Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date
Tuesday, August 11, 2026
Today is the 223rd day of 2026. There are 142 days left in this year.
Notable Events
1786
Captain Francis Light establishes the British colony of Penang in Malaysia.
1858
The Eiger in the Bernese Alps is ascended for the first time by Charles Barrington accompanied by Christian Almer and Peter Bohren.
1909
The SOS distress signal was first used by an American ship, the Arapahoe, off Cape Hatteras, N.C.
1920
The 1920 Cork hunger strike begins which eventually results in the deaths of three Irish Republicans including the Lord Mayor of Cork Terence MacSwiney.
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
The first federal prisoners arrived at the island prison Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay.
1942
During World War II, Vichy government official Pierre Laval publicly declared that ''the hour of liberation for France is the hour when Germany wins the war.''
1942
Actress Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil receive a patent for a Frequency-hopping spread spectrum communication system that later became the basis for modern technologies in wireless telephones, two-way radio communications, and Wi-Fi.
1954
A formal peace took hold in Indochina, ending more than seven years of fighting between the French and Communist Vietminh.
1965
Rioting and looting broke out in the predominantly black Watts section of Los Angeles. In the week that followed, 34 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured.
1969
The Apollo 11 astronauts are released from a three-week quarantine following their liftoff from the Moon.
1972
The last United States ground combat unit leaves South Vietnam.
1979
Two Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-134s collide over the Ukrainian city of Dniprodzerzhynsk and crash, killing all 178 aboard both airliners.
1982
A bomb explodes on Pan Am Flight 830, en route from Tokyo, Japan to Honolulu, Hawaii, killing one passenger and injuring 15 others.
1984
President Reagan sparked controversy when he joked during a voice test for a paid political radio address that he had ''signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.''
1988
A meeting between Sayyed Imam Al-Sharif, Osama bin Laden, Abdullah Yusuf Azzam, and leaders of Egyptian Islamic Jihad in Afghanistan culminates in the formation of Al-Qaeda.
1992
The Mall of America, the biggest shopping mall in the country, opened in Bloomington, Minn.
1993
President Clinton named Army Gen. John Shalikashvili as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, succeeding Gen. Colin Powell.
1994
A federal jury awarded $286.8 million to some 10,000 commercial fishermen for losses as a result of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.
1997
President Clinton made the first use of the line-item veto approved by Congress, rejecting three items in spending and tax bills.
1998
British Petroleum purchased Amoco for $49 billion in the biggest foreign takeover of a U.S. company.
2000
Pat Buchanan won the Reform Party presidential nomination in a victory bitterly disputed by party founder Ross Perot's supporters, who chose their own nominee, John Hagelin, in a rival convention.
2000
An air rage incident occurs on board Southwest Airlines Flight 1763 when 19-year-old Jonathan Burton attempts to storm the cockpit, but he is subdued by other passengers and dies from his injuries.
2003
NATO takes over command of the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, marking its first major operation outside Europe in its 54-year-history.
2006
The oil tanker MT Solar 1 sinks off the coast of Guimaras and Negros Islands in the Philippines, causing the country's worst oil spill.
2012
At least 306 people are killed and 3,000 others injured in a pair of earthquakes near Tabriz, Iran.
2017
At least 41 people are killed and another 179 injured after two passenger trains collide in Alexandria, Egypt.
Notable Births
1920
Mike Douglas, was an American "Big Band" era singer, entertainer, television talk show host of The Mike Douglas Show, and actor. (d. 2006)
1921
Alex Haley was an American writer and author of the 1976 book Roots: The Saga of an American Family. ABC adapted the book as a television miniseries of the same name and aired it in to a record-breaking audience of 130 million viewers. (d. 1992)
1933
Jerry Falwell. was an American Baptist pastor, televangelist, and conservative activist. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia. (d. 2007)
1937
Patrick Joseph McGovern, American businessman, founded International Data Group (d. 2014)
1939
Ronnie Dawson was an American rockabilly singer, guitarist and drummer, nicknamed The Blond Bomber. (d. 2003)
1942
Mike Hugg is a British musician who was a founding member of the 1960s group Manfred Mann.
1943
Jim Kale is a retired Canadian musician, best known as the original bassist for the rock band The Guess Who.
1943
Denis Payton was an English musician who played tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, guitar and harmonica in the rock and roll band the Dave Clark Five. (d. 2006)
1944
Frederick W. Smith is an American business magnate and investor. He is the founder and chairman of FedEx Corporation, the world's largest transportation company.
1946
John Conlee, American singer-songwriter. Conlee charted a total of 32 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, and recorded 11 studio albums.
1946
Marilyn vos Savant is an American magazine columnist who has the highest recorded intelligence quotient (IQ) in the Guinness Book of Records, a competitive category the publication has since retired.
1949
Eric Carmen is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and keyboardist. He had numerous hit songs in the 1970s and 1980s, first as a member of the Raspberries, and then with his solo career.
1950
Erik Braunn, was an American guitarist with the 1960s acid rock band Iron Butterfly. (d. 2003)
1950
Gennadiy Nikonov was a Russian gun engineer. Some of his most famous accomplishments were as the designer of the AN-94 assault rifle, and the "straight-back bolt." (d. 2003)
1950
Steve Wozniak, also known by his nickname "Woz", is an American technology entrepreneur, electronics engineer, computer scientist, computer programmer, philanthropist, and inventor. In 1976, he co-founded Apple Computer.
1953
Hulk Hogan, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is widely regarded as the most recognized wrestling star worldwide and the most popular wrestler of the 1980s.
1953
Hulk Hogan (Terry Gene Bollea), was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his work with WWE and World Championship Wrestling. (d. 2025)
1954
Bryan Bassett is an American guitarist who has played with several notable bands but is best known as a member of Wild Cherry in the 1970s who had a hit with "Play That Funky Music".
1954
Joe Jackson is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He scored a hit with his first release, "Is She Really Going Out with Him?" in 1979. It was followed by a number of new wave singles.
1962
Charles Cecil, English video game designer and co-founded Revolution Software
1965
Viola Davis is an American actress and producer. The recipient of numerous accolades, Davis is one of the few performers to have been awarded an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony (EGOT).
1967
Joe Rogan is an American UFC color commentator, podcaster, comedian, and former television presenter. He hosts The Joe Rogan Experience, a podcast in which he discusses a wide range of topics with guests.
1968
Anna Gunn is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Skyler White on the AMC drama series Breaking Bad for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2013 and 2014.
1968
Charlie Wayne Sexton is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Sexton is best known for his years as a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band, though also has become well known as a music producer.
1976
Ben Gibbard is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie, with whom he has recorded ten studio albums.
1983
Chris Hemsworth is an Australian actor. He rose to prominence playing Kim Hyde in the Australian television series Home and Away (2004-2007) before beginning a film career in Hollywood.
1992
Tomi Lahren is an American conservative political commentator and television presenter. She hosted Tomi on TheBlaze, where she gained attention for her short video segments in which she frequently criticized liberal politics.
Notable Deaths
1919
Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Carnegie Steel Company and Carnegie Hall (b. 1835)
1939
Jean Bugatti was an automotive designer and test engineer for Bugatti. He was the son of Bugatti's founder Ettore Bugatti. (b. 1909)
1956
Abstract artist Jackson Pollock died in an automobile accident in East Hampton, N.Y.
1977
Frederic Calland Williams, British co-inventor of the Williams-Kilborn tube, used for memory in early computer systems (b. 1911)
1988
Anne Ramsey-Mobley was an American actress. She was best known for her film roles as Mama Fratelli in The Goonies (1985) and as Mrs. Lift in Throw Momma from the Train (b. 1929)
1989
John Meillon,, was an Australian character actor known for dramatic as well as comedy roles. He portrayed Walter Reilly in the films Crocodile Dundee and Crocodile Dundee II. He also voiced advertisements for Victoria Bitter beer. (b. 1934)
1995
Phil Harris was an American actor, comedian, musician and songwriter. He was an orchestra leader and a pioneer in radio situation comedy. (b. 1904)
2006
Mike Douglas, was an American "Big Band" era singer, entertainer, television talk show host of The Mike Douglas Show, and actor. (b. 1920)
2009
Eunice Kennedy Shriver was an American philanthropist and a member of the Kennedy family. She was the founder of the Special Olympics, a sports organization for persons with physical and intellectual disabilities. (b. 1921)
2012
Michael Dokes was an American professional boxer who competed from 1976 to 1997, and held the WBA heavyweight title from 1982 to 1983. (b. 1958)
2014
Robin Williams was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and comedies. (b. 1951)
2017
Yisrael Kristal, Polish-Israeli supercentenarian; oldest living Holocaust survivor and one of the ten oldest men ever (b. 1903)
2020
Sumner Redstone was an American billionaire businessman and media magnate. He was the founder and chairman of the second incarnation of Viacom, chairman of CBS Corporation. (b. 1923)
2020
Trini Lopez was an American singer, guitarist, and actor. His first album included a cover version of Pete Seeger's "If I Had a Hammer", which earned a Golden Disc for him. (b. 1937)
2022
Anne Heche was an American actress, known for her roles in a variety of genres in film, television, and theater. She received numerous accolades, including a Daytime Emmy Award and a National Board of Review Award. (b. 1969)