June 11 in history: • 806 – Arab–Byzantine wars: The Abbasid army departed Raqqa in northern Syria to begin an invasion of Byzantine-controlled Asia Minor. → go there • 1775 – The Battle of Machias, the first naval engagement of the American Revolutionary War, commenced in and around the port of Machias in what is now eastern Maine. → go there • 1920 – During their national convention in Chicago, Republican Party leaders gathered in negotiations at The Blackstone Hotel (pictured) to select their presidential candidate, leading to the phrase "smoke-filled room". → go there • 2001 – Robert Edward Dyer was sentenced to 16 years' imprisonment for conducting a six-month-long letter-bomb campaign against the British supermarket chain Tesco. → go there • 2008 – Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper apologised to the First Nations for past governments' policies of forced assimilation. → go there Born 1696: James Francis Edward Keith Wiki link Born 1934: Claudia Lauper Bushman Wiki link Born 2001: Ben Waine Wiki link Died 2021: Taha Karaan Wiki link Pictured: The Blackstone Hotel.