January 11th

Today in America's Present Past

1630 | Religious Leader John Rogers was born.

Alexander Hamilton | Sketch courtesy of the Library of Congress.

1755 | Founding: Alexander Hamilton was born.

1759 | America’s first chartered life insurance company is incorporated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1805 | Statehood: Michigan Territory is created.

1825 | Poet Bayard Taylor was born.

1830 | SCOTUS: Justice John McLean is sworn in.

1842 | Philosopher William James was born.

Percy Morgan’s painting of “Francis Scott Key at the Battle of Fort McHenry” | Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

1843 | Founding: Francis Scott Key died.

1858 | Entrepreneur Harry Gordon Selfridge, Sr. was born.

1861 | Civil War: Alabama becomes the fourth state to succeed.

Postcard of Calder’s La Grande Vitesse, Grand Rapids, MI. Photograph by John Penrod | Image courtesy of Calder.org

1870 | Artist Alexander Stirling Calder was born.

1908 | The U.S. creates the Grand Canyon National Park.

1912 | “Bread & Roses Strike” starts in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

1917 | WWI: Kingsland explosion at Lyndhurst, New Jersey.

1927 | Academy of Motion Pictures Association is announced.

Amelia Earhart (c1928) | Photograph courtesy of the Library of Congress.

1935 | Aviator Amelia Earhart is the first to fly from Hawaii to California.

1946 | Musician Naomi Judd was born.

1952 | Golfer Ben Crenshaw was born.

Mary J. Blige | Photograph courtesy of maryjblige.com

1971 | Musician Mary J. Blige was born.

1973 | Major League Baseball approves the American League and the Designated Hitter Rule.

1988 | WWII: Ace Pappy Boyington died.

2011 | Actor David Nelson died.