TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON: OCTOBER 11
1531 The Catholics defeat the Protestants at Kappel during Switzerland’s second civil war.
1727 George II of England crowned.
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.
1776 During the American Revolution the first naval battle of Lake Champlain was fought. The forces under Gen. Benedict Arnold suffered heavy losses.
1795 In graditude for putting down a rebellion in the streets of Paris, France’s National Convention appoints Napoleon Bonaparte second in command of the Army of the Interior.
1862 The Confederate Congress in Richmond passes a draft law allowing anyone owning 20 or more slaves to be exempt from military service. This law confirms many southerners opinion that they are in a ‘rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight.’
1869 Thomas Edison filed for a patent on his first invention. The electric machine was used for counting votes for the U.S. Congress, however the Congress did not buy it.
1890 The Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in Washington, DC.
1906 San Francisco school board orders the segregation of Oriental schoolchildren, inciting Japanese outrage.
1945 Negotiations between Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek and Communist leader Mao Tse-tung break down. Nationalist and Communist troops are soon engaged in a civil war.
1975 Saturday Night Live comedy-variety show premiers on NBC, with guest host comedian George Carlin and special guests Janis Ian, Andy Kaufman and Billy Preston
1983 The last hand-cranked telephones in the U.S. went out of service. The 440 telephone customers of Bryant Pond, ME, were switched to direct-dial service.
1985 Pres Reagan bans importation of South African Krugerrands
1986 Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev open talks at a summit in Reykjavik, Iceland
1991 Confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas begin.
1991 President Bush vetoed a bill that would have provided up to an additional 20 weeks unemployment benefit calling it poorly designed and unnecessarily expensive.
1994 The Colorado Supreme Court declared that the anti-gay rights measure in the state was unconstitutional.
2000 100th Mission of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
