What Happened on December 11 in History?
December 11 has been the date of several major historical events, including the abdication of King Edward VIII of Britain, the founding of UNICEF, and the Lufthansa heist at JFK Airport.
Notable Historical Events on December 11:
1816: Indiana became the 19th state of the United States.
1901: Guglielmo Marconi sent the first transatlantic radio signal.
1913: The Mona Lisa was recovered in Florence, Italy, after being stolen from the Louvre.
1936: King Edward VIII announced his abdication of the British throne to marry the American divorcée Wallis Simpson. His brother succeeded him as King George VI.
1941: Germany and Italy declared war on the United States, which the U.S. reciprocated, officially bringing America into the European theater of World War II.
1946: The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) was established to provide relief and support to children in war-devastated countries.
1961: The first U.S. helicopter units arrived in Saigon, marking a deeper American involvement in the Vietnam conflict.
1964: Soul singer Sam Cooke died in Los Angeles.
1972: Apollo 17 landed on the Moon, marking the last time humans traveled beyond low Earth orbit. Eugene Cernan was the last person to walk on the moon during this mission.
1978: The Lufthansa heist occurred at JFK Airport, a major cash robbery at the time.
1994: Russian forces entered Chechnya, beginning the First Chechen War.
1997: The Kyoto Protocol was adopted; it committed countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in an attempt to address global warming and mitigate climate change.
1998: The House Judiciary Committee approved three articles of impeachment against U.S. President Bill Clinton.
2001: The People's Republic of China officially joined the World Trade Organization (WTO).
2008: Bernard Madoff was arrested in connection with a large Ponzi scheme.
2019: Greta Thunberg was named Time magazine's Person of the Year.
