On This Day — 11 August

2023

Luna 25 launches from the Vostochny Cosmodrome.

Luna 25

2017

At least 41 people are killed and another 179 injured after two passenger trains collide in Alexandria, Egypt.

Alexandria train collision

2012

At least 306 people are killed and 3,000 others injured in a pair of earthquakes near Tabriz, Iran.

2012 East Azerbaijan earthquakes

2006

The oil tanker MT Solar 1 sinks off the coast of Guimaras and Negros Islands in the Philippines, causing the country's worst oil spill.

Oil tanker

2003

NATO takes over command of the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, marking its first major operation outside Europe in its 54-year-history.

NATO

2003

Jemaah Islamiyah leader Riduan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, is arrested in Bangkok, Thailand.

Jemaah Islamiyah

2000

An air rage incident occurs on board Southwest Airlines Flight 1763 when 19-year-old Jonathan Burton attempts to storm the cockpit, but he is subdued by other passengers and dies from his injuries.

Air rage

1995

The Russell Hill subway accident in Toronto kills 3 and injures 30, due to a combination of human error and a safety system design flaw.

1995 Russell Hill subway accident

1992

The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota opens. At the time the largest shopping mall in the United States.

Mall of America

1991

Nickelodeon's first line of "Nicktoons" (Doug, Rugrats & Ren & Stimpy) premiere on the channel.

Nickelodeon

1988

A meeting between Sayyed Imam Al-Sharif, Osama bin Laden, Abdullah Yusuf Azzam, and leaders of Egyptian Islamic Jihad in Afghanistan culminates in the formation of Al-Qaeda.

Sayyed Imam Al-Sharif

1984

"We begin bombing in five minutes": United States President Ronald Reagan, while running for re-election, jokes while preparing to make his weekly Saturday address on National Public Radio.

We begin bombing in five minutes

1982

A bomb explodes on Pan Am Flight 830, en route from Tokyo, Japan to Honolulu, Hawaii, killing one passenger and injuring 15 others.

Pan Am Flight 830

1979

Two Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-134s collide over the Ukrainian city of Dniprodzerzhynsk and crash, killing all 178 aboard both airliners.

Aeroflot

1975

East Timor: Governor Mário Lemos Pires of Portuguese Timor abandons the capital Dili, following a coup by the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT) and the outbreak of civil war between UDT and Fretilin.

Timor-Leste

1973

At the 1520 Sedgwick Avenue apartment building in The Bronx, New York, DJ Kool Herc hosts a house party widely considered to mark the birthplace of hip hop culture and music. DJ Kool Herc demonstrates a new technique of beat juggling and Coke La Rock performs a new style of vocal performance called rapping.

1520 Sedgwick Avenue

1972

Vietnam War: The last United States ground combat unit leaves South Vietnam.

Vietnam War

1965

Race riots (the Watts Riots) begin in the Watts area of Los Angeles, California.

Watts riots

1962

Vostok 3 launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome and cosmonaut Andrian Nikolayev becomes the first person to float in microgravity.

Vostok 3 and 4

1961

The former Portuguese territories in India of Dadra and Nagar Haveli are merged to create the Union Territory Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

India

1960

Chad declares independence from France.

Chad

1959

Sheremetyevo International Airport, the second-largest airport in Russia, opens.

Sheremetyevo International Airport

1952

Hussein bin Talal is proclaimed King of Jordan.

Hussein of Jordan

1945

Poles in Kraków engage in a pogrom against Jews in the city, killing one and wounding five.

Kraków

1942

Actress Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil receive a patent for a Frequency-hopping spread spectrum communication system that later became the basis for modern technologies in wireless telephones, two-way radio communications, and Wi-Fi.

Hedy Lamarr

1934

The first civilian prisoners arrive at the Federal prison on Alcatraz Island.

Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary

1929

Babe Ruth becomes the first baseball player to hit 500 home runs in his career with a home run at League Park in Cleveland, Ohio.

Babe Ruth

1920

The 1920 Cork hunger strike begins which eventually results in the deaths of three Irish Republicans including the Lord Mayor of Cork Terence MacSwiney.

1920 Cork hunger strike

1920

The Latvian–Soviet Peace Treaty, which relinquished Russia's authority and pretenses to Latvia, is signed, ending the Latvian War of Independence.

Latvian–Soviet Peace Treaty

1919

Germany's Weimar Constitution is signed into law.

Weimar Constitution

1918

World War I: The Battle of Amiens ends.

World War I

1898

Spanish–American War: American troops enter the city of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.

Spanish–American War

1871

An explosion of guncotton occurs in Stowmarket, England, killing 28.

Stowmarket Guncotton Explosion

1858

The Eiger in the Bernese Alps is ascended for the first time by Charles Barrington accompanied by Christian Almer and Peter Bohren.

Eiger

1813

In Colombia, Juan del Corral declares the independence of Antioquia.

Colombia

1812

Peninsular War: French troops engage British-Portuguese forces in the Battle of Majadahonda.

Peninsular War

1804

Francis II assumes the title of first Emperor of Austria.

Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor

1786

Captain Francis Light establishes the British colony of Penang in Malaysia.

Francis Light

1685

Morean War: The 49-day Siege of Coron ends with the surrender and massacre of its garrison by the Venetians.

Morean War

1675

Franco-Dutch War: Forces of the Holy Roman Empire defeat the French in the Battle of Konzer Brücke.

Franco-Dutch War

1492

Rodrigo de Borja is elected as Head of the Catholic Church, taking the name Pope Alexander VI.

Pope Alexander VI

1473

The Battle of Otlukbeli: Mehmed the Conqueror of the Ottoman Empire decisively defeats Uzun Hassan of Aq Qoyunlu.

Battle of Otlukbeli

1332

Wars of Scottish Independence: Battle of Dupplin Moor: Scots under Domhnall II, Earl of Mar are routed by Edward Balliol.

Wars of Scottish Independence

1315

The Great Famine of Europe becomes so dire that even the king of England has difficulties buying bread for himself and his entourage.

Great Famine of 1315–1317

923

The Qarmatians of Bahrayn capture and pillage the city of Basra.

Qarmatians

490

Battle of Adda: The Goths under Theodoric the Great and his ally Alaric II defeat the forces of Odoacer on the Adda River, near Milan.

Goths

355

Claudius Silvanus, accused of treason, proclaims himself Roman Emperor against Constantius II.

Silvanus (magister peditum)

117

Hadrian is proclaimed Roman emperor, two days after Trajan's death.

AD 117

106

The south-western part of Dacia (modern Romania) becomes a Roman province: Roman Dacia.

AD 106

-2492

Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founder of the Armenian nation.

25th century BC

-3114

The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations, notably the Maya, begins.

32nd century BC