April 11

Sixty-six families gathered on the dunes north of Jaffa and allotted building plots by a seashell lottery, marking the founding of Tel Aviv.

The American Schools of Oriental Research announced the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, including an ancient scroll of the book of Isaiah.

Septimius Severus, founder of the Severan dynasty and a native of North Africa, was born on this day at Leptis Magna.

Alexander Csoma de Kőrös, the Hungarian scholar regarded as a founder of Tibetology who compiled an early Tibetan-English dictionary, died in Darjeeling.

Pope John XXIII issued Pacem in Terris, the first papal encyclical addressed to 'all people of good will,' on human dignity and peace.