On This Day – March 11

• 2011 The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster strikes Japan

  The nuclear meltdowns occurred after a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami. It was the worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

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

  The bombings were conducted by an Islamist terrorist cell and came 3 days before Spain’s general elections.

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

  The Baltic country’s secession marked an important step in the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

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

  Pinochet had been in power since a CIA-backed coup d’état in 1973. Under his command, thousands of political opponents were interned, tortured, and killed.

• 1851 Giuseppe Verdi’s opera, Rigoletto, receives its premiere

  Rigoletto is one of the most popular operas of all time. The piece was premiered at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Italy.