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January 11th
1503 - Born this day, Francesco Parmigianino, Italian artist (Madonna with the Long Neck). 1569 - The draw for prizes in Britain's first National lottery began at St. Paul's Cathedral in London under a royal proclamation issued by Queen Elizabeth I in 1567; the proceeds were used to repair fortifications, harbours and other public works. 40,000 lots at 10 shillings each were available from St Paul's Cathedral. 1757 - Born this day, Alexander Hamilton, US statesman, 1st US Secretary of the Treasury. Died in a duel with his rival Aaron Burr on 11 July 1804. (Another source says 1755). 1770 - The first shipment of rhubarb was sent to the United States from London. Benjamin Franklin sent the plant to his friend, John Bartram in Philadelphia. 1787 - Titania and Oberon, moons of Uranus, were discovered by William Herschel. 1813 - The first pineapples were planted in Hawaii. 1814 - Joachim Murat, King of Naples, ended his association with Napoleon and entered into an alliance with the Austrians. 1815 - Born this day, Sir John Alexander MacDonald, 1st Prime Minister of Canada. Died in 6 June 1891. 1839 - Born this day, Eugenio De Hostos, Puerto Rican patriot, scholar, author of more than fifty books. Died 11 August 1903. 1842 - Born this day, William James, philospher. 1861 - Alabama seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy. 1866 - The steamship London sank in a storm off Land's End, England, killing more than 220 people. 1878 - For the first time, milk was delivered in glass bottles by one Alexander Campbell, in New York. Up to that time, milk had been ladled out of a container by the milkman into the customer’s own container. 1885 - Born this day, Alice Paul, American women’s rights activist, founder of National Women’s Party [1913]. Died 9 July 1977. 1890 - Born this day, Monte Blue, actor, (Rootin’ Tootin’ Rhythm, Thunder Pass, Song of the Gringo, Wagon Wheels, So This is Paris, Orphans of the Storm). Died 18 February 1963. 1902 - Popular Mechanics magazine was published for the first time. Initially, there were only five paying subscribers and a few hundred others who paid a nickel at newsstands. In September, 1903, the still popular magazine became a monthly. 1904 - The Herero people of South West Africa, now Namibia, began an uprising against the German colonizers. 1906 - Born this day, Albert Hofmann, Swiss chemist, discovered of LSD. 1909 - The first women's auto race left New York for Philadelphia. 1913 - The first sedan-type car was unveiled at the National Automobile Show in New York City. The car was manufactured by the Hudson Motor Company. 1917 - An appeal was launched for subscriptions to the new War Loan to help pay the cost of World War I (WWI), which was running at £5.7m a day. 1922 - A 14-year-old-boy, Canadian Leonard Thompson, became the first person to have his diabetes successfully treated with insulin. 1923 - Born this day, Carroll Shelby, auto racer. (Shelby 350 coupe). 1924 - Born this day, Don Cherry, singer, golfer, 1955 US and 1956 UK Top 10 single Band Of Gold. 1926 - Born this day, Grant Tinker, Emmy Award-winning TV executive. Married to Mary Tyler Moore. 1927 - Born this day, Slim Harpo [James Isaac Moore], blues singer, in Lobdell, Louisiana. Recorded Baby, Scratch My Back and Don't Start Crying Now. Died 31 January 1970 of a heart attack. 1928 - Ol’ Man River was recorded on Victor Records by Paul Whiteman and his orchestra. Bing Crosby crooned as the song’s featured vocalist. The tune came from the Broadway musical, Showboat. 1928 - Died this day, Thomas Hardy, English poet and novelist, died in his native Dorset at the age of 87, at Max Gate, his house on the outskirts of Dorchester. 1928 - Joseph Stalin exiled Trotsky to Alma-Ata (now Almaty, Kazakhstan) where Trotsky stayed for a year before being banished entirely from the Soviet Union. 1930 - Born this day, Rod Taylor, actor, (The Birds, Masquerade, The Time Machine). 1930 - Born this day, Jack Nimitz, jazz 'reed' musician. 1933 - Born this day, Goldie Hill, country entertainer. 1934 - Born this day, Jean Chretien, Canadian prime minister. 1935 - On this day in 1935, in the first flight of its kind, American aviator Amelia Earhart departed Wheeler Field in Honolulu, Hawaii, on a solo flight to North America. Hawaiian commercial interests offered a $10,000 award to whoever accomplished the flight first. The next day, after traveling 2,400 miles in 18 hours, she safely landed at Oakland Airport in Oakland, California. Two years after her Hawaii to California flight, she attempted with co-pilot Frederick J. Noonan to fly around the world, but her plane was lost on 2 July 1937, somewhere between New Guinea and Howland Island in the South Pacific. Radio operators picked up a signal that she was low on fuel, the last trace the world would ever know of Amelia Earhart. She had also been the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic three years earlier. 1938 - The first woman bank president, Frances Moulton, assumed her duties in Limerick, Maine. 1938 - Born this day, Arthur Scargill, UK mine workers' leader. 1940 - The classic newspaper comedy, His Girl Friday, starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell, premiered in New York. 1942 - Kuala Lumpur fell to the Japanese in World War II (WWII). 1942 - Born this day, Clarence Clemons, musician, saxophonist, singer, (E Street Band), 1987 UK No.16 single Born To Run. 1943 - Born this day, Henry Cecil, racehorse trainer. 1943 - The United States and Britain signed treaties with China, renouncing their extra-territorial rights. 1945 - Born this day, Jim Hightower, radio host, author. 1945 - Born this day, Christine Kaufmann, actress, (Bagdad Cafe, Murders in the Rue Morgue, Taras Bulba, The Last Days of Pompeii). 1946 - Born this day, Tony Kaye, keyboards, Yes, left in 1971. 1946 - Born this day, Naomi (Diane) Judd, Grammy Award-winning singer, duo, The Judds: Why Not Me, Have Mercy, LP: Heartland; mother of singers, Wynonna and Ashley). 1946 - Albania became a people's republic after King Zog was overthrown. 1947 - Murder and Mrs. Malone debuted on ABC radio. The program starred Frank Lovejoy. 1947 - Born this day, Anna Calder-Marshall, Emmy Award-winning actress, (The Male of the Species, Prudential’s On Stage [1968-69]). 1949 - The Los Angeles Open golf tournament was won by Lloyd Mangrum, who admitted that he wore a lucky pair of pyjamas under his pants. 1949 - Born this day, (Frederick) Dennis Greene, singer, Sha-Na-Na, LPs: Rock & Roll is Here to Stay!, The Golden Age of Rock ’n’ Roll. 1952 - Born this day, ‘Gentle’ Ben Crenshaw, golf champion, (NCAA championship in [1971, 1972, 1973], Masters championship [1984]). 1953 - Born this day, John Sessions, UK comic actor, (Whose line is it anyway?) 1954 - George Cowling of the Met Office became the first in-vision weatherman on British TV. 1956 - Elvis Presley made his first recordings for RCA in their Nashville studios. Among the songs produced at this recording session was Heartbreak Hotel. 1958 - Lloyd Bridges starred as Mike Nelson, an ex-Navy frogman who became an underwater trouble shooter in Seahunt on CBS-TV. The show remained on the network for four years. The underwater sequences, for those wondering, were filmed in Silver Springs, Florida. The above-water sequences were filmed at Marineland of the Pacific. 1958 - Born this day, Vicki Peterson, musician, guitarist, singer, The Bangles, 1986 US No.1 single Walk Like An Egyptian, 1986 UK No.2 single with the Prince song Manic Monday. 1960 - Born this day, Stanley Tucci, actor. 1962 - More than 3,000 people were killed in a landslide in Huascaran, Peru. 1962 - Cliff Richard has his 5th UK No.1 single with The Young Ones. It stayed at the top for six weeks and made Cliff the first UK artist to enter the chart at No.1. 1963 - The Beatles recorded their first national TV show Thank Your Lucky Stars. They mimed to Please Please Me. 1963 - The Beatles second single, Please Please Me, was released in the UK. It went to No.1 on the British charts on February 22 and stayed there for two weeks. 1963 - Ann-Margret made the cover of Life magazine. 1963 - The legendary Whisky a Go Go nightclub, perhaps America's first disco, opened along Los Angeles' famed Sunset Strip. One of the city's first rock clubs, the Whisky would help to launch the careers of such 1960s groups as the Doors, Buffalo Springfield, and the Byrds. 1964 - The US Surgeon General Luther Terry released a report that said smoking cigarettes was a definite health hazard. 1964 - Ring Of Fire by Johnny Cash became the first country album to go to No.1 in the US. 1964 - Roger Miller recorded Dang Me and Chug-A-Lug. 1965 - The Righteous Brothers arrived in Britain for a promotional visit appearing on three TV shows, Ready Steady Go!, Scene At 6.30, and Discs A Go-Go. 1965 - The Beach Boys recorded Do You Wanna Dance. 1967 - The Jimi Hendrix Experence recorded Purple Haze. Jimi also signed to the new record label Track Records. 1968 - Born this day, Tom Dumont, No Doubt, 1997 UK No.1 single Don't Speak. 1969 - Died this day, Richmal Crompton, creator of Just William, aged 78. 1970 - Biafran rebel leader General Ojukwu flew into exile after Nigerian troops captured the capital, Owerri. 1970 - Billy Casper was the second golfer in history to top the $1-million mark in career earnings; thanks to his winning the Los Angeles Open golf tournament. 1971 - Born this day, Mary J. Blige, singer, songwriter, 1995 UK No.10 single I'll Be Their For You-You're All I Need To Get By, 1997 US No.1 album Share My World, 1999 UK No.4 single As, 2001 US No.1 single Family Affair. 1971 - Born this day, Tom Rowlands, singer, musician, The Chemical Brothers, 1996 UK No.1 single Setting Sun. 1972 - Born this day, Amanda Peet, actress. 1974 - The first sextuplets to survive were born to Sue Rosenkowitz in Cape Town, South Africa. 1975 - Soyuz 17 was launched. 1976 - A three-man military junta seized power from President Guillermo Rodriguez Lara in Ecuador. 1978 - Born this day, Emile Heskey, footballer. 1978 - Appearing at Newcastle City Hall, was Elvis Costello & the Attractions. 1980 - Rupert Holmes was at the top of the pop music charts, with Escape (The Pina Colada Song). 1981 - Three-man British team led by Sir Ranulph Fiennes completed the longest and fastest crossing of Antarctica, reaching Scott base after 75 days and 2,500 miles. 1981 - Advertised in this weeks New Musical Express (NME), the top ten badges, 1-CND, 2-Echo and The Bunnymen, 3-Ant Music, 4-Jam-pop art, 5-Ants no.3, 6-Jam Start, 7-Dead Kennedys, 8-Siouxsie, 9-Ants no.2, 10-The Beat-stand down Margaret, all badges cost 20p. 1981 - Appearing at the Hope & Anchor, London, Blancmange supported by Depeche Mode, tickets were £1. 1985 - A Brazilian rock festival was held in Rio, it claimed to be the biggest ever staged, featuring Queen, Rod Stewart, AC/DC, Whitesnake, Yes and Iron Maiden. 1986 - The Pet Shop Boys had their first UK No.1 single with West End Girls. 1986 - Author James Clavell signed a deal with Morrow/Avon Publishing for $5 million as an advance for the book Whirlwind. The book is a 2,000 page novel. It works out at $2,500 a page. 1987 - Appearing at the Edinburgh Playhouse, were Motley Crue. 1987 - Frankie Goes To Hollywood started what would become their final tour at the G-Mex Manchester. 1990 - Some 200,000 people demanded a return of Lithuania's independence, ended by the Red Army in 1940, after visiting Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev warned that separatism could lead to tragedy. 1991 - Soviet troops stormed strategic buildings in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, to block a bid for independence. 1992 - Algeria's President Chadli announced his resignation amid a political crisis following gains by the Islamic Salvation Front in the first round of general elections. 1992 - Nirvana went to No.1 on the US album chart with Nevermind. They also made an appearance on NBC-TV's Saturday Night Live. 1992 - Prince's future wife Mayte made her first live appearance with his purpleness in Minneapolis. 1992 - Paul Simon became the first international performer to play in Johannesburg, South Africa after a United Nations (UN) boycott was lifted. 1993 - Richard Branson won huge libel damages and an apology from British Airways over an alleged dirty tricks campaign against his Virgin Atlantic Airways. 1994 - The Irish government announced the end of a 20-year broadcasting ban on the IRA and its political arm, Sinn Fein. 1994 - Diana Ross made Mr. Blackwell's worst-dressed women list. 1995 - A 9-year-old girl escaped from a plane crash when she was thrown clear of the jet as it plunged into a lake before it was due to land in the Colombian Caribbean resort of Cartagena. All 51 other passengers died. 1996 - Italian Prime Minister Lamberto Dini announced his resignation. 1996 - Appearing at Bath Moles Club, Catatonia, on the first night of a 16 date UK tour. 1996 - Parliament elected Ryutaro Hashimoto as Japan's new prime minister. 1997 - Died this day, producer, director, and actor Sheldon Leonard died at age 89. He produced such TV classics as The Dick Van Dyke Show and Make Room for Daddy. Before he turned to producing, Leonard was an actor. Among others, he had a supporting role in Frank Capra's Christmas film classic It's a Wonderful Life as Nick the bartender. 1998 - Rolling Stone magazine readers poll picked Be Here Now by Oasis as album of the year. 1999 - Ex Mighty Wah singer Pete Wylie appeared in a Liverpool Court charged with making threats to kill his ex girlfriend. 1999 - 'N SYNC won the Favourite Pop/Rock new artist award at the 26th Annual American Music Awards in Los Angeles. 2000 - Gary Glitter was released from prison after serving half of a four month sentence for possessing child pornography downloaded from the internet. Glitter was told he would have to go on the sex offenders' register for seven years. 2000 - It was reported that Whitney Houston was under investigation after allegedly trying to smuggle 15.2 grams of Marijuana out of Hawaii. A security officer found the drug in the singers' handbag who then walked away when he tried to detain her. 2000 - On this day Sharon Osbourne resigned as manager of the Smashing Pumpkins after only four months. "Billy Corgan's got an ego bigger than my arse", said Osbourne. 2001 - Neil Sedaka underwent an angioplasty at a New York hospital. 2002 - Gary Hart was jailed for five years for causing the deaths of 10 people in the Selby rail crash. 2002 - Died this day, Mickey Finn from T Rex, of kidney and liver problems aged 55. 1971 UK No.1 single Hot Love, plus over 20 other UK top 40 singles. 2003 - Britain's oldest rockers came out winners in The Pollstar listing of the Top 10 grossing US tours of 2002. Paul McCartney $68m, The Rolling Stones $58m, Elton John $47m, The Who $20m, Ozzy Osbourne $18m, Peter Gabriel £10m, Yes $6m, Elvis Costello $5m, The Moody Blues $4m and Jethro Tull $3m. 2003 - Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Tweedy was arrested after an alleged attack in a nightclub in Guildford. The Popstars Rivals winner was accused of punching a lavatory attendent. |
Trivia
Trivia - petty details or considerations, matters or things that are very unimportant, inconsequential, or nonessential; trifles; trivialities.
Trivial - of very little importance or value; insignificant: "Don't bother me with trivial matters." Trivially - unimportant, nugatory, slight, immaterial, inconsequential, frivolous, trifling.