What Happened On July 11

10 odd things that happened on July 11

• 
  1864 Oddly true

  A riot broke out in Leicester, England, at the failed launching of a gas balloon (pictured).

  Read more →

  Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

• 
  1801 First ever

  French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons co-discovered the first of his 37 comets, more than any other person in history.

  Read more →

  Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

• 
  1801 First ever

  French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons makes his first comet discovery. In the next 27 years he discovers another 36 comets, more than any other person in history.

  Read more →

  Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

• 
  1897 Oddly true

  Salomon August Andrée leaves Spitsbergen to attempt to reach the North Pole by balloon.

  Read more →

  Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

• 
  1893 First ever

  The first cultured pearl is obtained by Kōkichi Mikimoto.

  Read more →

  Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

• 
  1804 Oddly true

  A duel occurs in which the Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr mortally wounds former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton.

  Read more →

  Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

• 
  1735 Oddly true

  Mathematical calculations suggest that it is on this day that dwarf planet Pluto moved inside the orbit of Neptune for the last time before 1979.

  Read more →

  Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

• 
  1476 Oddly true

  Giuliano della Rovere is appointed bishop of Coutances.

  Read more →

  Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

• 
  1405 First ever

  Ming admiral Zheng He sets sail to explore the world for the first time.

  Read more →

  Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

• 
  2010 First ever

  Spain defeated the Netherlands 1–0 after extra time to win their first FIFA World Cup title (pictured lifting the trophy).

  Read more →

  Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Observed today

• Christian Feast Day: Benedict of Nursia
• Christian Feast Day: Drostan
• Christian Feast Day: Kjeld
• Christian Feast Day: Marciana of Toledo
• Christian Feast Day: Olga of Kiev
• Christian Feast Day: Pope Pius I
• Christian Feast Day: Thomas Sprott
• Christian Feast Day: July 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• China National Maritime Day (China)
• Day of the Bandoneón (Argentina)
• Day of the Flemish Community (Flemish Community of Belgium)
• Eleventh Night (Northern Ireland)
• National Day of Remembrance of the victims of the Genocide of the Citizens of the Polish Republic committed by Ukrainian Nationalists (Poland, established by the 22 July 2016 resolution of Sejm in reference to the July 11, 1943 Volhynian Bloody Sunday)
• Gospel Day (Kiribati)
• National Day of Commemoration, held on the nearest Sunday to this date (Ireland)
• The first day of Naadam (July 11–15) (Mongolia)
• World Population Day (International)
• International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica, established by the U.N. in May 2024.

• 2021Virgin Galactic launches its founder, Richard Branson, into space, the first company ever to do so. Wikipedia →
• 2015Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán escapes from the maximum security Altiplano prison in Mexico, his second escape. Wikipedia →
• 2011Ninety-eight containers of explosives self-detonate killing 13 people in Zygi, Cyprus. Wikipedia →
• 2010The Islamist militia group Al-Shabaab carries out multiple suicide bombings in Kampala, Uganda, killing 74 people and injuring 85 others. Wikipedia →
• 2010In Johannesburg, Spain defeat the Netherlands 1–0 after extra time to win their first FIFA World Cup title. Wikipedia →
• 2007The Siege of Lal Masjid in Islamabad, Pakistan, ends after the Pakistan Army storms the mosque which had been occupied by Islamist militants. Wikipedia →
• 2006Mumbai train bombings: 209 people are killed in a series of bomb attacks in Mumbai, India. Wikipedia →
• 1995Yugoslav Wars: Srebrenica massacre begins, lasting until 22 July. Wikipedia →
• 1991Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 crashes in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, killing all 261 passengers and crew on board. Wikipedia →
• 1990Oka Crisis: First Nations land dispute in Quebec begins. Wikipedia →
• 1983A TAME airline Boeing 737-200 crashes near Cuenca, Ecuador, killing all 119 passengers and crew on board. Wikipedia →
• 1982Italy defeats West Germany 3–1 to win the FIFA World Cup. Wikipedia →
• 1979America's first space station, Skylab, is destroyed as it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere over the Indian Ocean. Wikipedia →
• 1978Los Alfaques disaster: A truck carrying liquid gas crashes and explodes at a coastal campsite in Tarragona, Spain, killing 216 tourists. Wikipedia →
• 1977Martin Luther King Jr., assassinated in 1968, is posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Wikipedia →
• 1973Varig Flight 820 crashes near Paris on approach to Orly Airport, killing 123 of the 134 on board. In response, the FAA bans smoking in airplane lavatories. Wikipedia →
• 1972The first game of the World Chess Championship 1972 between challenger Bobby Fischer and defending champion Boris Spassky starts. Wikipedia →
• 1971The nationalization of all large copper mines in Chile is completed. Wikipedia →
• 1962First transatlantic satellite television transmission. Wikipedia →
• 1962Project Apollo: At a press conference, NASA announces lunar orbit rendezvous as the means to land astronauts on the Moon, and return them to Earth. Wikipedia →
• 1960France legislates for the independence of Dahomey (later Benin), Upper Volta (later Burkina Faso) and Niger. Wikipedia →
• 1960Congo Crisis: The State of Katanga breaks away from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Wikipedia →
• 1960To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is first published, in the United States. Wikipedia →
• 1957Prince Karim Husseini Aga Khan IV inherits the office of Imamat as the 49th Imam of Shia Imami Ismai'li worldwide, after the death of Sir Sultan Mahommed Shah Aga Khan III. Wikipedia →
• 1950Pakistan joins the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank. Wikipedia →
• 1947The Exodus 1947 heads to Palestine from France. Wikipedia →
• 1943Massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army within the Reichskommissariat Ukraine (Volhynia) peak. Wikipedia →
• 1943World War II: Allied invasion of Sicily: German and Italian troops launch a counter-attack on Allied forces in Sicily. Wikipedia →
• 1941The Northern Rhodesian Labour Party holds its first congress in Nkana. Wikipedia →
• 1940World War II: Vichy France regime is formally established. Philippe Pétain becomes Chief of the French State. Wikipedia →
• 1936The Triborough Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic. Wikipedia →
• 1934Engelbert Zaschka of Germany flies his large human-powered aircraft, the Zaschka Human-Power Aircraft, about 20 meters at Berlin Tempelhof Airport without assisted take-off. Wikipedia →
• 1924Eric Liddell wins the gold medal in 400m at the 1924 Paris Olympics, after refusing to run in the heats for 100m, his favoured distance, on a Sunday. Wikipedia →
• 1922The Hollywood Bowl opens. Wikipedia →
• 1921A truce in the Irish War of Independence comes into effect. Wikipedia →
• 1921The Red Army captures Mongolia from the White Army and establishes the Mongolian People's Republic. Wikipedia →
• 1921Former president of the United States William Howard Taft is sworn in as 10th chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming the only person ever to hold both offices. Wikipedia →
• 1920In the East Prussian plebiscite the local populace decides to remain with Weimar Germany. Wikipedia →
• 1919The eight-hour day and free Sunday become law for workers in the Netherlands. Wikipedia →
• 1914Babe Ruth makes his debut in Major League Baseball. Wikipedia →
• 1914The US Navy launches the USS Nevada (BB-36) as its first standard-type battleship. Wikipedia →
• 1906Murder of Grace Brown by Chester Gillette in the United States, inspiration for Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy. Wikipedia →
• 1899Fiat founded by Giovanni Agnelli in Turin, Italy. Wikipedia →
• 1897Salomon August Andrée leaves Spitsbergen to attempt to reach the North Pole by balloon. Wikipedia →
• 1893The first cultured pearl is obtained by Kōkichi Mikimoto. Wikipedia →
• 1893A revolution led by the liberal general and politician José Santos Zelaya takes over state power in Nicaragua. Wikipedia →
• 1889Tijuana, Mexico, is founded. Wikipedia →
• 1882The British Mediterranean Fleet begins the Bombardment of Alexandria in Egypt as part of the Anglo-Egyptian War. Wikipedia →
• 1864American Civil War: Battle of Fort Stevens; Confederate forces attempt to invade Washington, D.C. Wikipedia →
• 1848Waterloo railway station in London opens. Wikipedia →
• 1836The Fly-fisher's Entomology is published by Alfred Ronalds. The book transformed the sport and went to many editions. Wikipedia →
• 1833Noongar Australian aboriginal warrior Yagan, wanted for the murder of white colonists in Western Australia, is killed. Wikipedia →
• 1804A duel occurs in which the Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr mortally wounds former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. Wikipedia →
• 1801French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons makes his first comet discovery. In the next 27 years he discovers another 36 comets, more than any other person in history. Wikipedia →
• 1798The United States Marine Corps is re-established; they had been disbanded after the American Revolutionary War. Wikipedia →
• 1796The United States takes possession of Detroit from Great Britain under terms of the Jay Treaty. Wikipedia →
• 1789Jacques Necker is dismissed as France's Finance Minister sparking the Storming of the Bastille. Wikipedia →
• 1735Mathematical calculations suggest that it is on this day that dwarf planet Pluto moved inside the orbit of Neptune for the last time before 1979. Wikipedia →
• 1708A coalition army of Dutch, English and German troops under the duke of Marlborough defeats a French army under the duke of Burgundy and the Marshal Vendome in the battle of Oudenarde. Wikipedia →
• 1616Samuel de Champlain returns to Quebec. Wikipedia →
• 1576While exploring the North Atlantic Ocean in an attempt to find the Northwest Passage, Martin Frobisher sights Greenland, mistaking it for the hypothesized (but non-existent) island of "Frisland". Wikipedia →
• 1476Giuliano della Rovere is appointed bishop of Coutances. Wikipedia →
• 1410Ottoman Interregnum: Süleyman Çelebi defeats his brother Musa Çelebi outside the Ottoman capital, Edirne. Wikipedia →
• 1405Ming admiral Zheng He sets sail to explore the world for the first time. Wikipedia →
• 1346Charles IV, Count of Luxembourg and King of Bohemia, is elected King of the Romans. Wikipedia →
• 1302Battle of the Golden Spurs (Guldensporenslag in Dutch): A coalition around the Flemish cities defeats the king of France's royal army. Wikipedia →
• 1276Election of pope Adrian V under the influence of Charles I of Anjou following the death of pope Gregory X earlier that year. Adrian V dies the following month. Wikipedia →
• 1174Baldwin IV, 13, becomes King of Jerusalem, with Raymond III of Tripoli as regent and William of Tyre as chancellor. Wikipedia →
• 911Signing of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between Charles the Simple and Rollo of Normandy. Wikipedia →
• 813Byzantine emperor Michael I, under threat by conspiracies, abdicates in favor of his general Leo the Armenian, and becomes a monk (under the name Athanasius). Wikipedia →
• 472Western Roman Emperor Anthemius is killed by troops of the Roman Gothic general Ricimer. Wikipedia →