April 11
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Featured Event
© RDImages/Epics—Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Mysterious chess pieces go on display
On this day in 1831, nearly 80 newly discovered chess pieces were exhibited at Edinburgh’s Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. No one knew how they had ended up in the sand bank on the Isle of Lewis where they were found, though the mystery only added to their charm. It’s generally thought today that the pieces are Norwegian and were carved in the late 12th or early 13th century. They shed light on the medieval spread of chess across Europe. [Read today’s edition of Today in History > >]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
Genthe photograph collection—Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-agc-7a15120)
Jurist and statesman Charles Evans Hughes, born this day in 1862, served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1910–16), U.S. secretary of state (1921–25), and 11th chief justice of the United States (1930–41).
Famous Birthdays
More on April 11
Martha Swope
2013
Maria Tallchief, whose exquisite technique made her one of the greatest ballerinas in the United States, died at age 88. [Sort fact from fiction in our ballet quiz.]
Everett Collection/Shutterstock.com
2007
Kurt Vonnegut, who is known for such wryly satirical novels as Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), died at age 84. [Take our famous authors quiz.]
Janet Griffith/Black Star
1979
Idi Amin, whose brutality as president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979 earned him the nickname “Butcher of Uganda,” fled the country as Tanzanian-led forces neared Kampala.
MSFC/NASA
1970
Apollo 13 was launched from Cape Kennedy (now Cape Canaveral) in Florida. Although scheduled to be the third lunar landing, the mission was aborted after an oxygen tank exploded en route to the Moon. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about space exploration.]
Central Zionist Archives, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; www.ushmm.org
1961
The trial of Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann began in Jerusalem; eight months later it ended with a death sentence. [Test your knowledge of Adolf Hitler’s right-hand men and other Nazi officials.]
C. J. Mozzochi, Princeton, N.J.
1953
English mathematician Andrew John Wiles, deviser of a proof of Fermat’s last theorem, was born in Cambridge. [Take our mathematics quiz.]
The Harry S. Truman Library/NARA
1951
U.S. President Harry S. Truman relieved General Douglas MacArthur of his command of United Nations and U.S. forces during the Korean War, citing the general’s insubordination and unwillingness to conduct a limited war. [Test your knowledge of some of the greatest moments in military history.]
Courtesy of the Organization of American States
1895
Poet, essayist, and revolutionary José Julián Martí landed in Cuba at the head of an invading force whose goal was to win independence from Spain. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about the Caribbean.]
National Archives, Washington, D.C.
1893
Dean Acheson—U.S. secretary of state from 1949 to 1953, adviser to four presidents, and the principal creator of U.S. foreign policy in the Cold War period following World War II—was born in Middletown, Connecticut. [How much do you know about American politics?]
Peter Geymayer
1848
Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria confirmed the March Laws, which formed the foundation of the modern state of Hungary. [Test your knowledge of European history.]
NASA/JSC
1815
The eruption of Mount Tambora, a volcano on the island of Sumbawa in what is now Indonesia, killed about 10,000 people and caused lasting harm around the world. It is considered the largest and most destructive volcanic event in recorded history. [Sort fact from fiction in our natural disasters quiz.]
Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.15
1814
Facing an invasion of France by forces bent on his overthrow, Napoleon abdicated unconditionally as emperor at Fontainebleau. [Explore a map of Napoleon’s major battles.]