- Jan 1 19th Orange Bowl: #9 Alabama beats #14 Syracuse, 61-6
- Jan 1 19th Sugar Bowl: #2 Georgia Tech beats #7 Mississippi, 24-7
- Jan 1 39th Rose Bowl: #5 Southern California beats #11 Wisconsin, 7-0
"Suite Hebraique"
Jan 1 Ernest Blochs's work for viola and piano "Suite Hebraique,", part of his "Jewish Cycle", premieres in Chicago
- Jan 1 The Bantu Education Act (later renamed the Black Education Act) commenced, providing the legal underpinning of several aspects of the apartheid system, most importantly in education
- Jan 1 The first TV detector van, used to track down users of unlicensed television sets, begins operation in the UK
- Jan 1 WBRE TV channel 28 in Wilkes-Barre Scranton, PA (NBC) 1st broadcast
- Jan 2 NBA Baltimore Bullets begin a record 32 game road losing streak (12 games in 1952-53; 20 games in 1953-54) with a 73-66 defeat at the Indianapolis Olympians
- Jan 3 Frances Bolton and her son, Oliver become the first mother and son to serve simultaneously in the U.S. Congress, both representing Ohio
- Jan 4 KTSM TV channel 9 in El Paso, TX (NBC) begins broadcasting
"Waiting for Godot"
Jan 5 Samuel Beckett's French-language play "En Attendant Godot (Waiting for Godot)" premieres in Paris
- Jan 6 Dutch passenger ships Willem Ruys and Oranje collide in the Red Sea near Port Sudan, seriously damaging both vessels without injuring the 1,750 passengers
- Jan 6 The first Asian Socialist Conference opens in Burma
- Jan 6 WKBN TV channel 27 in Youngstown, Ohio (CBS) begins broadcasting - without sound, until January 11 [1]
Truman Announces Hydrogen Bomb
Jan 7 US President Harry Truman announces American development of the hydrogen bomb
- Jan 8 Indians bar night games with Browns (who refuse to share TV receipts)
- Jan 8 René Mayer forms French government
- Jan 9 Korean ferryboat "Chang Tyong-Ho" sank off Pusan killing 249
- Jan 10 "My Darlin' Aida" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 89 performances
- Jan 10 3rd NFL Pro Bowl, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum: National Conference beats American Conference, 27-7; MVP: Don Doll, Detroit Lions, DB
MacLeish Wins Bollingen Prize
Jan 10 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Archibald MacLeish
My Darlin' Aida
Jan 10 Charles Friedman and Giuseppe Verdi's musical '"My Darlin' Aida", an adaptation of Verdi's opera "Aida" closes at Winter Garden Theater, NYC, after for 89 performances
Hoover Declines Offer
Jan 11 J. Edgar Hoover declines 6 figure offer to become president of International Boxing Club
- Jan 12 9 "Jewish" physicians arrested for "terrorist activities" in Moscow
3rd NBA All-Star Game
Jan 13 3rd NBA All-Star Game, Allen County Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana: West beats East, 79-75; MVP: George Mikan, Minneapolis Lakers, C
- Jan 13 Gas explosion in Belgium coal mine kills 14
- Jan 13 KOLD TV channel 13 in Tucson, AZ (CBS) begins broadcasting
- Jan 14 Vaughan William's "Sinfonia Antartica" premieres in Manchester
- Jan 14 WALA TV channel 10 in Mobile, AL (NBC) begins broadcasting
- Jan 14 Yugoslavia elects its 1st president, Marshal Tito
- Jan 15 16 car Federal Express train loses brakes & crashes in Washington, D.C. station
- Jan 15 East Germany's first Minister of Foreign Affairs, Georg Dertingen arrested for "espionage", beginning a purge of senior officials, accused of spying for 'imperialistic powers' and plotting against the state
- Jan 16 Egyptian Premier General Naguib disbands all political parties
- Jan 16 KXLY TV channel 4 in Spokane, Washington (ABC/CBS) begins broadcasting
Rosewall Defeats Rose
Jan 17 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: In an all-Australian final Ken Rosewall wins his first Grand Slam title; beats Mervyn Rose 6-0, 6-3, 6-4
Connolly Defeats Sampson
Jan 17 Australian Championships Women's Tennis: In an all-American final Maureen Connolly wins 1st leg of her Grand Slam; beats Julia Sampson 6-3, 6-2
Owens Athletic Commission Secretary
Jan 19 American track and field olympian Jesse Owens named Illinois Athletic Commission secretary
1st Live Inauguration
Jan 20 1st live US coast-to-coast inauguration address (Eisenhower)
- Jan 20 1st US telecast transmitted to Canada from Buffalo, New York
Dulles US Secretary of State
Jan 21 John Foster Dulles appointed as US Secretary of State
- Jan 22 1953 NFL Draft: Harry Babcock from University of Georgia first pick by San Francisco 49ers
The Crucible
Jan 22 Arthur Miller's play "The Crucible" premieres at the Martin Beck Theater on Broadway in NYC (1953 Tony for Best Play)
- Jan 23 Future Australian cricket captain and coach Bobby Simpson makes his 1st-class debut for NSW at 16 years and 357 days
- Jan 23 NFL Dallas Texans become Baltimore Colts (now Indianapolis Colts)
- Jan 23 NFL's National & American conference become Eastern & Western conference
- Jan 25 WABI TV channel 5 in Bangor, ME (CBS) begins broadcasting
- Jan 25 Yuri Sergejev skates world record 500m in 40.9 sec
- Jan 27 Netherlands end Marshall aid
- Jan 28 19-year old Derek Bentley is hanged in Wandsworth Prison, London, controversially convicted of the murder of a police officer. He was pardoned on 30th July 1998.
- Jan 28 WJTV TV channel 12 in Jackson, MS (CBS) begins broadcasting
- Jan 31 "Princess Victoria" capsized off Stanraer Scotland; 133 die
- Jan 31 Hurricane-like winds flood Netherlands, drowning 1,835
Retaliation Against Veeck
Jan 31 MLB New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, & Boston Red Sox retaliate against St. Louis Browns Bill Veeck for trying to relocate the team, scheduling the Browns to play afternoon games to avoid sharing TV revenues
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