October 11
October 11 is the 284th day of the year (285th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 81 days remaining until the end of the year.
Events
- 1138 – A massive earthquake strikes Aleppo, Syria.
- 1531 – Huldrych Zwingli is killed in battle with the Roman Catholic cantons of Switzerland.
- 1582 – Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar, this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
- 1614 – Adriaen Block and 12 Amsterdam merchants petition the States General for exclusive trading rights in the New Netherland colony.
- 1634 – The Burchardi flood – "the second Grote Mandrenke" killed around 15,000 men in North Friesland, Denmark and Germany.
- 1649 – Sack of Wexford: After a ten-day siege, English New Model Army troops (under Oliver Cromwell) stormed the town of Wexford, killing over 2,000 Irish Confederate troops and 1,500 civilians.
- 1727 – George II and Caroline of Ansbach are crowned King and Queen of Great Britain.
- 1767 – Surveying for the Mason–Dixon Line separating Maryland from Pennsylvania is completed.
- 1776 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Valcour Island – On Lake Champlain a fleet of American boats is defeated by the Royal Navy, but delays the British advance until 1777.
- 1797 – Battle of Camperdown: Naval battle between Royal Navy and Royal Netherlands Navy during the French Revolutionary Wars. The outcome of the battle was a decisive British victory.
- 1809 – Along the Natchez Trace in Tennessee, explorer Meriwether Lewis dies under mysterious circumstances at an inn called Grinder's Stand.
- 1811 – Inventor John Stevens' boat, the Juliana, begins operation as the first steam-powered ferry (service between New York City, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey).
- 1833 – A big demonstration at the gates of the legislature of Buenos Aires forces the ousting of governor Juan Ramón Balcarce and his replacement with Juan José Viamonte.
- 1852 – The University of Sydney, Australia's oldest university, is inaugurated in Sydney.
- 1862 – American Civil War: In the aftermath of the Battle of Antietam, Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart and his men loot Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, during a raid into the north.
- 1864 – Campina Grande, Brazil is established as a city.
- 1865 – Paul Bogle led hundreds of black men and women in a march in Jamaica, starting the Morant Bay rebellion.
- 1890 – In Washington, DC, the Daughters of the American Revolution is founded.
- 1899 – Second Boer War begins: In South Africa, a war between the United Kingdom and the Boers of the Transvaal and Orange Free State erupts.
- 1899 – The Western League is renamed the American League.
- 1906 – San Francisco public school board sparks United States diplomatic crisis with Japan by ordering Japanese students to be taught in racially segregated schools.
- 1910 – Former President Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first U.S. president to fly in an airplane. He flew for four minutes with Arch Hoxsey in a plane built by the Wright Brothers at Kinloch Field (Lambert-St. Louis International Airport), St. Louis, Missouri.
- 1912 – First Balkan War: The Greek Army liberates the city of Kozani.
- 1929 – JC Penney opens store #1252 in Milford, Delaware, making it a nationwide company with stores in all 48 U.S. states.
- 1941 – Beginning of the National Liberation War of Macedonia.
- 1942 – World War II: Battle of Cape Esperance – On the northwest coast of Guadalcanal, United States Navy ships intercept and defeat a Japanese fleet on their way to reinforce troops on the island.
- 1944 – Tuvinian People's Republic or formerly Tannu Tuva is annexed by the U.S.S.R
- 1950 – Television: CBS's mechanical color system is the first to be licensed for broadcast by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
- 1954 – First Indochina War: The Viet Minh take control of North Vietnam.
- 1957 – Space Race: M.I.T. scientists calculate Sputnik I's booster rocket's orbit.
- 1958 – Pioneer program: NASA launches the lunar probe Pioneer 1 (the probe falls back to Earth and burns up).
- 1962 – Second Vatican Council: Pope John XXIII convenes the first ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church in 92 years.
- 1968 – Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 7, the first successful manned Apollo mission, with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn F. Eisele and Walter Cunningham aboard.
- 1972 – A race riot occurs on the United States Navy aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk off the coast of Vietnam during Operation Linebacker.
- 1975 – The NBC sketch comedy/variety show Saturday Night Live debuts with George Carlin as the host and Andy Kaufman, Janis Ian and Billy Preston as guests.
- 1976 – George Washington's appointment, posthumously, to the grade of General of the Armies of the United States by congressional joint resolution Public Law 94-479 is approved by President Gerald R. Ford.
- 1982 – The Mary Rose, a Tudor carrack which sank on July 19 1545, is salvaged from the sea bed of the Solent, off Portsmouth.
- 1984 – Aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan becomes the first American woman to perform a space walk.
- 1986 – Cold War: U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Reykjavík, Iceland, in an effort to continue discussions about scaling back their intermediate missile arsenals in Europe.
- 1987 – Start of Operation Pawan by Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka that killed few thousand ethnic Tamil civilians, several hundred Tamil Tigers and few hundred Indian Army soldiers.
- 1996 – Pala accident: a wood lorry and school bus collide in Jõgeva county, Estonia, killing eight children.
- 2000 – NASA launches STS-92, the 100th Space Shuttle mission, using Space Shuttle Discovery.
- 2001 – The Polaroid Corporation files for federal bankruptcy protection.
- 2002 – A bomb attack in a shopping mall in Vantaa, Finland kills seven.
Births
- 1335 – Taejo of Joseon, ruler of Korea (d. 1408)
- 1616 – Andreas Gryphius, German writer (d. 1664)
- 1661 – Melchior de Polignac, French diplomat (d. 1742)
- 1671 – Frederick IV of Denmark (d. 1730)
- 1672 – Pylyp Orlyk, Ukrainian Zaporozhian Cossack starshina, diplomat (d. 1742)
- 1675 – Samuel Clarke, English philosopher (d. 1729)
- 1738 – Arthur Phillip, Governor of New South Wales (d. 1814)
- 1758 – Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers, German astronomer (d. 1840)
- 1786 – Stevenson Archer, American Congressman (d. 1848)
- 1788 – Simon Sechter, Austrian music teacher (d. 1867)
- 1809 – Orson Squire Fowler, American phrenologist (d. 1887)
- 1814 – Jean Baptiste Lamy, first Archbishop of Santa Fe (d. 1888)
- 1815 – Pierre Napoleon Bonaparte, Italian-born adventurer (d. 1881)
- 1821 – George Williams, English founder of the YMCA (d. 1905)
- 1844 – Henry Heinz, American food manufacturer (d. 1916)
- 1865 – Hans E. Kinck, Norwegian author and philologist (d. 1926)
- 1871 – Johan Oscar Smith, Norwegian religious leader (d. 1943)
- 1872 – Harlan Fiske Stone, 12th Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1946)
- 1872 – Emily Davison, Militant womans suffrage activist (d. 1913)
- 1879 – Ernst Mally, Austrian philosopher (d. 1944)
- 1881 – Hans Kelsen, Austrian legal theorist (d. 1973)
- 1884 – Friedrich Bergius, German chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1949)
- 1884 – Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States and humanitarian (d. 1962)
- 1884 – Sig Ruman, German-American actor (d. 1967)
- 1885 – François Mauriac, French author, Nobel laureate (d. 1970)
- 1895 – Jakov Gotovac, Croatian composer (d. 1982)
- 1897 – Nathan Twining, USAF general (d. 1982)
- 1899 – Eddie Dyer, American baseball player (d. 1964)
- 1902 – Jayaprakash Narayan, Indian freedom fighter and political leader (d. 1979)
- 1905 – Fred Trump, American real estate developer, father of Donald Trump (d. 1999)
- 1912 – Betty Noyes, singer who dubbed Debbie Reynolds' singing voice in Singin' in the Rain (d. 1987)
- 1913 – Dorothy Woolfolk, American comic book editor (d. 2000)
- 1913 – Joe Simon, American comic book artist and writer (d. 2011)
- 1915 – T. Llew Jones, Welsh author (d. 2009)
- 1918 – Jerome Robbins, American choreographer (d. 1998)
- 1919 – Art Blakey, American jazz drummer (d. 1990)
- 1919 – Jean Vander Pyl, American voice actress (d. 1999)
- 1924 – André Emmerich, American gallerist (d. 2007)
- 1924 – Mal Whitfield, American athlete
- 1925 – Elmore Leonard, American novelist
- 1926 – Earle Hyman, American actor
- 1926 – Neville Wran, former Premier of New South Wales
- 1926 – Thích Nhất Hạnh, Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk
- 1927 – Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium (d. 2005)
- 1928 – Alfonso de Portago, Spanish race car driver (d. 1957)
- 1928 – Roscoe Robinson, Jr., first African American four-star Army general (d. 1993)
- 1929 – Liselotte Pulver, Swiss actress
- 1929 – Raymond Moriyama, Canadian architect
- 1929 – Curtis Amy, American tenor saxophone jazz musician
- 1930 – Sam Johnson, American politician
- 1930 – LaVell Edwards, American football coach
- 1932 – Dottie West, American singer (d. 1991)
- 1936 – Billy Higgins, American jazz drummer (d. 2001)
- 1936 – Tom Zé, Brazilian songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer
- 1937 – Sir Bobby Charlton, English footballer
- 1937 – R. H. W. Dillard, American poet
- 1939 – Maria Bueno, Brazilian tennis player
- 1939 – Austin Currie, Northern Irish politician
- 1941 – Lester Bowie, American jazz trumpeter (d. 1999)
- 1941 – Charles Shyer, American film director
- 1942 – Amitabh Bachchan, Indian actor
- 1943 – John Nettles, English actor
- 1943 – Gene Watson, American country singer
- 1944 – Mike Fiore, American baseball player
- 1944 – Rodney Marsh, English Footballer
- 1946 – Oba Chandler, American convicted murderer
- 1946 – Daryl Hall, American rock singer
- 1946 – Sawao Kato, Japanese gymnast
- 1946 – Gary Mallaber, American musician
- 1947 – Al Atkins, English musician
- 1947 – Thomas Boswell, American sports columnist
- 1947 – Lucas Papademos, Greek economist
- 1947 – George McCorkle, American musician
- 1948 – Cecilia, Spanish singer-songwriter (d. 1976)
- 1949 – Henry Luke Orombi, Archbishop of Uganda
- 1950 – Patty Murray, American politician, senior senator of Washington
- 1951 – Jean-Jacques Goldman, French singer/songwriter
- 1952 – Paulette Carlson, country music singer-songwriter
- 1953 – David Morse, American actor
- 1954 – David Michaels, American professor and government official
- 1954 – Vojislav Seselj, Serbian politician
- 1955 – Norm Nixon, American basketball player
- 1956 – Nicanor Duarte Frutos, former President of Paraguay, Senator for life
- 1957 – Paul Bown, English actor
- 1957 – Dawn French, Welsh comedian,actress and screenwriter
- 1957 – Paul Sereno, American paleontologist
- 1958 – Gregory Dudek, Canadian roboticist and computer scientist
- 1959 – Wayne Gardner, Australian racing driver
- 1960 – Randy Breuer, American basketball player
- 1960 – Nicola Bryant, English actress
- 1960 – Curt Ford, American baseball player
- 1961 – Neil Buchanan, English television presenter
- 1961 – Amr Diab, Egyptian singer
- 1961 – Steve Young, American football player
- 1962 – Joan Cusack, American actress and comedian
- 1962 – Andy McCoy, Finnish musician Hanoi Rocks
- 1963 – Prince Faisal bin Al Hussein of Jordan
- 1963 – Ronny Rosenthal, Israeli footballer
- 1964 – Michael J. Nelson, American actor
- 1965 – Sean Patrick Flanery, American actor
- 1965 – Alexander Hacke, German musician
- 1965 – Orlando Hernández, Cuban baseball player
- 1965 – Luke Perry, American actor
- 1966 – Solofa Fatu, aka Rikishi, American professional wrestler
- 1966 – Todd Snider, American singer-songwriter
- 1967 – Tony Chimel, American professional wrestling announcer
- 1967 – Artie Lange, American actor and comedian
- 1967 – Daniel Razon, Vice Presiding Minister, Church of God International
- 1967 – David Starr, American race car driver
- 1967 – Tazz, American professional wrestler and commentator
- 1968 – Jane Krakowski, American actress
- 1968 – Claude Lapointe, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1968 – Brett Salisbury, American football player and author
- 1969 – Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands
- 1969 – Stephen Moyer, British actor
- 1970 – Chidi Ahanotu, American football player
- 1970 – Andy Marriott, English footballer
- 1970 – Constance Zimmer, American actress
- 1971 – Jason Ellis, Australian professional skateboarder
- 1971 – Petra Haden, American musician
- 1971 – MC Lyte, American rapper
- 1972 – Claudia Black, Australian actress
- 1972 – Cherokee Parks, American basketball player
- 1973 – Takeshi Kaneshiro, actor/model
- 1973 – Steven Pressley, Scottish footballer
- 1973 – Mike Smith, American guitarist (Snot, Limp Bizkit)
- 1973 – Niki Xanthou, Greek long jumper
- 1973 – Dmitri Young, American baseball player
- 1974 – Jason Arnott, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1974 – Rachel Barton Pine, violinist from Chicago
- 1974 – Terje Haakonsen, Norwegian snowboarder
- 1974 – Jamie Thomas, American skateboarder
- 1976 – Dominic Aitchison, Scottish musician (Mogwai)
- 1976 – Brent Bennett, American mercenary
- 1976 – Emily Deschanel, American actress
- 1977 – Matthew Bomer, American actor
- 1977 – Desmond Mason, American basketball player
- 1977 – Claudia Palacios, Colombian television journalist
- 1977 – Ty Wigginton, American baseball player
- 1978 – Kali, Angolan footballer
- 1979 – Bae Doona, South Korean model and actress
- 1979 – Andy Douglas, American professional wrestler
- 1979 – Gabe Saporta, Uruguayan-born American musician
- 1980 – Nyron Nosworthy, English footballer
- 1981 – Beau Brady, Australian Actor
- 1982 – Liz Cantor, Australian journalist
- 1982 – Jeff Larish, American Baseball Player
- 1982 – Terrell Suggs, American Football Player
- 1982 – Kristy Wu, American Actress
- 1983 – Bradley James, British actor
- 1983 – Ruslan Ponomariov, Ukrainian chess player
- 1983 – William Sledd, American internet personality
- 1984 – Sergio Hellings, Dutch footballer
- 1984 – Martha MacIsaac, Canadian actress
- 1985 – Michelle Trachtenberg, American actress
- 1987 – Mike Conley, Jr., American basketball player
- 1989 – Henry Lau, Canadian-Chinese singer
- 1989 – Michelle Wie, American golfer
- 1991 – Panagiotis Vlachodimos, Greek footballer
- 1993 – Sean Murray, Irish footballer
Deaths
- 1188 – Robert I of Dreux, son of Louis VI of France
- 1303 – Pope Boniface VIII
- 1347 – Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1282)
- 1424 – Jan Žižka, leader of the Hussites (b. 1360)
- 1531 – Huldrych Zwingli, Swiss Protestant leader (b. 1484)
- 1572 – Sulaiman Khan Karrani, Sultan of Bengal
- 1636 – Johann Albrecht Adelgrief, German man who claimed to be a prophet and was executed for witchcraft.
- 1705 – Guillaume Amontons, French physicist and instrument maker (b. 1663)
- 1708 – Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus, German mathematician (b. 1651)
- 1721 – Edward Colston, English merchant and philanthropist (b. 1636)
- 1725 – Hans Herr, Swiss-born Mennonite bishop (b. 1639)
- 1779 – Kazimierz Pułaski, Polish fighter for American independence (b. 1745)
- 1809 – Meriwether Lewis, American explorer (b. 1774)
- 1811 – Johann Conrad Ammann, Swiss physician and naturalist (b. 1724)
- 1821 – John Ross Key, American judge and lawyer (b. 1754)
- 1852 – Gotthold Eisenstein, German mathematician (b. 1823)
- 1889 – James Prescott Joule, English physicist (b. 1818)
- 1896 – Anton Bruckner, Austrian composer (b. 1824)
- 1896 – Edward White Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1829)
- 1897 – Léon Boëllmann, French composer (b. 1862)
- 1935 – Steele Rudd, Australian author (b. 1868)
- 1940 – Lluís Companys i Jover, President of Generalitat of Catalonia (shot) (b. 1882)
- 1940 – Vito Volterra, Italian mathematician and physicist (b. 1860)
- 1961 – Chico Marx, American comedian (b. 1887)
- 1963 – Jean Cocteau, French writer (b. 1889)
- 1963 – Édith Piaf, French singer (b. 1915)
- 1965 – Dorothea Lange, American photographer (b. 1895)
- 1965 – Walther Stampfli, member of the Swiss Federal Council (b. 1884)
- 1971 – Chesty Puller, the most decorated American Marine in history (b. 1898)
- 1971 – Tamanoumi Masahiro, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 51st Yokozuna (b. 1944)
- 1976 – Alfredo Bracchi, Italian author (b. 1897)
- 1977 – MacKinlay Kantor, American author (b. 1904)
- 1986 – Norm Cash, American baseball player (b. 1934)
- 1988 – Bonita Granville, American actress (b. 1923)
- 1989 – M. King Hubbert, American geophysicist (b. 1904)
- 1991 – Steven Jesse Bernstein, American underground poet (suicide) (b. 1950)
- 1991 – Redd Foxx, American comedian and actor (b. 1922)
- 1993 – Jess Thomas, American tenor (b. 1927)
- 1996 – Lars Ahlfors, Finnish mathematician (b. 1907)
- 1996 – Joe Morris, C.C., LL.D., Canadian trade unionist (b. 1913)
- 1996 – Renato Russo, Brazilian rock singer-songwriter (b. 1960)
- 1998 – Richard Denning, American actor (b. 1914)
- 2000 – Luc-Marie Bayle, French naval officer and artist (b. 1914)
- 2000 – Donald Dewar, first First Minister of Scotland (b. 1937)
- 2002 – Dina Pathak, Indian Actress (b. 1922)
- 2004 – Keith Miller, Australian sportsman (b. 1919)
- 2005 – Edward Szczepanik, Polish economist and Prime Minister in exile (b. 1915)
- 2005 – Shan-ul-Haq Haqqee, Linguist, and writer of Pakistan (b. 1917)
- 2006 – Cory Lidle, American baseball pitcher (b. 1972)
- 2007 – Werner von Trapp, member of the Trapp Family Singers (b. 1915)
- 2007 – David Lee "Tex" Hill, World War II fighter pilot, flying ace, 1st American Volunteer Group (b. 1915)
- 2007 – Sri Chinmoy (Chinmoy Kumar Ghose), founder of the Sri Chinmoy meditation centres (b. 1931)
- 2008 – Jörg Haider, Austrian politician (b. 1950)
- 2008 – Ernst-Paul Hasselbach, Dutch tv-host and producer (b. 1966)
- 2008 – Neal Hefti, American jazz trumpeter, composer and arranger (b. 1922)
- 2009 – Angelo DiGeorge, Italian-American pediatric endocrinologist (b. 1922)
- 2009 – Veronika Neugebauer, German actress and voice actress (b. 1968)
Holidays and observances
External links