January 5, 1925 – Nellie Taylor Ross of Wyoming becomes the first woman governor inaugurated in the U.S.
January 7, 1927 – The Harlem Globetrotters basketball team played their first game in Hinckley, Illinois. The team was created by Abe Saperstein of Chicago at a time when Black men and women were not allowed to play professional basketball. They won 101 out of 117 games that first year.
January 9, 1972 – The longest winning streak for a major professional sports team is snapped at 33 games when the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 120 – 104. A 39-point performance by the Buck’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (later traded to the Lakers in 1975) hands the Lakers their first loss since October 31.
January 10, 1776 – Thomas Paine published his 50-page pamphlet on American independence, “Common Sense”, influencing among others the authors of the Declaration of Independence.