Today in History: Jan. 11

In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed the Grand Canyon National Monument (it became a national park in 1919). (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
In 1928, Aviator Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean as she completed a flight from Newfoundland to Wales in about 21 hours.  (AP Photo)
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. Here, Earhart climbs from the cockpit of her plane at Los Angeles, Ca., Jan. 13, 1935. (AP Photo)
U.S. Surgeon General Luther Terry holds a copy of the 387 page report of the Advisory Committe to the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service on the relationsship of smoking to health Jan. 11, 1964.  He spoke at a Washington news conference at which the study was released.  It termed smoking a health hazard calling for corrective action. (AP Photo/hwg)
On Jan. 11, 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.” Here, Terry holds a copy of the 387 page report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service on the relationship of smoking to health Jan. 11, 1964. (AP Photo/hwg)
Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan is shown saluting in 1989.  (AP Photo)
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.”  (AP Photo)
In 2018, 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. FILE – In this Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018 file photo, President Donald Trump listens during a meeting with lawmakers on immigration policy in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington. Trump’s use of a vulgar term to describe African countries has left the small cluster of immigration hard-line groups in the U.S. scrambling to distance themselves from him. Trump used the vulgarity during an Oval Office meeting on Thursday, Jan. 11, with members of Congress in asking why the U.S. would want more immigrants from places such as Haiti and Africa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
The Beatles arrive at Speke airport, Liverpool on July 10, 1964, for the Liverpool premiere of their movie "A Hard Day's Night." From left: John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney. (AP Photo)
In 1963, the Beatles’ single “Please Please Me” (B side “Ask Me Why”) was released in Britain by Parlophone. The Beatles arrive at Speke airport, Liverpool on July 10, 1964, for the Liverpool premiere of their movie “A Hard Day’s Night.” From left: John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney. (AP Photo)
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. Journalists take images of the renovated Anne Frank House Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018. The museum is built around the secret annex hidden in an Amsterdam canal-side house where teenage Jewish diarist Anne Frank hid from Nazi occupiers during World War II is expanding to better tell Anne’s tragic story to the growing number of visitors. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
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In 1928, Aviator Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean as she completed a flight from Newfoundland to Wales in about 21 hours.  (AP Photo)
U.S. Surgeon General Luther Terry holds a copy of the 387 page report of the Advisory Committe to the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service on the relationsship of smoking to health Jan. 11, 1964.  He spoke at a Washington news conference at which the study was released.  It termed smoking a health hazard calling for corrective action. (AP Photo/hwg)
Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan is shown saluting in 1989.  (AP Photo)
The Beatles arrive at Speke airport, Liverpool on July 10, 1964, for the Liverpool premiere of their movie "A Hard Day's Night." From left: John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney. (AP Photo)

Today is Friday, Jan. 11, the 11th day of 2019.

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 (meep khees), 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.

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