Today June 11th 2009 this day in history Read more below to view events, deaths, births, Holidays observances and video clips. Last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009
Events
1184 BC – Trojan War: Troy is sacked and burned, according to the calculations of Eratosthenes.
631 – Emperor Taizong of Tang, the Emperor of China, sends envoys to the Xueyantuo bearing gold and silk in order to persuade the release of enslaved Chinese prisoners who were captured during the transition from Sui to Tang from the northern frontier; this embassy succeeded in freeing 80,000 Chinese men and women who were then returned to China.
758 – Abbasid Arabs and Uyghur Turks arrive simultaneously at Chang an, the Tang Chinese capital, in order to offer tribute to the imperial court. The Arabs and Turks bicker and fight over diplomatic prominence at the gate, in order to present tribute before the other. A settlement is reached when both are allowed to enter at the same time, but through two different gates to the palace.
1345 – The megas doux Alexios Apokaukos, chief minister of the Byzantine Empire, is lynched by political prisoners.
1429 – Hundred Years War: The start of the Battle of Jargeau.
1509 – The marriage of King Henry VIII of England and Catherine of Aragon takes place.
1594 – Philip II recognized the rights and privileges of the local nobles and chieftains in the Philippines, which paves way to the creation of the Principalía (i.e., elite ruling class of native nobility in Spanish Philippines).
1776 – The Continental Congress appoints Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston to a committee to draft a declaration of independence.
1788 – Russian explorer Gerasim Izmailov reaches Alaska.
1805 – A fire consumes large portions of Detroit in the Michigan Territory.
1825 – The first cornerstone is laid for Fort Hamilton in New York City.
1837 – The Broad Street Riot occurres in Boston, fueled by ethnic tensions between English-Americans and Irish-Americans.
1866 – The Allahabad High Court (then Agra High Court) is established in India.
1892 – The Limelight Department, one of the world s first film studios, is officially established in Melbourne, Australia.
1898 – Spanish-American War: U.S. war ships start to sail for Cuba.
1898 – The Hundred Days Reform is started by Guangxu Emperor in hope to change social, political and educational institutions in China, however suspended by Empress Dowager Cixi after 104 days. The failed reform though led to the abolishment of Imperial Examination in 1905.
1901 – New Zealand annexes the Cook Islands.
1907 – George Dennett, aided by Gilbert Jessop, dismisses Northamptonshire for 12 runs, the lowest total in first-class cricket.
1917 – King Alexander assumes the throne of Greece after his father Constantine I abdicated under pressure by allied armies occupying Athens.
1919 – Sir Barton wins the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first horse to win the Triple Crown.
1935 – Inventor Edwin Armstrong gives the first public demonstration of FM broadcasting in the United States, at Alpine, New Jersey.
1936 – International Surrealist Exhibition opens in London, England.
1937 – Great Purge: The Soviet Union executes eight army leaders under Joseph Stalin.
1938 – Second Sino-Japanese War: The Battle of Wuhan starts.
1938 – Second Sino-Japanese War: The Nationalist government creates the 1938 Yellow River flood to halt Japanese forces. 500,000 to 900,000 civilians are killed.
1940 – World War II: British forces bomb Genoa and Turin in Italy.
1940 – World War II: First attack of the Italian Air force on the island of Malta.
1942 – World War II: The United States agrees to send Lend-Lease aid to the Soviet Union.
1955 – Eighty-three are killed and at least 100 are injured after an Austin-Healey and a Mercedes-Benz collide at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
1956 – Start of Gal Oya riots, the first reported ethnic riots that targeted minority Sri Lankan Tamils in the Eastern Province. The total number of deaths is reportedly 150.
1962 – Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin become the only prisoners to successfully escape from the prison on Alcatraz Island.
1963 – American Civil Rights Movement: Alabama Governor George Wallace stands at the door of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama in an attempt to block two black students from attending that school.
1963 – Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc burns himself with gasoline in a busy Saigon intersection to protest the lack of religious freedom in South Vietnam.
1964 – World War II veteran Walter Seifert runs amok in an elementary school in Cologne, Germany, killing at least eight children and two teachers and seriously injuring several more with a home-made flamethrower and a lance.
1967 – Mexico becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
1970 – After being appointed on May 15, Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington officially receive their ranks as U.S. Army Generals, becoming the first females to do so.
1972 – Eltham Well Hall rail crash, caused by an intoxicated train driver, kills six people and injures 126.
1978 – Altaf Hussain founds the students political movement All Pakistan Muhajir Students Organisation a.k.a (APMSO) in Karachi University.
1981 – Richter Scale 6.9 magnitude Golbaf earthquake at Iran, killing at least 2,000.
1998 – Compaq Computer pays $9 billion for Digital Equipment Corporation in the largest high-tech acquisition.
2001 – Timothy McVeigh is executed for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.
2002 – Antonio Meucci is acknowledged as the first inventor of the telephone by the United States Congress.
2004 – Cassini-Huygens makes its closest flyby of Phoebe.
2004 – Ronald Reagan s funeral is held at Washington National Cathedral.
2008 – Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper made an official historic apology to Canada s First Nations in regard to a residential school abuse in which children were isolated from their homes, families and cultures for a century.
Births
1403 – John IV, Duke of Brabant (d. 1427)
1456 – Anne Neville, wife of Richard III of England (d. 1485)
1540 – Barnabe Googe, English poet (d. 1594)
1572 – Ben Jonson, English dramatist (d. 1637)
1588 – George Wither, English writer (d. 1667)
1672 – Francesco Antonio Bonporti, Italian priest and composer (d. 1749)
1696 – Francis Edward James Keith, Scottish soldier and Prussian field marshal (d. 1758)
1704 – Carlos Seixas, Portuguese composer (d. 1742)
1713 – Edward Capell, English critic (d. 1781)
1723 – Johann Georg Palitzsch, German astronomer (d. 1788)
1741 – Joseph Warren, American doctor and soldier (d. 1775)
1776 – John Constable, English painter (d. 1837)
1815 – Julia Margaret Cameron, English photographer (d. 1879)
1842 – Carl von Linde, German engineer and industrialist (d. 1934)
1846 – William Louis Marshall, American general and engineer (d. 1920)
1847 – Millicent Fawcett, British suffragist and feminist (d. 1929)
1864 – Richard Strauss, German composer and conductor (d. 1949)
1867 – Charles Fabry, French physicist (d. 1945)
1871 – Stjepan Radic, Croatian politician (d. 1928)
1876 – Alfred L. Kroeber, American anthropologist (d. 1960)
1877 – Renee Vivien, English-born poet (d. 1909)
1879 – Roger Bresnahan, baseball player (d. 1944)
1879 – Max Schreck, German actor (d. 1936)
1880 – Jeannette Rankin, American politician, feminist, and pacifist (d. 1973)
1888 – Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Italian anarchist (d. 1927)
1894 – Dai Vernon (David Frederick Wingfield Verner), Canadian magician, The Professor (d. 1992)
1895 – Nikolai Bulganin, Soviet politician (d. 1975)
1897 – Grand Duchess Tatiana of Russia (d. 1918)
1903 – Ernie Nevers, American football player (d. 1976)
1910 – Jacques-Yves Cousteau, French explorer and inventor (d. 1997)
1910 – Carmine Coppola, American composer, director and songwriter (d. 1991)
1912 – James Algar, American film director (d. 1998)
1913 – Vince Lombardi, American football coach (d. 1970)
1913 – Risë Stevens, American operatic soprano
1914 – Gerald Mohr, American actor (d. 1968)
1915 – Nicholas Metropolis, Greek-American mathematician, physicist and computer scientist (d. 1999)
1917 – Joseph B. Wirthlin, LDS apostle
1919 – Richard Todd, British actor
1920 – Hazel Scott, West Indian-born singer (d. 1981)
1920 – Irving Howe, American literary and social critic (d. 1993)
1922 – John Bromfield, American actor (d. 2005)
1922 – Michael Cacoyannis, Greek Cypriot film maker
1924 – Ed Farhat, American professional wrestler (d. 2003)
1925 – William Styron, American author (d. 2006)
1926 – Carlisle Floyd, American composer
1928 – Fabiola de Mora y Aragón, Queen of the Belgians
1930 – Charles B. Rangel, American politician
1931 – Audrey Schuh, American soprano
1932 – Athol Fugard, South African playwright
1933 – Gene Wilder, American actor
1934 – Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark
1936 – Jud Strunk, American musician and comedian (d. 1981)
1936 – Chad Everett, American actor
1937 – Robin Warren, Australian pathologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine
1937 – Johnny Brown, American comic
1939 – Sir Jackie Stewart, Scottish race car driver, three-time F1 world champion and former F1 team principal
1939 – Bernard Purdie, American session drummer
1939 – Christina Crawford, American actress and writer
1940 – Joey Dee, American musician (Joey Dee and the Starliters)
1945 – Adrienne Barbeau, American actress
1947 – Laloo Prasad Yadav, Indian politician
1947 – Henry Cisneros, American politician, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
1947 – Richard Palmer-James, British lyricist and guitarist (King Crimson and Supertramp)
1947 – Bob Evans, British racing driver
1948 – Dave Cash, Major league baseball player
1949 – Frank Beard, American drummer (ZZ Top)
1949 – Tom Pryce, British racing driver (d. 1977)
1949 – Benjamin Vasserman, Estonian graphic artist
1950 – Lynsey De Paul, British singer and songwriter
1950 – Graham Russell, British guitarist and vocalist (Air Supply)
1951 – Yasumasa Morimura, Japanese appropriation artist
1951 – Mark D. Siljander, former Republican U.S. Representative from the state of Michigan
1952 – Donnie Van Zant, American rock musician
1953 – Peter Bergman, American actor
1955 – Yuriy Sedykh, Soviet hammer thrower
1956 – Joe Montana. American football player
1957 – Jamaaladeen Tacuma, American musician
1959 – Hugh Laurie, English actor and comedian
1959 – Magnum T.A., American professional wrestler
1961 – Caroline Quentin, English actress
1961 – María Barranco, Spanish actress
1962 – Erika Salumäe, Estonian cyclist, Olympian
1963 – Bruce Kimball, American diver
1963 – Sandra Schmirler, Canadian curler (d. 2000)
1964 – Jean Alesi, French Formula One driver
1965 – Manuel Uribe Garza, morbidly obese Mexican
1965 – Joey Santiago, Filipino guitarist (Pixies)
1968 – Prince Alois of Liechtenstein, Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein
1969 – Peter Dinklage, American actor
1969 – Steven Drozd, American drummer
1969 – Bryan Fogarty, professional ice hockey player (d. 2002)
1969 – Matt McGrath, American actor
1970 – Chris Rice, singer/songwriter
1973 – José Manuel Abundis, Mexican football (soccer) forward
1974 – David Starie, British boxer
1975 – Choi Ji Woo, South Korean actress and model
1975 – Thomas Bimis, Greek diver
1976 – Gran Naniwa, Japanese professional wrestler
1977 – Geoff Ogilvy, Australian golfer
1977 – Ryan Dunn, American actor
1977 – Shane Meier, Canadian actor
1978 – Joshua Jackson, Canadian actor
1978 – Ujjwala Raut, Indian supermodel
1979 – Amy Taylor, Australian football (soccer) player, television presenter and model
1980 – Yhency Brazoban, Dominican born baseball player
1981 – Emiliano Moretti, Italian footballer
1982 – Eldar Rønning, Norwegian cross-country skier
1982 – Johnny Candido, American professional wrestler
1982 – Joey Graham, American basketball player
1982 – Steven Graham, American basketball player
1982 – Diana Taurasi, American basketball player
1983 – José Reyes, Dominican baseball player
1983 – Chuck Hayes, American basketball player
1983 – Justin Shekoski, American musician (Saosin)
1984 – Vagner Love, Brazilian footballer
1984 – Andy Lee, Irish Boxer
1985 – Chris Trousdale, American pop singer and dancer
1986 – Shia LaBeouf, American actor
1987 – TiA, Japanese R&B singer
1988 – Yui Aragaki, Japanese actress and model
1989 – Maya Moore, College Basketball Player
1994 – Ivana Baquero, Spanish actress
Deaths
323 BC – Alexander the Great, son of Philip II of Macedon (b. 356 BC)
1183 – Henry the Young King, son of Henry II of England (b. 1155)
1216 – Henry of Flanders, Emperor of the Latin Empire
1488 – King James III of Scotland
1557 – King John III of Portugal (b. 1502)
1695 – André Félibien, French architect (b. 1619)
1712 – Louis Joseph, duc de Vendôme, Marshal of France (b. 1654)
1727 – King George I of Great Britain (b. 1660)
1796 – Samuel Whitbread, English brewer and politician (b. 1720)
1847 – John Franklin, English sea captain and explorer (b. 1786)
1852 – Karl Briullov, Russian painter (b. 1799)
1858 – Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, Austrian statesman (b. 1773)
1879 – Prince Willem of the Netherlands, disgraced heir apparent to the Dutch throne (b. 1840)
1882 – Louis Maigret, Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1804)
1903 – Nikolai Bugaev, Russian mathematician (b. 1837)
1903 – Alexander Obrenovich, King of Serbia (b. 1876)
1911 – James Curtis Hepburn, American missionary and linguist (b. 1815)
1914 – Adolf Friedrich V, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (b. 1848)
1924 – Théodore Dubois, French composer and teacher (b. 1837)
1927 – William Attewell, English cricketer (b. 1861)
1934 – Lev Vygotsky, Russian psychologist (b. 1896)
1936 – Robert E. Howard, American author (b. 1906)
1937 – R. J. (Reginald Joseph) Mitchell, British aircraft designer (b. 1895)
1941 – Daniel Carter Beard, founder of the Boy Scouts of America (b. 1850)
1963 – Thích Qu?ng Ð?c, Vietnamese monk, self-immolation (b. 1897)
1965 – José Mendes Cabeçadas, 95th Prime Minister of Portugal and 9th President of Portugal (b. 1883)
1970 – Earl Grant, American musician and singer (b. 1931)
1970 – Frank Laubach, Christian missionary (b. 1884)
1970 – William Billy Batts Devino, American crime figure (b. 1921)
1974 – Julius Evola, Italian philosopher (b. 1898)
1974 – Eurico Gaspar Dutra, President of Brazil (b. 1883)
1976 – Jim Konstanty, American baseball player (b. 1917)
1979 – John Wayne, American actor (b. 1907)
1984 – Enrico Berlinguer, Italian politician (b. 1922)
1985 – Karen Ann Quinlan, American right-to-die cause célèbre (b. 1954)
1985 – Sapfo Notara, Greek actress (b. 1907)
1986 – Chesley Bonestell, American-born engineer, architect, and artist (b. 1888)
1991 – Cromwell Everson, South African composer (b. 1925)
1993 – Ray Sharkey, American actor (b. 1952)
1996 – Brigitte Helm, German actress (b. 1908)
1998 – Catherine Cookson, British novelist (b. 1906)
1999 – DeForest Kelley, American actor (b. 1920)
2001 – Timothy McVeigh, American terrorist (by execution (b. 1968)
2001 – Amalia Mendoza, Mexican singer (b. 1923)
2003 – David Brinkley, American television reporter (b. 1920)
2004 – Egon von Furstenberg, Swiss fashion designer (b. 1946)
2004 – Xenophon Zolotas, Greek politician (b. 1904)
2005 – Vasco Gonçalves, Portuguese general (b. 1922)
2006 – Bruce Shand, father of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (b. 1917)
2006 – Michael Bartosh, computer expert and author (b. 1977)
2006 – Neroli Fairhall, New Zealand archer (b. 1944)
2007 – Imre Friedmann, American scientist (b. 1921)
2007 – Mala Powers, American film actress (b. 1931)
2008 – Võ Van Ki?t, former prime minister of Vietnam (b. 1922)
2008 – Ove Andersson, Swedish rally driver (b. 1938)
2008 – Miroslav Dvorák, Czechoslovak ice hockey player (b. 1951)
Holidays and observances
Kamehameha Day, official state holiday of Hawaii, United States, in honor of its first monarch, celebrated with floral parades, hula competition, and festivals
Davis Day, in remembrance of William Davis, observed in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada
Roman Empire, Matralia in honor of Mater Matuta
Roman Empire, fifth day of the Vestalia in honor of Vesta
Saint Barnabas, apostle, martyr, (d. 62)
Saint Eskil, medieval patron saint of the Diocese of Strängnäs in Sweden (later moved to June 12 outside that diocese in order not to interfere with the Feast of Barnabas)
Saint Onuphrius, hermit, confessor
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