June 11

June 11 is the 162nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (163rd in leap years), with 203 days remaining.

Events

• 1184 BC – According to the calculations of Eratosthenes, the date that Troy was sacked and burned.
• 1509 – Marriage of King Henry VIII of England and Katherine of Aragon.
• 1534 – Jacques Cartier and crew celebrate the first recorded Catholic mass in North America.
• 1770 – Captain James Cook runs aground on the Great Barrier Reef.
• 1788 – Russian explorer Gerasim Izmailov reaches Alaska.
• 1825 – The first cornerstone is laid for Fort Hamilton in New York City.
• 1892 – The Limelight Department, one of the world's first film studios, is officially established in Melbourne, Australia.
• 1898 – Spanish-American War: U.S. war ships start to sail for Cuba.
• 1899 – Pope Leo XIII dedicates the entire human race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
• 1901 – New Zealand annexes the Cook Islands.
• 1907 – George Dennett, aided by Gilbert Jessop, dismisses Northamptonshire for 12 runs, the lowest total in first-class cricket.
• 1937 – Great Purge: The Soviet Union executes eight army leaders under Joseph Stalin.
• 1940 – World War II: British forces bomb Genoa and Turin, Italy.
• 1942 – World War II: The United States agrees to send Lend-Lease aid to the Soviet Union.
• 1955 – Eighty-three are killed and at least 100 are injured after an Austin-Healy and a Mercedes-Benz collide at the Le Mans Grand Prix.
• 1962 – Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin apparently escape from Alcatraz.
• 1963 – American Civil Rights Movement: Alabama Governor George Wallace stands at the door of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama in an attempt to block two black students from attending that school.
• 1963 – Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc burns himself with gasoline in a busy Saigon intersection to protest the lack of religious freedom in South Vietnam.
• 1964 – World War II veteran Walter Seifert runs amok in an elementary school in Cologne, Germany, killing at least eight children and two teachers and seriously injuring several more with a home-made flamethrower and a lance.
• 1967 – Mexico becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
• 1970 – After being appointed on May 15, Anna Mae Hays officially receives her rank as a U.S. ArmyGeneral, becoming the first female to do so.
• 1977 – Seattle Slew wins the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing.
• 1985 – A Fabergé Egg Was sold for £1,375,00 in New York.
• 1998 – Compaq Computer pays $9 billion for Digital Equipment Corporation in largest high-tech acquisition.
• 2001 – The United States carries "out the severest sentence for the gravest of crimes" as Timothy McVeigh is executed for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.
• 2002 – Antonio Meucci was recognised as the first inventor of the telephone by the United States Congress
• 2004 – Cassini-Huygens makes its closest flyby of Phoebe.

Births

• 1519 – Cosimo I de Medici, Duke of Florence (d. 1574)
• 1572 – Ben Jonson, dramatist (d. 1637)
• 1588 – George Wither, writer (d. 1667)
• 1671 – Colley Cibber, English poet (d. 1757)
• 1672 – Francesco Antonio Bonporti, Italian priest and composer (d. 1749)
• 1776 – John Constable, English painter (d. 1837)
• 1842 – Carl von Linde, engineer and industrialist (d. 1934)
• 1847 – Millicent Fawcett, British suffragist and feminist (d. 1929)
• 1864 – Richard Strauss, German composer and conductor (d. 1949)
• 1867 – Charles Fabry, physicist (d. 1945)
• 1876 – Alfred L. Kroeber, anthropologist
• 1877 – Renee Vivien, poet (d. 1909)
• 1879 – Max Schreck, actor (d. 1936)
• 1879 – Roger Bresnahan, Major League Baseball Hall of Famer (d. 1944)
• 1880 – Jeannette Rankin, politician, feminist, and pacifist (d. 1973)
• 1902 – Ernie Nevers, American football player (d. 1976)
• 1910 – Jacques Cousteau, explorer, inventor (d. 1997)
• 1913 – Vince Lombardi, American football coach (d. 1970)
• 1920 – Hazel Scott, singer (d. 1981)
• 1925 – William Styron, author
• 1932 – Athol Fugard, playwright
• 1933 – Gene Wilder, actor
• 1939 – Jackie Stewart, race car driver
• 1950 – Bjarne Stroustrup, computer scientist
• 1950 Lynsey De Paul, British singer and songwriter
• 1956 – Joe Montana. American football player
• 1957 – Jamaaladeen Tacuma, jazz musician
• 1959 – Hugh Laurie, actor, comedian
• 1965 – Joey Santiago, guitarist (Pixies)

Deaths

• 1216 – Henry of Flanders, emperor of the Latin Empire (b. c. 1174)
• 1727 – King George I of Great Britain (b. 1668)
• 1903 – Alexander Obrenovich, King of Serbia (b. 1876) and Queen Draga
• 1911 – James Curtis Hepburn, missionary and linguist (b. 1815)
• 1924 – Théodore Dubois, composer and teacher (b. 1837)
• 1927 – William Attewell, Nottinghamshire bowler (b. 1861)
• 1936 – Robert E. Howard, author (b. 1906)
• 1937 – R. J. (Reginald Joseph) Mitchell, British aircraft designer, developer of the Spitfire (b. 1895)
• 1949 – Oton Župančič, Slovenian poet (b. 1878)
• 1970 – Frank Laubach, Apostle of Literacy and Christian missionary (b. 1884)
• 1971 – John W. Campbell Jr., science fiction writer, publisher, editor (b. 1910)
• 1979 – John Wayne, actor (b. 1907)
• 1984 – Enrico Berlinguer, secretary-general of the Italian Communist Party (b. 1922)
• 1986 – Chesley Bonestell, engineer, architect, artist, illustrator (b. 1888)
• 1993 – Ray Sharkey, actor ("Sonny Steelgrave" on Wiseguy)
• 1996 – Brigitte Helm, German actress (b. 1908)
• 1998 – Catherine Cookson, author
• 1999 – DeForest Kelley, actor (b. 1920)
• 2001 – Timothy McVeigh, terrorist (executed) (b. 1968)
• 2002 – Robbin Crosby, guitarist of rock band Ratt
• 2003 – David Brinkley, television reporter (b. 1920)
• 2004 – Xenophon Zolotas, former Greek prime minister (b. 1904)

Holidays and Observances

• Kamehameha Day, official state holiday of Hawai'i, United States, in honor of its first monarch, celebrated with floral parades, hula competition and festivals
• Feast of St Barnabas
• Roman Empire, Matralia in honor of Mater Matuta
• Roman Empire, fifth day of the Vestalia in honor of Vesta

External links

• BBC: On This Day

June 10 – June 12 – May 11 – July 11 — listing of all days