Historical Events on 11 Aug

Historical Events on 11 Aug

1786 - Captain Francis Light established the British colony of Penang in Malaysia
1804 - Francis II assumed title of first Emperor of Austria
1858 - First ascent of the Eiger.
1898 - Spanish-American War: American troops enter the city of Mayagüez, 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 - Federal prison opened at 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 know
1972 - Vietnam War: The last United States ground combat unit depart South Vietnam.
1975 - East Timor: Governor Mário 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.
1999 - The exceptional 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 - A heat wave in Paris resulted in temperatures rising to 112°F (44° C), leaving about 144 people dead.
2003 - Jemaah Islamiyah leader Riduan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, is arrested in Bangkok, Thailand.
2008 - World champion Abhinav Bindra wins India's first ever individual gold at the Olympic Games by winning the gold medal at the men's 10m air rifle event in Beijing.
2492 BC - Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founder of the Armenian nation.
355 - Claudius Silvanus, accused of treason, proclaims himself Roman Emperor against Constantius II.
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 fightin