A Day in the Past

On this day: 11 April

133 things happened on 11 April, from AD 145 to 2020. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.

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In the UK 10

UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

1935 91 years ago

UK story

Stresa Front: Opening of the conference between the British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald, the Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini and the French Minister for Foreign Affairs Pierre Laval to condemn the German violations of the Treaty of Versailles.

Find out more: Stresa Front (Wikipedia)

Around the world 27

1881 145 years ago

Spelman College is founded in Atlanta, Georgia, as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, an institute of higher education for African-American women.

Find out more: Spelman College (Wikipedia)

Quick quiz

Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!

  1. In which year did this happen: “Napoleonic Wars: A hastily assembled Royal Navy fleet launched an assault”?

    1. 1953
    2. 1809
    3. 1871
    Show the answer

    B: 1809. 1809 — that’s 217 years ago. Find it on the page

  2. In which year did this happen: “William III and Mary II were crowned joint sovereigns of England in a ceremony”?

    1. 1871
    2. 1689
    3. 1957
    Show the answer

    B: 1689. 1689 — that’s 337 years ago. Find it on the page

  3. Which of these happened first?

    1. William III and Mary II were crowned joint sovereigns of England in a ceremony
    2. Emir Abdullah established the first centralised government in the recently
    3. Napoleonic Wars: A hastily assembled Royal Navy fleet launched an assault
    Show the answer

    A: William III and Mary II were crowned joint sovereigns of England in a ceremony. 1689: William III and Mary II were crowned joint sovereigns of England in a ceremony · 1921: Emir Abdullah established the first centralised government in the recently · 1809: Napoleonic Wars: A hastily assembled Royal Navy fleet launched an assault Find it on the page

  4. “Emir Abdullah established the first centralised government in the recently” happened in 1921. How many years ago was that?

    1. 115 years
    2. 105 years
    3. 95 years
    Show the answer

    B: 105 years. 2026 − 1921 = 105. Find it on the page

Born on this day 38

Famous people whose birthday is 11 April.

Remembering 19

Well-known people who died on 11 April.

Special days 11

Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 11 April somewhere in the world.

For older readers 28 Show stories about war, disasters, crime and other difficult history

Content note: these entries mention things like war, violence, deaths, disasters or crime. They are part of history, but they can be upsetting. Grown-ups and teachers: you may want to read them first. They come straight from Wikipedia and have not been rewritten for children.

Where these facts come from

Stories with a heading have been written for young readers by A Day in the Past, using the linked articles as sources. Other entries show text from Wikipedia’s “April 11” page and its “On this day” feed, written by Wikipedia contributors and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Each “Read more” link goes to the article an entry is based on. Photos are credited under each picture. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us.