April 11th in History

Napoleon Bonaparte, by Paul Delaroche

Today in History

  • William and Mary are crowned as monarchs of England (1689)
  • The Treaty of Utrecht ends the War of Spanish Succession (1713)
  • Napoléon is exiled to Elba (1814)
  • The Tokugawa Shogunate (徳川幕府) ends after 268 years (1869)
  • Spelman College is founded (1881)
  • The Emirate of Transjordan (إمارة شرق الأردن) is founded as part of the British Mandate (1921)
  • Buchenwald Concentration Camp is liberated by U.S. troops (1945)
  • Truman fires Douglas MacArthur (1951)
  • The Stone of Scone is recovered (1951)
  • Most Boring Day Since 1900 (1954)
  • Trial of Adolf Eichmann begins (1961)
  • LBJ signs the Civil Rights Act (1968)
  • Apollo 13 lifts off from Cape Kennedy (1973)
  • The first Apple computer is introduced (1976)
  • Idi Amin is deposed (1979)

Birthdays

  • Alessandra Ambrosio, Victoria’s Secret model (1981)
  • Mark Teixeria, baseball player (1980)
  • Josh Hancock, baseball player (1978)
  • Tricia Helfer, actress (1974)
  • Jason Varitek, baseball player (1972)
  • Trevor Linden, hockey player (1970)
  • Mason Reese, actor (1965)
  • Bret Saberhagen, baseball player (1964)
  • Micheal Ray Richardson, basketball player (1955)
  • Louise Lasser, actress (1939)
  • Michael Deaver, aide to Ronald Reagan (1938)
  • Richard “The Iceman” Kuklinski, serial killer (1935)
  • Tony Brown, journalist (1933)
  • Joel Grey, actor (1932)
  • Anton LaVey, satanist (1930)
  • Ethel Kennedy, wife of Bobby Kennedy (1928)
  • David Westheimer, author (1917)
  • Oleg Cassini, designer (1913)
  • Leo Rosten, author (1908)
  • Dale Messick, creator of Brenda Starr (1906)
  • Dean Acheson, Secretary of State (1893)
  • Kasturba Mohandas Gandhi, wife of Mahatma Gandhi (1869)
  • Charles Evans Hughes, Chief Justice (1862)

Deaths

  • Kurt Vonnegut, author (2007)
  • June Pointer, singing sister (2006)
  • Harry Secombe, Goon Show comedian (2001)
  • Jessica Dubroff, seven-year old pilot trying to set a cross-country record (1996)
  • James Brown, Rin-Tin-Tin star (1992)
  • Erskine Caldwell, author (1987)
  • Primo Levi, chemist and author (1987)
  • Dolores del Río, actress (1983)
  • John O’Hara, author (1970)
  • Luther Burbank, horticulturist (1926)
  • Kid Nichols, baseball player (1926)
  • Richard Harding Davis, made the clean-shaven look popular (1916)
  • Francis P. Church, wrote “Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus (1906)
  • James A. Bailey, circus partner (1906)
  • Gemma Galgani, saint (1903)
  • Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man (1890)
  • Edward Wightman, last person burned at the stake for heresy in England (1612)

Holidays and Celebrations

  • Commemoration of Saint Barsanuphius of Tver (Eastern Christianity)
  • Feast of Stanislaus of Szcezpanów (Western Christianity)
  • Juan Santamaría Day (Costa Rica)
  • National Cheese Fondue Day (US food holidays)
  • National Pet Day (US)
  • National Teach Children to Save Day (American Bar Association Educational Foundation)

Informal and made up holidays include Barbershop Quartet Day (commemorating the establishment of SPEBSQSA on 4/11/38), the Day of Silence, Eight Track Tape Day, and International “Louie Louie” Day. Me gotta go now.

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April 11 is the 101st day of the year (102nd in leap years). There are 264 days remaining until the end of the year.