January 11 facts for kids

January 11 is a day filled with many interesting events throughout history, from ancient times to the present day. It's also a day when many important people were born and passed away.

Important Events in History

Before 1600

• 532 – In Constantinople, a huge fight broke out between supporters of different chariot racing teams. This fight, called the Nika riots, quickly turned into a violent uprising.
• 630 – The city of Mecca was conquered by the prophet Muhammad and his followers. The local clans, known as the Quraysh, surrendered.
• 930 – The city of Mecca was attacked and taken over by the Qarmatians.
• 1055 – Theodora was crowned empress of the Byzantine Empire.
• 1158 – Vladislaus II became the King of Bohemia.
• 1569 – The very first recorded lottery in England took place.

1601 to 1900

• 1654 – During the Arauco War, a Spanish army was defeated by the local Mapuche-Huilliches as they tried to cross the Bueno River in Southern Chile.
• 1759 – The first American company to offer life insurance was officially started in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• 1779 – Ching-Thang Khomba was crowned King of Manipur.
• 1787 – Astronomer William Herschel discovered Titania and Oberon, which are two moons of the planet Uranus.
• 1805 – The Michigan Territory was created in the United States.
• 1861 – During the American Civil War, the state of Alabama decided to leave the United States.
• 1863 – The three-day Battle of Arkansas Post ended. Union forces, led by General John McClernand and Admiral David Dixon Porter, captured Fort Hindman, giving them control over the Arkansas River.
• 1863 – The Confederate ship CSS Alabama sank the Union ship USS Hatteras off the coast of Texas.
• 1879 – The Anglo-Zulu War began.

1901 to Today

• 1908 – The Grand Canyon National Monument was created.
• 1912 – Textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts, went on a large strike after their wages were cut.
• 1914 – The ship Karluk, which was the main ship of the Canadian Arctic Expedition, sank after being crushed by ice.
• 1917 – The Kingsland munitions factory explosion happened, believed to be caused by sabotage.
• 1922 – Leonard Thompson became the first person to be treated with insulin injections.
• 1923 – Troops from France and Belgium occupied the Ruhr area in Germany to make sure Germany paid its World War I reparation payments.
• 1927 – Louis B. Mayer, who ran the film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), announced the creation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which gives out the famous Oscar awards.
• 1935 – Amelia Earhart became the first person to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean from Hawaii to California.
• 1942 – During World War II, Japanese forces captured Kuala Lumpur, the capital of the Federated Malay States.
• 1942 – Also during World War II, Japanese forces attacked Tarakan in Borneo, which was part of the Netherlands Indies.
• 1943 – The Republic of China signed new treaties with Britain and America, giving up special rights that foreign countries had in China.
• 1946 – Enver Hoxha, the leader of the Communist Party of Albania, declared the People's Republic of Albania and became its head of state.
• 1949 – The first "networked" television broadcasts began, connecting TV programming across the east coast and mid-west of the United States.
• 1957 – The African Convention was founded in Dakar, Senegal.
• 1959 – Lufthansa Flight 502 crashed while trying to land in Rio de Janeiro/Galeão International Airport in Brazil, killing 36 people.
• 1961 – The Throgs Neck Bridge opened, connecting The Bronx and Queens in New York City.
• 1962 – During the Cold War, the Soviet submarine B-37 was destroyed by a fire in its torpedo section while docked in Polyarny.
• 1962 – A large avalanche on Huascarán in Peru caused about 4,000 deaths.
• 1964 – The Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. Luther Terry, published a very important report called Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service. It stated that smoking could be dangerous to health, leading to many anti-smoking efforts worldwide.
• 1966 – The Tbilisi Metro subway system opened.
• 1972 – East Pakistan officially changed its name to Bangladesh.
• 1973 – Major League Baseball owners voted to allow the designated hitter position in the American League.
• 1983 – United Airlines Flight 2885 crashed shortly after taking off from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, killing three people.
• 1986 – The Gateway Bridge in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, was officially opened.
• 1994 – The Irish Government announced that it would end a 15-year ban on broadcasting the voices of the IRA and its political group Sinn Féin.
• 1996 – The Space Shuttle Endeavour was launched on mission STS-72 to bring back the Japanese Space Flyer Unit.
• 2003 – Illinois Governor George Ryan changed the death sentences of 167 prisoners to life in prison due to concerns about unfair trials.
• 2020 – Health officials in Wuhan, China, announced the first recorded death from COVID-19.

Famous Birthdays

Before 1600

• 347 – Theodosius I, a Roman emperor. (d. 395)
• 889 – Abd-ar-Rahman III, the first Caliph of Córdoba. (d. 961)
• 1113 – Wang Chongyang, a Chinese religious leader and poet. (d. 1170)
• 1209 – Möngke Khan, a Mongolian emperor. (d. 1259)
• 1322 – Emperor Kōmyō of Japan. (d. 1380)
• 1359 – Emperor Go-En'yū of Japan. (d. 1393)
• 1503 – Parmigianino, a famous Italian artist. (d. 1540)

1601 to 1900

• 1638 – Nicolas Steno, a Danish bishop and anatomist known for his work in geology. (d. 1686)
• 1755 – Alexander Hamilton, an important American general, economist, and politician. He was the first United States Secretary of the Treasury. (d. 1804)
• 1807 – Ezra Cornell, an American businessman and philanthropist who helped found Western Union and Cornell University. (d. 1874)
• 1815 – John A. Macdonald, a Scottish-Canadian lawyer and politician who became the first Prime Minister of Canada. (d. 1891)
• 1842 – William James, an American psychologist and philosopher. (d. 1910)
• 1858 – Harry Gordon Selfridge, an American-English businessman who founded the famous department store Selfridges. (d. 1947)
• 1885 – Alice Paul, an American activist who fought for women's right to vote. (d. 1977)
• 1887 – Aldo Leopold, an American ecologist and author who wrote about nature. (d. 1948)
• 1895 – Laurens Hammond, an American engineer and businessman who founded the Hammond Clock Company and invented the Hammond organ. (d. 1973)

1901 to Today

• 1903 – Alan Paton, a South African author and activist. (d. 1988)
• 1906 – Albert Hofmann, a Swiss chemist. (d. 2008)
• 1907 – Pierre Mendès France, a French lawyer and politician who served as Prime Minister of France. (d. 1982)
• 1911 – Zenkō Suzuki, a Japanese politician who became the Prime Minister of Japan. (d. 2004)
• 1923 – Carroll Shelby, an American race car driver, engineer, and businessman who founded Carroll Shelby International. (d. 2012)
• 1924 – Roger Guillemin, a French-American physician and scientist who won the Nobel Prize. (d. 2024)
• 1934 – Jean Chrétien, a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as Prime Minister of Canada.
• 1942 – Clarence Clemons, an American saxophonist and actor, famous for playing with Bruce Springsteen. (d. 2011)
• 1946 – Naomi Judd, an American singer-songwriter and actress. (d. 2022)
• 1952 – Diana Gabaldon, an American author.
• 1954 – Kailash Satyarthi, an Indian activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work against child labor.
• 1957 – Darryl Dawkins, an American basketball player. (d. 2015)
• 1957 – Bryan Robson, an English footballer and manager.
• 1971 – Mary J. Blige, an American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress.
• 1973 – Rahul Dravid, a famous Indian cricketer and captain.
• 1975 – Matteo Renzi, an Italian politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy.
• 1979 – Siti Nurhaliza, a popular Malaysian singer-songwriter.
• 1987 – Jamie Vardy, an English footballer.
• 1996 – Leroy Sané, a German footballer.
• 1997 – Cody Simpson, an Australian singer-songwriter and actor.

Notable Deaths

Before 1600

• 140 – Pope Hyginus, a Bishop of Rome. (b. 74)
• 705 – Pope John VI. (b. 655)
• 782 – Emperor Kōnin of Japan. (b. 709)
• 812 – Staurakios, a Byzantine emperor.
• 844 – Michael I Rangabe, a Byzantine emperor. (b. 770)
• 1055 – Constantine IX Monomachos, a Byzantine emperor. (b. 1000)
• 1494 – Domenico Ghirlandaio, a famous Italian painter. (b. 1449)

1601 to 1900

• 1753 – Hans Sloane, an Irish-English physician and academic whose collections helped start the British Museum. (b. 1660)
• 1788 – François Joseph Paul de Grasse, a French admiral. (b. 1722)
• 1801 – Domenico Cimarosa, an Italian composer. (b. 1749)
• 1836 – John Molson, a Canadian businessman who founded the Molson Brewing Company. (b. 1763)
• 1843 – Francis Scott Key, an American lawyer and author who wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner." (b. 1779)
• 1882 – Theodor Schwann, a German physiologist and biologist who contributed to cell theory. (b. 1810)
• 1891 – Georges-Eugène Haussmann, a French urban planner known for redesigning Paris. (b. 1809)

1901 to Today

• 1923 – Constantine I of Greece, a King of Greece. (b. 1868)
• 1928 – Thomas Hardy, a famous English novelist and poet. (b. 1840)
• 1941 – Emanuel Lasker, a German mathematician, philosopher, and chess player who was a World Chess Champion. (b. 1868)
• 1952 – Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, a French general. (b. 1889)
• 1966 – Alberto Giacometti, a Swiss sculptor and painter. (b. 1901)
• 1966 – Lal Bahadur Shastri, the second Prime Minister of India. (b. 1904)
• 1980 – Barbara Pym, an English author. (b. 1913)
• 1988 – Pappy Boyington, an American colonel and pilot who received the Medal of Honor. (b. 1912)
• 1988 – Isidor Isaac Rabi, a Polish-American physicist who won the Nobel Prize. (b. 1898)
• 1991 – Carl David Anderson, an American physicist who won the Nobel Prize for discovering the positron. (b. 1905)
• 1999 – Fabrizio De André, an Italian singer-songwriter. (b. 1940)
• 2008 – Edmund Hillary, a New Zealand mountaineer and explorer, famous for being one of the first two climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest. (b. 1919)
• 2010 – Miep Gies, an Austrian-Dutch humanitarian who helped hide Anne Frank and her family during World War II. (b. 1909)
• 2013 – Aaron Swartz, an American programmer and activist. (b. 1986)
• 2014 – Ariel Sharon, a former general and Prime Minister of Israel. (b. 1928)
• 2015 – Anita Ekberg, a Swedish-Italian model and actress. (b. 1931)
• 2019 – Michael Atiyah, a British-Lebanese mathematician. (b. 1929)

Holidays and Observances

• Children's Day in Tunisia.
• Christian feast day for several saints, including Pope Hyginus and Theodosius the Cenobiarch.
• Eugenio María de Hostos Day in Puerto Rico.
• Independence Resistance Day in Morocco.
• Kagami biraki in Japan, a traditional ceremony.
• National Human Trafficking Awareness Day in the United States.
• Republic Day (Albania) in Albania.
• Carmentalia in Rome, an ancient Roman festival.
• Prithvi Jayanti in Nepal.

See also

In Spanish: 11 de enero para niños