- Jan 1 30th Fiesta Bowl: #5 Oregon State beats #10 Notre Dame, 41-9
- Jan 1 87th Rose Bowl: #4 Washington beats #14 Purdue, 34-24
- Jan 2 67th Sugar Bowl: #3 Miami beats #7 Florida, 37-20
- Jan 2 Sila Calderón becomes the first female Governor of Puerto Rico.
- Jan 3 College Football, 3rd BCS National Championship, Pro Player Stadium, Miami Gardens: #1 Oklahoma beats #2 Florida State, 13-2, at 67th Orange Bowl
Vanilla Ice in Jail
Jan 4 Rapper Vanilla Ice spends night in jail after allegedly ripping out some of his wife's hair during a row
Jordan Scores 30,000 Points
Jan 4 Washington Wizards forward Michael Jordan becomes 4th player in NBA history to score 30,000 career points; hits a free throw in 2nd quarter of an 89-83 win against his old team, the Chicago Bulls
- Jan 5 A report reveals that doctor and former GP Harold Shipman has potentially killed hundreds of patients
Switzerland Clinch Title
Jan 6 Hopman Cup Tennis, Perth: Roger Federer beats American Jan-Michael Gambill 6-4, 6-3 to clinch Switzerland's unassailable 2-0 lead, (ends 2-1)
Gibson, Roberts Win
Jan 7 27th People's Choice Awards: Mel Gibson & Julia Roberts win (Dramatic Motion Picture) and Drew Carey & Jennifer Aniston win (TV)
Hill, Kid Rock Win
Jan 8 28th American Music Awards: Faith Hill & Kid Rock win
- Jan 8 The identities of 2 boys who murdered a toddler in 1993 will be kept secret, the High Court rules
- Jan 9 American version of Belgian reality game show "The Mole" premieres on ABC-TV
- Jan 9 Apple announced iTunes at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco, for organizing and playing digital music and videos
- Jan 9 Shenzhou 2, an unmanned Chinese spacecraft, is launched.
- Jan 10 A large piece of the chalk cliff at Beachy Head collapses into the sea, near East Sussex, England
- Jan 10 The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will not be designated as a national monument, the White House announces; a move environmentalist groups had been pressing for to prevent oil drilling
- Jan 11 New York Knicks hold an opponent under 100 points for NBA-record 29th straight game in a 76-75 loss to the Houston Rockets; streak snaps 46-year-old NBA record of 28 straight set by the Fort Wayne Pistons in 1954-55
"Lizzie McGuire" Premieres
Jan 12 Disney Channel TV series "Lizzie McGuire" premieres starring Hilary Duff
- Jan 12 Downtown Disney opens to the public in Anaheim
- Jan 13 Atlanta Hawks retire Dominique Wilkins' No. 21 in pre-game ceremonies at Philips Arena; joins Bob Pettit and Lou Hudson as the only Hawks to have their numbers retired
- Jan 13 Earthquake measuring magnitude 7.6 strikes El Salvador, killing more than 840 people
- Jan 14 AFC Championship, Network Associates Coliseum, Oakland: Baltimore Ravens beat Oakland Raiders, 16-3
"Love Don't Cost A Thing"
Jan 14 Jennifer Lopez scored her first UK No.1 single with 'Love Don't Cost A Thing'
- Jan 14 NFC Championship, Giants Stadium, East Rutherford: New York Giants beat Minnesota Vikings, 41-0
- Jan 15 Wikipedia a free Wiki or content encyclopedia is launched by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger
- Jan 16 A fuel supply tanker runs aground off the island of San Cristobal, causing an 'ecological disaster'
Congo President Assassinated
Jan 16 Congolese President Laurent-Désiré Kabila is assassinated in his office by one of his own bodyguards
- Jan 16 US President Bill Clinton awards former President Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor for his service in the Spanish–American War
- Jan 17 OPEC agrees at a meeting of ministers in Vienna, to reduce members' oil production quotas by 1.5 million barrels per day
Clinton Honors Lewis and Clark Expedition
Jan 17 President Clinton honors Lewis and Clark Expedition, posthumously raises William Clark's rank from Lieutenant to Captain, makes Honorary Sergeant Shoshone female guide Sacagawea, and York, enslaved by William Clark, who assisted expedition
- Jan 18 New York's Mike Richter picks up his 267th career NHL win to become the winningest goaltender in team history; passes Ed Giacomin; Rangers beat the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs, 2-1 in overtime
"Donnie Darko"
Jan 19 Cult film "Donnie Darko" written and directed by Richard Kelly, starring Jake Gyllenhaal premieres at the Sundance Film Festival
El Chapo Escapes Prison
Jan 19 Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán escapes from Puente Grande maximum-security prison near Guadalajara by bribing prison guards and hiding in a laundry cart
George W. Bush Inaugurated
Jan 20 George W. Bush inaugurated as 43rd US President, Dick Cheney becomes 46th Vice President
EDSA II Revolution
Jan 20 President of the Philippines Joseph Estrada is ousted in the EDSA II Revolution and succeeded by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Clinton's 140 Pardons
Jan 20 US President Bill Clinton issues 140 executive pardons on his last day in office; recipients include Marc Rich, Susan McDougall, Patty Hearst, and his brother Roger
58th Golden Globes
Jan 21 58th Golden Globes: "Gladiator", Tom Hanks, & Julia Roberts win
- Jan 21 Pittsburgh Penguins beat Chicago Blackhawks, 4-0 in first-ever NHL game featuring 2 European trained coaches; Czech Ivan Hlinka behind the bench for Pittsburgh, and Fin Alpo Suhonen, Chicago
- Jan 22 The British government launches pro-vaccine campaign
- Jan 23 Cave-in at coal mine leads to two methane gas explosions, kills 13 miners in Brookwood, Alabama
- Jan 23 The Chinese Communist Party stages a self-immolation in Tiananmen Square to frame Falun Gong and escalate the persecution.
- Jan 24 Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson resigns
- Jan 25 A 50-year-old Douglas DC-3 crashes near Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela killing 24
- Jan 26 An earthquake hits Gujarat, India, causing more than 20,000 deaths.
Capriati Defeats Hingis
Jan 27 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Jennifer Capriati wins her first Grand Slam title; beats Martina Hingis 6-4, 6-3
- Jan 28 17th Sundance Film Festival: "The Believer", directed by Henry Bean, wins Grand Jury Prize Dramatic
Agassi Retains Title
Jan 28 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Andre Agassi retains title; beats Frenchman Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 for his 3rd Australian trophy
"Miss Saigon"
Jan 28 Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil's musical "Miss Saigon", based on Giacomo Puccini's "Madama Butterfly, and starring Jonathan Pryce and Lea Salonga closes at Broadway Theater, NYC, after 4,092 performances and 3 Tony Award wins
Super Bowl XXXV
Jan 28 Super Bowl XXXV, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL: Baltimore Ravens beat New York Giants, 34-7; MVP: Ray Lewis, Baltimore, LB
- Jan 29 Thousands of student protesters in Indonesia storm parliament and demand that President Abdurrahman Wahid resign due to alleged involvement in corruption scandals
Lockerbie Bombing of Pan Am Flight 103
Jan 31 In the Netherlands, a Scottish court convicts a Libyan and acquits another for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 which crashed into Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988
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