Romeo & Juliet's wedding day, Rupert Murdoch's bday
MANILA, Philippines - March 11 may seem like an inconspicuous date, but did you know that it was on this day that Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet were supposed to have married?
March 11 also marks the birthday of the 26th most powerful person in the world, News Corp. head and founder Rupert Murdoch.
Here's a round-up of some of the significant events that have happened on March 11 as gathered by the Associated Press:
1810 - Emperor Napoleon of France is married by proxy to the Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria.
1917 - British forces capture Baghdad during World War I.
1938 - German forces enter Austria.
1966 - President Sukarno of Indonesia is forced to delegate wide powers to army Gen. Suharto, who later replaces him.
1985 - Politburo leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev is chosen to succeed the late Soviet President Konstantin U. Chernenko.
1989 - Two dozen nations sign declaration in the Netherlands enlisting United Nations as watchdog against pollution of Earth's atmosphere.
1990 - Lithuanian Parliament declares independence from Soviet Union.
1992 - Sikh militants round up 17 Hindu workers and execute them at a government-owned mill in Punjab.
1993 - North Korea withdraws from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in a harsh rebuff of Western demands to open suspected nuclear weapons development sites for inspection.
1998 - South Korea says it will compensate women who were enslaved in Japanese army brothels in World War II, then recover the money from Japan.
2002 - Fifteen are killed and more than 50 others injured in a fire and stampede at a girls' school in Saudi Arabia, sparking an outcry after religious police prevented male firefighters and paramedics from rescuing the girls because they were not wearing the black head-to-toe covering required by Saudi law.
2004 - A series of bombs hidden in backpacks explode in quick succession, blowing apart four commuter trains in Madrid, Spain, killing at least 199 people and wounding more than 1,400. Spain initially blamed Basque separatists but a shadowy group claimed responsibility in the name of al-Qaida for the worst terrorist attack in Spanish history.
2009 - A 17-year-old wielding a Beretta 9m pistol bursts into a classroom in his former high school in Germany and guns down students in a rampage that leaves 15 dead before he takes his own life.
2011 - A massive show of force by Saudi Arabia's government snuffs out a Facebook-based effort to stage unprecedented pro-democracy protests in the capital of Riyadh, but political unrest and sectarian tensions roil neighboring Yemen and Bahrain.
2012 — A U.S. Army sergeant opens fire on Afghan villagers as they sleep, killing 16 people — mostly women and children — in an attack that reignites fury at the U.S. presence following a wave of deadly protests over Americans burning Qurans.
