Today in History

Today is Thursday, Jan. 11, the 11th day of 2024. There are 355 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Jan. 11, 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed the Grand Canyon National Monument (it became a national park in 1919).

On this date:

In 1913, the first enclosed sedan-type automobile, a Hudson, went on display at the 13th National Automobile Show in New York.

In 1927, the creation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was proposed during a dinner of Hollywood luminaries at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.

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 1943, the United States and Britain signed treaties relinquishing extraterritorial rights in China.

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 that concluded that "cigarette smoking contributes substantially to mortality from certain specific diseases and to the overall death rate."

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 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, 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.

In 2018, 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.

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.

In 2023, Jeff Beck, a guitar virtuoso who pushed the boundaries of blues, jazz and rock 'n' roll and influenced generations of players, died at age 78.

Today's birthdays: Former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien is 90. Movie director Joel Zwick is 82. World Golf Hall of Famer Ben Crenshaw is 72. Singer Robert Earl Keen is 62. Actor Phyllis Logan is 68. Musician Vicki Peterson (The Bangles) is 66. Actor Kim Coles is 61. Actor Jason Connery is 61. Former child actor Dawn Lyn (TV: "My Three Sons") is 61. Rock musician Tom Dumont (No Doubt) is 56. Movie director Malcolm D. Lee is 54. Singer Mary J. Blige is 53. Musician Tom Rowlands (The Chemical Brothers) is 53. Actor Marc Blucas is 52. Actor Amanda Peet is 52. Actor Rockmond Dunbar is 51. Actor Aja Naomi King is 39. Actor Kristolyn Lloyd is 39. Reality TV star Jason Wahler is 37. Pop singer Cody Simpson is 27.