June 11 holidays in 2018

Historical Events on June 11

• 1770: Captain James Cook runs his ship aground on the Great Barrier Reef.
• 1775: A small British ship is captured by American forces at the Battle of Machias. This battle was the first official naval engagement for American forces during the Revolutionary War.
• 1776: The Continental Congress creates the Committee of Five to draft a declaration of Independence. Appointed to this committee are: Robert R. Livingston, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
• 1788: Russian explorer Gerasim Izmailov reaches Alaska.
• 1825: The first cornerstone for Fort Hamilton in New York is laid on this day.
• 1837: The Broad Street Riot flares up in Boston.
• 1892: One of the first film studios in the world, the Limelight Department, opens up in Melbourne, Australia.
• 1935: The first public demonstration of FM broadcasting is held at Alpine, New Jersey by inventor Edwin Armstrong.
• 1937: 8 Army leaders are executed by Joseph Stalin during the Great Purge of the Soviet Union.
• 1942: The U.S agrees to supply the Soviet Union with Lend-Lease aid during World War 2.
• 1944: The USS Missouri is commissioned on this day. It would be the future site of the signing of the Japanese instruments of surrender.
• 1963: Alabama Governor George Wallace stands at the door of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama to try and block 2 black students from entering.
• 1963: Thích Quảng Đức, a Buddhist monk, covers himself in gasoline and sets himself ablaze at a Saigon intersection to protect the lack of religious freedom in South Vietnam.
• 1963:S President John F. Kennedy proposes the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Famous Birthdays on June 11

• American social worker and 1^st woman elected to the U.S. Congress, Jeannette Rankin is born in 1880.
• American actor, screenwriter and director, Gene Wilder is born in 1933.
• American actress Adrienne Barbeau is born in 1945.
• American football player and sportscaster, Joe Montana is born in 1956.