- 814 – The death of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, brings about the accession of his son Louis the Pious as ruler of the Frankish Empire.
- 1069 – Robert de Comines, appointed Earl of Northumbria by William the Conqueror, rides into Durham, England, where he is defeated and killed by rebels. This incident leads to the Harrying of the North.
- 1077 – Walk to Canossa: The excommunication of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, is lifted after he humbles himself before Pope Gregory VII at Canossa in Italy.
- 1521 – The Diet of Worms begins, lasting until May 25.
- 1547 – Edward VI, the nine-year-old son of Henry VIII, becomes King of England on his father’s death.
- 1568 – The Edict of Torda prohibited the persecution of individuals on the religious ground in John Sigismund Zápolya’s Eastern Hungarian Kingdom.
- 1573 – Articles of the Warsaw Confederation are signed, sanctioning freedom of religion in Poland.
- 1624 – Sir Thomas Warner founds the first British colony in the Caribbean, on the island of Saint Kitts.
- 1671 – Original city of Panama (founded in 1519) was destroyed by a fire when privateer Henry Morgan sacked and set fire to it. The site of the previously devastated city is still in ruins (see Panama Viejo).
- 1724 – The Russian Academy of Sciences is founded in St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, and implemented by Senate decree. It is called the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences until 1917.
- 1754 – Sir Horace Walpole coins the word serendipity in a letter to a friend.
- 1813 – Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is first published in the United Kingdom.
- 1846 – The Battle of Aliwal, India, is won by British troops commanded by Sir Harry Smith.
- 1851 – Northwestern University becomes the first chartered university in Illinois.
- 1855 – A locomotive on the Panama Canal Railway runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean for the first time.
- 1871 – Franco-Prussian War: The Siege of Paris ends in French defeat and an armistice.
- 1878 – Yale Daily News becomes the first independent daily college newspaper in the United States.
- 1896 – Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent, becomes the first person to be convicted of speeding. He was fined one shilling, plus costs, for speeding at 8 mph (13 km/h), thereby exceeding the contemporary speed limit of 2 mph (3.2 km/h).
- 1902 – The Carnegie Institution of Washington is founded in Washington, D.C. with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie.
- 1908 – Members of the Portuguese Republican Party fail in their attempted coup d’état against the administrative dictatorship of Prime Minister João Franco.
- 1909 – United States troops leave Cuba with the exception of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base after being there since the Spanish–American War.
- 1915 – An act of the U.S. Congress creates the United States Coast Guard as a branch of the United States Armed Forces.
- 1918 – Finnish Civil War: The Red Guard rebels seize control of the capital, Helsinki; members of the Senate of Finland go underground.
- 1920 – Foundation of the Spanish Legion.
- 1922 – Knickerbocker Storm, Washington D.C.’s biggest snowfall, causes the city’s greatest loss of life when the roof of the Knickerbocker Theatre collapses.
- 1932 – Japanese forces attack Shanghai.
- 1933 – The name Pakistan is coined by Choudhry Rahmat Ali Khan and is accepted by Indian Muslims who then thereby adopted it further for the Pakistan Movement seeking independence.
- 1935 – Iceland becomes the first Western country to legalize therapeutic abortion.
- 1938 – The World Land Speed Record on a public road is broken by Rudolf Caracciola in the Mercedes-Benz W195 at a speed of 432.7 kilometres per hour (268.9 mph).
- 1941 – Franco-Thai War: Final air battle of the conflict. A Japanese-mediated armistice goes into effect later in the day.
- 1945 – World War II: Supplies begin to reach the Republic of China over the newly reopened Burma Road.
- 1956 – Elvis Presley makes his first national television appearance.
- 1958 – The Lego company patents the design of its Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today.
- 1960 – The National Football League announced expansion teams for Dallas to start in the 1960 NFL season and Minneapolis-St. Paul for 1961 NFL season.
- 1964 – An unarmed United States Air Force T-39 Sabreliner on a training mission is shot down over Erfurt, East Germany, by a Soviet MiG-19.
- 1965 – The current design of the Flag of Canada is chosen by an act of Parliament.
- 1977 – The first day of the Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977 which dumps 10 feet (3.0 m) of snow in one day in Upstate New York, with Buffalo, Syracuse, Watertown, and surrounding areas are most affected.
- 1980 – USCGC Blackthorn collides with the tanker Capricorn while leaving Tampa, Florida and capsizes, killing 23 Coast Guard crewmembers.
- 1981 – Ronald Reagan lifts remaining domestic petroleum price and allocation controls in the United States helping to end the 1979 energy crisis and begin the 1980s oil glut.
- 1982 – US Army general James L. Dozier is rescued by Italian anti-terrorism forces from captivity by the Red Brigades.
- 1984 – Tropical Storm Domoina makes landfall in southern Mozambique, eventually causing 214 deaths and some of the most severe flooding so far recorded in the region.
- 1985 – Supergroup USA for Africa (United Support of Artists for Africa) records the hit single We Are the World, to help raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief.
- 1986 – Space Shuttle program: STS-51-L mission: Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrates after liftoff, killing all seven astronauts on board.
- 1988 – In R v Morgentaler the Supreme Court of Canada strikes down all anti-abortion laws.
- 2002 – TAME Flight 120, a Boeing 727-100 crashes in the Andes mountains in southern Colombia, killing 94.
- 2006 – The roof of one of the buildings at the Katowice International Fair in Poland collapses due to the weight of snow, killing 65 and injuring more than 170 others.
Births on January 28
- 1312 – Joan II, queen of Navarre (d. 1349)
- 1368 – Razadarit, king of Hanthawaddy (d. 1421)
- 1457 – Henry VII, king of England (d. 1509)
- 1533 – Paul Luther, German scientist (d. 1593)
- 1540 – Ludolph van Ceulen, German-Dutch mathematician and academic (d. 1610)
- 1582 – John Barclay, French-Scottish poet and author (d. 1621)
- 1600 – Clement IX, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1669)
- 1608 – Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, Italian physiologist and physicist (d. 1679)
- 1611 – Johannes Hevelius, Polish astronomer and politician (d. 1687)
- 1622 – Adrien Auzout, French astronomer and instrument maker (d. 1691)
- 1693 – Gregor Werner, Austrian composer (d. 1766)
- 1701 – Charles Marie de La Condamine, French mathematician and geographer (d. 1774)
- 1706 – John Baskerville, English printer and typographer (d. 1775)
- 1712 – Tokugawa Ieshige, Japanese shōgun (d. 1761)
- 1717 – Mustafa III, Ottoman sultan (d. 1774)
- 1719 – Johann Elias Schlegel, German poet and critic (d. 1749)
- 1726 – Christian Felix Weiße, German poet and playwright (d. 1802)
- 1755 – Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring, Polish-German physician, anthropologist, and paleontologist (d. 1830)
- 1784 – George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, Scottish politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1860)
- 1797 – Charles Gray Round, English lawyer and politician (d. 1867)
- 1818 – George S. Boutwell, American lawyer and politician, 28th United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1905)
- 1822 – Alexander Mackenzie, Scottish-Canadian soldier, journalist, and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1892)
- 1833 – Charles George Gordon, English general and politician (d. 1885)
- 1841 – Henry Morton Stanley, Welsh-American explorer and journalist (d. 1904)
- 1843 – Mihkel Veske, Estonian poet and linguist (d. 1890)
- 1853 – José Martí, Cuban journalist, poet, and theorist (d. 1895)
- 1853 – Vladimir Solovyov, Russian philosopher, poet, and critic (d. 1900)
- 1855 – William Seward Burroughs I, American businessman, founded the Burroughs Corporation (d. 1898)
- 1858 – Tannatt William Edgeworth David, Welsh-Australian geologist and explorer (d. 1934)
- 1861 – Julián Felipe, Filipino composer and educator (d. 1944)
- 1863 – Ernest William Christmas, Australian-American painter (d. 1918)
- 1864 – Charles Williams Nash, American businessman, founded Nash Motors (d. 1948)
- 1865 – Lala Lajpat Rai, Indian author and politician (d. 1928)
- 1865 – Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg, Finnish lawyer, judge, and politician, 1st President of Finland (d. 1952)
- 1873 – Colette, French novelist and journalist (d. 1954)
- 1873 – Monty Noble, Australian cricketer (d. 1940)
- 1874 – Alex Smith, Scottish golfer (d. 1930)
- 1875 – Julián Carrillo, Mexican violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1965)
- 1878 – Walter Kollo, German composer and conductor (d. 1940)
- 1880 – Herbert Strudwick, English cricketer and coach (d. 1970)
- 1884 – Auguste Piccard, Swiss physicist and explorer (d. 1962)
- 1885 – Vahan Terian, Armenian poet and activist (d. 1920)
- 1886 – Marthe Bibesco, Romanian-French author and poet (d. 1973)
- 1886 – Hidetsugu Yagi, Japanese engineer and academic (d. 1976)
- 1887 – Arthur Rubinstein, Polish-American pianist and educator (d. 1982)
- 1897 – Valentin Kataev, Russian author and playwright (d. 1986)
- 1900 – Alice Neel, American painter (d. 1984)
- 1903 – Aleksander Kamiński, Polish author and educator (d. 1978)
- 1903 – Kathleen Lonsdale, Irish crystallographer and 1st female FRS (d. 1971)
- 1906 – Pat O’Callaghan, Irish athlete (d. 1991)
- 1906 – Markos Vafiadis, Greek general and politician (d. 1992)
- 1908 – Paul Misraki, Turkish-French composer and historian (d. 1998)
- 1909 – John Thomson, Scottish footballer (d. 1931)
- 1910 – John Banner, Austrian actor (d. 1973)
- 1911 – Johan van Hulst, Dutch politician, academic and author, Yad Vashem recipient (d. 2018)
- 1912 – Jackson Pollock, American painter (d. 1956)
- 1918 – Harry Corbett, English puppeteer, actor, and screenwriter (d. 1989)
- 1918 – Trevor Skeet, New Zealand-English lawyer and politician (d. 2004)
- 1919 – Gabby Gabreski, American colonel and pilot (d. 2002)
- 1921 – Vytautas Norkus, Lithuanian–American basketball player (d. 2014)
- 1922 – Anna Gordy Gaye, American songwriter and producer, co-founded Anna Records (d. 2014)
- 1922 – Robert W. Holley, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1993)
- 1924 – Marcel Broodthaers, Belgian painter and poet (d. 1976)
- 1925 – Raja Ramanna, Indian physicist and politician (d. 2004)
- 1926 – Jimmy Bryan, American race car driver (d. 1960)
- 1927 – Per Oscarsson, Swedish actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2010)
- 1927 – Ronnie Scott, English saxophonist (d. 1996)
- 1927 – Hiroshi Teshigahara, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2001)
- 1927 – Vera Williams, American author and illustrator (d. 2015)
- 1929 – Acker Bilk, English singer and clarinet player (d. 2014)
- 1929 – Nikolai Parshin, Russian footballer and manager (d. 2012)
- 1929 – Claes Oldenburg, Swedish-American sculptor and illustrator
- 1929 – Edith M. Flanigen, American chemist
- 1930 – Kurt Biedenkopf, German academic and politician, 54th President of the German Bundesrat
- 1930 – Roy Clarke, English screenwriter, comedian and soldier
- 1933 – Jack Hill, American director and screenwriter
- 1934 – Juan Manuel Bordeu, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1990)
- 1935 – David Lodge, English author and critic
- 1936 – Alan Alda, American actor, director, and writer
- 1937 – Karel Čáslavský, Czech historian and television host (d. 2013)
- 1938 – Tomas Lindahl, Swedish-English biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1938 – Leonid Zhabotinsky, Ukrainian weightlifter and coach (d. 2016)
- 1939 – John M. Fabian, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
- 1940 – Carlos Slim, Mexican businessman and philanthropist, founded Grupo Carso
- 1942 – Sjoukje Dijkstra, Dutch figure skater
- 1942 – Erkki Pohjanheimo, Finnish director and producer
- 1943 – Dick Taylor, English guitarist and songwriter
- 1944 – Rosalía Mera, Spanish businesswoman, co-founded Inditex and Zara (d. 2013)
- 1944 – John Tavener, English composer (d. 2013)
- 1945 – Frank Doubleday, American actor (d. 2018)
- 1945 – Maxwell Fuller, Australian chess player (d. 2013)
- 1945 – Marthe Keller, Swiss actress and director
- 1945 – John Perkins, American author and activist
- 1947 – Jeanne Shaheen, American educator and politician, 78th Governor of New Hampshire
- 1948 – Bob Moses, American drummer
- 1948 – Charles Taylor, Liberian politician, 22nd President of Liberia
- 1949 – Mike Moore, New Zealand union leader and politician, 34th Prime Minister of New Zealand
- 1949 – Gregg Popovich, American basketball player and coach
- 1950 – Barbi Benton, American actress, singer and model
- 1950 – Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Bahraini king
- 1950 – David C. Hilmers, American colonel, physician, and astronaut
- 1950 – Naila Kabeer, Bangladeshi-English economist and academic
- 1951 – Brian Bilbray, American politician
- 1951 – Leonid Kadeniuk, Ukrainian general, pilot, and astronaut
- 1951 – Billy Bass Nelson, American R&B/funk bass player
- 1952 – Richard Glatzer, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2015)
- 1953 – Colin Campbell, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1954 – Peter Lampe, German theologian and historian
- 1954 – Bruno Metsu, French footballer and manager (d. 2013)
- 1954 – Rick Warren, American pastor and author
- 1955 – Vinod Khosla, Indian-American businessman, co-founded Sun Microsystems
- 1955 – Nicolas Sarkozy, French lawyer and politician, 23rd President of France
- 1956 – Richard Danielpour, American composer and educator
- 1956 – Peter Schilling, German singer-songwriter
- 1957 – Mark Napier, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
- 1957 – Nick Price, Zimbabwean-South African golfer
- 1957 – Frank Skinner, English comedian, actor, and author
- 1959 – Frank Darabont, American director and producer
- 1960 – Loren Legarda, Filipino journalist and politician
- 1961 – Normand Rochefort, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1962 – Sam Phillips, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1964 – David Lawrence, English cricketer
- 1966 – Seiji Mizushima, Japanese director and producer
- 1967 – Billy Brownless, Australian footballer and sportscaster
- 1968 – Sarah McLachlan, Canadian singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
- 1968 – Rakim, American rapper
- 1969 – Giorgio Lamberti, Italian swimmer
- 1969 – Mo Rocca, American comedian and television journalist
- 1969 – Linda Sánchez, American lawyer and politician
- 1972 – Mark Regan, English rugby player
- 1972 – Nicky Southall, English footballer and manager
- 1972 – Léon van Bon, Dutch cyclist
- 1974 – Tony Delk, American basketball player and coach
- 1974 – Jermaine Dye, American baseball player
- 1974 – Ramsey Nasr, Dutch author and poet
- 1974 – Magglio Ordóñez, Venezuelan baseball player and politician
- 1975 – Pedro Pinto, Portuguese-American journalist
- 1975 – Junior Spivey, American baseball player and coach
- 1976 – Sireli Bobo, Fijian rugby player
- 1976 – Mark Madsen, American basketball player and coach
- 1976 – Rick Ross, American rapper and producer
- 1976 – Miltiadis Sapanis, Greek footballer
- 1977 – Sandis Buškevics, Latvian basketball player and coach
- 1977 – Daunte Culpepper, American football player
- 1977 – Joey Fatone, American singer, dancer, and television personality
- 1977 – Takuma Sato, Japanese race car driver
- 1978 – Gianluigi Buffon, Italian footballer
- 1978 – Jamie Carragher, English footballer and sportscaster
- 1978 – Papa Bouba Diop, Senegalese footballer
- 1978 – Stephen Farrelly, Irish professional wrestler
- 1978 – Big Freedia, New Orleans musician, “Queen of Bounce”
- 1980 – Nick Carter, American singer-songwriter and actor
- 1980 – Yasuhito Endō, Japanese footballer
- 1980 – Michael Hastings, American journalist and author (d. 2013)
- 1980 – Brian Fallon, American singer-songwriter
- 1981 – Elijah Wood, American actor and producer
- 1984 – Ben Clucas, English race car driver
- 1984 – Stephen Gostkowski, American football player
- 1984 – Andre Iguodala, American basketball player
- 1984 – Anne Panter, English field hockey player
- 1985 – J. Cole, American singer
- 1985 – Daniel Carcillo, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1985 – Lauris Dārziņš, Latvian ice hockey player
- 1985 – Arnold Mvuemba, French footballer
- 1985 – Libby Trickett, Australian swimmer
- 1986 – Jessica Ennis-Hill, English heptathlete and hurdler
- 1986 – Nathan Outteridge, Australian sailor
- 1986 – Asad Shafiq, Pakistani cricketer
- 1988 – Paul Henry, English footballer
- 1988 – Seiya Sanada, Japanese wrestler
- 1989 – Siem de Jong, Dutch footballer
- 1991 – Carl Klingberg, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1992 – Sergio Araujo, Argentinian footballer
- 1998 – Ariel Winter, American actress
Deaths on January 28
- 592 – Guntram, French king (b. 532)
- 814 – Charlemagne, Holy Roman emperor (pleurisy; b. 742)
- 919 – Zhou Dewei, Chinese general
- 929 – Gao Jixing, founder of Chinese Jingnan (b. 858)
- 947 – Jing Yanguang, Chinese general (b. 892)
- 1061 – Spytihněv II, Duke of Bohemia (b. 1031)
- 1142 – Yue Fei, Chinese general (b. 1103)
- 1256 – William II, Count of Holland, King of Germany (b. 1227)
- 1271 – Isabella of Aragon, Queen of France (b. 1247)
- 1290 – Dervorguilla of Galloway, Scottish noble, mother of king John Balliol of Scotland (b. c. 1210)
- 1443 – Robert le Maçon, French diplomat (b. 1365)
- 1501 – John Dynham, 1st Baron Dynham, English baron and Lord High Treasurer (b. 1433)
- 1547 – Henry VIII, king of England (b. 1491)
- 1613 – Thomas Bodley, English diplomat and scholar, founded the Bodleian Library (b. 1545)
- 1621 – Pope Paul V (b. 1550)
- 1666 – Tommaso Dingli, Maltese architect and sculptor (b. 1591)
- 1672 – Pierre Séguier, French politician, Lord Chancellor of France (b. 1588)
- 1681 – Richard Allestree, English priest and academic (b. 1619)
- 1687 – Johannes Hevelius, Polish astronomer and politician (b. 1611)
- 1688 – Ferdinand Verbiest, Flemish Jesuit missionary in China (b. 1623)
- 1697 – Sir John Fenwick, 3rd Baronet, English general and politician (b. 1645)
- 1754 – Ludvig Holberg, Norwegian-Danish historian and philosopher (b. 1684)
- 1782 – Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d’Anville, French geographer and cartographer (b. 1697)
- 1832 – Augustin Daniel Belliard, French general (b. 1769)
- 1859 – F. J. Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1782)
- 1864 – Émile Clapeyron, French physicist and engineer (b. 1799)
- 1873 – John Hart, English-Australian politician, 10th Premier of South Australia (b. 1809)
- 1903 – Augusta Holmès, French pianist and composer (b. 1847)
- 1912 – Gustave de Molinari, Belgian economist and theorist (b. 1819)
- 1918 – John McCrae, Canadian soldier, physician, and author (b. 1872)
- 1921 – Mustafa Suphi, Turkish journalist and politician (b. 1883)
- 1930 – Emmy Destinn, Czech soprano and poet (b. 1878)
- 1935 – Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, Russian composer and conductor (b. 1859)
- 1937 – Anastasios Metaxas, Greek architect and target shooter (b. 1862)
- 1938 – Bernd Rosemeyer, German race car driver (b. 1909)
- 1939 – W. B. Yeats, Irish poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
- 1942 – Edward Siegler, American gymnast and triathlete (b. 1881)
- 1945 – Roza Shanina, Russian sergeant and sniper (b. 1924)
- 1947 – Reynaldo Hahn, Venezuelan-French composer, conductor, and critic (b. 1875)
- 1948 – Hans Aumeier, German SS officer (b. 1906)
- 1949 – Jean-Pierre Wimille, French race car driver (b. 1908)
- 1950 – Nikolai Luzin, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1883)
- 1953 – James Scullin, Australian journalist and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1876)
- 1953 – Neyzen Tevfik, Turkish philosopher and poet (b. 1879)
- 1959 – Walter Beall, American baseball player (b. 1899)
- 1960 – Zora Neale Hurston, American novelist, short story writer, and folklorist (b. 1891)
- 1963 – Gustave Garrigou, French cyclist (b. 1884)
- 1965 – Tich Freeman, English cricketer (b. 1888)
- 1965 – Maxime Weygand, Belgian-French general (b. 1867)
- 1971 – Donald Winnicott, English paediatrician and psychoanalyst (b. 1896)
- 1973 – John Banner, Austrian actor (b. 1910)
- 1976 – Marcel Broodthaers, Belgian painter and poet (b. 1924)
- 1978 – Ward Moore, American author (b. 1903)
- 1983 – Billy Fury. English pop star (b. 1940)
- 1983 – Frank Forde, Australian educator and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1890)
- 1986 – Space Shuttle Challenger crew
- Gregory Jarvis, American captain, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1944)
- Christa McAuliffe, American educator and astronaut (b. 1948)
- Ronald McNair, American physicist and astronaut (b. 1950)
- Ellison Onizuka, American engineer and astronaut (b. 1946)
- Judith Resnik, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1949)
- Dick Scobee, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1939)
- Michael J. Smith, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1945)
- 1988 – Klaus Fuchs, German physicist and politician (b. 1911)
- 1989 – Choekyi Gyaltsen, 10th Panchen Lama (b. 1938)
- 1993 – Helen Sawyer Hogg, Canadian astronomer and academic (b. 1905)
- 1996 – Joseph Brodsky, Russian-American poet and essayist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1940)
- 1996 – Burne Hogarth, American cartoonist and author (b. 1911)
- 1996 – Jerry Siegel, American author and illustrator, co-created Superman (b. 1914)
- 1998 – Shotaro Ishinomori, Japanese author and illustrator (b. 1938)
- 1999 – Valery Gavrilin, Russian composer (b. 1939)
- 2001 – Ranko Marinković, Croatian author and playwright (b. 1913)
- 2002 – Gustaaf Deloor, Belgian cyclist and soldier (b. 1913)
- 2002 – Astrid Lindgren, Swedish author and screenwriter (b. 1907)
- 2002 – Ayşe Nur Zarakolu, Turkish author and activist (b. 1946)
- 2003 – Mieke Pullen, Dutch runner (b. 1957)
- 2004 – Lloyd M. Bucher, American captain (b. 1927)
- 2004 – Mel Pritchard, English drummer (b. 1948)
- 2005 – Jim Capaldi, English singer-songwriter and drummer (b. 1944)
- 2007 – Carlo Clerici, Swiss cyclist (b. 1929)
- 2007 – Robert Drinan, American priest, lawyer, and politician (b. 1920)
- 2007 – Yelena Romanova, Russian runner (b. 1963)
- 2007 – Karel Svoboda, Czech composer (b. 1938)
- 2009 – Billy Powell, American keyboard player and songwriter (b. 1952)
- 2012 – Roman Juszkiewicz, Polish astronomer and astrophysicist (b. 1952)
- 2012 – Don Starkell, Canadian adventurer and author (b. 1932)
- 2013 – Florentino Fernández, Cuban-American boxer and coach (b. 1936)
- 2013 – Hattie N. Harrison, American educator and politician (b. 1928)
- 2013 – Oldřich Kulhánek, Czech painter, illustrator, and stage designer (b. 1940)
- 2014 – John Cacavas, American composer and conductor (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Harry Gamble, American football player, coach, and manager (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Dwight Gustafson, American composer and conductor (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Nigel Jenkins, Welsh poet, journalist, and geographer (b. 1949)
- 2014 – Jorge Obeid, Argentinian engineer and politician, Governor of Santa Fe (b. 1947)
- 2015 – Suraj Abdurrahman, Nigerian general, architect, and engineer (b. 1954)
- 2015 – Yves Chauvin, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1930)
- 2015 – Lionel Gilbert, Australian historian, author, and academic (b. 1924)
- 2016 – Signe Toly Anderson, American singer (b. 1941)
- 2016 – Paul Kantner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1941)
- 2016 – Franklin Gene Bissell, American football player and coach (b. 1926)
- 2016 – Buddy Cianci, American lawyer and politician, 32nd Mayor of Providence (b. 1941)
- 2016 – Bob Tizard, New Zealand lawyer and politician, 6th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1924)
- 2017 – Alexander Chancellor, British journalist (b. 1940)
- 2017 – Geoff Nicholls, British musician (b. 1948)
- 2019 – Pepe Smith, Filipino rock musician (b. 1947)
Holidays and observances on January 28
- Christian feast day:
- Joseph Freinademetz
- Julian of Cuenca
- Thomas Aquinas
- January 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Army Day (Armenia)
- Data Privacy Day