January 11
Activity of the day
Today is . . .
- Republic day in Albania
- Unity day in Nepal
- Feast day of St Balthasar, patron saint of epileptics
On this day . . .
- The first state lottery is held in England (1569)
- London's Charing Cross station opens (1864)
- Milk is first delivered in bottles (1878)
- Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean (1935)
- The world's first disco, the Whisky-a-go-go, opens in Los Angeles (1963)
- Nigel Short, aged 14, becomes the youngest International Master
in the history of chess (1980)
Births
- Harry Gordon Selfridge, American shopkeeper (1864)
- Rod Taylor, Australian film actor (1929)
Deaths
- Francis Scott Key, American author of the words of The Star-spangled Banner (1843)
- Thomas Hardy, English poet and novelist (1928)
- Alberto Giacometti, Swiss sculptor and painter (1966)
- Sir Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer (2008)