- Jan 2 Jose Antonio Remon, President of Panama (1952-55), assassinated at 46
- Jan 4 Dominicus Johner, German composer, dies at 80
- Jan 4 Francois Rasse, Belgian composer, dies at 81
- Jan 4 G. G. van der Hoeven, Dutch editor-in-chief (NRC newspaper), dies at 82
- Jan 4 Jan Derk Domela Nieuwenhuis Nyegaard, Dutch vicar (Young Flanders), dies at 84
- Jan 7 Arthur Keith, Scottish anthropologist (human evolution), dies at 88
- Jan 7 Gerald Hartigan, South African cricketer (batsman in 5 Tests 1911-14), dies at 70
- Jan 10 Charles Rist, French economist who opposed the Keynesian Revolution, dies at 79
- Jan 11 Rodolfo Graziani, Italian Marshal, fascist and Viceroy of Italian East Africa, dies at 72
- Jan 15 Yves Tanguy, French-American sailor/surrealistic painter, dies
- Jan 20 Robert P.T. Coffin, American poet ("Strange Holiness", Pulitzer Prize, 1936), writer, and editor (Yankee Magazine), dies of a heart attack at 62
- Jan 21 Archie Hahn, American athlete (Olympic gold 60m, 100m, 200m 1904), dies at 74
- Jan 21 Maarten Pleun Vrij, Dutch lawyer, criminology professor (University of Groningen, 1928-47), and jurist (Supreme Court Justice, 1947-55), dies at 59
- Jan 24 Ira Hayes, American World War II hero (b. 1923)
- Jan 27 Ernst Penzoldt, German writer and artist, dies at 62
- Jan 29 Hans Hedtoft, 14th Prime Minister of Denmark (1947-50, 53-55), dies at 51
- Jan 31 John Mott, American theologist and founder (YMCA, Nobel 1946), dies at 89
Assassination
Car Crash
Hanging
Killed in Action
Plane Crash
Poisoning