December 11

220 – Emperor Xian of Han is forced to abdicate the throne by Cao Cao's son Cao Pi, ending the Han dynasty. 361 – Julian enters Constantinople as sole Roman Emperor. 861 – Assassination of the Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil by the Turkish guard, who raise al-Muntasir to the throne, start of the "Anarchy at Samarra". 969 – Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas is assassinated by his wife Theophano and her lover, the later Emperor John I Tzimiskes. 1041 – Michael V, adoptive son of Empress Zoë of Byzantium, is proclaimed emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire. 1282 – Battle of Orewin Bridge: Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the last native Prince of Wales, is killed at Cilmeri near Builth Wells in mid-Wales. 1602 – A surprise attack by forces under the command of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, and his brother-in-law, Philip III of Spain, is repelled by the citizens of Geneva. (Commemorated annually by the Fête de l'Escalade.) 1640 – The Root and Branch petition, signed by 15,000 Londoners calling for the abolition of the episcopacy, is presented to the Long Parliament. 1675 – Antonio de Vea expedition enters San Rafael Lake in western Patagonia. 1688 – Glorious Revolution: James II of England, while trying to flee to France, throws the Great Seal of the Realm into the River Thames. 1792 – French Revolution: King Louis XVI of France is put on trial for treason by the National Convention. 1815 – The U.S. Senate creates a select committee on finance and a uniform national currency, predecessor of the United States Senate Committee on Finance. 1816 – Indiana becomes the 19th U.S. state. 1868 – Paraguayan War: Brazilian troops defeat the Paraguayan Army at the Battle of Avay. 1899 – Second Boer War: In the Battle of Magersfontein the Boers commanded by general Piet Cronjé inflict a defeat on the forces of the British Empire commanded by Lord Methuen trying to relieve the Siege of Kimberley. 1901 – Guglielmo Marconi transmits the first transatlantic radio signal from Poldhu, Cornwall, England to Saint John's, Newfoundland.