11 January

1158      Vladislav II becomes King of Bohemia.

1569      First recorded lottery in England.

1571       Austrian nobility is granted freedom of religion.

1693      Mount Etna erupts in Sicily, Italy. A powerful earthquake destroys parts of Sicily and Malta.

1755      Alexander Hamilton (born), Nevisian-American economist, politician, and philosopher, 1st United States Secretary of the Treasury (died 1804)

1757      Samuel Bentham (born), English engineer (died 1831)

1759      In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the first American life insurance company is incorporated.

1786      Joseph Jackson Lister (born), English opticist and physicist (died 1869)

1787      William Herschel discovers Titania and Oberon, two moons of Uranus.

1794      Robert Forsythe, a U.S. Marshal is killed in Augusta, Georgia when trying to serve court papers, the first US marshal to die while carrying out his duties.

1805      The Michigan Territory is created.

1807      Ezra Cornell (born), American businessman and philanthropist, founded Western Union and Cornell University (died 1874)

1836      John Molson (died), Canadian businessman, founded the Molson Brewing Company (born 1763)

1842      William James (born), American psychologist and philosopher (died 1910)

1843      Francis Scott Key (died), American lawyer, author, and songwriter (born 1779)

1861      Alabama secedes from the United States.

1863      American Civil War: CSS Alabama encounters and sinks the USS Hatteras off Galveston Lighthouse in Texas.

1867      Edward B. Titchener (born), English psychologist (died 1927)

1879      The Anglo-Zulu War begins.

1887      Aldo Leopold (born), American ecologist and author (died 1948)

1905      Clyde Kluckhohn (born), American anthropologist (died 1960)

1908      Grand Canyon National Monument is created.

1912       Immigrant textile works in Lawrence, Massachusetts, go on strike when wages are reduced in response to a mandated shortening of the work week.

1917       The Kingsland munitions factory explosion occurs as a result of sabotage.

1919       Romania reincorporates Transylvania.

1922      First use of insulin to treat diabetes in a human patient.

1923      Carroll Shelby (born), American race car driver, designer, and businessman, founded Carroll Shelby International (died 2012)

1924      Slim Harpo (born), American singer and harmonica player (died 1970)

1925      Grant Tinker (born), American television producer, co-founded MTM Enterprises

1927      Louis B. Mayer, head of film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), announces the creation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, at a banquet in Los Angeles, California.

1928      David L. Wolper (born), American television and film producer (died 2010)

1928      Thomas Hardy (died), English author and poet (born 1840)

1931       James Milton Carroll (died), American pastor, historian, and author (born 1852)

1935      Amelia Earhart becomes the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California.

1942      World War II: The Japanese capture Kuala Lumpur.

1942      Clarence Clemons (born), American saxophonist and actor (E Street Band) (died 2011)

1943      World War II: The United States and United Kingdom give up territorial rights in China.

1943      Italian-American anarchist Carlo Tresca is assassinated in New York.

1946      Naomi Judd (born), American singer-songwriter (The Judds)

1949      The first “networked” television broadcasts take place as KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania goes on the air connecting the east coast and mid-west programming.

1949      First recorded case of snowfall in Los Angeles, California.

1960      Henry Lee Lucas, once listed as America’s most prolific serial killer, commits his first known murder.

1962      An avalanche on Huascarán in Peru causes 4,000 deaths.

1964      Surgeon General of the United States Dr. Luther Terry, M.D., publishes the landmark report Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the United States saying that smoking may be hazardous to health, sparking national and worldwide anti-smoking efforts.

1972      East Pakistan renames itself Bangladesh.

1973      Major League Baseball owners vote in approval of the American League adopting the designated hitter position.

1980      Barbara Pym (died), English author (born 1913)

1986      The Gateway Bridge, Brisbane in Queensland, Australia is officially opened.

1988      Pappy Boyington (died), American pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1912)

1994      The Irish Government announces the end of a 15-year broadcasting ban on the IRA and its political arm Sinn Féin.

1996      Space Shuttle program: STS-72 launches from the Kennedy Space Center marking the start of the 74th Space Shuttle mission and the 10th flight of Endeavour.

1998      Over 100 people are killed in the Sidi-Hamed massacre in Algeria.

2000     Ivan Combe (died), American inventor and businessman, invented Clearasil (born 1911)

2002     The first twenty captives arrive at Camp X-Ray.

2003     Illinois Governor George Ryan commutes the death sentences of 167 prisoners on Illinois’ death row based on the Jon Burge scandal.

2005     Spencer Dryden (died), American drummer (Jefferson Airplane, The Peanut Butter Conspiracy, New Riders of the Purple Sage, and The Dinosaurs) (born 1938)

2008     Edmund Hillary (died), New Zealand mountaineer and explorer (born 1919)

2008     Carl Karche (died), American businessman, co-founded Carl’s Jr. (born 1917)

2010      Miep Gies (died), Austrian-Dutch humanitarian, helped hide Anne Frank and her family (born 1909)

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EO Smith

Interests include biological anthropology, evolution, social behavior, and human behavior. Conducted field research in the Tana River National Primate Reserve, Kenya and on Angaur, Palau, Micronesia, as well as research with captive nonhuman primates at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and the Institute for Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya.
EO Smith
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