Title: August 11 Content: == Events == === Up to 1900 === * 3114 BC The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilisations, notably the Maya, begins, ending either on December 21 or 23, 2012. * 106 The Southwestern part of Dacia (modern Romania) becomes a Roman province, Roman Dacia. * 117 Hadrian becomes Roman Emperor, following Trajan's death. * 355 Claudius Silvanus proclaims himself Roman Emperor. * 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 The Battle of Dupplin Moor takes place during the Scottish Wars of Independence. * 1677 A large part of the city of Rostock is destroyed by fire. * 1711 The first horse race is held at Ascot, England. * 1718 A British fleet attacks a Spanish fleet in the Naval Battle of Cape Passero. * 1786 Captain Francis Light establishes a British colony at Penang, Malaysia. * 1804 Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor takes the title of Emperor of Austria. * 1812 Peninsular War: French troops engage in battle with British-Portuguese forces in the Battle of Majadahonda. * 1813 In Colombia, Juan de Corral declares the independence of Antioquia. * 1858 The Eiger in the Swiss Alps is first climbed by Charles Barrington, accompanied by Christian Almer and Peter Bohlen. * 1863 Cambodia becomes a French protectorate. * 1867 Das Kapital, by Karl Marx, goes on sale in Hamburg. * 1898 Spanish-American War: American troops enter the city of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. === 1901 2000 === * 1901 The first German Antarctic expedition, led by Erich von Drygalski, leaves Kiel. * 1904 Battle of Waterberg in present-day Namibia: In a battle with German colonial troops, 30,000 Herero and Nama people are killed. * 1914 World War I: France declares war on Austria-Hungary. * 1918 World War I: The Battle of Amiens ends. * 1919 The Constitution of Germany's Weimar Republic is adopted. * 1920 End of the Latvian War of Independence * 1929 Babe Ruth becomes the first baseball player to hit 500 home runs, at League Park in Cleveland, Ohio. * 1934 The first civilian prisoners arrive at the Federal Prison at Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay. * 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. * 1952 Hussein of Jordan is proclaimed king. * 1959 Sheremetyevo International Airport opens near Moscow. * 1960 Chad declares independence from France. * 1961 The former Portuguese territories of India of Dadra and Nagar Haveli are merged into the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, as part of the Republic of India. * 1962 Vostok 3 launches from Baikonur Cosmodrome and Andrian Nikolayev becomes the first person to float in microgravity. * 1965 Race riots begin in the Watts area of Los Angeles, California. * 1968 The last steam train runs on British railways. * 1972 Vietnam War: The last US ground combat unit leaves South Vietnam. * 1979 A dam break in Morvi, Gujarat, India, following heavy rain, kills between 2,000 and 5,000 people. * 1982 A bomb explodes on Pan Am Flight 830, between Tokyo and Honolulu, killing one person, and injuring 15. * 1983 Rio Abiseo National Park is created in Peru. * 1984 'We begin bombing in five minutes': Ronald Reagan jokes while preparing for a weekly radio address while running for re-election as US president. * 1986 Ove Joensen completes his rowing journey from the Faroe Islands to Copenhagen. * 1987 Alan Greenspan becomes Chairman of the US Federal Reserve. * 1988 Al-Qaeda is founded. * 1999 A total Solar eclipse is seen over much of Europe and Asia. It is the last solar eclipse of the 2nd millennium. === From 2001 === * 2003 A heatwave in Paris, France kills an estimated 144 people, with temperatures reaching 44 degrees Celsius. * 2003 President of Liberia Charles Taylor flees into exile in Nigeria. * 2003 Jemaah Islamiyah leader Ridyan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, is arrested in Bangkok, Thailand. * 2006 Filipino oil tanker Solar 1 sinks at the island of Guimaras, leading to an oil spill. * 2012 Two earthquakes of a magnitude over 6, followed by several aftershocks, strike the area around Tabriz, in northwestern Iran. * 2014 American actor and comedian Robin Williams is found dead at his home in California, having committed suicide. He was 63 years old. * 2017 A train collision near Alexandria, Egypt, kills at least 41 people. == Births == === Up to 1900 === *1086 Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1125) *1379 Yolande of Aragon (d. 1442) *1467 Mary of York, English princess (d. 1482) *1667 Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, Italian princess (d. 1743) *1673 Richard Mead, English physician (d. 1754) *1706 Princess Marie Auguste of Thurn and Taxis (d. 1756) *1718 Sir Frederick Haldimand, professional soldier (d. 1891) *1772 Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill, British general (d. 1842) *1778 Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, German teacher (d. 1852) *1794 James Barton Longacre, engraver and designer of United States Indian Head cent (d. 1869) *1801 Eduard Devrient, German baritone (d. 1877) *1807 David Rice Atchison, American politician (d. 1886) *1808 William W. Chapman, American politician (d. 1892) *1816 Frederick Innes, Scottish-Australian politician, 9th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1882) *1823 Charlotte Mary Yonge, British writer (d. 1901) *1824 Martin Gropius, German architect (d. 1880) *1825 István Türr, Hungarian soldier, architect and engineer (d. 1908) *1833 Robert G. Ingersoll, American political leader and orator, atheist, American Civil War Colonel (d. 1899) *1833 Kido Takayoshi, Japanese politician, leading figure of the Meiji restoration (d. 1877) *1837 Marie François Sadi Carnot, French statesman (d. 1894) *1858 Christiaan Eijkman, Dutch doctor, won the 1929 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering vitamins (d. 1930) *1864 Duarte Leite, Prime Minister of Portugal (d. 1950) *1865 Gifford Pinchot, American politician and environmentalist (d. 1946) *1870 Tom Richardson, English cricketer (d. 1912). *1872 Kijuro Shidehara, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1951) *1879 Frieda von Richthofen, German writer (d. 1956) *1882 Kimon Georgiev, 24th Prime Minister of Bulgaria (d. 1969) *1882 Rodolfo Graziani, Italian general and politician (d. 1955) *1889 Arturo Martini, Italian sculptor (d. 1947) *1891 Stancho Belkovski, Bulgarian architect and lecturer (d. 1962) *1892 Eiji Yoshikawa, Japanese novelist (d. 1962) *1892 Hugh MacDiarmid, Scottish poet (d. 1978) *1897 Enid Blyton, English writer (d. 1968) *1897 Louise Bogan, American poet (d. 1970) *1898 Peter Mohr Dam, 3rd Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (d. 1968) *1900 Alexander Mosolov, Russian composer (d. 1973) === 1901 - 1950 === *1902 Alfredo Binda, Italian cyclist (d. 1986) *1902 Lloyd Nolan, actor (d. 1982) *1905 Erwin Chargaff, Austrian biochemist (d. 2002) *1905 Kurt Gerstein, German SS officer (d. 1945) *1911 Thanom Kittikachorn, Thai general and politician (d. 2004) *1912 Eva Ahnert-Rohlfs, astronomer (d. 1954) *1913 Angus Wilson, British novelist (d. 1991) *1913 Paul Dupuis, French Canadian actor (d. 1976) *1913 Bob Scheffing, American baseball player and manager (d. 1985) *1914 Hugh Martin, American songwriter (d. 2011) *1915 Morris Weiss, American comic book artist and writer (d. 2014) *1917 Dik Browne, American cartoonist (d. 1989) *1917 Ilse Scholl, German activist (d. 1998) *1918 Thomas A. Bird, British World War II army officer and architect (d. 2017) *1919 Ginette Neveu, French violinist (d. 1949) *1920 Mike Douglas, American entertainer (d. 2006) *1921 Alex Haley, American historian and novelist (d. 1992) *1923 Stan Chambers, American television reporter (d. 2015) *1925 Floyd Curry, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2006) *1925 Arlene Dahl, American actress (d. 2021) *1926 Aaron Klug, Lithuanian-born British chemist (d. 2018) *1926 Claus von Bülow, Danish-born socialite (d. 2019) *1927 Raymond Leppard, English conductor *1927 Stuart Rosenberg, American director (d. 2007) *1928 Beniamino Andreatta, Italian economist and politician (d. 2007) *1929 Alun Hoddinott, Welsh composer (d. 2008) *1932 Fernando Arrabal, Spanish playwright and novelist *1932 Peter Eisenman, American architect *1933 Jerry Falwell, American Christian preacher and politician (d. 2007) *1936 Bill Monbouquette, American baseball player (d. 2015) *1937 Anna Massey, British actress (d. 2011) *1937 Patrick Joseph McGovern, American businessman (d. 2014) *1942 Mike Hugg, British musician *1943 Abigail Folger, American Coffee heiress (d. 1969) *1943 Pervez Musharraf, Pakistani general and politician, former President of Pakistan *1943 Jim Kale, Canadian musician *1944 Frederick W. Smith, American businessman *1944 Ian McDiarmid, Scottish actor *1946 Marilyn vos Savant, American newspaper columnist *1946 Oscar Berger, 34th President of Guatemala *1947 Theo de Jong, Dutch footballer and manager *1948 Don Boyd, Scottish director, producer and screenwriter *1948 Jan Palach, Czech activist (d. 1969) *1949 Ian Charleson, Scottish actor (d. 1990) *1949 Eric Carmen, American singer and guitarist *1950 Erik Brann, American guitarist *1950 Andrei Golovin, Russian composer *1950 Gennidy Nikonov, designer of the AN-94 assault rifle *1950 Steve Wozniak, American personal computer pioneer === 1951 1975 === *1952 Reid Blackburn, American photographer (d. 1980) *1953 Hulk Hogan (Terry Gene Bollea), American professional wrestler *1954 Joe Jackson, British singer *1955 Sylvia Hermon, British politician *1956 Pierre- Louis Lions, French mathematician *1957 Richie Ramone, American musician, drummer with The Ramones *1957 Ian Stuart Donaldson, British musician (d. 1993) *1958 Jah Wobble, British musician *1959 Gustavo Cerati, Argentine singer and musician (d. 2014) *1959 Richard Scudamore, English businessman *1961 Sunil Shetty, Indian actor *1961 Frederick W. Sturckow, American astronaut *1965 Shinji Mikami, Japanese video game designer *1965 Viola Davis, American actress *1965 Marc Bergevin, Canadian ice hockey player and general manager *1965 Robert Fleck, Scottish footballer *1966 Juan María Solare, Argentine music composer and pianist *1966 Nigel Martyn, English footballer *1967 Joe Rogan, comedian and television host *1968 Princess Mabel of Orange- Nassau, sister-in-law to King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands *1968 Sophie Okonedo, British actress *1968 Noordin Mohammad Top, Malaysian terrorist (d. 2009) *1969 Ashley Jensen, Scottish actress *1969 Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima, Brazilian marathon runner *1970 Gianluca Pessotto, Italian footballer *1972 Agnes Samaria, Namibian athlete *1972 Jonathon Prandi, American male model *1974 Audrey Mestre, French freediver (d. 2002) *1974 Marie-France Dubreuil, Canadian ice dancer *1974 Anju Jain, Indian cricketer and coach === From 1976 === *1976 Iván Córdoba, Colombian footballer *1976 Erick Lindgren, American poker player *1977 Gemma Hayes, Irish musician *1978 Jermain Taylor, American boxer *1978 Chris Kelly, American rapper (Kris Kross) (d. 2013) *1979 Nemanja Vucicevic, Serbian footballer *1980 José Antonio Castro, Mexican footballer *1980 Sébastien Squillaci, French footballer *1980 Lee Suggs, American football player *1981 Sandi Thom, Scottish singer *1983 Chris Hemsworth, Australian actor *1983 Yuriy Krymarenko, Ukrainian high-jumper *1984 Melky Cabrera, Dominican baseball player *1984 Lucas di Grassi, Brazilian racing driver *1986 Kaori Fukihara, Japanese voice actress *1986 Richard Keogh, English-Irish footballer *1986 Pablo Sandoval, Venezuelan baseball player *1987 Dany N'Guessan, French footballer *1988 Patty Mills, Australian basketball player *1990 Nicola Zagame, Australian water polo player *1991 Cristian Tello, Spanish footballer *1992 Bryce Cotton, American basketball player *1992 Tomi Lahren, American conservative political commentator *1992 Gilli Rólantsson, Faroese footballer *1993 Alyson Stoner, American actress *1993 Gita Gutawa, Indonesian singer-songwriter and actress *1993 Sean McGinty, English-Irish footballer *1993 Andre Drummond, American basketball player *1994 Rand Al-Mashhadani, Iraqi competitive shooter == Deaths == === Up to 1900 === *480 BC Leonidas, King of Sparta *223 Jia Xu, Chinese politician (b. 147) *353 Magnentius, Roman usurper (b. 303) *449 Archbishop Flavian of Constantinople *897 Wilfred the Hairy, Count of Barcelona *1204 King Guttorm of Norway (b. 1199) *1253 Saint Clare of Assisi, patron saint of television (b. 1193) *1259 Mongke Khan, Great Khan of the Mongol Empire (b. 1208) *1456 Janos Hunyadi, Hungarian regent (b. 1387) *1563 Bartolome de Escobedo, Spanish composer (b. 1500) *1578 Pedro Nunes, Portuguese mathematician (b. 1502) *1656 Ottavio Piccolomini, Austrian-Italian field marshal (b. 1599) *1801 Felix Maria Samaniego, Spanish poet (b. 1745) *1813 Henry James Pye, English poet (b. 1745) *1851 Lorenz Oken, German industrialist (b. 1779) *1854 Macedonio Melloni, Italian physicist (b. 1798) *1872 Andrew Smith, Scottish physician, surgeon and zoologist (b. 1797) *1886 Lydia Koidula, Estonian poet (b. 1843) *1890 John Henry Newman, English cardinal (b. 1801) *1892 Enrico Betti, Italian mathematician (b. 1813) === 1901 2000 === *1903 Eugenio Maria de Hostos, Puerto Rican educator and nationalist (b. 1839) *1908 Khudiram Bose, Indian freedom fighter (b. 1889) *1919 Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-American industrialist, philanthropist (b. 1835) *1936 Blas Infante, Spanish writer and politician (b. 1885) *1937 Edith Wharton, American writer (b. 1862) *1939 Jean Bugatti, Automobile designer (b. 1909) *1953 Tazio Nuvolari, Italian racecar driver (b. 1892) *1955 Robert W. Wood, American experimental physicist (b. 1868) *1956 Jackson Pollock, American artist (b. 1912) *1956 Frieda von Richthofen, German writer (b. 1879) *1972 Max Theiler, South African virologist (b. 1899) *1974 Vicente Emilio Sojo, Venezuelan musicologist and composer (b. 1887) *1975 Rachel Katznelson-Shazar, Israeli politician (b. 1885) *1978 Mario Varglien, Italian footballer (b. 1905) *1980 Paul Robert, French lexicographer and publisher (b. 1910) *1982 Tom Drake, American actor (b. 1918) *1984 Paul Felix Schmidt, Estonia-born German chess player (b. 1916) *1984 Alfred A. Knopf, American publisher (b. 1892) *1986 Heinz Strehl, German footballer (b. 1938) *1988 Alfred Kelbassa, German footballer (b. 1925) *1994 Peter Cushing, British actor (b. 1913) *1996 Rafael Kubelik, conductor and composer (b. 1914) === From 2001 === *2003 Diana Mitford, widow of British Fascist leader Oswald Mosley (b. 1910) *2003 Herb Brooks, American ice hockey coach (b. 1937) *2003 Armand Borel, Swiss mathematician (b. 1923) *2006 Mike Douglas, American entertainer (b. 1920) *2008 Fred Sinowatz, former Chancellor of Austria (b. 1929) *2009 Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founder of the Special Olympics, and sister of John F. Kennedy (b. 1921) *2011 Jani Lane, American musician (b. 1964) *2013 Henry Polic II, American actor (b. 1945) *2013 Shirley Herz, American publicist (b. 1925) *2013 Jean Bethbo Elshtain, American scholar (b. 1941) *2014 Vladimir Beara, Yugoslavian footballer (b. 1928) *2014 Raymond Gravel, Canadian politician (b. 1952) *2014 Pierre Ryckmans, Belgian-Australian diplomat and author (b. 1935) *2014 Kika Szaszkiewiczowa, Polish artist and writer (b. 1917) *2014 Robin Williams, American actor and comedian (b. 1951) *2015 Nour El-Sherif, Egyptian actor and conspiracy theorist (b. 1946) *2015 Harald Nielsen, Danish footballer (b. 1941) *2016 Hanif Mohammad, Pakistani cricketer (b. 1934) *2017 Abdulhussain Abdulredha, Kuwaiti actor and writer (b. 1939) *2017 Segun Bucknor, Nigerian musician and journalist (b. 1946) *2017 Yisrael Kristal, Polish-Israeli supercentenarian and Holocaust survivor, oldest-living man (b. 1903) *2017 Kent Lee, American Vice Admiral (b. 1923) *2017 Eugenio Polgovsky, Mexican film director (b. 1977) *2018 V. S. Naipaul, Trinidadian-British writer (b. 1932) *2018 Fabio Mamerto Rivas Santos, Dominican Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1932) *2018 Morris G. Hallock, American politician (b. 1926) *2019 Bluey Adams, Australian footballer (b. 1935) *2019 Darryl Drake, American football player (b. 1956) *2019 Michael E. Krauss, American linguist (b. 1934) *2019 Ningali Lawford, Australian actress (b. 1967) *2019 Barbara March, Canadian actress (b. 1953) *2019 Walter Martínez, Honduran footballer (b. 1982) == Observances == * Independence Day in Chad Category:Days of the year