TODAY IN HISTORY

April 11, 2018

1512 The forces of the Holy League are heavily defeated by the French at the Battle of Ravenna.

1713 The Treaty of Utrecht is signed, ending the War of Spanish Succession. France cedes Maritime provinces to Britain.

1783 After receiving a copy of the provisional treaty on 13 March, Congress proclaims a formal end to hostilities with Great Britain.

1814 Napoleon abdicates and is exiled to Elba.

1898 American President William McKinley asks Congress for declaration of war with Spain.

1941 German bombers blitz Coventry, England.

1942 Detachment 101 of the OSS--a guerrilla force--is activated in Burma.

1945 After two frustrating days of being repulsed and absorbing tremendous casualties, the Red Army finally takes the Seelow Heights north of Berlin.

1951 President Truman fires General Douglas MacArthur as head of United Nations forces in Korea.

1961 Israel begins the trial of Adolf Eichman, accused of war crimes during WWII.

1961 Folk singer Bob Dylan performs in New York City for the first time, opening for John Lee Hooker.

1968 President Johnson signs the 1968 Civil Rights Act.

1974 The Judiciary committee subpoenas President Richard Nixon to produce tapes for impeachment inquiry.

1981 President Ronald Reagan returns to the White House from hospital after recovery from an assassination attempt.

1986 Dodge Morgan sails solo nonstop around the world in 150 days.

1991 The United Nations Security Council issues formal ceasefire with Iraq.

1996 Forty-three African nations sign the African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty. Born on April 11 1370 Frederick I, elector of Saxony.

1722 Christopher Smart, English poet.

1755 James Parkinson, English physician.

1770 George Canning, British prime minister(1827).

1794 Edward Everett, governor of Massachusetts, statesman and orator.

1862 Charles Evans Hughes, 11th Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

1893 Dean G. Acheson, U.S. secretary of state (1949-53) who helped create NATO.

1901 Glenway Wescott, writer.

1925 Ethel Kennedy, wife of Senator Robert F. Kennedy.

1932 Joel Grey (Joe Katz), actor.

1941 Ellen Goodman, Pultizer Prize-winning columnist.

1950 Bill Irwin, actor and choreographer.