From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
August 11 is the 223rd day of the year (224th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 142 days remaining until the end of the year.
[edit] Events
- 2492 BC - Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founder of the Armenian nation.
- 480 BC - Greco-Persian Wars: Battle of Artemisium - the Persians achieve a naval victory over the Greeks in an engagement fought near Artemisium, a promontory on the north coast of Euboea. The Greek fleet holds its own against the Persians in three days of fighting but withdraws southward when news comes of the defeat at Thermopylae.
- 355 - Claudius Silvanus, accused of treason, proclaims himself Roman Emperor against Constantius II.
- 1786 - Captain Francis Light establishes the British colony of Penang in Malaysia
- 1804 - Francis II assumes the title of first Emperor of Austria
- 1858 - First ascent of the Eiger.
- 1898 - Spanish-American War: American troops enter the city of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.
- 1918 - World War I - Battle of Amiens ends.
- 1919 - Constitution of Weimar Republic adopted.
- 1920 - The Latvia-Bolshevist Russia peace treaty, which relinquished Russia's authority and pretenses to Latvia, is signed.
- 1929 - Babe Ruth becomes the first baseball player to hit 500 home runs in his career with a home run at League Park in Cleveland, Ohio.
- 1934 - First civilian prisoners arrive at Federal prison on Alcatraz Island.
- 1952 - Hussein proclaimed king of Jordan.
- 1960 - Chad declares independence.
- 1965 - Race riots (the Watts riots) begin in Watts area of Los Angeles, California.
- 1968 - The last steam passenger train service runs in Britain. A selection of British Rail steam locomotives make the 120-mile journey from Liverpool to Carlisle and returns to Liverpool before having their fires dropped for the last time - this working was known as the Fifteen Guinea Special.
- 1972 - Vietnam War: the last United States ground combat unit departs South Vietnam.
- 1975 - East Timor: Governor Mário Lemos Pires of Portuguese Timor abandons the capital Dili, following a coup by the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT) and the outbreak of civil war between UDT and Fretilin.
- 1988 - Al-Qaeda formed
- 1999 - The Salt Lake City Tornado tears through the downtown district of the city, killing one.
- 2003 - NATO takes over command of the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, marking its first major operation outside Europe in its 54-year-history.
- 2003 - Jemaah Islamiyah leader Riduan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, is arrested in Bangkok, Thailand.
- 2003 - A heat wave in Paris results in temperatures rising to 112°F (44° C), leaving about 144 people dead.
[edit] Births
- 1467 - Mary of York, English princess (d. 1482)
- 1667 - Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, last of the Medicis (d. 1743)
- 1673 - Richard Mead, English physician (d. 1754)
- 1718 - Sir Frederick Haldimand, Swiss-born British colonial governor (d. 1791)
- 1722 - Richard Brocklesby, English physician (d. 1797)
- 1778 - Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, German (Prussian) gymnastics educator and nationalist (d. 1852)
- 1794 - James Barton Longacre, American engraver (d. 1869)
- 1807 - David Rice Atchison, American politician (d. 1886)
- 1833 - Robert G. Ingersoll, American politician and soldier (d. 1899)
- 1833 - Kido Takayoshi, Japanese politician (d. 1877)
- 1836 - Warren Brown, American politician (d. 1919)
- 1837 - Marie François Sadi Carnot, French statesman (d. 1894)
- 1855 - John Hodges, Australian cricketer (d. 1933)
- 1858 - Christiaan Eijkman, Dutch physician, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1930)
- 1863 - Gaston Doumergue, President of the French Third Republic (d. 1937)
- 1870 - Tom Richardson, English cricketer (d. 1912)
- 1870 - Walter Bowman, Canadian soccer player (d. ?)
- 1872 - Shidehara Kijuro, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1951)
- 1877 - Adolph M. Christianson, justice of the North Dakota Supreme Court (d.1954)
- 1892 - Eiji Yoshikawa, Japanese novelist (d. 1962)
- 1892 - Hugh MacDiarmid, Scottish poet (d. 1978)
- 1892 - Archie Wiles, West Indian cricketer (d. 1957)
- 1897 - Louise Bogan, American poet (d. 1970)
- 1897 - Enid Blyton, English author (d. 1968)
- 1900 - Philip Phillips, American archaeologist (d. 1994)
- 1902 - Alfredo Binda, Italian cyclist (d. 1986)
- 1902 - Lloyd Nolan, American actor (d. 1985)
- 1905 - Erwin Chargaff, Austrian biochemist (d. 2002)
- 1907 - Ted a'Beckett, Australian cricketer (d. 1989)
- 1912 - Eva Ahnert-Rohlfs, German astronomer (d. 1954)
- 1912 - Thanom Kittikachorn, Prime Minister of Thailand (d. 2004)
- 1913 - Angus Wilson, British novelist (d. 1991)
- 1913 - Paul Dupuis, French Canadian actor (d. 1976)
- 1913 - Bob Scheffing, American professional baseball player and manager (d. 1985)
- 1914 - <a href="/