Today is Friday, January 11th, the eleventh day of the year. There are 354 days until the end of the year.
On this day:
In 1843, poet Francis Scott Key died at the age of 63. He wrote the words to the national anthem "The Star Spangled Banner."
In 1861, Alabama became the fourth state to secede from the Union.
In 1878, milk was delivered in bottles for the first time.
In 1902, "Popular Mechanics" was published for the first time.
In 1913, the Hudson Motor Company unveiled the first sedan-type car at the National Automobile Show in New York City.
In 1922, 14-year-old Leonard Thompson of Canada became the first person to have his diabetes treated with insulin.
In 1935, Amelia Earhart Putnam became the first woman to fly solo from Hawaii to California.
In 1964, Surgeon General Luther Terry first issued the warning that cigarette smoking is hazardous to a person's health.
In 1973, Major League Baseball agreed to allow the American League to experiment with the designated hitter rule.
In 1997, Hall-of-Fame actor, producer Sheldon Leonard died at the age of 89. He produced several popular shows including "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and "The Andy Griffith Show."
In 2003, citing questions about "the fairness of death penalty system as a whole," Illinois Governor George Ryan commuted the sentences of all of the state's death row inmates, leaving the prisoners to serve out life sentences behind bars. Ryan's controversial blanket commutation came just days before he was scheduled to leave his governor's post.
In 2008, former Olympic medalist Marion Jones was sentenced to six months in prison for lying to federal investigators in two separate cases. In October 2007, Jones pled guilty to two counts of lying to investigators in the BALCO steroid probe as well as a phony check scheme. After pleading guilty, Jones retired from track and field, turned in all of her medals from the 2000 Sydney Games and had her records wiped from the history books.
In 2008, Carl's Jr. fast-food chain founder Carl Karcher died at the age of 90.
In 2016, second-ranked Alabama defeated top-ranked Clemson, 45-40, in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
In 2016, the White House joined Snapchat.