April 11



Events

Up to 1900 
 672 – Adeodatus II is elected Pope.
 1689 – William III and Mary II are crowned as joint monarchs of Scotland, England and Ireland.
 1713 - War of the Spanish Succession - Treaty of Utrecht.
 1775 – Germany's last witchcraft execution takes place.
 1814 – Napoleon Bonaparte abdicates as Emperor of France, and is exiled on the island of Elba.
 1856 - Battle of Rivas in Costa Rica: Juan Santamaria burns down the hostel where William Walker's filibusters are holed up.
 1868 – Former Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu surrenders Edo Castle to Imperial forces, ending the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan.

1901  2000 
 1909 - The city of Tel Aviv in present-day Israel is founded.
 1912 – The RMS Titanic leaves Queenstown, Ireland, bound for New York City. This was its last stop before its sinking.
 1919 - The International Labour Organization is founded.
 1921 - Emir Abdullah establishes the first centralized government the newly created British protectorate of Transjordan.
 1945 – Buchenwald Concentration Camp is liberated.
 1951 – General Douglas MacArthur is relieved of his duties by US President Harry S. Truman.
 1951 – The Stone of Scone, on which Scottish monarchs were crowned, is found in Arbroath, after it had been taken from Westminster Abbey by Scottish nationalist students. It is later officially returned to Scotland in 1996.
 1954 – April 11, 1954 is allegedly the most boring day of the 20th century.
 1955 - The Air India Kashmir Princess aircraft is bombed and crashes in a failed assassination attempt on Zhou Enlai by the Kuomintang.
 1957 - The United Kingdom agrees to Singaporean self-rule.
 1961 – Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann is put on trial.
 1965 - 56 tornadoes hit six Midwestern US States, killing 256 people.
 1968 – German activist Rudi Dutschke is shot. This indirectly leads to his death of an epileptic seizure in 1979.
 1970 – Apollo 13 launches with astronauts James Lovell, John Swigert and Fred Haise on board.
 1976 - The Apple I is created.
 1979 – Tanzanian troops enter Kampala, as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin flees.
 1981 – Brixton riot One of three riots in Brixton, London happened on this day.
 1983 - Richard Attenborough's movie Gandhi wins eight awards at the 54th Academy Awards.
 1985 – Albania's head of state Enver Hoxha dies, and is succeeded by Ramiz Alia.
 1987 - The London Agreement is secretly signed between Israels then-foreign minister Shimon Peres and King Hussein of Jordan.
 1989 - Ron Hextall becomes the first goaltender in NHL history to score a goal in the play-offs.
 1996 - A fire at Düsseldorf Airport in Germany kills 17 people.

From 2001 
 2001 – In an association football match, Australia beats American Samoa 31-0, setting a record for an international match in the sport.
 2002 – Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is briefly removed from office in a US-backed coup, but is soon reinstated.
 2006 – Italian crime boss Bernardo Provenzano is arrested.
 2006 - President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announces that his country has enriched uranium.
 2006 - Ehud Olmert officially becomes Prime Minister of Israel, as Ariel Sharon is unable to continue in this role after a stroke three months earlier.
 2007 – A terrorist bombing occurs in Algiers.
 2011 – In Ivory Coast, the political crisis comes to an end after Laurent Gbagbo is arrested in Abidjan, with Alassane Ouattara becoming the next President.
 2011 - The Minsk Metro is bombed, killing 15 people.
 2012 – Two earthquakes, including one of magnitude 8.2, strike off Sumatra, causing a tsunami alert.
 2018 - An Algerian military plane crashes shortly after take-off, killing 257 people.
 2019 - India's 2019 general election begins; lasting over six weeks, it is the world's biggest democratic process.
 2019 - Ecuador removes the asylum it gave to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at its embassy in London, leading to his arrest after seven years spent there.
 2019 - President of Sudan Omar al-Bashir is removed from power by the military, after a series of protests against his rule.

Births

Up to 1900 
 146 – Septimius Severus, Roman Emperor (d. 211)
 1184 - William of Winchester, Duke of Lüneburg (d. 1213)
 1348 - Andronikos IV Palaiologus, Emperor of the Byzantine Empire (d. 1385)
 1357 – King John I of Portugal (d. 1433)
 1370 - Frederick I, Elector of Saxony (d. 1428)
 1373 – Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March (d. 1398)
 1492 – Margaret of Navarre, Queen of Navarre and writer (d. 1549)
 1493 - George I, Duke of Pomerania (d. 1531)
 1568 – Marin Getaldić, Croatian physicist and astronomer (d. 1626)
 1592 - John Eliot, English statesman (d. 1632)
 1715 - John Alcock, English organist and composer (d. 1806)
 1723 – Franz Anton Bustelli, porcelain moulder (d. 1763)
 1749 - Adelaide Labille-Guiard, French painter (d. 1803)
 1755 – James Parkinson, English physician (d. 1824)
 1770 – George Canning, shortest-serving Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1827)
 1790 - George Rockingham Gilmer, Governor of Georgia (d. 1859)
 1794 - Edward Everett, 16th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1865)
 1798 - Macedonio Melloni, Italian physicist (d. 1854)
 1806 - Pierre Guillaume Frédéric Le Play, French engineer and social reformer (d. 1882)
 1806 - George Thorn Sr., Australian politician (d. 1876)
 1810 – Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, soldier and orientalist (d. 1895)
 1819 – Charles Hallé, pianist and conductor (d. 1895)
 1822 - James Esmond, Irish-Australian gold prospector and miner (d. 1890)
 1824 - Johanna von Puttkamer, wife of Otto von Bismarck (d. 1894)
 1825 – Ferdinand Lassalle, German politician (d. 1864)
 1827 - Mahatma Jyotirau Phule, Indian social reformer (d. 1890)
 1832 - Helena Scott, Australian artist and naturalist (d. 1910)
 1837 - Marshall Burdekin, Australian politician, Treasurer of New South Wales (d. 1886)
 1845 - Thomas O'Callaghan, Australian police officer (d. 1931)
 1856 - Sydney Smith, Australian politician (d. 1934)
 1856 - Arthur Shrewsbury, English cricketer (d. 1903)
 1862 – Charles Evans Hughes, American jurist and politician, United States Secretary of State (d. 1948)
 1862 - William Wallace Campbell, American astronomer (d. 1938)
 1864 - Johanna Elberskirchen, German feminist (d. 1943)
 1866 - Bernard O'Dowd, Australian poet, activist, lawyer and journalist (d. 1953)
 1869 – Kasturba Gandhi, Indian activist and pacifist (d. 1944)
 1869 – Gustav Vigeland, Norwegian sculptor (d. 1943)
 1871 - Gyula Kellner, Hungarian athlete (d. 1946)
 1874 - David Murray Anderson, British Governor and naval officer, 66th Governor of Newfoundland and 28th Governor of New South Wales (d. 1936)
 1876 - Ivane Javakishvili, Georgian historian (d. 1940)
 1879 - Bernhard Schmidt, Estonian-German astronomer (d. 1935)
 1883 – Hozumi Shigeto, Japanese writer (d. 1951)
 1889 – Nick LaRocca, jazz musician (d. 1961)
 1890 - Rachele Mussolini, Italian writer and wife of Benito Mussolini (d. 1979)
 1893 – Dean Acheson, United States Secretary of State (d. 1971)
 1894 - Frank Berryman, Australian army officer and general (d. 1981)
 1896 – Wieland Herzfelde, publisher and writer (d. 1989)
 1898 - Robert Monahan, Australian lawyer and judge (d. 1975)
 1899 - Norman Nock, Australian businessman and politician, 63rd Lord Mayor of Sydney (d. 1990)
 1900 – Sándor Márai, Hungarian writer (d. 1989)

1901  1950 
 1901 - Arnold Matters, Australian operatic baritone (d. 1990)
 1903 - Hazel Claire Weekes, Australian physician and health writer (d. 1990)
 1904 - Cyril Pearl, Australian journalist, editor, author, social historian and television personality (d. 1987)
 1906 – Dale Messick, American cartoonist (d. 2005)
 1906 - Masaru Ibaka, Japanese businessman (d. 1997)
 1908 – Leo Rosten, humorist, writer (d. 1997)
 1910 – António de Spínola, Portuguese politician (d. 1996)
 1911 – Leopold Hawelka, Austrian cafetier (d. 2011)
 1911 – Stanislawa Walasiewicz, Polish-American runner (d. 1980)
 1913 – Oleg Cassini, French-American fashion designer (d. 2006)
 1914 - Norman McLaren, Scottish-Canadian animator, director and producer (d. 1987)
 1914 - Robert Stanfield, 17th Premier of Nova Scotia (d. 2003)
 1916 – Alberto Ginastera, Argentine composer (d. 1983)
 1918 - Jean-Claude Servan-Schreiber, French journalist and politician (d. 2018)
 1919 - Raymond Carr, English historian (d. 2015)
 1920 - Emilio Colombo, 40th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 2013)
 1920 – Marlen Haushofer, writer (d. 1990)
 1925 - Yuriy Lituyev, Russian hurdler (d. 2000)
 1925 - George Shuffler, American musician (d. 2014)
 1926 - David Manker Abshire, former United States Ambassador to NATO (d. 2014)
 1928 – Ethel Kennedy, wife of Robert F. Kennedy
 1928 - Edwin Pope, American journalist (d. 2017)
 1930 – Anton LaVey, founder of the Church of Satan (d. 1997)
 1930 - Nicholas F. Brady, 68th United States Secretary of the Treasury
 1931 - Koichi Sugiyama, Japanese composer
 1931 - Sergio Sebastiani, Italian cardinal
 1931 – Johnny Sheffield, American actor (d. 2010)
 1932 – Joel Grey, singer, actor, and dancer
 1933 – Tony Brown, American journalist, broadcaster
 1934 - Mark Strand, Canadian-American poet (d. 2014)
 1935 – Richard Berry, American singer and composer (d. 1997)
 1937 - Jill Gascoine, British actress and novelist
 1938 – Kurt Moll, German bass (d. 2017)
 1939 – Louise Lasser, American actress
 1941 - Wang Jun, Chinese business executive (d. 2019)
 1941 - D. Babu Paul, Indian civil servant (d. 2019)
 1941 - Shirley Stelfox, English actress (d. 2015)
 1942 - Anatoly Berezovoy, Russian cosmonaut (d. 2014)
 1944 – John Milius, American director and writer
 1944 - Nicoletta, French singer
 1945 - John Krebs, Baron Krebs, English zoologist and academic
 1945 - Winston Peters, New Zealand politician, Deputy prime minister of New Zealand
 1946 - Chris Burden, American sculptor, illustrator and academic (d. 2015)
 1946 – Bob Harris, British disc jockey and presenter
 1947 – Peter Riegert, American actor
 1947 – Meshach Taylor, American actor (d. 2014)
 1949 – Bernd Eichinger, German movie producer (d. 2011)
 1950 - Bill Irwin, American actor

1951  1975 
 1951 – Doris McGowen Beck Angleton, American socialite (d. 1997)
 1951 – James Patrick Kelly, American writer
 1953 – Andrew Wiles, British mathematician
 1953 – Guy Verhofstadt, former Prime Minister of Belgium
 1954 – Abdullah Atalar, Turkish academic
 1955 - Rohini Hattangadi, Indian actress
 1955 – Kevin Brady, American politician
 1955 - Michael Ray Richardson, American basketball player
 1955 – Julie Czerneda, writer
 1955 – Michael Callen, American singer and songwriter (d. 1993)
 1955 - Piers Sellers, British astronaut (d. 2016)
 1957 - Richard Sevigny, Canadian ice hockey player
 1957 – Marina Fitch, writer
 1958 – Stuart Adamson, British musician (Big Country) (d. 2001)
 1958 – Luísa Diogo, former Prime Minister of Mozambique
 1958 - Peter Skipper, English footballer (d. 2019)
 1959 - Pierre Lacroix, Canadian ice hockey player
 1960 – Jeremy Clarkson, English journalist and television presenter
 1961 – Doug Hopkins, American musician (d. 1993)
 1961 - Vincent Gallo, American actor, singer, director, producer and screenwriter
 1964 - John Cryer, English journalist and politician
 1965 - Corri Wilson, Scottish politician
 1966 – Lisa Stansfield, English singer
 1966 – Mason Reese, American actor
 1968 – Sergey Lukyanenko, Russian science fiction writer
 1969 - Caren Miosga, German news presenter
 1969 - Cerys Matthews, Welsh singer
 1969 - Oriol Junqueras, Catalan politician, historian and academic
 1970 - Trevor Linden, Canadian ice hockey player
 1970 – Whigfield, Danish singer
 1971 – Oliver Riedel, German musician (Rammstein)
 1972 - Balls Mahoney, American professional wrestler (d. 2016)
 1972 – Jason Varitek, American baseball player
 1973 - Jennifer Esposito, American actress
 1974 - Mario Cantaluppi, Swiss footballer
 1974 - Tricia Helfer, Canadian model and actress
 1974 - Zoe Lucker, British actress
 1974 – Trot Nixon, American baseball player

From 1976 
 1976 – Antonio Pacheco, Uruguayan footballer
 1978 - Tom Thacker, Canadian singer and musician
 1979 - Nazanin Afshin-Jam, Iranian-Canadian model and singer
 1979 - Malcolm Christie, English footballer
 1980 – Keiji Tamada, Japanese footballer
 1981 - Alessandra Ambrosio, Brazilian model and actress
 1981 - Matt Ryan, Welsh actor
 1982 – Ian Bell, English cricketer
 1982 - Peeter Kümmel, Estonian skier
 1983 - Jennifer Heil, Canadian skier
 1984 – Nikola Karabatic, French handball player
 1984 - Kelli Garner, American actress
 1984 - Monica May, American actress
 1986 - Dai Greene, Welsh athlete
 1987 – Joss Stone, English singer
 1987 - Lights, Canadian musician, singer and songwriter
 1988 - Leland Irving, Canadian ice hockey player
 1989 - Zola Jesus, American singer-songwriter and producer
 1990 – Shohei Otsuka, Japanese footballer
 1991 – Thiago Alcántara, Italian footballer
 1991 - James Magnussen, Australian swimmer
 1991 - Erina Mano, Japanese singer and actress
 1994 - Duncan Laurence, Dutch singer
 1994 – Dakota Blue Richards, English actress
 1996 - Dele Alli, English footballer
 1998 - Oliver Dillon, English actor
 2000 - Morgan Lily, American actress

Deaths

Up to 1950 
 678 - Pope Donus
 714 - Guthlac of Crowland, English saint
 1034 – Romanus III, Byzantine Emperor (b. 968)
 1165 – King Stephen IV of Hungary (b. 1133)
 1240 – Llywelyn the Great, King of Gwynedd
 1447 - Henry Beaufort, English bishop and cardinal (b. 1375)
 1771 – George Canning, Sr., father of George Canning (b. 1736)
 1783 - Nikita Ivanovich Panin, Polish-Russian politician (b. 1718)
 1798 - Karl Wilhelm Ramler, German poet (b. 1725)
 1856 – Jose Santamaria, Costa Rican national hero (b. 1831)
 1873 - Edward Canby, American general (b. 1817)
 1875 - Andrew Jackson Hamilton, 12th Governor of Texas (b. 1815)
 1884 – Charles Reade, English writer (b. 1814)
 1890 – Joseph Merrick, British man who was often referred to as the Elephant Man (b. 1862)
 1894 - Constantin Lipsius, German architect (b. 1832)
 1903 - Gemma Galgani, Italian mystic and saint (b. 1878)
 1906 - James Anthony Bailey, American businessman (b. 1847)
 1906 - Francis Pharcellus Church, American journalist and publisher (b. 1809)
 1908 - Henry Bird, English chess player and author (b. 1829)
 1916 - Richard Harding Davis, American author (b. 1864)
 1918 - Otto Wagner, Austrian architect (b. 1841)
 1921 – Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, Empress of Germany and Queen of Prussia (b. 1858)
 1926 - Luther Burbank, American botanist and horticulturist (b. 1849)
 1934 - John Collier, English painter (b. 1850)
 1950 – Bainbridge Colby, United States Secretary of State (b. 1869)

1951  2010 
 1953 - Kid Nichols, American baseball player and manager (b. 1869)
 1954 - Paul Specht, American violinist and bandleader (b. 1895)
 1958 - Marcel Pilet-Golaz, Swiss politician (b. 1889)
 1958 - Konstantin Yuon, Russian painter (b. 1875)
 1967 - Donald Sangster, 2nd Prime Minister of Jamaica (b. 1911)
 1970 – John O'Hara, American writer (b. 1905)
 1977 – Jacques Prévert, French poet (b. 1900)
 1983 - Dolores del Rio, Mexican actress (b. 1904)
 1985 – Enver Hoxha, Albanian political leader (b. 1908)
 1987 – Primo Levi, Italian writer and chemist (b. 1919)
 1990 - Ivan-Lo Johansson, Swedish writer (b. 1900)
 1992 - Eve Merriam, American playwright, director and poet (b. 1916)
 1997 – Wang Xiaobo, Chinese writer (b. 1952)
 2001 - Harry Secombe, Welsh actor and comedian (b. 1921)
 2005 – Lucien Laurent, French footballer (b. 1907)
 2006 – Proof, American rapper (b. 1973)
 2006 - June Pointer, American singer (Pointer Sisters) (b. 1953)
 2007 – Kurt Vonnegut, American writer (b. 1921)
 2009 - Gerda Gilboe, Danish actress (b. 1914)

From 2011 
 2012 – Ahmed Ben Bella, 1st President of Algeria (b. 1918)
 2014 - Edna Doré, English actress (b. 1921)
 2014 - Jesse Winchester, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer (b. 1944)
 2014 - Nandu Bhende, Indian musician (b. 1955)
 2014 - Rolf Brem, Swiss sculptor, illustrator and graphic artist (b. 1926)
 2014 - Bill Henry, American baseball player (b. 1927)
 2014 - Myer S. Kripke, American rabbi (b. 1914)
 2015 - Janusz Kurczab, Polish fencer (b. 1937)
 2015 - Sheila Kitzinger, British childbirth activist (b. 1929)
 2015 - Charlie Beasley, American basketball player (b. 1945)
 2016 - Ed Snider, American sports executive (b. 1933)
 2016 - Emile Ford, Saint Lucian singer and sound engineer (b. 1937)
 2016 - Anne Gould Hauberg, American arts patron (b. 1917)
 2017 - Dorothy Mengering, American television personality (b. 1921)
 2017 - Margit Schumann, German luger (b. 1952)
 2017 - Michael Ballhaus, German cinematographer (b. 1935)
 2018 - Karen Dawisha, American political scientist and writer (b. 1949)
 2018 - Mitzi Shore, American comedy club owner (b. 1930)
 2018 - Zola Skweyiya, South African politician (b. 1942)
 2018 - Patrick F. McManus, American columnist and writer (b. 1933)
 2018 - Jean-Claude Servan-Schreiber, French journalist and politician (b. 1918)
 2019 - Ian Cognito, English comedian (b. 1958)
 2019 - Stanley Plumly, American poet (b. 1939)
 2019 - Dmitri Savitski, Russian novelist (b. 1944)

Observances 
 International Day of Rowing
 International Day of Parkinson's disease Awareness

References 

Days of the year