August 11

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

Events

• 3114 BC – beginning of 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.
• 1858 – First ascent of the Eiger.
• 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
• 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.
• 1948 – Olympic games open in London
• 1951 – René Pleven becomes Prime Minister of France
• 1952 – Hussein proclaimed king of Jordan
• 1960 – Chad declares independence
• 1965 – Race riots begin in Watts area of Los Angeles, California
• 1966 – John Lennon held a press conference in Chicago excusing himself from the "Jesus affair"
• 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
• 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.
• 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.

Births

• 1718 – Sir Frederick Haldimand – professional soldier (d. 1891)
• 1794 – James Barton Longacre – engraver and designer of United States Indian Head cent (d. 1869)
• 1807 – David Rice Atchison, American politician (d. 1886)
• 1833 – Robert G. Ingersoll, American political leader and orator, atheist, American Civil War Colonel (d. 1899)
• 1833 – Kido Takayoshi, Japanese politician, one of the main actors of the Meiji restoration (d. 1877)
• 1870 – Tom Richardson, great fast bowler and record-breaking wicket-taker for Surrey between 1893 and 1897 (d. 1912).
• 1872 – Shidehara Kijuro, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1951)
• 1892 – Eiji Yoshikawa, novelist (d. 1962)
• 1897 – Louise Bogan, American poet (d. 1970)
• 1902 – Alfredo Binda, Italian cyclist (d. 1986)
• 1902  – Lloyd Nolan, actor (d. 1982)
• 1905 – Erwin Chargaff, biochemist (d. 2002)
• 1912 – Eva Ahnert-Rohlfs, astronomer (d. 1954)
• 1913 – Angus Wilson, British novelist (d. 1991)
• 1919 – Ginette Neveu, French violinist (d. 1949)
• 1921 – Alex Haley, historian, novelist (d. 1992)
• 1925 – Carl Rowan, journalist
• 1932 – Fernando Arrabal, playwright, novelist
• 1933 – Jerry Falwell, Christian preacher and politician
• 1943 – Abigail Folger, Coffee heiress (d. 1969)
• 1943  – Pervez Musharraf, Pakistani general and leader
• 1944 – Ian McDiarmid, actor
• 1946 – Marilyn vos Savant, newspaper columnist
• 1950 – Gennidy Nikonov, designer of the AN-94 assault rifle
• 1950  – Steve Wozniak, personal computer pioneer
• 1953 – Hulk Hogan (Terry Gene Bollea), professional wrestler
• 1954 – Joe Jackson, singer
• 1954  – Juan Maria Solare, music composer and pianist
• 1955 – Sylvia Hermon, UK politician
• 1957 – Richie Ramone, American musician, drummer with The Ramones
• 1967 – Joe Rogan, comedian, television host
• 1972 – Jonathon Prandi, American male model
• 1974 – Audrey Mestre, freediver
• 1980 – Lee Suggs, American football player

Deaths

• 480 BC – Leonidas, king of Sparta
• 1253 – Saint Clare of Assisi, patron saint of television (b. 1193)
• 1813 – Henry James Pye, English poet (b. 1745)
• 1890 – John Henry Cardinal Newman, English Cardinal (b. 1801)
• 1919 – Andrew Carnegie, industrialist, philanthropist (b. 1835)
• 1937 – Edith Wharton, American author (b. 1862)
• 1939 – Jean Bugatti, Automobile designer (b. 1909)
• 1953 – Tazio Nuvolari, Italian racecar driver (b. 1892)
• 1956 – Jackson Pollock, American artist (b. 1912)
• 1977 – Frederick Williams, inventor of the mercury tube
• 1984 – Alfred A. Knopf, American publisher (b. 1892)
• 1996 – Rafael Kubelik, conductor and composer (b. 1914)
• 2003 – Diana Mitford, widow of British Fascist leader Oswald Mosley (b. 1910)
• 2003 – Herb Brooks, ice hockey coachn (b. 1937)

Holidays and observances

• Zimbabwe – Heroes Day

External links

• BBC: On This Day