TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS THURSDAY, JANUARY 11, 2018

On this day in history:

1569 - England’s first state lottery was held.

1770 - The first shipment of rhubarb was sent to the United States from London.

1867 - Benito Juarez returned to the Mexican presidency, following the withdrawal of French troops and the execution of Emperor Maximilian.

1874 - Colonel Peter Warburton completes his gruelling nine-month crossing of the Great Sandy Desert.

1896 - Bourke, New South Wales, sees the end of thirteen days of extreme temperatures which kill 47.

1922 - At Toronto General Hospital, Leonard Thompson became the first person to be successfully treated with insulin.

1935 - Amelia Earhart Putnam became the first woman to fly solo from Hawaii to California. 1942 - Japan declared war against the Netherlands. The same day, Japanese forces invaded the Dutch East Indies. 1943 - The United States and Britain signed treaties relinquishing extraterritorial rights in China.

1977 - France released Abu Daoud, a Palestinian suspected of involvement in the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

1980 - Nigel Short, age 14, from Bolton in Britain, became the youngest International Master in the history of chess. 1986 - The Gateway Bridge in Brisbane, Australia, is officially commissioned.

1991 - An auction of silver and paintings that had been acquired by the late Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda, brought in a total of $20.29 million at Christie’s in New York.

1996 - Ryutaro Hashimoto become Japan’s prime minister. He replaced Tomiichi Murayama who had resigned on January 5, 1996.

1998 - Over 100 people are killed in the Sidi-Hamed massacre in Algeria.

2011 - Despite Brisbane being supposedly flood-proof, a flood of epic proportions begins to inundate the city.

2013 - One French soldier and 17 militants are killed in a failed attempt to free a French hostage in Bulo Marer, Somalia.