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November 11, 1945

Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.

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Headlines from November 11, 1945

Notable Births

Chris Dreja

1945Chris Dreja, English guitarist and songwriter (died 2025)[†]

Christopher Walenty Dreja was an English musician and photographer. He was best known as the rhythm guitarist and bassist for the rock band The Yardbirds. He left the music business in the late 1960s after The Yardbirds folded and became a professional photographer. In 1992, he and the rest of The Yardbirds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In later life he would play Yardbirds concerts until a series of strokes forced him to retire from live touring around 2011.

Vince Martell

1945Vince Martell, American singer and guitarist[†]

Vince Martell is an American guitarist best known as the lead guitarist for Vanilla Fudge.

Daniel Ortega

1945Daniel Ortega, Nicaraguan politician, President of Nicaragua[†]

José Daniel Ortega Saavedra is a Nicaraguan politician who has been the co-president of Nicaragua since 18 February 2025, alongside his wife Rosario Murillo. He was the president of Nicaragua from 1985 to 1990 and from 2007 to 2025. He previously led Nicaragua as the first coordinator of the Junta of National Reconstruction from 1979 to 1985. Ortega leads an authoritarian government, and has been regularly described as a dictator by the international community.

Notable Deaths

Jerome Kern

1945Jerome Kern, American composer (born 1885)[†]

Jerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A Fine Romance", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "The Song Is You", "All the Things You Are", "The Way You Look Tonight" and "Long Ago ". He collaborated with many of the leading librettists and lyricists of his era, including George Grossmith Jr., Guy Bolton, P. G. Wodehouse, Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II, Dorothy Fields, Johnny Mercer, Ira Gershwin and Yip Harburg.