Date·Lore

On This Day · The 345th day of the year

December 11

From 861 to 2008, December 11 gathers 1,147 years of history. Most of the weight falls in the 20th century, where conflict is a recurring thread.

♐ZodiacSagittarius ◈BirthstoneTurquoise ❀Birth flowerHolly

Sagittarius is the sign for December 11 — read more on the Sagittarius page, or see December's birthstone & birth flower.

Compiled & reviewed by · Last reviewed September 6, 2026

What happened on December 11?

December 11 is the 345th day of the year. It marks 10 notable events in history, dated between 861 and 2008. Famous people born on December 11 include Hector Berlioz, Naguib Mahfouz and Leon Lai.

Released on December 11

Movies, games, albums & shows

2025

  • Game Ashes of Creation

2024

  • Game Fairy Tail 2

Release data from TMDB & IGDB.

Events

10 notable moments
  1. 861

    Abbasid Caliphate

  2. 1640

    Root and Branch petition

  3. 1816

    Indiana

  4. 1899

    Second Boer War

  5. 1917

    World War I

  6. 1920

    Irish War of Independence

  7. 1941

    World War II

  8. 1972

    Apollo 17

  9. 1990

    Albania

  10. 2008

    Bernie Madoff

Famous birthday twins

Born on December 11

Hector Berlioz

b. 1803

Naguib Mahfouz

b. 1911

Leon Lai

b. 1966

John Kerry

b. 1943

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

b. 1918

Robert Koch

b. 1843

Yasiin Bey

b. 1973

Manoel de Oliveira

b. 1908

Deaths

  • 1978Vincent du Vigneaud
  • 1918Ivan Cankar
  • 1909Ludwig Mond
  • 1241Ögedei Khan
  • 1198Averroes
  • 969Nikephoros II Phokas

Holidays & observances

  • —Christian feast day: Cian
  • —Christian feast day: Daniel the Stylite
  • —Christian feast day: María de las Maravillas de Jesús
  • —Christian feast day: Pope Damasus I
  • —Christian feast day: Sabinus of Piacenza
  • —Christian feast day: Victoricus, Fuscian, and Gentian
  • —Christian feast day: December 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • —Establishment of Kurdish Women's Union (Iraqi Kurdistan)

The factual record above — event titles, dates, names, and observances — is drawn from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license. DateLore adds curation, structure, and original editorial commentary. DateLore is not affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation.

About the author

Roman Tailor compiles and reviews every date on DateLore. He's the writer and editor behind the site's editorial essays and the day-by-day almanac. Corrections and questions are welcome — read more about DateLore or get in touch.

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