December 11 - This day in History

December 11: General Interest
1936: Edward VIII abdicates

After ruling for less than one year, Edward VIII becomes the first English monarch to voluntarily abdicate the throne. He chose to abdicate after the British government, public, and the Church of England condemned his decision to marry the American divorcée Wallis Warfield Simpson... read more


American Revolution
1777 : British delay Washington's march to Valley Forge
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/british-delay-washingtons-march-to-valley-forge


Automotive
1962 : NYC authorities jettison plans for expressway across Lower Manhattan
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nyc-authorities-jettison-plans-for-expressway-across-lower-manhattan


Civil War
1862 : The Federals occupy Fredericksburg
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/federals-occupy-fredericksburg


Cold War
1969 : Soviets declare nudity a sign of "western decadence"
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/soviets-declare-nudity-a-sign-of-western-decadence


Crime
2008 : Billionaire conman Bernard Madoff arrested
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/billionaire-conman-bernard-madoff-arrested


Disaster
1944 : Toronto endures record snowstorm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/toronto-endures-record-snowstorm


General Interest
1946 : UNICEF founded
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/unicef-founded

1994 : Yeltsin orders Russian forces into Chechnya
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/yeltsin-orders-russian-forces-into-chechnya


Hollywood
1944 : Tootsie actress Teri Garr born
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/tootsie-actress-teri-garr-born


Literary
1918 : Alexander Solzhenitsyn is born
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/alexander-solzhenitsyn-is-born


Music
1964 : Sam Cooke dies under suspicious circumstances in LA
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/sam-cooke-dies-under-suspicious-circumstances-in-la


Old West
1872 : Buffalo Bill Cody makes his first stage appearance
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/buffalo-bill-cody-makes-his-first-stage-appearance


Presidential
1815 : Madison presents trade agreement to Congress
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/madison-presents-trade-agreement-to-congress


Sports
1981 : Muhammad Ali vs. Trevor Berbick
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/muhammad-ali-vs-trevor-berbick


Vietnam War
1961 : First U.S. helicopters arrive in South Vietnam
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-us-helicopters-arrive-in-south-vietnam

1969 : Paratroopers depart South Vietnam
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/paratroopers-depart-south-vietnam


World War I
1915 : Yuan Shih-kai accepts Chinese throne
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/yuan-shih-kai-accepts-chinese-throne


World War II
1941 : Germany declares war on the United States
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germany-declares-war-on-the-united-states