On this Day In History - January 11th

January 11th

1843		Francis Scott Key, author of "The Star-Spangled Banner," dies in Baltimore.
1861		Alabama secedes from the Union.
1862		Lincoln accepts Simon Cameron's resignation as Secretary of War. John LaMountain, a northern balloonist, wrote directly to Secretary of War, Simon Cameron on two occasions in May 1861, outlining his plan for using a balloon to observe enemy troop positions from the air.
1887		At Fort Smith, Arkansas, hangman George Maledon dispatches four victims in a multiple hanging.
1916		Russian General Yudenich launches a WWI winter offensive and advances west.
1940		Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., becomes the U.S. Army's first black general, his son would later become a general as well.
1948		President Harry S. Truman proposes free, two-year community colleges for all who want an education.
1980		Honda announces it will build the first Japanese-owned passenger-car assembly plant in the United States--in Ohio.
Born on January 11
1755 or 1757		Alexander Hamilton, first U.S. Secretary of Treasury, killed in a duel with Aaron Burr.
1864		H. George Selfridge, founder of Selfridge and Co., Ltd., coined the phrase "the customer is always right."
1903		Alan Patton, South African novelist (Cry, the Beloved Country).