11 August brings together landmark events in Spain: a decisive phase of the Peninsular War, the official launch of Madrid’s modern water supply and a key event in Andalusian remembrance. Internationally, the same date marks turning points in constitutional, spaceflight and civil rights history, as well as an extraordinary celestial event.
All the entries below are dated 11 August of a specifically named year and have been cross-checked against primary or institutional sources.
Spain on 11 August
11 August 1809: Battle of Almonacid: turning point in operations in Castile
On 11 August 1809, Spanish troops clashed with a French corps under General Horace Sébastiani at Almonacid de Toledo. According to contemporary accounts, the Spanish command was led by Venegas; the decision was made on the heights south of the town.
Maps from the Deposito de la Guerra, now catalogued in the Cartoteca of the Instituto Geográfico Nacional, explicitly list the “Batalla de Almonacid (11 de Agosto de 1809)” and show positions and movements around Castillo de Almonacid. After heavy artillery fire, the Spanish were forced to retreat, but they tied up forces in the centre of the peninsula and influenced subsequent operations towards Madrid. Almonacid may not be among the most symbolic stages of the Peninsular War, but it was a militarily significant one, as documented by officially curated maps that explicitly give the date as 11 August 1809.
11 August 1851: Pontón de la Oliva: first stone laid for the Canal de Isabel II
The official construction of the Canal de Isabel II began on 11 August 1851 with the symbolic laying of the “primera piedra” at the Pontón de la Oliva dam. The initiative followed the Royal Decree of 18 June 1851 and aimed to provide Madrid with a permanent supply of drinking water from the Lozoya Valley. A dossier published by Fundación Canal explicitly gives the date of the foundation stone (“11 de agosto de 1851”) and places it in the early construction history of the site. From the start of construction to its opening in 1858, the canal became a defining piece of 19th-century infrastructure in the capital region; the Pontón de la Oliva remains a monument to the history of engineering. The documented date of 11 August marks the historical starting point of this major project.
11 August 1936: murder of Blas Infante in Seville
Blas Infante, notary, author and the foremost symbolic figure of Andalusism, was taken from custody by Falangists on the night of 10–11 August 1936 and shot near the Cortijo de la Gota de Leche on the Seville–Carmona road. The Junta de Andalucía lists the site as a “Lugar de Memoria”, giving the precise time he was taken away on the night of 10–11 August; a government statement explicitly names 11 August 1936 as the date of the shooting and places it at kilometre 4 of the Carmona road. These official accounts establish the act, location and date.
Infante’s murder has since been at the heart of Andalusia’s democratic remembrance.
11 August in world history
11 August 1919: signing of the Weimar Constitution
Reich President Friedrich Ebert signed the Constitution of the German Reich in Schwarzburg on 11 August 1919. The Bundesarchiv documents the event and its date, and refers to the relevant collections on its origins.
An account by the Deutsches Historisches Museum confirms 11 August as the date of signing and explains the constitutional context. This firmly establishes the date as the birth of the first German republic.
11 August 1962: Vostok 3: launch of a joint crewed mission
The USSR launched Vostok 3 with Andrian Nikolayev on 11 August 1962; Vostok 4 followed on 12 August.
The European Space Agency’s timeline gives the launch date as 11 August 1962 and the mission duration as around 3 days and 22 hours. The aim was to extend medical and operational testing of parallel flights in orbit – a step towards later rendezvous and docking manoeuvres.
The exact launch date is confirmed by the ESA entry.
11 August 1965: start of the Watts riots in Los Angeles
On the evening of 11 August 1965, a traffic stop in the Watts district of Los Angeles escalated into days of unrest. The National Archives (UK) summarises the chronology in an educational resource supported by contemporary sources: the “riots … began in the evening of the 11th of August and continued for the following four days”.
The start date of 11 August is therefore clearly documented; the events had a lasting impact on US debates about racism, policing and urban policy.
11 August 1999: total solar eclipse over Europe
On 11 August 1999, a total solar eclipse crossed Europe and Asia from west to east. The NASA/GSFC portal documents its path, contact times and key data; the accompanying reference publication (RP 1398) gives the predictions and maps for the event.
The eclipse was partial in Spain, while the path of totality ran through France, Germany, Austria and Turkey, among other places. The date and path are conclusively confirmed by NASA records.
One date, many stories
From the battlefield at Almonacid to the foundation stone at the Lozoya and the execution site on the road to Carmona, 11 August brings together key Spanish sites of remembrance. The date also links international milestones in state formation, crewed spaceflight, civil rights history and observing the skies.
The events documented here can be precisely verified by date and place.
Editor: Andreas M. Brucker (Article created with AI assistance).
