This Day in History – January 11, 2012

0630 – Muhammad leads an army of 10,000 to conquer Mecca. 1569 – First recorded lottery in England. 1571 – Austrian nobility is granted freedom of religion. 1672 – Isaac Newton is elected a member of Royal Society 1693 – Mount Etna erupts in Sicily, Italy. A powerful earthquake destroys parts of Sicily and Malta. 1759 – In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the first American life insurance company is incorporated. 1785 – Continental Congress convenes in New York City NY 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. 1803 – Monroe & Livingston sail for Paris to buy New Orleans; they buy Louisiana 1805 – The Michigan Territory is created. 1813 – 1st pineapples planted in Hawaii 1839 – Earthquake at Martinique destroys half of Port Royal-700 die 1861 – Alabama becomes 4th state to secede from 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. 1863 – American Civil War: CSS Alabama encountered and sank the USS Hatteras off Galveston Lighthouse in Texas. 1866 – Steamship London sinks in storm off Land’s End England, kills 220 1873 – 1st livestock market newspaper published, Drover’s Journal, Chicago 1892 – Hawaiian Historical Society founded 1897 – M. H. Cannon becomes first female state senator in US (Utah) 1908 – Grand Canyon National Monument is created. 1913 – First sedan-type car (Hudson) goes on display at 13th Auto Show (New York City NY) 1922 – First use of insulin to treat diabetes in a human patient (Leonard Thompson, 14, of Canada) 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. 1935 – Amelia Earhart is the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California. 1949 – First recorded case of snowfall in Los Angeles, California. 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. [1] 1949 – First recorded snowfall Los Angeles 1960 – Henry Lee Lucas, once listed as America’s most prolific serial killer, commits his first known murder. 1963 – America’s first discotheque opens, The Whiskey-a-Go-Go in Los Angeles, CA 1964 – Surgeon General of the United States Dr. Luther Terry, M.D., publishes a landmark report saying that smoking may be hazardous to health, sparking nation- and worldwide anti-smoking efforts. 1970 – Super Bowl IV: Kansas City Chiefs beat Minnesota Vikings, 23-7 in New Orleans; Super Bowl MVP Len Dawson, Kansas City, Quarterback 1972 – East Pakistan becomes independent state of Bangladesh 1973 – Trial of the Watergate burglars begins in Washington DC 1976 – Dorothy Hamill wins her 3rd consecutive national figure skating championship 1981 – British team led by Ranulph Fiennes completes longest & fastest crossing of Antarctica, reaching Scott base after 75 days (2,500 miles) 1984 – Supreme Court reinstated $10M award to Karen Silkwood’s family 1986 – The Gateway Bridge, Brisbane in Queensland, Australia is officially opened. 1986 – First black Lieutenant-Governor since reconstruction sworn in (Douglas Wilder of Virginia) 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 – Sidi-Hamed massacre takes place in Algeria, over 100 people are killed. 2003 – Illinois Governor George Ryan commutes the death sentences of 167 prisoners on Illinois’ death row based on the Jon Burge scandal.]]]]> ]]>