All Events

Historical Events on October 11

  • American Revolutionary War

    1776

    American Revolutionary War: Battle of Valcour Island: On Lake Champlain a fleet of American boats is defeated by the Royal Navy, but delays the British advance until 1777.

  • American Civil War

    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.

  • Second Boer War

    1899

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

  • San Francisco

    1906

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

  • Theodore Roosevelt

    1910

    Former President Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first U.S. president to fly in an airplane. He flew for four minutes with Arch Hoxsey in a plane built by the Wright brothers at Kinloch Field (Lambert-St. Louis International Airport), St. Louis, Missouri.

  • World War II

    1942

    World War II: Battle of Cape Esperance: 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.

  • Television

    1950

    Television: CBS's mechanical color system is the first to be licensed for broadcast by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.

  • George Washington

    1976

    George Washington's appointment, posthumously, to the grade of General of the Armies by congressional joint resolution Public Law 94-479 is approved by President Gerald R. Ford.

  • Cold War

    1986

    Cold War: U.S. 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.