Important Events From This day in History – 11 March

Today in History

• 2011 The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster strikes Japan

  The nuclear meltdowns occurred following a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami. It was the worst nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

• 2004 191 people die as several bombs explode on Madrid commuter trains

  The bombings were carried out by an Islamist terrorist cell and occurred just three days before Spain’s general elections.

• 1990 Lithuania becomes the first Soviet republic to declare its independence

  The Baltic country’s secession marked an important step in the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

• 1990 Patricio Aylwin becomes Chile’s first democratically elected president since the end of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship

  Pinochet had ruled Chile since a CIA-backed coup in 1973. Thousands of political opponents were interned, tortured, and killed under his command.

• 1851 Giuseppe Verdi’s opera, Rigoletto, receives its premiere

  Rigoletto is one of the most well-known operas in the world. The piece had its world premiere at Venice’s Teatro La Fenice.