August 11

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 Istvan Turr, 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 Francois 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 Bulow, 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 (d. 2023)
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 Maria 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 Ivan Cordoba, 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 Jose Antonio Castro, Mexican footballer
1980 Sebastien 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 Rolantsson, 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 Martinez, Honduran footballer (b. 1982)
Observances
Independence Day in Chad
Days of the year