1935 (FRIDAY)
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS: Famous American aviatrix Amelia Earhart Putnam takes off alone from Wheeler Field, Oahu, at 1644 hours local, in her single-engine Lockheed Vega 5C, msn 171, registered NC965Y, and lands in Oakland, California, tomorrow after a 2,408-mile (3 875 kilometer) flight taking 18 hours, 16 minutes. Hawaiian commercial interests had offered a US$10,000 (US$142,550 in 2005 dollars) award to whoever accomplished the flight first.
1936 (SATURDAY)
SYRIA: A general strike begins. The strike is organized and led by the young intellectuals, the bourgeoisie of the larger towns, and the Nationalist bloc. The strike lasts until 1 March.
1937 (MONDAY)
UNITED STATES: Twelve days into a general sit-down strike at the General Motors (GM) factory in Flint, Michigan, GM security forces and the Flint Police Department move in to evict the strikers. A pitched battle breaks out at the Fisher body plant #2, as strikers hold off police and GM security with fire hoses and jury-rigged slingshots, and the police respond with bullets and tear gas. The many picketers outside the plant assist the strikers however they can, breaking windows to ventilate the factory when police fill it with tear gas, and creating barricades with their own vehicles to prevent police from driving past the plant's open doors. Finally, Governor Frank Murphy orders the National Guard in to stem the violence. The sit-down strike lasts 44 days, and ends in GM's surrender to the demands of the United Auto Workers(UAW) Union. GM is the first of the "Big Three" auto makers to make a deal with the UAW. The era of repressive labor practices in the auto industry is endi ng.
1938 (TUESDAY)
SAMOA ISLANDS: Sikrosky S-42 four engine flying boat, msn 4207 registered NC16734 by the American airline Pan American Airways, crashes near Pago Pago, American Samoa, killing all six crewmen aboard. This is Pan American Flight 1 en route from Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, to Auckland, New Zealand, via American Samoa. The aircraft explodes in mid-air as the crew attempts to dump fuel for an emergency landing. Neither the plane nor the bodies of the six crew members are ever found. The aircraft is named "Samoan Clipper."
UNITED STATES: President Franklin d. Roosevelt made a proposal to the British government to convene a world conference to reduce armaments, promote economic security, and ameliorate the more inhuman aspects of a future war. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain rejects the proposal.
January 11th, 1939 (WEDNESDAY)
GERMANY: General Friedrich-Wilhelm von Rotkirch und Panthen takes command of the 13th Infantry Division of the Heer. (Link)
AUSTRALIA: Canberra: A record temperature of 42.2C (108.0F) is recorded today.