- Jan 1 Zenon Plech, Polish motorcycle speedway rider (World C'ship individual 1979, pairs 1980 runner-up), born in Zwierzyn, Poland (d. 2020)
- Jan 3 Angelo Parisi, French judoka (Olympic gold heavyweight 1980), born in Arpino, Italy
- Jan 3 Peter Taylor, English soccer winger (4 caps; Crystal Palace, Tottenham Hotspur) and manager (Leicester City, Hull, Crystal Palace), born in Rochford, England
- Jan 4 Norberto Alonso, Argentine soccer midfielder (19 caps; River Plate), born in Vicente López, Argentina
- Jan 7 Agha Zahid, Pakistani cricketer (open batting for Pak v WI 1975, scored 14 & 1), born in Lahore, Pakistan
- Jan 8 Bruce Sutter, American Baseball HOF relief pitcher (NL Cy Young Award 1979; 6 x MLB All-Star; 5 x NL saves leader; Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals; Atlanta Braves), born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania (d. 2022)
- Jan 10 Bobby Rahal, American racing car driver and team owner (over 15 wins), born in Medina, Ohio
- Jan 11 Rigoberto Riasco, Panamanian boxer (Lineal & WBC Super bantamweight champion 1976), born in Panama City, Panama (d. 2022)
- Jan 13 Bob Baffert, American Racing Hall of Fame trainer (Triple Crown 2015, 18), born in Nogales, Arizona
- Jan 13 Luann Ryon, American archer (Olympic gold women's individual 1976), born in Long Beach, California (d. 2022)
- Jan 15 Randy White, American College/Pro Football HOF tackle (Super Bowl 1977 [MVP]; 7 × First-team All-Pro; 9 × Pro Bowl; Dallas Cowboys), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Jan 17 Mark Littell, American MLB pitcher, 1973-82 (Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals), writer, and inventor, born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri (d. 2022)
- Jan 17 Ted Thompson, American NFL linebacker (Houston Oilers) and executive (GM Green Bay Packers 2005-17), born in Atlanta, Texas (d. 2021)
- Jan 19 Richard Legendre, Canadian tennis player and politician, born in Montreal, Quebec
Paul Allen (1953-2018)
Jan 21 American business magnate (co-founder Microsoft, owner Portland Trail Blazers, Seattle Seahawks), born in Seattle, Washington
- Jan 22 Karen Moe, American swimmer (Olympic gold 200m butterfly 1972), born in Del Monte, Philippines
- Jan 23 Pat Haden, American NFL quarterback (LA Rams), born in Westbury, New York
About January 1953
How Old? 71 years old
Generation: Baby Boomer
Leap Year: No
Baseball Players
Basketball Stars
Boxers
Footballers
NFL Stars
Tennis Champions