12 History Lessons + 7 Births & 7 Deaths for October 11, 2025
Today’s History:
- 1138 – The devastating Aleppo earthquake strikes northern Syria.
- 1521 – Pope Leo X grants Henry VIII the title “Defender of the Faith.”
- 1797 – Battle of Camperdown: British Royal Navy defeats the Dutch fleet.
- 1899 – The Second Boer War begins between the British Empire and the Boer republics.
- 1910 – Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first U.S. president to fly in an airplane (as a passenger).
- 1958 – NASA launches Pioneer 1, its first spacecraft (attempt to reach the Moon).
- 1962 – Second Vatican Council opens in Rome, ushering major reforms in the Catholic Church.
- 1968 – Apollo 7 launches, the first crewed U.S. spaceflight since the Apollo 1 tragedy.
- 1975 – “Saturday Night Live” premieres on NBC from Studio 8H.
- 1984 – Kathryn D. Sullivan becomes the first American woman to perform a spacewalk.
- 2002 – Jimmy Carter is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
- 2019 – Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Today’s Birthdays:
- 1942 – Amitabh Bachchan, Indian film icon (83)
- 1946 – Daryl Hall, singer (Hall & Oates) (79)
- 1962 – Joan Cusack, actor (“Working Girl,” “Shameless”) (63)
- 1965 – Sean Patrick Flanery, actor (“The Boondock Saints”) (60)
- 1968 – Jane Krakowski, actor/singer (“30 Rock,” “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”) (57)
- 1977 – Matt Bomer, actor (“White Collar,” “Fellow Travelers”) (48)
- 1992 – Cardi B, rapper and TV personality (33)
Today’s Deaths:
- 1809 – Meriwether Lewis, explorer (Lewis & Clark Expedition) (35)
- 1896 – Anton Bruckner, Austrian composer (72)
- 1963 – Jean Cocteau, French poet, artist, and filmmaker (74)
- 1991 – Redd Foxx, comedian and actor (“Sanford and Son”) (68)
- 2006 – Cory Lidle, MLB pitcher (34)
- 2019 – Alexei Leonov, Soviet/Russian cosmonaut, first spacewalker (85)
- 2020 – Joe Morgan, Baseball Hall of Famer and broadcaster (77)
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