- Jan 1 14th Orange Bowl: #10 Georgia Tech beats #12 Kansas, 20-14
- Jan 1 14th Sugar Bowl: #5 Texas beats #6 Alabama, 27-7
- Jan 1 34th Rose Bowl: #2 Michigan beats #8 Southern California, 49-0
Bradman Century Against India
Jan 1 Australian cricket master batsman Don Bradman scores 132 on first day of 3rd Test v India; follows up with 127no in 2nd innings; Australia wins by 233
- Jan 3 Australian cricket batting maestro Don Bradman completes dual Test centuries (132 & 127* [26th Test 100]) in 3rd Test v India in Melbourne
- Jan 21 Three of the greats of cricket make their debut in a drawn 1st Test match at Bridgetown, Barbados; Sir Clyde Walcott and Sir Everton Weekes for the West Indies, and Jim Laker for England
- Jan 22 All time great England cricket spin bowler Jim Laker takes 7-103 in his first Test innings in 1st Test v West Indies in Bridgetown, Barbados
- Jan 23 Australian cricket captain Don Bradman scores 201 in 4th Test win v India in Adelaide; Sid Barnes 112 and Lindsay Hassett 198no in Australian total 674
Australian Men's Tennis Open
Jan 26 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: Adrian Quist wins his 3rd Australian title; beats fellow Australian and doubles partner John Bromwich 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
- Jan 26 Australian Championships Women's Tennis: Nancye Wynne Bolton beats Marie Toomey 6-3, 6-1 for 4th straight Australian single title
- Jan 29 Commissioner Happy Chandler fines the Yankees, Cubs and Phillies $500 each for signing high school players
- Jan 30 V Winter Olympic Games open in St Moritz, Switzerland
- Jan 31 An unprecedented 3-way tie for the silver medal in the 500m speed skating at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; Americans Robert Fitzgerald & Ken Bartholomew, and Thomas Byberg of Norway are equal on 43.2s; Finn Helgesen of Norway wins gold, 43.1s
- Jan 31 Sweden sweeps the medals in the 18km cross country event at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; Martin Lundström takes gold ahead of countrymen Nils Östensson and Gunnar Eriksson
- Jan 31 Swiss pair Felix Endrich & Friedrich Waller beat countrymen Fritz Feierabend & Paul Eberhard to win the 2-man bobsleigh gold medal at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; silver medallist Feierabend is team coach
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