On August 11th...

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3114 B.C. The Mesoamerican Long Count* calendar began.

1492 Rodrigo de Borja became Pope Alexander VI.

1494 Painter Hans Memling died.

1772 An explosive eruption blew 4,000 feet off Papandayan Java, killing 3,000 people.

1786 Captain Francis Light established the British colony of Penang in Malaysia.

1804 Francis II assumed the title of first Emperor of Austria.

1807 U.S. Senator David Rice Atchison was born.

1811 Judah Philip Benjamin, lawyer, U. S. Senator, and Confederate Cabinet member, was born.

1860 The first successful silver mill in the United States opened in Virginia City, Nevada.

1863 Cambodia became a French protectorate.

1866 The world's first roller rink opened in Newport, Rhode Island.

1874 Harry S. Parmelee patented the sprinkler head.

1877 Asaph Hall discovered Mars's moon Deimos.

1896 Harvey Hubbell patented an electric light bulb socket with a pull chain.

1914 John Wray patented animation.

1919 The Weimar Republic was established.
1919 The Green Bay Packers football club was founded by George Calhoun and Curly Lambeau.
1919 Businessman Andrew Carnegie died.

1921 Novelist Alex Haley was born.

1924 The first newsreel pictures of U.S. presidential candidates were taken.

1925 Talk show host Mike Douglas was born.
1925 Columnist Carl Rowan was born.

1929 Babe Ruth became the first Major League baseball player to hit 500 career home runs.

1933 Televangelist Jerry Falwell was born.

1934 The first federal prisoners arrived at Alcatraz.

1937 Novelist Edith Wharton died.

1939 The Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park was established.

1946 Singer Eric Carmen was born.

1950 Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, was born.

1953 Wrestler Hulk Hogan was born.

1954 Singer Joe Jackson was born.

1956 Painter Jackson Pollock died.

1960 Chad declared its independence from France.

1962 Andrian G. Nikolayev became the third Soviet cosmonaut to be launched into Earth orbit.
1962 Novelist Suzanne Collins was born.

1964 The Beatles movie A Hard Day's Night premiered.

1965 The Watts riots began in Los Angeles, California.
1965 The Beatles movie Help premiered.

1966 The Beatles began their last tour of the United States.

1968 The Beatles launched their Apple Records label.

1971 Construction of the Louisiana Superdome began.

1978 The bacteria responsible for Legionnaires Disease was isolated.

1984 The Cincinnti Reds retired Johnny Bench's #5 uniform number.
1984 Publisher Alfred A. Knopf died.

1988 The Charlotte (North Carolina) Coliseum opened.

1995 Mathematician Alonzo Church died.

1999 A tornado tore through downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, killing one person.

2006 Talk show host Mike Douglas died.

2009 Philanthropist Eunice Kennedy Shriver died.

2010 U.S. Congressman Dan Rostenkowski died.

2016 Singer Glenn Yarbrough died.

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This page was last updated on August 10, 2018.