- Jan 1 "A Musical Jubilee" closes at St James Theater, NYC, after 92 performances
- Jan 1 42nd Orange Bowl: #3 Oklahoma beats #5 Michigan, 14-6
Paul Brown Retires
Jan 1 After 45 years of coaching, Paul Brown (Cleveland Browns; Cincinnati Bengals) announces his retirement from the National Football League
Liberty Bell
Jan 1 Liberty Bell moves to new home across the street from Independence Hall, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Jan 1 NBC replaces "peacock" logo with large block "N"; Design of new logo approached $1M, and was subject to copyright infringement suit costing NBC an additional $800K
- Jan 1 Venezuela nationalizes oil fields
Goolagong's 3rd Win
Jan 3 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Australian Evonne Goolagong Cawley beats Renata Tomanova of Czechoslovakia 6-2, 6-2 for her 3rd straight home singles title
- Jan 3 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Jan 4 "Candide" closes at Broadway Theater NYC after 740 performances
- Jan 4 "Home Sweet Homer" opens & closes at Palace Theater NYC
Steelers Defeat Raiders
Jan 4 AFC Championship, Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Oakland Raiders, 16-10
Edmondson Defeats Newcombe
Jan 4 Australian Open Men's Tennis: In an all-Australian final Mark Edmondson upsets John Newcombe 6-7, 6-3, 7-6, 6-1 for his first and only Grand Slam title
- Jan 4 NFC Championship, LA Memorial Coliseum: Dallas Cowboys beat Los Angeles Rams, 37-7
- Jan 4 The Ulster Volunteer Force shoot dead 6 Catholic civilians in 2 coordinated attacks in County Armagh, North Ireland
- Jan 5 Cambodia is renamed "Democratic Kampuchea"
Chappell's 182 Not Out
Jan 5 Greg Chappell scores 182* for Australia at SCG against West Indies
- Jan 5 In retaliation for the Reavey and O'Dowd killings, the South Armagh Republican Action Force shoot dead 10 Protestant civilians after stopping their minibus in County Armagh
- Jan 6 China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor, PRC
Turner Buys Atlanta Braves
Jan 6 Ted Turner purchases Atlanta Braves for reported $12 million
- Jan 8 Franklin Mint strikes 1st gold coins for Netherlands Antilles
Trottier's Penalty Fail
Jan 9 Bryan Trottier failed in 4th Islander penalty shot
- Jan 9 C. W. McCall CB song "Convoy" hits #1 on the country music charts
"Oh My My"
Jan 9 Ringo Starr releases single "Oh My My" in the UK
Hamill's 3rd Championship
Jan 11 Dorothy Hamill (19) wins her 3rd consecutive US national figure skating championship
- Jan 11 Military coup in Ecuador, President Guillermo Lara leaves
Pacific Overtures
Jan 11 Stephen Sondheim's musical "Pacific Overtures" opens at Winter Garden Theater, NYC; runs for 193 performances, wins 2 Tony and 2 Drama Desk Awards
- Jan 11 US male Figure Skating championship won by Terry Kubicka
- Jan 12 UN Security Council votes 11-1 to seat Palestine Liberation Organization
Kurzweil Reading Machine
Jan 13 American inventor Ray Kurzweil and the National Federation of the Blind unveil the Kurzweil Reading Machine, the first omni-font optical character recognition system
- Jan 13 Future undisputed world middleweight boxing champion Marvin Hagler suffers his first career loss in a controversial 10-round majority decision to Bobby Watts at the Philadelphia Spectrum
- Jan 13 Sarah Caldwell is 1st woman to conduct at NYC Metropolitan Opera House as she led orchestra in a performance of "La Traviata"
- Jan 14 "The Bionic Woman" with Lindsay Wagner debuts on ABC (later NBC)
- Jan 14 Ted Turner becomes CEO of Atlanta Braves
Would-Be Ford Assassin Sentenced
Jan 15 Sara Jane Moore sentenced to life for attempting to shoot US President Gerald Ford
- Jan 15 US-German Helios B solar probe launched into solar orbit
- Jan 15 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- Jan 16 "Donny & Marie" [Osmond] musical variety show premieres on ABC TV
- Jan 16 Peter Frampton released platinum live album "Frampton Comes Alive"
"I Write the Songs"
Jan 17 "I Write the Songs" cover by Barry Manilow hits #1
"X Offender"
Jan 17 Blondie release their debut single "X Offender" written by Debbie Harry and Gary Valentine
- Jan 17 Hermes rocket launched by European Space Agency
- Jan 18 Super Bowl X, Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, FL: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Dallas Cowboys, 21-17; MVP: Lynn Swann, Pittsburgh, WR
- Jan 20 29th NHL All-Star Game, Spectrum, Philadelphia: Wales Conference beats Campbell Conference, 7-5; MVP: Peter Mahovlich, Montreal, C
- Jan 21 Supersonic Concorde has its 1st commercial flights
- Jan 22 Bank robbery in Beirut nets $20-50 million (record)
- Jan 23 Ian Redpath hits his only 2 sixes in Cricket Tests, v WI Adelaide
Station to Station
Jan 23 RCA releases "Station to Station", David Bowie's 10th studio album, recorded in Los Angeles; it peaks in the U.S. charts at No.3, and No. 5 in the U.K.
- Jan 23 The Provisional Irish Republican Army truce of February 1975 is officially brought to an end
- Jan 23 The results to U.S. advice columnist Ann Landers' question (if they could do it all over, would parents still become parents) state that 70% of 10,000 responding parents were negative about being parents
- Jan 23 Washington Capitals end 25 game winless streak (0-22-3) beat NY Rangers 7-5
33rd Golden Globes
Jan 24 33rd Golden Globes: "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", Jack Nicholson, & Louise Fletcher win
- Jan 24 Cleveland Cavaliers score their biggest margin of victory to date (43 points), when they beat Milwaukee 132-89
Foreman vs. Lyle
Jan 24 Former world heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman KOs Ron Lyle in 5th round at Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas; Foreman knocked down twice in 4th; 'The Ring' Fight of the Year
American Buffalo
Jan 26 David Mamet's play "American Buffalo" premieres in NYC
- Jan 26 Israel opens "Good Fence" to Lebanon
- Jan 26 NFL Pro Bowl, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans: NFC beats AFC, 23-20; MVP: Billy Johnson, Houston Oilers, WR
"Laverne & Shirley"
Jan 27 "Laverne & Shirley" TV spinoff from "Happy Days" starring Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams premieres on ABC TV
- Jan 27 9th ABA All-Star Game: Denver 144 beats ABA 138 at Denver
- Jan 27 Morocco-Algeria battles in West Sahara
- Jan 27 Revival of Sidney Howard's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1924 stage drama "They Knew What They Wanted", opens at the Playhouse Theatre, NYC; runs for 23 performances
Richards' 1st Test Century
Jan 27 Viv Richards scores his 1st Test century against Australia
- Jan 28 E. A. S. Prasanna takes 8-76 to rip through NZ at Eden Park
- Jan 28 NBA Atlanta Hawks begin a 28 game road losing streak
Event of Interest
Jan 28 New York drug lord Frank Lucas is sentenced to 40 years in prison and a $200,000 fine after being convicted on four drug charges
- Jan 29 Bombs set off in London's West End by the IRA; 1 person is injured
- Jan 29 Zeiss planetarium in the Hague destroyed by fire
- Jan 30 1st-class debut of Australian cricketer Dav Whatmore, in Johannesburg, South Africa
- Jan 30 William E Colby, ends term as 10th director of US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); George H. W. Bush becomes 11th director of CIA (until 1977)
- Jan 31 "Love Rollercoaster" by Ohio Players hits #1
3rd American Music Awards
Jan 31 3rd American Music Awards: Olivia Newton-John & John Denver win
- Jan 31 In his final Test, West Indian cricket spin bowler Lance Gibbs dismisses Australian opener Ian Redpath for 101 in 6th Test in Melbourne; becomes highest Test wicket-taker at 308
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