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Today in History, June 11th

On June 11, 1963, George Wallace stood in the door at the University of Alabama, then stepped aside. Plus E.T. and Africa's first World Cup.

By Today in History Updated November 10, 2026 2 min read Sources checked

Published June 11, 2026 · Last updated November 10, 2026

June 11 is best known for 1963, when Alabama Gov. George Wallace blocked the door at the University of Alabama before stepping aside so two Black students could enroll. The date also saw “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” open in 1982 and the first World Cup in Africa kick off in 2010.

The big story: Wallace gives way at the University of Alabama (1963)

George Wallace had won the Alabama governor’s race in 1962 on a hard-line segregationist platform, and at his inauguration he promised segregation forever. The Supreme Court had struck down school segregation in Brown v. Board of Education back in 1954, but Alabama was still resisting. On June 11, 1963, two African American students, Vivian Malone and James A. Hood, arrived in Tuscaloosa to register. Wallace planted himself in the doorway of the enrollment office, with state troopers at his side, to keep them out. President John F. Kennedy federalized the Alabama National Guard and sent troops to the campus. Faced with that pressure and a federal judge’s order, Wallace stepped aside the same day, and Malone and Hood finished enrolling. The showdown didn’t stop integration. That September he tried a similar stand at Tuskegee High School, and once again he backed down after Kennedy federalized the Guard.

More events on June 11

Year	What happened
1509	Henry VIII married Catherine of Aragon, the first of his six wives.
1742	In the Treaty of Breslau, Maria Theresa of Austria gave up nearly all of Silesia to Frederick II of Prussia, ending the First Silesian War.
1776	The Continental Congress named a committee of five to draft the Declaration of Independence.
1898	China’s Guangxu emperor issued his first reform decree, launching the Hundred Days of Reform.
1919	Sir Barton won the Belmont Stakes and became the first horse to win the American Triple Crown.
1955	A race car crashed into the crowd at the Le Mans auto race in France, killing 83 people, including the driver.
1963	Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc set himself on fire to protest the policies of South Vietnam’s president, Ngo Dinh Diem.
1982	Steven Spielberg’s “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” opened and became a huge box-office hit.
2001	Timothy McVeigh, convicted of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, was executed.
2010	The FIFA World Cup opened in South Africa, the first time the men’s tournament was held in Africa.

Born on June 11

1776: John Constable, English landscape painter of “The Hay-Wain.”
1880: Jeannette Rankin of Montana, the first woman to serve in the U.S. Congress.
1910: Jacques Cousteau, French undersea explorer who co-invented the Aqua-Lung.