Today In History – 11 October

1138 Earthquake in Aleppo, Syria, kills an estimated 230,000

1634 Burchardi flood – “the second Grote Mandrenke” kills about 15,000 in North Friesland, Denmark and Germany

1737 Earthquake kills 300,000 and destroys half of Calcutta, India

1797 Battle of Camperdown (Kamperduin): British navy defeats Dutch fleet

1945 Chinese civil war begins between Kuomintang government led by Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong’s Communist Party

1962 Second Vatican Council (21st ecumenical) convened by Pope John XXIII

1986 Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev open talks at a summit in Reykjavik, Iceland

1975 “Saturday Night Live” created by Lorne Michaels premieres on NBC with George Carlin as host

1983 “Can’t Slow Down” 2nd studio album by Lionel Richie is released

2000 South African Cricket Board issues former captain Hansie Cronje with a life ban as a result of match-fixing allegations

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