Timeline August 2011

Events in August 2011 6

• 1950 – 2011 Jack Layton (1950-2011) Died 22 August 2011, aged 61 The Canadian politician led the New Democratic Party to become the official opposition in the House of Commons for the first time in the 2011 federal election. He died in Toronto of cancer weeks after the election victory. His death prompted an outpouring of public tribute across Canada.
• 2011 US Open 2011 Men: Novak Djokovic · Women: Samantha Stosur
• 2011 US debt ceiling crisis and credit downgrade Standard & Poor's strips the United States of its AAA rating A prolonged political standoff over raising the U.S. federal debt ceiling was resolved just before a threatened default, but the brinkmanship led Standard & Poor's to downgrade the sovereign credit rating of the United States for the first time in history. Financial markets fell sharply in the following days. The episode intensified partisan gridlock over federal budget policy.
• 2011 Juno spacecraft launched to Jupiter NASA probe begins five-year journey to the solar system's largest planet NASA launched the Juno spacecraft from Cape Canaveral on a mission to study Jupiter's composition, gravity field, and magnetosphere. The solar-powered probe traveled nearly five years before entering Jupiter's orbit in 2016. It was the first spacecraft to operate on solar power at such a great distance from the sun.
• 2011 Fall of Tripoli Rebel forces seize the Libyan capital Anti-Gaddafi rebel forces backed by NATO airstrikes captured Tripoli, ending 42 years of rule by Muammar Gaddafi. The National Transitional Council took control of the city as Gaddafi fled south. The battle marked the turning point of the Libyan Civil War.
• 2011 Steve Jobs resigns from Apple Co-founder steps down as CEO Steve Jobs resigned as Apple's CEO on August 24, 2011, citing his inability to meet the duties of the role due to illness. He died six weeks later on October 5, 2011.