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Today is Friday, Jan. 11, the 11th day of 2019. There are 354 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Jan. 11, 1913, the first enclosed sedan-type automobile, a Hudson, went on display at the 13th National Automobile Show in New York.
On this date:
In 1861, Alabama became the fourth state to withdraw from the Union.
In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed the Grand Canyon National Monument (it became a national park in 1919).
In 1935, aviator Amelia Earhart began an 18-hour trip from Honolulu to Oakland, California, that made her the first person to fly solo across any part of the Pacific Ocean.
In 1939, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and Lord Halifax, the British foreign secretary, met with Italian leader Benito Mussolini in Rome.
In 1963, the Beatles’ single “Please Please Me” (B side “Ask Me Why”) was released in Britain by Parlophone.
In 1964, U.S. Surgeon General Luther Terry issued “Smoking and Health,” a report which concluded that “cigarette smoking contributes substantially to mortality from certain specific diseases and to the overall death rate.”
In 1977, France set off an international uproar by releasing Abu Daoud, a PLO official behind the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
In 1978, two Soviet cosmonauts aboard the Soyuz 27 capsule linked up with the Salyut 6 orbiting space station, where the Soyuz 26 capsule was already docked.
In 1989, nine days before leaving the White House, President Ronald Reagan bade the nation farewell in a prime-time address, saying of his eight years in office: “We meant to change a nation and instead we changed a world.”
In 1995, 51 people were killed when a Colombian DC-9 jetliner crashed as it was preparing to land near the Caribbean resort of Cartagena — however, 9-year-old Erika Delgado survived.
In 2003, calling the death penalty process “arbitrary and capricious, and therefore immoral,” Illinois Gov. George Ryan commuted the sentences of 167 condemned inmates, clearing his state’s death row two days before leaving office.
In 2010, Miep Gies, the Dutch office secretary who defied Nazi occupiers to hide Anne Frank and her family for two years and saved the teenager’s diary, died at age 100.
Ten years ago: In a rare Sunday session, the Senate advanced legislation that would set aside more than 2 million acres in nine states as wilderness. A passenger ferry sank in a storm off Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, killing at least 230 people. The movie “Slumdog Millionaire” won four Golden Globes, including best drama; the late Heath Ledger won best supporting actor for “The Dark Knight” while Kate Winslet received two acting awards for “Revolutionary Road” and “The Reader.” Theater and movie director Tom O’Horgan died in Venice, Fla., at age 84.
Five years ago: Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, 85, died eight years after a devastating stroke left him in a coma. Alex Rodriguez was dealt the most severe punishment in the history of baseball’s drug agreement when an arbitrator ruled the New York Yankees third baseman was suspended for the entire 2014 season as the result of a drug investigation. Gracie Gold won her first U.S. figure skating title at the championships in Boston; Charlie White and Meryl Davis won a record sixth straight U.S. ice dance title.
One year ago: Walmart announced that it was boosting its starting salary for U.S. workers and handing out bonuses, on the same day the company confirmed it was closing dozens of Sam’s Club warehouse stores. President Donald Trump was quoted as having used bluntly vulgar language during an Oval Office meeting with lawmakers while asking why the U.S. would accept more immigrants from Haiti and African countries rather than places like Norway. Edgar Ray Killen, a 1960s Klan leader who was convicted decades later in the slayings of three civil rights workers, died in prison at the age of 92.
Today’s Birthdays: Former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien is 85. Actor Mitchell Ryan is 85. Actor Felix Silla is 82. Movie director Joel Zwick is 77. Country singer Naomi Judd is 73. World Golf Hall of Famer Ben Crenshaw is 67. Singer Robert Earl Keen is 63. Actress Phyllis Logan is 63. Musician Vicki Peterson (The Bangles) is 61. Actress Kim Coles is 57. Actor Jason Connery is 56. Former child actress Dawn Lyn (TV: “My Three Sons”) is 56. Contemporary Christian musician Jim Bryson (MercyMe) is 51. Rock musician Tom Dumont (No Doubt) is 51. Movie director Malcolm D. Lee is 49. Singer Mary J. Blige is 48. Musician Tom Rowlands (The Chemical Brothers) is 48. Actor Marc Blucas is 47. Actress Amanda Peet is 47. Actor Rockmond Dunbar is 46. Actress Aja Naomi King is 34. Actress Kristolyn Lloyd is 34. Reality TV star Jason Wahler is 32. Pop singer Cody Simpson is 22.
Thought for Today: “If you are ruled by mind you are a king; if by body, a slave.” — Cato, Roman statesman and historian (234 B.C.-149 B.C.)
