March 11

Friday 11, 2005:

Judge Rowland Barnes, court reporter Julie Brandau and deputy Hoyt Teasley are all murdered in the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia; the main suspect being Brian Nichols who surrendered to police on the 12th.

Thursday 11, 2004:

Simultaneous explosions on rush hour trains in Madrid kill 191 people.

Tuesday 11, 2003:

The International Criminal Court is founded in The Hague.

Thursday 11, 1999:

Infosys becomes the first Indian company listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange.

Tuesday 11, 1997:

An explosion at a nuclear waste reprocessing plant in Japan exposes 35 workers to low-level radioactive contamination in the worst nuclear accident in Japan's history.

Monday 11, 1996:

John Howard comes to power as the twenty-fifth Prime Minister of Australia.

Thursday 11, 1993:

Janet Reno is confirmed by the United States Senate and sworn-in the next day, becoming the first female Attorney General of the United States.

Monday 11, 1991:

A curfew is imposed on black townships in South Africa after fighting between rival political gangs kills 49.

Sunday 11, 1990:

Patricio Aylwin is sworn-in as the first democratically elected Chilean president since 1970.

Friday 11, 1988:

Iran-Iraq War: Cease Fire declared.

Monday 11, 1985:

Mikhail Gorbachev becomes Soviet leader.

Friday 11, 1983:

Bob Hawke becomes 23rd Prime Minister of Australia.

Saturday 11, 1978:

Nine Palestinian Al Fatah guerillas hijack a bus in Israel, killing 34 civilians and wounding 70 before being killed by security forces. The Israelis retaliate by invading southern Lebanon three days later, under codename Operation Litani.

Friday 11, 1977:

130+ hostages held in Washington, D.C., by Hanafi Muslims were set free after ambassadors from three Islamic nations joined negotiations.

Friday 11, 1966:

Henry "Dickie" Marrow" is murdered in a violent racially-motivated crime in Oxford, N.C..

Wednesday 11, 1959:

In Cannes, France, Teddy Scholten wins the fourth Eurovision Song Contest for the Netherlands singing "Een beetje" (A little bit).

Wednesday 11, 1942:

World War II: General Douglas MacArthur abandons Corregidor.

Tuesday 11, 1941:

World War II: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act into law, allowing American-built war supplies to be shipped to the Allies on loan.

Wednesday 11, 1936:

1936 - British Prime Minister pardons five convicted Irish militants who promise to join growing conflict with Germany.

Friday 11, 1927:

In New York City, Samuel Roxy Rothafel opens the Roxy Theatre.

Sunday 11, 1917:

Baghdad falls to the Anglo-Indian forces commanded by General Maude.

Sunday 11, 1900:

Boer War: Boer leader Paul Kruger's peace overtures are rejected by Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Lord Salisbury.

Thursday 11, 1897:

A meteorite enters the earth's atmosphere and explodes over New Martinsville, West Virginia. The debris causes damage but no human injuries are reported.

Sunday 11, 1888:

The Great Blizzard of '88 begins along the eastern seaboard of the United States, shutting down commerce and killing more than 400.

Thursday 11, 1880:

Harry H. Laughlin, American eugenicist (d. 1943)

Friday 11, 1864:

The Great Sheffield Flood: The largest man-made disaster ever to befall England kills over 250 people in Sheffield.

Monday 11, 1861:

American Civil War: The Constitution of the Confederate States of America is adopted.

Tuesday 11, 1845:

The Flagstaff War: In New Zealand, Chiefs Hone Heke and Kawiti lead 700 Maoris to chop down the British flagpole and drive settlers out of the British colonial settlement of Kororareka because of breaches of the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi.

Thursday 11, 1824:

The United States War Department creates the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Sunday 11, 1708:

Queen Anne withholds Royal Assent from a militia Bill, the last time a British monarch vetoes legislation.

Saturday 11, 1702:

The first regular English-language newspaper, The Daily Courant, is published in London.

Thursday 11, 1649:

The Frondeurs (rebels) and the French government sign the Peace of Rueil.

Tuesday 11, 1513:

Leo X is elected Pope.

More on March, 11

• People Born on March, 11
• They left us on March, 11