On this day: July 11

Events on July 11

• 1410 Ottoman Interregnum: Süleyman Çelebi defeats his brother Musa Çelebi outside the Ottoman capital, Edirne. Wikipedia
• 1576 While exploring the North Atlantic Ocean in an attempt to find the Northwest Passage, Martin Frobisher sights Greenland, mistaking it for the hypothesized (but non-existent) island of "Frisland". Wikipedia
• 1616 Samuel de Champlain returns to Quebec. Wikipedia
• 1735 Mathematical calculations suggest that it is on this day that dwarf planet Pluto moved inside the orbit of Neptune for the last time before 1979. Wikipedia
• 1789 French Revolution: Jacques Necker was dismissed as Director-General of Finances of France, sparking public demonstrations in Paris that led to the storming of the Bastille. Wikipedia
• 1796 The United States takes possession of Detroit from Great Britain under terms of the Jay Treaty. Wikipedia
• 1801 French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons makes his first comet discovery. In the next 27 years he discovers another 36 comets, more than any other person in history. Wikipedia
• 1893 A revolution led by the liberal general and politician José Santos Zelaya takes over state power in Nicaragua. Wikipedia
• 1899 Fiat founded by Giovanni Agnelli in Turin, Italy. Wikipedia
• 1921 The Red Army captures Mongolia from the White Army and establishes the Mongolian People's Republic. Wikipedia
• 1940 World War II: Vichy France regime is formally established. Philippe Pétain becomes Chief of the French State. Wikipedia
• 1943 World War II: Allied invasion of Sicily: German and Italian troops launch a counter-attack on Allied forces in Sicily. Wikipedia
• 1950 Pakistan joins the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank. Wikipedia
• 1960 Congo Crisis: The State of Katanga breaks away from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Wikipedia
• 1960 France legislates for the independence of Dahomey (later Benin), Upper Volta (later Burkina Faso) and Niger. Wikipedia
• 1962 Project Apollo: At a press conference, NASA announces lunar orbit rendezvous as the means to land astronauts on the Moon, and return them to Earth. Wikipedia
• 1973 Varig Flight 820 crashes near Paris on approach to Orly Airport, killing 123 of the 134 on board. In response, the FAA bans smoking in airplane lavatories. Wikipedia
• 1977 Martin Luther King Jr., assassinated in 1968, is posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Wikipedia
• 1982 Italy defeated West Germany 3–1 to win their third FIFA World Cup title. Wikipedia
• 1990 Oka Crisis: First Nations land dispute in Quebec begins. Wikipedia
• 2006 Mumbai train bombings: 209 people are killed in a series of bomb attacks in Mumbai, India. Wikipedia
• 2007 The Siege of Lal Masjid in Islamabad, Pakistan, ends after the Pakistan Army storms the mosque which had been occupied by Islamist militants. Wikipedia
• 2010 The Islamist militia group Al-Shabaab carried out multiple suicide bombings in Kampala, Uganda, killing 74 people and injuring 85 others. Wikipedia
• 2010 The Islamist militia group Al-Shabaab carries out multiple suicide bombings in Kampala, Uganda, killing 74 people and injuring 85 others. Wikipedia
• 2010 Spain defeated the Netherlands 1–0 after extra time to win their first FIFA World Cup title. Wikipedia
• 2010 In Johannesburg, Spain defeat the Netherlands 1–0 after extra time to win their first FIFA World Cup title. Wikipedia

Born on July 11

• 154 Bardaisan, Syrian astrologer, scholar, and philosopher (died 222) Wikipedia
• 1274 Robert the Bruce, Scottish king (died 1329) Wikipedia
• 1561 Luis de Góngora, Spanish cleric and poet (died 1627) Wikipedia
• 1653 Sarah Good, American woman accused of witchcraft (died 1692) Wikipedia
• 1657 Frederick I of Prussia (died 1713) Wikipedia
• 1760 Peggy Shippen, American wife of Benedict Arnold and American Revolutionary War spy (died 1804) Wikipedia
• 1767 John Quincy Adams, American lawyer and politician, 6th President of the United States (died 1848) Wikipedia
• 1834 James McNeill Whistler, American-English painter and illustrator (died 1903) Wikipedia
• 1888 Carl Schmitt, German philosopher and jurist (died 1985) Wikipedia
• 1892 Thomas Mitchell, American actor, singer, and screenwriter (died 1962) Wikipedia
• 1905 Betty Allan, Australian statistician and biometrician (died 1952) Wikipedia
• 1916 Alexander Prokhorov, Australian-Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2002) Wikipedia
• 1916 Gough Whitlam, Australian lawyer, and politician, 21st Prime Minister of Australia (died 2014) Wikipedia
• 1918 Venetia Burney, English educator, who named Pluto (died 2009) Wikipedia
• 1920 Yul Brynner, Russian-American actor and dancer (died 1985) Wikipedia
• 1930 Harold Bloom, American literary critic (died 2019) Wikipedia
• 1934 Giorgio Armani, Italian fashion designer, founded the Armani Company (died 2025) Wikipedia
• 1943 Howard Gardner, American psychologist and academic Wikipedia
• 1958 Hugo Sánchez, Mexican footballer, coach, and manager Wikipedia
• 1967 Jhumpa Lahiri, Indian American novelist and short story writer Wikipedia
• 1986 Yoann Gourcuff, French footballer Wikipedia
• 1990 Caroline Wozniacki, Danish tennis player Wikipedia

Died on July 11

• 472 Anthemius, Roman emperor (born 420) Wikipedia
• 969 Olga of Kiev (born 890) Wikipedia
• 1362 Anna von Schweidnitz, empress of Charles IV (born 1339) Wikipedia
• 1593 Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Italian painter (born 1527) Wikipedia
• 1905 Muhammad Abduh, Egyptian jurist and scholar (born 1849) Wikipedia
• 1937 George Gershwin, American pianist, songwriter, and composer (born 1898) Wikipedia
• 1974 Pär Lagerkvist, Swedish novelist, playwright, and poet Nobel Prize laureate (born 1891) Wikipedia
• 1989 Laurence Olivier, English actor, director, and producer (born 1907) Wikipedia
• 2007 Lady Bird Johnson, American beautification activist; 43rd First Lady of the United States (born 1912) Wikipedia
• 2015 Satoru Iwata, Japanese game programmer and businessman (born 1959) Wikipedia
• 2023 Milan Kundera, Czech-French writer (born 1929) Wikipedia
• 2024 Shelley Duvall, American actress (born 1949) Wikipedia
• 2026 Ken Bates, English buisnessman and former owner of Chelsea F.C. and Leeds United F.C. (born 1931) Wikipedia
• 2026 Lindsey Graham, American politician (born 1955) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day: Benedict of Nursia Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Drostan Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Kjeld Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Marciana of Toledo Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Olga of Kiev Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Pope Pius I Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Thomas Sprott Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: July 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• China National Maritime Day (China) Wikipedia
• Day of the Bandoneón (Argentina) Wikipedia
• Day of the Flemish Community (Flemish Community of Belgium) Wikipedia
• Eleventh Night (Northern Ireland) Wikipedia
• National Day of Remembrance of the victims of the Genocide of the Citizens of the Polish Republic committed by Ukrainian Nationalists (Poland, established by the 22 July 2016 resolution of Sejm in reference to the July 11, 1943 Volhynian Bloody Sunday) Wikipedia
• Gospel Day (Kiribati) Wikipedia
• National Day of Commemoration, held on the nearest Sunday to this date (Ireland) Wikipedia
• The first day of Naadam (July 11–15) (Mongolia) Wikipedia
• World Population Day (International) Wikipedia
• International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica, established by the U.N. in May 2024. Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “July 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.