January

 * January 1998 - A massive ice storm, caused by El Niño, strikes New England, southern Ontario and Quebec, resulting in widespread power failures, severe damage to forests, and a number of deaths. * January 1 - Smoking is banned in all California bars and restaurants. * January 2 o Russia begins to circulate new rubles to stem inflation and promote confidence. o Gunman shoots Antario Teodoro Filho, Brazilian politician and radio presenter, in a middle of his broadcast. * January 4 - Wilaya of Relizane massacres of 4 January 1998 in Algeria; over 170 killed in three remote villages. * January 6 - The Lunar Prospector spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon and later found evidence for frozen water on the moon's surface. * January 8 o Ramzi Yousef is sentenced to life in prison for planning the World Trade Center bombing. o Cosmologists announce that the expansion rate of the universe is increasing. * January 11 - Sidi-Hamed massacre in Algeria; over 100 people killed. * January 12 - 19 European nations agree to forbid human cloning. * January 14 - Researchers in Dallas, Texas present findings about an enzyme that slows aging and cell death (apoptosis). * January 15 - The stalker of Howard Stern, Lance Carvin, is sentenced to 2 1/2 years for threatening to kill Stern and his family. * January 16 - NASA announces that John Glenn will return to space when Space Shuttle Discovery blasts off in October 1998. * January 17 - Paula Jones accuses President Bill Clinton of sexual harassment. * January 22 - Suspected "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski pleads guilty and accepts a sentence of life without the possibility of parole. * January 26 o Lewinsky scandal: On American television, Bill Clinton denies he had "sexual relations" with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. o Compaq buys Digital Equipment Corporation. * January 27 - American First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton appears on the Today show calling the attacks against her husband part of a "vast right-wing conspiracy." * January 28 o Ford Motor Company announces the buyout of Volvo Cars for $6.45 billion. o Gunmen hold at least 400 children and teachers hostage for several hours at an elementary school in Manila, Philippines. * January 29 - In Birmingham, Alabama a bomb explodes at an abortion clinic killing one and severely wounding another. Serial bomber Eric Rudolph is suspected as the culprit.