June 11

Events

1184 BC - According to the calculations of Eratosthenes, the date that Trojan War|Troy was sacked and burned.

1509 - Marriage of King Henry VIII of England and Katherine of Aragon.

1770 - Captain James Cook runs aground on the Great Barrier Reef.

1774 - Jews in Algiers escape the attacks of the Spanish army.

1788 - Russian explorer Gerasim Izmailov reaches Alaska.

1825 - The first cornerstone is laid for Fort Hamilton in New York City.

1866 - The Allahabad High Court (then Agra High Court]] is established in India.

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.

1901 - New Zealand annexes the Cook Islands.

1903 - Alexander Obrenovic, king of Serbia, was assassination|assassinated in Belgrade by the Black Hand (''Crna Ruka'') organization.

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.

1838 - An earthquake occurs in Belgium.

1935 - Inventor Edwin Howard Armstrong gives the first public demonstration of FM broadcasting in the United States, at Alpine, New Jersey.

1940 - World War II: United Kingdom|British forces bomb Genoa and Turin, Italy.

1940 - World War II: First attack of the Italian Airforce on the island of Malta.

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-Healey and a Mercedes-Benz collide at the 24 hours of Le Mans|Le Mans Grand Prix.

1962 - Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin become the only prisoners to apparently successfully escape from the prison on Alcatraz Island. No conclusive evidence has ever been found that they survived the escape attempt.

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 - Buddhism|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 for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works|Berne Convention copyright treaty.

1970 - After being appointed on May 15, Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington officially receive their ranks as United States Army|U.S. Army Generals, becoming the first females to do so.

1977 - Seattle Slew wins the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing.

1985 - A Fabergé Egg was sold for Pound sterling|£1,375,00 in New York.

1988 - Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute Wembley Stadium, London.

1988 - The name of the General Public License (GPL) is mentioned first time.

1998 - Compaq Computer pays USD|$9 billion for Digital Equipment Corporation in largest high-tech acquisition.

2001 - 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 (moon)|Phoebe.

2004 - Ronald Reagan's funeral held at Washington National Cathedral

2005 - G8 finance ministers agree to cancel the debt owed by 18 of the poorest countries.

Births

1403 - John IV, Duke of Brabant (d. 1427)

1456 - Anne Neville, queen of Richard III of England (d. 1485)

1540 - Barnabe Googe, English poet (d. 1594)

1572 - Ben Jonson, English dramatist (d. 1637)

1588 - George Wither, English writer (d. 1667)

1671 - Colley Cibber, English poet (d. 1757)

1672 - Francesco Antonio Bonporti, Italian priest and composer (d. 1749)

1696 - Francis Edward James Keith, Scottish soldier and Prussian field marshal (d. 1758)

1704 - Carlos Seixas, Portuguese composer (d. 1742)

1713 - Edward Capell, English critic (d. 1781)

1723 - Johann Georg Palitzsch, German astronomer (d. 1788)

1776 - John Constable, English painter (d. 1837)

1842 - Carl von Linde, German 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, French physicist (d. 1945)

1876 - Alfred L. Kroeber, American anthropologist (d. 1960)

1877 - Renee Vivien, English-born poet (d. 1909)

1879 - Roger Bresnahan, baseball player (d. 1944)

1879 - Max Schreck, German actor (d. 1936)

1880 - Jeannette Rankin, American politician, feminist, and pacifist (d. 1973)

1903 - Ernie Nevers, American football player (d. 1976)

1910 - Jacques-Yves Cousteau, French explorer and inventor (d. 1997)

1913 - Vince Lombardi, American football coach (d. 1970)

1919 - Richard Todd, British actor

1920 - Hazel Scott, West Indian-born singer (d. 1981)

1922 - John Bromfield, American actor (d. 2005)

1925 - William Styron, American author

1928 - Fabiola de Mora y Aragón, Queen of the Belgians

1932 - Athol Fugard, South African playwright

1933 - Gene Wilder, American actor

1936 - Jud Strunk, American musician-comedian (d. 1981)

1936 - Chad Everett, American actor

1937 - Robin Warren, Australian pathologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine

1937 - Johnny Brown, American comic

1939 - Jackie Stewart, Scottish race car driver

1945 - Adrienne Barbeau, American actress

1947 - Laloo Prasad Yadav, Indian politician

1947 - Henry Cisneros, American politician, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development secretary

1949 - Frank Beard (musician)|Frank Beard, member of rock group ZZ Top

1950 - Lynsey De Paul, British singer and songwriter

1950 - Bjarne Stroustrup, Danish computer scientist

1952 - Donnie Van Zant, American rock musician

1953 - Peter Bergman, American actor

1956 - Joe Montana. American football player

1957 - Jamaaladeen Tacuma, American musician

1959 - Hugh Laurie, English actor and comedian

1962 - Erika Salumäe, Estonian cyclist, Olympian

1965 - Joey Santiago, Filipino guitarist (Pixies)

1969 - Steven Drozd, American drummer

1973 - Robby Kiger, American actor

1978 - Joshua Jackson, Canadian actor

1982 - Diana Taurasi, American basketball player

1982 - Eldar Rønning, Norwegian cross-country skier

1984 - Vagner Love, Brazilian footballer

Deaths

1183 - Henry the Young King, son of Henry II of England (b. 1155)

1216 - Henry of Flanders, Emperor of the Latin Empire

1488 - King James III of Scotland

1557 - King John III of Portugal (b. 1502)

1695 - André Félibien, French architect (b. 1619)

1712 - Louis Joseph, duc de Vendôme, Marshal of France (b. 1654)

1727 - King George I of Great Britain (b. 1668)

1796 - Samuel Whitbread (brewer)|Samuel Whitbread, English brewer and politician (b. 1720)

1852 - Karl Briullov, Russian painter (b. 1799)

1858 - Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, Austrian statesman (b. 1773)

1882 - Louis Maigret, Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1904)

1903 - Alexander Obrenovich, King of Serbia (b. 1876)

1903 - Nikolai Bugaev, Russian mathematician (b. 1837)

1911 - James Curtis Hepburn, American missionary and linguist (b. 1815)

1924 - Théodore Dubois, French composer and teacher (b. 1837)

1927 - William Attewell, English cricketer (b. 1861)

1934 - Lev Vygotsky, Russian psychologist (b. 1896)

1936 - Robert E. Howard, American author (b. 1906)

1937 - R. J. Mitchell|R. J. (Reginald Joseph) Mitchell, British aircraft designer (b. 1895)

1970 - Frank Laubach, Christian missionary (b. 1884)

1974 - Julius Evola, Italian philosopher (b. 1898)

1974 - Eurico Gaspar Dutra, President of Brazil (b. 1883)

1979 - John Wayne (Born Marion Morrison), American actor (b. 1907)

1984 - Enrico Berlinguer, Italian politician (b. 1922)

1985 - Karen Ann Quinlan, American right-to-die cause célèbre (b. 1954)

1986 - Chesley Bonestell, American-born engineer, architect, and artist (b. 1888)

1993 - Ray Sharkey, American actor (b. 1952)

1996 - Brigitte Helm, German actress (b. 1908)

1998 - Catherine Cookson, British novelist (b. 1906)

1999 - DeForest Kelley, American actor (b. 1920)

2001 - Timothy McVeigh, American terrorist (executed) (b. 1968)

2002 - Robbin Crosby, American guitarist (Ratt) (b. 1959)

2003 - David Brinkley, American television reporter (b. 1920)

2004 - Egon von Furstenberg, Swiss fashion designer (b. 1946)

2004 - Xenophon Zolotas, Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1904)

2005 - Vasco Gonçalves, Portuguese general (b. 1922)

Holidays and Observances

Kingdom of Hawaii|Kamehameha Day, official state holiday of Hawaii|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 (mythology)|Vesta

External links

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/11 ---- June 10 - June 12 - May 11 - July 11 – historical anniversaries|listing of all days