January 3: The March of Dimes is founded.

January 5: Japanese warplanes bomb Hankou.

January 7: Italy announces a massive new naval construction program. Two battleships are to be constructed by 1941.

January 8: The United States House Committee on Ways and Means discloses the salaries of all persons who made more than $15,000 in 1936. Alfred P. Sloan of General Motors was revealed to be the highest-paid CEO in the country, making $561,311. Gary Cooper was the highest-paid actor in Hollywood, making $370,214. Claudette Colbert was the top actress at $350,833.

January 12: The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union opens for the first time.

January 19: German bombers of the Condor Legion kill more than 100 people in an air raid on Barcelona.

January 25: Austrian police raid Nazi headquarters in Vienna and uncover plans of a Nazi coup. Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg refuses to publish the documents because he fears they could antagonize Hitler.

January 27: The Honeymoon Bridge at Niagara Falls collapses after suffering severe structural damage from a deluge of ice during a wind storm.

January 29: German chemist Paul Schlack synthesizes Nylon 6, widely known by its tradename Perlon. (source: Wikipedia)