Good morning. It's August 11th — let's begin where we always do: on this very date in history.
📅 On This Day — August 11
🎙️ (It's also National Presidential Joke Day — thanks to a certain hot mic below.)
1960 — Chad gained its independence from France.
1972 — The last U.S. ground combat troops left Vietnam, though the war would grind on for the South.
1984 — During a sound check, President Reagan joked into a live mic, "We begin bombing in five minutes" — and the tape got out.
1992 — The Mall of America opened in Bloomington, Minnesota — 4.2 million square feet, an indoor amusement park and all.
2003 — NATO took command in Afghanistan, the alliance's first-ever operation outside Europe.
Now, let's set the dial back to 1956…
⏪ REWIND: 1956 Dwight Eisenhower is president in an election year, a first-class stamp is 3 cents, gas is about 22 cents a gallon — suburbia is booming and the interstate highways were just signed into being.
📰 The Headlines In two days, the Democratic National Convention opens in Chicago. Adlai Stevenson will be renominated for a rematch with Ike — and in a wide-open scramble for the running-mate slot, a young senator named John F. Kennedy will come up just short, a loss that quietly sets him up for 1960.
🎬 At the Movies In theaters and glittering: High Society, the musical with Grace Kelly (in her final film before becoming Princess of Monaco), Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, a Cole Porter score and a cameo from Louis Armstrong.
🎵 On the Charts Sitting on top is "My Prayer" by The Platters — the great velvet-voiced ballad of the summer, weeks before a young man named Elvis takes the chart hostage.
🏆 In Sports In the Bronx, Mickey Mantle is having the season of his life — leading the league in average, home runs and RBIs at once, chasing the Triple Crown he'll clinch on his way to the MVP and a Yankees championship.
🏰 The Disney Vault Riding the coonskin-cap craze into theaters: Davy Crockett and the River Pirates (released July 18), with Fess Parker back as the frontier hero every kid in America is pretending to be.
— a couple of quick things before you go —
👟 Step Challenge: the Summer 2026 Step Challenge is rolling — grab the free Pacer app and walk with us: Join the challenge (already have Pacer? Club code E42727228). Every step counts.
💡 Health Snap: if the afternoon slump hits, a five-minute walk clears it faster than a second cup of coffee — and you'll actually sleep tonight.
🎉 Born on an August 11th — or know someone who was?
Forward this to them right now — there's no better "this is the day you were born" gift than a little time travel.
🎂 In good company: August 11 babies include Apple's Steve Wozniak (1950), Hulk Hogan (1953), Viola Davis (1965), Joe Rogan (1967), and Chris Hemsworth (1983).
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