- Jan 1 13th Orange Bowl: #10 Rice beats #7 Tennessee, 8-0
- Jan 1 13th Sugar Bowl: #3 Georgia beats #9 North Carolina, 20-10
- Jan 1 33rd Rose Bowl: #5 Illinois beats #4 UCLA, 45-14
- Jan 7 Australia v England at MCG drawn in 6 days, 1st cricket draw in Australia since 1882
- Jan 8 Toronto Maple Leaf rookie Howie Meeker scores 5 goals in a game
- Jan 9 Providence Steamrollers guard Dino Martin becomes the first NBA player to ever score 40 points in a game, in a 91-68 win over Cleveland Rebels at Rhode Island Auditorium
Greenberg to the Pirates
Jan 18 Detroit Tigers sell Hank Greenberg to Pirates (for $25-35,000)
- Jan 24 NFL adds 5th official, the back judge and allows sudden death in playoffs
Pails Defeats Bromwich
Jan 29 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: Dinny Pails beats fellow Australian John Bromwich 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 8-6 for his only Grand Slam title
- Jan 29 Australian Championships Women's Tennis: Nancye Wynne Bolton wins 3rd consecutive Australian singles crown; beats Nell Hall Hopman 6-3, 6-2
Baseball Players
Basketball Stars
Boxers
Footballers
NFL Stars
Tennis Champions