Today is Friday, January 7, the seventh day of 2011. There are 358days left in the year.
1558 ― Calais, last English possession in France, retaken by French under Francois, Duke of Guise
1584 ― Last day of the Julian calendar in Bohemia and Holy Roman empire
1714 ― Typewriter patented by Englishman Henry Mill (built years later)
1913 ― William M. Burton patents a process to ``crack" petroleum
1914 ― First steamboat passes through the Panama Canal
1927 ― Commercial transatlantic telephone service inaugurated between New York and London
1953 ― President Truman announces development of the hydrogen bomb
1959 ― U.S. recognizes Fidel Castro's Cuban government
1977 ― Human Rights Charter '77 established in Prague
1986 ― U.S. President Reagan proclaims economic sanctions against Libya