- Jan 1 14th Orange Bowl: #10 Georgia Tech beats #12 Kansas, 20-14
- Jan 1 14th Sugar Bowl: #5 Texas beats #6 Alabama, 27-7
- Jan 1 1st color newsreel filmed (Pasadena, California)
- Jan 1 34th Rose Bowl: #2 Michigan beats #8 Southern California, 49-0
- Jan 1 After partition, India declines to pay the agreed share of Rs.550 million in cash balances to Pakistan.
Bradman Century Against India
Jan 1 Australian cricket master batsman Don Bradman scores 132 on first day of 3rd Test v India; follows up with 127no in 2nd innings; Australia wins by 233
- Jan 1 General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade effective
- Jan 1 Orissa province accedes to India
- Jan 1 The Constitution of Italy comes into force
- Jan 1 Transport Act of 1947 comes into force in the United Kingdom, nationalizing the British rail system under the name British Railways
- Jan 2 WNDT (now WNET) TV channel 13 in New York-Newark, NY (PBS) begins
- Jan 3 Australian cricket batting maestro Don Bradman completes dual Test centuries (132 & 127* [26th Test 100]) in 3rd Test v India in Melbourne
- Jan 4 Burma declares independence from the United Kingdom
- Jan 7 Thomas Mantell, a pilot for the Kentucky Air National Guard, crashes while pursuing a supposed UFO
Marshall Plan Taxes
Jan 7 US President Harry Truman raises taxes for the Marshall Plan to assist in rebuilding Europe after WWII [1]
Death Sentence for Ans van Dijk
Jan 8 Queen Wilhelmina signs death sentence against Ans van Dijk for treason
Piston's 3rd Symphony
Jan 9 Walter Piston's 3rd Symphony in E, premieres in Boston by the Boston Symphony Orchestra; conducted by Serge Koussevitzky; wins 1947 Pulitzer Prize
- Jan 10 Harold Rome's musical "Call Me Mister", starring Betty Garrett closes at Plymouth Theater, NYC, after 734 performances
- Jan 10 J.B. Priestley's stage drama "An Inspector Calls" closes at the Booth Theatre, NYC, after 95 performances
- Jan 12 First Supermarket in the UK opens - the Co-op, the country’s first permanent self-service store, in East London’s Manor Park
Gandhi's Final Fast
Jan 12 Mahatma Gandhi begins his final fast
- Jan 12 US Supreme Court decision in Sipuel v Oklahoma State Board of Regents
- Jan 13 1st country music TV show, "Midwestern Hayride", premieres on WLW-T in Cincinnati, Ohio
"The Treasure of the Sierra Madre"
Jan 15 "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre", film based on B. Traven's novel, directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart premieres
- Jan 15 Richard Lewine, Hassard Short, and Arnold Horwitt's musical comedy revue "Make Mine Manhattan", featuring Broadway debut of Sid Caesar opens at Broadhurst Theater, NYC; runs for 429 performances
- Jan 16 35 Haganah members are ambushed & killed in Gush Etzyon
- Jan 17 Netherlands & Indonesia agree to a cease-fire
- Jan 17 Trial of 11 US Communist party members begins in NYC
- Jan 18 1st courses begin at University of Ibadan, Nigeria
- Jan 18 TV talent show "The Original Amateur Hour" hosted by Ted Mack premieres on the DuMont Television Network
- Jan 21 Three of the greats of cricket make their debut in a drawn 1st Test match at Bridgetown, Barbados; Sir Clyde Walcott and Sir Everton Weekes for the West Indies, and Jim Laker for England
- Jan 22 All time great England cricket spin bowler Jim Laker takes 7-103 in his first Test innings in 1st Test v West Indies in Bridgetown, Barbados
- Jan 23 Australian cricket captain Don Bradman scores 201 in 4th Test win v India in Adelaide; Sid Barnes 112 and Lindsay Hassett 198no in Australian total 674
- Jan 23 Test debut of Neil Harvey, v India at Adelaide
- Jan 24 Dutch Liberal Party forms - People's party for Freedom & Democracy (VVD)
- Jan 24 Henry Duffy's musical "Music in My Heart", based on life and work of Piotr Tchaikovsky, closes at Adelphi Theater, NYC, after 124 performances
Australian Men's Tennis Open
Jan 26 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: Adrian Quist wins his 3rd Australian title; beats fellow Australian and doubles partner John Bromwich 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
- Jan 26 Australian Championships Women's Tennis: Nancye Wynne Bolton beats Marie Toomey 6-3, 6-1 for 4th straight Australian single title
- Jan 27 1st locomotive to carry 1,000,000 pounds (450,000 kg) operates
- Jan 27 1st tape recorder sold
- Jan 28 A plane crash in the Diablo mountains kills 28 bracero farm workers being sent back to Mexico, inspiring Woodie Guthrie's song "Deportee"
Diamond's 4th Symphony
Jan 28 David Diamond's 4th Symphony, dedicated to Natalie Koussevitzky, premieres with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leonard Bernstein
Roxas Grants Amnesty
Jan 28 President Manuel Roxas granted full amnesty to all so-called Philippine collaborators
- Jan 29 Commissioner Happy Chandler fines the Yankees, Cubs and Phillies $500 each for signing high school players
"Look Ma, I'm Dancin'"
Jan 29 Hugh Martin's musical comedy "Look Ma, I'm Dancin'" starring Nancy Walker and choreographed by Jerome Robbins, opens at Adelphi Theater, NYC; runs for 188 performances
- Jan 29 Pakistan Socialist Party is founded
- Jan 30 Mahatma Gandhi assassinated in the garden of the New Delhi home he was visiting by Hindu extremist Nathuram Godse
- Jan 30 V Winter Olympic Games open in St Moritz, Switzerland
- Jan 31 An unprecedented 3-way tie for the silver medal in the 500m speed skating at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; Americans Robert Fitzgerald & Ken Bartholomew, and Thomas Byberg of Norway are equal on 43.2s; Finn Helgesen of Norway wins gold, 43.1s
"A Perfect Day for Banana Fish"
Jan 31 J. D. Salinger's short story "A Perfect Day for Banana Fish" appears in the New Yorker
- Jan 31 Magnetic tape recorder developed by Wireway
- Jan 31 Sweden sweeps the medals in the 18km cross country event at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; Martin Lundström takes gold ahead of countrymen Nils Östensson and Gunnar Eriksson
- Jan 31 Swiss pair Felix Endrich & Friedrich Waller beat countrymen Fritz Feierabend & Paul Eberhard to win the 2-man bobsleigh gold medal at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; silver medallist Feierabend is team coach
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