Historical Events
- Jan 1 "A Musical Jubilee" closes at St James Theater, NYC, after 92 performances
- Jan 1 42nd Orange Bowl: #3 Oklahoma beats #5 Michigan, 14-6
Paul Brown Retires
Jan 1 After 45 years of coaching, Paul Brown (Cleveland Browns; Cincinnati Bengals) announces his retirement from the National Football League
Liberty Bell
Jan 1 Liberty Bell moves to new home across the street from Independence Hall, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Jan 1 NBC replaces "peacock" logo with large block "N"; Design of new logo approached $1M, and was subject to copyright infringement suit costing NBC an additional $800K
- Jan 1 Venezuela nationalizes oil fields
Goolagong's 3rd Win
Jan 3 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Australian Evonne Goolagong Cawley beats Renata Tomanova of Czechoslovakia 6-2, 6-2 for her 3rd straight home singles title
- Jan 3 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Jan 4 "Candide" closes at Broadway Theater NYC after 740 performances
- Jan 4 "Home Sweet Homer" opens & closes at Palace Theater NYC
Steelers Defeat Raiders
Jan 4 AFC Championship, Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Oakland Raiders, 16-10
Edmondson Defeats Newcombe
Jan 4 Australian Open Men's Tennis: In an all-Australian final Mark Edmondson upsets John Newcombe 6-7, 6-3, 7-6, 6-1 for his first and only Grand Slam title
- Jan 4 NFC Championship, LA Memorial Coliseum: Dallas Cowboys beat Los Angeles Rams, 37-7
- Jan 4 The Ulster Volunteer Force shoot dead 6 Catholic civilians in 2 coordinated attacks in County Armagh, North Ireland
- Jan 5 Cambodia is renamed "Democratic Kampuchea"
Chappell's 182 Not Out
Jan 5 Greg Chappell scores 182* for Australia at SCG against West Indies
- Jan 5 In retaliation for the Reavey and O'Dowd killings, the South Armagh Republican Action Force shoot dead 10 Protestant civilians after stopping their minibus in County Armagh
- Jan 6 China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor, PRC
Turner Buys Atlanta Braves
Jan 6 Ted Turner purchases Atlanta Braves for reported $12 million
- Jan 8 Franklin Mint strikes 1st gold coins for Netherlands Antilles
Trottier's Penalty Fail
Jan 9 Bryan Trottier failed in 4th Islander penalty shot
- Jan 9 C. W. McCall CB song "Convoy" hits #1 on the country music charts
"Oh My My"
Jan 9 Ringo Starr releases single "Oh My My" in the UK
Hamill's 3rd Championship
Jan 11 Dorothy Hamill wins her 3rd consecutive national figure skating championship
- Jan 11 Military coup in Ecuador, President Guillermo Lara leaves
Pacific Overtures
Jan 11 Stephen Sondheim's musical "Pacific Overtures" opens at Winter Garden Theater, NYC; runs for 193 performances, wins 2 Tony and 2 Drama Desk Awards
- Jan 11 US male Figure Skating championship won by Terry Kubicka
- Jan 12 UN Security Council votes 11-1 to seat Palestine Liberation Organization
Kurzweil Reading Machine
Jan 13 American inventor Ray Kurzweil and the National Federation of the Blind unveil the Kurzweil Reading Machine, the first omni-font optical character recognition system
- Jan 13 Future undisputed world middleweight boxing champion Marvin Hagler suffers his first career loss in a controversial 10-round majority decision to Bobby Watts at the Philadelphia Spectrum
- Jan 13 Sarah Caldwell is 1st woman to conduct at NYC Metropolitan Opera House as she led orchestra in a performance of "La Traviata"
- Jan 14 "The Bionic Woman" with Lindsay Wagner debuts on ABC (later NBC)
- Jan 14 Ted Turner becomes CEO of Atlanta Braves
Would-Be Ford Assassin Sentenced
Jan 15 Sara Jane Moore sentenced to life for attempting to shoot US President Gerald Ford
- Jan 15 US-German Helios B solar probe launched into solar orbit
- Jan 15 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- Jan 16 "Donny & Marie" [Osmond] musical variety show premieres on ABC TV
- Jan 16 Peter Frampton released platinum live album "Frampton Comes Alive"
"I Write the Songs"
Jan 17 "I Write the Songs" cover by Barry Manilow hits #1
"X Offender"
Jan 17 Blondie release their debut single "X Offender" written by Debbie Harry and Gary Valentine
- Jan 17 Hermes rocket launched by European Space Agency
- Jan 18 Super Bowl X, Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, FL: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Dallas Cowboys, 21-17; MVP: Lynn Swann, Pittsburgh, WR
- Jan 20 29th NHL All-Star Game, Spectrum, Philadelphia: Wales Conference beats Campbell Conference, 7-5; MVP: Peter Mahovlich, Montreal, C
- Jan 21 Supersonic Concorde has its 1st commercial flights
- Jan 22 Bank robbery in Beirut nets $20-50 million (record)
- Jan 23 Ian Redpath hits his only 2 sixes in Cricket Tests, v WI Adelaide
Station to Station
Jan 23 RCA releases "Station to Station", David Bowie's 10th studio album, recorded in Los Angeles; it peaks in the U.S. charts at No.3, and No. 5 in the U.K.
- Jan 23 The Provisional Irish Republican Army truce of February 1975 is officially brought to an end
- Jan 23 The results to U.S. advice columnist Ann Landers' question (if they could do it all over, would parents still become parents) state that 70% of 10,000 responding parents were negative about being parents
- Jan 23 Washington Capitals end 25 game winless streak (0-22-3) beat NY Rangers 7-5
33rd Golden Globes
Jan 24 33rd Golden Globes: "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", Jack Nicholson, & Louise Fletcher win
- Jan 24 Cleveland Cavaliers score their biggest margin of victory to date (43 points), when they beat Milwaukee 132-89
Foreman vs. Lyle
Jan 24 Former world heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman KOs Ron Lyle in 5th round at Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas; Foreman knocked down twice in 4th; 'The Ring' Fight of the Year
American Buffalo
Jan 26 David Mamet's play "American Buffalo" premieres in NYC
- Jan 26 Israel opens "Good Fence" to Lebanon
- Jan 26 NFL Pro Bowl, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans: NFC beats AFC, 23-20; MVP: Billy Johnson, Houston Oilers, WR
"Laverne & Shirley"
Jan 27 "Laverne & Shirley" TV spinoff from "Happy Days" starring Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams premieres on ABC TV
- Jan 27 9th ABA All-Star Game: Denver 144 beats ABA 138 at Denver
- Jan 27 Morocco-Algeria battles in West Sahara
- Jan 27 Revival of Sidney Howard's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1924 stage drama "They Knew What They Wanted", opens at the Playhouse Theatre, NYC; runs for 23 performances
Richards' 1st Test Century
Jan 27 Viv Richards scores his 1st Test century against Australia
- Jan 28 E. A. S. Prasanna takes 8-76 to rip through NZ at Eden Park
- Jan 28 NBA Atlanta Hawks begin a 28 game road losing streak
- Jan 29 Bombs set off in London's West End by the IRA; 1 person is injured
- Jan 29 Zeiss planetarium in the Hague destroyed by fire
- Jan 30 1st-class debut of Australian cricketer Dav Whatmore, in Johannesburg, South Africa
- Jan 30 William E Colby, ends term as 10th director of US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); George H. W. Bush becomes 11th director of CIA (until 1977)
- Jan 31 "Love Rollercoaster" by Ohio Players hits #1
3rd American Music Awards
Jan 31 3rd American Music Awards: Olivia Newton-John & John Denver win
- Jan 31 In his final Test, West Indian cricket spin bowler Lance Gibbs dismisses Australian opener Ian Redpath for 101 in 6th Test in Melbourne; becomes highest Test wicket-taker at 308
Famous Birthdays
- Jan 1 Caleb Wyatt, American motocross rider (Winter X Games Moto X Best Trick gold, 2005; first to perform successful backflip), born in Medford, Oregon
Chai Jing (48 years old)
Jan 1 Chinese broadcaster, author and documentary maker (Under the Dome), born in Linfen, Shanxi Province
- Jan 1 Georgina Chapman, British fashion designer and actress (Project Runway: All-Stars), born in Hammersmith, London, United Kingdom
- Jan 2 Danilo Di Luca, Italian road cyclist (Giro d'Italia 2007), born in Spoltore, Italy
- Jan 2 Mahée Paiement, Canadian actress
- Jan 2 Paz Vega, Spanish actress
- Jan 3 Alisen Down, Canadian actress
- Jan 3 Angelos Basinas, Greek soccer defensive midfielder (100 caps, European Championship 2004; Panathinaikos, Mallorca), born in Chalkida, Greece
- Jan 3 Dinara Drukarova, Russian actress
- Jan 3 Nicholas Gonzalez, American actor
- Jan 4 Benoît Joachim, Luxembourg cyclist, born in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
- Jan 4 Ted Lilly, American baseball player, born in Torrance, California
- Jan 5 Diego Tristán, Spanish footballer, born in La Algaba, Spain
- Jan 5 Ivan Tomić, Serbian football manager, born in Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia
- Jan 5 Matt Wachter, American bassist (30 Seconds to Mars, 2001-07 - "A Beautiful Lie"; Angels & Airwaves. 2007-19), born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania
- Jan 6 Danny Pintauro, American actor (Jonathan-Who's the Boss), born in Milltown, New Jersey
- Jan 6 Richard Zednik, Slovak NHL forward (Team Slovakia, Wash), born in Banská Bystrica, Czechoslovakia
- Jan 7 Alfonso Soriano, Dominican baseball player, born in San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic
- Jan 7 Éric Gagné, Canadian baseball pitcher (NL Cy Young Award 2003), born in Montreal, Quebec
- Jan 7 Vanessa Lorenzo, Spanish fashion model, born in Barcelona, Spain
- Jan 8 Carl Pavano, American baseball player, born in New Britain, Connecticut
- Jan 8 Jenny Lewis, American actress (Becky-Life With Lucy), born in Las Vegas, Nevada
- Jan 9 Radek Bonk, Czech NHL center (Ottawa Senators, Team Czech), born in Krnov, Czech Republic
- Jan 9 Svitlana Azarova, Ukrainian-Dutch contemporary classical music composer (Momo and the Time Thieves), born in the Ukrainian SSR
- Jan 9 Todd Grisham, American sportscaster (DAZN, Glory kickboxing, ESPN, WWE, UFC), born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi
- Jan 10 Adam Kennedy, American MLB second baseman (Los Angeles Dodgers, Anaheim Angels), born in Riverside, California
- Jan 11 Efthimios Rentzias, Greek basketball player, born in Trikala, Greece
- Jan 12 Miki Nakatani, Japanese actress and singer, born in Tokyo, Japan
- Jan 13 Michael Peña, American actor (Crash; End of Watch, American Hustle; César Chávez), born in Chicago, Illinois
- Jan 15 Corey Chavous, American football player, born in Aiken, South Carolina
- Jan 15 Dorian Missick, American actor, born in East Orange, New Jersey
- Jan 16 Viktor Maslov, Russian racing driver, born in Surgut, RSFSR, Soviet Union
- Jan 17 Aga Zaryan [Agnieszka Skrzypek], Polish jazz singer (A Book of Luminous Things), born in Warsaw, Poland
- Jan 18 Damien Leith, Irish-Australian singer-songwriter (Australian Idol, 2006), born in Dublin, Ireland
- Jan 19 Tarso Marques, Brazilian racing driver, born in Paraná, Brazil
Emma Bunton (48 years old)
Jan 21 British pop singer (Spice Girls - "Girl Power"), born in London, England
- Jan 22 Balthazar Getty, American actor (Young Guns 2, Lord of the Flies), born in Los Angeles, California
- Jan 22 James Dearth, American football player, born in Fort Ord National Monument, California
- Jan 23 Angelica Lee, Taiwanese actress and singer, born in Alor Setar, Malaysia
- Jan 23 Byron Hanspard, American NFL running back (Atlanta Falcons), born in Dallas, Texas
- Jan 23 Nigel McGuinness, English pro wrestler and broadcaster (ROH World Champion 2003-06; NXT UK), born in London, England
- Jan 24 Cindy Pieters, Belgian cyclist, born in Veurne, Belgium
- Jan 24 Shae-Lynn Bourne, Canadian pairs skater (Bourne & Kraatz, 1994 World Champs-4th), born in Chatham-Kent, Ontario
- Jan 26 Frankie Rayder, American model, born in River Falls, Wisconsin,
- Jan 26 Willie Adler, American rock guitar player (Lamb Of God), born in Richmond, Virginia
- Jan 27 Ahn Jung-Hwan, Korean football player
- Jan 27 Clint Ford, American voice actor
- Jan 27 Jeremy Hansen, Canadian astronaut (Artemis II), born in London, Ontario [1]
- Jan 27 Rhett Warrener, Shaunavon, NHL defenseman (Florida Panthers)
- Jan 27 Ruby Lin, Taiwanese actress (My Fair Princess), singer, and television producer, born in Taipei, Taiwan
- Jan 28 Emiko Kado, Japanese professional wrestler (d. 1999)
- Jan 28 Jarrod Montague, American rock drummer (Taproot), born in Linden, Michigan
- Jan 28 Lee Ingleby, British actor
- Jan 28 Mark Madsen, American basketball forward (NBA C'ship 2001, 02 LA Lakers) and coach (Uni of California Berkeley), born in Walnut Creek, California
- Jan 28 Miltiadis Sapanis, Greek footballer
- Jan 28 Rick Ross [William Leonard Roberts II] American rapper and songwriter (Port Of Miami; "Aston Martin Music"), born in Clarksdale, Mississippi
- Jan 29 Charles Divins, American model and actor, born in Dallas, Texas
- Jan 29 Ilmira Shamsutdinova, Russian-Soviet model, born in Saratov, Russia
- Jan 30 Andy Milonakis, American comedian and actor, born in Katonah, New York
- Jan 31 Buddy Rice, American auto racer (Indianapolis 500 2004, 24 Hours of Daytona 2009), born in Phoenix, Arizona
- Jan 31 Traianos Dellas, Greek football player, born in Thessaloniki, Greece
Famous Weddings
Pete Maravich
Jan 11 NBA player Pete Maravich (27) weds college sweetheart Jackie Elliser in Metairie, Louisiana, until his death in 1988
Sidney Poitier
Jan 23 Bahamian-American actor Sidney Poitier (48) weds Canadian actress Joanna Shimkus
Famous Deaths
- Jan 3 Mateusz Gliński, Polish conductor, musicologist (Scriabin, Chopin), composer, and pedagogue (Winsdor University), dies at 83
- Jan 3 Michael V. Love, American test pilot (X-24), dies in F-4 crash at 37
- Jan 4 Jan Cammans, Flemish actor (Brothers Karamazov), dies at 84
- Jan 5 Georges Migot, French composer, and poet (Les Agrestide; L'Arche), dies at 84
- Jan 5 John A. Costello, 3rd Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland, dies at 84
- Jan 5 Mal Evans, British Beatles roadie and personal assistant, dies in a confrontation with police at his Los Angeles home at 40
- Jan 6 Albert Rice Leventhal, American publisher (Little Golden Books), dies at 68
- Jan 8 Herman van der Horst, Dutch cinematographer (Faja Lobbi), dies at 75
- Jan 8 Robert Forgan, British fascist (b. 1891)
Zhou Enlai (1898-1976)
Jan 8 Premier of the People's Republic of China, dies of bladder cancer at 77
Agatha Christie (1890-1976)
Jan 12 English crime writer (Murder on the Orient Express, Mousetrap), dies at 85
- Jan 13 Margaret Leighton, British actress (The Go-Between, The Night of the Iguana), dies of multiple sclerosis at 53
- Jan 14 Abdul Razak bin Hussain, Malaysian politician, Prime Minister of Malaysia (1970-77), dies at 53
- Jan 17 Ad Verhoeven, soccer player (Xerxes/Sparta), dies in a car crash [or 1/18]
- Jan 18 Ad Verhoeven, Dutch soccer player (Xerxes/Sparta), dies in a car crash at 42 [or 1/17]
- Jan 18 Sonia Dresdel, actor (Fallen Idol, Secret Tent), dies at 67
- Jan 19 Hidetsugu Yagi, Japanese electrical engineer (b. 1886)
- Jan 19 Kevin Coughlin, American actor (T R Ryan-Mama), killed in a hit and run at 30
- Jan 23 Aleksey Vasilyevich Sorokin, Russian cosmonaut, dies at 44
- Jan 23 Paul Dupuis, French Canadian actor (The Fortress; Passport to Pimlico), dies at 62
Paul Robeson (1898-1976)
Jan 23 American stage and screen bass-baritone singer ("Old Man River"), actor, and civil rights activist, dies of stroke complications in Philadelphia at 77
- Jan 26 João Branco Núncio, Portuguese Bullfighter (b. 1901)
- Jan 28 Chris Kenner, American R&B singer-songwriter (I Like it Like That), dies at 46
- Jan 29 Jesse Fuller, American one-man blues band ("San Francisco Bay Blues"), dies of heart disease at 80
- Jan 29 Michael Gwynn, English actor (Dunkirk, Barabbas, Cleopatra), dies of a heart attack at 59
- Jan 30 Beau De Glen "Mance" Lipscomb, American blues singer and guitarist ("Shine On, Harvest Moon"), dies of a stroke at 80
- Jan 30 Percy Tyson "Plum" Lewis, South African cricketer (pair in only Test for South Africa), dies at 91
- Jan 31 Buster Brown, American blues singer and harmonica player (Fannie Mae), dies at 64
- Jan 31 Ernesto Miranda, American litigant, conviction on kidnapping, rape, and armed robbery charges, stabbed to death at 34
- Jan 31 Evert Axel Taube, Swedish ballad singer and composer, dies at 85
Baseball Players
Basketball Stars
Boxers
Footballers
NFL Stars
Tennis Champions