List of Famous people born on January 1st

Hanefi Avcı is a former chief of police in Turkey, and author of the best-selling book Haliç’te Yaşayan Simonlar, in which Avcı claimed that the Gülen movement had infiltrated the police and manipulated key trials such as the Ergenekon trials through judges and prosecutors close to the movement. Avcı, a conservative Islamist, was himself once close to the movement, and his children were educated in a Gülen school. Avcı, who in the 1990s testified to parliament in relation to the Susurluk scandal and in 2009 to prosecutors about the mafia links of the Ergenekon organization, was the first Turkish state official to confirm the existence of the Turkish Gendarmerie's JITEM intelligence unit.

Kaoru Yamatani , better known by his pen name Sō Kuramoto , is a Japanese playwright and screenwriter.

Yōsuke Isozaki is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet. A native of Ōita, Ōita, he joined the Ministry of Home Affairs, upon graduation from the University of Tokyo in 1982. After leaving the ministry in 2006, he was elected the House of Councillors for the first time in 2007. He is affiliated to the revisionist lobby Nippon Kaigi.

Rodney Eric Bainbridge Atkinson is an English academic, political and economic commentator, journalist, author and businessman. He is the second eldest brother of the comedian and actor Rowan Atkinson.

Bob Kersee is an American track coach who trained many elite athletes, including his wife, Olympic gold medallist Jackie Joyner-Kersee.

Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins is a Welsh actor, composer, director and film producer. He is the recipient of multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, three BAFTAs, two Emmys and the Cecil B. DeMille Award. In 1993, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the arts. Hopkins received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003, and in 2008 he received the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

Desmond O'Connor is an English ukulele-playing cabaret host and musical comedy performer. He is an award-winning composer and lyricist and musical director/co-creator for the award-winning Twice Shy Theatre.

Junto Nakatani is a Japanese professional boxer who has held the WBO flyweight title since 2020. As of November 2020, he is ranked as the world's third best active flyweight by BoxRec and eighth by The Ring.

Theodore Landon "Ted" Streleski was an American former graduate student in mathematics at Stanford University who murdered his former faculty advisor, Professor Karel de Leeuw, with a ball-peen hammer on August 18, 1978. Shortly after the murder, Streleski turned himself in to the authorities, claiming he felt the murder was justifiable homicide because de Leeuw had withheld departmental awards from him, demeaned Streleski in front of his peers, and refused his requests for financial support. Streleski was in his 19th year pursuing his doctorate in the mathematics department, alternating with low-paying jobs to support himself.

Joseph Koo Kar-Fai, MBE, GBS, is one of the most respected composers in Hong Kong. He used the pen name Moran (莫然) for Mandarin songs early in his career.