March 11 in history — What Happened Today in History

Lithuania declares independence from the Soviet Union.

Patricio Aylwin is sworn in as the first democratically elected President of Chile since 1970.

Mikhail Gorbachev is elected to the position of General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, making Gorbachev the USSR's de facto, and last, head of state.

Bob Hawke is appointed Prime Minister of Australia.

Fifteen people are killed when Widerøe Flight 933 crashes into the Barents Sea near Gamvik, Norway.

Hundreds of students protest in the University of Pristina in Kosovo, then part of Yugoslavia, to give their province more political rights. The protests then became a nationwide movement.

Coastal Road massacre: At least 37 are killed and more than 70 are wounded when Fatah hijack an Israeli bus, prompting Israel's Operation Litani.

The 1977 Hanafi Siege: Around 150 hostages held in Washington, D.C., by Hanafi Muslims are set free after ambassadors from three Islamic nations join negotiations.

Rudolf Höss, the first commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp, is captured by British troops.

World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy attempts a large-scale kamikaze attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet anchored at Ulithi atoll in Operation Tan No. 2.

World War II: The Empire of Vietnam, a short-lived Japanese puppet state, is established.

World War II: United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act into law, allowing American-built war supplies to be shipped to the Allies on loan.

In New York City, Samuel Roxy Rothafel opens the Roxy Theatre.

World War I: Mesopotamian campaign: Baghdad falls to Anglo-Indian forces commanded by General Frederick Stanley Maude.

The Saint-Germain bombing ushers France into the Ère des attentats (1892-1894).

The Great Blizzard of 1888 begins along the eastern seaboard of the United States, shutting down commerce and killing more than 400 people.

Shō Tai formally abdicates his position of King of Ryūkyū, under orders from Tokyo, ending the Ryukyu Kingdom.

Construction of the Seven Sisters Colliery, South Wales, begins; it is located on one of the richest coal sources in Britain.

The Great Sheffield Flood kills 238 people in Sheffield, England.

American Civil War: The Constitution of the Confederate States of America is adopted.

The first performance of Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi takes place in Venice.

Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin become the first Prime Ministers of the Province of Canada to be democratically elected under a system of responsible government.

Flagstaff War: Unhappy with translational differences regarding the Treaty of Waitangi, chiefs Hōne Heke, Kawiti and Māori tribe members chop down the British flagpole for a fourth time and drive settlers out of Kororāreka, New Zealand.

The Battle of Kharda is fought between the Maratha Confederacy and the Nizam of Hyderabad, resulting in Maratha victory.

The signing of the Treaty of Mangalore brings the Second Anglo-Mysore War to an end.

Queen Anne withholds Royal Assent from the Scottish Militia Bill, the last time a British monarch vetoes legislation.

The Daily Courant, England's first national daily newspaper, is published for the first time.

The Frondeurs and the French government sign the Peace of Rueil.

Anton Yelchin, Russian-American actor (died 2016)

Pedro Báez, Dominican baseball player

Fábio Coentrão, Portuguese footballer

Cecil Lolo, South African footballer (died 2015)

Marc-André Gragnani, Canadian ice hockey player

Tanel Kangert, Estonian cyclist

Ngonidzashe Makusha, Zimbabwean sprinter and long jumper

Dario Cologna, Swiss skier

Paul Bissonnette, Canadian ice hockey player

Daniel Vázquez Evuy, Equatoguinean footballer

Cassandra Fairbanks, American journalist and activist

Stelios Malezas, Greek footballer

Greg Olsen, American football player and commentator

Walter Burkert, German philologist and scholar (born 1931)

Jimmy Greenspoon, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player (born 1948)

Dean Bailey, Australian footballer and coach (born 1967)

Joel Brinkley, American journalist and academic (born 1952)

Martin Adolf Bormann, German priest and theologian (born 1930)

Simón Alberto Consalvi, Venezuelan journalist and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Venezuela (born 1927)

James B. Morehead, American colonel and pilot (born 1916)

Hans van Mierlo, Dutch politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands (born 1931)

Bernie Geoffrion, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1931)

Slobodan Milošević, Serbian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (born 1941)

James Tobin, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1918)

Herbert Jasper, Canadian psychologist, anatomist, and neurologist (born 1906)

Camille Laurin, Canadian psychiatrist and politician (born 1922)