TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – AUG 11
3114 BC The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations, notably the Mayans, begins
1492 Rodrigo Borgia is elected to the papacy as Pope Alexander VI.
1792 A revolutionary commune is formed in Paris, France.
1856 A band of rampaging settlers in California kill four Yokut Indians. The settlers had heard unproven rumors of Yokut atrocities.
1860 The first successful silver mill in America began operations. The mill was in Virginia City, NV.
1877 The two moons of Mars were discovered by Asaph Hall, an American astronomer. He named them Phobos and Deimos.
1906 In France, Eugene Lauste receives the first patent for a talking film.
1908 Britain’s King Edward VII meets with Kaiser Wilhelm II to protest the growth of the German navy.
1912 Moroccan Sultan Mulai Hafid abdicates his throne in the face of internal dissent.
1934 The first inmates arrived at the federal prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay.
1965 A small clash between the California Highway Patrol and two black youths sets off six days of rioting in the Watts area of Los Angeles.
1972 The last U.S. ground forces withdraw from Vietnam.
1984 Carl Lewis wins four Olympic gold medals, tying the record Jesse Owens set in 1936.
1984 U.S. President Ronald Reagan was preparing for his weekly radio broadcast when, during testing of the microphone, the President said of the Soviet Union, “My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you that I just signed legislation that would outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.”
1988 Al Qaeda formed at a meeting in Peshawar, Pakistan.
1989 Voyager 2 discovers two partial rings around Neptune.
1990 Troops from Egypt and Morocco arrive in Saudi Arabia as part of the international operation to prevent Iraq from invading.
1992 Mall of America Opens its Doors to Shoppers
1995 All U.S. nuclear tests were banned by President Clinton.
1997 U.S. President Clinton made the first use of the line-item veto approved by Congress, rejecting three items in spending and tax bills.
2003 NATO assumes command of the international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, its first major operation outside Europe.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
