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May 11 is the 131st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (132nd in leap years). There are 234 days remaining.
Events
- 330 - Byzantium is renamed Nova Roma during a dedication ceremony, but is more popularly referred to as Constantinople.
- 1502 - Christopher Columbus leaves for his fourth and final voyage to the West Indies.
- 1745 - War of Austrian Succession: Battle of Fontenoy – At Fontenoy, French forces defeat an Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian army.
- 1792 - Captain Robert Gray becomes the first documented Caucasian to visit the Columbia River.
- 1812 - Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is assassinated by John Bellingham in the lobby of the House of Commons, London.
- 1818 - Charles XIV of Sweden-Norway is crowned king of Sweden.
- 1857 - Indian Mutiny: Indian rebels seize Delhi from the British.
- 1858 - Minnesota is admitted as the 32nd U.S. state.
- 1862 - American Civil War: The ironclad CSS Virginia is scuttled in the James River northwest of Norfolk, Virginia.
- 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Yellow Tavern – Confederate General JEB Stuart is mortally wounded at Yellow Tavern, Virginia.
- 1867 - Luxembourg gains its independence.
- 1894 - Pullman Strike: Three thousand Pullman Palace Car Company workers go on a wildcat strike in Illinois.
- 1910 - An act of the U.S. Congress establishes Glacier National Park in Montana.
- 1911 - The United States becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
- 1927 - The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is founded.
- 1928 - The first analog TV service is inaugurated by WGY, Schenectady, New York.
- 1934 - Dust Bowl: A strong two-day dust storm removes massive amounts of Great Plains topsoil in one of the worst dust storms of the Dust Bowl in North America.
- 1942 - William Faulkner's collections of short stories, Go Down, Moses, is published.
- 1943 - World War II: American troops invade Attu in the Aleutian Islands in an attempt to expel occupying Japanese forces.
- 1944 - World War II: The Allies start a major offensive against the Axis Powers on the Gustav Line.
- 1949 - Siam changes its name to Thailand.
- 1949 - Israel joins the United Nations.
- 1953 - The Waco Tornado: An F5 tornado hits downtown Waco, Texas, killing 114.
- 1960 - In Buenos Aires, Argentina, four Israeli Mossad agents capture fugitive Nazi Adolf Eichmann, living under the assumed name Ricardo Klement.
- 1960 - The first contraceptive pill is made available on the market.
- 1964 - Terence Conran opened the first Habitat store on London's Fulham Road.
- 1969 - Vietnam War: Operation Apache Snow – Near the Laos border, American and South Vietnamese forces fight North Vietnamese troops for Ap Bia Mountain (aka Hill 937 or "Hamburger Hill").
- 1970 - The Lubbock Tornado: An F5 tornado hits downtown Lubbock, Texas, killing 26.
- 1973 - Citing government misconduct, Daniel Ellsberg has his charges for his involvement in releasing the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times dismissed.
- 1976 - The last episode of the TV medical drama Marcus Welby, M.D. is aired.
- 1981 - Death of Reggae legend Bob Marley.
- 1984 - A transit of Earth from Mars takes place; no one is there to observe it.
- 1985 - 56 spectators die when a flash fire strikes a football ground during a match in Bradford, England.
- 1987 - Klaus Barbie goes on trial in Lyon for war crimes committed during World War II.
- 1987 - The first heart-lung transplant takes place (Baltimore, Maryland).
- 1992 - An election is held in the Philippines where General Fidel Ramos emerged as winner for President.
- 1995 - In New York City, more than 170 countries decide to extend the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty indefinitely and without conditions.
- 1996 - After taking-off from Miami, a fire started by improperly handled oxygen canisters in the cargo hold of Atlanta-bound ValuJet Flight 592 causes the Douglas DC-9 to crash in the Florida Everglades killing all 110 on board.
- 1997 - IBM's Deep Blue chess-playing supercomputer defeats Garry Kasparov in the last game of the rematch, becoming the first computer to beat a world-champion chess player.
- 1998 - An election is held in the Philippines where actor Joseph Estrada emerged as winner for President.
- 1998 - Nuclear testing: In the Rajasthan Desert, India conducts its first underground nuclear tests violating the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and inflaming its rival neighbor Pakistan (who already has nuclear weapons).
- 1998 - ZDTV, "the official technology television network", begins broadcasting. It lasts six years before merging with G4 to become G4techTV, a gaming channel.
- 2000 - Last performance of the musical Cats (musical) in London's West End.
- 2001 - British Airways finally removes the "world art" designs from the tails of their aircraft.
- 2003 - Rafael Palmeiro becomes the 19th member of the 500 home run club with a home run at The Ballpark in Arlington, Texas.
- 2003 - Benvenuto Cellini's Saliera is stolen from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
- 2004 - The Stockline Plastics factory explosion in Glasgow kills nine people.
Births
- 1571 - Niwa Nagashige, Japanese warlord (d. 1637)
- 1720 - Karl Friedrich Hieronymus Freiherr von Münchhausen, German officer and adventurer (d. 1797)
- 1722 - Petrus Camper, Dutch anatomist (d. 1789)
- 1752 - Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, German anthropologist (d. 1840)
- 1763 - János Bacsanyi, Hungarian poet (d. 1845)
- 1801 - Henri Labrouste, French architect (d. 1875)
- 1827 - Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, French sculptor and painter (d. 1875)
- 1871 - Stjepan Radic, Croatian politician (d. 1928)
- 1881 - Theodore von Kármán, Hungarian physicist (d. 1963)
- 1887 - Paul Wittgenstein, Austrian-born pianist (d. 1961)
- 1888 - Irving Berlin, American composer (d. 1989)
- 1890 - Woodall Rodgers, mayor of Dallas, Texas (d. 1961)
- 1892 - Margaret Rutherford, English actress (d. 1972)
- 1894 - Martha Graham, American dancer and choreographer (d. 1991)
- 1895 - Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian philosopher (d. 1986)
- 1896 - Josip Štolcer-Slavenski Croatian composer (d. 1955)
- 1897 - Kurt Gerron German director (d. 1944)
- 1903 - Charlie Gehringer, baseball player (d. 1993)
- 1904 - Salvador Dalí, Catalan painter (d. 1989)
- 1907 - Rose Ausänder, German poet (d. 1988)
- 1911 - Phil Silvers, American actor and comedian (d. 1985)
- 1912 - Foster Brooks, American actor and comedian (d. 2001)
- 1913 - Robert Jungk, Austrian publicist (d. 1994)
- 1916 - Camilo José Cela, Spanish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002)
- 1918 - Richard Feynman, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988)
- 1921 - Hildegard Hamm-Brücher, German politician
- 1924 - Antony Hewish, English radio astronomer, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics
- 1927 - Mort Sahl, Canadian comedian and political commentator
- 1928 - Yaacov Agam, Israeli sculptor
- 1930 - Edsger Dijkstra, Dutch computer scientist (d. 2002)
- 1933 - Louis Farrakhan, American Black Muslim leader
- 1938 - Carla Bley, American musician and composer
- 1940 - Juan Downey, Chilean video artist (d. 1993)
- 1941 - Graham Miles, English snooker player
- 1946 - Robert Jarvik, American physicist and inventor
- 1948 - Shigeru Izumiya, Japanese folk musician
- 1950 - Jeremy Paxman, British journalist and author
- 1952 - Renaud Séchan, French composer
- 1952 - Mike Lupica, American sports journalist
- 1952 - Shohreh Aghdashloo, Iranian actress
- 1952 - Frances Fisher, English-born actress
- 1954 - Lubomir Stoykov, Bulgarian journalist and broadcaster
- 1955 - John DeStefano, Jr., American politician
- 1956 - Theresa Burke, Canadian journalist
- 1956 - Alex Lester, British broadcaster
- 1959 - Martha Quinn, American television personality
- 1963 - Natasha Richardson, English-born actress
- 1964 - John Parrott, English snooker player
- 1965 - Greg Dulli, American musician
- 1966 - Christoph Schneider, German drummer (Rammstein)
- 1972 - Anita Hegh, Australian actress
- 1977 - Janne Ahonen, Finnish ski jumper
- 1981 - Lauren Jackson, Australian basketball player
- 1981 - Neil Tapinos, South African Top Radio Newscaster
- 1982 - Jonathan Jackson, American actor
- 1983 - Matt Leinart, American football player
- 1983 - Holly Valance, New Zealand-born actress and singer
- 1984 - Andres Iniesta, Spanish football (soccer) player
Deaths
- 912 - Leo VI, Byzantine Emperor (b. 866)
- 1304 - Mahmud Ghazan, Persian ruler (b. 1271)
- 1610 - Matteo Ricci, Italian Jesuit missionary (b. 1552)
- 1672 - Charles Seton, 2nd Earl of Dunfermline, English royalist (b. 1615)
- 1708 - Jules Hardouin Mansart, French architect (b. 1646)
- 1723 - Jean Galbert de Campistron, French dramatist (b. 1656)
- 1777 - George Pigot, Baron Pigot, British governor of Madras (b. 1719)
- 1778 - William Pitt, the Elder, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1708)
- 1812 - Spencer Perceval, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (assassinated) (b. 1762)
- 1869 - Toshizou Hijikata, Shinsengumi vice-commander
- 1871 - John Herschel, British mathematician and astronomer (b. 1792)
- 1848 - Tom Cribb, English boxer (b. 1781)
- 1887 - Jean Baptiste Boussingault, French chemist (b. 1802)
- 1891 - A. E. Becquerel, French physicist (b. 1820)
- 1916 - Max Reger, German composer (b. 1873)
- 1916 - Karl Schwarzschild, German astronomer and physicist (b. 1873)
- 1920 - William Dean Howells, American writer (b. 1837)
- 1934 - Orest Khvolson, Russian physicist (b. 1852)
- 1955 - Gilbert Jessop, English cricketer (b. 1874)
- 1960 - John D. Rockefeller, Jr., American philanthropist (b. 1874)
- 1963 - Herbert Spencer Gasser, American physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)
- 1970 - Johnny Hodges, American musician (b. 1906)
- 1973 - Lex Barker, American actor (b. 1919)
- 1976 - Alvar Aalto, Finnish architect (b. 1898)
- 1981 - Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
- 1981 - Bob Marley, Jamaican singer and musician (b. 1945)
- 1985 - Chester Gould, American cartoonist (b. 1900)
- 1986 - Fritz Pollard, American football player (b. 1894)
- 1988 - Kim Philby, British spy (b. 1912)
- 1996 - Ademir, Brazilian football player (b. 1922)
- 2001 - Douglas Adams, English author (b. 1952)
- 2002 - Joseph Bonanno, Italian-born gangster (b. 1905)
- 2003 - Noel Redding, English bassist (The Jimi Hendrix Experience) (b. 1945)
Holidays and observances
- Feast day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church:
- Roman Empire - Feast of the Lemures (See Larvae)
- Holiday of the City of Miskolc (since 1992)
- National School Nurse Day (U.S.)
External links
May 10 - May 12 - April 11 - June 11 – listing of all days