August 11
1909 - Arapahoe became the first American ship to use the S.O.S distress signal.
1934 - The first inmates arrived at the federal prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay.
1949 - President Harry S. Truman nominated General Omar N. Bradley to become the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
1952 - King Hussein of Jordan ascended the throne after his father had been declared mentally unfit, beginning a reign that lasted nearly 47 years.
1954 - More than seven years of fighting in Indochina formally ended with the cessation of French control.
1956 - Abstract artist Jackson Pollock died in an automobile accident.
1960 - Chad gained its independence from France.
1965 - Following the arrest of a young black motorist, the predominately black neighborhood of Watts in Los Angeles erupted in riots that lasted six days and left 34 dead.
1992 - The Mall of America, the biggest shopping mall in the country, opened in Bloomington, Minnesota.
1993 - President Bill Clinton named Army Gen. John Shalikashvili to be the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, succeeding the retiring Gen. Colin Powell.
1997 - President Bill Clinton made the first use of the historic line-item veto, rejecting three items in spending and tax bills. (However, the U.S. Supreme Court later struck down the veto as unconstitutional.)
1998 - British Petroleum purchased Amoco for $49 billion.
2000 - Pat Buchanan won the Reform Party presidential nomination.
2002 - US Airways filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
2003 - Charles Taylor, president of Liberia, formally relinquished his office to Moses Blah and left for Nigeria.
2003 - NATO took command of the 5,000-strong peacekeeping force in Afghanistan.
2006 - The Transportation Security Administration banned all liquids, gels and aerosols from passenger cabins on airliners one day after a thwarted terrorist attack.
2009 - Eunice Kennedy Shriver, sister of President John F. Kennedy and founder of the Special Olympics, died at age 88.
2012 - Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney announced his choice of Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin to be his running mate.
2014 - Academy Award-winning actor and comedian Robin Williams, 63, died in Tiburon, California.
2016 - The Obama administration said it had decided marijuana would remain on the list of most dangerous drugs, rebuffing growing support across the country for broad legalization, but said it would allow more research into its medical uses.
2016 - Simone Biles of the U.S. soared to the all-around title in women’s gymnastics at the Olympic Games in Rio.
2017 - A federal judge ordered Charlottesville, Virginia, to allow a weekend rally of white nationalists and other extremists to take place at its originally planned location downtown. (Violence erupted at the rally, and a woman was killed when a man plowed his car into a group of counterprotesters.)
2020 - Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden named California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate, the first Black woman on a major party's presidential ticket.
2020 - Russia became the first country to approve a coronavirus vaccine.
Birthdays
28 - Alyson Stoner (actress)
29 - Tomi Lahren (TV host)
32 - Ursula Corbero (actress)
36 - Jacqueline Fernandez (actress)
38 - Chris Hemsworth (actor)
41 - Merritt Wever (actor)
42 - Rob Kerkovich (actor)
45 - Will Friedle (actor)
48 - Nigel Harman (actor)
53 - Charlie Sexton (musician)
53 - Sophie Okonedo (actress)
53 - Ashley Jensen (actress)
53 - Anna Gunn (actress)
54 - Joe Rogan (actor/TV and radio host)
56 - Duane Martin (actor)
56 - Viola Davis (actress)
67 - Joe Jackson (singer)
68 - Hulk Hogan (professional wrestler)
71 - Steve Wozniak (Apple co-founder)
75 - John Conlee (singer)
77 - Ian McDiarmid (actor)
96 - Arlene Dahl (actress)
============================================
Today in Sports History - August 11
1919 - The Green Bay Packers football club is founded by George Calhoun and Curly Lambeau -- named after their sponsor, the Indian Packing Company.
1929 - Babe Ruth hit his 500th career home run.
1951 - The first major league baseball game to be televised in color was broadcast. The Brooklyn Dodgers defeated the Boston Braves 8-1.
1961 - Warren Spahn of the Milwaukee Braves records his 300th career pitching victory.
1968 - Satchel Paige, at age 62 and needing 158 days on a major league payroll to qualify for a pension, is signed by the Braves.
1970 - Pitcher Jim Bunning joins Cy Young as only the second pitcher in MLB history to win 100 games in both leagues.
1984 - At the Los Angeles Olympics, American runner Mary Decker fell after colliding with South African-born British competitor Zola Budd in the 3,000-meter final; Budd finished seventh.
1984 - Carl Lewis won his fourth gold medal in the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, duplicating Jesse Owens' feat from the 1936 Berlin Games.
1984 - The Cincinnati Reds retired Johnny Bench's #5.
2012 - Usain Bolt capped his perfect London Olympics by leading Jamaica to victory in a world-record 36.84 seconds in the 4x100 meters.
2015 - For the first time in history all 15 Major League Baseball host teams won their games.
2020 - College football’s Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences said they would not play football in the fall because of concerns about COVID-19. (Weeks later, both conferences reversed those decisions and scheduled abbreviated seasons.)
1909 - Arapahoe became the first American ship to use the S.O.S distress signal.
1934 - The first inmates arrived at the federal prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay.
1949 - President Harry S. Truman nominated General Omar N. Bradley to become the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
1952 - King Hussein of Jordan ascended the throne after his father had been declared mentally unfit, beginning a reign that lasted nearly 47 years.
1954 - More than seven years of fighting in Indochina formally ended with the cessation of French control.
1956 - Abstract artist Jackson Pollock died in an automobile accident.
1960 - Chad gained its independence from France.
1965 - Following the arrest of a young black motorist, the predominately black neighborhood of Watts in Los Angeles erupted in riots that lasted six days and left 34 dead.
1992 - The Mall of America, the biggest shopping mall in the country, opened in Bloomington, Minnesota.
1993 - President Bill Clinton named Army Gen. John Shalikashvili to be the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, succeeding the retiring Gen. Colin Powell.
1997 - President Bill Clinton made the first use of the historic line-item veto, rejecting three items in spending and tax bills. (However, the U.S. Supreme Court later struck down the veto as unconstitutional.)
1998 - British Petroleum purchased Amoco for $49 billion.
2000 - Pat Buchanan won the Reform Party presidential nomination.
2002 - US Airways filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
2003 - Charles Taylor, president of Liberia, formally relinquished his office to Moses Blah and left for Nigeria.
2003 - NATO took command of the 5,000-strong peacekeeping force in Afghanistan.
2006 - The Transportation Security Administration banned all liquids, gels and aerosols from passenger cabins on airliners one day after a thwarted terrorist attack.
2009 - Eunice Kennedy Shriver, sister of President John F. Kennedy and founder of the Special Olympics, died at age 88.
2012 - Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney announced his choice of Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin to be his running mate.
2014 - Academy Award-winning actor and comedian Robin Williams, 63, died in Tiburon, California.
2016 - The Obama administration said it had decided marijuana would remain on the list of most dangerous drugs, rebuffing growing support across the country for broad legalization, but said it would allow more research into its medical uses.
2016 - Simone Biles of the U.S. soared to the all-around title in women’s gymnastics at the Olympic Games in Rio.
2017 - A federal judge ordered Charlottesville, Virginia, to allow a weekend rally of white nationalists and other extremists to take place at its originally planned location downtown. (Violence erupted at the rally, and a woman was killed when a man plowed his car into a group of counterprotesters.)
2020 - Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden named California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate, the first Black woman on a major party's presidential ticket.
2020 - Russia became the first country to approve a coronavirus vaccine.
Birthdays
28 - Alyson Stoner (actress)
29 - Tomi Lahren (TV host)
32 - Ursula Corbero (actress)
36 - Jacqueline Fernandez (actress)
38 - Chris Hemsworth (actor)
41 - Merritt Wever (actor)
42 - Rob Kerkovich (actor)
45 - Will Friedle (actor)
48 - Nigel Harman (actor)
53 - Charlie Sexton (musician)
53 - Sophie Okonedo (actress)
53 - Ashley Jensen (actress)
53 - Anna Gunn (actress)
54 - Joe Rogan (actor/TV and radio host)
56 - Duane Martin (actor)
56 - Viola Davis (actress)
67 - Joe Jackson (singer)
68 - Hulk Hogan (professional wrestler)
71 - Steve Wozniak (Apple co-founder)
75 - John Conlee (singer)
77 - Ian McDiarmid (actor)
96 - Arlene Dahl (actress)
============================================
Today in Sports History - August 11
1919 - The Green Bay Packers football club is founded by George Calhoun and Curly Lambeau -- named after their sponsor, the Indian Packing Company.
1929 - Babe Ruth hit his 500th career home run.
1951 - The first major league baseball game to be televised in color was broadcast. The Brooklyn Dodgers defeated the Boston Braves 8-1.
1961 - Warren Spahn of the Milwaukee Braves records his 300th career pitching victory.
1968 - Satchel Paige, at age 62 and needing 158 days on a major league payroll to qualify for a pension, is signed by the Braves.
1970 - Pitcher Jim Bunning joins Cy Young as only the second pitcher in MLB history to win 100 games in both leagues.
1984 - At the Los Angeles Olympics, American runner Mary Decker fell after colliding with South African-born British competitor Zola Budd in the 3,000-meter final; Budd finished seventh.
1984 - Carl Lewis won his fourth gold medal in the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, duplicating Jesse Owens' feat from the 1936 Berlin Games.
1984 - The Cincinnati Reds retired Johnny Bench's #5.
2012 - Usain Bolt capped his perfect London Olympics by leading Jamaica to victory in a world-record 36.84 seconds in the 4x100 meters.
2015 - For the first time in history all 15 Major League Baseball host teams won their games.
2020 - College football’s Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences said they would not play football in the fall because of concerns about COVID-19. (Weeks later, both conferences reversed those decisions and scheduled abbreviated seasons.)
