History for August 11

History for August 11 - On-This-Day.com
Robert Ingersoll 1833, Alex Haley 1921, Mike Douglas 1925 


Jerry Falwell 1933, Steve Wozniak 1950, Terry "Hulk Hogan" Bollea 1953 


1877 - The two moons of Mars were discovered by Asaph Hall, an American astronomer. He named them Phobos and Deimos. 


1896 - Harvey Hubbell received a patent for the electric light bulb socket with a pull-chain. 


1909 - The American ship Arapahoe became the first to ever use the SOS distress signal off the coast of Cape Hatteras, NC. 


1934 - Alcatraz, in San Francisco Bay, received federal prisoners for the first time. 


1941 - The Atlantic Charter was signed by U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. 


1942 - During World War II, Pierre Laval publicly announced "the hour of liberation for France is the hour when Germany wins the war." 


1984 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan was preparing for his weekly radio broadcast when, during testing of the microphone, the President said of the Soviet Union, "My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you that I just signed legislation that would outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes." 


1992 - In Bloomington, MN, the Mall of America opened. It was the largest shopping mall in the United States. 


1995 - All U.S. nuclear tests were banned by President Clinton. 


2002 - US Airways announced that it had filed for bankruptcy.