On this day: December 11

Events on December 11

• 1041 Michael V, adoptive son of Empress Zoë of Byzantium, is proclaimed emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire. Wikipedia
• 1602 A surprise attack by forces under the command of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, and his brother-in-law, Philip III of Spain, is repelled by the citizens of Geneva. (Commemorated annually by the Fête de l'Escalade.) Wikipedia
• 1792 French Revolution: King Louis XVI of France is put on trial for treason by the National Convention. Wikipedia
• 1816 Indiana becomes the 19th U.S. state. Wikipedia
• 1886 The London-based football club Arsenal, then known as Dial Square, played their first match on the Isle of Dogs. Wikipedia
• 1905 A workers' uprising occurs in Kyiv, Ukraine (then part of the Russian Empire), and establishes the Shuliavka Republic. Wikipedia
• 1907 The original Parliament House in Wellington, New Zealand, was destroyed by fire. Wikipedia
• 1913 More than two years after it was stolen from the Louvre, Leonardo da Vinci's painting Mona Lisa is recovered in Florence, Italy. The thief, Vincenzo Peruggia, is immediately arrested. Wikipedia
• 1917 World War I: British General Edmund Allenby enters Jerusalem on foot and declares martial law. Wikipedia
• 1925 Roman Catholic papal encyclical Quas primas introduces the Feast of Christ the King. Wikipedia
• 1941 World War II: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States, following the Americans' declaration of war on the Empire of Japan in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States, in turn, declares war on them. Wikipedia
• 1948 Arab–Israeli War: The United Nations passes General Assembly Resolution 194, creating a Conciliation Commission to mediate the conflict. Wikipedia
• 1958 French Upper Volta and French Dahomey gain self-government from France, becoming the Republic of Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) and the Republic of Dahomey (now Benin), respectively, and joining the French Community. Wikipedia
• 1960 French forces crack down in a violent clash with protesters in French Algeria during a visit by French president Charles de Gaulle. Wikipedia
• 1964 Che Guevara speaks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. Wikipedia
• 1972 Apollo 17 (Lunar Roving Vehicle pictured), the last Apollo mission, landed on the Moon. Wikipedia
• 1972 Apollo 17 becomes the sixth and final Apollo mission to land on the Moon. Wikipedia
• 1981 El Mozote massacre: Armed forces in El Salvador kill an estimated 900 civilians in an anti-guerrilla campaign during the Salvadoran Civil War. Wikipedia
• 1990 Demonstrations by students and workers across Albania begin, which eventually trigger the fall of communism in Albania. Wikipedia
• 1993 A block of the Highland Towers condominium complex collapses following a landslide caused by heavy rain and water flowing from a construction site at Ampang district in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 48 of its residents die, including one who died in hospital after being rescued alive, leaving only two survivors. Wikipedia
• 1994 A bomb explodes on Philippine Airlines Flight 434, en route from Manila, Philippines, to Tokyo, Japan, killing one. The captain is able to land the plane safely. Wikipedia
• 1994 First Chechen War: Russian president Boris Yeltsin orders Russian troops into Chechnya. Wikipedia
• 2005 Cronulla riots: Thousands of White Australians demonstrate against ethnic violence resulting in a riot against anyone thought to be Lebanese in Cronulla, New South Wales; these are followed up by retaliatory ethnic attacks on Cronulla. Wikipedia
• 2006 Criticized worldwide as a "meeting of Holocaust deniers", the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust opened in Tehran. Wikipedia
• 2006 The International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust is opened in Tehran, Iran, by then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; nations such as Israel and the United States express concern. Wikipedia
• 2007 Insurgency in the Maghreb: Two car bombs explode in Algiers, Algeria, one near the Supreme Constitutional Court and the other near the offices of the United Nations. Wikipedia

Born on December 11

• 1475 Pope Leo X (died 1521) Wikipedia
• 1781 David Brewster, Scottish physicist, mathematician, and astronomer (died 1868) Wikipedia
• 1803 Hector Berlioz, French composer, conductor, and critic (died 1869) Wikipedia
• 1810 Alfred de Musset, French dramatist, poet, and novelist (died 1857) Wikipedia
• 1843 Robert Koch, German microbiologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1910) Wikipedia
• 1856 Georgi Plekhanov, Russian philosopher, theorist, and author (died 1918) Wikipedia
• 1863 Annie Jump Cannon, American astronomer and academic (died 1941) Wikipedia
• 1882 Max Born, German physicist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1970) Wikipedia
• 1911 Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian author, playwright, and screenwriter, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2006) Wikipedia
• 1913 Jean Marais, French actor and director (died 1998) Wikipedia
• 1918 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian novelist, historian, and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2008) Wikipedia
• 1925 Paul Greengard, American neuroscientist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2019) Wikipedia
• 1930 Jean-Louis Trintignant, French actor, director, and screenwriter (died 2022) Wikipedia
• 1931 Rajneesh, Indian guru, mystic, and educator (died 1990) Wikipedia
• 1931 Rita Moreno, Puerto Rican actress, singer, and dancer Wikipedia
• 1935 Pranab Mukherjee, Indian journalist and politician, 13th President of India (died 2020) Wikipedia
• 1943 John Kerry, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 68th United States Secretary of State Wikipedia
• 1961 Macky Sall, Senegalese engineer and politician, fourth President of Senegal Wikipedia
• 1968 Emmanuelle Charpentier, French researcher in microbiology, genetics and biochemistry, and Nobel laureate Wikipedia
• 1969 Viswanathan Anand, Indian chess player Wikipedia
• 1984 Leighton Baines, English footballer Wikipedia
• 1996 Hailee Steinfeld, American actress, singer and songwriter Wikipedia

Died on December 11

• 384 Pope Damasus I (born c.304) Wikipedia
• 969 Nikephoros II Phokas, Byzantine emperor (born 912) Wikipedia
• 1198 Averroes, Spanish astronomer, physicist, and philosopher (born 1126) Wikipedia
• 1241 Ögedei Khan, Mongolian emperor (born 1186) Wikipedia
• 1282 Michael VIII Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (born 1225) Wikipedia
• 1582 Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba, Spanish general and politician, 12th Constable of Portugal (born 1508) Wikipedia
• 1826 Maria Leopoldina of Austria (born 1797) Wikipedia
• 1918 Ivan Cankar, Slovenian author, poet, and playwright (born 1876) Wikipedia
• 1938 Christian Lous Lange, Norwegian historian and educator, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1869) Wikipedia
• 1964 Sam Cooke, American singer-songwriter (born 1931) Wikipedia
• 1971 Maurice McDonald, American businessman, co-founded McDonald's (born 1902) Wikipedia
• 1978 Vincent du Vigneaud, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1901) Wikipedia
• 2012 Ravi Shankar, Indian-American sitar player and composer (born 1920) Wikipedia
• 2021 Anne Rice, American author (born 1941) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Cian Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Daniel the Stylite Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: María de las Maravillas de Jesús Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Pope Damasus I Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Sabinus of Piacenza Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Victoricus, Fuscian, and Gentian Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: December 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Establishment of Kurdish Women's Union (Iraqi Kurdistan) Wikipedia
• Indiana Day (United States) Wikipedia
• International Mountain Day Wikipedia
• National Tango Day (Argentina) Wikipedia
• Pampanga Day (Pampanga province, Philippines) Wikipedia
• Republic Day, the day when Upper Volta became an autonomous republic in the French Community in 1958. (Burkina Faso) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “December 11” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.