May 11
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
May 11 is the 132nd day of the year (133rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 233 days remaining after May 11 until the end of the year.
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[change] 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)
- 1811 – Chang and Eng Bunker, famous Siamese twins (d. 1874)
- 1827 – Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, French sculptor and painter (d. 1875)
- 1871 – Stjepan Radic, Croatian politician (d. 1928)
- 1874 – Einar Jonsson, Icelandic sculptor (d. 1954)
- 1887 – Paul Wittgenstein, Austrian-born pianist (d. 1961)
- 1888 – Irving Berlin, Russian-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 Croatian composer (d. 1955)
- 1897 – Kurt Gerron German director (d. 1944)
- 1903 – Charlie Gehringer, Baseball Hall of Famer (d. 1993)
- 1904 – Salvador Dalí, Spanish painter (d. 1989)
- 1907 – Rose Ausländer, 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 (d. 2002)
- 1918 – Richard Feynman, American physicist (d. 1988)
- 1921 – Hildegard Hamm-Brücher, German politician
- 1924 – Antony Hewish, British radio astronomer
- 1925 – Max Morlock, German footballer (d. 1994)
- 1927 – Mort Sahl, Canadian comedian and political commentator
- 1928 – Marco Ferreri, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 1997)
- 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
- 1951 – Ed Stelmach, Canadian politician
- 1952 – Renaud Séchan, French composer
- 1952 – Mike Lupica, sports journalist
- 1952 – Shohreh Aghdashloo, actress
- 1952 – Frances Fisher, actress
- 1953 – Boyd Gaines, actor
- 1956 – Theresa Burke, Canadian journalist
- 1956 – Alex Lester, British broadcaster
- 1959 – Martha Quinn, American television personality
- 1963 – Natasha Richardson, English actress (d. 2009)
- 1964 – John Parrott, English snooker player
- 1966 – Christoph Schneider, German drummer (Rammstein)
- 1966 – Nancy Hower, American actress, sceenwriter, director, and producer
- 1978 – Laetitia Casta, French model and actress
- 1979 – Gonzalo Colsa, Spanish footballer
- 1981 – Lauren Jackson, Australian basketball player
- 1982 – Cory Monteith, Canadian actor
- 1982 – Jonathan Jackson, actor
- 1983 – Matt Leinart, American football player
- 1983 – Holly Valance, Australian actress and singer
- 1984 – Andres Iniesta, Spanish footballer
- 1986 – Abou Diaby, French footballer
- 1989 – Giovani dos Santos, Mexican footballer
[change] Deaths
- 912 – Leo VI, Byzantine Emperor (b. 866)
- 1304 – Mahmud Ghazan, Mongol ruler (b. 1271)
- 1778 – William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1708)
- 1812 – Spencer Perceval, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1762).
- 1849 – Otto Nicolai, German composer (b. 1810)
- 1871 – John Herschel, British mathematician and astronomer (b. 1792)
- 1963 – Herbert Gasser, American doctor, won the 1944 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1888)
- 1976 – Alvar Aalto, Finnish architect (b. 1898)
- 1981 – Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist (b. 1897)
- 1981 – Bob Marley, Jamaican reggae musician (b. 1945)
- 1988 – Kim Philby, British agent and spy (b. 1912)
- 1996 – Ademir Marques de Menezes, Brazilian footballer (b. 1922)
- 1996 – Nnamdi Azikiwe, first President of Nigeria (b. 1904)
- 2001 – Douglas Adams, English author (b. 1952)
- 2003 – Noel Redding, English musician (b. 1945)
- 2006 – Floyd Patterson, American boxer (b. 1935)
- 2007 – Malietoa Tanumafili II, Samoan Head of State (b. 1913)
- 2008 – Bruno Neves, Portuguese cyclist (b. 1981)
[change] 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 – British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is shot and killed by John Bellingham in the lobby of the British House of Commons.
- 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.
- 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 – Henry "Dickie" Marrow" is murdered in a violent racially-motivated crime in Oxford, N.C..
- 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.
- 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 – On the deadliest day on Mt. Everest, 8 climbers are killed in a snowstorm.
- 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.
- 2000 – India announces that it's reached the population of 1 billion.
- 2003 – Rafael Palmeiro becomes the 19th member of the 500 home run club with a home run at The Ballpark in Arlington, Texas.
- 2004 – The Stockline Plastics factory explosion in Glasgow kills nine people.
- 2005 – The eleventh edition of the International Trade Fair KOSOVA opens in Gjakova,Kosovo.
- 2010 – David Cameron becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
- 2011 – Two earthquakes in southern Spain kill at least 10 people.
[change] Observances
- National Technology Day (India)
- Statehood Day (Minnesota)
