Today in history: Jan. 11
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, and more events that happened on this day in history.
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1908: The Grand Canyon
In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed the Grand Canyon National Monument (it became a national park in 1919).
1935: Amelia Earhart
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.
1963: The Beatles
In 1963, the Beatles’ single “Please Please Me” (B side “Ask Me Why”) was released in Britain by Parlophone.
1964: Luther Terry
In 1964, U.S. Surgeon General Luther Terry issued “Smoking and Health,” a report that concluded that “cigarette smoking contributes substantially to mortality from certain specific diseases and to the overall death rate.”
1989: Ronald Reagan
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.”
2010: Mark McGwire
In 2010, Mark McGwire admitted to The Associated Press that he’d used steroids and human growth hormone when he broke baseball’s home run record in 1998.
2012: Joran van der Sloot
Ten years ago: Joran van der Sloot (YOHR’-uhn VAN’-dur-sloht), the longtime suspect in the still unsolved disappearance of American Natalee Holloway in Aruba, pleaded guilty in Lima to the 2010 murder of a Peruvian woman, Stephany Flores; he was sentenced to 28 years in prison.
2017: Donald Trump
Five years ago: In a combative and freewheeling news conference at Trump Tower in New York, President-elect Donald Trump said for the first time that he accepted that Russia was behind the election year hacking of Democrats that roiled the White House race; looking ahead, he urged Congress to move quickly to replace President Barack Obama’s signature health care law and insisted anew that Mexico would pay the cost of a border wall.
2017: Volkswagen
Five years ago: Six high-level Volkswagen employees from Germany were indicted in the U.S. in the VW emissions-cheating scandal, while the company agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges and pay $4.3 billion — by far the biggest fine ever levied by the government against an automaker.
2020: Coronavirus
In 2020, health authorities in the central Chinese city of Wuhan reported the first death from what had been identified as a new type of coronavirus; the patient was a 61-year-old man who’d been a frequent customer at a food market linked to the majority of cases there.
2021: Alabama
One year ago: No. 1 Alabama won college football’s national championship game, 52-24 against No. 3 Ohio State, capping a season that was played in a pandemic; thousands of excited football fans ignored pandemic precautions and partied in streets around the University of Alabama after the game.
2021: Pope Francis
One year ago: Pope Francis changed church law to explicitly allow women to do more things during Mass, while reaffirming they cannot be priests.
2021: Sheldon Adelson
One year ago: Billionaire casino mogul and Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson died at 87.