11th January

Events

• 532 - Nika riots in Constantinople.
• 1158 - Vladislav II becomes King of Bohemia.
• 1569 - First recorded lottery in England.
• 1571 - Austrian nobility is granted Freedom of religion.
• 1693 - Eruption of Mt. Etna.
• 1759 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the first American life insurance company is incorporated.
• 1787 - William Herschel discovers Titania and Oberon, two moons of Uranus.
• 1805 - Michigan Territory is created.
• 1861 - Alabama secedes from the United States.
• 1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Arkansas Post - General John McClernand and Admiral David Porter capture the Arkansas River for the Union.
• 1867 - Benito Juarez becomes Mexican president again.
• 1879 - Anglo-Zulu War begins.
• 1908 - Grand Canyon National Monument is created.
• 1919 - Romania annexes Transylvania.
• 1922 - First successful treatment with insulin against diabetes.
• 1923 - Troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area to force Germany to pay its reparation payments.
• 1935 - Amelia Earhart is the first woman to fly solo from Hawaii to California.
• 1938 - Frances Moulton is the first woman to become president of a US national bank.
• 1942 - Japan declares war on the Netherlands and invades the Netherlands East Indies.
• 1942 - The Japanese capture Kuala Lumpur.
• 1943 - The United States and United Kingdom give up territorial rights in China.
• 1946 - Enver Hoxha declares the people's republic of Albania with himself as dictator.
• 1949 - First recorded case of snowfall in Los Angeles, California.
• 1960 - Chad declares its independence.
• 1962 - Eruption of the volcano Huascaran in Peru; 4000 deaths.
• 1963 - The Whiskey-a-Go-Go night club in Los Angeles, the first disco in the USA, is opened.
• 1964 - United States Surgeon General Luther Terry reports that smoking may be hazardous for one's health. First such statement from US government.
• 1972 - East Pakistan becomes Bangladesh.
• 1973 - Beginning of the Watergate burglars trial.
• 1980 - Nigel Short, 14 years old, is the youngest chess player to be awarded the degree of International Master.
• 1990 - Massive (300,000) demonstration in favor of Lithuanian independence.
• 1992 - Paul Simon is the first major artist to tour South Africa after the end of the cultural boycott.

Births

• 1757 - Alexander Hamilton, first United States Secretary of the Treasury, (d. 1804)
• 1757 - Samuel Bentham, mechanical engineer, (d. 1831)
• 1815 - John A. Macdonald, first Prime Minister of Canada, (d. 1891)
• 1856 - Christian Sinding, composer, (d. 1941)
• 1858 - Harry Gordon Selfridge founder of Selfridges, (d. 1947)
• 1859 - George Nathaniel Curzon (Lord Curzon), British statesman, (d. 1925)
• 1860 - Marie Bashkirtseff, artist, (d. 1884)
• 1885 - Alice Paul, women's rights activist
• 1899 - Eva LeGallienne, actress, (d. 1991)
• 1903 - Alan Paton, writer, (d. 1988)
• 1906 - Albert Hofmann, chemist, discoverer of LSD effects
• 1923 - Jacqueline Maillan, French actress
• 1924 - Slim Harpo, musician, (d. 1970)
• 1925 - Grant Tinker, television executive
• 1925 - William Styron, writer
• 1926 - Lev Demin, cosmonaut, (d. 1998)
• 1928 - David L. Wolper, producer
• 1930 - Rod Taylor, Australian actor
• 1931 - James Earl Jones, actor
• 1934 - Jean Chrétien, twentieth Prime Minister of Canada
• 1938 - Arthur Scargill British trade union leader.
• 1942 - Clarence Clemens, musician (E Street Band)
• 1943 - Jim Hightower, radio host, author
• 1946 - Naomi Judd, country music singer
• 1947 - Bryan Robson, football player
• 1952 - Lee Ritenour, musician, composer
• 1952 - Ben Crenshaw, golfer
• 1960 - Stanley Tucci, actor
• 1971 - Mary J. Blige, pop singer
• 1973 - Rahul Dravid, cricketer, India

Deaths

• 314 - St. Miltiades, Pope
• 705 - John VI, Pope
• 1055 - Constantine IX Monomachos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire, (b. c. 1000)
• 1928 - Thomas Hardy, writer, (b. 1840)
• 1958 - Edna Purviance, actress, (b. 1895)
• 1966 - Alberto Giacometti, Italian sculptor, (b. 1901)
• 1966 - Hannes Kolehmainen, Finnish long-distance runner
• 1970 - Richmal Crompton, author, (b. 1890)
• 1983 - Shri Ghanshyam Das Birla, Indian industrialist, Gandhian and educationist, (b. 1894)
• 1988 - Pappy Boyington, aviator
• 2001 - Sir Denys Lasdun, architect, (b. 1914)

Holidays and observances

• Albania - Republic Day (1946)
• Chad - Independence Day (1960)
• Japan - Kagami-Biraki (Rice Cakes Festival)
• Nepal - Unity Day
• Roman Empire - First day of Carmentalia in honor of Carmen
• Feast of the Baptism of Jesus Christ

January 10 - January 12 - December 11 - February 11 -- listing of all days

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