What happened on May 11? There are more than 275 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

Interesting Facts & Myths About May 11

May 11 In HistoryMay 11 is the 132nd day of the year 2024. There are 234 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Saturday. This day falls under the 19th week of the year 2024.

On this day in Lexington, Kentucky 40523 sunrise will occur at 06:28 AM and sunset will occur at 08:39 PM (local time).

The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Taurus. The modern birthstone for this month is Emerald while the mystical birthstone is Sapphire.

According to the Chinese calendar, there are 263 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).

Birthday curiousity Is your birthday coming up in two days? Are you not curious to find out who is sharing your special day? Discover all the March 31 famous birthdays. There are fun facts about that day that you must know. (Sponsored link)

Historical Events For May 11

  • 330
    Byzantium is renamed Nova Roma during a dedication ceremony, but it is more popularly referred to as Constantinople.
  • 912
    Alexander becomes Emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
  • 1310
    In France, fifty-four members of the Knights Templar are burned at the stake as heretics.
  • 1502
    Christopher Columbus leaves for his fourth and final voyage to the West Indies.
  • 1647
    Peter Stuyvesant arrives in New Amsterdam to replace Willem Kieft as Director-General of New Netherland, the Dutch colonial settlement in present-day New York City.
  • 1745
    War of Austrian Succession: Battle of Fontenoy – French forces defeat an Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian army.
  • 1792
    Captain Robert Gray becomes the first documented white person to sail into the Columbia River.
  • 1812
    Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is assassinated by John Bellingham in the lobby of the House of Commons, London.
  • 1813
    In Australia, William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth lead an expedition westwards from Sydney. Their route opens up inland Australia for continued expansion throughout the 19th century.
  • 1820
    Launch of HMS Beagle, the ship that took Charles Darwin on his scientific voyage.
  • 1846
    President James K. Polk asked for and received a Declaration of War against Mexico, starting the Mexican-American War
  • 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 Ship CSS is scuttled in the James River northwest of Norfolk, Virginia.
  • 1867
    Luxembourg gains its independence.
  • 1880
    Seven people are killed in the Mussel Slough Tragedy, a gun battle in California
  • 1891
    The Ōtsu incident: Tsarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich of Imperial Russia (later Nicholas II) suffers a critical head injury during a sword attack by Japanese policeman Tsuda Sanzō. He is rescued by Prince George of Greece and Denmark.
  • 1894
    Pullman Strike: Four thousand Pullman Palace Car Company workers go on a wildcat strike in Illinois.
  • 1907
    32 Shriners are killed when their chartered train derails at a switch near Surf Depot in Lompoc, California.
  • 1910
    An act of the U.S. Congress establishes Glacier National Park in Montana.
  • 1918
    The Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus is officially established.
  • 1924
    Mercedes-Benz is formed by Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz merging their two companies.
  • 1927
    The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is founded.
  • 1942
    William Faulkner’s collections of short stories, Go Down, Moses, is published.
  • 1943
    World War II: American troops invade Attu Island in the Aleutian Islands in an attempt to expel occupying Japanese forces.
  • 1944
    World War II: The Allies begin a major offensive against the Axis Powers on the Gustav Line.
  • 1945
    World War II: Off the coast of Okinawa, the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill, is hit by two kamikazes, killing 346 of her crew. Although badly damaged, the ship is able to return to the U.S. under her own power.
  • 1946
    UMNO is created.
  • 1949
    Israel joins the United Nations.
  • 1949
    Siam officially changes its name to Thailand for the second time. The name had been in use since 1939 but was reverted in 1945.
  • 1953
    The 1953 Waco tornado outbreak: an F5 tornado hits downtown Waco, Texas, killing 114.
  • 1960
    In Buenos Aires, Argentina, four Israeli Mossad agents capture fugitive Nazi Adolf Eichmann who is living under the alias of Ricardo Klement.
  • 1967
    Andreas Papandreou, Greek economist and socialist politician, is imprisoned in Athens by the Greek military junta.
  • 1968
    The Toronto Transit Commission opens the largest expansion of its Bloor–Danforth line, going to Scarborough in the East, and Etobicoke in the West.
  • 1970
    The Lubbock Tornado, a F5 tornado, hits Lubbock, Texas, killing 26 and causing $250 million in damage.
  • 1973
    Citing government misconduct, Daniel Ellsberg has charges for his involvement in releasing the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times dismissed.
  • 1983
    Aberdeen F.C. defeat Real Madrid 2-1 to win the European Cup Winners’ Cup in Gothenburg, Sweden.
  • 1985
    Bradford City stadium fire: Fifty-six spectators die and more than 200 are injured in a flash fire at Valley Parade football ground during a match against Lincoln City in Bradford, England.
  • 1987
    In Baltimore, Maryland, the first heart-lung transplant takes place. The surgery is performed by Dr. Bruce Reitz of the Stanford University School of Medicine.
  • 1987
    Klaus Barbie goes on trial in Lyon for war crimes committed during World War II.
  • 1995
    In New York City more than 170 countries decide to extend the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty indefinitely and without conditions.
  • 1996
    After the aircraft’s departure from Miami, Florida, 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.
  • 1996
    The 1996 Mount Everest disaster: on a single day eight people die during summit attempts on Mount Everest.
  • 1997
    Deep Blue, a chess-playing supercomputer, defeats Garry Kasparov in the last game of the rematch, becoming the first computer to beat a world-champion chess player in a classic match format.
  • 1998
    India conducts three underground atomic tests in Pokhran to include a thermonuclear device.
  • 2000
    Second Chechen War: Chechen separatists ambush Russian paramilitary forces in the Republic of Ingushetia.

Who Were Born On May 11?

  • 1571
    Niwa Nagashige, Japanese warlord (d. 1637)
  • 1720
    Karl Friedrich Hieronymus Freiherr von Münchhausen, German adventurer (d. 1797)
  • 1722
    Petrus Camper, Dutch anatomist (d. 1789)
  • 1733
    Victoire of France, daughter of king Louis XV of France (d. 1799)
  • 1752
    Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, German anthropologist (d. 1840)
  • 1763
    János Batsányi, Hungarian poet (d. 1845)
  • 1771
    Laskarina Bouboulina, Greek naval commander in the Greek War of Independence (d. 1825)
  • 1799
    John Lowell, American philanthropist (d. 1836)
  • 1801
    Henri Labrouste, French architect (d. 1875)
  • 1811
    Chang and Eng Bunker, Thai/American conjoined twins (d. 1874)
  • 1811
    Jean-Jacques Challet-Venel, member of the Swiss Federal Council (d. 1893)
  • 1817
    Fanny Cerrito, Italian ballet dancer (d. 1909)
  • 1824
    Jean-Léon Gérôme, French painter and sculptor (d. 1904)
  • 1827
    Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, French sculptor and painter (d. 1875)
  • 1835
    Kārlis Baumanis, Latvian composer (d. 1905)
  • 1838
    Walter Goodman, British painter, illustrator and author (d. 1912)
  • 1852
    Charles W. Fairbanks, 26th United States Vice President (d. 1918)
  • 1854
    Jack Blackham, Australian cricketer (d. 1932)
  • 1861
    Frederick Russell Burnham, American inspiration and “father” of the international scouting movement (d. 1947)
  • 1870
    Otto von Friesen, Swedish runologist and linguist (d. 1942)
  • 1871
    Frank Schlesinger, American astronomer (d. 1943)
  • 1881
    Al Cabrera, Spanish-born Cuban baseball player (d. 1964)
  • 1881
    Jan van Gilse, Dutch composer and conductor (d. 1944)
  • 1881
    Theodore von Kármán, Hungarian physicist (d. 1963)
  • 1888
    Irving Berlin, American composer (d. 1989)
  • 1888
    Willis A. Lee, World War II U.S. naval admiral (d. 1945)
  • 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
    William Grant Still, American composer (d. 1978)
  • 1896
    Josip Štolcer-Slavenski Croatian composer (d. 1955)
  • 1897
    Kurt Gerron, German director (d. 1944)
  • 1897
    Robert E. Gross, American businessman (d. 1961)
  • 1899
    Paulino Masip, Spanish playwright (d. 1963)
  • 1903
    Charlie Gehringer, American baseball player (d. 1993)
  • 1904
    Salvador Dalí, Spanish painter (d. 1989)
  • 1907
    Rip Sewell, American baseball player (d. 1989)
  • 1907
    Rose Ausländer, German poet (d. 1988)
  • 1909
    Ellis R. Dungan, American born Indian film director (d. 2001)
  • 1909
    Herbert Murrill, English composer (d. 1952)
  • 1911
    Mitchell Sharp, Canadian politician (d. 2004)
  • 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)
  • 1914
    Haroun Tazieff, French volcanologist (d. 1998)
  • 1916
    Camilo José Cela, Spanish writer, Nobel laureate (d. 2002)
  • 1918
    Richard Feynman, American physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1988)
  • 1921
    Hildegard Hamm-Brücher, German politician
  • 1922
    Ameurfina Melencio-Herrera, Filipino Supreme Court jurist
  • 1922
    Nestor Chylak, American baseball umpire (d. 1992)
  • 1924
    Antony Hewish, English radio astronomer, Nobel laureate
  • 1924
    Eugene Dynkin, Russian mathematician
  • 1925
    Edward J. King, 66th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 2006)
  • 1927
    Bernard Fox, English actor
  • 1927
    Gene Savoy, American author, explorer, scholar and cleric (d. 2007)
  • 1927
    Mort Sahl, Canadian comedian and political commentator
  • 1928
    Brother Andrew, Dutch missionary
  • 1928
    Marco Ferreri, Italian film director and screenwriter (d. 1997)
  • 1928
    Yaacov Agam, Israeli sculptor
  • 1930
    Bud Ekins, American stuntman (d. 2007)
  • 1930
    Edsger Dijkstra, Dutch computer scientist (d. 2002)
  • 1932
    Valentino Garavani (Valentino), Italian designer
  • 1933
    Louis Farrakhan, American Nation of Islam leader
  • 1934
    Jim Jeffords, former American politician
  • 1935
    Doug McClure, American actor (d. 1995)
  • 1935
    Francisco Umbral, Spanish novelist (d. 2007)
  • 1936
    Carla Bley, American musician and composer
  • 1939
    Carlos Lyra, Brazilian musician
  • 1939
    Dante Tinga, Filipino Supreme Court jurist
  • 1940
    Juan Downey, Chilean video artist (d. 1993)
  • 1941
    Eric Burdon, British singer (The Animals)
  • 1941
    Graham Miles, English snooker player
  • 1942
    Rachel Billington, British author
  • 1943
    Juliet Harmer, English actress
  • 1943
    Nancy Greene, Canadian alpine skier
  • 1946
    Plume Latraverse, Quebec singer and musician
  • 1946
    Robert Jarvik, American physician and inventor
  • 1947
    Butch Trucks, American drummer (The Allman Brothers Band)
  • 1948
    Nirj Deva, Sri Lankan-British politician
  • 1948
    Shigeru Izumiya, Japanese folk musician
  • 1950
    Dane Iorg, American baseball player
  • 1950
    Jeremy Paxman, British journalist and author
  • 1951
    Ed Stelmach, Premier of Alberta, Canada
  • 1952
    Frances Fisher, English-born actress
  • 1952
    Mike Lupica, American sports journalist
  • 1952
    Renaud, French composer
  • 1952
    Shohreh Aghdashloo, Iranian actress
  • 1952
    Warren Littlefield, American television executive
  • 1953
    Céline Lomez, Quebec singer and actress
  • 1953
    David Gest, American television producer
  • 1954
    John Gregory, English football manager
  • 1954
    Lubomir Stoykov, Bulgarian journalist and broadcaster
  • 1955
    John DeStefano, Jr., American politician
  • 1956
    Alex Lester, British broadcaster
  • 1956
    Theresa Burke, Canadian journalist
  • 1957
    Peter North, Canadian pornographic actor
  • 1958
    Christian Brando, American actor; son of Marlon Brando (d. 2008)
  • 1958
    Dan Ireland, American film director
  • 1958
    Phil Smyth, Australian basketball player
  • 1958
    Walt Terrell, American baseball player
  • 1959
    Martha Quinn, American television personality
  • 1961
    Luis Felipe, Cuban gangster
  • 1963
    Gunilla Carlsson, Swedish politician
  • 1963
    Masatoshi Hamada, Japanese comedian
  • 1963
    Natasha Richardson, English/American actress (d. 2009)
  • 1963
    Roark Critchlow, Canadian actor
  • 1964
    Bobby Witt, American baseball player
  • 1964
    Floyd Youmans, American baseball player
  • 1964
    John Parrott, English snooker player
  • 1964
    Katie Wagner, American television reporter
  • 1964
    Tim Blake Nelson, American actor
  • 1965
    Greg Dulli, American musician
  • 1965
    Monsour del Rosario, Filipino martial artist and actor
  • 1965
    Stefano Domenicali, Italian Formula One team principal (Ferrari)
  • 1966
    Christoph Schneider, German drummer (Rammstein)
  • 1968
    Jeffrey Donovan, American actor
  • 1970
    Glenn Hugill, British television presenter and producer
  • 1970
    Harold Ford Jr., Political commentator and former U.S. Congressman
  • 1970
    Nicky Katt, American actor
  • 1972
    Anita Hegh, Australian actress
  • 1972
    Daniel Ornellas, Zimbabwean musician
  • 1974
    Benoît Magimel, French actor
  • 1974
    Billy Kidman, American professional wrestler
  • 1974
    Darren Ward, Welsh footballer
  • 1974
    Kevin Brown, English-born Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1974
    Stanley Gene, Papua New Guinean rugby league footballer
  • 1975
    Coby Bell, American actor
  • 1975
    Francisco Cordero, Dominican baseball player
  • 1977
    Gonzalo Colsa, Spanish footballer
  • 1977
    Janne Ahonen, Finnish ski jumper
  • 1977
    Pablo García, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1977
    Victor Matfield, South African rugby union footballer
  • 1978
    Laetitia Casta, French supermodel and actress
  • 1978
    Perttu Kivilaakso, Finnish cellist (Apocalyptica)
  • 1979
    Erin Lang, Canadian musician
  • 1981
    Austin O'Brien, American actor
  • 1981
    Daniel Ortmeier, American baseball player
  • 1981
    Dusán Mukics, Slovene journalist and reporter in Hungary
  • 1981
    Lauren Jackson, Australian basketball player
  • 1982
    Andrew Walter, American football player
  • 1982
    Cory Monteith, Canadian actor
  • 1982
    Guji Lorenzana, Filipino singer and actor
  • 1982
    Jonathan Jackson, American actor
  • 1983
    Daizee Haze, American professional wrestler
  • 1983
    Frédéric Xhonneux, Belgian decathlete
  • 1983
    Hanna Verboom, Dutch actress
  • 1983
    Holly Valance, Australian-born actress and singer
  • 1983
    Matt Leinart, American football player
  • 1984
    Andrés Iniesta, Spanish football player
  • 1984
    Gerald Clayton, Dutch/American jazz pianist
  • 1984
    John Bowie, American football player
  • 1985
    Matt Giraud, American singer
  • 1985
    sifow, Japanese singer and businesswoman
  • 1986
    Abou Diaby, French footballer
  • 1986
    Manuel Schenkhuizen, Dutch gamer
  • 1986
    Miguel Veloso, Portuguese footballer
  • 1986
    Ronny Heberson Furtado de Araújo, Brazilian footballer
  • 1987
    Justin King, American football player
  • 1987
    Louis Murphy, American football player
  • 1987
    Monica Roşu, Romanian gymnast
  • 1988
    Ace Hood, American rapper
  • 1988
    Brad Marchand, Canadian-born hockey player
  • 1988
    Jeremy Maclin, American football player
  • 1989
    Cam Newton, American football player
  • 1989
    Gianluigi Bianco, Italian footballer
  • 1989
    Giovani dos Santos, Mexican footballer
  • 1990
    Daniel Jason Torres, American politician
  • 1994
    David Alvarez, Canadian dancer and actor

Who Died On May 11?

  • 912
    Leo VI, Byzantine Emperor (b. 866)
  • 1304
    Mahmud Ghazan, Mongol ruler (b. 1271)
  • 1610
    Matteo Ricci, Italian Jesuit missionary (b. 1552)
  • 1672
    Charles Seton, 2nd Earl of Dunfermline, Scottish royalist (b. 1615)
  • 1708
    Jules Hardouin Mansart, French architect (b. 1646)
  • 1723
    Jean Galbert de Campistron, French dramatist (b. 1656)
  • 1760
    Alaungpaya, Founder of Konbaung Dynasty of Burma (b. 1714)
  • 1777
    George Pigot, Baron Pigot, British governor of Madras (b. 1719)
  • 1778
    William Pitt, the Elder, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1708)
  • 1779
    John Hart, delegate from New Jersey to the Continental Congress and a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence (b. 1711)
  • 1812
    Spencer Perceval, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1762)
  • 1848
    Tom Cribb, English boxer (b. 1781)
  • 1849
    Juliette Récamier, French socialite (b. 1777)
  • 1871
    John Herschel, British mathematician and astronomer (b. 1792)
  • 1887
    Jean Baptiste Boussingault, French chemist (b. 1802)
  • 1891
    A. E. Becquerel, French physicist (b. 1820)
  • 1916
    Karl Schwarzschild, German astronomer and physicist (b. 1873)
  • 1916
    Max Reger, German composer (b. 1873)
  • 1920
    William Dean Howells, American writer (b. 1837)
  • 1927
    Juan Gris, Spanish cubist artist (b. 1887)
  • 1929
    Jozef Murgaš, Slovak inventor (b. 1864)
  • 1934
    Blaise Diagne, Sengalese politician (b. 1872)
  • 1934
    Orest Khvolson, Russian physicist (b. 1852)
  • 1939
    Evgenii Miller, Russian counter-revolutionary (b. 1867)
  • 1940
    Chujiro Hayashi, Japanese Reiki Master (b. 1880)
  • 1955
    Gilbert Laird Jessop, English cricketer (b. 1874)
  • 1960
    John D. Rockefeller, Jr., American philanthropist (b. 1874)
  • 1963
    Herbert Spencer Gasser, American physiologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1888)
  • 1966
    Alfred Wintle, British WW1 & WW2 soldier; author of “The Last Englishman” (b. 1897)
  • 1970
    Johnny Hodges, American musician (b. 1906)
  • 1973
    Lex Barker, American actor (b. 1919)
  • 1976
    Alvar Aalto, Finnish architect (b. 1898)
  • 1979
    Lester Flatt, American bluegrass musician (b. 1914)
  • 1981
    Bob Marley, Jamaican singer and musician (b. 1945)
  • 1981
    Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1897)
  • 1985
    Chester Gould, American cartoonist (b. 1900)
  • 1986
    Fritz Pollard, American football player (b. 1894)
  • 1986
    Henry P. McIlhenny, American philanthropist (b. 1910)
  • 1988
    Kim Philby, British spy (b. 1912)
  • 1990
    Stratos Dionysiou, Greek singer (b. 1935)
  • 1994
    Timothy Carey, American actor (b. 1928)
  • 1996
    Ademir Marques de Menezes, Brazilian footballer (b. 1922)
  • 1996
    Nnamdi Azikiwe, President of Nigeria (b. 1904)
  • 1998
    Oreste Kirkop, Maltese tenor and actor (b. 1923)
  • 1999
    Giorgos Kappis, Greek actor (b. 1929)
  • 2000
    Paula Wessely, Austrian actress (b. 1907)
  • 2000
    René Muñoz, Cuban actor, screenwriter of telenovelas (b. 1938)
  • 2001
    Douglas Adams, English author (b. 1952)
  • 2002
    Renaude Lapointe, French Canadian journalist and senator (b. 1912)
  • 2003
    Noel Redding, English bassist (The Jimi Hendrix Experience) (b. 1945)
  • 2004
    John Whitehead, American singer (McFadden & Whitehead) (b. 1949)
  • 2004
    Mick Doyle, Irish rugby union footballer and coach (b. 1941)
  • 2005
    Michalis Genitsaris, Greek rebetiko singer and composer (b. 1917)
  • 2006
    Floyd Patterson, American boxer (b. 1935)
  • 2006
    Frankie Thomas, American actor (b. 1921)
  • 2006
    Yossi Banai, Israeli singer (b. 1932)
  • 2007
    Bernard Gordon, blacklisted American screenwriter and producer (b. 1918)
  • 2007
    Malietoa Tanumafili II, Samoan Head of State (O le Ao o le Malo) (b. 1913)
  • 2008
    Bruno Neves, Portuguese cyclist (b. 1981)
  • 2008
    Dottie Rambo, American gospel singer (b. 1934)
  • 2008
    John Rutsey, Canadian drummer (Rush) (b. 1953)

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