August 11

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. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday (58 in 400 years each) than on Sunday or Monday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Wednesday or Friday (56).

Events

• 3114 BC – The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations, notably the Maya, begins.
• 2492 BC – Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founder of the Armenian nation.
• 106 – The south-western part of Dacia (modern Romania) becomes a Roman province: Roman Dacia.
• 355 – Claudius Silvanus, accused of treason, proclaims himself Roman Emperor against Constantius II.
• 490 – Battle of Adda: The Goths under Theodoric the Great and his ally Alaric II defeat the forces of Odoacer on the Adda River, near Milan.
• 1332 – Wars of Scottish Independence: Battle of Dupplin Moor: Scots under Domhnall II, Earl of Mar are routed by Edward Balliol.
• 1473 – The Battle of Otlukbeli: Mehmed the Conqueror of the Ottoman Empire decisively defeats Uzun Hassan of Aq Qoyunlu.
• 1675 – Franco-Dutch War: Forces of the Holy Roman Empire defeat the French in the Battle of Konzer Brücke.
• 1786 – Captain Francis Light establishes the British colony of Penang in Malaysia.
• 1804 – Francis II assumes the title of first Emperor of Austria.
• 1812 – Peninsular War: French troops engage British-Portuguese forces in the Battle of Majadahonda.
• 1813 – In Colombia, Juan del Corral declares the independence of Antioquia.
• 1858 – The Eiger in the Bernese Alps is ascended for the first time by Charles Barrington accompanied by Christian Almer and Peter Bohren.
• 1898 – Spanish–American War: American troops enter the city of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.
• 1918 – World War I: The Battle of Amiens ends.
• 1920 – The Latvian–Soviet Peace Treaty, which relinquished Russia's authority and pretenses to Latvia, is signed, ending the Latvian War of Independence.
• 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 – The first civilian prisoners arrive at the Federal prison on Alcatraz Island.
• 1942 – Actress Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil receive a patent for a Frequency-hopping spread spectrum communication system that later became the basis for modern technologies in wireless telephones and Wi-Fi.
• 1945 – Poles in Kraków engage in a pogrom against Jews in the city, killing one and wounding five.
• 1952 – Hussein bin Talal is proclaimed King of Jordan.
• 1959 – Sheremetyevo International Airport, the second-largest airport in Russia, opens.
• 1960 – Chad declares independence.
• 1961 – The former Portuguese territories in India of Dadra and Nagar Haveli are merged to create the Union Territory Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
• 1962 – Vostok 3 launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome and cosmonaut Andrian Nikolayev becomes the first person to float in microgravity.
• 1965 – Race riots (the Watts Riots) begin in the Watts area of Los Angeles, California.
• 1972 – Vietnam War: The last United States ground combat unit leaves 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.
• 1979 – Two Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-134s collide over the Ukrainian city of Dniprodzerzhynsk and crash, killing all 178 aboard both airliners.
• 1982 – A bomb explodes on Pan Am Flight 830, en route from Tokyo, Japan to Honolulu, Hawaii, killing one passenger and injuring 15 others.
• 1984 – "We begin bombing in five minutes": United States President Ronald Reagan, while running for re-election, jokes while preparing to make his weekly Saturday address on National Public Radio.
• 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.
• 2006 – The oil tanker M/T Solar 1 sinks off the coast of Guimaras and Negros Islands in the Philippines, causing the country's worst oil spill.
• 2012 – At least 306 people are killed and 3,000 others injured in a pair of earthquakes near Tabriz, Iran.

Births

• 1086 – Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1125)
• 1384 – Yolande of Aragon (d. 1442)
• 1472 – Nikolaus von Schönberg, Catholic cardinal (d. 1537)
• 1510 – Margaret Paleologa, Sovereign Marchioness of Montferrat (d. 1566)
• 1648 – Jeremiah Shepard, American minister (d. 1720)
• 1673 – Richard Mead, English physician and astrologer (d. 1754)
• 1718 – Frederick Haldimand, Swiss-English general and politician, 22nd Governor of Quebec (d. 1791)
• 1722 – Richard Brocklesby, English physician (d. 1797)
• 1748 – Joseph Schuster, German composer (d. 1812)
• 1778 – Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, Prussian gymnast, educator, and politician (d. 1852)
• 1794 – James B. Longacre, American engraver (d. 1869)
• 1807 – David Rice Atchison, American general, lawyer, and politician (d. 1886)
• 1808 – William W. Chapman, American lawyer and politician (d. 1892)
• 1816 – Frederick Innes, Scottish-Australian politician, 9th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1882)
• 1833 – Robert G. Ingersoll, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (d. 1899)
• 1833 – Kido Takayoshi, Japanese samurai and politician (d. 1877)
• 1836 – Warren Brown, American historian and politician (d. 1919)
• 1837 – Marie François Sadi Carnot, French engineer and politician, 4th President of the French Republic (d. 1894)
• 1855 – John Hodges, Australian cricketer (d. 1933)
• 1858 – Christiaan Eijkman, Dutch physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1930)
• 1860 – Ottó Bláthy, Hungarian engineer and chess player (d. 1939)
• 1870 – Tom Richardson, English cricketer (d. 1912)
• 1874 – Princess Louise Charlotte of Saxe-Altenburg (d. 1953)
• 1877 – Adolph M. Christianson, American lawyer and judge (d. 1954)
• 1878 – Oliver W. F. Lodge, English poet and author (d. 1955)
• 1881 – Aleksander Aberg, Estonian wrestler (d. 1920)
• 1884 – Hermann Wlach, Austrian-Swiss actor (d. 1962)
• 1885 – Stephen Butterworth, English physicist and engineer (d. 1958)
• 1891 – Stancho Belkovski, Bulgarian architect and educator (d. 1962)
• 1891 – Edgar Zilsel, Austrian historian and philosopher of science, linked to the Vienna Circle (d. 1944)
• 1892 – Hugh MacDiarmid, Scottish poet and linguist (d. 1978)
• 1892 – Eiji Yoshikawa, Japanese author (d. 1962)
• 1897 – Enid Blyton, English author, poet, and educator (d. 1968)
• 1897 – Louise Bogan, American poet and critic (d. 1970)
• 1898 – Peter Mohr Dam, Faroese educator and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (d. 1968)
• 1900 – Philip Phillips, American archaeologist and scholar (d. 1994)
• 1902 – Alfredo Binda, Italian cyclist (d. 1986)
• 1902 – Lloyd Nolan, American actor (d. 1985)
• 1905 – Erwin Chargaff, Austrian-American biochemist and academic (d. 2002)
• 1905 – Ernst Jaakson, Estonian diplomat (d. 1998)
• 1907 – Ted a'Beckett, Australian cricketer and lawyer (d. 1989)
• 1908 – Don Freeman, American author and illustrator (d. 1978)
• 1908 – Torgny T:son Segerstedt, Swedish sociologist and philosopher (d. 1999)
• 1909 – Yūji Koseki, Japanese composer (d. 1989)
• 1909 – Uku Masing, Estonian philosopher and theologian (d. 1985)
• 1911 – Thanom Kittikachorn, Thai field marshal and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Thailand (d. 2004)
• 1912 – Eva Ahnert-Rohlfs, German astronomer and academic (d. 1954)
• 1912 – Raphael Blau, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1996)
• 1913 – Paul Dupuis, Canadian actor (d. 1976)
• 1913 – Bob Scheffing, American baseball player and manager (d. 1985)
• 1913 – Angus Wilson, English author and academic (d. 1991)
• 1915 – Morris Weiss, American author and illustrator (d. 2014)
• 1916 – Johnny Claes, English-Belgian race car driver and trumpet player (d. 1956)
• 1919 – Luis Olmo, Puerto Rican-American baseball player and manager (d. 2017)
• 1920 – Mike Douglas, American singer and talk show host (d. 2006)
• 1920 – Chuck Rayner, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2002)
• 1921 – Alex Haley, American historian and author (d. 1992)
• 1922 – John "Mule" Miles, American baseball player (d. 2013)
• 1923 – Stan Chambers, American journalist and actor (d. 2015)
• 1925 – Floyd Curry, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (d. 2006)
• 1925 – Arlene Dahl, American actress, businesswoman and writer
• 1926 – Aaron Klug, Lithuanian-English chemist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1927 – Raymond Leppard, English harpsichord player and conductor
• 1927 – Stuart Rosenberg, American director and producer (d. 2007)
• 1932 – Fernando Arrabal, Spanish actor, director, and playwright
• 1932 – Izzy Asper, Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician, founded Canwest (d. 2003)
• 1932 – Geoffrey Cass, English businessman
• 1932 – Peter Eisenman, American architect, designed the City of Culture of Galicia
• 1932 – John Gorrie, English director and screenwriter
• 1933 – Jerry Falwell, American minister and television host (d. 2007)
• 1933 – Jerzy Grotowski, Polish director and producer (d. 1999)
• 1933 – Tamás Vásáry, Hungarian pianist and conductor
• 1934 – Bob Hepple, South African lawyer and academic (d. 2015)
• 1936 – Andre Dubus, American short story writer, essayist, and memoirist (d. 1999)
• 1936 – Bill Monbouquette, American baseball player and coach (d. 2015)
• 1936 – Jonathan Spence, English-American historian and academic
• 1937 – Anna Massey, English actress (d. 2011)
• 1937 – Patrick Joseph McGovern, American businessman, founded International Data Group (d. 2014)
• 1939 – Ronnie Dawson, American singer and guitarist (d. 2003)
• 1940 – Glenys Page, New Zealand cricketer (d. 2012)
• 1941 – John Ellison, American-Canadian musician and songwriter
• 1942 – Mike Hugg, English drummer and keyboard player
• 1943 – Jim Kale, Canadian bass player
• 1943 – Pervez Musharraf, Pakistani general and politician, 10th President of Pakistan
• 1943 – Denis Payton, English saxophonist (d. 2006)
• 1944 – Martin Linton, Swedish-English journalist and politician
• 1944 – Frederick W. Smith, American businessman, founded FedEx
• 1944 – Ian McDiarmid, Scottish actor
• 1946 – John Conlee, American singer-songwriter
• 1946 – Marilyn vos Savant, American journalist and author
• 1947 – Theo de Jong, Dutch footballer, coach, and manager
• 1947 – Georgios Karatzaferis, Greek journalist and politician
• 1948 – Don Boyd, Scottish director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1949 – Eric Carmen, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1949 – Tim Hutchinson, American lawyer and politician
• 1949 – Ian Charleson, Scottish-English actor and singer (d. 1990)
• 1950 – Erik Brann, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2003)
• 1950 – Gennadiy Nikonov, Russian engineer, designed the AN-94 rifle (d. 2003)
• 1950 – Steve Wozniak, American computer scientist and programmer, co-founded Apple Inc.
• 1952 – Reid Blackburn, American photographer (d. 1980)
• 1952 – Bob Mothersbaugh, American singer, guitarist, and producer
• 1953 – Hulk Hogan, American wrestler
• 1953 – Wijda Mazereeuw, Dutch swimmer
• 1954 – Bryan Bassett, American guitarist
• 1954 – Vance Heafner, American golfer and coach (d. 2012)
• 1954 – Joe Jackson, English singer-songwriter and musician
• 1954 – Tarmo Rüütli, Estonian footballer, coach, and manager
• 1954 – Yashpal Sharma, Indian cricketer and umpire
• 1955 – Marc Bureau, Canadian politician, 16th Mayor of Gatineau
• 1955 – Sylvia Hermon, Northern Irish academic and politician
• 1956 – Pierre-Louis Lions, French mathematician and academic
• 1957 – Ian Stuart Donaldson, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1993)
• 1958 – Steven Pokere, New Zealand rugby player
• 1958 – Jah Wobble, English singer-songwriter and bass player
• 1959 – Gustavo Cerati, Argentinian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2014)
• 1959 – Yoshiaki Murakami, Japanese businessman
• 1959 – Taraki Sivaram, Sri Lankan journalist and author (d. 2005)
• 1959 – Richard Scudamore, English businessman
• 1959 – László Szlávics, Jr., Hungarian sculptor
• 1961 – David Brooks, American journalist and author
• 1961 – Craig Ehlo, American basketball player and coach
• 1962 – Brian Azzarello, American author
• 1962 – Charles Cecil, English video game designer and co-founded Revolution Software
• 1962 – John Micklethwait, English journalist and author
• 1962 – Rob Minkoff, American director and producer
• 1963 – Hiromi Makihara, Japanese baseball player
• 1964 – Jim Lee, South Korean-American author and illustrator
• 1964 – Grant Waite, New Zealand golfer
• 1965 – Marc Bergevin, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
• 1965 – Embeth Davidtz, American actress
• 1965 – Viola Davis, American actress
• 1966 – Nigel Martyn, English footballer and coach
• 1966 – Juan María Solare, Argentinian pianist and composer
• 1967 – Massimiliano Allegri, Italian footballer and manager
• 1967 – Enrique Bunbury, Spanish singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1967 – Joe Rogan, American actor, comedian, and television host
• 1967 – Petter Wettre, Norwegian saxophonist and composer
• 1968 – Sophie Okonedo, British actress
• 1968 – Charlie Sexton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1970 – Dirk Hannemann, German footballer and manager
• 1971 – Alejandra Barros, Mexican actress and screenwriter
• 1971 – Tommy Mooney, English footballer
• 1973 – Kristin Armstrong, American cyclist
• 1974 – Marie-France Dubreuil, Canadian figure skater
• 1974 – Audrey Mestre, French biologist and diver (d. 2002)
• 1975 – Chris Cummings, Canadian singer-songwriter
• 1976 – Iván Córdoba, Colombian footballer and manager
• 1976 – Bubba Crosby, American baseball player
• 1976 – Will Friedle, American actor and screenwriter
• 1976 – Ben Gibbard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1976 – Ľubomír Višňovský, Slovak ice hockey player
• 1977 – Gemma Hayes, Irish singer-songwriter
• 1977 – Dênio Martins, Brazilian footballer
• 1978 – Spyros Gogolos, Greek footballer
• 1979 – Walter Ayoví, Ecuadorian footballer
• 1980 – Daniel Lloyd, English cyclist and sportscaster
• 1980 – Lee Suggs, American football player
• 1981 – Daniel Poohl, Swedish journalist
• 1983 – Chris Hemsworth, Australian actor
• 1983 – Luke Lewis, Australian rugby league player
• 1983 – Pavel 183, Russian painter (d. 2013)
• 1984 – Melky Cabrera, Dominican baseball player
• 1984 – Lucas di Grassi, Brazilian race car driver
• 1986 – Mokhtar Benmoussa, Algerian footballer
• 1986 – Pablo Sandoval, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1987 – Dany N'Guessan, French footballer
• 1987 – Drew Storen, American baseball player
• 1988 – Rabeh Al-Hussaini, Filipino basketball player
• 1988 – Patty Mills, Australian basketball player
• 1988 – Mustafa Pektemek, Turkish footballer
• 1989 – Junior Heffernan, Irish cyclist and triathlete (d. 2013)
• 1989 – Sebastian Huke, German footballer
• 1990 – Lenka Juríková, Slovak tennis player
• 1991 – Cristian Tello, Spanish footballer
• 1994 – Storm Sanders, Australian tennis player
• 1994 – Anton Cooper, New Zealand cross-country cyclist
• 1994 – Joseph Barbato, French footballer

Deaths

• 480 BC – Leonidas I, Agiad King of Sparta
• 223 – Jia Xu, Chinese politician (b. 147)
• 353 – Magnentius, Roman usurper (b. 303)
• 449 – Archbishop Flavian of Constantinople
• 979 – Gero, Count of Alsleben
• 991 – Byrhtnoth, English soldier (b. 956)
• 1204 – Guttorm of Norway (b. 1199)
• 1253 – Clare of Assisi, Italian follower of Francis of Assisi (b. 1194)
• 1259 – Möngke Khan, Mongolian emperor (b. 1208)
• 1332 – Domhnall II, Earl of Mar
• 1332 – Robert II Keith, Marischal of Scotland
• 1332 – Thomas Randolph, 2nd Earl of Moray
• 1332 – Murdoch III, Earl of Menteith
• 1332 – Robert Bruce, Lord of Liddesdale
• 1456 – John Hunyadi, Hungarian general and politician (b. 1387)
• 1464 – Nicholas of Cusa, German cardinal and mystic (b. 1401)
• 1465 – Kettil Karlsson, regent of Sweden and Bishop of Linköping (b. 1433)
• 1486 – William Waynflete, English Lord Chancellor and bishop of Winchester (b. c. 1398)
• 1494 – Hans Memling, German-Belgian painter (b. 1430)
• 1519 – Johann Tetzel, German preacher (b. 1465)
• 1556 – John Bell, English bishop
• 1563 – Bartolomé de Escobedo, Spanish composer and educator (b. 1500)
• 1578 – Pedro Nunes, Portuguese mathematician and academic (b. 1502)
• 1596 – Hamnet Shakespeare, son of William Shakespeare (b. 1585)
• 1614 – Lavinia Fontana, Italian painter (b. 1552)
• 1656 – Ottavio Piccolomini, Austrian-Italian field marshal (b. 1599)
• 1725 – Prince Vittorio Amedeo Theodore of Savoy (b. 1723)
• 1774 – Charles-François Tiphaigne de la Roche, French physician and author (b. 1722)
• 1813 – Henry James Pye, English poet and politician (b. 1745)
• 1851 – Lorenz Oken, German botanist, biologist, and ornithologist (b. 1779)
• 1854 – Macedonio Melloni, Italian physicist and academic (b. 1798)
• 1868 – Halfdan Kjerulf, Norwegian pianist and composer (b. 1815)
• 1886 – Lydia Koidula, Estonian poet and playwright (b. 1843)
• 1890 – John Henry Newman, English cardinal and theologian (b. 1801)
• 1892 – Enrico Betti, Italian mathematician and academic (b. 1813)
• 1903 – Eugenio María de Hostos, Puerto Rican-American sociologist, philosopher, and lawyer (b. 1839)
• 1908 – Khudiram Bose, Indian Bengali revolutionary (b. 1889)
• 1919 – Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Carnegie Steel Company and Carnegie Hall (b. 1835)
• 1921 – Mary Sumner, English philanthropist, founded the Mothers' Union (b. 1828)
• 1936 – Blas Infante, Spanish historian and politician (b. 1885)
• 1937 – Edith Wharton, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1862)
• 1939 – Jean Bugatti, German-Italian engineer (b. 1909)
• 1939 – Siegfried Flesch, Austrian fencer (b. 1872)
• 1945 – Stefan Jaracz, Polish actor and theater producer (b. 1883)
• 1953 – Tazio Nuvolari, Italian race car driver and motorcycle racer (b. 1892)
• 1956 – Jackson Pollock, American painter (b. 1912)
• 1961 – Antanas Škėma, Lithuanian-American author, playwright, actor, and director (b. 1910)
• 1963 – Otto Wahle, Austrian-American swimmer and coach (b. 1879)
• 1965 – Bill Woodfull, Australian cricketer and educator (b. 1897)
• 1969 – Miriam Licette, English soprano and educator (b. 1885)
• 1972 – Max Theiler, South African-American virologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
• 1974 – Vicente Emilio Sojo, Venezuelan conductor and composer (b. 1887)
• 1977 – Frederic Calland Williams, British co-inventor of the Williams-Kilborn tube, used for memory in early computer systems (b. 1911)
• 1979 – J. G. Farrell, English author (b. 1935)
• 1980 – Paul Robert, French lexicographer and publisher (b. 1910)
• 1982 – Tom Drake, American actor and singer (b. 1918)
• 1984 – Alfred A. Knopf Sr., American publisher, founded Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. (b. 1892)
• 1984 – Paul Felix Schmidt, Estonian–American chemist and chess player (b. 1916)
• 1986 – János Drapál, Hungarian motorcycle racer (b. 1948)
• 1988 – Anne Ramsey, American actress (b. 1929)
• 1989 – John Meillon, Australian actor (b. 1934)
• 1991 – J. D. McDuffie, American race car driver (b. 1938)
• 1994 – Peter Cushing, English actor (b. 1913)
• 1995 – Phil Harris, American singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1904)
• 1996 – Rafael Kubelík, Czech conductor and composer (b. 1914)
• 1996 – Ambrosio Padilla, Filipino basketball player and politician (b. 1910)
• 2000 – Jean Papineau-Couture, Canadian composer and academic (b. 1916)
• 2001 – Percy Stallard, English cyclist and coach (b. 1909)
• 2002 – Galen Rowell, American photographer and mountaineer (b. 1940)
• 2003 – Armand Borel, Swiss-American mathematician and academic (b. 1923)
• 2003 – Herb Brooks, American ice hockey player and coach (b. 1937)
• 2006 – Mike Douglas, American singer and talk show host (b. 1920)
• 2008 – George Furth, American actor and playwright (b. 1932)
• 2008 – Dursun Karataş, founding leader of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party–Front (DHKP-C) in Turkey (b. 1952)
• 2009 – Eunice Kennedy Shriver, American activist, founded the Special Olympics (b. 1921)
• 2012 – Red Bastien, American wrestler, trainer, and promoter (b. 1931)
• 2012 – Michael Dokes, American boxer (b. 1958)
• 2012 – Lucy Gallardo, Argentinian-Mexican actress and screenwriter (b. 1929)
• 2013 – Raymond Delisle, French cyclist (b. 1943)
• 2013 – Zafar Futehally, Indian ornithologist and author (b. 1919)
• 2013 – David Howard, English ballet dancer and educator (b. 1937)
• 2014 – Vladimir Beara, Croatian footballer and manager (b. 1928)
• 2014 – Raymond Gravel, Canadian priest and politician (b. 1952)
• 2014 – Kika Szaszkiewiczowa, Polish author and blogger (b. 1917)
• 2014 – Robin Williams, American actor and comedian (b. 1951)
• 2015 – Serge Collot, French viola player and educator (b. 1923)
• 2015 – Harald Nielsen, Danish footballer and manager (b. 1941)
• 2015 – Richard Oriani, Salvadoran-American metallurgist and engineer (b. 1920)
• 2017 – Yisrael Kristal, Polish-Israeli supercentenarian; oldest living Holocaust survivor and one of the ten oldest men ever (b. 1903)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Athracht
  • Clare of Assisi
  • Fiacre
  • Gaugericus
  • John Henry Newman (Church of England)
  • Philomena
  • Susanna
  • Taurinus of Évreux
  • Tiburtius and Chromatius
  • August 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Flag Day (Pakistan)
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Chad from France in 1960.
• Mountain Day (Japan)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to August 11.

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada