December 11

Events359 - The first known Prefect of the City of Constantinople, Honoratus, took office.1282 - Llywelyn ap Gruffydd or Gruffudd (b. c. 1228) the last native Prince of Wales, was killed at Cilmeri, near Builth Wells, south Wales. He was the last prince of an independent Wales before its conquest by King Edward I of England. Some would say he was the penultimate, but in effect he was the last ruler. In Welsh, he is remembered by the alliterative soubriquet Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf (Llywelyn, Our Last Leader).1602 - A surprise attack by forces under the command of the Duke of Savoy and his brother-in-law, Philip III of Spain, is repelled by the citizens of Geneva. (This actually takes place after midnight, in the early morning of December 12, but commemorations/celebrations on Fête de l'Escalade are usually held on December 11 or the closest weekend.)1792 - French Revolution: King Louis XVI of France is put on trial for treason by the National Convention.1816 - Indiana becomes the 19th U.S. state.1872 - P.B.S. Pinchback is sworn in as the first black member of the U.S. House of Representatives.1886 - Dial Square FC, a football club from Woolwich, London that will eventually become known as Arsenal FC, play their first match, a 6-0 win over Eastern Wanderers.1917 - British troops take Jerusalem from the troops of the Ottoman Empire1925 - Quas Primas encyclical was promulgated, introducing the Feast of Christ the King.1927 - Guangzhou Uprising: Communist militia and worker red guards launch an uprising in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, taking over most of the city and announcing the formation of a Guangzhou Soviet.1931 - The British Parliament enacts the Statute of Westminster, which establishes a status of legislative equality between the self-governing dominions of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of Canada, the Irish Free State, Newfoundland, the Dominion of New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa.1934 - A fire at the Hotel Kerns in Lansing, Michigan, kills 34 people.1936 - Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII's abdication as King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Dominions beyond the Seas, and Emperor of India becomes effective.1937 - Second Italo-Abyssinian War: Italy leaves the League of Nations1941 - World War II: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States.1946 - The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is established.1958 - Upper Volta declares its independence from France, and becomes an autonomous republic in the French Community.1961 - Melvin Calvin Awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry for process of photosynthesis.1964 - Che Guevara speaks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. An unknown terrorist fired a mortar shell at the building during the speech.1971 - The Libertarian Party of the United States is formed.1972 - Apollo 17 becomes the sixth mission to land on the Moon.1980 - The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (known as either CERCLA or Superfund) is enacted by the U.S. Congress.1981 - El Mozote massacre: Salvadoran armed forces kill an estimated 900 civilians in an anti-guerrilla campaign during the country's civil war.1993 - Forty-eight people are killed when a block of the Highland Towers collapses near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.1994 - First Chechen War: Russian President Boris Yeltsin orders Russian troops into Chechnya1997 - The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change opens for signature.1998 - A Thai Airways Airbus A310-200 crashes near Surat Thani Airport, killing 101.2001 - The People's Republic of China joins the World Trade Organization.2005 - The Buncefield Oil Depot in Hemel Hempstead is rocked by explosions, causing a huge oil fire.2005 - Cronulla riots: Thousands of White Australians demonstrate against ethnic violence resulting in a riot against anyone thought to be Lebanese (and many who were not) in Cronulla Sydney. These are followed up by ethnic attacks on Cronulla.2006 - The International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust is opened in Tehran, Iran by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
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