July 11th in History

Michael Dobson | July 11

US Vice President Aaron Burr fatally wounds former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in a duel, July 11, 1804. (Illustration from Beacon Lights of History Vol. XI, by John Lord LL.D., 1902, after the painting by J. Mund.)

Today in History

  • Chinese admiral 鄭和 (Zheng He) sets out on his first voyage of world exploration (1405)
  • The United States Marine Corps is re-established (1798)
  • US Vice President Aaron Burr fatally wounds former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in a duel (1804)
  • American Civil War: Confederate forces attempt to invade Washington, DC; during the battle Abraham Lincoln becomes the first sitting US president to come under direct enemy fire (1864)
  • The Lumière brothers demonstrate motion picture technology to scientists (1895)
  • Chester Gillette murders Grace Brown, the inspiration for Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy (1906)
  • Babe Ruth makes his debut in Major League Baseball (1914)
  • New York City’s Triborough Bridge opens to traffic (1936)
  • The SS Exodus heads to Palestine from France (1947)
  • Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is first published (1960)
  • The first transatlantic satellite television transmission takes place (1962)
  • Bobby Fisher and Boris Spassky start the first game of the World Chess Championship (1972)
  • America’s first space station, Skylab, is destroyed during atmospheric reentry (1979)

Birthdays

  • Robert the Bruce, Scottish monarch (1274)
  • Sarah Good, accused Salem witch (1653)
  • Thomas Bowdler, edited the works of Shakespeare to remove potentially offensive material (1754)
  • John Quincy Adams, 6th US President (1767)
  • Bull Connor, Birmingham (Alabama) law enforcement official (1897)
  • E. B. White, author (1899)
  • Cordwainer Smith (Paul Linebarger), author (1913)
  • Yul Brynner, actor (1920)
  • Brett Somers, actress (1924)
  • Harold Bloom, author and critic (1930)
  • Tab Hunter, actor (1931)
  • Frank Kelso, admiral (1933)
  • Georgio Armani, fashion designer (1934)
  • Leon Spinks, boxer (1953)
  • Sela Ward, actress (1956)
  • Richie Sambora, singer-songwriter (1959)
  • Suzanne Vega, singer-songwriter (1959)
  • Lil’ Kim, rapper (1975)
  • Andre Johnson, football player (1981)

Deaths

  • Simon Newcomb, astronomer and mathematician (1909)
  • George Gershwin, composer (1937)
  • Delmore Schwartz, poet and author (1966)
  • John W. Campbell, Jr., science fiction editor (1971)
  • Ross Macdonald, author (1983)
  • Laurence Olivier, actor (1989)
  • Helen Forrest, singer (1999)
  • Robert Runcie, archbishop (2000)
  • Frances Langford, actress (2005)
  • Barnard Hughes, actor (2006)
  • Lady Bird Johnson, first lady (2007)
  • Tommy Ramone, drummer (2014)

Holidays and Celebrations

  • National Maritime Day (China)
  • Day of the Flemish Community (Flemish Community of Belgium)
  • Eleventh Knight (Northern Ireland)
  • Gospel Day (Kiribati)
  • Imamat Day (Isma’ilism)
  • Revolution Day (Mongolia)
  • World Population Day
Informal and made-up holidays include Cheer Up the Lonely Day, Day of the Five Billion, National Noodle Ring Day, National Rainier Cherries Day, and Slurpee Day.
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July 11 is the 192nd day of the year (193rd in leap years). There are 173 days remaining until the end of the year.