Today in History: April 11

The Battle of Mohi (modern-day Muhi), also known as Battle of the Sajó River or Battle of the Tisza River, was the main battle between the Mongol Empire (Batu Khan) and the Kingdom of Hungary (King Béla IV and his allies, the Knights Templar and the Duchy of Austria) during the Mongol invasion of Europe. It took place at Mohi, southwest of the Sajó River. After the invasion, Hungary lay in ruins. Nearly half of the inhabited places had been destroyed by the invading armies. Around 15–25 percent of the population was killed, mostly in lowland areas, especially in the Great Hungarian Plain, the southern reaches of the Hungarian plain in the area now called the Banat, and in southern Transylvania.

The attackers — the Mongols, under Batu, Subutai, Shiban, Berke, and Boroldai — had approximately 70,000 soldiers. The defenders — the Kingdom of Hungary, under King Béla IV of Hungary, Coloman of Slavonia, and Archbishops Ugrin Csák and Matthias Rátót; the Knights Templar, under Rembald de Voczon; and the Duchy of Austria, under Frederick II of Austria and Palatine Denis Tomaj — had approximately 80,000 soldiers. Although the Mongols sustained heavy losses, they soundly defeated Hungary, which lost almost its entire army.

Batu Khan (/ˈbɑːtuː ˈkɑːn/; Бат хаан “Firm Khan” in Mongolian; c. 1207–1255), also known as Sain Khan (Сайн хаан “Good Khan” in Mongolian) and Tsar Batu, was a Mongol ruler and founder of the Golden Horde, division of the Mongol Empire. Batu was a son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan. His ulus was the chief state of the Golden Horde, which ruled Rus’, Volga Bulgaria, Cumania, and the Caucasus for around 250 years, after also destroying the armies of Poland and Hungary. Batu or bat literally means “firm” in the Mongolian language. After the deaths of Genghis Khan’s sons, he became the most respected prince called agha (elder brother) in the Mongol Empire.

Logo of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks

The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE; also often known as the Elks Lodge or simply The Elks) is an American fraternal order founded by Joseph M. Norcross in 1868 originally as a social club in New York City, United states. Today headquartered at Elks National Veterans Memorial in Chicago, Illinois, it is one of the leading fraternal orders in the United States, claiming nearly one million members.

The Elks had modest beginnings in 1868 as a social club for minstrel show performers, called the “Jolly Corks”. It was established as a private club to elude New York City laws governing the opening hours of public taverns. After the death of a member left his wife and children without income, the club took up additional service roles, rituals and a new name. Desiring to adopt “a readily identifiable creature of stature, indigenous to America”, fifteen members voted 8–7 in favor of the elk above the buffalo. Early members were mostly from theatrical performing troupes in New York City. It has since evolved into a major American fraternal, charitable, and service order with more than a million members, both men and women, throughout the United States and the former territories of the Philippines and the Panama Canal.

Established in 1928, the Elks National Foundation is the charitable arm of the BPOE. The foundation, with an endowment valued at more than $400 million, has contributed $253.5 million toward Elks’ charitable projects nationwide.

Apollo 13 Insignia

Apollo 13 was the seventh manned mission in the American Apollo space program and the third intended to land on the Moon. The craft was launched on April 11, 1970, at 13:13 CST from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, but the lunar landing was aborted after an oxygen tank exploded two days later, crippling the Service Module upon which the Command Module depended. Despite great hardship caused by limited power, loss of cabin heat, shortage of potable water, and the critical need to jury-rig the carbon dioxide removal system, the crew returned safely to Earth on April 17.The flight passed the far side of the Moon at an altitude of 137 nautical miles (254 kilometers) above the lunar surface, and 248,655 miles (400,171 km) from Earth, a spaceflight record marking the farthest humans have ever traveled from Earth. The mission was commanded by James A. Lovell with John L. “Jack” Swigert as Command Module Pilot and Fred W. Haise as Lunar Module Pilot. Swigert was a late replacement for the original Command Module pilot Ken Mattingly, who was grounded by the flight surgeon after exposure to German measles.

Ron Hextall

The Flyers were playing against the Washington Capitals. It was Hextall’s second goal, the first being scored on December 8, 1987 against the Boston Bruins. While both Hextall and the New Jersey Devils’ Martin Brodeur have scored more than one goal, Hextall is the only goaltender to score twice by directly shooting the puck into the opponent’s net (shot on goal). Brodeur has two goals for being the last player to touch the puck on someone else’s shot. Hextall’s second goal is the only goal scored by a goaltender while his team was short handed (having fewer players on the ice during play as a result of a penalty).

Ron Hextall

Hextall holds the NHL record for the “Most Penalty Minutes in One Season by NHL Goalies” with 113 minutes in the 1988–1989 season. He’s also numbers 2 and 3 for 1986–1987 and 1987–1988 seasons with 104 minutes in each, as well as 8^th with 56 minutes for 1992–1993, 13^th with 52 minutes for 1993–1994, and 22^nd with 43 minutes for 1996–1997.

2012 Indian Ocean Earthquakes

The 2012 Indian Ocean earthquakes were magnitude 8.6 M_W and 8.2 M_W undersea earthquakes that struck near the Indonesian province of Aceh on April 11, 2012. The only casualties were 10 dead and 12 injured.The 8.6 M_W earthquake was the largest strike-slip earthquake ever recorded, the 13^th strongest earthquake since 1900, and an unusually strong intraplate earthquake (intraplate earthquakes are relatively rare, occurring in the interior of a tectonic plate, whereas an interplate earthquake is one that occurs at a plate boundary).

The 8.6 M_W earthquake hit at 15:38 local time (08:38 UTC) about 379 miles (610 kilometers) southwest of Banda Aceh, Indonesia at a depth of 14.2 miles (22.9 kilometers). It was felt as far away as Malaysia, the Maldives, Tibet, and India. The earthquake was caused by a strike-slip motion — meaning that the crust on either side of the fault shifted against each other horizontally, rather than vertically. The earthquake and the largest aftershock had a fault displacement of 70 feet (21.3 meters). The strike-slip nature of the earthquake meant that the movement displaced relatively little seawater and was less likely to cause a tsunami.

The 8.2 M_W aftershock hit at 17:43 local time (10:43 UTC) about 267 miles (430 kilometers) southwest of Banda Aceh at a depth of 10.2 miles (16.4 kilometers). Many aftershocks with magnitude readings between 5.0 to 6.0 were recorded for several hours after the initial earthquake.