On This Day … 11 August

Events

  • 2492 BC – Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founder of the Armenian nation.
  • 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 – Wars of Scottish Independence: Battle of Dupplin Moor: Scots under Domhnall II, Earl of Mar are routed by Edward Balliol.
  • 1473 – The Battle of Otlukbeli: Mehmed the Conqueror of the Ottoman Empire decisively defeats Uzun Hassan of Aq Qoyunlu.
  • 1675 – Franco-Dutch War: Forces of the Holy Roman Empire defeat the French in the Battle of Konzer Brücke.
  • 1786 – Captain Francis Light establishes the British colony of Penang in Malaysia.
  • 1812 – Peninsular War: French troops engage British-Portuguese forces in the Battle of Majadahonda.
  • 1813 – In Colombia, Juan del Corral declares the independence of Antioquia.
  • 1898 – Spanish-American War: American troops enter the city of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.
  • 1918 – World War I: The Battle of Amiens ends.
  • 1919 – Germany’s Weimar Constitution is signed into law.
  • 1920 – The Latvian-Soviet Peace Treaty, which relinquished Russia’s authority and pretenses to Latvia, is signed, ending the Latvian War of Independence.
  • 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, two-way radio communications, and Wi-Fi.
  • 1945 – Poles in Kraków engage in a pogrom against Jews in the city, killing one and wounding five.
  • 1960 – Chad declares independence.
  • 1961 – The former Portuguese territories in India of Dadra and Nagar Haveli are merged to create the Union Territory Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
  • 1972 – Vietnam War: The last United States ground combat unit leaves South Vietnam.
  • 1975 – East Timor: Governor Mário Lemos Pires of Portuguese Timor abandons the capital Dili, following a coup by the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT) and the outbreak of civil war between UDT and Fretilin.
  • 2003 – NATO takes over command of the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, marking its first major operation outside Europe in its 54-year-history.

People (Births)

  • 1718 – Frederick Haldimand, Swiss-English general and politician, 22nd Governor of Quebec (d. 1791).
  • 1807 – David Rice Atchison, American general, lawyer, and politician (d. 1886).
  • 1833 – Robert G. Ingersoll, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (d. 1899).
  • 1833 – Kido Takayoshi, Japanese samurai and politician (d. 1877).
  • 1900 – Charley Paddock, American sprinter (d. 1943).
  • 1902 – Alfredo Binda, Italian cyclist (d. 1986).
  • 1902 – Christian de Castries, French general (d. 1991).
  • 1911 – Thanom Kittikachorn, Thai field marshal and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Thailand (d. 2004).
  • 1943 – Pervez Musharraf, Pakistani general and politician, 10th President of Pakistan.
  • 1950 – Gennadiy Nikonov, Russian engineer, designed the AN-94 rifle (d. 2003).
  • 1953 – Wijda Mazereeuw, Dutch swimmer.
  • 1973 – Kristin Armstrong, American cyclist.
  • 1980 – Daniel Lloyd, English cyclist and sportscaster.
  • 1989 – Junior Heffernan, Irish cyclist and triathlete (d. 2013).
  • 1994 – Anton Cooper, New Zealand cross-country cyclist.

People (Deaths)

  • 991 – Byrhtnoth, English soldier (b. 956).
  • 1332 – Robert II Keith, Marischal of Scotland.
  • 1456 – John Hunyadi, Hungarian general and politician (b. 1387).
  • 1656 – Ottavio Piccolomini, Austrian-Italian field marshal (b. 1599).
  • 1908 – Khudiram Bose, Indian Bengali revolutionary (b. 1889).
  • 2001 – Percy Stallard, English cyclist and coach (b. 1909).
  • 2009 – Eunice Kennedy Shriver, American activist, founded the Special Olympics (b. 1921).
  • 2013 – Raymond Delisle, French cyclist (b. 1943).
  • 2017 – Yisrael Kristal, Polish-Israeli supercentenarian; oldest living Holocaust survivor and one of the ten oldest men ever (b. 1903).
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