Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Today is Saturday, Jan. 11, the 11th day of 2014 with 354 to follow. The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Mars and Saturn. The evening stars are Jupiter, Mercury, Neptune, Uranus and Venus. Advertisement Those born on this date are under the sign of Capricorn. They include American statesman Alexander Hamilton in 1757; Ezra Cornell, founder of Western Union Telegraph company and Cornell University, in 1807; John MacDonald, first prime minister of Canada, in 1815; psychologist and philosopher William James in 1842; feminist lawyer Alice Paul in 1885; South African novelist Alan Paton ("Cry, the Beloved Country") in 1903; automobile designer Carroll Shelby in 1923; actors Rod Taylor in 1930 (age 84); Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien in 1934 (age 80); musician Clarence Clemons in 1942; singers Naomi Judd in 1946 (age 68) and Mary J. Blige in 1971 (age 43); actor Amanda Peet in 1972 (age 42); and Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Tracy Caulkins in 1963 (age 51). Advertisement On this date in history: In 1785, the Continental Congress convened in New York City. In 1787, William Herschel discovered two moons of Uranus. They are named Titania and Oberon. In 1861, Alabama seceded from the United States. In 1935, U.S. aviator Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly from Hawaii to California. In 1949, Los Angles noted its first recorded snowfall. In 1964, U.S. Surgeon General Luther Terry released a report saying smoking cigarettes is a definite "health hazard." In 1972, East Pakistan was renamed Bangladesh. In 1984, the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated a $10 million award to the family of Oklahoma nuclear worker Karen Silkwood, who died in 1974. In 1990, martial law, imposed during the June 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement, was lifted in Beijing. In 1996, the Japanese Diet elected Ryutaro Hashimoto, head of the Liberal Democratic Party, as prime minister. In 2002, Ford announced it planned to lay off 35,000 employees, drop four car models and close four plants. In 2003, a few days before leaving office, Illinois Gov. George Ryan commuted the death sentences of 171 inmates to life in prison. In 2009, Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement with the European Union that led to resumption of natural gas deliveries, which had been cut off in a back-payment dispute. Advertisement In 2010, 78 percent of U.S. air travelers said they supported using full-body airport scanners, a Gallup poll indicated. In 2011, heavy rain in Brazil triggered floods and mudslides that killed more than 900 people and left an estimated 25,000 homeless. In 2013, U.S. President Barack Obama said the war in Afghanistan "will come to a responsible end" by the end of 2014. A thought for the day: William James said, "There is no worse lie than a truth misunderstood by those who hear it."
