August 11: Encyclopedia - August 11

August 11

August 11 is the 223rd day of the year (224th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 142 days remaining.

August 11 - Events

• 3114 BC - On this date in the proleptic Gregorian calendar begins our current era in the Maya Long Count Calendar.
• 480 BC - Persians under Xerxes defeat Spartans under King Leonidas in the Battle of Thermopylae. The Spartans fought to the last man.
• 480 BC - The Persian and Greek fleets also fight the indecisive Battle of Artemisium.
• 1492 - Alexander VI is elected Pope.
• 1711 - The first race meeting was held at Ascot
• 1858 - First ascent of the Eiger.
• 1898 - American troops enter the city of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War.
• 1918 - World War I - Battle of Amiens ends
• 1919 - Constitution of Weimar Republic adopted
• 1920 - The Latvia - Soviet Russia peace treaty which relinquished Russia`s authority and pretences to Latvian nation and territory for all time. In 1940 the Soviet Union unilaterally broke this Treaty and occupied Latvia
• 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 - Federal prison opened at Alcatraz Island
• 1943 - World War II - First Quebec Conference of Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, T. V. Soong and William Lyon Mackenzie King begins.
• 1951 - René Pleven becomes Prime Minister of France
• 1952 - Hussein proclaimed king of Jordan
• 1956 - Jackson Pollock dies in car crash East Hampton, NY
• 1960 - Chad declares independence
• 1965 - Race riots (the Watts riots) begin in Watts area of Los Angeles, California
• 1966 - John Lennon holds a press conference in Chicago apologizing for stating that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus".
• 1970 - A trademark application by the Van Brode Milling Company for the word Spork was published by the USPTO.
• 1972 - Last United States ground combat unit departs South Vietnam
• 1981 - The IBM PC, an early personal computer, is introduced
• 1984 - United States President Ronald Reagan, during a voice check for a radio broadcast remarks "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes".
• 1987 - Alan Greenspan becomes Chairman of the United States Federal Reserve.
• 1991- The three original Nicktoons, Doug, Rugrats, and The Ren and Stimpy Show make their debuts on the Nickelodeon cable channel.
• 1995 - Three people are killed when a TTC train hits the back of a stationary train near Toronto's Dupont Station.
• 1999 - A total solar eclipse visible from Europe and Asia.
• 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.

August 11 - Births

• 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)
• 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)
• 1837 - Marie François Sadi Carnot, French statesman (d. 1894)
• 1858 - Christiaan Eijkman, Dutch physician and pathologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1930)
• 1863 - Gaston Doumergue, President of France (d. 1937)
• 1870 - Tom Richardson, English cricketer (d. 1912).
• 1872 - Shidehara Kijuro, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1951)
• 1892 - Eiji Yoshikawa, Japanese novelist (d. 1962)
• 1897 - Louise Bogan, American poet (d. 1970)
• 1897 - Enid Blyton, English author (d. 1968)
• 1902 - Alfredo Binda, Italian cyclist (d. 1986)
• 1902 - Lloyd Nolan, American actor (d. 1982)
• 1905 - Erwin Chargaff, Austrian biochemist (d. 2002)
• 1912 - Eva Ahnert-Rohlfs, German astronomer (d. 1954)
• 1912 - Thanom Kittikachorn, Prime Minister of Thailand (d. 2004)
• 1913 - Angus Wilson, British novelist (d. 1991)
• 1919 - Ginette Neveu, French violinist (d. 1949)
• 1921 - Alex Haley, American historian and novelist (d. 1992)
• 1926 - Aaron Klug, Lithuanian-born chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1928 - Arlene Dahl, American actress
• 1932 - Fernando Arrabal, Spanish writer
• 1933 - Jerry Falwell, American preacher and politician
• 1943 - Abigail Folger, American heiress (d. 1969)
• 1943 - Pervez Musharraf, Pakistani general and leader
• 1944 - Ian McDiarmid, Scottish actor
• 1946 - Marilyn vos Savant, American newspaper columnist
• 1950 - Gennidy Nikonov, Russian weapons inventor
• 1950 - Steve Wozniak, American computer pioneer
• 1953 - Hulk Hogan, American professional wrestler
• 1954 - Joe Jackson, Scottish singer
• 1954 - Juan Maria Solare, Argentine composer and pianist
• 1955 - Sylvia Hermon, British politician
• 1957 - Richie Ramone, American drummer (The Ramones)
• 1964 - Jim Lee, Korean-born comic book artist and publisher
• 1966 - Nigel Martyn, English footballer
• 1967 - Joe Rogan, American comedian and television host
• 1967 - Enrique Bunbury, Spanish singer and songwriter
• 1968 - Lorenzo Bernardi, Italian volleyball player
• 1970 - Andy Bell, English bass player (Oasis)
• 1972 - Jonathon Prandi, American model
• 1974 - Audrey Mestre, French diver
• 1980 - Lee Suggs, American football player
• 1993 - Alyson Stoner, American actress and dancer

August 11 - Deaths

• 480 BC - Leonidas, King of Sparta
• AD 897 - Wilfred the Hairy, Count of Barcelona
• 1204 - King Guttorm of Norway (b. 1199)
• 1253 - Clare of Assisi, Italian follower of Francis of Assisi (b. 1194)
• 1464 - Nicholas of Cusa, German philosopher and mathematician (b. 1401)
• 1519 - Johann Tetzel, German opponent of the Reformation (b. 1465)
• 1563 - Bartolomé de Escobedo, Spanish composer
• 1578 - Pedro Nunes, Portuguese mathematician (b. 1502)
• 1614 - Lavinia Fontana, Italian painter (b. 1552)
• 1656 - Prince Octavio Piccolomini, Duke of Amalfi, Austrian field marshal (b. 1599)
• 1676 - Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen, German writer
• 1774 - Tiphaigne de la Roche, French writer (b. 1722)
• 1813 - Henry James Pye, English poet (b. 1745)
• 1851 - Lorenz Oken, German naturalist (b. 1779)
• 1854 - Macedonio Melloni, Italian physicist (b. 1798)
• 1890 - John Henry Cardinal Newman, English Catholic cardinal (b. 1801)
• 1892 - Enrico Betti, Italian mathematician (b. 1813)
• 1919 - Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-born industrialist and philanthropist (b. 1835)
• 1937 - Edith Wharton, American author (b. 1862)
• 1939 - Jean Bugatti, Italian automobile designer (b. 1909)
• 1953 - Tazio Nuvolari, Italian race car driver (b. 1892)
• 1956 - Jackson Pollock, American artist (b. 1912)
• 1972 - Max Theiler, South African virologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1899)
• 1973 - Karl Ziegler, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1898)
• 1984 - Alfred A. Knopf, American publisher (b. 1892)
• 1988 - Anne Ramsey, American actress (b. 1929)
• 1996 - Rafael Kubelik, Czech-born conductor and composer (b. 1914)
• 2003 - Armand Borel, Swiss mathematician (b. 1923)
• 2003 - Herb Brooks, American hockey coach (b. 1937)

August 11 - Holidays and observances

• Taiwan - Valentine's day
• Zimbabwe - Heroes Day
• Qi Xi (2005, the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the Chinese calendar)

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "August 11", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/11_August, used and available under the GNU Free Documentation License.