- Jan 1 20th Rose Bowl: Columbia beats Stanford, 7-0
- Jan 1 Alcatraz officially becomes a federal prison
- Jan 1 Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (US bank guarantor) effective
- Jan 1 International Telecommunication Union established
- Jan 1 Nazi Germany passes the "Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring".
- Jan 2 1st state liquor stores open, in Pennsylvania
- Jan 4 1st Dutch talkie movie, Jan Teunissen's "Willem of Orange" premieres
- Jan 5 Boston's Fenway Park catches fire for 2nd time (May 8th 1926 also)
- Jan 5 National & American baseball leagues select a uniform ball
- Jan 7 "Flash Gordon" comic strip created and drawn by Alex Raymond debuts
- Jan 8 Jaap Speyers "Bluejackets" premieres in Amsterdam
- Jan 13 The Candidate of Science degree is established in the USSR
- Jan 15 8.4 earthquake in India/Nepal, 10,700 die
Dillinger Survives Bank Robbery
Jan 15 While robbing the First National Bank in East Chicago, Indianapolis, John Dillinger is shot several times by officer William O'Malley, but survives because he is wearing a bullet proof vest.
- Jan 17 Electric Home & Farm Authority incorporated
Carl Hubbell's $18,000 Contract
Jan 17 NY Giants reward NL MVP pitcher Carl Hubbell with a huge $18,000 contract
"Days Without End"
Jan 18 Eugene O'Neill's play "Days Without End" premieres in NYC
Jackson's Appeal Denied
Jan 19 MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis denies Joe Jackson's appeal for reinstatement into baseball; Jackson was banned after 1919 "Black Sox" World Series
- Jan 20 Japan sends Henry Pu Yi as regent to emperor of Manchuria
- Jan 21 Parisian baker and "student of medieval life" Henri Littière appears in court charged with forcing his adulterous wife Juliette to wear a chastity belt. Having committed the same offence in 1932, he was sentenced to three months in prison and fined 50 francs for cruelty to his wife
Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District
Jan 22 Dmitri Shostakovich's opera "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District" debuts in Leningrad
- Jan 23 New York Rangers' left wing Murray Murdoch plays his 400th straight NHL game in a 5-2 win over Ottawa Senators at Madison Square Garden, NYC; streak reaches 508 consecutive games
- Jan 24 Dmitri Shostakovich's opera "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District" is performed in Moscow; roundly criticized by the Communist Party and banned in the Soviet Union until 1961
Bradman's 128 in 96 Minutes
Jan 26 Australian cricket batting icon Don Bradman scores 128 in just 96 minutes for NSW v Victoria in Sydney; smashes 17 x fours, 4 x sixes
- Jan 26 Nazi Germany & Poland sign 10-year non-aggression treaty
- Jan 26 The Apollo Theater reopens in Harlem, New York City.
Perry Beats Crawford
Jan 27 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: Englishman Fred Perry wins his only Australian title; beats Jack Crawford of Australia 6-3, 7-5, 6-1
- Jan 27 Australian Championships Women's Tennis, Sydney: Joan Hartigan Bathurst retains title; beats Margaret Molesworth 6-1, 6-4
- Jan 27 French government of Chautemps falls (Stavisky Affair)
- Jan 27 VARA refuses to hire after commemoration of Marinus Van de Lubbe
- Jan 28 1st US ski tow (rope) begins operation (Woodstock, Vermont)
- Jan 30 1st theatrical presentation sponsored by US government, NYC
Hitler on German Unified States
Jan 30 Adolf Hitler's proclamation on German unified states
- Jan 30 Former Australian cricket spin bowler Bert Ironmonger ends Sheffield Shield career age 51 years 298 days as Victoria draws with NSW at the Sydney Cricket Ground
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