Day of the year
May 11 is the 131st day of the year (132nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 234 days remain until the end of the year.
- 330 – Constantine the Great dedicates the much-expanded and rebuilt city of Byzantium, changing its name to New Rome and declaring it the new capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.[1]
- 868 – A copy of the Diamond Sūtra is published,[2] making it the earliest dated and printed book known.[3]
- 973 – In the first coronation ceremony ever held for an English monarch, Edgar the Peaceful is crowned King of England, having ruled since 959 AD.[4] His wife, Ælfthryth, is crowned queen, the first recorded coronation for a Queen of England.[5]
- 1068 – Matilda of Flanders, wife of William the Conqueror, is crowned Queen of England.[6]
- 1258 – Louis IX of France and James I of Aragon sign the Treaty of Corbeil, renouncing claims of feudal overlordship in one another's territories and separating the House of Barcelona from the politics of France.[7]
- 1919 – Uruguay becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.[15]
- 1970 – The 1970 Lubbock tornado kills 26 and causes $250 million in damage.[16]
- 1973 – Citing government misconduct, Daniel Ellsberg's charges for his involvement in releasing the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times are dismissed.[17]
- 1973 – Aeroflot Flight 6551 crashes in Semey, Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (now Kazakhstan), killing all 63 aboard.[18]
- 1985 – Fifty-six spectators die and more than 200 are injured in the Bradford City stadium fire.[19]
- 1987 – Klaus Barbie goes on trial in Lyon for war crimes committed during World War II.[20]
- 1996 – After the aircraft's departure from Miami, a fire started by improperly handled chemical oxygen generators in the cargo hold of Atlanta-bound ValuJet Airlines Flight 592 causes the Douglas DC-9 to crash in the Florida Everglades, killing all 110 on board.[21]
- 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.[22]
- 1998 – India conducts three underground atomic tests in Pokhran.[23]
- 2000 – Second Chechen War: Chechen separatists ambush Russian paramilitary forces in the Republic of Ingushetia.[24]
- 2009 – An American soldier in Iraq opens fire on a counseling center at Camp Liberty in Baghdad, killing five other US soldiers and wounding three.[25]
- 2009 – Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on the final mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.[26]
- 2010 – David Cameron takes office as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom as the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats form the country's first coalition government since the Second World War.[27]
- 2011 – An earthquake of magnitude 5.1 hits Lorca, Spain.[28]
- 2011 – The Istanbul Convention is signed in Istanbul, Turkey.[29]
- 2013 – Fifty-two people are killed in a bombing in Reyhanlı, Turkey.[30]
- 2014 – Fifteen people are killed and 46 injured in Kinshasa, DRC, in a stampede caused by tear gas being thrown into soccer stands by police officers.[31]
- 2016 – One hundred and ten people are killed in an ISIL bombing in Baghdad.[32]
- 2022 – The Burmese military executes at least 37 villagers during the Mon Taing Pin massacre in Sagaing, Myanmar.[33]
- 2022 – Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh is killed while covering a raid in Jenin. Israel eventually admitted and apologized for the murder, after initial denials.[34]
- 2024 – Start/Middle of the May 2024 Solar Storms, the most powerful set of Geomagnetic storms since the 2003 Halloween solar storms.[35]
- 2024 – The 68th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest is held in Malmö, Sweden. Nemo from Switzerland wins with their song "The Code", making them the contest's first non-binary winner.[36]
- 1715 – Johann Gottfried Bernhard Bach, German organist (d. 1739)[38]
- 1752 – Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, German physician, physiologist, and anthropologist (d. 1840)[39]: 94
- 1797 – José Mariano Salas, Mexican general and politician (d. 1867)[40]
- 1811 – Jean-Jacques Challet-Venel, Swiss politician (d. 1893)[41]
- 1811 – Chang and Eng Bunker, Siamese-American showmen, the original conjoined twins (d. 1874)[42]
- 1852 – Charles W. Fairbanks, American journalist and politician, 26th United States Vice President (d. 1918)[43]
- 1854 – Jack Blackham, Australian cricketer (d. 1932)[44]
- 1869 – Archibald Warden, English tennis player (d. 1943)[45]
- 1871 – Frank Schlesinger, American astronomer and author (d. 1943)[46]
- 1875 – Harriet Quimby, American pilot and screenwriter (d. 1912)[47]
- 1881 – Al Cabrera, Spanish-Cuban baseball player and manager (d. 1964)[48]
- 1881 – Jan van Gilse, Dutch composer and conductor (d. 1944)[49]
- 1881 – Theodore von Kármán, Hungarian-American mathematician, physicist, and engineer (d. 1963)[50]
- 1888 – Irving Berlin, Belarusian-American pianist and composer (d. 1989)[51]
- 1888 – Willis Augustus Lee, American admiral (d. 1945)[52]
- 1889 – Paul Nash, British painter (d. 1946)[53]
- 1890 – Willie Applegarth, English-American sprinter (d. 1958)[54]
- 1890 – Helge Løvland, Norwegian decathlete (d. 1984)[55]
- 1894 – Martha Graham, American dancer and choreographer (d. 1991)[56]
- 1895 – Jacques Brugnon, French tennis player (d. 1978)[57]
- 1895 – Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian philosopher and speaker (d. 1986)[58]
- 1895 – William Grant Still, American composer and conductor (d. 1978)[59]
- 1896 – Josip Štolcer-Slavenski, Croatian composer and academic (d. 1955)[60]
- 1897 – Robert E. Gross, American businessman (d. 1961)[61]
- 1901 – Rose Ausländer, poet and author (d. 1988)[62]
- 1901 – Gladys Rockmore Davis, American painter (d. 1967)[63]
- 1903 – Charlie Gehringer, American baseball player and manager (d. 1993)[64]
- 1904 – Salvador Dalí, Spanish artist (d. 1989)[65]
- 1905 – Lise de Baissac, Mauritian SOE agent, war hero (d. 2004)[66]
- 1905 – Catherine Bauer Wurster, American architect and public housing advocate (d. 1964)[67]
- 1907 – Rip Sewell, American baseball player and coach (d. 1989)[68]
- 1911 – Phil Silvers, American actor and comedian (d. 1985)[69]
- 1912 – Saadat Hasan Manto, Pakistani author and screenwriter (d. 1955)[70]
- 1916 – Camilo José Cela, Spanish author and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002)[71]
- 1918 – Richard Feynman, American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988)[72]
- 1924 – Antony Hewish, English astronomer and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2021)[73]
- 1925 – Edward J. King, American politician, 66th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 2006)[74]
- 1927 – Bernard Fox, British actor (d. 2016)[75]
- 1927 – Gene Savoy, American explorer, author, and scholar (d. 2007)[76]
- 1929 – Gerhard Klingenberg, Austrian actor (d. 2024)[77][78][79][80]
- 1930 – Edsger W. Dijkstra, Dutch computer scientist and academic (d. 2002)[81]
- 1930 – Basil H. Losten, American Ukrainian Greek Catholic hierarch (d. 2024)[82]
- 1932 – Valentino Garavani, Italian fashion designer[83]
- 1933 – Louis Farrakhan, American religious leader[84]
- 1934 – Jim Jeffords, American lawyer and politician (d. 2014)[85]
- 1934 – Jack Twyman, American basketball player (d. 2012)[86]
- 1937 – Ildikó Újlaky-Rejtő, Hungarian Olympic and world champion foil fencer[87]
- 1941 – Eric Burdon, English musician[88]
- 1941 – Ian Redpath, Australian cricketer and coach (d. 2024)[89]
- 1943 – Nancy Greene, Canadian skier and politician[90]
- 1945 – Hilda Pérez Carvajal, Venezuelan biologist[91]
- 1947 – Butch Trucks, American drummer (d. 2017)[92]
- 1948 – Nirj Deva, British politician[93]
- 1948 – Pam Ferris, Welsh actress[94]
- 1950 – Jeremy Paxman, English journalist and author[95]
- 1950 – Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Indian actor (d. 2014)[96]
- 1951 – Ed Stelmach, Canadian farmer and politician, 13th Premier of Alberta[97]
- 1954 – John Gregory, English footballer and manager[98]
- 1955 – James L. Dolan, American businessman[99]
- 1957 – Mike Nesbitt, Northern Irish journalist and politician[100]
- 1958 – Sayuri Kume, Japanese singer-songwriter[101]
- 1963 – Natasha Richardson, English actress (d. 2009)[102]
- 1964 – Tim Blake Nelson, American actor[103]
- 1964 – Bobby Witt, American baseball player[104]
- 1967 – Alberto García Aspe, Mexican footballer and manager[105]
- 1969 – Mitch Healey, Australian rugby league player and coach[106]
- 1969 – Simon Vroemen, Dutch runner[107]
- 1970 – Harold Ford Jr., American lawyer and politician[108]
- 1974 – Stanley Gene, Papua New Guinean rugby league player[109]
- 1975 – Francisco Cordero, Dominican baseball player[110]
- 1975 – Ziad Jarrah, Lebanese terrorist, September 11 attacks (d. 2001)[citation needed]
- 1976 – Kardinal Offishall, Canadian rapper and record producer/executive[111]
- 1977 – Pablo Gabriel García, Uruguayan footballer[112]
- 1977 – Victor Matfield, South African rugby player, coach, and sportscaster[113]
- 1977 – Bobby Roode, Canadian professional wrestler[114]
- 1978 – Laetitia Casta, French model and actress[115]
- 1978 – Judy Ann Santos, Filipino actress[116]
- 1981 – Lauren Jackson, Australian basketball player[117]
- 1981 – JP Karliak, American actor, voice actor and comedian[118]
- 1982 – Cory Monteith, Canadian actor and singer (d. 2013)[119]
- 1983 – Matt Leinart, American football player[120]
- 1983 – Steven Sotloff, American-Israeli journalist (d. 2014)[121]
- 1983 – Holly Valance, Australian actress, singer and model[122]
- 1984 – Andrés Iniesta, Spanish footballer[123]
- 1985 – Beau Ryan, Australian rugby league player and television host[124]
- 1986 – Abou Diaby, French footballer[125]
- 1986 – Miguel Veloso, Portuguese footballer[126]
- 1987 – Lim Seul-ong, South Korean singer and actor[127]
- 1988 – Jeremy Maclin, American football player[128]
- 1988 – Brad Marchand, Canadian ice hockey player[129]
- 1989 – Giovani dos Santos, Mexican footballer[130]
- 1989 – Cam Newton, American football player[131]
- 1992 – Thibaut Courtois, Belgian footballer[132]
- 1992 – Pablo Sarabia, Spanish footballer[133]
- 1992 – Bobi, Portuguese Rafeiro do Alentejo, oldest recorded dog (d. 2023)[134][135]
- 1993 – Maurice Harkless, American-Puerto Rican basketball player[136]
- 1993 – Miguel Sanó, Dominican baseball player[137]
- 1994 – Hagos Gebrhiwet, Ethiopian runner[138]
- 1994 – Nene Macdonald, Papua New Guinean rugby league player[139]
- 1995 – Gelson Martins, Portuguese footballer[140]
- 1995 – Sachia Vickery, American tennis player[141]
- 1996 – Adin Hill, Canadian ice hockey player[142]
- 1997 – Coi Leray, American rapper and singer[143]
- 1997 – Lana Condor, American actress[144]
- 1998 – Viktória Kužmová, Slovak tennis player[145]
- 1999 – Sabrina Carpenter, American singer and actress[146]
- 2000 – Yūki Tsunoda, Japanese racing driver[147]
- 2003 – Fermín López, Spanish footballer[148]
- 2006 – Konsta Helenius, Finnish ice hockey player[149]
- 1610 – Matteo Ricci, Italian priest and mathematician (b. 1552)[151]
- 1778 – William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, English politician, Prime Minister of Great Britain (b. 1708)[152]
- 1779 – John Hart, American lawyer and politician (b. 1711)[153]
- 1812 – Spencer Perceval, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1762)[154]
- 1848 – Tom Cribb, English boxer (b. 1781)[155]
- 1849 – Juliette Récamier, French businesswoman (b. 1777)[156]
- 1882 – Frederick Innes, Scottish-Australian politician, 9th Premier of Tasmania (b. 1816)[157]
- 1889 – John Cadbury, English businessman and philanthropist, founded the Cadbury Company (b. 1801)[158]
- 1908 – Charles Kingston, Australian politician, 20th Premier of South Australia (b. 1850)[159]
- 1916 – Karl Schwarzschild, German astronomer and physicist (b. 1873)[160]: xix
- 1918 – George Elmslie, Australian politician, 25th Premier of Victoria (b. 1861)[161]
- 1920 – James Colosimo, Italian-American mob boss (b. 1878)[162]
- 1920 – William Dean Howells, American novelist, literary critic, and playwright (b. 1837)[163]
- 1927 – Juan Gris, Spanish painter and sculptor (b. 1887)[164]
- 1929 – Jozef Murgaš, Slovak-American priest, architect, botanist, and painter (b. 1864)[165]
- 1938 – George Lyon, Canadian golfer and cricketer (b. 1858)[165]
- 1946 – Seán McCaughey, Irish Republican, died on hunger strike (b. 1915)[166]
- 1955 – Gilbert Jessop, English cricketer (b. 1874)[167]
- 1960 – John D. Rockefeller Jr., American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1874)[168]
- 1963 – Herbert Spencer Gasser, American physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)[169]: 169
- 1964 – Janne Mustonen, Finnish politician (b. 1901)[170]
- 1967 – James E. Brewton, American painter (b. 1930)[171]
- 1979 – Lester Flatt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1914)[172]
- 1980 – Dyre Vaa, Norwegian sculptor and painter (b. 1903)[173]
- 1981 – Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)[174]
- 1981 – Bob Marley, Jamaican singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1945)[175]
- 1983 – Zenna Henderson, American writer (b. 1917)[176]
- 1985 – Chester Gould, American cartoonist, created Dick Tracy (b. 1900)[177]
- 1986 – Fritz Pollard, American football player and coach (b. 1894)[178]
- 1988 – Kim Philby, British-Soviet double agent (b. 1912)[179]
- 1990 – Stratos Dionysiou, Greek Singer, composer and lyricist (b. 1935)[180]
- 1994 – Timothy Carey, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1928)[181]
- 2001 – Douglas Adams, English novelist and screenwriter (b. 1952)[182]
- 2002 – Renaude Lapointe, Canadian journalist and politician (b. 1912)[183]
- 2002 – Bill Peet, American animator and screenwriter (b. 1915)[184]
- 2003 – Noel Redding, English bass player (b. 1945)[185]
- 2005 – Léo Cadieux, Canadian politician, 17th Canadian Minister of National Defence (b. 1908)[186]
- 2005 – Horton Davies, Welsh minister and historian (b. 1916)[187]
- 2006 – Floyd Patterson, American boxer and actor (b. 1935)[188]
- 2007 – Malietoa Tanumafili II, Samoan ruler (b. 1913)[189]
- 2008 – John Rutsey, Canadian drummer (b. 1953)[190]
- 2009 – Abel Goumba, Central African physician and politician, Prime Minister of the Central African Republic (b. 1926)[191]
- 2009 – Claudio Huepe, Chilean economist and politician, Chilean Minister Secretary-General of Government (b. 1939)[192]
- 2009 – Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda, Indian admiral (b. 1915)[193]
- 2010 – Doris Eaton Travis, American dancer and vaudevillian (b. 1904)[194]
- 2011 – Robert Traylor, American basketball player (b. 1977)[195]
- 2019 – Peggy Lipton, American actress, model, and singer (b. 1946)[196]
- 2019 – Thomas Silverstein, American murderer (b. 1952)[197]
- 2020 – Jerry Stiller, American comedian, actor (b. 1927)[198]
- 2021 – Colt Brennan, American quarterback[199] (b. 1983)
- 2021 – Norman Lloyd, American actor, producer and director (b. 1914)[200]
- 2024 – Susan Backlinie, American actress and stuntwoman (b. 1946)[201]
Holidays and observances
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