• Tour de France - Live television shots came to the TdF. The limited race action came from the famous climb of the Col d'Aubisque.
• China - Communist leader Mao presents the “Great Leap Forward” to encourage the industrialization of China.
• Cuba - Rebel leader Fidel Castro ousts the mafia corrupted dictator Fulgencio Batista and wins total control of the island nation.
• NFL - the National Football League's championship game, viewed by millions of fans on TV, is won by the Baltimore Colts in “sudden death” overtime. The game generated such interest that CBS signed a long term TV contract for the hot NFL product.
• Munich, Germany - an airplane carrying the Manchester United FC crashed in a blizzard taking off from Munich Airport.
• North Pole - the Nautilus submarine journeys under the North Pole.
• Music - January 20, 1958, Elvis Presley is drafted into military service.
