On this day: January 11

Events on January 11

• 1055 Theodora Porphyrogenita became the sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire after the death of her brother-in-law Constantine IX Monomachos. Wikipedia
• 1569 First recorded lottery in England. Wikipedia
• 1654 Arauco War: The Mapuche-Huilliche of southern Chile defeated a slave-hunting Spanish army at the Battle of Río Bueno. Wikipedia
• 1693 The most powerful earthquake recorded in Italy struck the island of Sicily, causing 60,000 deaths and prompting a period of architectural revival. Wikipedia
• 1787 German-born British astronomer William Herschel discovered two Uranian moons, later named Oberon and Titania by his son John. Wikipedia
• 1820 A conflagration in Savannah, Georgia, destroyed more than 400 buildings and caused millions of dollars in damages. Wikipedia
• 1861 American Civil War: Alabama secedes from the United States. Wikipedia
• 1863 American Civil War: The Battle of Arkansas Post concluded with the Union Army capturing a fort from Confederate forces near the mouth of the Arkansas River. Wikipedia
• 1879 The Anglo-Zulu War begins. Wikipedia
• 1908 Grand Canyon National Monument is created. Wikipedia
• 1912 Immigrant textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts, went on strike in response to a pay cut corresponding to a new state law shortening the working week. Wikipedia
• 1914 The Karluk, the flagship of the Canadian Arctic Expedition, sank after being crushed by ice. Wikipedia
• 1923 Troops from France and Belgium invaded the Ruhr to force the Weimar Republic to pay reparations in the aftermath of World War I. Wikipedia
• 1927 Louis B. Mayer, head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, hosted 36 people involved in the film industry at a banquet, where he announced the creation of what would become the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Wikipedia
• 1935 Amelia Earhart becomes the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California. Wikipedia
• 1943 Italian-American journalist and trade-union activist Carlo Tresca, a leading public opponent of the Mafia infiltration of unions, was assassinated in New York City. Wikipedia
• 1946 The People's Republic of Albania was proclaimed, with Enver Hoxha as the country's de facto head of state. Wikipedia
• 1961 Students at the University of Georgia rioted in an attempt to prevent the attendance of two African-American students. Wikipedia
• 1964 In a landmark report, U.S. surgeon general Luther Terry issued a warning that tobacco smoking may be hazardous to health, concluding that it has a causative role in lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, and other illnesses. Wikipedia
• 1966 The Tbilisi Metro is opened. Wikipedia
• 1972 East Pakistan renames itself Bangladesh. Wikipedia
• 1986 The Gateway Bridge in Brisbane, Australia, opened as the largest prestressed-concrete, single-box bridge in the world. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 2003 After Chicago police detective Jon Burge was discovered to have extracted forced confessions from more than 200 suspects, the governor of Illinois commuted the death sentences of 167 prisoners and pardoned four others. Wikipedia
• 2013 French special forces failed in an attempted rescue of a DGSE agent, who had been taken hostage in 2009 by al-Shabaab, in Bulo Marer, Somalia. Wikipedia
• 2024 Several thousand North Korean migrant workers in Helong engaged in civil unrest, including a factory occupation and the taking of managers as hostages, due to unpaid wages. Wikipedia

Born on January 11

• 347 Theodosius I, Roman emperor (died 395) Wikipedia
• 1209 Möngke Khan, Mongolian emperor (died 1259) Wikipedia
• 1503 Parmigianino, Italian artist (died 1540) Wikipedia
• 1638 Nicolas Steno, Danish bishop and anatomist (died 1686) Wikipedia
• 1755 Alexander Hamilton, Nevisian-American general, economist and politician, 1st United States Secretary of the Treasury (died 1804) Wikipedia
• 1815 John A. Macdonald, Scottish-Canadian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Canada (died 1891) Wikipedia
• 1842 William James, American psychologist and philosopher (died 1910) Wikipedia
• 1852 Constantin Fehrenbach, German lawyer and politician, 4th Chancellor of Weimar Germany (died 1926) Wikipedia
• 1859 George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, English politician, 35th Governor-General of India (died 1925) Wikipedia
• 1885 Alice Paul, American activist and suffragist (died 1977) Wikipedia
• 1903 Alan Paton, South African author and activist (died 1988) Wikipedia
• 1906 Albert Hofmann, Swiss chemist and academic, discoverer of LSD (died 2008) Wikipedia
• 1924 Roger Guillemin, French-American physician and endocrinologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2024) Wikipedia
• 1934 Jean Chrétien, Canadian lawyer and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Canada Wikipedia
• 1954 Kailash Satyarthi, Indian engineer, academic, and activist, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1971 Mary J. Blige, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress Wikipedia
• 1975 Matteo Renzi, Italian politician, 56th Prime Minister of Italy Wikipedia
• 1978 Emile Heskey, English footballer Wikipedia
• 1979 Siti Nurhaliza, Malaysian singer-songwriter and businesswoman Wikipedia
• 1987 Jamie Vardy, English footballer Wikipedia
• 1992 Dani Carvajal, Spanish footballer Wikipedia
• 1996 Leroy Sané, German footballer Wikipedia

Died on January 11

• 140 Pope Hyginus, Bishop of Rome (born 74) Wikipedia
• 705 Pope John VI (born 655) Wikipedia
• 1494 Domenico Ghirlandaio, Italian painter (born 1449) Wikipedia
• 1923 Constantine I of Greece (born 1868) Wikipedia
• 1928 Thomas Hardy, English novelist and poet (born 1840) Wikipedia
• 1941 Emanuel Lasker, German mathematician, philosopher, and chess player (born 1868) Wikipedia
• 1966 Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indian academic and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of India (born 1904) Wikipedia
• 1966 Alberto Giacometti, Swiss sculptor and painter (born 1901) Wikipedia
• 1988 Isidor Isaac Rabi, Polish-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1898) Wikipedia
• 1991 Carl David Anderson, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1905) Wikipedia
• 2008 Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer and explorer (born 1919) Wikipedia
• 2013 Aaron Swartz, American programmer and activist (born 1986) Wikipedia
• 2014 Ariel Sharon, Israeli general and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Israel (born 1928) Wikipedia
• 2015 Anita Ekberg, Swedish-Italian model and actress (born 1931) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Children's Day (Tunisia) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Anastasius of Suppentonia (Roman Catholic) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Leucius of Brindisi (Roman Catholic) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Paulinus II of Aquileia Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Pope Hyginus Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Theodosius the Cenobiarch Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Thomas of Cori Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Vitalis of Gaza (Roman Catholic) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: January 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Eugenio María de Hostos Day (Puerto Rico) Wikipedia
• Independence Resistance Day (Morocco) Wikipedia
• Kagami biraki (Japan) Wikipedia
• National Human Trafficking Awareness Day (United States) Wikipedia
• Republic Day (Albania) Wikipedia
• Carmentalia (January 11th and January 15th) (Rome) Wikipedia
• Prithvi Jayanti (Nepal) Wikipedia

Sources

• Wikipedia — “January 11” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/January 11” — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikidata — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “January 11” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for January 11 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.