January 1961
January 3
United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015).
Aero Flight 311 (Koivulahti air disaster): Douglas DC-3C OH-LCC of Finnish airline Aero crashes near Kvevlax (Koivulahti), on approach to Vaasa Airport in Finland, killing all 25 on board, due to pilot error: an investigation finds that the captain and first officer were both exhausted for lack of sleep, and had consumed excessive amounts of alcohol at the time of the crash. It remains the deadliest air disaster to occur in the country.
January 5
Italian sculptor Alfredo Fioravanti marches into the U.S. Consulate in Rome, and confesses that he was part of the team that forged the Etruscan terracotta warriors in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
After the 1960 military coup, General Cemal Gürsel forms the new government of Turkey (25th government).
January 7 – Following a four-day conference in Casablanca, five African chiefs of state announce plans for a NATO-type African organization to ensure common defense. The Charter of Casablanca involves the Casablanca Group: Morocco, the United Arab Republic, Ghana, Guinea, and Mali.
January 8 – In France, a referendum supports Charles de Gaulle's policies on independence for Algeria.
January 9 – British authorities announce they have uncovered a large Soviet spy ring, the Portland Spy Ring, in London.
January 17
President Dwight Eisenhower gives his final State of the Union Address to Congress. In a Farewell Address the same day, he warns of the increasing power of a "military–industrial complex."
Patrice Lumumba of the Republic of Congo is assassinated.
January 20 – John F. Kennedy is sworn in as the 35th President of the United States.
January 24 – A B-52 Stratofortress, with two nuclear bombs, crashes near Goldsboro, North Carolina.
January 25
In Washington, D.C., President John F. Kennedy delivers the first live presidential news conference.