Summary of the Day ✨ 11 December (11/12)
The FDA granted emergency authorization to the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine while Bougainville voted overwhelmingly for independence in a referendum. Meanwhile, a pipe bomb exploded in a New York City subway station injuring four, devastating bombings killed over 100 in Syria, and Rovio Entertainment launched the globally popular Angry Birds mobile game.
Historical Events 📜
- 2020: The Food and Drug Administration issues an Emergency Use Authorization on the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, the first COVID-19 vaccine to be approved by the agency.
- 2019: The results of the 2019 Bougainvillean independence referendum are announced. The results are overwhelmingly one-sided. Over 98% of voters vote for Bougainville’s independence.
- 2017: New York City Subway bombing: A pipe bomb partially detonates in the New York City Subway, in the Times Square–42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal. Four people are injured, including the perpetrator.
- 2012: At least 125 people are killed and up to 200 injured in bombings in the Alawite village of Aqrab, Syria.
- 2009: Finnish game developer Rovio Entertainment releases the hit mobile game Angry Birds internationally on iOS.
- 2008: Bernie Madoff is arrested and charged with securities fraud in a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.
- 2007: Insurgency in the Maghreb: Two car bombs explode in Algiers, Algeria, one near the Supreme Constitutional Court and the other near the offices of the United Nations.
- 2006: The International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust is opened in Tehran, Iran, by then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; nations such as Israel and the United States express concern.
- 2006: Felipe Calderón, the president of Mexico, launches a military-led offensive to put down the drug cartel violence in the state of Michoacán. This effort is often regarded as the first event in the Mexican drug war.
- 2005: The Buncefield Oil Depot catches fire in Hemel Hempstead, England.
- 2005: Cronulla riots: Thousands of White Australians demonstrate against ethnic violence resulting in a riot against anyone thought to be Lebanese in Cronulla, New South Wales; these are followed up by retaliatory ethnic attacks on Cronulla.
- 2001: China joins the World Trade Organization (WTO).
- 1999: SATA Air Açores Flight 530M crashes into Pico da Esperança on São Jorge Island in the Azores, killing 35.
- 1998: Thai Airways Flight 261 crashes near Surat Thani Airport, killing 101. The pilot flying the Airbus A310-200 is thought to have suffered spatial disorientation.
- 1997: The Kyoto Protocol, an agreement committing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, opens for signature.
Famous Births 👶
- 2000: Onyeka Okongwu, American basketball player
- 1997: Matthew Tkachuk, American ice hockey player
- 1996: Hailee Steinfeld, American actress, singer and songwriter
- 1995: Abbi Grant, Scottish footballer
- 1993: Yalitza Aparicio, Mexican actress
- 1992: Tiffany Alvord, American singer-songwriter
- 1992: Malcolm Brogdon, American basketball player
- 1990: Alexa Demie, American actress and singer
- 1989: Kellie Harrington, Irish boxer
- 1988: Tim Southee, New Zealand cricketer
- 1987: Violetta Bock, German politician
- 1987: Clifton Geathers, American football player
- 1987: Alex Russell, Australian actor
- 1987: Miranda Tapsell, Australian actress
- 1986: Roy Hibbert, American basketball player
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2024: David Bonderman, American billionaire businessman (born 1942)
- 2024: Khalil Haqqani, Afghan politician and warlord (born 1966)
- 2024: Purushottam Upadhyay, Indian musician, singer and composer (born 1934)
- 2023: Andre Braugher, American actor (born 1962)
- 2021: Anne Rice, American author (born 1941)
- 2020: James Flynn, New Zealand intelligence researcher. (born 1934)
- 2017: Keith Chegwin, British TV presenter (born 1957)
- 2015: Abish Kekilbayev, Kazakh academic and politician (born 1939)
- 2015: H. Arnold Steinberg, Canadian businessman, philanthropist, and academic (born 1933)
- 2015: Hema Upadhyay, Indian painter and sculptor (born 1972)
- 2015: John “Hot Rod” Williams, American basketball player (born 1962)
- 2015: Ken Woolley, Australian architect (born 1933)
- 2014: Hans Wallat, German conductor and director (born 1929)
- 2013: Nadir Afonso, Portuguese painter and architect (born 1920)
- 2013: Barbara Branden, Canadian-American author and academic (born 1929)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Christian feast day:
Cian - Christian feast day:
Daniel the Stylite - Christian feast day:
María de las Maravillas de Jesús - Christian feast day:
Pope Damasus I - Christian feast day:
Sabinus of Piacenza - Christian feast day:
Victoricus, Fuscian, and Gentian - Christian feast day:
December 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - Establishment of Kurdish Women’s Union (Iraqi Kurdistan)
- Indiana Day (United States)
- International Mountain Day
- National Tango Day (Argentina)
- Pampanga Day (Pampanga province, Philippines)
- Republic Day, the day when Upper Volta became an autonomous republic in the French Community in 1958. (Burkina Faso)