January 11 facts for kids

January 11 is the 11th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 354 days remaining until the end of the year (355 in leap years).

Events

Up to 1900

• 314 – Pope Miltiades ends his reign as the Catholic Pope.
• 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 – Mount Etna erupts in Sicily, Italy.
• 1759 – In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the first American life insurance company is incorporated.
• 1779 - Ching-Tang Khomba is crowned King of Manipur in present-day northeastern India.
• 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 Dixon Porter capture the Arkansas River for the Union.
• 1866 - British passenger ship London sinks in a storm in the Bay of Biscay, killing 220 out of the 239 people on board.
• 1867 – Benito Juárez becomes Mexican president again.
• 1879 – Anglo-Zulu War begins.
• 1880 – Total solar eclipse blackens the sky of San Francisco one day after the funeral of Emperor Norton.

1901 – 1950

• 1902 – Popular Mechanics magazine was published for the first time.
• 1908 – The Grand Canyon National Monument is created.
• 1917 - The Kingsland Munitions Factory explosion occurs in Lyndhurst, New Jersey.
• 1919 – Romania annexes Transylvania.
• 1922 – First use of insulin to treat diabetes in a human patient.
• 1923 – Troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area to force Germany to pay its reparation payments.
• 1927 - Louis B. Mayer, head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, announces the creation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
• 1934 - A total of 135 people are killed in a series of avalanches in Vorarlberg, Austria.
• 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.
• 1946 – Porfirio Barba-Jacob's ashes go back to Colombia.
• 1949 – First recorded case of snowfall in Los Angeles, California.

From 1951

• 1954 - A series of avalanches in the state of Vorarlberg in Austria kills 135 people.
• 1957 – The African Convention is founded in Dakar.
• 1960 – Chad declares its independence.
• 1962 – An avalanche occurs in the Huascaran region in Peru; 4,000 deaths.
• 1962 - Cold War: While tied to its pier in Polyarny, the Soviet submarine B-37 is destroyed when fire breaks out in its torpedo compartment.
• 1963 – The Whisky A Go-Go night club in Los Angeles, the first disco in the USA, is opened.
• 1964 – United States Surgeon General Luther Leonidas Terry reports smoking may be hazardous to health. First such statement from US government.
• 1972 – East Pakistan becomes Bangladesh.
• 1973 – Beginning of the Watergate burglars trial.
• 1974 – The world's first surviving set of sextuplets are born to Susan Rosenkowitz in Cape Town, South Africa.
• 1976 - In Ecuador, Guillermo Rodriguez Lara is removed from power by the military.
• 1980 – Nigel Short, 14, is the youngest chess player to be given the degree of International Master.
• 1981 - In Spain, Cantabria becomes an autonomous community.
• 1982 – A cold snap sends temperatures to record lows in dozens of cities throughout the Midwestern United States.
• 1986 – The Gateway Bridge, Brisbane in Queensland, Australia was officially opened.
• 1990 – 300,000 march in favor of Lithuanian independence.
• 1992 – Paul Simon is the first major artist to tour South Africa after the end of the cultural boycott.
• 1994 – Irish Government announces the end of a 15-year broadcasting ban on the IRA and its political arm Sinn Fein
• 1996 – Haiti becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
• 1996 - Ryutaro Hashimoto becomes Prime Minister of Japan.
• 1998 – Sidi-Hamed massacre in Algeria; over 100 people killed.
• 2001 – The Federal Trade Commission approved the merger of AOL and Time Warner to form AOL Time Warner.
• 2002 - The first prisoners arrive at the US detention center in Guantanamo Bay, on the island of Cuba.
• 2003 – Illinois governor George H. Ryan announces decision to grant clemency to all inmates of death row.
• 2005 – Black Tuesday bushfires swept across the southern Eyre Peninsula in South Australia.
• 2013 - President of France François Hollande authorizes military intervention in the conflict in Mali.
• 2015 - Over a million people march in Paris for freedom of speech after the attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine a few days earlier.
• 2015 - Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic is elected to become the first female President of Croatia.

Births

Up to 1900

• 347 – Theodosius I, Roman Emperor (d. 395)
• 1322 – Emperor Komyo of Japan (d. 1380)
• 1359 – Emperor Go-En'yu of Japan (d. 1393)
• 1395 - Michelle of Valois, Duchess of Burgundy (d. 1422)
• 1503 - Parmigianino, Italian artist (d. 1540)
• 1591 - Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, English Civil War general (d. 1646)
• 1638 – Nicolaus Steno, Danish physician, scientist and bishop (d. 1686)
• 1642 - Johann Friedrich Alberti, German composer and organist (d. 1710)
• 1671 - Francois-Marie, 1st duc de Broglie, French military leader (d. 1745)
• 1755 or 1757 – Alexander Hamilton, American politician (d. 1804)
• 1757 - Samuel Bentham, English mechanical engineer (d. 1831)
• 1760 - Oliver Wolcott, Jr., American politician (d. 1833)
• 1786 – Joseph Jackson Lister, English optician and physicist (d. 1869)
• 1788 - William Thomas Brande, English chemist (d. 1866)
• 1793 - Cave Johnson, American politician (d. 1866)
• 1805 - Johann Nepomuk Geiger, Austrian painter (d. 1880)
• 1807 - Ezra Cornell, American businessman and university founder (d. 1874)
• 1814 - James Paget, English surgeon and pathologist (d. 1899)
• 1814 - William Bigler, 12th Governor of Pennsylvania (d. 1880)
• 1815 – John A. Macdonald, Scottish-born first Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1891)
• 1838 - Giovanni Cagliero, Italian diplomat (d. 1926)
• 1839 - Eugenio Maria de Hostos, Puerto Rican educator and nationalist (d. 1903)
• 1842 – William James, American psychologist and philosopher (d. 1910)
• 1852 – Constantin Fehrenbach, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1926)
• 1853 – Georgios Jakobides, Greek painter (d. 1926)
• 1858 – Harry Gordon Selfridge, American retailer (d. 1947)
• 1859 - George Nathaniel Curzon, British Viceroy of India (d. 1925)
• 1862 - Joseph Nelson Rose, American botanist (d. 1928)
• 1865 - Johannes Franz Hartmann, German astronomer (d. 1936)
• 1868 - Cai Yuanpei, Chinese philosopher, academic and politician (d. 1940)
• 1870 – Alexander Stirling Calder, American sculptor (d. 1945)
• 1872 - Herbert Baddeley, British tennis player (d. 1931)
• 1872 - Wilfred Baddeley, British tennis player (d. 1929)
• 1878 - Theodoros Pangalos, Greek general (d. 1952)
• 1885 - Alice Paul, American suffragette and women's rights activist (d. 1977)
• 1890 - Harold Bride, British wireless officer on the RMS Titanic (d. 1956)
• 1895 – Laurens Hammond, American inventor (d. 1973)
• 1897 – August Heissmeyer, German SS officer (d. 1979)

1901 – 1950

• 1901 - Kwak Ki-ok, Korean pilot (d. 1988)
• 1902 - Maurice Durufle, French composer (d. 1986)
• 1903 - Alan Paton, South African writer and activist (d. 1988)
• 1906 – Albert Hofmann, Swiss chemist (d. 2008)
• 1907 – Pierre Mendes-France, Prime Minister of France (d. 1982)
• 1908 - Lionel Stander, American actor (d. 1994)
• 1910 - Nikos Kavvadias, Greek poet and writer (d. 1975)
• 1911 - Nora Heysen, Australian artist (d. 2003)
• 1911 – Zenko Suzuki, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2004)
• 1917 - John Robarts, 17th Premier of Ontario (d. 1982)
• 1918 - Gunnar Sonsteby, Norwegian Resistance activist (d. 2012)
• 1923 - Carroll Shelby, American racing driver, automobile designer and businessman (d. 2012)
• 1923 - Jerome Bixby, American author and scriptwriter (d. 1998)
• 1923 - Ernst Nolte, German historian and philosopher
• 1924 – Don Cherry, American singer and golfer
• 1924 – Roger Guillemin, French Nobel Prize laureate
• 1924 – Slim Harpo, American musician (d. 1970)
• 1926 - Lev Dyomin, Soviet cosmonaut (d. 1998)
• 1928 - Mitchell Ryan, American actor
• 1929 - Rafael Eitan, Israeli general and politician (d. 2004)
• 1930 - Ron Mulock, Australian politician (d. 2014)
• 1930 - Rod Taylor, Australian actor (d. 2015)
• 1932 - Alfonso Arau, Mexican movie director
• 1934 - Charles Antony Richard Hoare, British computer scientist
• 1934 – Jean Chrétien, 20th Prime Minister of Canada
• 1938 – Arthur Scargill, British politician and activist
• 1938 - Frankie Randall, American singer-songwriter, actor and dancer (d. 2014)
• 1938 - Gavin Millar, Scottish movie director
• 1940 - Andres Tarand, Estonian geographer and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Estonia
• 1941 – Gerson, Brazilian footballer
• 1942 – Clarence Clemons, American musician (d. 2011)
• 1942 - Bud Acton, American basketball player
• 1943 - Eduardo Mendoza, Spanish writer
• 1944 - Mohammed Abed Elhai, Sudanese writer and academic (d. 1989)
• 1944 - Shibu Soren, Indian politician
• 1945 – Christine Kaufmann, Austrian-German actress
• 1946 - Naomi Judd, American singer
• 1946 - Tony Kaye, British pianist and organist
• 1946 - John Piper, American theologian
• 1948 - Wajima Hiroshi, Japanese sumo wrestler
• 1948 – Terry Williams, Welsh rock drummer (Dire Straits)
• 1949 - Daryl Braithwaite, American rock music singer
• 1949 - Bogdan Borusewicz, Polish historian and politician
• 1949 - Paco Ignacio Taibo II, Mexican writer
• 1949 - Chris Ford, American basketball player
• 1949 - David Rotem, Israeli politician (d. 2015)
• 1949 - Mohammad Reza Rahimi, 2nd Vice President of Iran

1951 – 1975

• 1951 - Philip Tartaglia, Scottish Roman Catholic Archbishop of Glasgow
• 1952 - Bille Brown, Australian actor and playwright (d. 2013)
• 1952 - Ben Crenshaw, American golfer
• 1952 - Lee Ritenour, American guitarist, composer and producer
• 1952 - Diana Gabaldon, American author
• 1953 - John Sessions, Scottish actor
• 1954 - Vicky Peña, Spanish actress
• 1954 - Kailash Satyarthi, Indian children's rights activist, joint-winner of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize
• 1954 - Barbara Prammer, Austrian politician (d. 2014)
• 1956 - Israel Yinon, Israeli conductor (d. 2015)
• 1957 - Claude Criquielion, Belgian cyclist (d. 2015)
• 1957 - Darryl Dawkins, American basketball player (d. 2015)
• 1957 – Bryan Robson, English footballer
• 1958 – Vicki Peterson, American musician
• 1961 – Jasper Fforde, British writer
• 1961 – Karl Habsburg-Lothringen, Austro-Hungarian nobleman, son of Otto von Habsburg
• 1961 - Eva O, American musician and singer-songwriter
• 1962 – Kim Coles, American actress
• 1963 - Jason Connery, British actor
• 1966 - Edyta Bartosiewicz, Polish singer, songwriter and composer
• 1968 - Tom Dumont, American musician
• 1970 - Manfredi Beninati, Italian painter and sculptor
• 1970 - Chris Jent, American basketball player and coach
• 1970 - Malcolm D. Lee, American actor, director and screenwriter
• 1970 - Mustafa Sandal, Turkish pop singer, producer, dancer and actor
• 1971 - Tom Ward, British actor
• 1971 – Mary J. Blige, American singer
• 1972 – Amanda Peet, American actress
• 1972 - Konstantin Khabensky, Russian entertainer and actor
• 1973 – Rahul Dravid, Indian cricketer
• 1974 – Jens Nowotny, German footballer
• 1975 - Matteo Renzi, Italian politician, former Mayor of Florence and current Prime Minister of Italy

From 1976

• 1977 - Jerome Kerviel, French bank employee
• 1978 – Emile Heskey, English footballer
• 1980 - Gökdeniz Karadeniz, Turkish footballer
• 1981 – Jamelia, English singer
• 1981 - Tom Meighan, English singer (Kasabian)
• 1981 – Jaime Valdes, Chilean footballer
• 1982 - Ashley Taylor Dawson, English actor
• 1983 – Adrian Sutil, German racing driver
• 1984 - Vagner Love, Brazilian footballer
• 1985 – Kazuki Nakajima, Japanese racing driver
• 1986 - Rachel Riley, English television host
• 1987 - Jamie Vardy, English footballer
• 1988 - LunchMoney Lewis, American hip hop singer
• 1988 - Junjun, Chinese singer
• 1991 - Hyolin, South Korean actress
• 1992 - Lee Seung-hoon, South Korean rapper, choreographer and songwriter
• 1997 - Cody Simpson, Australian singer
• 1998 - Louisa Johnson, English singer

Deaths

Up to 1900

• 705 – Pope John VI
• 782 - Emperor Konin of Japan (b. 709)
• 812 – Staurakios, Byzantine Emperor
• 844 - Michael I Rhangabes, Byzantine Emperor
• 1055 – Constantine IX Monomachos, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1000)
• 1083 - Otto Nordheim, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1020)
• 1494 - Domenico Ghirlandaio, Italian artist (b. 1449)
• 1495 – Pedro Gonzalez de Mendoza, Spanish cardinal and statesman (b. 1428)
• 1547 - Pietro Bembo, Italian cardinal, scholar and theorist (b. 1470)
• 1696 - Charles Albanel, French priest, missionary and scholar (b. 1616)
• 1713 - Pierre Jurieu, French Protestant leader (b. 1637)
• 1753 - Hans Sloane, Ulster-Scottish physician and collector (b. 1660)
• 1762 – Louis-François Roubiliac, French sculptor (b. 1695)
• 1763 – Caspar Abel, German theologian, historian and poet (b. 1676)
• 1798 - Erekle II, King of Kartli and Kakheti in present-day Georgia (b. 1720)
• 1801 – Domenico Cimarosa, Italian composer (b. 1749)
• 1843 – Francis Scott Key, American lawyer and lyricist (b. 1779)
• 1867 – Stuart Donaldson, colonial governor of New South Wales (b. 1812)
• 1882 – Theodor Schwann, German physiologist (b. 1810)

1901 – 2000

• 1901 - Vasily Kalinnikov, Russian composer (b. 1866)
• 1914 – Carl Jacobsen, Danish brewer (b. 1842)
• 1923 – King Constantine I of Greece (b. 1868)
• 1928 – Thomas Hardy, English writer (b. 1840)
• 1941 – Emanuel Lasker, German chess player (b. 1868)
• 1944 - Galeazzo Ciano, Italian politician (b. 1903)
• 1947 - Eva Tanguay, Canadian-born singer and entertainer (b. 1879)
• 1953 – Noe Zhordania, Georgian politician (b. 1868)
• 1958 - Edna Purviance, Canadian-born singer and entertainer (b. 1895)
• 1965 – Wally Pipp, American baseball player (b. 1893)
• 1966 – Alberto Giacometti, Swiss sculptor (b. 1901)
• 1966 – Hannes Kolehmainen, Finnish runner (b. 1889)
• 1966 – Lal Bahadur Shastri, Prime Minister of India (b. 1904)
• 1968 - Moshe Zvi Segal, Israeli linguist and scholar (b. 1876)
• 1972 - Padraic Colum, Irish poet, novelist, dramatist and biographer (b. 1881)
• 1975 - Max Lorenz, German tenor (b. 1901)
• 1980 - Barbara Pym, English novelist (b. 1913)
• 1985 - William McKell, Premier of New South Wales and Governor-General of Australia (b. 1891)
• 1988 – Isidor Isaac Rabi, American physicist (b. 1898)
• 1991 – Carl David Anderson, American physicist (b. 1905)
• 1994 - Helmut Poppendick, German physician (b. 1902)
• 1996 - Roger Crozier, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach and manager (b. 1942)
• 1998 – Klaus Tennstedt, German conductor (b. 1926)

From 2001

• 2003 – Mickey Finn, English drummer (T.Rex) (b. 1947)
• 2008 – Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer and explorer (b. 1919)
• 2009 - Pio Laghi, Italian cardinal (b. 1922)
• 2010 – Eric Rohmer, French movie director (b. 1920)
• 2010 – Miep Gies, Dutch humanitarian, helper of Anne Frank (b. 1909)
• 2013 - Mariangela Melato, Italian actress (b. 1941)
• 2013 - Aaron Swartz, American computer programmer, writer and internet activist (b. 1986)
• 2013 - Nguyen Khanh, South Vietnamese politician (b. 1927)
• 2014 - Vugar Gashimov, Azerbaijani chess player (b. 1986)
• 2014 - Ariel Sharon, Israeli general and politician, former Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1928)
• 2014 - Keiko Awaji, Japanese actress (b. 1933)
• 2014 - Arnoldo Foà, Italian actor (b. 1916)
• 2014 - Muhammad Habibur Rahman, Bangladeshi jurist and politician (b. 1929)
• 2015 - Anita Ekberg, Swedish actress (b. 1931)
• 2015 - Chic Littlewood, New Zealand television personality (b. 1930)
• 2015 - Brian Clemens, British screenwriter (b. 1931)
• 2015 - Jeno Buzansky, Hungarian footballer (b. 1925)
• 2016 - Berge Furre, Norwegian historian, theologian and politician (b. 1937)
• 2016 - Brian Johnson, Australian rugby league player (b. 1956)
• 2016 - Gunnel Vallquist, Swedish writer and translator (b. 1918)

Observances

• Kagami Biraki (Japan)
• Republic Day (Albania)
• Day of National Unity (Nepal)