January 11 is the 11th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 354 days remaining until the end of the year (355 in leap years).

Events[link]

• 630 – Muhammad leads an army of 10,000 to conquer Mecca.
• 1055 – Theodora is crowned Empress of the Byzantine Empire.
• 1158 – Vladislav II becomes King of Bohemia.
• 1569 – First recorded lottery in England.
• 1571 – Austrian nobility is granted freedom of religion.
• 1693 – Mount Etna erupts in Sicily, Italy. A powerful earthquake destroys parts of Sicily and Malta.
• 1759 – In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the first American life insurance company is incorporated.
• 1779 – Ching-Thang Khomba is crowned King of Manipur.
• 1787 – William Herschel discovers Titania and Oberon, two moons of Uranus.
• 1794 – Robert Forsythe, a U.S. Marshal is killed in Augusta, Georgia when trying to serve court papers, the first US marshal to die while carrying out his duties.
• 1805 – The Michigan Territory is created.
• 1861 – Alabama secedes from the United States.
• 1863 – American Civil War: Battle of Arkansas Post – General John McClernand and Admiral David Dixon Porter capture the Arkansas River for the Union.
• 1863 – American Civil War: CSS Alabama encounters and sinks the USS Hatteras off Galveston Lighthouse in Texas.
• 1879 – The Anglo-Zulu War begins.
• 1908 – Grand Canyon National Monument is created.
• 1912 – Immigrant textile works in Lawrence, Massachusetts, go on strike when wages are reduced in response to a mandated shortening of the work week.
• 1917 – The Kingsland munitions factory explosion occurs as a result of sabotage.
• 1919 – Romania reincorporates Transylvania.
• 1922 – First use of insulin to treat diabetes in a human patient.
• 1923 – Occupation of the Ruhr: Troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area to force Germany to make its World War I reparation payments.
• 1927 – Louis B. Mayer, head of film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), announces the creation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, at a banquet in Los Angeles, California.
• 1935 – Amelia Earhart becomes the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California.
• 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.
• 1943 – Italian-American anarchist Carlo Tresca is assassinated in New York
• 1946 – Enver Hoxha, Secretary General of the Communist Party of Albania, declares the People's Republic of Albania with himself as head of state.
• 1949 – The first "networked" television broadcasts take place as KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania goes on the air connecting the east coast and mid-west programming.
• 1949 – First recorded case of snowfall in Los Angeles, California.
• 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 compartent.
• 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.
• 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 – Sidi-Hamed massacre takes place in Algeria, over 100 people are killed.
• 2002 – The first twenty captives arrive at Camp X-Ray.
• 2003 – Illinois Governor George Ryan commutes the death sentences of 167 prisoners on Illinois' death row based on the Jon Burge scandal.

Births[link]

• 347 – Roman Emperor Theodosius I "the Great" (d. 395)
• 889 – Abd-ar-Rahman III, Emir and Caliph of Cordoba (d. 961)
• 1322 – Emperor Komyo of Japan (d. 1380)
• 1359 – Emperor Go-En'yu of Japan (d. 1393)
• 1395 – Michelle of Valois, Duchess of Burgundy (d. 1422)
• 1503 – Parmigianino, Italian artist (d. 1540)
• 1591 – Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, English Civil War general (d. 1646)
• 1630 – John Rogers, American educator (d. 1684)
• 1638 – Nicolas Steno, Danish scientist (d. 1686)
• 1642 – Johann Friedrich Alberti, German composer and organist (d. 1710)
• 1671 – François-Marie, 1st duc de Broglie, French military leader (d. 1745)
• 1755 – Alexander Hamilton, Nevis born American Founding Father, economist, and political philosopher; 1st United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1804)
• 1757 – Samuel Bentham, English mechanical engineer (d. 1831)
• 1786 – Joseph Jackson Lister, English opticist and physicist (d. 1869)
• 1788 – William Thomas Brande, English chemist (d. 1866)
• 1800 – Ányos Jedlik, Hungarian physicist (d. 1895)
• 1807 – Ezra Cornell, American businessman and university founder (d. 1874)
• 1814 – James Paget, British surgeon and pathologist (d. 1899)
• 1815 – John A. Macdonald, 1st Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1891)
• 1825 – Bayard Taylor, American poet (d. 1878)
• 1839 – Eugenio Maria de Hostos, Puerto Rican educator and nationalist (d. 1903)
• 1842 – William James, American psychologist and philosopher (d. 1910)
• 1843 – Charles Yelverton O'Connor, Irish-Australian engineer (d. 1902)
• 1845 – Albert Victor Bäcklund, Swedish physicist (d. 1912)
• 1850 – Joseph Charles Arthur, American botanist (d. 1942)
• 1852 – Konstantin Fehrenbach, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1926)
• 1853 – Georgios Jakobides, Greek painter (d. 1926)
• 1856 – Christian Sinding, Norwegian composer (d. 1932)
• 1857 – Fred Archer, English jockey (d. 1886)
• 1858 – Harry Gordon Selfridge, American retailer (d. 1947)
• 1859 – Lord George Nathaniel Curzon, British statesman, Viceroy of India (d. 1925)
• 1864 – Thomas Dixon, American playwright and legislator (d. 1946)
• 1867 – Edward B. Titchener, British psychologist. (d. 1927)
• 1868 – Cai Yuanpei, Chinese educator (d. 1940)
• 1870 – Alexander Stirling Calder, American sculptor (d. 1945)
• 1872 – George Washington Pierce, American physicist (d. 1956)
• 1873 – John Callan O'Laughlin, American political and military figure and journalist (d. 1949)
• 1875 – Reinhold Glière, Russian composer (d. 1956)
• 1876 – Elmer Flick, American baseball player (d. 1971)
• 1878 – Theodoros Pangalos, Greek general (d. 1952)
• 1885 – Jack Hoxie, American actor, rodeo performer (d. 1965)
• 1885 – Alice Paul, American women's rights activist (d. 1977)
• 1886 – Chester Conklin, American comedian and actor (d. 1971)
• 1887 – Aldo Leopold, American ecologist (d. 1948)
• 1888 – Joseph B. Keenan, American political figure (d. 1954)
• 1889 – Calvin Bridges, American geneticist (d. 1938)
• 1890 – Oswald de Andrade, Brazilian author (d. 1954)
• 1890 – Max Carey, American baseball player (d. 1976)
• 1895 – Laurens Hammond, American inventor (d. 1973)
• 1897 – August Heissmeyer, German SS officer (d. 1979)
• 1899 – Eva Le Gallienne, English-American actress (d. 1991)
• 1901 – Kwon Ki-ok, Korean pilot (d. 1988)
• 1902 – Maurice Duruflé, French composer (d. 1986)
• 1903 – Alan Paton, South African writer (d. 1988)
• 1905 – Clyde Kluckhohn, American anthropologist (d. 1960)
• 1905 – Manfred B Lee, American author (d. 1971)
• 1906 – Albert Hofmann, Swiss chemist (d. 2008)
• 1907 – Abraham Joshua Heschel, Warsaw-born American rabbi, theologian, and philosopher (d. 1972)
• 1907 – Pierre Mendès-France, French politician (d. 1982)
• 1908 – Lionel Stander, American actor (d. 1994)
• 1910 – Nikos Kavvadias, Greek poet and writer (d. 1975)
• 1910 – Shane Paltridge, Australian politician (d. 1966)
• 1910 – Izler Solomon, American conductor (d. 1987)
• 1911 – Nora Heysen, Australian artist (d. 2003)
• 1911 – Zenko Suzuki, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2004)
• 1915 – Robert Blair Mayne, British soldier (d. 1955)
• 1916 – Bernard Blier, French actor (d. 1989)
• 1917 – John Robarts, Canadian politician (d. 1982)
• 1921 – Gory Guerrero, professional wrestler (d. 1990)
• 1921 – Juanita M. Kreps, American economist, educator, & civil servant; 24th United States Secretary of Commerce (d. 2010)
• 1922 – Ernle Bradford, English historian and writer (d. 1986)
• 1923 – Jerome Bixby, American writer (d. 1998)
• 1923 – Ernst Nolte, German historian
• 1923 – Carroll Shelby, American race car driver, automobile designer and businessman
• 1924 – Don Cherry, American singer and golfer
• 1924 – Roger Guillemin, French neuroendocrinologist, Nobel laureate
• 1924 – Sam B. Hall, American politician (d. 1994)
• 1924 – Slim Harpo, American musician (d. 1970)
• 1925 – Grant Tinker, American television executive
• 1926 – Lev Demin, Soviet cosmonaut (d. 1998)
• 1928 – David L. Wolper, American television producer (d.2010)
• 1928 – Mitchell Ryan, American actor
• 1930 – Ron Mulock, Australian politician
• 1930 – Rod Taylor, Australian-born American actor
• 1931 – Betty Churcher, Australian museum director and curator
• 1932 – Alfonso Arau, Mexican film director
• 1934 – Jean Chrétien, Canadian politician, 20th Prime Minister of Canada
• 1934 – Sir C. A. R. Hoare, British computer scientist
• 1935 – Melvyn Hayes, British actor
• 1935 – Ghita Nørby, Danish actress
• 1937 – Felix Silla, Italian actor
• 1938 – Fischer Black, American economist (d. 1995)
• 1938 – Vladimir Krpan, Croatian pianist
• 1938 – Arthur Scargill, British politician
• 1938 – John August Swanson, American artist
• 1939 – Anne Heggtveit, Canadian alpine skier
• 1941 – Gérson, Brazilian footballer
• 1942 – Charles Acton, American basketball player
• 1942 – Clarence Clemons, American musician (E Street Band) (d. 2011)
• 1942 – Leo Cullum, American cartoonist (d. 2010)
• 1942 – George Mira, American Football Player
• 1943 – Jim Hightower, American radio host, author, and activist
• 1944 – Mohammed Abed Elhai, Sudanese writer and academic (d. 1989)
• 1944 – Shibu Soren, Indian politician
• 1945 – Christine Kaufmann, German-Austrian actress
• 1946 – Naomi Judd, American singer (The Judds)
• 1946 – Tony Kaye, British piano and organ player (Yes)
• 1946 – John Piper, American theologian
• 1948 – Fritz Bohla, German football player and manager
• 1948 – Wajima Hiroshi, Japanese sumo wrestler (the 54th Yokozuna) and professional wrestler
• 1948 – Terry Williams, Welsh rock drummer (Love Sculpture, Man and Dire Straits)
• 1949 – Daryl Braithwaite, Australian rock singer (Sherbet)
• 1949 – Chris Ford, American basketball player and coach
• 1951 – Willie Maddren, English former footballer (d. 2000)
• 1952 – Bille Brown, Australian actor and playwright
• 1952 – Ben Crenshaw, American golfer
• 1952 – Michael Forshaw, Australian politician
• 1952 – Diana Gabaldon, American author
• 1952 – Lee Ritenour, American musician and composer
• 1953 – John Sessions, Scottish actor
• 1956 – Robert Earl Keen, American singer
• 1957 – Darryl Dawkins, American basketball player
• 1957 – Bryan Robson, English footballer and manager
• 1958 – Vicki Peterson, American musician (The Bangles)
• 1958 – Diego León Montoya Sánchez, Colombian organized crime figure
• 1959 – Rob Ramage, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1961 – Jasper Fforde, British author
• 1961 – Karl Habsburg-Lothringen, Prince of Austria and Prince Royal of Hungary
• 1961 – Eva O, American musician, singer/song writer (Christian Death, Shadow Project and Super Heroines)
• 1962 – Kim Coles, American actress
• 1962 – Susan Lindauer, American journalist, and antiwar activist
• 1963 – Tracy Caulkins, American swimmer
• 1963 – Dean Reynolds, English snooker player
• 1965 – Roland Scholten, Dutch darts Player
• 1966 – Marc Acito, American novelist and humorist
• 1966 – Kelley Law, Canadian curler
• 1967 – Derek Riddell, Scottish actor
• 1968 – Anders Borg, Swedish politician
• 1968 – Saša Ćirić, Macedonian footballer
• 1968 – Tom Dumont, American musician (No Doubt and Invincible Overlord)
• 1969 – Manny Acta, Dominican baseball player
• 1969 – Kyle Richards, American actress
• 1970 – Manfredi Beninati, Italian visual artist.
• 1970 – Chris Jent, American basketball player and coach
• 1970 – Malcolm D. Lee, American actor, film director, and screenwriter
• 1970 – Joy Nilo, Filipino Composer
• 1970 – Rick Hendrix, American writer
• 1971 – Mary J. Blige, American singer
• 1971 – Chris Willsher, English singer-songwriter and musician (Bus Station Loonies, Oi Polloi and Disorder)
• 1972 – Marc Blucas, American actor
• 1972 – Christian Jacobs, American singer (The Aquabats)
• 1972 – Amanda Peet, American actress
• 1973 – Joanna Brodzik, Polish actress
• 1973 – Rahul Dravid, Indian cricketer
• 1973 – Rockmond Dunbar, American actor
• 1974 – Roman Görtz, German footballer
• 1974 – Cody McKay, Canadian baseball player
• 1974 – Jens Nowotny, German footballer
• 1975 – Rory Fitzpatrick, American ice hockey player
• 1975 – Kevin Koe, Canadian curler
• 1975 – Dan Luger, English rugby player
• 1976 – Efthimios Rentzias, Greek basketball player
• 1977 – Shomari Buchanan, American football player
• 1977 – Anni Friesinger-Postma, German speed skater
• 1977 – Devin Ratray, American actor
• 1977 – Nadia Turner, American singer
• 1978 – Holly Brisley, Australian actress
• 1978 – Michael Duff, Northern Irish footballer
• 1978 – Emile Heskey, English footballer
• 1978 – Stijn Schaars, Dutch footballer
• 1979 – Darren Lynn Bousman, American film director
• 1979 – Michael Lorenz, German footballer
• 1979 – Siti Nurhaliza, Malaysian singer
• 1979 – Henry Shefflin, Irish hurler
• 1980 – Lovieanne Jung, American softball player
• 1980 – Mike Williams, American football player
• 1980 – Deanna Wright, American actress
• 1981 – Jamelia, English singer
• 1981 – Tom Meighan, English singer (Kasabian)
• 1981 – Jaime Valdés, Chilean footballer
• 1982 – Tony Allen, American basketball player
• 1982 – Ashley Taylor Dawson, British actor and singer (allSTARS*)
• 1982 – Son Ye-jin, South Korean actress
• 1983 – Matthew Palleschi, Canadian soccer player
• 1983 – Ted Richards, Australian rules footballer
• 1983 – Adrian Sutil, German racing driver
• 1984 – Kevin Boss, American football player
• 1984 – Dario Krešić, Croatian footballer
• 1985 – Newton Faulkner, British singer
• 1985 – Rie Fu, Japanese singer
• 1985 – Lucy Knisley, American artist
• 1985 – Kazuki Nakajima, Japanese racing driver
• 1985 – Aaron Porter, British politician
• 1986 – Rachel Riley, British television presenter
• 1987 – Scotty Cranmer, American BMX rider
• 1987 – Daniel Semenzato, Italian footballer
• 1988 – Jun Jun, Chinese/Japanese singer (Morning Musume)
• 1988 – Daniel Dzufer, Australian rules footballer
• 1988 – Fuska, Brazilian footballer
• 1989 – Sammy Carlson, American freeskier
• 1989 – Darko Bodul, Croatian footballer
• 1991 – Hyorin, South Korean singer (leader group SISTAR)
• 1993 – Flora Cross, French actress
• 1997 – Cody Simpson, Australian singer

Deaths[link]

• 314 – St. Miltiades
• 705 – Pope John VI
• 802 – St. Paulinus II of Aquileia
• 812 – Staurakios, Byzantine Emperor
• 844 – Michael I Rhangabes, Byzantine Emperor
• 1055 – Constantine IX Monomachos, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1000)
• 1083 – Otto of Nordheim, Duke of Bavaria (b. c. 1020)
• 1494 – Domenico Ghirlandaio, Italian artist (b. 1449)
• 1495 – Pedro González de Mendoza, Spanish cardinal and statesman (b. 1428)
• 1547 – Pietro Bembo, Italian author, literary theorist, and Catholic cardinal (b. 1470)
• 1641 – Juan Martínez de Jáuregui y Aguilar, Spanish poet (b. 1583)
• 1696 – Charles Albanel, French missionary explorer in Canada (b. 1616)
• 1703 – Johann Georg Graevius, German classical scholar and critic (b. 1632)
• 1713 – Pierre Jurieu, French Protestant leader (b. 1637)
• 1735 – Danilo I, Vladika of Montenegro (b. c.1670)
• 1753 – Sir Hans Sloane, Ulster-Scot physician and collector (b. 1660)
• 1762 – Louis-François Roubiliac, French sculptor (b. 1695)
• 1763 – Caspar Abel, German theologian, historian, and poet (b. 1676)
• 1771 – Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d'Argens, French writer (b. 1704)
• 1791 – William Williams Pantycelyn, Welsh hymnist (b. 1717)
• 1798 – Erekle II, king of Kartli and Kakheti (b. 1720)
• 1801 – Domenico Cimarosa, Italian composer (b. 1749)
• 1836 – John Molson, Canadian brewer (b. 1763)
• 1843 – Francis Scott Key, American lawyer and writer of the poem that became the American national anthem (b. 1779)
• 1867 – Sir Stuart Donaldson, first Premier of the Colony of New South Wales (b. 1812)
• 1882 – Theodor Schwann, German physiologist (b. 1810)
• 1891 – Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann, French civic planner (b. 1809)
• 1901 – Vasily Kalinnikov, Russian composer (b. 1866)
• 1902 – Johnny Briggs, English cricketer (b. 1862)
• 1904 – William Sawyer, Canadian politician (b. 1815)
• 1905 – Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter, Hasidic rabbi (b. 1847)
• 1914 – Carl Jacobsen, Danish brewer and patron of the arts after whom the Carlsberg brewery is named (b. 1842)
• 1920 – Steinar Schjøtt, Norwegian educator, philologist and lexicographer (b. 1844)
• 1923 – King Constantine I of Greece (b. 1868)
• 1928 – Thomas Hardy, English writer (b. 1840)
• 1931 – James Milton Carroll, American Baptist pastor, leader, historian, and author (b. 1852)
• 1941 – Emanuel Lasker, German chess player (b. 1868)
• 1944 – Count Galeazzo Ciano, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Benito Mussolini's son-in-law (b. 1903)
• 1947 – Eva Tanguay, Canadian-born singer and entertainer (b. 1879)
• 1952 – Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, French general, posthumous Marshal of France (b. 1889)
• 1952 – Aureliano Pertile, Italian tenor (b. 1885)
• 1953 – Noe Zhordania, Georgian Social-Democratic politician (b. 1868)
• 1954 – Oscar Straus, Austrian composer (b. 1870)
• 1957 – Sir Robert Garran, Australian lawyer and early leading expert in Australian constitutional law (b. 1867)
• 1957 – Rose Sutro, American duo-pianist with her sister Ottilie (b. 1870)
• 1958 – Alec Rowley, English composer (b. 1892)
• 1958 – Edna Purviance, American actress (b. 1895)
• 1961 – Elena Gerhardt, German mezzo-soprano singer (b. 1883)
• 1965 – Wally Pipp, American Major League Baseball player (b. 1893)
• 1966 – Alberto Giacometti, Swiss sculptor (b. 1901)
• 1966 – Hannes Kolehmainen, Finnish runner (b. 1889)
• 1966 – Lal Bahadur Shastri, third Prime Minister of independent India (b. 1904)
• 1968 – Moshe Zvi Segal, Israeli linguist and Talmudic scholar, and Israel Prize recipient (b. 1876)
• 1969 – Richmal Crompton, British author (b. 1890)
• 1972 – Padraic Colum, Irish poet, novelist, dramatist, biographer and collector of folklore (b. 1881)
• 1975 – Max Lorenz, German heldentenor famous for Wagner roles (b. 1901)
• 1978 – Ibn-e-Insha, Pakistani humorist and Urdu poet (b. 1927)
• 1979 – Jack Soo, American actor (b. 1917)
• 1980 – Barbara Pym, English novelist (b. 1913)
• 1981 – Beulah Bondi, American actress (b. 1888)
• 1983 – Shri Ghanshyam Das Birla, Indian industrialist and educator (b. 1894)
• 1985 – Sir William McKell, Premier of New South Wales, Governor-General of Australia (b. 1891)
• 1986 – Sid Chaplin, UK novelist (b. 1916)
• 1987 – Albert Ferber, Swiss-English pianist (b. 1911)
• 1988 – Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, American World War II Marine aviator (b. 1912)
• 1988 – Florence Knapp, American, one-time oldest person in the world (b. 1873)
• 1988 – Isidor Isaac Rabi, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1898)
• 1989 – Ray Moore, Radio 2 DJ (b. 1942)
• 1991 – Carl David Anderson, American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1905)
• 1994 – Helmut Poppendick, Nazi physician (b. 1902)
• 1995 – Josef Gingold, Russian-American violinist (b. 1909)
• 1995 – Lewis Nixon, U.S. Army officer (b. 1918)
• 1995 – Theodor Wisch, German general (SS) (b. 1907)
• 1998 – Klaus Tennstedt, German conductor (b. 1926)
• 1999 – Fabrizio De André, Italian singer-songwriter (b. 1940)
• 1999 – Naomi Mitchison, Scottish novelist and poet (b. 1897)
• 1999 – Brian Moore, Irish-born writer (b. 1921)
• 2000 – Betty Archdale, Anglo-Australian educationalist and cricketer (b. 1907)
• 2000 – Ivan Combe, American inventor (b. 1911)
• 2000 – Bob Lemon, American baseball player (b. 1920)
• 2001 – Denys Lasdun, English architect (b. 1914)
• 2001 – Michael Williams, English actor (b. 1935)
• 2002 – Struan Sutherland, Australian medical researcher (b. 1936)
• 2002 – Henri Verneuil, French playwright and film director (b. 1920)
• 2003 – Mickey Finn, English drummer (T.Rex) (b. 1947)
• 2003 – Maurice Pialat, French actor and director (b. 1925)
• 2003 – Richard Simmons, American actor (b. 1913)
• 2005 – Spencer Dryden, American drummer (Jefferson Airplane) (b. 1938)
• 2005 – Jimmy Griffin, American musician (Bread) (b. 1943)
• 2005 – Miriam Hyde, Australian composer (b. 1913)
• 2005 – Fabrizio Meoni, Italian motorcyclist (b. 1957)
• 2006 – Nixzmary Brown, American child abuse victim (b. 1998)
• 2006 – Markus Löffel (Mark Spoon), German DJ (b. 1966)
• 2007 – Puchi Balseiro, Puerto Rican singer & songwriter (b. 1926)
• 2007 – Solveig Dommartin, French-German actress (b. 1961)
• 2007 – Robert Anton Wilson, American author (b. 1932)
• 2008 – Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer, the first person to climb Mount Everest in 1953 (b. 1919)
• 2008 – Carl Karcher, founded the Carl's Jr. hamburger chain (b. 1917)
• 2009 – David Vine, British sports broadcaster (b. 1935)
• 2010 – Miep Gies, Dutch Humanitarian, discoverer of Anne Frank's diary (b. 1909)
• 2010 – Mick Green, British guitarist (Johnny Kidd & The Pirates and Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas) (b. 1944)
• 2010 – Joe Rollino, American strongman, weightlifter and boxer (b. 1905)

Holidays and observances[link]

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Leucius of Brindisi (Roman Catholic)
  • Vitalis of Gaza (Roman Catholic)
  • Paulinus II of Aquileia
  • Theodosius the Cenobiarch
  • January 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Earliest day on which Triodion can fall, while February 14 is the latest; celebrated 70 days before Easter. (Eastern Orthodox)
• Eugenio Maria de Hostos Day (Puerto Rico)
• First day of Carmentalia, in honor of Carmenta. (Roman Empire)
• Independence Resistance Day (Morocco)
• Kagami Biraki (Japan)
• Republic Day (Albania)
• Carmentalia (Roman Empire)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: January 11

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (July 2009)

Graham Norton
Norton in May 2010
Birth name	Graham William Walker
Born	(1963-04-04) 4 April 1963 (age 49) Clondalkin, Dublin, Ireland
Medium	Television, radio, stand-up
Nationality	Irish
Years active	1992–present
Genres	Observational comedy
Subject(s)	Everyday life, pop culture, current events, celebrities, sex
Notable works and roles	So Graham Norton V Graham Norton The Graham Norton Effect Graham Norton's Bigger Picture The Graham Norton Show

Graham William Walker, known by his stage name Graham Norton, (born 4 April 1963)^[1] is an Irish actor, comedian, television presenter and columnist. He is the host of comedy chat programme The Graham Norton Show on BBC One in the UK and BBC America in the US. Hot Press has described him as "the 21st century's answer to Terry Wogan", with both men sharing an Irish background and the common link of being a BBC Radio 2 presenter and the BBC television commentator of the Eurovision Song Contest.^[2] Norton has won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Entertainment Performance on five occassions.

Early life and career[link]

Norton was born in Clondalkin, a suburb of Dublin, but grew up in Bandon, County Cork, Ireland to a Protestant family. He was educated at Bandon Grammar School, in County Cork and then University College Cork but did not complete his studies.

In 1992 his stand-up comedy drag act in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe as a tea-towel clad Mother Teresa of Calcutta made the press when Scottish Television's religious affairs department mistakenly thought he represented the real Mother Teresa.^[3]

His first appearances in broadcasting were in his spot as a regular comedian and panellist on the BBC Radio 4 show Loose Ends, when the show ran on Saturday mornings, in the early 1990s. His rise to fame began as one of the early successes of Channel 5, when he won an award for his performance as the stand-in host of a late-night TV talk show usually presented by Jack Docherty.^[4][5] This was followed by a comic quiz show on Channel 5 called Bring Me the Head of Light Entertainment, which was not well received as a programme, but did further enhance Norton's individual reputation as a comic and TV host. In 1996, Norton co-hosted the late-night quiz show Carnal Knowledge on ITV with Maria McErlane.

In 1996, Norton played the part of Father Noel Furlong in three episodes ("Hell", "Flight Into Terror", "The Mainland") of the Channel 4 series Father Ted. Father Noel Furlong was often seen taking charge of a small youth folk-group.

Channel 4[link]

After this early success, Norton moved to Channel 4 to host his own chat shows including So Graham Norton and V Graham Norton. As a performer who is not only openly gay,^[6] but also camp and flamboyant, it was here that Norton's act was fully honed as a cheeky, innuendo-laden joker.

In 2003, he was the subject of controversy when, on his show on Channel 4, he made a comedic reference to the recent death of Bee Gees singer Maurice Gibb. The Independent Television Commission investigated after complaints about this insensitivity were forwarded to it and eventually Channel 4 had to make two apologies: one in the form of a caption slide before the show, another from Norton in person.

Also in 2003, he was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. (Though Norton is Irish, the bulk of his television career has been in the UK.)

In the summer of 2004, Norton moved across the Atlantic to start a new venture in American television. The Graham Norton Effect debuted on 24 June 2004 on Comedy Central, and was also broadcast in the UK on BBC Three. In the midst of controversy surrounding Janet Jackson's Super Bowl performance, Norton was wary of moving into the market.^[7]

BBC[link]

Norton at 2009 BAFTA awards

In 2005, Norton moved to the BBC and began hosting the Saturday evening reality TV series Strictly Dance Fever on BBC One, as well as a new comedy chat show, Graham Norton's Bigger Picture. He also read stories some nights on the BBC children's channel CBeebies as part of Bedtime Hour.

In 2006, Norton hosted the BBC One series How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? in which Andrew Lloyd Webber tried to find a lead actress for his West End version of The Sound of Music. Norton has subsequently presented the 3 follow-up series: Any Dream Will Do in 2007, in which a group of males competed to win the role of Joseph in the West End production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; I'd Do Anything in 2008, in which Andrew Lloyd Webber seeks to find the part of Nancy and Oliver for Sir Cameron Mackintosh's production of Lionel Bart's Oliver!; and Over the Rainbow in 2010, following a similar format to find a new Dorothy for a Wizard of Oz West end Production.

Norton hosted various other shows for the BBC during this time, including When Will I Be Famous? (2007), The One and Only (2008) and Totally Saturday (2009). Since 2007, Norton has also been a regular host of The British Academy Television Awards. On 7 July 2007, Norton presented at Live Earth and undertook a trip to Ethiopia with the Born Free Foundation to highlight the plight of the Ethiopian wolf – the rarest canid in the world. In the same year, he was the subject of an episode of the BBC1 genealogy documentary Who Do You Think You Are?.

Norton's chat show, The Graham Norton Show, began on 22 February 2007 on BBC Two. Although in a format that he had not been involved in for 4 years, it is very similar to his previous Channel 4 shows. On 6 October 2009, the show moved to BBC One, in a new one-hour format.

In May 2010, he stood in for Chris Evans' breakfast show on BBC Radio 2. Later that month, it was confirmed that he would be replacing Jonathan Ross's Saturday morning slot on the same station.

In December 2011, the panel show Would You Rather...? with Graham Norton premiered on BBC America in the time slot immediately following The Graham Norton Show. Recorded in New York, it is one of BBC America's earliest efforts at producing original programming, and is also the first panel game the channel has shown, either of British or American origin.