- Jan 1 Ceferino Garcia, Filipino boxer (World Middleweight champion 1939-40), dies at 74
Mauri Rose (1906-1981)
Jan 1 American auto racer and three-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 (1941, 1947-48), dies at 74
- Jan 17 Loukas Panourgias, Greek footballer (b. 1899)