Holidays Calendar for August 11, 2024
August 11 is Independence Day in Chad. This public holiday commemorates the independence of the Republic of Chad from France in 1960.
Mountain Day is one of Japan’s newest public holidays. It was officially proclaimed in 2014, but the first celebration took place only in 2016. Mountain Day in Japan is observed on August 11.
International Fufu Day is observed by people of West African descent and those who like West African and Caribbean cuisines on August 11. The holiday was created to celebrate an indigenous West African dish found in the cuisines of over a dozen countries.
Children love to play with sand and should be encouraged to do so because playing with sand has many developmental benefits for young kids. Originally an outdoor summer activity, sand play is now available all the year round thanks to various amazing products such as Kinetic Sand, which, by the way, has a holiday dedicated to it. Global Kinetic Sand Day is celebrated annually on August 11.
Builders' Day is a professional holiday celebrated in many former Soviet republics on the second Sunday in August. It was first celebrated in the Soviet Union on August 8, 1956.
In Bulgaria, Navy Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in August. It is the culmination of the traditional National Week of the Sea. The date of the holiday was chosen to commemorate the creation of the Bulgarian Navy in 1879.
In many former Soviet republics, Border Guard Day is celebrated on May 28. However, in Turkmenistan this date was changed to August 11 in order to celebrate the establishment of the country's Border Service in 1992.
Veterinary Workers Day is a Ukrainian professional holiday celebrated on the second Sunday in August. It was officially proclaimed by President Leonid Kuchma in 2001. The first celebration took place on August 11, 2002.
August 11 is celebrated in the Republic of Armenia as Day of Armenian National Identity. The holiday's other name is Nawasard. Nawasard was the first month of the ancient Armenian calendar, the first day of Nawasard corresponds to August 11 in the Gregorian calendar.
Turkmen Melon Holiday (Turkmen Melon Day) is an official holiday in Turkmenistan celebrated on the second Sunday in July. It was established by the first President of Turkmenistan Saparmurat Niyazov in 1994.
Hip Hop Celebration Day is a U.S. observance celebrated on August 11. It was officially established by the United States senate on July 29, 2021. In addition, the Senate designated August as Hip Hop Recognition Month and November as Hip Hop History Month.
Latvian Freedom Fighters' Remembrance Day (also known as Commemoration Day of the Latvian Freedom Fighters) is observed on August 11 every year. It was established in 1995 to commemorate those who died during the Latvian War of Independence in 1918-1920.
Flag Day in Pakistan is observed on August 11 because on this day in 1947 the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan officially adopted the national flag of Pakistan. Four days later, Pakistan declared its independence.
August 11 is National Raspberry Tart Day in the United States. This food holiday honors a popular baked dessert that consists of a fruit filling over a pastry.
Although the majority of unofficial and semi-official food holidays originated in the United States, the United Kingdom also has its fair share of food days. For example, National Bakewell Tart Day, observed annually on August 11, celebrates a beloved English dessert that originated in Bakewell, Derbyshire.
August 11 is the perfect day to pamper yourself because it’s National Face Mask Day. We aren’t talking about medical masks that protect from infections and became ubiquitous during the COVID-19 pandemic; we’re talking about skincare products that help to keep your skin moisturized, nourished, smooth, and radiant.
National Raspberry Bombe Day is observed annually on August 11. It was created to celebrate a delicious frozen dessert that originated in French cuisine.
National Son’s and Daughter’s Day, also known as National Son and Daughter Day, is celebrated annually on August 11. It was created to encourage parents to spend some quality time with their children.
National Align Your Teeth Day is observed in the United States annually on August 11. It was created by dentists and orthodontists to promote the benefits of orthodontic treatment and encourage people to give it a try.
Ingersoll Day is an unofficial holiday celebrating the life and legacy of Robert G. Ingersoll, a famous American lawyer, writer, and public speaker who was active during the Golden Age of Freethought.
National Presidential Joke Day is celebrated annually on August 11. This fun holiday was created to remind people that presidents are human and can crack jokes just like everyone else.
World Steelpan Day is a United Nations observance held annually on August 11. The UN General Assembly inaugurated it to honor a unique musical instrument that originated in Trinidad and Tobago and celebrate cultural diversity and its contribution to sustainable development.
The second Sunday in August is dedicated to children, the Very Important Persons, in Uruguay. It's Children's Day and all kids receive many toys.
Children's Day is a very popular holiday in Chile, where it's celebrated on the second Sunday in August. Although this date is widely known among the population of Chile, it's official date is different.
Father's Day (Dia dos Pais) in Brazil is celebrated on the second Sunday in August. The holiday was created in the mid-1950s by publicist Sylvio Bhering.
Festivals on August 11, 2024
- Comiket (Comic Market) in Tokyo, Japan
- Oslo Jazzfestival in Oslo, Norway
- Kadayawan Festival in Davao City, Philippines
- Hugo Awards in Glasgow, United Kingdom
- AVS Balloonmeeting in Deinze, Belgium
- Edinburgh International Book Festival in Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- Caribbean Carnival of Manchester in Manchester, United Kingdom
- Veggie Fest in Chicago, USA
- Sélestat Flower Parade in Sélestat, France
- Bloemencorso Rijnsburg (Rijnsburg Flower Parade) in Rijnsburg, Netherlands
- Flow Festival in Helsinki, Finland
- Bristol International Balloon Fiesta in Bristol, United Kingdom
- Nišville International Jazz Festival in Niš, Serbia
- D23 Expo in Anaheim, USA
- Jersey Battle of Flowers in Saint Helier, Jersey
This Day in History
- 2022 Died: Anne Heche, American actress, known for her roles across a variety of genres in film, television, and theater. She succumbed to her injuries sustained in a car crash on August 5.
- 2014 Died: Robin Williams, American actor and comedian regarded as one of the greatest comedians of all time. He received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and six Golden Globe Awards.
- 2012 A pair of earthquakes occurred near Tabris, the most populated city in northwestern Iran. The earthquakes caused the deaths of at least 306 people and injuries of 3,000 others.
- 2009 Died: Eunice Kennedy Shriver, American philanthropist and a member of the Kennedy family. She founded the Special Olympics, a sports organization for persons with intellectual disabilities.
- 2006 The oil tanker MTSolar 1 sank off the coast of Guimaras and Negros Islands in the Philippines, causing the worst oil spill in the country's history.
- 1996 Died: Baba Vanga, Bulgarian attributed mystic and healer who claimed to have foreseen the future. In the late 1970s and 1980s, she was widely known in Eastern Europe.
- 1994 Died: Peter Cushing, English actor, mainly known for roles as Baron Frankenstein, Sherlock Holmes and vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing in the Hammer Productions horror films.
- 1983 Born: Chris Hemsworth, Australian actor, best known for role as Thor in the MCU. His other film credits include Snow White and the Huntsman, Men in Black: International, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, and more.
- 1982 A bomb exploded on Pan Am Flight 830 en route from Tokyo, Japan to Honolulu, Hawaii. Despite the damage, the aircraft landed in Honolulu. One passenger was killed and 15 others injured.
- 1979 Two Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-134 airliners collided over Dniprodzerzhynsk, a city in Ukraine. All 178 passengers aboard both airliners were killed.
- 1972 Died: Max Theiler, South African-American virologist and academic. He was awarded a Nobel Prize for developing a vaccine against yellow fever in 1951.
- 1968 Born: Sophie Okonedo, British actress and narrator. Her breakthrough role was as Tatiana Rusesabagina in Hotel Rwanda for which she received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination.
- 1965 Born: Viola Davis, American actress and film producer. Known for her work across screen and stage, her accolades include both the Triple Crown of Acting and the EGOT.
- 1962 Vostok 3 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome; during this mission, cosmonaut Andrian Nikolayev became the first person to float in microgravity.
- 1956 Died: Jackson Pollock, influential American painter and major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. He is well known for his unique style of drip painting.
- 1953 Born: Hulk Hogan, American actor and retired professional wrestler. He is widely regarded as the most recognized wrestling star worldwide and the most popular wrestler of the 1980s.
- 1950 Born: Steve Wozniak, American technology entrepreneur, electrical engineer, computer programmer, philanthropist, and inventor. In 1976, he co-founded Apple Computer with his early business partner Steve Jobs.
- 1949 Born: Eric Carmen, American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He was the lead vocalist of the Raspberries and embarked on a solo career in 1975, acheving global success.
- 1946 Born: Marilyn vos Savant, American journalist and author. She rose to prominence through her former listing in the Guinness Book of World Records under "Highest IQ".
- 1944 Born: Frederick W. Smith, American businessman, known as the founder of FedEx, the first overnight express delivery company and the largest delivery company in the world.
- 1944 Born: Ian McDiarmid, Scottish actor and director who gained prominence for portraying Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious in the Star Wars franchise starting from Return of the Jedi.
- 1942 Actress Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil received a patent for a frequency-hopping spread spectrum communication system that later became the basis for modern technologies in wireless telephones and Wi-Fi.
- 1937 Died: Edith Wharton, American author, Pulitzer Prize winner and three-time Nobel Prize in Literature nominee. She is best known for her novels The Age of Innocence, Summer, The Reef, The House of Mirth, The Touchstone.
- 1926 Born: Aaron Klug, Lithuanian-English chemist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate for the development of crystallographic electron microscopy and structural elucidation of biologically important nucleic acid-protein complexes.
- 1920 The Latvian–Soviet Peace Treaty, which relinquished Russia's authority and pretenses to Latvia, was signed, ending the Latvian War of Independence.
- 1919 Died: Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist who led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans in history.
- 1886 Died: Lydia Koidula, Estonian poet and writer. Although her poetry and newspaper work remained anonymous during her lifetime, she was a major literary figure and the founder of Estonian theatre.
- 1858 Born: Christiaan Eijkman, Dutch physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate for demonstrating that beriberi is caused by poor diet, which eventually led to the discovery of vitamins.
- 1858 Irish merchant Charles Barrington accompanied by Swiss mountain guide Christian Almer and Peter Bohren became the first people to ascend the mountain Eiger of the Bernese Alps in Switzerland.
- 1837 Born: Marie François Sadi Carnot, French politician, the 4th President of the French Republic. His presidency lasted from 1887 until his assassination in 1894.
- 1804 Francis I assumed the title of the first Emperor of Austria, thus founding the Austrian Empire. The empire existed until 1867, when it became part of a new dual monarchy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
- 1614 Died: Lavinia Fontana, Italian Mannerist painter. She is regarded as the first female career artist in Western Europe, as she relied on commissions for her income.
- 1332 The Battle of Dupplin Moor was fought between supporters of King David II of Scotland, the son of King Robert Bruce, and English-backed invaders supporting Edward Balliol, son of King John I of Scotland.