New START Enters Force
New START enters into force after the United States and Russia exchange instruments of ratification.
Permanent historical records · Updated 2026-11-03
2011 in United States of America
Explore 43 historical events and records for United States of America in 2011.
Historical records for United States of America in 2011
Sorted by month and day. Records with no month are shown last. Showing 40 of 43 unique records.
43Unique records
1 of 2Page
35Named events on this page
33Named people on this page
8Places on this page
February
March
Mercury Orbit Insertion
MESSENGER fires its main engine and becomes the first spacecraft to enter orbit around Mercury.
April
MESSENGER Science Mission
MESSENGER begins its primary year-long orbital science campaign to map Mercury and study its composition, magnetic field and environment.
May
Gravity Probe B Results
Announces final Gravity Probe B results confirming geodetic precession and frame dragging around Earth.
June
Kerberos
A Hubble search led by Mark Showalter discovers a fourth moon of Pluto, later named Kerberos.
July
Kerberos
A follow-up Hubble image confirms the newly detected fourth Pluto moon.
Neptune First Orbit Anniversary
Hubble images commemorate Neptune completing its first full orbit around the Sun since its discovery in 1846.
Kerberos
A further Hubble observation again confirms the fourth Pluto moon and strengthens its orbital solution.
August
Juno Launch
Juno launches to investigate Jupiter's origin, interior, atmosphere and magnetosphere.
September
Maturity Extension Program
The Federal Open Market Committee launches a maturity extension program that sells or redeems shorter-term Treasury securities while purchasing an equal amount of longer-term securities, putting downward pressure on longer-term interest rates.
October
Lulu
Releases Lulu, a collaborative album with Metallica based on writings by Frank Wedekind.
November
Congressional Gold Medal
Receives the Congressional Gold Medal with other Apollo 11 astronauts.
Saleh Transfer Agreement Backed
Backs the GCC initiative for a peaceful Yemeni transition.
Yemen Political Transition Support
Supports the negotiated transfer of power from Saleh.
December
Iraq Withdrawal
Marks the end of the U.S. military mission in Iraq.
Other events (month unknown)
Academy Award
Receives the Best Actress Oscar for Black Swan.
Academy Award
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress in The Iron Lady
Cygnus X-1 Dynamical Mass
Uses improved distance and orbital modelling to refine the dynamical mass of the black hole in Cygnus X-1.
Cygnus X-1 Extreme Spin
Co-leads continuum-fitting measurements indicating that the black hole in Cygnus X-1 has near-extreme spin.
Cygnus X-1 Parallax
Measures the trigonometric parallax and proper motion of Cygnus X-1, enabling substantially improved estimates of the system's distance and black hole properties.
Digital Subscription Paywall Introduced
The New York Times introduced a metered digital subscription system to support online journalism through reader revenue.
Emmy Award Friday Night Lights
Kyle Chandler earned the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role as football coach Eric Taylor in Friday Night Lights.
Game of Thrones Series Debut
David Benioff co created the television adaptation Game of Thrones, introducing rival noble houses struggling for power in Westeros.
Genesis Solar Wind Isotope Results
Uses returned Genesis material to help establish precise solar oxygen and nitrogen isotope ratios, providing new constraints on the composition of the early solar system.
J Edgar
Directs J Edgar, a biographical drama about FBI director J Edgar Hoover.
Kepler-10 b Rocky Planet
Leads confirmation of Kepler-10 b, Kepler's first confirmed rocky planet.
Kepler-11 Six-Planet System
Leads discovery of six transiting planets packed around Kepler-11.
Kepler-16 b Circumbinary Planet
Leads discovery of Kepler-16 b, a planet orbiting two stars.
Kepler-22 b Habitable-Zone Planet
Leads announcement of Kepler-22 b, a planet orbiting within its star's habitable zone.
Mercury Global Imaging
MESSENGER's orbital cameras begin systematic high-resolution imaging designed to produce complete global coverage of Mercury.
Mercury Hollows
MESSENGER reveals bright, shallow and irregular depressions on Mercury that the science team names hollows.
Mercury Magnetic Field
MESSENGER results establish that Mercury's internal magnetic field is about one hundred times weaker than Earth's field.
Mercury Magnetosphere
Orbital measurements show that Mercury's magnetic field is strongly offset northward along the planet's rotation axis.
Midnight in Paris Film
In 2011, Woody Allen made Midnight in Paris, a time-travel fantasy about a screenwriter visiting literary Paris at night.
Nobel Prize
Shares the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries concerning activation of innate immunity.
Nobel Prize
Shares the Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae.
Nobel Prize
Shares the Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae.
Nobel Prize for Accelerating Universe
Perlmutter receives half of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering the accelerating expansion of the universe through observations of distant supernovae.
Nobel Prize for Dark Energy Discovery
Riess shares the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics for the supernova observations that revealed the accelerating expansion associated with dark energy.
Retirement
Armstrong announces his retirement from competitive cycling
How these records were prepared
Generated from the World History Database historical_events table. Identical display records are collapsed; descriptions otherwise retain the stored text. Coverage and source quality vary. Check primary and specialist sources before citing individual historical claims.