Historical timeline for December 11

The Food and Drug Administration issues an Emergency Use Authorization on the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, the first COVID-19 vaccine to be approved by the agency.

The results of the 2019 Bougainvillean independence referendum are announced. The results are overwhelmingly one-sided. Over 98% of voters vote for Bougainville's independence.

New York City Subway bombing: A pipe bomb partially detonates in the New York City Subway, in the Times Square–42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal. Four people are injured, including the perpetrator.

At least 125 people are killed and up to 200 injured in bombings in the Alawite village of Aqrab, Syria.

Finnish game developer Rovio Entertainment releases the hit mobile game Angry Birds internationally on iOS.

Bernie Madoff is arrested and charged with securities fraud in a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.

Insurgency in the Maghreb: Two car bombs explode in Algiers, Algeria, one near the Supreme Constitutional Court and the other near the offices of the United Nations.

Felipe Calderón, the president of Mexico, launches a military-led offensive to put down the drug cartel violence in the state of Michoacán. This effort is often regarded as the first event in the Mexican drug war.

The International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust is opened in Tehran, Iran, by then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; nations such as Israel and the United States express concern.

The Buncefield Oil Depot catches fire in Hemel Hempstead, England.

Cronulla riots: Thousands of White Australians demonstrate against ethnic violence resulting in a riot against anyone thought to be Lebanese in Cronulla, New South Wales; these are followed up by retaliatory ethnic attacks on Cronulla.

China joins the World Trade Organization (WTO).

SATA Air Açores Flight 530M crashes into Pico da Esperança on São Jorge Island in the Azores, killing 35.

Thai Airways Flight 261 crashes near Surat Thani Airport, killing 101. The pilot flying the Airbus A310-200 is thought to have suffered spatial disorientation.

The Kyoto Protocol, an agreement committing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, opens for signature.

A bomb explodes on Philippine Airlines Flight 434, en route from Manila, Philippines, to Tokyo, Japan, killing one. The captain is able to land the plane safely.

First Chechen War: Russian president Boris Yeltsin orders Russian troops into Chechnya.

A block of the Highland Towers condominium complex collapses following a landslide caused by heavy rain and water flowing from a construction site at Ampang district in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 48 of its residents die, including one who died in hospital after being rescued alive, leaving only two survivors.

Demonstrations by students and workers across Albania begin, which eventually trigger the fall of communism in Albania.

Several fatal collisions in the 1990 Interstate 75 fog disaster result in a total of 12 deaths and 42 being injured