Historical Events
- 1138 Earthquake in Aleppo, Syria, kills an estimated 230,000
- 1634 Burchardi flood - "the second Grote Mandrenke" kills about 15,000 in North Friesland, Denmark and Germany
- 1737 Earthquake reported to have killed 300,000 and destroyed half of Calcutta in India. Now thought to have been an exaggerated account of a hurricane which claimed 3,000 of the city's estimated 20,000 residents. [1]
- 1797 Battle of Camperdown (Kamperduin): British navy defeats Dutch fleet
- 1945 Chinese civil war begins between Kuomintang government led by Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong's Communist Party
- 1962 Second Vatican Council (21st ecumenical) convened by Pope John XXIII
- 1986 Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev open talks at a summit in Reykjavik, Iceland
- More Historical Events
Oct 11 in Film & TV
- 1975 "Saturday Night Live" created by Lorne Michaels premieres on NBC with George Carlin as host
- 1983 "Can't Slow Down" second studio album by Lionel Richie is released
Oct 11 in Sport
- 2000 South African Cricket Board issues former captain Hansie Cronje with a life ban as a result of match-fixing allegations
Did You Know?
Albert Einstein informs FDR of the possibilities of an atomic bomb
On October 11, 1939
Arthur Phillip
Eleanor Roosevelt
Jerome Robbins
Maria Bueno
Amitabh Bachchan
Cardi BWould You Believe?
First woman FBI "special investigator", Alaska Davidson, appointed
On October 11, 1922
Famous Weddings
- 1938 American jazz trumpeter and singer Louis Armstrong (37) weds longtime girlfriend Alpha Smith; divorce in 1942
- 1948 Fellow students Fidel Castro and Mirta Diaz-Balart marry (divorced 1955)
- 1954 Philippine president Corazon Aquino (21) weds Tarlac governor Benigno Aquino Jr (22) in Pasay City, Philippines
Famous Divorces
- 1939 Actor Jackie Coogan (24) divorces actress Betty Grable (22) after 2 years of marriage
More Weddings & Divorces
Casimir Pulaski
Meriwether Lewis
Anton Bruckner
Jean Cocteau
James Franklin Hyde
Angela LansburyArticles, Photos and Quiz
Defender of the Faith Henry Rejects Rome
A Pope awarded the title Defender of the Faith to King Henry VIII on this day for staunchly defending the Pontiff’s values. But there was to be an ironic twist.
October 11, 1521
Reagan and Gorbachev
US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet at the Reykjavik Summit in Iceland
October 11, 1986
Weekly Quiz for October 7 - 13
John Lennon released the best-selling single of his solo career in 1971, what was it? Leif Ericson became the 1st European to do what this week in 1000 AD?
