HISTORY AT A GLANCE
TODAY is Thursday, January 11, the 11th day of 2018. There are 354 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1942 – World War II: The Japanese capture
Kuala Lumpur. 1943 – World War II: The United States and United Kingdom give up territorial rights in China. 1945 – Greek Civil War: Last day of the Dekemvriana clashes in Athens, Greece. 1946 – Enver Hoxha, Secretary General of the Communist Party of Albania, declares the People’s Republic of Albania with himself as head of state. 1957 – The African Convention is founded in
Dakar, Senegal. 1960 – Henry Lee Lucas, once listed as America’s most prolific serial killer, commits his first known murder. 1962 – Cold War: While tied to its pier in
Polyarny, the Soviet submarine B-37 is destroyed when fire breaks out in its torpedo compartment. 1962 – An avalanche on Huascarán in Peru
causes 4,000 deaths. 1964 – Surgeon General of the United States Dr. Luther Terry, M.D., publishes the landmark report Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the United States saying that smoking may be hazardous to health, sparking national and worldwide anti-smoking efforts. 1972 – East Pakistan renames itself
Bangladesh. 1973 – Major League Baseball owners vote in approval of the American League adopting the designated hitter position. 1986 – The Gateway Bridge, Brisbane in
Queensland, Australia is officially
opened. 1994 – The Irish Government announces the end of a 15-year broadcasting ban on the IRA and its political arm Sinn Féin. 1996 – Space Shuttle program: STS-72 launches from the Kennedy Space Center marking the start of the 74th Space Shuttle mission and the 10th flight of Endeavour. 1998 – Over 100 people are killed in the Sidi
Hamed massacre in Algeria. 2003 – Illinois Governor George Ryan commutes the death sentences of 167 prisoners on Illinois’ death row based on the Jon Burge scandal. 2013 – One French soldier and 17 militants are killed in a failed attempt to free a French hostage in Bulo Marer, Somalia.