EVENTS OF THIS DAY IN THE PAST 2/11

• 619 – A qaghan of the Western Turkic Khaganate is assassinated in a Chinese palace by Eastern Turkic rivals after the approval of Tang emperor Gaozu.
• 1410 – The Peace of Bicêtre suspends hostilities in the Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War.
• 1675 – Plymouth Colony governor Josiah Winslow leads a colonial militia against the Narragansett during King Philip's War.
• 1795 – The French Directory, a five-man revolutionary government, is created.
• 1868 – Time zone: New Zealand officially adopts a standard time to be observed nationally.
• 1889 – North Dakota and South Dakota are admitted as the 39th and 40th U.S. states.
• 1899 – The Boers begin their 118-day siege of British-held Ladysmith during the Second Boer War.
• 1912 – Bulgaria defeats the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Lule Burgas, the bloodiest battle of the First Balkan War, which opens her way to Constantinople.
• 1914 – World War I: The Russian Empire declares war on the Ottoman Empire and the Dardanelles are subsequently closed.
• 1917 – The Balfour Declaration proclaims British support for the "establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people" with the clear understanding "that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities".
• 1917 – The Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet, in charge of preparation and carrying out the Russian Revolution, holds its first meeting.
• 1920 – In the United States, KDKA of Pittsburgh starts broadcasting as the first commercial radio station. The first broadcast is the result of the United States presidential election, 1920.
• 1930 – Haile Selassie is crowned emperor of Ethiopia.
• 1936 – The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is established.
• 1936 – The British Broadcasting Corporation initiates the BBC Television Service, the world's first regular, "high-definition" (then defined as at least 200 lines) service. Renamed BBC1 in 1964, the channel still runs to this day.
• 1940 – World War II: First day of Battle of Elaia–Kalamas between the Greeks and the Italians.
• 1947 – In California, designer Howard Hughes performs the maiden (and only) flight of the Spruce Goose or H-4 The Hercules; the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built.
• 1949 – The Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference ends with the Netherlands agreeing to transfer sovereignty of the Dutch East Indies to the United States of Indonesia.
• 1951 – Canada in the Korean War: A platoon of The Royal Canadian Regiment defends a vital area against a full battalion of Chinese troops in the Battle of the Song-gok Spur. The engagement lasts into the early hours of November 3.
• 1953 – The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan names the country The Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
• 1959 – Quiz show scandals: Twenty One game show contestant Charles Van Doren admits to a Congressional committee that he had been given questions and answers in advance.
• 1959 – The first section of the M1 motorway, the first inter-urban motorway in the United Kingdom, is opened between the present junctions 5 and 18, along with the M10 motorway and M45 motorway.
• 1960 – Penguin Books is found not guilty of obscenity in the trial R v Penguin Books Ltd, the Lady Chatterley's Lover case.
• 1963 – South Vietnamese President Ngô Đình Diệm is assassinated following a military coup.
• 1964 – King Saud of Saudi Arabia is deposed by a family coup, and replaced by his half-brother Faisal.
• 1965 – Norman Morrison, a 31-year-old Quaker, sets himself on fire in front of the river entrance to the Pentagon to protest the use of napalm in the Vietnam war.
• 1966 – The Cuban Adjustment Act comes into force, allowing 123,000 Cubans the opportunity to apply for permanent residence in the United States.
• 1967 – Vietnam War: US President Lyndon B. Johnson and "The Wise Men" conclude that the American people should be given more optimistic reports on the progress of the war.
• 1983 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill creating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
• 1984 – Capital punishment: Velma Barfield becomes the first woman executed in the United States since 1962.
• 1988 – The Morris worm, the first Internet-distributed computer worm to gain significant mainstream media attention, is launched from MIT.
• 1990 – British Satellite Broadcasting and Sky Television plc merge to form BSkyB as a result of massive losses.

Births[edit]

• 682 – Umar II, Arabian caliph (d. 720)
• 971 – Mahmud of Ghazni (d. 1030)
• 1154 – Constance, Queen of Sicily, wife of Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1198)
• 1235 – Henry of Almain, King of the Romans (d. 1271)
• 1428 – Yolande, Duchess of Lorraine (d. 1483)
• 1470 – Edward V of England (d. 1483)
• 1475 – Anne of York, Fifth daughter of King Edward IV of England and Elizabeth Woodville (d. 1511)
• 1549 – Anna of Austria, Queen of Spain (d. 1580)
• 1553 – Magdalene of Jülich-Cleves-Berg (d. 1633)
• 1636 – Edward Colston, English merchant and politician (d. 1721)
• 1649 – Esmé Stewart, 2nd Duke of Richmond (d. 1660)
• 1692 – Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer, Dutch composer and diplomat (d. 1766)
• 1696 – Conrad Weiser, American soldier, monk, and judge (d. 1760)
• 1699 – Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, French painter and educator (d. 1779)
• 1709 – Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange (d. 1759)
• 1734 – Daniel Boone, American hunter and explorer (d. 1820)
• 1739 – Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, Austrian violinist and composer (d. 1799)
• 1741 – Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol, Dutch lawyer and politician (d. 1784)
• 1754 – Gaspard de Bernard de Marigny, French general (d. 1794)
• 1755 – Marie Antoinette, Austrian-French queen consort of Louis XVI of France (d. 1793)
• 1766 – Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, Austrian field marshal (d. 1858)
• 1777 – Fortunat Alojzy Gonzaga Żółkowski, Polish actor and translator (d. 1822)
• 1795 – James K. Polk, American lawyer and politician, 11th President of the United States (d. 1849)
• 1799 – John Light Atlee, American physician and surgeon (d. 1885)
• 1799 – Titian Peale, American entomologist and photographer (d. 1885)
• 1808 – Jules Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly, French author and critic (d. 1889)
• 1815 – George Boole, English mathematician and philosopher (d. 1864)
• 1821 – George Bowen, Irish-English diplomat, 5th Governor-General of New Zealand (d. 1899)
• 1833 – Mahendralal Sarkar, Indian physician and academic (d. 1904)
• 1837 – Émile Bayard, French illustrator and painter (d. 1891)
• 1844 – Mehmed V, Ottoman sultan (d. 1918)
• 1844 – John J. Loud, American inventor (d. 1916)
• 1847 – Georges Sorel, French philosopher and author (d. 1922)
• 1855 – Henrik Schück, Swedish historian, author, and academic (d. 1947)
• 1865 – Warren G. Harding, American journalist and politician, 29th President of the United States (d. 1923)
• 1877 – Joseph De Piro, Maltese priest and missionary (d. 1933)
• 1877 – Aga Khan III, Indian 48th Shia Imam (d. 1957)
• 1877 – Victor Trumper, Australian cricketer (d. 1915)
• 1878 – Ōkido Moriemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 23rd Yokozuna (d. 1930)
• 1879 – Marion Jones Farquhar, American tennis player and violinist (d. 1965)
• 1883 – Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Villeneuve, Canadian cardinal (d. 1947)
• 1885 – Harlow Shapley, American astronomer and academic (d. 1972)
• 1886 – Dhirendranath Datta, Pakistani lawyer and politician (d. 1971)
• 1890 – Nishinoumi Kajirō III, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 30th Yokozuna (d. 1933)
• 1890 – Moa Martinson, Swedish author (d. 1964)
• 1891 – David Townsend, American art director and set decorator (d. 1935)
• 1892 – Alice Brady, American actress (d. 1939)
• 1893 – Battista Farina, Italian businessman, founded the Pininfarina Company (d. 1966)
• 1894 – Alexander Lippisch, German-American aerodynamicist and engineer (d. 1976)
• 1899 – Peter Aufschnaiter, Austrian mountaineer, geographer, and cartographer (d. 1973)
• 1903 – Travis Jackson, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1987)
• 1905 – James Dunn, American actor (d. 1967)
• 1905 – Georges Schehadé, Lebanese poet and playwright (d. 1989)
• 1906 – Daniil Andreyev, Russian poet and mystic (d. 1959)
• 1906 – Luchino Visconti, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 1976)
• 1908 – Fred Bakewell, English cricketer (d. 1983)
• 1908 – Bunny Berigan, American trumpet player (d. 1942)
• 1910 – Fouad Serageddin, Egyptian lawyer and politician, Egyptian Minister of Interior (d. 1999)
• 1911 – Odysseas Elytis, Greek poet and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
• 1911 – Raphael M. Robinson, American mathematician, philosopher, and theorist (d. 1995)
• 1913 – Burt Lancaster, American actor (d. 1994)
• 1914 – Johnny Vander Meer, American baseball player and manager (d. 1997)
• 1914 – Ray Walston, American actor (d. 2001)
• 1915 – Sidney Luft, American film producer (d. 2005)
• 1917 – Ann Rutherford, American actress (d. 2012)
• 1918 – Alexander Vraciu, American commander and pilot (d. 2015)
• 1919 – Warren Stevens, American actor (d. 2012)
• 1920 – Bill Mazer, Ukrainian-American journalist and sportscaster (d. 2013)
• 1921 – Shepard Menken, American actor (d. 1999)
• 1921 – Bill Mosienko, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1994)
• 1922 – Seánie Duggan, Irish hurler (d. 2013)
• 1924 – David Bauer, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1988)
• 1924 – Rudy Van Gelder, American record producer and engineer (d. 2016)
• 1926 – Myer Skoog, American basketball player
• 1926 – Charlie Walker, American country music singer-songwriter, guitarist, and DJ (d. 2008)
• 1927 – Steve Ditko, American author and illustrator
• 1927 – John Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Preston Candover, English businessman and politician
• 1928 – Gerry Alexander, Jamaican cricketer and veterinarian (d. 2011)
• 1928 – Paul Johnson, English journalist, historian, and author
• 1929 – Amar Bose, American engineer and businessman, founded the Bose Corporation (d. 2013)
• 1929 – Robert Gover, American journalist and author (d. 2015)
• 1929 – Muhammad Rafiq Tarar, Pakistani judge and politician, 9th President of Pakistan
• 1929 – Richard E. Taylor, Canadian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1931 – Phil Woods, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (d. 2015)
• 1932 – Ron Sproat, American screenwriter and playwright (d. 2009)
• 1933 – Clarence D. Rappleyea Jr., lawyer and politician (d. 2016)
• 1934 – Ken Rosewall, Australian tennis player
• 1935 – Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, Indian author
• 1936 – Rose Bird, American lawyer and judge, 25th Chief Justice of California (d. 1999)
• 1936 – Jack Starrett, American actor and director (d. 1989)
• 1937 – Earl Carroll, American singer (d. 2012)
• 1938 – Jay Black, American singer
• 1938 – Pat Buchanan, American journalist and politician
• 1938 – David Eden Lane, American white supremacist (d. 2007)
• 1938 – Queen Sofía of Spain
• 1939 – Pauline Neville-Jones, Baroness Neville-Jones, English broadcaster and politician, Minister for Security
• 1939 – Richard Serra, American sculptor and academic
• 1940 – Jim Bakken, American football player
• 1940 – Phil Minton, English singer and trumpet player
• 1941 – Brian Poole, English pop-rock singer (The Tremeloes)
• 1941 – Arun Shourie, Indian journalist, economist, and politician, Indian Minister of Communications
• 1941 – Dave Stockton, American golfer
• 1941 – Bruce Welch, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1942 – Shere Hite, German sexologist, author, and educator
• 1942 – Stefanie Powers, American actress
• 1944 – Patrice Chéreau, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2013)
• 1944 – Keith Emerson, English pianist, keyboard player, and composer (d. 2016)
• 1945 – Giorgos Kolokithas, Greek basketball player (d. 2013)
• 1945 – Larry Little, American football player
• 1945 – J. D. Souther, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
• 1946 – Alan Jones, Australian race car driver and sportscaster
• 1946 – Giuseppe Sinopoli, Italian conductor and composer (d. 2001)
• 1947 – Dave Pegg, English bass player and producer
• 1949 – Lois McMaster Bujold, American author
• 1951 – Thomas Mallon, American novelist, essayist, and critic
• 1951 – Lindy Morrison, Australian rock drummer (The Go-Betweens)
• 1952 – Maxine Nightingale, English R&B/soul singer
• 1954 – Pat Croce, American businessman and author
• 1955 – Chris Burnett, American saxophonist and composer
• 1955 – Thomas Grunenberg, German footballer and manager
• 1956 – Dale Brown, American author and pilot
• 1957 – Carter Beauford, American drummer and composer
• 1958 – Willie McGee, American baseball player and manager
• 1959 – Peter Mullan, Scottish actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1960 – Rosalyn Fairbank, South African tennis player
• 1961 – k.d. lang, Canadian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
• 1961 – Jeff Tedford, American football player and coach
• 1962 – David Brock, American journalist and author
• 1962 – Mireille Delunsch, French operatic soprano
• 1962 – Derek Mountfield, English footballer and manager
• 1963 – Bobby Dall, American bass player
• 1963 – Jonas Gardell, Swedish author and screenwriter
• 1963 – Ron McGovney, American bass player
• 1963 – Borut Pahor, Slovenian lawyer and politician, 4th President of Slovenia
• 1963 – Craig Saavedra, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1963 – Park Young-seok, South Korean mountaineer and explorer (d. 2011)
• 1964 – Britta Lejon, Swedish lawyer and politician
• 1965 – Shah Rukh Khan, Indian Film actor, producer, television host
• 1965 – Nick Boles, English businessman and politician
• 1965 – Arnold Clavio, Filipino journalist
• 1966 – David Schwimmer, American actor
• 1967 – Kurt Elling, American singer-songwriter
• 1967 – Simon Hill, English-Australian journalist and sportscaster
• 1967 – Scott Walker, American politician, 45th Governor of Wisconsin
• 1968 – Neal Casal, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and photographer
• 1969 – Reginald Arvizu, American rock musician (Korn; StillWell)
• 1972 – Darío Silva, Uruguayan footballer and coach
• 1972 – Vladimir Vorobiev, Russian ice hockey player and coach
• 1972 – Samantha Womack, British actress, singer and director
• 1973 – Ben Graham, Australian footballer
• 1973 – Marisol Nichols, American actress
• 1974 – Orlando Cabrera, Colombian-American baseball player
• 1974 – Nelly, American rapper
• 1974 – Prodigy, (Albert Johnson), American rapper (d. 2017)
• 1974 – Sofia Polgar, Hungarian chess player
• 1975 – Stéphane Sarrazin, French race car driver
• 1975 – Chris Walla, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1976 – Margus Hernits, Estonian figure skater
• 1976 – Sidney Ponson, Aruban baseball player
• 1977 – Rodney Buford, American basketball player
• 1977 – Konstantinos Economidis, Greek tennis player
• 1977 – Emma Reynolds, English politician
• 1977 – Leon Taylor, English diver and sportscaster
• 1978 – Carmen Cali, American baseball player
• 1979 – Simone Puleo, Italian footballer
• 1980 – Diego Lugano, Uruguayan footballer
• 1980 – Amos Roberts, Australian rugby player
• 1980 – Kim So-yeon, South Korean actress
• 1981 – Katharine Isabelle, Canadian actress
• 1981 – Mitchell Johnson, Australian cricketer
• 1981 – Rafael Márquez Lugo, Mexican footballer
• 1981 – Roddy White, American football player
• 1981 – Monica Iozzi, Brazilian actress
• 1982 – Yunel Escobar, Cuban-American baseball player
• 1982 – Charles Itandje, French footballer
• 1983 – Darren Young, American wrestler
• 1986 – Andy Rautins, Canadian basketball player
• 1987 – Danny Cipriani, English rugby player
• 1988 – Julia Görges, German tennis player
• 1989 – Stevan Jovetić, Montenegrin footballer
• 1989 – Natalie Pluskota, American tennis player
• 1989 – Luke Schenn, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1990 – Christopher Dibon, Austrian footballer
• 1994 – Shaq Coulthirst, English footballer
• 1997 – Davis Keillor-Dunn, English footballer

Deaths[edit]

• 943 – Emma of France (b. 894)
• 1083 – Matilda of Flanders (b. 1031)
• 1148 – Saint Malachy (b. 1094)
• 1285 – Peter III of Aragon (b. 1239)
• 1319 – John Sandale, Bishop of Winchester
• 1483 – Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, English politician, Lord High Constable of England (b. 1454)
• 1521 – Margaret of Lorraine, Duchess of Alençon and nun (b. 1463)
• 1610 – Richard Bancroft, English archbishop and academic (b. 1544)
• 1618 – Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria (b. 1568)
• 1716 – Engelbert Kaempfer, German botanist and physician (b. 1651)
• 1807 – Louis Auguste Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, French politician, Prime Minister of France (b. 1730)
• 1834 – Maria Teresa Poniatowska, Polish noblewoman (b. 1760)
• 1846 – Esaias Tegnér, Swedish poet and bishop (b. 1782)
• 1852 – Pyotr Kotlyarevsky, Russian general (b. 1782)
• 1863 – Theodore Judah, American engineer (b. 1826)
• 1877 – Friedrich Graf von Wrangel, Prussian field marshal (b. 1784)
• 1883 – William Morgan, English-Australian politician, 14th Premier of South Australia (b. 1828)
• 1886 – James Watney junior, English brewer, cricketer, and politician (b. 1832)
• 1887 – Alfred Domett, English-New Zealand poet and politician, 4th Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1811)
• 1887 – Jenny Lind, Swedish operatic soprano (b. 1820)
• 1898 – George Goyder, English-Australian surveyor (b. 1826)
• 1905 – Albert von Kölliker, Swiss anatomist and physiologist (b. 1817)
• 1930 – Viggo Jensen, Danish weightlifter, target shooter, and gymnast (b. 1874)
• 1935 – Jock Cameron, South African cricketer (b. 1905)
• 1944 – Thomas Midgley, Jr., American chemist and engineer (b. 1889)
• 1945 – Hélène de Pourtalès, Swiss sailor (b. 1868)
• 1949 – Jerome F. Donovan, American lawyer and politician (b. 1872)
• 1950 – George Bernard Shaw, Irish author, playwright, and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1856)
• 1952 – Mehmet Esat Bülkat, Greek-Turkish general (b. 1862)
• 1958 – Jean Couzy, French mountaineer and engineer (b. 1923)
• 1959 – Michael Considine, Irish-Australian trade union leader and politician (b. 1885)
• 1960 – Dimitri Mitropoulos, Greek conductor and composer (b. 1896)
• 1961 – James Thurber, American humorist and cartoonist (b. 1894)
• 1963 – Ngô Đình Diệm, Vietnamese politician, 1st President of the Republic of Vietnam (b. 1901)
• 1963 – Ngô Đình Nhu, Vietnamese activist, archivist, politician, and tactical strategist (b. 1910)
• 1966 – Peter Debye, Dutch-American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1884)
• 1966 – Mississippi John Hurt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1892)
• 1970 – Richard Cushing, American cardinal (b. 1895)
• 1970 – Pierre Veyron, French race car driver (b. 1903)
• 1971 – Robert Mensah, Ghanaian footballer (b. 1939)
• 1975 – Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1922)
• 1981 – Wally Wood, American author, illustrator, and publisher (b. 1927)
• 1982 – Lester Roloff, American preacher and radio host (b. 1914)
• 1990 – Eliot Porter, American photographer, chemist, and academic (b. 1901)
• 1991 – Irwin Allen, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1916)
• 1991 – Mort Shuman, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1936)
• 1992 – Robert Arneson, American sculptor and academic (b. 1930)
• 1992 – Hal Roach, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1892)
• 1994 – Martin Taras, American animator and director (b. 1914)
• 1994 – Peter Matthew Hillsman Taylor, American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright (b. 1917)
• 1996 – Eva Cassidy, American singer (b. 1963)
• 1996 – John G. Crommelin, American admiral and politician (b. 1902)
• 1998 – Vincent Winter, Scottish actor and production manager (b. 1957)
• 2000 – Robert Cormier, American journalist and author (b. 1925)
• 2002 – Charles Sheffield, American physicist and author (b. 1935)
• 2003 – Frank McCloskey, American sergeant, lawyer, and politician (b. 1939)
• 2004 – Theo van Gogh, Dutch actor, director, and producer (b. 1957)
• 2005 – Ferruccio Valcareggi, Italian footballer and manager (b. 1919)
• 2007 – Charmaine Dragun, Australian journalist (b. 1978)
• 2007 – Igor Moiseyev, Russian dancer and choreographer (b. 1906)
• 2007 – The Fabulous Moolah, American wrestler (b. 1923)
• 2008 – Madelyn Dunham, American banker and business executive (b. 1922)
• 2009 – Nien Cheng, Chinese-American author (b. 1915)
• 2010 – Clyde King, American baseball player and manager (b. 1924)
• 2011 – Boots Plata, Filipino director and screenwriter (b. 1943)
• 2012 – Shreeram Shankar Abhyankar, Indian-American mathematician and academic (b. 1930)
• 2012 – Robert Morton Duncan, American soldier and judge (b. 1927)
• 2012 – Joe Ginsberg, American baseball player (b. 1926)
• 2012 – Pino Rauti, Italian journalist and politician (b. 1926)
• 2012 – Han Suyin, Chinese-Swiss physician and author (b. 1916)
• 2012 – Kinjarapu Yerran Naidu, Indian politician (b. 1957)
• 2013 – Walt Bellamy, American basketball player (b. 1939)
• 2013 – Ghislaine Dupont, French journalist (b. 1956)
• 2013 – Clifford Nass, American author and academic (b. 1958)
• 2013 – Kjell Qvale, Norwegian-American businessman (b. 1919)
• 2014 – Acker Bilk, English singer and clarinet player (b. 1929)
• 2014 – Michael Coleman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1956)
• 2014 – Veljko Kadijević, Croatian general and politician, 5th Federal Secretary of People's Defence (b. 1925)
• 2014 – Herman Sarkowsky, German-American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded the Seattle Seahawks (b. 1925)
• 2014 – Shabtai Teveth, Israeli historian and author (b. 1925)
• 2015 – Andrzej Ciechanowiecki, Polish painter, historian, and academic (b. 1924)
• 2015 – Mike Davies, Welsh-American tennis player and businessman (b. 1936)
• 2015 – Roy Dommett, English scientist and engineer (b. 1933)
• 2015 – Tommy Overstreet, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1937)