What Happened On This Day – June 11
2010 Africa hosts the FIFA World Cup for the first time
The 19th association football world cup was opened in Johannesburg, South Africa. The winner of this historic edition was Spain.
1959 Christopher Cockerell first presents the hovercraft
The amphibious air-cushion vehicle first crossed the English Channel just weeks after Cockerell first demonstrated his prototype, the SR.N1. The scheduled “flights” between Dover (U.K.) and Calais (France) were discontinued in 2000.
1955 More than 80 people die in the Le Mans car race disaster
In one of history's worst car racing accidents, Pierre Levegh's Mercedes crashed into a crowd of spectators and burst into flames.
1938 China launches the 1938 Yellow River flood
In what Steven Dutch called “the world's largest act of environmental warfar in history”, the Chinese government created the flood to halt Japanese forces. According to estimates, between 500,000 and 900,000 civilians are killed.
1817 The first predecessor of the bicycle is demonstrated
Using his revolutionary “Laufmaschine” (also known as “Draisine”), a two-wheeler without pedals, German inventor Karl Drais completed a 14 km test run in less than an hour, presenting a viable alternative to transport by horse.
Births On This Day – June 11
1956 Joe Montana
. American football player
1933 Gene Wilder
American actor
1910 Jacques Cousteau
French biologist, author, inventor, co-developed the aqua-lung
1864 Richard Strauss
German composer, conductor
1572 Ben Jonson
English writer
Deaths On This Day – June 11
1979 John Wayne
American actor, singer, director, producer
1974 Julius Evola
Italian philosopher
1936 Robert E. Howard
American author
1934 Lev Vygotsky
Russian psychologist
1859 Klemens von Metternich
German/Austrian politician, 1st State Chancellor of the Austrian Empire
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