History of 11 January
- 1980 – Nigel Short, age 14, from Bolton in Britain, became the youngest International Master in the history of chess.
- 1986 – Author James Clavell signed a 5$ million deal with Morrow/Avon Publishing for the book “Whirlwind”. The book is a 2,000 page novel.
- 1988 – S.Vice President George Bush met with representatives of independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh to answer questions about the Iran-Contra affair.
- 1991 – An auction of silver and paintings that had been acquired by the late Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda, brought in a total of $20.29 million at Christie’s in New York.
- 1996 – Ryutaro Hashimoto become Japan’s prime minister. He replaced Tomiichi Murayama who had resigned on January 5, 1996.
- 2000 – The merger between AOL and Time Warner was approved by the U.S. government with restrictions.
- 2000 – The U.S. Postal Service unveiled the second Vietnam Veterans Memorial commemorative stamp in a ceremony at The Wall.
- 2001 – The Texas Board of Criminal Justice released a review of the escape of the “Texas 7.” It stated that prison staff missed critical opportunities to prevent the escape by ignoring a fire alarm, not reporting unsupervised inmates and not demanding proper identification from inmates.
- 2001 – The U.S. Federal Trade Commission approved the merger of America Online and Time Warner to form AOL Time Warner.
- 2003– Illinois Governor George Ryan commutes the death sentences of 167 prisoners on Illinois’s death row based on the Jon Burge scandal.
- 2013– One French soldier and 17 militants are killed in a failed attempt to free a French hostage in Bulo Marer, Somalia.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1980 – Josh Hannay, Australian rugby league player
- 1980 – Mike Williams, American football player
- 1982 – Tony Allen, American basketball player
- 1982 – Blake Heron, American actor (d. 2017)
- 1982 – Son Ye-jin, South Korean actress
- 1983 – Turner Battle, American basketball player
- 1983 – André Myhrer, Swedish skier
- 1983 – Matthew Palleschi, Canadian soccer player
- 1983 – Ted Richards, Australian rules footballer
- 1983 – Adrian Sutil, German race car driver
- 1984 – Kevin Boss, American football player
- 1984 – Dario Krešić, Croatian footballer
- 1984 – Matt Mullenweg, American web developer and businessman, co-created WordPress
- 1984 – Stijn Schaars, Dutch footballer
- 1985 – Newton Faulkner, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1985 – Lucy Knisley, American author and illustrator
- 1987 – Scotty Cranmer, American Professional BMX rider
- 1987 – Danuta Kozák, Hungarian sprint canoer
- 1987 – Daniel Semenzato, Italian footballer
- 1987 – Jamie Vardy, English footballer
- 1987 – Kim Young-kwang, South Korean actor and model
- 1988 – Rodrigo José Pereira, Brazilian footballer
- 1989 – Kane Linnett, Australian rugby league player
- 1990 – Ryan Griffin, American football player
- 1991 – Andrea Bertolacci, Italian footballer
- 1992 – Dani Carvajal, Spanish footballer
- 1992 – Lee Seung-hoon, South Korean rapper and dancer
- 1993 – Michael Keane, English footballer
- 1993 – Will Keane, English footballer
- 1995 – Klaartje Liebens, Belgian tennis player
- 1996 – Leroy Sané, German footballer
- 1997 – Cody Simpson, Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor