| 1951 | January 5 | Event | 1949 – United States President Harry S. Truman unveils his Fair Deal program. |
| 1952 | January 5 | Event | 1957 – In a speech given to the United States Congress, United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces the establishment of what will later be called the Eisenhower Doctrine. |
| 1953 | January 5 | Event | 1968 – Alexander Dubček comes to power: "Prague Spring" begins in Czechoslovakia. |
| 1954 | January 5 | Event | 1969 – The Troubles: The Royal Ulster Constabulary raid the Bogside area of Derry, damaging property and beating residents. In response, residents erect barricades and establish Free Derry. |
| 1955 | January 5 | Event | 1972 – United States President Richard Nixon orders the development of a Space Shuttle program. |
| 1956 | January 5 | Event | 1974 – An earthquake in Lima, Peru, kills six people, and damages hundreds of houses. |
| 1957 | January 5 | Event | 1974 – Warmest reliably measured temperature in Antarctica of +59 °F (+15 °C) recorded at Vanda Station |
| 1958 | January 5 | Event | 1975 – The Tasman Bridge in Tasmania, Australia, is struck by the bulk ore carrier Lake Illawarra, killing twelve people. |
| 1959 | January 5 | Event | 1976 – The Khmer Rouge proclaim the Constitution of Democratic Kampuchea. |
| 1960 | January 5 | Event | 1976 – The Troubles: In response to the killing of six Catholics the night before, gunmen shoot dead ten Protestant civilians after stopping their minibus at Kingsmill in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, UK. |
| 1961 | January 5 | Event | 1991 – Georgian forces enter Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, Georgia, opening the 1991–1992 South Ossetia War. |
| 1962 | January 5 | Event | 1991 – The United States Embassy to Somalia in Mogadishu is evacuated by helicopter airlift days after violence enveloped Mogadishu during the Somali Civil War |
| 1963 | January 5 | Event | 1993 – The oil tanker MV Braer runs aground on the coast of the Shetland Islands, spilling 84,700 tons of crude oil. |
| 1964 | January 5 | Event | 2005 – Eris, the largest known dwarf planet in the Solar System, is discovered by the team of Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David L. Rabinowitz using images originally taken on October 21, 2003, at the Palomar Observatory. |
| 1965 | January 5 | Event | 2014 – A launch of the communication satellite GSAT-14 aboard the GSLV MK.II D5 marks the first successful flight of an Indian cryogenic engine. |
| 1966 | January 5 | Birth | 1209 – Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, English-German king (d. 1272) |
| 1967 | January 5 | Birth | 1548 – Francisco Suárez, Spanish priest, philosopher, and theologian (d. 1617) |
| 1968 | January 5 | Birth | 1587 – Xu Xiake, Chinese geographer and explorer (d. 1641) |
| 1969 | January 5 | Birth | 1614 – Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria (d. 1662) |
| 1970 | January 5 | Birth | 1640 – Paolo Lorenzani, Italian composer (d. 1713) |
| 1971 | January 5 | Birth | 1679 – Pietro Filippo Scarlatti, Italian organist and composer (d. 1750) |
| 1972 | January 5 | Birth | 1717 – William Barrington, 2nd Viscount Barrington, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (d. 1793) |
| 1973 | January 5 | Birth | 1735 – Claude Martin, French-English general (d. 1800) |
| 1974 | January 5 | Birth | 1762 – Constanze Mozart, German wife of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (d. 1842) |
| 1975 | January 5 | Birth | 1767 – Jean-Baptiste Say, French economist and academic (d. 1832) |
| 1976 | January 5 | Birth | 1778 – Zebulon Pike, American general and explorer (d. 1813) |
| 1977 | January 5 | Birth | 1779 – Stephen Decatur, American commander (d. 1820) |
| 1978 | January 5 | Birth | 1793 – Harvey Putnam, American lawyer and politician (d. 1855) |
| 1979 | January 5 | Birth | 1808 – Anton Füster, Austrian priest and activist (d. 1881) |
| 1980 | January 5 | Birth | 1834 – William John Wills, English surgeon and explorer (d. 1861) |