- Jan 1 Chiune Sugihara, Japanese diplomat (Vice-consul for the Japanese Empire in Lithuania, 1939-41), who issued thousands of travel visas to imperiled Jews, born in Kozuchi Town, Empire of Japan (d. 1986)
- Jan 1 Hubert van Doorne, Dutch auto manufacturer (DAF Trucks), born in America, Dutch Limburg, Netherlands (d. 1979)
- Jan 1 Xavier Cugat, Spanish American bandleader (married Abbe Lane, and Charo), born in Girona, Catalonia (d. 1990)
- Jan 2 William Haines, American actor (Fast Life, Little Annie Rooney), born in Staunton, Virginia (d. 1973)
- Jan 3 Dorothy Arnzer, American pioneering Hollywood film director (1st woman to direct a sound film), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1979)
- Jan 3 Maurice Jaubert, French composer, born in Nice, France (d. 1940)
- Jan 4 James Bond, American ornithologist (d. 1989)
- Jan 5 Paula Ludwig, Austrian-German poet, born in Vorarlberg, Austria (d. 1974)
- Jan 5 Yves Tanguy, French surrealist painter, born in Paris, France (d. 1955)
- Jan 6 Pierre-Octave Ferroud, French composer (Sarabande, Jeunesse), born in Chasselay, Rhône, France (d. 1936)
- Jan 6 Queen Maria of Yugoslavia [Maria of Romania], Queen consort of Yugoslavia (1922-34), born in Gotha, German Empire (d. 1961)
- Jan 7 John Brownlee, Australian operatic baritone (Metropolitan Opera, 1937-57), born in Geelong, Victoria (d. 1969)
- Jan 8 Serge Poliakoff, Russian-French modernist-abstract painter, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1969)
- Jan 9 Joseph Frederick Wagner, American conductor and composer, born in Springfield, Massachusetts (d. 1974)
- Jan 9 Richard Halliburton, American adventurer (presumed dead 1939), born in Brownsville, Tennessee (d. 1939)
- Jan 11 Wilbur De Paris, American swing and Dixieland jazz trombone player, born in Crawfordsville, Indiana (d. 1973)
- Jan 12 Vaino Hannikainen, Finnish composer, born in Jyväskylä, Finland (d. 1960)
- Jan 13 Yasuji Kiyose, Japanese composer, born in Yokkaichi, Oita Prefecture, Japan (d. 1981)
- Jan 15 Caesar Domela, Dutch painter (Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis son), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1992)
- Jan 16 Edith Frank, mother of Holocaust diarist Anne Frank, born in Aachen, Germany (d. 1945)
- Jan 17 George Sperti, American inventor (Preparation H), born in Covington, Kentucky (d. 1991)
- Jan 17 Olga Maria Nicolis di Robilant, Portuguese patron of the arts, born in Turin, Italy (d. 1996)
- Jan 20 Boris Semyonovich Shekhter, Russian composer, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1961)
- Jan 20 Colin Clive, British actor (Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Mad Love), born in St Malo, France (d. 1937)
- Jan 20 Doris Deane [Dibble], American silent film actress (Stupid, But Brave), born in Wisconsin (d. 1974)
- Jan 22 Franz Salmhofer, Austrian conductor (Vienna State Opera, 1945-54), and composer (mostly of ballet and opera), born in Vienna (d. 1975)
- Jan 22 Juan Tizol, Puerto Rican jazz trombonist (Duke Ellington), and composer ("Caravan"; "Perdido"), born in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico (d. 1984)
- Jan 23 Mary Philips, American actress (Farewell to Arms, Incendiary Blonde), born in New London, Connecticut (d. 1975)
- Jan 23 Ralph Graves, American actor (Dirigible, Extra Girl, Flight, Dream Street), born in Cleveland, Ohio (d. 1977)
- Jan 23 William Ifor Jones, Welsh conductor and organist, born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales (d. 1988)
- Jan 25 Donalee Tabern, American scientist and inventor of Pentothal - world's most widely used anesthetic, born in Bowling Green, Ohio (d. 1974) [1]
- Jan 25 Mildred Dunnock, American actress (Baby Doll, Nun's Story), born in Baltimore, Maryland (d. 1991)
- Jan 25 Theodosius Dobzhansky, Russian-American genetist, evolutionary biologist and author (Mankind Evolving), born in Nemyriv, Russian Empire (d. 1975)
- Jan 25 Yojiro Ishizaka, Japanese writer, born in Hirosaki, Japan (d. 1986)
- Jan 26 Karl Ristenpart, German conductor, born in Kiel, Germany (d. 1967)
- Jan 27 Hyman G. Rickover, US Admiral (father of modern nuclear navy, at 63 years the longest serving US naval officer), born in Maków Mazowiecki, Congress Poland (d. 1986)
- Jan 28 A. A. M. Stols, Dutch publisher (History of Ecuador), born in Maastricht, Netherlands (d. 1973)
- Jan 28 Alice Neel, American artist (d. 1984)
- Jan 28 Hermann Kesten, German writer (Allert de Lange), born in Pidvolochysk, Austro-Hungarian Empire (d. 1996)
- Jan 28 Michael Head, British organist, pianist, and composer, born in Eastbourne, England (d. 1976)
- Jan 29 Marco Tajcevic, Serbian composer, born in Osijek, Austria-Hungry (d. 1984)
- Jan 29 Willem Hussem, Dutch painter and poet (Coastline, Lookout on Sea), born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 1974)
- Jan 30 Isaak Iosifovich Dunayevsky, Soviet operetta & film composer, born in Lokhvitsa, Russian Empire (d. 1955)
- Jan 30 Martita Hunt, Argentine-born English actress (Man in Grey, Great Expectations), born in Buenos Aires (d. 1969)
- Jan 30 Sandy Powell, English comedian, born in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England (d. 1982)
- Jan 31 Betty Parsons, American artist and art dealer, born in New York City (d. 1982)
About January 1900
How Old? 124 years old
Generation: Lost Generation
Leap Year: No
20-29
30-39
40-49
50-59
80-89
Over 90