This day in history: 11 april

1241: Batu Khan, a Mongol leader, defeated Béla IV of Hungary at the Battle of Mohi during the Mongol invasion of Europe.
1512: The forces of the Holy League were heavily defeated by the French at the Battle of Ravenna during the War of the League of Cambrai.
1689: William III and Mary II were crowned as joint sovereigns of Great Britain in London, marking a significant moment in British history.
1713: The Treaty of Utrecht was signed, ending the War of the Spanish Succession. This treaty had major implications for European politics, including Britain recognizing Philip V as King of Spain while he renounced claims to the French throne.
1814: Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated unconditionally at Fontainebleau after facing an invasion by allied European forces. This marked a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars, leading to his exile on the island of Elba.
1939: Hungary withdrew from the League of Nations under pressure from Nazi Germany, signaling its alignment with Axis powers during the buildup to World War II.
1945: During World War II, American forces liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany, one of the largest Nazi concentration camps.
These events showcase significant political, military, and social developments in European history on April 11 across different centuries.

1865: President Abraham Lincoln delivered his last public speech, addressing Reconstruction efforts following the Civil War.
1899: Spain formally ceded Puerto Rico to the United States under the Treaty of Paris, marking a key outcome of the Spanish-American War.
1945: American forces liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany during World War II, highlighting U.S. involvement in ending Nazi atrocities.
1968: President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which prohibited housing discrimination and expanded civil rights protections, just a week after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination.
1970: Apollo 13 was launched on its ill-fated mission to the Moon, later becoming a story of resilience after an oxygen tank explosion forced the crew to abort their mission.

1955: The Kashmir Princess bombing occurred. Air India Flight 300, carrying Chinese and Vietnamese delegations to the Afro-Asian Bandung Conference, was bombed in a failed assassination attempt on Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. The flight crashed into the sea, killing 16 passengers and crew members.
1960: The April Revolution began in South Korea. Protests against President Syngman Rhee’s autocratic rule were triggered by the discovery of a student’s body killed during demonstrations against rigged elections. These protests eventually led to Rhee’s resignation on April 26.
2001: The detained crew of a U.S. EP-3E aircraft, forced to land in Hainan, China after a collision with a Chinese fighter jet, was released by Chinese authorities.
2006: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that Iran had successfully enriched uranium, escalating global concerns about its nuclear program.

1979: Ugandan dictator Idi Amin was overthrown. Amin’s brutal eight-year rule was marked by extensive human rights abuses, with hundreds of thousands killed during his regime.
2022: Catastrophic floods and landslides struck South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces. The disaster, driven by extreme rainfall exacerbated by climate change, resulted in over 435 deaths and affected more than 40,000 people.
2007: Algiers bombings occurred, killing 33 people and injuring 222 others. These attacks were carried out by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.