October 11

Tuesday 11, 2005:

Sevendust releases its fifth album, Next.

Friday 11, 2002:

Bomb attack in a shopping mall in Vantaa, Finland. See Myyrmanni bombing.

Thursday 11, 2001:

Polaroid Corporation files for federal bankruptcy protection.

Monday 11, 1999:

The Lord of the Rings movies begin principal photography.

Sunday 11, 1998:

A Congo Air Lines Boeing 727 is shot down by rebels in Kindu, Democratic Republic of the Congo killing 40

Sunday 11, 1987:

March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights attracts between 500,000 and 600,000 people to protest the Bowers v. Hardwick decision and the U.S. government's handling of the AIDS epidemic; first public display of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt.

Saturday 11, 1986:

Cold War: US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Reykjavík, Iceland, in an effort to continue discussions about scaling back their intermediate missile arsenals in Europe.

Thursday 11, 1984:

Aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan becomes the first American women to perform a space walk.

Saturday 11, 1975:

Saturday Night Live debuts with George Carlin as the guest host.

Friday 11, 1968:

Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission, with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn F. Eisele and Walter Cunningham aboard.

Wednesday 11, 1967:

Afghan Prime Minister Mohammad Hashim Maiwandwal resigns for health reasons

Thursday 11, 1962:

Second Vatican Council: Pope John XXIII convenes the first ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church in 92 years.

Saturday 11, 1958:

Pioneer program: NASA launches the lunar probe Pioneer 1 (the probe falls back to Earth and burns up).

Monday 11, 1954:

Vietnam War: The Viet Minh take control of North Vietnam.

Wednesday 11, 1950:

The Federal Communications Commission issues the first license to broadcast television in color, to CBS (RCA will successfully dispute and block the license from taking effect, however).

Sunday 11, 1942:

On the northwest coast of Guadalcanal, United States Navy ships intercept and defeat a Japanese fleet on their way to reinforce troops on the island.

Wednesday 11, 1939:

Manhattan Project: US President Franklin D. Roosevelt is presented with a letter signed by Albert Einstein urging the United States to rapidly develop an atomic bomb program.

Friday 11, 1929:

JC Penney open Store #1252 in Milford, Delaware, making it a nationwide company with stores in all 48 states.

Thursday 11, 1906:

San Francisco public school board sparks United States diplomatic crisis with Japan by ordering Japanese students to be taught in racially segregated schools.

Wednesday 11, 1899:

Boer War begins: In South Africa, a war between the United Kingdom and the Boers of the Transvaal and Orange Free State erupts.

Saturday 11, 1890:

In Washington, DC, the Daughters of the American Revolution is founded.

Wednesday 11, 1865:

Paul Bogle led hundreds of black men and women in a march in Jamaica, starting the Morant Bay rebellion.

Saturday 11, 1862:

American Civil War: In the aftermath of the Battle of Antietam, Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart and his men loot Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, during a raid into the north.

Friday 11, 1811:

Inventor John Stevens' boat, the Juliana, begins operation as the first steam-powered ferry (service between New York, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey).

Wednesday 11, 1809:

Along the Natchez Trace in Tennessee, explorer Meriwether Lewis dies under mysterious circumstances at an inn called Grinder's Stand.

Friday 11, 1776:

On Lake Champlain 15 American gunboats are defeated but give Patriot forces enough time to prepare defenses of New York City.

Saturday 11, 1614:

Adriaen Block and 12 Amsterdam merchants petition the States General for exclusive trading rights in the New Netherland colony.

Monday 11, 1582:

Due to the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.

More on October, 11

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