
- Jan 26 Cleveland's Terminal Tower opens (52 stories)
Primo de Rivera Resigns
Jan 28 Spanish dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera resigns as Prime Minister of Spain after losing the support of his fellow military leaders and King Alfonso XIII
- Jan 30 Russia launches their 1st radiosonde - a battery-powered telemetry instrument carried into the atmosphere to measure various parameters and transmit them by radio to a ground receiver- from Pavlovsk, USSR.
"The Bathhouse"
Jan 30 Vladimir Mayakovsky's drama "The Bathhouse (Bunya)" premieres in Leningrad
- Jan 31 1st US glider flight from a dirigible, Lakehurst, New Jersey
Famous Birthdays
- Jan 1 Frederick Wiseman, documentary filmmaker, born in Boston, Massachusetts
- Jan 1 Gaafar Muhammad Nimeiry, premier/president (Sudan)
- Jan 1 Ty Hardin [Orison Hungerford Jr.], American actor (Riptide, Bronco), born in New York City (d. 2017)
- Jan 1 Werner Heider, German, pianist, conductore, and composer, born in Fürth, Bavaria, Germany
- Jan 2 Julius La Rosa, American singer (fired by Arthur Godfrey on the air), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2016)
- Jan 3 Edward "Eddie" Egan, American actor (The French Connection, Joe Forrester), born in New York City (d. 1995)
- Jan 3 Marcel Dubé, Canadian playwright (Zone), and French language advocate, born in Montreal, Quebec (d. 2016)
- Jan 3 Salvatore "Robert" Loggia, American actor (Jagged Edge, Big, Officer & a Gentleman, Scarface), born in Staten Island, New York (d. 2015)
Don Shula (1930-2020)
Jan 4 American Pro Football Hall of Fame coach (Super Bowl 1972, 73; Miami Dolphins; Baltimore Colts; NFL Coach of the Year 1964, 67, 68, 72), born in Grand River Ohio
- Jan 4 Iain Cuthbertson, Scottish actor (Guilty, Scandal, Rep, Danger UXB), born in Glasgow, Lanarkshire (d. 2009)
- Jan 4 Sorrell Booke, American actor (Boss Hogg in Dukes of Hazard), born in Buffalo, New York (d. 1994)
- Jan 5 Edward Galven Givens Jr., Major USAF/astronaut, born in Quanah, Texas (d. 1967)
- Jan 5 Frederick Charles Tillis, American composer (In the Spirt and the Flesh; Secrets of the African Baobob), jazz saxophonist, music educator (University of Massachusetts, 1970-97), and poet, born in Galveston, Texas (d. 2020)
- Jan 5 Richard Hayes, American actor and singer (Name That Tune), born in Passaic, New Jersey (d. 2014)
- Jan 6 (Wilbert) Billy Davis, American tennis player (11 x American Tennis Association Titles; mentor to Arthur Ashe), born in New York City (d. 2021)
- Jan 6 Denis Pitts, English journalist, filmmaker, and novelist (Rogue Hercules), (d. 1994)
- Jan 6 Victor "Vic" Tayback, American actor (Mel Sharples-"Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore "), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1990)
- Jan 7 Douglas Kiker, American NBC newsman (1970 Peabody Award), born in Griffin, Georgia (d. 1991)
- Jan 7 Eddie LeBaron, American NFL quarterback (Pro Bowl 1955, 57, 58, 62; Washington Redskins, Dallas Cowboys), born in San Rafael, California (d. 2015)
- Jan 8 Doreen Wilber, American archer (Olympic gold individual 1972), born in Rutland, Iowa (d. 2008)
- Jan 10 Byron "Wild Child" Gipson, American blues singer, born in Burlington, Iowa (d. 1994)
- Jan 10 Elaine Devry [Thelma Mahnken], American actress (The Atomic Kid, The Boy Who Cried Werewolf), born in Compton, California (d. 2023)
- Jan 10 Lyle Ritz, American jazz ukulele and session bassist, born in Cleveland, Ohio (d. 2017)
- Jan 10 Roy E. Disney, American film executive and CEO of Disney, born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2009)
- Jan 11 Lula Mae Hardaway, American songwriter ("I Was Made to Love Her"; "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours"), and mother of singer Stevie Wonder, born in Eufaula, Alabama (d. 2006)
Rod Taylor (1930-2015)
Jan 11 Australian actor (The Birds, Time Machine), born in Sydney, New South Wales
- Jan 11 Ron Mulock, Australian politician
- Jan 12 Glenn Yarborough, American folk singer and guitarist (Limeliters-Honey & Wine, Jubilee), born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (d. 2016)
- Jan 12 Jennifer Johnston, Irish author (Fool's Sanctuary), born in Dublin, Ireland
Tim Horton (1930-1974)
Jan 12 Canadian ice hockey player and co-founder of the Tim Hortons restaurant chain, born in Cochrane, Ontario
- Jan 13 Frances Sternhagen, American Tony Award-winning stage and screen character actress (The Mist; Starting Over; Cheers - "Ester Clavin"; Outland; Sex and the City - "Bunny"), born in Washington, D.C. (d. 2023) [1]
- Jan 13 Liz Anderson, American country music singer-songwriter (Mama Spank, The Game of Triangles), born in Roseau, Minnesota (d. 2011)
- Jan 13 Roman Cieślewicz, Polish French artist, graphic designer, born in Lwów, Poland (d. 1996)
- Jan 14 Edgar Hovhannisyan, Armenian composer, born in Yerevan, Armenia (d. 1998)
- Jan 14 Johnny Grande, American accordion and piano player (The Saddlemen; Bill Haley's Comets), and songwriter ("Birth of the Boogie"), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2006)
- Jan 15 Earl Hooker, American blues slide guitar player ("Blue Guitar"), born in Quitman County, Mississippi (d. 1970)
- Jan 15 Eddie Graham, American professional wrestler, born in Chattanooga, Tennessee (d. 1985)
- Jan 15 Michel Chapuis, French classical organist and pedagogue, born in Dole, France (d. 2017)
- Jan 16 Clarence Ray Allen, American murderer, born in Blair, Oklahoma (d. 2006)
- Jan 16 Norman Podhoretz, American neoconservative pundit (NY Post), born in Brooklyn, New York
- Jan 17 Robert Ceely, American classical and electro-acoustic composer (The Automobile Graveyard), and educator (New England Conservatory, 1966-2003), born in Torrington, Connecticut (d. 2015)
- Jan 19 (Nathalie) "Tippi" Hedren, American model, actress (The Birds: Marnie; I Heart Huckabees), and animal rights activist (Roar Foundation), born in New Ulm, Minnesota
- Jan 19 John Waite, South African cricket wicket-keeper, born in Johannesburg, Transvaal (d. 2011)
Buzz Aldrin (94 years old)
Jan 20 American astronaut & fighter pilot (Gem 12, Ap 11), born in Montclair, New Jersey
- Jan 20 Raymond Van Gestel, Belgian soccer winger (5 caps; Lyra) and athlete (Belgian long jump champion), born in Mol, Belgium (d. 2020)
- Jan 21 Valentin Ignatyevich Filatyev, Soviet-Russian 'lost' cosmonaut who was dismissed for disciplinary reasons, born in Malinovka, Russia, Soviet Union (d. 1990)
- Jan 23 Derek Walcott, Caribbean poet (Omeros), Nobel Prize for Literature 1992, born in Castries, St Lucia (d. 2017)
- Jan 23 Mervyn Rose, Australian tennis player (Australian C'ships 1954, French C'ships 1958), born in Coffs Harbour, NSW (d. 2017)
- Jan 23 William Reid Pogue, American fighter pilot & astronaut (Skylab 4), born in Okemah, Oklahoma (d. 2014)
- Jan 24 Bernard Matthews, English turkey farmer (Bernard Matthews Farms), born in Brooke, England (d. 2010)
- Jan 25 Tanya Savicheva, Russian diarist, born in Dvorišče (d. 1944)
- Jan 26 A N Solomons, British banking chairman (Singer & Friedlander)
- Jan 26 Anne Macfarlane, Master (Court of Protection)
- Jan 26 Buddy Melges, American sailor (Olympic gold Soling 1972; 5 x world champion; America's Cup skipper, America3 1992), born in Elkhorn, Wisconsin (d. 2023)
- Jan 26 Wim Statius Muller, Curaçaoa conductor, pianist, and composer, born in Curaçao (d. 2019)
- Jan 27 Bobby "Blue" Bland, American blues an soul singer ("Call on the Drummer"), born in Rosemark, Tennessee (d. 2013)
- Jan 27 Esteban Edward Torres, American politician (Rep-D-CA, 1983-99), born in Miami, Arizona (d. 2022)
- Jan 27 Roger Sims, British MP
- Jan 28 Luis de Pablo, Spanish composer, and musicologist, born in Bilbao, Spain (d. 2021)
- Jan 29 Derek Bailey, British avant-garde jazz guitar virtuoso, born in Sheffield, England (d. 2005)
- Jan 29 John Junkin, British actor and scriptwriter (A Hard Day's Night), born in Ealing, Middlesex (d. 2006)
- Jan 30 Frank O'Bannon, American politician (Governor of Indiana, 1997-2003), born in Louisville, Kentucky (d. 2003)
Gene Hackman (94 years old)
Jan 30 American actor (Bonnie & Clyde; The Coversation; The French Connection; The Birdcage), born in San Bernardino, California
- Jan 30 Samuel J. Byck, American attempted assassin of Richard Nixon, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1974)
- Jan 30 Sandy Amorós, Cuban baseball player, born in Havana, Cuba (d. 1992)
- Jan 31 Al De Lory, American session pianist, arranger, and record producer (Glen Campbell), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2012)
- Jan 31 Art Michalik, American football linebacker / guard (All-Pro 1953; Pro Bowl 1953; San Francisco 49ers, Pittsburgh Steelers), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2021)
- Jan 31 Joakim Bonnier, Swedish racecar driver (d. 1972)
Famous Weddings
- Jan 8 Belgium Princess Marie-Jose marries Italian's crown prince Umberto
John Steinbeck
Jan 14 American author John Steinbeck (27) weds Carol Henning (23) in Los Angeles, California (divorced 1942)
Estée Lauder
Jan 15 Businesswoman Estee Mentzer (23) weds businessman Joseph Lauter (later Lauder)
Famous Deaths
- Jan 4 Albert Löfgren, Swedish clarinetist and composer (Slåttergille Rhapsody), dies at 57
- Jan 9 Edward W Buck, Dutch/US editor (Ladies Home Journal), dies at 66
- Jan 13 Auguste Rateau, French mining engineer and inventor (Rateau steam turbine), dies at 66
- Jan 13 Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti, English electrical engineer and inventor, dies at 65
Frank Ramsey (1903-1930)
Jan 19 British mathematician and philosopher, dies at 26
- Jan 22 Stephen Mather, American industrialist and conservationist (organized US National Park Service), dies at 62
- Jan 24 Rebecca Latimer Felton, American writer and politician (first woman to serve as U.S. Senator (Georgia)), dies at 94 [1]
- Jan 27 Jean Hure, French composer and organist, dies at 52
