December 11

Historic Events

2020

The Food and Drug Administration issues an Emergency Use Authorization on the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, the first COVID-19 vaccine to be approved by the agency. ›

2019

The results of the 2019 Bougainvillean independence referendum are announced. The results are overwhelmingly one-sided. Over 98% of voters vote for Bougainville's independence. ›

2017

New York City Subway bombing: A pipe bomb partially detonates in the New York City Subway, in the Times Square–42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal. Four people are injured, including the perpetrator. ›

2012

At least 125 people are killed and up to 200 injured in bombings in the Alawite village of Aqrab, Syria. ›

2009

Finnish game developer Rovio Entertainment releases the hit mobile game Angry Birds internationally on iOS. ›

2008

Bernie Madoff is arrested and charged with securities fraud in a $50 billion Ponzi scheme. ›

2007

Insurgency in the Maghreb: Two car bombs explode in Algiers, Algeria, one near the Supreme Constitutional Court and the other near the offices of the United Nations. ›

2006

The International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust is opened in Tehran, Iran, by then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; nations such as Israel and the United States express concern. ›

2006

Felipe Calderón, the president of Mexico, launches a military-led offensive to put down the drug cartel violence in the state of Michoacán. This effort is often regarded as the first event in the Mexican drug war. ›

2005

The Buncefield Oil Depot catches fire in Hemel Hempstead, England. ›

2005

Cronulla riots: Thousands of White Australians demonstrate against ethnic violence resulting in a riot against anyone thought to be Lebanese in Cronulla, New South Wales; these are followed up by retaliatory ethnic attacks on Cronulla. ›

2001

China joins the World Trade Organization (WTO). ›

1999

SATA Air Açores Flight 530M crashes into Pico da Esperança on São Jorge Island in the Azores, killing 35. ›

1998

Thai Airways Flight 261 crashes near Surat Thani Airport, killing 101. The pilot flying the Airbus A310-200 is thought to have suffered spatial disorientation. ›

1997

The Kyoto Protocol, an agreement committing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, opens for signature. ›

1994

First Chechen War: Russian president Boris Yeltsin orders Russian troops into Chechnya. ›

1994

A bomb explodes on Philippine Airlines Flight 434, en route from Manila, Philippines, to Tokyo, Japan, killing one. The captain is able to land the plane safely. ›

1993

A block of the Highland Towers condominium complex collapses following a landslide caused by heavy rain and water flowing from a construction site at Ampang district in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 48 of its residents die, including one who died in hospital after being rescued alive, leaving only two survivors. ›

1990

Demonstrations by students and workers across Albania begin, which eventually trigger the fall of communism in Albania. ›

1990

Several fatal collisions in the 1990 Interstate 75 fog disaster result in a total of 12 deaths and 42 being injured ›

1988

A Soviet Air Force Il-76 aircraft crashes while participating in the Armenian earthquake relief, killing 78 people. ›

1981

El Mozote massacre: Armed forces in El Salvador kill an estimated 900 civilians in an anti-guerrilla campaign during the Salvadoran Civil War. ›

1980

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (also known as Superfund) is enacted by the U.S. Congress. ›

1978

The Lufthansa heist is committed by a group led by Lucchese family associate Jimmy Burke. It was the largest cash robbery ever committed on American soil, at that time. ›

1972

Apollo 17 becomes the sixth and final Apollo mission to land on the Moon. ›

1964

Che Guevara speaks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. ›

1962

Arthur Lucas, convicted of murder, is the last person to be executed in Canada. ›

1960

French forces crack down in a violent clash with protesters in French Algeria during a visit by French president Charles de Gaulle. ›

1958

French Upper Volta and French Dahomey gain self-government from France, becoming the Republic of Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) and the Republic of Dahomey (now Benin), respectively, and joining the French Community. ›

1948

Arab–Israeli War: The United Nations passes General Assembly Resolution 194, creating a Conciliation Commission to mediate the conflict. ›

1946

The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is established. ›

1941

World War II: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States, following the Americans' declaration of war on the Empire of Japan in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States, in turn, declares war on them. ›

1941

World War II: Poland declares war on the Empire of Japan. ›

1941

World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy suffers its first loss of surface vessels during the Battle of Wake Island. ›

1937

Second Italo-Ethiopian War: Italy leaves the League of Nations. ›

1936

Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII's abdication as King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, and Emperor of India, becomes effective. ›

1934

Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, takes his last drink and enters treatment for the final time. ›

1931

Statute of Westminster 1931: The British Parliament establishes legislative equality between the UK and the Dominions of the Commonwealth—Australia, Canada, Newfoundland, New Zealand, South Africa, and Ireland. ›

1927

Guangzhou Uprising: Communist Red Guards launch an uprising in Guangzhou, China, taking over most of the city and announcing the formation of a Guangzhou Soviet. ›

1925

Roman Catholic papal encyclical Quas primas introduces the Feast of Christ the King. ›

1920

Irish War of Independence: In retaliation for a recent IRA ambush, British forces burn and loot numerous buildings in Cork city. Many civilians report being beaten, shot at, robbed and verbally abused by British forces. ›

1917

World War I: British General Edmund Allenby enters Jerusalem on foot and declares martial law. ›

1913

More than two years after it was stolen from the Louvre, Leonardo da Vinci's painting Mona Lisa is recovered in Florence, Italy. The thief, Vincenzo Peruggia, is immediately arrested. ›

1907

The New Zealand Parliament Buildings are almost completely destroyed by fire. ›

1905

A workers' uprising occurs in Kyiv, Ukraine (then part of the Russian Empire), and establishes the Shuliavka Republic. ›

1901

Guglielmo Marconi transmits the first transatlantic radio signal from Poldhu, Cornwall, England to St. John's, Newfoundland. ›

1899

Second Boer War: In the Battle of Magersfontein the Boers commanded by general Piet Cronjé inflict a defeat on the forces of the British Empire commanded by Lord Methuen trying to relieve the Siege of Kimberley. ›

1868

Paraguayan War: Brazilian troops defeat the Paraguayan Army at the Battle of Avay. ›

1862

American Civil War: The Battle of Fredericksburg begins as the Army of the Potomac under Union General Ambrose Burnside crosses the Rappahannock River to clash with the Army of Northern Virginia led by Confederate General Robert E. Lee in Fredericksburg, Virginia. ›

1816

Indiana becomes the 19th U.S. state. ›

1815

The U.S. Senate creates a select committee on finance and a uniform national currency, predecessor of the United States Senate Committee on Finance. ›

1792

French Revolution: King Louis XVI of France is put on trial for treason by the National Convention. ›

1688

Glorious Revolution: James II of England, while trying to flee to France, throws the Great Seal of the Realm into the River Thames. ›

1675

Antonio de Vea expedition enters San Rafael Lake in western Patagonia. ›

1640

The Root and Branch petition, signed by 15,000 Londoners calling for the abolition of the episcopacy, is presented to the Long Parliament. ›

1602

A surprise attack by forces under the command of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, and his brother-in-law, Philip III of Spain, is repelled by the citizens of Geneva. (Commemorated annually by the Fête de l'Escalade.) ›

1317

The Nyköping Banquet (Swedish: Nyköpings gästabud) takes place as King Birger of Sweden celebrates Christmas at Nyköping Castle. Among the guests are his two brothers Duke Valdemar and Duke Eric, who later that night are imprisoned and eventually starved to death in the castle dungeon. ›

1282

Battle of Orewin Bridge: Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the last native Prince of Wales, is killed at Cilmeri near Builth Wells in mid-Wales. ›

1239

Treaty of Benavente: the heiresses of the Kingdom of León renounce their throne to King Ferdinand III of Castile ›

1041

Michael V, adoptive son of Empress Zoë of Byzantium, is proclaimed emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire. ›

969

Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas is assassinated by his wife Theophano and her lover, the later Emperor John I Tzimiskes. ›

361

Julian enters Constantinople as sole Roman Emperor. ›

220

Emperor Xian of Han is forced to abdicate the throne by Cao Cao's son Cao Pi, ending the Han dynasty. ›