Summary of the Day ✨ 11 September (11/09)
Multiple disasters struck across the globe on this day, as Hurricane Francine battered the Gulf of Mexico, catastrophic floods killed thousands in Libya after dam collapses, a crane fell at a Saudi mosque causing hundreds of casualties, and garment factory fires in Pakistan claimed 315 lives. Additionally, the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya was attacked in a separate incident that resulted in four deaths.
Historical Events 📜
- 2024: Hurricane Francine impacts the Gulf of Mexico, as a Category 2 hurricane.
- 2023: The Libyan city of Derna experiences catastrophic floods after Storm Daniel causes two dams to collapse, killing thousands of people.
- 2015: A crane collapses onto the Masjid al-Haram mosque in Saudi Arabia, killing 111 people and injuring 394 others.
- 2012: A total of 315 people are killed in two garment factory fires in Pakistan.
- 2012: The U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya is attacked, resulting in four deaths.
- 2011: A dedication ceremony is held at the United States National September 11 Memorial on the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks in New York City, and the memorial opens to family members.
- 2008: A major Channel Tunnel fire breaks out on a freight train, resulting in the closure of part of the tunnel for six months.
- 2007: Russia tests the largest conventional weapon ever, the Father of All Bombs.
- 2001: The September 11 attacks, a series of coordinated terrorist attacks killing 2,977 people using four aircraft hijacked by 19 members of al-Qaeda. Two aircraft crash into the World Trade Center in New York City, a third crashes into The Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, and a fourth into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
- 1997: NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor reaches Mars.
- 1997: Kurkse tragedy: Fourteen Estonian soldiers of the Baltic Battalion are drowned or die of hypothermia during a training exercise in the Kurkse Strait.
- 1997: After a nationwide referendum, Scotland votes to establish a devolved parliament within the United Kingdom.
- 1995: The first game of the PCA World Chess Championship 1995, pitting incumbent champion Garry Kasparov against challenger Viswanathan Anand, takes place on the 107th floor of the World Trade Center’s South Tower in New York City.
- 1992: Hurricane Iniki strikes the island of Kauaʻi, Hawaii, killing 7 and causing $3.1bn in economic damages.
- 1991: Continental Express Flight 2574 crashes in Colorado County, Texas, near Eagle Lake, killing 11 passengers and three crew.
Famous Births 👶
- 2001: Joseph Fahnbulleh, Liberian-American sprinter
- 2001: Nicholas Robertson, American ice hockey player
- 2000: Leandro Bolmaro, Argentine-Italian basketball player
- 2000: Zay Flowers, American football player
- 1997: Harmony Tan, French tennis player
- 1996: Ross Colton, American professional ice hockey player
- 1994: Teuvo Teräväinen, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1993: Farrah Moan, American drag queen and entertainer
- 1992: Jonathan Adams, English discus thrower
- 1991: Jordan Ayew, Ghanaian footballer
- 1991: Kygo, Norwegian DJ
- 1990: Jo Inge Berget, Norwegian footballer
- 1989: Michael J. Willett, American actor and musician
- 1987: Robert Acquafresca, Italian footballer
- 1987: Elizabeth Henstridge, English actress
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2025: John D. Petersen, American chemist, educator, and academic administrator (born 1947)
- 2024: Kenneth Cope, British actor (born 1931)
- 2024: Alberto Fujimori, Peruvian politician, professor, and engineer, President of Peru (born 1938)
- 2024: Chad McQueen, American actor and race car driver (born 1960)
- 2024: Joe Schmidt, American football player and coach (born 1932)
- 2022: Javier Marías, Spanish novelist, journalist and translator (born 1951)
- 2022: John W. O’Malley, American academic, Catholic historian, and Jesuit priest (born 1927)
- 2022: Joyce Reynolds, British classicist and academic (born 1918)
- 2021: Abimael Guzmán, Peruvian philosopher and academic (born 1934)
- 2020: Toots Hibbert, Jamaican singer and songwriter (born 1942)
- 2020: Swami Agnivesh, an Indian social activist and the founder of Arya Sabha, a political party based on the principles of Arya Samaj (born 1939)
- 2019: B. J. Habibie, 3rd President of Indonesia (born 1936)
- 2016: Alexis Arquette, American actress, musician and cabaret performer (born 1969)
- 2014: Bob Crewe, American singer-songwriter and producer (born 1930)
- 2014: Antoine Duhamel, French composer and conductor (born 1925)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Battle of Tendra Day (Russia)
- Christian feast days:
Blessed Francesco Bonifacio - Christian feast days:
Deiniol - Christian feast days:
Felix, Regula, and Exuperantius - Christian feast days:
Harry Burleigh (Episcopal Church) - Christian feast days:
John Gabriel Perboyre (one of Martyr Saints of China) - Christian feast days:
Leudinus (Bobo) - Christian feast days:
Our Lady of Coromoto - Christian feast days:
Paphnutius of Thebes (Roman Catholic Church) - Christian feast days:
Patiens of Lyon - Christian feast days:
Protus and Hyacinth - Christian feast days:
Sperandia - Christian feast days:
Theodora of Alexandria - Christian feast days:
September 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - Death Anniversary of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Pakistan)