On This Day, July 11: Kingpin 'El Chapo' escapes from Mexican prison
July 11 (UPI) -- On this date in history:
In 1804, U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr killed longtime political foe Alexander Hamilton, the first treasury secretary, in a duel at Weehawken, N.J. Distant relatives of the two rivals re-enacted the famous meeting on the 200th anniversary in 2004.
In 1847, songwriter Stephen Foster's first major hit, "Oh! Susanna," was performed for the first time, in a Pittsburgh saloon. It soon became a standard for minstrel shows.
In 1859, Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities was published.
In 1914, legendary hitter Babe Ruth makes his debut in Major League Baseball. The Great Bambino would go on to become one of the greatest baseball players of all time and was included in the inaugural class of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
In 1952, U.S. Army Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower was nominated as the Republican presidential candidate, with Richard Nixon as his running mate. They were elected that November.
UPI File Photo
In 1955, the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado was dedicated, with 300 cadets in its first class.
In 1960, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird was published.
In 1979, Skylab, the United States' first space station, fell to Earth after six years in orbit, scattering tons of debris across the Australian desert.
In 1995, the United States resumed diplomatic relations with Vietnam.
UPI File Photo
In 1995, Bosnian Serbs claim the town of Srebrenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina, starting a genocide that would result in the deaths of more than 7,000 Muslim men and boys.
In 2006, more than 200 people were killed and another 700 injured in coordinated rush-hour terrorist attacks on the transit system in Mumbai.
In 2011, an overloaded Russian cruise ship with a malfunctioning engine capsized in the Volga River during a thunderstorm and quickly sank, killing 122 people. There were 79 survivors.
In 2015, Drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped from a maximum-security Mexican prison on through a 5,000-foot tunnel. It was his second escape from prison, and he would later be caught in January 2016.
In 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden, in conjunction with NASA, unveiled the first image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, featuring a grouping of galaxies.
In 2024, Cole Escola's comedic play Oh, Mary! about first lady Mary Todd Lincoln Todd opened on Broadway after an initial run off-Broadway. Escola won the Best Actor in a Play Tony Award for his role as the titular character and Sam Pinkleton won for the Best Director.
Sam Pinkleton (L) poses with the Best Direction of a Play award and Cole Escola poses with the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play award, both for "Oh, Mary!" backstage at the 78th Annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on June 8, 2025, in New York City. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
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