- Jan 1 15th Fiesta Bowl: #5 Michigan beats #7 Nebraska, 27-23
- Jan 1 52nd Orange Bowl: #3 Oklahoma beats #1 Penn State, 25-10
- Jan 1 52nd Sugar Bowl: #8 Tennessee beats #2 Miami, 35-7
- Jan 1 72nd Rose Bowl: #13 UCLA beats #4 Iowa, 45-28; Iowa's All-American running back, Ronnie Harmon, fumbles the ball 4 times in his last game.
Streisand and Peters Part
Jan 1 American singer Barbra Streisand and hairdresser/film producer Jon Peters' romantic relationship ends
- Jan 1 Aruba gains independence from neighboring island Curacao
- Jan 1 International Peace Year begins
- Jan 1 NYC transit fare rises from 90 cents to $1.00
- Jan 1 South African Government closes its borders with Lesotho, cutting off important food and fuel supplies, after Lesotho refuses to sign a non-aggression pact
- Jan 1 Spain & Portugal are 11th & 12th to join European Economic Community
Bossy's Record Game
Jan 2 NHL New York Islanders right wing Mike Bossy scores his 499th and 500th career goals in the final 2:22 to lift the New York to a 7-5 victory over the Boston Bruins; 11th player in NHL history to score 500 goals
Boon's 2nd Test Century
Jan 4 David Boon's second Test century, 131 v India at Adelaide
Dickerson's Postseason Record
Jan 4 Los Angeles Rams running back Eric Dickerson scores twice as he rushes for an NFL postseason record 248 yards in 20-0 victory over Dallas Cowboys in NFC divisional playoff in Anaheim, California
Robinson's Record Blocks
Jan 4 NCAA basketball's David Robinson blocks a record 14 shots
- Jan 6 British Defense Secretary Michael Heseltine resigns after the 'Westland affair'
- Jan 6 Impala Platinum fires 20,000 black mine workers in Johannesburg
- Jan 6 Last day in Test cricket for Bob Holland
- Jan 6 STS 61-C scrubbed at T-31sec because of liquid oxygen valve problem
- Jan 7 Netherlands Bank issues 250 guilder notes
- Jan 7 STS 61-C mission scrubbed at T -9m because of weather problems
US Economic Sanctions
Jan 7 US President Reagan announces economic sanctions against Libya
Willie McCovey Elected
Jan 8 San Francisco Giants Willie McCovey is 16th elected to MLB Hall of Fame in his 1st year of eligibility
- Jan 9 After losing a patent battle with Polaroid, Kodak must give up its instant camera business.
- Jan 9 NY Islanders repeat their greatest shutout margin (9-0) vs Pittsburgh Penguins
Abdul-Jabbar's 34,000th Point
Jan 10 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the Los Angeles Lakers scores his 34,000th career point during 124-102 win over Indiana Pacers; only NBA player to reach the milestone at that time, holds career record until 2023
- Jan 10 NASA's STS-61-C mission scrubbed T -9m because of bad weather at Florida's Kennedy Space Center
- Jan 10 Pacific island nation of Palau signs Compact of Free Association with US
- Jan 11 Douglas Wilder of Virginia, 1st African American Lieutenant Governor since reconstruction sworn in
- Jan 12 24th space shuttle (61-C) mission-Columbia 7-launched
- Jan 12 AFC Championship, Miami Orange Bowl: New England Patriots beat Miami Dolphins, 31-14
- Jan 12 Chicago Blackhawk centre Denis Savard scores at 4 seconds of 3rd period
- Jan 12 NFC Championship, Soldier Field, Chicago: Chicago Bears beat Los Angeles Rams, 24-0
- Jan 13 ABC's TV premiere of "The Right of The People", whose writer and director is said to have been inspired by the 14 December 1980 massacre at Bob's Big Boy in Los Angeles
- Jan 13 NCCA institutes eligibility requirements based on college exams
- Jan 13 South Yemen President Ali Nasser Mohammed's bodyguard shoots opponents
- Jan 14 Constitution of Guatemala takes effect
- Jan 14 Vinicio Cerezo becomes only the second freely elected President of Guatemala since CIA-sponsored coup in 1954
- Jan 15 Living Seas opens (Disneyland)
Roy's 1st Shutout
Jan 15 Montreal's rookie goaltender Patrick Roy records his first of 66 career NHL shutouts, in the Canadiens' 4-0 win against the Winnipeg Jets at the Forum
- Jan 16 First meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force.
- Jan 16 Police arrested 3 IRA-terrorists in Amsterdam
- Jan 17 2nd Sundance Film Festival: "Smooth Talk" wins Grand Jury Prize Dramatic
- Jan 17 Tim Witherspoon beats defending champion Tony Tubbs by majority decision in 15 rounds at The Omni, Atlanta for WBA heavyweight boxing title
- Jan 18 24th Space Shuttle (61-C) Mission-Columbia 7-returns to Earth
"That's What Friends Are For"
Jan 18 AIDS charity record "That's What Friends Are For" by Dionne Warwick with Elton John, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder, hits #1
- Jan 18 NY Lotto pays $30.5 million to one winner (#s are 19-20-27-34-41-46)
- Jan 19 Cerebral Palsy telethon raises $17 million
Peres in The Netherlands
Jan 19 Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres visits Netherlands
- Jan 19 Spain recognizes Israel
1st Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Jan 20 1st US federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. or MLK Day
- Jan 20 Chunnel announced (railroad tunnel under Channel)
- Jan 20 Military coup in Lesotho under major general Lekhanya & premier Leabua Jonathan
- Jan 21 100 participate in Nude Olympics race in 38°F (3°C), Indiana
- Jan 21 Allison J Brown, 17, of Oklahoma, crowned 4th Miss Teen USA
- Jan 21 Bomb attack in East-Beirut, 27 killed
Lendl's 3rd ATP
Jan 21 Czech tennis star Ivan Lendl defeats Boris Becker of Germany 6-2, 7-6, 6-3 to claim the season-ending ATP Masters Grand Prix title for a third time at Madison Square Garden, NYC
Inaugural Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Jan 23 Inaugural class of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees: Chuck Berry; James Brown; Ray Charles; Sam Cooke; Fats Domino; The Everly Brothers; Buddy Holly; Jerry Lee Lewis; Elvis Presley; Little Richard; Robert Johnson; Jimmie Rodgers; Jimmy Yancey; Alan Freed; John Hammond; and Sam Phillips
Jerome Kern Goes to Hollywood
Jan 23 Musical "Jerome Kern Goes to Hollywood" opens at Ritz Theater NYC for 13 performances
43rd Golden Globes
Jan 24 43rd Golden Globes: "Out of Africa", Jon Voight, & Whoopi Goldberg win
- Jan 24 Leon Brittan, Trade and Industry Secretary under Thatcher is 2nd cabinet minister to resign after 'Westland affair'
- Jan 24 NHL New York Islanders Mike Bossy scores his 1,000th point
- Jan 24 South Yemen Premier Haydar Bakr al-Attas becomes interim-president
Voyager 2 Flies by Uranus
Jan 24 Voyager 2 makes 1st fly-by of Uranus (81,593 km), finds new moons
Coffey Sets Record
Jan 25 Edmonton's Paul Coffey sets NHL record for defensemen with a point in his 28th consecutive game, as the Oilers beat the visiting LA Kings, 5-2
- Jan 25 General Tito Okello's government flees Kampala, Uganda
- Jan 26 Hein Vergeer becomes European skating champion
- Jan 26 Super Bowl XX, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana: Chicago Bears beat New England Patriots, 46-10; MVP: Richard Dent, Chicago, DE
- Jan 26 Yoweri Museveni's rebel army conquers Kampala, Uganda
13th American Music Awards
Jan 27 13th American Music Awards: Whitney Houston, Huey Lewis and Crystal Gayle
- Jan 28 "Uptown... It's Hot!" opens at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC for 24 performances
- Jan 28 Angolan revolutionary and leader of UNITA, Jonas Savimbi visits Washington, D.C.
USS Challenger Explodes
Jan 28 Space Shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, killing all 7 crew members, including Christa McAuliffe who was to be the first teacher in space
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