June 11 in Pop Culture History

323 BC – Alexander the Great died in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II in Babylon.

1509 – Henry VIII of England married Catherine of Aragon.

1742 – Benjamin Franklin invented the Franklin stove. He chose not to patent it.

1793 – Robert Heterick was issued the patent (#X000063) for a stove design of cast iron

1837 – The Broad Street Riot occurred in Boston, fueled by ethnic tensions between Yankees and Irish.

1895 – Charles E. Duryea was granted the first US patent (#540,648) for a gasoline-driven automobile.

1949 – Hank Williams, Sr. debuted at the Grand Ole Opry.

1955 – Eighty-three spectators were killed, and at least 100 were injured after an Austin-Healey and a Mercedes-Benz collided at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the deadliest car accident in motorsports.

1962 – Frank Morris, John Anglin, and Clarence Anglin (allegedly) became the only prisoners to escape from the prison on Alcatraz Island. They were never seen again after escaping on an inflatable raft.

1963 – Faget, Meyer, Chilton, Blanchard, Kehlet, Hammack and Johnson were granted the patent (#3,093,346), for NASA, for the Mercury space capsule.

1963 – Alabama Governor George Wallace (D) stood at the door of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama in an attempt to block two black students, Vivian Malone and James Hood, from attending the school.

#1 Hit June 11, 1966 – June 24, 1966: The Rolling Stones – Paint It Black

#1 Hit June 11, 1977 – June 17, 1977: KC and the Sunshine Band – I’m Your Boogie Man

1979 – Actor John Wayne died after a decade-long fight with cancer.

1982 – E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial & Grease 2 were released in theaters

1986 – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off was released in theaters. The rare Ferrari 250 GT Spyder California was not destroyed in the film.

1993 – Jurassic Park and What’s Love Got to Do With It debuted in theaters

1999 – Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me was released in theaters

2001 – Timothy McVeigh was executed for his role in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

2002 – American Idol premiered on FOX

2002 – Antonio Meucci was acknowledged as the first inventor of the telephone by the United States Congress. His 1871 patent was not as detailed as Alexander Graham Bell’s 1876 patent.

2004 – Napoleon Dynamite, Garfield: The Movie, The Stepford Wives and The Chronicles of Riddick debuted in theaters

2010 – The A-Team and The Karate Kid were released in theaters