- Jan 1 Charlie Davis, West Indies cricket batsman (15 Tests, 4 x 100s, 54.20 average), born in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad
- Jan 1 Dick Gordon, American NFL wide receiver (Pro Bowl 1970-71, Chicago Bears), born in Cincinnati, Ohio
- Jan 1 Ziya Şengül, Turkish soccer defender (20 caps; Fenerbahçe SK, PTT Ankara), born in Istanbul, Turkey (d. 2023)
Joe Frazier (1944-2011)
Jan 12 American boxer (Olympic gold heavyweight 1964; undisputed world heavyweight champion 1970-73), born in Beaufort, South Carolina
- Jan 12 Vlastimil Hort, Czechoslovak-born German chess player, born in Kladno, Czech Republic
- Jan 13 Christina von Saltza, American swimmer (Olympic gold 400m, 4x100m freestyle, 4x100m medley 1960), born in San Francisco, California
- Jan 14 Graham Marsh, Australian golfer and course designer (US Senior Open 1997, The Tradition 1999), born in Kalgoorlie, Australia
- Jan 16 Juan Rodríguez Vega, Chilean soccer defender (26 caps; Universidad de Chile, Atlético Español), born in Santiago, Chile (d. 2021)
- Jan 17 Denny Doyle, American MLB baseball second baseman, 1970-77 (Philadelphia Phillies, and 1 other team), born in Glasgow, Kentucky (d. 2022)
- Jan 18 Carl Morton, American baseball pitcher (NL Rookie of the Year 1970; Montreal Expos, Atlanta Braves), born in Kansas City, Missouri (d. 1983)
- Jan 19 Dan Reeves, American football coach (AP NFL Coach of the Year 1993 NY Giants, 1998 Atlanta Falcons; Denver Broncos), born in Rome, Georgia (d. 2021)
- Jan 20 Isao Okano, Japanese judoka (Olympic gold 1964), born in Ryugasaki, Japan
- Jan 23 Sergey Belov, Soviet basketball player (Olympic gold 1972), born in Shegarsky District, Russia (d. 2013)
- Jan 30 Frank Burrows, Scottish soccer defender (Swindon Town 297 games) and manager (Portsmouth, Cardiff, Swansea), born in Larkhall, Scotland (d. 2021)
- Jan 31 John Inverarity, cricketer (Australian batsman 1968-72)
About January 1944
How Old? 80 years old
Generation: Silent Generation
Leap Year: Yes
Chinese Zodiac: Goat/Sheep (Jan 1 - Jan 24), Monkey (Jan 25 - Jan 31)
Star Signs: Capricorn (Dec 22 - Jan 19), Aquarius (Jan 20 - Feb 18)
Baseball Players
Basketball Stars
Boxers
Footballers
NFL Stars
Tennis Champions