11 April 2025 (MIA)

1512 – The forces of the Holy League heavily defeated by the French at the Battle of Ravenna.

1689 – William III and Mary II crowned as joint sovereigns of Britain.

1713 – Treaty of Utrecht is signed, ending the War of Spanish Succession.

1783 – After receiving a copy of the provisional treaty on March 13, U.S. Congress proclaims a formal end to hostilities with Great Britain.

1803 – A twin-screw propeller steamboat is patented by John Stevens.

1814 – Napoleon is forced to abdicate his throne. The allied European nations marched into Paris on March 30, 1814. He is banished to the island of Elba.

1876 – The stenotype is patented by John C. Zachos.

1895 – Anaheim, CA, completes its new electric light system.

1898 – U.S. President William McKinley asks Congress for a declaration of war with Spain.

1899 – The treaty ending the Spanish-American War is declared in effect.

1921 – Iowa becomes the first state to impose a cigarette tax.

1921 – The first live sports event on radio takes place on KDKA Radio. The event is a boxing match between Johnny Ray and Johnny Dundee.

1931 – Construction on the Empire State Building is completed. The building is dedicated and opened on May 1, 1931.

1941 – Germany bombers blitz Conventry, England.

1945 – U.S. troops reach the Elbe River in Germany.

1945 – During World War II, American soldiers liberate the Nazi concentration camp of Buchenwald in Germany.

1947 – Jackie Robinson becomes the first Black player in major-league history. He plays in an exhibition game for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

1948 – The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls was announced in a general press release.

1951 – U.S. President Truman fires General Douglas MacArthur as head of United Nations forces in Korea.

1961 – Israel begins the trial of Adolf Eichman, accused of World War II war crimes.

1968 – U.S. President Johnson signs the 1968 Civil Rights Act.

1970 – Apollo 13 blasts off on a mission to the moon that is disrupted when an explosion cripples the spacecraft. The astronauts return safely.

1974 – The Judiciary committee subpoenas U.S. President Richard Nixon to produce tapes for impeachment inquiry.

1979 – Idi Amin is deposed as president of Uganda as rebels and exiles backed by Tanzanian forces seize control.

1980 – The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issues regulations specifically prohibiting sexual harassment of workers by supervisors.

1981 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan returns to the White House from the hospital after recovering from an assassination attempt on March 30.

1981 – In the Brixton area of London, a race riot erupts that resulted in the injury of more than 300 people.

1984 – China invades Vietnam.

1984 – General Secretary Konstantin U. Cherenkov is named president of the Soviet Union.

1985 – Scientists in Hawaii measure the distance between the earth and moon within one inch.

1986 – Kellogg’s stops giving tours of its breakfast-food plant. The reason for the end of the 80-year tradition is said to be that company secrets were at risk due to spies from other cereal companies.

1991 – U.N. Security Council issues a formal cease-fire with Iraq.

1996 – Forty-three African nations sign the African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty.

1998 – Northern Ireland’s biggest political party, the Ulster Unionists, announces its backing of the historic peace deal.

1999 – Daouda Malam Wanke is designated president of Niger. President Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara had been assassinated on April 9.

2001 – Detained crew of a United States EP-3E aircraft that landed in Hainan, People’s Republic of China after a collision with an J-8 fighter are released.

2007 – Apple announces that the iTunes Store had sold more than two million movies.

2013 – Fossilized dinosaur eggs with embryos are discovered in China.

2015 – Barack Obama and Raúl Castro meet in Panama. This the first meeting of US and Cuban heads of state since the Cuban Revolution.

2020 – Brazil is the first country in the southern hemisphere to report more than 1,000 deaths from Covid-19, with 1,056 deaths and 19,638 cases.