Vintage News · Odd history for November 11

What Happened On November 11

Q: What happened on November 11?

2002: Russian mathematician Grigori Perelman posts the first of three preprint texts with his proof of the Poincaré conjecture. It remains the only of the Millennium Prize Problems in mathematics to be solved. He later refused both the prize money from Clay Mathematics Institute as well as the Fields Medal for his work. 1869: The Victorian Aboriginal Protection Act is enacted in Australia, giving the government control of indigenous people's wages, their terms of employment, where they could live, and of their children, effectively leading to the Stolen Generations. 1750: The F.H.C. Society, also known as the Flat Hat Club, is formed at Raleigh Tavern, Williamsburg, Virginia. It is the first college fraternity. 1675: Gottfried Leibniz demonstrates integral calculus for the first time to find the area under the graph of y = ƒ(x). 1620: The Mayflower Compact is signed in what is now Provincetown Harbor near Cape Cod. 1960: A coup attempt by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam against President Ngô Đình Diệm was crushed after he falsely promised reform, allowing loyalists to rescue him. 1940: Second World War: The Royal Navy launched the first all-aircraft ship-to-ship naval attack in history against the Italians in the Battle of Taranto. 1920: In London, the Cenotaph was unveiled and the Unknown Warrior was buried in Westminster Abbey in remembrance of the First World War. 1918: The armistice between the German Empire and the Allies was signed in a railway carriage in the Forest of Compiègne of France (signatories pictured). 2000: Kaprun disaster: One hundred fifty-five skiers and snowboarders die when a cable car catches fire in an alpine tunnel in Kaprun, Austria.

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10 odd things that happened on November 11

2002 First ever
Russian mathematician Grigori Perelman posts the first of three preprint texts with his proof of the Poincaré conjecture. It remains the only of the Millennium Prize Problems in mathematics to be solved. He later refused both the prize money from Clay Mathematics Institute as well as the Fields Medal for his work.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1869 Oddly true
The Victorian Aboriginal Protection Act is enacted in Australia, giving the government control of indigenous people's wages, their terms of employment, where they could live, and of their children, effectively leading to the Stolen Generations.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1750 First ever
The F.H.C. Society, also known as the Flat Hat Club, is formed at Raleigh Tavern, Williamsburg, Virginia. It is the first college fraternity.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1675 First ever
Gottfried Leibniz demonstrates integral calculus for the first time to find the area under the graph of y = ƒ(x).
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1620 Oddly true
The Mayflower Compact is signed in what is now Provincetown Harbor near Cape Cod.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1960 Oddly true
A coup attempt by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam against President Ngô Đình Diệm was crushed after he falsely promised reform, allowing loyalists to rescue him.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1940 First ever
Second World War: The Royal Navy launched the first all-aircraft ship-to-ship naval attack in history against the Italians in the Battle of Taranto.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1920 First ever
In London, the Cenotaph was unveiled and the Unknown Warrior was buried in Westminster Abbey in remembrance of the First World War.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1918 Oddly true
The armistice between the German Empire and the Allies was signed in a railway carriage in the Forest of Compiègne of France (signatories pictured).
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
2000 Oddly true
Kaprun disaster: One hundred fifty-five skiers and snowboarders die when a cable car catches fire in an alpine tunnel in Kaprun, Austria.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Observed today

2024A vehicle-ramming attack in Zhuhai, China, kills 38 people and injures 48. Wikipedia →
2022Russo-Ukrainian War: Ukrainian armed forces enter the city of Kherson following a successful two-month southern counteroffensive. Wikipedia →
2020Typhoon Vamco makes landfall in Luzon and several offshore islands, killing 67 people. The storm causes the worst floods in the region since Typhoon Ketsana in 2009. Wikipedia →
2012A strong earthquake with the magnitude 6.8 hits northern Burma, killing at least 26 people. Wikipedia →
2011A helicopter crash just outside Mexico City kills seven, including Francisco Blake Mora the Secretary of the Interior of Mexico. Wikipedia →
2006Queen Elizabeth II unveils the New Zealand War Memorial in London, United Kingdom, commemorating the loss of soldiers from the New Zealand Army and the British Army. Wikipedia →
2004New Zealand Tomb of the Unknown Warrior is dedicated at the National War Memorial, Wellington. Wikipedia →
2004The Palestine Liberation Organization confirms the death of Yasser Arafat from unidentified causes. Mahmoud Abbas is elected chairman of the PLO minutes later. Wikipedia →
2002A Fokker F27 Friendship operating as Laoag International Airlines Flight 585 crashes into Manila Bay shortly after takeoff from Ninoy Aquino International Airport, killing 19 people. Wikipedia →
2002Russian mathematician Grigori Perelman posts the first of three preprint texts with his proof of the Poincaré conjecture. It remains the only of the Millennium Prize Problems in mathematics to be solved. He later refused both the prize money from Clay Mathematics Institute as well as the Fields Medal for his work. Wikipedia →
2001Journalists Pierre Billaud, Johanne Sutton and Volker Handloik are killed in Afghanistan during an attack on the convoy they are traveling in. Wikipedia →
2000Kaprun disaster: One hundred fifty-five skiers and snowboarders die when a cable car catches fire in an alpine tunnel in Kaprun, Austria. Wikipedia →
1999The House of Lords Act is given Royal Assent, restricting membership of the British House of Lords by virtue of a hereditary peerage. Wikipedia →
1993A sculpture honoring women who served in the Vietnam War is dedicated at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Wikipedia →
1992The General Synod of the Church of England votes to allow women to become priests. Wikipedia →
1982Space Shuttle Columbia launches from the Kennedy Space Center on STS-5, the first operational mission of the Space Shuttle program. Wikipedia →
1981Antigua and Barbuda joins the United Nations. Wikipedia →
1977A munitions explosion at a train station in Iri, South Korea kills at least 56 people. Wikipedia →
1975Australian constitutional crisis of 1975: Australian Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismisses the government of Gough Whitlam, appoints Malcolm Fraser as caretaker Prime Minister and announces a general election to be held in early December. Wikipedia →
1975Independence of Angola. Wikipedia →
1972Vietnam War: Vietnamization: The United States Army turns over the massive Long Binh military base to South Vietnam. Wikipedia →
1968Vietnam War: Operation Commando Hunt initiated. The goal is to interdict men and supplies on the Ho Chi Minh trail, through Laos into South Vietnam. Wikipedia →
1967Vietnam War: In a propaganda ceremony in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, three American prisoners of war are released by the Viet Cong and turned over to "new left" antiwar activist Tom Hayden. Wikipedia →
1966NASA launches Gemini 12. Wikipedia →
1965Southern Rhodesia's Prime Minister Ian Smith unilaterally declares the colony independent as the unrecognised state of Rhodesia. Wikipedia →
1965United Air Lines Flight 227 crashes at Salt Lake City International Airport, killing 43. Wikipedia →
1962Kuwait's National Assembly ratifies the Constitution of Kuwait. Wikipedia →
1961Thirteen Italian Air Force servicemen, deployed to the Congo as a part of the UN peacekeeping force, are massacred by a mob in Kindu. Wikipedia →
1960A military coup against President Ngô Đình Diệm of South Vietnam is crushed. Wikipedia →
1949The People's Liberation Army Air Force is founded. Wikipedia →
1942World War II: France's zone libre is occupied by German forces in Case Anton. Wikipedia →
1942The Turkish parliament passes the Varlık Vergisi, a capital tax mostly levied on non-Muslim citizens with the unofficial aim to inflict financial ruin on them and end their prominence in the country's economy. Wikipedia →
1940World War II: In the Battle of Taranto, the Royal Navy launches the first all-aircraft ship-to-ship naval attack in history. Wikipedia →
1940World War II: The German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis captures top secret British mail from the Automedon, and sends it to Japan. Wikipedia →
1934The Shrine of Remembrance is opened in Melbourne, Australia. Wikipedia →
1930Patent number US1781541 is awarded to Albert Einstein and Leó Szilárd for their invention, the Einstein refrigerator. Wikipedia →
1926The United States Numbered Highway System is established. Wikipedia →
1923Adolf Hitler is arrested in Munich for high treason for his role in the Beer Hall Putsch. Wikipedia →
1921The Tomb of the Unknowns is dedicated by U.S. President Warren G. Harding at Arlington National Cemetery. Wikipedia →
1919The Industrial Workers of the World attack an Armistice Day parade in Centralia, Washington, ultimately resulting in the deaths of five people. Wikipedia →
1919Latvian forces defeat the West Russian Volunteer Army at Riga in the Latvian War of Independence. Wikipedia →
1918World War I: Germany signs an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car in the forest of Compiègne. Wikipedia →
1918Józef Piłsudski assumes supreme military power in Poland – symbolic first day of Polish independence. Wikipedia →
1918Emperor Charles I of Austria relinquishes power. Wikipedia →
1911Many cities in the Midwestern United States break their record highs and lows on the same day as a strong cold front rolls through. Wikipedia →
1889The State of Washington is admitted as the 42nd state of the United States. Wikipedia →
1887Four convicted anarchists were executed as a result of the Haymarket affair. Wikipedia →
1880Australian bushranger Ned Kelly is hanged at Melbourne Gaol. Wikipedia →
1869The Victorian Aboriginal Protection Act is enacted in Australia, giving the government control of indigenous people's wages, their terms of employment, where they could live, and of their children, effectively leading to the Stolen Generations. Wikipedia →
1865Treaty of Sinchula is signed whereby Bhutan cedes the areas east of the Teesta River to the British East India Company. Wikipedia →
1855A powerful earthquake occurs in Edo, Japan, causing considerable damage in the Kantō region from the shaking and subsequent fires. It had a death toll of 7,000–10,000 people and destroyed around 14,000 buildings. Wikipedia →
1839The Virginia Military Institute is founded in Lexington, Virginia. Wikipedia →
1831In Jerusalem, Virginia, Nat Turner is hanged after inciting a violent slave uprising. Wikipedia →
1813War of 1812: Battle of Crysler's Farm: British and Canadian forces defeat a larger American force, causing the Americans to abandon their Saint Lawrence campaign. Wikipedia →
1805Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Dürenstein: Eight thousand French troops attempt to slow the retreat of a vastly superior Russian and Austrian force. Wikipedia →
1778Cherry Valley massacre: Loyalists and Seneca Indian forces attack a fort and village in eastern New York during the American Revolutionary War, killing more than forty civilians and soldiers. Wikipedia →
1750Riots break out in Lhasa after the murder of the Tibetan regent. Wikipedia →
1750The F.H.C. Society, also known as the Flat Hat Club, is formed at Raleigh Tavern, Williamsburg, Virginia. It is the first college fraternity. Wikipedia →
1724Joseph Blake, alias Blueskin, a highwayman known for attacking "Thief-Taker General" (and thief) Jonathan Wild at the Old Bailey, is hanged in London. Wikipedia →
1675Gottfried Leibniz demonstrates integral calculus for the first time to find the area under the graph of y = ƒ(x). Wikipedia →
1673Second Battle of Khotyn in Ukraine: Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth forces under the command of Jan Sobieski defeat the Ottoman army. In this battle, rockets made by Kazimierz Siemienowicz are successfully used. Wikipedia →
1634Following pressure from Anglican bishop John Atherton, the Irish House of Commons passes An Act for the Punishment for the Vice of Buggery. Wikipedia →
1620The Mayflower Compact is signed in what is now Provincetown Harbor near Cape Cod. Wikipedia →
1572Tycho Brahe observes the supernova SN 1572. Wikipedia →
1500Treaty of Granada: Louis XII of France and Ferdinand II of Aragon agree to divide the Kingdom of Naples between them. Wikipedia →
1215The Fourth Council of the Lateran meets, defining the doctrine of transubstantiation, the process by which bread and wine are, by that doctrine, said to transform into the body and blood of Christ. Wikipedia →
1100Henry I of England marries Matilda of Scotland, the daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland and a direct descendant of the Saxon king Edmund Ironside; Matilda is crowned on the same day. Wikipedia →
1028Constantine VIII dies, ending his uninterrupted reign as emperor or co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire of 66 years. Wikipedia →
308At Carnuntum, Emperor emeritus Diocletian confers with Galerius, Augustus of the East, and Maximianus, the recently returned former Augustus of the West, in an attempt to end the civil wars of the Tetrarchy. Wikipedia →

From The Guardian Archives — On This Day

2025The Guardian
One-third of museums lost government funding since Trump took office, survey says
Report including responses from more than 500 museum directors finds median loss of $30,000 in grants or contracts
Read on The Guardian →
2018The Guardian
Almost 300 asylum seekers prevented from sailing to Australia in past year
Exclusive: Documents show international authorities ‘disrupted’ 10 alleged attempts from international ports
Read on The Guardian →
1968The New York Times
Cincinnati Campus Group Plans To Burn Dog in Protest Today
Cincinnati U group spokesman says dog will be burned in protest; Dean Nester Jr comments; ASPCA aide says there will…
Read on NYTimes.com →

Headlines via The Guardian Open Platform · Historic front pages via the NYT Archive API

Facts from Wikipedia On This Day API (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia. Thumbnails CC BY-SA. Headlines via The Guardian Open Platform and the NYT Archive API. Historic pages via Library of Congress Chronicling America. Curated by OddlyTrue.