Historical Events
Events 1 - 100 of 104
Czechs Defeat Australia
Jan 1 1st Hopman Cup Tennis, Perth: Helena Suková & Miloslav Mečíř win inaugural event for Czechoslovakia; beat Australian pair Hana Mandlíková & Pat Cash 6-2, 6-4 for 2-0 victory
- Jan 1 NYC transit fare rises from $1.00 to $1.15
- Jan 1 Year of the Young Reader begins
- Jan 2 "Superwoman" single released by Karyn White (Billboard Song of the Year 1989)
- Jan 2 18th Fiesta Bowl: #1 Notre Dame beats #3 West Virginia, 34-21 for the national title
- Jan 2 55th Orange Bowl: #2 Miami (FL) beats #6 Nebraska, 23-3
- Jan 2 55th Sugar Bowl: #4 Florida State beats #7 Auburn, 13-7
- Jan 2 75th Rose Bowl: #11 Michigan beats #5 Southern California, 22-14
- Jan 2 UCLA beats Arkansas Razorbacks, 17-3 to win the Cotton Bowl Classic in Dallas; record 7th consecutive football bowl game victory for the Bruins
- Jan 3 Russian newspaper Izvestia gets its 1st commercial advertisement
- Jan 4 Comet Tempel 1 at perihelion
Bush Declared President
Jan 4 George H. W. Bush is 1st sitting Vice President since Millard Filmore (in 1850) to declare himself President of the United States
- Jan 4 US F-14s shoot down 2 Libyan jet fighters over Mediterranean
- Jan 5 2 French TV newsmen arrested for trying to plant fake bombs on 3 airlines at JFK airport in security test
- Jan 5 Baseball signs $400M with ESPN, showing 175 games in 1990
- Jan 7 Cleveland Cavaliers block 21 NY Knicks shots tying NBA regulation game record
- Jan 7 International Conference on Limitation of Chemical Weapons opens in Paris
- Jan 7 NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers then longest winning streak (11 games)
- Jan 8 "42nd Street" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 3,486 performances
- Jan 8 "Starlight Express" closes at Gershwin Theater in NYC after 761 performances
- Jan 8 AFC Championship, Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati: Cincinnati Bengals beat Buffalo Bills, 21-10
- Jan 8 Beginning of Japanese Heisei era.
- Jan 8 Boeing 737-400 crashes at Kegworth, England, 46 die
- Jan 8 NFC Championship, Soldier Field, Chicago: San Francisco 49ers beat Chicago Bears, 28-3
- Jan 8 Soviet Union promises to eliminate stockpiles of chemical weapons
Bench and Yastrzemski Elected
Jan 9 Johnny Bench & Carl Yastrzemski elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
Gretzky Leading Scorer
Jan 10 LA Kings center Wayne Gretzky becomes NHL’s all-time leading scorer in combined regular season & playoff points; 4 assists in 5-4 home win over Edmonton brings his total to 2,011, 1 more than Gordie Howe
- Jan 11 140 nations agree to ban chemical weapons (poison gas, etc)
- Jan 11 Denver Nuggets' rookie Jerome Lane misses 7 free throws in a game against Milwaukee, one missed by 2 feet
- Jan 11 Kindergarten student caught with loaded handgun at Bronx school
- Jan 12 6 claim to survive in rubble, 35 days after Armenian quake (hoax)
- Jan 13 "Ryan's Hope" ends 13½ year run on ABC-TV
"A Bit of Fry and Laurie"
Jan 13 British comedy sketch show series "A Bit of Fry and Laurie" starring Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie debuts on BBC1
- Jan 13 Computers across Britain hit by "Friday the 13th"/Jerusalem virus
- Jan 13 Jerry Parks, Oklahoma defensive back, charged with shooting a teammate
- Jan 13 Ruins of Mashkan-shapir (occupied 2050-1720 BC) found in Iraq
- Jan 13 Subway vigilante Bernhard Goetz begins 1-year jail sentence
- Jan 14 "Romance/Romance" closes at Helen Hayes Theater NYC after 297 performances
"Satanic Verses" Burnt
Jan 14 1,000 muslims burn Salman Rushdies' "Satanic Verses" in Bradford, England
- Jan 14 29-year-old French woman gives birth to sextuplets in Paris
- Jan 14 Former Belgian premier Paul Vanden Boeynants kidnapped
- Jan 15 10th ACE Cable Awards: HBO wins the Golden CableACE for "Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam"
- Jan 15 Big John Studd wins WWF's 2nd Royal Rumble
- Jan 15 Cerebral Palsy telethon raises $22.6 million
"Ain't Misbehavin'"
Jan 15 Revival of musical revue "Ain't Misbehavin'", highlighting songs of Fats Waller, closes at Ambassador Theater NYC after 176 performances
- Jan 16 5th Soap Opera Digest Awards - Days of Our Lives wins
- Jan 16 USSR announces plan for 2-yr manned mission to Mars
- Jan 17 Gunman opens fire in California schoolyard; 5 students slain, 30 wounded
- Jan 17 Murden & Metz are 1st women to reach South Pole overland (on skis)
- Jan 17 Phoenix Suns cancel game at Miami Heat, due to racial unrest in Miami
4th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Jan 18 4th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: Dion; Otis Redding; The Rolling Stones; The Temptations; Stevie Wonder; The Ink Spots; Bessie Smith; The Soul Stirrers; and Phil Spector
- Jan 18 Astronomers discover pulsar in remnants of Supernova 1987A (LMC)
- Jan 18 IBM announces earnings up 10.4% in 1988
- Jan 18 West Indies beat Australia in a rain-affected 3rd final in Sydney to win cricket's World Series Cup Tri-Series, 2-1; match reduced to 18 overs
Reagan Pardons Steinbrenner
Jan 19 US President Ronald Reagan pardons NY Yankees owner George Steinbrenner for supplying illegal funds for Nixon's re-election campaign
- Jan 20 George H. W. Bush inaugurated as 41st US President, Dan Quayle becomes 44th Vice President
Lemieux's 50 Goals
Jan 20 Pittsburgh center Mario Lemieux becomes just the 2nd player in NHL history to score 50 goals in less than 50 games; #50 in 44th game as the Penguins lose 7-3 to the Jets in Winnipeg
- Jan 21 A woman is assaulted and raped in room of an Oklahoma football player
- Jan 21 Wayne Gretzky passes Marcel Dionne to become NHL's 2nd all time scorer
Bill Walsh Retires
Jan 22 After winning his third Super Bowl as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, Bill Walsh retires
Super Bowl XXIII
Jan 22 Super Bowl XXIII, Joe Robbie Stadium, Miami, FL: San Francisco 49ers beat Cincinnati Bengals, 20-16; MVP: Jerry Rice, SF, WR
- Jan 22 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- Jan 23 100s feared dead after a powerful earthquake strikes the Soviet Central Asian republic of Tajikistan
- Jan 23 Challenge to "who is a Jew" law filed in Israeli Supreme Court
- Jan 23 NBA New Jersey Nets begin a 32+ game road losing streak
- Jan 24 1st reported case of AIDS transmitted by heterosexual oral sex
- Jan 25 Augusto Alcalde, 1st South American Zen teacher, receives Dharma Transmission
- Jan 25 Mario Lemieux scores a goal and 3 assists in Penguins' 5-4 win over Winnipeg in Pittsburgh; sets NHL record by picking up a point in 14 consecutive games; record stands for 10 years
Jordan's 10,000th Point
Jan 25 Michael Jordan scores his 10,000th NBA point in his 5th season
- Jan 25 NY Yankees owner George Steinbrenner meets with Pope John Paul II
- Jan 26 "Black & Blue" opens at Minskoff Theater NYC for 829 performances
Border's 7-46
Jan 26 Allan Border takes 7-46 against the West Indies at the SCG
- Jan 26 AT&T reports 1st loss in 103 years; $1.67 B in 1988
- Jan 26 Madison Square Garden announces 2-year $100m renovation plan
- Jan 26 Test debut of Mark Taylor, Australia v West Indies, Sydney
- Jan 26 US computer security expert warns of catastrophic virus
Yzerman Records 100 Points
Jan 27 Detroit Red Wings center Steve Yzerman becomes the 4th NHL player to record 100 points in 50 games or less with a goal and 2 assists as Red Wings beat Toronto, 8-1
- Jan 27 German war criminals Fischer & Aus der Funten freed
- Jan 27 Kevin Johnson (Phoenix) begins NBA free throw streak of 57 games
- Jan 27 Oklahoma linebacker Mark VanKeirsblilck assaults an Oklahoma grad student
46th Golden Globes
Jan 28 46th Golden Globes: "Rain Man", Dustin Hoffman, & Jodie Foster win
Graf's 6th Grand Slam
Jan 28 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Steffi Graf of Germany beats Czech Helena Suková 6-4, 6-4 for her 6th career Grand Slam title and her 2nd Australian singles crown
Boon Scores 149
Jan 28 David Boon completes 7th Test century, 149 v WI at SCG
- Jan 29 5th Sundance Film Festival: "True Love" wins Grand Jury Prize Dramatic
Lendl Defeats Mecii
Jan 29 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Ivan Lendl wins his first Australian title; beats fellow Czech Miloslav Mecii 6-2, 6-2, 6-2
- Jan 29 Cleveland's Chris Dudley misses 5 free throws during 1 foul attempt
- Jan 29 Dow jumps 38.06 recoups 508-pt loss since Oct 1987; index at 2,256.43
- Jan 29 Episcopal Church of the United States, Diocese of Massachusetts elects Barbara Harris as its first female bishop
RBI Dropped
Jan 29 Game-winning RBI, official statistic dropped after 9 years of use NY Mets Keith Hernandez is the all-time leader with 129
- Jan 29 L I preacher Gene Profeta pleads guilty to tax-evasion
- Jan 29 NFL Pro Bowl, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI: NFC beats AFC, 34-3; MVP: Randall Cunningham, Philadelphia Eagles, QB
- Jan 29 Orlando Arena opens in Orlando, Florida
- Jan 29 USSR's Phobos II enters Martian orbit
16th American Music Awards
Jan 30 16th American Music Awards: Randy Travis and George Michael win
- Jan 30 American Olympic diving silver medallist Bruce Kimball, is sentenced to 17 years in prison for killing 2 teenagers in a drunk driving accident; serves 4 years
Famous Birthdays
- Jan 1 Jason Pierre-Paul, American NFL linebacker (Pro Bowl 2011-12; Super Bowl 2011, New York Giants), born in Deerfield Beach, Florida
- Jan 3 Alex D. Linz, American actor, born in Santa Barbara, California
- Jan 3 Anya Rozova [Anya Kop], Russian American model and America's Next Top Model contestant, born in Leningrad, USSR
- Jan 3 Ben Matulino, New Zealand rugby league forward (23 caps; NZ Warriors, Wests Tigers), born in Wellington, New Zealand
- Jan 3 Kōhei Uchimura, Japanese gymnast (Olympic gold all-round 2012; team, all-round 2016; World C'ships 10 x gold), born in Kitakyushu, Japan
- Jan 4 Graham Rahal, American race car driver, born in Columbus, Ohio
Labrinth [Timothy Lee McKenzie] (35 years old)
Jan 4 British record producer, rapper, and singer-songwriter (Beneath Your Beautiful; Jealous), born in London, England
![Labrinth [Timothy Lee McKenzie]](/images/people/labrinth-timothy-lee-mckenzie.jpg?w=200)
- Jan 4 Waxahatchee [Katie Crutchfield], American folk-rock singer-songwriter, born in Birmingham, Alabama
- Jan 5 Krisztián Németh, Hungarian soccer striker (37 caps; MTK Budapest, Roda JC, Sporting Kansas City), born in Győr, Hungary
- Jan 6 Baby lion-tailed macaques, at Woodland Park Zoo (Seattle, Washington)
- Jan 7 Emiliano Insúa, Argentine footballer, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Jan 9 Michaella Krajicek, Dutch tennis player, born in Delft, Netherlands
- Jan 9 Nina Dobrev [Dobreva], Bulgarian-Canadian actress (The Vampire Diaries; DeGrassi: The Next Generation), born in Sofia, Bulgaria
- Jan 13 Triinu Kivilaan, Estonian model, pop-rock singer and bassist (Vanilla Ninja, 2004-05 & 2020-22), born in Viljandi, Estonia
- Jan 14 29-year-old Marie Claude Adam gives birth to sextuplets by Caesarean section in Port Royale, France
- Jan 15 Celinde Schoenmaker, Dutch stage singer and actress, born in Dordrecht, South Holland, Netherlands
Nick Foles (35 years old)
Jan 20 American NFL quarterback (Super Bowl LII MVP), born in Austin, Texas
Yani Tseng (35 years old)
Jan 23 Taiwanese golfer (5 major titles; British Open 2010-11), born in Guishan, Republic of China
Famous Weddings
Leonard Nimoy
Jan 1 American actor and director Leonard Nimoy (57) weds American actress Susan Bay (45), until his death
Greg Maddux
Jan 7 MLB pitcher Greg Maddux (22) weds Kathy Ronnow
Lorenzo Lamas
Jan 21 "Falcon Crest" actor Lorenzo Lamas (31) weds actress Kathleen Kinmont (23) at the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas
Famous Deaths
- Jan 3 Eddie Heywood, American jazz pianist and composer ("Canadian Sunset", "Soft Summer Breeze"), dies of complications from Parkinson's disease at 73 [1]
- Jan 3 Nick Virgilio, American Haiku poet, dies at 60
- Jan 3 Sergei Lvovich Sobolev, Russian mathematician (b. 1909)
- Jan 5 Philip Herschkowitz, Romanian composer, dies at 82
Hirohito (1901-1989)
Jan 7 124th Emperor of Japan (1926-89), dies at 87 after a 62-year reign
- Jan 8 Johnny Jordaan [Johannes van Musscher], Dutch pop and levenslied singer, dies at 64
- Jan 8 Kenneth McMillan, American actor (Malone, Concrete Beat), dies of liver disease at 56
Bill Terry (1898-1989)
Jan 9 American Baseball HOF first baseman (MLB All-Star 1933–35; World Series 1933; NL batting champion 1930; NY Giants) and manager (NY Giants 1932-41), dies at 90
- Jan 10 Colin Winchester, Australian Assistant Police Commissioner, murdered (b. 1933)
- Jan 10 Donald Voorhees, American conductor (Bell Telephone Hour), dies at 85
- Jan 10 Herbert Morrison, American radio reporter (b. 1905)
- Jan 13 Joe Spinell, actor (Maniac, Star Crash, Strike Force), dies at 51
- Jan 14 George Kilpatrick, Canadian-British bible scholar (University of Oxford), dies at 78
- Jan 15 Wilf Slack, English cricketer, dies while playing cricket in Gambia at 34
- Jan 16 Pierre Boileau, French screenwriter (Vertigo), dies at 82
- Jan 16 Romo Vincent, actor (Naked Jungle), dies
- Jan 16 Trey Wilson, actor (Bull Durham, Twins, Raising Arizona), dies
- Jan 17 Alfredo Zitarrosa, Uruguayan folk and milonga singer-songwriter ("Recordándote"), poet, and journalist, dies at 52
- Jan 17 Sterling A Brown, American poet/critic (Southern Road), dies at 87
- Jan 18 Bruce Chatwin, British travel writer and novelist (In Patagonia, On a Black Hill), dies of AIDS at 49
- Jan 19 Norma Varden, English-American actress (Loose in London), dies at 90
- Jan 20 Alamgir Kabir, Bangladeshi film director (b. 1938)
- Jan 20 Beatrice Lillie, actress (Thoroughly Modern Millie), dies at 94
- Jan 20 Halsey Stevens, American composer (Triskelion), dies at 80
- Jan 21 Billy Tipton [Dorothy Tipton], American jazz pianist, saxophone player, and bandleader, dies from an untreated hemorrhaging peptic ulcer at 74 [1] [2]
- Jan 21 Carl Furillo, American baseball outfielder (NL Batting Champ 1953; MLB All-Star 1952, 53; World Series 1955, 59; Brooklyn/LA Dodgers), dies from leukemia at 66
- Jan 22 Willie Wells, American Baseball HOF shortstop (10 NgL All Star; 2 × Cuban League MVP; Chicago American Giants, Newark Eagles), dies at 82
Salvador Dali (1904-1989)
Jan 23 Spanish surrealist artist (Crucifixion), dies of heart failure at 84
- Jan 24 George Knudson, Canadian golfer (8 PGA Tour titles; Masters 1969 runner-up), dies of lung cancer at 51
Ted Bundy (1946-1989)
Jan 24 American serial killer of up to 100 women during the 1970s, executed by electric chair in Florida at 42
- Jan 26 Morton DaCosta, American film and theatre director (Island of Love; The Music Man), dies at 74
- Jan 27 Bayani Casimiro, Filipino dancer and actor [Okey Ka Fairy Ko!], dies at 70
- Jan 27 Thomas Sopwith, British aviation pioneer (b. 1888)
- Jan 29 Halina Konopacka, Polish discus thrower (Olympic gold 1928), dies at 88
- Jan 30 Ruth Shaw Wylie, American composer (Spring Madness; Psychogram; Nova), and educator (Wayne State University, 1949-69), dies at 72
- Jan 31 Jack Douglas, English comedian (My Brother Was an Only Child), dies at 80
- Jan 31 Yasushi Akutagawa, Japanese composer (Orpheus of Hiroshima, Ellora Symphony), dies at 63
