| 1/1/2010 | Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, at the age of 19 years and 32 days, becomes the youngest grandmaster to be ranked world No 1. Three years later, in January 2013, he will reach an ELO rating of 2861, the highest in history, and later in November 2013, he will go even higher at 2872. |
| 1/1/2000 | The book by Spanish author Javier Marias “Salvajes y sentimentales: Lettras de futbol” is released, containing a collection of 30 football-related articles published from 1992 to 2000 |
| 1/1/2000 | 1999 awards according to ''World Soccer'' review (Manchester United, Rivaldo and Sir Alex Ferguson) |
| 1/1/2000 | French basketball player Jean Pierre Stalens dies of heart attack aged 54. In 1967 he scored a record 71 points in a single game |
| 1/1/1997 | Coach Bryan Robson makes his debut with Middlesbrough in a match against Arsenal (0-2). It is Robson's first official game since 1995 |
| 1/1/1986 | UNLV Rebels beat Utah State 142-140 in 3 overtimes (NCAA record). The game lasted over 3 hours. |
| 1/1/1986 | Benetton F1 team founded in Witney, England |
| 1/1/1974 | 28-year-old George Best plays his last game for Manchester Utd in a 3-0 defeat against QPR. His debut with the club was 11 years ago, on September 14, 1963 |
| 1/1/1965 | Stanley Matthews is the first professional football player to be knighted by the Queen of England |
| 1/1/1954 | The Rose and the Cotton Bowl are the first sport colorcasts |
| 1/1/1949 | Daily Mail newspaper publishes Don Bradman’s book “How to Play Cricket”, which was firstly published in 1935 and is considered to be the best book on cricket |
| 1/1/1937 | First Cotton Bowl game in Dallas, Texas. Texas Christians University defeat Marquette 16-6 |
| 1/1/1902 | The first Rose Bowl game is held in Pasadena, California. University of Michigan-Stanford 49-0 |
| 1/1/1890 | Nets are used for the first time in football match in Bolton, England |
| 1/1/1881 | First British chess magazine published |
| 1/1/1840 | First recorded bowling match in America, at Knickerbocker Alleys, New York |
| 1/1/1838 | First official horse race in Adelaide, South Australia |
| 1/1/1622 | The 1st of January is established as the first day of the year by Pope Gregory XIII. Julius Cesar had already tried to impose this date since 45 b.C. but many states, such as England, continued to use the vernal equinox (20-21 or formerly 24-25 March) as the beginning of the solar year |
