This Day in History: March 11

1966: Military coup led by Indonesian General Suharto breaks out

In 1966, a military coup led by General Suharto erupted in Indonesia, resulting in the overthrow of President Sukarno's government. Suharto would go on to become the country's second president and ruled Indonesia for more than 30 years.

1985: Mikhail Gorbachev replaces Konstantin Chernenko as Soviet leader

In 1985, Soviet politician Mikhail Gorbachev became the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, replacing Konstantin Chernenko. Gorbachev's leadership brought about significant changes in the Soviet Union, including the policies of perestroika and glasnost, which led to the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union.

1990: Lithuania becomes the first Soviet republic to declare its independence

In 1990, Lithuania declared its independence from the Soviet Union, becoming the first republic to do so. This marked a significant step in the dissolution of the Soviet Union, which would eventually collapse in 1991.

1990: Patricio Aylwin becomes Chile's first democratically elected president since the end of Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship

In 1990, Patricio Aylwin became Chile's first democratically elected president since the end of Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship. Pinochet had seized power in a coup d'état backed by the CIA in 1973 and ruled Chile with an iron fist for more than 17 years, during which thousands of political opponents were interned, tortured, and killed.

2004: 191 people die as several bombs explode on Madrid commuter trains

In 2004, a series of coordinated bombings by an Islamist terrorist cell targeted several commuter trains in Madrid, killing 191 people and injuring more than 2,000. The bombings occurred just three days before Spain's general elections and were one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Europe in recent history.

2011: 9.0 magnitude earthquake strikes 130 km (80 miles) east of Sendai, Japan, triggering a tsunami killing thousands of people and causing the second worst nuclear accident in history at Fukushima nuclear plant

In 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Japan, triggering a massive tsunami that caused widespread devastation and killed thousands of people. The disaster also resulted in the second worst nuclear accident in history at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

2018: China's National People's Congress approves removal of term limits for a leader, will allow Xi Jinping presidency for life

In 2018, China's National People's Congress approved the removal of term limits for the country's leader, paving the way for Xi Jinping to potentially hold the presidency for life. The move was widely criticized by human rights groups and political analysts as a step towards authoritarianism in China.

2020: COVID-19 declared a pandemic by the head of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, with 121,564 cases worldwide and 4,373 deaths

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO). The virus, which first emerged in Wuhan, China, in late 201