- Jan 1 14th Fiesta Bowl: #14 UCLA beats #13 Miami, 39-37
- Jan 1 51st Orange Bowl: #4 Washington beats #2 Oklahoma, 28-17
- Jan 1 51st Sugar Bowl: #5 Nebraska beats #11 LSU, 28-10
- Jan 1 71st Rose Bowl: #18 Southern California beats #6 Ohio State, 20-17
- Jan 1 International Youth Year begins
- Jan 1 The first British mobile phone call is made by Ernie Wise to Vodafone
- Jan 1 The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
- Jan 1 US's 1st mandatory seat belt law goes into effect (NY)
- Jan 1 VH-1 made its broadcasting debut
Coptic Pope Reappointed
Jan 2 Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak reappoints Coptic pope Shenuda III
- Jan 2 Leg-spin bowler Bob "Dutchy" Holland takes 4/90 for match figures of 10/144 as Australia beats the West Indies by innings in 5th Test in Sydney; Windies take series, 3-1
- Jan 2 Nevada Las Vegas basketball gives coach Jerry Tarkanian his 600th career victory with a 142-140 win over Utah State in triple overtime; total of 282 points breaks NCAA men's record of 275 set in 1976
- Jan 3 Future Indian cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin scores 110 on debut in drawn 3rd Test against England in Kolkata
- Jan 3 Israel government confirms resettlement of 10,000 Ethiopian Jews
Price's Final Aida Appearance
Jan 3 Leontyne Price makes her final operatic appearance in a televised performance of "Aida" at the Metropolitan Opera, New York.
McConnell US Senator
Jan 3 Mitch McConnell becomes Senator of Kentucky
Trottier's Penalty Fail
Jan 5 Bryan Trottier failed on 9th Islander penalty shot
- Jan 5 Discovery moves to launch pad for STS 51-C mission
- Jan 5 Operation Moses, covert airlifting of about 8000 Ethiopian Jews from war-torn Sudan to Israel via Belgium ends
- Jan 6 AFC Championship, Miami Orange Bowl: Miami Dolphins beat Pittsburgh Steelers, 45-28
- Jan 6 NFC Championship, Candlestick Park, SF: San Francisco 49ers beat Chicago Bears, 23-0
- Jan 7 Japanese space probe Sakigake launched to Halley's comet
- Jan 7 KHQ-AM in Spokane, Washington, changes call letters to KLSN (now KAQQ)
Baseball's Brock and Wilhelm
Jan 7 Lou Brock & Hoyt Wilhelm are elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame
"The King & I"
Jan 7 Revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical "The King & I", still starring Yul Brynner opens at Broadway Theater, NYC; runs for 191 performances
Ortega Takes Power
Jan 10 Daniel Ortega inaugurated as President of Nicaragua for the first time
Wilkens first to 1,000 Games
Jan 10 Lenny Wilkens becomes first to coach in 1,000 NBA games when his Seattle SuperSonics defeat the Golden State Warriors, 89-86
- Jan 11 CDC MMWR publishes guidelines for screening U.S. blood supply for AIDS antibodies with ELISA test that would be available later that year
- Jan 13 23rd Tennis Fed Cup: Czech beats USA in Nagoya Japan (2-1)
- Jan 13 99-year-old Otto Bucher from Switzerland becomes the oldest man to record a hole-in-one at Spanish GC La Manga's 130-yard 12th hole
- Jan 13 Blackhawk Doug Wilson failed on 12th penalty shot against Islanders
- Jan 13 Cerebral Palsy telethon raises $17.1 million
- Jan 13 Express train derails in Ethiopia, killing at least 428
McEnroe Retains ATP Title
Jan 13 John McEnroe repeats previous year's result with a 7–5, 6–0, 6–4 win over Ivan Lendl to claim back-to-back season-ending ATP Masters Grand Prix tennis titles at Madison Square Garden, NYC
Gretzky Makes 400
Jan 13 Playing in his 436th career game, Edmonton center Wayne Gretzky scores his 400th career NHL goal and adds 2 assists in a 5-4 Oilers' win over the Sabres in Buffalo
- Jan 14 16 indicted by US for granting sanctuary to Central American refugees
- Jan 14 British pound sinks to record low $US1.11
Navratilova Wins 100
Jan 14 Martina Navratilova is 3rd to win 100 tennis tournaments (Connors & Evert)
- Jan 15 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to John Ashbery & Fred Chapell
- Jan 15 CBS' premiere of TV made teen drug abuse drama, "Not My Kid", based on the previous year's book by Beth Polson
- Jan 15 Mike Gatting (207) and Graeme Fowler (201) become first pair of England batsmen to complete double centuries in the same innings during 9-wicket 4th cricket Test win against India at Madras
- Jan 15 Tancredo Neves becomes 1st elected President of Brazil in 21 years, but dies before taking office
- Jan 16 "Playboy" announces end of stapling centerfolds
- Jan 17 Azharuddin scores second Test century in second Test (v England)
- Jan 18 US renounces jurisdiction of World Court despite previous promise
"Born in the USA"
Jan 19 "Born in the USA", single by Bruce Springsteen, peaks at #9
- Jan 19 4 die in a car & train crash in Buda Ill
- Jan 20 Cold front strikes US, at least 40 die (-27°F (-33°C) in Chicago)
Super Bowl XIX
Jan 20 Super Bowl XIX, Stanford Stadium, Stanford, CA: San Francisco 49ers beat Miami Dolphins, 38-16; MVP: Joe Montana, SF, QB
- Jan 21 -19°F (-28°C), Caesar's Head, South Carolina (state record)
- Jan 21 -34°F (-37°C), Mt Mitchell, North Carolina (state record)
- Jan 21 Bomb attack on Borobudur temple in Java
- Jan 21 Dennis Potvin ties Bobby Orr's career record of 270 NHL goals
Norman Sings at Inauguration
Jan 21 Jessye Norman sings "Simple Gifts" at the second inauguration of US President Ronald Reagan in Washington, D. C.
- Jan 22 -30°F (-34°C), Mountain Lake Bio Station, Virginia (state record)
- Jan 22 Cold wave damages 90% of Florida's citrus crop
- Jan 22 Kelly Hu, 16, of Hawaii, crowned 3rd Miss Teen USA
- Jan 23 Britains House of Lords debate 1st televised
- Jan 24 15th Space Shuttle (51-C) Mission-Discovery 3 is launched
- Jan 25 "Black & Blue" premieres in Paris
Wasim Akram Debut
Jan 25 Test debut of Wasim Akram, vs New Zealand at Auckland (2-105)
42nd Golden Globes
Jan 26 42nd Golden Globes: "Amadeus", F. Murray Abraham, & Sally Field win
- Jan 26 Edmonton Oiler Wayne Gretzky scores 50th goal in 49th game of season
- Jan 27 "Doug Henning & His World of Magic" closes at Lunt-Fontanne NY after 60 performances
- Jan 27 15th Space Shuttle (51-C) Mission-Discovery 3 returns to Earth
- Jan 27 Mark Mckoy cycles world record 50m hurdles indoor (5.25)
- Jan 27 NFL Pro Bowl, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI: AFC beats NFC, 22-14; MVP: Mark Gastineau, NY Jets, DE
12th American Music Awards
Jan 28 12th American Music Awards: Cyndi Lauper & Lionel Richie win
"We Are the World"
Jan 28 Charity single "We Are the World" recorded by supergroup USA for Africa (Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Quincy Jones, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, and other pop stars)
- Jan 28 Houston's Bill Fitch becomes the 6th coach in NBA history to post 600 wins as the Rockets beat the New Jersey Nets, 97-93
Kurri's 100th Point
Jan 29 Jari Kurri of Edmonton Oilers scores 100th pt of season in game 39
Oxford Refuses Thatcher
Jan 29 Oxford University refuses to award Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher an honorary degree
"Harrigan 'n Hart"
Jan 31 Max Showalter and Peter Walker's musical "Harrigan 'n Hart", starring Harry Groening and Mark Hamill, opens at Longacre Theater, NYC; runs for 4 performances
Botha's Offer
Jan 31 South African President P. W. Botha offers to free Nelson Mandela if he denounces violence
Authors
Dictators
Explorers
Outlaws
Queens
Spies