This day in history: 11 june

Europa

• 173 AD: During the Marcomannic Wars, the Roman army led by Emperor Marcus Aurelius achieved victory over the Quadi in Moravia, aided by a sudden thunderstorm—an event later called the “miracle of the rain”.
• 1011: In Bari (Italy), Greek citizens rose against Lombard rebels and handed the city to Basil Mesardonites, the Byzantine governor.
• 1118: Roger of Salerno, Prince of Antioch, captured Azaz from the Seljuk Turks.
• 1157: Albert I, known as “The Bear,” became the founder of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, a key region in what is now Germany.
• 1429: The Battle of Jargeau began during the Hundred Years’ War, marking a significant moment in the conflict between France and England.
• 1488: The Battle of Sauchieburn in Scotland resulted in the death of King James III.
• 1509: King Henry VIII of England married Catherine of Aragon, a union with major implications for English and European history.
• 1702: Anglo-Dutch forces skirmished with the French near Nijmegen, Netherlands, preventing the city’s fall.
• 1724: Johann Sebastian Bach led his cantata “O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort” (BWV 20), beginning his second cycle of church cantatas in Leipzig, Germany.
• 1940: The Siege of Malta began with Italian air raids, marking the start of a critical campaign in the Mediterranean during World War II. On the same day, Italian planes bombed Malta, Paris was declared an open city, and Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa declared war on Italy.
• 1955: The Le Mans disaster occurred in France, where a crash at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race killed over 80 people, making it one of the worst accidents in motorsport history.
• 1959: British inventor Christopher Cockerell presented the hovercraft, and soon after, the first crossing of the English Channel by hovercraft occurred between Dover (UK) and Calais (France).
• 1987: Margaret Thatcher became the first British Prime Minister in 160 years to win a third consecutive term, and the first black MPs were elected to the UK House of Commons.

America

• 1775: The Battle of Machias, the first naval engagement of the American Revolutionary War, took place, resulting in the capture of a British naval vessel by colonial forces.
• 1776: The Continental Congress appointed the Committee of Five—Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston—to draft the Declaration of Independence.
• 1805: A major fire devastated large portions of Detroit in the Michigan Territory.
• 1825: The first cornerstone for Fort Hamilton in New York City was laid, marking a significant military construction.
• 1837: The Broad Street Riot occurred in Boston, fueled by ethnic tensions between Yankees and Irish immigrants.
• 1935: Edwin Armstrong gave the first public demonstration of FM radio broadcasting in Alpine, New Jersey, revolutionizing radio technology.
• 1942: The United States agreed to send Lend-Lease aid to the Soviet Union during World War II, strengthening Allied cooperation.
• 1944: The USS Missouri, the last battleship built by the US Navy and future site of the Japanese surrender in World War II, was commissioned.
• 1962: Frank Morris, John Anglin, and Clarence Anglin allegedly became the only prisoners to successfully escape from Alcatraz Island.
• 1963: Governor George Wallace attempted to block the desegregation of the University of Alabama by physically standing in the doorway, but was eventually forced to step aside, allowing Vivian Malone and James Hood to register. Later that day, President John F. Kennedy delivered a televised address proposing the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
• 1970: Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington officially became the first women to receive the rank of US Army general officer.
• 1971: The last holdouts of the Native American Occupation of Alcatraz were forcibly removed by the US government, ending 19 months of occupation.
• 2001: Timothy McVeigh, convicted for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people, was executed.
• 2016: The deadliest mass shooting in US history at the time occurred at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, where a gunman killed 49 people.

Asia

• 631: Emperor Taizong of Tang sent envoys with gold and silk to the Xueyantuo, successfully negotiating the release of 80,000 enslaved Chinese prisoners captured during the transition from Sui to Tang. These freed individuals were returned to China, marking a major diplomatic achievement.
• 1898: The Hundred Days’ Reform began under the Guangxu Emperor, aiming to modernize China’s social, political, and educational institutions. Although the reform was suspended by Empress Dowager Cixi after 104 days, it paved the way for the eventual abolition of the Imperial Examination system in 1905.
• 1938: During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Chinese Nationalist government deliberately breached the Yellow River dikes to slow the Japanese advance, causing the 1938 Yellow River flood. This catastrophic event resulted in the deaths of an estimated 500,000 to 900,000 civilians.
• 1956: The Gal Oya riots began in Sri Lanka, marking the first reported ethnic riots targeting minority Sri Lankan Tamils in the Eastern Province. The violence resulted in approximately 150 deaths.
• 1991: Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines erupted, spewing ash over a wide area and causing significant damage to surrounding communities and U.S. military bases.
• 2008: Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed, imprisoned on corruption charges, was released.
• 2012: A landslide in Afghanistan, following an earthquake, killed 80 people.
• 1897: Birth of Ram Prasad Bismil, a prominent revolutionary leader in the Indian independence movement.
• 1964: The ashes of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister, were scattered across the country.

Africa

• 1952: On June 11, the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Indian Congress (SAIC) decided to proclaim a “National Day of Mourning” for June 26, calling for a countrywide stay-at-home strike and prayer. This action was in response to the shootings by police during a general strike on May 1, which killed 18 and wounded 30 people. The June 11 decision was a pivotal step leading up to the Defiance Campaign, one of the earliest and most significant mass protests against apartheid laws in South Africa.
• While June 11 is not widely marked by continent-wide events, the 1950s were a critical period in African history, with liberation movements gaining momentum and several countries moving toward independence from European colonial rule.
• The formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 1963 (now African Union) is a key milestone in African history, though it occurred on May 25, not June 11.