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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
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330 - Byzantium is renamed Constantinople during a dedication ceremony.
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1502 - Christopher Columbus leaves for his fourth and final voyage to the West Indies.
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1745 - War of Austrian Succession: Battle of Fontenoy - At Fontenoy, French forces defeat an Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian army.
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1792 - Captain Robert Gray becomes the first white man to discover the Columbia River.
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1812 - Prime Minster Spencer Perceval is assassinated by John Bellingham in the lobby of the House of Commons, London.
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1818 - Charles XIV of Sweden-Norway is crowned king of Sweden.
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1857 - Indian Mutiny: Indian rebels seize Delhi from the British.
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1858 - Minnesota is admitted as the 32nd U.S. state.
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1862 - American Civil War: The ironclad CSS Virginia is scuttled in the James River northwest of Norfolk, Virginia.
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1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Yellow Tavern - Confederate General JEB Stuart is mortally wounded at Yellow Tavern, Virginia .
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1894 - Pullman Strike: Three thousand Pullman Palace Car Company workers go on a wildcat strike in Illinois.
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1910 - An act of the U.S. Congress establishes Glacier National Park in Montana.
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1911 - The United States becomes a member of the Buenos Aires Convention, a copyright treaty.
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1927 - The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the "Academy" in "Academy Awards," is founded.
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1928 - The first analog TV service is inaugurated by WGY, Schenectady, New York.
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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.
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1942 - William Faulkner's collections of short stories, Go Down, Moses, is published.
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1943 - World War II: American troops invade Attu in the Aleutian Islands in an attempt to expel occupying Japanese forces.
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1944 - World War II: The Allies start a major offensive against the Axis Powers on the Gustav Line.
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1949 - Siam changes its name to Thailand.
- 1949 - Israel joins the United Nations.
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1953 - The Waco Tornado: An F5 tornado hits downtown Waco, Texas, killing 114.
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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.
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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").
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1973 - Citing government misconduct, Daniel Ellsberg has his charges for his involvement in releasing the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times dismissed.
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1976 - The last episode of the TV medical drama Marcus Welby, M.D. is aired.
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1984 - A transit of Earth from Mars takes place; no one is there to observe it.
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1985 - 56 spectators die when a flash fire strikes a football ground during a match in Bradford, England.
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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).
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1995 - In New York City, more than 170 countries decide to extend the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty indefinitely and without conditions.
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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.
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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.
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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).
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1998 - ZDTV-The official Technology Television network starts broadcasting. It lasted six years until the G4techTV Merger and it turned into a gaming channel.
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2004 - The Stockline Plastics factory explosion in Glasgow kills nine people.
Births
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1571 - Niwa Nagashige, Japanese daimyo and retainer (d. 1637)
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1720 - Karl Friedrich Hieronymus Freiherr von Münchhausen, officer and adventurer (d. 1797)
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1752 - Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, German anthropologist (d. 1840)
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1763 - János Bacsanyi, Hungarian poet (d. 1845)
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1801 - Henri Labrouste, French architect (d. 1875)
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1871 - Stjepan Radic, Croat politician (d. 1928)
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1887 - Paul Wittgenstein, Austrian-born pianist (d. 1961)
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1888 - Irving Berlin, American composer (d. 1989)
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1892 - Margaret Rutherford, English actress (d. 1972)
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1894 - Martha Graham, American dancer and choreographer (d. 1991)
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1895 - Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian philosopher (d. 1986),
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1896 - Josip Štolcer-Slavenski Croat composer (d. 1955)
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1897 - Kurt Gerron German director (d. 1944)
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1903 - Charlie Gehringer, Baseball Hall of Famer (d. 1993)
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1904 - Salvador Dalí, Spanish surrealist painter (d. 1989)
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1907 - Rose Ausänder , poet (d. 1988)
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1911 - Phil Silvers, American actor and comedian (d. 1985)
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1912 - Foster Brooks, American actor and comedian (d. 2001)
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1913 - Robert Jungk, Austrian publicist and futurologist (d. 1994)
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1916 - Camilo José Cela, Spanish writer (d. 2002)
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1918 - Richard Feynman, American physicist (d. 1988)
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1921 - Hildegard Hamm-Brücher , politician
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1928 - Mort Sahl, Canadian comedian, political commentator
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1930 - Edsger Dijkstra, Dutch computer scientist (d. 2002)
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1933 - Louis Farrakhan, American Black Muslim leader
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1938 - Carla Bley, American musician and composer
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1940 - Juan Downey, Chilean video artist (d. 1993)
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1941 - Graham Miles, English snooker player
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1941 - Eric Burdon, British rock singer ("The Animals")
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1946 - Robert Jarvik, American physicist and inventor
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1950 - Jeremy Paxman, British journalist and author
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1952 - Renaud Séchan, French composer
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1952 - Mike Lupica, sports journalist
- 1952 - Shohreh Aghdashloo, actress
- 1952 - Frances Fisher, actress
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1953 - Boyd Gaines , actor
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1956 - Alex Lester, British broadcaster for Radio 2
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1959 - Martha Quinn, MTV VJ
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1963 - Natasha Richardson, actress
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1964 - John Parrott, English snooker player
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1966 - Christoph Schneider, drummer for Rammstein
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1966 - Nancy Hower, American actress,sceenwriter,director,and producer
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1980 - Suraj Bhardwaj , CEO Bhardwaj, Inc.
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1981 - Lauren Jackson, Australian basketball player
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1982 - Jonathan Jackson, actor
- 1982 - Douglas Henning , author, scientist
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1983 - Matt Leinart, Heisman Trophy-winning football quarterback
- 1983 - Holly Valance, actress and singer
Deaths
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912 - Emperor Leo VI of the Byzantine Empire (b. 866)
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1610 - Matteo Ricci, Italian Jesuit missionary (b. 1552)
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1778 - William Pitt, the Elder, British Prime Minister (b. 1708)
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1812 - Spencer Perceval, British Prime Minister (assassinated) (b. 1762)
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1871 - John Herschel, British mathematician and astronomer (b. 1792)
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1848 - Tom Cribb, bare-knuckle boxer (b. 1781)
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1916 - Max Reger, composer (b. 1873)
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1920 - William Dean Howells, writer (b. 1837)
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1955 - Gilbert Jessop; English cricketer, known as fastest-scoring batsman of all time (b. 1874).
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1960 - John D. Rockefeller, Jr., philanthropist (b. 1874)
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1970 - Johnny Hodges, musician (b. 1906)
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1973 - Lex Barker, actor (b. 1919)
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1976 - Alvar Aalto, architect (b. 1898)
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1981 - Bob Marley, Jamaican roots rock reggae singer and musician (b. 1945)
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1985 - Chester Gould, cartoonist (Dick Tracy) (b. 1900)
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1988 - Kim Philby, spy (b. 1912)
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2001 - Douglas Adams, science fiction author (b. 1952)
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2002 - Joseph Bonanno, Mafioso (aka Joey Bananas) (b. 1905)
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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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