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President Truman and General MacArthur

On 11 April 1951, General Douglas MacArthur was relieved of command by U.S. president Harry S. Truman (both pictured) after making statements that contradicted the administration's policies. MacArthur was a popular hero of World War II, achieving the rank of General of the Army, and his relief remains a controversial topic in civil–military relations. After North Korea invaded South Korea in June 1950, starting the Korean War, MacArthur won the Battle of Inchon, but the following invasion of North Korea on Truman's orders led to China inflicting a series of defeats. MacArthur was compelled to withdraw from North Korea and, after the military situation had stabilized, Truman relieved him. The United States Senate held an inquiry into the military situation and the circumstances surrounding MacArthur's relief, and concluded that "the removal of General MacArthur was within the constitutional powers of the President but the circumstances were a shock to national pride". (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Bust of Augustus, with civic crown

... that the reign of Augustus (bust pictured) relied on chance, experimentation and improvisation, according to one historian?
... that in 1936 the Supreme Court ruled that Oregon could divert all of its own water in the Walla Walla River from Washington?
... that Sam Jaffe brought "wine, cheese and live caterpillars" to gallery openings of his photographs?
... that Flying Lotus created Big Mama from 10 to 15 seconds of music produced each day over two months?
... that Yemen originally took responsibility for a 2009 series of missile strikes by the US?
... that a bridge in Ontario was named after an Ojibwe word meaning 'dawn' or 'morning light'?
... that the debut novel of Habiburrahman El Shirazy beat out Harry Potter as Indonesia's "favourite book" of 2005?
... that Australia's New Protection policy made tariff relief for manufacturers contingent on paying employees a living wage?
... that Gao Cai, a Chinese eunuch during the Ming dynasty, was accused of consuming the brains of young boys in the belief that it would restore his penis?

In the news

Emperor penguins

The emperor penguin (pictured) is added to the endangered species category by the IUCN due to the effects of climate change.
In NCAA Division I basketball, the Michigan Wolverines win the men's championship and the UCLA Bruins win the women's championship.
NASA's Artemis II lands in the Pacific Ocean, completing its crewed lunar flyby mission.
In Mongolia, Nyam-Osoryn Uchral is sworn in as prime minister following the resignation of Gombojavyn Zandanshatar.

On this day

April 11: World Parkinson's Day

Anastasius I Dicorus

491 – Anastasius I Dicorus (pictured) became the Eastern Roman emperor.
1885 – Luton Town Football Club was founded in England.
1951 – The Stone of Scone, removed months earlier by Scottish students, was found on the altar of Arbroath Abbey.
1973 – On the Art of the Cinema, a treatise on film propaganda in support of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea written by the future North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, was published.
2011 – A bomb exploded at Kastryčnickaja station on the Minsk Metro in Belarus, killing 15 people and injuring more than 200.

Stephen IV of Hungary (d. 1165)
Seymour H. Knox I (b. 1861)
Panama Al Brown (d. 1951)
Milly Alcock (b. 2000)

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Today's featured picture

Mary White Ovington (April 11, 1865 – July 15, 1951) was an American socialist, suffragist, journalist, and co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Ovington was born in Brooklyn, New York, and educated at Packer Collegiate Institute and Radcliffe College, Harvard. She became involved in the campaign for civil rights in 1890 after hearing Frederick Douglass speak in a Brooklyn church and a 1903 speech by Booker T. Washington at the Social Reform Club. This half-length photographic portrait of Ovington was taken in the 1890s by Charles J. Dampf, and is in the collection of the Library of Congress.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Dampf; restored by Adam Cuerden

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