| 1681 | The Treaty of Radzin ends a five year war between the Turks and the allied countries of Russia and Poland. | |
| 1745 | England, Austria, Saxony and the Netherlands form an alliance against Russia. | |
| 1815 | A rag-tag army under Andrew Jackson defeats the British on the fields of Chalmette in the Battle of New Orleans. | |
| 1871 | Prussian troops begin to bombard Paris during the Franco-Prussian War. | |
| 1892 | A coal mine explosion kills 100 in McAlister, Oklahoma. | |
| 1900 | The Boers attack the British in Ladysmith, South Africa, but are turned back. | |
| 1908 | A subway line opens linking the New York boroughs of Brooklyn and Manhattan. | |
| 1940 | Great Britain begins rationing sugar, meat and butter. | |
| 1946 | President Harry S. Truman vows to stand by the Yalta accord on self-determination for the Balkans. | |
| 1954 | President Dwight Eisenhower proposes stripping convicted Communists of their U.S. citizenship. | |
| 1963 | President John F. Kennedy attends the unveiling of the Mona Lisa. | |
| 1975 | Ella T. Grasso becomes Governor of Connecticut, the first female governor in the US who did not come into office by succeeding her husband. | |
| 1979 | The United States advises the Shah to leave Iran. | |
| 1982 | AT&T agrees to divest 22 subdivisions as part of an antitrust agreement. | |
| 1994 | Valeri Polyakov, a Russian cosmonaut leaves earth, bound for the Mir space station; he will spend a record 437 days in space. | |
| 2002 | US President George W. Bush signs into law the No Child Left Behind Act, intended to improve America’s educational system. | |
| 2004 | The largest passenger ship in history, the RMS Queen Mary 2, is christened by Queen Elizabeth II, granddaughter of Queen Mary. | |
| 2011 | An attempted assassination of Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords is part of a shooting spree in which Jared Lee Loughner kills 6 and wounds 13. | |
| Born on January 8 | ||
| 1587 | Johannes Fabricus, astronomer who discovered sunspots. | |
| 1786 | Nicholas Biddle, head of the first United States bank. | |
| 1862 | Frank Nelson Doubleday, founder of Doubleday publishing house. | |
| 1935 | Elvis Presley, rock ‘n roll singer, actor in over thirty films. | |
| 1938 | Bob Eubanks, popular US TV game show host (The Newlywed Game). | |
| 1941 | Graham Chapman, comedian, actor, member of the Monty Python group. | |
| 1947 | David Bowie, singer, songwriter, producer, actor (“Starman”). | |
| 2011 | Princess Josephine of Denmark, Countess of Monpezat (Josephine Sophia Ivalo Mathilda), and Prince Vincent of Denmark, Count of Monpezat (Vincent Frederik Minik Alexander). | |