October 11 is the 284th day of the year (285th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. 81 days remain until the end of the year.
This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Tuesday, Sunday, or Thursday (58 times in 400 years) than a Friday or Saturday (57), and slightly less likely to fall on a Monday or Wednesday (56).
1138 – A massive earthquake strikes Aleppo; it is one of the most destructive earthquakes ever.[1]
1142 – A peace treaty ends the Jin–Song wars.
1311 – The peerage and clergy restrict the authority of English kings with the Ordinances of 1311.
1531 – Huldrych Zwingli is killed in battle with the Roman Catholic cantons of Switzerland.
1614 – The New Netherland Company applies to the States General of the Netherlands for exclusive trading rights in what is now the northeastern United States.
1634 – The Burchardi flood kills around 15,000 in North Friesland, Denmark and Germany.
1649 – Cromwell's New Model Army Sacks Wexford, killing over 2,000 Irish Confederate troops and 1,500 civilians.
1767 – Surveying for the Mason–Dixon line separating Maryland from Pennsylvania is completed.
1776 – American Revolution: A fleet of American boats on Lake Champlain is defeated by the Royal Navy, but delays the British advance until 1777.
1797 – The Royal Navy decisively defeats the Batavian Navy at Camperdown during the French Revolutionary Wars.
1811 – The Juliana begins operation as the first steam-powered ferry in New York harbor.
1840 – The Maronite leader Bashir Shihab II surrenders to the Ottoman Empire and later is sent to Malta in exile.
1852 – The University of Sydney, Australia's oldest university, is inaugurated in Sydney.
1862 – American Civil War: Confederate troops conduct a raid on Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.
1865 – Hundreds of black men and women march in Jamaica, starting the Morant Bay rebellion.
1890 – In Washington, D.C., the Daughters of the American Revolution is founded.
1899 – The Second Boer War erupts in South Africa between the British-ruled Cape Colony, and the Boer-ruled Transvaal and Orange Free State.
1906 – San Francisco sparks a diplomatic crisis between the United States and Japan by ordering segregated schools for Japanese students.
1910 – Piloted by Arch Hoxsey, Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first U.S. president to fly in an airplane.
1912 – First Balkan War: The day after the Battle of Sarantaporo, Greek troops liberate the city of Kozani.
1918 – The 7.1 Template:MSan Fermín earthquake shakes Puerto Rico. The quake and resulting tsunami kill up to 116 people.
1937 – The Duke and Duchess of Windsor tour Nazi Germany for 12 days and meet Adolf Hitler on the 22nd.
1941 – Beginning of the National Liberation War of Macedonia.
1942 – World War II: Off Guadalcanal, United States Navy ships intercept and defeat a Japanese force.
1944 – The Tuvan People's Republic is annexed by the Soviet Union.
1950 – CBS's field-sequential color system for television is the first to be licensed for broadcast by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
1954 – In accord with the 1954 Geneva Conference, French troops complete their withdrawal from North Vietnam.
1958 – NASA launches Pioneer 1, its first space probe, although it fails to achieve a stable orbit.
1962 – The Second Vatican Council becomes the first ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church in 92 years.
1968 – NASA launches Apollo 7, the first successful manned Apollo mission.
1972 – A race riot occurs on the United States Navy aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk off the coast of Vietnam.
1976 – George Washington is posthumously promoted to the grade of General of the Armies.
1984 – Aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan becomes the first American woman to perform a space walk.
1984 – Aeroflot Flight 3352 crashes into maintenance vehicles upon landing in Omsk, Russia, killing 178.
1986 – Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachevmeet in Iceland to continue discussions about scaling back IRBM arsenals in Europe.
1987 – The AIDS Memorial Quilt is first displayed during the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.
1987 – Start of Operation Pawan by Indian forces in Sri Lanka. Thousands of civilians, insurgents, soldiers die.
1991 – Prof. Anita Hill delivers her televised testimony concerning sexual harassment during the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination.[2]
2000 – NASA launches STS-92, the 100th Space Shuttle mission.
2001 – The Polaroid Corporation files for federal bankruptcy protection.
2002 – A bomb attack in a shopping mall in Finland kills seven.
2013 – A migrant boat sinks in the Channel of Sicily, with at least 34 people drowning.
2018 – Soyuz MS-10, launching an intended crew for the ISS, suffers an in-flight abort. The crew lands safely.
Births[]
1492 – Charles Orlando, Dauphin of France, French noble (d. 1495)
1552 – Tsarevich Dmitry Ivanovich of Russia, Grand Prince of Moscow (d. 1553)
1616 – Andreas Gryphius, German poet and playwright (d. 1664)
1661 – Melchior de Polignac, French cardinal and poet (d. 1742)
1671 – Frederick IV of Denmark (d. 1730)
1672 – Pylyp Orlyk, Ukrainian-Romanian diplomat (d. 1742)
1675 – Samuel Clarke, English minister and philosopher (d. 1729)
1738 – Arthur Phillip, English admiral and politician, 1st Governor of New South Wales (d. 1814)
1739 – Grigory Potemkin, Russian general and politician (d. 1791)
1758 – Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers, German physician and astronomer (d. 1840)
1786 – Stevenson Archer, American judge and politician (d. 1848)
1788 – Simon Sechter, Austrian organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1867)
1793 – Maria James, Welsh-born American poet, domestic servant (d. 1868)[3]
1803 – Gregor von Helmersen, Estonian-Russian general and geologist (d. 1885)
1814 – Jean-Baptiste Lamy, French-American archbishop (d. 1888)
1815 – Pierre Napoléon Bonaparte, Italian-French politician (d. 1881)
1821 – George Williams, English philanthropist, founded the YMCA (d. 1905)
1827 – Afzal-ud-Daulah, Asaf Jah V, 5th Nizam of Hyderabad[4]
1835 – Theodore Thomas, American conductor, founded the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (d. 1905)
1844 – Henry J. Heinz, American businessman, founded the H. J. Heinz Company (d. 1919)
1865 – Hans E. Kinck, Norwegian philologist and author (d. 1926)
1871 – Johan Oscar Smith, Norwegian evangelist, founded the Brunstad Christian Church (d. 1943)
1872 – Emily Davison, English educator and activist (d. 1913)
1872 – Harlan F. Stone, American lawyer and jurist, 12th Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1946)
1879 – Ernst Mally, Austrian philosopher and academic (d. 1944)
1881 – Hans Kelsen, Czech-American jurist and philosopher (d. 1973)
1884 – Friedrich Bergius, German-Argentinian chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1949)
1884 – Eleanor Roosevelt, American humanitarian and politician, 39th First Lady of the United States (d. 1962)
1884 – Sig Ruman, German-American actor (d. 1967)
1885 – François Mauriac, French novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1970)
1890 – A. V. Kulasingham, Sri Lankan journalist, lawyer, and politician (d. 1978)
1894 – Julius Kuperjanov, Estonian educator and lieutenant (d. 1919)
1896 – Roman Jakobson, Russian-American linguist and theorist (d. 1982)
1897 – Nathan Farragut Twining, American general (d. 1982)
1899 – Eddie Dyer, American baseball player and manager (d. 1964)
1901 – Masanobu Tsuji, Japanese colonel and politician (d. 1961)
1902 – Jayaprakash Narayan, Indian activist and politician (d. 1979)
1905 – Fred Trump, American real estate entrepreneur (d. 1999)
1910 – Cahit Arf, Turkish mathematician and academic (d. 1997)
1911 – Nello Pagani, Italian motorcycle racer and race car driver (d. 2003)
1913 – Joe Simon, American author and illustrator (d. 2011)
1915 – T. Llew Jones, Welsh author and poet (d. 2009)
1916 – Nanaji Deshmukh, Indian educator and activist (d. 2010)
1918 – Fred Bodsworth, Canadian journalist and author (d. 2012)
1918 – Jerome Robbins, American director, producer, and choreographer (d. 1998)
1919 – Art Blakey, American drummer and bandleader (d. 1990)
1919 – Douglas Albert Munro, United States Coast Guard signalman, posthumously awarded Medal of Honor (d. 1942)
1922 – G. C. Edmondson, American soldier and author (d. 1995)
1924 – André Emmerich, German-American art dealer (d. 2007)
1924 – Sammy McCrory, Northern Irish footballer (d. 2011)
1924 – Mal Whitfield, American athlete (d. 2015)[5]
1925 – Elmore Leonard, American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter (d. 2013)