December 11 in history — What Happened Today in History

SATA Air Açores Flight 530M crashes into Pico da Esperança on São Jorge Island in the Azores, killing 35.

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.

The Kyoto Protocol, an agreement committing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, opens for signature.

First Chechen War: Russian president Boris Yeltsin orders Russian troops into Chechnya.

A bomb explodes on Philippine Airlines Flight 434, en route from Manila, Philippines, to Tokyo, Japan, killing one. The captain is able to land the plane safely.

A block of the Highland Towers condominium complex collapses following a landslide caused by heavy rain and water flowing from a construction site at Ampang district in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 48 of its residents die, including one who died in hospital after being rescued alive, leaving only two survivors.

Demonstrations by students and workers across Albania begin, which eventually trigger the fall of communism in Albania.

Several fatal collisions in the 1990 Interstate 75 fog disaster result in a total of 12 deaths and 42 being injured

A Soviet Air Force Il-76 aircraft crashes while participating in the Armenian earthquake relief, killing 78 people.

El Mozote massacre: Armed forces in El Salvador kill an estimated 900 civilians in an anti-guerrilla campaign during the Salvadoran Civil War.

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (also known as Superfund) is enacted by the U.S. Congress.

The Lufthansa heist is committed by a group led by Lucchese family associate Jimmy Burke. It was the largest cash robbery ever committed on American soil, at that time.

Apollo 17 becomes the sixth and final Apollo mission to land on the Moon.

Che Guevara speaks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.

Arthur Lucas, convicted of murder, is the last person to be executed in Canada.

French forces crack down in a violent clash with protesters in French Algeria during a visit by French president Charles de Gaulle.

French Upper Volta and French Dahomey gain self-government from France, becoming the Republic of Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) and the Republic of Dahomey (now Benin), respectively, and joining the French Community.

Arab–Israeli War: The United Nations passes General Assembly Resolution 194, creating a Conciliation Commission to mediate the conflict.

The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is established.

World War II: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States, following the Americans' declaration of war on the Empire of Japan in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States, in turn, declares war on them.

World War II: Poland declares war on the Empire of Japan.

World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy suffers its first loss of surface vessels during the Battle of Wake Island.

Second Italo-Ethiopian War: Italy leaves the League of Nations.

Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII's abdication as King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, and Emperor of India, becomes effective.

Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, takes his last drink and enters treatment for the final time.

Statute of Westminster 1931: The British Parliament establishes legislative equality between the UK and the Dominions of the Commonwealth—Australia, Canada, Newfoundland, New Zealand, South Africa, and Ireland.

Guangzhou Uprising: Communist Red Guards launch an uprising in Guangzhou, China, taking over most of the city and announcing the formation of a Guangzhou Soviet.

Roman Catholic papal encyclical Quas primas introduces the Feast of Christ the King.

Alex Russell, Australian actor

Miranda Tapsell, Australian actress

Roy Hibbert, American basketball player

Karla Souza, Mexican actress

Leighton Baines, English footballer

Sandra Echeverría, Mexican actress and singer

James Ellsworth, American wrestler

Xosha Roquemore, American actress

Roman Harper, American football player

Pablo Pérez Companc, Argentine race car driver

Rebekkah Brunson, American basketball player and coach

Jason Kennedy, American journalist

Jeff McComsey, American author and illustrator

Hans Wallat, German conductor and director (born 1929)

Nadir Afonso, Portuguese painter and architect (born 1920)

Barbara Branden, Canadian-American author and academic (born 1929)

Javier Jáuregui (boxer), Mexican boxer (born 1973)

Sheikh Mussa Shariefi, Indian philosopher and scholar (born 1942)

Galina Vishnevskaya, Russian soprano and actress (born 1926)

Mendel Weinbach, Polish-Israeli rabbi and scholar (born 1933)

Ravi Shankar, Indian-American sitar player and composer (born 1920)

John Patrick Foley, American cardinal (born 1935)

Dick Hoerner, American football player (born 1922)

Bettie Page, American model (born 1923)

José Luis Cuciuffo, Argentinian footballer (born 1962)

Arthur Lydiard, New Zealand runner and coach (born 1917)