By: HISTORY.com Editors

1963

Buddhist immolates himself in protest

Published: November 16, 2009Last Updated: May 27, 2025

Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc publicly burns himself to death in a plea for President Ngo Dinh Diem to show “charity and compassion” to all religions. Diem, a Catholic who had been oppressing the Buddhist majority, remained stubborn despite continued Buddhist protests and repeated U.S. requests to liberalize his government’s policies. More Buddhist monks immolated themselves during ensuing weeks. Madame Nhu, the president’s sister-in-law, referred to the burnings as “barbecues” and offered to supply matches. In November 1963, South Vietnamese military officers assassinated Diem and his brother during a coup.

7 Iconic Photos From the Vietnam War Era

Gifted photographers and reporters captured images that conveyed the agony and violence of the Vietnam war, and the deep divisions it drove in American society.

By: Dave Roos

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on June 11th

323 B.C.

Alexander the Great dies

Alexander the Great, the young Macedonian military genius who forged an empire from the eastern Mediterranean to India, dies at age 32.

1:56m read

1509

Henry VIII marries his first wife, Catherine of Aragon

King Henry VIII of England marries Catherine of Aragon, the first of six wives he will have in his lifetime. When Catherine failed to produce a male heir, Henry divorced her against the will of the Roman Catholic Church, thus precipitating the Protestant Reformation in England. Henry went on to have five more wives; two […]

1776

Congress appoints Committee of Five to draft the Declaration of Independence

On June 11, 1776, the Continental Congress selects Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Roger Sherman of Connecticut and Robert R. Livingston of New York to draft a declaration of independence. They have come to be known as the Committee of Five. Knowing Jefferson’s prowess with a pen, Adams […]

1788

Russian explorer Izmailov arrives at Yakutat Bay, Alaska

Searching for sea otter pelts and other furs, the Russian explorer Gerasim Grigoriev Izmailov reaches the Alaskan coast, setting his ship in at Yakutat Bay. Although most Americans think of the exploration of the Far West as an affair that began in the East and proceeded westward, the opposite was true for Russians. In the […]

2:56m read

1944

John F. Kennedy receives medal for gallantry

Lieutenant John F. Kennedy receives the Navy and Marine Corps Medal—one of the Navy’s highest honors for gallantry—for his heroic actions as the commanding officer of a motor torpedo boat during World War II on June 11, 1944. The future president also received a Purple Heart for wounds received during battle. As a young man, Kennedy […]

2:14m read

1949

Hank Williams Sr., makes his Grand Ole Opry debut

On June 11, 1949, country singer Hank Williams Sr., takes to the microphone of the Grand Ole Opry radio broadcast for the first time. That debut remains one of the most famous in the history of the legendary live country-music performance program. He electrified a live audience at Ryman Auditorium that called Williams out for […]

2:28m read

1955

Race car at Le Mans crashes into spectators, killing 83

On June 11, 1955, a racing car in Le Mans, France, goes out of control and crashes into stands filled with spectators, killing 83 people, including the driver, Frenchman Pierre Levegh. The tragedy in the famous 24-hour endurance race led to a ban on racing in several nations. The Le Mans race, organized by France’s […]

1:52m read

1963

University of Alabama desegregated

Facing National Guard troops, Alabama Governor George Wallace allows two African American students to enroll at the University of Alabama for the first time.

1:16m read

1979

John Wayne dies

On June 11, 1979, John Wayne, an iconic American film actor famous for starring in countless westerns, dies at age 72 after battling cancer for more than a decade. The actor was born Marion Morrison on May 26, 1907, in Winterset, Iowa, and moved as a child to Glendale, California. A football star at Glendale […]

2:18m read

1982

“E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” released

Then 34-year-old director Steven Spielberg reportedly drew on his own experiences as an unusually imaginative, often-lonely child of divorce for his science-fiction classic E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which is released on June 11, 1982. For Spielberg, E.T. marked a return to territory he had first visited with the classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), […]

2:04m read

1989

China issues warrant for Tiananmen dissident sheltering in U.S. embassy

In the wake of the Tiananmen Square Massacre on June 4, China issues a warrant for a leading Chinese dissident who had taken refuge in the U.S. embassy in Beijing. The diplomatic standoff lasted for a year, and the refusal of the United States to hand the dissident over to Chinese officials was further evidence of […]

2:26m read

Vietnam War

41 videos

Vietnam War

Behind the Image: Fall of Saigon Helicopter Evacuation

The dramatic rooftop photo was long mistakenly misidentified.

Vietnam War

Fall of Saigon: What Led to the Final, Chaotic Moments

The conflict in Vietnam ended in turmoil with the largest helicopter evacuation of its kind in history.

Vietnam War

Why the Battle for Hamburger Hill Was So Controversial

After 10 days of bruising battle, U.S. forces took the hill, only to abandon it days later. Sniper fire was so intense, one soldier called it 'a human meat grinder.'

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