January 1, 1959 - Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba and established a Communist dictatorship.
January 23, 1968 - The American ship USS Pueblo was seized by North Koreans in the Sea of Japan.
28 January 1964 - An unarmed United States Air Force T-39 Sabreliner on a training mission was shot down over Erfurt, East Germany by a Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19.
January 30, 1968 – The Tet Offensive in Vietnam began when North Vietnamese troops attacked provincial capitals and major cities in South Vietnam. Attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Saigon and the presidential palace were repelled.