This Day in History – 11th April

This Day in History is DUE’s daily dose of trivia for all the history buffs out there. So sit back and take a ride to all the fascinating things that happened today!

People are trapped in history and history is trapped in people, and hence, every day has been a significant one in the foibles of History. Let’s take a tour of “This Day in History – 11th of April”.

1831 Lewis Chess piece gets exhibited

The 12th century Lewis chess pieces are exhibited at the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, shortly after their rediscovery in a sandbank on the Scottish Isle of Lewis.

1868 The Shogunate is abolished in Japan

Meiji Restoration, in Japanese history, the political revolution in 1868 that brought about the final demise of the Tokugawa shogunate (military government)—thus ending the Edo (Tokugawa) period (1603–1867)—and, at least nominally, returned control of the country to direct imperial rule under Mutsuhito (the emperor Meiji).

1900 The first modern submarine designed

On this day in History, the U.S. Navy acquired its first submarine, designed by Irish immigrant John P. Holland. Propelled by gasoline while on the surface and by electricity when submerged, Holland served as a model for modern submarine design.

1912 RMS Titanic leaves Queenstown, Ireland, for NY

At 1:30 p.m., the Titanic leaves Queenstown and begins its fated journey across the Atlantic for New York.

1919 The International Labour Organization is founded

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice through setting international labor standards.

1921 The Emirate of Transjordan created

Abdullah established his government on 11 April 1921. Britain administered the part west of Jordan as Palestine and the part east of Jordan as Transjordan. Technically they remained one mandate, but most official documents referred to them as if they were two separate mandates.

1933 Hermann Goering becomes Premier of Prussia

When Hitler was named chancellor of Germany in January 1933, Göring was appointed as minister without portfolio, Minister of the Interior for Prussia, and Reich Commissioner of Aviation. Wilhelm Frick was named Reich Interior Minister.

1939 Hungary leaves League of Nations

Hungary joined the League of Nations(LON) on the 18th of September, 1922, and withdrew 11th of April, 1939.

1941 ‘Hitler Will Have to Break Us or Lose the War’

The nearly four months-long Second World War aerial conflict had been predicted in the summer of that year by Prime Minister Winston Churchill in one of his most famous speeches. “The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us on this island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands.”, said Churchill.

Hitler had ordered preparations be made for Operation Sealion – the invasion of Britain. To accomplish it, he demanded that “the Royal Air Force must be eliminated to such an extent that it will be incapable of putting up any sustained opposition to the invading troops.”

1942 US Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal established

Given for the outstanding conduct or service in the line of duty, the United States Maritime Administration on this day in History established the US Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal.

1953 US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare created

The U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was a cabinet-level agency from 1953 to 1979. It was established by Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1953, effective April 11, 1953. Its mission was to administer federal and federal-state programs in public health, education, and social and economic security.

1955 A failed assassination attempt on Zhou Enlai by a Kuomintang secret agent

The “Kashmir Princess” was a chartered Lockheed L-749A Constellation aircraft owned by Air India. The Chartered Air India plane is bombed and crashes into the South China Sea in a failed assassination attempt on Zhou Enlai by a Kuomintang secret agent.

1957 Pablo Neruda arrested in Buenos Aires

When President Gabriel González Videla outlawed communism in Chile in 1948, a warrant was issued for Neruda’s arrest. Friends hid him for months in the basement of a house in the port city of Valparaíso; Neruda escaped through a mountain pass near Maihue Lake into Argentina. Years later, Neruda was a close advisor to Chile’s socialist President Salvador Allende.

1968 US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs 1968 Civil Rights Act

It is an act that prescribes penalties for certain acts of violence or intimidation, and other purposes. It is a landmark law in the United States signed into law by United States President Lyndon B. Johnson during the King assassination riots.

1976 The Apple I computer, created by Steve Wozniak is released

Launched in July 1976, the Apple-1 was the first desktop computer released by Apple in the same year the company was founded out of Jobs’ parents’ garage. Wozniak hand-built all 200 of the Apple-1 computers the company made, which sold for $666.66 apiece.

1979 Victory of Tanzania

Tanzanian army captures Kampala, the capital of Uganda forcing Ugandan dictator Idi Amin to flee into exile in Libya.

1984 Challenger astronauts complete 1st in space satellite repair

During the STS-41G mission in 1984, Ride and Kathryn Sullivan rode the Challenger. The STS-41C mission that took place on this day in History, featured the first astronaut repair of a satellite.

2012 The Avengers premieres in Los Angeles

“The Avengers”, directed by Joss Whedon and starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo and Jeremy Renner, premieres in Los Angeles.

Watch the trailer here.

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