- Jan 1 26th Rose Bowl: #3 Southern California beats #2 Tennessee, 14-0
- Jan 1 6th Orange Bowl: #16 Georgia Tech beats #6 Missouri, 21-7
- Jan 1 6th Sugar Bowl: #1 Texas A&M beats #5 Tulane, 14-13
- Jan 3 WPG-AM in Atlantic City NJ consolidates with WBIL & WOV as "new" WOV
- Jan 5 FCC hears the 1st transmission of FM radio with clear, static-free signal
- Jan 5 Finnish offensive at Suomossalmi against Russia
- Jan 6 Mass execution of Poles, committed by Germans in the city of Poznań, Warthegau.
- Jan 7 Winter War: The Finish 9th Division defeats the Soviet forces on the Raate-Suomussalmi road despite being significantly outnumbered
- Jan 8 Britain's 1st WW II rationing (bacon, butter & sugar)
- Jan 9 2 German officers make emergency landing in Belgium
- Jan 9 James Thurber and Elliott Nugent's stage comedy "The Male Animal" opens at the Cort Theater. NYC; runs for 243 performances
Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet
Jan 11 Sergei Prokofiev's ballet "Romeo & Juliet" premieres in Leningrad
Free Agency to Tigers Players
Jan 14 MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis gives free agency to 91 Detroit Tigers minor league players
"You Nazty Spy!"
Jan 19 The Three Stooges film "You Nazty Spy!" about the Nazis released with the disclaimer "Any resemblance between the characters in this picture and any persons, living or dead, is a miracle."
The Grapes of Wrath
Jan 24 "The Grapes of Wrath", directed by John Ford and based on John Steinbeck's novel of the same name, starring Henry Fonda and Jane Darwell, is released
- Jan 25 Nazi decrees establishment of Jewish ghetto in Lodz Poland
- Jan 26 Nazis forbid Polish Jews to travel on trains
- Jan 27 -17°F (-27°C), CCC Camp F-16, Georgia (state record)
- Jan 28 Chicago's Les Cunningham scores 5 points in one period to set an NHL record that stands until 1978; records 2 goals & 3 assists in a 10:04 span during the 3d period of an 8-1 win over Montreal
Quist Defeats Crawford
Jan 29 Australian Championships men's Tennis: Australian Adrian Quist beats countryman Jack Crawford 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 for his 2nd Australian title
- Jan 29 Australian Championships Women's Tennis: Nancye Wynne Bolton wins her 2nd Australian singles titles; beats Thelma Coyne 5-7, 6-4, 6-0
Les Illuminations
Jan 30 Benjamin Britten's song cycle "Les Illuminations" premieres at Aeolian Hall, London, England with soprano Sophie Wyss and the Boyd Neel Orchestra
- Jan 30 Cor Jongert wins 6th Dutch 11 Cities Skating Race
- Jan 30 Hassett's second 122 of the game for Vic can't stop a NSW win
- Jan 31 C Turney & J Horwin's "My Dear Children" premieres in NYC
Authors
Dictators
Explorers
Outlaws
Queens
Spies