Francis Salvador, the first Jewish person to hold an elected office in the Americas, takes his seat on the South Carolina Provincial Congress on January 11, 1775. He later became the first recorded Jewish soldier killed in the American War for Independence. Born in 1747, Salvador was descended from a line of prominent Sephardic Jews […]

After the Zulu kingdom ignores the British ultimatum to fully demilitarize within 30 days, British troops invade Zululand in three columns from the southern African republic of Natal, under the leadership of Lord Chelmsford. Thus begins the Anglo-Zulu War. In 1843, Britain succeeded the Boers as the rulers of Natal, which controlled Zululand, the neighboring […]

On January 11, 1922, 14-year-old Leonard Thompson becomes the first person to receive an injection of the hormone insulin for Type-1 diabetes—a disease that for millennia had been considered a death sentence for anyone who developed it. The breakthrough would be one of the most consequential in medical history, saving millions of lives. Diabetes has […]

On January 11, 1927, Charlie Chaplin’s $16 million estate is frozen by court receivers after his second wife, Lita Grey Chaplin, sues for divorce. The bitter and prolonged divorce ended a three-year marriage with a $825,000 settlement ($625,000 for her and $200,000 in trust for their two children), a record amount at the time. Lita […]

On January 11, 1943, Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes the first president to travel on official business by airplane. Crossing the Atlantic by air, Roosevelt flew in a Boeing 314 Flying Boat dubbed the Dixie Clipper to a World War II strategy meeting with Winston Churchill at Casablanca in North Africa. With German U-boats taking a […]

On January 11, 1971, “Silicon Valley” appears for the first time in print in the Electronic News, a popular weekly trade magazine. The article, the first of a three-part series, was written by veteran electronics columnist Don Hoefler and chronicles the rise of the semiconductor industry in Northern California’s Santa Clara Valley. Its headline: “Silicon Valley […]

On January 11, 1973, the owners of America’s 24 major league baseball teams vote to allow teams in the American League to use a “designated pinch-hitter” who could bat for the pitcher while still allowing the pitcher to stay in the game. The idea of adding a player to the baseball lineup to bat for […]

After eight years as president of the United States, Ronald Reagan gives his farewell address to the American people. In his speech, President Reagan spoke with particular enthusiasm about the foreign policy achievements of his administration. In his speech, Reagan declared that America “rediscovered” its commitment to world freedom in the 1980s. The United States […]

On January 11, 2012, Joran van der Sloot, a longtime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of American teen Natalee Holloway in Aruba, pleads guilty to the murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores, in Lima, Peru. Flores was killed on May 30, 2010, exactly five years to the day after Holloway went missing while on a high […]