August 11

August 11 is the 223rd day of the year (224th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 142 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 3114 BC: The epoch of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, according to the proleptic Gregorian calendar correlation.
• 1492: Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia is elected Pope Alexander VI.
• 1960: Chad gains independence from France.
• 1965: The Watts riots begin in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, lasting for six days and resulting in significant property damage and casualties.
• 1978: The Transglobe Expedition, the first surface circumnavigation of the Earth along its polar axis, begins in London.
• 1999: A total solar eclipse, the last of the 20th century, is visible across Europe and Asia.
• 2003: A series of coordinated bombings in Mumbai, India, kill 52 people and injure over 200.

Births

• 1858: Christiaan Eijkman, Dutch physician and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1930).
• 1897: Enid Blyton, English author (d. 1968).
• 1950: Steve Wozniak, American engineer, computer programmer, and co-founder of Apple Inc.
• 1953: Hulk Hogan, American professional wrestler, actor, and television personality.
• 1960: Chris Columbus, American film director and producer.
• 1971: Pete Sampras, American tennis player.
• 1984: Taio Cruz, English singer-songwriter and record producer.

Deaths

• 1919: Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist (b. 1835).
• 1956: Jackson Pollock, American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement (b. 1912).
• 1973: Karl Ziegler, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1898).
• 2014: Robin Williams, American actor and comedian (b. 1951).
• 2018: V. S. Naipaul, Trinidadian-English novelist and essayist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1932).

Holidays and observances

• Independence Day (Chad).
• Mountain Day (Japan).
• National Presidential Joke Day (United States).
• Christian feast day: Saint Clare of Assisi, Saint Philomena, and Susanna of Rome.