| 1591 | January 4 | Birth | 1932 – Clint Hill, American secret service agent and author |
| 1592 | January 4 | Birth | 1932 – Thelma Holt, English actress and producer |
| 1593 | January 4 | Birth | 1932 – Roman Personov, Russian physicist and academic (d. 2002) |
| 1594 | January 4 | Birth | 1932 – Carlos Saura, Spanish director and screenwriter |
| 1595 | January 4 | Birth | 1933 – Ilia II of Georgia |
| 1596 | January 4 | Birth | 1933 – Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, American author |
| 1597 | January 4 | Birth | 1934 – Hellmuth Karasek, Czech-German journalist, author, and critic (d. 2015) |
| 1598 | January 4 | Birth | 1934 – Rudolf Schuster, Slovak politician, 2nd President of Slovakia |
| 1599 | January 4 | Birth | 1935 – Walter Mahlendorf, German sprinter |
| 1600 | January 4 | Birth | 1935 – Floyd Patterson, American boxer (d. 2006) |
| 1601 | January 4 | Birth | 1935 – Toru Terasawa, Japanese runner |
| 1602 | January 4 | Birth | 1937 – Grace Bumbry, American soprano and actress |
| 1603 | January 4 | Birth | 1937 – Dyan Cannon, American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter |
| 1604 | January 4 | Birth | 1937 – Mick O'Connell, Irish footballer |
| 1605 | January 4 | Birth | 1938 – Eddie Southern, American hurdler |
| 1606 | January 4 | Birth | 1940 – Alexander Chancellor, English journalist |
| 1607 | January 4 | Birth | 1940 – Gao Xingjian, Chinese-French author and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate |
| 1608 | January 4 | Birth | 1940 – Helmut Jahn, German-American architect, designed Liberty Place and Messeturm |
| 1609 | January 4 | Birth | 1940 – Brian Josephson, Welsh physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate |
| 1610 | January 4 | Birth | 1940 – Jill Pitkeathley, Baroness Pitkeathley, English politician |
| 1611 | January 4 | Birth | 1941 – George P. Cosmatos, Italian-Canadian director and screenwriter (d. 2005) |
| 1612 | January 4 | Birth | 1941 – John Bennett Perry, American actor and singer |
| 1613 | January 4 | Birth | 1941 – Kalpnath Rai, Indian politician (d. 1999) |
| 1614 | January 4 | Birth | 1941 – Maureen Reagan, American actress and activist (d. 2001) |
| 1615 | January 4 | Birth | 1941 – K. Thurairetnasingam, Sri Lankan politician |
| 1616 | January 4 | Birth | 1942 – Bolaji Akinyemi, Nigerian professor of political science |
| 1617 | January 4 | Birth | 1942 – Precious Bryant, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013) |
| 1618 | January 4 | Birth | 1942 – John McLaughlin, English guitarist and songwriter |
| 1619 | January 4 | Birth | 1943 – Doris Kearns Goodwin, American historian and author |
| 1620 | January 4 | Birth | 1943 – Hwang Sok-yong, South Korean author and educator |