May 11
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 Constantinople during a dedication ceremony.
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 white man to discover the Columbia River .
1812 - Prime Minster 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 .
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 member of the Buenos Aires Convention , a copyright treaty.
1927 - The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , the "Academy" in "Academy Awards ," 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 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 abduct fugitive Nazi Adolf Eichmann , living under the assumed name Ricardo Klement.
1960 - The first contraceptive pill is made available on the market.
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 ").
1973 - Citing government misconduct, Daniel Ellsberg has his charges for his involvement in releasing the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times 1976 - The last episode of the TV medical drama Marcus Welby, M.D. is aired.
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 ).
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 - 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 starts broadcasting. It lasted six years until the G4techTV Merger and it turned into a gaming channel.
2004 - The Stockline Plastics factory explosion in Glasgow kills nine people.
Births
1571 - Niwa Nagashige , Japanese daimyo and retainer (d. 1637 )
1720 - Karl Friedrich Hieronymus Freiherr von Münchhausen , officer and adventurer (d. 1797 )
1752 - Johann Friedrich Blumenbach , German anthropologist (d. 1840 )
1763 - János Bacsanyi , Hungarian poet (d. 1845 )
1801 - Henri Labrouste , French architect (d. 1875 )
1871 - Stjepan Radic , Croat politician (d. 1928 )
1887 - Paul Wittgenstein , Austrian-born pianist (d. 1961 )
1888 - Irving Berlin , American composer (d. 1989 )
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 Croat composer (d. 1955 )
1897 - Kurt Gerron German director (d. 1944 )
1903 - Charlie Gehringer , Baseball Hall of Famer (d. 1993 )
1904 - Salvador Dalí , Spanish surrealist painter (d. 1989 )
1907 - Rose Ausänder , 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 and futurologist (d. 1994 )
1916 - Camilo José Cela , Spanish writer (d. 2002 )
1918 - Richard Feynman , American physicist (d. 1988 )
1921 - Hildegard Hamm-Brücher , politician
1928 - Mort Sahl , Canadian comedian, political commentator
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
1941 - Eric Burdon , British rock singer ("The Animals ")
1946 - Robert Jarvik , American physicist and inventor
1950 - Jeremy Paxman , British journalist and author
1952 - Renaud Séchan , French composer
1952 - Mike Lupica , sports journalist
1952 - Shohreh Aghdashloo , actress
1952 - Frances Fisher , actress
1953 - Boyd Gaines , actor
1956 - Alex Lester , British broadcaster for Radio 2
1959 - Martha Quinn , MTV VJ
1963 - Natasha Richardson , actress
1964 - John Parrott , English snooker player
1966 - Christoph Schneider , drummer for Rammstein
1966 - Nancy Hower , American actress,sceenwriter,director,and producer
1980 - Suraj Bhardwaj , CEO Bhardwaj, Inc.
1981 - Lauren Jackson , Australian basketball player
1982 - Jonathan Jackson , actor
1982 - Douglas Henning , author, scientist
1983 - Matt Leinart , Heisman Trophy -winning football quarterback
1983 - Holly Valance , actress and singer
Deaths
912 - Emperor Leo VI of the Byzantine Empire (b. 866 )
1610 - Matteo Ricci , Italian Jesuit missionary (b. 1552 )
1778 - William Pitt, the Elder , British Prime Minister (b. 1708 )
1812 - Spencer Perceval , British Prime Minister (assassinated) (b. 1762 )
1871 - John Herschel , British mathematician and astronomer (b. 1792 )
1848 - Tom Cribb , bare-knuckle boxer (b. 1781 )
1916 - Max Reger , composer (b. 1873 )
1920 - William Dean Howells , writer (b. 1837 )
1955 - Gilbert Jessop ; English cricketer, known as fastest-scoring batsman of all time (b. 1874 ).
1960 - John D. Rockefeller, Jr. , philanthropist (b. 1874 )
1970 - Johnny Hodges , musician (b. 1906 )
1973 - Lex Barker , actor (b. 1919 )
1976 - Alvar Aalto , architect (b. 1898 )
1981 - Bob Marley , Jamaican roots rock reggae singer and musician (b. 1945 )
1985 - Chester Gould , cartoonist (Dick Tracy ) (b. 1900 )
1988 - Kim Philby , spy (b. 1912 )
2001 - Douglas Adams , science fiction author (b. 1952 )
2002 - Joseph Bonanno , Mafioso (aka Joey Bananas ) (b. 1905 )
2003 - Noel Redding , bassist for The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Holidays and observances
External links
May 10 - May 12 - April 11 - June 11 -- listing of all days
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