October 11......

October 11 is the 284th day of the year (285th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 81 days remaining in the year.

EVENTS

● 1582 - Due to the implementation of the Gregorian calendar, this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.

● 1614 - Adriaen Block and 12 Amsterdam merchants petition the States General for exclusive trading rights in the New Netherland colony.

● 1776 - American Revolution: Battle of Valcour Island - On Lake Champlain 15 American gunboats are defeated but give Patriot forces enough time to prepare defenses of New York City.

● 1809 - Along the Natchez Trace in Tennessee, explorer Meriwether Lewis dies under mysterious circumstances at an inn called Grinder's Stand.

● 1811 - Inventor John Stevens' boat, the Juliana, begins operation as the first steam-powered ferry (service between New York, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey).

● 1850 - The University of Sydney is established in Sydney, Australia, with a staff of three professors and 24 students as the nation's oldest university.

● 1862 - American Civil War: In the aftermath of the Battle of Antietam, Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart and his men loot Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, during a raid into the north.

● 1864 - Campina Grande , Brazil was established as a city.

● 1865 - Paul Bogle led hundreds of black men and women in a march in Jamaica, starting the Morant Bay rebellion.

● 1890 - In Washington, DC, the Daughters of the American Revolution is founded.

● 1899 - Second Boer War begins: In South Africa, a war between the United Kingdom and the Boers of the Transvaal and Orange Free State erupts.

● 1906 - San Francisco public school board sparks United States diplomatic crisis with Japan by ordering Japanese students to be taught in racially segregated schools.

● 1910 - Ex-president Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first U.S. president to fly in an airplane. He flew for four minutes in a plane built by the Wright Brothers at Kinloch aviation field, St. Louis, Missouri.

● 1929 - JC Penney opens store #1252 in Milford, Delaware, making it a nationwide company with stores in all 48 U.S. states.

● 1930 - Collingwood Football Club in Melbourne, Australia, won the premiership (football competition) for the fourth consecutive year.

● 1932 - Franklin D. Roosevelt receives letter from Einstein about atom bomb.

● 1942 - World War II: Battle of Cape Esperance - On the northwest coast of Guadalcanal, United States Navy ships intercept and defeat a Japanese fleet on their way to reinforce troops on the island.

● 1944 - Tuvinian People's Republic or formerly Tannu Tuva was annexed by the U.S.S.R

● 1950 - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission issues the first license to broadcast television in color, to CBS (RCA will successfully dispute and block the license from taking effect, however).

● 1954 - First Indochina War: The Viet Minh take control of North Vietnam.

● 1958 - Pioneer program: NASA launches the lunar probe Pioneer 1 (it failed to go as far as planned, fell back to Earth and burned up in the atmosphere).

● 1962 - Second Vatican Council: Pope John XXIII convenes the first ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church in 92 years. It was the Roman Catholic Church's 21st Ecumenical Council.

● 1967 - Harold Wilson wins Moving apology; The Move pop group apologises in the High Court to the Prime Minister for a "violent and malicious personal attack".

● 1967 - Afghan Prime Minister Mohammad Hashim Maiwandwal resigns for health reasons

● 1968 - Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 7, the first successful manned Apollo mission, with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Fulton Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham aboard.

● 1974 - Labour scrapes working majority; Harold Wilson's Labour government wins a second term in office - but only just.

● 1975 - Saturday Night Live debuts on NBC with George Carlin as the guest host.

● 1976 - China's 'Gang of Four' arrested; The new head of the Communist Party, Hua Goufeng, snuffs out a coup led by Chairman Mao's widow Jiang Qing and three others party members.

● 1982 - The Mary Rose, flagship of King Henry VIII, a Tudor gunship which sunk on July 18th 1545, is raised after 437 years from the sea bed in the Solent Channel, near to Portsmouth.

● 1984 - Aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, astronaut Kathryn (Kathy) D. Sullivan becomes the first American woman to perform a space walk.

● 1986 - Cold War: U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Reykjavík, Iceland, in an effort to continue discussions about scaling back their intermediate missile arsenals in Europe.

● 1987 - March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights attracts an estimated 200,000 people to protest the Bowers v. Hardwick decision and the U.S. government's handling of the AIDS epidemic; first public display of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt.

● 1987 - Search ends for Loch Ness monster; A huge sonar exploration of Loch Ness fails to find the world famous monster known affectionately as Nessie. A later deathbed confession of one the photographers of the most famous picture of “Nessie” admits photo was faked.

● 1991 – Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, law professor Anita Hill accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexually harassing her; Thomas reappeared before the panel to denounce the proceedings as a ''high-tech lynching.''

● 1998 - A Congo Airlines Boeing 727 is shot down by rebels in Kindu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing 40

● 1998 - Pope John Paul II canonized the first Jewish-born saint of the modern era: Edith Stein, a Catholic nun killed at Auschwitz.

● 1999 - The Lord of the Rings movies begin principal photography.

● 2000 - The 100th Space Shuttle mission (STS-92) is flown.

● 2001 - The Polaroid Corporation files for federal bankruptcy protection.

● 2002 - A bomb attack in a shopping mall in Vantaa, Finland kills seven.

● 2002 – The Senate joined the House in approving 77-23 the use of America's military might against Iraq.

● 2002 – A man filling up his car at a gas station near Fredericksburg, Va., was shot to death in the eighth slaying linked by authorities to the Washington-area sniper.

● 2002 – Former President Jimmy Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize.

BIRTHS

● 1616 - Andreas Gryphius, German writer (d. 1664)

● 1661 - Melchior de Polignac, French diplomat (d. 1742)

● 1671 - Frederick IV of Denmark (d. 1730)

● 1675 - Samuel Clarke, English philosopher (d. 1729)

● 1738 - Arthur Phillip, Governor of New South Wales (d. 1814)

● 1741 – James Barry, Irish painter (d. 1806)

● 1758 - Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers, German astronomer (d. 1840)

● 1786 - Stevenson Archer (1786-1848), American Congressman

● 1788 - Simon Sechter, Austrian music teacher (d. 1867)

● 1814 - Jean Baptiste Lamy, first Archbishop of Santa Fe

● 1815 - Pierre Napoleon Bonaparte, Italian-born adventurer (d. 1881)

● 1817 - John Thadeus Delane, British editor (d. 1879)

● 1821 - George Williams, English founder of the YMCA (d. 1905)

● 1844 - Henry Heinz, American food manufacturer (d. 1916)

● 1872 - Harlan Fiske Stone, American jurist; associate justice (1925-41) and 12th chief justice (1941-45) of U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1946)

● 1881 - Hans Kelsen, Austrian legal theorist

● 1884 - Friedrich Bergius, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1949)

● 1884 - Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States (1933-45), social reformer, diplomat and author (d. 1962)

● 1885 - François Mauriac, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1970)

● 1895 - Jakov Gotovac, Croatian composer (d. 1982)

● 1899 - Eddie Dyer, baseball player (d. 1964)

● 1906 – Charles Revson, American business entrepreneur; founded Revlon cosmetics line (d. 1975)

● 1910 – Joseph W. Alsop Jr., American journalist (d. 1989)

● 1918 - Jerome Robbins, American choreographer (d. 1998)

● 1919 - Art Blakey, American jazz drummer (d. 1990)

● 1919 - Jean Vander Pyl, American voice actress (d. 1999)

● 1924 - Mal Whitfield, American athlete

● 1925 - Elmore Leonard, American novelist

● 1926 - Neville Wran, Premier of New South Wales

● 1926 - Thich Nhat Hanh, religious leader

● 1927 – William Perry, Former defense secretary

● 1928 - Alfonso de Portago, Spanish race car driver (d. 1957)

● 1929 - Liselotte Pulver, Swiss actress

● 1930 - Sam Johnson, American politician

● 1930 - LaVell Edwards, Former college football coach

● 1932 - Dottie West, American singer (d. 1991)

● 1936 - Billy Higgins, American jazz drummer (d. 2001)

● 1937 - Bobby Charlton, English footballer

● 1937 - R. H. W. Dillard, American poet

● 1937 – Ron Leibman, Actor

● 1939 - Maria Bueno, Brazilian tennis player

● 1939 - Austin Currie, Northern Irish politician

● 1941 - Lester Bowie, American jazz trumpet player (d. 1999)

● 1942 - Amitabh Bachchan, Indian actor

● 1943 - John Nettles, English actor

● 1943 – Gene Watson, Country singer

● 1944 - Mike Fiore, baseball player

● 1946 - Sawao Kato, Japanese gymnast

● 1946(49? NYT) - Daryl Hall, American musician (Hall and Oates)

● 1950 - Patty Murray, U.S. Senator D-WA

● 1950 – Catlin Adams, Actress-director

● 1950 – Andrew Woolfolk, R&B musician (Earth, Wind and Fire)

● 1951 - Jean-Jacques Goldman, French singer/songwriter

● 1953 - David Morse, American actor

● 1953 – Paulette Carlson, Country singer

● 1956 - Nicanor Duarte Frutos, President of Paraguay

● 1956 – Stephen Spinella, Actor (''24'')

● 1957 - Dawn French, Welsh comedienne

● 1960 - Curt Ford, baseball player

● 1961 - Amr Diab, Egyptian pop-star

● 1961 - Steve Young, NFL Player and Hall of Fame member

● 1962 - Nicola Bryant, British actress

● 1962 - Joan Cusack, American actress

● 1964 - Michael J. Nelson, American TV writer, host (''Mystery Science Theater 3000'')

● 1965 - Sean Patrick Flanery, American actor

● 1966 - Luke Perry, American actor

● 1966 - Donita Dunes, American Actress and Porn Star

● 1966 - Todd Snider, Country singer-songwriter

● 1967 - David Starr, American race car driver

● 1967 - Tazz, American professional wrestler/commentator

● 1967 - Tony Chimel, American professional wrestling announcer

● 1968 - Claude Lapointe, National Hockey League player

● 1968 – Jane Krakowski, Actress ("Ally McBeal")

● 1969 - Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands

● 1969 – Orlando Hernandez, Baseball player

● 1970 - U-God, American rapper (Wu-Tang Clan)

● 1970 - Andy Marriott, English footballer

● 1971 - Petra Haden, American musician (The Rentals)

● 1971 – MC Lyte, Rapper

● 1972 - Claudia Black, Australian actress

● 1973 - Dmitri Young, baseball player

● 1973 - Takeshi Kaneshiro, Actor/Model

● 1975 – NeeNa Lee, R&B singer

● 1977 - Claudia Palacios, Colombian television journalist

● 1977 - Ty Wigginton, baseball player

● 1978 - Carlos Alonso Kali, Angolan footballer

● 1979 - Andy Douglas, American professional wrestler

● 1985 - Michelle Trachtenberg, American actress

● 1989 - Michelle Wie, American golfer

DEATHS

● 1188 - Robert I of Dreux, son of Louis VI of France

● 1303 - Pope Boniface VIII

● 1347 - Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1282)

● 1424 - Jan Zizka, leader of the Hussites (b. 1370)

● 1531 - Huldrych Zwingli, Swiss Protestant leader (b. 1484)

● 1611 - John Cowell, English jurist (b. 1554)

● 1705 - Guillaume Amontons, French physicist and instrument maker (b. 1663)

● 1708 - Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus, German mathematician (b. 1651)

● 1721 - Edward Colston, English merchant and philanthropist (b. 1636)

● 1725 - Hans Herr, Swiss-born Mennonite bishop (b. 1639)

● 1779 - Kazimierz Pułaski, Polish fighter for American independence (b. 1745)

● 1809 - Meriwether Lewis, American explorer (b. 1774)

● 1811 - Johann Conrad Ammann, Swiss physician and naturalist (b. 1724)

● 1821 - John Ross Key, American judge and lawyer (b. 1754)

● 1852 - Ferdinand Eisenstein, German mathematician (b. 1823)

● 1889 - James Prescott Joule, English physicist (b. 1818)

● 1896 - Anton Bruckner, Austrian composer (b. 1824)

● 1896 - Edward White Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1829)

● 1935 - Steele Rudd, Australian author (b. 1868)

● 1940 - Lluís Companys, President of Generalitat of Catalonia (shot) (b. 1882)

● 1940 - Vito Volterra, Italian mathematician and physicist (b. 1860)

● 1961 - Chico Marx, American comedian (b. 1887)

● 1963 - Jean Cocteau, French writer (b. 1889)

● 1963 - Édith Piaf, French singer and actress (b. 1915)

● 1965 - Dorothea Lange, American photographer (b. 1895)

● 1976 - Alfredo Bracchi, Italian author (b. 1897)

● 1977 - MacKinlay Kantor, American author (b. 1904)

● 1988 - Bonita Granville, American actress (b. 1923)

● 1989 - M. King Hubbert, American geophysicist (b. 1904)

● 1991 - Steven Jesse Bernstein, American underground poet (suicide) (b. 1950)

● 1991 - Redd Foxx, American comedian and actor (b. 1922)

● 1993 - Jess Thomas, American tenor (b. 1927)

● 1996 - Lars Ahlfors, Finnish mathematician (b. 1907)

● 2000 - Donald Dewar, First Minister of Scotland (b. 1937)

● 2004 - Keith Miller, Australian sportsman (b. 1919)

● 2005 - Edward Szczepanik, Polish economist and Prime Minister in exile (b. 1915)

● 2005 - Shan-ul-Haq Haqqee, Linguist, and writer of Pakistan (b. 1917)

HOLIDAYS AND OBSERVANCES

● Roman Empire - Meditrinalia is held in honor of Meditrina

● Roman Catholic Saints
● Memorial of the blessed Pope John XXIII
● Saint Andronicus
● Saint Probus
● Saint Tarachus

● United States - National Coming Out Day (not a federal holiday)

● United States - in Indiana:General Pulaski Memorial Day

● French Republican Calendar - Pressoir (Wine-Press) Day, twentieth day in the Month of Vendémiaire


Click on this LINK to see original Wikipedia list with many having links with details.

Additional facts taken from:

The BBC Take on the day

On this day in the New York Times