Did you know
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 2, 1964.
June 11 in History
1963 — John F
Kennedy addresses Americans from the Oval Office proposing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which would revolutionize American society by guaranteeing equal access to public facilities, ending segregation in education, and guaranteeing federal protection for voting rights.
June 11 spans 68 recorded events across recorded history, from 173 to 2013. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Historical Events
68 events
173 – 2013
Today in history
More major events on June 11
The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.
- 1776 American Revolution: The Second Continental Congress appoints Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston to the Committee of Five to draft a declaration of independence. Source
- 2002 Antonio Meucci is acknowledged as the first inventor of the telephone by the United States Congress. Source
- 1987 Diane Abbott, Paul Boateng and Bernie Grant are elected as the first black MPs in Great Britain. Source
Did you know
The act was a culmination of efforts by civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks.
Did you know
The law prohibited discrimination in public facilities, including hotels, restaurants, and movie theaters.
Did you know
Title VII of the act established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to enforce federal laws against employment discrimination.
Did you know
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 paved the way for the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which further protected the voting rights of racial minorities.
173
Marcomannic Wars: The Roman army in Moravia is encircled by the Quadi, who have broken the peace treaty (171).
In a violent thunderstorm, emperor Marcus Aurelius defeats and subdues them in the so-called "miracle of the rain".
631
Emperor Taizong of Tang sends envoys to the Xueyantuo bearing gold and silk in order to seek the release of Chinese prisoners captured during the transition from Sui to Tang.
Emperor of China from 626 to 649
786
A Hasanid Alid uprising in Mecca is crushed by the Abbasids at the Battle of Fakhkh.
Descendants of Hasan ibn Ali, grandson of Muhammad
980
Vladimir the Great consolidates the Kievan realm from Ukraine to the Baltic Sea.
He is proclaimed ruler (knyaz) of all Kievan Rus'.
1011
Lombard Revolt: Greek citizens of Bari rise up against the Lombard rebels led by Melus and deliver the city to Basil Mesardonites, Byzantine governor (catepan) of the Catepanate of Italy.
Historical event in the European Middle Ages
1042
Empress Zoe Porphyrogenita marries Constantine Monomachos, who is crowned the following day as Byzantine Emperor.
Byzantine empress regnant in 1042
1118
Roger of Salerno, Prince of Antioch, captures Azaz from the Seljuk Turks.
Regent of Antioch from 1112 to 1119
1157
Albert I of Brandenburg, also called The Bear (Ger: Albrecht der Bär), becomes the founder of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, Germany and the first margrave.
Margrave of Brandenburg from 1100 to 1170
1345
The megas doux Alexios Apokaukos, chief minister of the Byzantine Empire, is lynched by political prisoners.
Title for the commander-in-chief of the Byzantine Navy
1429
Hundred Years' War: Start of the Battle of Jargeau.
Medieval Anglo-French conflicts, 1337–1453
1482
The Treaty of Fotheringhay is signed between the English and Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany, the rebellious brother of king James III of Scotland.
Part of the Anglo-Scottish Wars
1488
The Battle of Sauchieburn is fought between rebel Lords and James III of Scotland, resulting in the death of the king.
1488 battle in Scotland
1509
Henry VIII of England marries Catherine of Aragon.
King of England from 1509 to 1547
1559
Don Tristan de Luna y Arellano sails for Florida with a party of 1,500, intending to settle on the gulf coast (Vera Cruz, Mexico).
16th-century Spanish explorer and conquistador
1594
Philip II recognizes the rights and privileges of the local nobles and chieftains in the Philippines, which paved way to the stabilization of the rule of the Principalía (an elite ruling class of native nobility in Spanish Philippines).
King of Spain (1556–1598) and Portugal (1580–1598)
1685
James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, lands at Lyme in Dorset with loyal followers with the intent to depose king James II of England.
English Army officer and courtier (1649–1685)
1702
Anglo-Dutch forces skirmish with French forces before the walls of Nijmegen and prevent its fall.
1702 battle of the War of the Spanish Succession
1724
Johann Sebastian Bach leads his cantata O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort (O eternity, you word of thunder), BWV 20, on the first Sunday after Trinity, beginning his second cycle, the chorale cantata cycle.
German composer (1685–1750)
1748
Denmark adopts the characteristic Nordic Cross flag later taken up by all other Scandinavian countries.
Country in northern Europe
1770
British explorer Captain James Cook runs aground on the Great Barrier Reef.
British explorer and naval officer (1728–1779)
1775
The Coronation of Louis XVI in Reims, the last coronation before the French Revolution.
1775 coronation in France
1775
The American Revolutionary War's first naval engagement, the Battle of Machias, results in the capture of a small British naval vessel.
1775–1783 conflict in North America
1776
American Revolution: The Second Continental Congress appoints Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R.
Livingston to the Committee of Five to draft a declaration of independence.
1788
Russian explorer Gerasim Izmailov reaches Alaska.
Russian navigator (c. 1745 – after 1795)
1805
A fire consumes large portions of Detroit in the Michigan Territory.
Fire that destroyed most of Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
1825
The first cornerstone is laid for Fort Hamilton in New York City.
First stone set in construction of a masonry foundation
1837
The Broad Street Riot occurs in Boston, fueled by ethnic tensions between Yankees and Irish.
1837 brawl between Irish Americans and firefighters in Boston, Massachusetts
1865
The Naval Battle of the Riachuelo is fought on the rivulet Riachuelo (Argentina), between the Paraguayan Navy on one side and the Brazilian Navy on the other.
The Brazilian victory was crucial for the later success of the Triple Alliance (Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina) in the Paraguayan War.
1882
Nationalist riots break out in Alexandria directed against foreign domination.
More than 50 Europeans are killed, including the British consul.
1892
The Limelight Department, one of the world's first film studios, is officially established in Melbourne, Australia.
Film studio of the Salvation Army from 1898 to 1910
1895
Paris–Bordeaux–Paris, sometimes called the first automobile race in history or the "first motor race", takes place.
Former trail race
1898
The Hundred Days' Reform, a planned movement to reform social, political, and educational institutions in China, is started by the Guangxu Emperor, but is suspended by Empress Dowager Cixi after 104 days.
(The failed reform led to the abolition of the Imperial examination in 1905.)
1901
The boundaries of the Colony of New Zealand are extended by the UK to include the Cook Islands.
British crown colony (1841–1907)
1903
A group of Serbian officers storms the royal palace and assassinates King Alexander I of Serbia and his wife, Queen Draga.
1903 military coup against King Alexander I of Serbia; Peter I installed
1917
King Alexander assumes the throne of Greece after his father, Constantine I, is deemed to have abdicated under pressure from allied armies occupying Athens.
King of Greece from 1917 to 1920
1919
Sir Barton wins the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first horse to win the U.S.
Triple Crown.
1920
During the U.S.
Republican National Convention in Chicago, U.S. Republican Party leaders gather in a room at the Blackstone Hotel to come to a consensus on their candidate for the U.S. presidential election, leading the Associated Press to coin the political phrase "smoke-filled room".
1936
Inventor Edwin Armstrong demonstrates FM broadcasting to an audience of engineers at the FCC in Washington, DC.
American radio-frequency engineer and inventor (1890–1954)
1936
The London International Surrealist Exhibition opens.
1936 art exhibition in England
1937
Great Purge: The Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin executes eight army leaders.
1936–1938 campaign in the Soviet Union
1938
Second Sino-Japanese War: The Battle of Wuhan starts.
1937–1945 conflict in East Asia
1940
World War II: The Siege of Malta begins with a series of Italian air raids.
Global conflict (1939–1945)
1942
World War II: The United States agrees to send Lend-Lease aid to the Soviet Union.
WWII program to provide U.S. allies with free armaments
1942
Free French Forces retreat from Bir Hakeim after having successfully delayed the Axis advance.
1940–1944 French government-in-exile
1944
USS Missouri, the last battleship built by the United States Navy and future site of the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, is commissioned.
Iowa-class battleship of the U.S. Navy
1955
Eighty-three spectators are killed and at least one hundred are injured after an Austin-Healey and a Mercedes-Benz collide at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the deadliest ever accident in motorsports.
Former British sports car maker
1956
Start of Gal Oya riots, the first reported ethnic riots that target minority Sri Lankan Tamils in the Eastern Province.
The total number of deaths is reportedly 150.
1962
Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin allegedly become the only prisoners to escape from the prison on Alcatraz Island.
Prison break in San Francisco, California
1963
American Civil Rights Movement: Governor of Alabama George Wallace defiantly stands at the door of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama in an attempt to block two black students, Vivian Malone and James Hood, from attending that school.
Later in the day, accompanied by federalized National Guard troops, they are able to register.
1963
Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức burns himself with gasoline in a busy Saigon intersection to protest the lack of religious freedom in South Vietnam.
Vietnamese Buddhist monk (1897–1963)
1964
World War II veteran Walter Seifert attacks an elementary school in Cologne, Germany, killing at least eight children and two teachers, and seriously injuring several more, with a home-made flamethrower and a lance.
1964 mass murder at an elementary school in Cologne, West Germany
1968
Lloyd J.
Old identifies the first cell surface antigens that could differentiate among different cell types.
1970
After being appointed on May 15, Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P.
Hoisington officially receive their ranks as U.S. Army general officers, becoming the first women to do so.
1971
The U.S.
Government forcibly removes the last holdouts to the Native American Occupation of Alcatraz, ending 19 months of control.
1978
Altaf Hussain founds the student political movement All Pakistan Muhajir Students Organisation (APMSO) in Karachi University.
British Pakistani politician; founder of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (born 1953)
1981
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake at Golbaf, Iran, kills at least 2,000.
City in Kerman province, Iran
1987
Diane Abbott, Paul Boateng and Bernie Grant are elected as the first black MPs in Great Britain.
British politician (born 1953)
1998
Compaq Computer pays US$9 billion for Digital Equipment Corporation in the largest high-tech acquisition.
American information technology company (1982–2013)
2001
Timothy McVeigh is executed for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.
American domestic terrorist (1968–2001)
2002
Antonio Meucci is acknowledged as the first inventor of the telephone by the United States Congress.
Italian inventor (1808–1889)
2004
Cassini–Huygens makes its closest flyby of the Saturn moon Phoebe.
Mission to Saturn (1997–2017)
2007
Mudslides in Chittagong, Bangladesh, kill 130 people.
2007 natural disaster in Chittagong, Bangladesh
2008
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper makes a historic official apology to Canada's First Nations in regard to abuses at a Canadian Indian residential school.
Head of government of Canada
2008
The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is launched into orbit.
Space telescope for gamma-ray astronomy launched in 2008
2010
The first FIFA World Cup held on African soil kicks off in South Africa.
Football tournament
2012
Seventy-five people die in a landslide triggered by two earthquakes in Afghanistan; an entire village is buried.
Earthquakes in Afghanistan in 2012
2013
Greece's public broadcaster ERT is shut down by then-prime minister Antonis Samaras.
It would be opened exactly two years later by then-prime minister Alexis Tsipras.