August 11

2492 BC - Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founder of the Armenian nation. 480 BC - Greco-Persian Wars: Battle of Artemisium - the Persians achieve a naval victory over the Greeks in an engagement fought near Artemisium, a promontory on the north coast of Euboea. The Greek fleet holds its own against the Persians in three days of fighting but withdraws southward when news comes of the defeat at Thermopylae. 355 - Claudius Silvanus, accused of treason, proclaims himself Roman Emperor against Constantius II. 1786 - Captain Francis Light establishes the British colony of Penang in Malaysia 1804 - Francis II assumes the title of first Emperor of Austria 1858 - First ascent of the Eiger. 1898 - Spanish-American War: American troops enter the city of MayagÃ¼ez, Puerto Rico. 1918 - World War I - Battle of Amiens ends. 1919 - Constitution of Weimar Republic adopted. 1920 - The Latvia-Bolshevist Russia peace treaty, which relinquished Russia's authority and pretenses to Latvia, is signed. 1929 - Babe Ruth becomes the first baseball player to hit 500 home runs in his career with a home run at League Park in Cleveland, Ohio. 1934 - First civilian prisoners arrive at Federal prison on Alcatraz Island. 1952 - Hussein proclaimed king of Jordan. 1960 - Chad declares independence. 1965 - Race riots (the Watts riots) begin in Watts area of Los Angeles, California. 1968 - The last steam passenger train service runs in Britain. A selection of British Rail steam locomotives make the 120-mile journey from Liverpool to Carlisle and returns to Liverpool before having their fires dropped for the last time - this working was known as the Fifteen Guinea Special. 1972 - Vietnam War: the last United States ground combat unit departs South Vietnam. 1975 - East Timor: Governor MÃ¡rio Lemos Pires of Portuguese Timor abandons the capital Dili, following a coup by the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT) and the outbreak of civil war between UDT and Fretilin. 1988 - Al-Qaeda formed 1999 - The Salt Lake City Tornado tears through the downtown district of the city, killing one. 2003 - NATO takes over command of the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, marking its first major operation outside Europe in its 54-year-history. 2003 - Jemaah Islamiyah leader Riduan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, is arrested in Bangkok, Thailand. 2003 - A heat wave in Paris results in temperatures rising to 112Â°F (44Â° C), leaving about 144 people dead.

[edit] Births

1467 - Mary of York, English princess (d. 1482) 1667 - Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, last of the Medicis (d. 1743) 1673 - Richard Mead, English physician (d. 1754) 1718 - Sir Frederick Haldimand, Swiss-born British colonial governor (d. 1791) 1722 - Richard Brocklesby, English physician (d. 1797) 1778 - Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, German (Prussian) gymnastics educator and nationalist (d. 1852) 1794 - James Barton Longacre, American engraver (d. 1869) 1807 - David Rice Atchison, American politician (d. 1886) 1833 - Robert G. Ingersoll, American politician and soldier (d. 1899) 1833 - Kido Takayoshi, Japanese politician (d. 1877) 1836 - Warren Brown, American politician (d. 1919) 1837 - Marie FranÃ§ois Sadi Carnot, French statesman (d. 1894) 1855 - John Hodges, Australian cricketer (d. 1933) 1858 - Christiaan Eijkman, Dutch physician, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1930) 1863 - Gaston Doumergue, President of the French Third Republic (d. 1937) 1870 - Tom Richardson, English cricketer (d. 1912) 1870 - Walter Bowman, Canadian soccer player (d. ?) 1872 - Shidehara Kijuro, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1951) 1877 - Adolph M. Christianson, justice of the North Dakota Supreme Court (d.1954) 1892 - Eiji Yoshikawa, Japanese novelist (d. 1962) 1892 - Hugh MacDiarmid, Scottish poet (d. 1978) 1892 - Archie Wiles, West Indian cricketer (d. 1957) 1897 - Louise Bogan, American poet (d. 1970) 1897 - Enid Blyton, English author (d. 1968) 1900 - Philip Phillips, American archaeologist (d. 1994) 1902 - Alfredo Binda, Italian cyclist (d. 1986) 1902 - Lloyd Nolan, American actor (d. 1985) 1905 - Erwin Chargaff, Austrian biochemist (d. 2002) 1907 - Ted a'Beckett, Australian cricketer (d. 1989) 1912 - Eva Ahnert-Rohlfs, German astronomer (d. 1954) 1912 - Thanom Kittikachorn, Prime Minister of Thailand (d. 2004) 1913 - Angus Wilson, British novelist (d. 1991) 1913 - Paul Dupuis, French Canadian actor (d. 1976) 1913 - Bob Scheffing, American professional baseball player and manager (d. 1985) 1914 - JosÃ© Silva, American parapsychologist (d. 1999) 1916 - Johnny Claes, Belgian racing driver (d. 1956) 1919 - Ginette Neveu, French violinist (d. 1949) 1920 - Chuck Rayner, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2002) 1921 - Alex Haley, American historian (d. 1992) 1923 - Stan Chambers, American television reporter 1925 - Mike Douglas, American entertainer (d. 2006) 1925 - Floyd Curry, National Hockey League player (d. 2006) 1926 - Aaron Klug, Lithuanian-born chemist, Nobel Prize Laureate 1926 - Claus von BÃ¼low, Danish-born British socialite 1928 - Arlene Dahl, American actress 1932 - Fernando Arrabal, Spanish writer 1932 - Israel Asper, Canadian tax lawyer (d. 2003) 1932 - John Gorrie, English director 1933 - Jerry Falwell, American preacher (d. 2007) 1936 - Andre Dubus, American short-story writer (d. 1999) 1938 - Branko Stanovnik, Slovenian chemist 1939 - Ronnie Dawson, American rockabilly performer (d. 2003) 1942 - Mike Hugg, British musician (Manfred Mann) 1943 - Abigail Folger, American heiress and Manson murder victim (d. 1969) 1943 - Stefania Toczyska, Polish mezzo-soprano 1943 - Pervez Musharraf, Pakistani politician 1944 - Ian McDiarmid, Scottish actor 1944 - Fred Smith, American entrepreneur 1946 - Marilyn vos Savant, American newspaper columnist 1946 - John Conlee, American country music singer 1947 - Georgios Karatzaferis, Greek politician 1948 - Jan Palach, Czechoslovakian student protester (d. 1969) 1949 - Eric Carmen, American musician 1950 - Erik Brann, American musician (Iron Butterfly) (d. 2003) 1950 - Gennidy Nikonov, Russian weapons inventor 1950 - Steve Wozniak, American computer pioneer 1951 - Vincent Bilodeau, Quebec actor and comedian 1952 - Bob Mothersbaugh, AKA Bob 1, American Musician (DEVO) 1953 - Hulk Hogan, American professional wrestler 1954 - Joe Jackson, English singer 1954 - Juan Maria Solare, Argentine composer 1954 - Yashpal Sharma, Indian cricketer 1954 - M. V. Narasimha Rao, Indian cricketer 1955 - Sylvia Hermon, British politician 1955 - Marc Bureau, French Canadian politician 1956 - Pierre-Louis Lions, French mathematician 1957 - Richie Ramone, American musician (Ramones) 1957 - Ian Stuart Donaldson, British singer (Skrewdriver) 1959 - Gustavo Cerati, Argentinian musician (Soda Stereo) 1959 - Yoshiaki Murakami, Japanese investor 1962 - Shaul Karnain, Sri Lankan cricketer 1963 - Hiromi Makihara, Japanese baseball player 1964 - Jim Lee, Korean-born comic book artist 1964 - Miguel A. NÃºÃ±ez Jr., American actor 1965 - Marc Bergevin, Canadian professional ice hockey player 1965 - Shinji Mikami, Japanese video game designer (Resident Evil) 1965 - Viola Davis, American actress 1965 - Embeth Davidtz, American actress 1966 - Nigel Martyn, English footballer 1966 - Embeth Davidtz, American actress 1967 - Enrique Bunbury, Spanish singer 1967 - Eric Maleson, Brazilian Bobsleigh 2002 Olympian 1967 - Collin Chou, Taiwanese actor 1967 - Joe Rogan, American television host 1968 - Lorenzo Bernardi, Italian volleyball player 1968 - Charlie Sexton, American musician 1968 - Alan Kelly, England-born Irish footballer 1968 - Veda Hille, Canadian singer 1968 - Princess Mabel of Orange-Nassau 1968 - Anna Gunn, American actress 1969 - Jonah Matranga, American singer 1969 - Ashley Jensen, Scottish actress 1970 - Andy Bell, English musician (Ride, Hurricane #1, Oasis) 1971 - Tommy Mooney, English football player 1971 - Alejandra Barros, Mexican actress 1971 - Julie Clarke, Playboy playmate 1972 - Jonathon Prandi, American model 1973 - Nigel Harman, British actor 1974 - Audrey Mestre, French diver 1974 - Will Friedle, American actor 1974 - Hadiqa Kiyani, Pakistani pop star 1974 - Marie-France Dubreuil, French Canadian figure skater 1974 - Anju Jain, Indian cricketer(women's team) 1975 - Davey von Bohlen, American musician, (The Promise Ring, Maritime) 1975 - Ronald Clarke, American musician and founder of aliennetwork Records 1976 - Ben Gibbard, American musician (Death Cab for Cutie, The Postal Service) 1976 - Ä½ubomir Visnovsky, Slovak ice hockey player 1976 - Bubba Crosby, American baseball player 1976 - Erick Lindgren, American poker player 1977 - Gemma Hayes, Irish born singer 1978 - Jermain Taylor, American boxer 1978 - Amber Brkich, American reality television personality 1980 - Lee Suggs, American football player 1981 - Sandi Thom, Scottish born singer 1981 - Fiona Sit, Hong Kong singer and actress 1982 - Alan Halsall, British actor 1983 - Chris Hemsworth, Australian Actor 1984 - Melky Cabrera, Dominican baseball player 1984 - Katie Rees, American beauty pageant contestant 1984 - Lucas Di Grassi, Brazilian racing driver 1985 - Grace Adams-Short, British reality television contestant 1986 - Kaori Fukuhara, Japanese voice actress 1987 - Nkem Ojougboh, American basketball player 1988 - Patrick Mills, Australian basketball player 1992 - Allison Lozano, Mexican actress 1993 - Alyson Stoner, American actress