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Today in History: July 11

1302
An army of French knights, led by the Count of Artois, is routed by Flemish pikemen.

1346
Charles IV of Luxembourg is elected Holy Roman Emperor in Germany.

1533
Henry VIII is excommunicated from the Catholic Church by Pope Clement VII.

1708
The French are defeated at Oudenarde, Malplaquet, in the Netherlands by the Duke of Marlborough and Eugene of Savoy.

1786
Morocco agrees to stop attacking American ships in the Mediterranean for a payment of $10,000.


1799
An Anglo-Turkish armada bombards Napoleon Bonaparte's troops in Alexandria to no avail.

1804
Alexander Hamilton is mortally wounded by Aaron Burr in a duel.

1862
President Abraham Lincoln appoints General Henry Halleck as general-in-chief of the Federal army.

1942
In the RAF's longest bombing raid of World War II, 44 British Lancaster bombers attack the Polish port of Danzig.

1972
American forces break the 95-day siege at An Loc in Vietnam.

1975
Archaeologists unearth an army of 8,000 life-size clay figures created more than 2,000 years ago for the Emperor Qin Shi Huang.

1995
Full diplomatic relations are established between the United States and Vietnam.

Born on July 11
1274
Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland (1306-1329).

1767
John Quincy Adams, Sixth President of the United States (1825-1829).

1838
John Wanamaker, U.S. merchant, founder of one of the first American department stores.

1899
E.B. White, author (Charlotte's Web).

1927
Theodore H. Maiman, physicist.

JOTD
Tom was not home at his usual hour and his wife was fuming.

Finally around 3am she heard a noise at the front door and, as she stood at the top of the stairs, there was her husband, drunk as a skunk, trying to navigate the stairs.

“Do you realise what time it is?!?” she stammered.

He answered, "Don't get excited, I'm late because I bought something for the house.”

Immediately her attitude changed, and running down the stairs to meet him halfway, she asked “What did you buy for the house, dear?"

Tom answered “A round of drinks!"